Posted on 31 May 2011
Congo Brazzaville, May 31 –Leaders of the
world’s key tropical forest countries must
make brave choices at this week’s Brazzaville
rainforest summit and show commitment to
save their forests and support the fight
against devastating consequences of climate
change.
The Amazon, Borneo-Mekong
and Congo forest blocks account for one
third of the planet’s forests. These vast
expanses of forest play a crucial role in
regulating global climate, unpinning local
livelihood strategies and protecting the
diversity of life on the planet.
Forests are home to
80% of terrestrial biodiversity and more
than 300 million people worldwide. In 2005,
the total global trade in forest products
was valued at around US$ 379 billion.
But every year, the
three regions lose millions of hectares
of tropical forest, even though the true
value of the “standing” forests is far greater
than the economic benefit of the alternative
land use.
The summit meeting in
Brazzaville brings together representatives
from 30 countries of the three regions in
an effort to help develop long-term solutions
for the sustainable management of these
precious forests.
WWF hopes this summit
will influence a positive outcome of the
upcoming climate talks in Durban later this
year and lead to further big conservation
wins and stronger commitments to protect
the environment.
“Representing their
countries and their peoples, leaders at
the Brazzaville summit carry a heavy responsibility
on their shoulders,” said Natasha Kofoworola
Quist, WWF CARPO Regional Representative.
“They must work closely
together so that they and the world can
continue to benefit from these unique rainforests.”
The implementation of
policies promoting sustainable management,
restoration of tropical forest and zero
net deforestation is among WWF asks at the
summit.
The global conservation
organisation also promotes the establishment
of transparent financial mechanisms for
the management of Reduced Emissions from
Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) revenues
by 2015.
Regional cooperation
can help protect rainforests by expanding
protected areas, exchanging critical information
and experience, harmonising social and economic
policy, and coordinating on conservation
measures.
According to WWF tackling
deforestation will require a new climate
change deal to provide the right incentives
to reduce deforestation and land degradation.
When forests are destroyed,
for example, by logging or conversion for
agricultural use, they release large quantities
of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere. Indeed, deforestation
is responsible for 15% of all greenhouse
gas emissions globally.
“With major conferences
such as next year’s Earth Summit and the
climate summit in Durban coming up, they
should also see the Brazzaville meeting
as an opportunity to set the global standard
for cooperation on critical conservation
issues,” Quist said.
“WWF wishes that the
outcomes of this Summit be taken further
and would ask the participating countries
to make strong time bound commitments to
inspire and galvanize international support.”
+ More
Danube sturgeon get
protection on both sides of the river
Posted on 02 May 2011
Sofia, Bulgaria: Sturgeons, the ancient
migratory fish now teetering on the brink
of extinction from overfishing for caviar,
will be able to swim more easily in the
Danube after Bulgaria imposed a fishing
ban.
The ban, which matches
a ban imposed five years ago on the opposite,
Romanian bank of the river, addresses a
key loophole in the protection of sturgeon.
“This is the first time
Bulgaria has banned sturgeon catching in
the Danube”, said Ivaylo Simeonov, Head
of Unit Management and Monitoring of Fisheries
at Bulgaria’s National Agency of Fisheries
and Aquaculture. “We did have a ban on sturgeon
catching in 2008, but only in the Black
Sea”.
Jutta Jahrl, sturgeon
expert at WWF welcomed the Bulgarian declaration.
“What this means is
that Bulgaria is really giving the sturgeons
a break, joining Romania in this very important
measure," said Jahrl.
"The Romanian moratorium
came into force in April 2006, but considering
that the Danube serves as a national border
between Bulgaria and Romania, a one-sided
ban cannot have any impact if fishermen
on the other side are still catching the
fish”.
Most sturgeons are anadromous
- the adults live in estuaries and coastal
waters but swim upstream to spawn. The Black
Sea is one of the most important sturgeon
fisheries in the world, second only to the
Caspian Sea. The Danube, as one of the major
feeder rivers and estuaries of the Black
Sea, is crucial for sturgeons.
The one-year ban on
the part of Bulgaria is a prelude to a five-year
ban which is planned to start in 2012.
“At the Fisheries Agency
we have already prepared the terms of the
five-year ban”, Ivaylo Simeonov said. “Under
the terms of the proposed ban, various activities
in support of sturgeon populations will
be carried out, for example restocking of
fish populations and monitoring of the status
of sturgeons”.
An information campaign
among fishing communities and better enforcement
of the ban are also in the pipeline for
2012.
The caviar connection
Until the 19th century,
giant Beluga sturgeons migrated from the
Black Sea up the Danube as far as Germany
and were important mainstays for many fishing
communities. Originating 200 million years
ago, sturgeons have outlasted the dinosaurs,
but today most species are critically endangered
according to the IUCN red list.
Dams such as the Iron
Gates between Serbia and Romania that have
cut off the migration routes of sturgeons,
the consequent loss of spawning habitats
and especially overexploitation of the fish,
driven by caviar consumption, are the main
human activities that threaten and impact
sturgeon populations.
“Overfishing - principally
for caviar - is the biggest cause for concern,
but habitat alteration, including hydropower,
and pollution are contributing causes”,
said Colman O'Criodain, Wildlife Trade Officer
at WWF.
Trade in sturgeon caviar
is an extremely profitable business. Caviar
is one of the most expensive wildlife products,
fetching retail prices of EUR 6,000 and
up per kilogram. Among the sturgeon species
native to the Danube basin is the Beluga
sturgeon famous for its expensive caviar.
Until 2007 quotas for
caviar export existed and were distributed
among Lower Danube countries. But in 2007
it was realized that population numbers
had dropped drastically and Lower Danube
countries could not fulfill even half of
their respective quotas. This led to CITES
(the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)
banning caviar export from natural fish
populations - as opposed to farmed fish
- from all Lower Danube countries.
Unfortunately the ban
has led to cases of illegal trade and although
actual amounts of illegal trade are unknown,
they are estimated to be significant. Between
2000 and 2005, authorities seized over 12
tonnes of illegal caviar in the EU.
Officially, most of
the caviar from Lower Danube countries in
circulation today is from aquaculture stock.
“In an effort to stop
illegal trade, CITES parties agreed on a
comprehensive chain-of-custody labeling,
which aims to track caviar from its origin
to the end consumer”, said Colman O'Criodain.
According to international
regulations, all caviar containers must
bear a label that contains a specific set
of information. Any caviar on sale without
this label is illegal.
“Although international
regulations are good, there are still loopholes.
Caviar for personal use is excepted from
any requirements. Furthermore, there is
no general rule for the printing of labels,
no general design (apart from the code)
or any obligatory safety feature. In a few
countries lables are printed by the state
but usually the companies print them themselves,
so it's easy to forge them”, Jutta Jahrl
said.
“On top of this, consumer
awareness in Western Europe seems to be
rather low. Even legal traders of caviar
do not know much about labelling requirements.
It is crucial that traders and consumers
are more aware of the issue and do not buy
caviar without labels. This would be a strong
force against illegal trade”.
“The EU, which is a
major producer and consumer market, can
solve this by amending the legislation to
close all the loopholes”, Jutta Jahrl said.
