Five new Fast and Furious Ferrari shrimps at the Southern Expedition
from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore
Humungous cuttlefish on Day 10 of the Southern Expedition
from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore
#8 Labrador Nature Reserve
from My Nature Experiences
Copper-throated Sunbird nest-building
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Random Gallery - Yellow Palm Dart
from Butterflies of Singapore
Painted faces: revisited
from Life's Indulgences
Today Online 30 May 13;
Helen Lim
Director, Media Relations and Public Education, Land Transport Authority
We refer to Ms Vinita Ramani Mohan’s letter “A transportation plan that crosses the line” (May 20).
The detailed alignment of the Cross Island Line (CRL) has not been decided and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will carry out detailed studies before finalising the alignment. We would also like to assure that the LTA will be commissioning an independent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to study the environmental impact of the CRL, as part of its overall assessment and design. As part of the EIA, the consultant is required to develop guidelines to guide the Engineering Investigative Works. The Engineering Investigative Works will be carried out in compliance with these guidelines.
In the coming months, the LTA will engage and consult various stakeholders, including nature and environmental groups, to ensure their views and concerns are accommodated as part of the EIA study. We share the environmentalists’ concern on any possible impact on the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and assure that sufficient time will be accorded to address these concerns.
Protecting the nature reserves will be an integral consideration for the project and all efforts would be taken to minimise impact to the environment.
In particular, we would like to assure the public that some of the concerns that have been expressed, such as the need or intention to clear large tracts of forest in the nature reserves, or the possibility of there being major construction works within the nature reserves, are not contemplated. We ask for some patience as we continue to make preparations for the consultation and the EIA.
Protecting nature reserves a key consideration
Straits Times Forum 31 May 13;
WE REFER to Wednesday's letters ("Rethink route of Cross Island MRT line" by Mr Chia Yong Soong; and "Cross Island Line: LTA must be proactive in engaging stakeholders" by Mr Eugene Tay Tse Chuan, Forum Online).
The detailed alignment of the Cross Island Line has not been decided and the Land Transport Authority will carry out detailed studies before finalising the alignment.
We assure readers that we will be commissioning an independent Environmental Impact Assessment to study the environmental impact of the line, as part of its overall assessment and design.
As part of the assessment, the consultant is required to develop guidelines to guide the engineering investigative works, which will be carried out in compliance with these guidelines.
In the coming months, we will engage and consult various stakeholders, including nature and environmental groups, to ensure that their views and concerns are accommodated as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment study.
We share the environmentalists' concerns over any possible impact on the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and assure them that sufficient time will be accorded to address these concerns.
Protecting the nature reserves will be an integral consideration for the project and all efforts will be taken to minimise impact to the environment.
In particular, we assure the public that some of the scenarios that have been raised, such as the need or intention to clear large tracts of forest in the nature reserves, or the possibility of there being major construction works within the nature reserves, are not being contemplated.
We ask for some patience as we continue to make preparations for the consultation and the Environmental Impact Assessment.
Helen Lim (Ms)
Director, Media Relations and Public Education
Land Transport Authority
Related links
Love our MacRitchie Forest: walks, talks and petition. Also on facebook.
Straits Times Forum 30 May 13;
NATIONS around the world, including Singapore, are showing interest in the melting Arctic ice, more from an economic standpoint than in terms of human safety ("Fuelled by strategic interest in cold North"; May 21). This emphasis is misplaced.
These nations should focus instead on how they can best join forces to prevent the melting rate from accelerating, with a view to ultimately reversing the process.
Melting Arctic ice releases large amounts of methane, which is about 21 times more powerful at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
In recent weeks, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere breached the 400 parts per million (ppm) mark, the highest level since the Ice Age ("World gone cold on global warming"; May 21). It could reach 1,000 ppm towards the end of this century.
Unfortunately, no amount of hurricanes, cyclones, monsoons or warnings seem compelling enough for world leaders to take action to reverse global warming and climate change.
For a low-lying island like Singapore, global warming can only mean a major catastrophe waiting to happen.
Already, shifts in weather patterns here have resulted in the authorities replacing some tall trees with shorter ones, to prevent them from falling ("Some tall trees being replaced"; May 19).
But this approach is just a quick fix and may not be sustainable in the long term. We need to get to the root of the problem - global warming - and tackle it head-on at the global level.
Singapore has always punched above its weight. It now needs to punch in the right direction and for the right cause.
Srirekam Kesava Purushotham
Singapore committed to tackling climate change
Straits Times Forum 4 Jun 13;
WE THANK Mr Srirekam Kesava Purushotham for his feedback ("Global warming spells trouble for Singapore"; last Thursday).
We agree that climate change is a global challenge that requires all countries to play their part.
Singapore therefore supports and actively participates in the multilateral negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and in other organisations such as the International Maritime Organisation and International Civil Aviation Organisation to develop measures to reduce emissions in these sectors.
Under the UNFCCC, we made a voluntary pledge to reduce our emissions below business-as-usual levels by 2020. We are working with other countries towards a new global agreement on climate change by 2015.
Domestically, we adopt a multi-pronged approach to meet our pledge and do our part in addressing climate change.
Given our limited ability to switch to renewable energy on a large scale, energy efficiency is one of Singapore's key strategies to reduce emissions.
We are the first country in the world to mandate minimum environmental sustainability standards for existing buildings, in addition to new buildings.
Our vehicle ownership and usage control measures are coupled with encouraging a switch to low-emission cars and taxis through the Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle Scheme.
The Energy Conservation Act requires large energy users to implement energy management practices.
Singapore is also taking action to address the potential impact of climate change on coastal protection, water supply and drainage, public health, biodiversity and infrastructure.
Since the end of 2011, we have raised the minimum reclamation level of new reclamation projects by an additional metre, to 2.25m above the highest recorded tide level.
The Centre for Climate Research Singapore is the first centre in the world for tropical climate research.
Addressing climate change also offers opportunities for green growth. Singapore is well-positioned to develop as a global cleantech hub that will provide high-value-added jobs and growth opportunities for Singaporeans.
Everyone has a part to play in the global effort against climate change. We also work with our partners in the people, public and private (3P) sectors on education and outreach programmes to promote climate change awareness and action.
Yuen Sai Kuan
Director, 3P Network Division
National Climate Change Secretariat, Prime Minister's Office
Avila Geraldine New Straits Times 30 May 13;
ECOSYSTEM PRESERVERS: They cannot survive in agricultural plantations, says conservation expert
KOTA KINABALU: THE Malayan sun bear plays an important role in the ecosystem as they serve as forest doctors, engineers and planters, contributing to a thriving forest.
Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) founder and chief executive officer Wong Siew Te said the sun bear used its claws to scrape off and destroy termite nests around tree bark.
This, in turn, saves the host tree from dying because of termite infestation.
"Sun bears do this to get termites and larvae, an important food source for them.
"If they do not do this, the termites will eventually kill the host tree by feeding on the wood fibre inside.
"Uncontrolled termite populations can lead to the death of many trees," he said yesterday.
The sun bear is the smallest of the world's bears and is listed as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.
It is at risk of becoming endangered, unless the circumstances threatening its survival improve.
Wong said sun bears, which lived in the forests of Southeast Asia, were fond of eating honey.
Sun bears create holes in trees when extracting the honey of stingless bees that build nests under tree bark.
The holes are then used by hornbills or squirrels to nest in.
As forest planters, sun bears spread the seeds of large fruits, such as durian and jackfruit, when travelling.
They have a home range of 14 square kilometres.
"Sun bears are among the largest mammals in the tropical rainforest.
"Through their travels, they defecate swallowed seeds away from the mother tree.
"This increases the chances of the seeds' survival.
"Through their role as nutrient mixers, sun bears facilitate soil turnover and regeneration when they forage for termites and other insects."
Despite the many functions that sun bears served, their long-term survival in the wild depended on the continuous existence of natural forests, said Wong.
He said sun bears, as a forest-dependent species, could not survive in oil palm and other agricultural plantations.
"They need large tracts of natural forests for them to sustain viable populations, where they can search for food, shelter and reproduce.
"There is so much that sun bears are doing for the forest and this is something we all need to understand and appreciate.
"Today, their number is going down and more are ending up in captivity."
Wong added that BSBCC housed 28 rescued sun bears.
The centre, which is located adjacent to the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sandakan, is hoping to hold a fundraiser on July 20.
This is to meet the ever-increasing cost of caring for sun bears in captivity, as well as raise public awareness of the species.
BSBCC is a non-governmental organisation set up in 2008 through a collaboration between the Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department and Land Empowerment Animals People.
Balazs Koranyi Reuters 30 May 13;
Shipping along the Arctic northern sea route is set to grow more than 30-fold over the next eight years and could account for a quarter of the cargo traffic between Europe and Asia by 2030, experts said on Wednesday.
With global warming thawing sea ice, the route, which runs along Russia's northern coast and links Europe with ports in East Asia, is opening for longer and longer each year.
Russia is also easing regulations to accommodate more vessels aiming to spur use of the still fledgling route which can cut travel time between Europe and Asia by up to 40 percent.
"Russia clearly sees the opportunity and is trying to take advantage of it," said Mikhail Belkin, an adviser at Atomflot, the operator of Russia's nuclear icebreaker fleet.
"The northern sea route is not a rival to the Suez Canal, but it's a good seasonal complement... and has the potential to grow very fast."
Around 1.25 million metric tons (1.38 million tons) of cargo traversed the route last year, a tiny figure compared to the Suez Canal's 740 million metric tons.
But Belkin predicted a rise to 1.5 million metric tons this year and 40 million metric tons by 2021.
"Crossings (between Europe and Asia) will account for 15 million metric tons, LNG from the Yamal Peninsula for another 15 million and oil cargo out of that area for another 10 million," said Belkin, whose icebreakers need to accompany most vessels along the route.
The gas is expected to come from Yamal, which is being jointly developed by Novatek and Total, while the oil is expected to come from Gazprom's Novoportovskoye field in Siberia.
A recent deal by ExxonMobil to partner with state-controlled Rosneft to explore for oil on 150 million acres in the Chukchi, Kara and Laptev seas could mean further oil for export.
ICE LEVELS
Last September, Arctic sea ice reached its lowest level on record and scientists say there could be an ice-free summer by 2030-2040.
The northern sea route was open around six months last year with an LNG vessel crossing as late as November and the season could grow to 8 months within a decade.
To lower operating costs, Russia this year will allow vessels without ice classification to cross during the lightest period of ice, which lasts about two months each year, and has also reduced draft restrictions, allowing vessels of up to 100,000 deadweight metric tons to cross.
Jong-Deog Kim, a division director at the South Korean Maritime Institute, predicted that traffic between Europe and Asia along the route will grow by 6.5 percent a year and could potentially account for a quarter of all cargo traffic by 2030.
"It's a function of cost, not just the fees charged by Atomflot, but the total cost, from vessel construction and bureaucracy to the increased insurance cost," Kim said. "For crude, LNG and condensate, it's actually very competitive right now, but for coal or ore, not so much."
Atomflot fees vary depending on the customer but tend to be 10 to 15 percent higher than Suez Canal charges. Yet once the savings from the shorter voyage are factored in, firms can save as much as 20 percent, Belkin said.
Still, the route has its clear limits. Russia is just starting work on up to 10 relief ports along the route, search and rescue capability is patchy, commercial weather forecasting is limited and insurers charge a large premium for operators using the route.
"It's a given that traffic will increase and probably increase dramatically," said Sturla Henriksen, director general of the Norwegian shipowners' association. "But the commercial viability will be limited for quite some time."
(Editing by Jason Neely)
Saturday 01 June 2013, 10:30 AM at Botany Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens. Kevin Tilbrook on Lace Corals and Moss Animals from Raffles Museum News
Fri 31 May 2013: 9.00am @ DBS CR2: Daniel Ng on “Impacts of climate change on tropical amphibians” from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS
Reefy Day 9 at the Southern Expedition
from Mega Marine Survey of Singapore
Updates on the Southern Expedition
from Lazy Lizard's Tales
Toddycats at the Mega Marine Survey!
from Toddycats!
Places - Of Boar And Men
from POSKOD.SG
Random Gallery - Plain Tiger
from Butterflies of Singapore
Plastic recycling is just not economically attractive enough to be a solution from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
Straits Times Forum 29 May 13;
THE proposal to run the Cross Island Line across the gazetted Central Catchment Nature Reserve is a cause for concern ("Route of MRT line a concern: Nature Society"; last Saturday).
At stake is a national treasure trove of biodiversity - a verdant stretch of primary, secondary and young forest that supports many native plants and trees, and is home to insects, animals, birds and fishes.
Water from natural sources there drains into the surrounding reservoirs. The vast catchment forest also acts as a green lung in the central part of our island, providing clean air and counteracting the greenhouse effect.
Even if the rail system runs underground, much construction work will have to be done on the surface, such as providing access to transportation and building site offices.
Large tracts of forest would have to be cleared. This means erosion, pollution, noise and a whole host of other ill effects.
One wonders how an Environmental Impact Assessment can have anything positive to say about such a venture.
That such a proposal came to pass throws into question the claims by the Government of its commitment to protect the environment. It seems that even a gazetted nature reserve is no longer protected.
There should not be soft or easy options, and certainly not explanations such as "this is the most direct and shortest route across".
I urge the Government to seriously rethink the route of the line and avoid the destruction of a major part of our natural heritage.
Chia Yong Soong
Cross Island Line: LTA must be proactive in engaging stakeholders
Straits Times Forum 29 May 13;
THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) must be proactive and sincere in engaging stakeholders when planning the Cross Island Line, whose present design has tracks cutting across the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Central Catchment Area ("Route of MRT line a concern: Nature Society"; last Saturday).
Nature reserves are sensitive habitats and gazetted areas, and the LTA should have anticipated the concerns of stakeholders before unveiling its plans in January.
There were apparently no proactive attempts to engage or consult stakeholders before the announcement.
Concerned stakeholders have waited patiently for four months to engage LTA to understand its plans for the Environmental Impact Assessment and feasibility studies. How much longer do they have to wait?
The LTA should come forward with a concrete date for the stakeholder engagement.
Now is the time for it to be proactive and sincere in engaging the Nature Society and interested individuals and groups. The future of our nature reserves is at stake.
Eugene Tay Tse Chuan
Straits Times Forum 29 May 13;
WE READ with alarm two recent reports ("AVA moves to control monkey problem", April 29; and "AVA explains monkey trapping video"; last Wednesday) about the capture and removal of macaques from Bukit Timah.
We would like to ask:
- Why were the macaques being trapped? Was it for ecological reasons and/or because of threats to human safety? If it was the latter, what risk assessment criteria were used?
- What is the strategy for monkey capture? Are troops studied carefully before specific monkeys are targeted? Are there numerical targets for the trapping?
- How closely were wildlife experts, in particular, those who specialise in primate biology, consulted prior to the implementation of the monkey-trapping programme? How frequently do the contractors entrusted with the monkey capture seek the advice of experts?
A macaque-trapping exercise that is not based on solid data, built on a sound knowledge of macaque behaviour and conducted with inputs from experts is difficult to justify.
Based on reports, the monkey-trapping strategy appears ecologically unsound, largely avoidable and futile. At the end of these rounds of trapping, residents have no more understanding of the macaques than they did before the trapping started.
More importantly, the ecosystem would have lost seed dispersers who play an important role in forest regeneration, and macaque troops may be destabilised (which may give rise to other behavioural problems among the remaining macaques).
The monkey incursions are likely to continue and the trapping cycle repeated, with no one except perhaps the monkey-removal contractors profiting from these episodes.
Wildlife live in forests. When housing is built next to forested areas, insects, birds, lizards and macaques come with the territory.
Understanding how to minimise the conflict between residents and wildlife - from building and buffer area design, to reaching out to residents prior to and during occupation, and seeking holistic solutions - would be more consistent with the rational, systematic and tolerant approach for which Singapore is famed.
One needs to look no further than our airport to see an excellent example of how to manage human-wildlife interaction ("Changi keeps fowl-ups to a minimum"; May 20).
Changi Airport works with stakeholders and wildlife experts to minimise the chances of birds compromising aircraft safety. Killing birds is not their first course of action. They employ a scientifically sound and humane strategy that protects people, planes and birds.
Perhaps this approach could be a model for managing and raising our understanding of wildlife in other areas.
Tay Kae Fong
President, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore)
Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewAsia 29 May 13;
SINGAPORE: Researchers from Singapore will now have greater access to study plants and forests in Brunei.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the National Parks Board (NParks) and Brunei's Forestry Department was signed Wednesday in Bandar Seri Begawan.
With the MOU on a joint botanical survey, Singapore becomes the first ASEAN country to conclude a formal agreement with Brunei in the environment sector.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of NParks Leong Chee Chiew said the MOU will benefit both countries.
Under the agreement, Singapore will contribute its expertise to conduct a planned and systematic study of the rich flora in Brunei.
Researchers will help to identify and document different species of plants in the Bruneian forests.
Brunei last conducted an inventory of its flora database in 1996.
It is estimated that Brunei is home to around 5,000 plant species.
NParks said it has other collaborative efforts in the region.
Its scientists are involved in studying ginger in Vietnam and orchids in Myanmar.
- CNA/xq
Alister Doyle Reuters 28 May 13;
A decline in the diversity of farmed plants and livestock breeds is gathering pace, threatening future food supplies for the world's growing population, the head of a new United Nations panel on biodiversity said on Monday.
Preserving neglected animal breeds and plants was necessary as they could have genes resistant to future diseases or to shifts in the climate to warmer temperatures, more droughts or downpours, Zakri Abdul Hamid said.
"The loss of biodiversity is happening faster and everywhere, even among farm animals," Zakri told a conference of 450 experts in Trondheim, central Norway, in his first speech as founding chair of the U.N. biodiversity panel.
Many traditional breeds of cows, sheep or goats have fallen out of favor, often because they yield less meat or milk than new breeds. Globalization also means that people's food preferences narrow down to fewer plants.
Zakri said there were 30,000 edible plants but that just 30 crops accounted for 95 percent of the energy in human food that is dominated by rice, wheat, maize, millet and sorghum.
He said it was "more important than ever to have a large genetic pool to enable organisms to withstand and adapt to new conditions." That would help to ensure food for a global population set to reach 9 billion by 2050 from 7 billion now.
Zakri noted that the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization estimated last year that 22 percent of the world's livestock breeds were at risk of extinction. That means there are fewer than 1,000 animals in each breed.
The extinctions of some domesticated animals and plants was happening in tandem with accelerating losses of wild species caused by factors such as deforestation, expansion of cities, pollution and climate change, he said.
Irene Hoffmann, chief of the FAO's animal genetic resources branch, told Reuters that eight percent of livestock breeds had already become extinct.
Many nations had started breeding programs for rare livestock, from llamas to pigs. Some were freezing embryos or even stem cells that might be used in cloning, she said.
In 2010, governments set goals including halting extinction of known threatened species by 2020 and expanding the area set aside in parks or protected areas for wildlife to 17 percent of the Earth's land surface from about 13 percent now.
(Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
IUCN 16 May 13;
Worldwide, 870 million people go hungry every day. With the world population projected to exceed nine billion people by 2050, global agricultural output must expand by an estimated 60% to meet global food needs.
These were the introductory words and the challenge posed to participants meeting at the recent International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition, organised by FAO in Rome from 13-15 May.
Expanding global agricultural outputs by 60% to ensure future food security, can this be done?
To answer this question, it is important to go back to the roots of food production: nature. We find that making the ecosystem connection is the vital link towards sustainable solutions. "Ecosystem goods and services make critical contributions to food security by supporting the availability, access, and use of foods, both farmed and wild, and by strengthening the stability of food systems", said Cyrie Sendashonga, IUCN Global Policy Director during her keynote speech at the conference.
To give some examples, soil processes and wild pollinators are critically important to agricultural productivity – and therefore food availability; forests provide access to food both directly (through the edible wild plants and animals found there) and indirectly (via forest-product income that can be used to buy food); medicinal plants contribute to people’s health, making their utilization of food more efficient and beneficial for their bodies; and healthy wetlands and mangroves help protect coastal areas from flooding, which increases the stability of food production from nearby fields and fish ponds.
Ecosystem degradation and weak ecosystem governance do therefore not only compromise the ability of developing country populations to farm, access and use food effectively, but it also adversely impacts food security policies. "This is the crux of the matter, ecosystem degradation and weak ecosystem governance can undermine the effectiveness and impacts of food security policies, while inappropriate policies can damage ecosystems and their ability to support food systems", said Chris Buss, Coordinator IUCN Forest Conservation Programme.
The rural poor and vulnerable groups, including women and children, are most at risk. For example, bushmeat in the Congo Basin alone feeds nearly 100 million people – both urban and rural dwellers – and is important in many other forested regions of the world. Fish provides more than 1.5billion people with 20% of their average per capita intake of animal protein.
"An ecosystem-aware approach to food security policy-making goes beyond the conventional focus, which is generally on productivity, trade and macro-economic issues. Instead it takes a big-picture view to the development of sustainable food systems. Such an approach aims for more than alleviating hunger, it embraces the goal of building long term food resilience", said Mark Smith, Director IUCN Global Water Programme.
Food resilience is the capacity of ecosystems to support food production and the ability of people to produce, harvest or buy food in the face of environmental, economic and social shocks and stresses. This focus on resilience is critical if food security objectives are to be achieved and sustained over the long term. IUCN supports policies which strengthen food resilience by addressing three key issues: diversity, natural infrastructure and social justice.
Food security policy-makers in developing countries therefore have much to gain from integrating ecosystem management and good ecosystem governance into their policy measures, and collaborating with other sectoral policy-making initiatives to ensure they consistently support food security. Effective policies also address the social aspects of the ecosystem connections to food security by strengthening, for example, land tenure, access rights to natural resources, local organizations, and gender equality.
An IUCN paper entitled 'Food Security Policies: making the ecosystem connections', was presented during the conference and is available for downloading in English, French, and Spanish.
TRAFFIC 28 May 13;
Gland, Switzerland, 28th May 2013—With more than 20,000 of the species assessed on The IUCN Red List threatened with extinction, IUCN and other organizations, including TRAFFIC, have come together to support the achievement of a global biodiversity target to prevent further species loss.
The “Friends of Target 12” partnership will assist countries in their efforts to achieve Target 12—one of 20 “Aichi Biodiversity Targets” adopted under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Japan in 2010—that aims to prevent further extinctions of threatened species and improve the conservation status of those disappearing most rapidly.
“Today, species are disappearing at unprecedented rates,” said Jane Smart, Global Director of IUCN’s Biodiversity Conservation Group. “However, we know that conservation works. We need to do much more of it and at a much larger scale. We hope that this partnership will provide the concerted action that we urgently need to secure the long term survival of species.”
The Friends of Target 12 initiative aims to bring together the knowledge and experience of government institutions, intergovernmental, non-governmental and community-based organizations, academic and professional networks and private sector companies working to conserve species and ensure their sustainable use. It will offer practical advice to countries on how to better protect species, providing a common space for its partners to share and build on their previous conservation successes.
“As a member of the Friends of Target 12 initiative, TRAFFIC’s expertise on the global wildlife trade will strengthen the partnership’s efforts in addressing the critical trade issues affecting many of the world’s threatened wildlife species,” said Roland Melisch, TRAFFIC’s Senior Programme Director for Africa and Europe.
Out of 65,518 species currently assessed by The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, 1,173 are Extinct or Possibly Extinct and 20,219 are threatened. However, as demonstrated by several of the Friends of Target 12 organizations, successful conservation action can bring species back from the brink of extinction. Examples include the Greater One-horned Rhino Rhinoceros unicornis, Lear’s Macaw Anodorhynchus leari, Arabian Oryx Oryx leucoryx, California Condor Gymnogyps californianus and Przewalski’s Horse Equus ferus.
“Many organizations and institutions around the world are contributing to the protection of species and are supporting the implementation of Target 12,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary. “This partnership brings them together and enhances the support that we can provide to CBD Parties to finally move from words to implementation of the Aichi biodiversity targets.”
The partnership is officially supported by the CBD and currently has 21 partners.
Notes
Current Friends of Target 12 partners:
• Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE)
• BirdLife International
• Bern Convention
• Conservation International (CI)
• Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
• Chico Mendes Institute for Conservation of Biodiversity, Ministry of the Environment of Brazil (ICMBio)
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)
• IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC)
• IUCN SSC Primates Specialist Group (PSG)
• IUCN SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG)
• Island Conservation
• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar)
• SOS—Save Our Species (SOS)
• TRAFFIC
• United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)
• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
• WWF
• Zoological Society of London (ZSL)
• Zoo Outreach Organization (India)
More information about the commitments of partners to Friends of Target 12
About the Aichi Biodiversity Targets
The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in 2010 in Nagoya, Japan, adopted the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 with the purpose of inspiring broad-based action in support of biodiversity over the next decade by all countries and stakeholders. The Strategic Plan is comprised of a shared vision, a mission, strategic goals and 20 ambitious yet achievable targets, collectively known as the Aichi Targets. The Strategic Plan serves as a flexible framework for the establishment of national and regional targets and it promotes the coherent and effective implementation of the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Aichi Biodiversity Target 12: By 2020, the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.
Though some extinctions are the result of natural processes, human actions have greatly increased current extinction rates. Reducing the threat of human-induced extinction requires action to address the direct and indirect drivers of change (see the Aichi Targets under Goals A and B of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020) and can belong term processes. However, imminent extinctions of known threatened species can in many cases be prevented by protecting important habitats (such as Alliance for Zero Extinction sites) or by addressing the specific direct causes of the decline of these species (such as overexploitation, invasive alien species, pollution and disease).
This target has two components:
• Preventing extinction – Preventing further extinction entails that those species which are currently threatened do not move into the extinct category. Of the more 19,000 species known to be threatened globally, more than 3,900 are classified as Critically Endangered. Critically Endangered species are considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
• Improving the conservation status of threatened species - An improvement in conservation status would entail a species increasing in population to a point where it moves into a lower threat status. Using the IUCN criteria a species would no longer be considered as threatened once it moved into the Near Threatened category.
More information: www.cbd.int/sp
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