Palm oil production without threatening tropical forests

Consumers of Palm Oil can now partake it with a clean conscience following acceptance by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — a group of producers, buyers, retailers, financial institutions and NGOs — on a set of criteria for the responsible production of palm oil. Bad practices in parts of the industry have brought about high ecological and social costs. WWF has urged the companies to implement these criteria as soon as possible to ensure the conservation of tropical forests that are valuable for both people and endangered species, such as elephants, tigers, and orang-utans. As sustainable palm oil production gains momentum, it will stop further destruction and save some of the world’s most biodiversity rich forests. WWF initiated Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in co-operation with business partners in 2003.

Submarine sonars threatens Dolphin and Whale Survival

A new report brought out by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) says the use of powerful submarine sonar is harming the ability of some 71 types of cetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises - to communicate, navigate and hunt. These low frequency sounds travel vast distances, hundreds if not thousands of kilometres from the source. Species like the Beluga whale, Blanville's beaked whale and the Goosebeak whale are seriously at risk

Wolf hunting – Environmentalists slam Swiss Government

The Swiss proposal to allow hunting of wolves has come in for criticism from environmentalists. Swiss officials argue that the wolf population presents a threat to local communities in mountain areas. The proposal was packaged as a measure for ameliorating the conflict with mountain farming. Taking up the cudgel, WWF said the proposal was "unacceptable and irresponsible, and any culling in the Alps would be a disaster for the wolf population there." Wolves were driven to extinction throughout most of Western Europe by the beginning of the last century. Dedicated conservation efforts have seen the animals returning to the European Alps from Italy’s Apennine Mountains. WWF does not agree that the wolf population in Switzerland constitutes a threat to local communities, and says there is no legitimate reason to decrease the wolf’s protected status.

Major Tiger Poaching Ring busted

Four poachers responsible for killing at least 10 tigers have been nabbed near Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. The police are hot on the heels of those who received these tigers and those who smuggled them. Police officials said that it is quite possible that these arrested poachers were responsible for more killings. Detailed investigations are on.Environmentalists have urged the Government to carry forward the investigations on a war footing.

EU Tightens Rules to Protect Baltic Cod and Herring

Baltic Cod and Herring are under threat due to over fishing. On Tuesday EU fisheries ministers agreed to streamline rules for trawling in the Baltic. This move augurs well for the Cod and Herring. Cuts to annual fishing quotas are in the offing. Minimum sizes for catches will be stipulated. Driftnets will be outlawed across the Baltic from 2008.

France makes major commitment to international conservation

France and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) has signed a four-year framework agreement on conservation. From 2005 to 2008, France will provide support to a shared programme of work totalling 8.3 million Euros, promoting conservation mainly in the francophone world. The agreement will strengthen IUCN’s work supporting the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements. It will also support the development of the IUCN biodiversity conservation programmes in Oceania, the Caribbean and the European Overseas Territories.

UK calls for action to save rare birds of prey

At the eighth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species, which is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, UK has urged world governments to sign up an agreement that would protect migratory birds of prey and owls. Many of these inter-continental migrants face major threats, such as shooting, poisoning, illegal trade or loss of habitat, somewhere in their migratory range within Africa / Eurasia. Research carried out by Nature Bureau published in September this year, found that more than half of the 60 species of migratory birds of prey found in Africa and Eurasia are threatened, with extinction. The UK has proposed an inter-governmental conference to carry forward the proposals.

A dozen West African countries to sign UN treaty on protection of elephants

A dozen West African countries are scheduled to sign a treaty on protection of elephants at a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) meeting in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Elephant population in West Africa has plummeted to around 5,000 and 13,000 in recent years. Setting up wildlife "corridors" and many other measures, including cross-border co-operation better equipment for staff is on the agenda. Scientific activities in the elephants' migratory range will be co-ordinated closely. Benefits to local communities will also be ensured.

Chile - Pulp mill devastates black-necked swan sanctuary

In what appears to be an environmental catastrophe, a recently opened pulp mill in Chile has devastated Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary, one of South America’s most biologically rich wetlands, decimating its famed population of black-necked swans. Numerous other species are also threatened. Before the pulp mill, there were more than 5,000 black necked swans in Carlos Anwandter. A WWF team, which visited Carlos Anwandter recently, could find only four black-necked swans.

"Planète Mers" an IUCN co-production wins prestigious Palme d'Or

Planète Mers, a book about the beauty and fragility of the world’s seas co-produced by IUCN and Editions Lafon and l’Oeil d’Andromède, has been awarded the Palme d’Or (gold medal) at the 32nd Festival of Underwater Imagery. The book has stunning underwater photography by marine photographer Laurent Ballesta.

Islands engines of evolution?

Islands have generally been considered evolutionary dead ends. Christopher E. Filardi, and Robert Moyle biologists at the American Museum of Natural History have found evidence that islands can act as engines of evolution instead of dead ends. The results turn on its head present beliefs and suggest that conserving biodiversity on islands is vital for the evolution of new species in the future. Filardi and Moyle have published their results in the latest issue of Nature

Missing link in the evolution of extinct swimming reptiles identified

A study by Michael Polcyn, a paleontologist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, has identified the missing link in the evolution of extinct swimming reptiles. A lizard named Dallasaurus turneri whose fossilised bones were discovered near Dallas, Texas, 16 years ago has been identified as the missing link in the evolution of extinct swimming reptiles. Details appear in this month’s Netherlands Journal of Geosciences.

EU abetting destruction of forests of poor countries, WWF says

EU countries are abetting destruction of forests of poor countries through massive imports of illegal timber, WWF said today. WWF produced the report after studying the trade between EU nations and countries in the Amazon Basin, the Congo Basin, East Africa, Indonesia and Russia. Some of the trade is routed indirectly through China. Britain was the biggest defaulter followed by Finland, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands on the WWF list.

Forests flushed down the toilet

European tissue manufacturers are not offering enough recycled toilet paper, towels to consumers and must be more responsible when sourcing their wood, according to a new WWF report. The report analysed the practices of the five largest European tissue manufacturers – Procter and Gamble, SCA, Kimberly Clark, Metsa Tissue, and Georgia Pacific – which together supply about 70 per cent of the European market. According to WWF everyday about 270,000 trees are effectively flushed down the toilet or end up as garbage around the world.

Indonesia – What Do you want? Orangutans, Pygmy Elephants and Rhinos or Oil Palm?

The decision of the Indonesian Government to go in for large-scale oil palm plantations, in West and East Kalimantan, hacking down rainforests has enraged the conservationists. The area is popularly known as the Heart of Borneo, and is one of only two places on earth where endangered Orangutans, pygmy elephants and rhinos exist. Fourteen of 20 major rivers on the island originate from the region.

Greenpeace to go on anti-whaling expedition

Greenpeace has announced an expedition to oppose continued whaling in the Southern Ocean by Japan. In what the greenpeace described as the most ambitious ship expedition ever to defend our ocean 2 ships will leave Cape Town today. After the expedition is over one of the ships, MY Esperanza, will leave on a 14 month cruise across 4 of the globe’s 5 oceans to highlight their wonders and the threat they face.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to expand collaboration with IUCN

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has agreed to expand collaboration with IUCN. Proposed joint projects are the development of a “Waqf Fund” and the “100 Arabic Books on Conservation”. Achim Steiner Director General of IUCN says, “The international community has so far paid little attention to some of the important conservation initiatives implemented in the Arab world during the past decade. Saudi Arabia is no exception and its commitment to protected areas, species reintroduction and marine conservation are noteworthy examples of this commitment”.

New Book Highlights transboundary protected areas

The new book Transboundary Conservation: A New Vision for Protected Areas provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive assessment of the world’s internationally-adjoining protected areas (IAPAs). The book represents the work of 50 conservationists, scientists, and professional photographers. It focuses on 29 transboundary parks around the world .The book also lists the world’s 188 transboundary parks,which cover about 17% of global protected areas and span 112 countries.

What is transboundary conservation?

IUCN defines a transboundary protected area as: “an area of land and/or sea that straddles one or more borders between states, sub-national units such as provinces and regions, autonomous areas and/or areas beyond the limit of national sovereignty or jurisdiction, whose constituent parts are especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed co-operatively through legal or other effective means”.

Never ending marvels of nature

An improved LED developed by scientists recently has striking similarities to what the nature has been using for 30 million years. African swallowtail butterflies have been attracting their mates with glowing splashes of colour on their wings with a technique quite analogous to the latest research breakthrough. The new breed of LEDs uses specialised mirrors and tiny structures called photonic crystals to generate more efficient light from the semiconductor materials. The butterfly has natural versions of these specialised mirrors and photonic crystals, which deliver glowing splashes that attract the mates. Pete Vukusic and Ian Hooper, physicists at the University of Exeter in the U.K report the findings in the latest issue of the journal Science.

Timid to daring – One gene away

Dr. Gleb Shumyatsky, an assistant professor of genetics at Rutgers, who led a team that included investigators from Columbia, Harvard, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, says that by removing a single gene they can turn normally cautious animals into daring ones. The experiment was done on mice. The scientists found that a protein called stathmin, produced by the stathmin gene was responsible for producing fear like conditions. Using genetic engineering, the scientists removed the gene that produces fear from mice and bred a line of the animals, without this gene. When left alone on an unfamiliar whitesurface, the engineered mice spent about twice as long exploring as did the normal mice. In other response inducing experiments also genetically altered mice cane out winning. Scientists claim this discovery could revolutionise drug research in the coming years.The discovery has been reported in the latest issue of journal Cell.