Europe’s Coastal Ecosystems
Europe’s coastal ecosystems are under increasing pressures including habitat loss and degradation, pollution, climate change, and overexploitation of fish stocks, reports the European Environment Agency. Such ecosystems are important for wildlife, the economy and human health. Conservation is needed.
The EEA has released a new assessment on coastal ecosystems, as part of their “10 messages for 2010” program. The assessment reports that two thirds of coastal habitat types and over half of coastal species have an unfavorable conservation status.
About 50 coastal habitat types such as wetlands provide key feeding areas for migratory and other birds as well as 150 animal species that prefer coastal ecosystems. Humans benefit from the services naturally provided by the ecosystems, for everything from food to medicines to freshwater storage to erosion control to recreational pursuits.
Human made structures such as seawalls and breakwaters cause fragmentation of populations and loss of natural habitats. Add pollution from pesticides, aquaculture, climate change and invasive species, and the native ecosystems and animals are under threat. Over 65% of coastal wetlands and seagrasses, and over 90% of wild native oyster reefs, have been lost.
Shorebirds and animals such as the Mediterranean monk seal are declining due to loss of habitat. Loggerhead sea turtles are just one species that is now endangered.
Many policies and laws aim to improve management of coastal areas but they must be better streamlined in order to safeguard Europe’s coastal biodiversity, the report suggests. Coordinated action at the global, regional and local levels will be key to sustainable management of coastal ecosystems.
Hopefully, increased conservation activities and policy-specific responses will happen and have a positive impact which helps to save the remaining coastal ecosystems and species.
Tags: bird, Climate Change, coastal, Conservation, ecosystem, Europe, European Environment Agency, fish, habitat, Wildlife
Tiger Conservation and China
There’s a glimmer of hope coming from Chinese and Indian officials meeting in Beijing to discuss business interests and wildlife conservation, according to MSN News.
The two countries are hoping to approve a protocol that includes shared actions to fight poaching of tigers and their body parts, including educational programs to stop poaching and the related captive breeding and releasing of captive tigers into the wild.
Indian officials consider the discussion important since they blame Chinese traditional medicine as the reason behind tiger poaching. While China has officially banned trading in tiger parts, its peoples’ interest in traditional medicines fuels demand for dead tigers. India has emphasized the need for China to refuse to yield to pressures from tiger farm owners to lift the ban against the trade. Unfortunately, the tiger farms may have increased the demand for tiger parts.
China has just 50 tigers left in the wild, and about 5,000 on tiger farms, reports the Hindustan Times. Officials have agreed to register all tigers to keep track of them.
As well, India is hoping that China will join the Global Tiger Forum, a network of 13 countries that have tigers. The forum has discussed ways to protect tigers but without China, the largest market for tiger body parts, the discussion remains simply talk.
Meanwhile, China and Russia have agreed to create the first cross border tiger conservation reserve for the rare Siberian tiger, reports International Business Times.
Wildlife in the area is suffering from poaching, habitat destruction, and a human-caused lack of prey. Creation of the forest reserve will save other animal species as well as the tigers.
Let’s hope that these two glimmers of hope are signs that China will become more environmentally and conservation friendly.
Tags: China, Conservation, Global Tiger Forum, India, poaching, Siberian, tiger, Wildlife
UK National Collections
According to Plant Heritage, formerly known as the Council for the Conservation of Plants & Gardens, there are around 650 National Collections in private and public gardens in the UK. Many of these conservation collections are located in Scotland. National Collections consist of plants that people, from professional gardeners to amateurs, have nurtured and choose to grow in abundance. Many of these people have dedicated themselves to raising these plants for years and have become authorities in their field.
The National Collections gardens started when a conference noted that the variety of cultivated plants available to gardeners was shrinking. Conservation of plants was needed, before they disappeared. People across the UK responded, and now many National Collections are open for public viewing.
New people interested in starting their own collection are welcome. They can visit public National Collections to get an idea of what they might like to plant in their gardens, or contact the office to find out what plants need conservation. Prospective members and interested parties can visit the Plant Heritage website for more information about National Collections.
Nicole Savage of Plant Heritage explains some requirements for gardens to become national collections, to The Scotsman. A garden must contain 75 per cent of the plants available for the “scope” of the collection. There must be three of each plant, labeled and all kept for one year. Finally gardeners must keep records of their plants. If gardeners need more help, Plant Heritage offers its members opportunities to attend lectures or to visit gardens and see rare and unusual plants. They aim to help people in conserving plants that in many cases are rare or threatened with extinction. Plant Heritage aims to teach people the importance of these plants since many of them can be used as medicines or as organic pesticides for other plants. In short, they are valuable for both humans and other plants.
Tags: Conservation, garden, National Collection, plant, Plant Heritage, UK
Smart Energy Conservation
Energy efficient and sustainable companies display a sense of organizational effectiveness that allows them to make good use of the energy conservation technology, suggests Ian Jarvis of Enerlife Consulting in a recent Financial Post article. Saving energy is linked to increased comfort and productivity, which in turn gives people more of a sense of control over their environment.
cc: Manitoba Hydro Place
Europeans have been constructing smart buildings and using energy audits in design for years. Similar smart buildings are now starting to be built in North America. Winnipeg’s Manitoba Hydro Place is a leading example of an intelligent building, with onsite weather stations and a digital management system that adjusts outside temperature-controlled vents every 3 hours.
For smart buildings to achieve successful energy conservation, the people in the buildings have to think about what’s happening around them and how they impact their environment. To be truly sustainable, they need to have a realistic sense of how they are using energy. However, a recent study found that many people believe they can save energy with small, ineffective behavior changes, and underestimate the major effects of switching to efficient, currently available technologies.
Too many people are just trying to save energy by doing what is cheap and easy, suggests the survey. Energy conservation advocates have tended to encourage actions like turning off lights to save energy, rather than focusing on the biggest energy savers including higher-mileage vehicles and installing room rather than central air conditioning.
Part of the problem is lack of awareness of the big energy savers. Luckily, giving people better information about energy conservation will make up for the current psychology and will lead to people making better decisions about using energy. Have a look at the “Savings from green measures” graph in the Economist that is from the study.
Just by becoming more efficient in their households and vehicles, people can substantially decline their energy consumption within the decade.
Tags: buildings, Conservation, design, energy, environment, Manitoba Hydro Place, smart, sustainable, Technology
Seabird Conference
More than 800 participants including world experts on penguins, puffins and albatrosses will be meeting in Victoria, BC, from September 7 to 11th as part of the 1st World Seabird Conference, Bird Studies Canada told me yesterday. Assembling to review the state of our world’s seabirds, they will address such issues as the impact of oil spills and pollution, fishing practices, climate change, invasive species, and general conservation needs. The organizers are hoping that the conference will lead to the formation of a new global governing body to address seabird monitoring and conservation.
Penguins, albatrosses and puffins are among the birds that are to the ocean what canaries are to mines. They reveal a lot about the health of marine ecosystems, and when their populations decline it tells of problems that can affect other life in the marine environment.
In a real “happens there, felt here” way, seabirds can be affected by events in different parts of the world because they migrate so far. They spend much of their lives on the high seas and can summer in one hemisphere and winter in the other. Most seabirds have multiple countries and bodies of water within their ranges.
Unfortunately, seabird populations have declined seriously over the last twenty years. Between being caught and drowned on fishing hooks, eating plastic garbage that they mistake for food, and being killed by invasive species, seabirds are telling us that our environment has problems that need solving.
The upcoming conference will also feature a film festival and seabird art exhibition. For more information, see the Conference’s website.
Tags: bird, conference, Conservation, ecosystem, environment, invasive, marine, Migration, oil spill, seabird
Vedanta Mine Blocked
If you want to see a classic case of concerned people winning a decision in favor of indigenous people, wildlife and conservation over a multi billion dollar company with lobbyists, look towards India. Breaking news includes that India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blocked Vedanta Resources’ controversial plan to mine bauxite on the hills of the Dongria Kondh tribe.
As I wrote in my article “Vedanta – India Mine Report” on Monday August 16th, the proposed mine would have destroyed the dense forests the mineral lies under. The forests are home to the Dongria Kondh, are an important link between wildlife sanctuaries for elephants and tigers, and have around 20 species of orchids which are used as medicine.
Survival International reports http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6385 that its supporters wrote more than 10,000 protest letters to the Indian government, and over 600,000 people have watched Survival’s film ‘Mine’.
It’s time to celebrate, before taking a deep breath and turning towards our next environmental challenge.
Tags: Conservation, Dongria Kondh, environment, India, mine, Vedanta
UNEP Travel and Conservation
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is linking travel with conservation in order to conserve the Arctic’s habitat.
The UN News Centre reports that a joint campaign by conservation groups and tour operators in the 1990’s has helped set up protected areas in Svalbard, Norway. Svalbard is the closest tourism outpost to the North Pole, which is 1,000 kilometres away. The sustainable tourism initiative has enacted new laws protecting biodiversity and has led to the successful protection of polar bears and other native species in the area.
Currently in Norway, partners UNEP and GRID-Arendal are planning to replicate the success in Svalbard by studying how sustainable tourism can support the management and development of protected areas.
In June 2010, participants from 12 countries met in Arendal to discuss how tourism and biodiversity protection in marine protected areas can lead to conservation successes, reports UNEP. The meeting decided that financial, educational and political support are all important. Although differences between areas makes establishing criteria that can be used to replicate successful tourism/biodiversity connections difficult, the aim of UNEP’s Linking Tourism & Conservation (LT&C) initiative is to show, learn from and replicate positive examples where tourism supports the management and development of protected areas.
UNEP and GRID-Arendal are hosting a study expedition to Svalbard for conservationists, journalists and members of the public. They also plan to create an interactive map of tourist destinations engaged in conservation work that will allow travelers to view a destination’s green credentials before booking their trip. All hail green tourism!
Tags: Arctic, biodiversity, Conservation, map, sustainable, tourism, Travel, UN, UNEP
A Lifetime of Conservation
What does it take to win the $100,000 conservation award called the Indianapolis Prize?
A lifetime of dedication to conservation, as demonstrated in the International Crane Foundation’s video about George Archibald, co-founder of the Foundation and the first recipient of the prestigious award in 2006. As the video says, part of the secret of conservation success is touching people’s hearts and spirits. This video does. Enjoy!
Toronto Zoo Animals Fun
The Ontario Summer Fun Guide has a Farms, Zoos & Animals in the Greater Toronto Area & Surrounding region website section dedicated to people who want to view animals. Of course the Toronto Zoo is on the list with its over 5,000 animals on view and its conservation activities. On the Toronto Zoo’s website is a variety of videos and games.
cc Toronto Zoo
The Conservation Carousel Video shows the construction of the Carousel in fast motion. All the wildlife on the Conservation Carousel are endangered. Thus, the ride is informative as well as entertaining – kind of like this Friday File!
Along with a brief introduction to an elephant, giraffe, Cuvier’s Smooth Fronted Caiman, Amur Tiger, and other wildlife, the Carousel video has an excellent pace and lots of fun information, and stars YouTube sensation Steve Dangle.
The Polar Bear Stunt video prompts your imagination to graphically watch what happens to a polar bear when the ice melts. Global warming is at the heart of the stunt involving 22 blocks of ice, 11 feet high, and a polar bear.
The wildlife video collection also includes a few animal baby videos, including Ngozi’s First Baby, Baby Zebra 2008, and Orangutan. The Orangutan video shows the animals using tools to get food.
The Toronto Zoo website also has a Games section filled with fun quizzes, memory games, and puzzles, as well as the downloadable Turtle Survival Challenge Video Game.
Enjoy having fun while you learn about wild animals and conservation!
Tags: animals, carousel, Conservation, Fun, games, global warming, Guide, Ontario, Toronto Zoo, videos, YouTube, zoo
U.S. Brazil Debt for Nature
According to BBC News, the U.S. and Brazil have signed an agreement that promises to convert $21 million of Brazil’s debt into a fund for tropical ecosystems protection and conservation.
BBC News states that this means instead of paying back its debt to the United States, Brazil will put the money towards protecting the Atlantic coastal rainforest along with the Cerrado and Caatinga ecosystems. Unlike the Amazon which receives attention and conservation funds from different sources, the three new regions have previously gone unnoticed in spite of being victims to severe deforestation. The money will be put towards conservation and improving the livelihoods of citizens who live in these areas, over the next five years.
The funding is much needed. Over 90% of the Atlantic coastal forest has been cleared, along with its rich biological diversity. The remaining 10% is home to 200 birds and 21 primates found nowhere else.
Debt for nature swaps supports nations in making changes that conserve the environment and protect endangered species, some of which may not even be known to the world yet. According to the Los Angeles Times, biologists with Conservation International recently discovered a previously unknown species of titi monkey in Colombia. This discovery will lead to new efforts to protect this species as well as others still living in the Amazon. In remaining unexplored forested areas, the potential for finding new species exists. And they need to be protected before we lose them like we’ve lost so many others. The newly discovered titi monkey is merely an example of the wonders that may be found and protected with the signing of new debt for nature swap agreements.
Tags: Atlantic, BBC, Brazil, coastal, Conservation, debt, forest, LA Times, nature, titi monkey, U.S.
