19 Nov 2008 - Changchun,
China – The discovery of Amur tiger tracks
in Changbaishan in north-eastern China has
given conservationists hope for a species
that is rarely seen in that area.
A walker in the region
spotted the tracks and recorded them on
his mobile phone. A century ago such a sight
would have been fairly common, with hundreds
of Amur tigers,on the prowl. It is thought
that now only about 20 remain in the area.
“Tiger tracks found
in this area show that the tigers are moving
deeper into China from the Sino-Russian
border,” said Fan Zhiyong, director of WWF-China’s
Species Programme. “Therefore, it is of
critical importance that tiger conservation
occurs in the whole Changbaishan area.”
There are just over
500 Amur tigers in the wild and it is listed
as critically endangered on IUCN’s red list
of endangered species. The main threats
to Amur tigers in north-eastern China are
habitat degradation, poaching, fragmentation
of tiger habitats and a small prey population
to feed from.
WWF and its partners
have been focusing their efforts to save
the Amur tiger on a number of fronts: helping
ungulate populations such as wild boar and
roe deer – which are the tiger’s main prey
– to recover by helping communities find
alternative livelihood options; stopping
poaching by helping local authorities carry
out anti-poaching activities; and increasing
and connecting protected tiger habitats
so tigers can safely move from one area
to another.
Thanks to vigorous anti-poaching
and other conservation efforts on the Russian
side, the tiger population there has become
stable over the last decade and is beginning
to increase. As such, should the feeding
population in Changbaishan be restored and
protected in an effectively managed tiger
habitat, then those tigers across the border
may come to occupy the area.
Conservationists in
the Changbaishan area are very eager for
this to occur, and the fact that tiger tracks
have now been found in the Wangqing Forestry
Bureau twice in the last two years is an
encouraging sign.
“Although Wangqing Forestry
Bureau is a timber management unit, it attaches
great importance to wildlife conservation,”
said Liang Jixiang, head of the Forest Management
Department of Wangqing Forestry Bureau.
“We are calling for support and help from
interested parties and experts at home and
abroad to help find ways to make Wangqing
a home for tigers.”
WWF’s Changchun Programme
Office has recently developed the Hungchun-Wangqing-Dongning
Tiger Conservation Planning tool enable
greater coordination of activities across
the region and to help maintain these fragile
populations of Amur tiger.
“WWF is working with
the Chinese government and other partners
to achieve the restoration and recovery
of tigers to north-east China – the one
remaining place in all of China where the
recovery of this majestic species is a real
possibility,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman,
director of WWF-International’s Species
Programme.
+ More
Illegal fishing harms
honest fishermen
14 Nov 2008 - WWF welcomes
the European Commission’s decision to put
out a legislative proposal to update current
control and enforcement rules for fisheries.
WWF urges EU Fisheries Ministers to provide
a coherent and efficient system of rules
against widespread illegality in the fisheries
sector.
'It is time for governments
to get around to actually applying the laws
they signed up to. The track record of most
European countries on enforcing the laws
on the ground is abysmal. The latest control
and enforcement report from the commission
highlights this.
This harms the vast
majority of honest fishermen and hurts their
profitability, let alone the horrendous
harm on sustainbale stocks. If some governments
cannot stop illegal fishing, the only fair
penalty is to stop European taxpayers money
going to those countries.
This proposal is a first
step, but most fisheries ministers and administrations
have to get serious about dealing with the
problem, and start rewarding honest fishermen
by enforcing the rules,' says Aaron McLoughlin,
Head of European Marine Programme at WWF.
WWF would like the EU
Control and Enforcement Regulation to address
the following issues:
? Governments to enforce
the law: the implementation and control
of fisheries is vested in the Member states
but there are no common standards across
Member States in terms of control and reporting
systems. WWF advocates for the creation
of a harmonised system and requests stronger
rules regarding the role of the Commission
to concretely verify that Member States
fulfill their obligations.
? The same rules for
all EU vessels, no matter the fleet size:
WWF is seriuosly concerned by the exemption
made to the small size vessels (<10 mt
length) regarding monitoring. According
to a Commission’s analysis, these vessels
represent about 80% of the total EU fishing
fleet. WWF urges that all vessels must equaly
abide to the control measures.
? A ban on the Member
States accessing the European Fisheries
Funds until they apply the control and enforcement
rules.
? An effective coherence
with the Illegal Unreported and Unregulated
fisheries regulation.
Aaron Mc Loughlin, Head of European Marine
Programme
WWF European Policy Office
Stefania Campogianni, Press Officer
WWF European Policy Office
