24
Jul 2008 - An area of the Democratic Republic
of Congo containing the largest body of
fresh water in Africa has been added to
the Ramsar Convention’s list of Wetlands
of International Importance, making it the
largest region ever to be designated as
such.
At more than six-and-a-half
million hectares, the Ngiri-Tumba-Maingombe
area is twice the size of Belgium and has
one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity
anywhere in the world. It is also a major
carbon sink.
"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."
Recognition by the Convention,
which was signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971,
means that there is now a framework to conserve
the wetland, which is under threat from
illegal logging, fishing and poaching, and
a decline in water levels that is most likely
attributable to climate change.
In addition, proper
management will help to maintain the ecosystem
services that the site already provides,
and ensure that its defences remain robust
in the face of unpredictable environmental
changes;
“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 Ingwabini.
Wetlands, however, do
not merely provide water for drinking and
sanitation. The commercial value that can
be derived from them is noteworthy. It is
hoped that prudent and measured extraction
of resources, including palm oil, groundnuts
and fish, will contribute to sustainable
economic growth for nearby cities such as
Kinshasa and Brazzaville.
Globally, the total economic value of wetlands
is estimated at more than $70 billion.
Arctic: an extraordinary
voyage to find a much needed solution
21 Jul 2008 - As part
of the Aspen Dialogue and Commission on
Arctic Climate Change, WWF International
Director General Jim Leape just returned
from an extraordinary Arctic voyage - an
educational expedition involving a remarkably
diverse set of representatives that included
scientists, educators, as well as corporate,
environmental, political and church leaders.
All organized by Lindblad Expeditions, The
National Geographic Society and The Aspen
Institute.
The plan? To try and
find a way to save the Arctic from catastrophic
climate change.
Here’s his personal
report…
"Friday July 11th
2008: We set sail into the Arctic from Svalbard
– about a 1000km from the North Pole, roughly
on the same latitude as northern Greenland.
Extraordinary Passengers
Under the rules of this cruise, organised
by the Aspen Institute, National Geographic,
and Lindblad Expeditions, I can’t share
the names of most of the passengers, but
the ship carries an extraordinary group
of people important to the future of climate
action, especially in the United States.
It includes former President
Jimmy Carter, former Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright, and other US political
heavyweights, both Democrat and Republican.
There are CEOs from
some of America’s biggest companies with
us, as well as financiers, philanthropists,
labour and religious leaders, environmentalists,
and some of the most respected scientists
working on the Arctic and on climate change
today.
The goal: to get a sense
of the wonders of the Arctic and the upheaval
of climate change, and to work through solutions.
The question: how do
we move the issue forward once the voyage
is over?
Day 1: North of Longyearben,
we go ashore in zodiacs (small inflatable
boats). We walk on a gravel beach, get dive-bombed
by Arctic terns protecting their nests,
and find 2 of their eggs safe in a small
depression in the gravel. We come across
a large group of walruses, all piled together,
grunting, jostling, scratching and smelling
to high heaven – wildlife films certainly
don’t prepare you for that kind of overpowering
aroma!
Svalbard is full of
seabirds – kittiwakes, fulmars, guillemots,
ivory gulls. They nest on cliffs to escape
the Arctic fox, and it’s easy to spot them:
they’re just above the green patches, where
decades of droppings have provided the nutrients
that allow plants to take hold.
Day 2: we land in a
whale graveyard. A beach littered with the
ancient bones of slaughtered bowhead whales.
Nearly 4 centuries ago whaling was a booming
business here, and they went after bowheads
because they carry a lot of oil, and they
float when they’re dead.
By 10000, the whales
had been largely wiped out.
Nearby we find an old
trapper’s cabin, used until polar bears
were protected in 1973. That must have been
a pretty stark existence. Trappers lived
out here all winter (because that is when
animal furs are thickest). All alone in
the brutal cold, hundreds of miles from
any community, walking the traplines every
day to try to collect their catch before
any scavengers got to it.
Our guide says the cabin
is now used occasionally by researchers
studying polar bears in the region. He adds
that some have even been radio-collared
and, through the web, you can track their
movements.
“Who funds that?” I
ask.
“It’s the wildlife foundation”
he says.
“Is that a government
fund?”
“No” he says, “you know,
they’re the ones with the panda logo!”
Day 3: we enter the
pack ice – ice floes all around us, as far
as the eye can see, and our first polar
bear swimming in the distance. It is a stunning
world.
Every day after lunch
and again in the evening, we have a series
of panel discussions – starting with the
science of climate change and of the Arctic,
and then the politics.
I have to say, being
a US citizen, and having now been 3 years
away from the US, the discussions here are
often sobering – there has been a huge surge
in awareness of climate change, but it is
also clear that the politics are still very
challenging – it is not yet high on the
agenda for most politicians.
All here agree that
much will depend on the leadership from
the next US President, who will face many
pressing demands – Iraq, the economy, health
care.
Day 4: we find more
bears. On an ice floe, a large adult is
eating the remains of a seal, as Glaucous
gulls pick at the edges. Another huge adult
lies a few meters away, sprawled on the
ice, clearly too stuffed to move. Perhaps
200 metres off to our right, a third bear,
a sub-adult, waits, hoping there will be
some pickings left for him too. While we
watch, the first bear finishes his meal.
He slips into the water and swims to our
left. He hauls himself out on a piece of
ice, and spends the next half hour rolling
in the snow, cleaning himself off. The young
bear still waits.
Day 5: Our next stop
is unusual in this barren landscape – before
us is a valley of lush tundra and a herd
of reindeer fattening themselves for the
winter. Reindeer here are smaller and fatter
than their North American relatives (a different
subspecies); some call them “pigs on sticks”.
They’re not too worried about us as we hike
up to the ridgeline.
Day 6: we run out of
open water and come up against a solid sheet
of shorefast ice at Nordaustlandet. This
is the edge of the largest ice cap in Eurasia.
It is a gray, overcast day, but somehow
the ice glows, as if surrounded by a halo
above and below. It is an eerie sight.
Day 7 & 8: As we
enter the last 2 days on the ship, discussion
turns to what should happen next. How we
should actr to protect what we have all
seen. What we have all been humbled by.
It is very clear that
all have been affected by this week together
in the Arctic.
In the end, all partcipants
agree on a short statement focused on ensuring
that climate change is prominent in the
US presidential election and in the new
President’s first 100 days.
More importanty, I think
everyone in this powerful group has come
away from the Arctic with a heightened sense
of urgency. The concrete result is that
we now have a shared commitment to find
ways to work together - to mobilize action
- once our ship docks and we find ourselves
back home."
+ More
Stricken boat off the
coast of Bali underscores the threats from
unregulated fishing.
25 Jul 2008 - This discovery
highlights that efforts to prevent illicit
fishing activities from occurring have been
unsuccessful, activities that make it all
but impossible to manage fish stocks and
ensure that fishing boats are sound and
secure from oil leaks.
The region, site of
many key WWF projects, is widely recognised
as the most important area of marine biodiversity
on the planet, and is often referred to
as the nursery of the seas.
Insufficient monitoring
has left it susceptible to activities that
could destabilise its unique marine biodiversity,
a system that directly sustains the lives
of nearly 130 million people across six
countries of south-east Asia
“The health of the Coral
Triangle is critical to the livelihoods
of millions of people and it is crucial
that adequate management systems are in
place to prevent the kinds of scenes we
have seen in Bali over the last week, and
to reduce the threat of oil spills and overfishing,”
said the leader of WWF’s Coral Triangle
Program, Lida Pet Soede.
The sustainable management
of these locations is especially important,
and particularly difficult, as over-exploitation
of marine resources is exacerbated by a
combination of extreme dependence of coastal
economies, population growth and poverty.
WWF is calling for increased
protection of sensitive areas, monitoring
of fishing activities, and more accountability
for owners of vessels, especially considering
this week’s discovery.
This news comes amid
the recent announcement that up to half
of all remaining coral reefs could disappear
within the next twenty years.
“It is crucial that
we properly manage the Coral Triangle’s
unique marine wilderness for the benefit
of the whole planet,“ Ms Soede said.
