Posted on 05 August
2010
Only an estimated
130 western grey whales are left in the
world, with around 30 breeding females.
Gland, Switzerland - Russian oil and gas
company Rosneft plans to begin seismic surveys
next week that could hurt the critically
endangered western grey whale – despite
calls from 12 governments and the public
to suspend the tests for a year.
The surveys are scheduled
to start next week near Sakhalin Island
just as scientists say western grey whales
have arrived in their main feeding area,
where they also nurse their calves. Only
an estimated 130 western grey whales are
left in the world, with around 30 breeding
females.
"Governments, scientists
and now at least 7,000 members of the public
have all asked Rosneft to postpone these
surveys to avoid harming a whale population
that is on the brink of extinction,"
said Wendy Elliott, the whale specialist
at WWF International. "This is not
a complicated request and the fact that
Rosneft plans to go ahead is irresponsible."
As part of a WWF initiative,
more than 7,000 people in the last month
have sent Rosneft emails requesting that
the tests be postponed.
"Rosneft is ignoring
science for profit, and in doing so could
be pushing this species closer to extinction,"
Elliott added.
If the surveys were
postponed until next year, Rosneft could
conduct them before the whales have arrived
in their feeding ground, WWF says.
Postponing the surveys
would also enable Rosneft to develop the
precautionary monitoring and mitigation
measures that are essential to minimize
the impact of the seismic survey on the
whales. Monitoring and mitigation measures
have already been developed by a panel of
experts (the Western Gray Whale Advisory
Panel) and are being used by another company
in the same area.?
+ More
Scientists show waves
of deforestation across East Africa
Posted on 04 August
2010
A new study co-authored by a WWF scientist
documents waves of forest degradation advancing
like ripples in a pond 75 miles across East
Africa in just 14 years.
Scientists from 12 organizations
in Europe, Africa and the US demonstrated
that forest exploitation begins with the
removal of the most valuable products first,
such as timber for export, followed by the
extraction of less valuable products such
as low value timber and charcoal in strict
sequence. This ‘logging down the profit
margin’ in tropical forests follows the
same pattern of removal seen for fish in
unmanaged oceans.
The study, published
in Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences on Tuesday, tested an economic
model that predicts the sequential removal
of products from high to low value. Researchers
visited forests at varying distances up
to 137 miles from Tanzania’s largest city,
Dar es Salaam, in 1991 and again in 2005,
tracking the trees that remained. They found
that waves of degradation moved, on average,
six miles a year out from the city. For
example, charcoal extraction extended 31
miles from Dar es Salaam in 1991, but in
2005 it was found up to 106 miles from the
city.
“The degradation waves
have spread rapidly. Urban migration and
rising demand for timber, particularly in
China, are amongst the major reasons for
this,” said lead author Dr Antje Ahrends
of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. “By
the end of the study, high value timber
logging production took place over 125 miles
from the city. This is very likely to be
unsustainable.”
The ability to predict
forest degradation is essential if new market-based
incentive programs to protect forests are
to be successful. Such plans, like the proposed
‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
forest Degradation’ (REDD) being negotiated
under the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change, may channel billions of dollars
into conservation and poverty alleviation
if these instruments can be shown to verifiably
reduce carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation
and degradation.
“REDD would create incentives
for developing countries to conserve tropical
forests and to adopt low-emission strategies
for sustainable development,” said study
co-author Professor Neil Burgess of WWF
and the University of Copenhagen. “REDD
could rapidly cut carbon dioxide emissions
from deforestation and degradation, which
are currently responsible for 15% of total
emissions from human activity”.
Most logging in Tanzania
is illegal and causes major financial losses.
A trade survey by TRAFFIC, the wildlife
trade monitoring network, estimated that
in 2005 some 96 percent of harvested timber
was exported illegally, losing the Tanzanian
government an estimated $58 million of revenue.
Charcoal burning is also mostly illegal,
but carried out by local people who have
no alternative means of income. Charcoal
is used in towns by poor people to cook
their food.
The authors recommend
that policy interventions should be carefully
tailored to the type of degradation activity,
and care should be taken to provide alternative
income sources and prevent increasing levels
of poverty in an already poor country.
“This study highlights
the value of strong interdisciplinary research
coupled with large-scale and long-term datasets,”
said co-author Dr Simon Lewis of the University
of Leeds. “Both are needed if scientists
are to provide the knowledge to assist managing
the natural world sustainably whilst benefiting
local people.”
