Posted on 20 February
2012 - Kuala Lumpur – As the infrastructure
growth in the “Asian Century” shows no signs
of slowing down, Malaysia has taken a first
bold step in addressing how this growth
will affect tigers and tiger habitats by
holding a leadership forum on including
priority tiger habitats into land and infrastructure
planning. The meeting, entitled Cross-Sectoral
Executive Leadership Forum on Mainstreaming
Priority Tiger Habitats, is being held in
the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on February
20 – 22. At the forum, the Government of
Malaysia is announcing the construction
of viaducts that will promote safe passage
for tigers and other wildlife along a busy
East-West Highway.
“Smart Green Infrastructure
is a vital component of any initiative to
save tigers and recover their numbers,”
said Mike Baltzer, Head of WWF’s Tigers
Alive Initiative (TAI). “As we strive towards
TX2 – doubling the number of wild tigers
by 2022 – we must immediately engage governments,
international institutions and our partners
on the ground to ensure that Asia’s rapid
growth leads to opportunities, as opposed
to increasing pressure, for tigers and their
habitat.” At the forum, the TAI will present
Designing a Conservation Landscape for Tigers
in a Human Dominated Environment.
Malaysia plans to take
its viaduct project one step further by
integrating an ambitious forest plan, the
Central Forest Spine (CFS) Master Plan,
into its national spatial plan. The CFS
plan will use smart green infrastructure
such as viaducts to create forest linkages,
which will lead to a contiguous network
of forest through the country’s backbone,
or spine. Malaysia’s implementation of the
CFS plan and its National Tiger Conservation
Action Plan will lead to further integration
with plans at the state and local levels.
In addition to poaching
and the illegal tiger trade, habitat loss
and degradation represents the most serious
threat to tigers. The pressures on the pockets
of habitat where tigers are still holding
on will only increase as the growth boom
in Asia continues push outward, reaching
formerly pristine tiger and wildlife habitat.
As wildlife and park authorities look to
stem the rising tide, they will need new
solutions backed by robust government participation.
Northern Peninsular
Malaysia’s Banjaran Titiwangsa Landscape,
which includes the Belum-Temengor Priority
Tiger Landscape, is one of the Tigers Alive
Initiative’s 12 priority landscapes, and
where some of the viaducts will be built.
The area, which includes Peninsular Malaysia’s
longest mountain range and largest national
park, also harbors the country’s largest
tiger population. Of the 3,200 wild tigers
remaining in 13 countries in Asia and the
Russian Far East, Malaysia contains a significant
percentage of the population, currently
standing at approximately 500.
The forum is hosted
by Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environment, WWF partners the Global
Tiger Initiative and the Smithsonian Conservation
Biology Institute, and will also include
presentations from the tiger range countries
of Indonesia and India.
+ More
Black carbon initiative
should not block real carbon action
Posted on 16 February
2012 - Gland, Switzerland: WWF has welcomed
a “black carbon” initiative announced today
by the US, Canada, Mexico, Ghana, Sweden
and Bangladesh – but warned that the primary
effort in reducing dangerous climate changing
emissions has to remain on achieving rapid
and deep cuts to carbon dioxide emissions.
The substances highlighted in the initiative
– black carbon or soot, methane and hydrofluorocarbons
– are known as short-lived climate forcers
since they do not stay in the atmosphere
as long as CO2. Major sources of black carbon
include burning of biomass in traditional
cookstoves and fires in some developing
countries, as well as diesel exhaust.
‘The fact is that the
big emitters like the US and Canada that
are advancing this initiative have done
very little to reduce CO2 emissions, the
primary cause of global warming’ said Samantha
Smith, Leader of the WWF Climate and Energy
Initiative.
“‘Now they have developed a plan that shifts
the focus to others - developing countries
in particular. While support for poorer
countries is important, their primary responsibility
should be to cut their own emissions and
address the global challenges posed by climate
change.”’
“Cutting black carbon
emissions by ensuring adequate access to
energy and cleaner cookstoves is in principle
good, but we should not assume that this
new initiative will deliver quick results”,
said Smith.
“There are many practical challenges to
this and the other measures in the initiative,
including the very large number of sources
of pollution, financing, and cultural barriers
to adoption of new cooking methods. Success
will depend on good mechanisms for finance,
accounting and delivery.”
In short, while short-lived forcers provide
a window of opportunity it should not distract
us from addressing the biggest cause of
climate change: CO2 emissions.
