16 May 2007 - Joint news
release by The Nature Conservancy; WWF and
UC Berkeley’s Center for Fire Research and
Outreach
Sevilla, Spain —Today the Global Fire Partnership
(GFP) released a new report, Fire, Ecosystems
and People: Threats and Strategies for Global
Biodiversity Conservation, that presents
the most comprehensive study to-date of
the changing role of fire around the world.
The findings, shared today at the fourth
International Wildland Fire Conference,
demonstrate that across most of the world
people have altered the way fire is behaving,
with often serious, even irreversible consequences.
Last year, many countries experienced their
worst fire season in over fifty years. Around
the world, wildfires are becoming more frequent
and more intense, putting people and nature
at risk.
“The report demonstrates that fire is truly
a global conservation issue. Too much, too
little or the wrong kind of fire can be
very destructive. If we want to protect
people and stop the further degradation
of our environment, we need to act now to
restore the natural balance of fire in our
landscapes” said Ayn Shlisky, director of
The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative.
According to this new study, fire is a
regular, natural occurrence in more than
half of the world’s ecosystems, where it
plays a vital role in maintaining unique
landscapes and natural resources essential
to communities. Excluding fire from these
areas can be very damaging and risks causing
more intense burns when ignitions occur.
On the other hand, a large percentage of
the earth’s ecosystems, including tropical
rainforests, are not equipped to survive
fires. Many such places are being devastated
by human-caused fires and related impacts.
Large scale fires in areas where habitats
are not able to regenerate also release
significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere,
contributing to climate change. It is estimated
that forest fires in Indonesia alone emit
1,400 million tonnes of carbon a year.
In over 60% of lands assessed across the
globe, including southern Europe, the natural
presence of fire has been significantly
altered. Urban development, agriculture
and fire exclusion are highlighted by the
report as key drivers in disrupting natural
fire cycles. Climate change is a growing
threat, as longer, hotter summers are making
many areas susceptible to more frequent
and intense wildfires.
There are many steps multi-lateral agencies,
governments and local communities can take
to improve the situation.
“We urge governments to develop policies
that address the role of fire as they implement
new urban planning and land management practices”
said John Waugh, Senior Multilateral Relations
Officer for IUCN.
The GFP recommends that countries adopt
Integrated Fire Management, an approach
aligned with the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization’s recently released voluntary
guidelines on fire management. By following
a process which includes evaluating the
social, economic and environmental impacts
of fire, policy makers as well as local
communities will be able to make better
decisions on how best to manage fire to
preserve their natural resources and protect
people.
Notes:
The Global Fire Partnership consists of
The Nature Conservancy, University of California,
Berkeley’s Center for Fire Research and
Outreach, IUCN and WWF. These groups have
pledged to work together, and with partners,
to address the causes and social and economic
consequences of altered fire regimes around
the world. The global fire assessment is
an ongoing project. The Global Fire Partnership
is presently working to improve the assessment
methodology, which to-date has been driven
by expert opinion, by adding analyses of
environmental variables that drive fire
ecology.
Sonja Mitchell
The Nature Conservancy
+ More
Global Soy Roundtable holds 1st General
Assembly, Kicks off development of criteria
for responsible soy production
14 May 2007 - Sao Paulo, Brazil – With
over 50 members already on board, who together
represent more than 20 per cent of the world
soy trade, the newly established Roundtable
on Responsible Soy (RTRS) held its first
General Assembly in Sao Paulo on 8-9 May
2007.
Besides electing the RTRS's executive board,
the General Assembly also kicked off the
process for developing globally applicable
criteria for responsible soy production
and trade.
Established in November 2006, the RTRS
is a global association of soy producers,
processors and traders, as well as financial
institutions and non-governmental organizations,
created to address the mounting demand for
environmentally and socially sound soy production.
The RTRS provides stakeholders and interested
parties with the opportunity to develop
global solutions leading to responsible
soy production.
“The RTRS is going to create a sea change
in the soy industry,” said ABN Amro's Christopher
Wells, who was elected President of the
RTRS Executive Board by the General Assembly.
"Soy can be produced and sourced in
a profitable way respecting both people
and nature."
Soybeans are used in the production of
edible oil, cosmetics, foods, and feed for
cattle, pigs and poultry. Global demand
for soy is expected to increase by 60 per
cent in the next 20 years, driven mainly
by a high demand in the European Union and
China, where the crop is used to feed pigs,
chickens and cattle. Unless soy is produced
responsibly and more sustainably, expanding
soybean cultivation is likely to destroy
nearly 22 million hectares of tropical forests
and savannah in South America by 2020 —
an area equivalent to five times the size
of Switzerland.
In addition to Mr Wells, the General Assembly
also elected four Vice Presidents to the
RTRS Executive Board. The four are from
ABIOVE, Desarrollo Agrícola del Paraguay,
Grupo Maggi, and WWF. The Executive Board
has 15 seats, 5 for each of the three constituencies
i.e. “producers”, “industry, trade &
finance” and “civil society”.
An immediate task of the RTRS is to develop
globally applicable criteria for the production,
processing and trading of soy in a responsible
manner. An international working group will
be set up to carry out this task. Group
members will be drawn from nominations to
be invited soon. ProForest, a UK consultancy,
has been selected to coordinate the group.
The General Assembly participants agreed
that the draft principles discussed at the
second soy roundtable conference in Asunción
in August last year constitute a starting
point for the criteria development work.
These principles include such issues as
protecting biodiversity loss through conversion
of natural habitats to agriculture, better
agricultural practices, and full compliance
with labour laws.
"There is a strong growing commitment
among key players in the soy sector to develop
and adopt criteria to ensure responsibility
within the supply chain," said Carlos
Alberto de Mattos Scaramuzza, WWF Brazil's
Conservation Director for Thematic Programmes,
who sits on the RTRS Executive Board. "The
criteria will provide the industry with
a market mechanism to address key negative
environmental and social impacts of soy
production and its expansion.”
The Swiss government, through the Swiss
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO),
has been providing financial and technical
support to the RTRS process since its initiation.
Rudolf Baerfuss, the Swiss ambassador to
Brazil, who attended the General Assembly,
confirmed his government's continued commitment
to the RTRS.
Bella Roscher, International Coordinator
WWF Forest Conversion Initiative
