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WWF - Latest News
WWF - Latest News
World Wildlife Fund
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EU countries add to illegal logging trade
22 07 2008
Deforestation, a major contributor to climate change, is still rampant globally and European Union countries are guilty of compounding the problem according to a new WWF report.
Almost one-fifth of wood imported into the European Union in 2006 came from illegal or suspected illegal sources, with Russia, Indonesia and China being the main sources according to the report - Illegal Wood for the European Market.
In 2006, the European Union imported approximately 30 million cubic metres of wood and related products from illegal origins, equivalent to the total amount of wood harvested in Poland in the same year.
In all, 23 per cent of wood-based products imported from eastern Europe originated from illegal or suspect sources, with 40 per cent from South East Asia, 30 per cent from Latin America and 35-55 per cent from Africa.
Major importers are Finland, UK, Germany and Italy and WWF is calling for strong European legislation to prevent illegal wood entering the EU markets.
“Illegal logging destroys the protective function of forests, increasing risk of natural disasters such as floods and landslides, and leads to deforestation, one of the main causes for climate change,” said Anke Schulmeister, WWF Forest Policy Officer.
“Illegal logging also pushes wood prices down resulting in major economic losses for states, industries and local communities. Strong measures are needed at EU level to protect the world’s remaining forests and our own future.”
The study highlights the ineffectiveness of the existing EU licensing scheme, Forest and Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). Even if all agreements currently being negotiated by the EU with partner countries under FLEGT were concluded about 90 per cent of the illegal wood would still enter the EU markets.
Furthermore, no such negotiations are planned with countries like Russia and China and many products manufactured from illegal wood such as furniture or paper are not covered by FLEGT regulation.
WWF is urging the introduction of EU legislation to guarantee that only legal wood is traded in the European market. Traders should prove the origin and legality of wood and penalties should be introduced for any violation.
The European Commission is expected to propose legislation on this issue in the coming months.
WWF looks to EXPO 2010 to launch World Estuary Alliance
21 07 2008
WWF China will look to raise awareness of climate change and the negative impact it will have on ecosystems when it launches its World Estuary Alliance in two years at the World Expo being held in Shanghai.
The World Estuary Alliance aims at providing a platform for estuary cities, such as London, Rotterdam, and Shanghai, to exchange their experiences of climate change, and develop solutions for conservation & sustainable development
The WWF exhibit at the Expo ' entitled “River, Estuary & City” ' will take the form of a 324 square-meter pavilion and use a variety of interactive media to highlight WWF’s efforts to preserve estuaries, while illustrating how to prevent further deterioration at the river basin level, and guard against the effects of climate change.
“Exhibits, devices and shows at the pavilion will be fun and family-oriented, and highly educational”, said Dermot O’Gorman, Representative of WWF China’s Program Office.
The Shanghai 2010 World Expo is expected to attract 70 million visitors over the 6 months that it will run, with exhibits from 174 countries and 37 International Organisations. Organisers of the event, which is traditionally a platform for cultural exchanges and the introduction of innovative ideas, are describing the 2010 edition as “a great event to explore the full potential of urban life in the 21st century,” making WWF’s message particularly poignant.
“It is key that we convey to the people of Shanghai, and people around the world, that our current level of comfort is based on the natural fortifications provided by ecosystems ” said O’Gorman “we must learn not to take this for granted, and efforts must be made to protect the environment upon which our societies have been able to flourish.”
The Norwegian Crown Prince and Crown Princess support youth in the fight against global warming
17 07 2008
Eighteen young adults met the Norwegian Crown Prince and Crown Princess during a ten-day expedition called “Voyage for the Future” along the coast of Svalbard, an archipelago in the European High Arctic. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess painted their fingers green and took part in a global video movement to show their personal commitment to stop climate change.
The expedition was organized by WWF - the global conservation organization. It mixed field experience with science and communications training, and provided the participants with an opportunity to develop plans for global action on climate change. Lectures from eminent researchers covered climate change science and the global feedback effects associated with rising temperatures in the Arctic. Voyage participants are now stimulating broad public support to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their nine countries (Norway, Sweden, Russia, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Japan, the USA and Canada).
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess showed great interest in the issue of climate change and discussed the problem and solutions with the young ambassadors. They joined the global video movement called “The Green Finger Project”. The concept, to paint your index finger green and write on your palm what you want to protect from global warming, is attracting growing attention as a means of making the voice of individuals heard. The Crown Prince wrote “Dignity” and the Crown Princess wrote “My kids”. The video is posted on YouTube. The Norwegian royal couple visited Svalbard on an Arctic expedition to learn about climate change, together with the Swedish and Danish heirs to the thrones in Scandinavia.
China gets green light to buy ivory
17 07 2008
China has been approved as a buyer of African Elephant ivory in a one-off sale from four southern African countries, probably later this year.
The decision was taken to accept China at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Geneva, Switzerland.
To gain approval, China had to convince CITES it had put in place adequate measures to manage regulated sales and tackle any illegal domestic ivory trade.
“China has acted rather successfully against its own illegal domestic ivory market,” said Tom Milliken of TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network which operates the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) on behalf of CITES.
“Now China should help other countries do the same, especially in Central Africa where elephant poaching is rampant and Chinese nationals have been implicated in moving ivory out of the region.”
China thus joins Japan in having CITES approval to bid in the one-off sale for registered government-owned ivory stockpiles from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The ivory to be sold originates from elephants that died from natural causes or as a result of population management (e.g. problem animal control). None of the ivory is from elephants deliberately killed to obtain their ivory.
A massive illegal trade in ivory caused dramatic declines in many elephant populations in Africa in the 1970s and 1980s, and an international ban on trade in ivory came into effect in January 1990.
“The sight of ivory openly and illegally on sale in many African cities is likely to be a far more powerful encouragement to those contemplating poaching and smuggling than a strictly controlled one-off sale,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme.
“The only way to end elephant poaching is through an effective clampdown on illegal domestic ivory markets.”
Since the CITES trade ban, international commercial trade in ivory has legally taken place only once, in 1997, when a one-off sale of raw ivory was approved for Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
The African Elephant range states who export ivory are required by CITES to use the revenue derived from the sale exclusively for elephant conservation and community development programmes within or adjacent to the elephant ranges.
Wal-Mart joins WWF in fight against illegal logging
14 07 2008
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has strengthened its relationship with WWF by pledging to help save the world’s most valuable and threatened forests.
Earlier this year the American discount department store committed to purchasing 100 per cent of its wild caught salmon from sources certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) within four years; WWF were co-founders of the MSC in 1997.
Now, by becoming a member of the Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN), Wal-Mart has committed to using more wood from sustainable, certified sources and phasing out wood from illegal or non-sustainable sources.
“With nearly half of the world’s forests already gone, action is urgently needed,” said Suzanne Apple, WWF-US vice-president for Business & Industry. “Wal-Mart’s commitment to support responsible forestry answers that call to action.”
The United States is the largest consumer of industrial timber, pulp and paper in the world. The US is also among the top destinations for imports of wood from areas where illegal logging and trade are common such as Indonesia, China and Brazil. Thus, the US market is critical to protecting forests worldwide.
Wal-Mart sources wood for furniture from the Amazon, Russia, northern China, Indonesia and the Mekong region of south-east Asia. These areas include some of the most biologically diverse places on earth, places that WWF is working to protect.
Within one year, Wal-Mart will complete an assessment of where its wood is coming from and whether it is legal and well managed. Once the assessment is complete Wal-Mart has committed to eliminating wood from illegal and unknown sources within five years.
“One of our goals at Wal-Mart is to sell products that sustain and protect our resources,” said Matt Kistler, Wal-Mart’s senior vice-president of Sustainability. “By joining the GFTN we can further this goal by providing our customers with a reliable supply of wood products that come from responsibly managed forests.”
The GFTN is a WWF initiative to combat illegal and unsustainable logging. The network promotes responsible management of valuable and threatened forests in the Amazon, Amur-Heilong (Russia), Borneo, Sumatra, Congo, Mekong (Southeast Asia) and other areas where forests are threatened.
Global warming puts Russia under pressure ‘here and now’
11 07 2008
Global warming is set to wreak havoc in Russia and other ex-Soviet Union states unless drastic action is taken, according to a new report compiled by WWF-Russia and the British charity Oxfam.
The 52-page report was timed to coincide with the recent G8 summit in Japan, where leaders of the world's richest countries were criticized for the targets they set on the reduction of harmful emissions.
“We must understand that damage caused by climate change is here and now rather than a problem in the distant future, in distant lands. There’s a lot at stake, including our health and even our lives,” said Igor Chestin, WWF-Russia CEO.
The report ' ‘Russia and neighbouring countries: environmental, economic and social impacts of climate change’ ' highlights key evidence linking climate change to failing health.
According to the report, climate change is considered to be one of the most serious environmental threats to people’s health, along with other risk factors such as air and water pollution, smoking and drug abuse.
Persistently higher temperatures caused by global warming is leading to a sharp increase in several serious and potentially lethal illnesses such as heart disease, intestinal diseases, tick encephalitis, tick borelliosis (Lyme disease) and malaria.
The report also focuses on the economic consequences of climate change for Russia, Central Asia, Mongolia and northern China.
According to the report, global energy problems are mainly affecting the poorest groups of population.
“Climate change has the capacity to generate a whole new category of refugees, poor people forced to flee their homes, regions and even countries as a result of climate stress,” said Nicholas Colloff, Country Director of Oxfam GB.
“Urgent action needs to be taken to reduce the very real risk of this potential crisis from arising.”
The report also recommends solutions to the problems presented by climate change ' both measures to mitigate human-induced climate change in the future, and ways to adapt to irreversible changes.
Two die in Congo attack on WWF vehicle
09 07 2008
Two people were killed and three injured, including a WWF staff member, when a WWF vehicle was attacked in Virunga National Park in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday.
The vehicle was travelling with 11 people in the Nord-Kivu sector of the vast territory, famed for sheltering more than half the world’s 700 remaining wild mountain gorillas, when it was ambushed by armed men.
Two women - the wife of a park warden and an 18-year-old home-help - were shot dead.
Members of the Congolese conservation institute ICCN were also travelling on board. The attackers made off with GPS devices and other personal belongings.
Congolese radio quoted local officials who attributed the attack to Mai-Mai resistance fighters looking for money or other valuables. It appears it was not an act directed at ICCN or WWF in particular.
Militia in the region have frequently carried out attacks, violating a January ceasefire signed by all Congolese armed groups. Virunga National Park spreads across the DR Congo-Rwanda border.
The injured included Méthode Bagurubumwe, WWF officer in charge of boundary demarcation in southern Virunga, who was shot in the foot.
An ICCN ranger was shot in the arm, and a third woman, also the wife of a ranger, was shot in the arm and leg. All three are recovering and being treated at Nyamilima, 150 kilometres north-west of provincial capital Goma.
The incident occurred after a member of WWF’s technical staff had delivered a training session to ICCN rangers in Lulimbi station in the eastern sector of Virunga.
He returned with a driver in a pick-up vehicle, also carrying seven ICCN rangers and five civilians, all directly related to the rangers.
On their way back the vehicle was attacked by about 15 armed bandits near Kasoso in the central part of Virunga National Park. The bandits fired at the vehicle and the two women were killed.
While people escaped in the bush bandits stole various belongings in the car. A nearby motorist was also attacked but managed to escape and he gave the alert. The army quickly reacted and managed to retrieve the vehicle and bring the injured to a nearby dispensary.
The injured are being transferred to hospital in Goma and support is being organized for the bereaved families.
G8 climate measures fall ‘dangerously short’
08 07 2008
The target of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 agreed by G8 leaders at their Toyako summit in Japan has been described as “pathetic” and “dangerously short of what is needed” by Kim Carstensen, Director of WWF Global Climate Initiative.
In a statement, WWF accuses G8 leaders of failing to boost international climate negotiations and criticises the lack of commitment to mid-term targets.
WWF has urged the G8 to wake up to the threat of dangerous climate change and raise the level of ambition drastically.
“Confirming the results of last year’s summit in Heiligendamm is hardly a remarkable outcome,” said Carstensen. “So little progress after a whole year of ministerial meetings and negotiations is not only a wasted opportunity, it falls dangerously short of what is needed to protect people and nature from climate change.”
The global conservation organization reminded G8 leaders that scientific evidence clearly outlines an urgent need to cut global emissions way more than 50 per cent by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
To get there global emissions have to peak and decline in 10 to 15 years and rich nations must reduce emissions by 25-40 per cent by 2020. These crucially important necessities are not reflected in the G8 communiqué.
“The G8 are responsible for 62 per cent of the carbon dioxide accumulated in the Earth’s atmosphere, which makes them the main culprit of climate change and the biggest part of the problem,” added Carstensen.
“WWF finds it pathetic that they still duck their historic responsibility and refuse to turn from the main driver of the problem into the main driver of the solution.”
Cruise-liner sewage adds to Baltic decline
08 07 2008
Most international cruise ship companies operating in the Baltic Sea have refused to co-operate with a plea from WWF to stop dumping their sewage straight into the water.
The Baltic, an inland sea, is one of the most polluted seas in the world, so much so that the countries on its northern European shores have recently joined together to form the Baltic Sea Action Plan in an attempt to reverse its decline.
WWF contacted ferry lines and cruise ship companies sailing there asking for a voluntary ban on waste-water discharge. So far most of the ferry lines have responded positively, but only three of the international cruising lines have signed up.
“We think it should be the responsibility of anyone operating a ship in the Baltic Sea to take care of their own wastes in a responsible manner and stop polluting the sea,” said Mats Abrahamsson, Program Director of the WWF Baltic Ecoregion Program. “If some companies can sign our agreement, why can’t the others?”
The Baltic Sea receives between 250 and 300 cruise ships each year and the waste-water produced is estimated to contain 113 tons of nitrogen and 38 tons of phosphorus, substances that add to the eutrophication of the sea.
Eutrophication is considered by many to be the main environmental problem of the Baltic Sea, causing both biological and economic damage to marine environment and coastal areas.
It is caused by an overload of nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, into the ecosystem. Eutrophication causes many problems, including unusually strong and frequent blooms of “blue-green” algae.
Some of these algae produce toxins harmful to both humans and animals, with people even advised not to go in the water in many parts of the Baltic.
Furthermore, when the algae die they sink to the bottom and consume large amounts of oxygen, causing “dead zones”. Seven of the largest dead zones in the world are at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The lack of oxygen and sun-light - blocked out by the algae - also has an impact on plant life and on fish re-production.
In addition to excess nutrients, the waste water dumped by the boats also contains bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. “The most obvious thing they should do is install storage tanks large enough for them to carry the waste to the next port,” said Abrahamsson.
“Ships go into port quite often, so they can easily do that. They complain that the facilities in the ports are not efficient or large enough, but that is just a bad excuse.
“We concede that the facilities could be improved and we have told the companies we’re happy to work with them to influence the authorities to improve their capacity to receive this waste. But it’s already perfectly possible to do it.”
Dr. Anita Mäkinen, Head of Marine Programme for WWF Finland, said: “Some big cruise ships are treating their waste waters onboard, but only according to the Alaska regulations, which do not regulate nutrients but only bacteria and organic content of the waste water. They don’t seem to understand that this is not enough in the Baltic Sea.”
Olympic reprieve for World Heritage Site
07 07 2008
The bobsleigh and luge track for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games as well as the Mountain Olympic Village will not be constructed in the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site “Western Caucasus” as was first planned.
In accordance with the demands of WWF and other environmental organizations, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has agreed to change the location of these facilities for the Sochi Games.
“I consider it necessary to move these venues to another site,” Putin said at a meeting with Russian Olympic officials in Sochi. Environmental organizations were also present at the meeting.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, because all facilities will be constructed in specially protected nature areas,” said WWF-Russia CEO Igor Chestin, who took part in the meeting in the Black Sea resort. “But the decision Putin has taken today will avoid the most serious threats to the environment.”
Since July 2007, when Sochi was announced as host city for 2014, environmentalists have been urging the government to ensure that construction works do not destroy the environment.
However, the bobsleigh and luge track and Mountain Olympic Village were to be constructed at one of the most valuable natural areas within the Sochi national park, the Grushevyi Ridge and river Pslukh watershed.
Besides being located within the boundaries of Sochi National Park, this area is also part of the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site “Western Caucasus”.
Construction works in this part of Sochi national park would lead to forest logging and destruction of habitats and migratory routes of endangered species, with negative effects going far beyond the construction site itself.
Giant clams 'secure for another generation' after Philippine re-seeding
07 07 2008
Re-seeding programmes on over 50 reefs are securing the survival of the giant clam for at least another generation, according to WWF-Philippines.
The clams, the world’s largest bivalve mollusks and the star of lurid but mostly imaginary literary and cinematic depictions of trapped divers, can live for over a century. They have been known to exceed 1.4 metres in length and weigh in at over 260 kilograms.
Once common throughout Philippine reefs, excessive hunting for the food, pet and curio trade all but depleted the wild giant clam population by the mid-1980s, prompting the IUCN to classify them as vulnerable.
An attempt to restore natural clam populations is now being spearheaded by Dr. Suzanne Mingoa-Licuanan of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute in partnership with WWF-Philippines.
“Several species of laboratory-raised giant clams have been re-seeded in over 50 reefs nationwide, significantly bolstering wild stocks and ensuring their survival for at least another generation,” said WWF Project Manager Paolo Pagaduan.
By way of example, a fresh batch of 40 true giant clams (Tridacna gigas) wrapped in watertight plastic bags made the journey last month from rearing laboratories in the west of the country down the coast to their new homes in Batangas province on Santelmo Reef, a prized snorkeling site being restored with the help of WWF and a nearby ecotourism development.
With an average length of 36 centimetres and weighing almost 10 kilograms, each of the 40 clams was painstakingly but successfully laid to rest ' alive of course ' in
pre-designated nooks and crannies. Some 102 clams were planted in the same area last November and another 35 are being grown for transplanting in coming months.
“When we planted the first batch last November, all clam mantles were pale ochre. Now, each clam shows off electric hues of blue and violet ' an indicator that the area is conducive to clam growth,” said Pagaduan.
“It is hoped that baby clam recruits will eventually appear to seed outlying areas in Batangas.”
Giant clams are an integral part of the reef, serving as nurseries for a host of fish and invertebrate species including damsels, gobies and tiny commensal crustaceans such as shrimp.
Sedentary organisms like sponges, tunicates, corals and algae find giant clam shells perfect substrates for attachment. Giant clams also act as filter feeders, sifting planktonic debris from the water for food thereby improving overall water quality.
For more information please contact: Gregg Yan, Communications Officer, WWF-Philippines 63 2 920-7923/26/31
Azores faces fishing out after court appeal fails
06 07 2008
A Court ruling has cleared the way for even more intensive fishing of one of the Atlantic’s most diverse deep sea habitats.
“The people of the Azores have used small vessels and traditional fishing methods for generations without endangering fish stocks or the environment,” said Stephan Lutter of WWF Germany.
“Now the number of Spanish longliners licensed to fish in Azorean waters has increased from zero to at least 140 vessels in only 2 years.”
After the European Council of Ministers
decided
in 2003 to open the region up to the fishing fleets of all EU member states, the decision was appealed to the Court of First Instance of the European Communities by the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with the support of Greenpeace, Seas at Risk and WWF.
The Azores is the most isolated archipelago in the North-East Atlantic and forms part of the volcanic mid-ocean ridge. Averaging 3000 metres in depth, the waters around the Azores contain vast undersea mountain ranges ' seamounts ' deep water coral reefs and volcanic hydrothermal vents that are rare in European waters. The deep water commercial fish species found around the Azores are long-lived and slow to reproduce and even modest fishing pressure can seriously deplete stocks.
Tuesday’s court ruling marks the failure to overturn the 2003 decision, with the Court of First Instance citing the lack of legal status of the Azores to bring forth such a case. The latter have pledged to appeal though, in an effort to protect their region from the devastation caused by such intensive fishing.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Court has decided that the case brought by the Azores and NGOs is inadmissible. The consequence is that the Azores’ unique marine life remains vulnerable to increasingly intensive fishing practices.” saidMonica Verbeek of Seas at Risk.
While the Council of Ministers banned bottom trawling (a particularly intensive and damaging form of fishing) in the fisheries around the Azores in 2004, the number of longliners targeting swordfish has increased dramatically since 2003. Longlining causes significant loss of life to non-target species such as turtles and sharks, while also devastating deep-sea corals.
Since the opening up of the Azores fisheries, several thousand loggerhead turtles, which rely on the Azores' waters as their feeding and nursery grounds, have been killed by EU vessels.
“The Court’s ruling has primarily considered legal and not ecological aspects. It is therefore crucial that Spain and any other EU member states that have vessels fishing in the area make an immediate assessment of how their individual fisheries impact on ocean ecosystems around the Azores.” Said Saskia Richartz of Greenpeace.
“Unless they can prove that no negative impact occurs, EU member states should prohibit their vessels from fishing around the Azores.”
On 23rd of June, the Council of Ministers adopted rules that will apply to bottom fisheries in certain deep-sea areas on the high seas. These will require vessels to carry observers on board, and for Member States to perform impact assessments before authorising any fishing activities in such deep-sea areas. However, these rules do not currently apply to the Azores, though adoption of similar measures would go some way to maintaining the sustainability and stability of the region.
Vague land ownership a factor in Amazon deforestation
06 07 2008
A “fragile” land tenure system and “a scarce presence” by the State were identified as key factors in rising Amazon deforestation last week.
The diagnosis was delivered to the 3rd International Congress on Bioenergy last week by WWF-Brazil forest engineer Ana Euler, who said there was a need to re-discuss the Brazilian development model.
“In many areas of the Amazon we come across a situation in which there are various 'landowners' for the same piece of land and proof of land ownership is extremely difficult,” Euler said. “In such a scenario, the populations that are more vulnerable end up being penalized."
“Indigenous peoples, extractivists and small peasants generally lose the dispute to agribusiness and other groups that deploy greater political and economic strength.”
The findings draw on studies of the states of Para and Rondônia where a high incidence of land conflict and associated violence were linked to forest degradation and destruction.
Using satellite images of the state of Rondônia - one of the Amazon region's most deforested states, Ana Euler showed that protected areas are proving effective instruments for containing deforestation and conflicts resulting from land use.
"It can be noted that indigenous lands, extractive reserves, national and state forests, and other protected areas work as barriers against forest degradation," she said.
Also raised by Euler was the great influence of infrastructure projects, as hydroelectric power plants, highways, pipelines and waterways in increasing conflicts over land use and occupation in the Amazon region.
"The speculation generated by the announcement of great infrastructure construction work, as well as the lack of transparence in the project-licensing processes, has serious impacts to local biodiversity and to surrounding communities even before construction is started," she said.
WWF-Brazil is fostering the creation and implementation of protected areas and the promotion of sustainable development in the Amazon. Through providing technical and financial support to the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA), WWF-Brazil contributed to the creation of 23 million hectares of additional protected areas between 2003 and 2008.
WWF-Brazil and its partner organizations also provide training, technical and marketing support to forest communities for sustainable income generating extraction and production activities Such arrangements strengthen civil society, support community involvement in policy making and can in part make up for a meagre presence of other government resources and services.
Azores faces fishing out after court appeal fails
04 07 2008
Luxembourg/Brussels ' A Court ruling has cleared the way for even more intensive fishing of one of the Atlantic’s most diverse deep sea habitats.
“The people of the Azores have used small vessels and traditional fishing methods for generations without endangering fish stocks or the environment,” said Stephan Lutter of WWF Germany.
“Now the number of Spanish longliners licensed to fish in Azorean waters has increased from zero to at least 140 vessels in only 2 years.”
After the European Council of Ministers
decided
in 2003 to open the region up to the fishing fleets of all EU member states, the decision was appealed to the Court of First Instance of the European Communities by the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with the support of Greenpeace, Seas at Risk and WWF.
The Azores is the most isolated archipelago in the North-East Atlantic and forms part of the volcanic mid-ocean ridge. Averaging 3000 metres in depth, the waters around the Azores contain vast undersea mountain ranges ' seamounts ' deep water coral reefs and volcanic hydrothermal vents that are rare in European waters. The deep water commercial fish species found around the Azores are long-lived and slow to reproduce and even modest fishing pressure can seriously deplete stocks.
Tuesday’s court ruling marks the failure to overturn the 2003 decision, with the Court of First Instance citing the lack of legal status of the Azores to bring forth such a case. The latter have pledged to appeal though, in an effort to protect their region from the devastation caused by such intensive fishing.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Court has decided that the case brought by the Azores and NGOs is inadmissible. The consequence is that the Azores’ unique marine life remains vulnerable to increasingly intensive fishing practices.” saidMonica Verbeek of Seas at Risk.
While the Council of Ministers banned bottom trawling (a particularly intensive and damaging form of fishing) in the fisheries around the Azores in 2004, the number of longliners targeting swordfish has increased dramatically since 2003. Longlining causes significant loss of life to non-target species such as turtles and sharks, while also devastating deep-sea corals.
Since the opening up of the Azores fisheries, several thousand loggerhead turtles, which rely on the Azores' waters as their feeding and nursery grounds, have been killed by EU vessels.
“The Court’s ruling has primarily considered legal and not ecological aspects. It is therefore crucial that Spain and any other EU member states that have vessels fishing in the area make an immediate assessment of how their individual fisheries impact on ocean ecosystems around the Azores.” Said Saskia Richartz of Greenpeace.
“Unless they can prove that no negative impact occurs, EU member states should prohibit their vessels from fishing around the Azores.”
On 23rd of June, the Council of Ministers adopted rules that will apply to bottom fisheries in certain deep-sea areas on the high seas. These will require vessels to carry observers on board, and for Member States to perform impact assessments before authorising any fishing activities in such deep-sea areas. However, these rules do not currently apply to the Azores, though adoption of similar measures would go some way to maintaining the sustainability and stability of the region.
04 07 2008
International recognition for northern Andes wetlands
04 07 2008
Two unusual high-altitude wetlands in South America were declared sites of international importance on 25 June 2008 after a five-year campaign for northern Andean wetlands by WWF, other NGOs, governments and local communities.
Laguna del Otún in Colombia is a lake, swamp and peat bog area surrounded by glaciers, forest and high altitude grassland ranging up to 4,850 metres. Its 6,579 hectares contain 148 plant species, many of them unique, and it provides water for more than half a million people.
Llanganati in Ecuador, a 30,000-hectare complex of glacial lakes, swamps and seasonal peat bogs, is fed by rivers and floods and home to Andean condors, bears and mountain tapirs as well as significant frog, deer and puma populations.
“The Llanganati has a very different composition from the rest of the Andes, with its drastic climate and its isolation resulting in singular vegetation formations,” said Luis Germán Naranjo, director of Ecoregional Conservation for WWF Colombia. “It is also an important source of water for nearby populations and provides electrical energy for the centre of the country.”
The wetlands of the High Andes are ecosystems of enormous strategic importance for millions of people from the Pacific coasts of Columbia, Ecuador and Peru to those in the gigantic Amazon basin. The international Convention on Wetlands, signed on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, considers them to be highly fragile ecosystems as a result of both natural causes and human intervention.
The designation of Llanganati and Laguna del Otún, as well as of the Sistema Lacustre de Chingaza area in Colombia, are direct contributions to the Regional Initiative on High Andean Wetlands. The initiative, developed under Ramsar auspices over the last five years, brings together the governments of the seven Andes countries plus Costa Rica and several NGOs including WWF Colombia and the WWF International Freshwater Programme.
“The primary service of the high Andean ecosystems is the production, storage and mobilization of water to the lowlands,” said Ximena Barrera, director of Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility for WWF Colombia. “The multiple peat bogs are also an important contribution to carbon capture and, therefore, regulation of the global climate.”
Whales set to chase shrinking feed zones
03 07 2008
Endangered migratory whales will be faced with shrinking crucial Antarctic foraging zones which will contain less food and will be further away, a new analysis of the impacts of climate change on Southern Ocean whales has found.
Ice breaker: Pushing the boundaries for whales, released just ahead of the opening of a crucial International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, summarises WWF research showing that levels of global warming predicted over the next 40 years will lead to winter sea-ice coverage of the Southern Ocean declining by up to 30 per cent in some key areas.
“Essentially, what we are seeing is that ice-associated whales such as the Antarctic minke whale will face dramatic changes to their habitat over little more than the lifespan of an individual whale,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International's Species Programme and head of the WWF delegation to the IWC meeting.
Migratory whales meanwhile may need to travel 200-500 kilometres further south to find the “frontal” zones which are their crucial foraging areas. Migratory whale species which will be affected include the Blue Whale, earth's largest living creature, and the humpback whales which are only now coming back from the brink of extinction after populations were decimated by commercial whaling, mainly during the first half of the 20th century.
Both species build up the reserves that sustain them throughout the year in the frontal zones, which host large populations of their primary food source ' krill.
“As frontal zones move southward, they also move closer together, reducing the overall area of
foraging habitat available,” the research notes. As the krill is dependent on sea ice, less sea ice is also expected to reduce the abundance of food for whales in the feeding areas.
“The impact on whales is one more imperative for the world to take decisive action to reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change,” Dr Lieberman said. “However, the IWC must also take the opportunity of this southern hemisphere meeting to look at every possible way to increase the resilience of whale populations to climate change.
“For Antarctica’s whales, the best way to do this would be to reduce all other threats ' such as the unregulated and unjustified so-called ‘scientific whaling’ of these species conducted by Japan.”
WWF is recommending the protection of critical habitats and for also limiting other non-climate stresses to whale populations such as fishing, pollution and ocean noise.
Fisheries, not whales, to blame for shortage of fish
03 07 2008
Santiago, Chile: The argument that increasing whale populations are behind declining fish stocks is completely without scientific foundation, leading researchers and conservation organizations said today as the International Whaling Commission opened its 60th meeting in Santiago, Chile.
The Humane Society International, WWF and the Lenfest Ocean Program today presented three new reports debunking the science behind the ‘whales-eat-fish’ claims emanating from whaling nations Japan, Norway and Iceland. The argument has been used to bolster support for whaling, particularly from developing nations.
“It is not the whales, it is over-fishing and excess fishing capacity that are responsible for diminishing supplies of fish in developing countries,” said fisheries biologist Dr. Daniel Pauly, director of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre.
“Making whales into scapegoats serves only to benefit wealthy whaling nations while harming developing nations by distracting any debate on the real causes of the declines of their fisheries.”
Who’s eating all the fish? The food security rationale for culling cetaceans
, the report co-authored by Dr Pauly for the Humane Society International contrasts “the widely different impacts of fisheries and marine mammals” with fisheries targeting larger fish where available and marine mammals consuming mainly smaller fish and organisms.
“The decline of the mean trophic levels of fisheries catch over the past 50 years is a signature of fishing down marine food webs and leaves marine mammals exonerated,” the report said.
The report also probes the culling whales increases food security for the poor argument by examining the final destination of catches of coastal fisheries in the South Pacific, Caribbean and West Africa. With less than half the catch going to domestic markets and the majority “gravitating toward the markets of affluent developed countries, one can speak of fish migrating from the more needy to the less needy”.
Also presented to the IWC Scientific Committee was the preliminary results into analysis of the interaction between whales and commercial fisheries in north west Africa. The modeling, funded by the Lenfest Ocean Program, shows no real competition between local or foreign fisheries and great whales.
The whales spend only a few months in the area during their vast seasonal migrations, eat relatively little while breeding and tend to consume fundamentally different types of food resources than the marine species targeted by both local and foreign fisheries. Inserting modelling assumptions to presume that whales are not breeding in the area and eat species important to the fishing industry still fails to show whales are a significant source of competition to fishing.
Also released today is review of the scientific literature originating from Japan and Norway - the two countries most strongly promoting the idea that whales pose problems for fisheries. The review, funded by WWF, found significant flaws in much of the science and concluded that “where good data are available, there is no evidence to support the contention that marine mammal predation presents an ecological issue for fisheries.”
Dr. Susan Lieberman of WWF said “These three reports provide yet more conclusive evidence that whales are not responsible for the degraded state of the world’s fisheries. It is now time for governments to focus on the real reason for fisheries decline ' unsustainable fishing operations.”
"Dr. Pauly's findings should refute, once and for all, the misconception that whales are eating all the fish and need to be killed to protect the world's fisheries," said Patricia Forkan, president of the Humane Society International
Flags of convenience fly in face of fisheries protection
03 07 2008
Maritime security and the future of fisheries are coming under increasing threat from vessels flying flags of convenience (FOC), a UN conference on the Law of the Sea was told today.
Real and Present Danger: Flag State Failure and Maritime Security and Safety, a joint WWF and International Transport Workers’ Federation study, found ships under flags of convenience were also involved in piracy, people trafficking and arms smuggling.
“Many of the thousands of ships plying the world’s oceans are effectively without nationality, their owners operating under a veil of corporate secrecy and anonymity within a system that allows them to easily evade international laws and regulations,” said the report’s author, independent consultant Matthew Gianni.
“Under the FOC system, flag state sovereignty and control over ships is fast becoming a fiction of international law.”
The report cites the number of fishing vessels registered to states without fishing authorizations and the extent to which these vessels have been mentioned in connection with illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.
Some 318 large-scale fishing vessels without apparent fishing rights are registered to Cambodia, Georgia, Mongolia, North Korea, Sierra Leone and Togo. Vessels from five of these six countries are currently “blacklisted” in various fisheries for illegal fishing activities.
For example, Spanish-based fishing company Vidal Armadores SA “has regularly used a variety of flags of convenience to facilitate IUU operations” the report says. The company, which was stated to have received European Union subsidies of €3 million, has been prominently involved in the illegal trade of the highly overfished Patagonian toothfish with three of its vessels registered to North Korea.
Fishing vessels used in illegal operations typically change name and flags many times to avoid being caught. In 2007 the Vidal Armadores’ vessel Ina Maka, previously named Black Moon, Red Moon, Elo, Thule, Magnus and Dorita and flagged at various times to Equatorial Guinea, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and North Korea, was fined 400,000 South African Rand ($US50,000) and its 60 kilometres of gillnets were confiscated after being caught illegally fishing off South Africa with a load of endangered nurse sharks on board.
The report notes that as FOC countries seldom exercise adequate control over the operation of ships registered to fly their flags, their ships also dominate records on sub-standard shipping, poor safety, maltreatment of crew and pollution of the marine environment.
IUU fishing costs an estimated US$1.2 billion each year and threatens the food supplies of millions in coastal areas of developing countries. In addition to the direct loss of the value of the catches to local fishermen, IUU fishers rarely comply with regulations and cause damage to fragile marine ecosystems and vulnerable species such as coral reefs, turtles and seabirds.
WWF is calling for the establishment of a UN Committee to negotiate a new implementing agreement to the UN Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ' the legal framework governing the use of ocean space ' that sets out enforceable measures to ensure flag states fulfil their responsibilities under UNCLOS and prevents states from operating vessel registers in breach of regulations and international agreements.
“Without transparency of ownership on the FOC registers and without flag states exercising effective jurisdiction over vessels flying their flag, FOC vessels will continue to plunder marine resources on the high seas with impunity,” said Miguel Jorge, acting Director of WWF’s Global Marine Programme.
The report was released as governments attended the ninth meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS) in New York.
Poaching gangs blamed for tiger density tumble in Nepal park
03 07 2008
A Nepal wildlife reserve that boasted the highest density of tigers in the world is just half a decade later struggling to hold a few remaining tigers.
Conservationists were highly gratified when the first systematic sampling of the Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in border areas of western Nepal in 2004/05 revealed a tiger density of 17 per 100 km2, an estimated 27 tigers for the 305 km2 reserve.
But the joy was shortlived as the 2006/07 sampling showed tiger density declining almost two thirds to six per 100km2.
“We were perhaps too cautious in not ringing an alarm bell when the density declined in
2005/06,” said Anil Manandhar, Country Representative, WWF Nepal. “In the absence of any reported tiger poaching case [by the park authorities during 2004-06], we felt that reduced sampling could have been a reason for this observed decline and wanted to confirm it with another year of monitoring.”
However, a scientific monitoring program using camera traps in 93 locations carried out between December 2007 and March 2008 was able to identify only five tigers - two male and three female - in the Shuklaphanta core area.
The monitoring program is run by WWF in conjunction with the National Trust for Nature Conservation and the Nepalese government Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
On WWF estimates, the park tiger population now stands at just seven, a density of just under three tigers per 100 km2. On government estimates, the total park tiger population stands between six and 14 tigers.
According to WWF two recent seizures of tiger bones inside the reserve as well as skin and bones from adjoining Dhangadi town and photographs of people with guns taken through camera traps are all indicative of organized poaching in Shuklaphanta.
“Also there is no noticeable outbreak of disease in the region,” said Manandhar.
Other human incursions into the park such as encroachment, illegal hunting, illegal fodder and fuelwood collection, illegal rampant timber collection and high grazing pressure are considered to have played a smaller role in the decline in tiger numbers.
WWF has decided to scale up its community-based anti-poaching operation outside Shuklaphanta with 'Operation Tigris', noting that a similar program outside Nepal’s Chitwan National Park has so far been a big success with not one rhino poached outside Chitwan in the past year.
“We would like to repeat the same exercise around Shuklaphanta and will make sincere efforts to control poaching,” said Diwakar Chapagain, Wildlife Trade Manager of WWF Nepal.
“Although the tiger population in Shuklaphanta is severely depleted now, we strongly believe that it has not reached a point of no return and that with adequate protection and effective anti-poaching measures the tiger population in Shuklaphanta will bounce back.”
G8 nations lagging in climate change race
03 07 2008
None of the leading industrialized nations are currently on target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to avoid the threshold level for unacceptable risk of catastrophic climate change, according to new research into national policies and performance.
The G8 Climate Scorecards 2008, compiled by climate consultancy Ecofys on a joint commission from environmental organization WWF and international financial services provider Allianz, was released four days prior to the G8 summit in Japan.
Leading the race is the UK, which is projected to reach its Kyoto target and has introduced innovative policies such as the Climate Change Bill. France lies in second place just ahead of Germany, which performs best on renewable energy, but all three are at best half as far along the road as they should be, with the use of coal still a major problem.
Italy, Japan and Russia are firmly entrenched in mid-table, while bringing up the rear are Canada and the USA which, according to the report, “is no surprise given rising emissions and energy-intensive economies and their failure to realize the full potential of energy efficiency improvements”.
“Time is running out,” said Regine Günther, Director of the WWF Climate Change Programme in Germany. “We have 10 to 15 years left in which the global emissions have to peak and decline. The world is at a crossroads where decisive action now could translate into economic success.”
The scorecards rank the G8 countries according to nine quantitative indicators, including past emission trends since 1990 and progress against the country’s Kyoto target. It also scores performance on three specific policy areas - energy efficiency, renewable energy, and development of carbon markets.
Click to enlarge
(© WWF/Meike Naumann)
The report analyzed the policies of emerging economies Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa and, while noting that they cannot be measured by the same criteria, stressed that the question of how industrialized countries will assist these five countries remains key.
Dr. Joachim Faber, holding board member of Allianz SE, said: “The G8 countries have a responsibility to be high achievers in the race against climate change. They need to be role models trail-blazing the way to steer the world towards a low carbon, clean energy economy.”
Leaders at next week’s summit in Japan should commit to a binding long-term target for emission reductions of 80% by 2050, and as close as possible to 40% by 2020, the report states. “We expect the Japanese Presidency of the Hokkaido Summit to commit the G8 countries to significant and binding emission reduction targets,” said Günther.
“The G8 should pledge financial and technology support for low carbon development and for adaptation measures in developing countries that are measurable, reportable and verifiable.”
Net gain for endangered dolphins
03 07 2008
The rarest marine dolphin in the world ' down to 111 individuals following decades of entanglement in fishing nets ' is to receive protection over more of its range from the New Zealand government following several years of sustained WWF campaigning.
The critically-endangered Maui’s dolphins, living only along the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, could be functionally extinct within just 25 years largely as a result of a losing battle with fishing nets.
Unable to detect the fine mesh, dolphins can quickly become entangled and drown. Now Maui’s numbers are so low they could be functionally extinct, unless they are given total protection.
Since 2002, WWF has sustained pressure on the New Zealand government to remove all threats to the Maui’s dolphin and its South Island cousin, the Hector’s dolphin ' which has suffered a population decline from an estimated 26,000 in the 1970s to just 7,270 today.
From 1 October 2008, set net and trawl fishing will be banned in more of the areas where Maui’s dolphins and Hector’s dolphins range.
“We’re thrilled the government has finally acted,” said Rebecca Bird, Marine Programme Manager for WWF-New Zealand. “The new measures mean fewer dolphins will die in fishing nets, and that’s a strong first step.
“After years of government delays and more dolphin deaths, we are now seeing real action to improve their chances of survival.”
Though a step forward, the protection measures don’t go far enough for the dolphin populations to recover. Maui’s dolphins won’t be protected inside harbours or in the southern extent of their alongshore range, while Hector’s dolphins along the west coast will remain unprotected from trawl fishing and only given limited protection from set nets.
Based on population modeling by University of Otago scientists Dr Elisabeth Slooten and Dr Steve Dawson, the new protection will at best hold Hector’s dolphin numbers at their current depleted level.
With such low numbers, this still leaves Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins at risk of extinction and
WWF is continuing its campaign to ban net fishing throughout the dolphins’ range.
“Total protection is the only way to give the dolphins the chance to recover so they are no longer at risk of extinction,” said Bird. “We want a future where Hector’s and Maui’s return to their historic abundance and distribution. These measures are the first step towards this.”
Azores faces fishing out after court appeal fails
03 07 2008
Luxembourg/Brussels ' A Court of First Instance ruling has cleared the way for even more intensive fishing of one of the Atlantic’s most diverse deep sea habitats.
“The people of the Azores have used small vessels and traditional fishing methods for generations without endangering fish stocks or the environment,” said Stephan Lutter of WWF Germany.
“Now the number of Spanish longliners licensed to fish in Azorean waters has increased from zero to at least 140 vessels in only 2 years.”
After the European Council of Ministers
decided
in 2003 to open the region up to the fishing fleets of all EU member states, the decision was appealed to the Court of First Instance of the European Communities by the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with the support of Greenpeace, Seas at Risk and WWF.
The Azores is the most isolated archipelago in the North-East Atlantic and forms part of the volcanic mid-ocean ridge. Averaging 3000 metres in depth, the waters around the Azores contain vast undersea mountain ranges ' seamounts ' deep water coral reefs and volcanic hydrothermal vents that are rare in European waters. The deep water commercial fish species found around the Azores are long-lived and slow to reproduce and even modest fishing pressure can seriously deplete stocks.
Tuesday’s court ruling marks the failure to overturn the 2003 decision, with the Court of First Instance citing the lack of legal status of the Azores to bring forth such a case. The latter have pledged to appeal though, in an effort to protect their region from the devastation caused by such intensive fishing.
“We are deeply disappointed that the Court has decided that the case brought by the Azores and NGOs is inadmissible. The consequence is that the Azores’ unique marine life remains vulnerable to increasingly intensive fishing practices.” saidMonica Verbeek of Seas at Risk.
While the Council of Ministers banned bottom trawling (a particularly intensive and damaging form of fishing) in the fisheries around the Azores in 2004, the number of longliners targeting swordfish has increased dramatically since 2003. Longlining causes significant loss of life to non-target species such as turtles and sharks, while also devastating deep-sea corals.
Since the opening up of the Azores fisheries, several thousand loggerhead turtles, which rely on the Azores' waters as their feeding and nursery grounds, have been killed by EU vessels.
“The Court’s ruling has primarily considered legal and not ecological aspects. It is therefore crucial that Spain and any other EU member states that have vessels fishing in the area make an immediate assessment of how their individual fisheries impact on ocean ecosystems around the Azores.” Said Saskia Richartz of Greenpeace.
“Unless they can prove that no negative impact occurs, EU member states should prohibit their vessels from fishing around the Azores.”
On 23rd of June, the Council of Ministers adopted rules that will apply to bottom fisheries in certain deep-sea areas on the high seas. These will require vessels to carry observers on board, and for Member States to perform impact assessments before authorising any fishing activities in such deep-sea areas. However, these rules do not currently apply to the Azores, though adoption of similar measures would go some way to maintaining the sustainability and stability of the region.
Tiger baby boom welcome news in India
03 07 2008
No less than 14 tiger cubs have been seen recently in Ranthambore National Park, a tiger reserve in western Indian state of Rajasthan.
According to the park managers, the cubs belong to different mothers and some other tigresses are pregnant. Some experts said they got information about cubs sightings in other reserves as well.
“This is great news. If we get new tigers cubs, it means that their habitat is good and that Ranthambore offers good conditions for breeding”, said Sujoy Banerjee, WWF India Director of Species Conservation.
Nonetheless, poachers are always a major threat on tigers and the big cats remain vulnerable, even inside reserves. Habitat loss is another threat on them.
Ranthambore NP covers an area of some 400 km2 and is one of India’s Project Tiger reserves. This wildlife conservation project was initiated by the country in 1972 with the help and funding of WWF.
The management reported a population of 32 tigers when the latest census was published earlier this year. In 2004 the park was home to 46 animals.
Tigers are poached for their body parts, with the market being a key source of demand.
This trade is illegal but a single dead tiger can fetch up to $50.000 in the black market.
Manage wildlife trade for better development outcomes
03 07 2008
Well-managed wildlife trade has the potential to be even more of a key development tool for the world’s poor, finds a new report by the wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC, and WWF.
Trading Nature: the contribution of wildlife trade management to sustainable livelihoods and the Millennium Development Goals shows that a key development advantage of wildlife trade is the opportunities it offers to the very poor and the level of involvement by local communities. But many of the benefits are threatened when illegal trade is allowed to flourish.
Excluding the products of the commercial timber and fisheries industries, the wildlife products covered in the report include medicines, food, clothing, ornaments, furnishings, pets, ornamental plants, zoological and botanical display, research, manufacturing and construction materials. As well as contributing to the incomes of the poor, many also contribute directly to their housing, health and other needs.
The report finds that well-managed, legal and sustainable trade can have a significant impact on all eight of the Millennium Development Goals, the globally agreed roadmap which lay out targets in development assistance and poverty reduction.
“Trade in wildlife products can have a significant economic impact on people’s livelihoods, childhood education, and the role of women in developing countries, provided it is legal, well-managed and sustainable,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme.
Wildlife trade can make a direct major contribution to primary healthcare too'the subject of three MDGs'through the significant trade in wildlife-based medicines of both plant and animal origin. Underpinning the sustainable management of wildlife trade is good governance, the key to MDG 8.
Trading Nature examines a series of case studies. For example, Uganda’s lake fisheries produce fish worth over US$200 million a year, employ 135,000 fishers and 700,000 small-scale operators in processing trade and associated industries. It also generates US$87.5 million in export earnings.
Analysis of the wild meat trade reveals estimates of contributions of up to 34% of household income in East and Southern Africa. Wild meat is also providing both an affordable source of animal protein and a livelihood opportunity for men as hunters and women as traders.
The report studies the effects of the trade in peccary and caiman skins and vicuña wool in Latin America. The caiman skin trade generates a low income for ranchers compared to cattle, but it can be significant for the poor and landless with few other income-generating opportunities.
The report suggests incentives for the conservation and security of natural resources upon which many livelihoods depend. The legal, international trade in wild plants and animals and the products derived from them was estimated as worth close to US$300 billion in 2005, based on declared import values'and the value is rising.
“Without good governance, none of the other MDGs are truly attainable,” said Steven Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC.
“We call on governments to pay greater attention to resource access issues, and to develop innovative approaches to address unsustainable harvesting of the most commercially valuable wildlife commodities.”
For further information:
Richard Thomas, Communications Co-ordinator, TRAFFIC, t 44 1223 279068, mob 44 752 6646 216, email richard.thomas@traffic.org
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