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Large vessels need to be in safe hands when transiting through the Great Barrier Reef, and this means local pilots with local knowledge, WWF said today. The global conservation organisation has called for immediate improvements to the way shipping is managed in the Great Barrier Reef after the Chinese-owned bulk coal carrier Shen Neng 1 slammed into the reef on the weekend. [...] Nairobi, Kenya: Ministers and officials from ten countries and territories in East Africa yesterday endorsed or signed off on a potentially far-reaching protocol to protect East Africa’s coastal and marine environment from land-based activities and pollution. The new protocol – five years in the making – makes the western Indian Ocean the third marine area of the world to achieve a multilateral agreement to limit and control land-based impacts on the marine environment, after the Mediterranean (1980) and Wider Caribbean (1999). WASHINGTON- On Wednesday President Obama released details of a new national offshore oil-drilling plan that would greatly expand oil leasing far beyond that which was ever authorized by the Bush administration. Prime polar bear habitat in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska, opened for leasing under the Bush administration, would remain open to development, while large swaths of the Atlantic Coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico would be opened for the first time. [...] WASHINGTON- The Center for Biological Diversity launched a campaign Tuesday to gather 500,000 signatures on a People’s Petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to set a national pollution standard to reduce carbon dioxide pollution in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million. Atmospheric CO2 is currently at 390 parts per million and growing, causing a dangerous climate disruption. [...] © Edward Parker/WWF-Canon Demand for tiger body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine and habitat fragmentation from unsustainable regional infrastructure development have driven the decline of the region’s Indochinese tiger population. * Full Interpol article about Operation Tram WWF hails the efforts of a recent worldwide Interpol operation to curb the illegal trade in traditional medicines containing endangered animal and plant species. ‘Given that this crosses many borders, co-ordinating effective efforts to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife is not easy,’ said WWF-UK’s wildilfe trade advisor, Heather Sohl. “It’s great to see 18 countries all working simultaneously to investigate and curtail the trade in traditional medicines containing threatened species. This can be a blueprint for future action on other areas of illicit wildlife trade too.’ [...] Central America, 1 March 2010 – For the first time in Central America Caribbean, Spiny lobster fishing will be banned from the region’s waters during the species’ reproductive season, raising hopes for more responsible fishing practices in the region. Of all the fishing resources in this region, spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) is the most important income source for a large number of coastal communities, especially as it fetches high market prices. [...] Gland, Switzerland – The release of six alleged rhino poachers from custody two weeks before a meeting of the largest wildlife trade convention is emblematic of the chronic lack of political will to enact enforcement efforts required to save this endangered species. A Zimbabwean court last week granted bail to six men arrested at Bubye Valley Conservancy, home to Zimbabwe’s largest remaining rhino population, in connection with rhino poaching. Charges included illegal possession of firearms and illegal possession of a rhino horn. [...] A new draft compromise on whaling released by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) today set a dangerous precedent that the international community must reject, WWF said. Amsterdam, International — Greenpeace today called for a proposal by a working group of the International Whaling Commission that would allow the return of commercial whaling to be rejected out of hand, describing it as a dangerous throwback to the 20th century when whales where hunted to near extinction. “The proposal rewards Japan for decades of reprehensible behaviour at the International Whaling Commission and in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary,” said John Frizell, Head of the Greenpeace Whales Campaign. “We are at a critical junction for both whaling and ocean conservation. A return to commercial whaling would not only be a disaster for whales but will send shock waves through international ocean conservation efforts, making it vastly more difficult to protect other rapidly-declining species such as tuna and sharks.” [...] SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., February 17, 2010 – Sustainable Life Media today introduced the first round of speakers for Sustainable Brands 2010, featuring leaders from the consumer, technology, food and apparel industries. This year’s theme, “The Power of And,” is presented as an essential business approach for tackling the polarities and dualities facing business today. “And” is recommended as a new way for addressing what may be seen as the ongoing, chronic issues that are often described as unavoidable, unsolvable and indestructible. Sustainable Brands 2010 will give attendees the tools and skills to distinguish between a problem to solve and a polarity to leverage. Speakers and session leaders will share how to look within complex issues, identify opposites in tension and capitalize on that tension to establish solutions that address some of the most pressing problems — and exhilarating opportunities — facing business today. [...] |
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