November 22, 2009
Ocean Carbon Central to Climate Challenge
World leaders should recognize the immense potential of the ocean to reduce global warming by capturing carbon, if we are to avoid a serious climate crisis.
That’s the advice of a ground-breaking IUCN partnership report, The Management of Natural Coastal Carbon Sinks, launched today at the climate change and protected area summit in Granada, Spain. The first in-depth study revealing the latest science of marine ecosystems, such as seagrass meadows, mangroves and salt marshes, shows that they have a much greater capacity to progressively trap carbon than land carbon sinks, such as forests.
“The current loss of two-thirds of seagrass meadows and 50 percent of mangrove forests due to human activities, has severely threatened their carbon storage capacity and is comparable to that of the annual decline in the Amazon forests,” says Dan Laffoley, Marine Vice-Chair of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas and lead author of the report. “Urgent international action is needed to ensure that coastal marine ecosystems are fully recognized as critical carbon sinks and properly managed and protected.”
Mangrove Pitta, Krabi Mangrove Boardwalk, Thailand © Mike Buckland, from the surfbirds galleries.
The IUCN report, supported by Natural England, The Lighthouse Foundation and UNEP, and compiled by leading scientists in this field, provides the latest evidence of the ocean’s ability to store carbon and the role each of these marine ecosystems play in reducing the negative effects of climate change. It offers specific policy guidelines about how to include management of marine carbon sinks in international and national reduction strategies.
“While there have been a lot of discussions about major carbon sinks on land such as forests, we have not heard much about the missing sinks of carbon in the oceans. The marine world not only regulates our climate, supplies essential goods and services, but also helps us tackle climate change,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of IUCN Global Marine Programme. “Decision-makers at national and international level will have to look at policies and financing mechanisms for protection and management of our oceans, and this report is the best starting point.”
The potential of mangroves, salt marshes and sea grass meadows to store carbon can be ensured through a number of management approaches such as Marine Protected Areas, Marine Spatial Planning, area-based fisheries management techniques, regulated coastal development and ecosystem restoration, according to the report.
Posted by Surfbirds at 7:16 AM | Comments (0)
October 4, 2009
Dragonflies go thirsty in the Mediterranean
One fifth of Mediterranean dragonflies and damselflies are threatened with extinction at the regional level as a result of increasing freshwater scarcity, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.
Climate change and habitat degradation, due to the way land is managed, are also affecting the insects, says the report.
The assessment of 163 Mediterranean dragonflies and damselflies shows five are Critically Endangered, 13 are Endangered, another 13 are Vulnerable, 27 are Near Threatened, 96 are Least Concern and six are Data Deficient, meaning there is not enough information to classify them, but they might also be threatened.
“It is likely things will only get worse for these unique species as climate change and increased water demand take their toll,” says Jean Pierre Boudot, member of the IUCN Dragonfly Specialist Group and co-author of the report. “Lower levels of precipitation and drought will lead to degradation of the habitats where the majority of dragonflies and damselflies live.”
Damselfly species © Jeremy McClements, from the surfbirds galleries
Four species are already listed as Extinct in the Mediterranean, including the Little Whisp (Agriocnemis exilis), the Common Pond Damsel (Ceriagrion glabrum), the Phantom Flutterer (Rhyothemis semihyalina) and the Darting Cruiser (Phyllomacromia africana).
Dragonflies are generally known for being good indicators of water quality. Major threats for 67 percent of these Mediterranean species are habitat degradation and pollution. The Spotted Darter (Sympetrum depressiusculum), which used to be common in the Mediterranean, is now listed as Vulnerable and is declining due to the intensification of agricultural practices in rice fields.
Fourteen percent of these insect species can be found only in Mediterranean freshwater ecosystems, some of the richest and most threatened habitats, among which nine have been assessed as Endangered or Vulnerable. According to the report, the highest numbers of endemic dragonflies are present in the South and West of the Mediterranean, with the Maghreb and the Levant areas being regional hotspots of endemism.
The majority of the threatened species are concentrated in the Levant, southern Turkey and Balkans, northeast Algeria and northern Tunisia. The Glittering Demoiselle (Calopteryx exul), for example, is listed as Endangered and is in decline. It inhabits the aquatic habitats of the Maghreb, whose ecosystems are under pressure due to water-harnessing for human use, water pollution, irrigation and drought.
Long-term coordinated actions are needed at regional, national and international level, and the results of this report highlight the responsibility that Mediterranean countries have to protect the global populations. Though some species are already receiving some conservation attention thanks to international laws, such as the Ornate Bluet (Coenagrion ornatum) which is included in the European Habitat Directive, others are not protected at all, despite their high risk of extinction.
“The selection and protection of key sites are essential to ensure the survival of these species,” says IUCN’s Annabelle Cuttelod, co-author of the report. “Their ecological requirements need to be taken into account in the planning and management of water use, especially for agriculture purposes or infrastructure development. IUCN Red List data can inform both processes.”
Full report: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/mediterranean_dragonflies_en_web.pdf
Posted by Surfbirds at 7:11 AM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2009
Bleak future for Mediterranean mammals
The latest assessment of Mediterranean mammals shows that one in six is threatened with extinction at a regional level, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.
The study, which assesses the status of 320 mammals in the region, except whales and dolphins, finds three percent are Critically Endangered, five percent are Endangered and eight percent are Vulnerable.
A further eight percent are Near Threatened, and three percent are Extinct or Regionally Extinct. This is the first time all Mediterranean mammals have been assessed for the IUCN Red List.
The Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) © Programa de Conservación Ex situ del Lince Ibérico
“The number one threat is habitat destruction, which affects 90 percent of the threatened species,” says IUCN’s Annabelle Cuttelod, co-author of the report. “We need international action to protect key areas and preserve natural habitats to ensure we don’t lose the rich biodiversity in this area.”
Rodents, bats, shrews, hedgehogs and moles, which make up the majority of Mediterranean mammals, are finding it increasingly hard to survive due to loss and degradation of their habitat from agriculture, pollution, climate change and urbanization, the study shows.
Large herbivores, such as deer, carnivores, and rabbits and hares are particularly threatened. Eight species from these groups have already gone extinct in the Mediterranean region, including the Mesopotamian Fallow Deer (Dama mesopotamica) and the Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius).
The Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) and the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) are both Critically Endangered. The IUCN World Conservation Congress, held in Barcelona last October, called for international action to preserve their natural habitats.
Agriculture affects 65 percent of threatened mammals, hunting and trapping 60 percent, and invasive species 50 percent. Overall, more than one-quarter (27 percent) of Mediterranean mammals have declining populations, 31 percent are stable, while for a further 40 percent the population trend is unknown. Only three percent of species populations are increasing, often due to conservation action, according to the study.
Mammal biodiversity is greatest in mountainous parts of the region, with particularly high concentrations of threatened species found in the mountains of Turkey, the Levant, and north-west Africa. Although the Sahara has relatively low species richness, a high proportion of Saharan species are threatened.
Of the 49 threatened mammal species, 20 are unique to the region and occur nowhere else in the world, highlighting the responsibility that Mediterranean countries have to protect the entire global populations of these species.
“To ensure the survival of large herbivore and carnivore mammals in the Mediterranean, we have to restore habitats and food chains,” says Helen Temple, co-author of the study. “We need to encourage people to accept large predators, improve protected areas management and better enforce laws regarding hunting practices.”
Read the full report at: http://www.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2009-027.pdf
Posted by Surfbirds at 6:59 AM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2009
Last chance to save Saola from extinction
One of the world’s most enigmatic mammals, the Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), could be on the brink of extinction, according to a group of experts who held an emergency meeting in Lao PDR to try to save the animal.
The Saola, which was only discovered to world science in 1992, resembles the desert antelopes of Arabia, but is more closely related to wild cattle. It lives in the remote valleys of the Annamite Mountains, along the border of Lao PDR and Vietnam.
“We are at a point in history when we still have a small but rapidly closing window of opportunity to conserve this extraordinary animal,” says William Robichaud, Coordinator of the Saola Working Group, set up by IUCN’s Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group. “That window has probably already closed for another species of wild cattle, the Kouprey, and experts at this meeting are determined that the Saola not be next."
Saola © WWF Greater Mekong
Conservation biologists based in four countries, met in Vientiane, Lao PDR, last month, and agreed that Saola numbers appear to have declined sharply since its discovery in 1992, when it was already rare and restricted to a small range.
Today, the Saola's increasing proximity to extinction is likely paralleled by only two or three other large mammal species in Southeast Asia, such as the Javan Rhinoceros, according to the experts. The situation is compounded by the fact that there are no populations of Saola held in zoos.
“The animal's prominent white facial markings and long tapering horns lend it a singular beauty, and its reclusive habits in the wet forests of the Annamites an air of mystery,” says Barney Long, of the IUCN Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group. “Saola have rarely been seen or photographed, and have proved difficult to keep alive in captivity. None is held in any zoo, anywhere in the world. Its wild population may number only in the dozens, certainly not more than a few hundred.”
The Saola is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, which means it faces "an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild”. With none in zoos and almost nothing known about how to maintain them in captivity, for Saola, extinction in the wild would mean its extinction everywhere, with no possibility of recovery and reintroduction.
The Saola is threatened primarily by hunting. The Vientiane meeting identified snaring and hunting with dogs, to which the Saola is especially vulnerable, as the main direct threats to the species.
Experts at the meeting emphasized that the Saola cannot be saved without intensified removal of poachers' snares and reduction of hunting with dogs in key areas of the Annamite forests. Improved methods to detect Saola in the wild and radio tracking to understand the animal’s conservation needs are needed, according to the biologists.
In addition, there needs to be more awareness in Lao PDR, Vietnam and the world conservation community of the perilous status of this species and markedly increased donor support for Saola conservation, according to the group.
Posted by Surfbirds at 6:42 AM | Comments (0)
September 2, 2009
Deadly frog fungus targeted by amphibian experts
The world’s leading amphibian experts have come together and for the first time identified two major conservation initiatives to stop amphibians going extinct.
A new coalition of organizations, the Amphibian Survival Alliance, will be set up to focus on containing the spread of the amphibian chytrid fungus and protecting habitats which are home to amphibians that occur nowhere else in the world.
Amphibians are the most threatened group of animals in the world, with one in three of the 6,000 recognized amphibian species at risk of extinction.
Tree Frog species © Andrew Moon, from the surfbirds galleries
“The world’s amphibians are facing an uphill battle for survival,” says James Collins, Co-Chair of the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group. “Infectious diseases, habitat loss, climate change, introduced species, commercial use and pollution all affect amphibian survival. By far the worst threats are infectious disease and habitat destruction so the Alliance will focus on these issues first.”
“If we want to stop the amphibian extinction crisis, we have to protect the areas where amphibians are threatened by habitat destruction,” says Claude Gascon, Co-Chair of the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group. “One of the reasons amphibians are in such dire straits is because many species are only found in single sites and are therefore much more susceptible to habitat loss.”
Curbing the spread of amphibian chytrid fungus is also a top priority for the amphibian experts. This effort will focus on identifying the presence of naturally-occurring bacteria, which seem to render some amphibians resistant to the killer frog disease, and investigating their use in managing the disease in other species. So far these bacteria have only been found on a few species and this approach needs more research.
Anti-fungal drugs to combat the deadly disease, exploring resistance in captive-bred populations and translocations all need to be investigated. The alliance will look into policies to prevent the spread of the fungus to new places, such as Madagascar, which so far shows no evidence of the presence of the amphibian chytrid fungus.
The new Alliance will work with partners to implement the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan and to raise the profile of amphibians in 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity.
Posted by Surfbirds at 7:42 PM | Comments (0)
August 6, 2009
Ganges River Dolphin in dire straits
Dolphin hotspots must be protected if the Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) is to survive in the Brahmaputra river system, according to a recent study.
Estimates have put the total population of the Ganges River Dolphins at around 2,000. Out of these, between 240 to 300 inhabit the Brahmaputra River system in India, according to a recent survey by an IUCN Sir Peter Scott Fund project.
“Our research shows accidental killing through fisheries by-catch, followed by poaching for oil, are the major threats to the dolphins of the Brahmaputra river system,” says Project Leader Abdul Wakid. “Their habitat is also being degraded by human activities. Dam building and a proposed seismsic survey in the Brahmaputra river are potential threats.”
Dolphin survey team in Brahmaputra, copyright Dr. Wakid Abdul, courtesy IUCN
The project, funded by Fondation Ensemble, was prompted by the need for some robust dolphin population data after Oil India Ltd. proposed to start prospecting for oil along the bed of the Brahmaputra River using air guns and explosives.
The research identified eight river sections as potential protected areas and community-based dolphin conservation as the best strategy to save the dolphins.
“The Brahmaputra River is very important habitat for these endangered dolphins,” says Gill Braulik, of IUCN’s Cetacean Specialist Group. “To protect them it is vital that we involve local river communities. In some places, like in the Kukurmara area of Kulsi River, for example, the dolphins are a tourist attraction due to protection by local communities. But in other areas, dolphins are accidentally killed in fishing nets or are sometimes deliberately caught and killed for their oil.”
The project carried out 32 awareness campaigns along the Brahmaputra valley, focusing on fishing communities in areas surrounding dolphin hotspots.
The Ganges River Dolphin is found mainly in the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems in India and Bangladesh. This survey concentrated on the 1,044km stretch of dolphin-inhabited Brahmaputra River system, primarily in Assam of North East India. In a 2005 survey in the same river stretch by the same investigating group a best estimate of 250 dolphins was recorded.
Full report: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/brahmaputra_river_dolphins___psf_final_report.pdf
Posted by Surfbirds at 8:03 PM | Comments (0)