Posted on 23 November
2011
Ignorance is no
longer an excuse for wildlife criminals,
with awareness signboards on wildlife crime
penalties built around Gerik town, near
Malaysia's Belum-Temengor Forest Complex.
These signboards, placed at poaching hotspots
and public areas in and around Gerik, convey
the penalties under new the Wildlife Conservation
Act 2010 as one of the means to deter would-be
poachers from committing wildlife offences.
“The billboards are part of WWF-Malaysia’s
overall efforts to support the enforcement
authorities in addressing the poaching crisis
which we are now facing at Belum-Temengor,”
said Dato’ Dr. Dionysius Sharma, Executive
Director/CEO of WWF-Malaysia.
The Belum-Temengor Forest Complex has seen
its share of wildlife crimes, the latest
being the arrest of two smugglers and seizure
of 12 pangolins near Gerik earlier this
month.
The men arrested were tailed by the Perak
Department of Wildlife and National Parks
(DWNP) as they crossed from Kelantan into
Perak border and headed to the village of
Bersia, not far from Gerik town and the
Belum-Temengor Forest Complex.
The case highlights yet again, the threat
to pangolins and other wildlife in the area
including the Malayan tiger, which are under
constant threat from the voracious illegal
wildlife trade in this region. In fact,
Bersia has long been the subject of many
reports of wildlife crime received by WWF-Malaysia
and TRAFFIC Southeast Asia from the public.
“With the inception of the new Wildlife
Act, Malaysia now has some of the strongest
anti poaching and wildlife protection laws
in the region. It’s time to get the message
out that this country is serious”, said
Dr. William Schaedla , Regional Director
for TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
The Hulu Perak District has a Joint Enforcement
Taskforce that was set up in 2010 to fight
poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
Dr. Schaedla added that the DWNP, which
is a member of this taskforce, could certainly
do with more support from other member agencies
and information from the public considering
the scale of the problem in the area. “The
billboards are a great start, but after
they go up the authorities will need resources
to follow through on the message with action”,
he said.
To report wildlife crime, members of the
public in Malaysia can SMS to 019-356 4194
or email to report@malayantiger.net. The
information received will be channelled
directly to the DWNP, and caller’s identity
will remain anonymous.
+ More
Amazon and other regions
at risk as Brazil's Senate poised to strip
forest protections
Posted on 22 November
2011
The Brazilian Senate is poised to pass measures
that will strip the Amazon forest and other
important ecosystems of hard won protections
and open up vast amounts of the forest to
agriculture and cattle ranching.
Senators intent on doing away with core
elements of Brazil’s long-standing Forest
Code – legislation protecting the most sensitive
forest areas and establishing the amount
of forest that can be legally converted
to different uses – are pushing to vote
on a drastically revised version of the
code as soon as the end of the month.
The new version of the law, backed by powerful
agribusiness interests, has been rushed
through both the House and Senate with an
alarming disregard for input from critical
sectors.
“Input from scientists, researchers, family
farmers and social groups has been systematically
ignored in both the House and Senate,” says
WWF-Brazil’s CEO Maria Cecilia Wey de Brito.
“You cannot argue that
a law favors Brazil’s development and well-being
when so many leading experts say otherwise.
The entire process has defied common sense.”
A potentially massive dump of greenhouse
gas emissions into atmosphere
Studies show that under the proposed revisions,
natural vegetation in Brazil could be cleared
or not restored on more than 175 million
acres, an area roughly the size of Germany,
Italy and Austria combined.
Under this worst-case
scenario, more than 25 billion additional
tons of CO2 would be added to the atmosphere,
about four times the goal for global reductions
in greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto
Protocol during 2008-12, and 13 times Brazil’s
total emissions from 2007 alone.
Eroding confidence in Brazil's environmental
leadership credentials
The proposed changes to the Forest Code
severely contradict Brazil’s recent efforts
to position itself as a global environmental
leader. Brazil has committed to cutting
by almost 40% the growth curve of greenhouse
gas emissions, and to reduce Amazon deforestation
by 80% compared to average rates registered
for the period of 1996-2005, both by 2020.
Passage of the revised Forest Code, in its
current form, would likely make it impossible
to meet either of these goals.
Furthermore, by taking such a giant step
backward, Brazil will be cutting itself
off from a growing global market for responsibly
sourced goods, in addition to forgoing the
countless benefits provided by a healthy
Amazon, such as clean air and water, stable
weather patterns and various other environmental
services.
In June, Brazil will host the UN Conference
on Sustainable Development, known as “Rio
+ 20”. It marks the 20th anniversary of
the Earth Summit, which was a turning point
for global conservation. Rolling back protection
of the Amazon could severely damage the
country’s reputation as it hosts this and
other upcoming global events, including
the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.
“We are watching, just before Brazil hosts
Rio + 20, a clear attempt to dismantle Brazil’s
environmental legislation,” stated Wey de
Brito. “This is something unprecedented
in our history.”
Following the Senate vote, the bill will
go once more in front of the House before
being sent to President Dilma Rousseff for
final approval or veto.
WWF is calling on lawmakers in Brazil to
reconsider the overwhelming evidence demonstrating
that the new legislation is not in the best
interest of Brazilian society, and to recognize
that Brazil’s development, reputation and
economic future are all inherently tied
to its ability to retain its environmental
assets.
