Posted on 29 September
2010
Chengdu, China - Six lucky candidates
have been awarded the highly coveted opportunity
to work as panda caretakers for one month,
after an intense three-hour live showdown
on China’s largest television network, CCTV.
Of the 12 semi-finalists,
judges at the Chengdu Panda Base awarded
the 6 final “Pambassador” jobs to Ali Shakorian
from Sweden, Ashley Robertson from the United
States, David Algranti from France, Chinese
national Huang Xi, Wang Yuwen from Taiwan,
and Yumiko Kajiwara from Japan.
“Although we selected
six Pambassadors, all twelve finalists are
winners. They all did an amazing job”, said
Dr. Zhang Zhihe, Director General of the
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
During the semi-finals,
the twelve candidates showcased their talent
in front of a group of distinguished judges
including one of China’s most renowned panda
experts, Hu Jinchu, and American wildlife
artist John Banovich. Judges evaluated the
candidates overall performance in the competition,
and tested the knowledge they acquired during
their week-long training session in southwestern
China.
“I would like to congratulate
these enthusiastic and conservation-savvy
young people who came all the way to Chengdu
to participate in this exciting competition.
The title Pambassador brings a great deal
of responsibility with it, since each has
a stake in the conservation of one of the
worlds most threatened species,” said Jing
Hui, communications director at WWF China
to the six winners.
The twelve intrepid
candidates experienced an intense and whirlwind
training week. Not only did they acquire
scientific knowledge about giant panda conservation
and care, but they also lent a helping hand
with daily activities at the Panda Base,
such as building exercise ladders for giant
pandas, preparing meals, cleaning their
enclosures and even weighing their excrement.
Starting October 1st,
the six finalists will spend three weeks
at the Chengdu Panda Base where they will
learn about all aspects of giant panda care,
breeding and conservation. One of their
most important stops will be a WWF conservation
site at the Longxi-Hongkou Giant Panda Nature
Reserve, to gain hands-on experience monitoring
and patrolling for pandas in the wild.
The “Pambassadors” will
also blog about their daily experiences
and share their stories with people all
over the world in the coming month at http://pandahome.com/.
"The "'Pambassador'"
competition was extremely tough and I was
very happy to see the level of commitment
and passion from the final six. They will
be excellent spokespersons for the plight
of the Giant Panda, " said Artist/Conservationist
John Banovich.
Over the two month application period, 61,600
panda lovers from more than 52 countries
and regions applied for the six jobs. The
global search for was later narrowed from
60 candidates to 12 semi-finalists through
online voting.
As a proud technical
supporter of the Project Panda campaign,
WWF China not only shared panda conservation
knowledge with the 12 semi-finalists, but
also sent experts to serve as panel judges
for the competition.
“The key to panda conservation
is to protect the wild panda population
and its natural habitat. Through this campaign,
we hope to raise public awareness on the
threats and challenges that wild pandas
face and encourage more people to join conservation
efforts to protect pandas and their homes
in the wild,” said Jing Hui.
Invited by the Chinese
government to protect the giant panda some
thirty years ago, WWF has played an important
role in the establishment of China’s national
panda conservation network. It now consists
of 62 nature reserves, key corridors, and
forest farms that cover 71 per cent of the
giant panda population and 57 per cent of
its habitat.
+ More
In shipping, keeping
up means slowing down
Posted on 30 September
2010
by Arild Iversen and Jim Leape
The good news on World Maritime Day is that
there is a way to raise the environmental
performance of the world’s shipping industry
that does not require regulation, tax or
law. It turns out that simply slowing ocean
vessels down would be an easy way to make
dramatic changes – quickly.
Going slow has already
proven its efficacy as a cost measure in
the face of rocketing fuel prices. Now,
with public attention turning more and more
to the impact of shipping on the environment,
it is also the measure most likely to produce
a speedy reduction in shipping emissions.
Historically, the most
dramatic spikes in fuel costs have been
provoked by disasters, political instability
and supply shortages, but the long-term
trend is still undeniably up. Since 1973,
the price of bunker fuel for ocean vessels
has increased by more than 2,500%, from
$13 per tonne to around $455 per tonne.
Now, and in the future,
fuel costs will rise for environmental reasons
too. Just like trucks, cars, factories and
other producers of emissions, shipping is
under the microscope with scientists, politicians
and the public – and not without good reason.
International shipping presently accounts
for 3% of global carbon emissions.
Regulatory action on
this front is just beginning, and the real
impact of the new environmental standards
is yet to be felt. For example, starting
in 2012, ships traveling within 200 nautical
miles of US and Canadian coastlines will
be required to use a cleaner, and more expensive,
low-sulfur fuel. And when the fuel becomes
even cleaner, as required by 2015 legislative
mandate, fuel costs will jump yet again
by a staggering 60%. Many other nations
are also set to introduce comparable legislative
requirements for cleaner fuels.
By 2015, most industry
observers also expect a global carbon regulatory
scheme to be in place, something that will
likely be backed up by new market mechanisms
and a host of other local and national regulations
currently under consideration.
Despite the increasing
cost associated with going greener, shipping
will remain the most efficient way to trade
goods, and slowing down guarantees a long-term
strategy that is both cost effective and
environmentally sustainable. For example,
a ship steaming from Baltimore, USA to Bremerhaven,
Germany at 19 knots (today’s standard speed)
will use approximately 59 tons of fuel per
day and emit 3,900 tonnes of CO2; by slowing
down just slightly to 15 knots, that vessel
would consume 37 percent less fuel per day,
which would curtail its emissions by 20
percent for the voyage.
The power of this solution
is its simplicity: no rules, regulations,
or even research needed. The main obstacle
is just a widely held perception of time:
if we slow down, we get less done; if we
speed up, we get more done. In reality,
when it comes to intermodal trade, the case
is often closer to “hurry up and wait.”
A recent study carried out on behalf of
a global auto manufacturer revealed that
goods in transit spend 40% of their time
waiting for the next connection – much like
John Candy and Steve Martin in Trains, Planes
and Automobiles.
Clearly, slowing vessels
down would not mean slowing trade down too.
By planning more precisely, goods and cargo
could actually travel slower, yet arrive
to consumers sooner, while reducing emissions,
cost and port congestion at the same time.
We appreciate that manufacturers have capital
invested in cargo, and sitting cargo is
sitting capital, but a better balance between
sailing time and emissions can be reached.
On this World Maritime
Day, we predict that zero-emission deep
sea shipping, sailing at 10 knots, powered
by renewable energy and supported by a high-efficiency
supply chain structure, will be a reality
by 2040. It’s a solution which is not only
in the best interest of the shipping industry;
it’s also better for manufacturers, and
it’s best for the public. Slowing down requires
no technological advances, no regulatory
changes, only consensus and a meeting of
the minds. A sustained speed reduction now
will put the shipping industry firmly on
track for a zero-emission future.
Arild B. Iversen is
Chief Executive Officer of Wallenius Wilhelmsen
Logistics, the world’s largest provider
of Ro-Ro ocean transportation.
Jim Leape is Director General of WWF International
