Tourism affecting Loggerhead turtles in Cape Verde

Beaches of Cape Verde (Republic of Cape Verde, group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Senegal) are famous tourist destinations. They are equally famous for Loggerhead turtles that flock its white beaches to lay their eggs. Unbridled tourism has started affecting the welfare turtles and other indigenous species. In the last decade, visitors increased seven-fold to more than 180,000 a year. The government plans to increase it further in an effort to boost economy. In a report called "Paradise on the Brink", the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said plans to increase tourist arrivals were not supported by coherent environmental studies or infrastructure projects. Cape Verde's coral reefs are among the world's most important and most threatened, and the islands' waters are also a feeding ground for humpback whales. WWF has urged the Government to take more pragmatic steps in terms of conserving wildlife while devising tourism plans.

England - Tony Blair pushes for biofuel

Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair has made a plea for mixing biofuel with petrol and diesel in an effort to cut down pollution and global warming. The initiative will be in place by2010. Although the biofuel mix will be only 5%, it will cut down Britain’s carbon dioxide emission by more than 1%. The move is a sequel to warnings by Prince Charles that climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity.

Complex topography disorients whales?

The death of 110 whales last week following beaching in the Marion Bay area, Tasmania, Australia, has again brought up the question of why it happens. Initial figures were 60 but casualty went up as another incident followed suit. Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service officials say the most likely reason for the stranding was the complex topography of the area, which disoriented the whales. Treacherous frequently changing water depths, sandy spits and rocky outcrops, as well as a narrow opening to the ocean could have upset the navigation prowess of whales. Environmentalists have long held that use of sonar by navy cause whale and dolphin stranding. Oil industries’ seismic testing has also been blamed for stranding.

US suspend import of Caviar, Sturgeon from Caspian Sea area

US has suspended import of Caviar and Sturgeon from Bulgaria, Romania, Russian Federation, Georgia, Serbia, Ukraine and Turkey. Sturgeon is a threatened species. The ban is intended to prod the Governments concerned to initiate appropriate conservation measures. Sturgeon is one of the oldest type of living vertebrates on earth. They can grow up to 3M in length and can weigh up to 100Kg. Caviar is made from sturgeon eggs. A full grown female can yield up to 6Kg of Caviar. Sturgeon population has been on the decline since the 70s. Caspian sturgeon used to live up to 45+ years. Now with unfettered fishing average has dropped to below 30.

New breeding grounds for Short Tailed Albatross suggested

Almost the entire world's remaining short-tailed albatrosses breeds on a steep slope of the Japanese volcanic island, Torishima Island. About 2,000 short-tailed albatrosses left in the world spend their winters on the remote Japanese island but spend their summers in Alaska's southern coastline. The island is subject to eruptions, mudslides and erosion. Other threats include entanglements with fishing gear, oil spills and ingestion of plastic debris. US Fish and Wildlife Service has come up with a relocation idea. The ides is to lure the birds using decoys and recorded birdcalls to safer islands. Changing breeding sites of the albatrosses, which mate for life and are fiercely loyal to their places of birth, is not going to be easy. The plan focuses on chicks, which might form attachments to new places if moved at the correct time.

England – Beaver reintroduction on way

Beavers became extinct in England 500 years back. Hunters wiped it out. Six Beavers from Bavaria have been released at the Cotswold Water Park on Thursday in an attempt to restore the species in its former habitat. If successful the programme will be extended. Conservationists are hoping for the day, when the Beaver will be freely roaming about in the countryside of England.

Congo - Local Chief honoured for Lowland Gorilla conservation

Local Chief Pierre Kakule Vwirasihikya has been awarded the prestigious Cond Nast Traveler Environmental Steward award, for his invaluable contribution to Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) Conservation, during the war torn years. Pierre Kakule Vwirasihikya organized other chiefs to protect Lowland Gorilla and other wildlife. It is a pointer to the fact community run endeavour can succeed in conservation. The award is a shot in the arm for conservationists of Democratic Republic of Congo

Australian Government gets highest accolade from WWF

WWF has presented the Australian Government With a" Gift to the Earth," the organisations' highest accolade, for design and implementation of the Great Barrier Marine Park zoning plan. The zoning sets the benchmark for marine protectd area network in Autralia and around the world. The award ceremony took place at the opening of the inaugural Internationl Marine Protected area Network Congress(IMPAC) at Geelong Australia.

12 more protected areas for Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is adding 12 more protected areas. Papua New Guinea currently has one of the lowest coverage of protected area in the world. The 12 additions will bring the current protectd area land total to around 4 per cent. The proposed protected areas are in Madang, the Sepik River, Mount Bosavi (Southern Highlands and Western Provinces), and the TransFly (Western Province), which together will add a further 771,451ha to Papua New Guinea’s protected area, an increase by almost 50 per cent. Local communities own all the protected areas, and the management practices will be developed and run by the communities themselves. Papua New Guinea has the largest block of tropical rainforest in the Asia Pacific, the largest and healthiest wetlands in the region and some of the richest coral reefs on earth.

Scientists complete first phase of Hap Mapping

The Human Gnome Project mapped the three billion letters that make up the human genetic code.It showed that any two people are 99.9%the same. Now a group of scientists drawn from Britan,US,Canada,Japan,Nigeria and China has completed a detailed chart,showing markers of genetic variation,or single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) to explain the 0.1 diffrence. The first phase contains more than 1 million SNPs. The second phase will add another 2 million. The first phase of the Hapmap has been published in the science journal Nature. The Hapmap provides scientist with indicators, with which they can focus on looking for genes involved in common diseases.

Wildlife Tourism -Tanzania goes for high yield, low volume tourism

Huge number of visitors, is causing wildlife reserves in Tanzania, to resemble refugee camps. Waste and litter have become big problems. In a bid to preserve the environment and curb the human impact of mass tourism Tanzania is hiking entry fees. From first January 2006 Mount Kilimanjaro climbers will have to pay US$60, up from $30. Visitors to Serengeti National Park will be charged US$50 a day, instead of $30. Efforts will be made to redistribute visitors to the low season also.

60 Long finned pilot whales dead after stranding in Southern Australia

60 Long Finned Pilot Whales died after stranding in a remote beach near Marion Bay in Southern Australia. Around 80 volunteers and wildlife officials are desperately trying to drive back the 10 surviving whales back in to high ocean. Long Finned Pilot Whales are medium sized whales reaching up to 20 feet in length. Whales are known to beach themselves in large numbers. The scientists are yet to unravel the mystery behind this.

First conference on marine protected areas

The first conference on marine protected areas,is now on at Geelong, a Southern Australian city. Autralia established the world heritage listed, Great Barrier Marine Park, in 1975 over an area of 35 million hectares. 700 scientists from 70 countries are attending this trailblazing conference. The scientists are drawing up a plan for a network of marine parks to save the world's ocean from fish stock depletion and pollution. Half of the world's coral reefs might be lost in the next 40 years unless urgent measures are taken to protect them against climate change and other threats. A conservation plan for the unregulated high seas would be produced by 2008 for adoption by world Governments by 2012. This move is spearheaded by IUCN the World Conservation Union.

Otters set to return to Thames- Spin off from Olympics

The Otters are set to return to Thames in London. The massive clean up of Thames planned in conjunction with olympics is bringing cheer to conservationists. London Development Agency(LDA) and London Wildlife Trust(LWT) in association with Olympic authorities, sees return of Otters to Thames as a symbolic gesture.Otters were brought to near extinction in the years immediately following 2nd world war due to widespread use of Organo-Chlorine pesticides which contaminated the fish they eat. After the massive clean up of Thames wildlife authorities hope that the otters would return to Stratford,East London first, and gradually spread their range.

Biodiversity, Eco-tourism and Shrinking Wetlands - SSARC experts meet in Sunderbans

Thirtfive wildlife and environmental experts from seven SSARC countries and US, are meeting at a four day international workshop at the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve starting today. The experts would discuss problems and issues relating to the growing threats to the country's wetlands and their extremly fragile ecosystem and how to support a diverse variety of flora and fauna. The experts would also exchange views on all the 19 Ramsar sites in India. Detailed interactive sessions with the local people of Sunderbans delta will be held to know their problems and try to solve it. The workshop entitled "Ecotourism and Biodiversity: Shrinking wetlands"is organised by United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) in association with Department of Forests, Government of West Bengal.

Molten lava flowing through Galapagos National Park

Galapagos islands are famous for its giant tortoises. These giant tortoises helped inspire what became the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin. A volacanic eruption on the Galapagos islands is sending hot molten lava through Galapagos National Park. A press note issued by Park authorities says the giant tortoises are safe. Slow moving lava is edging down the mountain side and could reach the sea in a week's time.

Now Protein Music

Mary Anne Clark, a biologist at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth has come up with an ingenious way of looking at building blocks of life. All living things are made up of proteins. Each protein is a string of amino acids. There are 20 different amino acids, and each protein has thousands of them. Mary Anne Clark first wrote down these amino acid sequences as series of text letters. Clark and her colleagues then assigned musical notes to the different values of the amino acids in each sequence, and presto you have music in the form of "protein songs."

Gangetic Dolphin facing threat

The Gangetic Dolphin (Platanista Gangetica) is found in the Ganges and Brahmaputra river system in seven states of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Rajasthan, UP and West Bengal in India. Unbridled commercial fishing Habitat degradation, and sand mining are threatening the very existence of the species. Large number of barrages in the upper stretches of Ganges has isolated the river dolphin population leading to inbreeding. Latest surveys show the population, which swam freely in India's sprawling Ganga and Brahmaputra river systems, had fallen to just 1500 from the already moderate 5000 from the 1980s.The situation is very grave in UP. UP have around 687 dolphins in Ganga, Ghagra and Chambal rivers. The Uttar Pradesh government is seeking urgent help of the Central Government in an effort to reverse these dangerous portents for the endangered species.

Panama declares Sanctuary for Migrating Shorebirds

Panama became the first country in Central America, to create a wildlife reserve that will provide a crucial resting-place for migrating shorebirds. The Upper Bay area was declared a Sanctuary. The Upper Bay of Panama provides a rare feeding and resting ground for 2 million shorebirds that travel annually from North America through the Isthmus of Panama to South America, and back again. The site is used by more than 30 percent of the world's female population of western sandpipers, and is important for at least six other species of shorebirds globally.

Przewalski's horse – Good tidings from Mangolia

In the 1960's, hunting and habitat destruction drove Przewalski's horse (Equus verus przewalskii) to the brink of extinction. The horse disappeared from its natural range throughout Mongolia and Central Asia and survived only in captivity mainly in Europe. Wildlife biologists led by a Dutch preservation group organised a breeding program and, in 1992, started reintroducing Przewalski'sHorse in Mongolia. Now after years of careful management at least 300 of the horses roam the mountainous terrain. About 170 live in Hustai National Park. The rest are in two remote parks in the western Gobi.
Now, after reintroduction of Przewalski's horse to its former habitat and years of careful management, the growing numbers of Przewalski’s horses that now roam the mountainous terrains of their ancestors encourages conservationists.