Prickly Problem: Engineering Mosquitoes to Spread Less Disease without Boosting Virulence

Scientists are creating transgenic mosquitoes with reduced ability to carry the devastating diseases that have plagued much of humanity. But will these modifications also generate more virulent infections?

Charles Q. Choi, Scientific American 21 Aug 09;

Scientists around the world are currently hard at work genetically engineering new strains of mosquitoes that are poor hosts for diseases such as malaria, dengue and yellow fever, in the hopes of cutting down the spread of these germs. New research suggests, however, that although these insects might succeed in reducing the number of infections, they might also inadvertently boost the severity of remaining ones.

Researchers at Yale University and their colleagues investigated dengue, a mosquito-borne virus for which there is no vaccine or cure. Roughly 50 million cases of dengue occur per year, leading to some 500,000 hospitalizations and several thousand deaths annually.

Insecticides are currently used to control dengue, a practice which runs the risk of breeding insecticide-resistant bloodsuckers. One potential alternative strategy, first proposed more than four decades ago, is to introduce genes into mosquitoes to prevent infections—for instance, by interfering with the spread of germs from the insect's gut to its saliva.

After using mathematical models to investigate the potential evolution of dengue virus in response to genetic modifications of mosquitoes, the researchers found that strategies to block transmission of the virus between mosquitoes and humans may create an evolutionary pressure for the dengue to become more virulent—that is, drive up the extent to which the virus exploits its victims. This in turn could make remaining infections more deadly for humans.

The researchers investigated other transgenic approaches toward mosquito control, as well. Ones that reduce mosquito biting—perhaps by decreasing host-seeking behavior—can also run the risk of increasing dengue virulence and thus severity. Strategies that increased mosquito death rates, however, such as use of genes that kill off females or decrease mosquito immunity to infections, do not seem to impact virulence in humans. Similar findings apply to other lethal mosquito-control techniques, such as by infecting them with diseases that bring an early death, the researchers add.

Although the researchers focused on dengue, "nothing about the mathematical model is specific to dengue, so its results can apply to malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases, as well," says researcher Jan Medlock, an applied mathematician now at Clemson University in South Carolina.

"If we could stop malaria, dengue and yellow fever, there would be incredible benefits for humanity, so these strategies are definitely worth exploring very slowly and carefully," Medlock adds. "On the other hand, there is a long history of introductions of new animals to ecosystems that have been disastrous and often irreversible, such as the introduction of mongooses onto the Hawaiian Islands, and there's always the concern that modified mosquitoes might lead to a similar story by making dengue irreparably worse. This is something scientists are aware needs careful thought."

Medlock notes there are still points of uncertainty in the work, such as whether the dengue virus could evolve fast enough to avoid eradication. "There's tons of research yet that could be done," he says.

Geneticist Luke Alphey of the University of Oxford and its spin-off biotechnology company Oxitec in England who did not participate in this study notes, "It is extremely helpful to have theoretical analyses to give a view of the evolutionary responses that viruses might have, so you can monitor for incipient changes and hopefully do something about the design of your strategy." He and his colleagues are pursuing a transgenic mosquito strategy that employs sterile males as competition for wild males over mates, hopefully leading to smaller populations of the insects.

Alphey adds: "There are insecticides and other interventions used against dengue that are not transgenic but apply similar kinds of evolutionary pressures on the virus, and it would be very interesting to see if there's any data from the field with those interventions for the kinds of effects this study here suggests might appear."

Medlock and his colleagues will detail their findings in the October issue of The American Naturalist.

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Formula Zero (carbon): Motor racing without the emissions

The Independent 21 Aug 09;

The thrill of motor racing without the emissions? It's not just hot air, Michael McCarthy discovers

It felt like a sudden glimpse of the future. Environmentally-friendly motor racing came to Britain with the first outing of a championship series with a difference – Formula Zero.

At a track in Surrey, teams from Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain competed in souped-up machines of an entirely new sort: they were all emissions-free.

While Formula One brings thrills, tension, high-speed cornering and nail-biting competitiveness, Formula Zero bids to do all that without the biggest drawback of every motor vehicle – the carbon dioxide coming out of the tailpipe and helping to cause climate change.

Its cars run on electric motors powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and all that comes out of their exhausts is water vapour.

It is the vision of two Dutchmen, Godert van Hardenbroek and Eelco Rietveld, who may well be the Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley of the future, although at the moment they are starting small: rather than putting out 200mph monsters they are using go-karts which reach about 45mph on a track that would comfortably fit inside half a football field (but is difficult to master because of its tight corners).

However, they are single-mindedly ambitious, and hope to be racing full-sized cars by 2011 and, perhaps, eventually to replace Formula One itself as automotive technology becomes less and less dependent on the petrol engine. They own the Formula Zero brand.

"Carbon-free motor racing is just as entertaining, I have no doubt about it," Mr van Hardenbroek, a 40-year-old former designer from Utrecht, said yesterday at Britain's first Formula Zero meeting at Mytchett in Surrey. "My ambition is to become the dominant force in all of motor racing and eventually replace Formula One, although how quickly that happens depends on the market [for carbon-free cars]."

It may sound a bit over the top until you start to think about how quickly electric vehicle development is now moving, with high-performance sports cars such as the Tesla Roadster (0 – 60 in 3.9 seconds) already in production – then it doesn't seem nearly so much of a fantasy. Mr van Hardenbroek said nobody knew if electric machines could eventually match fully the high speeds and endurance of present Formula One supercars, but he thought it was possible.

Besides the lack of end-of-pipe pollution, another striking difference with Formula Zero is that the cars' engines are virtually silent, their only sound being the noise of the tyres on the track – the screaming whine which is one of Formula One's trademarks is missing completely. Mr van Hardenbroek said: "Sure, some people may miss the sound of screaming engines, but a new generation will be completely thrilled with the sound our cars make. I would compare it to pop music. There's always a generation which rejects the sounds of their parents."

He and Mr Rietveld had the idea for Formula Zero a decade ago when they attended a conference on sustainable entrepreneurship and saw a delegate buy a Maserati. "It didn't seem very sustainable, but then Eelco and I said to each other, 'This is the future we want to live in. We want to have a nice car and drive fast, but do it in a more intelligent way that is compatible with nature and the ecosystem.'"

He went on: "We want to change something in the way we live – we have to change because of climate change – but also have fun. It's not just being Calvinistic and righteous and trying to make other people feel bad. It's about doing something which is worthwhile and fun at the same time. It's really about making a symbol of the change which is required."

The four teams competing this week in knock-out time trials were all based around élite technological universities, mainly consisting of engineering students and more senior advisers. Britain's team was from Imperial College, London; the Belgian team was from the University of Leuven, the Dutch from the University of Delft and the Spanish from the University of Zaragoza. In the sprint race, the Belgian team came first, the Spanish second, the Dutch third and the British team fourth.

F1's attempts to clean up its image

*Formula One itself, and the FIA, the governing body in charge of motor racing, are both waking up to the fact that in a world increasingly preoccupied with climate change, their sport can be seen as the very epitome of gas-guzzling.

They are aware that, notwithstanding the to-hell-with-global-warming attitude of certain motoring commentators, they have a growing image problem. Recently, the FIA set up an Environmentally Sustainable Motor Sport Commission to explore the possibility of a greener version of screaming round a circuit, and two months ago it held its first policy meeting, attended by major motor manufacturers from Ferrari to Ford.

The commission is now drawing up a series of environmental policies, which, according to the commission's president, Peter Wright, "will not only reduce the environmental impact of motor sport, but also help it act as a catalyst for environmental changes in the wider motoring sector." They are understood to be focusing on energy efficiency and changes such as the use of biofuels – in the US, the IndyCar series is already running on ethanol, a fuel produced from crops.

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Best of our wild blogs: 21 Aug 09

New East Coast shore = New surprises
from wonderful creation and wild shores of singapore

Mynas as pets
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Singapore ranked second most expensive city in Asia, after Tokyo

Channel NewsAsia 20 Aug 09;

SINGAPORE : Singapore has been ranked the second most expensive city in Asia, after Tokyo, with Hong Kong taking the third position.

In UBS' Prices and Earnings 2009 study released on Thursday, Singapore is ranked 24th globally, in a comparison of living costs in 73 cities around the world. The study was based on data collected between March and April this year.

It found Oslo, Zurich, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo and New York to be the world's priciest cities based on a standardised basket of 122 goods and services. Mumbai, Delhi, Manila and Kuala Lumpur are cities with the lowest price levels.

The study said: "Asia is home to some of the world's priciest cities and nowhere is the spread between most expensive and cheapest more pronounced."

Employees in Copenhagen, Zurich, Geneva and New York have the highest gross wages, but Zurich and Geneva top the rankings in the international comparison of net wages.

In Asia, employees in Tokyo earn the highest wages, and are ranked 18th globally. Their salaries are about two times higher than those in Singapore, which came in at 40th globally. Manila, Jakarta and Mumbai are at the bottom of the table.

As for working hours, people work the longest hours in Asia and the Middle East, and the shortest in France. People work an average of 1,902 hours a year in the surveyed cities, but those in Asian and Middle Eastern cities work an average of 2,119 and 2,063 hours a year respectively.

Overall, Cairo employees work the longest hours, averaging 2,373 hours a year, followed by Seoul with 2,312 hours. In comparison, people in Lyon and Paris spend the least amount of time at work - putting in about 1,582 and 1,594 hours a year respectively.

- CNA/al

Singapore most expensive Asian city after Tokyo: Survey
Hong Kong No. 3 as rent was excluded; Singapore moves up to 24th globally
Francis Chan, Straits Times 21 Aug 09;

SINGAPORE is the No.2 most expensive Asian city to live in, with only famously pricey Tokyo ahead in the rankings, according to a study by Swiss bank UBS.

UBS assessed the purchasing power of residents in 73 cities and compared prices of a standardised basket of 122 goods and services, excluding rents.

The Asian top three were no surprise although Hong Kong usually emerges as more expensive in such surveys; but not this time as UBS discounted rent.

Rent is traditionally higher in Hong Kong and would have been enough to send the city into second spot in Asia.

On the global league table, Tokyo was the fifth most expensive city while Singapore was 24th - up from the 32nd spot in 2006, the last time UBS conducted a similar study.

Kuala Lumpur, Manila, New Delhi and Mumbai propped up the table as cities with the lowest prices.

Scandinavian cities like Oslo, Zurich, Copenhagen, Geneva and traditional wallet-buster New York came in tops as the world's most expensive cities.

Employees in Tokyo earn the highest wages in Asia, making almost double the amount their counterparts earn here. Workers in Manila, Jakarta and Mumbai earn the lowest wages.

However, Asia remains home to some of the world's priciest cities and nowhere is the spread between most expensive and cheapest more pronounced, said UBS.

To make the study more relevant, the bank compared the prices of specific and highly uniform products that are available everywhere and calculated how long an employee would have to work to be able to afford them in each city.

It found that on a global average, employees have to work 37 minutes to earn enough to buy a McDonald's Big Mac, 22 minutes for a kg of rice and 25 minutes for a kg of bread.

'An average wage-earner in Zurich and New York can buy (an iPod) nano from an Apple store after nine hours of work,' said UBS. 'But at the other end of the spectrum, workers in Mumbai need to work 20 nine-hour days - roughly the equivalent of one month's salary - to purchase an iPod nano.'

The study also found that people worked an average of 1,902 hours a year in the cities surveyed. Workers in Asian and Middle Eastern cities slogged for the longest hours, averaging 2,119 and 2,063 hours each year respectively.

The lucky people in the French cities of Lyon and Paris spend the least amount of time at work a year: just 1,582 and 1,594 hours respectively.

In another survey released last month, Singapore jumped three spots to become the 10th most expensive city in the world for expatriates.

However, that survey - conducted by Mercer, which also studied items such as food, housing, transport and entertainment costs - suggested that Singapore had not become more expensive; instead, other cities had become cheaper places to live in.

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Carbon trading in Singapore to go full steam ahead in 2011

Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 20 Aug 09;

SINGAPORE'S ambition to become Asia's carbon trading centre will take some time to be realised, even as the nascent industry expands and global momentum gathers to restrict pollution.

The Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore chairman Edwin Khew said yesterday carbon trading here could take till 2011 to kick off in a big way, when the first phase of Singapore's 55ha Cleantech Park is completed.

Carbon trading aims to curb emissions which add to global warming by placing a price on carbon, and allowing emission permits to be traded between firms.

The Cleantech Park will provide companies with a ready testing ground for their technologies, and set standards for users in carbon emissions, energy use, and water and waste management.

'I think the park will be where the industry will revolve,' said Mr Khew, pointing out that Singapore's position as Asia's financial centre will help in fulfilling its carbon trading ambition.

The Republic is home to foreign banks such as Fortis, HSBC and Standard Chartered which provide financing for renewable energy projects. It has also attracted the big boys such as Danish wind power firm Vestas and Norwegian solar giant Renewable Energy Corp, he said.

As global momentum gathers for carbon trading schemes to be set up, such as in the United States and Australia, trading activity will also spike and Singapore is well poised to tap on this, said chief executive Henry Derwent of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).

New exchanges such as the Singapore Mercantile Exchange - a commodities futures exchange that will be operational by the end of the year - could see some carbon trading activity when this happens, said Mr Khew.

Both men were speaking at an event that was a curtain-raiser for the two-day Carbon Forum Asia in October, organised by IETA and German firm Koelnmesse.

The carbon market doubled from US$63 billion (S$91 billion) in 2007 to US$126 billion last year, according to the latest World Bank data.

Asia still commands the lion's share - 92 per cent - of carbon credit projects, said Mr Derwent.

The speed of its development will depend on negotiations in Copenhagen in December, when a global deal is set to be brokered.

These talks and the future of the carbon industry will top the agenda at the upcoming conference, which brings together policymakers and businesses from 24 countries in the region.

For the first time, it will be held in conjunction with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change DNA Forum, which brings together regulators from countries that are allowed to generate carbon credits for trading.

Also known as Designated National Authorities (DNA), these governmental representatives regulate the carbon credit projects in their home countries on behalf of the UN.

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Malayan Nature Society no to oil pipeline in forest

Meena L. Ramadas, The Sun Daily 20 Aug 09;

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 20, 2009): The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) is opposing a proposed oil pipeline project which it says will threaten the Belum-Temenggor area’s biodiversity.

The project, previously proposed to the government as the trans-peninsula pipeline, will span from Yan, Kedah to Bachok in Kelantan and is estimated to be worth RM23 billion.

“The survival of the forested landscape and its wildlife will be jeopardised should the proposed 300km pipeline proceed without safeguards for the forests,” said MNS executive director Dr Loh Chi Leong.

MNS is also calling for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project on the forest area which is yet to be conducted.

It said the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987 states that construction of pipelines in excess of 50 km in length requires that an EIA be conducted.

The East-West Highway already dissects the Belum-Temenggor Area and is used by large animals such as elephants to migrate between the two forest blocks.

“With the highway in place and the many other proposed linear developments along the East-West highway, the pipeline will create further physical barriers along the highway,” said Loh.

The pipeline could have an impact on local villages as it would further obstruct migration routes, causing animals to tread into village areas.

The wildlife displacement could endanger villagers as it will increase human-wildlife conflicts.

According to MNS, the pipeline could impede efforts to promote the Belum-Temenggor area as a nature tourist attraction because the area is an important buffer zone and habitat for various wildlife.

The Belum-Temenggor Forest complex is home to 100 mammal and 274 bird species and is recognised by the Malaysian government as an environmentally sensitive area.

The area also boasts the Royal Belum State Park and the Temenggor Forest Reserve. Perak Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry bin Abd. Kadir reportedly said the Temenggor Forest Reserve will be reviewed to be gazetted as a non-logging area.

“If these areas are destroyed, the protected areas often become ecologically isolated,” said Loh.

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Indonesia says it can handle forest fires alone

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post 20 Aug 09;

Indonesian officials denied Thursday they were ignoring international offers to help combat increasing haze problems from forest fires in the region, claiming they would welcome any form of assistance other than manpower to tackle widespread blazes in the eastern part of the archipelago.

Masnellyarti Hilman, deputy for environmental damage control at the State Ministry for the Environment, said Indonesia was still capable of tackling the forest fires on its own.

“If we can deal with it on our own, why do we need to seek help from others?” she said.

Reuters reported Wednesday that Indonesia, home to the world’s second-largest area of rainforest, had ‘appeared to bat away’ offers from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei to help deal with the haze problem.

Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar, who held a press conference after attending a ministerial meeting in Singapore, seeming to evade questions from journalists on the matter.

He did not pick up his mobile phone when contacted for comment Thursday.

Masnelliyarti said Indonesia had asked its neighboring countries to provide water-bombing facilities, not fire-fighters, to help with the blazes.

Haze prompts airport closure in Palembang
The Jakarta Post 21 Aug 09;

Authorities at the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang, South Sumatra, have been forced to temporarily terminate operations due to a thick haze that blankets the area.

Dani, an air traffic controller at the airport, told tempointeraktif.com that visibility has dropped to under 200 meters in the surrounding area.

“We had to cancel two flights set to depart this morning for Jakarta,” he said.

Several temporary airport closures have occurred on Sumatra island in the past few months as a result of haze, which is largely triggered by land and forest fires.

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El Nino`s impact becoming more real in Indonesia

Fardah, Antara 21 Aug 09;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - While people in other parts of Indonesia are sound asleep, South Sulawesi villagers have to queue in the dark of night to get clean water from natural springs.

Residents of Mattirotasi and Lainungan villages in Watang Pulu sub district, Sidenreng Rappang (Sidrap) Didstrict, South Sulawesi Province, have been facing a water crisis due to the ongoing El-Nino-induced drought over the past one month.

"Every evening, these villagers have to queue to collect clean water in several water springs in the village, because at noon, there is no water in the springs," Amin, a local resident, said.

In fact, the drought have affected the villages since the past four months, he said. But, the condition has gotten worse since last months as they could not get clean water for cooking purposes, he said.

To anticipate drought caused by the ongoing El Nino phenomenon, the public works ministry has planned to drill more water wells and provide more water pumps for regions outside Java Island.

"The public works ministry`s programs include provision of new deep wells to anticipate El Nino. In 2009, we add some more deep wells and buy new water pumps," Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said in Jakarta on Wednesday (Aug. 19).

Minister Kirmanto, however, quoted information from the meteorological, climatology and geophysics (BMKG) office saying El Nino would not affect Indonesia strongly because this year`s drought would be quite wet.

"We must prepare ourselves for the worst. I have checked all dams, and in fact our dams on Java Island are having better water stock than before," he said.

On the contrary to the ministry`s statement on wet drought this year, the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)`s National Weather Service forecast El Nino would continue to strengthen.

"Expected El Nino impacts during August-October 2009 include enhanced precipitation over the central and west-central Pacific Ocean and the continuation of drier than average conditions over Indonesia," the NOAA statement said in its statement received by ANTARA via e-mail on Aug. 13, 2009.

While there was disagreement on the eventual strength of El Nino, nearly all of the dynamical models predict a moderate-to-strong El Nino during the Northern Hemisphere Winter 2009-2010, NOAA said.

The Indonesian government has made preparations to face the El-Nino causing drought in some parts of Indonesia.

"In order not to disrupt food security, we have therefore adopted, and will continue to adopt measures to anticipate and overcome the impact of El-Nino," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his state-of-the-nation address at an extraordinary plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta, early August this year.

According to the president, the anticipation was made by way of among other things, securing sufficient rice stock from the stock of the Logistics Agency (Bulog) with minimum of 1.5 million tons.

The government is preparing reserve funds of Rp1 trillion to Rp2 trillion for efforts to anticipate the impact of El Nino on the country`s agriculture in 2010.

The president said the government would also see to it that dams and dikes would function well.

"To anticipate the drought that may possible cause forest fire, I have instructed the regional governments to anticipate and prevent the fire from spreading," the president said.

Indeed, the local Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, said the arrival of El Nino would worsen forest fires.
"El Nino can worsen the land and forest fires in Riau province," Marzuki, analyst of the BMKG for Pekanbaru office, said recently.

He said that these weeks forest fires had taken place very often in various districts in Riau province due to the high drought degree and fire raze potential index.

Besides the Indonesian government, Indonesia`s neighboring countries are also worried about the impacts of El Nino on forest fires as the fires` haze disregards countries` border lines.

A ministerial meeting on haze pollution in Southeast Asia, which was held in Singapore on Wednesday (Aug. 19), agreed to ban all open burning in the region, in anticipation of the El Nino hot weather condition exacerbating in the last quarter of the year.

The Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution also agreed to suspend permits for prescribed burning activities in fire-prone areas such as in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Singapore`s Environment and Water Resources Minister Dr Yaacob Ibrahim told a media conference after the half-day meeting that MSC was concerned after the Asean Specialized Meteorological Centre reported that the prevailing weak El Nino phenomenon was forecast to intensify to a moderate to strong condition by the end of this year.

Saying the El Nino was likely to worsen and prolong the current dry spell in the region till October, he said the MSC expected there would be continued increase in hotspot activities in the fire-prone areas in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sarawak over the next few months.

The MSC noted that this was likely to lead to more incidences of transboundary smoke haze pollution in the region, the minister said.

For years, Indonesia had faced criticism from its neighbors for not doing enough to fight the fires set by locals and plantation companies.

Indonesia`s neighbors would give any assistance needed, but it had to take the lead, said the Singapore minister, who had criticized Jakarta`s response to the current haze.

Indonesia`s Environmental Affairs Minister told the MSC it had taken several new and stricter actions in dealing with the haze pollution which included empowering its authorities to prosecute offenders, issuing warning letters to local governments and companies in fire-prone provinces, carrying cloud-seeding operations and banning open burning in Central Kalimantan since early this month.

Replying to questions by the media, Rachmat said, with a vast territory and millions of farmers - many of whom still practice the slash-and-burn method of farming - Indonesia would need longer time to reduce the hotspots and curb the haze pollution.

Since the MSC was established (in 2006) and Indonesia became a member, there has been a lot of improvement in the haze situation in the region, the Indonesian minister said.

However, Indonesian environmental groups said the government of President-elect Yudhoyono should put forest protection at the top of its agenda, ahead of a international meeting in Copenhagen in December to agree action against climate change.

"Every day more precious forest and peatland is being destroyed, burned and cleared by climate and forest criminals ... leading to an exponential increase in greenhouse gas emissions that is causing climate change," Greenpeace said in a statement as quoted by Reuters.

According to Asean HazeAction online, the forest fire in 1997-1998 which affected Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, was among the most damaging in recorded history. Those countries are members of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

More than 9 million hectares of land were burnt, 6.5 million of which were forested areas. The damage was estimated at more than US$ 9 billion in terms of economic, social and environmental losses, including the release of an estimated 1-2 billion tonnes of carbon. The land and forest fires in 1997-1998, 2002 and 2005 in Southeast Asia have destroyed more than 3 million hectares of peatlands.(*)

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WWF celebrates saving of Himalayan forest and not so Common Leopard

WWF 21 Aug 09;

Lahore, Pakistan: An initiative by Pakistan’s Supreme Court and a media and legal campaign has ended a proposed large tourism development in one of the best remaining representative areas of Himalayan forest in the Punjab.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court this month not only formalised the new government’s recent dissolution of the New Murree Development Project (NMDP), but ruled out any similar projects for the area in future.

“We are very happy with this outcome and want to thank the other groups that fought it with us and the judges who took the initiative to have it examined,” said Hammad Naqi Khan, WWF-Pakistan director for freshwater, climate and toxics.

“This project has been a threat to this relatively pristine area which has been a reserve for more than a century and to the water reservoirs supplying Islamabad and Rawalpindi since 2004.”

The new Punjab government dissolved the New Murree Development Authority in June, following Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry used his authority in September 2005 to halt the project pending a judicial review of the proposal to turn the 1,663 hectare Patriata Reserved Forest near Murree in Rawalpindi District into a ‘tourist city of international standards’..

WWF became a party to the case and, with other local individuals launched a well-supported media and public campaign against the government-backed proposal and the authority formed to carry out the development.

The envisioned the construction of hotels, restaurants, golf courses, shopping centres etc. right in the middle of a healthy reserve forest which is important habitat for the (now very uncommon in the area) Common Leopard as well as 14 other mammal species, 200 plant species, 146 bird species including rare pheasants and the Paradise Flycatcher, 22 reptiles and six amphibians.

“Most significantly however, this area was a key part of one of the best remaining Himalayan temperate forest areas in Punjab” said Khan. “The forest guaranteed better quality water with lower levels of sediments and pollutants for Simlay and Mangla reservoirs.

“The environmental and economic significance of the forests for a country like Pakistan with a looming water crisis and an agriculture intensive developing economy far outweighed the benefits of what started out as mostly real estate speculation.

“We are also encouraged that the court and ultimately government looked sensitively and sensibly at the issues.”

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BirdLife International scours globe in search of long-lost birds

BirdLife International in bid to discover whether 'missing' species are in fact extinct
Emily Beament, The Independent 21 Aug 09;

The hunt is on for 47 "long-lost" species of bird in an attempt to discover if they have escaped extinction.

BirdLife International is launching a global attempt today to try to confirm the existence of the critically endangered birds which, in some cases, have not been seen for more than 180 years.

The list of birds which could have become extinct includes the slender-billed curlew, one of the last verified sightings of which was in the UK a decade ago.

Other species being targeted by the international coalition of bird conservation groups include birds found in remote forests or islands, in parts of the US and Europe and in the Himalayas.

Some may be difficult to track down, such as the Archer's lark which is found in the war zones of Somalia, while some have not been seen for generations, including the hooded seedeater of South America, which has not been recorded since 1823.

If scientists are unable to find many of those on the list it could mean the extinction crisis is worse than feared. A failure to confirm the continued existence of the lost birds would increase the number which have gone the way of the dodo – currently estimated at some 133 species since 1500.

But conservationists are hopeful that some of the birds could be rediscovered, such as the Cebu flowerpecker, which was found again "at the eleventh hour" before its last remaining Philippines forest home was destroyed.

Marco Lambertini, BirdLife International's chief executive, said: "History has shown us that we shouldn't give up on species that are feared to have gone to their graves, because some have been rediscovered long after they were feared extinct. The extinction crisis is gathering momentum, but that's no excuse for humanity to allow even more strands of the web of life to disappear, especially without giving them a final chance."

Rediscoveries could allow scientists to study their needs and threats and establish conservation efforts to save them and their habitats. The quest to find lost species is being announced at the 21st British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water, which is set to attract more than 20,000 British bird watchers. Money raised there will help fund the searches.

Bird watchers hunt for 47 'long lost' species
Conservationists are urging the public to look out for 47 'long-lost' species of birds, some of which have not been seen for almost 200 years.

Louise Gray, The Telegraph 21 Aug 09;

A global attempt has been launched to try to confirm the existence of the critically-endangered birds, among them the slender-billed curlew, which was last seen in the UK a decade ago, and the hooded seed-eater which was last spotted in Brazil in 1823.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Bird life International set out the plans at the British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water. Funds of up to £250,000 from the fair will be used to fund scientific projects to remote jungles or islands where the lost species may be found.

But travellers are also being asked to be on the look out when abroad. Only the slender-billed curlew is found in Europe, with the rest of the birds from around the world with many in North America including the ivory-billed woodpecker, which was officially last seen in 1944 although there have been recent reports of sightings in the Deep South.

Ornithologists ask for a photograph or a specimen such as a feather but even a reported sighting can be considered if it is from an experienced source.

Some of the birds may be difficult to track down - such as the Archer's lark which is found in the war zones of Somalia.

Some 133 species of bird have gone extinct since 1600 including the dodo and passenger pigeon.

However birds that were believed to be extinct have also been found, such as the Cebu flowerpecker which was rediscovered in the Philippines in 1992 just in time to save the rainforests where it lives.

Grahame Madge, of the RSPB, said it was imperative to give the birds a last chance before they were "written off".

"We need to find if they still exist and bring in conservation measures to try and save them," he said.

"We're hopeful many of these species still exist, although some may well have gone."

Read more!

Lemurs butchered in Madagascar

Jody Bourton, BBC News 20 Aug 09;

Shocking pictures of slaughtered lemurs killed for bush meat have been released by Conservation International.

A breakdown in law and order due to the recent coup in Madagascar has resulted in poachers killing lemurs for profit.

The dead lemurs are sold to restaurant owners seeking to serve new delicacies, says the conservation group.

It fears this upsurge in the bush meat trade may have been triggered by the suspension of conservation aid by international bodies during the coup.



The graphic pictures taken by local non-government organisation Fanamby and released by Conservation International show hoards of crowned lemurs ( Eulemur coronatus ) and the golden crowned sifaka, ( Propithecus tattersalli ) that have been trapped and killed.

The crowned lemurs are considered a threatened species, while the golden crowned sifaka is even rarer, being considered endangered.

The lemurs affected are from the Daraina area, a new protected region in the far north of Madagascar.

Shot then smoked

Conservation International reports that Madagascar's unique wildlife is being targeted by gangs who are taking advantage of the lack of law and order due to the recent coup.

Since March 2009 there have been many instances of environmental crimes in one of the world's most important biodiversity hotspots.

Illegal logging in protected parks and the collection of animals for the pet trade has been reported.

Now the first evidence has emerged since the coup of the hunting and sale of lemurs for bush meat.

Poachers use traps and slingshots to catch and kill the animals, which they then smoke for easy transport.

Authorities on the island have already arrested 15 people in connection with hunting lemurs.

"What is happening to the biodiversity of Madagascar is truly appalling, and the slaughter of these delightful, gentle and unique animals is simply unacceptable," says Dr Russ Mittermeier, the president of Conservation International and one of the world's foremost lemur experts.

"Given the very limited ranges, the sifaka could easily be eliminated by such poaching," he says.

Dr Mittermeier also voiced concern about the wider impact such activities may have.

"The poaching of lemurs can increase the 'taste' for lemurs and result in an increase of the illegal hunting of this animal, especially if the market for them grows," he explains.

"More than anything else these poachers are killing the goose that laid the golden egg, wiping out the very animals that people most want to see, and undercutting the country and especially local communities by robbing them of future ecotourism revenue."

Conservation plea

After the recent coup earlier this year many international bodies including the World Bank and the US government suspended conservation and development aid to the island.

Conservation International believes that this has weakened environmental governance in the country and provided the right conditions for these types of incidences to occur.

Dr Mittermeier calls for the international community to review their policy and help the conservation efforts in Madagascar as soon as possible.

"The problem of illegal killing of lemurs in Madagascar will only be solved when authorities act and are empowered. Also, the big donor agencies, the United States and Europe need to reinstate funding for conservation activities there immediately, or the advances of the past 25 years will forever be lost."

Bushmeat trade threatens Madagascar's rare lemurs
Richard Lough, Reuters 21 Aug 09;

ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Endangered lemur species found only in Madagascar are being slaughtered and served up in local restaurants as poachers take advantage of a security vacuum on the island after a coup earlier this year.

Pictures of the blackened remains of scores of crowned lemurs and golden crowned sifakas, smoked in preparation for transport, have been released by the environmental protection group Conservation International.

James Mackinnon, technical director at the group's Madagascar office, said gangs were pillaging the forests of precious hardwoods and trapping rare animals for Asia's pet market, unwinding hard-fought conservation gains on the island.

"Lemurs have always been hunted on a small, subsistence scale. This is bigger, more organized and systematic and it's typical of what we've been seeing with the breakdown in law and order," he told Reuters on Friday.

Conservationists say biodiversity on the world's fourth largest island is being wiped out on a shocking scale.

Foreign donors, who provided the bulk of funding for the country's national parks and environmental programs, suspended aid after Andry Rajoelina toppled the island's president with the help of renegade troops in March.

Operating on a shoestring budget, the authorities have been unable to control the surge in criminal activity.

The Indian Ocean island, isolated from other land masses for more than 160 million years, is a biodiversity "hotspot" home to hundreds of exotic species found nowhere else in the world.

ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE

Poachers are using slingshots and traps to hunt the lemurs in Daraina, a newly-protected region in the far north of Madagascar. Only 8,000 golden crowned sifaka, found only in Daraina, remain in the wild and risk being wiped out in weeks.

"More than anything else, these poachers are killing the goose that laid the golden egg," said Russ Mittermeier, president of Conservation International.

"(They are) wiping out the very animals that people most want to see and undercutting the country and especially local communities by robbing them of future eco-tourism revenue."

The island's wildlife was popularized in the 2005 DreamWorks animated movie Madagascar and its 2008 sequel, voiced by stars including Ben Stiller and Sacha Baron Cohen as the lemur king.

Eco-tourism is the backbone of Madagascar's $390 million-a-year tourism industry, which has been wrecked by months of political turmoil.

Decades of logging, mining and slash-and-burn farming have destroyed up to 90 percent of the island's natural ecology.

Ousted leader Marc Ravalomanana was credited by conservationists with increasing the number of national parks and protected areas, backed by donors including the World Bank and the United States.

Conservation International described the move to cut environmental aid as a "knee-jerk reaction." To deny conservation funding was counter-productive, it said, as it simply encouraged poor governance of natural resources.

Mackinnon warned of impending environmental catastrophe, saying there was a real danger parks would be forced to lay off rangers and cease to function before the end of the year.

"It's very hard to turn the clock back once criminal activities have become ingrained," he said.

(Editing by Daniel Wallis and Janet Lawrence)

Lemurs Hunted, Eaten Amid Civil Unrest, Group Says
Brian Handwerk, National Geographic News 21 Aug 09;

Rare lemurs are being hunted as an exotic delicacy in the midst of Madagascar's political unrest, conservationists say.

Since a March coup d'etat in the island country, long-nurtured conservation measures have quickly fallen by the wayside—making lemurs the targets of hunting gangs.

The criminals are fueling demand for a new bush-meat delicacy in the country's upscale restaurants, according to the nonprofit Conservation International.

No one knows how many lemurs have been killed, but species such as the golden crowned sifaka—considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature—are being targeted.

The poor nation relies on aid from foreign sources—such as the World Bank and the U.S. government—to run agencies that keep its national parks going.

But since the ousting of President Marc Ravalomanana, outside funding has been cut off and a power struggle has gripped the capital.

"With the political unrest, for the past four months or so, no [conservationists have] really worked," said Serge Rajaobelina, president of Fanamby, a Malagasy nonprofit environmental organization.

"There was no government, no police, and people took advantage of that situation" to kill lemurs, Rajaobelina, said yesterday from the field, where he is helping officials arrest poachers.

Squandered Success?

Less than a year ago Madagascar—home to the highest number of plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth—was a different place.

The country "was on the verge of becoming a success story," said lemur expert Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International.

There were vast increases in protected areas and ecotourism under the nation's now deposed leaders, Mittermeier said.

But valuable hardwoods, once protected by law in national parklands, began falling to the blades of illegal loggers earlier this year—further denuding a landscape that has already seen staggering deforestation.

Now lemurs are being targeted for the table.

"It's really scary to think of an Africa-type bush-meat trade getting started in Madagascar," said Charlie Welch, conservation manager at the Duke University Lemur Center.

"That's something that hasn't really existed in Madagascar up till now. The bottom line is that an opportunity exists now that wasn't there before."

Ecotourism Sabotage

Conservation International's Mittermeier stressed that the few hunters making money on the lemur trade are sabotaging a growing ecotourism industry that may be the country's greatest competitive advantage.

"People go to Madagascar first and foremost to see lemurs," he said.

If the poachers "are shooting them to make a few bucks, they are undercutting the future of the country as a whole."

Mittermeier also said that international donors trying to punish a few politicians involved in a power grab are doing serious damage to Madagascar's irreplaceable resources.

"If you pull the funding for these agencies, they have no way to patrol or control [areas like national parks]," he said.

"These guys benefiting from the breakdown of law and order do have some money, and they can pay illegal loggers or pay hunters to kill lemurs."

Community Backing

But Rajaobelina, the Malagasy nonprofit director, said that the domestic situation may be improving.

He's working with the new government, which has already fired several environmental and forestry officials in response to the crisis.

"They have reacted to what we've been saying and have really become involved in conservation efforts. We have seen some changes," he said.

Rajaobelina said that local villagers who had benefited from an ecotourism economy oppose poachers plundering their forests.

"People in the communities were scared [of violence against them]," he said.

"But since we arrested a few [poachers] some of the [local people] have started to talk. These communities are really committed to stopping people from outside coming in and killing the animals.

"It's a little bit dangerous," Rajaobelina admits of his current anti-poaching efforts.

But "as long as we have the communities behind us, we're actually more protected by them than by the police."

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Wealthy world at risk from water woes elsewhere

WWF 20 Aug 09;

Stockholm, Sweden: A study of the water footprint of Germany emphasises how the developed world needs to care for developing world river basins supplying vast quantities of “virtual water” embedded in imported products and commodities, WWF told World Water Week delegates today.

While German households use 124 litres of water a day directly, individual Germans use 5288 litres of water a day when the water requirements of producing their food, clothes and other consumption items are included.

The report calculated Germany’s water footprint at 159.5 cubic kilometres of water annually, with only half coming from German rain and rivers.

The water embedded in coffee, soy and beef imports makes Brazil Germany’s largest water trading partner, followed by the Ivory Coast (cocoa, coffee, bananas and cotton), neighbours France and the Netherlands, the US and Indonesia (oilseeds, coffee, coconuts, cotton and cocoa).

Other countries carrying a significant water footprint from Germany include Ghana, India, Argentina and Nigeria and the increasingly drier Mediterranean lands of Spain, Italy and Turkey.

“Germany is a relatively water rich country but its reliance on water sourced from some of the drier areas of the world still makes it very vulnerable to the degradation of river catchments and groundwater supplies and water related impacts of climate change elsewhere,” said Martin Geiger, Head of Freshwater at WWF-Germany.

“National water footprints are underlining just how dependant the developed world is on water from areas where water management is relatively poor,” said Dr Stuart Orr, WWF International water policy officer.

“It therefore pays for wealthy nations to support the protection and better management of the river basins and aquifers of the developing world.”

Germany is to be commended for having already taken one of the most significant steps to caring for the sources of its water in being the only G8 nation to sign up to an international treaty designed to reduce conflict and promote appropriate water management on waters forming or crossing borders.

However, more than a decade since an overwhelming great majority of the world’s nations approved the UN Watercourses Convention, it still lacks enough signatories to come into effect although three quarters of the world’s countries share waters and 40 per cent of world population are in border catchments.

“Other major economies would do well to follow Germany’s example in signing up to the UN Watercourses Convention to provide a global framework for minimising the risks of disruption to the water supplies they depend on,” said Flavia Loures, who leads a WWF-initiated global campaign to have the convention brought into effect by 2011.

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