23
Feb 2009 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Unregulated
trade—at 10 to 100 times legal levels—has
caused Southeast Asian Box Turtles almost
to vanish from parts of Indonesia where
they were once common, according to a new
report by the wildlife trade monitoring
network TRAFFIC.
The turtles are used
for meat and in Traditional Chinese Medicine,
with major markets in Hong Kong, China,
Singapore and Malaysia, mostly supplied
from Indonesia. Box turtles are also in
demand as pets in the US, Europe and Japan.
The study found at least
18 traders operating in Java, Sulawesi,
Sumatra and Kalimantan dealing illegally
in Southeast Asian Box Turtles.
Each trader handled
an average of just under 2,230 turtles a
week, adding up to a combined total of 2.1
million Southeast Asian Box Turtles per
year. The vast majority is destined for
export, although Indonesia’s official annual
export quota for this species is just 18,000
turtles—a figure set without a scientific
basis.
“The number of Southeast
Asian Box Turtles currently traded is certainly
ten times the official export quota, and
probably nearer 100 times it,” said Dr Sabine
Schoppe, author of the new report, “Status,
trade dynamics and management of the Southeast
Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia”.
Thirteen of the 18 traders
investigated were registered for some trade
in reptiles, but not in box turtles, with
the provincial offices of the Government’s
Directorate General of Forest Protection
and Nature Conservation (PHKA), which is
required to inspect such businesses regularly.
TRAFFIC has previously presented the results
of the study to PHKA.
Collectors in Riau and
Sulawesi reported huge falls in Southeast
Asian Box Turtle numbers in the wild, and
registered pet traders said they had experienced
difficulties in obtaining turtles compared
to a decade ago.
“The current level of
illegal exploitation will result in Southeast
Asian Box Turtles being systematically wiped
out across Indonesia, indications of which
are already obvious at collection and trade
centres, ”said Schoppe.
In 2000, the Southeast
Asian Box Turtle was listed in Appendix
II of CITES (the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora), a measure intended to regulate
its international trade. However, the report
found that following CITES-listing, trade
in the box turtles had increased, with the
largest numbers being smuggled through the
ports of Makassar, Medan, Pekanbaru, Tembilahan
and Banjarmasin.
“Authorities should
concentrate on eradicating illegal trade,
and in setting realistic limits on what
numbers can safely be harvested,” said Chris
R. Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer with
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
Weak enforcement of
existing laws is a key problem, caused through
a combination of factors including non-inspection
of shipments, falsification of CITES export
permits, and lack of training amongst enforcement
officers.
The report recommends
better training and more co-operation between
Indonesian enforcement authorities and those
in importing countries to tackle illegal
wildlife trade, for example through initiatives
like the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network
(ASEAN-WEN), and research into populations
of box turtles.
+ More
Traceable timber amendments
strengthen Europe's illegal logging proposals
17 Feb 2009 - Brussels,
Belgium - Europe's proposed new timber regulations
have been transformed from a ramshackle
statement of intent to a credible framework
for controlling the illegal trade in timber,
following the European Parliament’s environment
committee acceptance of key amendments improving
traceability, monitoring and enforcement.
“The amendments introduced
today give all players in the timber supply
chain clearer indications about the system
they need to establish to prove the legality
of their timber – and provide clearer and
more certain consequences to those who continue
to flout the rules,” said Anke Schulmeister,
Forest policy Officer at WWF.
“We congratulate the
committee for having the foresight to recognise
the inadequacies of the draft regulation
proposed by the European commission and
having the courage to do the necessary carpentry
to this draft law.”
Today’s amendments give
operators of the supply chain clear indications
about the traceability system they need
to establish. They also improved investigative
capabilities in European countries, which
hold responsibility for stopping illegal
products at the borders and applying penalties.
WWF believes this is
a milestone to stop massive forest destruction
worldwide, and a much needed improvement
of the new EU timber law proposed by the
European Commission.
"If applied correctly,
the law has the potential to dramatically
reduce illegal logging in tropical countries,
slow deforestation and uphold the rights
of indigenous peoples," said Schulmeister.
"Lots of companies
in Europe have already shown their willingness
to guarantee that only legal wood products
are placed on the market. Now it is crucial
that today’s agreement passes the final
test with the European Parliament and Council."
The debate on a timber
law for Europe started more than five years
ago and has now reached its crucial phase,
as the EU is about to make fundamental decisions
to free its market from wood products that
have been harvested, processed and sold
illegally.
WWF estimates that 16-19
per cent of European wood imports in 2006
came from illegal sources - between 26.5
and 31 million cubic metres of timber -
with much of this timber coming through
Russia and Finland.
The amended laws will
now be considered by the European Parliament
and the Agriculture Council, with WWF urging
both parties to support today's amendments.
+ More
Glaciers in China and
Tibet fading fast
19 Feb 2009 - Beijing,
China - Glaciers that serve as water sources
to one of the most ecologically diverse
alpine communities on earth are melting
at an alarming rate, according to a recent
report.
A three-year study,
to be used by the China Geological Survey
Institute, shows that glaciers in the Yangtze
source area, central to the Qinghai-Tibet
plateau in south-western China, have receded
196 square kilometres over the past 40 years.
Glaciers at the headwaters
of the Yangtze, China's longest river, now
cover 1,051 square kilometres compared to
1,247 square kilometres in 1971, a loss
of nearly a billion cubic metres of water,
while the tongue of the Yuzhu glacier, the
highest in the Kunlun Mountains fell by
1,500 metres over the same period.
Melting glacier water
will replenish rivers in the short term,
but as the resource diminishes drought will
dominate the river reaches in the long term.
Several major rivers including the Yangtze,
Mekong and Indus begin their journeys to
the sea from the Tibetan Plateau Steppe,
one of the largest land-based wilderness
areas left in the world.
“Once destroyed it will
be extremely difficult to restore the high-altitude
ecosystems,” said Dr Li Lin, head of Conservation
Strategies for WWF-China. “If industrialized
and developing countries do not focus their
efforts on cutting emissions, some of this
land will be lost forever and local populations
will be displaced.”
Glacier retreat has
become a major environmental issue in Tibet,
particularly in the Chang Tang region of
northern Tibet. The glacier melting poses
severe threats to local nomads’ livelihoods
and the local economy.
The most common impact
is that lakes are increasing due to glacier
melting and some of the best pastures are
submerged. Meanwhile small glaciers are
disappearing due to the speed of glacier
melting and drinking water has become a
major issue.
“This problem should
convince governments to adopt a ‘mountain-to-sea’
approach to manage their rivers, the so-called
integrated river basin management, and to
ratify the UN Water Convention as the only
international agreement by which to manage
transboundary rivers,” said Li Lifeng, Director
of Freshwater, WWF International.
“It should also convince
countries to make more effort to protect
and sustainably use their high altitude
wetlands in the river source areas that
WWF has been working on.”
