05
Feb 2009 - Brussels, 5 February 2009—The
European Commission today announced a new
Action Plan to protect sharks in European
waters, which has been broadly welcomed
by WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring
network.
The plan includes provisions
for more observers of trawlers, prohibitions
on discarding most sharks as by-catch, a
tighter prohibition on shark finning and
catch limits for sharks in line with advice
from fisheries management organizations.
However, the plan needs
rapid implementation and strengthened actions
such as mandatory recording of catch data
if it is to be effective in arresting a
rapid decline in shark populations in European
waters where roughly one third of the shark
species are already threatened with extinction,
according to the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“The commitment to shark
conservation is to be commended, although
TRAFFIC and WWF are deeply concerned that
some of the measures will not be implemented
for considerable periods,” said Steven Broad,
Director of TRAFFIC.
Although the Plan calls
for countries to collect information on
sharks caught, this will be on a voluntary
basis.
TRAFFIC and WWF also
called on the EU to allocated adequate resources
to ensure the Plan could be properly implemented,
and for the Council and the European Parliament
to adopt the plan without diluting the proposed
measures or extending the period of implementation.
“Although we fully support
the adoption and speedy implementation of
the plan, we believe it contains major gaps
that do not take a sufficiently precautionary
approach to shark conservation, as recommended
by the United Nations and others,” said
Dr Susan Lieberman, WWF International’s
Species Programme Director.
“Many of these species
are already threatened with extinction.
WWF and TRAFFIC are dismayed that the plan
lacks a solid commitment to seek mandatory
collection of data on shark catch—a critical
element if the EU is to succeed in the conservation
of these species,” Dr Lieberman added.
Sharks are targeted
by UK, French, Spanish and Portuguese fishermen;
shark tails and meat are used to prepare
“caldeirada” or “Schillerlocken” and shark
meat is served in restaurants across Europe,
and in the UK in traditional fish-and-chip
shops.
In December 2008, European
Fisheries ministers agreed to reduce total
allowable quotas and committed to a zero
catch for certain deep water sharks by 2010.
However, TRAFFIC and
WWF believe that the acceptable bycatch
in these regulations is still too high,
and although shark finning has already been
prohibited in EU and adjacent waters, control
and enforcement of this ban is currently
too lax and needs to be tightened up.
“Sharks are slow growing
and produce relatively small numbers of
young,” said Aaron McLoughlin, Head of WWF’s
European Marine Programme.
+ More
WWF leads new sustainable
strategy for China-Africa trade
02 Feb 2009 - Gordon
Brown has today acknowledged the important
role the UK must play in achieving the Millennium
Development Goals by encouraging sustainable
trade between China and Africa. This includes
support from the UK Government for a WWF
project on sustainable trade in forestry
and timber between China and East Africa.
Investment by the Department
for International Development (DfID) will
enable WWF to work with stakeholders in
Africa, China and the EU to improve the
quality of aid, trade, and investment reaching
East Africa, thus safeguarding the future
of its natural resources and protecting
livelihoods.
David Nussbaum, Chief
Executive of WWF-UK, says: “China presents
an enormous economic opportunity for East
Africa, but the region is yet to fully reap
the benefits. With support from DfID, WWF
will help ensure East African countries
can capitalise on this aid and investment
to ensure the long term sustainability of
their resources and economies. This will
bring long term benefits for both sides.”
In recent years, China
has become a significant investor and trade
and aid partner for East African countries
such as Tanzania, Mozambique, and Kenya.
East Africa is rich in natural resources,
including timber, and Mozambique and Tanzania
now export more than 50 per cent of their
timber to China1. Timber harvesting is occurring
at an unsustainable rate with predictions
that in Mozambique, the resource will be
exhausted in five to ten years2.
The EU plays an important
role in this trade relationship, as an end
consumer of Africa’s natural resources.
Between 1997 and 2005, EU and US imports
of Chinese forest products rose by 700 to
900 per cent.3
Dr Li Lin, Director
of Conservation Strategies at WWF China
says: “We must hold China, Africa, the EU
and other consumer countries all accountable
for improving the way our global market
system functions and its impact on our planet.
There needs to be a shared responsibility
between the resource provider, the producer,
and the consumer”.
WWF believes this new
approach to China-Africa-EU trade flows
will be crucial in helping to build a global
green economy.
David Nussbaum adds:
“As leaders within the G20, China and the
UK have an opportunity to demonstrate how
public investments can support the move
to a global economy that serves both people
and nature.”
Notes to the editors
WWF’s “China for a Global Shift” Initiative
seeks as one of its primary goals the promotion
of win-win relationships between OECD countries
and China for making China a driver for
global sustainable development.
The way we live is leading
to environmental threats such as climate
change, species extinction, deforestation,
water shortages and the collapse of fisheries.
WWFs One Planet Future Campaign is working
to help people live a good quality of life
within the earth’s capacity. For more information
visit www.wwf.org.uk/oneplanet
In 2006, the imports
of African forest products to China accounted
for 2.5 million m3, or 5 per cent of total
imports to China (China Customs Statistical
Yearbook, data compiled by Forest Trends.)
1 Lessons Learned from
a Logging Boom in Southern Tanzania, Simon
Milledge, Ised Gelvas, Antje Ahrends. TRAFFIC
2007
2 Forest Governance in Zambezia: Chinese
Takeaway, C Mackenzie (2006)
3 China and the Global Market for Forest
Products; Transforming Trade to Benefit
Forests and Livelihoods, Forest Trends,
USA
White, A., Sun, X., Canby, K., Xu, J., Barr,
C., Katsigris, E., Bull, G., Cossalter,
C. and Nilsson, S. (2006)
