Surfbirds News

November 14, 2009

Falling Amazon deforestation rates create opportunity for other damaged forests

Fewer trees were cut down in the Amazon this year, creating an opportunity to apply sound government policies to halt deforestation in other damaged forests, WWF says.

Data released Thursday by the Brazilian government shows that the deforestation rate in the Amazon fell between August 2008 and July 2009. Overall, the deforested region is a 45 percent smaller than Amazon land cleared the previous year, or between August 2007 and July 2008. This is the lowest rate of deforestation in the Amazon since record-keeping began in 2000, and down from a high of more than 27,000 square kms in 2004.

Historical deforestation rates in the Amazon © INPE (courtesy WWF)

However, the Amazon did lose 7,008 square kms of forest this year, according to government officials and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who attended a ceremony Thursday to announce this year’s deforestation figures.

According to Denise Hamú, WWF-Brazil's CEO, although it is essential to recognize the efforts made by the federal and state governments as well as Brazilian society in general, further action is required. "Deforestation needs to continue falling in a sustainable manner and must take place in other Brazilian biomes in addition to the Amazon, such as the Cerrado", she stated. Hamú also said that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Copenhagenin December, will be a good opportunity for Brazilto defend the adoption of clear and ambitious emission reduction commitments by the participant countries.

"Deforestation numbers such as the ones showed today by President Lula strengthen Brazil's credentials to lead the climate negotiations and take the forefront in building a new development model for the world that respects the environment and the people", Hamú said.

Among the other biomes, the most critical situation is found in the Cerrado. While deforestation in the Amazon has finally fallen below 10,000 km2, in the Cerrado it surpasses 20,000 km2. Despite conservation efforts, global deforestation continues at an alarming rate – 13 million hectares per year, or 36 football fields a minute. It generates almost 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and halting forest loss has been identified as one of the most cost-effective was to keep the world out of the danger zone of runaway climate change.

According to Cláudio Maretti, WWF-Brazil's Conservation Director, apart from decreasing emissions caused by deforestation in the Amazon the country needs to work on achieving reductions in the industry and transport sectors, and especially in energy generation and transmission processes.

"After all, the planet urgently needs expressive greenhouse gas emission reductions", he said. Positive efforts made by the Brazilian government that should be applied in other areas include: Creating and implementing protected areas, promoting sustainable forest management, restricting public credit for land grabbers and deforesters, and promoting land tenure regularization actions. Also important are efforts to minimize the impacts of large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads and dams. In addition, Maretti said it is essential to implement a consistent payment mechanism for ecological services - which consists in compensating producers who conserve the standing forest.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:12 AM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2009

Tiger experts call for urgent action to save species

More than 250 experts, scientists and government delegates from 13 tiger range countries this week called for immediate action to save tigers before the species disappears from the wild, citing the urgent need for increased protection against tiger poaching and trafficking in tiger parts.

WWF welcomes the recommendations from the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop 2009, where organizers on Thursday stated in closing remarks that “without immediate, urgent, and transformative actions, wild tigers will disappear forever.”

Tiger © Dave Pullan, from the surfbirds galleries.

The recommendations from the workshop include support for implementing a resolution related to tigers in the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), and to avoid financing development projects that adversely affect critical tiger habitats.

“These are a good start but the momentum from Kathmandu needs to be carried forward all the way to the Tiger Summit during the Year of the Tiger 2010 and beyond,” said Mike Baltzer, head of WWF’s Tiger Initiative. “The tiger range countries are clearly committed to saving their wild tigers and the world needs to extend unstinting support to this mission because once tigers are gone, they’re gone forever.”

There are only about 3,200 tigers left in the wild and WWF’s goal is to double that number by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. Tiger populations are declining in face of massive poaching for illegal wildlife trade, habitat loss and fragmentation, and conflict with humans.

“I am convinced we are on the right road to saving tigers,” said Dr. Eric Dinerstein, WWF’s Chief Scientist, in his closing remarks to delegates from 20 countries at the conclusion of the meeting. “We will look back on this meeting as the dramatic turning point for conserving this magnificent species, its habitats, Asian biodiversity, and the billions of people who depend upon healthy natural landscapes for which tigers are the talisman.”

The Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop is the first in a series of political negotiation meetings occurring throughout the year and leading up to a final Heads of State Tiger Summit in September 2010, which is the Year of the Tiger.

Posted by Surfbirds at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

Shipwreck an ecological disaster for southern Madagascar

Toxic waste from a ship which went down off the coast in southern Madagascar in August has had severe impacts on the health of local people and on the rich coastal and marine environment, according to a study supported by WWF.

The Turkish vessel Gulser Ana grounded near Faux Cap in the very south of Madagascar. The ship carried 39000 tons of raw Phosphates, 568 tons of fuel, 66 tons of diesel and 8000 litres of lubricant, most of which was slowly released into the Indian Ocean. The accident occurred in a whale reproduction and migratory corridor zone during the migratory season.

Crab Plover, Madagascar © Pete Morris/Birdquest, from the surfbirds galleries.

The report, co-funded by WWF was prepared by an interdisciplinary team of eight scientists which went to Faux Cap shortly after the accident.

While one to three whales normally beach in the area each year, nine whales beached in September alone, and some beach stretches seem to be real death zones, the report found. Villagers suffer from diseases such as respiratory problems, skin diseases and diarrhoea.

“WWF is very concerned about the possible negative impacts on biodiversity especially marine and coastal species, the threats to the ecosystems and the loss of people’s livelihood options. That’s why we decided to fund this mission,” said Harifidy Olivier Ralison, WWF Western Indian Ocean Marine Programme Coordinator.

Oil clumps cover the beach 30 km to the east and even further to the west of the shipwreck. Almost half the 40,000 people in the area have been affected by consequences of the shipwreck, the study found with a key impact being the banning of fishing for three months. Some 25 to 40 percent of the inhabitants depend on fishery as their source of income.

The impacts on marine species are also tragic.

Like human beings, whales suffer from respiratory problems due to diesel odour. They come to the surface from time to time to breathe, so if they happen to surface through an oil film, this might result in the animal’s death,” Yvette Razafindrakoto, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) marine mammal specialist said.

Although raw phosphate is not poisonous, a huge amount of it being suddenly released into the ocean can be problematic. The expert team found signs of eutrophication in front of the shipwreck. "Phosphate acts like fertilizer, which leads to an extensive algal bloom. This depletes the oxygen in the surrounding marine environment and could cause the disappearance of species such as fish and molluscs" said Ralison.

Some common species of sand crabs were also only found sporadically and other species, such as various gastropods contained a very high amount of heavy metal, which is connected to higher mortality.

There are signs that the food chain in the area around Faux Cap is severely harmed. What this means for the coastal ecosystem and the villagers on the contaminated beaches can only be definitively estimated after the passage of some years, the report said.

Posted by Surfbirds at 9:52 AM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2009

Argentina, Paraguay make historic forest pledge

Argentina and Paraguay have made a historic pledge to save one of the world’s most threatened forests.

During a special ceremony at the XIIIth World Forestry Congress, the two governments agreed to work towards zero net deforestation in the Atlantic Forest, and to implement a package of measures that include national legislation to enforce those commitments.

Brazilian Ruby, Atlantic Forest © Chris Townend/ Birdseekers,
from the surfbirds galleries.

The Atlantic Forest initially spanned 500,000 square kms, shared between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. However, only 7.4 percent of the forest is left today – or about 35,000 square kilometers, making it one of the most threatened and fragment subtropical forests in the world.

To preserve the Atlantic Forest, Argentina will implement new land-use plans that will ensure the conservation of approximately 1.1 million hectares of the forest. Meanwhile, Paraguay has extended the country’s zero deforestation law to 2013, and is working to introduce economic alternatives to people who depend on the Atlantic Forest for their livelihood.

In Brazil, the government already has established a zero deforestation target by 2010 for the Atlantic Forest. Brazil also has pledged to establish protected areas covering at least 10 percent of the forest.

“This important commitment shows how coordinated policies between countries can address biodiversity loss and stop runaway climate change,” said Diego Moreno, Director General of Fundación Vida Silvestre, a WWF partner organization in Argentina.

“We can, as developing countries, make efforts to address this problem, but we need a strong climate deal in Copenhagen in December that can help with the implementation of these policies and contribute to the sustainable development of our region,” Moreno said.

Agricultural expansion, construction, growth of cities, and non-sustainable exploitation led the forest´s destruction. The Atlantic Forest is home to more than 20,000 plants species – of which 8,000 can be found nowhere else – and 1,000 bird species, 372 amphibians, 350 types of fish, 197 types of reptiles, and 270 mammals.

The Atlantic Forest borders major cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Asuncion, and also provides freshwater to millions of people. In addition, the forest houses the world-famous Iguazu Falls, on the border of Brazil and Argentina.

Despite conservation efforts, global deforestation continues at an alarming rate – 13 million hectares per year, or 36 football fields a minute. It generates almost 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and halting forest loss has been identified as one of the most cost-effective ways to keep the world out of the danger zone of runaway climate change

The announcement came as WWF challenged global leaders at the Congress to support a target of zero net deforestation by 2020.

“This is a global benchmark to avoid the looming climate change catastrophe and curb
the current alarming loss of species,” said WWF International’s Forests Director Rodney Taylor.

Posted by Surfbirds at 9:38 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2009

Rapid ice loss found in survey supports trend to summer ice free

New data, released by the Catlin Arctic Survey and WWF, provides further evidence of thinning Arctic Ocean sea ice, supporting the emerging thinking that the Ocean will be largely ice-free in summer within a decade.

The Catlin Arctic Survey, completed earlier this year, provides the latest ice thickness record, drawn from the only survey capturing surface measurements in the last winter and spring. The data collected by manual drilling and observations on a 450 kilometre route across the northern part of the Beaufort Sea suggests the survey area is comprised almost exclusively of first year ice. This is a significant finding because the region has traditionally contained older, thicker multi-year ice. The average thickness of the ice-floes measured 1.8 metres, a depth considered too thin to survive the next summer’s ice melt.

Tufted Puffin © Steve Bird, from the surfbirds galleries.
Incredible as it seems, we might see more records of this species in Europe.

The findings were analysed by the Polar Ocean Physics Group at the University of Cambridge, led by Professor Peter Wadhams, one of the world’s leading experts on sea ice cover in the North Pole region.

“With a larger part of the region now first year ice, it is clearly more vulnerable,” said Professor Wadhams. “The area is now more likely to become open water each summer, bringing forward the potential date when the summer sea ice will be completely gone.

“The Catlin Arctic Survey data supports the new consensus view, based on seasonal variation of ice extent and thickness, changes in temperatures, winds and especially ice composition, that the Arctic will be ice-free in summer within about 20 years, and that much of the decrease will be happening within 10 years.

“That means you’ll be able to treat the Arctic as if it were essentially an open sea in the summer and have transport across the Arctic Ocean.”

According to the scientists who have studied the data, the technique used by the explorers to take measurements on the surface of the ice has the potential to help ice modellers to refine predictions about the future survival or decline of the ice.

“This is the kind of scientific work we always wanted to support by getting to places in the Arctic which are otherwise nearly impossible to reach for research purposes,” said Expedition leader Pen Hadow. “It’s what modern exploration should be doing. Our on-the-ice techniques are helping scientists to understand better what is going on in this fragile ecosystem.”

The results of the analysis of more than 6000 measurements and observations collected by the survey in 73 days on the ice were unveiled today in London with warnings that rapid climate change in the Arctic risked the release of vast quantities of carbon stored in hydrates on the Arctic seabed or in frozen tundra soils.

“The arctic sea ice holds a central position in our Earth’s climate system. Take it out of the equation and we are left with a dramatically warmer world,” said Dr. Martin Sommerkorn from the WWF International Arctic Programme, which was a partner in the survey. “Such a loss of Arctic sea ice cover has recently been assessed to set in motion powerful climate feedbacks which will have an impact far beyond the Arctic itself – self perpetuating cycles, amplifying and
accelerating the consequences of global warming. This could lead to flooding affecting one quarter of the world’s population, substantial increases in greenhouse gas emissions from massive carbon pools, and extreme global weather changes."

“Today’s findings provide yet another urgent call for action to world leaders ahead of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen this December to rapidly and effectively curb global greenhouse gas emissions, with rich countries committing to reduce emissions by 40% by 2020.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:56 AM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2009

Zero net deforestation by 2020

WWF will highlight the urgency of global leaders committing to a zero net deforestation by 2020 target at the XIIIth World Forestry Congress, being held October 18th - 23rd 2009.

This includes a complementary climate change target of reducing gross forest-based greenhouse gas emissions by at least 75 per cent by 2020. Together these targets set a global benchmark for success in tackling the problem of deforestation at the scale and pace needed to prevent runaway climate change and avoid a catastrophic decline in biodiversity.

Three-toed Sloth, Atlantic Forest, Brazil © Chris Townend/ Birdseekers,
from the surfbirds galleries

“Zero Net deforestation” can be distinguished from "zero deforestation", which means no deforestation anywhere. The “zero net” target acknowledges that some forest loss could be offset by forest restoration. In other words, Zero net deforestation is not synonymous with a total prohibition on forest clearing. Rather, it leaves room for change in the configuration of the land-use mosaic, provided the net quantity, quality and carbon density of forests is maintained.

It recognizes that, in some circumstances, conversion of forests in one site may contribute to the sustainable development and conservation of the wider landscape (e.g. reducing livestock grazing in a protected area may require conversion of forest areas in the buffer zone to provide farmland to local communities).

However, to maximize the conservation of biodiversity and the reduction of GHG emissions we need to conserve as much of the world’s remaining natural forests as possible.

Zero Net Deforestation by 2020 needs also to be translated into a GHG emission reduction target. As forest destruction is responsible for close to 20 % of global emissions, it is imperative that action to reduce emissions from deforestation be taken as part of the Copenhagen Agreement. This must be done in a manner that promotes the protection of biodiversity and fully respects the rights of local and indigenous peoples. Countries should commit to reducing gross forest-based greenhouse gas emissions by at least 75% by 2020.

WWF is calling for a zero net deforestation by 2020 policy because:
• Deforestation has dire consequences on biodiversity, the climate and people
• This target will enhance international efforts and processes linked to biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and protection and sustainable management of forests
• To prevent runaway climate change, greenhouse gas emission rates must peak before 2020 and decline to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
• With an annual reduction of 10% of the current global deforestation rate, the world can achieve zero deforestation by 2020
• It is expected that a REDD mechanism will become operational with the start of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2013. This will give a period of eight years during which the mechanism can contribute to the 2020 target.

For more information, visit http://assets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2020_zero_net_deforest_brief.pdf

Atlantic Forests – An emblem of change

Achieving zero net deforestation in the Atlantic Forest will remove a critical threat to this highly fragmented forest.

The forest is a unique area home to an extraordinary variety of plants and animal life. It hosts more than 20,000 plants species – of which 8,000 can be found nowhere else – and 1,000 bird species, 372 amphibians, 350 types of fish, 197 types of reptiles, and 270 mammals.

Though it initially spanned 500,000 square kilometres, shared between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, only 7.4 percent of the forest is left today – or about 35,000 square kilometres. This makes it one of the most threatened subtropical forests in the world.

Agricultural expansion, construction, growth of cities, and non-sustainable exploitation of the forest have led to the vast deforestation of the Atlantic Forest.

For more information, visit http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/atlantic_forests.cfm or http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/conservation/forests/

Posted by Surfbirds at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2009

New species discovered in the Greater Mekong at risk of extinction

A bird eating fanged frog, a gecko that looks like it’s from another planet and a bird which would rather walk than fly, are among the 163 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong region last year that are now at risk of extinction due to climate change, says a new report launched by WWF ahead of UN climate talks in Bangkok.

During 2008 alone, scientists identified these rare and unique species within the jungles and rivers of the Greater Mekong, including a bird eating fanged frog that lies in streams waiting for prey, one of only four new species of musk shrew to be described in recent times, and a leopard gecko whose “other world” appearance – orange eyes, spindly limbs and technicolour skin – inspired the report’s title Close Encounters.


Leopard Gecko © World Wide Fund for Nature.
This image may not be reproduced or exploited in
any fashion without permission from WWF.

Such is the immense biodiversity of this region that some discoveries such as the tiger-striped pitviper were made by accident.

“We were engrossed in trying to catch a new species of gecko when my son pointed out that my hand was on a rock mere inches away from the head of a pitviper! We caught the snake and the gecko and they both proved to be new species,” said Dr Lee Grismer of La Sierra University in California.

Close Encounters spotlights species newly identified by science including 100 plants, 28 fish, 18 reptiles, 14 amphibians, 2 mammals and a bird, all discovered in 2008 within the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia that spans Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the south-western Chinese province of Yunnan.

The reluctant flyer, Nonggang babbler, was observed walking longer distances than flying. It would only use its wings when frightened.

“After millennia in hiding these species are now finally in the spotlight, and there are clearly more waiting to be discovered,”said Stuart Chapman, Director of the WWF Greater Mekong Programme.

But no sooner are these new species discovered than their survival is threatened by the devastating impacts of climate change, the report warns.

Recent studies show the climate of the Greater Mekong region is already changing. Models suggest continued warming, increased variability and more frequent and damaging extreme climate events.

Rising seas and saltwater intrusion will cause major coastal impacts especially in the Mekong River delta, which is one of the three most vulnerable deltas on Earth, according to the most recent International Panel on Climate Change report.

“Some species will be able to adapt to climate change, many will not, potentially resulting in massive extinctions,” said Chapman.

“Rare, endangered and endemic species like those newly discovered are especially vulnerable because climate change will further shrink their already restricted habitats,” he said.

Often these newly discovered species are highly dependent on a limited number of species for their survival. If they respond to climate change in a way that disrupts this closely evolved relationship it puts them at greater risk of extinction.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:08 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2009

Flying Turkmen leopards to bring species back to Caucasus

Two leopards from Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan are recovering after a long flight to their new homes in a Russian national park, as part of efforts to reintroduce the species into the Caucasus region.

The leopards were moved into spacious pens in Sochi National Park in south western Russia as part of a species reintroduction programme implemented by WWF and the Russian government.

They travelled more than 1,000 kilometers by plane and then by car, and are in good health despite the long trip and being put under anesthesia.

Upon arrival, the leopards were met by WWF, park staff and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Saturday and then released into large pens inside a special center created for them in the park.

The big cats (Panthera pardus saxicolor) will take part in the Programme for Persian Leopard Reintroduction, developed by experts from WWF and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, and approved by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology.

“There are very few leopards in the whole of Caucasus, only a few dozen,” said Igor Chestin, WWF-Russia CEO.“They exist with the help of some inflow from Iran, which has several hundred remaining. We want to create a new, northern-based nucleus of the population, so that together with the Southern nucleus in Iran it can guarantee sustainability for the leopard population both in the Russian Caucasus and neighboring countries.”

The Leopards are already actively moving around. They drink a lot of water, which is normal after anesthesia, and one of them on Sunday ate a slab of meat given to him by veterinarians. Both leopards are males.

“They will have time to adapt to the new conditions and start to feel ownership of the territory by the time females arrive ”, said Umar Semyonov, deputy director of the Sochi national park. “And it will be easier for females to adapt with support from males.”

The leopards from Turkmenistan will live in the Centre for breeding and rehabilitation in the Sochi national park. Only their descendants will be released into the wild in the Caucasus strict nature reserve.

“Areas for future release were carefully chosen to resemble as much as possible leopards’ habitat in Turkmenistan, both in terms of relief and prey,” said Professor Anatoly Kudaktin, programme scientific supervisor. “Conditions in the Caucasus will be even more comfortable in some ways than in Turkmenistan, and ungulate density is higher here.”

These types of leopards are endangered because most of their habitats were lost in the last century due to transformation and migration routes between remaining isolated populations are cut off due to infrastructure development, which has led to small fragmented populations that cannot easily breed.

Posted by Surfbirds at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2009

Flamingo paradise becomes largest protected international wetland in Andes

Celebrations in La Paz, Bolivia this week marked the recognition of an area of southern Bolivia as a wetland of international importance (or Ramsar Site), the largest declared in South America’s 7000 Km long Andes Mountains chain.

The Los Lipez wetlands complex encompasses 23 high altitude lakes and lagoons as well as geothermal springs and flooded grasslands unique to the southern Andes, known as “bofedales” in the southern tip of Bolivia, and neighboring Chile and Argentina.

Andean Flamingo © Ben Lascelles, from the surfbirds galleries

At 1.4 million hectares or about one third of the size of Switzerland, the new Los Lipez protected wetland is also more than 25 times the size of the Laguna Colorada, Bolivia’s first Ramsar Site designated in 1991. Laguna Colorada, bordering on Chile and among the most visited protected areas in the country, is now included within the new reserve.

Bolivia’s new Ramsar Site is important for the conservation of South American Flamingo species ranging over Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. In good years, Los Lipez provides nesting over summer for over 60% of the total population of the rare James Flamingo, and also hosts nearly 30% of the total population of Andean Flamingos.

Archeological investigations show hunter gather presence in the area from 6500 BC and also vestiges of the Inca conquest in the 1400s, most notably the Quechua language. It has historically been a centre of salt extraction as well as of quinoa and potato cultivation, with the bofedales providing prime sites for breeding of lama, alpaca and vicuna.

According to Denis Landenbergue, from WWF International Freshwater Programme, “the protection of Los Lipez is also important due to its location in an arid mountain region which is very exposed to the effects of climate change”.

Posted by Surfbirds at 5:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2009

Croatia and Hungary to establish Europe's largest river protected area

Croatia and Hungary have signed a declaration to establish a Trans-Boundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that will protect their shared biodiversity hotspot along the Mura, Drava and Danube Rivers. This paves the way to create Europe’s largest river protection area.

"This cross border agreement to protect an area of great natural importance will foster regional cooperation, international understanding and peace keeping – 20 years after the fall of the ‘Iron Curtain’”, said James P. Leape, Director General of WWF International.“It is not only a significant advance for the region but can serve as an example of how nature conservation visions can bring countries together”.

White-tailed Eagle © Mike Watson/Birdquest, from the surfbirds galleries

With rare large floodplain forests, river islands, gravel banks and oxbows, the new protected area covers a 500 kilometres section of the three rivers and about 630,000 hectares of unique natural and cultural landscapes. The protected area, which has been declared with help of WWF and partner organisations (e.g. Drava League, Green Action and Euronatur) is awaiting UNESCO approval to become a Biosphere Reserve in 2010.

This agreement has the potential to become the cornerstone for a five-country Biosphere Reserve shared with Austria, Slovenia and Serbia. This would create the world’s first Biosphere reserve, commonly shared by five countries.

“WWF greatly welcomes this step of the governments of Croatia and Hungary as a very important milestone for the conservation of Europe’s natural treasures,” said Gábor Magyar, CEO of WWF Hungary.

The area is home to the highest density of breeding pairs of the White-tailed Eagle in Europe and endangered species such as Little tern, Black stork, otters and sturgeons. It is also an important stepping stone for more than 250,000 migratory waterfowl every year. “The diversity of species in this region is one of Europe’s richest. Such areas can only be topped by the tropical rainforests,” says project leader Arno Mohl from WWF Austria.

Moreover, the river ecosystem is vital for the socio-economic well being of the trans-boundary region. It is a major source for good drinking water, for natural flood protection, sustainable forestry, agriculture and fisheries as well as having an important role in promoting eco-tourism, awareness raising and environmental education in the region.

“We encourage Austria, Slovenia and Serbia to join the proposed Biosphere Reserve with Croatia and Hungary to complete this green belt protecting the heart of Europe”, WWF stresses.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:31 AM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2009

Seabird saving invention snags top Smart Gear prize

A team of Australian inventors today will be awarded the $30,000 grand prize in the International WWF Smart Gear Competition for a fishing gear innovation that could save thousands of seabirds from dying accidentally on longlines each year.

Their invention – the underwater baited hook – allows longline vessels to set baited hooks underwater out of reach of seabirds. Designed for use on coastal tuna and swordfish vessels worldwide, the invention minimizes or eliminates accidental mortality of seabirds including albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, which are sometimes killed in the fishing gear when they attempt to seize bait attached to longline hooks.


Black-browed Albatross © James Lowen, from the surfbirds galleries

The grand prize winning team consists of Phil Ashworth, general manager of Australia-based Amerro Engineering and Dr. Graham Robertson, a principal research scientist with the Australian Antarctic Division. WWF and its partners made the awards announcement today at the World Fishing Exhibition in Vigo, Spain. Ashworth and Robertson beat out more than 71 other contenders from 27 countries to win the competition’s top prize.

Every year, unselective fishing catches non-target animals as ‘bycatch’ – an issue that causes the death of hundreds of thousands of marine animals, including seabirds. A recently published study defines bycatch as unmanaged or unused catch and on this basis it is estimated that bycatch accounts for at least 40% of what is taken from our oceans each year.

”With bycatch accounting for at least 40% of what is taken from our oceans each year, competitions like Smart Gear are critical opportunities to stimulate and showcase new technologies to reduce this threat,” said Dr. Robin Davies, Interim Leader of WWF’s Bycatch Initiative. “It is inspiring to see how many innovative ideas were submitted to the Smart Gear Competition because it reflects a dedicated and extremely diverse group of people who are committed to finding solutions to bycatch.”

Two other inventions to help reduce bycatch won runner-up prizes of $10,000 for their inventors. A team from Belgian’s Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO) won for their invention named Hovercran, which substantially reduces bycatch in shrimp trawls. The other runner-up is David Sterling, of Australia’s Sterling Trawl Gear Services, who developed a device called the Batwing Board, an alternative to the standard trawl door used by most trawl operators, which both reduces impact to the sea bottom by approximately 90 percent and reduces fuel consumption.

This year’s competition also features a special East African Marine prize of $7,500 which has been awarded to Samwel B. Bikkens of Kenya’s Moi University for his device known as “The Selector.”

The invention makes use of fish responses to light and water movement to address a bycatch problem in Lake Victoria, the largest lake in East Africa and an important fishery in the region. This is the second year that WWF has offered a special regional prize to encourage inventions that address issues in areas of critical concern.

“The creative inventions designed by the winners of the Smart Gear Competition promise practical, effective, everyday solutions to the problem of bycatch - a serious issue which threatens the health of our oceans,” say Michael Osmond, WWF’s senior program officer for fisheries, who directs the competition.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:16 AM | Comments (0)

September 7, 2009

Warming Arctic’s global impacts outstrip predictions

Warming in the Arctic could lead to flooding affecting one quarter of the world’s population, substantial increases in greenhouse gas emissions from massive carbon pools, and extreme global weather changes, according to a new WWF report.

The Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications report, released today, outlines dire global consequences of a warming Arctic that are far worse than previous projections. The unprecedented peer-reviewed report brings together top climate scientists who have assessed the current science on arctic warming.


Little Auk © Gary Crowder, from the surfbirds galleries

“What they found was a truly sobering picture,” said Dr. Martin Sommerkorn, senior climate change advisor for WWF’s Arctic programme. “What this report says is that a warming Arctic is much more than a local problem, it’s a global problem.”

“Simply put, if we do not keep the Arctic cold enough, people across the world will suffer the effects.” The report shows that numerous Arctic climate feedbacks – negative effects prompted by the impacts of warming - will make global climate change more severe than indicated by other recent projections, including those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 assessment.

The dramatic loss of sea ice resulting from the Arctic warming at about twice the rate of the rest of the world will influence atmospheric circulation and weather in the Arctic and beyond. This is projected to change temperature and precipitation patterns in Europe and North America, affecting agriculture, forestry and water supplies. In addition, the Arctic’s frozen soils and wetlands store twice as much carbon as is held in the atmosphere. As warming in the Arctic continues, soils will increasingly thaw and release carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and methane, at significantly increased rates. Levels of atmospheric methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas, have been increasing for the past two years, and it is suggested that the increase comes from warming arctic tundra. In a first-of-its kind assessment incorporating the fate of the ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica into global sea level projections, the WWF report concludes that sea-levels will very likely rise by more than one meter by 2100 - more than twice the amount given in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 assessment that had excluded the contribution of ice sheets from their projection. The associated flooding of coastal regions will affect more than a quarter of the world’s population.

“This report shows that it is urgently necessary to rein in greenhouse gas emissions while we still can,” Sommerkorn said. “If we allow the Arcticto get too warm, it is doubtful whether we will be able to keep these feedbacks under control.

WWF has joined with other NGOs to produce a model climate treaty for Copenhagen that gives the world a blueprint for achieving the kind of emissions cuts needed to likely avoid arctic feedbacks.

“We need to listen now to these signals from the Arctic, and take the necessary action in Copenhagenthis December to get a deal that quickly and effectively limits greenhouse gas emissions,” said James Leape, director general of WWF International.

In December 2009, the governments of 191 countries will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the final round of negotiations for a new global agreement on climate change. The first period of the current agreement, called the 'Kyoto Protocol', will end in three years, in December 2012. The negotiations in Copenhagenare supposed to approve a new legal framework for global climate action from 2013 onwards.

According to WWF, this framework must guarantee much deeper and more rapid emission cuts from industrialized countries, and financing to developing countries to enable them also to take climate action.

Posted by Surfbirds at 8:33 PM | Comments (0)

September 2, 2009

Himalayan forest saved

An initiative by Pakistan’s Supreme Court and a media and legal campaign has ended a proposed large tourism development in one of the best remaining representative areas of Himalayan forest in the Punjab.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court this month not only formalised the new government’s recent dissolution of the New Murree Development Project (NMDP), but ruled out any similar projects for the area in future.

“We are very happy with this outcome and want to thank the other groups that fought it with us and the judges who took the initiative to have it examined,” said Hammad Naqi Khan, WWF-Pakistan director for freshwater, climate and toxics.


Paradise Flycatcher © Kip Loades, from the surfbirds galleries

“This project has been a threat to this relatively pristine area which has been a reserve for more than a century and to the water reservoirs supplying Islamabad and Rawalpindi since 2004.”

The new Punjab government dissolved the New Murree Development Authority in June, following Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry used his authority in September 2005 to halt the project pending a judicial review of the proposal to turn the 1,663 hectare Patriata Reserved Forest near Murree in Rawalpindi District into a ‘tourist city of international standards’.

WWF became a party to the case and, with other local individuals launched a well-supported media and public campaign against the government-backed proposal and the authority formed to carry out the development.

The envisioned the construction of hotels, restaurants, golf courses, shopping centres etc. right in the middle of a healthy reserve forest which is important habitat for the (now very uncommon in the area) Common Leopard as well as 14 other mammal species, 200 plant species, 146 bird species including rare pheasants and the Paradise Flycatcher, 22 reptiles and six amphibians.

“Most significantly however, this area was a key part of one of the best remaining Himalayan temperate forest areas in Punjab” said Khan. “The forest guaranteed better quality water with lower levels of sediments and pollutants for Simlay and Mangla reservoirs.

“The environmental and economic significance of the forests for a country like Pakistan with a looming water crisis and an agriculture intensive developing economy far outweighed the benefits of what started out as mostly real estate speculation.

“We are also encouraged that the court and ultimately government looked sensitively and sensibly at the issues.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:15 AM | Comments (0)

Oil Spill a potential disaster for Australian marine life

WWF has warned that an oil spill off Australia’s North West coast may take a heavy toll on the region’s globally significant wildlife.

“This is a potential disaster for turtles, whales, dolphins, sea birds and sea snakes,” said Dr Gilly Llewellyn, WWF-Australia’s Conservation Manager.

“The oil and gas spill is still not under control and is expected to continue leaking for two months. Depending on winds, the slick could be pushed to atolls like Scott and Ashmore Reef – areas that are globally significant for their unique wildlife.”

Green Turtle © Rich Lindie, from the surfbirds galleries

Marine species such as green and loggerhead turtles are at serious risk from the pollution.

“Turtle hatchlings spend a huge amount of time on the surface of the water. Unfortunately, this means that recent hatchlings from the beaches and islands of North West Australia could be swimming into the slick,” said Dr Llewellyn.

The spill occurred at the edge of Australia’s continental shelf, an ocean highway used by loggerhead turtles, dolphins and endangered species such as the pygmy blue whale.

WWF warned that increasing the number of offshore oil and gas ventures in the region is significantly increasing the risk to marine life. “The more industrial activity, the higher the risk – it is a simple equation,” said Dr Llewellyn. “We urgently need to consider both short and long term ways of preventing and containing spills like this one, as well as reducing the footprint of industrial development on creatures like marine turtles.”

As the Federal Government prepares to release its environmental assessment of the proposed Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Barrow Island, a Class A nature reserve and important rookery for flatback turtles, WWF is calling on all parties to consider safer alternative locations for the massive project. “We strongly urge the Government and oil companies involved to move the proposed LNG plant to the mainland to reduce the risk of harm to our marine wildlife,” said Dr Llewellyn.

WWF has suggested Ashburton North, on the Western Australian coast may be more suitable for gas processing.

The location of oil and gas infrastructure would not be enough to ensure the safety of some of the world’s most diverse marine ecosystems. “To seriously address the long term health and survival of marine species we need to build a network of large marine sanctuaries for Australia’s north west which can act as a safety net, giving animals safe passage through the oceans.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:07 AM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2009

Hundreds of new species discovered in fragile Eastern Himalayas

Over 350 new species including the world’s smallest deer, a “flying frog” and a 100 million-year old gecko have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, a biological treasure trove now threatened by climate change.

A decade of research carried out by scientists in remote mountain areas endangered by rising global temperatures brought exciting discoveries such as a bright green frog (Rhacophorus suffry) which uses its red and long webbed feet to glide in the air.

One of the most significant findings was not exactly “new” in the classic sense. A 100-million year-old gecko, the oldest fossil gecko species known to science, was discovered in an amber mine in the Hukawng Valley in Himalayan regions of far northern Myanmar.

Red Panda © Arnold Meijer, from the surfbirds galleries

The WWF report The Eastern Himalayas – Where Worlds Collide details discoveries made by scientists from various organizations between 1998 and 2008 in a region reaching across Bhutan and north-east India to the far north of Myanmar as well as Nepal and southern parts of Tibet Autonomus Region (China).

“This enormous cultural and biological diversity underscores the fragile nature of an environment which risks being lost forever unless the impacts of climate change are reversed,” said Tariq Aziz, the leader of WWF's Living Himalayas Initiative.

“People and wildlife form a rich mosaic of life across this rugged and remarkable landscape, making it among the biologically richest areas on Earth. But the Himalayas are also among the most vulnerable to global climate change.”

In December world leaders will gather in Copenhagen to reach an agreement on a new climate deal, which will replace the existing Kyoto Protocol.

“Only an ambitious and fair deal based on an agreement between rich and poor countries can save the planet and its treasures such as the Himalayas from devastating climate change,” said Kim Carstensen, the Leader of the WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.

The Eastern Himalayas report also mentions the miniature muntjac, also called the “leaf deer” (Muntiacus putaoensis) which is the world’s oldest and smallest deer species.

Scientists initially believed the small creature found in the world’s largest mountain range was a juvenile of another species but DNA tests confirmed the light brown animal with innocent dark eyes was a distinct and new species.

The Eastern Himalayas re now known to harbour a staggering 10,000 plant species, 300 mammal species, 977 bird species, 176 reptiles, 105 amphibians and 269 types of freshwater fish. The region also has the highest density of the Bengaltiger and is the last bastion of the charismatic greater one-horned rhino.

WWF aims to conserve the habitat of endangered species such as the majestic snow leopard, Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, red pandas, takins, golden langurs, rare Gangetic dolphins and one-horned rhinos as well as thousands of plant and animal species left to discover in the Eastern Himalayas region.

Eastern Himalayas- Where Worlds Collide describes more than 350 new species discovered - including 244 plants, 16 amphibians, 16 reptiles, 14 fish, 2 birds, 2 mammals and at least 60 new invertebrates.

Historically, the rugged and largely inaccessible landscape of the Eastern Himalayas has made biological surveys in the region extremely difficult. As a result, wildlife has remained poorly surveyed and there are large areas that are still biologically unexplored.

Today further species continue to be unearthed and many more species of amphibians, reptiles and fish are currently in the process of being officially named by scientists. The Eastern Himalayas is certainly one of the last biological frontiers of Asiawith many new discoveries waiting to be made.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:35 AM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2009

Toothless laws encourage rising demand for Asian pangolin

Rising demand for pangolins, mostly from mainland China, compounded by lax laws is wiping out the unique toothless anteaters from their native habitats in Southeast Asia, according to a group of leading pangolin experts.

Illegal trade in Asian pangolin meat and scales has caused the scaly anteaters to disappear from large swathes of Cambodia, Viet Namand Lao PDR, concluded a panel of experts whose findings were announced this week by the wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC.

“China has a long history of consuming pangolin as meat and in traditional medicine,” the report states. “Due to continual demand and the decreasing Chinese wild population, in the past few years pangolin smuggling from Southeast Asia has resulted in great declines in these producing countries’ wild populations, as well.”

Although the animals are protected under national legislation in all Asian range states, and have been prohibited from international trade through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 2002, this legislation is having little impact on the illicit trade.

Pangolins are the most frequently encountered mammals seized from illegal traders in Asia, and are highly unusual in not possessing teeth.

“Pangolins, like the laws designed to protect them, lack bite,” commented Chris R. Shepherd, Acting Director for TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

“Pangolin populations clearly cannot stand the incessant poaching pressure, which can only be stopped by decisive government-backed enforcement action in the region.”

According to pangolin hunters and traders, there are so few pangolins left in forests throughout Cambodia, Viet Namand Lao PDR, they are now sourcing animals from their last remaining strongholds in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Recent large seizures back up these reports. They include 24 tonnes of frozen pangolins from Sumatra, Indonesia, seized in Viet Nam this March and 14 tonnes of frozen animals seized in Sumatra this April. There have also been recent instances of African pangolins seized in Asia.

“Pangolins save us millions of dollars a year in pest destruction,” says Dr Simon Stuart, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. “These shy creatures provide a vital service and we cannot afford to overlook their ecological role as natural controllers of termites and ants.”

The key to tackling the pangolin crisis is better enforcement of existing national and international laws designed to protect pangolins, better monitoring of the illegal trade, and basic research to find where viable pangolin populations still exist and whether ravaged populations can recover given adequate protection, according to the report.

Notes: There are four species of pangolin in Asia; Thick-tailed Pangolin Manis crassicaudata, Philippine Pangolin M. culionensis, Sunda Pangolin M.javanica and Chinese Pangolin M. pentadactyla.

Posted by Surfbirds at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

July 9, 2009

Poaching crisis as rhino horn demand booms in Asia

Rhino poaching worldwide is poised to hit a 15-year-high driven by Asian demand for horns, according to new research.

Poachers in Africa and Asia are killing an ever increasing number of rhinos - an estimated two to three a week in some areas - to meet a growing demand for horns believed in some countries to have medicinal value, according to a briefing to a key international wildlife trade body by WWF, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and their affiliated wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

White Rhino © Ian Merrill, from the surfbirds galleries

An estimated three rhinos were illegally killed each month in all of Africa from 2000-05, out of a population of around 18,000. In contrast, 12 rhinoceroses now are being poached each month in South Africa and Zimbabwe alone, the three groups told the 58th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Standing Committee this week in Geneva.

“Illegal rhino horn trade to destinations in Asia is driving the killing, with growing evidence of involvement of Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai nationals in the illegal procurement and transport of rhino horn out of Africa,” the briefing states.

Meanwhile, rhino poaching is also problematic in Asia. About 10 rhinos have been poached in India and at least seven in Nepal since January alone—out of a combined population of only 2,400 endangered rhinos.

“Rhinos are in a desperate situation,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of the Species Programme, WWF-International. “This is the worst rhino poaching we have seen in many years and it is critical for governments to stand up and take action to stop this deadly threat to rhinos worldwide. It is time to crack down on organized criminal elements responsible for this trade, and to vastly increase assistance to range countries in their enforcement efforts.”

The situation is particularly dire in Zimbabwe where such problems are threatening the success of more than a decade’s work of bringing rhino populations back to healthy levels.

The briefing concludes that governments need “an accurate and up-to-date picture of the status, conservation and trade in African and Asian rhinoceroses, as well as the factors driving the consumption of rhinoceros horn, so that firm international action can be taken to arrest this immediate threat to rhinoceros populations worldwide.”

“Rhino populations in both Africa and Asia are being seriously threatened by poaching and illegal trade,” said Dr Jane Smart, Director of IUCN’s Biodiversity Conservation Group. “IUCN and its African and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups are working hard to gather data and information on rhinos so that CITES parties can make informed decisions and ensure that rhinos are still here for generations to come.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:20 PM | Comments (0)

Kamchatka geyser’s sudden eruption a peculiar challenge for scientists

The sudden eruption of a new geyser in Russia’s Far East has taken scientists by surprise, underlining the distinctiveness of the remote but threatened Kamchatka peninsula.

The new geyser – dubbed “Prikolny” or “Peculiar” in English – has appeared in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, in Uzon Caldera, 14 kms away from the world-renowned Valley of Geysers.


Kamchatka's new geyser © World Wildlife Fund

Watch the geyser here

Research on the geyser’s sudden appearance is ongoing, although scientists already have presented theories on its origin, including that serious changes affecting the entire Uzon thermal field caused its appearance, or that it was created from rising water levels in the field’s spring.

Currently, scientists are measuring the temperature of the water, the periodicity of its cycle, its diameter, the depth of its underground structure and its exact geographical position to better understand the Prikolny Geyser.

A geyser is a hot spring characterized by intermittent discharges of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by a vapor phase (steam), and are generally found in volcanic areas. Geyser activity is marked by periodical repetitions of phases of rest, water ejection, erupting of a water-steam mixture, and ending in calm exhalation until ceasing entirely.

The Prikolny Geyser is unique because it uses the same water over and over again. Water from the five meter fountain gets back into the funnel and then it "spits out" the same water again.

In Kamchatka, a large geyser field – the only in Eurasia– was discovered in 1941 in the Geyser River valley (Valley of the Geysers) near Kikhpinich volcano. Altogether Kamchatka had 100 geysers (20 of them of significant size) before a mudslide covered them in June 2007.

There are four large geysers fields in the world: in Iceland, New Zealand, the US and Kamchatka. The last time a new geyser appeared on Kamchatka was in the1960s, and one last appeared in the United States’ Yellowstone National Park in the early 20th century.

WWF has worked in Kamchatka for years in efforts to preserve the region’s unique volcanoes and thermal springs, which also houses a large population of polar bears. Kamchatka’s rich natural resources face threats from poaching, destructive tourism, and potential oil developments.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:51 AM | Comments (0)

July 2, 2009

Norway helps endangered eel wriggle from fish nets

Norwegian fisheries regulators in a landmark decision have banned all fishing of the critically endangered European eel starting in 2010 and cut 2009 catch quotas by 80 percent.

The Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries also has announced that all recreational fishing of European eels would stop on July 1st, as stock of the eels hit historically low levels and continue to decline. The decision represents a major conservation decision that is a model for proper fisheries management, according to WWF-Norway.

Puffin © Nigel Blake, from the surfbirds galleries

“The Minister of Fisheries is making an important, and the only right choice, and is showing international leadership in fisheries management,” said Rasmus Hansson, WWF-Norway CEO. “Norway’s Fisheries Minister, Helga Pedersen, has used every occasion to point out that Norwayis the best in the world on fisheries management, and by making bold moves like this they have probably earned the title.”

The European eel is listed as critically endangered in Norway and on the IUCN Redlist. Stocks are at historically low levels with spawning levels at between one and five percent from their 1970 level, with only the Atlantic area seeing higher levels. In the Baltic Sea, including Kattegatand Skagerrak, indices show a sharp decline in young yellow eel stocks since 1950.

As early as 1999, The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) stated that the eel stock was outside safe biological limits, and that the fishery was unsustainable. Yet, fishing has been ongoing for decades, despite scientific advice.

“A total fishing ban is the strongest measure the fisheries management can use, and when a species is critically endangered one must use the strongest and most efficient measures. This protection should have been implemented many years ago, and we are hoping that the long-overdue protection is not too late,” Hansson said.

A successful rebuilding strategy for the eel, both in Norwayand the EU, will have a substantial impact on eel numbers in Norwegian waters. Consequently, Norway has a great responsibility in influencing both the management and the research that is being undertaken in Europe. In Europe, fishing for eel continues, despite the very severe and depleted state of the stock.

“WWF urges Ms Pedersen to fight for the EU taking similar bold measures in their fisheries management, and WWF will fight to stop the eel fishery in the EU,” Hansson said.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:09 AM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2009

Scotland’s Climate law sparks hope for good Copenhagen deal

Scotland’s decision to cut its emissions by 42 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050, on 1990 levels, sets an example for developed countries and sparks new hopes that world leaders would be able to agree on a successful climate change deal in Copenhagen, WWF said.

Through its ambitious announcement, Scotland becomes the first developed country to meet the demands of science and developing nations, which want the richer countries to take responsibility for bringing the world to dangerously high emission levels.

"At least one nation is prepared to aim for climate legislation that follows the science,” Kim Carstensen, the leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.

"Scotland made the first step to show others that it can be done. We now need others to follow.”

Scientists say industrialized countries as a whole need to reduce the emission by 25 to 40 percent compared to 1990 level by 2020, in order to prevent the world from overheating, resulting in catastrophic impacts.

In Scotland politicians from all parties have taken these recommendations seriously and agreed on the legislation.

"Scotland may be a small nation, but it has proved today that it is prepared to stand up and be counted. This new law sets a benchmark that every industrialised country will need to live up to. If Scotland can show this level of ambition then so can plenty of others,” said WWF Scotland's Director, Dr Richard Dixon,

More than 190 countries will meet in Copenhagen in December this year to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which currently regulates the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Snow Bunting, Highland, Cairngorm © Tom Marshall, from the surfbirds galleries
at the end of its southerly distribution in Scotland - winner or loser as our climate changes?

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:25 AM | Comments (0)

Disappearing dolphins clamour for attention at whale summit

Small whales are disappearing from the world’s oceans and waterways as they fall victim to fishing gear, pollution, and habitat loss – compounded by a lack of conservation measures such as those developed for great whales, according to a new WWF report.

Small cetaceans: The Forgotten Whales, released 24th June 2009, states that inadequate conservation measures are pushing small cetaceans – such as dolphins, porpoises and small whales – toward extinction as their survival is overshadowed by efforts to save their larger cousins.

Common Dolphin © Alex Bevan, from the surfbirds galleries

“Although great whale species of the world are by no means secure and still require conservation attention, the situation is just as critical for these smaller, seemingly forgotten species,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of the Species Programme for WWF-International.

While great whales are now protected (to an extent) by the international commercial whaling moratorium, in effect since 1986, small cetacean hunts continue around the globe, largely unmanaged and unchecked by the international community.

For example, the hunt of 16,000 Dall’s porpoises every year in Japan is considered unsustainable. Yet several of the pro-whaling nations taking part in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting this week object to discussing small cetacean conservation.

“It is time for the IWC and its members to take full responsibility for the conservation future of all whales great and small. The IWC – and the world - must not ignore the small whales of our planet until it is too late,” said Dr. Lieberman.

A significant disadvantage smaller whale species face compared to great whales is a crippling lack of data on their numbers and habits. Forty of the 69 small cetacean species, or 58 percent, are classified by IUCN as ‘data deficient’, meaning that there is not enough information available to even determine whether they are threatened or not.

“It must never be assumed that “Data Deficient” means that the species is out of danger— rather, it means that the world’s top scientists just don’t know,” the report says.

Only four out of 15 Species, or 27 percent, of great whales are listed as data deficient, even though many of the reasons why smaller whale species are difficult to study also apply to the great whales.

According to the IUCN Red List, population trends – whether the species is increasing or decreasing in number – are unknown for 60 of the 69 small cetacean species. The nine remaining species are in decline.

Great whales also have more protection in international conservation efforts. Almost all great whale species, for example, have the strongest level of protection offered by CITES – a conservation convention which regulates international trade in protected wildlife species – compared to just 17 percent of dolphin and porpoises species. In addition, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) protects 87 percent of great whale species, but less than half of smaller whale species.

Small cetaceans fulfill a critical role in their environment, stabilising and ensuring a healthy and productive ecosystem. They also are part of the highly profitable whale and dolphin watching industry worldwide, which generates over US $1.5 billion each year.

“If small cetaceans are not central to negotiations on current whaling, it is possible that conservation successes achieved for great whales could simply result in a shift of problems from great whales to small cetaceans,” the report states.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:18 AM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2009

Mekong dolphins on the brink of extinction

Pollution in the Mekong River has pushed the local population of Irrawaddy dolphins to the brink of extinction, a new report by WWF has revealed.

The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) population inhabits a 190km stretch of the Mekong River between Cambodia and Lao PDR. Since 2003, the population has suffered 88 deaths of which over 60 percent were calves under two weeks old.The latest population is estimated between 64 and 76 members.

“Necropsy analysis identified a bacterial disease as the cause of the calf deaths. This disease would not be fatal unless the dolphin’s immune systems were suppressed, as they were in these cases, by environmental contaminants,” said Dr Verné Dove, report author and veterinarian with WWF Cambodia.

Researchers found toxic levels of pesticides such as DDT and environmental contaminants such as PCBs during analysis of the dead dolphin calves. These pollutants may also pose a health risk to human populations living along the Mekong that consume the same fish and water as the dolphins.

“These pollutants are widely distributed in the environment and so the source of this pollution may involve several countries through which the Mekong River flows. WWF Cambodia is currently investigating the source of the environmental contaminants,” said Dr Dove.

High levels of mercury were also found in some of the dead dolphins. Mercury, suspected to be from gold mining activities, directly affects the immune system making the animals more susceptible to infectious disease.

“A trans-boundary preventative health programme is urgently needed to manage the disease affected animals in order to reduce the number of deaths each year,” said Seng Teak, Country Director of WWF Cambodia.

Limited genetic diversity due to inbreeding was another factor in the dolphin deaths.

“The Mekong River dolphins are isolated from other members of their species and they need our help. Science has shown that if the habitat of cetaceans is protected then populations can show remarkable resilience,” said Mr Teak.

The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species since 2004.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:05 AM | Comments (0)

New Russian Arctic Park to protect key polar bear habitat

Russia will create a new 1.5 million hectare park in the Arctic, a central area for the Barents and Kara Sea polar bear populations.

The ‘Russian Arctic’ park is located on the northern part of Novaya Zemlya, a long island that arcs out into the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and Kara Seas. It also includes some adjacent marine areas.


Polar bear © Paul Jones, from the surfbirds galleries

WWF has long been lobbying for the park, which is also a key area for walrus, wild reindeer and bird population. The park creation excludes all industrial activities.

“This is exactly the sort of thing we need to see from Arctic governments,” says Neil Hamilton Director of WWF International’s Arctic Programme.

“The only way these Arctic populations are going to survive the ecological havoc caused by global warming is by providing them with enough breathing room.”

“If industrial activity is kept far enough from key habitat, the animals have a chance.”

“We also need urgent global action on climate change to ensure that the parks stay cold enough for animals such as polar bears and wild reindeer.”

While WWF is pleased with the park creation, it notes that the protected area is smaller than the 5 million hectares initially planned.

“Despite the fact that the Russian Arctic Park is our big achievement, we’re sorry that not all planned territories were included in the park area,” says Oleg Sutkaitis, Head of the Barents Sea Ecoregional Office for WWF Russia.

“Franz Josef Landand Victoria Island were crossed out from the project, but we will now work on widening the park’s borders.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:00 AM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2009

Paper protection not enough for Vietnam’s marine turtles

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 23 May 2009—Marine turtles are vanishing from Viet Nam’s waters and illegal trade is largely to blame says a new study by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

An assessment of the marine turtle trade in Viet Nam, launched to mark World Turtle Day found that large marine turtles are now virtually absent from Viet Nam’s waters except for Green Turtles around the Con Dao Islands National Park.

A government-owned souvenir shop found selling illegal turtle products was a potent symbol of how a national ban on turtle products enacted in 2002 has been undermined by a lack of enforcement.

Traders in all Viet Nam’s coastal localities reported that catches of local marine turtles, especially Hawksbill Turtles, were becoming rare, and even the few caught were smaller than in previous years.

Green Turtle © Rich Lindie , from the surfbirds galleries

“Without effective enforcement of the laws, the future for marine turtles in Vietnamese waters looks very bleak.” says Tom Osborn, Acting Director of TRAFFIC’s Greater Mekong Programme.

A 2002 TRAFFIC study found that trade in marine turtles had extended into a large-scale wholesale export market and a Ministry of Fisheries report estimated the combined take across the entire Vietnamese coastline at 4,000 marine turtles annually.

Shortly after these surveys, the Viet Nam Government prohibited the exploitation of marine turtles but the current TRAFFIC survey finds the trade has continued, though at a reduced rate.

Government enforcement of illegal marine turtle catching, processing and trade has been uneven at best—evidenced by a great decrease in the number of outlets and marine turtle products on display in some areas and an increase in others, particularly in some newly developing tourist areas.

In Ha Tien and Ho Chi Minh City, traders cited Indonesiaand Malaysiaas their main sources of turtles and raw scutes (the large scales on the turtle’s carapace or shell).

All international trade in marine turtles is banned under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Already threatened by habitat degradation, accidental or opportunistic capture by fishermen and the direct take of nesting females and their eggs, whole turtles are also stuffed and, in the case of Hawksbill Turtles, their shells turned into jewellery, fans and handbags, known as bekko.

According to the report, a lack of product more than law enforcement explains the steady downturn in the number of outlets selling marine turtle products.

Green Turtle meat was rarer than in 2002, and its price had increased significantly compared with those recorded during a 2002 TRAFFIC survey. In a Ha Tien market, after allowing for inflation, its price had more than doubled by 2008, pushing it into the luxury meat category.

However, in some towns, the study found bekko workshops and stores, including a government-owned souvenir shop, selling hundreds of marine turtle products operating in plain view of authorities.

The study found that businessmen in some areas were aware that it was illegal to capture, process and sell marine turtle products but there had been no action taken to confiscate or destroy the illegal items on sale.

The study said that most indicators pointed towards a falling demand, but vendors continued to report good sales for most marine turtle products indicating that the trade still posed a serious threat.

The study recommends that authorities look into finding alternative sources of income for communities dependent on the sale of marine turtle products, expand existing awareness programmes and confiscate and destroy all marine turtle products that remain on sale.

Notes:
All five species of marine turtles occurring in Vietnamese waters are considered at
risk of extinction by IUCN:

Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricate Critically Endangered
Leatherback Dermochelys coriacea Critically Endangered
Green Turtle Chelonia mydas Endangered
Loggerhead Turtle Caretta caretta Endangered
Olive Ridley Lepidochelys olivacea Vulnerable

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2009

Logging concessions set to assault Sumatra orangutan sanctuary

A massive Sumatran logging operation is to include large portions of the only areas that Sumatran orangutans have ever successfully been re-introduced into the wild, conservation groups active in Jambi province in Sumatra have learned.

Also threatened in former designated buffer areas to the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park are a quarter of the last critically endangered Sumatran tigers left in the wild, two threatened indigenous communities and a significant population of endangered Sumatran elephants.

Orangutan © Sam Woods, Tropical Birding, from the surfbirds galleries

Conservation groups WARSI, the Sumatran Tiger Conservation and Protection Foundation, the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the Zoological Society of London and WWF-Indonesia learned have been highly critical of an environmental impact assessment saying it takes no account of key wildlife and indigenous peoples’ needs and should be rejected.

Loggers have pushed a legally questionable logging access road through both areas last year, opening up access for rampant illegal logging and clearing linked with increased fatalities as tigers are driven into closer contact with humans.

Less than one third of the 2007 forest cover is within the National Park, with the areas most preferred by animals and indigenous peoples lying in the surrounding lowland forests now vulnerable to clearing.

“It took scientists decades to discover how to successfully reintroduce critically endangered orangutans from captivity into the wild. It could take just months to destroy an important part of their new habitat,” said Peter Pratje of the Frankfurt Zoological Society.

“These lowland forests are excellent habitat for orangutans, which is why we got government permission to release them here beginning in 2002. The apes are thriving now, breeding and establishing new family groups.”

Between 1985 and 2007, Sumatra island lost 12 million hectares of natural forest, a 48 percent loss in 22 years, with the accelerating rampage provoking international concern over the loss of biodiversity, smoke hazards from forest fires and peat swamp and soil degradation from clearing that made Indonesia one of the largest sources of the emissions causing climate change.

The Indonesian Ministries of Forestry, Environment, Public Works and Interior, as well as the governors of all 10 Sumatran provinces, including Jambi, announced at the World Conservation Congress in Spain last year that they were committed to protecting areas of the island with “high conservation values.”

The Bukit Tigapuluh landscape is widely regarded as one of Indonesia’s key areas of biodiversity. “Bukit Tigapuluh’s forest have great potential for earning avoided deforestation credits, due to the high co-benefits of biodiversity and an indigenous community, as well as high avoidable emissions.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:40 AM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2009

‘Mountains of the Moon’ get nod for international wetlands protection

Part of the Rwenzori Mountains – home to some of the last glaciers in Africa and likely Ptolemy’s ‘Lunis Montae’ – received international recognition on Wednesday as a protected wetland site under the international Ramsar convention, a major conservation decision that will help protect the region’s vast ecological riches.

The Rwenzori Ramsar Site covers a 99,500 hectares area of the mountain region located in western Uganda and bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the DRC, the mountains are part of Virunga National Park, which is also designated as Ramsar and recognized as a World Heritage Site.


Chimpanzee © Andrew Moon, from the surfbirds galleries

The Rwenzori region received Ramsar Site designation primarily for three main reasons: it contains important wetland bogs that support plant and animal life, it contains dozens of endemic threatened and restricted range species – of which many are endangered such as the Rwenzori Duiker (Cephalophus rubidus), Elephants (Loxodonta africana), Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), Rwenzori Otter Shrew (Micropotamogale ruwenzorii) – and because many of those species play an integral role in maintaining the region’s biological diversity.

WWF International's Freshwater Programme has been supporting wetlands conservation in Uganda since 2000, including for the designation of another nine of Uganda’s Ramsar Sites in 2006.

The Rwenzori Mountains are one of the only three places in Africa with unique high altitude wetlands, including glaciers at the equator – the other two being Mount Kilimandjaro in Tanzania, and Mount Kenya in Kenya. Located in the western arm of the African Rift Valley, the Rwenzori Mountains act as a natural water tower for the Nile River basin. In 300 AD, the Alexandrine geographer Claudius Ptolemy suggested that the Nile had its source from snow peaks on the Equator, the ‘Lunis Montae’ or ‘Mountains of the Moon’.

But the fascination and reverence for the Rwenzori Mountains has continued since Ptolemy’s time. In 1888, H. M. Stanley while on expedition at the shores of L. George sighted the snow peaks of Rwenzori. Early mountaineers, most notably the Duke of Abruzzi in 1906, fighting upwards through dense forests of trees and bamboos, discovered a surreal landscape beautiful foliage, surrounded by spectacular lakes and equatorial glaciers flowed down from the snow capped peaks.

Since 1906, the Rwenzori Mountains have become a paradise for botanists and mountaineers alike. Research has revealed a wealth of endemic species in the range within a series of remarkable concentric, altitudinal, vegetation zones.

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There currently are 1,842 wetland sites, totaling 180 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, according to the Convention’s website.

The Ramsar designation has major conservation significance for the Rwenzori Mountains which for years have suffered because of climate change. The region’s high altitude glaciers are rapidly melting, from 6.5km2 in 1906 when it was first surveyed by Duke of Abruzzi to 0.96±0.34km2 in 2003, according to a report published by Dr. Richard Taylor in 2006. This in turn affects wetlands in the lower altitudes that provide a needed water supply for people and the species living in the area.

“The Rwenzori Mountains are very important for the ecology and the hydrology of the region; in particular, they supply water to Lake George, Uganda’s first Ramsar Site (designated in 1988), which has one of the highest fish diversity in Africa,” said Paul Mafabi, Commissioner for Wetlands and the Ramsar Administrative Authority in Uganda.

Denis Landenbergue, Wetlands Conservation Manager at WWF International added that “together, the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda and the Virunga in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo offer the potential to become Africa’s second transboundary Wetland of International Importance”

Since the 1960s, the Rwenzori Mountains have been increasingly threatened by the demands of a growing population, and the cultivation of ever-steeper land below the protected area boundary caused serious soil erosion. This has been generating increasing siltation or rivers and lakes, which has seriously affected the livelihood of people, especially fishermen.

In 2005, WWF in collaboration with the Uganda Wildlife Authority commissioned a 3.2 million USD project to support and maintain the integrity of the Rwenzori Mountains ecosystems. The project has since strengthened the management capacity of UWA, registering reduced illegal activities, improved park management infrastructure, helped develop local environmental action plans, restored degraded sites through forest landscape restoration and facilitated trans-boundary dialogue and community based resources management. The relationship between the Park Management Authority and the surrounding communities also has improved through awareness raising, revenue sharing and resource access schemes.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:51 AM | Comments (0)

May 8, 2009

Vast reserve to protect remote Prince Edward Islands

South Africa’s declaration to establish one of the world’s largest Marine Protected Area’s (MPA) around its Prince Edward Islands, is a marine conservation achievement of global importance which will help protecting a suite of spectacular wildlife, including albatrosses, penguins and killer whales.

The announcement of Environment Minister Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Schalkwyk, came after many years of close cooperation between the government and WWF.

The Islands, which consist of Prince Edward and Marion Islands, are located almost 2000 km south of South Africa in the Southern Ocean, and form an important global biodiversity hotspot, which was subject to rampant poaching during the late 1990’s.

King Penguin © Rich Lindie, from the surfbirds galleries

“This is a historic day in marine conservation in South Africa. All of South Africa’s current MPAs are located very close inshore. The commitment of the first large offshore MPA moves South Africa into a new era of marine conservation,” Dr Deon Nel, head of the WWF Sanlam Living Waters Partnership, said.

The Prince Edward Islands is among the world’s most important and diverse regions. But the islands, home to albatrosses, penguins and killer whales, have been threatened by illegal and irresponsible fishing practices in the past. The illegal fishing vessels around the PEIs were targeting Patagonian Toothfish. And the Albatross species were killed as bycatch in these operations.

Given the scarcity of land masses in the Southern Ocean, sub-Antarctic islands contain vast populations of seals and seabirds, which use these islands to breed and moult and are therefore critical to the conservation of such species

The islands support some 13% of King Penguins worldwide, and five Species of Albatross breed there together with 14 species of petrels and five other species.

“South Africa has made a globally significant commitment to our oceans through its intention to declare this large MPA.,” Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International said.

“In particular, South Africa plays a key role with several other countries including Australia, France and New Zealand, in protecting the amazing biodiversity and commercially important fisheries of the sub-Antarctic and, through this, helps to establish a fully representative, viable and effective MPA network for the Southern Ocean.”

The Biodiversity of the Island

At 180 000 square kilometres the Prince Edward Islands will be the fourth largest MPA in the world.

The world’s 5 largest Marine Protected Areas:
1 = North Western Hawaiian Islands (USA) = 363 000 km square.
2 = Great Barrier Reef at 344 000 km square
3 = Phoenix Islands at 184 000 km square.
4 = (To be) Prince Edward Islands at 180 000km square.
5 = Macquarie Island at 162 000 km square

Given the scarcity of land masses in the Southern Ocean, sub-Antarctic islands contain vast populations of seals and seabirds, which use these islands to breed and moult. This means that these islands are critical to the conservation of such species as they are forced to aggregate in high densities where they are vulnerable to disturbance and the threat of introduced predators or pathogens.

Three species of seal breed at the Prince Edward Islands, namely; Southern Elephant Seal and the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Fur Seal. The islands support 33% (16 000 animals) of the world population of sub-Antarctic Fur Seals and 0.2 % (760 animals) of Antarctic Fur Seals. 0.26% (1800 animals) of the Southern Elephant Seals population is supported on Prince Edward Islands.

Four Species of penguin breed at the Prince Edward Islands: King, Gentoo, Macaroni and Southern Rockhopper. The islands support some 13% (450 000 birds) of King Penguins worldwide, 4% (750 000 birds) of Macaroni Penguins and 0,5% (3000 birds) of Gentoo Penguins. The population of Southern Rockhopper Penguins is about 5% of the world population. Penguins dominate the avian biomass on the islands.

Five Species of Albatross breed on the Prince Edward Islands, together with 14 species of petrels and five other species. The islands support 44% (7300 birds) of all Wandering Albatross, 10% (21 800 birds) of Grey Headed Albatross, 21% (15 000 birds) of Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross and approximately 10% (4400 birds) of Dark-mantled and 2% (700 birds) of Light-mantled Sooty Albatross.

Taken from: Chown, S & Froneman, P. (2008) The Prince Edward Islands – Land-sea
interactions in a changing environment.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:08 AM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2009

Wadi Wurayah becomes the UAE’s first protected mountain area

Wadi Wurayah Fujairah has officially been declared the UAE’s first protected mountain area by His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Fujairah. The decree N°2 of 2009 comes after the completion of a successful three year project launched in 2006 by Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS) - WWF and Fujairah Municipality with the support of HSBC Bank Middle East ltd, to assess the importance of Wadi Wurayah for nature conservation and to establish it as a protected area.

The wadi is a 129 kilometre-square catchment that occupies the northern reaches of Fujairah between the towns of Masafi, Khor Fakkan and Bidiyah. Due to its permanent water resource the area has been used by local communities for thousands of years and is home to rare and endangered species such as the Arabian Tahr and Arabian Leopard which are vital to the UAE’s national heritage. The wadi is located within the Ecoregion 127 “Arabian Highlands and Shrublands” one of the WWF Global 200 Ecoregions regrouping the richest, rarest and most distinctive of the earth's natural habitats.

Indian Roller, common in the UAE © Mike Hunter, from the surfbirds galleries

Commenting on the landmark achievement, Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Managing Director EWS-WWF stated, “Wadi Wurayah is of considerable ecological significance allowing among the rarest species found in the UAE, Arabian Peninsular and the world to survive this harsh climate. Over the past three years we have revealed the presence of 12 species of mammals, 73 species of birds, 17 species of reptiles and amphibians. 1 species of fish and 74 invertebrate families, of which 11 new species for science. More than 300 species of plants have been recorded in the area, including species that are found only in wetlands such as Typha dominginsis and the unique orchid species of UAE: Epipactis veratrifolia.

“Wadi Wurayah is an extremely important part of the UAE’s national heritage and our on-going discoveries of the species residing in the area, and support of the locals is a testament to that fact,” said Dr. Christophe Tourenq, Science and Research Manager at EWS-WWF and manager of the Wadi Wurayah project. “At the start of the project we discovered that the endangered mountain wildlife was increasingly threatened, either by direct transformation or through unregulated recreational use. This decree will go a long way in ensuring the wildlife and area is closely monitored and protected for future generations. In 1995, His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, ruler of Fujairah, created the first marine protected areas of the UAE. The declaration of Wadi Wurayah as the first mountain protected area of the country shows the commitment of the Fujairah government to the conservation of their natural and cultural heritage. The project illustrates also perfectly the collaboration between a local NGO, a local government to protect our heritage with the support of the private sector.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:55 AM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2009

Oil and gas consortium will suspend seismic activities to protect gray whales

A major oil and gas consortium has agreed to suspend planned seismic testing off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East, a crucial feeding area for the critically endangered Western Gray whale.

The decision followed a recommendation today by a major international scientific panel to halt further oil and gas development in and around the feeding area of the Western Gray Whale.

During a meeting of the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP), Sakhalin Energy - a partnership between Shell, Gasprom and other shareholders - agreed to cancel its proposed 2009 seismic activities, despite having already put plans in place for the work.

Gray Whale © Philip Precey, from the surfbirds galleries

The WGWAP, convened by the IUCN and comprising 11 eminent scientists, met this week with representatives of Shell, Sakhalin Energy, Russian government officials, project lenders and environmental NGOs to review the most recent science on the whales.

The Western Gray Whale is one of the world’s most endangered whales, with only 25 breeding females remaining. The whale feeds only in the summer, and its crucial primary feeding area is offshore Piltun Bay at the north eastern part of Sakhalinshelf.

New science presented during this week’s meeting revealed a significant decline in sightings and behaviour changes of the whales in their primary feeding area near PiltunBay. Oil and gas exploration activities in the area appear to have displaced the whales to deeper areas offshore, making it more difficult for whale calves to feed.

Since the Western Gray Whale only feeds in the summertime, such displacement could be devastating.

However, other oil companies have ignored repeated calls to cooperate with the panel, which again today called on those companies to urgently follow the example of Sakhalin Energy.

“WWF lauds the responsible and forward looking approach taken by Sakhalin Energy in heeding this call from the panel,” said Aleksey Knizhnikov from WWF-Russia. “The results seen today demonstrate that collaborative science based initiatives like this panel process can succeed – even on issues as complex as oil and gas development”.

“However other major operators in the area have completely ignored pleas to join the panel, disregarded advice on how to mitigate the impacts of their activities, and refused to provide even basic information on what their activities are in the region.”

“Today’s decision is a victory for the Western Gray Whales, but the struggle continues."

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:09 AM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2009

Amur tigers threatened by economic crisis

Loggers in Russia’s Far East increasingly are cutting down Korean cedar pine, raising concerns that the endangered Amur tiger could lose critical habitat and its prey could lose a major food source.

Under pressure from the ongoing economic crisis, loggers are turning to the more lucrative Korean cedar pine (Pinus korajensis) as commodity prices for other types of wood fall, which in turn has led to large-scale illegal logging operations inthe Ussuriiskaya taiga in Primorye, according to WWF-Russia.

“Chinese importers of the Far Eastern wood have sharply dropped prices and demand for oak and ash wood as an answer to the world crisis,” said Denis Smirnov, head of the forest program at WWF-Russia’s Amur branch. “These species were the most desired ones for poachers before, but the demand was reduced after export customs duties for these species of timber had been increased from Feb. 1.”


Brown Bear, another species of the Russian pine forests © Carl Baggott, courtesy WWF

“At the same time, Korean pine wood is still highly demanded both in domestic and international markets and is sold at rather high prices,” Smirnov said.

Russia’s Far East Korean cedar pine forests were heavily logged during the second half of the 20th century, particularly in the late 1990s, which resulted in a 50 percent reduction and left only around 2.88 million hectares of the forests today.

Although P. koraiensis is not nationally protected in Russia, its logging is either prohibited or regulated in certain provinces of Russia and China. However, loggers typically exploit loopholes in regional regulations to launder illegally logged wood, often taking advantage of lax customs controls or by under-declaring the volume of legal exports.

“This rampant and mindless logging is shocking and disturbs the habitat and prey base of some of the rarest animals in the world including the Amur tiger and Amur leopard,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of the Species Programme for WWF-International.

In the Amur region, tiger conservation hinges on protecting the Korean cedar pine. Pine nuts from the tree represent an integral food source for the Amur tiger’s prey, such as wild boars. Korean pine-broad leaved forests also provide habitats for the Far Eastern leopard, Asiatic and brown bears, sika deers and many other species.

These pine nuts are also sold internationally, benefiting local communities as well.

Awareness of the recently increased demand for Korean cedar pine surfaced after WWF staff, with members of Russia’s Internal Affairs Department, the Primorskii Province Forestry Department and Rosselkhoznadzor - the Federal Service of Veterinary and Phyto-Sanitary Supervision – raided a wood exporter platform in January in the city of Dalnerechensk.

They found about 10 to 15,000 cubic meters of Korean cedar pine originating from illegal logging sites in Dalnerechenskii, Krasnoarmeiskii and Lesozavodskii districts in central and northern Primorye.

Two largest of logging sites, with total volume exceeding 3,000 cubic meters, were found close to the villageof Malinovoin an area leased by one of the biggest logging companies in Primorye – JSC “Dalnerechenskles,” which is part of the “Dallesprom” group.

Before enforcement of a new Russian Forest Code in 2007, Korean pine held a special status as a species protected from commercial use, which contributed to its conservation. Korean pine has now lost its protective status and increased demand for Korean pine timber along with the complete inaction of regulators and forest control services to address the need for a new special status for the Korean pine have made it an easy target for illegal logging.

The only way to stop the complete destruction of the Far Eastern Korean pine forests is to impose a moratorium on its harvesting, according to WWF. The conservation organization asks that provincial and federal authorities come up with a proposal to urgently add Korean pine into the list of species forbidden to harvest, and to inform importing countries accordingly.

The Amur tiger, which can weigh up to 300 kg and measure around three metres from its nose to the tip of its tail, has come back from the brink of extinction to its highest population for at least 100 years. Only about 40 were alive in 1950 but nowadays there are around 450, one of the strongest tiger populations in the world.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:57 AM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2009

New research reveals extraordinary habits of rare Aussie dolphin

A preliminary study on Australia’s mysterious snubfin dolphin has given researchers new insight into the mammal’s habits and behaviour, including that it uses an extraordinary spitting technique to catch prey.

The research has given an overview of the life and habits of this very rare marine mammal, affectionately named ‘snubby’ by researchers, which lives in tight-knit social groups along the northern coastlines of Australia.

Snubfin Dolphin © Tammie Matson, courtesy WWF

The small dolphins hunt in groups and use a spitting technique to catch their prey - chasing fish to the surface of the water, and rounding them up by shooting jets of water from their mouths, said WWF-Australia’s Marine and Coasts Manager Lydia Gibson.

“This is incredibly unusual behaviour, first seen in Australia off the Kimberley Coast, has only been noted before in Irrawaddy dolphins, which are closely related to this species,” Gibson said. “It also confirms the snubfin dolphin is a fascinating animal, one which we know so little about.”

Snubfin Dolphin © Tammie Matson, courtesy WWF

Gibson said the research has been collating existing information from many sightings over the years while also gathering new valuable data about snubfin habitats across northern Australia.

The ten key findings from the research so far show that:

Threats to mangrove systems from rising sea levels predicted with climate change and from human impacts such as dam construction, dredging and other destructive activities are the greatest threat to the snubfin. Where mangrove systems are destroyed or damaged, the snubfins will lose their food and their habitat/home. Snubfins are very susceptible to chemical pollution, viruses and bacteria because they live close to shore and have a relatively small range. A parasite found in cat faeces (Toxoplasma gondii) is of particular concern, as it was found - via contaminated run-off - to be the cause of death of three Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins recovered around Townsville in the period 2000-2001.

Snubfin dolphins are more likely than other dolphins to be caught in gill nets because they prefer inshore estuarine habitats where river-nets are set. Snubfin families appear to spend much of their lives in very small territories close to shore. This means snubfin populations can be heavily impacted by habitat destruction and unsustainable development.

“These top ten facts were uncovered to better understand what we do and do not know about the snubfin dolphin. They will provide us with the benchmark we need to inform conservationists, government and scientists about how best to conserve and manage this unique and threatened species for future generations.”

Ms Gibson said that habitat destruction was the key threat to these coastal dolphins.

“There are already development proposals around the Great Barrier Reef that could affect their habitat – like the extension of the Townsville Port – that could have major impacts on these species. We must work with all relevant stakeholders to initiate a strategic environment assessment of future developments close to snubfin habitats.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 8:59 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2009

Ministers told polar bears and penguins just tip of the climate change iceberg

New evidence from the North and South Poles indicates that time is running out for the world’s leaders to respond to climate change.

As ministers from Arctic Council and Antarctic Treaty states held their first ever joint meeting in Washington on April 6 celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, WWF has challenged the ministers to mark the occasion by affirming their commitment to climate change action.

Polar Bear © Pete Morris/Birdquest, from the surfbirds galleries

The conservation organisation provided the ministers with compelling recent evidence from both the north and south poles that clearly demonstrates global temperature increases must be kept well under two degrees Celsius.

“A global average temperature rise of 2 degrees is clearly too much for the poles,” says Rob Nicoll, Manager of WWF’s Antarctic and Southern Oceans Initiative. “Scientists are already unpleasantly surprised at how quickly the impacts of warming such as sea ice loss are showing up in the polar regions, exceeding recent predictions.”

Global average warming due to climate change since the late 1800s is showing severe impacts at less than one degree, as the Arcticis warming at about twice the global average and parts of the Antarctic are also outstripping the global average. The polar regions themselves have profound and not yet fully understood impacts on climate globally, and there are fears that polar tipping points could trigger abrupt change around the world.

A forthcoming report on Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is expected to up previous estimates on Antarctica’s expected substantial contributions to sea level rises. Marine food chains of global significance are also under threat from warming in the Antarctic. “Ice shelves the size of small countries are crumbling away and the latest evidence from the Antarctic is showing that the effects of global warming there are increasing in magnitude,” said Mr Nicoll.

“The penguins may feel it first, but the rest of us won’t be far behind.” The warming of the Antarctic is not yet as acute as the Arctic, but it is yet a further indication that the meltdown of our polar caps continues apace. If world leaders fail to act on this information the effects will be calamitous.

“The world is caught in a polar pincer movement” said Neil Hamilton, Director of WWF International’s Arctic Programme. “What is happening at the poles will control the world’s climate. If we do not stop the poles from melting, the whole world will feel it, in the form of runaway warming and rising waters.”

Right now the Catlin Arctic Survey expedition is sampling the thickness of Arctic sea ice. The expedition, partly sponsored by WWF, is likely to confirm scientists’ fears that the older, thicker ice is disappearing. This has led them to predict that the summer sea ice could disappear within a generation, leading to catastrophic consequences for the entire ecosystem, everything from single celled animals to whales.

“The Ministers meeting in Washington have a special responsibility to the world,” said Mr Hamilton. “They are the custodians of the poles, and this would be an opportunity for them to show the world that they are ready to step up and shoulder their responsibility to keep the poles frozen, by committing to taking urgent and effective action at the Copenhagen climate meeting this December.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 9:20 AM | Comments (0)

Illegal trade devastates Sumatran orang-utan population

Lack of law enforcement against illegal trade in Indonesia threatens the survival of orang-utans and gibbons on Sumatra, a new study by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC shows.

Despite considerable investment in wildlife conservation, numbers of the critically endangered orang-utans captured mainly for the pet trade exceeded the levels of the 1970s. A lack of adequate law enforcement is to blame, TRAFFIC says.


Orang-utan © Sam Woods/Tropical Birding, from the surfbirds galleries

Records of orang-utans and gibbons put into rehabilitation centers serve as an indicator of how many of these animals were illegally held. Meanwhile numbers continue to decline in the wild, with the most recent estimate of just 7,300 Sumatran Orangutans surviving.

Orang-utans, which can weigh up to around 90 kilograms and reach 1.5 metres in length, end up in such centers after they become too old and big to be held as pets. But owners of the reddish-brown coloured apes do not face any legal consequences.

“Confiscating these animals without prosecuting the owners is futile,” said Chris R Shepherd, Acting Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

“There is no deterrent for those committing these crimes, if they go unpunished. Indonesia has adequate laws, but without serious penalties, this illegal trade will continue, and these species will continue to spiral towards extinction.”

An estimated 2,000 orang-utans have been confiscated or turned in by private owners in Indonesiain the last three decades but no more than a handful of people have ever been successfully prosecuted.

Between 2002 and 2008, for example, the newly opened Sibolangit rehabilitation centre in Sumatra took in 142 Sumatran orang-utans, while its predecessor, Bohorok rehabilitation centre accepted just 30 animals between 1995–2001 (when it closed), and 105 orang-utans between 1973–1979.

“When the first rehabilitation centres were established for orang-utans and later for gibbons it was hoped that with more apes being confiscated, levels of illegal trade would fall,” said Vincent Nijman, a TRAFFIC consultant and author of the report, based at Oxford Brookes University.

“But with hundreds of orangutans and gibbons present in such centres, and dozens added every year, it is hard to view these numbers as anything other than an indictment against Indonesia’s law enforcement efforts,” he said.

The report also documents the 148 Sumatran gibbons and siamangs and 26 Sumatran orang-utans kept in Indonesian zoos.

“Proper enforcement of laws protecting orang-utans is critical in Indonesia” said Wendy Elliott, species manager at WWF International. “If the situation continues, the Sumatra orang-utan could well face extinction.”

The report recommends that the root causes of trade be examined and that laws be better implemented for the protection of orang-utans, gibbons and the island’s other wildlife.

Sumatra’s wildlife is also threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation, logging, land conversion, encroachment, and forest fires.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:21 AM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2009

Congo spirits get international help to protect wetland

The spirits traditionally associated with a vital rapids and waterfall complex on the mighty Congo River will now have the help of international recognition in protecting the area.

Les Rapides du Congo-Djoué, a 2,500 hectare site not far downstream from Republic of Congo capital Brazzaville, was one of four African wetlands inscribed on the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands register of wetlands of international significance this month.

The largest site is the 1.525 million hectare Sangha-Nouabalé-Ndoki wetland in the northwest Republic of Congo, a vast area of lakes, marshes, ponds and floodplain forests on major Congo tributary the Sangha River.


Leopard © Ian Merrill, from the surfbirds galleries

The area is significant in regulating flood flows and providing dry season reserves for the Congo basin generally, is important for transport and is habitat for a number of species of conservation concern – including the Giant Pangolin, chimpanzees and leopards.

The much smaller Congo-Djoué rapides surround a natural barrage on the Congo and major tributary Djoué which is vital to its two largest cities, Brazzaville, and the Democratic Republic of Congo capital of Kinshasa.

The site is centred on one of three forested islands: L’Ile du Diable (Devil’s Island), traditionally the home of spirits who not only protect the areas but ensure good fishing, health and influence to those initiated into their secrets.

However, for the uninitiated, the spirits – for which Nile crocodile or half-human, half-fish “sirène” tokens are venerated – can exert a malign influence.

Gilbert Madouka, of the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment and the Republic of Congo’s Ramsar representative, said the area was being recognised for its cultural as well as its environmental significance.

“The sirène and the Nile Crocodile are revered in our area like gods,” Madouka said.

“That is why this habitat that houses the gods always causes fear among the population and access to these areas to exploit their natural resources is often based of the traditional authorities – which to a certain extent, diminishes the human pressure on the area.”

Also declared last week were two new welcome additions to protected wetlands in coastal Sudan to help guard against risks posed by over-grazing and proposed expansions to shrimp aquaculture.

The areas are unusual in straddling terrestrial and marine environments, from camel breeding areas to reefs important to endangered turtles and dugong.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:46 AM | Comments (0)

April 9, 2009

Rare megamouth shark caught in Philippines

Donsol, Philippines: An extremely rare megamouth shark was caught by Filipino
fishermen, marking only the 41st time the species has been seen in the 33 years
since its discovery and giving new insight into the elusive shark’s behaviour.

Fishermen based in Donsol were trawling for mackerel along the eastern coast of
Burias Isle on the morning of 30 March when they caught a large shark from a depth
of approximately 200 meters.

The shark was brought to shore in Barangay Dancalan in Donsol, Sorsogon and WWF
Donsol Project Manager Elson Aca immediately arrived to assess the haul and
identified it as a megamouth shark – considered the world’s rarest shark.

Megamouth 41, as the Florida Museum of Natural History has named the Donsol shark,
measured four meters and weighed an estimated 500 kg.

Last week’s megamouth encounter underscores the importance of the Donsol-Masbate
region – part of the Coral Triangle – as a haven for rare marine life, according to
WWF Philippines.

The discovery follows last month’s rescue by WWF of a 38 cm baby whale shark –
considered the world's smallest of its kind ever discovered.

"The presence of two of the world's three filter feeding sharks warrants special
attention for the Donsol-Masbate region," Aca said. "Whale and megamouth sharks,
manta rays, dolphins and other charismatic giants indicate that the region's
ecosystem is still relatively healthy.”

“By protecting megafauna, we help maintain the dynamic balance of our seas, and
ensure the entire ecosystem's resilience and natural productivity,” Aca said.

WWF works with a host of partners to protect the megafauna of the Coral Triangle
which is considered a major center for marine biodiversity.

WWF's satellite tagging initiatives have already shown that pelagic filter feeders
such as whale sharks and manta rays regularly prowl through the region.

The megamouth (Megachasma pelagios) is a fairly recent scientific discovery, with
only 40 recorded encounters worldwide until the latest find.

The first specimen was caught off Oahu, Hawaii in 1976. The discovery led to the
creation of an entirely new family and genus - prompting the scientific community to
hail it as the 20th century's most significant marine find and rivaling the
rediscovery of the coelacanth in 1938.

The megamouth shark is so named for its enormous maw - almost a meter
wide and lined with a brilliant silver band to attract planktonic prey. It has been
found roaming throughout the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Males average four
meters while females - which give birth to live young – can grow to five meters long.

Relatively little was known of their habits until researchers fitted a megamouth –
the sixth one discovered – with a pair of ultrasonic transmitters and tracked it for
two days in 1990. The research indicated that the sharks spend the daytime in waters
up to one kilometre deep and surface only at night to feed on plankton, small fish
and jellyfish - usually at a depth of around 15 meters.

Eight megamouth sharks, a full fifth of all recorded encounters, have been caught in
Philippine waters. Four were caught in Cagayan de Oro and one each in Negros, Iloilo
and Cebu. Megamouth 41 is the first megamouth shark to have been caught in Luzon,
which is the Philippines’ largest island.

Sadly and despite protests from Aca, the megamouth shark caught near Donsol was
later butchered and eaten. Its stomach contents revealed it was feeding on shrimp
larvae.

For more than a decade, WWF has worked in Donsol to establish community-based whale
shark eco-tourism, transforming the once sleepy town into one of the Bicol region's
busiest revenue generators.

Current initiatives funded by WWF-Denmark and supported by the local government
include researching whale shark migration routes and numbers through
state-of-the-art photo-identification and satellite tagging techniques.

The waters around Donsol are part of the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas ecoregion, one of WWF's
Global 200 ecoregions — a science-based global ranking of the world's most
biologically outstanding habitats and the regions on which WWF concentrates its
efforts. The also make up part of the Coral Triangle, a major area of marine
biodiversity.

Leaders of the six nations that make up the Coral Triangle – Philippines, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste –will meet on May 15 in
Manado, Indonesia for the World Oceans Conference where they will announce a
comprehensive set of actions to protect ecosystems and food security in the region.

Posted by Surfbirds at 3:40 AM | Comments (0)

April 7, 2009

Climber takes climate change message to top of the world

KATHMANDU, Nepal – A sherpa set off to climb Mount Everest for a record 19th time to take an anti-climate change message to the world’s highest peak. Apa Sherpa is carrying a WWF banner with the inscription “Stop Climate Change - Let the Himalayas Live!” and a metal vase containing 400 Buddhist offerings up to the 8,848 metres high summit. Nepal is on the front line of climate change and its effects are visible from the tops of the freezing Himalayas in the north, to the hot lowland plains of the south.

Its glaciers, from where many rivers originate, are shrinking due to rising temperatures threatening the lives of millions of people who depend on them for water.

Red-headed Bullfinch, Nepal, Jomsom Trek Jan 2008 © Joe Cockram From the Surfbirds Galleries

“This is my 19th climb to the top of the world. During the last 18 ascents, I have seen a measurable difference in the climatic conditions there," Apa Sherpa, who hopes to reach the top in mid-May said.

"The disastrous impacts of climate change are visible in the Everest region. It is a warning to the mankind before it reaches a tipping point."

Observations backed by scientific research in Nepal are recording some of the fastest long-term increases in temperatures and rainfall anywhere in the world.

Many of Himalayan lakes, which collect glacier meltwater, are said by the United Nations to be growing so rapidly they could burst their banks within a decade.

The expedition also marks the start of WWF’s Global Awareness Campaign on Climate Change in the Himalayas, which aims to highlight climate change in the Himalayas through a series of events throughout the year.

"The Himalayas are the youngest and most vulnerable mountains to climate change," Mr. Anil Manandhar, Country Representative, WWF Nepal said

"However, the world has not paid attention to the plight of the Himalayas and we want the whole of humanity to know that the Himalayas are bearing the brunt of our wrongdoings."

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:09 AM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2009

Conflict or cooperation - The stark choices facing a world running short on water

Rivers and lakes are no respecters of international boundaries – indeed they are often the basis of them. And what is true of surface water rivers is even more true of the unseen water underground.

Which competing states own the water that crosses, forms or lies under their borders? What mechanisms exist to stop water being held, diverted, or polluted by one country to the disadvantage of others? What remedies exist if this happens? What basis can there be for the sharing and management of such water for the maximum mutual benefit? What usually happens when too many demands are placed on limited resources in the absence of any procedures or frameworks for considering claims or resolving disputes?

These are not trifling issues. Half the global land surface area and 40 per cent of global population lies in the catchments of the 263 rivers forming or crossing boundaries. Three quarters of the world’s countries face potential disputes with neighbours over shared rivers, lakes, wetlands or aquifers.

And as the world becomes more and more concerned over the future of water supplies, it is pertinent to note that nearly two thirds of freshwater flows are involved, tied up in rivers such as the Amur, separating China and Russia, and the mighty and multi-state watercourses of the Amazon, Mekong, Congo, Danube and Rhine.

In the Middle East five per cent of the world’s people survive on one per cent of its water with control of the River Jordan and access to its water a dominant issue in a volatile area. Egypt has been ever ready to threaten upstream States on the Nile over any plans they may have for the river. Shortages of water and agricultural land are widely understood to be a key factor underlying the conflict in Darfur and other conflicts and instability in the region.

India has exchanged harsh words with China over the latter’s failure to give warning of flood and landslide events in Tibet which have caused loss of life along the Brahmaputra. And India is only one of a whole range of south and south east Asian States concerned about Chinese plans for power generation and water diversions in the headwaters and major tributaries of the Brahmaputra and Mekong systems. Potentially affected are Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea and Vietnam.

But, India and Pakistan have fought three wars without unduly disturbing the delicate system for distributing the waters of the Indus. This is a remarkable tribute to the potential of international and regional legal instruments to govern arrangements for sharing and caring for international water systems.

White-throated Dipper, Germany © Stephen Daly, from the surfbirds galleries

Diplomacy over water is hardly new – indeed, arrangements to share water and cooperatively build and operate irrigation systems are now believed to have been among the earliest and most influential precursors of social and political organization from China and South East Asia to Egypt and Mesopotamia and over to central America.

A recent publication by UN Water also notes the placating power of water agreements, noting that in the past 60 years there have been only 37 cases of violence between states over water, which it ascribed to the existence of around 300 international agreements on water.

Not all agreements are equal or adequate, however. Problems have endured from poorly formed and inequitable agreements where one party gets the bulk of the water, such as those the colonial British drew up for the Nile and those over rivers shared between the United States and Mexico.

Cooperative management frameworks exist for only about 40 per cent of the world’s International watercourses. Most are only partially covered, with about 80 per cent of agreements involving only two parties. The lack of unifying principles behind agreements gives multi-river states problems with administration of inconsistent arrangements from one river basin to another.

Work to resolve these issues started well over 60 years ago, with some noted international lawyers with the International Law Commission being tasked with coming up with a framework for an international agreement that could not only reduce the potential for conflict but also help shape and guide equitable sharing and appropriate management of international waters.

Their efforts came to fruition in 1997, when an overwhelming majority of countries in the UN General Assembly voted for an International Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (the UN Watercourses Convention).

The Convention’s aim was to “ensure the utilization, development, conservation, management and protection of international watercourses and the promotion of the optimal and sustainable utilisation thereof for present and future generations”.

This was to be accomplished, for example, by procedures for notification of planned measures and exchanges of information on the overall health and status of river systems as well as the events such as floods likely to be of interest to downstream neighbours.

Consistent with the UN’s charter, states are bound under an “obligation to seek peaceful settlement of disputes”. They are also encouraged to adopt compatible management schemes for shared water basins and measures for dealing with water pollution and the protection of the ecosystems of international watercourses.

Voting for the Convention were 103 countries (with another three later notifying a yes vote). Voting against were just three nations, Burundi, China and Turkey. There were 26 abstentions.

The convention was to come into force once ratified by 35 countries. However, the UN Watercourses Convention has languished in limbo, with only 16 so far signing up – Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Namibia, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Syria and Uzbekistan.

International conventions often do take some time to gather sufficient signatories to come into force but the slow progress of the UN Watercourses Convention has puzzled many observers of the international scene.

Possible reasons advanced have included “treaty congestion”, or a lack of knowledge about the convention in critical areas of government in some developing countries.

Only one or two countries continue to express public opposition to it, going to the extent of trying to clamp down even discussions on the convention at related international meetings. For example, among the most contentious topics being negotiated for a ministerial declaration for the 5th world water forum was whether to include reference to the convention, with several countries arguing for and only a few against.

Even unratified, however, the Convention is exerting considerable positive impact. China, a state opposing it with the words that states had “indisputable sovereignty over a watercourse which flowed through its territory” has nevertheless adhered to some of its principles in water agreements with some of its 15 neighbours. Many other states have similarly drawn on the principles and sometimes even the language in framing bilateral water agreements.

The International Court of Justice has also used the convention as a reflection of international law in the field from the time it was voted on. And the International Law Commission is currently drafting a compatible international legal instrument to give more adequate coverage to aquifers, which builds upon the UN Watercourses Convention, adjusting it to the specific case of groundwater flowing under the territory of two or more countries.

With more advocacy from WWF and other groups, and nations which include key river states such as Benin, Ghana and Iraq and major international donor countries such as Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands, awareness of the convention is increasing and a number of new countries are shortly expected to announce their intent to sign, taking the number of signatories past the halfway mark.

Palestine, though not yet a nation, used the occasion of the World Water Forum in Istanbul to announce that it would sign up to the Convention as a matter of priority on attaining statehood. This would mean that four out of the five states in the Jordan River basin had acceded to the convention, giving it the highest coverage by the convention.

With climate change impacts increasingly making themselves felt in freshwater systems around the globe, countries are also perceiving that the UN Convention could be a vital support to increasingly urgent work on climate change adaptation. WWF’s own work on climate change adaptation for freshwater systems is showing more and more that the river systems most able to cope with predicted impacts will be those where natural functioning is preserved or restored.

The final word should go to Alfred A. Oteng-Yeboah, of Ghana, who noted at a recent Convention on Biodiversity meeting the high potential for conflict over water in West Africa, where the seven major water basins cross numerous boundaries: the River Niger (in 10 countries), River Senegal (in 4 Countries), River Gambia (in 4countries), the Chad Basin (encompassing 3 West African and 2 Central African countries), River Volta (in 6 countries) and River Koliba-Kombal (in 2 countries) and also considered the high risk of misunderstanding or conflict in the use of these shared watercourses.

“Thus, in the view of Ghana, the importance of this kind of co-operation cannot be over-emphasized, and we understand that there is a strong role for the [UN Watercourses Convention] in the removal of risks of misunderstanding and conflicts associated with use of such water courses.”

“We think that we need this Convention now and urgently so and it should enter into force as soon as possible to be able to perform the roles ascribed to it.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2009

Sweden sets climate goals example for EU

The new climate and clean energy package proposed by Sweden should serve as an example for all EU countries ahead of crucial global warming negotiations, WWF says. If followed by other industrialised nations the deal could lead towards a low carbon future and help combat climate change.

Sweden is just preparing to take over the EU’s rotating presidency and it is likely to play a major role during important international meetings culminating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, in December, where leaders from about 190 countries will try to agree a global deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Snow Bunting, Sweden © Peter Nilsson, from the surfbirds galleries

Sweden’s Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said that his country now aims by 2020 for renewable energy to comprise 50 percent of all energy produced, for the Swedish car fleet to be independent of fossil fuels 10 years later and for the country to be carbon neutral by 2050.

“We think it is fantastic that the government recognises the important role that eco-efficiency plays in improving the economy,” Lasse Gustavsson, Secretary general of WWF in Sweden said. “If the Swedish government can convince other industrial countries to adopt Sweden’s ambitious climate package, the world would be better suited for combating destructive climate change,” he said.

Sweden, which now plans to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from its 1990 levels within the next 11 years, was asked to cut CO2 output by just 17 percent.

The government said it would stay committed to the proposed goals and that they were independent of whether or not a global climate agreement is achieved.

It wants to reach these goals through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Carlrgren said.

Unfortunately, according to WWF, CDM is currently an ineffective system in desperate need of reform. WWF’s concern is that unless serious reforms of the CDM system are enacted, there is a risk that the 40 percent goal will be watered down to a mere 27 percent.

“We would prefer to see a greater portion of these reductions made within Sweden’s own borders,” Mr Gustavsson said.

Posted by Surfbirds at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)

March 3, 2009

Six people, three tigers killed in Sumatra

In the wake of the deaths of six people from tiger attacks in Sumatra’s Jambi Province in less than a month, conservationists are calling for an urgent crackdown on the clearing of natural forest in the province as a matter of public safety.

Tigers killed three illegal loggers over the weekend in Jambi, according to government officials. Three people were killed earlier in the same central Sumatran province. Three juvenile tigers were killed by villagers this month in neighboring Riau Province, apparently after straying into a village in search of food. And in an unrelated incident, two Riau farmers were hospitalized after being attacked by a tiger last weekend.


Tiger © Dave Pullan, from the surfbirds galleries

“As people encroach into tiger habitat, it’s creating a crisis situation and further threatening this critically endangered subspecies,” said Ian Kosasih, director of WWF’s Forest Program. “In light of these killings, officials have got to make public safety a top concern and put a stop to illegal clearance of forests in Sumatra.”

There is rampant clearing of forests by individuals and corporations in the region for palm oil plantations and pulpwood plantations. This forest loss is one of the leading drivers of human-tiger conflict in the region. About 12 million hectares of Sumatran forest has been cleared in the past 22 years, a loss of nearly 50 percent islandwide. The incidents in Riau occurred in the Kerumutan forest block, a site where many forest fires have been set in the last two months, as well as the location of many plantation developments threatening tiger forests.

Jambi Province is the site of the only two “global priority” tiger conservation landscapes in Sumatra, as identified by a group of leading tiger scientists in 2005. There are estimated to be fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild.

Didy Wurjanto, the head of the official Jambi nature conservancy agency, BKSDA, said his team has increased its patrols following the killings. He is also working with local officials to halt the rampant conversion of forests by illegal loggers and palm oil plantations, which is mostly done by people from outside Jambi.

“The shocking news that six people have been killed in less than one month is an extremely sad illustration of how bad the situation has become in Jambi,” Wurjanto said. “It’s a signal that we need to get serious about protecting natural forest and giving tigers their space, and ensure local governments have sustainable economic development policies in place that include long-term protections for our natural resources.”

WWF is working with officials and communities in both provinces on ways to reduce the conflict and has deployed field staff to the site of the Riau killings to investigate the incidents.

Posted by Surfbirds at 2:36 PM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2009

Elephants under threat as illegal ivory price soars in Vietnam

Indochina’s few surviving elephants are under increasing threat from booming illegal ivory prices in Vietnam, according to a new market analysis released last week by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

An assessment of the illegal ivory trade in Vietnam said Vietnamese illegal ivory prices could be the highest in the world, with reports of tusks selling for up to USD1500/kg and small, cut pieces selling for up to USD1863/kg.

Most of the raw ivory was said to originate from the Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic, with small amounts from Vietnam and Cambodia.

“This is a worrying trend that indicates even more pressure is being put on already fragile Asian Elephant populations,” said Azrina Abdullah. Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

According to IUCN figures, no more than 1,000 elephants are believed to survive in Lao PDR, while in Viet Nam, fewer than 150 are believed to exist. In December 2008, TRAFFIC released a report that found evidence of widespread smuggling of live Asian Elephants and their ivory from Myanmar.

Ivory trader, Hanoi, Vietnam © Daniel Stiles, courtesy WWF

Mammoth ivory from Russia was also used in small quantities, but no African raw ivory was found, although it was still being illegally imported into Vietnam up to at least 2004.

Trade in ivory was outlawed in Vietnam in 1992, but a major loophole in the legislation exists because shops can still sell ivory in stock dating from the prohibition. This allows some shop owners to restock illegally with recently-made carved ivory.

In 2008, TRAFFIC surveyed 669 retail outlets across Vietnam and found 73 (11%) selling a total of 2,444 ivory items. Whilst the scale of the ivory market was smaller than in previous surveys, there were signs of increasing demand and overall numbers of craftsmen had increased since 2001. Ho Chi Minh Cityhad the most retail outlets (49) and ivory items (1,776), but Ha Noi, with only 10 outlets, had the highest number of craftsmen.

“Although fewer ivory items were seen in 2008 than in 2001, worked ivory is increasingly being sold directly to buyers through middlemen or on the Internet, bypassing retail outlets,” said Abdullah,

“Continued demand for illegal ivory is driving the prices so high,” explained Abdullah.

Recent seizures in and outside Vietnam also suggest that most raw ivory is being supplied to China.

The main buyers of ivory were from China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Thailand, local Vietnamese, American-Vietnamese and Europeans, in that order.

“This insidious illegal trade is further threatening the highly endangered elephants of Asia and must be stopped,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of the Species Programme for WWF-International.

The report recommends that Vietnam should comply with its obligations under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), particularly regarding the reporting of ivory seizures, that national regulations and their enforcement should be tightened and offenders prosecuted, and that ivory for sale in retail outlets should be confiscated by the government and destroyed.

The report also recommends better training for wildlife law enforcement officers and continued participation in the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) and similar initiatives that aim to control the illicit trafficking of ivory and other wildlife products in the region.

The investigation into ivory trade in Vietnam was supported by WWF-Netherlands, and the publication of the report, An assessment of the illegal ivory trade in Viet Nam, was supported by the Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:55 AM | Comments (0)

February 8, 2009

European plan to save sharks needs more teeth

The European Commission has announced a new Action Plan to protect sharks in European waters, which has been broadly welcomed by WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

The plan includes provisions for more observers of trawlers, prohibitions on discarding most sharks as by-catch, a tighter prohibition on shark finning and catch limits for sharks in line with advice from fisheries management organizations.


Basking Shark © Paul Semmens, from the surfbirds galleries

However, the plan needs rapid implementation and strengthened actions such as mandatory recording of catch data if it is to be effective in arresting a rapid decline in shark populations in European waters where roughly one third of the shark species are already threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

“The commitment to shark conservation is to be commended, although TRAFFIC and WWF are deeply concerned that some of the measures will not be implemented for considerable periods,” said Steven Broad, Director of TRAFFIC.

Although the Plan calls for countries to collect information on sharks caught, this will be on a voluntary basis.

TRAFFIC and WWF also called on the EU to allocated adequate resources to ensure the Plan could be properly implemented, and for the Council and the European Parliament to adopt the plan without diluting the proposed measures or extending the period of implementation.

“Although we fully support the adoption and speedy implementation of the plan, we believe it contains major gaps that do not take a sufficiently precautionary approach to shark conservation, as recommended by the United Nations and others,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, WWF International’s Species Programme Director.

“Many of these species are already threatened with extinction. WWF and TRAFFIC are dismayed that the plan lacks a solid commitment to seek mandatory collection of data on shark catch—a critical element if the EU is to succeed in the conservation of these species,” Dr Lieberman added.

Sharks are targeted by UK, French, Spanish and Portuguese fishermen; shark tails and meat are used to prepare “caldeirada” or “Schillerlocken” and shark meat is served in restaurants across Europe, and in the UK in traditional fish-and-chip shops.

In December 2008, European Fisheries ministers agreed to reduce total allowable quotas and committed to a zero catch for certain deep water sharks by 2010.

However, TRAFFIC and WWF believe that the acceptable bycatch in these regulations is still too high, and although shark finning has already been prohibited in EU and adjacent waters, control and enforcement of this ban is currently too lax and needs to be tightened up.

“Sharks are slow growing and produce relatively small numbers of young,” said Aaron McLoughlin, Head of WWF’s European Marine Programme.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 4, 2009

Wetlands boost for green heart of Africa

A World Wetlands Day announcement that Gabon is to increase its protected Ramsar sites by more than a million hectares is a major boost to conservation in central Africa.

The addition of the three new areas totalling 1,054,700 hectares to the Ramsar register of wetlands of international significance will increase Gabon’s total area of Ramsar protected areas by more than a third and has been welcomed by conservationists world wide.

“The green heart of Africa is a global conservation priority, and the basis of the region and its biological wealth are its rivers and wetlands,” said Dr Lifeng Li, director of WWF International’s Global Freshwater Programme.

Hippopotamus © Ian Merrill, from the surfbirds galleries

“These new areas cover diverse habitats from impressive river rapids to extensive marshes and are vitally important to the wildlife and people of the region - but they need more protection from a growing rush for resources and associated increases in pollution.”

The largest of the areas is the 862,700 ha Bas Ogooué, a luxuriantly vegetated area of alluvial plain, lakes, marsh and rivers in western Gabon which is home to gorillas, chimpanzee, elephant, buffalo, the African manatee and hippopotamus. WWF is supporting research and other activities in the area.

Chutes et Rapides sur Invindois a 132,500 ha representative sample of the waterfalls and rapids of Gaboncovering both permanent and intermittent rivers in the north east of the country. The area is rich in waterbirds, plants and fish that are adapted to heavy currents. Part of the site is within the IvindoNational Parkwhere a management plan is currently being prepared but other areas are affected by over-fishing, over-exploitation of forests and from pollution from towns and iron mining.

Manganese and uranium mining are among threats to the third area Rapides de Mboungou Badouma et de Doumé where 140 km of rapids are part of a hydrographically important spillway area for several permanent and intermittent rivers. The rivers, rapids and permanent marshes of this system are a food source, habitat and refuge to extensive wildlife populations considered under threat from the mining activities, forest exploitation and pollution from towns.

World Wetlands Day is held each year on the anniversary of the 1971 signing of the International Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian city of Ramsar. The Ramsar Convention as it has become known was the first global environmental treaty and now has 158 Contracting Parties, with 1831 wetland sites, totaling 170 million hectares included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

Posted by Surfbirds at 4:42 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2009

Green Economy will help fight climate change

New figures released this week show that moving to a “green” global economy could not only protect the planet from the worst effects of climate change but is surprisingly affordable.

Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy- a new study by McKinsey and Co – shows that global warming can be kept below the critical 2°C rise and that it is well within our means to do so. The study spells out in detail the costs of cutting damaging carbon emissions, but makes it clear that only by acting now will we avoid the worst impacts of climate change. According to WWF, one of the report's sponsors, world leaders now have all the information they need to shape a global climate deal for both developed and developing countries.

The study – one of the biggest and most detailed of its kind ever compiled – lists more than 200 opportunities, spread across ten sectors and twenty-one geographical regions, which could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.

By 2030, wind, solar and other sustainable renewable energy could provide almost a third of all global power needs; energy efficiency could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter and deforestation in developing countries – one of the biggest drivers of climate change and a major threat to sustainable development – could be almost fully halted. And all at a cost of less than half a percent of global GDP.


Another reason to head to Copenhagen in November 2009,
Pine Grosbeak © Graham Catley, from the surfbirds galleries

“The McKinsey study shows once and for all that taking action on climate change is both urgent and affordable”, said WWF Director General James Leape. “The figures show clearly that not only can we move to a low carbon economy, but that the costs are manageable. Adopting these measures will be a major step towards avoiding the worst effects of climate change.”

Speaking at the launch of the report in Brussels, Mr Leape continued, “As governments now invest in rebuilding the global economy, they have a unique opportunity, and indeed the imperative, to build a low-carbon economy that will both create jobs and stabilize the climate. The low-carbon technologies and production models already exist and they make economic as well as environmental sense.”

“When the world's leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to agree a global deal on climate change, they will have no excuse for inaction. The world will be watching and expecting those leaders to adopt measures which will lead to a low-carbon economy, giving a fighting chance of keeping climate change below the crucial 2°C level.” said Mr Leape.

The McKinsey study has been extensively peer-reviewed by scientists, economists and expert bodies including WWF. It presents its findings in the form of an “abatement cost curve” which graphically illustrates the sectors where the most cost-effective carbon reductions can be made, including saving 14 billion tonnes of CO2 by replacing carbon-based power generation with – amongst other things - existing and proven clean, renewable energy; 14 billion tonnes through more sustainable use of land in the agriculture and forestry sectors; and 11 billion tonnes from energy efficiency. McKinsey identify another 9 billion tonnes of potential emissions reductions which either are more expensive or represent behaviour changes that are difficult to quantify.

In Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy, McKinsey analyses the potential, based on emissions and cost, for abatement across all sectors including nuclear power. WWF believes the costs for nuclear have been underestimated. But more importantly, nuclear power is not a viable option when the risks from proliferation, highly radioactive waste and plutonium leaks are taken into consideration. We believe that further substantial reductions are possible from combined heat & power (CHP,) biomass, better energy efficiency and low-carbon products which will protect the climate without the need for nuclear power.

WWF welcomes the study's principal findings which show that if all the technology options were put into practice, it would be possible to achieve a global reduction of approximately 40% of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030 compared with 1990 levels – which equates to a 70% reduction of “business as usual” levels. That would be enough to put the world on track to keep global average temperature rises below the 2°C level which WWF and others have identified as the maximum allowable before widespread irreversible environmental damage kicks in.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)

Mountain gorilla population increases despite war

The number of mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo has increased despite the war being waged in and around the area, according to the first count in 16 months.

The count showed that the number of gorillas in groups habituated to humans – considered most at risk in the conflict – had increased to 81, compared to a count of 72 in 2007.

Park rangers were kicked out of the Mikeno sector of Virunga National Park, where six groups of habituated mountain gorillas live, in September 2007 by forces loyal to the ex-rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.

Mountain Gorilla, Uganda © Chris Mills

Fifteen months passed without any rangers being able to monitor the mountain gorillas but in December 2008 Virunga National Park director, Emmanuel de Merode successfully negotiated with the CNDP rebel group to allow park rangers access the Mikeno sector and resume monitoring of the area. ICCN, the government institution in charge of protected areas management in Virunga National Park has since been fully operational and ICCN rangers have just completed a census of the habituated mountain gorillas. To their surprise, they discovered that the populations of all of the groups have increased. “Habituated mountain gorillas aren’t afraid of humans, which makes them particularly vulnerable to danger,” said Marc Languy, of WWF’s Eastern Africa Regional Programme.

“We are relieved to see that instead of fewer gorillas, which we had feared, there are actually several more animals.” While on a five day patrol during which they were looking for and counting mountain gorillas, two ICCN patrols removed more than 400 snares placed by poachers targeting small forest antelopes that can harm and maim gorillas.

“This clearly indicates that conservation efforts must continue to save mountain gorillas which remain threatened, despite the good news brought by the latest count,” Languy said.

There is currently a cease fire between CNDP and the Congolese Army who have joined up with Rwandan forces to fight FDLR rebels; however, the rangers still have conflict and violence to contend with. On 8 Januarya ranger was killed during an attack by Maï Maï militia against an ICCN Patrol Post and another ranger was kidnapped.

“This astonishingly good news about the mountain gorillas is possible thanks to the courageous efforts of ICCN rangers who worked tirelessly to gain access to the gorillas despite on-going violence,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme. “WWF will continue to provide ICCN with the support it needs to keep a vigilant eye on mountain gorillas as conflict and poaching are still imminent threats.”

ICCN has been able to keep its operations running during the conflict with financial and technical support from International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), a joint initiative of AWF (African Wildlife Foundation), FFI (Flora and Fauna International), and WWF and other conservation partners on the ground.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:29 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2009

Take action against the unprecedented onslaught on raptors in Lower Austria

Buzzards and Goshawks are open to persecution in Lower Austria.

The provincial government of Lower Austria has recently issued a decree allowing hunters to shoot 200 Common Buzzards and 40 Goshawks until January 31st. Since there is no adequate control, this is likely to result in the erroneus shooting of endangered raptors like Saker Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Rough-legged Buzzard and Red Kite, all of which occur in substantial numbers in Lower Austria. There may be even casualities among White-tailed and Eastern Imperial Eagles.

Common Buzzard © Adrian Webb, from the surfbirds galleries

Take action against this unprecedented onslaught on raptors! Buzzards and Goshawks must not fall prey to hunters interests - Sign our petition to the provincial government of Lower Austria for the immediate withdrawal of the scandalous decree here: www.wwf.at/greifvogelpetition and help to ensure that EU-law protecting raptors is properly enforced in Austria!

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:50 AM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2008

Conflict zone Mountain Gorillas viewed by rangers

Mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been seen by park rangers for the first time since the rangers were forced out of areas of Virunga National Park by Laurent Nkunda’s army 15 months ago.

Virunga National Park director, Emmanuel de Merode, successfully negotiated with Nkunda and got confirmation that Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) would be allowed to re-enter and work in the southern part of the park.

Mountain Gorilla, Uganda © Chris Mills

ICCN, the government institution in charge of protected areas management, park rangers and their families were forced out of the park when rebel leader Nkunda and his army took control of several parts of the park including the areas where mountain gorillas are found in September 2007. Since that time, no one outside of Nkunda’s army has been allowed to monitor the gorillas.

“We were very worried about the mountain gorillas as we had not any contact with them for over a year but ICCN rangers have already seen many of the mountain gorilla families and we are happy to report that most of them seem to be doing well,” said de Merode. “We are continuing our census of the gorillas and are reinstating our antipoaching operations.”

In spite of this good news in the southern part of the park, the central and eastern sectors of the park remain very unsafe. Over half of ICCN’s staff and their families who work in Virunga National Park (over 2000 people) are now living at IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) sites outside of the park because of fighting between Nkunda’s army and the Congolese army.

The conflict in the Congohas forced thousands of people to flee their homes and there are now an estimated 145,000 IDPs scattered in 6 sites just outside of the national park. The people living in these sites are in desperate need of food, shelter and fuelwood.

WWF has been focusing its efforts in the area on the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict and is distributing fuelwood from sustainable tree plantations to people living in IDP sites. WWF has also been passing out improved cooking stoves, which use half the amount of wood as a normal stove.

“WWF believes that the needs of people displaced by the fighting and the gorillas are inextricably linked - we are providing displaced people with the basic resources they need for shelter and cooking, while at the same time protecting Virugna National Park’s forests, which are already heavily damaged by illegal logging for wood and charcoal,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme. “We hope that a normal life can quickly be restored for local communities living near and benefiting from the park and its gorillas.”

Virunga National Park, created in 1925 as Africa's first protected area, located in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Rwandaand Uganda. Despite its protected status, encroachment for farming and settlement, as well as by warring rebel factions, is leading to uncontrolled exploitation its forests.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:34 AM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2008

WWF’s Earth Hour 2009 set to be largest climate event in history

74 cities in 62 countries already commit to turn out lights as campaign launches with aim to reach one billion.

Dozens of events around the world today marked the launch of the campaign for Earth Hour 2009, a global climate event for which 74 cities in 62 countries have already committed to switch off their lights at 8:30 p.m.on March 28 2009.

The Earth Hour 2009 campaign aims to have more than one billion people in 1,000 cities turn off lights for one hour in a graphic demonstration of support for determined international action on climate change.

Cape Sugarbird, wondering why the lights went out on Table Mountain
© Chris Wormwell, from the surfbirds galleries

A key event is scheduled for Poznan, Poland where world nations are currently meeting under the banner of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They are charged with thrashing out a new international climate change agreement which needs to be signed off at next December’s UNFCCC summit.

“When leaders gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a new global deal on climate, they must feel that the eyes of the world are upon them,” said James Leape, Director General of WWF International. “Earth Hour provides an opportunity for the public to send a powerful signal that that they are watching and that they expect action.”

Cities already listed to participate in Earth Hour 2009 include Cape Town, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Nashville, Oslo, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto, and Warsaw.

Some of the international icons which will go dark for an hour in solidarity include the world’s tallest hotel tower (the Burj Dubaiin Dubai), the tallest towers in the Americas (the CN tower in Toronto) and the southern hemisphere (the SkyTowerin Auckland) and Moscow’s Federation Tower. Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf has confirmed his support for Earth Hour while Quirinale - the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano – will also turn its lights off. Other landmarks which plan to merge into the night sky include the normally floodlit Table Mountain over Cape Town, South Africa and the Sydney Opera House.

“The global economic meltdown has demonstrated that the world can unite and take action in times of crisis,” said Kim Carstensen, who leads WWF’s Global Climate Initiative. “That same decisive, multilateral approach is needed as we face the rapidly escalating climate crisis. Turning 'off' for Earth Hour sends a powerful message to our leaders that they must do what’s necessary to secure the future of the Earth.”

Many organizations around the world announced their support for Earth Hour, including the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group.

“The C40 Climate Leadership Group is about cities working together to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and that is why as Chair of the C40 I support Earth Hour,” said Toronto Mayor David Miller. “It's crucial that cities and the public come together to take action against climate change and Earth Hour provides a great platform to do that.”

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November 27, 2008

African governments commit to protect gorillas

The first meeting of the Parties of the Gorilla Agreement, to be held in Rome on 29 November 2008, is expected to come up with practical proposals to further gorilla conservation work in Africa.

The meeting is being held against a backdrop of increasing humanitarian crisis from continuing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the Virunga National Park home to nearly a third of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.

Mountain Gorilla, Uganda © Chris Mills

The Gorilla Agreement came in to effect in June 2008 and is the first to legally oblige governments to work together to combat the threats faced by gorillas in the wild, and find coordinated solutions for gorilla conservation by requiring collaboration on issues such as anti-poaching and law enforcement.

“Ten countries will walk away from this meeting united under a single plan to save gorillas,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme. “In a time of global financial crisis, and terrible hardship for the people of Eastern Congo, we are heartened to see these governments coming together.”

“It is now time for action, which is what today’s meeting is all about. Together, we will look specifically at what steps each government will take to ensure gorillas have a secure future in the wild-through direct conservation action in a way that also benefits local communities.”

All gorillas are listed as critically endangered on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species with the exception of the eastern lowland gorilla, which is still listed as endangered due to a lack of recent data to support the critically endangered listing - researchers were unable to access a major portion of their habitat. Poaching, habitat loss disease, and intensifying civil strife are the main threats to these animals.

Mountain gorillas are a prime example of why today’s Gorilla Agreement meeting is critical. The mountain gorilla population in the Virunga Volcanoes area, which straddles Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, continues to face habitat degradation as well as the civil war unrest. Despite these difficulties, surveys indicate that the population is gradually increasing due to extensive conservation efforts, and the continued support of local communities in spite of all odds.

“Despite the success of mountain gorilla conservation thanks to the empowerment and awareness created with local people by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), we remain vigilant, as the recurrent conflicts in the region may still affect the survival of this species,” stated IGCP Director Eugene Rutagarama.

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October 29, 2008

Living Planet analysis shows looming ecological credit crunch

The world is heading for an ecological credit crunch as human demands on the world's natural capital reach nearly a third more than earth can sustain.

That is the stark warning contained in the latest edition of WWF’s Living Planet Report, the leading statement of the planet’s health. In addition global natural wealth and diversity continues to decline, and more and more countries are slipping into a state of permanent or seasonal water stress.

Tree Frog, Indonesia, iconic symbol of the rainforest © Andrew Moon from the surfbirds galleries

“The world is currently struggling with the consequences of over-valuing its financial assets,” said WWF International Director-General James Leape, “But a more fundamental crisis looms ahead -- an ecological credit crunch caused by under-valuing the environmental assets that are the basis of all life and prosperity.”

The report, produced with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the Global Footprint Network (GFN), shows more than three quarters of the world’s people now living in nations that are ecological debtors, where national consumption has outstripped their country’s biological capacity.

“Most of us are propping up our current lifestyles, and our economic growth, by drawing - and increasingly overdrawing - on the ecological capital of other parts of the world,” Mr Leape said. “If our demands on the planet continue to increase at the same rate, by the mid-2030s we would need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles.” The report, published every two years, has since 1998 become widely accepted as an statement of earth's ability to remain a “living planet”. In 2008, it adds for the first time new measures of global, national and individual water footprint to existing measures of the Ecological Footprint of human demand on natural resources and the Living Planet Index, a measure of the state of nature.

The Living Planet Index, compiled by ZSL, shows a nearly 30 per cent decline since 1970 in nearly 5000 measured populations of 1,686 species. These dramatic losses in our natural wealth are being driven by deforestation and land conversion in the tropics (50% decline in Tropical LPI) and the impact of dams, diversions and climate change on freshwater species (35% decline). Pollution, over-fishing and destructive fishing in marine and coastal environments is also taking a considerable toll. “We are acting ecologically in the same way as financial institutions have been behaving economically - seeking immediate gratification without due regard for the consequences,” said ZSL co-editor Jonathan Loh. “The consequences of a global ecological crisis are even graver than the current economic meltdown.” Carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and land disturbance are the greatest component of humanity’s footprint, underlining the key threat of climate change.

The ecological footprint analysis, produced by GFN, shows that while global biocapacity – the area available to produce our resources and capture our emissions – is 2.1 average or “global” hectares per person, the per person footprint is 2.7 global ha.

“Continued ecological deficit spending will have severe economic consequences,” said GFN Executive Director Dr Mathis Wackernagel. “Resource limitations and ecosystem collapses would trigger massive stagflation with the value of investments plummeting, while food and energy costs skyrocket.”

The USA and China have the largest national footprints, each in total about 21 per cent of global biocapacity, but US citizens each require an average of 9.4 global ha (or nearly 4.5 Planet Earths if the global population had US consumption patterns) while Chinese citizens use on average 2.1 global ha per person (one Planet Earth).

Biocapacity is unevenly distributed, with eight nations – the United States, Brazil, Russia, China, India, Canada, Argentinaand Australia- containing more than half the world total. Population and consumption patterns make three of these countries ecological debtors, with footprints greater than their national biocapacity - the United States (footprint 1.8 times national biocapacity), China (2.3 times) and India (2.2 times).

This can be contrasted with the Congo with the seventh highest per person biocapacity of 13.9 global ha per person and an average footprint of just 0.5 global ha per person – but facing a future of degrading biocapacity from deforestation and increased demands from a rising population and export pressures.

The new water footprint measures show up the significance of water traded in the form of commodities with, for example, a cotton T-shirt requiring 2,900 litres of water in its production. On average, each person consumes 1.24 million litres (about half an Olympic swimming pool) of water a year, but this varies from 2.48 million litres per person a year (USA) to 619,000 litres per capita annually (Yemen).

“Around 50 countries are currently facing moderate or severe water stress and the number of people suffering from year-round or seasonal water shortages is expected to increase as a result of climate change,” the report finds.

“These Living Planet measures serve as clear and robust signposts to what needs to be done,” said Mr Leape. “It is our hope that in years to come we will be reporting increases in the Living Planet Index, an ecological footprint coming down in shoe sizes and water becoming more rather than less available in more places.”

The report suggests some key “sustainability wedges” which if combined could stabilise and reverse the worsening slide into ecological debt and enduring damage to global support systems.

For the single most important challenge – climate change – the report shows that a range of efficiency, renewable and low emissions “wedges” could meet projected energy demands to 2050 with reductions in carbon emissions of 60 to 80 per cent.

“If humanity has the will, it has the ways to live within the means of the planet, but we must recognize that the ecological credit crunch will require even bolder action than that now being mustered for the financial crisis” Mr Leape said.

The full 2008 Living Planet Report can be downloaded from www.panda.org/lpr/08

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October 11, 2008

Trouble in the pipeline for Gray Whales

The fate of the world’s few remaining Western Gray Whales now rests on the outcome of appeals to Russian authorities and courts following the refusal of an oil consortium to consider alternatives to a proposal to lay an oil pipeline through a shallow lagoon crucial to the whales’ food supplies.

Last month the Russian government ignored an outcry over project impacts on Piltun Lagoon to grant approval for the pipeline, part of the Sakhalin-1 project which includes oil giant Exxon and Russian, Japanese and Indian oil companies.

Gray Whale © Philip Precey from the surfbirds galleries

Only around 130 Western Gray Whales are left worldwide, including some 20 females able to reproduce. They gather in the seas around Sakhalin in Russia’s far east for four months to feed and build up the fat to survive the rest of the year.

Piltun Lagoon produces organic matter crucial for benthos such as as sea stars, oysters, clams, sea cucumbers, brittle stars and sea anemones which form the Grey Whale’s main food source.

The Moscow Tagansky Court last week accepted an action from local Sakhalin NGOs including the Sakhalin Association of Indigenous Peoples and Sakhalin Environmental Watch, as well as the Rodnik Law Centre demanding revision of the state environmental expertise conclusion which ignored scientific advice that the pipeline route should be changed.

That report, commissioned by WWF-Russia, Greenpeace and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, was presented to Russia’s minister of nature resources, Yury Trutnev, earlier this year after the consortium rejected an offer to negotiate a new route for the pipeline.

WWF-Russia has this month written to Minister Trutnev, asking him to stop the Exxon project.

“Exxon cannot be considered an environmentally responsible company if it constructs a pipeline contrary to the opinion of Russian and international conservation experts,” said Alexey Knizhnikov, WWF-Russia oil and gas environmental policy coordinator.

WWF is currently negotiating with the government on the creation of a marine protected area in the Piltun lagoon. If the protected status is confirmed the oil pipeline construction should be forbidden in the lagoon.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:47 AM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2008

Climate change to devastate or destroy many penguin colonies

Half to three-quarters of major Antarctic penguin colonies face decline or disappearance if global temperatures are allowed to climb by more than 2°C.

A new WWF report - 2°C is Too Much - shows that the colonies of 50 per cent of the iconic emperor penguins and 75 per cent of the Adélie penguins are under threat.

Climate change models forecast that a 2°C temperature rise above pre-industrial level could be a reality in less than 40 years, producing a strong reduction in the sea ice cover of the Southern Ocean which is an essential nesting and feeding ground for Emperor and Adélie penguins.

Adelie Penguin © John Carlson from the surfbirds galleries

A reduction in the sea ice is also likely to have a knock-on effect on the abundance of krill, which is a vital food source for penguins.

Juan Casavelos, WWF Antarctica Climate Change Coordinator said: “Penguins are very well adapted to living in the cold and extreme conditions of Antarctica, so the continued increase in global temperature and resulting loss of feeding areas and nesting zones for their chicks has already led to notable reductions in their populations.

“If temperatures increase by another two degrees these icons of the Antarctic will be seriously threatened.”

A rise in global average temperatures of 2°C is widely regarded as a threshold level for unacceptable risks of dangerous climate change. Many recent climate models forecast likely temperatures rises in excess of this.

2°C is Too Much was launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress taking place this week in Barcelona, Spain.

The only way to significantly reduce the risks of climate change in Antarctica, as well as globally, is to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

WWF is calling for all nations to work together to agree on a new global deal that will succeed the Kyoto Protocol and tackle climate change beyond 2012.

This should include an obligation on developed countries to cut 25-40 per cent of their emissions by 2020 and 80-90 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.

WWF also proposes the establishment of a network of marine protected areas to reduce pressure on the species, and the implementation of precautionary management measures that ensure the future of the krill and finfish fisheries and all Southern Ocean species - including penguins - that are dependant on them.

Juan Casavelos said: “The predicted threat to Emperor and Adélie penguin populations is a clear incentive for the world to agree on a set of measures to reduce global emissions.

“It is imperative that the international community analyses all possible ways to limit climate change and improve the resilience of the penguin population.”

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October 6, 2008

More Mammals Seeing Red

Marine mammals, such as the Narwhal and Irawaddy dolphin, and land mammals, such as tree kangaroos were confirmed to be closer to extinction by IUCN’s updated Red List of Threatened Species.

The Red List ranks species according to their population status and threat levels. It shows the effects that habitat loss and degradation, over-exploitation, pollutants and climate change are having on the world’s species. “For many species, population numbers are declining while the number and intensity of threats are increasing, making it harder and harder for species to survive,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme.

The Irrawaddy dolphin went from data deficient to vulnerable on the new list, confirming that the dolphin, found in southeast Asia, is facing serious threats from bycatch in fisheries, dam development, deforestation and mining. One population in the Philippians has total of only 77 individuals.

The narwhal which is famous for its long ivory tusk, went from data deficient to near threatened. Narwhals spend their lives in the arctic waters bordering Russia, North America, and Greenlandand are threatened by hunting, trade, habitat loss and toxics and pollution that accumulate in the Arctic, which affect the health and reproduction of these whales.

Fourteen tree kangaroo species are on the Red List with their status ranging from threatened to critically endangered, which highlights the fact that the species are in an overall decline due to deforestation of their ranges in Australiaand New Guinea, as well as hunting. But not all species are “in the red” on the Red List with African elephants going from being listed as vulnerable to near threatened because their populations in eastern and southern Africa are better off today than in the past when poaching for ivory was out of control. “It is encouraging to see that the African elephant is benefiting from effective conservation programmes and ivory trade controls in eastern and southern Africa, said Dr. Lieberman. “But governments, range states and conservationists must keep a diligent eye on forest elephant populations, which are still dangerously low and seriously threatened.”

African Elephant, bucking the trend © Adam Scott Kennedy from the surfbirds galleries

WWF supports use of the IUCN Red list as an important science-based conservation tool that should be used across the globe by communities, governments and international organizations to drive funding and decision making. “Reversal of negative trends towards extinction is possible when political motivation is high and when local communities see the value and benefit from conserving species,” Dr Lieberman said. “The case of African elephants is a classic example of what is possible.”

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September 26, 2008

Poachers walk free as assault on Zimbabwe rhinos escalates

A breakdown in law enforcement against rhino poaching and horn smuggling in Zimbabwe is threatening the success of more than a decade's work bringing rhino populations back up to healthy levels.

Typical of the problem is the recent release of a gang of four Zimbabwean rhino poachers who admitted to killing 18 rhinos in five different areas of central Zimbabwe, including a semi-tame group of black rhinos slaughtered in their pens at Imire Safari Ranch.

The poachers, also alleged to have been involved in a number of armed robberies and arrested with several illegal firearms, were initially denied bail and it was reported that the four had received lengthy jail sentences. However, WWF was recently informed by authorities that the poachers were subsequently granted bail, were freed and immediately absconded. Rhino poaching has been increasing throughout Zimbabwe including in the Lowveld Conservancies in southern Zimbabwe, home to three-quarters of the country's surviving rhinos and host to a rhino conservation project involving WWF, the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe, the private sector and several other conservation agencies including the International Rhino Foundation.

White Rhino, South Africa © Ian Barnard

“Since January 2000, approximately 70 rhinos have been killed in the Lowveld conservancies, and the losses are now rapidly mounting,” said Raoul du Toit, Lowveld rhino conservation project manager for the Lowveld Conservancies. “About 20 rhinos were shot in the Lowveld during 2008, which points to how this problem is escalating,

“Prior to 2000, for a period of seven years, there was no rhino poaching whatsoever.” When the poaching first flared up, it was linked to the unplanned occupations of sections of the Lowveld Conservancies by subsistence farmers and primarily involved rhinos getting caught in wire snares that were set out to catch wildlife for meat consumption.

Now the poaching has reached commercial levels, with poachers not only killing rhinos in snares but also shooting them for their horns, without taking the meat. “WWF and other non-government organisations involved in rhino conservation maintain very constructive relations with the Zimbabwean wildlife authorities,” says du Toit, “But there is growing frustration over Zimbabwe’s poor performance in law enforcement for rhino crimes, which inevitably gives rise to concerns about corruption.”

Although a few poachers from Zambia have been arrested and convicted after cross-border raids into National Parks in northern Zimbabwe, not a single Zimbabwean poacher has been convicted during the current wave of internal rhino poaching.

The few Zimbabwean poachers arrested, have subsequently been released on bail, (equivalent to a few American cents), and have then absconded, or have evaded prosecution in the courts.

“The lack of enforcement and increased poaching pressure in Zimbabwe now threaten to reverse the excellent trends in rhino populations of recent years,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF-International’s Species Programme. “WWF calls on the authorities in Zimbabwe to take much stronger action against the internal poaching networks or the recent progress made in rhino conservation in Zimbabwe will be lost.”

Tom Milliken, the Regional Director of TRAFFIC’s programme in east and southern Africa, warns: “In terms of the CITES treaty on wildlife trade, Zimbabwe is now in the spotlight and an international task force will be visiting shortly to investigate its performance in rhino conservation.

“TRAFFIC has sponsored initiatives to improve the country’s law enforcement capabilities, but sadly most investigations appear to have collapsed without successful prosecutions.”

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September 14, 2008

New hope for Sumatra’s elephants and tigers as Indonesia doubles size of key national park

The government of Indonesia has declared its commitment to enlarging the most suitable block of forest for Sumatran elephants, expanding the vital Tesso Nilo National Park on Sumatra island to 86,000 hectares.

"This is an important milestone toward securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger," said Dr. Mubariq Ahmad, WWF-Indonesia's Chief Executive. “To ensure that the commitment is effectively implemented, we must redouble our efforts on the ground to eliminate poaching and illegal settlements within this special forest.”

Tesso Nilo is one of the last havens of endangered Sumatran elephants and critically endangered Sumatran tigers. With more than 4,000 plant species recorded so far, the forest of Tesso Nilo has the highest lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science,with many species yet to be discovered.

Tesso Nilo National Park was created in 2004 in RiauProvince, but only 38,000 hectares of forest were included. With today’s declaration, the government of Indonesiais to extend the national park into 86,000 ha by Dec 2008 and integrate an additional 18,812 ha into the national park management area of 100,000 ha.

WWF has been supporting the government effort to extend and protect the park as the last block of lowland forest in central Sumatralarge enough to support a viable elephant population. About 60 to 80 elephants are estimated to live there, along with 50 tigers.

Tesso Nilo forest is also an important watershed for more than 40,000 people living in the surrounding 22 villages.

“Tesso Nilo is still under serious threat from illegal activities, but if we can protect the forests there, it will give some of Sumatra’s most endangered wildlife the breathing room they need to survive,” Dr Ahmad said.

“And while we greatly appreciate this precedent for more protection from the Indonesian government, there are other areas on Sumatrathat need safeguarding for the sake of its wildlife, its threatened indigenous peoples and to reduce the climate impacts of clearing.”

WWF helped establish and supports the Tesso Nilo Community Forum, run by all 22 local communities living in the buffer zone of the national park. The forum supports joint actions to protect the Tesso Nilo forest and gives the communities a unified and more influential voice in park management.

WWF is working with local communities that suffer from human-wildlife conflict as a result of disappearing forests in the province. Hundreds of elephants have died in the last few years.

A successful Elephant Flying Squad uses domesticated elephants and mahouts to keep wild elephants inside the park from raiding village crops outside the park. WWF also promotes the planting of buffer crops that are not attractive to elephants.

“WWF is committed for finding solutions for Sumatra’s people and wildlife and the global environment,” Dr Ahmad said. “This is where the focus should be, rather than on the narrower
interests of global pulp and palm oil conglomerates.”

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July 25, 2008

Africa announces world’s largest protected freshwater site

The Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe area in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the world’s largest Wetland Site of International Importance, officially recognized by the Ramsar Convention. The 6,569,624-hectare site (65,696km²), more than twice the size of Belgium, is situated around the Lake Tumba region in the Central Western Basin of the DRC and contains the largest freshwater body in Africa, the second driest continent. Furthermore its rivers and lakes constitute a major sink for CO2.

Wetlands provide water for drinking and sanitation as well as food, fish, fuel and many raw materials and their total economic value is conservatively estimated to be in excess of $70 billion per year. Support for the DRC government in its effort to win recognition for the Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe site began in 2004 and was provided jointly by the Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), a USAID initiative, as well as the Ramsar Convention and WWF, the global conservation organization which was also responsible for the technical aspects of the project.

Hippopotamus © Adam Scott Kennedy, from the surfbirds galleries

"WWF is delighted that Ramsar has recognized the importance of this extraordinary wetland and the efforts of the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect it," said James P. Leape, Director General of WWF International. "This is a significant step forward for the welfare of communities who depend on this wetland for their livelihoods and for the wildlife that lives there."

Cassava, sweet potatoes, sugarcane and bananas are all grown in the Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe site while oil palm plantations, groundnuts and rice are the principal commercial products. Fish from the area also helps to stimulate the economies of big cities such as Kinshasa, Brazzaville and Mbandaka. Vegetation cover at the flood basin acts as a buffer zone against floods for towns all along the Congo River and provides fish with breeding sites, while different forest types help filter water and maintain its quality. It is estimated that, globally, 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation services and 1.2 billion people lack access to fresh water.

Until now the world’s largest Ramsar site was Queen Maud Gulf in Canada at 6,278,200 hectares, designated in 1982. The Lake Tumba landscape, encompassing approximately 80,000km2 in total, has one of the highest biodiversity concentrations anywhere in the world. It contains species of conservation concern such as forest elephants, forest buffalo and leopards, there are an estimated 150 species of fish, a wide variety of birds, and three types of crocodile as well as hippopotamus.

Near the centre of the site is Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur province with a population of approximately 750,000, and there are several smaller towns within the site populated by tribes of the Mongo people. Threats to the area’s welfare include illegal logging, fishing and poaching while a decline in water levels in Lake Tumba itself is most probably linked to climate change. Recognition of the site by the Ramsar Convention and the resultant proper management will offer much needed protection from unsustainable activities in future and should ensure the longevity of the water supply.

“The Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe area contributes to the regulation of flooding and regional climate and ensures that the quality of the water remains good enough for millions of people who depend upon it,” said WWF Project Manager Bila-Isia Inogwabini. “Waters of this zone need to be managed appropriately and the classification of the site will help with a coherent planning process and mobilize all stakeholders to abide by the rules.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:38 AM | Comments (0)

June 2, 2008

WWF applauds “Stern-like” recognition of biodiversity loss as key global issue

At the end of May 2008 WWF welcomed the long overdue recognition of biodiversity as a key development issue, in a major report released today at the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Bonn, Germany.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) , initiated by CBDhost government Germany and the G8 Environment Ministers and supported by European Commission, has been likened to the equivalent for biodiversity of the key Stern report which transformed the climate change debate by clearly outlining adverse consequences to the world economy.

“Biodiversity is not just a green issue – it is the life support system of our planet providing food, fuel, fibre, medicines and services such as pollination, soil fertility and clean water, said Gordon Shepherd, WWF International’s Director of International Policy.

“We have to integrate biodiversity in all policies. The loss of biodiversity is now affecting the economy of our countries through the depletion of fish stocks in our oceans through overfishing and illegal fishing to agricultural activities polluting river basins.”

“The TEEB report recognises the economic value of biodiversity both to our global economy and for the millions of people directly dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.”

WWF’s report 2010 and Beyond: Rising to the Biodiversity Challenge, released as the CBDcommenced, revealed that biodiversity has declined by more than a quarter in the last 35 years andd highlighted the inequitable burden placed by developed countries on the world’s biodiversity through unsustainable production and consumption.

Another WWF report released at the CBDestimated that the value of goods and services provided by our oceans is $US21 trillion, with only 0.5 per cent of ocean areas within protected areas.

“The loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services is undermining efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and is reducing nature’s natural resilience to adapt to the impacts of climate change,” said Shepherd.

WWF believes that financial resources are urgently needed to meet the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. In addition to traditional sources from international financing and national budgets, new and additional funding should be sought through the identification of innovative financial mechanisms such as payments for ecosystem services.

The EU also has a role to play in raising awareness on the importance of addressing biodiversity and the value of the ecosystem services as central issues for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

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April 26, 2008

Climate change hitting Arctic faster and harder

Climate change is having a greater and faster impact on the Arctic than previously thought, according to a new study by the global conservation organization WWF.

The new report, called Arctic Climate Impact Science – An Update Since ACIA, represents the most wide-ranging reviews of arctic climate impact science since the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) was published in 2005.

The new study found that change was occurring in all arctic systems, impacting on the atmosphere and oceans, sea ice and ice sheets, snow and permafrost, as well as species and populations, food webs, ecosystems and human societies. Melting of arctic sea ice and the Greenland Ice Sheet was found to be severely accelerated, now even prompting the expert scientists to discuss whether both may be close to their “tipping point” (the point where, because of climate change, natural systems may experience sudden, rapid and possibly irreversible change).

Little Auk, Spitzbergen © SG Davis, from the surfbirds galleries

“The magnitude of the physical and ecological changes in the Arctic creates an unprecedented challenge for governments, the corporate sector, community leaders and conservationists to create the conditions under which arctic natural systems have the best chance to adapt,” said Dr Martin Sommerkorn, one of the report’s authors and Senior Climate Change Adviser at WWF International’s Arctic Programme.

“The debate can no longer focus only on creating protected areas and allowing arctic ecosystems to find their balance. At the same time, we need to simultaneously reduce the vulnerability of social and environmental systems of the Arctic by reducing threats from human activity and building ecosystem resilience — the ability of ecosystems to remain stable when
under a lot of pressure.”

WWF will launch this report at a meeting of the Arctic Council, the intergovernmental forum of arctic nations at the end of April. “It is now in the hand of the arctic nations to act upon this evidence for climate impacts,” said Sommerkorn.

“They can make a difference if they act strongly, and fast. It is not too late to throw the wheel around. It is just way too late for business as usual.” According to last year’s reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if the entire Greenland Ice Sheet were to melt, sea levels would rise 7.3 metres, making its status a global concern. While it is currently impossible to accurately predict how much of the ice sheet will be melting, and over which time, the new report shows there has been a far greater loss of ice mass in the past few years,
much more than had been predicted by scientific models.

Likewise, the loss of summer arctic sea ice has increased dramatically, with record lows reached in 2005 and — way more dramatic — in 2007. In September 2007, the sea ice shrank to 39 per cent below its 1979-2000 mean, the lowest since satellite monitoring began in 1979 and also the lowest for the entire 20th century based on monitoring from ships and aircraft.
“When you look in detail at the science behind the recent arctic changes it becomes painfully clear how our understanding of climate impacts lags behind the changes that we are already seeing in the Arctic,” said Sommerkorn. “This is extremely dangerous, as some of these arctic changes have the potential to substantially warm the Earth beyond what models currently forecast. That is because climate models don’t currently adequately incorporate important underlying drivers of the arctic changes we are already observing, such as the interaction between sea ice thickness and water temperature.”

The Arctic is not only one of the places on Earth most vulnerable to climate change, but also a place where vulnerability is of urgent global relevance. WWF calls for a two-pronged strategy to minimize the impacts of climate change. “We need to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases to levels that will avoid the continued warming of the Arctic and the anticipated resulting disruption of the global climate system,” said Sommerkorn.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:02 AM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

More of Africa urged to boost rhino numbers

After bringing Africa’s black rhinos spectacularly back from the brink of extinction and securing a future for its once-thought-extinct southern white rhino, one of the world’s most successful conservation programmes is to celebrate its first decade by seeking to extend its operations to more of Africa.

Representatives of the governments of Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia have been invited to WWF’s African Rhino Programme (ARP) 10th anniversary celebration in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. They will join government and wildlife representatives, community representatives and eco-tourism operators from the current ARP participating States of in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.


White Rhinoceros, South Africa, Kruger National Park
© Ian Barnard , from the surfbirds galleries

“What we have shown is that in partnership with governments and communities and business it is possible to stave off extinction for the rhino in some of its former range,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, WWF International’s Global Species Programme Director. “The task now is to secure a future for the rhino in the rest of its range, where threats from poaching and development urgently need to be addressed.”

Africa’s savannas once teemed with more than a million white and black rhinos. However, relentless hunting by European settlers saw rhino numbers and distribution quickly decline. The southern white rhino was thought to be extinct by the late 19th century.

Added to hunting and habitat loss, trade in rhino horn peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, when huge quantities were shipped to the lucrative markets of the Middle East and Asia.

Responding to the crisis, both species of African rhino were listed in 1977 in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibited all international trade of rhino parts and products. Despite this international legal protection, the black rhino population at its lowest point dipped to 2,400 in 1995.

In 1997, there were 8,466 white rhinos and 2,599 black rhinos remaining in the wild. Today, there are 14,500 white rhinos and nearly 4,000 of the more endangered black rhinos.

Today, most of Africa’s black rhinos are found in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe, where the species’ decline has been stopped through effective monitoring and increased security, experience of the value of wildlife-based tourism and extensive assistance to enable communities to benefit from rather than be in conflict with wildlife.

According to the African Rhino Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, Africa’s white and black rhino numbers have shown annual growth rates of 6.8 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively, since 1995.

“What we know from looking back at the last ten years is that sustained conservation can and does work,” says George Kampamba, WWF International’s African Rhino Programme Coordinator.

Although WWF has worked on Rhino conservation throughout its 45-year history, the ARP was notable for its overall approach. Working through field projects, it combined action at every level from local communities to global policy.

One striking, if unanticipated, indicator of the success of the programme is that land prices immediately increase in areas where rhinos are re-introduced. The ARP, which has had experience reintroducing rhinos to national parks, also passed a milestone last year when a KwaZulu Natal community received black rhinos for community-owned land dedicated to wildlife and ecotourism uses.

“Rhino conservation in Africa is going from strength to strength,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF’s Global Species Programme. “But poaching, illegal trade, and development remain significant problems across the rhinos’ range and there is no room for complacency.”

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March 3, 2008

Destruction of Sumatra forests driving global climate change and species extinction

Turning just one Sumatran province's forests and peat swamps into pulpwood and palm oil plantations is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than the Netherlands and rapidly driving the province's elephants into extinction, a new study by WWF and partners has found.

The study found that in central Sumatra's Riau Province 4.2 million hectares of tropical forests and peat swamp have been cleared in the last 25 years. Forestloss and degradation and peat decomposition and fires are behind average annual carbon emissions equivalent to 122 percent of the Netherlandstotal annual emissions, 58 percent of Australia's annual emissions, 39 per cent of annual UKemissions and 26 per cent of annual German emissions.

Banded Pitta, at risk from habitat destruction on Sumatra © Marc Thibault, from the surfbirds galleries

Riau was chosen for the study because it is home to vast peatlands estimated to hold Southeast Asia’s largest store of carbon, and contains some of the most critical habitat for Sumatran elephants and tigers. It also has Indonesia's highest deforestation rate, substantially driven by the operations of global paper giants Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL).

At last December's Bali Climate Change Conference, the Indonesian minister of Forestry pledged to provide incentives to stop unsustainable forestry practices and protect Indonesia's forests. The governor of Riau province has also made a public commitment to protect the province's remaining forest.

“If the commitments by the Indonesian government are implemented, it will not only save its endangered species but actually slow the rate of global climate change through the carbon savings,” said Ian Kosasih, director of WWF-Indonesia's forest programme.

Carbon emissions are likely to increase, the study predicted, as most future forest clearance will be conducted in areas with deep peat. “If government and local industry were to create positive incentives for projects to reduce emissions by saving forests in Riau Province, it would both protect the province’s massive carbon stores and also contribute to the economies of local communities that are dependent on these forests,” said Kosasih.

The report by WWF, Remote Sensing Solution GmbH and HokkaidoUniversitybreaks new ground by analyzing for the first time the connection between deforestation and forest degradation, global climate change, and population declines of tigers and elephants.

The province has lost 65 per cent of its forests over the last 25 years and in recent years has suffered Indonesia's fastest deforestation rates. In the same period there was an 84 per cent decline in elephant populations, down to only 210 individuals, while tiger populations are estimated to have declined by 70 per cent to perhaps just 192 individuals.

“We found that Sumatra's elephants and tigers are disappearing even faster than their forests are in Riau,” said WWF International's Species Programme Director, Dr Susan Lieberman. “This is happening because as wildlife search for new habitat and food sources, they increasingly come into conflict with people and are killed.

“The fragmentation and opening up of new forest areas also increases both the access and the opportunities for poaching. Therefore, a concerted effort to save these forests will contribute significantly to slowing the rate of global climate change, and will give tigers, elephants, and local communities a real chance for a future in Sumatra.”

Led by global paper giants APP and APRIL, the pulp & paper and palm oil industries are driving Riau's Sumatran tigers and elephants to local extinction in just a few years by destroying their habitat, the study found.

As part of its efforts to save Sumatra’s remaining natural forests, WWF is working urgently with the Indonesian government and the pulp and palm oil industries to identify and protect the forests that are home to elephants, tigers, orang-utans and rhinos. Sumatra is the only place on
Earth where all four species co-exist.

Posted by Surfbirds at 8:03 PM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2008

Body part by body part, Sumatran Tigers are being sold into extinction

Laws protecting the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger have failed to prevent tiger body parts being offered on open sale in Indonesia, according to a TRAFFIC report launched this week.

Tiger body parts, including canine teeth, claws, skin pieces, whiskers and bones, were on sale in 10 percent of the 326 retail outlets surveyed during 2006 in 28 cities and towns across Sumatra. Outlets included goldsmiths, souvenir and traditional Chinese medicine shops, and shops selling antique and precious stones.

The survey conservatively estimates that 23 tigers were killed to supply the products seen, based on the number of canine teeth on sale.


Tiger, Bandhavgarh NP, India © Dave Pullan, from the surfbirds galleries

“This is down from an estimate of 52 killed per year in 1999–2000”, said Julia Ng, Programme Officer with TRAFFIC Southeast Asiaand lead author on The Tiger Trade Revisited in Sumatra, Indonesia. “Sadly, the decline in availability appears to be due to the dwindling number of tigers left in the wild”.

All of TRAFFIC’s surveys have indicated that Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, and Pancur Batu, a smaller town situated about 15 km away, are the main hubs for the trade of tiger parts.

Despite TRAFFIC providing authorities with details of traders involved, apart from awareness-raising activities, it is not clear whether any serious enforcement action has been taken.

“Successive surveys continue to show that Sumatran tigers are being sold body part by body part into extinction”, said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme. “This is an enforcement crisis. If Indonesian authorities need enforcement help from the international community they should ask for it. If not, they should demonstrate they are taking enforcement seriously”.

The report recommends that resources and effort should concentrate on effective enforcement to combat the trade by arresting dealers and suppliers. Trade hotspots should be continually monitored and all intelligence be passed to the enforcement authorities for action. Those found guilty of trading in tigers and other protected wildlife should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“We have to deal with the trade. Currently we are facing many other crucial problems which, unfortunately, are causing the decline of Sumatran Tiger populations” explained Dr Tonny Soehartono, Director for Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Forestry of Republic of Indonesia. “We have been struggling with the issues of land use changes, habitat fragmentation, human–tiger conflicts and poverty in Sumatra. Land use changes and habitat fragmentation are driving the tiger closer to humans and thus creating human–tiger conflicts”.

As a recent show of commitment, the President of the Republic of Indonesia launched the Conservation Strategy and Action Plan of Sumatran Tiger 2007–2017 during the 2007 Climate Change Convention in Bali.

Sumatra's remaining few tigers are also under threat from rampant deforestation by the pulp and paper and palm oil industries. The combined threats of habitat loss and illegal trade—unless tackled immediately—will be the death knell for Indonesian tigers.

“The Sumatran tiger is already listed as Critically Endangered on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, the highest category of threat before extinction in the wild,” said Jane Smart, Head of IUCN’s Species Programme. “We cannot afford to lose any more of these magnificent
creatures”.

“The Sumatran tiger population is estimated to be fewer than 400 to 500 individuals. It doesn’t take a mathematician to work out that the Sumatran Tiger will disappear like the Javan and Bali tigers if the poaching and trade continues” Julia Ng adds.

As Indonesia currently chairs the ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Network, TRAFFIC National Co-ordinator Dr Ani Mardiastuti suggested the country “demonstrate leadership to other ASEAN countries by taking action against illegal trade, including in tiger parts.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:45 AM | Comments (0)

February 2, 2008

Congo Wetlands reserve to be world’s second largest

WWF has welcomed the World Wetlands Day announcement of the world’s second largest internationally recognized and protected significant wetlands reserve in the Congo“as a clear sign of the world’s increasing interest in the green heart of Africa.”

“This underlines the importance of the Congoregion as an area that is vital to global climate regulation, biodiversity, and the rights and welfare of indigenous peoples,” said WWF International Director General James Leape.

Around 300,000 people live in the 5,908,074 hectare Grand Affluents RAMSAR wetland, with the four major tributaries to the Congoflowing through it being the origin of its name as well as making the area an important transport network.

African Elephant © Jeff Hazell, from the surfbirds galleries

The world’s largest RAMSAR wetland is the 6,278,200 ha Queen Maude Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Canada.

Other Congoarea RAMSAR sites declared on World Wetlands Day included wetlands on major Congotributaries such as the Libenga and the Sangha in The Cameroons and two coastal wetland reserves important to migrating birds at Cayo-Loufoualeba and Conkouati-Douli.

"WWF lauds the effort in this, the second driest continent, to secure clean and abundant water for millions of people. Wetlands are a critical source of water and other countries would do well to take Africa's lead," said Richard Holland, WWF's Freshwater Director.

WWF International’s wetlands manager Denis Landenbergue, a veteran of the long and challenging process of achieving the declarations, said they were “an outstanding achievement” of the governments and agencies concerned.

"This will help secure water and livelihoods for millions of people and the conservation of important water features, forests and habitats,” he said. “Areas of these wetlands are particularly important dry time refuges for elephants, hippopotamuses and buffalos and for many migratory bird species.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2008

Cuba ends turtle hunt

Cuba has banned the harvesting of all marine turtle species and products from its beaches and seas for an indefinite period, according to a Ministry of Fisheries Ministerial Resolution.

Conservationists have applauded the decision as a lifeline for the Caribbean’s endangered marine turtles and the communities that co-exist with them. It benefits all turtle species hatching on beaches throughout the Caribbean and coming regularly to feed in Cuban waters, including the critically endangered hawksbill turtle.

“For many years, Cuba retained a legal “fishery” of 500 hawksbills a year, with the hope of being able to trade their shells internationally, said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme.

Green Turtle, an endangered species that will now benefit © Matthew Hobbs

“This far-sighted decision represents an outstanding outcome for Cuba, for the wider Caribbean, and for conservation. Cuba is to be commended for the example it has set in intelligent decision-making informed by science and the long term best interests of its people,” she added.

The phase out of the marine turtle fishery in Cuba is the result of a joint effort by WWF and the Cuban Ministry of Fisheries, with financial support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The two remaining fishing communities that used to harvest marine turtles in Cuba will be helped with funds and technical assistance to find sustainable economic alternatives, modernize their fishing fleets, re-train their inhabitants and engage them in hawksbill turtle protection activities.

The WWF/CIDA grant of over $US 400.000 will also support the Ministry's Centre for Fisheries Research to become a regional hub for marine turtle conservation and research, capitalizing on decades of experience by leading Cuban scientists. It will also strengthen the Office for Fisheries Inspection (the Cuban Fisheries law enforcement group) to ensure compliance with the ban.

Along with other marine turtles, Hawksbill turtles are threatened by the loss of nesting and feeding habitats, egg collection, entanglement in fishing gear, climate change, and pollution. But the main threat to the Hawksbills comes from continuing illegal trade in tortoiseshell.

The species is now classified as critically endangered after population declines estimated at 80 per cent over the last century. Its preference for feeding on sponges also means it plays a significant but until recently unappreciated role in the continued health of coral reefs, by opening up new feeding opportunities for some varieties of reef fish.

The decision can be found at:

http://www.cadenagramonte.cubaweb.cu/noticias/enero_08/190108_01.asp

The species that will benefit from Cuba’s decision are the green, loggerhead, and hawksbill turtles. Greens and loggerheads are endangered, while hawksbills are critically endangered, according to the IUCN Red List and international trade in hawksbill turtle products is banned under the CITES convention. The ban reduces the pressure on turtles from hunting for meat and tortoiseshell.

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:30 AM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2008

New logging in Sumatra threatens endangered species

A recently released investigative report finds that paper giant Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and its affiliates are constructing a massive logging highway that will split in half one of Indonesia’s most important forests. The legally questionable highway threatens to devastate one of Sumatra’s last large forest blocks, home to two tribes of indigenous people and endangered elephants, tigers and orangutans.

The Bukit Tigapuluh Forest Landscape in central Sumatra contains some of the richest biodiversity on Earth, with more than 250 other mammal and bird species. Field investigations by WWF and its partners found evidence of illegal logging and constuction of a logging highway there by APP, one of the world’s largest paper companies, and its partners. The highway allows logging trucks easier access to APP’s pulp mills in Jambi Province; the clearing took place after APP’s forestry operations in neighboring Riau Province were halted due to a police investigation of illegal logging. APP partners have cleared an estimated 20,000 hectares of natural forest in the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape and some of the clearing appears to be in violation of Indonesian law.

The forest is home to two tribes of indigenous people, one of which lives nowhere else on Sumatra. The landscape also was designated one of just 20 “global priority” landscapes for tiger conservation by a global team of tiger scientists in 2006. It is the location of a successful conservation project to reintroduce orang utans, which now reside in a part of the landscape that is proposed for protected status but is already being cleared by APP-affiliated companies, the report found.


Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Sumatra, © Pete Morris/Birdquest,
from the Surfbirds galleries

Conservationists urge APP and its partners to stop clearing any more natural forest whose ecological, environmental and cultural conservation values have not been determined and to stop sourcing any of its purchased wood from such forests. Conservationists also call on the government to ensure an end to all forms of forest clearance found to violate national Indonesian laws and regulations.

“With its high conservation values, the Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape should be protected and thus all natural forest clearance in the area has to be stopped,” said IanKosasih, WWF-Indonesia’s Forest Program Director. “APP is one of the world’s largest paper companies and we believe its global customers expect it to act like a responsible corporate citizen. The company should commission independent assessments of the conservation values of these areas in a publicly transparent manner before any conversion takes place, and commit to protect and manage conservation values identified in these areas.”

Indonesian law has a set of criteria and requirements to be fulfilled prior to conversion of natural forest. Yet evidence found during the investigation indicates APP-affiliated companies converted hundreds of hectares before fulfilling these requirements, thus violating Indonesian law. Part of the area being cleared is in a proposed Specific Protected Area that serves as habitat for about 90 Sumatran orang utans recently introduced into the area for the first time in more than 150 years.

The full report on APP’s activities in Bukit Tigapuluh can be downloaded at http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/

Posted by Surfbirds at 1:34 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2007

Too early to tell on Black Sea oil spill

The full environmental impacts of this week's oil spill in the Black Sea would not be known for some time, the global conservation organization WWF has said.

At least four ships sank, including one tanker believed to be carrying about 1200 tonnes of oil, and four others were in danger of breaking up after a severe storm hit the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea on Sunday.

“This is a tragic incident because lives have been lost, and there are some people who are still missing,” said Guillermo Castilleja, Programme Director of WWF International. “WWF deeply regrets this loss of life, and, beyond that, all we can say at the moment is it is too early to say for sure what the environmental impacts will be.

Cormorant © Jon Hall, at risk, from the surfbirds galleries

“The eco-system in this area has been degraded in the past by other spills and pollutants, and this latest spill will be a further setback.”

However, three experts from WWF-Russia, highlighted the need for a greater focus on safety.

WWF-Russia’s Director of Conservation Policy, Dr Evgeny Shvarts, said: “WWF hopes that the accident will lead to the adoption of a law guaranteeing safety of oil operations in seas and rivers, similar to the Oil Pollution Act adopted in the US after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.”

Alexey Knizhnikov, head of WWF-Russia’s oil and gas programme, said: “The accident is a natural consequence of the situation when ships constructed for rivers sail in the sea. In the Strait of Kerch, river vessels and sea vessels change cargos, as sea vessels cannot enter the Don and Volga rivers because of small water draft. But vessels constructed for rivers cannot stand strong sea storms."

Oleg Tsaruk, head of WWF-Russia Caucasus branch: “To minimize the consequences of oil spills in the sea, it is important to create a permanent Russian-Ukranian group capable of coordinating emergency services of the two countries. This agency should not only be responsible for cleaning up oil spills. Its main function should be preventing potential accidents. Everyone had been warned about the coming storm before November 11, but there hadn’t been any strict command to take ships with poisonous cargos to safe places.”

Posted by Surfbirds at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2007

Southern Bluefin Tuna fleets endanger wildlife, warns WWF

Thousands of seabirds, and significant numbers of sharks and marine turtles, are caught and killed each year in long-line fisheries targeting Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT), reveals a new WWF report.

Japan’s long-line SBT fleet killed between 6,000 and 9,000 seabirds per year in the 2001 and 2002 fishing seasons. About three quarters of the species taken were albatrosses, and one fifth petrels.

Salvins Albatross © Nigel Voaden

It’s estimated the annual deaths of seabirds from all SBT fishing could be as high as 13,500, including about 10,000 albatrosses. Of the 22 species of albatrosses, 19 are classified as threatened with extinction according to the World Conservation Union.

“SBT long-line fleets are fishing blind, with little or no understanding of their devastating impact on threatened species,” says Dr Simon Cripps, Director of WWF’s Global Marine Programme. “Responsible countries must urgently implement measures to dramatically reduce the death toll.”

The new report exposes ten years of inaction by members of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), and calls for reform measures to be agreed at their annual meeting in Australia next week to stem the catch of endangered wildlife and reduce chronic overfishing.

Southern Bluefin Tuna, a migratory fish found mainly in the southern waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, is fished predominantly by Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, and several other Asian countries. Long-line fishing fleets take around two-thirds of the reported catch of SBT.

“Currently the Commission only requires the use of tori poles, devices used to scare away seabirds from fishing lines, whereas they should be calling for a whole suite of bycatch reduction measures to be enforced.” adds Dr Cripps. “CCSBT now lags well behind other Regional Fisheries Management Organizations’ efforts to tackle bycatch.”

The report urges members of the CCSBT to immediately agree mandatory requirements for the collection and submission of data on the impact of SBT fishing on non-target species and to ensure their on-board observer programme prioritise the collection of this data.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:05 AM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2007

New animal and plant species found in Vietnam

Scientists have discovered 11 new species of animals and plants in a remote area in central Vietnam, WWF said today (26 September 2007).

The species were found in the Thua Thien Hue Province – a region known as the Green Corridor. They include two butterflies and a snake, as well as five orchids and three other plants, all of which are exclusive to tropical forests in Vietnam’s Annamites Mountain Range. Ten other plant species, including four orchids, are still under examination but also appear to be new species.

“You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them,” said Chris Dickinson, WWF’s Chief Technical Adviser in the area. “Several large mammal species were discovered in the 1990s in the same forests, which means that these latest discoveries could be just the tip of the iceberg.”

The rainforests of the Central Annamites likely existed as continuous undisturbed forest cover for thousands of years, and, as a result, offer unique habitats for many species, WWF says.

The new snake species, called the white-lipped keelback, tends to live by streams where it catches frogs and other small animals. It has a beautiful yellow-white stripe that sweeps along its head and red dots cover its body. It can reach about 80 centimetres in length.

The butterfly species are among eight discovered in the province since 1996. One is a skipper – a butterfly with quick, darting flight habits – from the genus Zela, the other is a new genus in the subfamily of Satyrinae.

Three of the new orchid species are entirely leafless, which is rare for orchids. They contain no chlorophyll and live on decaying matter, like many fungal species. The new other plants include an aspidistra, which produces a flower that is nearly black. Aspidistra-relatives plants are used as houseplants and are able to withstand very low light conditions. And a newly discovered species of arum has beautiful yellow flowers. Arum plants have funnel-shaped leaves surrounding the flowers.

According to WWF, all these species are at risk from illegal logging, hunting, unsustainable extraction of natural resources and conflicting development interests. However, the Thua Thien Hue Province authorities – in particular the Forest Protection Department – have committed to conserve and sustainably manage these valuable forests.

“The area is extremely important for conservation and the province wants to protect the forests and their environmental services, as well as contribute to sustainable development,” said Hoang Ngoc Khanh, Director of Thua Thien Hue Provincial Forest Protection Department.

Recent surveys have shown that many threatened species are found in the Green Corridor, including 15 reptiles and amphibians and six bird species. The area is also home to Vietnam’s greatest number of white-cheeked crested gibbons, one of the world’s most endangered primates. The Green Corridor is believed to be the best location in Vietnam to conserve the saola, a unique type of wild cattle only discovered by scientists in 1992.

According to WWF, forests in the Annamites also help preserve critical environmental services, such as water supplies for thousand of people who depend on the region’s rivers. They also provide non-timber forest resources for local ethnic minority groups who earn more than half of their income from these products.

Posted by Surfbirds at 5:27 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2007

Timing running out for polar bears

A new report on the fate of polar bears in a world of climate change predicts disaster for one of the world's most charismatic species, the global conservation organization WWF said today.

"We now have official confirmation that the largest living land predator is going to go extinct in our lifetime,” said Dr Neil Hamilton, Director of the WWF Arctic Programme.

The report by the US Geological Survey predicts that changes in sea ice will result in the loss of about two-thirds of the world's polar bear population by 2050. This is almost certainly an underestimate of the predicted impact because of the consistent underestimates in sea-ice loss (currently about 25 per cent ) of current models.

Polar Bear, Nunavut, Canada, James Bay July 2006 © Paul Jones

"The world is still discussing whether or not to take rapid action against climate change," said Dr Hamilton. "Politicians are fiddling at the edges while the Arctic wilderness succumbs to global warming; but in the meantime, they are sending one of the world’s greatest species on its way to extinction."

The full report can be found at:
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/special/polar_bears/

Posted by Surfbirds at 6:53 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2007

Satellite tracking reveals threats to Borneo pygmy elephants

A new WWF study tracking pygmy elephants by satellite shows that the remaining herds of these endangered elephants, which live only on the island of Borneo, are under threat from forest fragmentation and loss of habitat.

Borneo pygmy elephants depend for their survival on forests situated on flat, low lands and in river valleys, the study found. Unfortunately, it is also the type of terrain preferred for commercial plantations.

Over the past four decades, 40 percent of the forest cover of the Malaysian State of Sabah, on the northeast of Borneo – where most of pygmy elephants are – has been lost to logging, conversion for plantations and human settlement.

“The areas that these elephants need to survive are the same forests where the most intensive logging in Sabah has taken place, because flat lands and valleys incur the lowest costs when extracting timber,” said Raymond Alfred, Head of WWF-Malaysia’s Borneo Species Programme.

“However, the Malaysian government’s commitment to retain extensive forest habitat throughout central Sabah, under the “Heart of Borneo” agreement, should ensure that the majority of the herds have a home in the long term,” Alfred added.

This study, the largest using satellite collars ever attempted on Asian elephants, suggests that pygmy elephants prefer lowland forests because there is more food of better quality on fertile lowland soils.

But the study also shows that elephants’ movements are noticeably affected by human activities and forest disturbance. Data gathered so far reveals there are probably not more than 1,000 pygmy elephants left in Sabah – less than the 1,600 or so estimated previously.

And, one important area for the elephants, the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, may be too small and too fragmented to support a viable population for the long term, according to the report.

Five pygmy elephants were darted and outfitted with collars two years ago by the Sabah Wildlife Department with WWF assistance, after tracking the elephants on foot through the dense jungle was found too difficult over long periods.

The collars sent GPS locations to a WWF computer via satellite as often as once a day. This was the first long-term study done of Borneo pygmy elephants.

“Satellite tracking is clearly one of the most effective ways of obtaining information on wild elephants in Sabah because they spend so much time inside the forest,” said Mahedi Andau, Director of the Sabah Wildlife Department. “We now have a good idea of the home range, size and location of some individual elephant herds.”

The information provided by the research might also help predict locations where elephants and farms may come into future conflict.

While pygmy elephants can live in logged and secondary forests, it is crucial that their remaining habitat is managed sustainably and not converted into plantations, WWF says. Logging in elephant habitat should only take place if there is a long-term forest management plan in place, and oil palm plantations should be established on degraded, non-forested land devoid of elephants and orang-utans, according to the conservation organization.

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:16 AM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2007

Four gorillas killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Three female mountain gorillas and one male silverback gorilla have been killed in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The bodies were discovered in the southern sector of the park by rangers from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), the DRC’s wildlife and protected areas authority. All four mountain gorillas were shot, but it is unclear who killed them and why.

Gorilla, copyright Andrew Moon

Just over 700 mountain gorillas survive in the wild today, and none exist in captivity. For such a small population the unnecessary and indiscriminate killing of four mountain gorillas is a huge loss. The gorillas belonged to the Rugendo group that lived in the area visited often by tourists - providing valuable economic benefits for local communities.

The male silverback was an alpha male. Alpha males fulfil a leadership role within a group, and in their absence, the integrity of the group is often compromised. Before the killings the Rugendo group comprised 12 individuals. Six are confirmed as safe, but two gorillas, a female and an infant, are missing.

ICCN patrols have been increased within the southern sector of the park with support from the DRC army. Guard posts are being constructed to provide 24-hour surveillance of the park. “Just two months ago, we celebrated the increase of the gorilla population in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda," says Dr. Kwame Koranteng, Regional Representative of WWF's Eastern Africa Regional Programme Office. "Seven gorillas killed in 7 months is a horrifying statistic and a trend that cannot continue," he added.

Chief Executive of Fauna & Flora International, Mark Rose, said: "We are deeply concerned about this incident which follows more than 20 years of successful collaboration for mountain gorilla conservation. Whatever the motive underlying this tragedy, the gorillas are helpless pawns in a feud between individuals."

Earlier this year two silverback male gorillas were shot dead in the same area of the park. The perpetrators were believed to be supporters of Laurent Nkunda. The skin of one of the dead gorillas was recovered from a latrine in a nearby rebel camp. In May, a female gorilla was shot dead in the same park. Her infant is now being hand reared by the ICCN in Goma.

Post mortem examinations on the four gorillas are being carried out. The bodies will be buried near Bukima, an outpost within the park.

Posted by Surfbirds at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2007

One river’s flood is another’s drought – river basin transfers threaten world’s most vital resource

Gland, Switzerland - Increasingly popular schemes to pour water from one river into another less endowed are putting the very source of life at risk, says WWF in a new report entitled Pipedreams? Inter-basin transfers and water shortages.

The report from the global conservation organization shows that inter-basin transfers are inevitably costly schemes that damage the natural environment, interrupting flows between rivers and compromising their ability to provide food and water.

Along with dams and other highly technical approaches to make up for water shortages, transfer schemes entail elaborate systems of canals, pipes and dredging over long distances. Already less than 40 per cent of the world’s rivers over 1,000km long remain free-flowing and this fact along with the water crisis is no mere coincidence.

“An overemphasis on engineering to address growing water needs is an artificial way to fix the water crisis,” says Jamie Pittock, Director of WWF’s Global Freshwater Programme. “More lasting is a commitment to healthy rivers and wetlands as the first step to water conservation, complemented by other methods as sustainable as possible and only if necessary.”

The report explores schemes completed in Australia, South Africa and Spain and others proposed in Brazil, China, Greece and Peru. It is worth noting that hundreds more exist including some that are not publicly known because of their often controversial nature.

Almost all cases share common flaws: cost overruns, insufficient transparency, irreversible damage to rivers, lack of stakeholder consultation, displacement of communities, planned benefits falling short, and a lack of exploration of alternative sustainable options.

“In many cases, water transfer schemes are a ‘pipedream’, reflecting simplistic thinking that transferring water between rivers will solve the problem without bringing new ones,” adds Pittock. The solutions to the water crisis must be rooted in conserving wetlands while properly assessing and managing local demands for water.”

“We must also use traditional local water management methods where suitable and recycle waste water. Basin transfers must be the last resort after all other sustainable approaches have been explored.”

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May 26, 2007

Disturbed, hungry and lost – climate change impacts on whales

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are facing increasing threats from climate change, according to a new report published by WWF and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) ahead of the 59th meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

The report Whales in hot water? highlights the growing impacts of climate change on cetaceans. They range from changes in sea temperature and the freshening of the seawater because of the melting of ice and increased rainfalls, to sea level rise, loss of icy polar habitats and the decline of krill populations in key areas.

Blue Whale, Mexico, Baja, Bahia de Ballena © Matthew Hobbs

Krill – a tiny shrimp-like marine animal that is dependent on sea ice – is the main source of food for many of the great whales.

Accelerating climate change adds significantly to disturbances from other human activities, such as chemical and noise pollution, collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing nets, which kills some 1,000 cetaceans every day.

“Whales, dolphins and porpoises have some capacity to adapt to their changing environment,” said Mark Simmonds, International Director of Science at WCDS. “But the climate is now changing at such a fast pace that it is unclear to what extent whales and dolphins will be able to adjust, and we believe many populations to be very vulnerable to predicted changes.”

Climate change impacts are currently greatest in the Arctic and the Antarctic. According to the report, cetaceans that rely on polar, icy waters for their habitat and food resources – such as belugas, narwhal, and bowhead whales – are likely to be dramatically affected by the reduction of sea ice cover.

And as sea ice cover decreases, there will be more human activities, such as commercial shipping, oil, gas and mining exploration and development as well as military activities, in previously untouched areas of the Arctic.

“This will result in much greater risks from oil and chemical spills, worse acoustic disturbance and more collisions between whales and ships,” said the lead author of the report, Wendy Elliott, from WWF’s Global Species Programme.

Other projected impacts of climate change listed in the report include: reduction of available habitat for several cetacean species unable to move into colder waters (e.g. river dolphins); the acidification of the oceans as they absorb growing quantities of CO2; an increased susceptibility of cetaceans to diseases; and reduced reproductive success, body condition and survival rates.

Climate change could also be the nail in the coffin for the last 300 or so endangered North Atlantic right whales, as the survival of their calves has been directly related to the effects of climate variability on prey abundance.

WCDS and WWF are urging governments to cut CO2 global emissions by at least 50 per cent by the middle of this century. The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed it was possible to stop global warming if the world’s emissions start to decline before 2015.

The report ‘Whales in hot water?’ can be downloaded at: www.panda.org/species/iwc and www.wdcs.org/publications

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May 16, 2007

Wildlife trade convention: WWF’s top ten priorities

Ahead of the world’s major meeting on wildlife trade, WWF releases its top ten list of species needing urgent, global, action to reduce threats from trade.

Delegates from 171 countries are expected to attend the Conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), from 3-15 June in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Chimpanzee, Kibale, Uganda © Andrew Moon

Some of the species on WWF’s top ten priority list are among the most endangered. For example, the tiger and the Asian rhino have required constant and urgent action over the past decades, because of ever-present, pervasive threats to their survival, including poaching and illegal trade. Others, particularly marine species, are on the list because their populations have declined massively in recent years, to supply the global market.

“CITES has been addressing the trade threat to some of these species for more than 30 years, with many successes, while others are new on the agenda,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director WWF’s Global Species Programme. “For some, there are new threats, others are new on the agenda due to changing trade dynamics in the global economy, while for yet others, organized criminal elements continue to ply their trade across the globe.”

“Whatever the problem,” added Dr Lieberman, “nothing will change unless governments take this trade and its impacts on conservation and local people’s livelihoods seriously.”

WWF’s top ten “to do” list for the world’s governments includes the following species:

Porbeagle – Porbeagle shark is a powerful, medium-sized, highly migratory shark. There is international demand for, and trade, in its high-value meat and fins. It is also used as fertilizer. WWF calls upon governments to include the species in CITES Appendix II.

Spiny dogfish – Spiny dogfish is a slender, smaller sized white-spotted shark that grows to about one metre long and travels in schools. It is found in cool, coastal waters worldwide. Known as rock salmon, it is used in fish and chips in the UK and as a smoked meat delicacy in Germany, called Schillerlocken. WWF calls upon governments to include the species in CITES Appendix II.

Sawfish – Populations of the seven species of sawfish have drastically declined. They are traded as live animals for public aquariums, and also for their fins and meat. Their distinctive saw-like snouts are sold as souvenirs and ceremonial weapons, while other body parts are used for traditional medicines. WWF calls upon governments to include these species in CITES Appendix I.

Tigers – In addition to continuing threats from habitat loss and forest conversion, an old threat is about to re-emerge in China, which could put the last remaining tigers further at risk – the potential re-opening of trade from tiger ‘farms’. WWF calls upon governments to take concerted action to stop all trade in tigers, particularly in China, and to improve enforcement efforts across Asia (e.g., India).

Asian rhinos – Historically hunted for their horn, a prized ingredient in traditional Asian medicines, and devastated by the destruction of their lowland forest habitat, Asian rhino populations are now distressingly small. An upsurge in poaching over the last few is taking its toll even on populations that were thought to be stable. WWF calls upon governments to step up enforcement efforts, and assist countries such as Nepal to stop the poaching.

Red and pink coral – A jewel that comes from reefs and atolls, it is the most valuable of all the precious corals. Pink coral has been fished for over 5,000 years and used for jewellery and decoration. Over-harvesting and the destruction of entire colonies by bottom trawls and dredges have led to dramatic population declines. WWF calls on governments to include all species of red and pink coral in CITES Appendix II.

European eel – The European eel comes from coastal and freshwater ecosystems throughout Europe, including Mediterranean countries. Stocks have declined dramatically over the past several decades due to overfishing and poaching. There is significant international demand for this species, both for live juvenile eels (shipped from Europe to Asia) for rearing in aquaculture and for the highly valued meat of adults. WWF calls on governments to include this species in CITES Appendix II.

Elephants – The ongoing poaching of elephants and illegal international trade in ivory is stimulated by rampant ivory sales in some countries, particularly in Africa and Asia. Despite previous CITES decisions, and valiant efforts of some countries, these markets persist. The time has come to put political will behind serious efforts to close down these illegal and unregulated ivory markets, the true driver of elephant poaching.

Great apes – Wild populations of great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans), continue to decline drastically and are threatened by the combined effects of illegal trade in live animals (usually for pets), poaching for meat, disease and habitat disturbance, fragmentation and destruction. WWF calls on governments and CITES to stop this trade – including by adequately enforcing existing laws and imposing deterrent penalties.

Bigleaf mahogany – This highly valuable South and Central American rainforest tree species was listed in CITES Appendix II in 2002, in response to population declines and high levels of illegal logging and trade. Only one country still exports large commercial quantities, Peru, and after five years, these problems continue, and concerted action is needed.

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May 15, 2007

Five years the key to planet’s future

The world has more than enough sustainable energy and technology to curb climate change, but only if key decisions are made within the next five years, according to new research by WWF.

Climate Solutions: WWF’s vision for 2050, a new report detailing the results of that study, was launched by the global conservation organization at an international press briefing in Geneva today.

The third report this year of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released on 4 May, showed that the world could limit its heat-trapping emissions with known technologies and policy changes, but WWF’s Climate Solutions report shows how this can be done using only sustainable, environmentally friendly energy sources.

“The world has never been more aware of climate change, or the urgent need to slow its advance,” said James Leape, WWF International’s Director General. “The question for leaders and governments everywhere is how to rein in dangerously high levels of carbon dioxide emissions without stunting development and reducing living standards.

“The Climate Solutions report shows not only that this can be done, it shows how we can do it. We have a small window of time in which we can plant the seeds of change, and that is the next five years. We cannot afford to waste them.

“This is not something that governments can put off until the future. Governments in power now have a unique opportunity, a duty, to do something big for the future of the planet. If they fail, generations to come will have to live with the compromises and hardships caused by their inability to act.”

Princeton University’s Professor Robert Socolow, who in his work with Professor Stephen Pacala developed the climate stabilization wedges used in the WWF study, endorsed the Climate Solutions report. “The WWF study provides a much needed integration of climate change mitigation within a comprehensive framework of environmental stewardship,” he said.

Jorgen Randers, who in 1972 was one of the authors of Limits to Growth, the book known for linking economic growth and the state of the natural environment, also praised the report.

“The WWF Climate Solutions report is important first and foremost because it shows that it can be done. The plan shows it is possible to supply the world’s growing energy need in a climate-friendly manner, even if we choose to limit ourselves to existing and environmentally acceptable technologies,” said Professor Randers, who is also Chairman of WWF-Norway.

Climate Solutions is the report of WWF’s Energy Taskforce which was set up in December 2005. More than 100 scientists and experts contributed their knowledge.

The taskforce set out to answer the question: “Is it technically possible to meet the growing global demand for energy, using clean and sustainable energy sources and technologies that will protect the global climate?”

It began by reviewing 25 different commercially available sustainable energy sources or technologies and ranking them. From this process, three groupings emerged: those technologies with clear benefits, those with some negative but mostly positive impacts, and those where the negatives clearly outweighed the positives.

Those technologies found to have more benefits than negative impacts were then run through the newly designed WWF Climate Solutions model.

The findings were clear and had a note of hope: the model showed, with a high degree of probability (i.e. greater than 90 per cent), that known energy sources and proven technologies could be harnessed between now and 2050 to meet a projected doubling in global demand for energy while at the same time achieving the necessary significant drop (about 60-80 per cent) in carbon dioxide emissions to pevent dangerous climate change.

The model shows for the first time that this is technically and industrially feasible. It also shows that measures must be taken within five years to bring about a reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions within the next ten years.

The report identifies six key solutions to the problem of meeting global energy demand without damaging the global climate:

• Improving energy efficiency.
• Stopping forest loss.
• Accelerating the development of low-emissions technologies.
• Developing flexible fuels.
• Replacing high-carbon coal with low-carbon gas.
• Equipping fossil-fuel plants with carbon capture and storage technology.

For further information:
Moira O’Brien-Malone, WWF International, +41 22 364 9550 or +41 79 377 7958 (mobile), email mobrien@wwfint.org

Posted by Surfbirds at 7:20 AM | Comments (0)

May 9, 2007

Children to learn how to help save polar bears

WWF and Canon Europe launched today a “Save the Polar Bear” website as an educational tool to teach children about the environmental impacts of climate change.

The site – a microsite hosted on the enhanced WWF-Canon Polar Bear Tracker (www.panda.org/polarbears) – will have a variety of activities suitable for children aged from seven to eleven.

Polar Bear, Norway © Pete Morris, Birdquest

In fun and engaging ways, and with the aid of two animated polar bear cubs named Auro and Borea, children will learn about threats to polar bears’ habitat, about the issues and challenges of climate change, their own impact on the environment, and how they can each make a difference.

The Polar Bear Tracker was launched in 2002 by WWF’s Arctic Programme and the Norwegian Polar Institute to track polar bears in the Svalbard archipelago. Canon recognised the importance of the project and became involved because polar bears are a key indicator of climate change and its effects on the Arctic.

Due to global warming, the sea ice on which polar bears live melts earlier and earlier every year, leaving them with a smaller area in which to find food. Though pollution and hunting are other threats to polar bears, climate change is the biggest of them all. Unless humanity takes radical action to reduce its emissions of global warming gases such as carbon dioxide, we are unlikely to be able to save the polar bear.

The announcement of the children’s site is timed to coincide with Canon Europe’s 50th anniversary.

“Climate change and the associated issues of global warming and environmental consciousness are of crucial importance to the people of Canon, both as members of a socially responsible company and as individuals” said James Leipnik, Chief of Communication and Corporate Relations at Canon Europe. “By working with WWF to address some of the key challenges of environmental sustainability through better understanding, we hope to engage as wide an audience as possible, from children to their parents and teachers, and encourage them to do their part for the environment.”

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April 24, 2007

WWF captures extraordinary video of rare Borneo rhino

A video “camera trap” positioned inside the jungle has captured rare footage of an elusive Borneo rhino, WWF and Malaysia’s Sabah Wildlife Department announced today.

The two-minute video – showing the animal eating, walking to the camera and sniffing the equipment – is the first-ever footage of observing the behaviour in the wild of one of the world’s rarest rhinos.

Scientists estimate there are only between 25 and 50 rhinos left on the island of Borneo. These last survivors of the Bornean subspecies of Sumatran rhinos are believed to remain only in the interior forests of Sabah, Malaysia – an area known as the “Heart of Borneo.” The rhinos are so secretive that the first-ever still photo of one was captured last year.

“These are very shy animals that are almost never seen by people,” said Mahedi Andau, director of the Sabah Wildlife Department. “This video gives us an amazing opportunity to spy on the rhino’s behaviour.”

The rhinos in Sabah spend their lives in dense jungle where they are rarely seen, which accounts for the lack of any previous photographs of them in the wild.

The video camera trap that captured the rhino footage was developed by Stephen Hogg, Head of Audio Visual at WWF-Malaysia. After successfully testing the newly developed camera trap on Malayan tigers in Peninsula Malaysia, it was set up in Sabah to capture the Sumatran rhino. Photos and video footage can determine the condition of rhinos, help identify individual animals and show how they behave in the wild.

“We did a pilot test with two of my video cameras in an area that the field team had determined was used by rhinos. The first time we checked them, after four weeks, there were these fantastic images,” Hogg said. “This is further proof that these video cameras do work and are of value to our conservation work. This footage is awesome and could not have been better.”

On Borneo, there have been no confirmed reports of rhinos apart from those in Sabah for almost 20 years, leading experts to fear that the species may now be extinct on the rest of the island. Major threats include poaching, illegal encroachment into key rhino habitats, and the fact that the remaining rhinos are so isolated that they may rarely or never meet to breed.

“The photos and video footage will be used to determine the condition of the rhinos in the wild,” said Raymond Alfred, project manager for WWF’s Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS). “But we have to realize that these rhinos could face extinction in the next ten years if their habitat continues to be disturbed and enforcement is not in place.”

Recently, the ministers of the three Bornean governments – Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia – signed an historic Declaration to conserve and sustainably manage the Heart of Borneo. This has put the area on the global stage of conservation priorities.

The video, along with new still images of the rhinos, can be viewed at http://www.panda.org/borneorhino.

The rhinos found on Borneo are regarded as a subspecies of the Sumatran rhinos, which means they have different physical characteristics to rhinos found in Sumatra (Indonesia) and Peninsular Malaysia. The Sumatran rhino is one of the world's most critically endangered species, with small numbers found only in Sumatra (Indonesia), Sabah (on the northern end of Borneo) and Peninsular Malaysia. See WWF’s Asian rhino factsheet at http://www.panda.org/news_facts/publications/index.cfm?uNewsID=62840

Conservationists hope that the population is viable and will be able to reproduce if protected from poaching. However, a high proportion of females have reproductive problems. Many of the remaining rhinos are old and possibly beyond reproductive age. The death rate may be exceeding birth rate.

Sabah and the forests of the "Heart of Borneo" still hold huge tracts of continuous natural forests, which are some of the most biologically diverse habitats on Earth, with high numbers of unique animal and plant species. It is one of only two places in the world – Indonesia's Sumatra island is the other – where orang-utans, elephants and rhinos still co-exist and where forests are currently large enough to maintain viable populations.

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April 11, 2007

Natural wonders feel the heat, warns WWF

From the Amazon to the Himalayas, ten of the world’s greatest natural wonders face destruction if the climate continues to warm at the current rate, warns WWF.

In its latest briefing, Saving the world's natural wonders from climate change, the global conservation organization reports on how the devastating impacts of global warming are damaging the world’s greatest natural wonders.

Green Turtle, Western Australia, Ningaloo Reef off Coral Bay May 2006 © Brian Egan

Released ahead of the International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) Second Working Group Report, the WWF briefing also details the work being undertaken in each of the ten regions to build defenses against the damaging impacts of climate change.

“While we continue to pressure governments to make meaningful cuts in heat trapping greenhouse gas emissions, we are also working on adaptation strategies to offer protection to some of the world’s natural wonders as well as the livelihoods of the people who live there,” says Dr Lara Hansen, Chief Scientist of WWF’s Global Climate Change Programme. “We are trying to buy people and nature time, as actions to stop the root cause of climate change are taken.”

The Great Barrier Reef is threatened by warming waters causing coral bleaching. The Yangtse River is facing water shortages as glaciers continue to retreat. In response to the crisis facing China’s Yangtse River, WWF is assessing the situation and setting up pilot projects which will show government and local communities how best to adapt to climate change impacts.

Meanwhile, increased incidence of forest fires could spell the end of one of the world’s greatest forests. The Valdivian forests in Chile and Argentina include trees up to 3,000 years old. WWF and local partners are fighting for conservation area protection status for all areas of resistant forests.

“From turtles to tigers – from the desert of Chihuahua to the great Amazon – all these wonders of nature are at risk from warming temperatures,” says Lara Hansen. “While adaptation to changing climate can save some, only drastic action by governments to reduce emissions can hope to stop their complete destruction.”

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March 21, 2007

Borneo's clouded leopard identified as new cat species

Scientists have discovered that the clouded leopard found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is an entirely new species of cat. The secretive rainforest animal was originally thought to be the same species as the one found in mainland South-east Asia.

Click here for image and further links http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/press_releases/index.cfm?uNewsID=95660

The news comes just a few weeks after a WWF report showed that scientists had identified at least 52 new species of animals and plants over the past year on Borneo.

“Who said a leopard can never change its spots?" said Stuart Chapman, WWF International Coordinator of the Heart of Borneo programme.

"For over a hundred years we have been looking at this animal and never realized it was unique. The fact that Borneo’s top predator is now considered a separate species further emphasizes the importance of conserving one of the most biologically diverse habitats on Earth.”

Researchers at the US National Cancer Institute say the differences between the Borneo and mainland clouded leopard were found to be comparable to the differences between other large cat species such as lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard. They believe the Borneo population likely diverged from the mainland population some 1.4 million years ago.

“Genetic research results clearly indicate that the clouded leopards of Borneo should be considered a separate species,” said Dr Stephen O'Brien, Head of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, US National Cancer Institute. “DNA tests highlighted around 40 differences between the two species.”

The results of the genetic study are supported by separate research on geographical variation in the clouded leopard, based mainly on fur patterns and colouration of skins held in museums and collections.

“The moment we started comparing the skins of the mainland clouded leopard with the leopard found on Borneo, it was clear we were comparing two different species,” said Dr Andrew Kitchener, Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland. “It’s incredible that no one has ever noticed these differences.”

The Borneo clouded leopard has small cloud markings, many distinct spots within the cloud markings, grey fur and a double dorsal stripe. It is darker than the mainland species.

Clouded leopards from the mainland have large clouds on their skin with fewer, often faint, spots within the cloud markings. They are lighter in colour, with a tendency toward tawny-coloured fur and a partial double dorsal stripe.

By taking into consideration the forest conditions in Borneo, a total number of 5,000 to 11,000 Bornean clouded leopards are estimated to live there. The total number in Sumatra could be in the range of 3,000 to 7,000 individuals. However, further studies are needed to obtain better population data.

The last great forest home of the Bornean clouded leopard is the Heart of Borneo, a 220,000km2 wild, mountainous region — about five times the size of Switzerland — covered with equatorial rainforest in the centre of the island. Destruction of their habitat is the main threat they face.

Last month in Bali (Indonesia), the ministers of the three Bornean governments — Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia — signed an historic declaration to conserve and sustainably manage the Heart of Borneo. This has put the area on the global stage of conservation priorities.

END NOTES:

• Based on their general physical appearance, all clouded leopards were considered to belong to a single species. However, recent genetic analysis has shown that the ones found on Borneo are so different that they are best regarded as a separate species. DNA tests highlighted around 40 nucleotide differences between the two species. This is comparable to differences between the large Panthera species. Lions and leopards, for instance, have 56 nucleotide differences. The combined results of DNA analysis point to a 1–3 million years difference in separation, while the accepted distance of species is 1–2 million years.

• The clouded leopard was first scientifically described in 1821 by the British naturalist Edward Griffith. The scientific name of the clouded leopard from the mainland is Neofelis nebulosa, while the Bornean clouded leopard is now called Neofelis diardi.

• Clouded leopards occur in most forested habitats of Borneo, from coastal areas to the interior mountain ranges. Their preferred habitats, where most animals are found, are the dense lowland and hill rainforests of Borneo. They usually avoid open areas with few trees and are very sensitive to human disturbances.

• Bornean clouded leopards feed on monkeys, mouse deer, barking deer, young bearded pigs and sambar deer, which are stalked on the ground or jumped upon from tree branches. Occasionally birds and reptiles (such as monitor lizards) are eaten as well.

For further information:
Olivier van Bogaert, Senior Press Officer
WWF International
Tel: +41 22 364 9554
E-mail: ovanbogaert@wwfint.org

Stuart Chapman, Heart of Borneo Programme Coordinator
WWF International
E-mail: schapman@wwf.org.id

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