Posted
on 12 June 2009 - Mereuch, Cambodia: Researchers
will monitor Cambodia’s remaining tigers
using almost 200 camera traps and two specially
trained dogs – capable of tracking the tigers
over 150 square kilometers by following
the animal’s droppings.
The camera traps and
dogs ultimately will help conservationists
to better protect tigers in the Mondulkiri
Protected Forest in Eastern Cambodia, one
of Southeast Asia’s largest remaining tropical
dry forests.
WWF has set up more than 165 camera traps
in the area, and in a few months two US-trained
dogs, will begin scouring the undergrowth
and sniffing for tiger scent.
The two dogs will be
re-trained to locate the scat of tiger and
other carnivores. Using dogs to sniff out
the scats from large carnivores has been
widely used in other parts of the world
with great success, such as tiger monitoring
projects in the Russian Far East.
“We know tigers are
there. With more concentrated monitoring
we have a better chance of spotting them
– and this will enable us to put more protective
measures in play,” said Nicholas Cox, WWF’s
Dry Forests Ecoregion Leader.
Despite many years of
poaching, there now are signs that the dry
forest is recovering as a habitat for tigers.
Leopards now are relatively common and other
wildlife returning to the area include wild
banteng, Asian jackal, Eld’s deer and primates
such as silvered langur. In addition Vultures,
Great Hornbills and Giant Ibis have now
been frequently spotted in the forest.
The tiger population
is estimated to be between 10 and 25 animals
in the Eastern Plains Landscape. Camera
traps have been used in some parts of the
Protected Forest previously, but they will
now be concentrated to a core area frequented
by tigers. A tiger was last photographed
in the area in 2007, and scats (droppings)
have been found more recently in the area.
“It’s now or never,
we must act if the trend of increasing tiger
prey species is to be made permanent,” said
Seng Teak, WWF Cambodia Country Director.
“Stronger protection measures and a rigorous
management plan are being implemented by
the local government in Mondulkiri and WWF.
When prey returns to the area the tiger
population will have a chance to bounce
back in a few years”, says.
WWF has been involved
in conservation work in the Eastern Plains
since early 2001. That commitment was increased
a few years ago to cover an area spanning
more than 20,000 square kilometers.
Strict protection measures
have been enforced in the Mondulkiri Protected
Forest and the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary.
In core protection zones, villagers are
not allowed to hunt or cut timber, and
more than 70 trained rangers patrol the
protected areas.
Lean Kha, a 48-year-old
ranger working for WWF, was a poacher in
the 70s.
“As a 13-year-old boy
I was forced by the Khmer Rouge to go into
the forest and kill wild animals,” Kha said.
“I quickly learned to shoot and lay snares.
During a period of 5-6 years I shot 16 elephants,
14 leopards and two tigers. At the time,
I was ignorant and did not think of the
consequences when I shot those tigers.”
“Today I’m really proud
to work for WWF, and to use my skills to
combat wildlife crime so that there will
still be tigers and other wildlife in the
forest when my children grow up,” he said.
+ More
EU delays climate talks
progress
Posted on 19 June 2009
- The European Union is delaying the ongoing
climate negotiations, WWF said after the
bloc’s Council once again failed to declare
how much it planned to contribute to the
global fight against devastating climate
change.
EU delays climate talks
progress
Brussels, Belgium – The European Union is
delaying the ongoing climate negotiations,
WWF said after the bloc’s Council once again
failed to declare how much it planned to
contribute to the global fight against devastating
climate change.
The European Council
has discussed climate change during its
latest meeting but it has only come up with
vague statements and did not put any figure
it was prepared to commit to, or detail
the mechanisms for raising funds for climate
change.
“European leaders were
right to state that the time has now come
for
the international community to speed up
the pace of negotiations and take the commitments
needed to limit global warming to under
2°C.
The question inevitably arises, therefore,
why they didn’t make a decision that actually
supports such goals?” said Jason Anderson,
Head of European Climate and Energy Policy
at WWF.
“The EU is playing a
delaying tactic which cannot help ensure
an ambitious deal by the UN Copenhagen summit.
Europe needs to make progress on the key
issues, and not look elsewhere for leadership.”
After the timid performance
of the Czech Presidency of the EU, WWF
urges the upcoming Swedish presidency to
guide Europe towards
Copenhagen.
Establishing a clear
roadmap that does not leave all
critical decisions to the final Council
before Copenhagen should be one of the crucial
first steps, WWF says.
In light of the 2-degree
goal, Europe’s 20% commitment of emissions
reductions by 2020 is not ambitious enough,
nor would a 30% target if this is to be
diluted by buying offset credits from developing
countries.
Europe’s minimum commitment should be to
30% achieved at home, and an additional
15% supported through financing in developing
countries.
Europe and other developed
countries will need to be fully decarbonised
by 2050.
New Russian Arctic Park to protect key polar
bear habitat
Posted on 16 June 2009
Russia will create a
new 1.5 million hectare park in the Arctic,
a central area for the Barents and Kara
Sea polar bear populations.
The ‘Russian Arctic’ park is located on
the northern part of Novaya Zemlya, a long
island that arcs out into the Arctic Ocean
between the Barents and Kara Seas. It also
includes some adjacent marine areas.
WWF has long been lobbying
for the park, which is also a key area for
walrus, wild reindeer and bird population.
The park creation excludes all industrial
activities.
“This is exactly the
sort of thing we need to see from Arctic
governments,” says Neil Hamilton Director
of WWF International’s Arctic Programme.
“The only way these
Arctic populations are going to survive
the ecological havoc caused by global warming
is by providing them with enough breathing
room.”
“If industrial activity
is kept far enough from key habitat, the
animals have a chance.”
“We also need urgent
global action on climate change to ensure
that the parks stay cold enough for animals
such as polar bears and wild reindeer.”
While WWF is pleased
with the park creation, it notes that the
protected area is smaller than the 5 million
hectares initially planned.
“Despite the fact that
the Russian Arctic Park is our big achievement,
we’re sorry that not all planned territories
were included in the park area,” says Oleg
Sutkaitis, Head of the Barents Sea Ecoregional
Office for WWF Russia.
“ Franz Josef Land and
Victoria Island were crossed out from the
project, but we will now work on widening
the park’s borders.”
When announcing the
park, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said
he hoped it would be a major attraction
for tourism, and announced that he personally
plans to vacation there.
Mekong dolphins on the
brink of extinction
Pollution in the Mekong River has pushed
the local population of Irrawaddy dolphins
to the brink of extinction, a new report
by WWF has revealed.
The Mekong dolphin population is estimated
at between 66 and 86 individuals inhabiting
a 190km stretch of the Mekong River between
Cambodia and Lao PDR.
The Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella
brevirostris) population inhabits a 190km
stretch of the Mekong River between Cambodia
and Lao PDR. Since 2003, the population
has suffered 88 deaths of which over 60
percent were calves under two weeks old.
The latest population is estimated between
64 and 76 members.
“Necropsy analysis identified
a bacterial disease as the cause of the
calf deaths. This disease would not be fatal
unless the dolphin’s immune systems were
suppressed, as they were in these cases,
by environmental contaminants,” said Dr
Verné Dove, report author and veterinarian
with WWF Cambodia.
Researchers found toxic
levels of pesticides such as DDT and environmental
contaminants such as PCBs during analysis
of the dead dolphin calves. These pollutants
may also pose a health risk to human populations
living along the Mekong that consume the
same fish and water as the dolphins.
“These pollutants are
widely distributed in the environment and
so the source of this pollution may involve
several countries through which the Mekong
River flows. WWF Cambodia is currently investigating
the source of the environmental contaminants,”
said Dr Dove.
High levels of mercury
were also found in some of the dead dolphins.
Mercury, suspected to be from gold mining
activities, directly affects the immune
system making the animals more susceptible
to infectious disease.
“A trans-boundary preventative
health programme is urgently needed to manage
the disease affected animals in order to
reduce the number of deaths each year,”
said Seng Teak, Country Director of WWF
Cambodia.
Limited genetic diversity
due to inbreeding was another factor in
the dolphin deaths.
“The Mekong River dolphins
are isolated from other members of their
species and they need our help. Science
has shown that if the habitat of cetaceans
is protected then populations can show remarkable
resilience,” said Mr Teak.
The Mekong River Irrawaddy
dolphin has been listed as critically endangered
on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
since 2004.
