The environment in the news tuesday, 25 January 2005
Terra Daily Learn lessons from tsunami disaster, environment conference told
Download 320.87 Kb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- MSNBC Indonesia, for one, speeds up replanting after decades of neglect Updated: 3:13 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2005
- Xinhua Damaged environment in Aceh needs 4 years to recover: minister
- Reuters Rebel tension threatens Aceh recovery
Terra Daily Learn lessons from tsunami disaster, environment conference told PARIS (AFP) Jan 24, 2005 A UN-backed conference on biodiversity was told here Monday that Asia's tsunami disaster was a brutal warning for humanity to tackle the world's worsening environmental crisis. Hamdallah Zedan, executive secretary of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), said the amplified toll from the December 26 calamity -- more than 227,000 dead -- was due in part to the destruction of natural buffers against killer waves. "Once the immediate humanitarian needs are accommodated, it is time to rehabilite impacted ecosystems and to look at lessons learned," said Zedan. "Early reports indicate that areas with healthier ecosystems, such as dense, intact mangrove forests and coral reefs, have been less affected than areas that have been disturbed or degraded," he said. "We have to use this knowledge in the reconstruction," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). "When we strip away these natural forms of protection, we place ourselves in harm's way." The conference, taking place at the headquarters of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), gathers 1,200 experts from some 30 countries. Their task is to focus on action on combating the planet's alarming loss of biodiversity, as wild species are battered by habitat loss and climate change. The graphic opinion of some scientists is that the world is facing its biggest mass extinction in 65 million years, when the dinosaurs were wiped out by climate change inflicted by an asteroid impact. French President Jacques Chirac, who proposed the forum at the G8 summit in Evian, France, in June 2003, cited figures from the World Conservation Union (IUCN), which estimates that nearly 16,000 of identified species are close to being wiped out. "The destruction of this heritage, bequeathed by thousands of years of evolution, is a terrible loss and a grave threat for the future," he said. Chirac threw his weight behind a proposal for setting up a world panel of biodiversity experts, who would deliver neutral, informed and timely advice on species loss. France will push the idea at the CBD, the treaty set up under the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, Chirac pledged. A similar scientific panel for climate change exists under UN auspices, and its findings have helped shaped the political agenda for reducing greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. Of the estimated 10-30 million species on Earth, only around 1.7 million have been identified and described. Each year, between 25,000 and 50,000 species die out, the vast majority of which have not even been identified, according to scientists' estimates. The loss is likely to accelerate this century under the impact of habitat loss and rising global temperatures, stoked by fossil-fuel gases which trap the Sun's heat. As with so many problems involving the environment, resolving the biodiversity crisis will not be simple, for it raises questions that are tangled, not separate. Population pressure and poverty are often interlinked with deforestation, overfishing, pollution and other perils to habitat. The 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Wangari Maathai, who is also Kenya's deputy minister for the environment, said it was senseless to ignore the connection between the environment and poverty. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the tsunami provided an "opportunity to take a hard look at what we are doing to protect the environment. "The tsunami and its aftermath underscored not only the overwhelming power of nature, but also the fragility of our own existence." ____________________________________________________________________________________________ MSNBC Indonesia, for one, speeds up replanting after decades of neglect Updated: 3:13 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2005 JAKARTA, Indonesia - The Indian Ocean tsunami highlighted the life-saving benefits of mangrove forests along coastlines, officials and environmentalists say, leading some Asia nations to look at replanting trees lost in the tsunami as well as those earlier uprooted to make way for shrimp and fish farms. advertisement Indonesia, for one, said this month that it will replant huge swathes of mangrove forest along its vulnerable coastline, restoring the natural barrier between water and land. “The mangroves are extremely important in forming an effective barrier against any type of wave,” said John Pernetta, a project director for the United Nations Environment Program. “It takes the energy out of the wave, so while the forest itself will be trashed, it will protect the infrastructure behind it.” Indonesia's forestry minister, Malam Sambat Kaban, said Indonesia had lost about 1.6 million acres of mangroves over the past several decades — or about 30 percent of its total — to commercial fish farms and other development. In the northern province of Aceh on Sumatra, where more than 110,000 people were killed in the tsunami, the government plans to replant at least thousands of acres with the trees. “The tsunami in Aceh made us see the need to speed up this process,” Kaban said. Mangroves are a family of evergreen trees and shrubs that grow on stilt-like roots in dense thickets in coastal areas, providing both a barrier to extreme weather and a rich ecosystem for marine life. Kaban said the reforestation plan would cost an initial $22 million, with planting due to start by April, and would be accompanied by outreach to local communities on the importance of preserving the mangroves. “We will see the results in five years, and within 10 years they will be big and healthy,” he said. “With reforestation, we will ensure the peoples’ needs are still catered for. People should still be able to farm fish outside the area.” Concern about 'plantation-style' approach Some mangrove experts voiced caution, however, saying previous “re-greening” projects had in fact hurt mangrove ecosystems because they were done without sufficient preparation. Alfredo Quarto of the U.S.-based Mangrove Action Project said restoration projects in Thailand had ripped out living mangrove trees to plant seedlings of a uniform type — a “plantation-style” approach that harmed biodiversity. “They planted the mangroves in places where they didn’t grow, and sometimes they tore down healthy mangroves to put in their own ... it was a terrible job and had very low success,” Quarto said. “It might look like a success after the first year, but after you come back in two or three years everything is dead. You have to look at 20 year periods.” Quarto said successful restoration almost always involved local communities rather than government bureaucrats, and that reintroducing different species of mangroves was the key to re-establishing the forests as viable ecosystems. Tsunami defense preparations should include a range of coastal restoration projects including mangroves, sand dunes and indigenous fringe forests, all of which have suffered as humans move closer to the sea, he said. Kaban said Indonesia knew mangroves were only part of its coastal defenses, and said the planting program would include other trees such as pine and almond. He stressed that, after years of being seen as little more than a seaside pest, mangroves were increasingly important. “The north coast of Aceh has good mangroves. In Simeuleu island, there are very good mangroves and it was the area with the smallest number of victims when the tsunami hit. The mangroves protected the island.” Awareness elsewhere The importance of mangroves was not lost on other South Asia countries as well. Below's a sampling of reactions after the tsunami. Thailand:“Mangroves in Ranong and Phang Nga saved hundreds of people,” said Maitree Duangsawasdi, head of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, referring to two of Thailand’s six affected provinces in which thousands of people died. “We need to rebuild those that were damaged and plant more of them and other trees like pines and coconuts along the coastline,” he said, adding that his department would finish a rehabilitation plan for mangroves and coral reefs next week. Pernetta said about 80 percent of mangrove forests on Thailand’s eastern seaboard have been destroyed in the last few decades, most of it as a result of small-scale shrimp farming. The situation on the west coast, hit by the tsunami, was much better, with only about 20 percent destruction. India:“Areas that had mangroves suffered the least destruction. In the Andaman and Nicobar islands, for instance, there are many places where mangroves and coral reefs are still intact. If they weren’t, it could have been much worse,” said Debi Goenka, an environmentalist with the Bombay Environmental Action Group. “Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, suffered so much because it had no mangroves or coral reefs and most of the construction is on beaches or close to high tide areas.” Sri Lanka: Officials are considering legislation to ban further destruction of mangroves and beach dunes and also to introduce laws compelling developers to replant and build artificial reefs. “It is definitely clear that some mangroves were damaged, but it is also clear that they also helped prevent further damage in areas where they still exist,” said Environment Minister A.H.M. Fowzie. Vietnam: Miles of mangroves along its South China Sea coast, which is often hit by storms, have been cleared, Pernetta said, but the government is now trying to reverse the process by planting mangroves. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ENS Congo Elephants, Rhinos Falling to Poachers' Guns KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 24, 2005 (ENS) - A new investigation of ivory poaching in the war torn east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has found members of the army and police are wiping out the district's forest elephants to profit by sales of ivory and bushmeat. Meanwhile, half the country's 10 rhinos are being shipped to Kenya to keep them alive. The elephant poaching report by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), the DRC’s protected area authority, estimates 17 tons of elephant ivory was smuggled out of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, in eastern Congo's Ituri district, between June and December 2004. Trade in elephant ivory has been prohibited since 1990 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The ICCN reported that 12 people acted as the main poachers, all of them linked to the military and the national police. This most recent investigation is the latest of several reports connecting military forces with elephant poaching in the Ituri forest. Forest elephant in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Photo by Michael Nichols courtesy WCS) As recently as 2001, the United Nations Environment Programme and World Conservation Monitoring Centre warned of extensive elephant poaching by "well-armed militias." That report estimated the number of elephants in Ituri at 6,700.
The DRC government approved a plan for the translocation of five northern white rhino from the country's Garamba National Park to a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya after a meeting in Kinshasa with conservation representatives, the IUCN-World Conservation Union said on Friday. The deal was arranged by an emergency delegation headed by the African Rhino Specialist Group of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. The meeting was set up by the ICCN, and involved Fauna & Flora International, the International Rhino Foundation, IUCN’s Central Africa Regional Office, UNESCO and the World Bank. It was supported by the People and Parks Support Foundation. The group met with Vice Presidents Z’hahidi N’Goma and Abdoulaye Iherodia, the minister of environment and other senior officials, and was told that the office of President Joseph Kabila had approved the plan. “We are saddened to learn that more than a decade of talks and efforts have not been enough to secure this iconic species in its homeland. The fact that we have to move these rhinos to another country as a last resort is an unfortunate set-back, but considering the sharp increase in instability and conflict which has plagued the region for years, it is the only option left.” said Dr. Jean-Christophe Vié, acting head of IUCN’s Species Programme. The IUCN explains that the translocation is one element of a two-part plan to save the northern white rhino sub-species from extinction and secure the national park and its remaining wildlife. The second part commits the government and its international partners to increased support for conservation activities in Garamba, so that the rhinos can be returned to the park once security and the long-term viability of the Garamba ecosystem has been assured. Both Garamba National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 1997, UNESCO inscribed both sites on the list of World Heritage in Danger. Reviewing the listing most recently in 1999, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee noted that war and civil strife have made it impossible to manage these areas for conservation. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Xinhua Damaged environment in Aceh needs 4 years to recover: minister Source: Xinhua Date: January 24, 2005 JAKARTA, Jan 24, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Indonesian Minister of Environment Rahmat Witoelar said Monday that it would take about four years to recover the environmental damage caused by the powerful earthquake and tsunami on Dec. 26 in Aceh and North Sumatra. Talking to reporters after meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the State Palace, Witoelar said that the catastrophe seriously damaged some 30 percent of the Aceh province. During the meeting with the president, preparation for the relief effort by his ministry was discussed, the minister said. "I think in about four years it would become better," Witoelar said, referring to the time it takes for the environment to return to normal. "The damage is very complex, the soil is poisoned from the ruin, " the minister said. Witoelar said that the poor environmental condition could result in some possible epidemic, such as diarrhea, cancer, and respiratory disease. Many foreign countries and international organizations had pledged their support for the recovery of the environment in the provinces, such as Germany, Japan and the United Nation Environmental Program, he said. He admitted that the damage of Mangrove in the west coast of the provinces affected the ecosystem. During the catastrophe, giant waves containing poisoned compound swept parts of the provinces, killing nearly all vegetation. CXGLOBviaNewsEdge ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Sat Jan 22, 2005 04:39 AM GMT By Jerry Norton and Karima Anjani BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Accusations flying between the Indonesian military and rebels in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province have clouded prospects for recovery as aid workers begin to switch their focus from relief to rebuilding. Despite an informal ceasefire between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and Indonesian forces since the tsunami, Indonesian commanders say soldiers have killed 120 rebels for allegedly interfering in relief work over the past two weeks. A spokesman for the rebels, who have fought since 1976 for independence for Aceh, said the army attacks had killed mostly civilians. Any peace deal with the military could not be trusted, they said -- a worrying sign for relief workers in the province. Nearly four weeks after the December 26 tsunami killed more than 225,000 people around the Indian Ocean rim, the United Nations said it was time to focus on longer term reconstruction and the military element of the relief effort began to scale back. The power failed briefly in parts of the provincial capital Banda Aceh on Saturday morning, the latest in a series of blackouts in recent days that demonstrate the problem of returning the region's battered infrastructure to normal. But hot, clear weather helped to dry flooding from heavy rain that has interfered with the process of clearing mud and debris from devastated areas and retrieving the bodies of the missing. Doctors in Aceh say feared outbreaks of deadly and contagious disease after last month's tsunami had yet to appear. "There wasn't a second wave of death on a large scale, fortunately," Richard Bergen, a Canadian doctor, told Reuters. "Right now every day things get better and better. The system is more and more sensitive." Quick and massive aid from abroad was a major factor, said Bergen, a stethoscope hanging over his Popeye t-shirt as he spoke at Zainal Abidin Public Hospital in Banda Aceh. SRI LANKA OUTLINE RECOVERY PLAN Sri Lanka, which lost nearly 40,000 people in the tsunami, has planned a $3.5 billion (1.9 billion pounds) recovery building programme for highways, townships and shopping malls levelled by the disaster. Like Indonesia, Sri Lanka is rent by insurgency in part of its tsunami-hit areas, and Tamil Tiger rebels have accused the government of denying them aid. The recovery plan, detailed in a draft document seen by Reuters, made no mention of the rebels, but outlined projects in at least one district that is almost entirely in rebel hands -- a sign the disaster may help to heal political wounds. The European Union will fast-track its new trade access regime for developing countries in a bid to help tsunami-hit states such as Sri Lanka, its executive Commission said. The Commission, in charge of trade policy for the 25-nation bloc, will implement the new scheme in April instead of July 1. "Under the new regime, Sri Lanka is due to benefit from duty free access to the EU for all its ... products, including textiles," the Commission said in a statement. "India, Indonesia and Thailand will benefit from improved market access conditions, in particular for fishery products." MUSLIM FESTIVAL In Banda Aceh, the familiar clatter of military relief helicopters had given way to the call to prayer as Muslims sacrificed cattle on the second day of the feast of Eid al-Adha. On a visit to the region on Friday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government was laying plans to rebuild infrastructure and schools in Aceh, where giant waves triggered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 160,000 people. As well as human loss, the tsunami caused $675 million in damage to Indonesia's environment by battering coral reefs and mangroves and washing away farm land, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Friday. "Beyond the horrific loss of human life, the earthquake and resulting tsunami ... had enormous impacts on Indonesia's coastal environment, causing damage and loss to natural habitats and important ecosystem functions," UNEP said in a statement. Indonesia increased its death count by 50,000 this week, lifting the global total to more than 225,000. More than 38,000 were killed in Sri Lanka, 16,000 in India and 5,300 in Thailand. In Japan, delegates at an international conference on natural disasters prepared to wind up talks with a promise to establish a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean -- with the aim of preventing such a huge loss of life again. Officials worked until late into the night to hammer out the details of a statement to be issued at the end of the conference, but a spokesman said it would not include mechanisms to keep governments accountable, making it largely toothless. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ AFP La conférence sur la biodiversité ouvre sur les leçons du tsunami 24/01 10:59 La Conférence internationale sur la biodiversité s'est ouverte lundi à l'UNESCO à Paris sur un appel des responsables politiques à ne pas réitérer les erreurs du tsunami en Asie. "C'est une des leçons du tsunami", a souligné lors de la séance d'ouverture le directeur général du Programme des nations unies pour l'environnement Klaus Toepfer. "Les mangroves, les récifs coralliens peuvent jouer un rôle tampon contre les catastrophes naturelles", a-t-il indiqué. "Les premiers rapports indiquent que les zones qui avaient gardé des écosystèmes en bonne santé, comme les forêts de mangroves, ont mieux résisté que celles qui avaient des forêts dégradées", a renchéri Hamdallah Zedan, secrétaire exécutif de la Convention sur la biodiversité biologique. La conférence, qui se tient à Paris du 24 au 28 janvier à l'invitation du président Jacques Chirac, entend provoquer un sursaut de l'opinion sur la dégradation accélérée des milieux naturels et des espèces végétales et animales sur la terre. "C'est une crise sans précédent depuis l'extinction des dinosaures", a rappelé Klaus Toepfer. "Il est grand temps de nous interroger sur les moyens de stopper cette perte de diversité. Nos enfants, nos petits-enfants demanderont pourquoi nous avons laissé se développer cette déperdition du vivant". "45% de nos forêts originelles ont déjà disparu, 10% des coraux, et le reste est gravement menacé", a indiqué M. Zedan. Des milliers d'espèces disparaissent chaque jour avant d'avoir été décrites, alors qu'elles auraient pu rendre service à l'humanité, selon les scientifiques. "Nous ne savons pas grand chose des systèmes d'eau douce et des océans, et beaucoup reste à découvrir sur les forêts tropicales", a ajouté M. Zedan. La conférence verra près de 1.200 scientifiques et responsables politiques dresser un état des lieux de la perte du vivant. Elle pourrait aussi déboucher sur un appel à la création d'un groupe intergouvernemental d'experts, comme il en existe un pour le climat, afin de stimuler les décideurs. En dépit de l'adoption en 1992 d'une "Convention sur la diversité biologique", peu de choses ont avancé sur le terrain, et ce groupe d'experts pourrait débloquer l'action, espère Michel Loreau, président du Comité scientifique de la Conférence. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Directory: cpi -> briefs briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news Download 320.87 Kb. Share with your friends:
|