14
June 2008 - Environment Minister, Peter
Garrett marked National Whales Day today
by releasing a report confirming the value
of whale conservation and highlighting threats
to the world’s whales.
Speaking at the International
Fund for Animal Welfare’s launch in Sydney,
Mr Garrett said the progress report of the
Global Cetaceans Snapshot provided important
data to support the case for whale conservation
that he would put to the International Whaling
Commission meeting in Chile later this month.
“The Australian pro-conservation
case that I will take to the IWC in just
over a week’s time needs to be based on
the latest available evidence.
“The data in this report
bolsters our argument that maintaining a
moratorium on commercial haling is only
the first step towards ensuring the recovery
of threatened whale species.
We also need greater
international cooperation on whale research,
and this is one of the proposals we intend
to prosecute at the IWC,’’ Mr Garrett said.
“It also reminds us
that there are still 14 threatened species
of whales, and 44 species for which too
little is known to assess their status.
“Thanks to conservation
efforts, some species are recovering from
industrial whaling – such as the humpback
whales that grace Australia’s coastlines
– but the gains will be lost if we are complacent
about the many threats that remain, including
so-called ‘scientific’ whaling.”
Mr Garrett welcomed
the report’s findings of the socio-economic
benefits of live whales, particularly whale
watching, which has grown hugely over recent
years.
“The report has found
that whale watching in high income countries
alone has attracted 100 million participants
to date and forecasts this to increase by
10 million people a year.
“Whale-watching is a
sustainable and growing industry, providing
a sound economic argument for preserving
whales and dolphins in their natural environments.’’
Mr Garrett said he would
present the preliminary findings from the
report to the IWC meeting starting in Santiago,
Chile on 23 June.
“As well as our strong
anti-whaling campaign, we will also lead
the pro-conservation movement by giving
the IWC a central role in improving the
conservation status of whales across the
world,’’ Mr Garrett said.
“The evidence is in our favour. We now need
to convince those who are trapped in the
past to embrace a new, modern future for
the IWC.’’
The Global Cetacean
Snapshot progress report is available at
http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/publications/cetacean-snapshot.html
AUSTRALIA’S FIRST CENTRE
FOR CLIMATE LAW OPENS AT THE ANU
6 June 2008 - The Australian
National University’s Centre for Climate
Law—the first such centre in Australia -
was officially opened today by the Minister
for Environment, Heritage and the Arts,
Peter Garrett.
The Centre for Climate
Law, within the University’s College of
Law and headed up by Professor Tim Bonyhady,
will also teach Australia’s first university
course dedicated to climate law.
Mr Garrett said the
centre will focus on the many challenges
that confront Australians by providing a
central point for law and policy research
related to climate change.
“What the previous Government
failed to recognise is that climate change
is happening here and now—the Earth is heating
up and the climate is becoming more unstable.
“Australians understand
that responsibility for the climate is shared
by us all, and looking at the legal ramifications
of climate change is an important part of
finding solutions, understanding their impact
and acting responsibly,” Mr Garrett said.
At the opening of the
Centre for Climate Law Mr Garrett also launched
Climate Law in Australia. The book, co-authored
by Professor Tony Bonyhady and Dr Peter
Christoff, features papers drawn from the
inaugural Climate Law in Australia conference
in 2007 and examines key federal and state
legislation and the main cases brought before
the Australian courts.
NEW FUNDING FOR REAL
SCIENCE IN LEAD-UP TO WHALES MEETING
4 June 2008 - A $1 million
funding boost to the Hobart-based Australian
Marine Mammal Centre would advance Australia’s
push for reform of the International Whaling
Commission based on nonlethal collaborative
science and conservation, Minister for the
Environment, Peter Garrett said today.
Mr Garrett said this
critical funding commitment to marine mammal
science demonstrated the high priority Australia
places on research and conservation.
“This $1 million grant
is a demonstration of the Australian Government’s
determination to modernise the IWC with
a reform agenda based on rigorous research,
as opposed to socalled ‘scientific whaling’,’’
Mr Garrett said.
“The Australian Marine
Mammal Centre, hosted at the Australian
Antarctic Division since 2005, is the only
national research centre dedicated to the
understanding and conservation of whales,
dolphins, seals and dugongs.
“Australia is charting
a new course with a proposal for modernising
the IWC, emphasizing the conservation of
living whales as opposed to setting quotas
for dead ones.
“The allocation of this
extra funding will advance Australia’s science-based
proposal to modernise the IWC,’’ Mr Garrett
said.
Australia is at the
forefront of attempts to modernise the IWC,
presenting its proposal Whale Conservation
and Management: A Future for the IWC at
an intersessional meeting earlier this year.
The proposal contains three main initiatives
– internationally agreed, cooperative conservation
plans for whales; collaborative research
programs; and reforming the management of
science, including an end to unilaterally
granted special permit scientific whaling.
The new funding will
include about $600,000 to supplement the
existing competitive marine mammal research
fund and about $400,000 for activities in
support of the Government’s policies, including
work towards the establishment of the first
IWC conservation management plan and a Southern
Ocean non-lethal whale research partnership.
“Australians can be
proud of the world-leading research we are
undertaking on whales and other marine mammals,’’
Mr Garrett said.
“Australia’s research
program will continue to demonstrate to
the world that Japan’s socalled ‘scientific’
whaling has been superseded by more modern
methods, like that led by the Australian
Marine Mammal Centre, allowing future generations
to enjoy living whales as
much as we do.’’
