Montana Tribes Ready For Historic Return Of Buffalo

Laura Zuckerman PlanetArk 9 May 11;

For the first time in nearly 140 years, the Indian tribes of northeastern Montana are preparing for the return of wild buffalo that are descended from herds that once thundered across the vast American West.

The Sioux and Assiniboine tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in coming months will claim dozens of buffalo originating from Yellowstone National Park, home to the last free-roaming, purebred bands of buffalo, or bison, in the United States.

On Monday, Montana wildlife officials plan to inspect 5,000 acres at Fort Peck that have been readied for the arrival of the native buffalo, which for centuries provided food, clothing and spiritual sustenance to American Indians.

The inspection marks a milestone in a years-long plan by federal, state and tribal managers of Yellowstone bison to give Native Americans in Montana custody of an assortment of bulls, cows and calves to cultivate new herds on tribal lands.

For American Indians, whose fortunes in the 19th century declined with eradication of the herds they depended on, the buffalo's return symbolizes fresh hope for an ancient culture.

"It's the beginning of a whole new chapter for the bison and for us. It brings us right back to where we were," said Robert Magnan, head of Fort Peck's fish and game department.

Systematic hunting of buffalo west of the Mississippi cut their numbers from tens of millions to the fewer than 50 animals that found refuge at Yellowstone in the early 20th century. That population has since grown to some 3,700 head.

Unlike other bison in the United States that exist in national parks and refuges and are commercially ranched, the Yellowstone herd has not been crossed with domestic cattle and has roots dating to prehistoric times.

The planned transfer of animals is expected in coming months at Fort Peck, where $250,000 has been spent on preparing pasture and 26 miles of fencing for several dozen buffalo.

Fort Peck is to be the first of several reservations in Montana to provide new homes where buffalo can safely roam.

The bison to be claimed by the tribes are part of a Yellowstone band the state quarantined in 2005 and culled for brucellosis, a disease that can cause cows to miscarry.

Brucellosis is one of several reasons Montana's billion-dollar cattle industry supports killing most buffalo that wander from Yellowstone into Montana in search of food in the winter and objects to relocation of the iconic animals.

The return of buffalo to Indian tribes comes at a critical time for Yellowstone bison. Roughly 700 of the park's herd have been corralled this year after attempting to embark on their historic winter migration into Montana.

Hundreds of the captive bison were slated for slaughter when Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer granted them a stay of execution in February.

A plan that took effect last month to let Yellowstone buffalo into designated parts of Montana without facing capture or slaughter has raised the ire of ranchers. Errol Rice, head of the state Stockgrowers Association, has called on bison managers to revoke the plan.

"We continue to be faced with an array of challenges because of bison, and our family ranchers must have a voice," he said.

In a sign of growing dissension, two buffalo were illegally shot and killed in April outside Yellowstone's north entrance near Gardiner, Montana.

Such conflicts will not prevent Montana from keeping its pledge to tribes, said Art Noonan, deputy director of the state's wildlife and parks agency.

"Our intent is to get them bison," he told Reuters.

Magnan said the time was right for tribes to step in.

"Bison took care of Native Americans for centuries and provided everything we needed -- food, clothing, weapons and tools," he said. "Now they're in trouble, and it's our turn to take care of them."

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Ellen Wulfhorst)

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Kenya's Construction Boom Hurting Unique Game Park

Wangui Kanina PlanetArk 9 May 11;

A construction boom risks destroying a game park on the Kenyan capital's edge, where lions hunt in the shadows of skyscrapers, a wildlife official said.

Nairobi has a population of about three million people but that is expected to surge to eight million within two decades, fuelling demand for housing and commercial property.

Analysts say sky-high land prices in the capital are forcing Kenya's middle class to seek affordable plots on the outskirts.

Julius Kipng'etich, managing director of the state-run Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), says human settlement expansion and growth in industries pose a threat to Kenya's oldest national park next to the city.

Tourism is Kenya's number two foreign exchange earner after tea, while construction was the fastest growing sector in east Africa's biggest economy in 2010.

The economy is projected to grow by 5.7 percent this year from 5.2 percent in 2010.

"The upswing of the economy brings its own challenges, such as human settlements encroaching on protected areas. So the encroachment of the park comes from high class settlements and the slums that follow them," Kipng'etich told Reuters in an interview at the KWS offices.

Hundreds of acres around the park are mainly owned by nomadic Maasai, who subdivide and sell land to outsiders eager to build, he said, as a family of warthogs roamed outside the KWS headquarters and the occasional spine-chilling roar from the park's lions could be heard.

Established in 1946, the Nairobi National Park provides a chance for visitors to experience a safari game drive and view Kenya's famed wildlife between meetings, Kipng'etich said.

Most of the animals roam on the much bigger plains and come to the park through an open southern boundary for water during the dry season, but this vital corridor is increasingly restricted by fences and human settlements, he said.

The park has about 83 rare black rhinos, which poachers drove close to extinction in the 1990s as they sought their huge horns thought to have medicinal values. There are also about 38 lions in the park.

PUTTING UP FENCES

KWS and the Wildlife Foundation, a nongovernmental organization, have been working with communities in the area to protect the park by encouraging land practices that support conservation.

In one program the two bodies lease the land from the Maasai at competitive prices to discourage the subdivision and sale of land.

Another -- the predator program -- ensures that the owners of livestock killed or eaten by lions and other predators in the park are compensated at market price whenever possible.

"We have six kilometers of the corridor still open due to the partnership with the Wildlife Foundation," he said.

Some conservationists say the park should be fenced to contain wild animals and minimize conflicts with human. But Kipng'etich -- in his seventh year at the helm of the wildlife body -- differs.

"It would be tragic to have a closed system within the city. It will just be like slowly killing the natural park so it is our wish that this ecosystem remains open," he said.

(Editing by George Obulutsa)

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Palm Oil Companies Hope to Persuade EU to Lower Its Standards for Imports

Jakarta Globe 8 May 11;

Indonesian palm oil producers hope the Asean-European Union Business Summit leads to a breakthrough in exports of crude palm oil to Europe, which fell sharply after more stringent environmental regulations were put in place last year.

Derom Bangun, vice chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Board (DMSI), told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that exports to EU countries fell after it instituted carbon footprint and conservation requirements for companies exporting palm oil to its member nations.

Indonesia’s exports to Europe in 2010 were just 15 percent of its 15.6 million tons of overall CPO shipments, down from 20 percent in 2008.

“The toughest difficulties are in exporting biodiesel. Requirements for such products to enter the market remain burdensome,” said Derom, adding that most Indonesian producers could not afford to pay for the greenhouse gases released when removing forests for palm oil cultivation.

Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat said last week that the government had formed a special team to identify various trade barriers that hamper exports of commodities, particularly palm oil, to the EU.

“We hope we can finish the identification of the trade barriers soon and overcome them so that our exports to Europe will not face constraints,” Hidayat said on Thursday.

Once the EU’s trade standards are verified, he continued, industries in Indonesia are expected to adjust their products to ease the country’s exports to Europe.

The government has also asked the EU to adjust its trade standards, with Hidayat claiming that the restrictions posed on Indonesian products were overly demanding.

“They set a relatively high standard. They do not want to accept CPO that is produced from plantations on peat land. I think it is an old issue, but it can be overcome because we do not export CPO produced from plantations on peat land areas,” the minister said.

Other obstacles include verification standards and attempts by environmental groups to bring to light destructive practices by palm oil producers, which the companies have claimed is a smear campaign.

To help prime Europe for future exports, the Agriculture Ministry has launched a “green product” campaign for palm oil. Agriculture Minister Suswono said the campaign took place through seminars and meetings between officials from Indonesia, Spain and France.

The 27-member EU is Indonesia’s second-largest trade partner, with annual bilateral commerce of Rp 253 trillion ($29.6 billion).



Antara, JG

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Aceh Angry Over Sale of Carbon Credits to Miner

Nurdin Hasan Jakarta Globe 7 May 11;

Banda Aceh. Officials have lambasted an Australian carbon broker for selling the marketing rights for carbon credits created through a forest conservation project to a Canadian mining firm.

According to a press release from Toronto-listed East Asia Minerals, Carbon Conservation included the sales and marketing rights to the carbon credits as part of the 50 percent equity the miner acquired in the broker.

East Asia Minerals said it paid $500,000 and issued 2.5 million shares to Carbon Conservation in the deal.

Makmur Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Aceh administration, confirmed that Carbon Conservation had signed on to help create carbon credits in the 700,000-hectare Ulu Masen forest conservation project.

However, he said that if Carbon Conservation had auctioned off the sales and marketing rights to those credits, then its contract with the Aceh administration would have to be reviewed.

“We may even cancel the contract if we find that they’ve abused the agreement [by selling the rights to a mining firm],” he said.

Vanda Mutia Dewi, coordinator of the environmental group Greenomics Indonesia, also lashed out at Carbon Conservation for giving up the rights to the miner.

“East Asia Minerals has mining interests in Aceh, and Carbon Conservation had the exclusive right to sell and market the carbon credits from Ulu Masen,” she said. “Clearly there’s a conflict of interest here. Carbon Conservation has abused its contract with the Aceh administration.”

Hasbi Abdullah, speaker of the Aceh legislature, said he was surprised the Aceh authorities had never been involved in the talks about the equity stake that Carbon Conservation had sold to East Asia Minerals.

“It’s that kind of move that’s dangerous for the future of Aceh’s forests,” he said.

“We’ll immediately summon Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf to explain how this was allowed to happen,” he added.

“The governor must answer for this mess because it was his administration that struck a deal with the foreign firm without informing the legislature, and subsequently causing losses to the province.”

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Hong Kong told to revamp air pollution rules

Yahoo News 8 May 11;

HONG KONG (AFP) – The Hong Kong government has been told to hammer out a timetable for new air quality rules amid increasingly vocal criticism of pollution in the global financial hub, a green group said Sunday.

The order from the city's ombudsman comes several months after Friends of the Earth Hong Kong asked the Chinese territory's leaders for an explanation of its outdated air quality objectives, largely unchanged since the late 1980s.

The environmental group filed a formal complaint last year over the city's pollution rules.

"We think the government was dragging its feet and (this decision) means they need to give a clear timetable for when the new air quality objectives will be released," Edwin Lau, the green group's director, told AFP on Sunday.

The watchdog's decision is non-binding but Lau said the order was "a little bit of a victory" since it could not force government action on the issue, and stopped short of accusing officials of "maladministration."

A spokesman for the ombudsman could not be reached Sunday, but the watchdog previously declined to comment on its probe, citing privacy laws.

The city's Environmental Protection Department was quoted by the Sunday Morning Post as saying the ruling was "welcome" and it was "working closely with the concerned bureaux and departments and other stakeholders with a view to drawing up a practicable timetable."

Hong Kong's roadside air pollution hit record levels last year as air quality continues to be a big health issue in the city of seven million, with critics warning that it would drive away talented professionals.

A survey last year by public policy think tank Civic Exchange found one-quarter of residents would like to leave Hong Kong to escape its pollution.

Emissions from factories in southern China, which seep over Hong Kong's border, combined with local emissions from power plants and transport, generate an almost daily thick blanket of haze over the teeming metropolis.

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Nuclear 'cheapest low-carbon option' for UK energy

Richard Black BBC News 9 May 11;

Nuclear power will remain the cheapest way for the UK to grow its low-carbon energy supply for at least a decade, according to government advisers.

But renewables should provide 30-45% of the nation's energy by 2030, says the Committee on Climate Change (CCC).

Its new report suggests ministers may want to temper ambitions for offshore wind, which is still fairly expensive.

The coalition asked the CCC to advise on options for a low-carbon future shortly after taking office a year ago.

"People argue that offshore wind is very expensive - and it's true, it is more expensive at the moment than some other technologies, so nuclear at the moment looks like the lowest cost low-carbon option," said CCC chief executive David Kennedy.

"But we can expect significant cost reductions over the next two decades across a range of technologies, whether wind, marine or solar, and that's why these technologies are promising."

Wind could replace nuclear as the cheapest option within about 15-20 years, he indicated.

By 2030, the cost of using these low-carbon technologies rather than fossil fuels would put about £50 onto the average household's energy bill.

However, bills could actually go down if plans to improve energy efficiency, such as boosting home insulation, come to fruition.
Hard target

The committee's advice comes against a number of different targets and constraints.

First, there are European Union targets under which the UK has to achieve a 15% share of renewables by 2020, and a 34% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels.

It is already most of the way to the second of those targets, thanks mainly to the "dash for gas", measures to clean up methane emissions from landfill sites and the recession; but the renewables target is likely to prove tougher.

The government's main strategy is to encourage the installation of offshore wind farms - committee calculations suggest that even if 10MW turbines come into the market, at least 3,600 would be needed.

Here, the committee has two concerns. Some of that electricity could be generated more cheaply through onshore wind or buying renewable electricity from overseas; and currently, financial incentives end in 2020.

"There isn't anything in the way of government support after 2020 - it falls off a cliff - so we have to ask, 'why would you expect anybody to build an offshore wind turbine factory in the UK?'" said Mr Kennedy.

"So we're saying the government should commit to renewables support through the 2020s, and we've got offshore wind and marine technologies in mind here."

The committee is also looking at the government's long-term target of a cut of at least 80% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and asking what policies are needed in order to get on the right road.

They say that by 2030, it would mean generating virtually all electricity through low-carbon technologies - nuclear, renewables, and perhaps fossil-fuel stations that capture and store the carbon dioxide they produce.

Nuclear and renewables would each have about a 40% share, the report envisages.

This would require an additional two or three nuclear reactors on top of those developers are already planning to build.

The total amount of electricity generated would be about 20-25% larger than today, with the additional energy going to replace some of the heating currently done through burning gas and coal, and to power a burgeoning fleet of electric vehicles - 10 million by 2030.

"Smart batteries" in those vehicles would be among the resources used to store electricity at times of low demand and release it during peaks, helping to "smooth out" the supply across the day.

About 30-35% of the remaining heat requirement could be supplied through renewable technologies such as heat pumps and biogas, the committee says.

Only in transport would there be an enduring requirement for fossil fuels, with biofuels constrained by issues such as the increasing need for land to grow food crops.
Clean future?

Environmental groups have given the report a mixed reception.

"It's great that the committee has recognised the huge role renewable energy could and should be playing in taking Britain towards a clean, prosperous future - and is right to call for a dramatic increase in investment to make this happen," said Craig Bennett, director of policy and campaigns with Friends of the Earth.

"But nuclear power can't be part of the answer - our analysis shows it will divert vital money and effort away from developing renewable energy, and the jobs and industries it could bring to the UK.

"We've had 50 years of successive governments pandering to the nuclear lobby. If their promises of cheap, low-carbon energy were true, they would have been delivered by now."

EDF, one of Europe's largest energy companies that is aiming to build new reactors in the UK, welcomed the nuclear emphasis.

"The CCC has said that safe nuclear power, the lowest cost, large scale, low-carbon electricity source, is a key element; we agree," it said in a statement.

"EDF Energy has already taken steps to respond to early lessons from Fukushima.

"The designs we propose for the future already build in the lessons from previous extreme events, inside and outside our industry [and] we will take account of new lessons from Japan."

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Rich Nations Miss U.N. Climate Finance Deadline

Alister Doyle PlanetArk 9 May 11;

Rich countries have missed a U.N. deadline for outlining aid to help developing nations combat climate change.

Among industrialized nations, only Russia and Ukraine sent letters to the United Nations by the May 1 deadline -- only to say they did not feel obliged to contribute under a deal to provide almost $30 billion in initial "fast-start" climate funds from 2010-12.

The lack of response is a setback to the deal, under which aid is meant to rise to $100 billion a year by 2020.

"There are too many empty multilateral accounts," said Colin Beck, representative of the Solomon Islands at the United Nations.

"Developed countries continue to teeter in honoring even their modest commitments," said Clifford Polycarp, of the Washington-based World Resources Institute, which tracks climate aid pledges.

At a meeting of almost 200 nations in Cancun, Mexico, in December, industrialized nations agreed to give details of their first fast-start funds by May 2011 as part of a wider deal that included a plan to set up a Green Climate Fund.

The website of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, which oversees commitments, only has letters from Moscow and Kiev. It spells out that it interprets "by May" to mean "by May 1."

But deadlines set by U.N. agencies are often flexible and rich nations are expected to submit details soon, Polycarp said.

The cash is meant to help developing nations curb their rising greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change, ranging from more droughts to rising sea levels.

But developed nations face problems in keeping pledges for 2010-12 aid, which now add up to about $30 billion. Japan is hardest hit, after the March earthquake and tsunami, while the United States and many others face budget cuts.

Rich nations promised new and additional climate funds at a 2009 summit in Copenhagen, and repeated the pledge in Cancun. Rich nations have done most to cause global warming, by emitting most greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.

Beck said the uncertainty about the funds "summarizes the fragile trust and confidence that emerged from Cancun."

An international report this week said seas could rise by more than previously expected, up to 1.6 meters (5ft 3in) this century, a big worry for coastal communities and island states from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean.

The Cancun Agreements included a goal of limiting a rise in average world temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F) above pre-industrial times. Temperatures have already risen by about 0.7 degrees Celsius (1.1 F).

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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Best of our wild blogs: 8 May 11

Baby sharks
from Urban Forest

apathetic fishermen II @ Sg Buloh 07May2011
from sgbeachbum

A Salute to All Mothers
from Macro Photography in Singapore

Cyrene Safari with volunteer guides
from wild shores of singapore

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Sabah may be the first state to ban shark hunting

Muguntan Vanar The Star 8 May 11

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is likely to be the first state to ban shark hunting for their fins in a bid to protect the marine creature.

The state government is now studying the legal aspects of the proposed ban which would require amendments to the State Wildlife Protection Ordinance with the aim of introducing it by the end of the year.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the situation was becoming critical for this marine creature as only 20% of its original population was still left in the country.

“From my last briefing, there are only four areas in Sabah where sharks can be spotted.

“If we don't do something about it, the population may disappear from our waters completely,” Masidi said yesterday.

Masidi said he was told by experts that the sharks no longer existed in peninsular Malaysia waters.

He said the state attorney-general was now studying the matter.

He added that the state government was working with non-governmental groups to educate the public on the need to protect sharks from “disappearing” entirely.

“We understand the sensitivities involved as it is a must for some people to serve shark fin soup during weddings. But what we are trying to do is to educate the people to skip the dish for conservation's sake,” he said, adding that it would also get Malaysia Airports Berhad to bar retailers from selling shark fins in airports in the state.

The state government, he added, had also taken shark fin soup off the menu of its official functions.

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Indonesia warns ASEAN on food, energy prices

Yahoo News 7 May 11;

JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia on Saturday warned fellow Southeast Asian states that rising food and energy prices could drive more people into poverty and urged coordinated action to fight inflation.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the start of the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit that the regional bloc must take steps to ease the surge in consumer prices.

"We must give serious attention and take concrete measures to address the soaring of food prices and world energy, which in turn will negatively affect the prosperity of our people," he said in his opening speech.

"History shows that the rise of food and energy prices... has always caused the increase in the number of people living in poverty, yet we know very well that decreasing the poverty level is not an easy task."

Philippine Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said every leader who spoke at the plenary session mentioned high energy and food prices as among the most critical issues faced by the region.

"It is common to all countries in Asia, in ASEAN countries particularly," he said, adding that ministers like himself were under instruction by their leaders to work on mitigating the impact.

He said the Philippines was inviting oil companies to invest in storage infrastructure and retail distribution networks in the country in a bid to enhance competition that will hopefully lead to cheaper fuel.

Oil prices soared to their highest peaks in more than two years last month, driven largely by political turmoil in the crude-producing Middle East and North Africa region.

The increase has sparked fears that inflation could slow down the recovery from the global recession in 2008/2009.

ASEAN groups 10 disparate nations from oil-rich Brunei and high-tech Singapore to impoverished Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as major rice producers Thailand and Vietnam and rice-importers like the Philippines.

Indonesia and Malaysia round up ASEAN's 10 members.

Commodities prices including oil and gold took a hammering on US markets Thursday due to a higher US dollar and the reweighing of risk by institutional investors, but analysts expect the upward price trend to resume.

On the same day, the United Nations said high food and oil prices could keep an additional 42 million people in poverty in the Asia-Pacific region and threaten economic growth.

The International Monetary Fund warned in a report last month that rising food and energy prices could start an inflationary spiral.

The impact would be especially bad in the developing world where households spend larger shares of their incomes on food and energy compared to those in advanced economies.

Several ASEAN members have already raised interest rates as part of efforts to fight inflation, at the risk of slowing down economic growth in a region that led the world out of the global financial crisis.

In his speech, Yudhoyono called for the establishment of an integrated food security framework in ASEAN.

"More specifically, we must attend to the formulation of a food reserves system in ASEAN and also one that assists farmers to escape poverty," he said.

To enhance energy security, members must work towards developing renewable sources that are abundant in ASEAN such as hydro-power and geothermal, he said.

"One way to achieve that is the development of research centres and renewable energy in our region," he added.

The Indonesian leader also called for further cooperation in disaster management, citing the giant earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March which also damaged a nuclear power plant and triggered an atomic crisis.

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President: ASEAN must enhance disaster mitigation capacity

Antara 7 May 11;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has urged ASEAN member countries to enhance capacity and coordination in dealing with natural disasters at the regional level.

ASEAN was prone natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis which frequently hit the region, the president said here Saturday in his opening speech at the 18th ASEAN Summit being held in Jakarta, May 7-8, 2011.

He cited the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the eastern part of Japan just two months ago.

"Thousands of people perished and unaccounted loss of property and infrastructure. That reminds of us of the tsunami which devasted Aceh seven years ago, where thousands of people lost their lives and inflicted huge material losss," he said.

He outlined two main points to handle natural disasters. The first point is to enhance the capacity and coordination at the regional level through the establishment of ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Center).

"And second, we must intensify joint exercise in disaster management, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum of Siaster Relief in Manado in March, which was jointly chaired by Indonesia and Japan," he said.

He mentioned that other problems facing ASEAN included the global economic and financial crisis, the climate change, illegal migrations of people that created political, social and security problems not only in the countries of destination, but also in transit countries.

The 18th ASEAN Summit is being participated in by Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah Mu`izzaddin Waddaulah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato` Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, President of the Philippines Benigno S. Aquino III, Senior Minister of Singapore S. Jayakumar representing Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the host and the ASEAN Chair 2011.(*)

(f001/HAJM/f001)

Editor: Ruslan Burhani

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China to uproot 240,000 from disaster-prone areas

Yahoo News 7 May 11;

BEIJING (AFP) – Authorities plan to move nearly a quarter of a million people this year from disaster-prone areas in northern China into newly-built homes, state media reported Saturday.

About 240,000 will be moved in the first stage of a ten-year project to shift 2.4 million people away from less-developed mountainous areas in Shaanxi province, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The total number due to be relocated eclipses the more than 1.4 million people who were forced to move for the construction of central China's Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric power project.

Overall, the project encompasses 28 counties, including the cities of Hanzhong, Ankang and Shangluo in the province's south, Wang Dengji, head of the provincial land and resources department was quoted as saying.

The relocation project is expected to cost more than 110 billion yuan ($16.9 billion), Xinhua reported, citing a plan by Wang's department.

Areas in Shaanxi suffer from disasters such as flooding and landslides. In July, rain-triggered disasters killed nearly 300 people in the province.

The resettled families will either be assigned new homes by the government or have to build them themselves, the report said. Each family will receive a subsidy of 30,000 yuan, with the poorest getting an additional 10,000 yuan.

After the Three Gorges relocation project, several of those displaced complained they did not receive their money and that local officials embezzled millions of yuan in relocation funds, according to human rights groups.

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