Scientists 'grow' edible insects in Costa Rica

Francisco Jara Yahoo News 3 Feb 10;

SANTO DOMINGO DE HEREDIA, Costa Rica (AFP) – The day when restaurants will serve garlic grasshoppers or beetle larva skewers is getting closer in Costa Rica, where scientists are "growing" insects for human consumption.

Entomologist Manuel Zumbado's research into this alternative food source is inspired by practices in Africa, where insects have long been part of people's diet.

With its rainforests playing host to countless insect species, including thousands that have yet to be identified, Costa Rica is a perfect breeding ground for the work.

From leaf-cutting ants to rhinoceros beetles and a dizzying flurry of butterflies, the Central American nation is also a haven of ecotourism. But is it the next hotbed of mouth-watering bugs?

The food diversification program at the National Biodiversity Institute in Santo Domingo de Heredia, a small city close to the capital San Jose, looks into indigenous insect species.

But it also examines mushrooms, inspired by their importance in diets from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

At the institute, Costa Rican scientists mingle with Bhutan mycology expert Ugyen Yangchen and Elisabeth Zannou, an entomologist from Benin.

Costa Rica and Benin share historical ties, as many slaves were taken from the western African country to Central America during the colonial era.

"Benin knows a lot about insect consumption and Bhutan about eating mushrooms, while Costa Rica is bringing its experience in managing biodiversity," Marianella Feoli, who manages the foundation coordinating the research program, told AFP.

In Benin, termites, grasshoppers and crickets, as well as butterfly and moth larvae are a common part of people's diet, explained Zumbado, who traveled with his colleagues to explore the phenomenon in the coastal country.

"In other countries, gourmet restaurants serve insects," he noted.

"In the beginning, people thought we were a bit crazy, but I think this is an alternative, not only as a survival food, but also as a cultural concept."

Esperanzas, a large grasshopper species with long antennae that abound in Costa Rica's forests and rural areas are "far more savory than shrimp" when seasoned with garlic, according to the researcher. Zumbado should know -- he has consumed scores of insects during his travels in Costa Rica and Benin.

"It's worth the effort to taste them," he added.

"You can fry them, grill them on skewers with onions."

Insects a la fish were a favorite of Benin locals.

As part of his effort to convince a skeptical public not particularly enthused at the thought of munching on crunchy creepy crawlies, the entomologist suggested first adding insect delicacies to the menus of the best restaurants in town.

A boutique hotel in the northern province of Guanacaste -- the country's top tourist destination -- was tempted, an accompanying wine oblige.

"I would recommend a big pricetag for the entree, so that clients appreciate it," Zumbado said with a malicious smile.

Read more!

Wild elephants roam in Chevron operational area

The Jakarta Post 3 Feb 10;

Dozens of wild elephants have been roaming in the operational area of US-based leading oil producer Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) in Duri district, Riau over the past week, but the provincial natural resources conservation agency has no plans to capture the giant mammals.

Head of the agency, M. Hutomo, said Wednesday evacuation of the elephants would spark a conflict between humans and the protected animals, which have been displaced from their habitat due to its conversion into palm oil plantations and residential areas.

“Capturing the elephants will not solve the problem. The best solution is to domesticate the elephants for ecotourism interests and the delivery of oil palm kernels,” Hutomo told Antara state news agency.

The agency is deploying a team to monitor the elephants on a daily basis. Hutomo said the elephants had not caused damage to the oil company’s property as they only were only seeking leaves to eat.

Hungry herd stamps around complex
Rizal Harahap, The Jakarta Post 4 Feb 10;

A herd of elephants have reportedly been foraging for food in a PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) Duri housing complex in Bengkalis, Pekanbaru.

It is believed that the elephants are suffering from malnutrition.

Dwi Pujosutrisno, in charge of CPI's communications and media relations, said on Wednesday 25 elephants had been making their way to the complex since Jan. 24 to devour the plants.

"The size of the groups vary. They leave the complex after eating and return when they need food."

Dwi said the company management had instructed the security attendants to monitor the elephants' movement. The residents were advised to reduce their outdoor activities in order to avoid the herd.

CPI had grown plantations in areas that bordered Talang Forest in the hopes the elephants would have enough food and stay put.

It seems the plantations are still too young to satisfy the large herd.

WWF spokesperson Syamsidar said that the elephants had trespassed to the complex for foods because their habitat at the Balai Raja Conservation had been spoiled by illegal logging.

The Balai Raja forest currently holds 120 hectares, or, Syamsidar said, 10 percent from the initial squares when it was first designated in 1986 as the conservation area.

"The vast majority has turned to palm plantations and settlements The elephants had never traveled as far as CPI Duri as the location is not within their roaming range," he said.

"It is happening now because the remaining forest has become a swamp, which overflows during rainy season while elephants are not suited to living in wet areas."

The company has reported to the Riau Natural Reserve Office but there has been no follow-up yet.

M. Hutomo, from Natural Reserve Office of Riau, said they had yet to deploy a team because all personnel were dealing with elephant intrusions elsewhere.

Read more!

Jakarta an international airport for birds

The Jakarta Post 4 Feb 10;

While bird-watching may be seen as the domain of environment organizations or biology students, Jakarta, despite its heavy pollution and traffic problems, has a lot to offer anyone with an interest in nature, a local green group says.

“Several areas in the city are in fact transit points for birds from all over the world,” said Ady Kristanto, a member of environmental organization Jakarta Green Monster (JGM).

Muara Angke natural conservation area in North Jakarta is the best place for bird watching, the organization says, with 91 bird species to be found there.

Rambut Island in the Thousand Islands regency was also highly recommended, with at least 61 different bird species.

“They usually come during the beginning of the rainy season. During this period the mangrove trees produce fruits that serve as a food source for birds,” Ady said while taking part in the JGM water bird survey at Muara Angke on Saturday.

There were many bird watching areas within easy reach of city residents, he said.

In Central Jakarta, Ady recommended Kridaloka Park in the Senayan complex, the National Monument area and Suropati park.

In South Jakarta, he said Ragunan Zoo and Situ Babakan natural conservation area were also good.

Ady also recommended Cibubur camping ground in East Jakarta and Srengseng city forest in West
Jakarta.

“Rather than keeping birds in cages, people should take their binoculars or cameras and see them in their natural habitat. Bird watching is really an adventure,” he said.

JGM welcomes the public to join bird-watching events, with further information and schedules available on its website www.jgm.or.id.

Joining JGM events allows bird watchers to come to the Muara Angke conservation area, which is otherwise off limits to the public.

On Saturday, members including Ady and Evi Fadlia guided visitors to the area on a bird-watching tour.

“Turn off the outboard motor. I don’t want them to fly away,” Ady said while busily taking photographs of a pair of Black-winged Starlings from a rubber dinghy he rowed together with four other bird watchers.

“What a lovely couple! This species is very rare,” said Evi, who said the best time to go bird watching was in the morning and afternoon.

“At these times birds are actively looking for food,” she said.

“We may not realize how important birds are until they are not around any more. Once the bird calls that bring serenity to our hearts are gone, I believe people will miss them,” she said.

The waterbird survey, covering the Muara Angke conservation area since 2006, aims to gauge bird biodiversity in the Jakarta.

On Saturday, JGM volunteers found 206 waterbirds, down from 333 last year, with only 18 species identified, down from last year’s 23.

“Every month, JGM holds bird watching events here,” Ady said.

Those who prefer to have tours by themselves can visit Angke Kapuk natural tourism park, which is open to the public.

The park is located next to Muara Angke conservation area, and hosts similar birds species.

According to BirdLife International, Jakarta is home to at least 121 bird species. (mrs)

Read more!

Turtle, Snake Smugglers Busted at Jakarta Airport

Putri Prameshwari, Jakarta Globe 3 Feb 10;

An cargo consignment documented as 2,200 kilograms of fresh fruits shocked even the most seasoned customs officials at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Tuesday when they discovered at least 700 snakes and over 3,400 pig-nosed turtles inside.

“The document just said ‘fresh fruits,’ ” said Gatot Sugeng Wibowo, chief of investigations at the customs office.

Gatot said the illicit cargo was being exported by a company identified only as PT IDT, located in West Jakarta, and was scheduled to be shipped to Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific flight on Tuesday.

Gatot did not say whether police had tracked down PT IDT’s executives. “These snakes and turtles are mostly used to make soups and sex-enhancing drugs,” he said.

Following a thorough check and seizure by the airport’s quarantine department, it was revealed that at least 25 bags contained Chinese rat snakes and six other bags contained 3,492 pig-nosed turtles. In total, the cargo was worth at least Rp 5.7 billion ($616,000).

He said that the two people in charge of the packages were being interrogated.

“They have not been named as suspects yet,” Gatot said, without elaborating.

Gatot said airport officials became suspicious after seeing two tons of fresh fruits scheduled for shipment to Hong Kong.

“According to our procedures, we have to check any unusual export activity at the airport, so we opened the packages. That’s when we found the turtles and snakes,” Gatot said. The smugglers violated a 1990 law on the conservation of natural resources and a 1992 law on animal-quarantine regulations. They could face five years in prison and fines of up to Rp 100 million ($10,800).

The pig-nosed turtles, found in Papua, are sought mostly for their eggs. Their exports are regulated in Indonesia.

In December, police arrested a man accused of smuggling 10 rare kangaroos by boat from New Guinea island.

Five of the kangaroos died and the surviving five were given to a Surabaya animal sanctuary.

Illegal trade in rare and exotic animals is rampant in Indonesia, owing to poor law enforcement and the wide range of exotic species found here.

Read more!

Indonesian Forestry Ministry Graft Behind Rapid Deforestation

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta Post 3 Feb 10;

Corruption was the root cause of the country’s rapid pace of deforestation, threatening to hamper the government’s effort to cut at least 26 percent of Indonesia’s carbon emissions by 2020, environment groups said at a meeting on Wednesday.

Susanto Kurniawan, the coordinator of Forest Rescue Network Riau (Jikalahari), said that there were a multitude of brokers inside the central and local forestry offices that supplied the necessary land-use permits in exchange for bribes.

“Nearly all permits issued by the Ministry of Forestry have indications of corruption. The number varies from one place to another and depends on circumstances,” Susanto told the Jakarta Globe. “Corruption occurs at almost every level, including securing permits, obtaining concessions and overlooking irregularities.”

Susanto pointed out that during the regional elections, the number of permits issued increased substantially. “The major logging companies pocketed politicians and incumbent governors or district heads by financing their campaigns. We can say that it is a form of state capture,” he said.

A study released in 2009 by New York based Human Rights Watch showed that the Indonesian government loses about $2 billion annually in unpaid taxes due to illegal logging and forest mismanagement. The group also found that about half of the country’s timber was logged illegally.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said the Forestry Ministry protects the major players in illegal logging. “We found there were at least 90 cases last year where the ministry failed to sanction major companies for operating in protected forests or other restricted areas,” Walhi researcher Teguh Surya said.

“Instead of sanctioning them the ministry gave them logging permits. This would not have occurred if the ministry was serious in fighting corruption and eradicating illegal logging.”

In 2007, the Riau Police charged 200 people from 14 major logging and paper companies with illegal logging but none of the cases made it to court.

“Arrests are only for show, [to make it seem] they have done something to combat illegal logging. The seized wood is auctioned back to the major companies, often at a third of the normal price,” Susanto said. “So major players benefit from crackdowns, while the law only punishes small companies and individuals.”

But loggers are not the only party responsible for the rampant graft. Environmental group Sawit Watch said the palm oil industry was also to blame.

“The forest to plantation conversion rate reaches 400,000 hectares per year. Most of the companies have not secured a forest conversion permit, but were given a license to operate on a lend-lease basis by the local authorities,” Sawit Watch director Abet Nego told the Globe.

“On paper the areas are still considered forests, but in reality they are palm oil plantations.”

The meeting also highlighted the lack of transparency and accountability as one of the factors contributing to the problem.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has so far declared six members of the last House forestry commission as corruption suspects. The lawmakers were suspected of receiving bribe money in exchange for their backing in the conversion of protected forests in South Sumatra and the Riau Islands. Three have already been found guilty by the Anti-Corruption Court.

Read more!

France Backs Bluefin Tuna Ban But After Delay

Michel Rose, PlanetArk 4 Feb 10;

PARIS - France said on Wednesday it would support a ban on global trade in bluefin tuna, but after an 18-month delay, bowing to pressure from the fishing lobby to hold off an immediate decision on the giant fish.

France, Italy and Spain account for half of the world's total allowable catch of bluefin tuna.

Environmentalists such as Greenpeace called the delay "absurd" and said it could lead to the extinction of the fish that is prized by sushi lovers.

"Asking for 18 months to implement this measure equates to waiting until there is no more bluefin tuna before acting," Greenpeace said in a statement. "The government is buying peace with the fishermen at a time of regional elections."

Monaco has proposed protecting bluefin tuna, which can fetch up to $100,000 in Japan, by listing it under appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

France did not expect a ban to come into effect before September 2011, Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said on Wednesday, adding the CITES committee needed the results of a scientific study on stocks before taking a decision in July 2011.

"There is still powerful international lobbying from a big country, which has allies," he said, referring to Japan, where 80 percent of the catch is exported.

The European Union failed to make progress on bluefin tuna last year, with Greek Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and Maltese Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg deadlocked over how far the EU should go to protect the fish.

EU diplomats expect to see faster progress this year under newly nominated Greek Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki.

French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday that France would call on the European Commission to compensate fishermen for lost revenues should the ban be imposed.

Fishermen's representatives called the French position "incoherent" ahead of the regional elections in March.

"The government is really in a messy position," said Francois Wendling, head of a fishermen's trade association in Sete in southern France.

"If waiting for scientific studies is so important, why is the government giving a position now? This is purely political."

President Nicolas Sarkozy said last year he favoured a clear trade ban on bluefin tuna.

Asked if the government would stand by its position if fishermen decided to block ports as they did in Marseille last April, Le Maire said:

"French fishermen are reasonable people. But what makes them angry is when rules do not apply to everyone. France will ask for reinforced sanctions against countries which do not respect them (bluefin tuna fishing quotas)."

There are about 200 tuna boats in France, but only 28 are so-called "purse-seiners," 40-meter long high-tech boats which account for 90 percent of all French catch. Traditional fishing for domestic markets will remain possible, Le Maire said.

France wants tuna trade ban in 18 months: minister
Yahoo News 3 Feb 10;

PARIS (AFP) – France wants a ban on international trade in bluefin tuna to come into force in 18 months in order to protect the over-fished species, Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said Wednesday.

"This is a difficult decision... but a necessary one," he told reporters.

The announcement came as the European Union has to decide whether to back calls for the lucrative but over-exploited fish -- beloved of Japanese sushi fans -- to be officially listed as an endangered species.

The French decision will weigh heavily on the final position adopted by the European Union.

Greenpeace environmental watchdog said the 18-month delay was "absurd" and akin to "waiting until there are no more bluefin tuna left" before the imposition of an international trade ban.

But a French government source said the timeframe was decided on to enable new scientific reports to be drawn up and to put the finishing touches to a plan for tuna fishing vessels aimed at reducing their catch.

France has a large bluefin fishing fleet and fishermen have urged the state to resist pressure from green groups when it decides whether to back adding bluefin to a list by CITES, the convention to protect threatened species.

The head of France's tuna fishing union, Mourad Kahoul, said Borloo's announcement had left him in a "state of shock" and that he was calling for an immediate meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Environmental groups warn that bluefin tuna face disappearance because of overfishing in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, mainly for lucrative markets in Asia, especially Japan.

The Japanese buy more than 80 percent of the tuna fished in the Mediterranean, so imposing an international trade ban would vastly reduce fishing of the species.

The European Union needs to come up with a common position on a ban ahead of a meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, in March in Doha, Qatar.

Read more!

Indonesian utilities agency awaiting government nuclear power plant policy

Antara 3 Feb 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State-owned power utility firm PLN is waiting for the government to issue a policy on when a nuclear power plant could be used to produce electricity, a PLN official said.

PLN`s Planning and Technology Director Nasri Sebayang said here on Wednesday PLN had not yet included a nuclear power plant as a power generator in its Power Distribution General Plan (RUPTL) for the period 2009-2018.

"The RUPTL is arranged based on the National Power Master Plan (RUKN) for 2008 - 2025 which does not either included any plan to develop a nuclear power plant," he said.

However, Nasri said, the PLN would continue to carry out research on the use of nuclear energy as a power generator and to follow the developments of nuclear power plant (PLTN) technology.

He said that the availability, projection, technical and economic aspects needed to be taken into account in planning the use of a PLTN project.

"Calculations on the social and political aspects as well its security matters also needed to be made," he added.

In the meantime nuclear expert Sutaryo Supadi said that actually the government had included a consideration to build a nuclear energy plant in its RUKN in 2007.

But in 2008, the consideration was eliminated in the RUKN and in PLN`s RUPTL concept.

He said that virtually, based on Law No. 17/2007 On the National Long-Term Development Plan (RJPN), a nuclear power plant was expected to be already operated in the period between 2015 abd 2019.

"Thus, based on the law, the construction of a nuclear power plant should have been started this year," he said.

Sutaryo added that the government needed to form a national team which was in charge of preparing a plan and a program for the development of a nuclear power plant.(*)

PLN waiting for govt decision to go nuclear
The Jakarta Post 3 Feb 10;

State power producer PT PLN is ready to go nuclear but has been left waiting for the government’s decision on the issue, an executive says.

PLN director of planning and technology Nasri Sebayang said Wednesday the government was putting its nuclear utilization policy on hold as evidenced in the absence of nuclear energy on the 2009-2018 power generation master plan.

“The master plan refers to the long-term national power generation plan for 2008-2025 which excludes nuclear power as an alternative source of electricity,” Nasri told Antara state news agency on the sidelines of a seminar on nuclear energy in Jakarta.

He said, however, PLN was well-prepared for a policy change that endorsed the operation of nuclear power plants.

PLN, he added, was conducting a continuous study on the utilization of nuclear energy to generate power, taking into account social, political and safety issues, and following new developments in nuclear technology.

The 2007 law on long-term national development planning stipulates that nuclear power plants may be operating between 2015 and 2019, despite the controversy.

Read more!

Winner of tender for Indonesian geothermal power plant require-2 guarantee

Antara 4 Feb 10;

Semarang (ANTARA News) - The Central Java provincial administration required a guarantee of Rp100 billion of the winner of tender for the building of a geothermal power plant in Ungaran, Semarang regency.

Head of the Central Java energy and mineral resources (ESDM) agency Teguh Dwi Paryono said here Wednesday that the guarantee is proof of the readiness of the tender winner in carrying out the project.

He said this is based on past experience in other areas where nothing had been done with a geothermal power plant project.

"If the tender winner cannot carry out the work, the Rp100 billion will fall into the hands of the provincial administration. But if the project goes smoothly, the money will become part of the investment," he said.

The Central Java administration will also set up an independent team which will examine the financial condition of the tender winner.

Right now eight companies will be taking part in the tender, five of whom had already submitted their bids," he said.

The five companies include Medco Geoenergy, Bakrie Power, and Arta Aneka Tambang.

Teguh added that the winner of the tender will be announced in March 2010.(*)

Read more!

Obama Eyes Biofuels, Clean Coal In New Climate Push

Jeff Mason and Timothy Gardner, PlanetArk 4 Feb 10;

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama laid out new steps on Wednesday to nudge the United States toward energy independence, backing measures to boost production of biofuels and bury pollution from coal.

Using the new initiatives to garner support for a climate and energy bill stalled in the U.S. Senate, Obama met with a handful of state governors to press his policies to fight global warming and wean the nation from imported fossil fuels.

"America can win the race to build a clean energy economy, but we're going to have to overcome the weight of our own politics," he said at the meeting, noting China was pushing aggressively to lead in "clean" energy technology.

"We have to focus not so much on those narrow areas where we disagree, but on the broad areas where we agree," he said.

Agreement on a climate bill is still far from certain, and the legislation faces further obstacles after the election last month in Massachusetts that gave Republicans a Senate seat long held by Democrats, depriving the president's party of 60 votes that could overcome procedural hurdles.

Obama has acknowledged that a controversial "cap and trade" system could be separated from other parts of the bill, though he is adamant that a market-based mechanism be put in place to make high polluting fuels more expensive for industry than less-polluting, renewable energy sources.

Biofuels represent one renewable energy source the administration wants to promote, and a new interagency report spelled out ways the country would achieve that going forward.

"By 2022, we will more than double the amount of biofuels we produce to 36 billion gallons, which will decrease our dependence on foreign oil by hundreds of millions of barrels per year," Obama said.

He also announced a new task force to forge a plan for rolling out affordable carbon capture and storage technology in 10 years, including having 10 commercial demonstration projects up and running by 2016.

Carbon capture and storage is meant to capture the emissions from carbon-polluting coal plants and bury them underground rather than spewing them into the atmosphere but the technology is still being researched.

EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday ethanol and other renewable fuels must account for 8.25 percent of gasoline sales in 2010 to meet Congress' mandate that nearly 13 billion gallons of renewable fuels be produced this year.

That is lower than last year's 10.21 percent renewable fuel standard that the EPA announced in November 2008..

The United States is far away from its goal of producing 36 billion gallons (136 billion liters) of biofuels a year by 2022, currently producing 12 billion gallons annually, mostly from corn ethanol.

The report offers solutions that would ease the way for ethanol to get from producers in the U.S. Midwest to consumers near the coasts. Such snags include filling stations that have been slow to adopt pumps to distribute a fuel blend that is mostly ethanol, called E85, and a lack of dedicated pipelines for biofuels.

Loan guarantees for ethanol plants could be targeted more effectively to support new biofuels plants, the report said.

The struggling biofuels industry is concerned the Obama administration will move too quickly away from ethanol to biofuels that derive from more difficult techniques using wood chips and other biomass.

The president's backing of ethanol, however, could shore up his support in farm states, where ethanol boosts demand for corn.

Environmentalists and some scientists say production of U.S. biofuels from corn and other grains can drive out production of other crops, prompting farmers in other countries to burn down forests and clear land to grow those crops -- creating new sources of CO2, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

(Additional reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Obama unveils new biofuels, carbon capture, initiatives
Yahoo News 3 Feb 10;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama on Wednesday unveiled a new strategy to reinvigorate US production of biofuels, vowing he would not let nations like China race ahead in building new energy economies.

Obama is embracing a host of traditional sources of power, including coal and nuclear and new energy sources, like wind power, as he attempts to improve dim prospects for cap-and-trade climate legislation in Congress.

He said his government's Environmental Protection Agency had mandated the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuel production in the United States by 2022, up from 11.1 billion gallons produced last year.

Obama argued that increasing production of renewable fuels would reduce US dependence on oil by more than 328 million barrels a year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 138 million metric tons a year by 2022.

"The bottom line is this: I am convinced that America can win the race to build a clean energy economy, but we're going to have to overcome the weight of our own politics.

"We have to focus not so much on those narrow areas where we disagree, but on the broad areas where we agree," Obama said in remarks to a bi-partisan group of state governors at the White House.

Biofuels are made from natural resources like plants, vegetable oils or fats, that can be converted to power vehicles for example, and are much more environmentally friendly than traditional fossil fuels.

Obama also announced an interagency task force to study carbon capture techniques to reduce greenhouse emissions from coal fired power stations and to help develop cleaner coal.

"It's been said that the United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal -- and that's because, as I said, it's one of our most abundant energy resources," said Obama.

"If we can develop the technology to capture the carbon pollution released by coal, it can create jobs and provide energy well into the future."

The president said he wanted 10 commercial carbon capture and storage projects up and running by 2016.

A bipartisan effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill in the Senate to tackle global warming appears under threat, as election year politics and delays for other key administration agenda items create a log-jam on Capitol Hill.

Read more!

Uproar in Brazil over huge Amazon dam plan

Yana Marull Yahoo News 3 Feb 10;

BRASILIA (AFP) – A controversial plan to build an immense dam in Brazil's rainforest endorsed this week has attracted a formidable bloc of opponents: ecologists, indigenous Indians and Sting.

The facility, in Belo Monte in the northern state of Para, will be the third-biggest hydroelectric dam in the world once built, after the Three Gorges dam in China and Brazil's existing Itaipu dam.

It will produce 11,000 Megawatts of energy for Brazil's rapidly growing economy, with the project's total cost estimated at 11 billion dollars.

Critics have lashed out at the move, warning it will leave vast environmental devastation in its wake.

Some 500 square kilometers (190 square miles) of land will be inundated, and indigenous communities living along 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the Xingu River feeding it will be displaced from their traditional territories.

The British singer Sting brought the issue to international attention last year when he invited a high-profile Brazilian Indian, Raoni, on stage to denounce the dam during a concert in Sao Paulo.

"It's a project that only benefits companies. Despite all they say, it's not 'clean energy:' it generates methane gas, which provokes climate change, and it will displace 30,000 residents," Antonia Melo of the Xingo Vivo Movement that groups 150 indigenous and social groups opposed to the dam told AFP.

The region's bishop, Erwin Krautler, counts among the fiercest opponents.

"The project completely underestimates the consequences that will be irreversible. (President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva) promised to speak with the population, but there was no dialogue," he said.

The state prosecutor's office has also raised questions over the project, which would see the local population double with the arrival of 85,000 job seekers, who would contribute to deforestation.

But the federal government, which has already had two other dams built on the Madeira river in the Amazon, insists the new dam meets environmental criteria.

"This is without any doubt the strictest environmental license in history. The company (that clinches the tender) will have to spend 800 million dollars in compensation," notably over the loss of native lands, Environment Minister Carlos Minc said.

Energy specialist Adriano Pires said "Belo Monte will ensure clean energy production" at a time when Brazil is facing a five percent increase in energy consumption due to its economic expansion.

"In Germany, which is always cited as an example, 10 percent of the energy comes from renewable sources, whereas in Brazil, hydroelectric plants produce 90 percent of the electricity. We can't give up on this because Belo Monte is important."

Read more!

India’s second largest lake faces ecological collapse

Global Nature Fund OpenPR 3 Feb 10;

Global Nature Fund nominates Lake Pulicat as “Threatened Lake of the Year 2010”

Serious environmental impacts destroy the livelihood of 50,000 fishermen as well as hundreds of thousands of people at the Indian Lake Pulicat. The once species-rich fishing grounds and the ecologically important mangrove forests in the lagoon north of the city of Chennai have reached an alarming dimension.

Radolfzell / Chennai February, 2nd 2010: Hundreds of thousands of people are affected by the consequences of deforestation and pollution at the second largest brackish water lagoon in India. Over-exploitation, mismanagement as well as improperly treated industrial effluents (containing heavy metals) from more than 25 industries coming from the nearby megacity Chennai deteriorate the water quality dramatically.

This is not only affecting the lake but also the 50,000 fishermen and hundred of thousands Indians, whose livelihood and food resource depend on the lake. In former times the artisanal fishery at Lake Pulicat counted 30,000 fishermen. Due to repeated agricultural mistakes and lack of jobs thousands of farmers and day labourers living in the lake region started fishing in the lake, particularly after the Tsunami in 2004.

Prawn farms and an increasing population put additional pressure on the lake’s ecosystem. Overuse of the natural resources and shortage of clean drinking water are inevitable consequences.

Global Nature Fund (GNF) together with the Indian environmental organisation Centre for Research on new International Economic Order (CReNIEO) support the restoration of the species-rich mangrove forests. The sheltered water zones between the dense roots provide ideal conditions for the larvae of numerous fish species. As a result the species diversity increases and fishing remains an assured source of income for the local population.

In a current joint project of both organisations 25,000 mangrove plants are grown within two years in the lake region. Therefore, different mangrove species from the South of Chennai are being used. Further, the insufficient water management must be improved by installing pit drainages and green filter water treatment systems.

In order to involve the local population in this process, the project implies environmental education activities that mainly address women. The women learn methods to grow and plant mangroves which they then put into practise.

For more information and photos please visit: www.globalnature.org/Presse

Background:
Since 2004, on the Worlds Wetlands Day (2nd February) GNF nominates the “Threatened Lake of the Year” to call attention to a threatened lake and help solving environmental problems. The lagoon is an important habitat for 160 different fish species and more than 110 varieties of terrestrial and aquatic birds and small mammals and reptiles. Up to 15.000 flamingoes visit the lake on their annual migration route. Pulicat Lake is member of the international network Living Lakes. The network successively and sustainably engages with local institutions in regions where lakes and wetlands encounter severe threats and is supported by international corporations such as Daimler, the German Airline Lufthansa, T-Mobile, Sika, Reckitt Benckiser and Osram.

Kontakt:
Global Nature Fund (GNF)
Fritz-Reichle-Ring 4
78315 Radolfzell, Deutschland
Tel.: 0 77 32 - 99 95 – 0
Fax: 0 77 32 - 99 95 – 88
E-Mail: info@globalnature.org
Website: www.globalnature.org

Read more!

Climate change causes wolverine decline across Canada

Wolverine numbers 'melting away'
Matt Walker, BBC News 3 Feb 10;

The wolverine, a predator renowned for its strength and tenacious character, may be slowly melting away along with the snowpack upon which it lives.

Research shows wolverine numbers are falling across North America. Their decline has been linked to less snow settling as a result of climate change.

The study is the first to show a decline in the abundance of any land species due to vanishing snowpack.

Details of the wolverine's decline are published in Population Ecology.

The wolverine lives in boreal forest across Scandinavia, northern Russia, northern China, Mongolia and North America, where it ranges mostly across six provinces of western Canada.



This largest member of the weasel family eats carrion and food it hunts itself, including hares, marmots, smaller rodents and young or weakened ungulates.

It has evolved for life on the snowpack, having thick fur and outsized feet that help it move across and hunt on snow.

Striking trend

Wildlife biologist Dr Jedediah Brodie of the University of Montana, in Missoula, US, wondered how climate change might be having an impact on snowpack levels, and on the animals that depend on it.

He had previously researched how declining levels of snow in the US Yellowstone National Park, caused by climate change, was changing the abundance of aspen trees and how elk feed on them.

Dr Brodie and his colleague, Professor Eric Post of Pennsylvania State University, at University Park, US, gathered data on snowpack levels across six provinces of Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and the Yukon Territory.

In all bar the Yukon, he found that snowpack depth declined significantly between 1968 and 2004.

Other studies have shown corresponding rising temperatures and declining precipitation across much of the western US.

"It occurred to me that a good first place to look for ecological impacts of that snowpack decline would be with a snow-adapted species like the wolverine," Dr Brodie told the BBC.

"Fortuitously, Canada has good records of both snowpack trends over time as well as trends in the harvest of all sorts of fur-bearing animals."

So Dr Brodie and Professor Post examined the records of wolverine numbers caught by fur trappers over the same period.

They found a striking correlation between declining snowpack and falling numbers of the predator.

"In provinces where winter snowpack levels are declining fastest, wolverine populations tend to be declining most rapidly," the researchers wrote in the journal article.

"Spring snowpack also appears to influence wolverine population dynamics."

The researchers found only one province, the Northwest Territories, where wolverine numbers are increasing. There, snowpack levels are declining but they remain much higher and less variable than in most other provinces.

Food scarcity

Dr Brodie cannot be sure why wolverine numbers are falling, but he has his suspicions.

"Recent work shows that wolverines appear to use areas with deep snowpack for dispersal. So reduced snowpack could make dispersal more difficult or dangerous, potentially reducing the success rate with which individuals can establish new home ranges," he says.

"Reduced snowpack may also make it harder for wolverines to get food, for several reasons.

"First, harsh winters and deep snow are major causes of mortality for ungulates like elk, moose, deer and caribou.

"If milder winters mean that fewer of these animals die over the course of the winter, then there will be fewer carcasses for wolverines to feed on," he explains.



"Wolverines also hunt rodents, and this food source may be important for wolverine reproductive success in some areas.

"But shallower snowpack is bad for a lot of rodents because it provides less insulation from the cold.

"So if declining snowpack reduces rodent abundance, that could be bad for wolverines."

Dr Brodie believes that his is the first study to show a decline in species abundance due to a reducing snowpack - for any land animal, not just those in North America.

But he says there are interesting parallels in marine systems.

"For example, sea ice is critical for polar bear foraging."

Polar bear body condition, reproductive rates, and survival have declined significantly in Hudson Bay as sea ice breaks up earlier in the spring, he says.

"At the other end of the globe, Antarctic sea ice has increased over recent decades.

"This may have negative impacts on adelie penguin populations that depend on ice-free areas for breeding and foraging.

"But we don't have to just sit back and watch climate change drive animals extinct," he says.

"As climate change worsens, we should reduce trapping levels and also disturbance to boreal forest habitats.

"Reducing the impact of these anthropogenic stressors could help 'offset' the impacts of climate change on wolverines."

Read more!