European bats soar past biodiversity targets

WWF 26 Oct 10;

Bonn (Germany), 26 October 2010 - New research backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reveals European bats to be a major conservation success.

With a majority of bat species in Europe stabilising or increasing in number, European bats are well on the way to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 7 on Environmental Sustainability, which aims for a significant reduction in the rate of species loss by 2010.

This bucks the trend in global conservation targets, which are currently being discussed in Nagoya. World governments agreed eight years ago at a UN summit in Johannesburg to reduce the rate of species loss by 2010 but in the majority of cases, the pledge has not been met. This is mainly due to a lack of conservation action in the field, which is essential in protecting vulnerable species.

Among the 26 bat species in western and central Europe, increasing or stable population trends have been reported for at least 14 species, while only two species have shown a decline. (Reliable data is not yet available for the remaining species).

This success is largely thanks to legislation and treaties that promote specific conservation measures. These include the UNEP-administered Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS), the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Council of Europe) and the European Union's Flora Fauna Habitat Directive.

EUROBATS, which will mark its 20th anniversary in 2011, provides concrete guidance and assistance to governments and non-governmental organizations on issues where bat conservation action is needed.

Dr. Christine Harbusch, author of the EUROBATS study, noted that despite this good news for bats, the conservation status of many bat species is still largely unfavourable.

"Some populations are still at risk or remain conservation-dependent, being too small and fragmented, due to past losses. This leaves their long-term viability in question and also causes problems of genetic exchange," she said.

With only two species in Europe exhibiting a clear decline, bats seem to have benefited the most among all European wild mammals from international treaties, conventions and agreements on conservation.

Andreas Streit, Executive Secretary of EUROBATS, welcomed the promising findings of the study and remarked that successful species conservation does not always require significant funding.

"It is rewarding to see that our concerted international actions on species conservation are clearly producing results", he said. "But a lot still needs to be done, especially in other regions. Population trends elsewhere are most alarming, particularly where bats are excessively hunted for bush meat or deliberately killed out of prejudice. Other threats relate to habitat loss, such as deforestation. What all threats to bats have in common is that they are man-made."

Although biodiversity is moving onto the global stage, the calculation of its monetary benefits is still a relatively new field.

Bats contribute to economies by performing essential environmental functions. They control insect populations in agricultural regions, maintain forests and disperse pollen and seed over long distances.

On organic coffee plantations in Mexico, for example, bats consume more insects than birds do in the summer wet season. Over 200 insect species feed on and damage coffee plants. With pesticides banned on organic plantations, the role of bats is thus essential to the local economy.

In addition to bees, bats are the major contributor to natural pollination, an eco-service which significantly aids farming efforts, particularly in developing countries, and is estimated to be worth US$224 billion a year.

To celebrate the environmental impact of bats and encourage more international cooperation on bat conservation, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and EUROBATS have designated 2011-2012 the Year of the Bat. The Year of the Bat aims to raise awareness of these often misunderstood animals and their diverse biodiversity benefits.

Notes to Editors

The Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS), a binding international treaty which came into force in 1994, presently numbers 32 European states among its Parties and counts 62 range states plus the European Union within its territory. The Agreement was concluded under the auspices of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), which recognises that endangered migratory species can be properly protected only if activities are carried out over the entire migratory range of the species. Administered by UNEP, EUROBATS aims to protect all 53 species of bats identified in Europe, through legislation, education, conservation measures and international co-operation with Agreement members and with countries which have not yet joined.

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, works for the conservation of a wide array of endangered migratory animals worldwide through the negotiation and implementation of agreements and species action plans. At present, 114 countries are parties to the convention.

Read more!

Palau Declares South Pacific Sanctuary for Whales, Dolphins

Environment News Service 25 Oct 10;

NAGOYA, Aichi, Japan, October 25, 2010 (ENS) - The South Pacific island nation of Palau has declared all the waters within its Exclusive Economic Zone to be a marine mammal sanctuary for the protection of whales, dolphins, and dugongs.

Harry Fritz, Palau's minister of the environment, natural resources and tourism, announced the new 600,000 square kilometer (231,660 square mile) sanctuary on behalf of President Johnson Toribiong at a news conference Saturday during Oceans Day at the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Nagoya.

"From ancient times to today we have conserved our biodiversity through the tools of "bul" or moratoria, and protection of critical areas," said Fritz.

"Biodiversity has always been integral to the Palauan culture," he said. "Our traditional identity, values, legends, and practices are intimately linked to our surroundings and to our relationships with living creatures. Conservation of biodiversity is ingrained in our daily approach to life and inherent in the meaning of our words."

A close group of islands, Palau has at least 11 species of cetaceans in its waters, including a breeding population of sperm whales and as many as 30 other species of whales and dolphins. Palau's dugongs are the most isolated and endangered population in the world, said Fritz.

"This sanctuary will promote sustainable whale-watching tourism, already a growing multi-million dollar global industry, as an economic opportunity for the people of Palau," Fritz said.

Much of Palau's economy comes from tourism and the country hosts Dolphins Pacific, the world's largest dolphin research facility, and the Palau International Coral Reef Center, a modern aquarium and research facility specializing in tropical coral reefs. The region's spectacular underwater biodiversity includes over 1,500 species of fish and 700 species of coral and anemone.

"The hunting of marine mammals, largely by foreign countries, in the 19th and particularly the 20th centuries has dramatically reduced populations in the Pacific Islands Region," he said. "The International Whaling Commission has recognized that there is clear scientific evidence that in the Pacific Islands region many of the great whale species remain severely depleted in numbers, due to the impacts of past whaling."

"It is a well-established scientific principle that to protect migratory species it is necessary to protect them not only in their feeding areas and migratory routes but also in their breeding grounds," Fritz said.

Establishment of the sanctuary is intended to prohibit the deliberate hunting and harassment of any marine mammals.

But Palau has only one patrol boat at its disposal to patrol waters that cover an area just a little smaller than the U.S. state of Texas. The boat is supplied by Australia and operated by the government of Palau.

Fritz said that Palau is seeking assistance from neighboring countries in patrolling and surveillance of its EEZ for illegal taking of marine mammals.

"We urge other countries to join our efforts to protect whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals - for the sake of the species, as well as the future economic, social, and spiritual development of coastal peoples," he said.

Palau also needs help to deal with all the illegal fishing taking place in its EEZ. "Last August I received a report from the U.S. officials in Guam showing more than 850 vessels fishing illegally in Palau�s waters," Fritz told reporters in Nagoya. Illegal fishing with the use of dynamite has also been reported.

"Palau's support for the conservation of marine species underscores this small island nation's tremendous commitment to protecting life in the oceans that surround it. Other countries should join Palau in safeguarding species in their waters," said Dr. Susan Lieberman, director of international policy for the Pew Environment Group, which has contributed a grant to fuel the patrol boat.

The Republic of Palau lies in the Pacific Ocean, some 800 km (500 miles) east of the Philippines and 3,200 km (2,000 miles) south of Tokyo. The islands were seized by Japanese ships during World War I and governed by Japan until 1947 when the islands passed formally to the United States under United Nations auspices as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

Emerging from trusteeship in 1994, Palau is one of the world's youngest and smallest sovereign states. About 70 percent of the population of Palau's approximately 21,000 residents live on the island of Koror.

Until now, Palau has voted with Japan in favor of commercial whaling at the annual meetings of the International Whaling Commission, and the establishment of its marine mammal sanctuary is viewed as a signal that Japan may no longer be able to count on Palau's vote for whaling.

Asked whether the new marine mammal sanctuary will affect Palau's relationship with Japan, Fritz said Palau is now making its position known and that it will be "understood by friends."

More than 1,500 whales are hunted and killed each year for their meat, most of them by Japan. This occurs despite a global moratorium on commercial whaling since 1986 and the establishment of the Southern Ocean as an international whale sanctuary in 1994.

Palau, in partnership with the South Pacific Whales Research Consortium, Whaleology, and the Pew Environment Group, announced Wednesday that it is beginning to lay the groundwork for a sustainable whale-watching industry.

During a presentation Wednesday night on the importance of marine mammals in the region, the Queen of Koror Bilung Gloria Salii said Palau is in the process of completing a whale-watching feasibility study.

At the event, entitled, "The Role of Marine Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries in Conserving Large Pelagic Species," hosted by the Pew Environment Group, Salii said whale and dolphin-watching alone already generates approximately US$23 million each year in direct revenues worldwide.

Lieberman, who represented Pew at the presentation Wednesday, said, "Palau, which once supported the Japanese position on commercial whaling, now supports conserving marine mammals, along with sharks and other species. By aiding economic development through ecotourism, Palau recognizes the importance of keeping these species alive and thriving."

Read more!

European nations sink bluefin tuna quota reduction

Yahoo News 26 Oct 10;

LUXEMBOURG (AFP) – Europe's Mediterranean nations roundly rejected on Tuesday a proposal by the EU's executive arm to slash the global quota for catching the lucrative sushi mainstay of bluefin tuna next year.

Fisheries ministers meeting in Luxembourg made their position known three weeks ahead of an international meeting of fishing nations on bluefin tuna, a species scientists say is endangered.

French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire called for the quota to remain at 13,500 tonnes as he opposed a European Commission proposal to cut total allowable catches more than twofold next year to 6,000 tonnes.

A stable quota "preserves the resource and at the same time guarantees work for fishermen", Le Maire said.

"Other solutions, notably the more restrictive quota of 6,000 tonnes, for example, would lead to the loss of 500 fishing jobs in France," he said.

Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain backed the French position, according to diplomats.

Britain was the only country to express support for Brussels' proposed quota reduction, while Germany and Sweden were less clear about their position, the diplomats said.

The British fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, said that safeguarding bluefin tuna was a "top priority" and that London would work with the commission and EU partners to ensure its future sustainability.

"We are aware that a number of other member states have significant fishing interests in this important and iconic species and hope that everyone agrees that all necessary action should be taken, based on the best available scientific advice, to safeguard its future," he said in a statement.

The EU has to agree on a position ahead of a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) between November 17 and 27 in Paris.

"We will work with the commission and with other member states to agree tough conservation measures for all stocks, including sharks, under ICCAT's remit," Benyon said.

Japan consumes three-quarters of the global bluefin catch, a highly prized sushi ingredient known in Japan as "kuro maguro" (black tuna) and dubbed by sushi connoisseurs as the "black diamond" because of its scarcity.

Following aggressive lobbying from Japan, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a UN body, rejected a ban on trade in the Atlantic bluefin tuna in March.

With a ban now off the table, European fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki wants to slash the quota. Europeans take more than 50 percent of the total allowable catches.

Damanaki, citing scientists, argues that reducing the worldwide quota to 6,000 tonnes would give the stock a 66 percent chance to reach a sustainable level by 2020.

Europe firm on bluefin tuna quota cut despite row
Yahoo News 27 Oct 10;

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Europe fought back Wednesday with a renewed call to slash sushi-prized bluefin tuna quotas for next year despite objections from Mediterranean fishing nations.

European Union fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki said she favoured "a substantial reduction" in the global 2011 quota while backtracking on her own suggestion the previous day to more than halve the figure -- from 13,500 to 6,000 tonnes.

"I do understand that would be very tough on our industry and that's not what I propose," she said in a statement.

In talks in Luxembourg with EU fisheries ministers, Damanaki had cited the 6,000-tonne figure as an "example" of a world quota target to be proposed by the EU at key tuna conservation talks next month.

The EU must agree a position ahead of a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) between November 17 and 27 in Paris.

Europe's Mediterranean nations have roundly rejected the proposals by the EU's executive arm to slash the quota for catching the lucrative sushi mainstay, which scientists say is an endangered species.

Environmental groups such as Greenpeace argue that reducing the worldwide quota to 6,000 tonnes would give the stock a 66 percent chance to reach a sustainable level by 2020.

France has called for the quota to remain stable at 13,500 tonnes on the grounds the species would be sustainable by 2022.

Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain backed the French position, according to diplomats.

Britain was the only state to express support for Brussels' proposed quota reduction, while Germany and Sweden were less clear about their position, the diplomats said.

The fisheries minister for the London government, Richard Benyon, said that safeguarding bluefin tuna was a "top priority" and that it would work with the commission and EU partners to ensure its future sustainability.

Japan consumes three-quarters of the global bluefin catch, known there as "kuro maguro" (black tuna) and dubbed by sushi connoisseurs as the "black diamond" because of its scarcity.

Read more!

Chinese million-dollar beds fuel Madagascar timber crisis

Richard Black, BBC News 26 Oct 10;

Soaring demand in China and political unrest in Madagascar are fuelling illegal logging for hardwoods in the African nation, a report concludes.

Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) talked to loggers, government agencies and traders to compile their report.

In China, they discovered beds on sale for $1m, made from Madagascan wood.

The report was launched at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Nagoya, Japan.

Madagascan politics is split between factions associated with ex-President Marc Ravalomana and the rival who ousted him in a 2009 coup, Andry Rajoelina.

Conservation groups have previously warned that illegal extraction of timber and wildlife could flourish in this milieu, but the EIA/Global Witness is the first investigation to show the scale of the problem.

"The pre-existing problem of illegal logging was turned into a flood of tree-cutting in national parks, and a flood of wood out of Madagascar to China and the West," said Alexander von Bismarck, EIA's executive director.

Felling the three species concerned - ebony, rosewood and pallisander - is forbidden, but the government has issued permits cheaply for traders to export stockpiles, which led to further logging.

The two organisations were asked by Madagascar's national parks service to conduct the investigation.

This official endorsement enabled them to access records in government departments, such as cargo manifests and trade data.

But most of the details emerged through contact with the loggers and traders, who appeared - in written accounts and in video produced during the investigations - not at all concerned with keeping their activities under wraps.

Instead they were keen to take the investigators, posing as buyers, into the heart of the logging zone.

"Within one day we had the staff of the top boss in [the town of] Antalaha saying 'we'll take you into the National Park and show you where we cut wood for this German buyer'," Mr von Bismarck recounted.

The result was a four-day trek into Masoala National Park, part of a Unesco World Heritage Site - one where logging is seen to have been so serious that it was recently placed on the World Heritage In Danger list.

EIA and Global Witness also went undercover in China and other countries, discussing with people in the furniture trade where the wood came from and how much it was worth.

In China, its prime use is as reproduction furniture that can fetch extraordinary prices - such as the $1m bed.

An estimated 98% of the wood ended up in China, with the remainder going to the US and EU nations.

The recently-implemented Lacey Act, which makes an offence of importing illegally-logged timber, has reportedly deterred many buyers in the US. Last year it led to authorities mounting a raid on the world-famous Gibson guitar company over allegedly illegal Madagascan rosewood.
Broken promises

Speaking to BBC News at the CBD meeting here, Madagascar's director-general of forests, Julien Noel Rakotoarisoa, acknowledged the report broadly gave a "pretty accurate account" of the situation as it was.

But, he said, things were changing.

The last export permit was issued a year ago, and no more would be forthcoming.

A few months ago, he said, a consignment of 300 tonnes of rosewood that had left Madagascar without going through customs was intercepted in the Comoros Islands nearby - a sign that illegal exports would be tackled.

He appealed to China to block the imports.

"If only they try to to work with the international community [on this]," he said.

"If they could... forbid importation, that would be a big step towards improving the situation."

This was a theme taken up by Alexander von Bismarck.

"In 2009, China issued a code of conduct for timber companies overseas," he said.

"If there is one example of a code of conduct being broken, it is clearly the companies that are stealing Madagascar's wood."

According to EIA's calculations, less than 1% of the wood's final value remains in Madgascar.

The Chinese delegation at the CBD meeting here did not respond to requests for comment.
Track record

Meanwhile, the Madagascan authorities are asking for the three woods to be placed on Appendix Three of the Convention on Interntional Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which would require importing countries to obtain certificates tracking the wood from its point of origin.

Such certificates could not then be issued in Madagascar, as harvesting the trees is illegal.

But John Scanlon, CITES secretary-general, said the government had yet to submit the information required to secure listing.

"Madgascar has indicated an interest in putting these species on Appendix Three, but a number of things have to be done before they're eligible for listing," he told BBC News.

"We haven't yet got enough information to be able to proceed."

Mr Rakotoarisoa said he hoped the requisite documents would be with CITES early in the New Year.

Meanwhile, despite the withholding of export permits, illegal logging continues, according to Alexander von Bismarck.

"Less than two weeks ago, we had reports, with GPS co-ordinates, of logging within the National Park," he said.

Russ Mittermeier, president of Conservation International which runs a number of projects in Madagascar, said the country's political instability was having an impact on nature that went far beyond hardwood species.

"Perhaps even more serious is the illegal hunting of some of the country's most endangered and most charismatic flagship species that inevitably accompanies these logging activities," he said.

"For instance, the report provided evidence of lemur hunting in Masaola National Park, with the preferred target being the spectacular red ruffed lemur, a species found nowhere else in the world.

"The loss of this animal and many others threatened by such hunting would have serious consequences for Madagascar's ecotourism industry, one of its most important long-term sustainable sources of foreign exchange."

Read more!

Forestry takes centre-stage at U.N. talks on nature

* Marathon talks on nature turn to scheme to save forests
* Discovery of new Amazon species shows riches and risks
* World faces pivotal moment, Canada says
David Fogarty and Chisa Fujioka Reuters AlertNet 26 Oct 10;

NAGOYA, Japan, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Delegates at a global U.N. meeting to preserve natural resources moved closer on Tuesday to agreeing ways to set aside about $4 billion to help developing nations save tropical forests, as studies highlighted the plight of nature.

The talks in the Japanese city of Nagoya are aimed at setting new 2020 targets to protect plant and animal species, a protocol to share genetic resources between countries and companies and more funding to protect nature, especially forests.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates global deforestation fell from 16 million hectares (40 million acres) per year in the 1990s to 13 million hectares per year in the past decade, with the bulk of the losses in tropical countries.

Forests soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, and help curb the pace of climate change. They are also key water catchments, help clean the air and are home to countless species.

"Our forests need immediate action," Brazil's Environment Minister, Izabella Teixeira, told the meeting.

Ministers focused on a voluntary partnership covering nearly 70 nations to boost a U.N.-backed scheme that seeks to reward developing countries that preserve and restore forests.

Called REDD-plus, or reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, the scheme has attracted funding pledges from rich nations because of its potential to fight climate change. It could also underpin a global market in carbon credits, in which poorer nations could earn large sums by saving their forests.

But the partnership has had a troubled start, with bickering over management of the cash and procedural issues.

"The main task for this meeting was to re-establish the partnership, which was close to failure. I think that was accomplished here," Gerald Steindlegger, policy director of WWF International's Forest Carbon Initiative, told Reuters.

Ministers agreed at the end of the one-day REDD talks on Tuesday to complete a 2011-12 work plan during U.N. climate talks in Mexico that start next month. The plan would cover funding pilot projects, managing the cash and helping nations build up institutions.

The talks in Nagoya ramp up on Wednesday, when more than 100 ministers discuss 2020 targets and financing. Also under discussion is a global pact that would allow poorer nations to share their genetic resources -- plants, animals and microbes -- between governments and companies with the potential to generate billions of dollars in benefits.

TOUGHER TARGETS

Negotiations on the genetic resources pact have taken years and the United Nations says Nagoya needs to agree tougher targets to save forests, reefs, rivers and wetlands that underpin livelihoods and economies. More funding was also crucial.

"We are at a very pivotal time. We are losing biodiversity on the planet at an alarming rate that cannot go on or our children and our grandchildren will be that much poorer," Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, told Reuters in an interview.

Actor Harrison Ford waded into the debate, urging the public to protect nature and for the United States to ratify the 1993 Convention on Biological Diversity.

"We have to create a kind of undeniable groundswell of public opinion, a kind of movement-level effect, something like the Civil Rights Movement or the Women's Rights Movement, to advocate for the kind of work that needs to be done to protect the environment," he said in an interview.

A WWF International report showed that between 1999-2009, about 1,200 new species of plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals were discovered in the Amazon, but were under threat from deforestation and climate change.

Findings included a blind red fish, a coin-sized black frog with pink rings on its body and a blue-fanged tarantula.

"We are really dealing with an issue of tremendous risk to humanity and security," said Yolanda Kakabadse, president of WWF International.

A separate report released on Tuesday said South Pacific fisheries, valued at $2 billion and home to 25 percent of global tuna stock, face collapse within 25 years without immediate action. (Editing by Ron Popeski)

Read more!

Heart of Borneo report reveals new ways to pay for forest conservation and sustainable development

WWF 26 Oct 10;

A new report released today by the three Bornean governments - Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia - is a leading example of how the economic value of forests is being recognized and secured through innovative finance.

The report: ‘Financing the Heart of Borneo – a partnership approach to economic sustainability’ (pdf), outlines three main sources of finance for conservation and sustainable development activities within the 22 million hectares of trans-boundary tropical rainforest on the island of Borneo - known as the Heart of Borneo (HoB).

Two of these sources; in-country government based (such as royalties, incentives and tax breaks s) and market based (such as payments for watershed services, REDD+ and bio-prospecting) are sustainable in the long term. The third source, the more conventional donor funding, is seen as an interim form of funding to help build the enabling conditions for the first two.

The new tri-governmental report sets out a pathway to understand the economic value of the HoB’s natural capital in terms of the ecosystem services it provides, such as carbon storage, regulating water flow and providing new genetic resources for medicines.


Bio-prospecting in Brunei

Haji Saidin Salleh, from Brunei’s Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, said the report is the first of its kind which demonstrates that protecting forest ecosystems in the HoB makes economic and social sense.
As an example, the Brunei government in partnership with the Japanese National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, is currently exploring the potential for ‘bio-prospecting’ of its rich forest and biological genetic resources.

“Brunei recognizes the tremendous value that the Heart of Borneo represents to the world, in terms of eco-system services and as yet undiscovered chemical compounds. The will to protect the area for future generations is very strong, but we need to generate additional financial support to achieve this vision – this report is our first steps to identifying where that support may come from,” he said.

Watershed protection payments in Indonesia

Indonesia’s HoB representative, Dr Andi Novianto from the coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs said a crucial next step in securing sustainable sources of finance is to mainstream forest and watershed services in to national and local development plans.

For example, in the conservation district of Kapuas Hulu in Kalimantan, an on-going initiative supported by WWF, CARE and the International Institute for Environment and Development seeks to reward upstream communities for their stewardship of crucial watershed areas which provide a valuable ‘service’ to users downstream.

“The Kapuas Hulu project is our first ‘district level’ pilot program. The long term aim is to encourage all ten districts in Kalimantan to maintain their forests, in return for which, they would receive financial compensation for the carbon stored, biodiversity protection and ecosystem services that these forests provide the island, country, region and ultimately the world,” Dr Novianto said.

Malaysia’s Malua BioBank

Malaysia too has developed innovative financial arrangements, as the report demonstrates with the Malua BioBank in the Bornean state of Sabah. Here, the Sabah government has licensed conservation rights for 50 years to the Malua BioBank, with a private investor committing up to US$10 million for the rehabilitation of the Malua forest reserve.

International support at the CBD

Speaking at the report launch, Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) said multi-national and multi-lateral agencies need to continue efforts to finance conservation and sustainable development and the HoB is proving to be a sound investment.

"It is my pleasure to launch the HoB sustainable finance report. This is important for the negotiators of this Convention as it shows how the ecosystems of HoB can be a part of a sustainable future. It is a call to stop talking, and start acting!" said Dr Ahmed Djoghlaf.

Leading global conservation organization, WWF, assisted the three governments in the preparation of the report and its Director General, Jim Leape, was on hand at the launch to pay tribute to the progress that had been made in the three years since the signing of the HoB Declaration.

“All three Bornean countries should be congratulated for their commitment towards this trans-boundary conservation programme and the progress made so far.”

“Finding appropriate sources of sustainable finance will be vital to tri-government conservation and development efforts for the HoB. We need to capitalize on the value of nature and mainstream it within economic development plans. It is obvious that protecting ecosystems and biodiversity makes long-term economic sense,” he said.

Read more!

UN says lack of crop diversity threatens food supply

Yahoo News 26 Oct 10;

ROME (AFP) – The genetic diversity of the plants that we grow and eat could be lost forever due to climate change, threatening future food security, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said on Tuesday.

Experts from the Rome-based organisation warned that the loss of biodiversity will have a major impact on humankind's ability to feed itself in the future as the global population rises to nine billion by 2050.

"There are thousands of wild crop relatives that... hold genetic secrets that enable them to resist heat, droughts, salinity, floods and pests," FAO director general Jacques Diouf was quoted in the report as saying.

"Increasing the sustainable use of plant diversity could be the main key for addressing risks to genetic resources for agriculture," he said.

The report estimated that 75 percent of crop diversity was lost between 1900 and 2000 and called for "special efforts to conserve and use" both cultivated plants and their "wild" relatives, especially in developing countries.

Fifty percent of the increase in crop yields in recent years has come from new seed varieties, the report said.

FAO experts pointed in particular to the success of New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a cultivator of new types of rice suited to drylands that has transformed local economies in several parts of Africa.

The FAO's second report in 12 years on the state of the world's plant genetic resources covers a range of topics from gene bank collections to the effects of climate change.

The study predicts that as much as 22 percent of the wild relatives of important food crops of peanut, potato and beans will disappear by 2050 because of the changing climate.

The United Nations has named 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity.

Crop biodiversity: use it or lose it
FAO launches 2nd State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture report
FAO 26 Oct 10;

26 October 2010, Rome – The genetic diversity of the plants that we grow and eat and their “wild relatives” could be lost forever, threatening future food security, unless special efforts are stepped up to not only conserve but also utilize them, especially in developing countries.

This is one of the key messages of the second report on The State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (pdf), launched today by FAO.

The 350-page report, which covers everything from gene bank collections to the effects of climate change on crop diversity, is the definitive health check on what is being done to protect biodiversity in food and agriculture crops.

The loss of biodiversity will have a major impact on the ability of humankind to feed itself in the future, all nine billion of us by 2050, with the poorest in the world most affected.

Climate change

Genetic information held in certain crop varieties is crucial to the development of heat, drought, salinity, pests and diseases-resistant, fast-growing, high-yielding new varieties, necessary to combat food insecurity in the face of climate change.

“Increasing the sustainable use of plant diversity could be the main key for addressing risks to genetic resources for agriculture,” said Diouf.

“There are thousands of crop wild relatives that still need to be collected, studied and documented because they hold genetic secrets that enable them to resist heat, droughts, salinity, floods and pests.”

Fifty percent of the increase in crop yields in recent years has come from new seed varieties. Irrigation and fertilizer account for the other 50 percent. A recent good example is the fast-maturing New Rice for Africa (NERICA) that has transformed local economies in several parts of Africa.

Wild relatives

More needs to be done, especially at the level of the farmer’s field, generating local interest, and building capacities to conserve and use the genetic biodiversity that still exists.

It has been twelve years since the first State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was published and in that time the global food landscape has changed drastically.

Hunger has been reduced in some countries, but has risen in others. Fuel and food prices have increased substantially. Globalization has widened and deepened, and cheap food imports in some countries have threatened the richness of local diversity.

Although the report does not attempt to quantify biodiversity loss, empirical evidence points to the continued extinction of crop biodiversity whittling away at the diversity of traditional food crops that survived the last century.

FAO estimates 75 percent of crop diversity was lost between 1900 and 2000. A recent study, highlighted in the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, predicts that as much as 22 percent of the wild relatives of important food crops of peanut, potato and beans will disappear by 2055 because of a changing climate.

Gene banks grow

On a more positive note, the report states that over the past twelve years, there has been an increase in awareness of the importance of protecting and utilizing the genetic diversity of food crops. Gene banks have increased in both size and the number.

There are now some 1 750 gene banks worldwide, with about 130 of them each holding more than 10 000 accessions. And in 2008, the ultimate back-up of global crop diversity, the Svalbald Global Seed Vault, opened in Norway.

Of the total 7.4 million samples conserved worldwide, national government gene banks conserve about 6.6 million, 45 percent of which is held in only seven countries, down from twelve countries in 1996.

This increasing concentration of collected and preserved genetic diversity in fewer countries and research centers highlights the importance of mechanisms to ensure facilitated access such as that provided by the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, of FAO.

The Treaty, now ratified by 125 nations, sets out a framework for compensating poor farmers for preserving different genetic crop varieties.

Investment neglect

The neglect in investment in agriculture since 1980 has inevitably led to a shortage of qualified agricultural scientists including plant-breeders, especially in developing countries, as young people, lacking incentives, turn their sights to more immediately profitable activities, the report says.

Huge advances have been made in biology and information technologies over the past twelve years; benefits from these need to be extended to improve use of agro-biodiversity with the ultimate aim of improving food security.

Many seed systems, the market or mechanism by which quality seeds are reproduced, tested and distributed, have also broken down. In the developed world, the seed sector is profitable enough to make it a viable business interest.

Unfortunately, this is not the case in poor countries where public entities are struggling to ensure good seeds for all farmers and access to new varieties.

A broader and better use of genetic resources and biodiversity in food crops will stimulate conservation. But adequate systems need to be in place to get new varieties into the hands of farmers both through the public sector and other players, the report found.

The United Nations has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity.

Read more!

Plastic from Plants: Is It an Environmental Boon or Bane?

Plant-based plastics are beginning to replace petroleum. But as the price drops and usage rises, will the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
David Biello Scientific American 26 Oct 10;

More than 2.5 billion plastic bottles—partially made from plants—are already in use around the world in a bid to replace petroleum as the fundamental building block of everyday plastics. The so-called PlantBottle from the Coca-Cola Co. is made by converting sugars from sugarcane farmed in Brazil into the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic commonly used in the ubiquitous clear bottles for various beverages. Fully recyclable, the bottles debuted at the 2009 U.N. Copenhagen Climate Conference and Vancouver Olympics, and are now on sale from Japan to Chile and across the U.S.

Most importantly from Coke's point of view, none of the six other major varieties of plant-based plastic can keep the carbonation from leaking out. "It's not only to hold carbonation, it's just to hold water," explains chemist Shell Huang, Coca-Cola's director of packaging research. "You can lose moisture through the bottle wall" with some of the other available plant-based polymers.

But can plants become more widely used as building blocks of ubiquitous plastics? In a sense it is back to the future with biopolymers—the very first plastics were produced by German chemists in the 19th century via a fermentation processes. Yet, earlier in October, Frito-Lay withdrew a high-profile example of plant-based plastic for the majority of its SunChips bags. Why? Not because it was unsafe or failed to compost as advertised but because the sound of the crinkling plastic was louder than customers liked.

"Only a Frito-Lay brand is big enough…so that the final product is cost-competitive," said Marc Verbruggen, president and CEO of NatureWorks, the provider of the bioplastic in the SunChips bags—as well as in products ranging from tea bags to diapers—in a 2009 interview. "Biopolymers will be the next generation of plastics."

The PlantBottle might prove that point, helped by the fact that it is a different form of plastic from that which made up the failed SunChips bag. The first step in making it is fermenting ethanol from the sugarcane in Brazil. That ethanol is then exported to India where it is processed as monoethylene glycol, or MEG—which comprises roughly 30 percent of a typical PET bottle. The rest is composed of traditional, petroleum-derived plastic. "This is the most sustainable raw material for now," Huang says. "Longer term, our goal is to make [the plastic] from plant waste," such as the lignin or cellulose in the sugarcane's leaves and stems.

Making the PlantBottle has thus far saved roughly 70,000 barrels of oil by the company's calculations—and the plastic resin, indistinguishable from its petroleum-based analog, can be exported throughout the world. "We are making PET from a renewable resource so there's a lower carbon footprint, and we can take advantage of existing infrastructure to recycle it," Huang explains. Plus, "the carbon is captured in the [plastic of the] bottle and never goes back to the air."

Of course, plant-based plastics run into the same problem as plant-based fuels—directly or indirectly they have an impact on food production. Whereas making ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil is energy efficient—more energy is embedded in the ethanol than goes into growing and harvesting the plants—replacing a significant fraction of the global demand for plastics, let alone fuels, would require converting large swaths of yet more Brazilian land into sugarcane fields. And one of the leading bioplastics—Ingeo, made by NatureWorks, owned by Cargill—relies on heavily fertilized and thus energy-intensive corn (unlike sugarcane) to make polylactic acid, or PLA, which now appears in products such as the SunChips bags or Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups.

"In the long run this could become an issue," admits Frederic Scheer, CEO of Cereplast, which plans to introduce an algae-based bioplastic product, in addition to a starch-based biopolymer it already markets, by the end of 2010. "You cannot have access to farmland without creating pressures on the food system."

Thus far, bio-based plastics have only replaced roughly 1 percent of the hundreds of billions–kilogram global plastics market, according to Lux Research, although that percentage may grow in coming years. The majority of those plastics, like PLA, are not recyclable, but rather compostable using high heat (temperatures of roughly 60 degrees Celsius).

"It takes 77 million years to make fossil fuels and 45 minutes to use as a coffee cup," says Cereplast's Scheer, noting that his industry can use the residue of government-mandated production of biofuels, such as ethanol from corn. "It makes no sense."

Regardless of the environmental logic, the plant-based plastics remain more expensive. "There is, right now, a bit of a price-up charge that we are absorbing, not passing it along to consumers," Lisa Manley, Coca-Cola's group director of sustainability communications, says of the PlantBottle. But "if you look at the volatility of pricing for petroleum—in short order and over the long term—the price comparisons will be at parity, and perhaps better."

That is why Coca-Cola, at least, is now working toward a 100 percent plant-based plastic bottle. "We don't have a definite timeline but we already did a feasibility study," Huang says. "It is technically feasible to make a 100 percent plant bottle from the material."

Read more!

Asia rides the next wave of energy

Business Times 27 Oct 10;

Financial investment in clean energy firms and projects have been surging in recent times. JOYCE HOOI explains why the sector has plenty of reasons to get excited

AS the emerging markets of Asia become the new darlings of the world economy, their influence has spilled over into the field of clean energy as well.

Less than a decade ago, the landscape for clean energy in Asia could not have looked more different than it does now.

Then, the booming Asian economy came with the by-products of sulphur dioxide emissions that choked the air and soaring chemical oxygen demand levels that permeated the water.

From the fallout of economic growth, a turning point appears to have emerged. The same engine of economic growth is increasingly running on clean energy.

For the first time last year, financial investment in clean energy firms and utility-scale projects in Asia and Oceania - US$40.8 billion - exceeded that of the Americas - US$32.3 billion, according to a report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Program's division of technology, industry and economics (DTIE).

At the same time, investment of the same kind declined 10 per cent year on year in Europe, to US$43.7 billion.

Astounding growth

The rate of growth for the field in this region is astounding in itself. From 2004 to 2009, the compounded annual growth rate for sustainable energy investment came to 61 per cent, compared to the global average of 46 per cent.

The momentum has also continued into 2010 - for the first six months of the year, new financial investment in clean energy stood at US$65 billion globally, a 22 per cent surge year on year. Tellingly, the bulk of it took place in an Asian powerhouse - China.

Of the lot, the clear primary beneficiary of funds has been the solar power sector - from 2004 to 2009, the financial sector's new investment in solar energy grew the most, at a compounded annual growth rate of 107 per cent.

Even then, other numbers show that the clean energy sector has plenty to be excited about.

Last year, efficient technologies which include that of electric vehicles and efficient lighting raked in the most venture capitalist and private equity funding - US$2.1 billion, globally.

In Singapore, where the focus remains on the research and development aspects of renewable sources of energy, efficient technologies have demonstrated relatively greater practical potential.

Already, two out of the five projects being awarded funding from a S$10 million allocation from the Energy Market Authority's Smart Energy Challenge programme will be based on developing the infrastructure and components of electric vehicles.

Another two projects will be looking at how energy efficiency in Singapore can be boosted.

The programme itself is part of a larger S$25 million Energy Research Development Fund that will go towards increasing the diversity of the country's energy sources and reducing energy intensity.

The case for government involvement in clean energy is becoming increasingly clear as literature on the matter filters through.

Clear relationship

A report by the United Nations Environment Program and the SEF Alliance last year stated that there is a clear relationship between energy efficiency and economic prosperity.

There was also evidence to show that government spending on green stimulus programmes was more effective in creating jobs compared to spending the same amount on traditional alternatives.

As the region hurtles inexorably towards cleaner and renewable sources of energy, a combination of the responsiveness of commercial interest and the precision of good policy-making will be crucial.

Read more!

Taking on the land-grabbers

IRIN Reuters AlertNet 26 Oct 10;

LONDON, 26 October 2010 (IRIN) - Property developers in Indonesia and Thailand moved in quickly after the 2004 Tsunami, snapping up land from those relocated into resettlement camps to build luxury resorts, further squeezing the livelihoods of the poor.

Land grabbing happened after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the Haiti earthquake, and after cyclones and floods in the Philippines, according to the World Disasters Report 2010 (WDR).

It can involve outright violence, or carefully orchestrated legislative measures - as after Katrina - says David Satterthwaite of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and one of the WDR report's authors.

In New Orleans, public officials pushed through planning and zoning legislation which changed housing ownership patterns across the city, orchestrating what Sara Pantuliano, head of the Humanitarian Policy Group at UK think-tank the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), describes as "one of the starkest examples of a disaster accentuating inequalities between city residents".

Deepening inequality

Displaced residents may lack land tenure, or have no identity card or documentation demonstrating their right to land, making it difficult for housing associations and NGOs to help them, says WDR.

"Unless disaster aid quickly learns to work with the untitled, the unregistered, the unlisted and the undocumented, it can support and even reinforce the inequalities that existed prior to the disaster," said the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights in WDR.

Shifting the power balance in favour of the vulnerable is notoriously difficult, admits Pantuliano, but is a cause that NGOs should take up more forcefully. "Too often we focus on the quality of shelter we can provide, but struggle to get past the more challenging questions of how to shift power balances in emergencies, and how not to exacerbate the vulnerability of the worst-off."

Some 2.57 billion urban dwellers in low and middle-income countries are vulnerable to unacceptable levels of risk, fuelled by rapid urbanization, poor local governance, poor services, rapid population growth and rising urban violence, said WDR.

A team of researchers at the ODI is looking at the impact of displacement and urbanization in Sudan, Kenya Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Gaza, Somalia and possibly Iraq.

Depression, isolation

Governments often overlook the social implications of forcing people to move, said Pantuliano. "Planned settlement can isolate communities; it can lead people to depression, to isolation and more vulnerability... driving youths to join gangs or to take up prostitution" she told IRIN.

It can also cut them off from jobs: Displaced communities in Manila, the Philippines capital, for instance, were pushed out of the city centre, meaning thousands could not easily access their jobs servicing the many businesses in the area.

In Haiti, reconstruction plans to move communities to "new, safe cities", meant moving people to distant camps, outside the capital, Port-au-Prince, where they did not want to be, said Alfredo Stein, an urban planning expert at the Global Urban Research Centre at the University of Manchester. Ex-residents continually attempt to return to the centre to try to re-claim their land.

Response challenges

Local authorities often struggle to respond quickly to resettlement challenges because of strict land-use regulations; lack of money to fund relocation; delays in getting official permission from regional or national authorities; and the high cost of building materials, said the IIED's Satterthwaite.

After a disaster the national government may decide to improve building standards, as was the case in Pakistan following the 2005 earthquake, which can further delay rebuilding.

Local advocacy groups and housing associations are often best-placed to help communities, said ODI's Pantuliano, as international NGOs often get confused about what role to play in resettlement.

But international agencies can also play an important role, she said. "We do not propose NGOs get involved in land reform, but they should intervene in issues that fall squarely in the protection mandate, such as documenting land rights or advocating for access to temporary and permanent land." This work may involve land surveys, research, advocacy, and providing legal aid to vulnerable people to avoid land grabs, she told IRIN.

"We are trying to put this more at the heart of humanitarian organizations' work... Post-tsunami NGOs woke up too late to these issues, despite local organizations pushing them to do something," said Pantuliano.

What works

Cassidy Johnson, a lecturer in building and urban design in development at University College London, identifies two factors that can help displaced people exercise their right to their land: the presence of strong community action groups, such as slum-dwellers' associations, which collectively rebuild and which have strong links to local government to enable them to lobby for their rights; and the existence of residents' joint savings schemes which means there are funds to draw on for rebuilding.

This was the case in the Philippines, which is regularly affected by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, storm surges, landslides, floods and droughts. Here the Homeless Peoples Federation has helped communities resettle following five disasters from 2000 to 2008: Its 70,000 individual members collectively saved to rebuild post-crisis, and swiftly organized themselves into rebuilding committees, post-crisis, said WDR.

Local branches of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, with support from the British Red Cross, have also been active in securing land tenure rights for families post-disaster in the Philippines, said Pete Garatt, disaster response manager at the British Red Cross.

"The most successful [land rights] work is done by local groups - we have seen this in Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Khartoum - as these issues were already on communities' radar screens," he told IRIN at the launch of WDR.

Wherever possible, communities should be encouraged to take the lead themselves, rather than waiting for others to respond, said Pantuliano. After the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, communities successfully reoccupied their old land because they got on with rebuilding permanent houses themselves, rather than waiting for government permission. "They left the government with little choice but to allow them to stay put," she said.

Moving forward, the idea of "building back better" which has become standard government parlance after an emergency, must be redefined, said WDR. Rather than addressing purely better quality infrastructure, it should describe "land for the landless and homes for the homeless".

And building back better must also stress that resettlements, if they must occur, are well-placed, added Pantuliano.

aj/cb

Read more!

Sneezin' in the Rain: New Monkey Is Discovered

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Yahoo News 26 Oct 10;
A Photoshop reconstruction of the new snub-nosed monkey, based on a Yunnan snub-nosed monkey and a carcass of the newly discovered species. Credit: Thomas Geissmann

Almost by definition, species unknown to science are often tough to track down. But researchers seeking out a new species of primate in northern Myanmar were assured by locals that the monkeys aren't hard to find at all. You just have to wait for it to rain.

The new species, a previously unknown type of snub-nosed monkey dubbed Rhinopithecus strykeri, has a nose so upturned that the animals sneeze audibly when it rains. To avoid inhaling water, the monkeys supposedly sit with their heads tucked between their knees on drizzly days, according to local hunters.

The discovery, reported today (Oct. 26) in the American Journal of Primatology, was made by biologists from the Myanmar Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association and primatologists from Fauna and Flora International and the People Resources and Biodiversity Foundation.

The research team was working on a survey of gibbons in northeastern Myanmar in early 2010 when villagers told them about a monkey with an odd nose and prominent lips. Based on the descriptions, the researchers suspected the locals were seeing snub-nosed monkeys, threatened primates previously found only in China and Vietnam.

Intrigued, the team investigated further, surveying field sites and interviewing local villagers. The monkeys were well-known in the area, with villagers in 25 of 33 locations reporting monkey sightings. Several hunters provided skulls and hides from the monkeys, which have now been placed in museum collections in Switzerland and Myanmar.

After studying the specimens, the researchers realized they had a new species on their hands. The monkeys are about 21 inches (55 centimeters) long from upturned nose to rump, but their 30-inch (78 cm) tails more than double their length. Their fur is black with white ear tufts. Except for their white moustaches, the monkeys' faces are bare and pink.

The villagers in the area call the monkeys “myuk na tok te” or “mey nwoah,” both names meaning "monkey with an upturned nose," the researchers write. The monkeys themselves live in a mountainous area separated from other species by two rivers. Their range is probably no more than 167 square miles (270 square kilometers), and they likely number no more than 330. That makes the newly discovered monkey critically endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) standards.

The monkeys are especially threatened by planned dam construction and logging roads in their habitat, the researchers report.

New monkey found in Myanmar near China dam project
* Snub-nosed monkey prone to sneezing in the rain
* Species endangered because of hunting, scientists say
Alister Doyle, Reuters AlertNet 27 Oct 10;

OSLO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A new type of snub-nosed monkey has been found in a remote forested region of northern Myanmar which is under threat from logging and a Chinese dam project, scientists said on Wednesday.

They said hunters in Myanmar's Kachin state said the long-tailed black monkey, with white-tufted ears and a white beard, could often be tracked in the rain because its upturned nostrils made it prone to sneezing when water dripped in.

"It's new to science. It's unusual to travel to a remote area and discover a monkey that looks unlike any other in the world," Thomas Geissmann, lead author of the study at the University of Zurich-Irchel, told Reuters.

Studies of a carcass and four skulls showed the monkey differed from snub-nosed monkeys in China and Vietnam. The experts had no photos of a live Myanmar monkey.

The scientists estimated there were between 260 and 330 of the monkeys living in an area of about 270 sq km (100 sq miles) and believed the species to be critically endangered.

"The hunting pressure is likely to increase considerably in the next few years as new dam construction and logging roads invade" the monkeys' habitat, they wrote in the American Journal of Primatology.

IN CHINESE HANDS

"The future of the snub-nosed monkey lies in Chinese hands," said Frank Momberg, of Fauna and Flora International and a co-author of the study. Monkeys were hunted for meat or fur and their body parts were used in traditional medicines in China.

He said China Power Investment Corp., leading the dam project further down the valley on a tributary of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar, had an economic interest in preserving the forested region where the monkeys live.

More roads and logging would cause erosion around the watershed that could clog up the new reservoir with silt, reducing power generation, he said. He praised China for carrying out a study of the dam's possible effect on the environment.

The discovery of the snub-nosed monkey contrasts with a rising trend of extinctions, caused by factors such as land clearance, expansion of cities, pollution and climate change.

A U.N. conference in Nagoya, Japan, this week is looking at ways to safeguard biological diversity after the world failed in a goal set in 2002 of a "significant reduction" in the pace of extinctions of animals and plants by 2010.

A separate study in the journal Science showed growing numbers of the world's birds, mammals and amphibians had moved closer to extinction in recent decades. A fifth were classified as threatened.

For Reuters latest environment blogs, click on: http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/ (Editing by Andrew Dobbie)

Read more!

Calls to protect dugongs in Australia

Daniel Bateman The Cairns Post 27 Oct 10;

TRADITIONAL owners are putting their boats between illegal hunters and dugongs in an effort to stop the endangered animals being driven to extinction.

While some traditional owners are allowed to hunt the animal for cultural reasons, hunters who do not hold this right are abusing the resource.

Mandubarra Land and Sea Corporation spokesman James Epong said the situation had become so bad in some parts of the Far North that traditional owners feared dugongs may become extinct.

"Between Mossman and Innisfail, (dugong) are going to be extinct in these areas, because of indigenous people and Islander people moving into a town and just freely going out and taking what they want," Mr Epong said.

"The traditional owners of the land, we’re up in arms.

"We even put our boats in between the dugong and the hunters if we don’t know who they are."

It has been estimated about 200 dugongs are killed in Far Northern waters each year.

In Federal Parliament on Monday, the Opposition called for bipartisan support for a national dugong and sea turtle protection plan.

But Environment Minister Tony Burke failed to respond to questions from The Cairns Post yesterday about whether the Government would support the move.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said there needed to be a crackdown on illegal dugong hunting.

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch also backed the call, saying dugong were hunted to local extinction in Mauritius and Taiwan.

"It is going to happen in this area unless something is done at the national level, because the threats and the challenges to these magnificent species mean that we may have another Tasmanian tiger on our hands," Mr Entsch said.

Dugong could be extinct within 40 years
AAP Sydney Morning Herald 26 Oct 10;

Dugong could be extinct within 40 years if governments don't intervene to stamp out unsustainable traditional hunting practices, senior coalition MP Warren Entsch has warned.

Using figures released at an international conference in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, Mr Entsch said the animals, also called sea cows, were already extinct in many areas.

Mr Entsch, whose north Queensland electorate of Leichhardt covers prime dugong territory, said the evidence suggested the species could be completely extinct worldwide within 40 years.

An estimated 2000 dugong are taken from Queensland waters each year under traditional hunting provisions, he said, although the number could be significantly higher.

"We seriously need to look at this, and I think it would be irresponsible for us as a society to allow this to continue," Mr Entsch said.

In federal parliament on Monday night, coalition MPs called for the establishment of a National Dugong & Turtle Protection Plan to save the species from extinction.

Mr Entsch said the plan would need to include a temporary moratorium on hunting so authorities could determine how many dugong were left in the wild.

Under the plan, he said traditional owners would be encouraged to notify authorities of illegal or inappropriate hunting.

"People will argue that it is about taking away native title rights, but I can assure you if the species dies out that is a guaranteed way of enjoying no native title rights."

Read more!