泰坦魔芋花（Titan Arum）依旧含苞待放（7pm,24th,Nov）
from PurpleMangrove
Dipterocarp walk at MacRitchie Part 2
from Urban Forest
and now we can track where the horseshoe crabs go
from isn't it a wonder, how life came to be
wet and wild adventure at the kelongs
from isn't it a wonder, how life came to be
Cheow Xin Yi Today Online 25 Nov 10;
SINGAPORE - While stingrays are not an uncommon show of affluence for collectors, fish breeders expressed disbelief yesterday at the notion that a stingray could sell for $200,000.
The stingray in question was one of the items former M1 employee Matthew Yeo allegedly told M1 he had splurged on, with Porsches and Rolexes being the others, according to court documents filed by the telco.
A police spokesman said on Tuesday that Mr Yeo, who is now out on bail, is being investigated for cheating and criminal breach of trust-related offences.
One fish breeder suggested that a stingray at that price may have been trafficked.
Another told MediaCorp that the most stingrays could fetch is up to $20,000, with freshwater fish farms selling them as a pair for breeding. The biggest would be around 45cm in length, said Aquarium Fish Dealer Association president Tan Tuck Hua. Any bigger and transporting it would be a problem.
Qian Hu Fish Farm Trading general manager Teo Boon Hock said it sells stingrays for between $5,000 and $12,000. He said: "How anyone could sell at $200,000 is a puzzle ... It could be a unique species." Cheow Xin Yi
Why?
# Increased demand in region
# Decreased supply due to bad weather
# Stricter restrictions by supplier countries
Jamie Ee Wen Wei Straits Times 25 Nov 10
THAT abalone dish which is a part of reunion dinners every Chinese New Year is likely to cost more next year.
While price increases leading up to the festive season are common, the cost of the shellfish to suppliers already rose by up to 20 per cent in June due to higher demand in the region and tighter supply.
Importers and wholesalers said they expect prices to climb by another 10 to 15 per cent during the festive period.
A 425g can of abalone from New Zealand, which cost around $38 in January this year, is now priced at about $40 and will cost about $42 during Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 3 next year.
Mr Goh Kai Kui, chief executive officer of Goh Joo Hin, which distributes the New Moon brand of abalone, said the price hike has come about because of increased demand in the region, namely from Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Singapore.
While the appetite for abalone has grown, supply has been hit by weather conditions and tightened fishing restrictions in abalone-supplying countries such as Australia.
In July, storms in South Australia hit abalone farms there, damaging cages and infrastructure. Typhoon Megi last month also affected the shellfish stock of several abalone farms in China.
Mr Dean Lisson, chairman of the Abalone Council of Australia - the industry body that represents the five abalone-supplying states of Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales - said the Tasmanian abalone industry, the largest supplier of wild abalone in the world, is in the final stages of negotiating with the government a 20 per cent reduction in the harvesting quota for the eastern coast of the state.
That area is Tasmania's most valuable fishing zone as it supplies almost 900 tonnes of live abalone to China, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and South-east Asia.
From January to March next year, the eastern zone will also be closed off to allow abalone stocks to rebuild, Mr Lisson added.
The shortage has resulted in companies looking for alternative supplies.
Mr Kent Soh, chief operations officer of V.K. Global, which distributes live abalone to the region, said he secured stock from a South American breeding farm about six months ago and should be able to meet demand for Chinese New Year.
Chin Guan Hong, which supplies abalone to restaurants and hotels, has been stocking up despite the cost increase to ensure it can meet demand for the festive season, said its assistant manager Charlotte Yao.
Demand here is already heating up.
Mr Wilson Ngan, chief executive officer of Kwang Yeow Heng, which produces the Skylight brand of abalone, said its order sheets for the delicacy have already been filled for the festive period.
'Usually, our orders will be filled up by December but this year, it's a month earlier because wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and hotels are worried there won't be enough stock.'
Cantonese restaurant Hua Ting at Orchard Hotel has so far absorbed the cost increase and has not raised prices for its abalone dishes. Its group master chef, Mr Chan Kwok, said its suppliers are contracted on a six-month basis, so the cost is fixed for that period. It is reviewing the type of abalone to use next year.
Mr Mario Chua, who runs a sundry goods shop and is the chairman of the Victoria Street Wholesale Centre Merchants' Association, said the strong Singapore currency and favourable exchange rate may help to rein in prices, but he is still worried that customers will be turned off.
'I don't dare to order too much stock because if the price is too high, customers may not want to buy,' he said.
Madam Mary Tan, 53, who owns a dessert shop, said she is buying just one can of abalone for Chinese New Year instead of the usual two to three cans.
'Abalone is still a must for Chinese New Year but maybe I won't buy so many cans because it is more expensive,' she said in Mandarin.
Antara 24 Nov 10;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Singapore hopes that Indonesia will ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2011 when it assumes the chair of the regional organization, a spokesman said.
Singapore`s Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo said in a press release received here on Wednesday the agreement was signed by the Indonesian government in 2002 but it had yet to be ratified by the Indonesian House of Representatives.
"We will continue to encourage the DPR to soon ratify the agreement with an approach that the most interested party to solve this haze problem should be Indonesia itself because millions of people living near the forest fires are affected," Yeo said, adding that haze was not a respecter of national boundaries and therefore countries in the Southeast Asian region must continue to work closely together on the issue.
Last October, Singapore was seriously affected by haze from forest and peat land fires in Sumatra. In fact, there was a day when Singapore`s Pollutant Standard Index hit the "unhealthy" range.
As a neighboring country and particularly the party which had also been impacted by the haze, Yeo said, Singapore had been collaborating with the provincial governments of Jambi and Riau respectively on various fire and haze prevention programs.
He said the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution also met regularly. "These efforts have helped to mitigate the haze problem in the last three years. But our experience this year shows that more needs to be done," said the minister.
But Yeo also admitted Indonesia had already made significant efforts to tackle the haze problem during the past years.
Earlier, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said the government had done its best to prevent forest fires from happening during the past four years.
"Do not overlook Indonesia`s success in dealing with forest fires between 2007 and 2008," said Natalegawa.
Environmental Affairs Ministry data showed that there was a decrease of 80 percent in the number of hot spots in Riau province this year compared to last year`s figure.
During the period January-October 2010, there had been 1,606 hot spots in Riau Province, and the highest number was in October with 517 hot spots.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said last October`s haze problem was caused by fires in oilpalm plantation areas in Riau province.(*)
Andrea Leontiou livescience.com Yahoo News 24 Nov 10;
A new set of cameras recently assembled around Guapi Assu Reserve in Brazil will enable the public to catch glimpses of the animals that inhabit the area, in the hopes of raising awareness about protecting the environment.
The World Land Trust (WLT), an organization that works to save the rainforests and other wildlife habitats, teamed up with the Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu (REGUA), an organization that protects one of the last stands of tropical rainforest in Brazil, to place the cameras in the reserve.
"These live cams bring nature closer to people. [They] show the beauties that depend on the forest to survive," said Luciano Breves, a web multimedia officer at World Land Trust who set up the cameras. "And it might touch people's hearts, making them aware of the importance of preservation."
The World Land Trust currently has three cameras in operation. The organization has "two in Brazil and one in Ecuador; we intend to put one up in Argentina soon, also India," said John Burton, CEO of World Land Trust. The locations of the cameras "are decided on by pragmatic reasoning - where we can find Internet connections, and where we are trying to support our partners."
The cameras are set up around feeding platforms that entice different animals. Setting up a camera costs between $800 and $15,000. The WLT is currently looking for sponsors so they can set up more.
The video from the cameras streams at all times, and can be viewed online. Those watching will likely be impressed by the wide variety of rainforest inhabitants that stop by the feeding platforms. The WLT also has guides set up on their website that enable viewers to identify which species they see at each camera.
Some of the rainforest critters that can be seen on your computer screen include marmosets, hummingbirds, coatis (Brazilian aardvarks, members of the raccoon family native to South and Central America) and Chachalacas (a large chicken-like bird native to the area), Breves said. Toucans have also been known to occasionally show up.
What you see may depend on the time of year.
"The movement at the feeders will increase or slow down depending on the season," Breves told OurAmazingPlanet. "Winter is always the best season to watch the fruit eaters as food in the forest is scarce, while spring and summer are the best time to see the hummingbirds."
The hope is that these cameras will provide a chance for people who may not have access to these areas to enjoy the wildlife. "They will able to see wildlife in real-time. In the future they may be able to see interesting behaviors," Burton said.
The feeds can be viewed at the WLT's website: http://www.wildlifefocus.org/webcam/index.shtml. Breves himself is online every Tuesday to answer viewer questions.
Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 24 Nov 10;
Jakarta. Scientists have warned that mechanisms for cutting carbon emissions from the forestry sector may undermine long-term prospects for biodiversity conservation in tropical countries.
The UN-designed Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation scheme aims to provide financial incentives to developing countries that improve their forest protection to help mitigate climate change.
Parties at the 16th Climate Change talks in Cancun, Mexico, next week are expected to reach a binding decision on REDD.
Scientists from the University of Kent warned, however, that the bulk of REDD funds were targeted at peatland, where deforestation is high but biodiversity is low.
They fear that the implementation of REDD “could intensify pressures to establish oil palm and paper/pulp plantations in forests that are a higher priority for biodiversity conservation.”
In Biodiversity Conservation in the REDD, a study published in the journal Carbon Balance and Management on Tuesday, scientists used examples from Indonesia — one of the most biodiverse countries in the world but also the third-largest global carbon emitter — to highlight ways in which emission reduction strategies could turn sour for local wildlife.
The study was led by Gary Paoli of Daemeter Consulting, a firm in Bogor that specializes on sustainable development.
“Biodiversity and forest carbon are correlated at a global scale but we show that this is not the case at sub-national levels in Indonesia,” Paoli said.
“The highest carbon savings are not necessarily located in places with the highest levels of species diversity.”
The study said approximately 85 percent of Indonesia’s estimated three billion tons of carbon emissions in 2005 originated from deforestation and degradation of peatlands.
However, the study shows that biodiversity levels in peat swamps are lower than those in lowland forests on mineral soils.
“The peat forest plan diversity is less than half that of forest on mineral soils,” the study said. “[There are] only 20 [species] of the country’s 140 critically endangered lowland plant species (15 percent) that have been recorded in peat compared to 104 [species] or 74 percent found in lowland forest on mineral soils.”
The study also revealed that peat forests also harbored significantly fewer bat species and support lower densities of birds and several keystone terrestrial and arboreal vertebrates.
“Peat swamp forests attract the bulk of REDD funds — they hold around eight times more carbon than other lowland forests, and provide habitat for high-profile species such as orangutans, tigers and Asian elephants.
“However, when we look at overall numbers of plants, mammals and birds, especially species of greatest conservation concern, we find that peat forests typically support lower densities and fewer species than other lowland forest types,” said Matthew Struebig, who works at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology in Britain.
Heru Prasetyo, secretary of the Indonesian REDD task force, said the country’s REDD mechanism is still being drafted, but added that they would keep in mind the need to balance strategies.
Indonesia has received a $1 billion pledge from Norway for REDD, which forms a large chunk of the $4.5 billion pledged globally for the scheme.
Heru said the government did not want to sacrifice areas rich with biodiversity as a consequence of an unbalanced strategy.
“We don’t want to be trapped [in a condition] where we manage to protect our peatlands with low biodiversity content but we ended up cutting down biodiversity with high values,” he said.
“No way. We don’t want that. So, the strategy needs to be balanced.”
The REDD task force is to prepare institutions for the implementation of the Indonesia-Norway agreement.
“You need to remember that we’re not just talking about REDD, but REDD Plus where we need to also consider the biodiversity values, sustainable forest management and carbon enhancement,” said Heru.
Meanwhile, Paoli said it was crucial to also take a broader look at areas requiring conservation.
“Make a list of candidate sites important for biodiversity because, e.g. they are not represented in the protected area network, or because they have large populations of threatened species in the forest,” he said.
“Then use REDD finance to help offset costs of protecting areas that are deemed most important for protection. In that way, REDD funds will be directed to help protect areas most needed to deliver biodiversity conservation benefits for Indonesia.”
* Mangroves retain large amounts of carbon
* Cap-and-trade scheme could reward forest set-asides
* Tourist development, conservation at odds in debate
Patrick Rucker Reuters 24 Nov 10;
CANCUN, Mexico, Nov 24 (Reuters) - This famous beach resort, which will next week host international climate change talks, was itself born from the destruction of a potent resource to fight global warming.
Thick mangrove forests lined the canals and waterways here before developers dredged the land to make way for the upscale hotels that now draw several million tourists every year.
In the 40 years since Cancun was founded, countless acres of mangrove forests up and down Mexico's Caribbean Coast have been lost -- and the destruction continues.
Now many scientists say that mangrove forests can help slow climate change, and are desperate to save them.
"We still have a lot to learn but the potential is huge for mangroves," said Gail Chmura, a climate change researcher at McGill University in Montreal who studies how much carbon is stored in these knobby, tidal forests.
As they process sunlight into food, mangroves suck an uncommon amount of industrial carbon out of the atmosphere and bury it deep within their underground network of roots.
As nations looks desperately for "carbon sinks" that can capture and store carbon linked to climate change, mangroves are increasingly seen as a resource worth saving.
The United Nations may soon pay countries to set aside mangroves and sea plants that sock away carbon and those same reserves could mean long-term cash under a global carbon cap and trade scheme.
With that plan, polluters would buy, sell and swap their right to burn carbon fuels under new emissions rules.
Breathing life into that carbon market is a key goal of climate talks among almost 200 nations meeting in Cancun from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10. The meeting is a follow-up to the Dec. 2009 Copenhagen summit which disappointed many nations by falling short of a binding treaty to slow global warming.
COST-BENEFIT TALLY
Climate experts argue that the long-term benefits of conservation will outweigh the short-term gains of development at every turn. In Mexico and around the world, though, the arguments for development usually win.
"There is more profit in tourism than conservation," said Alfredo Arellano, the local director of the Commission for Protected Areas who notes that Mexico loses nearly 25,000 acres or 1 percent of its mangroves annually.
Hotels and beach resorts have been spreading across the areas surrounding Cancun since planners began turning a desolate sandbar into a tourist hot-spot in 1970.
The resort area is now a top destination for U.S. sun-seekers drawn to its white-sand beaches and raucous party scene. Tourism officials expect the area to absorb more than $4 billion in foreign cash this year.
The flow of tourist dollars is simply more bankable than the possible, future income from saving the mangroves.
"Carbon markets are too underdeveloped to create an appetite for conservation," Arellano said. "I hope that changes before it's too late."
Besides their power to sponge up carbon, mangroves serve as fish nurseries and buffers for devastating ocean storms -- a worth that ecologists say is lost in a short-term tally of the land's value.
In Southeast Asia, home to a third of the world's remaining mangroves, shrimp farmers covet the rich, silty estuaries where those forests thrive.
A Thai farmer can rely on government subsidies to pocket $1,220 a year by converting 2.5 acres of mangrove into a shrimp farm but the land will be so depleted after five years that it will cost more than $9,000 to restore, according to a report sponsored by the United Nations. The knock-on expense of lost fish habitat and a vulnerable coastline will top $12,000 a year, the study concludes.
"We are only now getting a glimpse of the true value of the world's natural systems," said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the U.N. Environment Programme which is calculating the bottom-line worth of many fragile ecosystems.
While mangroves in Asia have been chipped for scrap wood and West African mangroves are commonly burned to extract salt from seawater, the marine forests of Mexico are routinely flattened for tourism.
Cancun is now home to about 600,000 people, and officials are seeking bids for an international airport about 100 km (60 miles) to the south near the seaside town of Tulum where mangroves are still abundant.
Rene Gonzalez, a local guide, often takes visitors from that quaint tourist town deep into the adjacent Sian Ka'an nature reserve that covers 1.3 million acres of brackish marsh, grassland and estuaries.
"Thirty five years ago, Cancun looked exactly like the biosphere is today," Gonzalez said of Sian Ka'an, a United Nations' World Heritage Site.
Gonzalez says he has lived in eastern Mexico long enough to know that tensions between conservation and development almost always end in tree stumps and asphalt.
"It's working its way down," Gonzalez said of development, while zooming around in a flat-bottomed boat through Mayan trading routes carves through the mangroves. "It won't take forty years for them to make another Cancun." (Additional reporting by Jose Cortazar; Editing by Kieran Murray)
LiveScience.com Yahoo News 24 Nov 10;
DNA experts from Australia have discovered that dwindling populations of ground parrots in Western Australia belong to a different species than those found in the rest of the country, a find with important conservation implications.
An adult Western gound parrot photographed in Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia. Credit: Brent Barrett, WA Department of Environment and Conservation.
A team of researchers from the University of Adelaide and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy used DNA from 160-year-old museum specimens to learn of distinct differences between the ground parrots in the east and west and that the western populations should be recognized as a new species. It has been named Pezoporus flaviventris.
The DNA study suggests the two species diverged from each other some 2 million years ago.
"Our findings demonstrate that museum collections, some going back more than 150 years, continue to be relevant and can provide critical information for understanding and conserving the world's biodiversity into the future," said team member Jeremy Austin, of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide.
While excited about the discovery, researchers were also concerned for the survival of these newly classified birds.
"The discovery has major conservation implications," said team member Stephen Murphy of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. "The western ground parrot has declined rapidly in the last 20 years; there are now only about 110 birds surviving in the wild, and most of these are confined to a single national park. It is now one of the world's rarest birds."
Several threats loom for the parrots.
"A single wildfire through the national park or an influx of introduced predators, such as cats, could rapidly push the species to extinction. There is now an urgent need to prevent further population declines and to establish insurance populations into parts of the former range," said team member Allan Burbidge of the Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation.
The study's findings were published this month in the international conservation research journal Conservation Genetics.
Antara 24 Nov 10;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is committed to doubling the tiger population in their Sumatra habitats by 2022, a Forestry Ministry official said.
"This commitment is achievable as there is sufficient basic data on the population of Sumatran tigers, along with conservation programs already implemented in priority conservation landscapes," said I Made Subadia Gelgel, a senior Forestry Ministry official in his country report at the International Tiger Forum (ITF) in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday.
ITF ran from Nov 21 to 24 under chairmanship of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and was attended by representatives of 13 tiger range countries (TRC), namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Rusia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Forum aimed to produce a document on Global Tiger Recovery Program and a St Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation which in effect were international agreements on stopping the decline of the global tiger population and double their number by 2022. Gelgel was the head of the Indonesian delegation at the forum.
Gelgel, as quoted by in a released made available to ANTARA by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), in Jakarta, on Wednesday, said the six priority tiger landscapes in Indonesia were Ulu Masen, Kampar-Kerumutan, Bukit Tigapuluh, Kerinci Seblat, Bukit Balai Rejang Selatan, and Bukit Barisan Selatan, all in Sumatra.
WWF-Indonesia Chief Executive Officer Efransyah, who also attended the forum, said efforts to increase the number of Indonesian tigers to double their current population in their habitat was not something impossible to do. The most important thing in the matter was that there should be e political commitment.
"Russia serves as an example for having succeeded to increase its tiger population in their natural habitat from just 80-100 in the 1960?s to about 500 today," said Efransyah, adding that another aspect was the availability of funding to support the success of the global tiger conservation program.
Efransyah added the Indonesian delegation at the forum had put forward a proposal on the holding of follow-up meetings to discuss the funding mechanism.
The global tiger population has dwindled to a level where the animal is now on the brink of extinction. Globally there were now just 3,200 tiger individuals, consisting of six sub-species, namely Sumatera Bengal, Amur, Indochina, Southern China and Malaya. About 12 percent of the total, about 400 individuals, roam in the dwindling forested regions in Sumatera, their main habitat.
Indonesia Joins World Forum Vowing to Save Tigers
AP & Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 24 Nov 10;
St. Petersburg, Russia. Indonesia has joined 12 other nations where tigers live in the wild in committing to saving the iconic big cats from extinction, the head of the Indonesian delegation said on Wednesday.
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam have agreed to double the tiger population by 2022, by cracking down on poaching and illicit trade in tiger pelts and body parts, and involving local communities in their conservation efforts.
The nations signed the declaration at the International Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg, which concluded on Wednesday.
Tigers once roamed most of Eurasia from the Tigris River to Siberia and Indonesia. But in the past century, the number of countries that are home to tigers has dropped from 25 to 13, while three of the nine tiger subspecies have become extinct.
The number of tigers worldwide has plunged some 95 percent over the past century. Experts say there are now only about 3,200 tigers left in the wild.
Indonesia alone has lost two of its three tiger species — the Javan tiger and Balinese tiger — in the 1930s and 1980s, while the Sumatran tiger is currently classified as critically endangered.
Based on the Ministry of Forestry data, there are an estimated 400 Sumatran tigers left in Indonesia and an additional 150 in captivity elsewhere around the world.
“There is sufficient basic data on the Sumatran tiger population and various conservation programs have already being implemented in tiger conservation priority areas,” said I Made Subadia Gelgel, head of the Indonesian delegation, claiming that the forum’s commitment is achievable.
Indonesia’s conservation efforts will focus on six priority areas — Ulu Masen, Kampar-Kerumutan, Bukit Tigapuluh, Kerinci Seblat, Bukit Balai Rejang Selatan, and Bukit Barisan Selatan.
Efransjah, head of WWF Indonesia, said the ambitious goal to double its tiger population was not out of reach.
“With strong political will and good implementation, Russia has managed to increase their tiger population from about 80 to 100 individuals in the 1960s to 500 individuals [today],” he said.
Russia, whose far east is home to Siberian tigers, the largest tiger subspecies, is the only nation where the number of tigers has increased in recent decades.
But Efransjah emphasized that funding was a crucial factor that needed to be settled. T he Global Tiger Recovery Program estimates the 13 nations countries will need about $350 million in outside funding in the first five years of the 12-year plan.
In Indonesia, the Ministry of Forestry only receives Rp 15 billion ($1.65 million) a year from the state budget for all of its conservation programs, not just for tigers.
Many of the countries with wild tiger populations, such as Laos, Bangladesh and Nepal are impoverished, and saving tigers may depend on sizable donations from the West.
The nations will be seeking donor commitments to help finance conservation measures, the agreement said.
“The goal is difficult, but achievable,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. “It is difficult to solve the problems of wildlife conservation in these countries.”
Furthermore, he said Russia could help revive tiger populations in neighboring countries such as Iran and Kazakhstan.
However, Russian wildlife experts say Siberian tigers are still endangered.
Their pelts, bones and meat are prized in traditional Chinese medicine, and some hundred of them are killed annually to be smuggled to China, according to senior inspector Anatoly Belov from a reserve in Russia’s Primorsky region.
Rampant deforestation of cedars in Siberia contributes to massive migration of animals and forces tigers to forage villages and farms, where they are often killed, Belov added.
Tiger accidentally trapped in West Sumatra
Antara 24 Nov 10;
Paianan, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - A Sumatran tiger was trapped accidentally in Koto Kandis hamlet, Nagari Kambang Timur, Lengayang sub district, Pesisir Selatan (Passel) District, West Sumatra, Wednesday.
The tiger was stuck in a boar trap set up by local people, Yon Nasrizal (30) said here Wednesday.
Yon Nasrizal was shocked when he saw the trapped tiger surrounded by seven other tigers.
"It was thrilling. There were seven other tigers surrounding the trapped one ," he said.
Meanwhile, police and military officers as well as staffers of the Kerinci Seblat National Park had arrived at Koto Kanid hamlet to take care of the trapped tiger.(*)
Olga Nedbayeva Yahoo News 24 Nov 10;
SAINT PETERSBURG (AFP) – A summit of the 13 countries that are home to wild tigers ended Wednesday with an unprecedented show of political support for the beast and a million dollar donation by actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
"It's a historical event. It's like a dream becoming reality," the head of India's delegation Satya Prakash Yadav, an official with the environmental protection ministry, said during the closing session.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, four of his counterparts from Asian countries China, Laos, Nepal and Bangladesh, along with the president of the World Bank, which supervises tiger protection programme financing, participated in the four-day tiger summit in Saint Petersburg.
Another participant, Hollywood star DiCaprio, was hailed as "a real man" by Putin after he managed to make his million dollar pledge in person despite having to make an emergency landing in New York on his way to the gathering.
The summit in Saint Petersburg is the first meeting of top state officials and international organisations, and is the first step to unblocking funds needed to launch a five-year 350 million dollar plan of action to save the cat.
"The summit will kick start collection of funding," World Bank tiger preservation plan coordinator Andrei Kuchlin told AFP.
"The World Bank and principal donors were waiting for a message from the countries. Now this message has been formulated. I am very optimistic," said John Robinson, vice president of US-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
The forum's main result is "consensus" between countries with tiger populations, Robinson told AFP.
"I've never seen so much enthusiasm for tiger preservation," said John Sellar of CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species).
Wild animal aficionado Putin, who is known for kissing a tigress and tagging polar bears, called on the international community to save the tiger from "catastrophe" and cited Mahatma Gandhi by saying "A country that is good for the tiger is good for everybody."
Participants applauded the forum, which they said must serve as a base for further tiger protection policies and programmes.
"The forum has met its objective, now it's time to transform decisions into actions on the ground," said India's Yadav.
The Indian subcontinent is home to half of remaining animals as well as responsible for 54 percent of all tiger poaching. China is the primary consumer of tiger-derived products, which are used in Chinese traditional medicine.
Russia's Amur tigers, which populate the Far Eastern Primorye region, have also suffered from habitat destruction and become targets for poachers eager to sell them across the Chinese border.
A Primorye court ruled on Wednesday to fine a tiger poacher 150,000 rubles (5,000 dollars) after he killed a tigress in June.
The man has to pay an additional 575,125 rubles (20,000 dollars) to the Russian state in damages, WWF Russia said in a statement.
Summit participants approved on Tuesday a declaration that strives to double the number of tigers before 2022, the next year that will be the year of the tiger according to Chinese calendar.
Tiger numbers dropped from 100,000 to 3,200 in the past century, while three sub-species have been completely wiped out.
Summit agrees tiger recovery plan
BBC News 24 Nov 10;
Governments of 13 countries where tigers still live have endorsed a plan to save the big cats from extinction.
Delegates at a summit in St Petersburg, Russia, agreed to double tiger numbers by 2022.
The countries will focus on protecting tiger habitats, addressing poaching, illegal trade and providing the financial resources for the plan.
In the last 100 years, tiger numbers have dropped from about 100,000 to less than 3,500 tigers in the wild today.
There has been a 40% decline in numbers in a decade, and some populations are expected to disappear within the next 20 years.
The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) says that the St Petersburg Declaration will strengthen international collaboration to protect the majestic Asian wild cat.
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive-secretary of Unep's Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) Secretariat, commented: "Safeguarding international migration corridors and trans-border habitats will be crucial for global efforts to save the tiger."
The declaration sets in motion a strategic plan for tiger recovery; the countries are putting together a roadmap for post-summit action.
They are also discussing the institutional structure which will be set up to implement the aims and objectives of the declaration and its recovery programme.
"There was clearly a loud roar from St Petersburg this week on behalf of the last remaining tigers on our planet," commented John Robinson, chief conservation officer with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
"World leaders rarely find agreements at conferences and summits but the beloved tiger has proven to be a uniting force. And as we save the tiger, we have new hopes to save the world's biodiversity."
Titanic contributions
WCS was one of several groups pledging new money to assist conservation efforts, in this case $50m over 10 years.
The World Bank, whose president Robert Zoellick takes a strong personal interest in the tiger, put in a similar amount, and aims to leverage further funding from governments and the corporate sector.
Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio donated $1m to the effort.
Mr DiCaprio arrived in St Petersburg on Tuesday after two problems with his flights.
One plane was forced into an emergency landing after losing an engine, the other had to make an unscheduled stop after encountering strong headwinds.
Mr Putin described the actor as a "real man" - or "muzhik" - for his persistence in getting to the summit.
World's first tiger summit ends with £330m pledged amid lingering doubts
Millions promised to protect tigers at summit attended by Vladimir Putin, Wen Jiabao, Leonardo DiCaprio and Naomi Campbell, but campaigners remain unconvinced
Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk 24 Nov 10;
The world's first tiger summit wrapped up today with lingering concerns about the fate of the endangered predator despite donor pledges of almost $330m (£208m) aimed at making the great cat worth more alive than dead.
The high-profile conservation conference called by Russian president Vladimir Putin and World Bank chief Robert Zoellick mobilised political, financial and celebrity support behind a goal of doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022.
Celebrities, including film star Leonardo DiCaprio – who pledged $1m of his own money – and supermodel Naomi Campbell rubbed shoulders with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and leading conservationists at the event in St Petersburg.
The leaders endorsed the Global Tiger Recovery Programme, an action plan to strengthen reserves, crack down on poachers and provide financial incentives to maintain a thriving tiger population.
Currently, a poached tiger is believed to fetch between $25,000 and $50,000 for the carcass, penis and bones. Largely as a result of this lucrative, illegal trade, there are estimated to be only 3,200 tigers left in the wild – down from 100,000 a century ago.
During the summit, major donors – including Germany, WWF, the Wildlife Conservation Society and international financial institutions – promised $329m over the next five years as a first step towards doubling the population. The 13 tiger range nations – defined as countries where the animals roam freely – are spending considerably more themselves on related projects.
At first glance, this appears to be more than $100,000 per animal, but much of the money has been diverted from existing commitments, which means the multi-purpose donations will also go towards forestry preservation and carbon sequestration. Bhutan and Laos expressly said they would struggle to double tiger numbers without adequate financial support.
Beyond the money, World Bank officials said the tiger initiative had forced the institution to change direction on development.
"The tiger has made the world realise that there is a crisis in nature taking place," said Keshav Varma, director of the Global Tiger Initiative at the World Bank. "Our development philosophy needs to find a balance between the economy and nature. There is so much more consciousness now that projects should not have a negative impact."
The endorsement of the Global Tiger Recovery Programme by heads of government and tiger range countries was widely seen as an important step forward.
"This summit has created the high-level government backing that we needed to create a platform to immediately reverse the decline of wild tigers, which is threatening them with extinction," said Michael Baltzer, head of WWF's Tigers Alive initiative. "We need governments to lead the charge forward and maintain this political enthusiasm and intensity, because the tiger cannot wait for our help."
But the summit also ended with concerns remaining about financing and concrete action. Several states are sceptical that the World Bank – which has funded many hydropower and other infrastructure projects that have eroded tiger habitats – has genuinely changed its spots. India sent a relatively low-level delegation in a sign of its unease. The summit was unable to agree on a new multi-donor funding mechanism under the World Bank. There will be four more meetings next year to try to co-ordinate spending.
Conservationists warned that any delay will mean more tigers are killed. "Overall, this summit has been positive for tigers, but it won't stop poaching and trafficking because they haven't put in place a mechanism to support enforcement," said Steven Galster, director of Freeland, an organisation that helps to train wildlife authorities in south-east Asia. "They spent $1.4m on this meeting. Why not spend $7m to set up an emergency fund to support enforcement?"
There was also disappointment that China – the main market for tiger products – had not made a stronger public commitment to crack down on the illegal trade. The attendance of Prime Minister Wen was, however, taken as an encouraging sign of engagement by China.
Debbie Banks, head of the Environmental Investigation Agency, said that despite the promises of money and political support, it was too early to determine whether the summit was a success. "None of us are jumping for joy and saying the nut is cracked," she said. "It'll be what happens when leaders go home that makes a difference. Will they engage the public? Will they call a meeting of police and customs to say wildlife is a priority and personnel will be assigned to it? That will show that they have not just come here and read a statement, but that they really want to move away from business as usual."
Participants have a mixed record on fulfilling their promises. John Sellar of wildlife convention CITES said more than half of the range states had failed to provide information on the illegal tiger trade, as they agreed to do in 2009.
IUCN 24 Nov 10;
The Serengeti - Masai Mara ecosystem in Africa, which hosts the largest wildlife migration known to man, is under attack from a noxious weed from Central America, commonly known as feverfew (Parthenium hysterophorus). If left unchecked it could threaten the continued migration of millions of animals across the plains every year, including 1.5 million wildebeest, 500,000 Thomson’s gazelle and 200,000 zebra.
The Serengeti - Mara ecosystem hosts approximately 70 large mammal species and some 500 different bird species in highly diverse habitats ranging from riverine forests, swamps, grasslands and woodlands. Researchers from CABI Africa and IUCN, based in Nairobi, Kenya, found the weed, parthenium, during a recent survey, growing along parts of the Mara River and along some dirt tracks in the Masai-Mara National Reserve.
“Although this weed may look benign to most people it probably poses one of the most serious threats to the ecosystem, which is already under threat from illegal hunting, land conversion, fencing, disease and uncontrolled fires,” says Arne Witt, Invasive Species Coordinator, CABI Africa. “Research suggests that conditions in the Serengeti are highly suitable for this weed so we should all be very concerned.”
Parthenium has gained notoriety in Australia, India and Ethiopia where it was accidentally introduced with what many would consider disastrous consequences. The weed, which can grow from seed to maturity in 4-6 weeks and has an ability to produce 10,000–25,000 seeds, is known to be allelopathic, which in layman’s language means that it produces chemicals which inhibit the growth of other plants. This means that if it invades natural pasture it can reduce the amount of available forage to such an extent that carrying capacities of grazing animals can be reduced by up to 90%. If allowed to grow without any weeding it can reduce yields of crops, such as sorghum, by up to 97%. It is also toxic, which means that animals will not eat it unless they are starving or stressed, with fatal consequences. This weed also has impacts on human health – many people who come into direct contact with the plant can develop severe skin allergies (dermatitis) and pollen production by the plant can result in respiratory problems.
The implications for wildlife conservation in the Serengeti ecosystem are potentially extremely serious. The movement of thousands of grazing animals means that the grasslands are often highly disturbed, making it easier for parthenium to invade. The displacement of palatable species means that, in time, the available food for wildebeest, zebra, gazelle and the pastoralists livestock will rapidly diminish.
“Unless action is taken immediately to eradicate known infestations in the Masai-Mara National Reserve it is not unrealistic to expect a drastic reduction in wildlife populations in the long term as the parthenium population rapidly expands as an invading species,” says Geoffrey Howard, IUCN’s Global Invasive Species Programme Coordinator. “It is therefore possible for a little green plant to transform one of the greatest spectacles on earth.”
“However, we can stop the invasion in its tracks and protect this national and global treasure for our children's grand-children if we all work together in support of the Kenyan government and national institutions which have indicated, based on their pronouncements at CABI’s 100 year celebrations held at Nairobi National Park, that they are committed to managing invasive species in Kenya,” says Arne Witt.
Yahoo News 24 Nov 10;
WARSAW (AFP) – The WWF conservation group said Wednesday it planned to transfer lynxes from Estonia, where the wild felines are thriving, to Poland where the species risks disappearing.
"We want to save the lynx in Poland, where the population is threatened with extinction," said Pawel Sredzinski, a WWF representative running the organisation's lynx repopulation programme in Poland.
"We want to transfer the first animals (from Estonia) to Poland by January or February," he added.
The WWF hopes to introduce 20 to 40 lynxes from Estonia to the Napiwodzko-Ramuckie forests in a remote region of lakes and marshes in northeastern Poland.
With its lush forests and restricted road network, the Baltic state has a flourishing lynx population.
"During the last decade the number has been increasing and nowadays the number is higher than ever before. The current number is estimated to be around 800 individuals," Peep Mannil from Estonia's environment ministry told AFP.
Between 80 to 180 lynxes are killed in Estonia annually by hunters for their fur and skulls.
The WWF has begun fund-raising for the planned transfer of the animals and has asked both Estonian and Polish wildlife authorities for the necessary permits.
In the meantime, the WWF will introduce eight young lynxes born in captivity into the Pisz forest in northeastern Poland.
About 140 Carpathian lynxes (Lynx lynx carpathicus) -- a separate sub-species -- live in mountain ranges in southeastern Poland.
Yahoo News 24 Nov 10;
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US government on Wednesday designated "critical habitat" for polar bears who live on Alaska's disappearing sea ice, a move that could impact new oil and gas drilling projects in the Arctic.
The Fish and Wildlife Service set aside 187,000 square miles (484,000 square kilometers) off Alaska as the threatened bears' habitat, which means any project that could impact the animals' way of life must undergo careful review.
"This critical habitat designation enables us to work with federal partners to ensure their actions within its boundaries do not harm polar bear populations," said Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
"Nevertheless, the greatest threat to the polar bear is the melting of its sea ice habitat caused by human-induced climate change. We will continue to work toward comprehensive strategies for the long-term survival of this iconic species."
The move falls short of barring any drilling or other activity in the area, but "identifies geographic areas containing features considered essential for the conservation of the bear that require special management or protection."
US environmental advocates earlier this month warned that polar bear habitats could be disrupted if oil companies eager to exploit the Arctic for fuel were to experience an accidental spill like the BP gusher in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged that the designation, which includes swaths of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off northern Alaska, "encompass(es) areas where oil and gas exploration activities are known to occur."
Any activity there would now have to undergo a review to "identify ways to implement these actions consistent with species conservation," the statement said.
"This applies to oil and gas development activities, as well as any other activity within the range of the polar bear that may have an adverse affect on the species."
The United States has classified the polar bear as "threatened," but not endangered, due to the struggles it endures because the sea ice on which it lives and hunts is melting due to climate change.
The US government is considering opening the Chukchi Sea, a body of water off the coast of Alaska that is shared with Russia, to drilling but is reviewing leases awarded in 2008 after a lawsuit by indigenous people and green groups contended that the government does not have enough facts about how drilling will impact the environment.
Companies like Royal Dutch Shell want to begin drilling in the coming months, once winter ice begins to break up, and are submitting proposals to show they can meet tougher new government regulations.
The US Geological Survey said in 2008 that within the Arctic circle there are 90 billion barrels of oil and vast quantities of natural gas waiting to be tapped, most of it offshore.
Uncertainty about the size of ultimately recoverable sources of fuel remains a concern
G Panicker The Business Times 25 Nov 10;
THE peak oil theory has been intensely debated for years - when it will occur, how the world will cope after that, and so on. Now it seems that it is a reality: We are living in the post-peak oil world.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has delivered a confirmation of it. The agency, the energy security adviser to 28 rich nations, had dismissed imminent tapering off of production as a prediction of doomsayers in 2005.
Its 2008 report saw the earliest point of no return in 2030. Faith Birol, chief economist of the IEA, told British media last year that it could happen within a decade.
But now the energy watchdog says that oil production has already peaked. Conventional oil output will never exceed the 2006 peak of 70 million barrels per day (bpd). Output from existing wells could fall under 20 million bpd by 2035.
Even with new fields, crude oil production will enter 'an undulating plateau' of 68 to 69 million bpd after 2020. The gap will be met by unconventional oil and natural gas liquids before total production peaks in 25 years. In 2005, the IEA expected an output of 118 million bpd by 2030.
Thus the era of cheap oil is clearly over. A pre-recession price spiral that saw a record price of US$147 per barrel in 2008 was brief but educative in price volatility. Prices - in 2009 dollars - will rise above US$100 for good after 2015, according to the IEA.
Production is restrained by geology, opposition to exploitation of reserves and climate-change policies.
Demand is coming almost entirely from developing countries. China will claim half of the oil supplies and 75 per cent of primary energy demand. Markets will also be less sensitive to price changes as demand shifts to areas of high subsidies. Prices will average US$113 per barrel by 2035 (in 2009 dollars).
The price projection is based on the New Policies Scenario, one of the agency's three long-term outlook studies. It assumes governments will deliver on commitments on subsidies and on climate pledges. Under the scenario, primary energy demand will grow at 1.2 per cent annually between 2008 and 2035 or 36 per cent - lower than the 2 per cent since 1980s and 1.4 per cent over 25 years under current policies. Developing countries will account for 93 per cent of the increase.
Oil dominates the energy mix, with demand at 99 million bpd by 2035. Output, including unconventional oil and natural gas liquids, will fall short by three million bpd, with processing gains filling the gap.
The demand is six million bpd less than IEA's previous projection. Opec places demand at 105.5 million bpd by 2030.
Renewable fuels' use will triple and, with nuclear power, take 14 per cent of the total market. Unconventional sources' share remains at about 10 per cent in all scenarios.
Gas demand will jump 44 per cent. Caspian production and unconventional gas output outside of the United States will increase supply. But a slowly declining glut in gas may alter its pricing and even hamper the alternative energy drive.
Opec, bulked up by Saudi Arabian and Iraqi output, will keep a market share of 52 per cent instead of 41 per cent currently. Supplies will also rise from Brazil, Kazakhstan, Canada and Venezuela.
Yet, uncertainty about the size of ultimately recoverable conventional and unconventional sources remains a concern.
The agency says hope lies in encouraging energy efficiency by scrapping subsidies as G-20 nations have proposed and by fighting global warming. Implementing the near-term pledges in the Copenhagen Accord will still see the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases at 650 parts per million (ppm). The average temperature will rise 3.5° Celsius above the pre-industrial times.
But vigorous decarbonisation under the accord's ambitious targets could achieve the 450 ppm goal and limit global warming to 2° Celsius, slowing oil demand growth to a rate of 0.7 per cent.
In the event, a plunge in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ) demand will offset increased oil demand elsewhere. Demand will peak at 88 million bpd by 2020 - four million bpd more than now - and will fall to 81 million bpd 15 years later. Oil price is estimated to be at US$90 then.
Under that scenario, the use of oil, gas and coal must peak in 10 years. The share of renewable and nuclear energy will rise to 38 per cent from 7 per cent now.
But Copenhagen produced no formal pact. That mission demands about US$12 trillion investment and even may need newer technologies. The agency's chief economist predicts that prices will rise faster than forecast unless oil consumption is checked, especially for transport.
'The energy world is facing unprecedented uncertainty,' Nobuo Tanaka, IEA executive director, has warned. The global population is growing. So time to start the tough transformation to a sustainable energy future is now. But that drive is clouded by a deep divide.
An inter-governmental agency is bound to be cautious. But last year, the IEA almost doubled the oil fields' depletion rate to 6.7 per cent. The rate of 3.7 per cent assumed in 2007 was changed after a study of 800 fields. Robert Hirsch, who led a study on peak oil for the US Department of Energy, considers a 4 per cent decline catastrophic. He believes that US administrations have discouraged the research into 'peak oil' after he delivered the bad news.
Further, IEA expects Saudi production to rise five million bpd or 50 per cent. Energy investment banker Matthew Simmons, who died in August, suggested that Saudi production could be tapering off soon. British geologist Colin Campbell has contended that true oil reserve figures would set off panic on the stock markets, 'that at the end would suit no one'. So we have forecasts of oil prices much above what the IEA is predicting.
Further, several studies have highlighted the risk this year. A US military research envisages a shortage of 10 million bpd by 2015. And Lloyd's Insurance Market and Chatham House have warned businesses of catastrophic consequences in the near future if they do not prepare for peak oil and predicted US$200 price is imminent. It wryly noted: 'IEA expectations (on crude output) over the last decade have generally gone unmet.'
The writer was formerly with BT's foreign desk
Yahoo News 24 Nov 10;
GENEVA (AFP) – Greenhouse gas concentrations reached record levels in 2009, the UN's weather agency said Wednesday, warning that global warming could set off even greater methane emissions from the Arctic.
"Greenhouse gas concentrations have reached record levels despite the economic slowdown. They would have been even higher without the international action taken to reduce them," said Michel Jarraud, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization.
"In addition, potential methane release from northern permafrost, and wetlands, under future climate change is of great concern and is becoming a focus of intensive research and observations," he added.
Carbon dioxide concentrations reached 386.8 parts per million in 2009, up 38 percent from pre-industrial times.
Methane, the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, meanwhile reached 1,803 parts per billion, up 158 percent from pre-industrial times.
According to the WMO, following a period of stabilisation between 1999 and 2006, atmospheric methane began to increase again from 2007 to 2009.
"There are two possible reasons for that -- in 2007, there was a warmer Arctic which produced a lot of extra emissions, plus in 2007 and 2008, there was an increase in precipitations in the tropicals," said Oksana Tarasova, a WMO scientist.
"We don't know the proportions which work more. It's difficult to distinguish between these two particular sources," she said, adding that it was unclear if the trend would continue in 2011.
For Len Barrie, who is co-director at WMO's research department, changes are needed urgently in order to reverse the situation.
"If we continue business as usual, we will not achieve the level of atmospheric concentration that would allow a two degree Celsius target," he told AFP, referring to a bid to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures.
He added that to start decreasing the levels of greenhouse gases, it was necessary to "stop totally the emissions."
This means that the usage of fossil energy should be halted, he said.
Representatives from 194 countries meet in the Mexican resort city of Cancun from November 29 to December 10 for a new bid to strike a deal to curb greenhouse gases.
* U.S.-China standoff at heart of talks
* Talks seek successor to 1992 treaty; may be years off
* World may have under-estimated Obama's problems
Alister Doyle, Reuters AlertNet 24 Nov 10;
OSLO, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The world will seek to break a U.S.-China standoff and agree modest steps to rein in global warming at U.N. talks in Mexico next week amid worries that the first climate treaty since 1992 may still be years away.
Most nations have few hopes for the meeting of environment ministers from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10 in the Caribbean resort of Cancun after U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders failed to agree a treaty at last year's U.N. Copenhagen summit.
Sights are lower for Cancun, which will test the ability of the United Nations to reconcile the interests of China and the United States, the top greenhouse gas emitters, and those of 192 other nations in a 21st century world order. All have a veto.
"We have to take a few steps forward or there are people who are going to lose faith in the U.N. system," Rajendra Pachauri, head of the U.N. panel of climate scientists.
"I'm a little depressed about Cancun," said Al Gore, the climate campaigner and former U.S. Vice President. "The problem is not going away, it's getting steadily worse."
In new evidence of warming, the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday that concentrations of the main greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached their highest level since pre-industrial times. [ID:nLDE6AN11Z]
And 2010 is on track to match 1998 or 2005 as the warmest year since records began in the 19th century, leading experts say.
Pachauri's panel says warming will bring more floods, heatwaves, mudslides and rising sea levels. Inaction also raises risks of abrupt changes such as a melt of polar ice or permafrost.
The talks will try to agree "building blocks" of a deal such as a green fund to channel aid to poor nations, a mechanism to share new clean energy technologies and a deal to protect tropical forests that soak up greenhouse gases as they grow.
Hopes for a quick binding deal have faded, partly because of a standoff between China and the United States throughout 2010 about new actions and scant prospects that the U.S. Senate would be able to ratify a treaty in coming years.
"There is a total deadlock for the United States, which means China will not be forthcoming," said Johan Rockstrom, head of the Stockholm Environment Institute.
EARTH SUMMIT
The world agreed the existing U.N. Climate Convention in 1992. In any new deal, China says that Obama must show more leadership than his stalled U.S. plan to curb emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
Washington says China must toughen a "voluntary" plan to curb the rise of its carbon emissions by between 40 and 45 percent below projected levels by 2020 from 2005. The rivalry overshadows other tensions between rich and poor nations.
Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the world had under-estimated hurdles in the United States, where he said Obama's Democrats risked losing control of the 100-seat Senate in 2012 elections even if Obama is re-elected.
"It's likely to get harder after 2012," he said. Double the number of Democrats face elections in 2012 than Republicans, when a third of the Senate is up for election. The Senate needs 67 votes to ratify an international treaty.
Other countries "have got to figure out, once again, do you try to soldier ahead without the U.S.?" he said.
All industrialised nations except the United States back the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to cut emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. They need to decide by the end of 2012 how to extend Kyoto, which underpins carbon prices.
Many other analysts fear the talks may drag on like the 2001 Doha round of trade talks -- which once staged a failed meeting in Cancun. One early chance for a deal may be an Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, Rockstrom said.
Despite pessimism, Andrew Steer, the World Bank's special envoy for climate change, said there had been a "sea change" in developing nations' perceptions of the importance of slowing global warrming by shifting from fossil fuels.
In 1990, just 10 percent of developing nations wanted climate change as a main pillar of development, he said. In the past two years, that figure had risen to 80 percent.
And the WWF environmental group published a report on Wednesday praising emerging economies such as China, India, South Africa and Brazil for work to slow climate change. (With extra reporting by Laura MacInnis in Geneva, Gerard Wynn in London; editing Philippa Fletcher)
Investors hope UN talks keep climate deal on track
* Carbon markets most impacted by Cancun talks
* Wider green technologies would benefit from deal in 2011
Gerard Wynn Reuters AlertNet 24 Nov 10;
LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Investors in "green" assets hope that upcoming U.N. climate talks in Mexico will salvage a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2011, and in the meantime widen and simplify existing carbon markets.
The U.N. process could boost the private sector if it builds trust in global climate action and so increases overall ambitions, such as to deploy renewable energy technologies.
The negotiations are supposed to agree in 2011 on a global successor to the Kyoto Protocol, whose present round expires in 2012.
A Copenhagen summit last year failed to do that, and the focus now is on restoring momentum, especially for agreement next year in South Africa on new, more ambitious carbon caps.
One particular private sector focus at the Nov. 29-Dec. 10 talks in Cancun will be on the carbon markets.
Kyoto capped emissions by industrialised countries through 2012, driving them to invest in clean energy projects in developing countries to earn carbon tradable offsets, which would help them meet their limits.
"A commitment from Kyoto countries to extend the protocol for another period would prompt some positive (market) reactions," said Matteo Mazzoni, an analyst at Italy's Nomisma Energia.
While Cancun will not achieve a broad climate deal, rich countries may agree to insert their existing, national emissions targets to 2020 under an extended Kyoto Protocol in a wider deal to be finalised next year.
But that is an unlikely step, because it would hinge on similar agreement by China and the United States.
The United States did not ratify the original protocol, which does not bind the emissions of developing countries.
The carbon market also wants progress on simpler rules governing trade in carbon offsets under the so-called clean development mechanism (CDM), worth about $20 billion last year.
Businesses as well as governments largely accept that the U.N. process is the best way to drive action.
"What's become clear this year is that there's no credible alternative. What the international process does is help build confidence," said Nick Robins at HSBC.
RAINFORESTS
Cancun may deliver agreement on a deal to widen the CDM to include rainforests, which would allow investors to earn offsets from protecting forests, which store carbon in the trunks of trees and in the soil.
But some environmental groups are sceptical of progress on such a deal to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), saying details are few and so any decision in Cancun would carry little weight.
"There's no funding attached and details are up in the air," said Simon Counsell, director of the Rainforest Foundation UK.
Counsell said that REDD might become a bargaining chip in a wider deal, given that it could direct rich country funds to tropical nations, many of which are demanding that the United States take a more ambitious stance in the overall talks.
"There are huge issues of governance; it'll probably take some years," he added, referring to continuing corruption and illegal logging in some tropical countries.
Beyond carbon markets, the private sector is looking to possible opportunities in bilateral deals among countries on the fringes of the U.N. process, but these lack details so far.
The Cancun talks should clarify where climate aid would come from, under targets agreed in last year's Copenhagen Accord, said the ratings agency Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Wednesday, suggesting both carbon markets and bilateral deals.
"Although this role for private finance has been clearly identified, there's still a lot of work to create the products," British climate change minister Greg Barker told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the role of capital markets.
(Additional reporting by Nina Chestney, editing by Jane Baird)
Modest hopes for climate summit, as gas levels rise
Richard Black BBC News 24 Nov 10;
"Keeping the show on the road" may be all governments can hope for at next week's UN climate talks, the UK admits.
Energy and Climate Secretary Chris Huhne said there was no chance of getting a legally binding deal at the summit in Cancun, Mexico.
The aim, he said, should be to get "within shouting distance".
Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released data showing that greenhouse gas levels continued their rise through 2009.
It follows publication of a scientific paper at the weekend suggesting that without new constraints, global carbon emissions will re-commence rising at 2-3% per year, following a brief lull caused by the recession.
And on Tuesday, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) said pledges that countries had made on constraining emissions were not enough to keep the global temperature rise within limits that most countries say they want - either 2C or 1.5C since pre-industrial times.
Like many other governments, the UK believes there is an urgent need to turn these trends around through establishing a new legally-binding regime on emissions.
"We want to see progress [in Cancun] - we don't want to see a shambles that involves lots of name-calling," said Mr Huhne.
"If we don't get peaking of [global] emissions by 2020, the prospects for the people on the planet are looking pretty bleak, so we really do have to make progress on this."
Realistically, the government believes, progress could be made on issues such as reducing deforestation, financial pledges and bringing the unilateral carbon-cutting pledges that countries unveiled at Copenhagen into the UN framework so they can be properly analysed.
Western countries are equally keen to pursue the place that private finance and the business sector can play in leading the transition to a low-carbon global society.
But the Secretary of State was downbeat about how much progress was possible given the legacy of last year's Copenhagen summit, the domestic concerns of a few key countries including the US and China, and the differing demands of various negotiating blocs.
"We're clearly not expecting a final agreement at Cancun; but our objective is to ensure we re-invigorate the whole UN climate convention (UNFCCC) process and manage to get a new sense of momentum, with the ambition of reaching full agreement [at the summit] in South Africa next year," he said.
Pacific rift
However, even that may not be possible, officials acknowledged, unless important countries can find a way to reconcile their domestic political problems with the demands of other nations.
The US Senate is extremely unlikely to ratify any UN climate deal, meaning that prospects of the world's second largest greenhouse gas emitter signing up to anything that other countries would consider legally binding is remote.
US officials - and their Canadian counterparts - are now talking openly about the possibility of a "Plan B" if Cancun does not move in the direction they want.
Among developing nations, China in particular has railed against demands from the West - and from Japan - that it must agree measures enabling its carbon-constraining performance to be monitored and verified.
The UK was encouraged by a recent Indian proposal to put international verification under the auspices of the UN climate convention.
But the US appears to be growing as an obstacle, with campaigners acknowledging privately that the balance of power in Congress is likely to become even less favourable to carbon-cutting legislation after the next round of elections in 2012.
Warming and wetting
The WMO data, meanwhile, confirms that atmospheric concentrations of the three gases principally responsible for the man-made component of the greenhouse effect - carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide - all rose during 2009.
The agency highlighted the rise in methane emissions, which it says is probably due to higher than average emissions from wetlands around the Arctic and in the tropics, both related to weather conditions.
Heightened methane emission from wetlands and permafrost has regularly been touted as a potential amplifying factor in climate change, with warmer weather stimulating their release and so producing further warming.
"Greenhouse gas concentrations have reached record levels despite the economic slowdown," observed WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud.
"Potential methane release from northern permafrost, and wetlands, under future climate change is of great concern, and is becoming a focus of intensive research and observations."
Climate aid pledges at $30 bln goal
Reuters AlertNet 24 Nov 10;
Nov 24 (Reuters) - Pledges by rich countries to provide developing nations with "fast-start" funds to fight climate change have reached a goal of $30 billion for 2010-12, but some of it is not "new and additional" as promised.
The head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, Christiana Figueres, says new cash is a "golden key" to unlocking progress on a deal to slow global warming at annual U.N. talks in Cancun, Mexico, from Nov. 29-Dec. 10. [ID:nLDE6AF0FB]
Taken at face value, planned spending amounts to $29.8 billion, according to a Reuters overview. But developing nations say rich nations, facing austerity cuts at home, are often dressing up old promises as new.
WORLDWIDE:
About 140 nations have agreed to the 2009 Copenhagen Accord for curbing global warming. On finance, developed nations agreed to give "new and additional resources ... approaching $30 billion for the period 2010-2012."
But there are no rules for deciding who contributes what, no common reporting and no definition of what qualifies as "new and additional". The Copenhagen Accord also sets a goal of raising aid to at least $100 billion a year from 2020.
Figueres has cautioned developing nations that rich nations' 2010 budgets were largely set before the Copenhagen summit, making it hard for all aid to be new and additional this year.
NATIONAL:
UNITED STATES - $3 billion. Washington contributed $1.3 billion for 2010 and President Barack Obama is seeking $1.7 billion for 2011. The United States is a leading donor in a $3.5 billion plan to protect forests from 2010-12 also funded by Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Britain.
JAPAN - $15 billion. Japan said in Copenhagen it would offer $15 billion in the three years to end-2012, including $11 billion in public money. The total amount includes about 1 trillion yen ($12.03 billion) left over from the "Cool Earth Partnership" initiative under the previous Liberal Democratic Party-led government running from 2008-2012.
CANADA - $393 million. Canada has committed C$400 million as as fast-start funds for the 2010-11 fiscal year, above those considered for climate change programmes before Copenhagen.
AUSTRALIA - $548 million. In June, promised 559 million Australian dollars to the 2010-12 funds.
EUROPEAN UNION - $9.64 billion. A draft EU report [ID:nLDE6AE1MR] says governments are on track to meet a goal of 7.2 billion euros ($9.64 billion) in 2010-12 and have fulfilled a pledge to provide 2.2 billion euros of the total in 2010.
NORWAY - $1 billion. The government says fast-start funds comprise support for slowing deforestation.
NEW ZEALAND - $69 million. The New Zealand delegation at U.N. talks in August said the government would spend up to NZ$30 million a year from 2010-12.
SWITZERLAND - $141 million. The government is seeking 140 million Swiss francs in fast-start funds.
(Sources: governments, U.N.-backed fast start website: http://www.faststartfinance.org/, World Resources Institute: http://pdf.wri.org/climate_finance_pledges_2010-10-02.pdf (Compiled by Alister Doyle in Oslo)
The Copenhagen Accord: climate guide or too weak?
Reuters AlertNet 24 Nov 10;
Nov 24 (Reuters) - U.N. climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10 will discuss steps to combat climate change after a summit in Denmark in 2009 came up with only a non-binding Copenhagen Accord. [ID:nLDE6AM206]
The United States favours using the 3-page Accord as a guide for Mexico, which aims to work out measures to slow global warming that fall short of a binding treaty.
Some developing nations say it is a weak, flawed blueprint and should be scrapped.
SUPPORT - About 140 of 194 U.N. members including all top emitters led by China, the United States, Russia and India have signed up to the Accord since Copenhagen. Strong opponents include Bolivia, Sudan and Venezuela.
TEMPERATURES - The Accord says governments will work to combat climate change "recognising the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius" (3.6 Fahrenheit). Temperatures have already risen by 0.7C since before the Industrial Revolution.
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS - The text merely urges "deep cuts in global emissions" to achieve the 2C goal. The United Nations says existing plans for cuts in emissions are too weak and will mean a temperature rise of about 3C.
ADAPTATION - The Accord promises to help countries adapt to the damaging impacts of climate change such as droughts, storms or rising sea levels, "especially least developed countries, small island developing states and Africa." But it also says all nations face challenges of adapting to "response measures" -- OPEC nations, for instance, argue they should be compensated if this means a shift from oil to renewable energy.
2020 TARGETS - In an annex, rich nations have this year listed their national goals for cuts in greenhouse gases and developing nations set out actions to slow the rise of emissions by 2020.
VERIFICATION - Developed nations will submit emissions goals for U.N. review. Developing nations' actions will be under domestic review if funded by their own budgets but "subject to international measurement, reporting and verification" when funded by foreign aid. In Copenhagen, China resisted foreign review while the United States said it was vital.
DEFORESTATION - The text sees a "crucial role" for slowing deforestation -- trees store carbon dioxide as they grow.
MARKETS - Countries will "pursue various approaches, including opportunities to use markets".
AID - Developed nations promise new and additional funds "approaching $30 billion for 2010-12" to help developing countries. In the longer term, "developed countries commit to a goal of mobilising jointly $100 billion a year by 2020". A panel of experts concluded this month that the goal was "feasible but challenging" and hinged on wider pricing of carbon emissions.
GREEN FUND - Countries will set up a "Copenhagen Green Climate Fund" to help channel aid. It will also set up a "Technology Mechanism" to accelerate use of green technologies. Agreement on a new green fund is among goals for Cancun, but will not have the "Copenhagen" name attached.
REVIEW - The accord will be reviewed in 2015, including whether the temperature goal should be toughened to 1.5C. An alliance of about 100 least developed countries and small island states want temperatures to rise less than 1.5 degrees.
(For a link to U.N. material on the Copenhagen Accord, click on: http://unfccc.int/home/items/5262.php)
(Compiled by Alister Doyle in Oslo, Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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