BEJC seminars this week and next: marine insects, corals and rainforest from ecotax at Yahoo! Groups
What's That On The Hydroids?
from colourful clouds
Chronicle of Mr & Mrs King - Oct 26 twenty10
from Life's Indulgences
Weaver Ants and the Mimic
from Creatures in the Wild
Of rambutan, sea olive and the birds they attract
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Si Ling Secondary students' grades are up too with pilot outdoor education programme
Jennani Durai Straits Times 27 Oct 10;
GETTING its students outdoors kayaking and abseiling has helped Si Ling Secondary School cut down its dropout rate.
It is one of the first secondary schools here to introduce outdoor education as a required part of its curriculum.
Si Ling launched a pilot programme for a trial group of Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) Secondary 2 students in 2007, before incorporating it into the curriculum for them.
Since then, the dropout rate has gone down and students' grades have gone up, said principal Wong Lok Oon.
The school was commended yesterday by Senior Minister of State for Education S. Iswaran at the 4th Outdoor Education Conference, held at the School of the Arts.
Some 500 educators explored how outdoor education can enhance the holistic development of students and shared best practices in designing and delivering such programmes.
Mr Iswaran said: 'Outdoor experiences immerse the learner in authentic situations within personal and social contexts, with real consequences to themselves, others and the environment.'
At Si Ling, the numbers speak for themselves - its dropout rate hit a record low this year, with only four out of 780 students quitting school, down from 10 last year and 18 in 2003.
The school will receive its first value-added award from the Ministry of Education later this year. Schools are said to have added value when their students do better than expected in the O levels, judging from their PSLE scores.
Mr Wong said that the majority of students in his school learn best by doing.
'These are kids that are pretty weak academically, and many come from financially and emotionally deprived backgrounds. They simply don't have the support that most of us take for granted,' he said.
The staff began looking for ways to get them excited about school and to create a greater sense of belonging and camaraderie.
They decided to try out the idea of personalised and experiential learning through the trial programme, in which three to four periods a week are devoted to outdoor learning.
The programme includes land expeditions such as mountain climbing or trekking, sea expeditions such as kayaking, and rope and obstacle courses.
The school uses places such as Outward Bound Singapore and the Adventure Learning Centre at Republic Polytechnic for its outdoor sessions.
It now plans to extend the programme to all its students, starting next year.
Mr Wong said he has seen the behaviour of students change for the better and grades shoot up. Students are also generally happier.
'Outdoor activities have really given them a sense of worth and achievement,' he said. 'When students overcome physical challenges, we see that they also learn to apply the same principles to other challenges in their lives.'
Murni Yati, a Secondary 2 Normal (Technical) student, said she has benefited from the programme.
'I like to do outdoor activities, but never had the chance to do stuff like abseiling, rock climbing and kayaking before,' said the 14-year-old.
She added that the group activities have been particularly meaningful to her.
'I have learnt a lot about friendship and encouraging one another not to give up.'
Karen Ng Business Times 27 Oct 10;
ONLY 12 per cent of Singaporeans cite climate change as their top concern, an HSBC survey has found. But if it is any consolation, the proportion is even lower in major countries France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Singaporeans are more concerned about the stability of the global economy, terrorism and pandemics, says the HSBC Climate Change Monitor, which was released yesterday.
This is the first time that Singapore is covered in the annual survey, which focuses on consumers' attitude and behaviour towards climate change in the developed and developing world. The latest poll, conducted between Aug 25 and Sept 10, covered 15 countries, with at least a thousand consumers surveyed in each country.
In terms of government spending, some 53 per cent of Singaporeans felt that more should be spent on the economy than on climate change. Globally, the proportion is just 38 per cent.
Health care drew a bigger response, with 67 per cent agreeing that more should be spent on it than on climate change. The global figure is 56 per cent.
In terms of sentiment towards climate change, Singapore scores lower than the Asia-Pacific average. Just 34 per cent here believe that climate change warrants concern, compared to the region's 41 per cent.
On the subject of tackling climate change, Singapore emerged among the top five countries that bank on government policies. About 57 per cent of Singaporeans feel that big-scale state-funded initiatives would be effective, while 48 per cent think that a carbon tax would be effective. Some 34 per cent favour emissions trading as a policy against climate change.
At the personal level, some 65 per cent of Singaporeans said that they prefer environmentally friendly businesses and products.
Reducing the use of heating and air-con appliances is the most popular way in Singapore for dealing with climate change, at 35 per cent; followed by recycling, 26 per cent; and energy-saving home improvements, 22 per cent.
HSBC chief executive officer Alex Hungate said: 'When we recognise that we are all in this (climate change issue) together and that we must take concerted action, we can unlock the potential for positive change and make a real difference.'
Singaporeans more concerned about economy than climate change: survey
Mok Fei Fei Channel NewsAsia 26 Oct 10;
SINGAPORE : A survey has found that Singaporeans are more concerned about the economy than about climate change.
The HSBC Climate Change Monitor found that only 12 per cent of respondents in Singapore ranked climate change as a top concern.
This is amongst the lowest across the countries in the survey. Only France, Britain and the US scored lower.
For 28 per cent of the respondents in Singapore, global economic stability is the top concern. This is followed by terrorism, which has 22 per cent of the people worried.
Some 67 per cent of respondents in Singapore felt that governments should be spending more on health care than climate change.
The figure is higher than the global average of 56 per cent.
In addition, 53 per cent of Singapore respondents also felt that the government should be spending more on the economy, as opposed to only 38 per cent globally.
This is the first time that Singapore, Japan and Vietnam were covered in the annual survey, which was launched in 2007.
Conducted between August and September, the survey looks into consumers' attitude and behaviour towards climate change in 15 countries.
At least 1,000 consumers were surveyed in each country. - CNA/ms
But environment activists say fires will recur as big firms fuel demand for land
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times 27 Oct 10;
BENGKALIS REGENCY (RIAU PROVINCE): After days of fierce firefighting, aided by rain, the local authorities said on Monday that their satellite data showed that there were no longer any hot spots in the province.
But the National Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency - which has an office in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru - said it would keep monitoring the situation to see if all fires had really been extinguished.
Environmental activists, however, said that the scenario of raging fires resulting in choking haze would keep recurring each year, as long as cultivation activities on Riau's peat lands continued unabated.
Several giants in the oil palm and the pulp and paper industry own concessions either directly or through their subsidiaries throughout Riau province. They include Singapore-based companies like Wilmar International, Sinar Mas Group and Asia Pacific Resources International.
Activists say their activities have influenced local farmers to move from traditional crops to a more lucrative one - oil palm.
'When big companies come in and open a plantation, build the infrastructure - the canals and access roads - they attract local farmers to open their own plantations, as they can use the same infrastructure,' said Mr Teddy Hardiansyah, executive director of the Riau Haze Foundation.
Without proper supervision from the local authorities - who are in charge of issuing permits for the cultivation of land - local farmers end up using the land 'destructively', he said.
Activists place part of the blame for the fires on the big companies, alleging that some of the fires took place within or near their plantations.
Mr Susanto Kurniawan, coordinator of the Network To Save The Riau Forest, said that large companies have been known to conform to the 'no-burning policy' in principle, by hiring contractors to clear the land for them.
These contractors subsequently hire villagers who end up starting the fires.
'But because there was no evidence linking their actions to the management of the companies who issued the order, the courts let the companies get away with it,' said Mr Susanto.
The companies have refuted these claims. Mr Nurul Huda, the spokesman for PT Arara Abadi, which is affiliated to Sinar Mas, said the fires had not taken place within the company's plantation area.
'The fires were in the plantations owned by local residents. Although the fire was not within our concession area, we still helped to put out the flames by deploying 80 people and one helicopter,' he said.
Wilmar said it had a 'strict zero-burn policy' for its global operations and was committed to the growth and use of sustainable palm oil.
Sinar Mas subsidiary PT Smart said it was 'absolutely against burning'. Its president director Daud Dharsono said: 'Our contractors who clear the land must comply with our zero-burning policy. We clear only degraded land using... excavators and bulldozers.'
The company, he added, had also stepped up surveillance and ensured it had enough firefighting equipment during the dry season.
Activists also said the local authorities could do more, by taking measures that were simple but able to make a deep impact. Said Mr Susanto: 'So far the government has only been reacting to the fires and not preventing them.'
He and other activists suggested banning cultivation in areas where the peat is more than 3m deep, and revoking licences of landowners who have repeatedly set fires. Said Riau Haze Foundation's Mr Teddy: 'Riau has haze caused by fires every year. It is just a question of how many. And often, the location of the hot spots is the same each year. It is clear that these are repeat offenders.'
At a ministerial meeting in Japan yesterday, Singapore's Ambassador-at-large and adviser to Senior Minister S. Jayakumar, Mr Chew Tai Soo, noted that 'unsustainable' land clearing practices have resulted in frequent cases of haze that have hit the region and affected public health and the economies of affected countries.
'Regional cooperation to overcome this problem has shown some benefits in the past and should be stepped up,' he added.
2,000 ha of peatland in Bengkalis catches fire
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 27 Oct 10;
An investigation team found the recent smog blanketing Singapore and Malaysia originated from peatland belonging to farmers in Bengkalis, Riau province.
The fires burned more than 2,000 hectares of fire-prone peatland areas, which had been converted for business purposes, the investigation found.
The investigation was conducted by the Environment Ministry in Dusun Sejati village, Bengkalis, after neighboring Singapore and Malaysia complained about haze from Indonesia.
The team, however, did not investigate fires in other regencies in Riau, which activists said occurred in concession areas of oil-palm plantation and industrial forest concession (HTI).
Environment Ministry deputy minister for environmental damage, Arief Yuwono, said the fires spread out of control due to poor preventive measures taken by local administrations. “We recommend civil service investigators to find the main actors of fires [in Bengkalis],” he said.
The team also advised the need for further investigation to determine if fires also took place in oil-palm plantations and industrial forest concessions (HTI) in Riau province.
Analysis by WWF Indonesia revealed that the fires were still rampant in both HTI concessions and oil-palm plantation areas.
“Forty-one percent of fires occur in local people’s farms but the remaining were found in concession areas belonging to oil-palm plantations and HTI in Riau,” head of forest fires at WFF, Hariri Dedi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
“The some hotspots in HTI were recorded in areas encroached on by local people. It shows HTI holders neglect their concession areas,” he said.
Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta earlier pointed out most fires in Bengkalis were set by local farmers practicing the slash-and-burn technique.
The team had found no hotspots in Bengkalis since Sunday.
Riau is one of the 10 most fire-prone provinces in the country where haze is usually thick in dry seasons. Other vulnerable provinces to fires are Jambi, South Sumatra, North Sumatra, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.
The government has promised the international community to cut emissions by 26 percent in 2020 by slashing 20 percent of hotspots annually.
Haze outlook in Singapore still up in the air
Straits Times 27 Oct 10;
THE skies over Singapore may be clear now, but there is uncertainty over whether the smog could return.
Experts told The Straits Times yesterday that it was impossible to say for sure.
'Everyone would like a definitive answer, but life is not so simple,' said Nanyang Technological University climate expert Koh Tieh Yong. 'Anyone who can give you a definitive long-term prediction is not being honest.'
At the heart of the problem, he explained, is the sheer unpredictability of the two factors determining the occurrence of haze - burning in Indonesia and the direction of the wind.
Predicting wind patterns is difficult because Singapore is currently between monsoons.
Weather patterns this year are also not always comparable to years before.
Mr Landy Eng, the managing director of Conservation International Singapore, noted that this year's dry season has been unusually wet.
Predicting whether another fire will start in Sumatra is an entirely different affair, and trickier by far.
Said Prof Koh: 'The burning season is ending, but who is to say they won't start another fire?'
Mr Eng agreed: 'You don't know how many more smallholders are out there trying to clear their fields. Just because one crop of fires has ended doesn't mean the burning is done.'
He added that the longer the range of a forecast, the more chance there is of it being wrong.
Indeed, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has thus far not made any long-term predictions.
Yesterday, it said transboundary smoke haze was unlikely over the next few days as showers are expected in the region, and that no significant smoke plumes are expected in Sumatra.
Latest satellite images over cloud-free areas show only one hot spot in North Sumatra and none in Riau and Jambi. The NEA said rain had help put out some fires there.
JEREMY AU YONG AND GRACE CHUA
Singapore should be haze-free for the next few days, says NEA
Wayne Chan Channel NewsAsia 26 Oct 10;
SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency says Singapore should be haze-free for the next few days, with showers expected in the region and no significant smoke plumes expected in Sumatra.
However, brief periods of slight haze may be possible in the early morning due to the accumulation of particulate matter under light wind conditions.
The NEA added that the latest satellite image over cloud-free areas showed that only one hotspot was detected in north Sumatra and no hotspots or smoke plumes were detected in Riau and Jambi.
The showers in the region have helped to put out some of the fires there.
The 24-hour PSI as of 4pm on Tuesday was 35.
NEA added that winds over the next two days are expected to be westerly to northwesterly, with showers expected in the late morning and afternoon on Wednesday and Thursday.
-CNA/ac
Regional cooperation to overcome haze problem has shown benefits
Channel NewsAsia 26 Oct 10;
NAGOYA, Japan: Singapore believes that regional cooperation to overcome the problem of transboundary haze has shown some benefits and should be stepped up.
Ambassador-at-Large Mr Chew Tai Soo said this on Tuesday at a United Nations Conference in Nagoya, Japan, on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Foreign Degradation (REDD).
The Ambassador, who is also an Advisor to Senior Minister S Jayakumar, said Singapore is pleased that countries with little or no forests such as Singapore can also contribute to the efforts.
He added that Singapore takes the issue of uncontrolled deforestation seriously.
Deforestation in Indonesia had caused the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) to plummet into the unhealthy range in large parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore last week.
The Ambassador said the transboundary haze affected public health, tourism, transportation and the economies of affected countries.
Deforestation accounts for approximately 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
-CNA/ac
There is power in diversity
EMA chief on importing electricity, clean energy and limiting disruptions
by Venessa Lee Today Online 27 Oct 10;
Even as Singapore moves towards greater self-reliance in water supply, it is looking to ensure a secure and stable supply of energy ironically, in part, by importing electricity from its neighbours. But there are limits to such imports, stressed top energy official Lawrence Wong.
"The issue would be about system security, power systems stability. Whether or not, (or) when we import electricity from our neighbours, how much do we import and how do we make sure that the imports do not destabilise our energy system," Mr Wong, the chief executive of the Energy Market Authority, told Today.
"So there is a margin - it shouldn't be too high but there's a certain margin in terms of systems stability within which we can allow electricity imports."
In its report in February, the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) had recommended that, in the medium term, the Government should consider coal and electricity imports to diversify energy sources. "The import of electricity is an option which can free up valuable land in Singapore," it said. "It could also allow us to tap on the significant renewable energy potential in our region, such as in the form of hydro-electricity or geothermal power."
Mr Wong said the Government has not ruled out coal and electricity imports as possibilities "in the medium to long term".
He noted the "environmental concerns" surrounding coal as an option, such as "whether or not there are new technologies that would allow us to use coal while keeping to environmental requirements or safeguards".
SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM: IT'LL BE A GAS
In the short to medium term, however, more of our power will be gas-generated. These days, about 80 per cent of the island's electricity is from gas while the remainder "comes from largely oil-fired steam plants and, to some small extent, the waste incineration plants", Mr Wong said.
The infamous blackouts of 2004 and 2006 drove home the undesirability of having the bulk of gas supply piped in from neighbours.
In June 2004, a disruption in piped gas from Indonesia's West Natuna affected 300,000 homes here and caused $6 million in economic losses over two hours.
A 45-minute blackout in December 2006, triggered by a glitch in Malaysian supplies, left 70,000 homes and businesses without power.
The Energy System Review Committee formed after the 2004 incident proposed that Singapore supplement its imports with liquefied natural gas (LNG) - which, because it can be shipped from countries far away, reduces reliance on neighbouring sources. Work began this year on an LNG terminal, due to be ready in 2013.
"When that happens, it's quite likely that … more than 80 per cent of our electricity will be generated by gas," said Mr Wong.
"We have a good system today, designed to make sure that we maintain systems stability. For example, all of our gas turbines are required to have the capability to operate on two different types of fuel. Not just gas but liquid fuel - diesel.
"And the power companies are required to have 90 days of liquid fuel stockpile, so we are able to ensure that, if there's a need, our power companies can hot-switch quite quickly, from gas to liquid fuel and make sure that electricity continues to flow without any disruption."
GOING SOLAR OR NUCLEAR?
The ESC report also recommended, for the long term, that Singapore support innovation and investment in renewable energy and study the feasibility of nuclear energy.
Asked about the nuclear feasibility study announced by the Government this year, Mr Wong said it is "to see whether nuclear can be an option for Singapore in the long term and we are still in the process of doing that study".
And while the clean energy industry is expected to contribute $1.7 billion to GDP by 2015, don't expect the island to be powered by the natural elements anytime soon.
"We have no wind, no geothermal, no hydropower … Solar energy is a potential source but even with solar, we have limited land for the deployment of large solar plants ... so it will be part of the fuel mix but I don't think it will make a very significant amount."
This might sound counter-intuitive to the layman in tropical Singapore. But other experts have pointed out the supply of solar energy can be unreliable if there's heavy cloud cover.
Said Mr Wong: "Both coal and electricity imports would have more significant scale than, potentially, solar power, because they can provide baseload generation and they're not intermittent."
Singapore's overall approach of pursuing a range of energy options is in line with international trends, Mr Wong said. "Globally, countries are generally taking a diversified approach."
Kicking off today is the third Singapore International Energy Week, which will see more than 10,000 participants - up from last year's 5,000. Jointly organised by the EMA and the Energy Studies Institute think-tank, the conference will see, among other things, the mapping of strategic projections for energy technology in South-east Asia.
"Technology road-maps basically give an indication of the time horizon for which different types of technologies would become viable, or a sense of how potential technologies will evolve," said Mr Wong.
For instance, one would get a clearer view of the ways in which solar energy can be harnessed "and the time frame for which these technologies would evolve and mature, and potentially become cost-effective".
The writer is a correspondent for Today.
Seet Sock Hwee Channel NewsAsia 26 Oct 10;
SINGAPORE : Rice prices in Singapore remain stable despite severe floods in Thailand, which have swamped thousands of acres of farmland.
The Thai Agriculture Ministry has estimated that at least 300,000 tonnes of paddy could be affected.
The Singapore General Rice Importers Association said Singapore's strong currency has helped to mitigate any price hike.
A check with major supermarkets also showed that prices here remain unchanged despite global rice prices going up by at least 5 per cent.
One supermarket attributed it to Singapore's diversified sources of imports.
Besides Thailand, which is the world's biggest rice exporter, Singapore also imports rice from Vietnam and Cambodia.
Tng Ah Yiam, managing director of Group Purchasing, Merchandising and International Trading at FairPrice, said: "We have noticed recent fluctuations in rice prices and are monitoring the situation closely.
"As of now, FairPrice wishes to assure customers that the prices of our range of housebrand rice have remained unchanged for the past 12 months. This is due to our policy of diversified sourcing and forward buying. FairPrice also strives to be the last to increase prices and the first to drop prices".
Wholesalers are also monitoring the situation.
Andrew Tan, chairman, Singapore General Rice Importers Association, said: "The concern should be in two weeks time. Hopefully the water would subside and thereby not affect the harvest that much."
- CNA/al
Rice Likely to Extend Rally as Flooding Decimates Asian Crops
Supunnabul Suwannakij and Luzi Ann Javier Bloomberg BusinessWeek 26 Oct 10;
Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Rice prices are likely to extend a rally as supplies are squeezed after crops across Asia, from the world’s largest buyer to the two biggest exporters, were devastated by storms and flooding.
“Rice production will become an issue next year,” Prasert Gosalvitra, head of Thailand’s state-run Rice Department, said in a phone interview from Bangkok. “Supply will become tight, driving prices higher.”
“Prices can very well go up from today by $100 or even higher around the end of the year or in January,” Mamadou Ciss, chief executive officer of Singapore-based Hermes Investments Pte. and a rice broker since 1984, said by phone from Geneva. Thai rice prices, the benchmark for Asia, were at $510 a ton on Oct. 20, close to a six-month high, according to data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
Rough-rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade will probably advance to $16 per 100 pounds, Ciss said. Rough-rice for January delivery climbed to $15.21 yesterday, the highest level since Dec. 28, 2009. The contract gained for a 12th day today, the longest winning streak since at least 1991, and traded at $15.125 at 8:43 a.m. Singapore time.
The staple food for half the world has jumped 58 percent from this year’s low of $9.55 per 100 pounds on June 30 as weather damage to crops in Pakistan and Thailand, which represent a combined 43 percent of global exports, threatened global supplies. Rice was $77.47-a-ton more expensive than wheat today, after slumping to a discount of about $53 in August.
Thai Output
Rough-rice production from the main crop in Thailand, the world’s biggest exporter, will “definitely” decline and is estimated to fall by at least 1.5 million tons after the worst floods in five decades inundated key growing areas, according to Prasert Gosalvitra, head of the state-run Rice Department. That would be a 6.5 percent decline from last year’s main crop of 23 million tons. Actual losses won’t be known until floodwaters recede, he said.
“It’s not only us,” Prasert said in a phone interview. “Vietnam, China, Myanmar and Pakistan will see output falling from flood damage.” Thailand produces two rice crops a year, with the main crop harvested from late October to April representing about 75 percent of the country’s output.
Floods spread across 34 provinces in central, north and northeastern Thailand, leaving at least 40 people dead and damaging 3.2 million rai (1.3 million acres) of agricultural land, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Flooding could cause as much as 24 billion baht worth of damage and may slash the nation’s economic growth in the fourth quarter by 1 percentage point, according to Kasikornbank Pcl.
Halted Sales
The Thai government halted sales of rice from state stockpiles and asked the agencies involved to review plans, deputy government spokesman Marut Masayawanit said yesterday after a weekly cabinet meeting.
Thailand initially planned to reduce state stockpiles to 1 million tons after sales earlier this year reduced inventories to around 2 million tons, Taradon Pianphongsant, deputy secretary-general to the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, said by phone. Revisions will be made based on the level of crop losses, he said.
“The suspension of government rice sales may raise supply concerns and strengthen prices,” said Kiattisak Kanlayasirivat, a director at Novel Commodities SA’s Thai office, which trades about $600 million of rice a year. The Thai benchmark rice price may rise to $550 a ton in November or December, when the Philippines, the world’s largest buyer, returns to the market to meet a shortfall widened by damage to crops from Typhoon Megi, he said.
Typhoon Damage
“The Philippines may import more than 2.5 million tons next year,” Prasert said.
The Philippines lost 314,577 tons of rough rice and 25,812 tons of corn after Typhoon Megi struck some of the nation’s biggest producing areas, the Department of Agriculture said in a statement on Oct. 21. A total 285,477 hectares of rice land and 15,474 hectares of land planted with corn were affected by the storm, it said.
Pakistan’s deadliest floods last month ruined crops worth 281.6 billion rupees ($3.27 billion), destroying 2.39 million tons of rice, Farm Minister Nazar Muhammad Gondal said Sept. 28. Pakistan was the world’s third-biggest exporter last year.
Rice production in the U.S., the fourth-biggest exporter, may be at least 10 percent smaller than estimated, missing a forecast for record output and pushing prices to as high as $17 per 100 pounds, Dwight A. Roberts, president of the U.S. Rice Producers Association, said Oct. 12.
A La Nina weather event this year has brought heavier-than- usual rainfall to parts of Australia and Asia, including Thailand. The weather event will intensify around the end of the year, Thailand’s Meteorological Department has said.
--Editors: Matthew Oakley, Jarrett Banks.
Yahoo News 27 Oct 10;
NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) – Japan will provide two billion dollars over three years to help developing countries save their ecosystems, Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced at a UN biodiversity summit on Wednesday.
"We will launch a 'life in harmony initiative' to support developing countries' efforts to compile and update their national strategies and implement them," Kan said. "We will provide assistance in the amount of two billion US dollars over three years from 2010."
Kan was addressing delegates from more than 190 countries who are in the central Japanese city of Nagoya to map out a strategy to save the world's plant and animal species from extinction.
The 12-day event is due to end on Friday with the UN aiming for a 10-year strategy that would set targets for protecting ecosystems and ending the loss of biodiversity that scientists say is threatening humans' lives.
Developing countries have insisted throughout the summit that, for a deal to be reached, rich nations must commit to financially helping them save their rainforests, waterways and other ecosystems.
The financing issue has been one of the major differences between rich and poor nations that threaten a meaningful deal being reached by Friday.
With environment ministers joining the negotiations on Wednesday to try to finalise a deal, Kan urged all countries to work harder to resolve their disputes.
"I would like to ask for enhanced efforts from representatives of each country," he said.
"(And) when the post-2010 targets are agreed upon, Japan is prepared to lead the world in achieving them."
Kan also proposed that the next 10 years be recognised by the United Nations as a "decade of biodiversity".
Japan to give 60 million dollars in biodiversity aid
Yahoo News 26 Oct 10;
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan plans to give about 60 million dollars to help developing countries protect species and habitats at a UN conference on biodiversity it is hosting, a government official said Tuesday.
"The government is preparing to announce aid worth roughly five billion yen to developing countries," an official with the Japanese environment ministry told AFP, without specifying which countries would benefit.
Local media reports said the fund, to be announced during the 193-nation meeting of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya this week, would be offered to the CBD secretariat between now and 2014.
The aid aims to help developing countries draft national strategies for biodiversity conservation, and pay for expert training and cooperation in scientific data-gathering, the Asahi Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun dailies said.
The aid would also promote Japan's "Satoyama Initiative" -- a worldwide effort to help preserve so-called socio-ecological production landscapes such as the semi-wild woodlands traditionally found around Japanese villages.
The 12-day UN conference aims to to secure agreement on how to stop the rapid loss of the world's plant and animal species, as well as their habitats, to stem what biologists say is a global extinction crisis underway.
However, after the meeting's first week, environmental groups said the conference was becoming bogged down in the kind of acrimony between developed and developing nations that have also plagued UN climate change negotiations.
In one crucial stand-off, Brazil insisted there would be no overarching deal unless there was agreement on how to share the benefits of genetic resources such as wild plants from rainforests that are used to make medicines.
Model could also cut haze in the region, says conservationist
Neo Chai Chin Today Online 27 Oct 10;
SINGAPORE - He wanted to save orang utans, but developed projects that have achieved so much more.
And if the agri-forestry and social entrepreneurshop model that Dutch-born Indonesian conservationist Willie Smits has achieved in Kalimantan is scaled up in Indonesia, the result could be the region seeing fewer haze episodes.
Dr Smits, 53, had gone to Balikpapan in East Kalimantan as a doctoral student in the 1980s. He set up the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation in 1991 after rescuing a dying baby orang utan dumped at a market.
He soon realised that to truly save the red apes - whose peat swamp forest habitats are being decimated mainly for palm oil plantations - he needed to save the forests and provide the local people with viable economic alternatives.
The Foundation began buying land to rebuild the rainforest for orang utans in an area called Samboja Lestari in East Borneo in 2001. The local community was involved, combining agriculture with forestry. They also grew sugar palm on the edges of land parcels to ward off fires and for biofuel.
About 3,000 villagers have since benefited, and the microclimate of Samboja Lestari has since changed, with greater cloud cover and more rainfall, according to Dr Smits.
Dr Smits is seeking to replicate more biodiverse sugar palm forests and cooperative-run production facilities (to convert its sap into ethanol) elsewhere in the world. He has since set up a company for this, and hopes to roll it out with the support of "ethical investors". If implemented in more parts of Indonesia, he is confident they will improve the regional haze situation. Less carbon will be generated if fewer people cooked with fuel wood, and used ethanol instead, and "buffer zones" provided by the sugar palms will generate income for the people and protect forests against fire, said Dr Smits, who has been knighted in the Netherlands for his conservation work.
Giving a talk here last Thursday - organised by the Singapore International Foundation and youth group Syinc - Dr Smits was asked how Singaporeans could get involved. They could push for sustainable sources of palm oil, and volunteer at the Tasikoki Animal Rescue and Education Center in North Sulawesi, he suggested. At the latter, volunteers pay a fee for lodging and assist in animal care.
The dynamic scientist is also in the midst of setting up a state-of-the-art orang utan centre in Yogyakarta in Java, which aims to be a sanctuary, as well as a transit centre for the hundreds of orang utans illegally kept as pets in the city. It has already gained the patronage of Yogyakarta's Sultan.
Asked how he gains the support of the local community, Sulawesi-based Dr Smits said: "By being honest and by speaking their language. My wife is a tribal queen, so it was easy to do the first (project, in Sulawesi). And now we bring people from other tribes here and they can watch it for themselves. Then, they are convinced by the example."
Karl Malakunas AFP Yahoo News 26 Oct 10;
NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) – Spectacular species previously unknown to the outside world are being discovered in the Amazon rainforest at a rate of one every three days, environment group WWF said in a report published Tuesday.
An anaconda as long as a limousine, a giant catfish that eats monkeys, a blue fanged spider and poisoned dart frogs are among the 1,220 animals and plants to have been found from 1999 to 2009, according to the study.
The report was released on the sidelines of a United Nations summit in Japan that is being held to try to stem the mass extinction of species around the world, and the WWF said it highlighted why protecting the Amazon was so vital.
"This report clearly shows the incredible, amazing diversity of life in the Amazon," Francisco Ruiz, head of WWF's Living Amazon Initiative, told reporters at the launch.
"(But) this incredible region is under pressure because of the human presence. The landscape is being very quickly transformed."
Logging and clearing for agriculture uses such as cattle farming and palm oil plantations have led to 17 percent of the Amazon -- an area twice the size of Spain -- being destroyed over the past 50 years, according to the WWF.
The WWF compiled the findings reported by scientists over the 10-year period to highlight the extent of biodiversity loss that may be occurring without humans even knowing while the Amazon is being cleared.
"It serves as a reminder of how much we still have to learn about this unique region, and what we could lose if we don't change the way we think about development," Ruiz said.
One of the most amazing discoveries was a four-metre (13-foot) anaconda in the flood plains of Bolivia's Pando province in 2002.
It was the first new anaconda species identified since 1936, and became only the fourth known type of that reptile, according to the WWF.
There were a total of 55 reptile species discovered, with others including two members of Elapidae -- the most venomous snake family in the world that includes cobras and taipans.
A kaleidoscope of different coloured frogs were also found, including 24 of the famed poison dart variety and one that was translucent.
Among the 257 types of fish discovered in the rivers and lakes of the Amazon was a "goliath" catfish.
One of them found in Venezuela measured nearly 1.5 metres long and weighed 32 kilogrammes (over 70 pounds).
Although the "goliath" catfish normally exists on a diet of other fish, some of them have been caught with parts of monkeys in their stomachs, according to the WWF.
Another extraordinary species of catfish that was discovered in the Brazilian state of Rondonia was extremely small, blind and red.
Villagers found the fish when they accidentally trapped them in buckets after hauling up water from a well.
At least 500 spiders were also discovered, including one that was completely brown except for a pair of almost fluorescent blue fangs.
Thirty-nine new mammals were also found, including a pink river dolphin, seven types of monkey and two porcupines.
Among the 637 new plant species discovered were sunflowers, ivy, lilies, a variety of pineapple and a custard apple.
The Amazon is home to at least 40,000 plant species, and the WWF described the scale of diversity in some areas as "mind boggling".
It said 1,000 plant species were documented in one hectare (2.5 acres) of lowland rainforest in Ecuador, while 3,000 were found in a 24-hectare region of the Colombian section of the Amazon.
As part of efforts to save the Amazon, the Brazilian government has worked with the WWF, the World Bank and other groups to establish protected areas of rainforest covering 32 million hectares over the past six years.
The WWF said the protection efforts, in which foreign governments and organisations provide some of the finance to help run the projects, should serve as a model for the world in how to save rainforests.
Amazing Discoveries in the Amazon: New Species Found Every 3 Days Over Last Decade
WWF 26 Oct 10;
Between 1999 and 2009, more than 1,200 new species of plants and vertebrates were discovered in the Amazon biome – or one new species every 3 days – confirming the Amazon as one of the most diverse places on Earth, says a WWF report.
“This report clearly shows the incredible diversity of life in the Amazon”, said Francisco Ruiz, Leader of WWF’s Living Amazon Initiative. It also serves as a reminder of how much we still have to learn about this unique region, and what we could lose if we don’t change the way we think about development, and promote conservation at a regional level that provides economic, social, and environmental benefits to people in the region and those within the Amazon’s far-reaching climatic influence, added Ruiz.
The new species outlined in “Amazon Alive!: A Decade of Discoveries 1999-2009” include 637 plants, 257 fish, 216 amphibians, 55 reptiles, 16 birds and 39 mammals.
Among some of the fabulous findings are:
• The first new anaconda species identified since 1936. Described in 2002 from Bolivia’s north-eastern Amazon province, and then found also in the floodplains of Bolivia’s Pando province, the 4 meter long Eunectes beniensis was initially believed to be the result of hybridization between green and yellow anacondas, but was later determined to be a distinct species.
• One of the most extraordinary species, the Ranitomeya amazonica, a frog with an incredible burst of flames on its head, and contrasting water-patterned legs. The frog’s main habitat is near the Iquitos area in the region of Loreto, Peru, and is primary lowland moist forest. The frog has also been encountered in the Alpahuayo Mishana National Reserve in Peru.
• A member of the true parrot family, the Pyrilia aurantiocephala has an extraordinary bald head, and displays an astonishing spectrum of colors. Known only from a few localities in the Lower Madeira and Upper Tapajos rivers in Brazil, the species has been listed as ‘near threatened’, due to its moderately small population, which is declining owing to habitat loss.
• The Amazon River dolphin or pink river dolphin was recorded by science in the 1830s, and given the scientific name of Inia geoffrensis. In 2006, scientific evidence showed that there is a separate species – Inia boliviensis – of the dolphin in Bolivia, although some scientists consider it a subspecies of Inia geoffrensis. In contrast to the Amazon River dolphins, their Bolivian relatives have more teeth, smaller heads, and smaller but wider and rounder bodies.
• A blind and tiny, bright red new species of catfish that lives mainly in subterranean waters. Found in the state of Rondonia, Brazil, the fish Phreatobius dracunculus began to appear after a well was dug in the village of Rio Pardo, when they were accidentally trapped in buckets used to extract water. The species has since been found in another 12 of 20 wells in the region.
Although most of the Amazon region remains fairly undisturbed, the threats to it are rapidly increasing. During the last 50 years humankind has caused the destruction of at least 17% of the Amazon rainforest – this is an area greater than the size of Venezuela, or twice the size of Spain
One of the main causes of this transformation is the rapid expansion in regional and
global markets for meat, soy and biofuels, increasing the demand for land. It is estimated that 80 percent of deforested areas in the Amazon are occupied by cattle pastures.
In addition, unsustainable development models, rapid regional economical growth, and increasing energy demands, are also impacting on the Amazon.
The Amazon’s forests not only house the most outstanding diversity of life on Earth, but also store 90-140 billion tonnes of carbon. Releasing even a portion of this through further forest loss and land use change, would accelerate global warming significantly compromising life on Earth as we know it.
“Urgent and immediate action is needed if we are to avoid this frightening scenario”, said, Francisco Ruiz. The fate of the Amazon – and of its species whether known or yet to be discovered - depends on a significant shift in the current way development is embraced by all Amazon countries, added Ruiz.
Through its Living Amazon Initiative, WWF is working towards a comprehensive approach to work with governments, civil society, and the private sector to promote the transformational process needed to bring about an alternative scenario to better preserve the Amazon’s biodiversity.
The goal is a shared vision of conservation and development that is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable; natural ecosystems are valued appropriately for the environmental goods they provide; tenure and rights to land and resources are planned; agriculture and ranching are carried out following best management practices; and transportation and energy infrastructure development is well planned to minimize environmental impacts and impoverishment of cultural diversity.
Part of the solution for Amazon nations to safeguard the Amazon’s species and habitats is being considered by governments meeting as part of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity: a multi-country approach to create a complete and effectively managed system of protected areas in the Amazon region.
Many of the discoveries of new species have been made in the Amazon network of protected areas, said Yolanda Kakabadse, President of WWF-I. This year - the Year of Biodiversity – is an excellent opportunity for Heads of State to help protect even more the Amazon’s diversity of life to ensure the survival of species that live there and the continued provision of environmental goods and services that we all benefit from, added Kakabadse
Amazon facts:
The region comprises the largest rainforest and river system on Earth. It consists of over 600 different types of terrestrial and freshwater habitats, from swamps to grasslands to montane and lowland forests, and it houses an incredible 10% of the world’s known species, including endemic and endangered flora and fauna.
The Amazon River is by far the world’s largest river in terms of the volume of water it discharges into the sea. Just two hours of its flow could meet the freshwater needs of New York City’s approximately 7.5 million residents for a whole year.
More than 30 million people living in the Amazon depend on its resources and services – many millions more living as far away as North America and Europe, still are within the Amazon’s far-reaching climatic influence
Slideshow of photos
Yahoo News 26 Oct 10;
NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) – One fifth of the world's vertebrates are threatened with extinction but conservation efforts are having an impact in slowing their demise, scientists said in a new study.
The study published Wednesday reported that the main reason for the "alarming" decline in the world's mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish was the destruction of their natural habitats.
"Global patterns of rising extinction risk are most marked in Southeast Asia, where agricultural expansion, logging and hunting are the primary forces behind accelerating extinction rates," a summary of the study said.
The study, by 174 scientists around the world, was described as the first time the rate of decline among vertebrate species had been quantified on a global scale.
It was based on research into 25,000 species on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN's) "Red List" of threatened species.
IUCN members were due to discuss the findings of the research on Wednesday on the sidelines of a United Nations summit being held in the Japanese city of Nagoya to try to map out a plan to slow or stop the decrease in the world's biodiversity.
The summit is being held amid the backdrop of warnings from scientists that humans' destruction of nature is causing plant and animal species to become extinct at up to 1,000 times the natural rate.
The IUCN said last year the world was experiencing its sixth mass extinction in history, the last one being 65 million years ago when dinosaurs were wiped off the planet.
However the study published Wednesday said species loss and decline would have been 20 percent worse in the absence of conservation efforts to protect threatened species.
"Thus, while current conservation efforts remain insufficient to offset the main drivers of biodiversity loss... targeted conservation efforts have had a measurable positive impact on the planet's vertebrate species," the study said.
Some of the conservation strategies the study highlighted as being beneficial were captive breeding programmes, legislation to limit hunting, establishing protected areas and efforts to remove invasive alien species.
Fifth of vertebrates face extinction: study
* Study shows losses, but says rate being curbed
* More than 60 species improve in status
* Separate study says right policy choices could slow losses
David Fogarty Reuters AlertNet 27 Oct 10;
NAGOYA, Japan, Oct 27 (Reuters) - About a fifth of the world's vertebrates are threatened with extinction, a major review has found, highlighting the plight of nature that is the focus of global environment talks underway in Japan.
The study by more than 170 scientists across the globe used data for 25,000 species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of threatened species and examined the status of the world's mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fishes.
The authors found, on average, 50 species of mammals, birds and amphibians move closer to extinction each year because of expansion of farms and plantations, logging and over-hunting. Another factor was competition from other species, particularly those introduced from other areas.
But the study, published in the journal Science, also found that conservation efforts had curbed the overall rate of loss.
It highlighted 64 mammal, bird and amphibian species that have improved in status, including three species that were extinct in the wild and have been re-introduced: the California Condor, the black-footed ferret in the United States and Przewalski's horse in Mongolia.
Delegates from nearly 200 countries are holding two weeks of talks in the Japanese city of Nagoya to set new 2020 targets to protect plant and animal species, draft a protocol to share genetic resources between countries and companies and allocate more funding to protect nature.
CLEAR EVIDENCE
The United Nations says Nagoya needs to agree tougher targets to save forests, reefs, rivers and wetlands that underpin livelihoods and economies. Preserving the richness of species is vital to ecosystems and the services they provide, such as clean water, fisheries and pollination of crops.
"This is clear evidence for why we absolutely must emerge from Nagoya with a strategic plan of action to direct our efforts for biodiversity in the coming decade," said Julia Marton-Lefevre, director-general of IUCN, which groups governments, scientists and conservation groups.
The study found Southeast Asia suffered the most dramatic recent losses largely because of rapid expansion of palm oil plantations and rice crops and logging.
A separate study published in Science said the world's biological diversity would continue to decline this century, but the rate could be slowed with the right policy choices.
Scientists from nine countries compared five recent global environmental assessments and peer-reviewed studies examining likely future changes in biodiversity.
Co-leader of the study, Paul Leadley of the University Paris-Sud, France, said doing nothing would lead to catastrophic biodiversity loss.
He said slowing climate change and deforestation could curb the loss of species, but this needed better policies to avoid large-scale conversion of forests for biofuel plantations.
The study said differences in policy action taken now could either lead to an increase in global forest cover of about 15 percent in the best case or losses of more than 10 percent in the worst case by 2030. (Editing by Ron Popeski)
More species slide to extinction
Richard Black, BBC News 26 Oct 10;
One fifth of animal and plant species are under the threat of extinction, a global conservation study has warned.
Scientists who compiled the Red List of Threatened Species say the proportion of species facing wipeout is rising.
But they say intensive conservation work has already pulled some species back from the brink of oblivion.
The report is being launched at the UN Biodiversity Summit in Japan, where governments are discussing how to better protect the natural world.
Launched at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting, the report says that amphibians remain the most threatened category of animals, with 41% of species at risk, while only 13% of birds qualify for Red-Listing.
The highest losses were seen in Southeast Asia, where loss of habitat as forests are cleared for agriculture, including biofuel crops, is fastest.
"The 'backbone' of biodiversity is being eroded," said the eminent ecologist, Professor Edward O Wilson of Harvard University.
"One small step up the Red List is one giant leap forward towards extinction. This is just a small window on the global losses currently taking place."
However, the scientists behind the assessment - who publish their findings formally in the journal Science - say there is new evidence this time that conservation projects are having a noticeable global impact.
"Really focused conservation efforts work when we do them - many island birds are recovering, lots of examples like this," said Simon Stuart, chair of the Species Survival Commission with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
"We can show for sure that when we focus conservation efforts and really address the threats and put enough money into it, then you see positive results."
Species that have benefited from such action include three bred in captivity and returned to the wild - the California condor and black-footed ferret of the US, and Przewalski's horse in Mongolia.
The ban on commercial whaling has led to such a swiftly increasing population of humpback whales that they have come off the Red List entirely.
Meanwhile, a parallel study, also published in Science, asks where trends of increased risk, but also increased conservation effort, will lead the natural world in future.
Researchers analysed a range of scientific studies and global assessments. Although projections varied, all found that fundamental changes are needed in order to avoid declining populations across many types of plant and animal species.
United front
"There is no question that business-as-usual development pathways will lead to catastrophic biodiversity loss," said research leader Paul Leadley from the Universite Paris-Sud.
"Even optimistic scenarios for this century consistently predict extinctions and shrinking populations of many species."
This picture is, in large part, what the CBD meeting is supposed to prevent.
One of the many debates currently ongoing at the meeting here is what the global target for 2020 should be - to completely halt the loss of biodiversity, or something less ambitious.
Dr Leadley's analysis backs up the view of many that a complete halt is not feasible.
But governments do at least appear united in their desire to do something, according to Dr Stuart, one of a large IUCN team monitoring developments here.
"They've said that they want to see improvements in status, especially in those species that are most at risk," he told BBC News.
"That to us is a very good target - we think it's achievable with a lot of effort.
"There doesn't seem to be much disagreement between countries on that issue - on other issues, yes, but on the species issue they're pretty solid."
However, on financing for species protection there is a lot of disagreement.
Some developing countries want a 100-fold increase in current rates of spending by the West. Other nations are arguing for a 10-fold rise.
But given that the world is in recession, that climate change is also supposed to see a huge and rapid increase in spending, and that no-one knows what the current spend on biodiversity actually is, all bets are currently off on what wording delegates will eventually arrive at.
Yahoo News 26 Oct 10;
BEIJING – China's panda population is booming this year thanks to a record number of births in captivity, a rare accomplishment for the endangered species known for being poor breeders.
The most recent addition — the birth of female twins — brought the total number of births this year to 19, surpassing the record of 18 births in 2006, Tang Chunxiang, an expert at the Wolong Panda reserve in Sichuan province, said Tuesday.
Giant panda "Yo Yo" gave birth to healthy twins at the reserve last week.
Tang attributed this year's record number of births to better research on panda nutrition, artificial insemination, genetics and creating a more natural habitat for the pandas to thrive in.
Pandas are threatened by a loss of habitat, poaching and a low reproduction rate. Females in the wild normally have a cub once every two or three years. Fertility rates of captive giant pandas are even lower, experts say. Only about 1,600 pandas live in the wild, mostly in Sichuan in southwest China.
Through artificial insemination, researchers have been able increase the number of pandas in captivity to more than 300 — a number that experts say should remain steady.
"Right now, we're breeding about the same number of pandas each year," said Tang. "We want to steady the numbers to avoid inbreeding since there are so few pandas."
Panda females have only three days a year in which they can conceive — one reason their species is endangered. Some males never succeed at natural breeding, so artificial insemination has become common practice when breeding captive pandas.
Previous efforts to encourage the poor breeders to mate included showing uninitiated males "panda porn," which Chinese scientists have deemed a success and is being used at zoos overseas.
Record breeding year for the bears who hate to mate
Clifford Coonan The Independent 26 Oct 10;
The very existence of China's pandas has long been threatened. The bears are famously terrible breeders and constantly endangered in their natural habitat. But their numbers have been boosted by a record number of births in captivity this year.
Yo Yo, a giant panda, gave birth to healthy female twins at the Wolong panda research centre in Sichuan province last week, bringing to 19 the number of pandas born at the centre so far this year, already beating the previous record of 18 born in 2006.
"Right now, we're breeding about the same number of pandas each year," Tang Chunxiang, an expert at the Wolong panda reserve, told the Associated Press. "We want to steady the numbers to avoid inbreeding since there are so few pandas."
Mr Tang attributed this year's record number of births to better research on panda nutrition, artificial insemination, genetics and creating a more natural habitat for the pandas to thrive in. Using artificial insemination, researchers have been able to increase the number of animals in captivity to more than 300 in recent years – a number that experts say should remain constant.
The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species and is found only in China. The country's State Forestry Administration estimates that there are just 1,600 pandas in the wild, mainly in the mountains of Sichuan province.
Just like everyone else in China, pandas tend to follow a one-child policy. Females generally give birth to just one offspring after a pregnancy lasting about 160 days, with the cub weighing as much as an apple when it is born. Females are not equipped to care for two cubs and when two are born, the mother will often abandon one or crush a cub in its sleep.
It's also very difficult to tell if a panda is pregnant, given that a baby panda is just 1/900th of its mother's weight when it's born. Gestation also varies in length; one panda at the centre was pregnant for 324 days.
A national emblem that supposedly brings good luck, the panda is a potent symbol in China, where they are called da xiong mao ("big bear cat"). But they are notoriously poor breeders – they spend most of the year on their own, except during a three-month mating season, which begins in March each year. Female pandas have only three days a year during which they can conceive, while some males never succeed at natural breeding, so artificial insemination has become common practice when breeding captive pandas.
With such a brief fertility period, the female likes to play hard-to-get.
Male pandas suffer from a chronic lack of sex drive – more than 60 per cent show no sexual desire at all in captivity, and only a tenth of them will mate naturally.
Zookeepers have even resorted to using videos of mating pairs in the hope that "panda porn" will help the bears get frisky, although scientists say the films don't have much effect.
There have been efforts to reintroduce the pandas to the wild, but none have been successful. And three years ago, Xiang Xiang, the first zoo-raised panda released into the wild, was killed, aged five, probably by other pandas.
WWF 26 Oct 10;
Bonn (Germany), 26 October 2010 - New research backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reveals European bats to be a major conservation success.
With a majority of bat species in Europe stabilising or increasing in number, European bats are well on the way to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 7 on Environmental Sustainability, which aims for a significant reduction in the rate of species loss by 2010.
This bucks the trend in global conservation targets, which are currently being discussed in Nagoya. World governments agreed eight years ago at a UN summit in Johannesburg to reduce the rate of species loss by 2010 but in the majority of cases, the pledge has not been met. This is mainly due to a lack of conservation action in the field, which is essential in protecting vulnerable species.
Among the 26 bat species in western and central Europe, increasing or stable population trends have been reported for at least 14 species, while only two species have shown a decline. (Reliable data is not yet available for the remaining species).
This success is largely thanks to legislation and treaties that promote specific conservation measures. These include the UNEP-administered Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS), the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Council of Europe) and the European Union's Flora Fauna Habitat Directive.
EUROBATS, which will mark its 20th anniversary in 2011, provides concrete guidance and assistance to governments and non-governmental organizations on issues where bat conservation action is needed.
Dr. Christine Harbusch, author of the EUROBATS study, noted that despite this good news for bats, the conservation status of many bat species is still largely unfavourable.
"Some populations are still at risk or remain conservation-dependent, being too small and fragmented, due to past losses. This leaves their long-term viability in question and also causes problems of genetic exchange," she said.
With only two species in Europe exhibiting a clear decline, bats seem to have benefited the most among all European wild mammals from international treaties, conventions and agreements on conservation.
Andreas Streit, Executive Secretary of EUROBATS, welcomed the promising findings of the study and remarked that successful species conservation does not always require significant funding.
"It is rewarding to see that our concerted international actions on species conservation are clearly producing results", he said. "But a lot still needs to be done, especially in other regions. Population trends elsewhere are most alarming, particularly where bats are excessively hunted for bush meat or deliberately killed out of prejudice. Other threats relate to habitat loss, such as deforestation. What all threats to bats have in common is that they are man-made."
Although biodiversity is moving onto the global stage, the calculation of its monetary benefits is still a relatively new field.
Bats contribute to economies by performing essential environmental functions. They control insect populations in agricultural regions, maintain forests and disperse pollen and seed over long distances.
On organic coffee plantations in Mexico, for example, bats consume more insects than birds do in the summer wet season. Over 200 insect species feed on and damage coffee plants. With pesticides banned on organic plantations, the role of bats is thus essential to the local economy.
In addition to bees, bats are the major contributor to natural pollination, an eco-service which significantly aids farming efforts, particularly in developing countries, and is estimated to be worth US$224 billion a year.
To celebrate the environmental impact of bats and encourage more international cooperation on bat conservation, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and EUROBATS have designated 2011-2012 the Year of the Bat. The Year of the Bat aims to raise awareness of these often misunderstood animals and their diverse biodiversity benefits.
Notes to Editors
The Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS), a binding international treaty which came into force in 1994, presently numbers 32 European states among its Parties and counts 62 range states plus the European Union within its territory. The Agreement was concluded under the auspices of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), which recognises that endangered migratory species can be properly protected only if activities are carried out over the entire migratory range of the species. Administered by UNEP, EUROBATS aims to protect all 53 species of bats identified in Europe, through legislation, education, conservation measures and international co-operation with Agreement members and with countries which have not yet joined.
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, works for the conservation of a wide array of endangered migratory animals worldwide through the negotiation and implementation of agreements and species action plans. At present, 114 countries are parties to the convention.
Environment News Service 25 Oct 10;
NAGOYA, Aichi, Japan, October 25, 2010 (ENS) - The South Pacific island nation of Palau has declared all the waters within its Exclusive Economic Zone to be a marine mammal sanctuary for the protection of whales, dolphins, and dugongs.
Harry Fritz, Palau's minister of the environment, natural resources and tourism, announced the new 600,000 square kilometer (231,660 square mile) sanctuary on behalf of President Johnson Toribiong at a news conference Saturday during Oceans Day at the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Nagoya.
"From ancient times to today we have conserved our biodiversity through the tools of "bul" or moratoria, and protection of critical areas," said Fritz.
"Biodiversity has always been integral to the Palauan culture," he said. "Our traditional identity, values, legends, and practices are intimately linked to our surroundings and to our relationships with living creatures. Conservation of biodiversity is ingrained in our daily approach to life and inherent in the meaning of our words."
A close group of islands, Palau has at least 11 species of cetaceans in its waters, including a breeding population of sperm whales and as many as 30 other species of whales and dolphins. Palau's dugongs are the most isolated and endangered population in the world, said Fritz.
"This sanctuary will promote sustainable whale-watching tourism, already a growing multi-million dollar global industry, as an economic opportunity for the people of Palau," Fritz said.
Much of Palau's economy comes from tourism and the country hosts Dolphins Pacific, the world's largest dolphin research facility, and the Palau International Coral Reef Center, a modern aquarium and research facility specializing in tropical coral reefs. The region's spectacular underwater biodiversity includes over 1,500 species of fish and 700 species of coral and anemone.
"The hunting of marine mammals, largely by foreign countries, in the 19th and particularly the 20th centuries has dramatically reduced populations in the Pacific Islands Region," he said. "The International Whaling Commission has recognized that there is clear scientific evidence that in the Pacific Islands region many of the great whale species remain severely depleted in numbers, due to the impacts of past whaling."
"It is a well-established scientific principle that to protect migratory species it is necessary to protect them not only in their feeding areas and migratory routes but also in their breeding grounds," Fritz said.
Establishment of the sanctuary is intended to prohibit the deliberate hunting and harassment of any marine mammals.
But Palau has only one patrol boat at its disposal to patrol waters that cover an area just a little smaller than the U.S. state of Texas. The boat is supplied by Australia and operated by the government of Palau.
Fritz said that Palau is seeking assistance from neighboring countries in patrolling and surveillance of its EEZ for illegal taking of marine mammals.
"We urge other countries to join our efforts to protect whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals - for the sake of the species, as well as the future economic, social, and spiritual development of coastal peoples," he said.
Palau also needs help to deal with all the illegal fishing taking place in its EEZ. "Last August I received a report from the U.S. officials in Guam showing more than 850 vessels fishing illegally in Palau�s waters," Fritz told reporters in Nagoya. Illegal fishing with the use of dynamite has also been reported.
"Palau's support for the conservation of marine species underscores this small island nation's tremendous commitment to protecting life in the oceans that surround it. Other countries should join Palau in safeguarding species in their waters," said Dr. Susan Lieberman, director of international policy for the Pew Environment Group, which has contributed a grant to fuel the patrol boat.
The Republic of Palau lies in the Pacific Ocean, some 800 km (500 miles) east of the Philippines and 3,200 km (2,000 miles) south of Tokyo. The islands were seized by Japanese ships during World War I and governed by Japan until 1947 when the islands passed formally to the United States under United Nations auspices as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
Emerging from trusteeship in 1994, Palau is one of the world's youngest and smallest sovereign states. About 70 percent of the population of Palau's approximately 21,000 residents live on the island of Koror.
Until now, Palau has voted with Japan in favor of commercial whaling at the annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission, and the establishment of its marine mammal sanctuary is viewed as a signal that Japan may no longer be able to count on Palau's vote for whaling.
Asked whether the new marine mammal sanctuary will affect Palau's relationship with Japan, Fritz said Palau is now making its position known and that it will be "understood by friends."
More than 1,500 whales are hunted and killed each year for their meat, most of them by Japan. This occurs despite a global moratorium on commercial whaling since 1986 and the establishment of the Southern Ocean as an international whale sanctuary in 1994.
Palau, in partnership with the South Pacific Whales Research Consortium, Whaleology, and the Pew Environment Group, announced Wednesday that it is beginning to lay the groundwork for a sustainable whale-watching industry.
During a presentation Wednesday night on the importance of marine mammals in the region, the Queen of Koror Bilung Gloria Salii said Palau is in the process of completing a whale-watching feasibility study.
At the event, entitled, "The Role of Marine Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries in Conserving Large Pelagic Species," hosted by the Pew Environment Group, Salii said whale and dolphin-watching alone already generates approximately US$23 million each year in direct revenues worldwide.
Lieberman, who represented Pew at the presentation Wednesday, said, "Palau, which once supported the Japanese position on commercial whaling, now supports conserving marine mammals, along with sharks and other species. By aiding economic development through ecotourism, Palau recognizes the importance of keeping these species alive and thriving."
Yahoo News 26 Oct 10;
LUXEMBOURG (AFP) – Europe's Mediterranean nations roundly rejected on Tuesday a proposal by the EU's executive arm to slash the global quota for catching the lucrative sushi mainstay of bluefin tuna next year.
Fisheries ministers meeting in Luxembourg made their position known three weeks ahead of an international meeting of fishing nations on bluefin tuna, a species scientists say is endangered.
French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire called for the quota to remain at 13,500 tonnes as he opposed a European Commission proposal to cut total allowable catches more than twofold next year to 6,000 tonnes.
A stable quota "preserves the resource and at the same time guarantees work for fishermen", Le Maire said.
"Other solutions, notably the more restrictive quota of 6,000 tonnes, for example, would lead to the loss of 500 fishing jobs in France," he said.
Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain backed the French position, according to diplomats.
Britain was the only country to express support for Brussels' proposed quota reduction, while Germany and Sweden were less clear about their position, the diplomats said.
The British fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, said that safeguarding bluefin tuna was a "top priority" and that London would work with the commission and EU partners to ensure its future sustainability.
"We are aware that a number of other member states have significant fishing interests in this important and iconic species and hope that everyone agrees that all necessary action should be taken, based on the best available scientific advice, to safeguard its future," he said in a statement.
The EU has to agree on a position ahead of a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) between November 17 and 27 in Paris.
"We will work with the commission and with other member states to agree tough conservation measures for all stocks, including sharks, under ICCAT's remit," Benyon said.
Japan consumes three-quarters of the global bluefin catch, a highly prized sushi ingredient known in Japan as "kuro maguro" (black tuna) and dubbed by sushi connoisseurs as the "black diamond" because of its scarcity.
Following aggressive lobbying from Japan, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a UN body, rejected a ban on trade in the Atlantic bluefin tuna in March.
With a ban now off the table, European fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki wants to slash the quota. Europeans take more than 50 percent of the total allowable catches.
Damanaki, citing scientists, argues that reducing the worldwide quota to 6,000 tonnes would give the stock a 66 percent chance to reach a sustainable level by 2020.
Europe firm on bluefin tuna quota cut despite row
Yahoo News 27 Oct 10;
BRUSSELS (AFP) – Europe fought back Wednesday with a renewed call to slash sushi-prized bluefin tuna quotas for next year despite objections from Mediterranean fishing nations.
European Union fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki said she favoured "a substantial reduction" in the global 2011 quota while backtracking on her own suggestion the previous day to more than halve the figure -- from 13,500 to 6,000 tonnes.
"I do understand that would be very tough on our industry and that's not what I propose," she said in a statement.
In talks in Luxembourg with EU fisheries ministers, Damanaki had cited the 6,000-tonne figure as an "example" of a world quota target to be proposed by the EU at key tuna conservation talks next month.
The EU must agree a position ahead of a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) between November 17 and 27 in Paris.
Europe's Mediterranean nations have roundly rejected the proposals by the EU's executive arm to slash the quota for catching the lucrative sushi mainstay, which scientists say is an endangered species.
Environmental groups such as Greenpeace argue that reducing the worldwide quota to 6,000 tonnes would give the stock a 66 percent chance to reach a sustainable level by 2020.
France has called for the quota to remain stable at 13,500 tonnes on the grounds the species would be sustainable by 2022.
Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain backed the French position, according to diplomats.
Britain was the only state to express support for Brussels' proposed quota reduction, while Germany and Sweden were less clear about their position, the diplomats said.
The fisheries minister for the London government, Richard Benyon, said that safeguarding bluefin tuna was a "top priority" and that it would work with the commission and EU partners to ensure its future sustainability.
Japan consumes three-quarters of the global bluefin catch, known there as "kuro maguro" (black tuna) and dubbed by sushi connoisseurs as the "black diamond" because of its scarcity.
Richard Black, BBC News 26 Oct 10;
Soaring demand in China and political unrest in Madagascar are fuelling illegal logging for hardwoods in the African nation, a report concludes.
Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) talked to loggers, government agencies and traders to compile their report.
In China, they discovered beds on sale for $1m, made from Madagascan wood.
The report was launched at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Nagoya, Japan.
Madagascan politics is split between factions associated with ex-President Marc Ravalomana and the rival who ousted him in a 2009 coup, Andry Rajoelina.
Conservation groups have previously warned that illegal extraction of timber and wildlife could flourish in this milieu, but the EIA/Global Witness is the first investigation to show the scale of the problem.
"The pre-existing problem of illegal logging was turned into a flood of tree-cutting in national parks, and a flood of wood out of Madagascar to China and the West," said Alexander von Bismarck, EIA's executive director.
Felling the three species concerned - ebony, rosewood and pallisander - is forbidden, but the government has issued permits cheaply for traders to export stockpiles, which led to further logging.
The two organisations were asked by Madagascar's national parks service to conduct the investigation.
This official endorsement enabled them to access records in government departments, such as cargo manifests and trade data.
But most of the details emerged through contact with the loggers and traders, who appeared - in written accounts and in video produced during the investigations - not at all concerned with keeping their activities under wraps.
Instead they were keen to take the investigators, posing as buyers, into the heart of the logging zone.
"Within one day we had the staff of the top boss in [the town of] Antalaha saying 'we'll take you into the National Park and show you where we cut wood for this German buyer'," Mr von Bismarck recounted.
The result was a four-day trek into Masoala National Park, part of a Unesco World Heritage Site - one where logging is seen to have been so serious that it was recently placed on the World Heritage In Danger list.
EIA and Global Witness also went undercover in China and other countries, discussing with people in the furniture trade where the wood came from and how much it was worth.
In China, its prime use is as reproduction furniture that can fetch extraordinary prices - such as the $1m bed.
An estimated 98% of the wood ended up in China, with the remainder going to the US and EU nations.
The recently-implemented Lacey Act, which makes an offence of importing illegally-logged timber, has reportedly deterred many buyers in the US. Last year it led to authorities mounting a raid on the world-famous Gibson guitar company over allegedly illegal Madagascan rosewood.
Broken promises
Speaking to BBC News at the CBD meeting here, Madagascar's director-general of forests, Julien Noel Rakotoarisoa, acknowledged the report broadly gave a "pretty accurate account" of the situation as it was.
But, he said, things were changing.
The last export permit was issued a year ago, and no more would be forthcoming.
A few months ago, he said, a consignment of 300 tonnes of rosewood that had left Madagascar without going through customs was intercepted in the Comoros Islands nearby - a sign that illegal exports would be tackled.
He appealed to China to block the imports.
"If only they try to to work with the international community [on this]," he said.
"If they could... forbid importation, that would be a big step towards improving the situation."
This was a theme taken up by Alexander von Bismarck.
"In 2009, China issued a code of conduct for timber companies overseas," he said.
"If there is one example of a code of conduct being broken, it is clearly the companies that are stealing Madagascar's wood."
According to EIA's calculations, less than 1% of the wood's final value remains in Madgascar.
The Chinese delegation at the CBD meeting here did not respond to requests for comment.
Track record
Meanwhile, the Madagascan authorities are asking for the three woods to be placed on Appendix Three of the Convention on Interntional Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which would require importing countries to obtain certificates tracking the wood from its point of origin.
Such certificates could not then be issued in Madagascar, as harvesting the trees is illegal.
But John Scanlon, CITES secretary-general, said the government had yet to submit the information required to secure listing.
"Madgascar has indicated an interest in putting these species on Appendix Three, but a number of things have to be done before they're eligible for listing," he told BBC News.
"We haven't yet got enough information to be able to proceed."
Mr Rakotoarisoa said he hoped the requisite documents would be with CITES early in the New Year.
Meanwhile, despite the withholding of export permits, illegal logging continues, according to Alexander von Bismarck.
"Less than two weeks ago, we had reports, with GPS co-ordinates, of logging within the National Park," he said.
Russ Mittermeier, president of Conservation International which runs a number of projects in Madagascar, said the country's political instability was having an impact on nature that went far beyond hardwood species.
"Perhaps even more serious is the illegal hunting of some of the country's most endangered and most charismatic flagship species that inevitably accompanies these logging activities," he said.
"For instance, the report provided evidence of lemur hunting in Masaola National Park, with the preferred target being the spectacular red ruffed lemur, a species found nowhere else in the world.
"The loss of this animal and many others threatened by such hunting would have serious consequences for Madagascar's ecotourism industry, one of its most important long-term sustainable sources of foreign exchange."
* Marathon talks on nature turn to scheme to save forests
* Discovery of new Amazon species shows riches and risks
* World faces pivotal moment, Canada says
David Fogarty and Chisa Fujioka Reuters AlertNet 26 Oct 10;
NAGOYA, Japan, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Delegates at a global U.N. meeting to preserve natural resources moved closer on Tuesday to agreeing ways to set aside about $4 billion to help developing nations save tropical forests, as studies highlighted the plight of nature.
The talks in the Japanese city of Nagoya are aimed at setting new 2020 targets to protect plant and animal species, a protocol to share genetic resources between countries and companies and more funding to protect nature, especially forests.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates global deforestation fell from 16 million hectares (40 million acres) per year in the 1990s to 13 million hectares per year in the past decade, with the bulk of the losses in tropical countries.
Forests soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, and help curb the pace of climate change. They are also key water catchments, help clean the air and are home to countless species.
"Our forests need immediate action," Brazil's Environment Minister, Izabella Teixeira, told the meeting.
Ministers focused on a voluntary partnership covering nearly 70 nations to boost a U.N.-backed scheme that seeks to reward developing countries that preserve and restore forests.
Called REDD-plus, or reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, the scheme has attracted funding pledges from rich nations because of its potential to fight climate change. It could also underpin a global market in carbon credits, in which poorer nations could earn large sums by saving their forests.
But the partnership has had a troubled start, with bickering over management of the cash and procedural issues.
"The main task for this meeting was to re-establish the partnership, which was close to failure. I think that was accomplished here," Gerald Steindlegger, policy director of WWF International's Forest Carbon Initiative, told Reuters.
Ministers agreed at the end of the one-day REDD talks on Tuesday to complete a 2011-12 work plan during U.N. climate talks in Mexico that start next month. The plan would cover funding pilot projects, managing the cash and helping nations build up institutions.
The talks in Nagoya ramp up on Wednesday, when more than 100 ministers discuss 2020 targets and financing. Also under discussion is a global pact that would allow poorer nations to share their genetic resources -- plants, animals and microbes -- between governments and companies with the potential to generate billions of dollars in benefits.
TOUGHER TARGETS
Negotiations on the genetic resources pact have taken years and the United Nations says Nagoya needs to agree tougher targets to save forests, reefs, rivers and wetlands that underpin livelihoods and economies. More funding was also crucial.
"We are at a very pivotal time. We are losing biodiversity on the planet at an alarming rate that cannot go on or our children and our grandchildren will be that much poorer," Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, told Reuters in an interview.
Actor Harrison Ford waded into the debate, urging the public to protect nature and for the United States to ratify the 1993 Convention on Biological Diversity.
"We have to create a kind of undeniable groundswell of public opinion, a kind of movement-level effect, something like the Civil Rights Movement or the Women's Rights Movement, to advocate for the kind of work that needs to be done to protect the environment," he said in an interview.
A WWF International report showed that between 1999-2009, about 1,200 new species of plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals were discovered in the Amazon, but were under threat from deforestation and climate change.
Findings included a blind red fish, a coin-sized black frog with pink rings on its body and a blue-fanged tarantula.
"We are really dealing with an issue of tremendous risk to humanity and security," said Yolanda Kakabadse, president of WWF International.
A separate report released on Tuesday said South Pacific fisheries, valued at $2 billion and home to 25 percent of global tuna stock, face collapse within 25 years without immediate action. (Editing by Ron Popeski)
WWF 26 Oct 10;
A new report released today by the three Bornean governments - Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia - is a leading example of how the economic value of forests is being recognized and secured through innovative finance.
The report: ‘Financing the Heart of Borneo – a partnership approach to economic sustainability’ (pdf), outlines three main sources of finance for conservation and sustainable development activities within the 22 million hectares of trans-boundary tropical rainforest on the island of Borneo - known as the Heart of Borneo (HoB).
Two of these sources; in-country government based (such as royalties, incentives and tax breaks s) and market based (such as payments for watershed services, REDD+ and bio-prospecting) are sustainable in the long term. The third source, the more conventional donor funding, is seen as an interim form of funding to help build the enabling conditions for the first two.
The new tri-governmental report sets out a pathway to understand the economic value of the HoB’s natural capital in terms of the ecosystem services it provides, such as carbon storage, regulating water flow and providing new genetic resources for medicines.
Bio-prospecting in Brunei
Haji Saidin Salleh, from Brunei’s Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, said the report is the first of its kind which demonstrates that protecting forest ecosystems in the HoB makes economic and social sense.
As an example, the Brunei government in partnership with the Japanese National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, is currently exploring the potential for ‘bio-prospecting’ of its rich forest and biological genetic resources.
“Brunei recognizes the tremendous value that the Heart of Borneo represents to the world, in terms of eco-system services and as yet undiscovered chemical compounds. The will to protect the area for future generations is very strong, but we need to generate additional financial support to achieve this vision – this report is our first steps to identifying where that support may come from,” he said.
Watershed protection payments in Indonesia
Indonesia’s HoB representative, Dr Andi Novianto from the coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs said a crucial next step in securing sustainable sources of finance is to mainstream forest and watershed services in to national and local development plans.
For example, in the conservation district of Kapuas Hulu in Kalimantan, an on-going initiative supported by WWF, CARE and the International Institute for Environment and Development seeks to reward upstream communities for their stewardship of crucial watershed areas which provide a valuable ‘service’ to users downstream.
“The Kapuas Hulu project is our first ‘district level’ pilot program. The long term aim is to encourage all ten districts in Kalimantan to maintain their forests, in return for which, they would receive financial compensation for the carbon stored, biodiversity protection and ecosystem services that these forests provide the island, country, region and ultimately the world,” Dr Novianto said.
Malaysia’s Malua BioBank
Malaysia too has developed innovative financial arrangements, as the report demonstrates with the Malua BioBank in the Bornean state of Sabah. Here, the Sabah government has licensed conservation rights for 50 years to the Malua BioBank, with a private investor committing up to US$10 million for the rehabilitation of the Malua forest reserve.
International support at the CBD
Speaking at the report launch, Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) said multi-national and multi-lateral agencies need to continue efforts to finance conservation and sustainable development and the HoB is proving to be a sound investment.
"It is my pleasure to launch the HoB sustainable finance report. This is important for the negotiators of this Convention as it shows how the ecosystems of HoB can be a part of a sustainable future. It is a call to stop talking, and start acting!" said Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf.
Leading global conservation organization, WWF, assisted the three governments in the preparation of the report and its Director General, Jim Leape, was on hand at the launch to pay tribute to the progress that had been made in the three years since the signing of the HoB Declaration.
“All three Bornean countries should be congratulated for their commitment towards this trans-boundary conservation programme and the progress made so far.”
“Finding appropriate sources of sustainable finance will be vital to tri-government conservation and development efforts for the HoB. We need to capitalize on the value of nature and mainstream it within economic development plans. It is obvious that protecting ecosystems and biodiversity makes long-term economic sense,” he said.
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