Posted on 27 October
2009 - Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: Almost 1000
hectares of degraded land in the area designated
Heart of Borneo
is to be restored as orangutan habitat,
following the signing of a memorandum of
understanding between WWF-Malaysia and the
State of Sabah yesterday.
The five year memorandum
for the project - made possible with RM4.35
million ($US 1.27 million) grant from the
ITOCHU Corporation of Japan - was signed
during a regional forum on ‘Enhancing forest
eco-systems and corridors within the Heart
of Borneo
The 967 hectare area
is in the North Ulu Segama landscape of
Sabah, where some orang-utan populations
had become isolated due to a combination
of the natural barrier of the Ulu Segama
River and logging and other activities.
Poor quality habitat
is expected to lead to further organgutan
population declines.
Opening the forum, Sabah
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, said
the State was very serious about conserving
its forests and very committed to the Heart
of Borneo, adding that 250,000 hectares
of forest had already been set aside for
conservation.
However, he said financing
remained a crucial subject. To this end
he thanked the Malaysian Federal government
for its contribution of RM5 million ($US
1.47 million) to the Sabah Forestry Department
to kick-start programme implementation -
but indicated more help was needed.
“It is the hope of the
Sabah state government that ‘friends’ from
European countries and the USA can lend
support to this endeavour,” he said.
WWF’s Heart of Borneo
Initiative Leader, Adam Tomasek, congratulated
the Sabah state government’s commitment
to the Heart of Borneo and emphasised his
gratitude to Japan’s ITOCHU Group for its
generous contribution.
“These funds are vital
for the restoration of a high priority landscape
and long-term viability for orangutans.
Healthy forest ecosystems are a priority
for the three country Heart of Borneo initiative,
and Sabah is providing a strong leadership
example of working with the international
community to realize this goal”
"ITOCHU's support
is a clear sign of Japanese interest in
the Heart of Borneo and as host of the 2010
UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference
we look forward to profiling this growing
partnership between governments and private
sector," Mr Tomasek said.
+ More
Europe's choice: fall
behind or forge ahead on climate
Posted on 28 October
2009 - Brussels, Belgium - Europe can choose
a path to prosperity on a new economic footing
or continue to fumble along the dead end
track of propping up fading industries,
WWF said today in advance of tomorrow’s
key European Council meeting which is expected
to largely shape the EU position heading
into the UN climate summit in Copenhagen
in December.
“The choices on climate
change in front of Europe’s leaders on Thursday
and Friday are not complicated,” said Jason
Anderson, Head of EU Climate and Energy
Policy, WWF European Policy Office.
“In a world where other
countries are counting the economic costs
of climate catastrophe and assessing the
economic benefits of new clean energy sources,
Europe can either fall behind or forge ahead
on the basis of this week’s decisions.
“Europe can support
and play a fair role in financing a legally
binding climate deal in Copenhagen or it
can be a spectator to others taking the
opportunities.”
It has been estimated
that the global market for environmental
goods and services will more than double
to around EUR 1.4 trillion by 2020. In the
EU, jobs in the environmental sector have
already overtaken sectors such as car manufacturing,
but this growth is influenced by regulatory
certainty globally, regionally and nationally.
“Europe’s dilemma is
clearly illustrated by the wildly differing
outcomes of the ministerials running up
to the Heads of State gathering,” Anderson
said. “Economics ministers couldn’t agree
on the vital question of helping the developing
world adapt to climate change and create
its own low carbon economy.
“Environment ministers
were the ones out laying the basis of a
new economy and a future less fraught with
costly climate chaos. It was the environment
ministers who pointed out that the European
way of handing out carbon pollution permits
to big polluters is continuing to stifle
the fledgling carbon markets. And it is
the environment ministers who are starting
to edge towards the binding emissions reductions
targets that are going to be necessary.
“WWF – and the world
– would prefer that Europe’s leaders go
with the clarity of the environmental advice
rather than the confusion of the economic
advice,” Anderson said.
“Otherwise the bloc
that once considered itself the leader on
climate and the environment will just slip
further and further behind. If they mirror
their economics ministers in not being able
to make a decision, Europe will end up not
even following in any satisfactory way.”
