30
Oct 2008 - Goma, Democratic Republic of
Congo: The ongoing conflict in the eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo has recently
intensified and more than half of the world’s
remaining mountain gorillas in Virunga National
Park are still without security.
More than 50 Congolese
park rangers fled to safety from Virunga
National Park. There are also reports that
the rebels have advanced to just outside
of Goma – the regional capital – threatening
the stability of the entire country.
While previous fighting
had taken place inside some sectors of Virunga
National Park, this is the first time that
rebel control of the park has expanded to
include all of the habitat where mountain
gorillas are found.
More than half of the
world’s 700 remaining mountain gorillas
live inside the park, along with hundreds
of bird and mammal species. Because rangers
are unable to conduct patrols, the status
of the park’s gorillas is unknown.
“Armed conflicts are
disastrous on many levels, including their
impact on the environment. WWF urges all
involved to remember that a healthy Virunga
National Park is vital to its wildlife and
the local community – especially after the
conflict when tourism can help speed the
region’s recovery,” said Dr Richard Carroll,
managing director of Congo Basin program
WWF-US.
The unfolding humanitarian
crisis is another threat to Virunga National
Park. The displaced people urgently need
basic supplies to survive – especially firewood
to cook meals and heat their temporary homes.
WWF is partnering with
the United Nations and other organizations
to provide firewood from sustainable sources
to alleviate pressure on Virunga National
Park’s forests.
The park has yet to
recover from the period during 1994-95,
when hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing
Rwanda arrived in the region, almost destroying
the forest.
Also, without regular
patrols by the park’s rangers, bushmeat
hunting and the illegal charcoal trade could
thrive in the chaos.
As the oldest and most
biodiverse national park in Africa, Virunga’s
long-term success is vital to the wildlife
and people that depend on its natural resources.
In times of peace, Virunga National Park
brings over $3 million a year from ecotourism
– mostly from visits to mountain gorillas.
The National Park is
also an important source of food for local
communities, with over 20,000 fishermen
providing up to 15,000 tons of fish each
year.
WWF’s work in the Congo
Basin builds on more than 20 years of supporting
Virunga National Park and its surrounding
communities. In that time, WWF has helped
promote sustainable livelihoods, provided
environmental education and increased protection
of vulnerable species like the mountain
gorilla.
WWF is currently active
on the ground to meet humanitarian needs
and reduce the environmental effects of
this conflict. When the park is released
from rebel control, WWF and the Congolese
Institute for the Conservation of Nature
(ICCN) will work to restore patrols and
asses the health of the park’s wildlife.
WWF-US
+ More
Coke announces sustainability
targets with WWF
30 Oct 2008 - Atlanta,
USA – Coca-Cola has committed itself to
a 20 percent improvement in water efficiency
over 2004 levels in its worldwide operations
by 2012, saving about 50 billion litres
of fresh water over projected use that year.
The water saving targets
were negotiated under the terms of a partnership
between The Coca-Cola Company, the World
Wildlife Fund (US) and WWF International.
Also announced were
ambitious targets for reductions in carbon
emissions, a commitment for action down
the Coca-Cola supply chain and conservation
support for some of the world’s most important
freshwater basins.
“Our sustainability
as a business demands a relentless focus
on efficiency in our use of natural resources,”
said Muhtar Kent, president and CEO of The
Coca-Cola Company.
“These performance targets
are one way we are engaging to improve our
management of water and energy.”
Commitments to “grow
the business, not the carbon” and achieve
a five per cent absolute reduction in emissions
over 2004 levels for all developed country
operations are expected to produce savings
of 2 million tonnes of CO2 in 2015, the
equivalent of planting trees over an area
of nearly 250,000 hectares.
“In this resource constrained
world, successful businesses will find ways
to achieve growth while using fewer resources,”
said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of
WWF-US.
“The Coca-Cola Company’s
commitment to conservation responds to the
imperative to solve the global water and
climate crisis.”
In addressing sustainability
issues down its supply chain, Coca-Cola
will look first at sugar where it is a major
global consumer. The company and WWF are
working with the Better Sugarcane Initiative
to establish standards, evaluate suppliers
and set goals for the purchase of sugar.
Coca-Cola is also to
identify two further commodities for action
in 2009.
Possibly the most far-reaching
of the initiatives announced today by the
company are joint conservation initiatives
with WWF for some of the world’s most important
freshwater resourcesincluding the Yangtze,
Mekong, Danube, Rio Grande/Rio Bravo, Lakes
Niassa and Chiuta, the Mesoamerican Reef
catchments, and rivers and streams in the
southeastern United States.
More than a dozen production
plants and /or bottlers in the areas surrounding
these rivers are developing and implementing
comprehensive water stewardship plans.
It is intended that
these plans will ultimately serve as models
for similar water resource conservation
frameworks wherever Coca-Cola operates.
“Water and energy conservation
are areas where we can truly make a difference,”
said Kent.
“Last year, we set a
goal to return to communities and to nature
an amount of water equal to what we use
in our beverages and their production. These
targets support our work to achieve that
goal.”
WWF and The Coca-Cola
Company announced the $US 20 million partnership
in 2007. The partnership has now been extended
additional two years (through 2012) with
Coca-Cola providing $US 3.75 million in
new funding.
Coca-Cola is also a
member of WWF’s Climate Savers programme,
which has seen some of the world’s leading
corporations achieve dramatic cuts in emissions.
“The expansion of our
partnership with WWF demonstrates our shared
dedication to achieving large-scale results,
and a grounded understanding that collaboration
is key if we are to help address the world’s
water challenge,” Kent said.
