Wind Farms Could Change Weather

Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience.com Yahoo News 27 Nov 08;

A new study suggests that massive wind farms could steer storms and alter the weather if extensive fields of turbines were built, according to a news report.

It is not the first study to come to this conclusion.

The new research is an interesting "what if," but the installation of large wind turbines would have to be taken to the extreme to have the global effects portrayed.

The scientists, Daniel Barrie and Daniel Kirk-Davidoff of the University of Maryland, calculated "what might happen if all the land from Texas to central Canada, and from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains, were covered in one massive wind farm," according to Discovery News. The result of such an unlikely installation: a real serious Butterfly Effect.

Such massive wind farming would slow wind speeds by 5 or 6 mph as the turbines literally stole wind from the air. A ripple effect would occur in the form of waves radiating across the Northern Hemisphere that could, days later, run into storms and alter their courses by hundreds of miles.

The researchers "acknowledged the hypothetical wind farm was far larger than anything humans are likely to build," according to the Web site, but if Department of Energy projections for wind farming are met by 2030 (for the country to get 20 percent of its electricity from wind), "it could probably have an effect," James McCaa of 3Tier, Inc., a renewable energy forecasting company based in Seattle, is quoted as saying.

In 2004, two separate groups of scientists did similar calculations.

One group found the opposite effect.

Somnath Baidya Roy of Princeton University and colleagues simulated the effect of extensive wind farms on local weather. They found a drying and warming effect in the morning that would warm the air across moist and cool overnight soil, causing the local wind speed to increase slightly.

Also in 2004, David Keith of the University of Calgary and his colleagues estimated the drag from wind farms if they covered 10 percent of the Earth's land surface. They concluded that global cooling would occur in polar regions and global warming would result in temperate regions such as North America at about 30 degrees North latitude.

When that study was released, Keith had an interesting take on the possibility: "The message here is climate change, but that doesn't equal global warming," Keith said. "It's possible this would have benefits," by working against the atmospheric effects of fossil fuel consumption on global climate, he said.

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Malaysian environment ministry mulls plastic ban

Today Online 29 Nov 08;

KOTA BARU — In a bid to be environmentally friendly, the Malaysian government is now studying the idea of banning the use of plastic bags at wet markets andsupermarkets.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry may recommend that customers bring their own bags when they go shopping for their groceries, according to a report in The Star.

Deputy Minister Maznah Mazlan said the ministry is considering the move because of concerns over global warming.

Ms Maznah said that all Malaysians need to support such a measure, although enforcement will be needed.

She made her remarks just before presenting a talk on climate change to 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

“There is a chance of adopting this move. Now, the Government is stepping up efforts to generate awareness about environmental issues.

“If there is a consensus, we can move ahead. For now, there are some supermarket operators in Kuala Lumpur who have introduced a policy whereby shoppers who want to use plastic bags have to purchase them,” she said.

Ms Maznah praised the efforts of these supermarkets in taking such positive steps to curb pollution, since plastic bags are non-biodegradable.

However, the deputy minister could not reveal when the ban would take place, since the study was still ongoing.

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UK scrapping recycling services in wake of down turn

Councils across the country are scrapping recycling plans following a global slump in the value of waste materials.

Louise Gray The Telegraph 28 Nov 08;

The economic downturn coupled with the end of the Olympics in China has led to a collapse in the market for used paper, plastic and aluminium.

This has left councils with tonnes of recycled material that it is impossible to sell on.

Already some local authorities are having to store mountains of bottles and piles of paper in the hope of the market picking up again. Many are running out of storage and have been given permission to use of Ministry of Defence buildings and factories if space runs out.

However some local authorities are scrapping recycling services altogether for fear of being left with piles of unwanted waste.

The latest area to cut down on services is in the South West. The Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP), which manages waste and recycling on behalf of local councils in the area, is set to remove 31 mixed paper banks from supermarkets, libraries and other public spaces across the county.

Spokesman Mark Blaker said: "They are being removed as a result of the credit crunch basically.

"If you imagine much of our paper goes to China, for example, to make cardboard boxes.

"But at the moment, those boxes are not being made and exported to America like they were, so what's happened here is a knock-on effect.

"Prices in the summer for recycled material were at an artificial high, which is why the drop seems so dramatic, but now the product's price is pretty much zero pounds."

The cuts come after housholders in Hertfordshire were told that they can no longer recycle yoghurt pots, margarine tubs or food trays. In Devon, councils cannot find anyone to take their steel cans after their normal outlet refused to accept any more.

And in Oswestry, in Shropshire, there is a giant mountain of recycled paper sitting untouched because in the past month its sale value has fallen by 80 per cent.

In Cambridge, a waste-processing firm - unable to find any other market for it - has resorted to turning cardboard into compost for farmers to plough into their fields.

Peter Ainsworth, environment spokesman for the Tories, said whatever happens recycled waste should not be sent to landfill.

"Clearly it would be a disaster just as normal people have got into the habit of recycling if they are suddenly discouraged from doing so. The only solution is to stockpile until the market recovers. I do not think councils should give up."

The Local Government Association is in discussion with the Government about maintaining recycling services through the downturn.

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Dry, hot summer threatens New Zealand with drought

Reuters 27 Nov 08;

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand is at risk of a second year of drought in some regions, with a warmer-than-normal summer and below-average rainfall forecast, climate scientists said on Friday.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said much of the country, including key farming regions, would have above normal temperatures but also normal or above normal rainfall.

However, eastern parts of the country, especially in the South Island, were facing fairly dry conditions.

"It's possible a drought could develop in eastern parts of the country," said NIWA principal James Renwick.

Large areas of the country, including key dairy producing regions and hydro lake catchments, were hit by drought through the second half of last year and into the early part of this year because of a La Nina weather pattern.

That drought is estimated to have cost the economy about NZ$1.2 billion ($663 million) and has been seen as a factor in sending New Zealand into recession.

It also caused electricity prices to rise sharply because of reduced hydro power generation, which provides around 60 percent of New Zealand's electricity.

NIWA scientists said neutral climate conditions were expected through the summer, but there was some risk of weak La Nina conditions re-developing.

($1=NZ$1.81)

(Reporting by Glen Johnson, Gyles Beckford)

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Access to water must be high on climate agenda: group

Svetlana Kovalyova, Reuters 28 Nov 08;

MILAN (Reuters) - Access to water is a basic human right and should be high on the agenda of climate change talks in Poland next week, the head of an Italian advocacy group said on Friday.

With more than 1 billion people having no access to safe water, the World Water Contract group for years has sought to make availability of water a basic right and add it to the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"Given that water is threatened by climate change, it is time to include the human right to water in (the new climate) protocol," Emilio Molinari, chairman of the group's Italian branch, told Reuters on the margins of a water conference.

Molinari said his group would lobby the United Nations to add water access rights to the climate change debate next week in Poznan, Poland.

About 190 countries will meet there to lay the groundwork for a global deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after 2012.

Molinari said his non-profit organization would try to ensure guarantee rights to water access are included in the final climate deal, widely expected in December 2009.

"One of our strategic objectives is to insert the right to water in the climate change protocol as a fundamental element," he said.

The battle for access to water has never been easy and would become more difficult with the global credit crunch, because the lion's share of public funds would be channeled to rescue banks and big corporations, he said.

"They (authorities) will play a recession card. They will say: 'There is no money for public interventions, all should go to help companies to recover... We need to scrap environmental target'," he said.

Previous efforts by human rights and environmental activists to improve water access largely have run aground due to lack of public funds and the resistance of multinational water companies which want to control water resources, he said.

Molinari said about $10 billion a year is needed to meet the U.N. Millennium Goal Campaign's target of halving the proportion of people with no access to safe drinking water by 2015, but only about five percent of required funds has been raised.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

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Faroe islanders told to stop eating 'toxic' whales

Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist 28 Nov 08;

Chief medical officers of the Faroe Islands have recommended that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption, because they are toxic - as revealed by research on the Faroes themselves.

The remote Atlantic islands, situated between Scotland and Iceland, have been one of the last strongholds of traditional whaling, with thousands of small pilot whales killed every year, and eaten by most Faroese.

Anti-whaling groups have long protested, but the Faroese argued that whaling is part of their culture - an argument adopted by large-scale whalers in Japan and Norway.

But today in a statement to the islanders, chief medical officers Pál Weihe and Høgni Debes Joensen announced that pilot whale meat and blubber contains too much mercury, PCBs and DDT derivatives to be safe for human consumption.

"It is with great sadness that this recommendation is provided," they said. "The pilot whale has kept many Faroese alive through the centuries."

But in "a bitter irony", they said, research on the impact of the pollutants on the Faroese themselves has shown that mercury, especially, causes lasting damage.

The work has revealed damage to fetal neural development, high blood pressure, and impaired immunity in children, as well as increased rates of Parkinson's disease, circulatory problems and possibly infertility in adults. The Faroes data renewed concerns about low-level mercury exposures elsewhere.

The medical officers note that it wasn't the Faroese who created the pollution. But "these results have already led to tightened restrictions on pollution worldwide. We must therefore also ourselves acknowledge the consequences."

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Cheetahs, Dolphins and Falcons Among Species Proposed for Conservation Boost Across Countries and Continents

UNEP 28 Nov 08;

Governments Convene for International Wildlife Conference in Rome from 1-5 December

Rome/Bonn, 28 November 2008 - Whether they are speeding across the African savannah or navigating brackish waters in Asia, some of the world's most charismatic species need an urgent boost in international protection.

Over 100 governments meeting next week for the ninth conference of the parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) will consider proposals to strengthen conservation of close to 30 endangered land and marine animals that often cross international borders, by placing them on the Convention's appendices.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which administers the CMS, said: "Species that migrate across countries and continents are facing ever greater hurdles from loss of habitat and feeding grounds to unsustainable use and the unfolding and often complex threats emerging from climate change."

"Indeed the world is currently facing a sixth wave of extinctions mainly as a result of human impacts. Urgent and accelerated action is needed to ensure that a healthy, productive and functioning planet is handed on to the next generation," he added.

"The Convention on Migratory Species is an important part of our international cooperative response to such challenges. It reflects the shared responsibility of nations for these species as each year they attempt their epic journeys across continents and oceans".

Robert Hepworth, Executive Secretary of UNEP-CMS, added: "Many migratory species are now important parts of the local and international economy generating income and supporting livelihoods via industries such as tourism. For example an estimated 150,000 people visit the Serengeti annually in order to see its famous wildlife. Based on 2003 figures, the park generates income of $ 5.5 million from tourists".

"Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas, is home to 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats which flock in the evening to feed. The spectacle attracts between 200 and 1,500 people daily and annually puts millions of dollars into the local economy. This underlines that migratory species are part of the world's natural assets and have their role in realizing a Green Economy," he added.

Racing against extinction

Cheetah, the world's fastest land animal reaching speeds up to 120 km/h, has suffered a dramatic 90 percent decline over the past century, becoming extinct in 18 countries of its original range. Less than 10,000 adult cheetahs now live in Africa while a meagre 50 survive in Asia, mainly around Iran's Kavir desert. Severe habitat loss, over-hunting and poor breeding in captivity are all to blame for cheetah's critically endangered status today.

The Saiga antelope, hordes of which used to roam the Eurasian steppes, are on the brink of extinction for the second time in just one hundred years. After being nearly exterminated in the 1920s, Saiga numbers went up to two million by mid-century thanks to USSR's conservation efforts. By the end of the twentieth century, however, their population has shrunk to just 50,000 due to hunting and obstacles on migration routes. Today Saiga antelopes are confined to isolated pockets in Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. CMS administers an agreement to conserve saiga.

Agile climbers of the Saharan desert and the Sahel region, the Barbary sheep, are also threatened by unsustainable and illegal hunting after the 1968 ban. The species is proposed for Appendix I listing, which entails a commitment by all parties to prohibit hunting and removing obstacles to their migration like fences or habitat conversion.

The African Wild Dog has been eradicated from western and most of central Africa. Fewer than 8,000 animals are estimated to survive as a result of conflict with humans, other animals, as well as infectious diseases. Fences on their migration paths further endanger these roaming predators. The proposed Appendix II listing would call on nations to establish regional agreements for their protection

Swimming against extinction

Seven cetacean species - more commonly known as whales, dolphins and porpoises - are expected to join CMS Appendices I and II, pending decisions by the Convention's member states.

The reclusive Irrawaddy dolphins used to inhabit coastal areas and estuaries throughout south-east Asia. But today, habitat loss, live capture, entanglement in fishing nets, electrocution and boat collisions put the survival of the remaining small populations at risk.

Unique to one of the most degraded marine environments in the world, the Black Sea Bottlenose Dolphin has also suffered from uncontrolled hunting and bycatch despite the ban on cetacean fishery in the sea since 1983.

Both dolphins are proposed for Appendix I listing. Other cetaceans up for listing are: the Atlantic Humpback Dolphin, Clymene or Short-Snouted Spinner Dolphin, Risso's Dolphin, Mediterranean population of the Bottlenose Dolphin, and harbour porpoise.

One of the world's most camera-shy species, the West African Manatee migrates in search of food as a result of changes in water levels in lagoons, rivers and sweet waters of Northern, West and Central Africa.

The manatees act as a key clean up and recycling mechanism of the river ecosystems by controlling floating algae and processing the limited nutrients. Although crocodiles and sharks occasionally kill manatees, their only significant threats are from humankind, such as poaching, habitat loss, and other environmental impacts.

Manatees'listing on Appendix I would complement the conservation efforts laid out in the CMS agreement on Western African small cetaceans and manatees concluded in October.

Furthermore, three shark species have been identified as candidates for Appendix II listing. These are two species of mako sharks, the Porbeagle shark and the Spiny Dogfish, which continue to be seriously threatened by over-fishing.

The populations of Spiny Dogfish, which is sold as "rock salmon" in fish and chips shops throughout Britain, have plummeted by more than 95 percent in the northeast Atlantic in just 10 years. The species is known for particularly slow reproduction rates with gestation lasting up to two year. It currently lacks any form of international protection.

Despite being one of the fastest swimming fish in the sea, mako sharks in the western and central Mediterranean declined by over 96 percent in recent years. The shortfin mako is popular with anglers and shark fin soup lovers alike. A recent study reveals that up to one million mako sharks enter the shark fin trade each year regardless of finning bans in 19 countries.

Flying against extinction

Seven birds have been identified for the Appendix I listing and another two for Appendix II listing.

Prized as hunting companions by royalty and the aristocracy, the Saker falcons have suffered an almost 70 percent decline since 1990. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan may have lost up to 90 percent of their populations to meet the increasing demand in falcons.

Pesticides are to blame for the high mortality rates in Egyptian Vultures, which get poisoned by feeding on carcasses of feral animals. Birds of prey such as falcons and vultures are important indicators of healthy ecosystems, and are most vulnerable to environmental changes.

In Latin America, the Peruvian Tern numbers have halved over the past decade, to less than 2,500 birds recorded in the twelve known breeding sites in Peru and Chile. The principal direct threat to the species is disturbance in its breeding grounds caused by human activities.

With a range spreading from South-East Asia to the Korean peninsula and Japan, Baer's Pochards - a duck considered a delicacy in Asian cuisine - number less than 5,000 and are in urgent need for legal protection all along its migration route.

Notes to editors:

UNEP/CMS is an international environmental Convention dedicated to the protection of avian, aquatic and terrestrial animals, which migrate across political borders. Countries which have become Parties to the Agreement commit themselves to implementing measures to conserve migratory animals and the habitats on which they depend. Currently 110 Parties in Europe, Africa, America, Asia and Oceania have joined the Convention. Montenegro will shortly become the 111th Party.

Appendix I of the Convention lists migratory species in danger of extinction, while Appendix II lists species suffering from unfavourable conservation status and would benefit from international cooperation. In this respect, the CMS acts as a framework convention from which independent instruments evolve, including legally binding treaties to less formal instrument such as Memoranda of Understanding targeting regional or international cooperation.

Full list of species included in Proposals for Amendment of Appendices of the Convention at COP 9 is online at: http://www.cms.int/bodies/COP/cop9/cop9_species_proposals1.htm

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What's Killing Florida's Coral Reefs?

Hector Florin Time Magazine 26 Nov 08;

The disaster in south Florida is invisible from above water but the damage is horrific. Hundreds of yards of sensitive coral reefs, part of the largest such ecosystem in the United States, have been sliced through by boats in two incidents over the last month. Indeed, because of choppy conditions, the assessment of the damage at one site, a mile offshore from the famed Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, was not possible until this week. It is now believed that a cable line from a tug boat, or possibly lobster traps, cut a swath estimated at about 200 yards long and 70 feet wide. A diver with the state's fish and wildlife conservation commission who surveyed the area Tuesday called it "as bad as it's been portrayed. It's extensive."

One diver who scoped the 50-foot-deep waters off Palm Beach before the state could examine the damage called it the worst he's ever seen from a single incident. Added Ed Tichenor, director of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue, who reported the damage to state agencies: "As far as I've been diving here, I haven't heard of a similar incident of this magnitude." The other damaged reef is located off a state park just south of Port Everglades. There, sponges have been sliced, and soft and hard corals cut and turned over. (See pictures of imperiled coral reefs here.)

State crews will monitor the Breakers reef, a popular diving spot, next week, weather-permitting, in order to curtail private divers from entering the damaged area and flipping and moving corals. Those divers may believe they are doing good but such movement may actually further damage the reef and inhibit government restoration efforts. Sponges should be left to recover alone; but damaged brain, maze, great star and other hard corals will have to be cemented in placed at their old location. Such hard corals are so sensitive and take decades to grow back, at a rate of a few centimeters a year.

Aside from providing homes for fish life and plants, coral reefs also produce billions of dollars in related eco-tourism and thousands of jobs in South Florida. They are also a buffer for beach erosion, a problem exacerbated by each new oceanside high-rise condo, as well as the storms and hurricanes that have battered Florida over the last four years. A joint federal and state study released in 2001 showed the reef-related economy — including money spent by eco-tourists for diving, chartering boats and the like — resulted in a $4 billion industry and more than 35,000 jobs during a 12-month period.

Nevertheless, the reefs are declining because of human activity. A 2008 report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that half of the U.S. reef ecosystem is in poor or fair condition and it foresees no improvement in the future. "Reefs all over the world and in the U.S. are suffering," says Dr. Richard Dodge, dean of Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center in Dania Beach, Fla. Vessel-related damage continues to be a big problem, and the two latest incidents are just "one more nail in the coffin."

What makes the latest damage to the reefs so heartbreaking is that the condition of south Florida's reef ecosystem seemed to be improving this year, if ever so slightly. The state seemed to be doing its share to safeguard the natural treasure. Lawmakers, for example, agreed to a long-term timeline to prohibit water utilities from dumping partially-treated sewage into the ocean. Federal and state agencies also finally moved a commercial ship anchorage that had caused years of sustained reef damage off Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.

It wasn't until the last decade or two that more attention was given to these forests of the sea. Vessel groundings, coastal construction, pollution and climate change have all severely affected and continue to have a detrimental impact on sea life around the world, with more and more coral threatened with extinction. In 2006, the staghorn and elkhorn corals, prevalent along South Florida waters, were listed as threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act (Staghorn coral is present in the Breakers reef, but it is not believed to have been damaged this time around).

Last week, heftier federally regulated fines were enacted for vessels that damage coral reefs. Florida's Department of Environmental Protection is investigating an 80-foot dive boat called the Nekton that ran aground and caused the reef damage in Broward County, sending a crew out on Tuesday for an assessment. "We have a lot of broken corals there that need to be removed," said Chantal Collier, manager of the state's Coral Reef Conservation Program. Meanwhile, the non-profit volunteer group Palm Beach County Reef Rescue on Tuesday announced a $2,500 reward for any information leading to the culprits who caused the latest damage in the Breakers.

The people who caused damage might never be found. "In this case, it's a big ocean and something passed through without anyone noticing what happened," says Erin McDevitt, a habitat coordinator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and one of four divers who assessed the underwater damage off Palm Beach on Tuesday. Unless someone comes forward, finding the culprit is extremely difficult. "It's a needle in a haystack."

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Frog-killing fungus to be tackled in the wild

Issue 2684 of New Scientist magazine 28 Nov 08;

A FUNGAL disease is decimating amphibian populations around the world, and so far the only way to save a species at risk is to remove individuals from the wild. Is it time to try taking out the disease as well?

So far the majority of amphibian conservation efforts have focused on identifying species at high risk of extinction, and establishing captive breeding programmes in biosecure units where they will be protected from Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the chytrid fungus that is responsible for the devastating scourge.

"The immediate response has been the right one: to get species that are at risk into captivity," says Trent Garner of the Institute of Zoology in London. However, he adds, "we're potentially missing out on some very important species" because, inevitably, some are prioritised over others.

Now an alternative strategy is emerging, which many had previously thought impossible: to reduce the amount of Bd in the wild, and perhaps even to enable amphibians to survive alongside it.

In lab experiments, Garner and colleagues have shown that it is possible to cure tadpoles infected with Bd by bathing them in the antifungal drug itraconazole for 5 minutes a day for seven days. "Even using extremely low doses, we showed that you can eliminate Bd from tadpoles," says Garner, who presented his results at a meeting on amphibian decline at the Zoological Society of London last week.

What's more, detailed inspection a month later showed the tadpoles had suffered none of the drug's possible side effects, which can include liver damage.

Early next year, Garner and his team will travel to Majorca, Spain, where Bd is taking its toll on the Majorcan midwife toad - currently ranked 55 on a list of the 100 amphibian species most at risk of extinction, according to the Zoological Society of London.

The team plans to remove midwife toad tadpoles from the clear limestone pools in which they live, and subject them to similar treatments, before releasing them back into the wild. Because Bd may still be present in the pools, Garner's team will experiment with how many tadpoles need to be treated, and how often, for the population to survive at viable levels. "The goal is mitigation, not elimination," says Garner. Since symptoms of the disease vary according to the amount of fungus amphibians are exposed to, such mitigation could make Bd infection less deadly and mean fewer new infections.

"It's a very ambitious experiment," says Richard Griffiths of the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK. He also warns that a different strategy may be needed to combat Bd in other parts of the world. Garner agrees that things get more complicated if, for instance, the number of species living in the habitat is large. His team also plans to build artificial ponds to investigate dosing more complex ecosystems than Majorca's with antifungal drugs.

Another option discussedat the meeting for protecting amphibian populations from Bd and other threats is to preserve their sperm and eggs, so that genetic diversity can be maintained as numbers dwindle. For example, since June, the Amphibian Ark project has been discussing the establishment of regional amphibian "biobanks".

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Nov 08

Singapore Waters
Nature Society (Singapore)'s feature on our marine life is on YouTube, on the Midnight Monkey Monitor blog

29 Nov is Buy Nothing Day
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Bird Strike at Singapore’s Changi International Airport
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Climate change events
and essay competition and upcoming talk on the Midnight Monkey Monitor blog

Pink mangroves? Killer giant clams? and other questions answered
a compilation of recent blog posts about our reefs and shores on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Fun with Kampong Games @ the NSS Get-Together
on the Fun with Nature blog

Semakau walk
on the discovery blog

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Protected areas in the oceans a matter of great urgency say scientific community

IUCN website 21 Nov 08;

More protected areas in strategic ocean locations need to be set up and benefit from proper enforcement in order to address the rapid degradation of the world’s marine environment.

This is one of the recommendations put forward by nearly 600 marine life scientists from 42 countries gathered at the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity in Valencia, Spain from 11-15 November to review recent research relevant to marine biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and ocean management.

IUCN, as an invited speaker at a special Policy Roundtable, assisted the scientists in identifying priority actions to address the loss of marine biodiversity. Kristina Gjerde, IUCN High Seas Policy Adviser, made a well-received presentation about “Protecting Areas beyond National Jurisdiction’.

The conference resulted in the “Valencia Declaration: A Plea for Protection of Marine Biodiversity”, consolidating some of the most important findings and concerns of the present scientists.

Key findings include:

• Marine biodiversity and ecosystems are essential to the functioning of our biosphere and hence to human well-being.
• The pace and scale of anthropogenic changes occurring in the oceans and the impact of these changes on marine biodiversity and ecosystems are cause for grave concern.
• When effectively designed, managed and enforced, marine protected areas can deliver many ecological and socio-economic benefits as well as building the resilience of marine ecosystems in the face of increasing global pressures.
• Research efforts to explore marine biodiversity and assess its status are insufficient lagging well behind similar efforts on terrestrial biodiversity.
• To be effective, networks of marine protected areas must be ecologically coherent and should be embedded in integrated ocean management frameworks that address the range of human activities and impacts both within and beyond the protected areas.
• Deep sea ecosystems differ significantly from coastal ones such that the dynamics of most deep-sea fish stocks are so fragile and slow to recover that they should be approached with an exceptionally high degree of precaution.

The priorities for urgent action include:

• Integrated ocean management be put in place covering human activities impacting on marine biodiversity and ecosystems both within and beyond national jurisdiction
• Ecologically coherent networks of marine protected areas be developed at an urgent and accelerated pace based on existing scientific data and understanding.
• Research efforts to explore and better understand marine biodiversity be enhanced and promoted to provide the knowledge base necessary to underpin an adaptive management process.
• Deep-sea fisheries be authorised only where evidence has been gathered to conclusively demonstrate that a stock can be sustainably exploited in full compliance with FAO Technical Guidelines for deep-sea fishing in the high seas.
• The United Nations General Assembly builds on the Law of the Sea and the Convention of Biological Diversity to achieve an international governance regime for the effective stewardship of marine areas beyond national jurisdiction and the fair and equitable use of living resources for the benefit of human kind.

The Conference was organized by the Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MarBEF), a network of excellence funded by the European Union. It was held in the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, inside the largest aquarium in Europe.

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Cut water use by 10%, PUB urges firms

Grace Chua, Straits Times 28 Nov 08;

SINGAPORE'S national water agency is calling on businesses across the country to cut their water use by 10 per cent, as part of a new conservation drive.

The PUB's 10% Challenge, launched on Wednesday, in particular is urging hotels to rein in their water consumption, a call that is expected to be expanded to other industries in the future.

The non-domestic sector consumes 650,000 cubic metres of water a day, equivalent to about 260 Olympic-sized swimming pools. That amounts to about half of all water used in the country.

Saving water is even more imperative than usual, given the current economic downturn, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, at the scheme's launch.

'While we expand our water supply options through technology and sound planning, the good work will come to nought if we use water carelessly and do not manage our water demand,' he said.

The 10% Challenge will target hotels first, and will expand to include schools, commercial buildings and government offices over the next two years.

Under the scheme, building managers can attend a water efficiency course run by the PUB and Singapore Polytechnic.

The Government also launched yesterday a guidebook on designing water-efficient buildings and a website, www.tenpercent.sec.org.sg, to help building managers assess water use.

If hotels took steps like using low-flow shower heads, retrofitting washing machines and monitoring water use, they could make a big difference in consumption, the PUB said.

Mr Albert Teo, second vice-president of the Singapore Hotel Association, said reducing water use would not only help save the environment, but also reduce operating costs.

'I think it's in every general manager and entrepreneur's nature to find ways to save,' he said.

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