28 Sep 2007 - Bensbach,
Papua New Guinea – The creation of three
new wildlife management areas in Papua New
Guinea will protect some of Asia-Pacific’s
most threatened and unique wildlife habitats.
The new Aramba, Tonda extension and Weriaver
areas cover about 710,000 hectares in Papua
New Guinea’s Western Province, and join
up with the existing Tonda wildlife management
area of 610,000 hectares. These areas, together
with the adjoining Wasur National Park in
Papua, mean that almost 2 million hectares
of the TransFly Ecoregion will be protected.
“The creation of these new protected areas
means that the TransFly region will now
contain the largest continuous protected
area in the country,” said Dr David Melick,
WWF’s TransFly Ecoregion Coordinator.
The TransFly is a vast, low-lying coastal
region of grasslands, savannas wetlands
and monsoon forest in south-central New
Guinea. Home to such unique wildlife as
marsupial cats, endemic flying possums and
birds of paradise, the region covers more
than 10 million hectares, straddling the
borders of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
“We hope that this region will soon be
formally recognized as a cross-border conservation
zone to enable international action on conservation
and livelihood threats,” Dr Melick added.
Hundreds of local tribal groups from surrounding
villages celebrated the announcement of
the protected areas in a traditional ceremony.
Local community leaders, politicians and
wildlife officials took part in the ceremony,
as well as world-renowned conservationist
and author Professor Jared Diamond, and
WWF representatives, including WWF International’s
Executive Director of Conservation, Guillermo
Castilleja.
“We are working with local landowners so
indigenous values can shape a biodiversity
vision to protect priority landscapes on
both sides of the political border,” said
Dr Melick.
“This approach identifies and prioritizes
the landscapes, species and traditions that
have particular cultural, social or livelihood
values.”
There are over 60 cultural groups, whose
lives, customs, languages and knowledge
are linked inextricably with the landscapes
of the TransFly. It is also home to some
of the largest wetlands in the Asia-Pacific
region, but it is threatened by development
and agricultural expansion. Millions of
birds inhabit the floodplains, with over
50 per cent of New Guinea’s bird species
found in the ecoregion, including 80 endemic
species.
The wildlife management areas will be managed
by local landowner committees, with assistance
from WWF to promote protection of wildlife
and habitat, and sustainable enterprises
such as eco-tourism.
Lydia Kaia, Communications Officer
WWF Papua New Guinea
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Plunder or protection: WWF calls for safeguarding
Coral Sea
18 Sep 2007 - Sydney, Australia – Recognized
as one of world's last tropical marine wilderness
regions, WWF is calling on the Australian
government to declare the entire Coral Sea
region a marine protected area.
The Coral Sea stretches over 780,000km2
of ocean — from the outer boundary of Australia's
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to the South
Pacific Islands of Vanuatu, New Caledonia
and the Solomon Islands.
“The Coral Sea is still remarkably pristine
and attracts international visitors who
pay a premium to see the reef’s vast populations
of white tip and grey reef sharks, hammerheads,
manta rays and other sea creatures,” said
Richard Leck, WWF-Australia's Marine Policy
Manager.
“We are very concerned that illegal fishers
will raid the Coral Sea reefs, mainly for
shark fins for the Asian market. This threatens
both the future of these fish in Australian
waters and a burgeoning marine wildlife
tourism industry worth millions.”
Marine research estimates reveal that the
Coral Sea tourism is worth as much as US$9.4
million a year.
“The resident population of sharks at Osprey
Reef, the main dive site in the Coral Sea,
is 40 animals, making each shark worth over
US$210,000 per year," said Richard
Fitzpatrick, a leading Australian marine
biologist and shark researcher.
"When you compare this figure to US$52.50,
the asking price for shark catch by local
fisheries, it is more than evident that
Australian reef sharks are more valuable
alive than dead.”
Currently, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
shark populations — the white tip and grey
reef shark — show a decline in abundance
by 80% and 97% respectively outside areas
that are not effectively protected, sounding
a warning for the neighbouring reef shark
populations of the Coral Sea.
“Global numbers of oceanic predators have
plummeted 90% in population since 1950,
" said Leck.
"We only have to look in our own backyard
to see the severe population decline and
shark population collapse that is occurring
in oceans all over the world. We must act
now to save the Coral Sea from a similar
fate."
In addition to the threat of over fishing,
the Coral Sea has also been earmarked for
future oil and gas exploration and, with
climate change increasing water temperatures,
the Coral Sea reefs are also highly susceptible
to coral bleaching.
“The Coral Sea presents us with a unique
opportunity to safeguard one of the world’s
few remaining pristine marine regions,"
he added.
"If we act quickly we can protect
one of our most precious and fragile resources
before irreversible damage is done.”
Rachael Hoy, Press Officer
WWF-Australia
+ More
New wetland sites listed in Nepal
23 Sep 2007 - Kathmandu, Nepal – Commemorating
the first anniversary of the helicopter
crash in Nepal’s eastern Himalayas that
claimed the lives of 24 conservationists,
including seven from WWF, four sites have
been designated by the Ramsar Convention
as wetlands of international importance.
The four high-altitude wetlands are: Gokyo
in Sagarmatha National Park; Phoksundo in
the Shey Phoksundo National Park; Gosaikunda
in Langtang National Park and Rara Lake.
“We would like to dedicate these high-altitude
wetland sites to our conservation heroes,
which will always remind us of their dedication
and selfless contribution to conserve biodiversity
and natural resources,” said Anil Manandhar,
WWF Nepal’s Country Representative.
“With this outstanding achievement, we
expect conservation as well as sustainable
development to move forward in these areas.”
WWF supported the government of Nepal in
the inventory preparation and Ramsar assessment
of the four high-altitude wetlands in Nepal.
Nepal already has four other sites on the
Ramsar list - Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve,
Ghodaghodi Taal in Kailali, Bishajari Taal
in Chitwan and Jagdishpur Reservoir in Kapilvastu.
“We worked hard to get these important
wetland sites recognized and listed,” said
Neera Shrestha Pradhan, WWF Nepal’s Freshwater
Programme Manager.
“We have already started work at the new
sites, such as addressing climate change
impacts on the Gokyo wetlands.”
Located above 4000m, the wetlands at Gokyo
lie within the Sagarmatha, or Mount Everest,
National Park.
END NOTES:
• Wetlands are defined to include rivers,
lakes, swamps, and marine areas less than
six metres in depth.
• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands — signed
in 1971 in the city of Ramsar, Iran — is
an intergovernmental treaty which provides
the framework for national action and international
cooperation for the conservation and wise
use of wetlands and their resources. There
are currently 156 Parties to the Convention,
with 1,676 wetland sites, totalling 150
million hectares, designated for inclusion
in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International
Importance.
• Member countries of the treaty are obliged
to manage all wetlands in a sustainable
manner, promoting the wise use of all wetlands
within their territory; consult with other
Parties about the implementation of the
Convention, especially with regard to trans-frontier
wetlands, shared water systems, shared species,
and development; and designate wetlands
that meet the criteria for inclusion in
the List of Wetlands of International Importance
for conservation.
Neera Pradhan,Freshwater Programme Manager
WWF Nepal
