17 Sep 2008
- Never mind having a tiger in your tank,
if you visit India you can now have a rhino
on your wrist courtesy of WWF-India and
Titan, the sixth largest watch manufacturer
in the world.
The Titan–WWF collection,
a range of wrist-watches inspired by some
of India’s endangered species, was launched
in Mumbai last week.
The watches, on sale
only in India, feature six endangered species:
the Tiger, Indian Rhino, Ganges River Dolphin,
Red Panda, Whale Shark and Olive Ridley
Turtle.
“WWF India views this
association as a unique awareness campaign
for saving some of India's endangered species,”
said Ravi Singh, Secretary General &
CEO, WWF India.
“Very few individuals
are coming forward to understand the issues
involved in protection of these species
and Titan's endangered species collection
is not only an attempt to illustrate the
plight of some of India's iconic species
but also a commitment for conservation.”
The collection was designed
by Titan’s in-house studio in close consultation
with WWF. It is a unisex collection targeted
at new generation Indian consumers who want
to express their concern for the species
by wearing one of the watches, priced between
3,000-3,800 rupees (US$65-80).
So if you’re daft over
dolphins, potty for pandas, wild about whale
sharks or touched as far as turtles are
concerned you may find just the watch for
you on your next visit to India.
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Lights out campaign
lights up marketing awards
18 Sep 2008 - WWF’s
“Earth Hour”, which encouraged consumers
around the world to switch off their lights
for 60 minutes, again blazed its way into
the spotlight as Asia’s most effective marketing
campaign for 2008 yesterday.
Earth Hour took home
the Platinum award, the leading prize of
the Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards
2008 which took place in Macau, having earlier
won four gold awards.
The win caps a remarkable
year for Earth Hour, which also took home
honours from the Spikes and Cannes awards.
Millions of people on
six continents in more then 400 major cities,
including Chicago, Copenhagen, Manila, Tel
Aviv, Bangkok, Dublin and Toronto, used
the simple action of turning off their lights
for one hour on 29 March to deliver a powerful
message about the need for action on global
warming.
Icons like Sydney Opera
House, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge
and Toronto's CN Tower going dark meant
world-famous city skylines disappeared for
an hour, while celebrities like Nelly Furtado
hosted acoustic concerts for fans.
The campaign supporting
the event, created by Leo Burnett Sydney,
included a strong interactive element with
a website offering tools for consumers to
download to help spread the word.
“Earth Hour is WWF’s
global event which was started to encourage
businesses, communities and individuals
to take the simple steps needed to cut their
emissions on an ongoing basis," said
Andy Ridley, the man who came up with the
idea and now the International Director
of WWF’s Earth Hour.
“It is about simple
changes that will collectively make a difference
– from businesses turning off their lights
when their offices are empty, to households
turning off appliances rather than leaving
them on standby.
“By Earth Hour 2009,
on March 28 we expect more people will have
incorporated simple energy efficient solutions
into their homes and workplace. It’s important
we keep the momentum going for a greener
and sustainable future.”
+ More
Climate Witness: Jyotsna
Giri, Índia
18 Sep 2008 - I am 55
years old and married. My five daughters
are married and my three sons live with
me in the same house. Presently I have six
family members.
I studied until fifth
grade and then got married at the age of
twelve. My husband had a house at Lohachara
Island and that’s where we settled after
marriage. In fact my husband’s ancestral
house was in the mainland but he shifted
to this Island as there was plenty of productive
agricultural land.
Lohachara had three
more adjoining islands: Sagar, Ghoramara
and Suparibhanga. Lohachara and Suparibhanga
Islands don’t exist anymore, while Ghoramara
is almost on the verge of extinction due
to accelerated coastal erosion. Suparibhanga
Island was densely forested and never had
any human habitation. However, Ghoramara
and Suparibhanga had a significant number
of households in the past before these islands
got wiped out fully or partly.
During the 1960s Lohachara
Island was divided into 5 administrative
zones and the total population was almost
five or six thousand. Agriculture and fishing
were our primary source of livelihood during
those days. We also owned three hectares
of agricultural land on this Island. We
use to cultivate paddy [rice] as well as
variety of vegetables on these lands. Land
was extremely fertile and we had a bountiful
harvest every season without using fertiliser.
Soil was very soft, fertile and sandy. Even
the embankments near the river were used
for growing vegetables. Coastal waters were
stashed with fishes and crabs and that provided
us with a good catch.
Lohachara Island did
not have any source of drinking water. The
only tube well we had was eroded away by
the river and the government never installed
another one. So, we use to cross the river
and fetch drinking water from a nearby island.
High sand content in
the soil made this island prone to coastal
erosion during regular tidal action. The
river was slowly eating away the entire
island and later we were only left with
our homestead land and some domestic animals.
We had 20 cows, 150 sheep, 35 goats and
some poultry.
I still remember that
fateful day, when I lost everything.
I was on the neighbouring
island to fetch some drinking water. My
husband was not present that day and so
I locked the house and took my son with
me. While coming back, I found that the
only ferry service available was cancelled
for the day due to some kind of engine snag.
So, I decided to stay back at my parent’s
house for that night. The ferry service
started the very next day and I boarded
the morning ferryboat. When we approached
Lohachara Island, I suddenly noticed that
my sheep were all drifting in the river.
I started to panic and
rushed to rescue them. I was about to jump
in the river when some fellow passengers
stopped me from doing so. I felt helpless
and started crying. After landing at Lohachara
Island I found that half of my house was
washed away by the river. Slowly the entire
island got submerged.
We were rescued and
went to Gangasagar Island refugee colony
which is on the south of that island. We
stayed there for a few days and then shifted
to northern parts of the island where we
constructed a new house. We have been living
here for the last 15 years. We don’t have
any agricultural land and have to work as
labourers. My son has grown up and now he
works on a ship.
Unpredictable weather
patterns and fast deteriorating environmental
conditions are making our life miserable.
I am not even able to
grow enough vegetables in my kitchen garden
as there are no rains for the last couple
of months. Soil fertility as well as productivity
is gradually declining. Earlier we used
to follow the broadcast method for paddy
[rice] cultivation. Now farmers have to
invest a lot in terms of hiring labour,
purchasing fertiliser and continuous monitoring.
Similarly, fishing has been badly affected
as we don’t even get much fishes in the
river to catch.
I feel that the natural
regeneration rate has declined. We have
already lost much of our natural resources
in this region and which may be attributed
to erratic weather patterns and changing
temperature. It seems that monsoons are
delayed while summers are extended these
days.
Scientific review
A scientific review by a member of the Climate
Witness Science Advisory Panel is pending.
Background
Lohachara Island was
an islet which was permanently flooded in
the 1980s. It was located in the Hooghly
River as part of the Sundarban delta in
the Sundarban National Park, located near
the Indian state of West Bengal. The definite
disappearance of the island was reported
by Indian researchers in December 2006,
which lead to international press coverage.
The islet is one of
a number of "vanishing islands"
in India's part of the delta: in the past
two decades, four islands – Bedford, Lohachara,
Kabasgadi and Suparibhanga – have been permanently
flooded and 6,000 families have been made
homeless. The loss of land has created thousands
of refugees in the area.
+ More
Future of Cod on Newfoundland’s
Grand Banks: Decisions in Spain Next Week
Could Affect European Distant Water Fleets
19 Sep 2008 - Brussels,
Belgium - A pulse of three to four year
old cod showing up on the southern Grand
Banks may represent NAFO’s last chance to
rebuild this severely depleted population.
At its 2008 Annual Meeting,
being held in Vigo Spain, from September
22-26, NAFO will make decisions on catch
levels for fisheries with high cod bycatch
that will likely determine the fate of cod
on the southern Grand Banks. If caution
isn’t exercised by setting low catch levels
there is a good chance that this recruitment
pulse of young cod will be wiped out through
bycatch in other fisheries.
Last year, NAFO took
an important first step toward southern
Grand Banks cod recovery by adopting a strategy
that included an immediate bycatch reduction
target of 40 per cent for 2008. Currently,
NAFO fisheries are dangerously close to
exceeding this target with another three
months to go in the season. Cod bycatch
has been high because the total allowable
catches (TACs) of fisheries known for their
cod bycatch have been set too high, bycatch
reduction measures have not been effective,
and cod nursery areas are not protected.
“Establishing protected
areas, including in Canadian waters and
high-seas territory on the southern Grand
Banks, is the surest way to allow nature
to rebuild from past abuses,” says Dr. Robert
Rangeley, Vice President Atlantic, WWF-Canada.
“Action to protect important
cod habitat and minimize cod bycatch would
demonstrate NAFO’s commitment to rebuilding
cod and the broader Grand Banks ecosystem.”
NAFO will also be making
decisions on protective measures for vulnerable
marine species and habitats, such as coldwater
coral forests. In May, WWF recognized the
commitment made by NAFO at an Intersessional
Meeting in Montreal, to implement the 2006
United Nations General Assembly Resolution
(UNGA) on Sustainable Fisheries by assessing
the impacts of bottom fishing and protecting
vulnerable ecosystems by the December 31,
2008. Scientists have since mapped the distribution
of vulnerable ecosystems in the NAFO Regulatory
Area so NAFO is poised to implement concrete
on the water protection before the UNGA
Resolution deadline.
Next week, WWF will
be in Spain, working to ensure that NAFO
lives up to its commitments to minimize
cod bycatch and implement management measures
needed to prevent significant adverse impacts
to vulnerable marine ecosystems, by January
1, 2009.
For further information:
Stefania Campogianni
Press Officer, WWF European Policy Office
