Posted on 03 September
2010
Chengdu, China – In what’s shaping up to
be one of the world’s most sought-after
jobs, over 25,000 hopefuls have applied
in only one week for the opportunity of
a lifetime – the chance
to spend one month taking care of giant
pandas in China’s southwest.
Six “Pambassadors” will
be offered an opportunity to work side-by-side
researchers at the Chengdu Panda Base this
October, gaining hands-on experience caring
for one of the world’s most endangered species.
Daily feeding and behavioral observation
are part of the job description, as is participating
in WWF-led field trips to learn more about
what’s being done to conserve the pandas
in the wild.
And best of all, the
six lucky diplomats will get the very rare
opportunity to witness the birth of baby
pandas.
“We hope that through
this project more and more people will join
our mission to protect pandas and will realize
the importance of preserving wild habitats,
the Earth’s natural ecological environment,
and also the critical importance of biodiversity
conservation,” said Dr. Zhang Zhihe, Director
General of the Chengdu Panda Base.
Pandas are recognized
as a “national treasure” in China, yet there
are only about 1,600 left in the wild. Official
figures point to around 300 pandas in captive-bred
programmes, most of which are located in
China.
State media reported
that four captive-bred pregnant pandas were
released into Sichuan forests last month
to prepare their cubs for a life in the
wild.
“The key to panda conservation
is to protect the wild panda population
and its natural habitat. We hope this campaign
will raise awareness of the threats and
challenges that wild pandas face and encourage
more people to protect their homes in the
wild,” said Dr. Ling Lin, WWF China’s Deputy
Conservation Director of Operations.
While not an official
organizer of “Project Panda”, WWF is supporting
the competition by giving Pambassadors the
chance to visit some of the few wild spaces
pandas still call home. They’ll learn about
what’s being done to conserve their habitats,
as well as how park rangers and researchers
keep track of the rare animals.
The Chengdu Panda Base
has reported that close to 450,000 people
visited the “Project Panda” website during
the first week alone, and that applications
have been received from 35 different countries.
With 10 days remaining,
organizers are considering relaxing the
18 – 40 years age limit set for Pambassadors,
thanks to what they’ve soberly identified
as “a number of convincing applications
from…above and below the age limits”.
Though no official word
has been given on a change to the age limit,
applications can still be made by video
message at www.pandahome.com until September
6th. An international panel of judges will
narrow the field down to six winners.
+ More
Big dry and legal doubts
fuel progress to new forest burn boom in
Brazil
Posted on 03 September
2010
Brasília, Brazil – High temperatures,
low humidity and uncertainty over the future
of forest laws are fuelling a boost in forest
fires over much of Brazil.
Overnight on August
30, satellite data collected by the National
Institute of Space Researches (Instituto
Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais – INPE)
showed 177 fire spots in central and central
west Brazil and also in the north, south
and south east of the country.
The 45,860 forest fires
recorded so far this year is nearly 50 per
cent higher than from the equivalent January
to August period in 2009, putting Brazil
on track to exceed the fire totals for 2007,
the highest in the last five years.
While high temperatures
– 30-35 degrees C in central Brazil – and
humidity readings of under 20 per cent are
undoubtedly contributing, Alberto Setzer,
INPEs Forest Fire Monitoring coordinator,
believes that the increase of fire occurrences
this year is also related to the undefined
future of the Brazilian Forest Code, which
has been under severe attack by some sectors
of the Brazilian Congress.
The current forest-burning
season will not figure on the next release
of annual deforestation rates, but the intense
degradation facilitates illegal deforestation.
“Soon, many of these
areas will no longer be forests,” Setzer
said. “In fact, burning the forest is usually
the first and cheapest step to clean out
a forest area.”
Blame put on "the
usual illegal practices"
The proposed forest
code changes particularly downgrade protected
area requirements for private land, steep
land and watercourse fringes. According
to the Institute, 130 state and federal
reserves also registered fire spots inside
their areas or within their buffer zones.
Denise Hamú,
WWF-Brazil's CEO, agrees with the possibility
of criminal fires being connected to the
Forest Bill currently under discussion at
the Congress.
“The uncertainty about
the future of our Forest Code may perfectly
be leading some of these criminal fires,”
she said. “The possibility of reducing the
compulsorily protected areas within properties
may be encouraging farmers to prepare new
areas for agriculture or cattle breeding,
in advance, with an eye on the proposed
amendment in the law.”
Brazil’s Environment
Minister, Izabella Teixeira, has called
for investigations to identify possible
criminal actions behind these fires which
she attributed to “the usual illegal practices”.
One of Brazil’s leading
climate researchers, Dr Antonio Marengo
of the Centre of Terrestrial System Sciences,
said “We cannot assure the unusual season
we are going through right now is caused
by the climate changes. But it is, no doubt,
a picture of what may happen in the future,
when droughts and high temperatures will
become more frequent and severe.”
Strong and severe laws
and public policies seem to be the only
possible adaptation measures for a future
of climate changes, as related to forest
fire, he said, calling for more preparation
of local governments, populations and hospitals
for more and more smoky atmosphere, lung
diseases and fire disasters.
“These are palliative
measures, of course, but theres not much
that can be done, once the use of fire in
the agriculture is cultural in Brazil,”
Dr. Marengo said.
For him, the hope relies on education for
the future generations.
