Do we have the energy to save the gorilla?

UNEP 22 May 09;

Bonn, 22 May 2009 - An omnipresent yet invisible threat to gorillas and their habitats, as well as to countless other species, is the ever-growing human demand for energy and its consequences.

Charcoal production is a major threat to gorilla forests in many areas, not least the Mountain Gorilla habitat in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. To reduce this threat, solar cookers, tree-planting on farms and the spread of fuel-efficient stoves are needed. The Year of the Gorilla (YoG) is supporting a project in the Mountain Gorillas' range which enables local residents to purchase highly fuel-efficient stoves for a low price, thereby enabling them to use less firewood, which is often taken from the very same forests that are home to the gorillas.

This threat manifests itself also through fossil fuel extraction. Oil exploration in Petit Loango wetland, Gabon, put Western Lowland Gorillas in peril, but prospecting luckily did not yield results to justify further action. The search for nuclear fuel can have similar effects.

Robert Hepworth, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of wild animals (UNEP/CMS), said: "Stopping the current overexploitation of natural resources is a key element of any strategy leading to a sustainable way of living. The forests and woodlands of Africa must play a central role in efforts to avoid dangerous climate change. There is a strong scientific case for carbon finance to make significant contributions to gorilla conservation, as gorilla range states would benefit financially from protecting their forests."

A further worrying development is the fact that many gorilla range states are signing land deals with foreign companies for agriculture, including bio-fuels. On top of destroying the habitat of numerous species, forest degradation also means palm oil, an edible oil found in one in ten supermarket products and also increasingly being seen as a profitable bio-fuel, has a higher carbon footprint than the fossil fuels it is supposed to replace.

Beyond the immediate impact of these industries, the influx of relatively well-paid workers who can afford to frequently eat meat causes bushmeat trade to boom and gorillas to decline, as happened with the Coltan boom in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2000/2001.

Apes and other large mammals are keystone species in their ecosystems, dispersing billions of seeds, which have higher germination and seedling survival rates than seeds that just fall to ground. Ian Redmond OBE, Ambassador for the YoG said, "I am proud to be an Ambassador for the YoG. Fascinating though gorillas are because of their similarities to humans, we also need to focus on their key ecological role. They are second only to elephants in the number of seeds dispersed per unit area, and symbolise the fate of the Congo Basin forests, which the planet needs for climate stability. Save the gorillas and you save the world!"

Viewed globally, degradation and destruction of habitats not only threaten gorillas, they also worsen climate change overall. Tropical trees in undisturbed forest are absorbing nearly a fifth of the CO2 released by burning fossil fuels. The world's remaining tropical forests remove 4.8 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere each year. This includes a previously unknown carbon sink in Africa, mopping up 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2.

Numerous threats endanger gorillas' survival. Together with the other great apes, they are most severely threatened by: habitat loss and fragmentation; hunting and the bushmeat trade; diseases and epidemics; mining; and the effects of armed conflicts. This is why the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS), the UNEP/UNESCO Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) have joined forces to declare 2009 the Year of the Gorilla.

Angela Meder of the German gorilla conservation NGO Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe e.V. said: "This year, we celebrate our 25th anniversary. Our organization supports gorilla conservation projects through quick, unbureaucratic help. For example we are currently supporting the reforestation of a montane forest on the edge of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo."

Notes to Editors

The main threats to gorillas are hunting for food and traditional medicine, destruction of habitat through logging, mining and unsustainable production of charcoal, as well as the effects of armed conflicts and diseases like Ebola. Concerted conservation and restoration efforts focus on saving gorilla populations in the wild and their habitats. However, gorillas remain on the brink of extinction, and continue to face severe threats.

In 2006, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) requested the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, in partnership with the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), and in consultation with the gorilla range states and GRASP members, to develop a gorilla conservation agreement, to be implemented via a regional, transborder Action Plan.

The agreement, which came into effect in June 2008 and has so far been signed by six of the ten gorilla range states, provides a legal framework that will reinforce and integrate conservation efforts. Supporting the implementation of the Gorilla Agreement is the overarching goal of the Year of the Gorilla 2009.

www.yog2009.org
www.cms.int

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UNEP launches new 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership website

UNEP On 22 May 2009: the 16th International Day for Biodiversity

Cambridge, 22 May 2009 – The 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (2010 BIP) is a global initiative funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) that brings together over 40 international organizations to develop biodiversity indicators and assess biodiversity loss. The 2010 BIP Secretariat, hosted by the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, will launch a new version of its website on the International Day for Biological Diversity: 22 May 2009.

The website (http://www.twentyten.net) will be a unique portal to provide comprehensive information on global biodiversity indicators and trends; with an emphasis on reporting towards the "2010 Biodiversity Target".

The theme of 2009 International Day for Biodiversity (IDB) is Invasive Alien Species - which present one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and the ecological and economic well-being of society. Each year the cost of damage caused by invasive species is estimated to be in the region of US$ 1.4 trillion. (Information: Global Invasive Species Programme, www.gisp.org).

This year's International Day of Biodiversity marks the countdown to the publication of the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3). The publication will be launched on IDB (22 May) 2010, which has been designated as the International Year of Biodiversity the United Nations. Over the next year the 2010 BIP partners will be working together to produce indicator results and storylines for inclusion in this publication.

In April 2002, 191 nations committed themselves to "achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth" at the 6th Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biodiversity. The 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership was established in a response to this target, to develop and promote the biodiversity indicators selected by the CBD for measuring progress towards this target.

The 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership is a global initiative to track progress towards achieving the "2010 biodiversity target" to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.

The 2010 BIP is a collaboration of over 40 international organizations and agencies developing global biodiversity indicators and is the leading source of information on trends in global biodiversity.

The three main objectives of the 2010 BIP are:

1. To generate information on biodiversity trends that is useful to decision makers.

2. To ensure improved global biodiversity indicators are implemented and available.

3. To establish links between biodiversity initiatives at the regional and national levels to enable capacity building and improve the delivery of the biodiversity indicators.

The website should be available in all six languages of the United Nations later in the year

Quotations / comment available from:

Dr Damon Stanwell-Smith, Project Coordinator, 2010 BIP

Dr. Matt Walpole, Head of Ecosystem Assessment Programme, UNEP-WCMC

Ms. Anna Chenery, Communications Focal Point, 2010 BIP

Other 2010 BIP, UNEP-WCMC and/or GEF representatives

About UNEP

The United Nations Environment Programme, established in 1972, is the voice for the environment within the United Nations system. UNEP acts as a catalyst, advocate, educator and facilitator to promote the wise use and sustainable development of the global environment. To accomplish this, UNEP works with a wide range of partners, including United Nations entities, international organisations, national governments non-governmental organisations, the private sector and civil society.

About GEF

The Global Environment Facility, established in 1991, unites 178 countries in partnership with international institutions, non-government organisations and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. Today the GEF is the largest funding organisation of projects to improve the global environment. An independent financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants. Since 1991, GEF has achieved a strong track record with developing countries and countries with economies in transition, providing US$8.3 billion in grants and leveraging US$33.7 billion in co-financing for over than 2,200 projects in more than 165 countries.

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"Alien" pests wreak vast economic damage: U.N.

Alister Doyle, Reuters 21 May 09;

OSLO (Reuters) - Many governments are ignoring alien invasive species such as weeds or rats that may be causing $1.4 trillion damage a year to the world economy, the head of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) said on Friday.

"Time to get tough on alien species," UNEP head Achim Steiner wrote of insects, fungi, algae and other plants or animals often taken unwittingly by humans to new habitats, for instance in grain exports or in ships' ballast water.

Alien species may be "one of the least known threats to biodiversity and economies," he wrote in a statement to mark International Biological Diversity Day on May 22.

"Far too many countries have failed to grasp the threat or are far too casual in their response," he said, praising countries including South Africa for eradication programs or New Zealand for imposing tough customs controls.

He noted that one study put the cost of alien invasive species at $1.4 trillion a year -- almost 5 percent of the world economy -- split between losses from introduced pests in crops, pastures and forests and other environmental damage.

"The $1.4 trillion ... is still credible today," David Pimentel, a professor at Cornell University in the United States who led a 2001 study that came up with the number, told Reuters when asked if he might now revise the figure.

"I would rank agricultural weeds as number one and rats as number two," he wrote in an e-mail, asked to name what he reckoned the most destructive aliens, which can thrive in new habitats when freed of natural predators.

CHOKING HYACINTH

Among examples, Steiner pointed to the water hyacinth, a native of the Amazon basin with large violet flowers that has exploded in numbers since it was brought to Africa as an ornamental plant.

In Uganda alone, the hyacinths cause annual costs of perhaps $112 million, by forming a floating mat choking parts of Lake Victoria since 1990. Impacts include reduced fish catches and clogging propellers of ships.

And in sub-Saharan Africa, the invasive witchweed causes annual maize losses totaling about $7 billion a year, he said.

A project to curb invasive species in Europe, DAISIE, reckons there are more than 11,000 invaders of which 15 percent cause economic damage.

Aliens species "are spread from one continent to another via the global agricultural, horticultural and pet trades or by hitch-hiking lifts in ballast water and on ship's hulls," Steiner wrote, saying the "free ride" had to end.

"Globalization and international trade will, when the world economy recovers, increase the chances of new aliens to travel from one part of the world to another," he added.

(Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Leopard cats and racoons could become invasive species in UK

Snapping turtles that kill ducklings, geese that are attacking other birds and an African clawed toad are some of the foreign species identified by scientists which could invade England and threaten native species.
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 21 May 09;

Invasive species such as the grey squirrel, American mink and Muntjack deer are already causing havoc in many areas of the country.

Now Natural England fear a whole new generation of foreign species could take over in Britain. In a new report 84 out of 161 animal species were identified as posing a risk.

Animals that are already in the country include the agressive snapping turtle from North America that will take young wild fowl, the Egyptian goose that is known to usurp the nests of barn owls and the African clawed toad that threatens endangered native amphibians.

The scientists also identified animals that are already circulating as pets or could be transported accidentally through foreign imports that would pose a "high risk" to British wildlife if they are released. The list includes leopard cats, racoons, American beaver, Arctic fox, marbled crayfish and Asian longhorn beetle

Poul Christensen, Acting Chair for Natural England, blamed ease of travel that means aninmals are being spread through imported plants, by tourists and even on the bottom of boats.

"It is no exaggeration to say that our native wildlife is increasingly exposed to its own form of globalisation as non-native species increasingly gain a foothold," he said.

Mr Christensen said the report highlighted species like the red-eared terrapin and eagle owl, that are already causing a problems as well as more exotic species like the Arctic fox and American beaver that are controlled at the moment but could pose a risk in the future.

"Non-native invasive species compete for food and habitat and sometimes carry viruses which our native wildlife often cannot fight off - the fate of our red squirrels, water voles and native bluebells is evidence of how dramatic the effects can be," he said.

"The report highlights that new arrivals and the steady expansion of current populations of non-native species could have significant impacts on native wildlife and their habitats, disrupting the normal functioning of the natural environment. The key will be to anticipate where the main changes are likely to occur so that we can take targeted action to reduce their impacts."

Some of the species identified by the Natural England report as posing a threat to British wildlife include:

Snapping turtles - Originally from the south east of the United States of America, it was released by pet owners and has been blamed for taking fish and young waterfowl.

African clawed toad - Feeds mainly on fresh water crustaceans but it is feared it will also take tadpoles of native species.

Leopard cat - Currenly kept as a pet or in animal parks in the UK. If the small cat from Asia was released it would threaten native birds and mammals.

Raccoons - The animals from North America are kept as pets but could become as problematic as the grey squirrel for trees and the native red squirrel if allowed to spread in the wild.

Asian longhorn beetle - The insect from China has already caused problems for trees in the US and could be accidentally imported into the UK on popular garden plants.

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US forestry officials on urgent mission: Beetles

David Tirrell-wysocki, Associated Press Yahoo News 22 May 09;

CONCORD, N.H. – Forestry officials in the Northeast are on an urgent mission, tracking thousands of Massachusetts residents as they search for tree-eating stowaway insects they may have carried to campgrounds or vacation homes.

The culprit is the Asian longhorned beetle that has devastated trees in Worcester, Mass., and surrounding communities. The fear is that some have hitched rides into other states in firewood carried by campers or owners of seasonal homes.

"As far as New England is concerned, you should consider the Asian longhorned beetle Public Enemy Number 1," said Suzanne Bond, spokeswoman for the U.S. Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The Asian longhorned beetle is particularly troublesome because, unlike most insects that feed on one or two types of trees, it eats virtually all hardwoods. In New England, that puts a major part of the economy at risk: from lumber, to the cherished and very lucrative fall foliage that attracts visitors from around the world, to the maple trees that produce maple syrup.

So severe is the threat, that forestry officials in all six New England states, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as USDA, are studying camper registrations to find out where Worcester-area residents have been. Then, assuming that many brought their own potentially infested firewood, observers will head into the woods this summer to look for signs of the beetle.

Wary states also are checking property records to learn where Worcester-area residents own second homes or hunting camps.

"We will be sending a questionnaire soon, asking if they brought firewood or landscape material to that recreation home in the past 10 years," said New Hampshire Forest Health Manager Kyle Lombard. So far, they have found 300 properties in just 40 New Hampshire towns.

"I imagine the total number for all of New England is in the thousands," he said.

He said the risk from second homes is even greater than from campers, who tend to burn their wood in a few days.

"Think about all of the firewood that comes to a second home and just sits at the side of the house for three months," he said. "Everything that's in that firewood emerges and flies into the woods."

Threats from insects have prompted more than a dozen states to ban out-of-state firewood or even moving it long distances within the same state. New Hampshire will join them next month when it bans out-of-state firewood at federal and state-owned campgrounds, except prepackaged, kiln-dried wood marked with its place of origin.

Surveys have shown at least 25 percent of campers in New Hampshire bring firewood with their camping gear — from as far away as California.

"Firewood is usually firewood for a reason," Lombard said. "It's usually the junky, nasty, dead trees in someone's yard that they cut down and don't know what to do with. They are junky, dead trees for a reason, usually because they are infested with something."

Using the 25 percent figure, Vermont estimates that 450 Worcester-area campers brought firewood to state campgrounds between 2002-2008, during the infestation, but before it was discovered.

There have been three other infestations in the United States — New York City in 1996; Chicago in 1998; and New Jersey in 2004 — but the Worcester infestation is by far the largest ever found outside the bug's native China. Crews have cut down more than 20,000 infested trees in and around Worcester since the beetle was detected last August.

"We haven't seen a threat like this to our forests probably since the chestnut blight in the early 1900s" that virtually wiped out American chestnut trees, said Lombard.

Officials believe the infestation in Worcester grew undetected for a decade, leaving a huge opportunity for the beetle to travel far beyond its normal range of a city block to a half mile.

"That's a lot of wood taken to vacation homes," said Bond. "That's' a lot of wood taken on camping trips. That's a lot of wood moved to gramma's house, so the po

tential that this insect has spread from the Worcester area is significant."

In fact, Mike Bohne, the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Health group leader in New England, said they assume the beetle has escaped Worcester.

"Now, it's a question of how far has it gone and where is it?" he said.

Other states have faced similar problems with other pests.

In Minnesota, state surveys have shown about half of the vehicles that visit parks overnight carry firewood. In 2005, that meant about 50,000 loads of wood potentially infected with the emerald ash borer, which has infested 10 states and two Canadian provinces.

Because of that infestation, Maryland previously sent letters to hundreds of Ohio and Michigan residents who own land in forested western Maryland, urging them to leave their wood at home.

A coalition of government and private groups is working to spread the word about leaving firewood at home.

Leigh Greenwood of the Nature Conservancy said moving firewood causes problems all over the country, threatening everything from oak trees in northern California to avocado crops in Florida.

Through Web sites and social networking, the groups hope to spread the word nationwide, especially because their research shows the people most familiar with the Internet also tend to be those who need to hear the message: 18-to-29-year-olds.

"They are the kind of person who packs up the pickup, tosses some firewood in to save a little bit of money then drives 400 miles," Greenwood said.

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China plastic bag ban 'has saved 1.6m tonnes of oil'

China Chain Store and Franchise Association say year-old ban has significantly reduced waste and helped change attitudes
Jonathan Watts, guardian.co.uk 22 May 09;

Banning flimsy plastic bags has been dismissed as a drop in the ocean when it comes to dealing with the world's environment problems, but multiplied on a China scale, it appears to have made a big difference.

A new report suggests restrictions on bag usage in the world's most populous nation have saved the equivalent of 1.6 million tonnes of oil, in the year since it was introduced.

Just ahead of the first anniversary of the ban, the China Chain Store and Franchise Association estimated it had saved the country 40 billion plastic bags.

According to their survey, plastic bag use has fallen by two thirds as consumers grow accustomed to bringing their own reusable bags.

The ban was introduced on 1 June 2008 to reduce "white pollution" – the popular term for plastic bags and styrofoam packaging. Under the new rules, the state forbade production of ultra-thin bags under 0.025mm thick and ordered supermarkets to stop giving away free carriers.

That surprise move – which went further than anything done by the US, the UK and many other developed nations – was hailed by Greenpeace, Earthwatch and other green groups as a sign of growing environmental awareness in China. It also lead to the closure of the state's biggest plastic bag manufacturer.

Although the ban is often flouted, particularly at street stalls and small shops, it is widely praised for helping to change attitudes.

"It has made an impression," said recent graduate Xuyang Jingjing. "I see more people carrying 'green bags' to supermarkets these days. But I think if the government really wants people to stop using plastic bags, it should have the shops giving out green bags for free."

But there is a long way to go. China produces a million tonnes of rubbish a day with the volume looks set to rise.

China Reports 66-Percent Drop in Plastic Bag Use
Ben Block, World Watch Institute 18 Jun 09;

A strict Chinese limit on ultra-thin plastic bags significantly reduced bag-related pollution nationwide during the past year. The country avoided the use of 40 billion bags, according to government estimates.

Plastic bags are commonly found in waterways, on beaches, and in other "unofficial" dumping sites across China. Litter caused by the notorious bags has been referred to as "white pollution."

The State Council, China's parliament, responded in January 2008 by prohibiting shops, supermarkets, and sales outlets from providing free plastic bags that are less than 0.025 millimeters thick.

The State Administration of Industry and Commerce also threatened to fine shopkeepers and vendors as much as 10,000 yuan (US$1,465) if they were caught distributing free bags.

In its first review of the ban, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced earlier this month that supermarkets reduced plastic bag usage by 66 percent since the policy became effective last June. The limit in bag production saved China 1.6 million tons of petroleum, the NDRC estimated.

Prior to the ban, an estimated 3 billion plastic bags were used daily across China, creating more than 3 million tons of garbage each year. China consumed an estimated 5 million tons (37 million barrels) of crude oil annually to produce plastics for packaging.

The China Chain Store and Franchise Association undertook an analysis of the ban as well. The association announced earlier this month that foreign-owned and local supermarkets reduced plastic bag usage by 80 and 60 percent, respectively.

"Supermarket consumers are used to bringing along shopping bags and reusing plastic bags," an association statement said. "The awareness of environment is enhanced. The declined usage of plastic bags has no negative effect on the sales of supermarkets."

But compliance with the ban appears to be inconsistent across the country. A survey by Global Village, a Beijing-based environmental group, found that more than 80 percent of retail stores in rural regions continued to provide plastic bags free of charge.

The survey also found that nearly 96 percent of open food markets throughout Beijing continued to provide bags. The policy exempts the use of plastic packaging for raw meat and noodles for hygiene and safety reasons.

The commerce administration enforced the ban through a 600,000-strong army of regulators who inspected some 250,000 retail stores or markets, according to China Daily. The regulators dispensed about 2 million yuan (US$293,000) of fines.

Suiping Huaqiang Plastic, a 20,000-employee bag manufacturer, experienced the ban's economic effects almost immediately. The company went out of business last year, soon after the government announced the plastic bag policy.

Despite backlash from the plastics industry, numerous countries and cities worldwide have adopted bag limits in recent years. Mumbai, India, banned thin plastic bags in 2000 to prevent garbage from clogging storm drains during monsoon season. Bans or taxes have since been adopted in localities including Australia, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, and various U.S. cities. In Tanzania, selling a thin plastic bag risks the maximum penalty of six months in jail and a 1.5 million shilling (US$1,170) fine.

Depnding on its composition, plastic debris can require more than a century to decompose, gradually breaking down into smaller pieces over time. The Pacific Ocean is home to a floating heap of debris estimated to be twice the size of France and to weigh at least 3 million tons.

The world's plastic debris and other refuse is often digested by wildlife and kills an estimated 1 million seabirds per year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The agency reported earlier this month that plastic, especially plastic bags and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles, accounts for more than 80 percent of marine litter, the most common source worldwide. The report was the first assessment of marine debris in the world's 12 major sea regions.

Plastics can also damage boats, fishing gear, and agricultural facilities. Phasing-out thin plastic bags at the source is often regarded as a cheaper alternative than removing the debris later by hand or machine, UNEP said.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner has recommended that all countries ban thin plastic bags. "Some of the litter, like thin-film single-use plastic bags which choke marine life, should be banned or phased-out rapidly everywhere," Steiner said in a statement earlier this month. "There is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere."

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Australia's forests poised for CO2 trade boom

Reuters 22 May 09;

(Reuters) - Forests soak up planet-warming carbon dioxide gas as they grow and planting large stands of trees is one strategy that carbon-polluting firms hope will offset emissions from industry and transport.

Emissions trading laws before the Australian parliament, if passed in coming weeks, would allow the nation's forestry sector to be the first to operate under the scheme from July 1 next year, giving it a competitive advantage.

Here are some facts about Australia's forestry sector and how it will operate under the planned emissions trading scheme.

HOW LARGE IS AUSTRALIA'S FORESTRY SECTOR?

Forests cover nearly 21 percent of Australia's landmass, sprawling over about 150 million hectares (375 million acres). Of this, 147.4 million ha are native forests and nearly two million ha are plantations. About 800,000 ha of plantations are dedicated to carbon sequestration, a process of locking carbon away in natural structures.

The sector employs about 77,000 people with total economic turnover of A$19 billion.

Under the federal government's 2020 Vision, there is a national target to increase the area of commercial plantations to 3 million ha over the next decade.

HOW MUCH CARBON DO PLANTATIONS LOCK AWAY?

This varies greatly, depending on the location, tree species and climate. For some species of native eucalypts, it can be any where between 10,000 and 40,000 tonnes per annum per 1,000 ha.

At present, Australian plantations soak up 20 million tonnes of CO2 each year but there is huge potential to increase this if emissions trading laws pass parliament. This would set a national carbon price and the tougher the carbon reduction target, the greater the likely incentive to invest in forests.

Government projections estimate the growth in land under forestry could provide a cumulative net carbon sink of between 1.3 billion and 4.3 billion tonnes of CO2 from 2005 to 2050, depending on the carbon price and targets.

HOW ARE CARBON OFFSETS ISSUED?

At present, forestry firms can only issue voluntary carbon market credits called verified emissions reductions, or VERs, and these are issued based on a calculated annual amount of carbon a plantation locks away.

Forestry firms use complex carbon accounting methods to monitor and verify the carbon reductions. These methods must meet national standards, such as the federal government's Greenhouse Friendly scheme or state-based rules, such as the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Certificates scheme and the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol.

For example, under Kyoto, an eligible forest must have a potential crown cover of at least 20 percent of the area occupied by the stand; has been established by direct human efforts; and is on land that, as at 31 December 1989, was clear of trees with a potential height of at least two meters and a potential crown cover of at least 20 percent.

Native forests will not be initially included in national emissions trading.

HOW WILL FORESTRY WORK UNDER EMISSIONS TRADING?

The final regulations have yet to be announced but an eligible forest would have a carbon permit life of 130 years. This means a plantation owner must guarantee the carbon underpinning the permit for 130 years.

For commercial production forests, owners would have to ensure that somewhere in the forest estate there is enough carbon sitting there to underpin the carbon permit for 130 years.

(Sources: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (www.daff.gov.au/ ); Department of Climate Change (www.climatechange.gov.au ); National Association of Forest Industries (www.nafi.com.au/site/ )

(Writing by David Fogarty; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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In Brazil, extreme weather stokes climate worries

Stuart Grudgings, Reuters 21 May 09;

ILHA GRANDE, Brazil (Reuters) - No one could say they hadn't seen it coming.

The sand dunes had been advancing for decades before, two years ago, they finally swallowed the houses of Raimundo do Nascimento and 12 other families in Ilha Grande, an island in the Parnaiba river delta in northeastern Brazil.

Standing on the 14-meter (46-feet)-high dune that now completely covers his old home, the 53-year-old Do Nascimento describes the landscape of his childhood -- cashew trees as far as he could see. Not a dune in sight.

"It is beautiful now, but beauty brings misery," he said. "The cause of this is natural, but it is man-made as well."

Experts blame deforestation and population increases for the huge dunes that are advancing by about 25 meters (82 feet) a year, threatening to wipe the town of 8,500 people off the map. But they and residents also blame stronger winds and drier weather in recent years.

"The wind has been getting stronger. It is the motor of this process," said Luiz Roberto del Poggetto, an oceanographer whose firm was contracted by the government to find ways to contain the dunes.

A bout of extreme weather has reignited a debate about how climate change is affecting Latin America's largest country, home to most of the world's biggest rain forest and one of the world's bread baskets.

Unusually heavy rains in the north and northeast have made hundreds of thousands of people homeless and killed about 45. Meanwhile, southern Brazil has been hit by a series of droughts, devastating farmers and cutting by a third the flow of water over the famed Iguacu waterfalls.

LULA CONCERN

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has expressed concern.

"Brazil is feeling climate changes that are happening in the world, when there is a severe drought in a place that didn't have them, when it rains in places where it didn't used to," Lula said in a recent radio broadcast.

While the exact effect of climate change is hard to measure due to a lack of historical data, it appears to be a factor in the extreme droughts and floods of recent years.

"We are seeing the warming and we are seeing conditions in many parts of the country that appear to be associated," said Carlos Nobre, a senior climate scientist at Brazil's National Institute of Space Research.

Southern states have suffered droughts in seven of the past 11 years and the first hurricane recorded in Brazil hit the southern coast in 2004. The Amazon area had its worst drought in decades in 2005.

Warming also plays a key role in models of a so-called "tipping point" in which drier weather and deforestation combine to turn much of the Amazon forest into a savanna and possibly cut the flow of rain to southern farming states.

Daniel Nepstad, a senior ecologist and Amazon specialist at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in San Francisco, said about half of the forest was "teetering on the edge" of not having enough water to survive the more intense dry seasons.

The drying process, which raises the amount of destruction by fires, was on course to release about 20 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere over the next two decades, he said, about twice the current annual total of global emissions.

"It's just really strange the weather we are seeing," he said. "If you talk to indigenous tribes ... they describe in detail how the rain has changed."

CHANGE OF HEART

One study used in government planning estimates that the Amazon area will heat up by as much as 6-8 degrees Celsius (10.8-14.4 Fahrenheit) by 2100, resulting in a 20 percent reduction in rainfall.

Average temperatures in Brazil have risen 0.8 degrees Celsius (1.4 Fahrenheit) over the past 50 years.

"We are already not talking of change as something in the future, but about something that is going on," said Roberto Smeraldi, Amazon director for Friends of the Earth.

After years of reluctance, Brazil's government has shown more willingness to discuss curbing its carbon emissions.

As well as agriculture, the hydro-power that provides 85 percent of Brazil's energy will suffer as river levels fall.

Brazil, the fourth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases due largely to Amazon deforestation, has said it is ready to adopt emissions targets and aims to be a key negotiator at talks in Copenhagen in December to agree on a new global climate treaty.

Parts of the south this year had their driest April since 1929, forcing more than 300 towns to declare a state of emergency. Crop losses in the three states of Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Parana from this year's drought are estimated at more than $1.5 billion.

"There's a very good chance that the rains that nourish the grain belt depend upon the Amazon," said Nepstad.

FAT COWS, THIN COWS

Yet the exact effects of climate change remain hard to pinpoint. Another possible cause of the recent weather extremes is the so-called La Nina effect characterized by unusually cold temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.

Even in southern Parana state, among the worst hit, the causes of the dry spells of recent years remain uncertain. Elci Dalgalo, a corn, soy and wheat farmer, said most farmers believed they were a natural phenomenon.

"As my grandfather and father would say, it's seven years of thin cows and seven years of fat cows. Now we have thin cows," he said.

In Ilha Grande, weather changes might be caused by warmer ocean temperatures. During the dry season that peaks in August, residents fight a losing battle to keep sand out of their hair, food and houses. Twenty-seven homes have been buried in the past four years, town officials said.

"In six years, the town will be finished," said Del Poggetto, the oceanographer.

Almost in the shadow of a towering dune, 38-year-old fisherman Valdecir Rodrigues de Souza said he and his family would have to flee the advancing sand within a year or two. It was an unlikely place to find a climate-change skeptic.

"Don't listen to what they say -- this is natural," he said, standing in his garden with his three young children.

(Editing by Alan Elsner and Todd Benson)

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African coastal populations at risk from rising sea levels

Irin, Saturday Nation 22 May 09;

NAIROBI: Several large African cities are at risk from rising sea levels and intense storms, experts warn.

Poor neighbourhoods and slums in Bugama and Okrika in Nigeria, Freetown in Sierra Leone, Bathurst in the Gambia and Tanga in Tanzania, are especially vulnerable.

In such low-income urban centres, infrastructure is often non-existent or ill-maintained while storm-water drainage infrastructure is often outdated and inadequate, according to a World Bank report titled Sea level Rise and Storm Surges.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a trend has emerged since the mid-1970s where storms tend to last longer and become more intense, with a strong correlation to the rise in tropical sea surface temperature.

In sub-Saharan Africa, storm surge zones are concentrated in Madagascar, Mauritania, Mozambique and Nigeria. These countries alone account for about half (53 per cent) of the total increase in the region’s surge zones resulting from sea level rise and intensified storms.

At least three cyclones struck Madagascar between January and April 2009, affecting thousands.

In Mozambique, one of the most vulnerable coastlines in Africa, 15 of the 56 tropical cyclones and tropical storms that entered the Mozambique Channel from 1980 to 2007 made landfall.
Tropical cyclones, also called typhoons and hurricanes, are powerful storms generated over tropical or sub-tropical waters whose impact includes extremely strong winds, torrential rains, high waves and damaging storm surges, leading to extensive flooding.

“Coastal flooding has started to be of concern in the last 10 to 15 years,” Pedro Tomo, director of the Mozambique National Institute for Disaster Management, told IRIN. “Now, a few times each year, there are people who wake up in water.”

In 50 years, Tomo said, some coastal towns will disappear if nothing is done.

Such a scenario would not just displace the population, but also damage economic infrastructure, said Michel Matera, an official of the UN Development Programme in Mozambique.

At least 2.5 million people live in Mozambique’s coastal areas, surviving on rain-fed farming and fishing. But migration to coastal towns is placing more people, infrastructure and services at risk, according to a study by the Mozambique institute.

Researchers project a 3-5 per cent increase in wind speed per degree Celsius increase of tropical sea surface temperatures. “The current understanding is that ocean warming plays a major role in intensified cyclone activity and heightened storm surges,” the study stated.

In a scenario of a high, non-linear sea-level rise due to polar ice melting, Beira (a coastal town) “will be cut off from the interior and will likely become an island...” Maputo’s port, its rail links and oil facilities, which are on an estuary, are also subject to flooding.

Studies show that Mozambique, Ghana and Togo may lose more than 50 per cent of their coastal gross domestic product (GDP), but losses would be highest in Nigeria (US$407.61 million).

Coastal agriculture, in terms of extent of croplands, will be affected 100 per cent in Nigeria, 66.67 per cent in Ghana, and 50 per cent in Togo and Equatorial Guinea.

Mauritania is experiencing the impact of a changing climate exemplified by a steadily creeping desert and other extreme weather events. It is one of the countries likely to be worst affected by intensified storm surges.

Mauritania relies mainly on sand dunes as a natural barrier to control coastal flooding. The dunes cover a 5km stretch into the capital, Nouakchott.

Much of the land in and around Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, is less than 2m above sea level so it, too, is expected to be affected by rising sea levels.

In Cotonou, Benin, the continued advance of the sea, coastal erosion and the rise in sea levels are already threatening vulnerable communities and disrupting the least-protected sensitive ecosystems.

Zanzibar is experiencing marine flooding, partly due to mangrove and coconut plantation felling, said Waride Jabu, director of the disaster management department.

Jabu said high tidal waves were increasing. “So far, no damage to infrastructure has been noted, but the sea seems to be slowly eating the shore.” The Zanzibari disaster department was encouraging reforestation along the coastline.

In Eritrea, trees are being planted on the 1,100km coastline, said Solomon Haile, the director of the planning and statistics division in the Ministry of Agriculture.

More than half the coastal population of Djibouti, Togo, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Sudan would be at risk from intensified storms and rising sea levels, experts say.

According to the Mozambique study, the re-insurance industry has also recognised the need to increase the probability of tropical cyclones making landfall on vulnerable coasts in its risk calculations.

An average 78 million people worldwide are exposed each year to tropical cyclone wind hazard and another 1.6 million to storm surges. In terms of economic exposure, an annual average of $1,284 billion in GDP is exposed to tropical cyclones, according to the 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.

“Currently 10 per cent of the world’s total population and 13 per cent of its urban population live on the 2 per cent of the world’s land area that is less than 10m above sea level,” it stated. “In Africa, 12 percent of the urban population lives in this area.”

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New worries on Arctic permafrost thaw

Alister Doyle, Reuters 22 May 09;

OSLO (Reuters) - A rise in concentrations of a powerful greenhouse gas over the Arctic after a decade of stability is stirring worries about a possible thaw of vast stores trapped in permafrost, experts said.

Levels of methane in the atmosphere rose 0.6 percent in 2008, according to preliminary data from the Zeppelin station on a remote island in the Norwegian Arctic, after a similar 0.6 percent gain in 2007, Norwegian officials said.

The 2007 rise outpaced a global rise in methane of 0.34 percent to a new record high after levels had been stable for about a decade. World data for 2008 are not yet available.

"The biggest worry is that there are emissions from the permafrost, and also from wetlands in the northern region," said Catherine Lund Myhre, senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research.

A thaw of permafrost, such as in Siberia or Canada, could release vast amounts of trapped greenhouse gases and in turn accelerate global warming. "There may be several causes for the rise. Currently it's not solved," she told Reuters.

Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas behind carbon dioxide, accounting for about 18 percent of the heat-trapping greenhouse effect from human activities that might trigger more heatwaves, floods or rising seas.

Methane is emitted from natural sources -- such as from decaying plants in swamps or by termites -- and by human use of fossil fuels, rice paddies, landfills and from the digestive tracts of animals such as cows and sheep.

Paul Fraser, a chief research scientist at the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization, said wetlands, both in the tropics and in the north, seemed a likely source of extra methane after a drier period.

WET TROPICS

Studies indicated that 2007 and 2008 were the wettest years in the tropics for 25 years -- perhaps prompting wetland emissions. High summer temperatures in 2007 in northern regions also led to releases from wetlands, he said.

But he dismissed deeper sources such as permafrost or other frozen deposits, known as clathrates. "Nobody believes that permafrost or deeper methane sources could be involved on such short time scales," he said.

Fraser said the world rise in methane may now be slowing.

"It's difficult to say where the methane is coming from," said Marit Viktoria Pettersen, a senior adviser at the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, of the high Arctic measurements.

"It could be methane from thawing permafrost ... We do not know," she said.

Other possible reasons for high recordings in the Arctic could include a shift in local winds. And new Arctic industrial sources include Russian coal and natural gas activities, or flaring from a StatoilHydro gas field.

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China: rich nations must cut emissions by 40 percent

Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press Yahoo News 21 May 09

SHANGHAI – Wealthy nations, as history's biggest polluters, should cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, China says in a policy document on climate change. The government also rolled out fresh help for solar power and other "green energy."

The reductions China is calling for are based on the principles of "historical responsibility and fairness," the position paper says, and set a hard line ahead of international negotiations on addressing global warming.

A U.N. conference set for December in Copenhagen aims to draft a new agreement on controlling carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases that scientists say are causing the Earth to warm. Delegates will meet in Bonn, Germany, next month to begin discussing the text of that agreement.

China's position paper was posted Thursday on the Web site of the National Development and Planning Commission, the country's main economic planning agency.

Meanwhile, the government announced new support for solar and wind power and other renewable energy sources.

In a meeting Thursday with provincial officials, the Ministry of Finance promised 38 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) in subsidies to promote wider use of wind and solar power and encourage the use of energy efficient cars and appliances, state-run media reported Friday.

China, which relies on heavily polluting coal for about three-quarters of its electricity, has sought to spotlight its efforts to improve energy efficiency and cut emissions, but has not committed to specific targets in climate talks.

The policy document issued this week gave no specific targets for China or other developing countries, but instead reiterated demands for technology transfers and other support.

Rich countries should provide at least 0.5 percent to 1 percent of their annual gross domestic product to help developing countries upgrade technology, cut emissions and adapt to the consequences of climate change, the document said.

China has welcomed President Barack Obama's commitment to tackle climate change and re-engage in the international negotiations to come to an agreement in December.

But despite that shift, "the developed world has yet to do its due part in tackling climate change," the official newspaper China Daily said Friday in a commentary.

"No solution to fight global warming will be genuine enough, and thus practical enough, if developed countries keep glossing over their historical responsibility on this issue," it said.

The U.S. — which also has not issued targets for reducing emissions — has said that any agreement to combat global warming should require developing countries like India and China to reduce emissions.

Together, the U.S. and China are the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, accounting for 40 percent of the global total.

While visiting Prague this week, Premier Wen Jiabao shrugged off pressure from the European Union for China to commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, though he backed EU efforts to reach a new global climate change accord to replace the U.N. Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

The EU says it will reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and will go to 30 percent if major world nations will make similar cuts.

Experts say emissions must peak in 2015 and then fall by half by 2050 to limit global warming.

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Living it up, and lending a hand: luxury voluntourism

Business Times 23 May 09;

The recession is sending a steady stream of high-net-worth travellers down the philanthropic travel and luxury voluntourism routes, despite a slump in global tourism figures. But who's benefiting? By Audrey Phoon

NEXT week, two of Christopher Hill's clients will embark on a trip to Brazil, where they will spend a few days schooling street kids and help renovate a dormitory at a children's home in the city of Campinas in Sao Paulo.

What they will not be doing, however, is roughing it out. Throughout the 15-day trip, the travellers will rest on the plumped-up beds of modish hotels and spend the remainder of their time experiencing the finest of what the surrounding regions have to offer - that is, generally vacationing to a tune seldom heard of in these downturn-muffled days.

The pair are not the only ones to have signed up for such an experience lately. Philanthropic travel or luxury voluntourism - as this upmarket sightsee-cum-do-good travel category is known - is the newest trend in high-end vacationing, and to meet the growing demand a number of organisations proffering it in various forms have recently sprung up.

Apart from Mr Hill's UK-based Hands Up Holidays, which was set up in 2006 and is one of the pioneers in the field, other specialists in swanky philanthropic-minded travel include Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel, which combines 'fundraising learning experiences' with luxe trips to some of the world's most exotic places, and Heart+Passion, which offers upmarket holidays interwoven with medical and care missions.

Top-tier hotel chains such as Fairmont and The Ritz-Carlton began offering their share of high-end help too last year, in the form of the Community Conscious Vacations and Give Back Getaways programmes, respectively. These allow guests to comfortably contribute to the community during their stays: at the Fairmont Winnipeg, for example, guests can assist in building homes for needy families under a scheme that the hotel has developed together with Habitat For Humanity. For a little more than the price of a room, they can purchase a package that includes accommodation at the Fairmont, transportation to and from the building site as well as what will probably be a much-needed amenity kit comprising band-aids, hand cream and access to the hotel's steam room.

Admittedly, philanthropic travel is still on the cusp of travel preferences in Singapore. But there are signs that it is picking up speed - lifestyle group and concierge service Quintessentially, for one, says it has put together a few such packages here. And locals are getting a taste of what such a vacation could be like through The Ritz-Carlton Millenia, which organises regular social visits to St Theresa's Home that are open to non-guests.

What's interesting about this genre of travel is that, even as the United Nations World Tourism Organization reported in March that tourism had dived by nearly 8 per cent earlier this year as compared to the same period in 2008, the figures for philanthropic travel 'continue to grow strongly', note the operators interviewed by BT Weekend.

'The economic recession is helping global citizens realise our vulnerability and awaken to our humility,' declares David Chamberlain, Exquisite Safaris' founder. Either that, or the people who can spend are shelling out for these feel-good vacations that assuage any guilt about spending.

He continues: 'People who have found success in their chosen careers are getting the call to do something more with their lives; to contribute generously to a world desperately in need of their help.'

Siobhan Flanagan, corporate communications manager of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, confirms this. 'Research shows that luxury travellers are looking for experiences that offer value, but that also align with their values,' she says. 'Increasingly, people are refocusing on what's important to them, be it family, friends or community involvement, and (such holidays) provide a simple way to give back to local organisations.'

Hype or heart?

But are these short-term commitments really beneficial to the communities in need? Some individuals, such as IT manager CK Lai, feel that it's a case of the wealthy merely depriving the locals of much-needed jobs. 'By paying for your 'experience' and doing physical tasks, you are probably taking away the job from someone in the community who could really use the money,' he says. 'And if you don't have specific expertise that you can contribute, such as medical training, then you're better off leaving the job to others who do.'

Lawyer and regular volunteer Amy Lee adds: 'Charity work is all about identifying with the cause. A short stint here and there will not do justice to it. It may also not be respectful of the community we have to work with - we should leave the community in a condition that does not make them resentful of their own conditions.'

In any case, volunteer work and living it up luxuriously just don't gel - at least not on the same trip, reckons Ms Lee. 'I would support philanthropic travel - but as much as I love my Conrad Hotels, I must say that part of the fond memories of my charity work is the cheap lodging,' she says. 'It has a very bonding effect on the team. Your memories are unique to you and your team because you suffered together. Staying at the Conrad at the end of the day won't be the same.'

Still, there are others who would argue that philanthropic travel helps draw out vital contributions from those who would otherwise never consider leaving the comfort of their plush homes to contribute to needy communities. Explains Hands Up Holidays' Mr Hill: '(This sort of travel) makes volunteering accessible to people who might otherwise be put off by the perception that you have to 'rough it' to volunteer, or that you have to go and help for long periods of time. And these people frequently have specialist skills such as in marketing, accounting, design and medicine that can be of benefit even with four to five days of volunteering.'

He continues: 'Part of our aim is also to inspire our guests to become long-term donors and passionate advocates for the projects they get involved in, which makes the impact long-term.'

Help or hindrance, what's certain is that philanthropic travel is playing a role in gradually changing mentalities and driving societies towards more community consciousness. And it may also heighten awareness of issues closer to home.

Says Belinda Yap, who visited a home for the elderly last month as part of one of The Ritz-Carlton's Give Back Getaways: 'Even though we only spent a few hours with the residents, we could see they were very happy to have visitors come by to talk to them. After the trip, I realised I should try to spend more time with my own aged parents and include them in more activities.'

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