WWF - News, Events, Updates

“Future We Want” proposals are not the future we need: WWF

2012-01-12

Gland, Switzerland – The first negotiating draft for the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development has the direction right, but the magnitude wrong, global environmental organization WWF said today.

“The Future We Want” Zero Draft acknowledges the need for poverty eradication, food security, and measures of progress towards sustainable development, but has few practical measures to enable the world to meet challenges in balancing competing global food, water and energy needs over the next 10 years.

“This document recognizes that countries have failed to act effectively on the environment and development over the last two decades but its lack of binding commitments risks setting us up for another decade of failure,” said Lasse Gustavsson, Executive Director, Conservation at WWF International.

“The proposed “Register of Voluntary Commitments” just will not get the world where it needs to be,” he said.

WWF has identified the need to solve the “Food, Energy, Water” equation as crucial to the success of such a critical global conference intended to give the world a new sense of purpose in achieving sustainable development 20 years after the original Earth Summit. But this first negotiating draft for the Rio+20 summit is especially weak on water-related ambition.

“Rio 2012 could fail solely on the basis of what it does – or doesn’t do – on freshwater,” said Gustavsson. “At this point, the document isn’t offering much more than a recommitment to sanitation systems.”

“What we need is water management based on natural, not political boundaries; a commitment to protect and restore vital freshwater systems; protection for the forests that safeguard our water supplies; and to prepare the world for the major water supply impacts of climate change.”

WWF welcomes the commitment to the sustainable management of marine and ocean resources, but is concerned there is no commitment to a sorely needed system of high seas protection, no workable safeguards for the sustainability of dwindling fish stocks, and no proposals for curtailing criminal exploitation of marine living resources.

“We welcome the fact that a number of priority issues have been addressed, including the need for government and business frameworks to develop green economies, a move towards low carbon development and the elimination of environmentally harmful subsidies,” said Gustavsson.

Other WWF concerns:

· The proposals for change are based on “voluntary national commitments” – which are not legally binding and will not commit countries to meet any targets or to work within a given timeframe. Countries need to agree targets, timelines and funding that match the challenges they are tackling.

· The text on developing green economies fails to require bringing social and environmental costs into national accounts, tax measures and certification schemes.

· Proposals to tackle food, water and energy security need specific targets, concrete implementation measures and a clear funding agreement.

· The text fails to take into account the critical role of climate change, and of ecosystem services which are key factors underpinning the production of food, energy and water.

· Many of the proposals for change are vague and open-ended. For example there are no targets for stopping deforestation or goals for effective water management.

Sweet news for environment as sustainable sugar comes to market

2011-06-21

Sao Paulo, Brazil: A mill in Sao Paulo, Brazil has become the first to have its sugar cane production certified under the new Bonsucro sustainability standard.

“This will change the sugar cane industry forever,” said Kevin Ogorzalek, WWF-US programme officer and Chairman of the Bonsucro Board.

“Sugar is everywhere, on our tables, in our drinks, and in the food we eat. Increasingly sugar cane is in our gas tanks, too. This is why we work with influential market leaders to help ensure key commodities like sugar cane are grown in a manner that assures more sustainable use of natural resources. Through our markets-based approach, WWF will continue working with industry to grow the standard and help preserve the critical habitats at the core of our mission.”

Major impacts in Brazil and Mekong

Sugar cane is one of the world’s thirstiest crops. Its production can have major impacts on the water supply and quality, globally, and on the ecosystems where it is produced. Major production areas for sugar cane include important global biodiversity regions such as the Mekong and Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Sugar cane is used as a table sugar, and in the production of foods, sweetened beverages, livestock feed, molasses, bioelectricity and biofuels.

The first certification against Bonsucro’s environmental and social sustainability standard covers production from the Raízen Maracaí Mill, covering more than 130,000 tonnes of sugar and 63,000 cubic metres of ethanol. The first buyer of certified sugar was the local Coca-Cola bottler.

Bonsucro is a global multi-stakeholder initiative dedicated to reducing the environmental and social impacts of sugar cane production which was developed from WWF’s long running Better Sugar Cane Initiative. The Bonsucro standard for better sugar cane management identifies and addresses the most significant social and environmental impacts from sugar cane production in the area of legal compliance, biodiversity and ecosystem impacts, human rights, production and processing, and establishes markers for continuous improvement.

“As part of our efforts to transform the global sugar market to a sustainable basis, WWF will now focus on promoting certification to Bonsucro standards with producers and work with industry leaders and major buyers to make sourcing commitments,” said Ogorzalek.

“Brazil has show great leadership in driving the industry toward a more sustainable business model. WWF remains committed to continue working closely with stakeholders in this region to monitor and continue to improve the standards to ensure they deliver real on the ground conservation results.”

No amnesty on illegal Amazon deforestation, declares Brazil president

2011-06-09

Brasilia, Brazil; Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has marked the country's preparations for next year's landmark Rio +20 conference on sustainable development by repeating that there will be no amnesty granted to those that had carried out deforestation.

"There will be no negotiation or prevarication on the issue of deforestation," Rousseff said, without making any specific reference to the divisive debate on a proposed radical cut to forest protection measures that have cleared Brazil's National Assembly.

Anticipation of the changes - which still have to pass the Brazilian Senate and receive presidential assent - has been linked to a dramatic upsurge in deforestation rates in the Amazon and elsewhere in recent months.

Generous amnesty provisions

This has been linked to generous amnesty provisions for illegal clearing in areas under protection in the current law such as forests by waterways, on steep slopes and high elevation watersheds. Forest reserve requirements - and more vigorous enforcement - are credited with key roles in Brazil's leading record in reducing deforestation over recent years.

"We are determined to fulfil the commitments we have made and will not tolerate any steps backwards in the historical process," declared the President during her speech, which celebrated the setting up of the National Committee and the Organising Commmittee of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).

The President was likely trying to strengthen Brazil's image overseas as a defender of the environment in the face of alarm that a revised Forest Bill would see a return to the devastating rates of forest destruction that was a key impetus to the original Rio conference.

Dilma reaffirmed Brazil's commitment to continuing its role as a global leader both in food production and as an environmental power and to making use of renewable energy sources.

WWF-Brazil CEO Denise Hamú, present at the ceremony in the Planalto Palace, considers the event to be an important milestone. "President Dilma was applauded for a full five minutes. The audience made up of diplomats, members of parliament, members of the government and other important guests demonstrated its enthusiastic support for the commitments made in regard to the environment," said Hamú.

"I think that Dilma Roussef sensed the force of society's wish for a serious policy committed to environmental conservation."

Senators responsible for crucial report named.

In another development, the Senators responsible for a pre-debate report on the proposed bill from the standing committee on Agriculture and the Environment have been named.

They are the senator for Santa Catarina, Luiz Henrique (Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro -PMDB) linked to the 'ruralista' parliamentary group (agribusiness and big landholders) and senator for Acre, Jorge Viana (Partido dos Trabalhadores- PT) connected to the pro-environment group.

Both have both declared their intention to achieve consensus on a final text that is representative of the positions of both groups.

This marks a distinct change from the lower house process, where the report advocating proposed "reforms" was under the control of the ruralista grouping who pushed forward the controversial measures in the face of complaints of inadequate consultation with scientists and community groups.

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New international report to secure natural riches of North Africa and Middle East

2011-06-01

An international conservation project has brought together botanists and scientists from Middle East and North Africa – Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Syria and Tunisia – in an unprecedented bid to secure the future of the region’s wildlife.

A new report published today by IUCN, Plantlife and WWF – Important Plant Areas of the south and east Mediterranean region: Priority sites for conservation – shows that there are more than 200 internationally significant areas for wild plants in the region, rivalling those found elsewhere in Europe and Asia for species richness, and supporting an extraordinary range of wildlife.

In many of these countries, these species-rich landscapes also provide vital resources for local livelihoods.

• 207 Important Plant Areas (IPAs) are listed in the report for the first time, including 33 in Syria, 20 in Lebanon,20 in Egypt, 21 in Algeria, 13 in Tunisia and 5 in Libya.

• Teams from 11 countries around the south and east Mediterranean were involved in the partnership project, meeting at workshops to discuss results and work together to carry out a rapid assessment of wild plants and wildlife-rich areas across the region.

• 75% of the 207 IPAs contain locally endemic species i.e. species that grow only in one country or area.

• ‘Mega endemic sites’ (containing more than 20 species restricted to small geographical areas) were identified in Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Syria and Libya, meaning that they are extraordinarily rich in their diversity of wild flowers and other plants.

The report is the result of unprecedented cooperation between botanists and scientists from participating countries.

The data collated fills gaps in the knowledge available about the Mediterranean’s important areas for wild plants and their habitats including forests, and can serve as a tool for governments and regional conventions to focus conservation work on the priority areas for conservation.

Many of these countries are in the midst of political instability and conflict, but in the long term natural resources and wildlife areas will continue to be vital for the health, livelihoods and general wellbeing of local people.

Al Jabel Al Akhdar is an Important Plant Area situated close to the town of Benghazi. It is the richest place for wild plants in Libya with 1,400 species, and is also Libya’s most important region for growing cereals, fruit and vegetables.

Half of Libya’s endemic plants grow only here. Similar unique sites with large numbers of endemic plant species exist in Syria, Lebanon and Morocco and some of these are critical in providing income for the local people.

The main threats to the region’s IPAs include overgrazing (67% of sites are affected), deforestation, tourist development, intensive arable farming and unsustainable collection of plants for medicine and culinary uses.

In future, the partners will continue to provide support for botanists, conservationists and local IPA communities across the region so that these botanical and wildlife hotspots can be secured and managed for future generations to use and enjoy.

The project - led by IUCN, Plantlife and WWF and funded by the French Development Agency through the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund - aims to take the first steps to conserving this wealth of natural riches.

For more information and images, please contact:
Gemma Parkes, WWF Mediterranean Communications T + 39 346 387 32 37 / E gparkes@wwf.panda.org

Notes
1. The report - ‘Important Plant Areas of the south and east Mediterranean region: priority sites for conservation’ (eds E. A. Radford, G. Catullo and B. de Montmollin) is available to download from the websites of IUCN http://www.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2011-014.pdf, WWF or from the Plantlife www.plantlife.org.uk/publications/IPA-SEMed.

2. Plantlife is the organisation speaking up for the nation’s wild plants. We work hard to protect wild plants on the ground and to build understanding of the vital role they play in everyone’s lives. Plantlife carries out practical conservation work, manages nature reserves, influences policy and legislation, runs events and activities that connect people with their local wild plants and works with others to promote the conservation of wild plants for the benefit of all. For more information, go to www.plantlife.org.uk.

3. IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environmental and development challenges. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation, with more than 1,000 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, established in Malaga in 2000, reunites more than 170 IUCN member organizations in the region around a common programme of work dedicated to influence, encourage and assist Mediterranean societies to conserve nature and sensibly use its resources towards human development. The IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) is a science-based network of some 7,500 volunteer experts from almost every country of the world, all working together towards achieving the vision of “a world that values and conserves present levels of biodiversity." There is an active specialist group working on Mediterranean island plants. For more information, go to www.iucn.org/mediterranean.

4. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. The network of WWF's Mediterranean offices has joined forces to launch the Mediterranean Initiative, a conservation strategy pursuing four major goals: build a future for Mediterranean landscapes; secure Mediterranean water resources; generate a sea change in Mediterranean marine management; equip Mediterranean ecosystems to adapt to climate change. Both WWF Mediterranean and WWF Italy contribute to this initiative. For more information, go to http://mediterranean.panda.org/ and www.wwf.it

5. Plant diversity and threats to IPAs in the Mediterranean - Approximately 10% of the world’s flowering plants – around 25,000 wild plant species – are found in the Mediterranean basin, on less than 2% of the earth’s surface. (The UK – as a contrast - has around 1500 native flowering plant species).

6. This project contributes to activities within the International Year of Forests, during which governments and civil society are encouraged to action for the preservation of the Mediterranean forests and the areas where they occur.

7. The report will also be available in French and Arabic.

New hope for survival for elusive saola

2011-04-14

Quang Nam, Vietnam: Indochina’s elusive saola, a recently discovered and critically endangered relative of antelopes and cattle, now has new hope for survival with the establishment of a dedicated nature reserve in the province today.

Quang Nam’s People Committee today agreed to the Forestry Protection Department establishing a Saola Natural Reserve in the Annamite mountains along the border of Viet Nam and Laos.

The Saola, described as a primitive member of the bovine family which includes cattle, sheep and antelopes, was discovered only in 1992 by a joint WWF and Vietnam Department of Forestry survey.

Threatened by illegal hunting with snares and dogs for its horns, the current population of saola is thought be to a few hundred at maximum and possibly only a few dozen at a minimum. None have survived in captivity.

Since the species discovery, WWF has worked closely with Vietnamese scientists, protected area staff and rangers and local communities, to understand the species population status and ecological requirements; identify the threats to the Saola and implement conservation actions to reverse its decline.

New reserve creates corridor

In response to the alarming status of the species in the wild, WWF Vietnam has worked with Vietnam’s authorities and agencies to promote the establishment of Saola Nature Reserve in Quang Nam, the Saola Nature Reserve in Thua Thien Hue and to extend Bach Ma National Park.

“The establishment of this new Saola Nature Reserve shows a strong commitment by the Vietnamese Government and Quang Nam Province in the conservation of this highly threatened endemic species,” said Ms. Tran Minh Hien, Country Director of WWF Vietnam.

“This new reserve will create a biodiversity corridor connecting the East of Vietnam to West side of Xe Sap National Park in Laos.”

Protection of the Saola population in this landscape is the highest priority for WWF and provincial authorities. Teams of WWF Forest Guards and FPD rangers are patrolling the nature reserves on a daily basis and have removed thousands of snares and destroyed many illegal hunting camps within the first few months of this new cooperative enforcement programme.

The Saola Natural Reserve in Quang Nam is located in an area where the highest point is 1,298 meters characterised by narrow valleys and water falls which creates ideal habitat for Saola. The establishment of the Nature Reserve will promote the conservation of lowland tropical forest ecosystems in the Annamite mountains, which contain many globally threatened species.

“We believe that, with the guidance from the People’s Committee, related local Departments and the cooperation with WWF, the Management Board will carry out the Saola’s conservation well which will not only help improve the Saola’s survival but also have long term value in developing and maintaining the biodiversity of the area.” said Mr Dang Dinh Nguyen, Director of Quang Nam Provincial Forest Protection Department and also the Acting Director of the Saola Nature Reserve.

Substandard dam assessment opens way to fisheries destruction on Mekong

2011-04-14

Bangkok, Thailand: Disruptions to fish migration and food supplies for millions in the Mekong basin are likely if the first mainstream dam on the lower Mekong is allowed to go ahead, WWF predicted as it released expert analysis showing the dam feasibility study and environmental impact assessment failed to address key environmental risks.

The WWF commissioned review – coordinated by the WorldFish Centre with participation from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) found that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed Xayaburi dam in Laos and assessment were woefully inadequate and fell well below international standards for such studies.

Xayaburi is the first of 11 dams proposed for the lower Mekong mainstem. Lower Mekong countries are scheduled to decide on whether the dam project can move ahead on April 22.

Ignored published studies

The review found that the EIA ignored published studies and relied heavily on “a very light field sampling” that captured “less than a third” of the biodiversity in the impact area.

Just five migratory species from a list compiled in 1994 were mentioned and just three of more than 28 studies of Mekong fish migration were referenced. In contrast, current studies show that 229 fish species exploit habitats upstream of the dam site for spawning or dry season refuges, with 70 classified as migratory.

The review finds the proposed fish passes for the dam ignore design guidelines, lack critical detail including any specification of target species and have a slope and steps which would be challenging even for salmon – not a Mekong species.

Among the species threatened is the Mekong’s famed giant catfish with only known spawning areas in the upper Mekong between Chiang Rai province (Thailand) and Bokeo (Laos). While the Mekong Giant Catfish is symbolic and culturally important, smaller fish like the Pa Soi are important food sources for villagers in the Mekong River.

"How can you devise mitigation measures for fish passage without addressing the biology and the needs of target species, which in this case range from a small Siamese Mud Carp or Pa Soi to a 3 metre long giant catfish," said Dr Jian-hua Meng, WWF International Sustainable Hydropower Specialist.

“Fish ladders of the design proposed have had some success in Europe and North America, but this

is where only a handful of species are migratory, and many of those are of the salmon family, that are much stronger swimmers and jumpers than most Mekong migratory species.”

Repeating mistakes of Pak Mun Dam

The review noted other studies that concluded that fish passes are not a realistic mitigation option for Mekong mainstream dams, and “that the Mekong should never be used as a test case” for proving or improving fish passages technologies.

WWF fears a much larger scale repeat of the environmental damage of the dam on the Mun River in Thailand, a key Mekong tributary. After similar bland assurances of only low level impacts on fisheries prior to construction, the first d ecade of the dam’s operation saw damaging impacts on 85 per cent of fish species present before the dam’s construction, with 56 species disappearing entirely and reduced catches for a further 169 species, according to a World Commission on Dams study.

Consultations on the Xayaburi dam have so far had to proceed in the absence of much detail on the project, with the abbreviated Feasibility Study dated 2008 but made available only in February this year which was prepared by Thai group TEAM Consulting and Swiss company AF-Colenco and the final EIA by TEAM completed in August 2010 but made available only in March 2011.

WWF was unsuccessful in attempts to brief the consultants on the risks posed by the project.

WWF supports a 10-year delay in the approval of lower Mekong mainstream dams, including the Xayaburi hydropower dam, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of all the impacts of their construction and operation, while immediate needs are met with less challenging projects applying state of the art sustainable hydropower solutions are fast tracked on selected tributaries.

Further information:
Vu Ngoc Tram, communications@wwfgreatermekong.org

Economic adversity doesn't stop Greece protecting biodiversity

2011-03-11

Athens, Greece: The Greek parliament yesterday took the bold step of voting in the country's first national biodiversity law – setting aside a preoccupation with the current unprecedented economic crisis to put in place safeguards for the future.

WWF, noting that the economic crisis is putting Greece's natural environment under increasing pressure, praised the courage and foresight of Greek Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Tina Birbili, the goverment and parlimentarians who stood by the legislation during a grueling debate over several weeks.

“WWF Greece has actively campaigned for this law which we consider an important step for nature conservation in Greece," said Demetres Karavellas, CEO of WWF Greece.

"Despite the views expressed by certain MPs, asking for more building rights within protected areas, the voted law is a sign of hope that Greece’s natural heritage will not be ignored or sacrificed in the quest for rapid financial gain.

“The greatest challenge however lies in implementing the provisions of this law. WWF stands ready to assist in making this happen.”

Urgent action now possible on rapid species decline

The law sets out plans for an integrated and science-based system of protected areas, with simple designation procedures and improved administrative support. Urgent conservation measures will be able to be adopted in cases of rapid species decline and the framework for sanctions on crimes against biodiversity will be strengthened.

A new legal framework will be provided for the protection of small island wetlands, and conservation measures will also be set out for marine species and habitats.

And despite opposition in the parliament, new regulations will be established for building within the boundaries of Natura 2000 protected areas.

“This new law is an important tool in implementing critical European legislation such as the Wild Birds and Habitats Directives," said Tony Long, Director of the WWF European Policy Office.

"With the right vision of promoting and celebrating its wonderful natural heritage, investing in nature conservation should also assist Greece in finding a way out of the challenging financial crisis.”

Further information: Iason Kantas, Press officer, WWF Greece, Tel: +30 210 33 14 893, mob: +30 698 247 1724, i.kantas@wwf.gr

String video ties up web of life

2011-02-21

Mexico City, Mexico: What better way to illustrate the complex web of life than with a tangled ball of string?

The partners in WWF-Mexico's We are all Connected video went beyond tying the knots to choosing the music - and what better than the classic John Lennon melody Imagine.

WWF-Mexico, in company with Ogilvy & Mather Mexico and the French production company Troublemakers, released the video as part of celebration of the international conservation organisation's 50th year - and to mark WWF-Mexico's own 20th anniversary.

“Our existence, as well as the development of the world’s economies, depends on the ecosystems’ health. Food and energy supply, community’s security, everything depends on healthy rivers, oceans, forests and jungles as well as on their biodiversity,” said Omar Vidal, Head of WWF-Mexico.

According to the members of the creative team, José Montalvo, Miguel Ruiz, Víctor Alvarado and Fernando Carrera “the video seeks to display the beautiful fragility with which the world turns into a complex system that we are all part of.”

All regions in the world are important. The Amazon Rainforest regulates the world’s climate; it is estimated that it stores between 90 and 140 million tons of carbon. The oceans’ level highly depends on the seasonal cycle from the ice caps in Greenland. The oceanic currents enable the displacement of ships and facilitate the migration of different sea creatures around the globe. The oceanic current in the Gulf of Mexico makes northeast Europe a milder zone than other areas located on the same latitude.

Taking a delicious red snapper dish, a notable feast that can be enjoyed in restaurants in La Paz, Mexico. Behind the dish there’s a whole story about a complex natural process.

The San Pedro-Mezquital basin runs through the states of Durango, Nayarit and Zacatecas in Mexico. This basin transports an immense amount of nutrients and sediments from Chihuahuan Desert to the river’s estuary.

These nutrients are then, by the oceanic currents, to the Gulf of California. In the Gulf of California, the nutrients are mixed with the sediment that comes from the Colorado River’s vast torrent. These mixed nutrients and sediment feed micro-algae and zooplankton. Micro-algae and zooplankton, in turn, feed thousands of sardines. Sardines then feed red snappers. Everything is connected.

Not only is the San Pedro-Mezquital basin an example of interconnectedness, it is also something of a model solution.

The integration of forest conservation in the upper part of the Mezquital area, coastal development and the conservation of its mangrove area (one of the largest in Mexico) make it a model to follow. Once again, this highlights that everything matters because in nature everything is intrinsically linked.

Seafood sustainability recipe needed as increased fish demand collides with failing fisheries

2011-01-31

Rome, Italy: The conflict between increasing demand for fish and failing fisheries has enormous implications for world food security and the state of our oceans, lakes and rivers, WWF said today.

The global environment organisation was welcoming the latest State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) report, issued today in Rome by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

SOFIA 2010 recorded a rise to 85% in the number of fisheries that are fully exploited (53%) or over exploited, depleted or recovering from depletion (32%) while noting a significant trend towards increased demand for fish – setting a new record in 2008 of 17 kg live weight equivalent of fish from all sources per person.

Meanwhile, says the report, the proportion of under or moderately exploited fisheries able to produce higher catches is – at just 15 per cent – the lowest level recorded since the mid 1970s.

“In a world likely to face a future of increasing food prices and decreasing food security it is becoming more and more apparent that running down one fishery after another is a disaster in the making,” said Alfred Schumm, leader of WWF’s global Smart Fishing Initiative.

Mr Schumm is in Vancouver, Canada for the annual Seafood Summit, where WWF is lobbying seafood producers, distributors and retailers to continue to improve an array of measures to increase seafood sustainability – including the ability to trace fish products from capture to plate.

“There are many promising initiatives and it is important to give recognition to the fisheries and fish farms that have achieved or are working towards operating sustainably. What this report show us is that we cannot relax our efforts to bring long term sustainability to a key element of global food security,” Mr Schumm said.

The SOFIA report shows employment in the primary and secondary fish sector supports the livelihoods of about 540 million people, or eight per cent of the world’s population.

“That’s a lot of people relying on a sector dependent on a declining resource, at least as far as fisheries are concerned,” said Dr Robin Davies, WWF Smart Fishing Initiative deputy leader, who is attending a key fisheries meeting at the FAO’s Rome headquarters.

“If we don’t properly manage our oceans, we face not only an environmental disaster, but a social one too,” Dr Davies said.

WWF also welcomed the SOFIA report’s emphasis on the need to cut down on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

“IUU represents the ugly underbelly of global fisheries and we must all rally to eliminate the loud minority that stains the silent majority,” Dr Davies said. “We hope the SOFIA 2010 report will stimulate nations and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to clamp down and lend support to emerging trade measures such as the EU IUU regulation .”

The SOFIA report recommends better use of technological advances to aid fisheries management. Combating IUU, for example, can be done with video surveillance, something already proving effective in trials and providing an opportunity for the good players to prove their credentials, whilst exposing the bad.

The report also highlights the need to enhance biosecurity in aquaculture, which is supplying most of the increased supply of fish.

In 2009, WWF and IDH (Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative) established the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) which aims to be the world's leading certification and labelling programme for responsibly farmed seafood – following a course pioneered for wild caught fisheries by the Marine Stewardship Council.

Sweden unleashes 6747 hunters onto 20 wolves

2011-01-14

Stockholm, Sweden: Another storm of protest is set to engulf Sweden’s second cull of endangered wolves tomorrow, which has seen 6,747 hunters register to kill 20 of the total Scandinavian wolf population of about 250.

WWF-Sweden was one of four Swedish nature conservation organisations to approach the European Union in March 2010, after a first cull of 27 wolves last year was justified on the basis that the hunt would create acceptance for the wolf in Sweden.

“It is doubtful that the hunt has created acceptance for the wolf’s existence in Sweden” says Håkan Wirtén, CEO WWF-Sweden.

Opinion surveys have shown that a majority of the Swedish people are already positive to the wolves in rural areas with the main opposition coming from hunters themselves using loose dogs and sheep farmers.

In an exchange of letters which has intensified in the last month, the EU has put Sweden on notice that going ahead with tomorrow’s hunt could see the country hauled before the European Court for violating the Habitat’s Directive.

According to the correspondence between Janez Potočnik, the European Commissioner for Environment and Andreas Carlgren, the Swedish Minister of Environment, hunting of the wolf in the EU is strictly prohibited, with very narrowly defined exceptions not consistent with Sweden’s arbitrary limit for its wolf population.

Potočnik also argues that the irregularities in Sweden setting up a semi-annual licenced hunt could set unfortunate precedents for protecting other endangered animals.

Scandinavia’s wolf population is exceptionally vulnerable because of an extremely narrow genetic base, almost totally isolated from the wolves in Russian and Finland and founded on only three animals which migrated in to Sweden between 1983 and early 1990. Two more wolves with “fresh” blood established themselves in 2008, but the population is extremely inbred and needs new wolves from Finland and Russia rather than culling.

The Swedish parliament decided in 2009 that there should be only 200 to 210 individual wolves in Sweden, despite being a large country with very high densities of prey. The country is also relatively sparsely populated compared to other countries in Europe which have wolves.

Last year’s cull of 27 animals (28 were shot, one more than the set quota) started an outrage in Sweden which awoke groups who earlier have kept silence in the wolf debate. A majority of the Swedish population (even in the most dense hunter areas) are positive to the wolves.

“As the hunt is going ahead tomorrow, WWF proposes that the European Commission move ahead with the infringement procedure against Sweden,” said Andreas Baumuller, Senior Biodiversity Policy Officer at WWF’s European Policy Office

Contact: Tom Arnbom, Senior Conservation Officer, WWF Sweden.
Tel: +46-70-5544066, e-mail:tom.arnbom@wwf.se

Another fisheries commission fails the tuna test

2010-12-11

Honolulu, Hawaii: The Commission responsible for managing tuna resources in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean has yet again failed to take any effective action to reduce the decline of valuable big eye and yellowfin tuna.

The failure, just weeks after the Atlantic tuna commission made only cosmetic cuts to Mediterranean bluefin tuna catch quotas, adding to increasing scepticism that the global system of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) can prevent the unsustainable plunder of the world’s oceans.

The week long Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) annual meeting in Hawaii saw strong interventions from Japan and the EU on the urgent need to freeze fishing capacity of purse seine super fleets and fishing pressure on the most stressed tuna stocks, moves that won support from the US and some other powerful fishing states.

But the WCPFC ultimately stuck to the familiar course of throwing overboard the scientific advice, rejecting its own Scientific Committee’s recommendation of an immediate 29 per cent reduction in the big eye tuna catch.

“Once again we see the WCPFC failing to hear their own scientific advice and condemning the region’s most stressed tuna stocks to another year of overfishing,” said Peter Trott, Fisheries Program Manager with WWF-Australia.

“I have never seen such strong support from the big fishing nations on the need to reduce pressure on big eye and other stressed stocks but this was still not enough to make any real progress on halting the decline of these species.”

"absurd" conservation measure for striped marlin

There were some positives to emerge from the meeting, most significantly agreement to develop a shark research plan and introduce greater monitoring and reporting of shark catches. A conservation measure was also adopted for heavily fished Northern Bluefin tuna.

And the Commission agreed to finally go ahead with an independent review of its own performance, a commitment originally made years ago.

“This level of agreement on shark catch has been one of only a few progressive steps taken at this year’s meeting and we hope it will help better inform, and stop the decline of key shark species within the region,” Mr Trott said.

But the credibility of the WCPFC was further undermined with an absurd conservation measure for overfished striped marlin that according to the Commission’s scientific advisor will allow the catch to increase.

“This level of agreement on shark catches has been one of only a few progressive steps taken at this years meeting and we hope it will help better inform, and stop the decline of key shark species within the region,” Mr Trott said.

“The WCPFC meeting in Hawaii demonstrated that its most powerful fishing members are ringing the alarm bells of the regions tuna stocks, calling out for urgent action on its most critical issues,” Mr Trott said.

“Unfortunately the Commission still lacks the teeth required to meet its responsibilities in terms of conservation and sustainability.”

WWF is advocating consideration of new rights- basedmanagement frameworks, cuts to fishing effort from the industrial purse seine sector, care over initiatives that could largely have the effect of displacing rather than reducing fishing effort.

“Most importantly however, the WCPFC should take heed of its contribution to the failures of global fishing regulation and be prepared to set the example in terms of following the scientific advice,” Mr Trott said.

For more information: Peter Trott, Fisheries Program Manager, WWF-Australia, +61 437 960 812, ptrott@wwf.org.au

Bleak future for bluefin as tuna commission only marginally trims catches

2010-11-27

Paris, France - "Wilfully blind" members of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) have not given Mediterranean bluefin tuna any real chance to recover, WWF said as the commission's annual meeting closed in Paris with only marginal cuts to catch levels.

With more than four decades of failure behind it protecting the bluefin fisheries under its care, ICCAT today agreed to trim catch quotas by only 600 tonnes compared to the more than 6,000 tonnes needed to just even the odds of saving the species.

“Greed and mismanagement have taken priority over sustainability and common sense at this ICCAT meeting when it comes to Atlantic bluefin. This measly quota reduction is insufficient to ensure the recovery of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of WWF Mediterrean’s Fisheries Programme.

Key countries backed away from commitments to ensure a sustainably managed fishery, leaving only one brighter spot - the meeting declined to rubberstamp another amnesty to fishing nations required under ICCAT rules to pay back past overfishing against future catches.

"Doha commitment" promises come to nothing

The so-called "Doha commitments" were made by key ICCAT members - the EU, Japan, Norway, the U.S. and Canada - after the proposal to introduce the highest level of trade restrictions for bluefin tuna at the March meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was voted down.

The outcome of the Paris meeting recalls ICCAT's action in the 1990s, where promises and concessions on catches were made in the face of threats to refer the collapsing western Atlantic bluefin tuna to CITES, only to be followed by a hard line on reducing catches once the danger of referral to CITES had passed.

Under pressure from the Mediterranean fishing industry and countries benefiting from the highly profitable trade of the sushi favourite red-fleshed bluefin tuna, ICCAT today also held back other efforts to regulate the fishery in the Mediterranean, where the eastern Atlantic population of bluefin tuna migrates to spawn.

“After years of observing ICCAT and countless opportunities to do the right thing, it is clear to us that the commission’s interests lie not in the sustainable harvesting of bluefin tuna but in pandering to short-term business interests," Dr Tudela said. "There have been no effective measures implemented here to deal with widespread illegal and unreported fishing for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean.”

Recent investigations have shown the high levels of non-compliance and rule-bending still rife across the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery. While there are observers on vessels there is a lot of guess work involved, and control measures were not significantly improved at the Paris ICCAT meeting.

“ICCAT members are wilfully blind to the fact that failing to reduce fishing quotas to precautionary levels recommended by science will logically result in the lack of recovery of the species. Before this meeting WWF asked whether ICCAT wants to remain ineffective or help save bluefin tuna. The answer is becoming all too clear,” said Tudela.

WWF welcomed the decision to finally respect the so-called payback regulations, meaning that countries which have overfished would see their quotas reduced accordingly in future to compensate. This application of fishing rules is crucial in Europe at a time when the EU is reforming its common fisheries policy and has pledged to follow science and slash illegal fishing.

In 2007 France fished well over 10,000 tonnes, while in 2011 its quota will be less than 1,000 after payback. France’s 2011 quota should be allocated among artisanal fleets rather than the industrial purse seine vessels that are responsible for the massive overfishing in the recent past.

WWF is urging that capacity reduction measures put in place today also focus on cutting purse seiners. The new rules dictate that within three years boat capacity in the Mediterranean – currently far too high – should be aligned with fishing quotas. While current figures for boat numbers underestimate real capacity, this is a positive move.

Coming into the meeting ICCAT’s chairman Dr Fabio Hazin talked of “the obligation to respect science” and expressed “confidence and consequent optimism” that countries would “act responsibly and adopt measures needed to ensure sustainability” of fish stocks. But ICCAT members countries have fallen short of this expectation.

“Everyone talked of respecting science and wanting to adopt measures to ensure recovery of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean, but the measures adopted today are highly risky given the dire status of bluefin tuna stocks and all the blanks and unknowns in the current data gathering and analysis,” said Dr Tudela of WWF.

ICCAT has for years failed to implement recovery and sustainable management of the bluefin tuna fishery in the Mediterranean Sea.

WWF, an observer at the negotiations during the ICCAT meeting, was calling on governments to end rule-bending and impunity for illegal fishing, and urging the inter-governmental body to implement a science-based management plan that will allow the Atlantic bluefin tuna to recover.

WWF was also calling for the establishment of no-fishing sanctuaries in the six identified spawning grounds in the Mediterranean Sea, but this suggestion was removed entirely from the agenda.

A proposal to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna through a listing on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was defeated in Doha, Qatar last March. But the main harvesting and consuming countries of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, the EU and Japan – as well as Norway, Canada and the U.S. – promised to lead in getting sustainable and science-based fisheries management measures adopted at this year’s ICCAT meeting.

Japan in particular opposed the CITES listing and stressed that ICCAT was the place to sustainably manage Atlantic bluefin tuna and that countries would show the world ICCAT is capable of ensuring the recovery of the species.

“WWF is disappointed the Doha commitments were not respected here in Paris. We had high hopes that Japan especially would take leadership at this ICCAT meeting in putting in place sustainable and precautionary management measures for bluefin tuna as well as enforcing strict compliance,” said Dr Aiko Yamauchi, Fisheries Officer at WWF-Japan. “The results fall short of our high expectations, in spite of fresh evidence of widespread rule-breaking again this year. We are urging Japan to strictly enforce compliance rules.”

ICCAT’s scientists will next assess bluefin tuna stocks in the East Atlantic in 2012, when they vow to address the uncertainties in data to ensure recommendations are clearer. Data quality must improve but also the methodologies employed to analyse figures. WWF will work with scientists to optimise the process during the next two years.

For more information
Gemma Parkes at WWF: m +39 346 387 3237 // e gparkes@wwf.panda.org // www.panda.org/tuna

World looks to ICCAT to overcome more than four decades of failure to save tuna

2010-11-23

As the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meets in Paris, the world is watching to see whether it will be able to overcome a more than four decade record of notable failure protecting the bluefin tuna fisheries under its care.

A WWF analysis of ICCAT's record, updated for the Paris meeting, has found parallels between the collapse of the Western Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery under ICCAT's supervision in the 1990s and the current looming collapse of the remaining Eastern Atlantic (Mediterranean) bluefin tuna fishery.

These parallels include periods of reduced catch limits when frustration with ICCAT led to proposals for trade restrictions under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) - followed by a return to inflated catches and negligent management when the danger of international intervention had passed.

The WWF analysis clearly identifies the key issue as ICCAT's woeful adherence to its original charter of managing fisheries in accordance with scientific advice.

At last year's meeting, ICCAT’s own scientists established that Atlantic bluefin tuna fitted the criteria for the highest level of trade restrictions, as did a subsequent analysis of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation - but a Monaco proposal to list bluefin tuna was voted down with no debate at the March 2010 meeting of parties to CITES in Doha, Qatar.

Lobbying by the principal bluefin market, Japan, played a key role in this decision, which was however followed by the most significant players on both the catch and trade sides of the bluefin tuna equation – Japan, the EU, the U.S., Norway and Canada – also committing themselves to the adoption of sustainable, science-based fisheries management measures by ICCAT.

The Paris test will be whether ICCAT parties remain true to their “Doha Commitments” or agree only a marginal reduction in quotas and persist with a management regime full of loopholes.

Iceland announces cod and haddock sustainability assessment

2010-11-15

Reykjavik, Iceland: Icelandic Group, one of the world’s ten largest seafood companies, has submitted its cod and haddock fisheries for independent assessment for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification - the most rigorous global seafood sustainability standard.

WWF has welcomed the announcement, noting that if the certification bid is successful it will considerably extend sustainable fish choices for consumers on a global scale.

Icelandic Group purchases and markets 35% of the total fish quota caught in the seas of Iceland, in value terms the world’s 11th largest exporter of seafood.

The certification assessment will cover all of the cod and haddock fisheries supplying the group and a diversity of harvesting methods including Demersal otter trawls, Danish seine, long lines, hand lines and gill nets.

Successful assessment could add up to 160,000 tonnes of Cod and 50,000 tonnes of Haddock annually to stocks of MSC certified seafoods.

“WWF’s Smart Fishing Initiative (SFI) is excited about the announcement of the Icelandic Group, that all Icelandic cod and haddock undergoes independent third party MSC full assessment,” said initiative leader Alfred Schumm.

“We expect that this will result in even improved fisheries management in future and that these fisheries might become as well examples for good sustainable management.”

“Consumers cannot yet buy year round fresh MSC certified cod and haddock globally. With certified Icelandic fish labelled with the blue MSC logo there is now a real prospect this gap will be closed.”

"join more than 200 other fisheries"

The assessment will be conducted by Den Norske Veritas, an independent foundation active in diverse fields of safeguarding life, property and the environment in around 100 countries.

“The WWF Smart Fishing Initiative expects a robust and credible MSC certification procedure and is happy to act as stakeholder within this process,” said Schumm.

If certified, the Icelandic cod and haddock fisheries will join more than 200 fisheries engaged in the MSC programme, nearly one hundred of which have been fully certified.

“Icelandic Group’s decision to enter all cod and haddock fisheries in Iceland into MSC assessment is of huge historical significance and will impact everyone involved in the catching, processing and sale of Iceland’s whitefish,” said Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the MSC.

Icelandic Group said it saw the MSC certification as strengthening its competitiveness in the international marketplace by responding to increasing buyer and consumer insistence on having “the peace of mind that the fish they’re buying comes from a well managed and sustainable
source.”

“MSC certification assessment is part of Icelandic Group’s continued investment in the Iceland fisheries and we are delighted in taking a leading role in this project. MSC certification, in our mind, will confirm what a robust and responsible fisheries management system we have in Iceland, and support fair access of Icelandic seafood to the world market now and in the future,” said Ingvar Eyfjörð, deputy CEO of Icelandic Group.

Icelandic Group is already party to the Icelandic Responsible Fisheries (IRF) scheme and views the two labels as complementary within the global seafood market.

Chile’s marine conservation efforts on show and more protection needed - WWF

2010-10-28

WWF calls on Chile’s newly established Ministry of Environment to advance fast on establishing new marine protected areas (MPAs) in the country’s waters to secure vital protection for valuable and threatened marine life, including the endangered blue whale.

Achievements, challenges and the route ahead for MPAs in Chile were discussed today at an event sponsored by WWF at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting underway in Japan, and attended by Mr. Ricardo Irarrazabal, Undersecretary for the Environment, and Mr. Miguel Stutzin, Natural Resources and Biodiversity Division with Chile’s Ministry of Environment.

At the event, recognition was given to three MPAs established with GEF funding along Chile’s coastline over the past five years, as well as the recenlty established no-take MPA near Salas y Gomez Island ( Motu Motiro Hiva in Rapu Nui language) covering 150,000 square kilometres.

WWF urges the government to now move forward fast on establishing more MPAs in southern Chile, notably the Corcovado Gulf frequented by blue whales.

“WWF, along with local and partners, have provided the government with the results of a 800-pages landmark report, including consultation with relevant stakeholders, indigenous and small-scale fishermen communities among them, concerning the establishment of new MPAs in the south,” said Mauricio Gálvez, WWF Chile’s Marine Conservation Program Coordinator. “It’s now time for governments to proactively act on this information and move quickly to set up the much needed new MPAs.”

The Ministry of Environment, the Universidad Austral de Chile, the Blue Whale Centre and WWF-Chile, as well as other local and international NGOs have undertaken extensive research efforts over the last two years to create a marine conservation plan and identify a portfolio of potential areas for MPAs in the Chiloense Ecoregion, which stretches from Puerto Montt to Taitao Peninsula.

The research identified 40 sites needing protection, including areas important endangered blue whales, fragile coldwater corals and important fish populations.

“The implementation of the recommendations and results arising from this work would show the government’s commitment to meet goals for protecting unique marine ecosystems – particularly those in Southern Chile that are under significant pressure.” added Gálvez.

“The scientific justification for creating MPAs in this area is clear and has been scrutinized by multiple stakeholders. The only thing needed now is the political will to create the proposed MPAs, and we hope that CBD is the moment for Chile’s new presidential administration to express its willingness to the world.”

Make or break time for Ministers at Biodiversity summit

2010-10-28

It’s make or break time as Environment Ministers face final decisions in intense negotiations at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) conference. While wide differences need to be bridged there is positive progress towards a new biodiversity plan.

“Countries have made some great strides on the biodiversity plan. We’re encouraged by support for a target of 20 per cent for terrestrial protected areas, and consensus on a target to stop the overexploitation of fish stocks.” said Jim Leape, WWF International Director General

Agreement is also now looking likely on the inclusion, for the first time, of a target requiring governments to include national capital accounting in their national budget. But a strong target for marine protected areas is in trouble if efforts to pursue a target of only six percent for our oceans gets through.

“We need a breakthrough on ocean protection this week. Given the oceans cover more than 70 per cent of our planet, we should be ambitious about getting 20 percent of it under protection. The ambitions to protect 20 percent of land areas should be matched in the oceans.” added Leape.

The government of Japan has announced aid worth two billion US dollars over the next three years part of which will be geared toward developing countries for implementation of the new biodiversity plan. WWF is looking to all donor countries to put additional funds on the table to put the new plan into action.

“New money is clearly important. Delivering an ambitious biodiversity plan will require new money. There are some resources now available and we need a pathway agreed to mobilize the requisite additional resources.” added Leape.

While the negotiation on the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Protocol has threatened to scupper countries’ efforts to deliver a new biodiversity plan, there are positive signs that they will reach an agreement this week.

The legal Protocol would detail how countries with important genetic resources in their biodiversity, particular developing countries, will benefit from any commercial development of these assets.

“An ABS agreement is long overdue so it is important for countries to crack this difficult nut this week. They’ve never had a better opportunity to crack it.” added Leape.

WWF award recognises Argentina’s ocean protection efforts

2010-10-27

Nagoya, Japan - WWF today awarded one of its highest accolades – Leaders for a Living Planet (LLP) – to Argentina’s National Park Administration President, Dr. Patricia Gandini, in recognition of her leadership in the country’s conservation efforts in the south-west Atlantic Ocean and the establishment of four new marine protected areas.

The four new marine protected areas (MPAs) - formally announced at a event sponsored by WWF at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) now underway in Japan – will cover over 580,800 ha of the south-west Atlantic Ocean, extending along Argentina’s coast.

“As a marine ecologist, the creation of new marine protected areas is one of my main challenges,” said Dr. Gandini. “Our achievements of the last two years, with the creation of these new marine parks, show the strong commitment of the Argentine Government and myself to include MPAs in our national protected areas system.”

Less than one per cent of Argentina’s waters are currently protected. The MPAs announced today increase the area of Argentine waters under MPAs to over 1,360,800 ha and represent a key step towards the country’s ambition to establish an effectively managed, fully-representative network of MPAs spanning 10,000,000 ha - more than 10% of the country’s waters.

A further MPA will come into effect in 2011, and along with the four MPAs announced today, the area of Argentine waters under MPAs will be doubled.

“We applaud Argentina’s leadership in establishing the new marine protected areas,” said Pablo Herrera, Conservation Director of Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina. “The MPAs represent a major step forward in efforts to conserve one of the richest marine areas on Earth.”

The Patagonian south-west Atlantic and adjacent Southern Ocean are one of the last relatively well preserved, large marine systems on our planet, home to rich and abundant marine life. Argentina’s waters support valuable commercial fisheries, such as hake and squid, and important marine fauna migrate back and forth between the Southern Ocean and Argentina’s waters, including the southern right whale, albatross, seals and penguins.

In 1934, Argentina’s National Parks Administration pioneered the establishment of protected areas in Latin America. However, coastal and marine national parks were not established in the country until 2004, when the first national coastal park, Monte León, was created with financial support from Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina.

“We hope the WWF award today will spur on Argentina to accelerate the establishment of marine protected areas in the country’s waters, critical to ensuring healthy, productive marine life and the livelihoods of dependent communities”, added Herrera.

WWF is calling on parties to the CBD to commit to a Representative Protected Areas scheme covering at least 20 per cent of land, coast and high seas areas respectively for 2020. Currently, some 13% of terrestrial areas and 6% of coastal areas are protected, while less than one per cent of the high seas - areas outside national jurisdiction - are protected.

About the new Marine Protected Areas
The four new Marine Protected Areas are zones of high biodiversity value, as described under the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea and Areas of Influence (http://patagoniansea.org), in which Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina and WWF participate. In a period of two to five years, according to the planning process developed by the NPA, effective management of these conservation units will be achieved.

• Patagonia Austral Inter-jurisdictional Coastal-Marine Park - The first MPA to be announced is an Inter-jurisdictional Marine Park, located in the Chubut Province, Patagonia, in northern San Jorge Gulf, with an area of 132,124ha. This area is already under implementation.

• Pingüino Island Inter-jurisdictional Park - In the province of Santa Cruz, a provincial law passed in August 2010, has started the process of creation of another Interjurisdictional Marine Park: Penguin Island, with an area of 170,000ha of sea and several islands, which extends from the western shore of the Chaffer Island (Puerto Deseado locality of reference) to Laura Bay.

• Makenke Inter-jurisdictional Marine Park - The third one is the Interjurisdictional Marine Park Makenke, in the south of Puerto San Julian, Santa Cruz province, with an area of 90,000ha.

• Banco Burdwood National Marine Park –Located at 54º 30 S and 60º 30` W, 54º 30 S and 59º 30 W, 54º 15 S and 60º 30 W, 54º 15 S and 59º 30 W, allow to protect an area with fish resources and covers 180,836 ha.

Governments must get over differences to deliver a new biodiversity rescue plan – WWF

2010-10-27

Nagoya, Japan – As Ministers from around the world arrive for the final three days of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) conference, WWF urges governments to overcome their differences on how to share the benefits of genetic resources and deliver a robust plan to stem the loss of biodiversity up to 2020.

The conference risks becoming bogged down in acrimony between developed and developing nations over the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Protocol, with many nations insisting there would be no new biodiversity plan unless there’s additional funding to implement it and agreement on the ABS Protocol.

“Unless countries can agree on a way forward on ABS, a plan for protecting the world’s natural assets is in jeopardy.” said WWF International Director General Jim Leape. “Governments have a unique opportunity this week to deliver a plan of action for the next decade to protect our planet’s nature. With biodiversity in steep decline they can’t afford to fail.”

“We see a few ministers trying to bridge their differences on ABS. We urge other countries to join that effort, set aside their differences and define what they can agree on.”

An injection of new money to deliver on an ambitious set of targets to halt biodiversity loss by 2020 is also fundamental to a successful outcome of the biodiversity summit.

“We look to Japan, as host country, to help mobilise money from other governments.” added Leape. “Without additional funding, the biodiversity plan risks staying on paper and not delivering action on the ground.”

There has been some positive progress on the negotiation of a number of targets under the new biodiversity plan. Agreement is now looking likely on the inclusion, for the first time, of a target requiring governments to include national capital accounting in their national budget, as well as consensus on a target to stop the overexploitation of fish stocks.

WWF is calling for a 20 per cent protected areas target for land, marine and coastal areas. While the terrestrial target is looking hopeful with a range between 15 and 25 per cent currently on the table, the target on marine and coastal areas is still being hotly debated, with figures from just six to15 per cent under discussion.

Amazing Discoveries in the Amazon: New Species Found Every 3 Days Over Last Decade

2010-10-26

Between 1999 and 2009, more than 1,200 new species of plants and vertebrates were discovered in the Amazon biome – or one new species every 3 days – confirming the Amazon as one of the most diverse places on Earth, says a WWF report.

“This report clearly shows the incredible diversity of life in the Amazon”, said Francisco Ruiz, Leader of WWF’s Living Amazon Initiative. It also serves as a reminder of how much we still have to learn about this unique region, and what we could lose if we don’t change the way we think about development, and promote conservation at a regional level that provides economic, social, and environmental benefits to people in the region and those within the Amazon’s far-reaching climatic influence, added Ruiz.

The new species outlined in “Amazon Alive!: A Decade of Discoveries 1999-2009” include 637 plants, 257 fish, 216 amphibians, 55 reptiles, 16 birds and 39 mammals.

Among some of the fabulous findings are:

• The first new anaconda species identified since 1936. Described in 2002 from Bolivia’s north-eastern Amazon province, and then found also in the floodplains of Bolivia’s Pando province, the 4 meter long Eunectes beniensis was initially believed to be the result of hybridization between green and yellow anacondas, but was later determined to be a distinct species.

• One of the most extraordinary species, the Ranitomeya amazonica, a frog with an incredible burst of flames on its head, and contrasting water-patterned legs. The frog’s main habitat is near the Iquitos area in the region of Loreto, Peru, and is primary lowland moist forest. The frog has also been encountered in the Alpahuayo Mishana National Reserve in Peru.

• A member of the true parrot family, the Pyrilia aurantiocephala has an extraordinary bald head, and displays an astonishing spectrum of colors. Known only from a few localities in the Lower Madeira and Upper Tapajos rivers in Brazil, the species has been listed as ‘near threatened’, due to its moderately small population, which is declining owing to habitat loss.

• The Amazon River dolphin or pink river dolphin was recorded by science in the 1830s, and given the scientific name of Inia geoffrensis. In 2006, scientific evidence showed that there is a separate species – Inia boliviensis – of the dolphin in Bolivia, although some scientists consider it a subspecies of Inia geoffrensis. In contrast to the Amazon River dolphins, their Bolivian relatives have more teeth, smaller heads, and smaller but wider and rounder bodies.

• A blind and tiny, bright red new species of catfish that lives mainly in subterranean waters. Found in the state of Rondonia, Brazil, the fish Phreatobius dracunculus began to appear after a well was dug in the village of Rio Pardo, when they were accidentally trapped in buckets used to extract water. The species has since been found in another 12 of 20 wells in the region.

Although most of the Amazon region remains fairly undisturbed, the threats to it are rapidly increasing. During the last 50 years humankind has caused the destruction of at least 17% of the Amazon rainforest – this is an area greater than the size of Venezuela, or twice the size of Spain

One of the main causes of this transformation is the rapid expansion in regional and
global markets for meat, soy and biofuels, increasing the demand for land. It is estimated that 80 percent of deforested areas in the Amazon are occupied by cattle pastures.

In addition, unsustainable development models, rapid regional economical growth, and increasing energy demands, are also impacting on the Amazon.

The Amazon’s forests not only house the most outstanding diversity of life on Earth, but also store 90-140 billion tonnes of carbon. Releasing even a portion of this through further forest loss and land use change, would accelerate global warming significantly compromising life on Earth as we know it.

“Urgent and immediate action is needed if we are to avoid this frightening scenario”, said, Francisco Ruiz. The fate of the Amazon – and of its species whether known or yet to be discovered - depends on a significant shift in the current way development is embraced by all Amazon countries, added Ruiz.

Through its Living Amazon Initiative, WWF is working towards a comprehensive approach to work with governments, civil society, and the private sector to promote the transformational process needed to bring about an alternative scenario to better preserve the Amazon’s biodiversity.

The goal is a shared vision of conservation and development that is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable; natural ecosystems are valued appropriately for the environmental goods they provide; tenure and rights to land and resources are planned; agriculture and ranching are carried out following best management practices; and transportation and energy infrastructure development is well planned to minimize environmental impacts and impoverishment of cultural diversity.

Part of the solution for Amazon nations to safeguard the Amazon’s species and habitats is being considered by governments meeting as part of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity: a multi-country approach to create a complete and effectively managed system of protected areas in the Amazon region.

Many of the discoveries of new species have been made in the Amazon network of protected areas, said Yolanda Kakabadse, President of WWF-I. This year - the Year of Biodiversity – is an excellent opportunity for Heads of State to help protect even more the Amazon’s diversity of life to ensure the survival of species that live there and the continued provision of environmental goods and services that we all benefit from, added Kakabadse

Amazon facts:

The region comprises the largest rainforest and river system on Earth. It consists of over 600 different types of terrestrial and freshwater habitats, from swamps to grasslands to montane and lowland forests, and it houses an incredible 10% of the world’s known species, including endemic and endangered flora and fauna.

The Amazon River is by far the world’s largest river in terms of the volume of water it discharges into the sea. Just two hours of its flow could meet the freshwater needs of New York City’s approximately 7.5 million residents for a whole year.

More than 30 million people living in the Amazon depend on its resources and services – many millions more living as far away as North America and Europe, still are within the Amazon’s far-reaching climatic influence

Tigers can provide roaring start to action on biodiversity

2010-10-26

Nagoya, Japan – As nations this week discuss new targets for halting biodiversity loss, WWF today announced that one of the world’s most iconic species, the tiger, should be the first hallmark of many government’s efforts to conserve nature.

Many of the same governments gathering in Japan this week at the meeting of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet again next month at the Tiger Summit, to be held from 21-24 November in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Tiger Summit will be their first major opportunity to act on the targets agreed at the biodiversity meeting this week. Leaders at the Tiger Summit are expected to push forward on a plan to double wild tiger numbers by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.

“As an indicator species for forests rich in biodiversity throughout Asia and the Russian Far East, tigers are on the frontline of the impact of biodiversity loss,” said Mike Baltzer, Head of WWF’s Tigers Alive Initiative. “The Tiger Summit will be the first test for leaders to take action and make good on their pledges to arrest the decline in biodiversity.”

“If we save this beautiful and powerful icon of the forest, we can save a lot of important biodiversity. Strong action taken here in Nagoya will give us the momentum to stand strong for tigers at next month’s meeting and beyond.”

The CBD meeting comes during both the UN Year of Biodiversity and the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese lunar calendar.

“Protecting the forest areas in the 13 countries where tigers are still found will also be a test in itself,” stated Baltzer. “With Russia and most of the Asian economies on the rise, we must ensure they use their vast resources to protect their most iconic symbol of nature. Their increasing economic might means there are a vast amount of resources and knowledge available to save the tiger, and with concerted action everyone gains – people, economies and nature.”

Just over 100 years ago, there were 100,000 tigers in the wild, with its nine subspecies roaming as far west as the Caspian Sea and as far east as the island of Bali in Indonesia.

Today, with 93 percent of it former habitat lost, the tiger numbers as few as 3,200, with three subspecies already extinct and the remaining six hanging on in increasingly small pockets of habitat in 13 countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In the weeks leading up to the Tiger Summit, WWF will outline its plan to support the global effort for tiger recovery. The plan focuses on protecting the last refuges for tigers and maintaining the larger landscapes throughout the tiger’s range. It also tackles the drivers of the tiger’s steep decline, which include poaching and the lucrative illegal trade in skins and body parts, habitat loss, conflict with humans, and prey loss.

The Tiger Summit comes after tiger range countries met in Indonesia in July and presented individual national plans to protect tigers. Those plans make up a Global Tiger Recovery Programme – essentially an overarching plan to double the number of tigers in the wild – which will then be approved at the Tiger Summit next month.

The Bali meeting was a follow up to earlier governmental meetings on tiger conservation. The first in Kathmandu, Nepal in October 2009, recommended a series of 15 global actions that need to be taken to change the trajectory of tigers from extinction to recovery, as well as commitments from several tiger range countries. The Kathmandu meeting was followed by the first Asian ministerial conference on tiger conservation held in Hua Hin, Thailand in January 2010, and which adopted the goal of doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger.