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The Coast and Beach Stability in the Caribbean project (COSALC) is a joint project of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the University of Puerto Ricos Sea Grant College Programme. COSALC assists island nations to minimize beach erosion, reduce storm impacts, and respond to rising sea levels. Since the mid-1980s, COSALC has been working with government officials in the Caribbean to help them maintain the economic value of their nations beaches. After a strong emphasis on science and training, COSALC now plans to focus on education and influencing attitudes.
The countries and territories of the Caribbean depend on their beaches for important sources of income, mainly from tourism. COSALC coordinator Gillian Cambers agrees that "while nature can severely alter shorelines, the biggest threat to Caribbean beaches is human development." She explains further that "beaches are not static, but this was seldom taken into account as coastlines in the Caribbean were developed for tourism during the past few decades". "If you spend a little bit extra and do development the right way, you can have beaches plus economic growth." Cambers suggests that "a simple but needed change is to stop building hotels directly on the beach."
COSALC is working with the Caribbean Sea Project, a UNESCO education initiative, on a new campaign called "Sandwatch." In October, the Sandwatch initiative will bring teachers from Caribbean islands, along with Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guyanas, to the island of St. Lucia. Teachers will receive training in beach monitoring activities that they can share with other teachers in their respective nations, and then demonstrate to children in participating schools.
Students will monitor pollution and beach erosion for one year, analyze their data, and share the results with schoolchildren in other nations.
For further information, visit http://www.ens.lycos.com/.
A resolution in support of the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) in the Wider Caribbean region was approved at the IV Conference for Central America on Sea Turtle Conservation held 9 13 October 2000 in San Ignacio, Belize.
The resolution highlighted the problem to be solved as the exploitation of wild flora and fauna of the Wider Caribbean region" with the objective being that "the Governments of Central America become Parties to the SPAW Protocol". Agreed follow-up activities to bring the Resolution into force included, demonstrating to the countries of the region, the benefits of becoming parties as soon as possible. This is the responsibility of the focal points in each country and the Regional Network in Central America.
A group monitoring wildlife trafficking in Japan has reported that various types of live coral from coastal areas in Japan, including rare species, are being sold in pet shops in and around Tokyo. A survey conducted by the Japan office of the Trade Records Analysis Flora and Fauna in Commerce found that up to 60 species of coral were being sold in one shop alone.
Coral does not survive in standard fish tanks. There are almost no regulations controlling the coral trade in Japan. According to the group, the number of enthusiasts keeping coral in their own tanks has increased over the past couple of years and rare species are advertised on websites. The group also report that the trade in coral damages its habitats, which have been shrinking due to increasing environmental destruction.
Even though prefectures such as Tokyo and Okinawa ban the collection of coral by divers not engaged in the fisheries business, authorities cannot establish a case unless they catch the perpetrators red-handed. Aquarium officials said the indiscriminate hunting of coral has been increasing.
At the recently concluded World Exposition held in Hannover, Germany in June 2000, the World Resources Institute (WRI) made public the findings of the first-of-its-kind Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems (PAGE). PAGE revealed that declining conditions of the worlds ecosystems are due to increasing resource demands. It also warns that if the decline continues it could have devastating implications for human development and the welfare of all species.
Norbert Henninger of the WRI led the team that conducted PAGE. PAGE examined coastal, forest, grassland, and freshwater and agricultural ecosystems, analyzing their health on the basis of their ability to produce the goods and services that the world currently relies on. These include production of food, provision of pure and sufficient water, storage of atmospheric carbon, maintenance of biodiversity and provision of recreation and tourism opportunities.
Henninger commented that "overall, our analysis shows that there are considerable signs that the capacity of ecosystems, the biological engines of the planet, to produce many of the goods and services we depend on is rapidly declining". "As our ecosystems decline, we are also racing against time since we lack baseline knowledge needed to properly determine their conditions".
The PAGE analysis is at the heart of a new report, World Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life. This report, to be released in September, is published by the WRI, the United nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank. Over 175 scientists contributed to the report which took more than two years to produce.
The scorecards that accompany this report describe most of the ecosystems in fair, but declining conditions. Some of the statistics it contains are staggering:
The World Resources 2000-2001 report states that while our knowledge of ecosystems has increased dramatically, it has not kept pace with mans ability to alter them. The report recommends that governments and people must view the sustainability of ecosystems as essential to human life. It calls for an ecosystems approach to managing the worlds critical resources, which means evaluating decisions on land and resource use, in light of how they affect the capacity of ecosystems to produce goods and services.
Aside from the World Resources 2000-2001 report, the PAGE analysis has provided the impetus for the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment (MEA), which will be launched in January 2001. The MEA will allow an on-going monitoring and evaluation of the health of the worlds ecosystems.
The World Resources 2000-2001 report is available in English, French and Spanish and can be downloaded at http://www.wri.org/wri/wrr2000.
For further information, please contact:
World Resources Institute
Dr. Whit Gibbons, a herpetologist and professor of ecology at the University of Georgia, the lead author of a recent article on reptile decline around the world has reported that the international focus on vanishing and deformed amphibians like frogs, toads and salamanders has masked the problems of reptiles. This new report says that reptiles including turtles, lizards, alligators and snakes are in even greater distress worldwide than their better known cousins.
Dr. Gibbons said that "although the amphibian decline problem is a serious threat, reptiles appear to be in even greater danger of extinction worldwide." He said that while studies on both amphibians and reptiles have not been as rigorous as scientists would like, the existing documentation points to a coming crisis situation.
Habitat loss and degradation may be the largest single factor in reptile loss. Even when part of a habitat is protected, such as a wetland, the surrounding terrestrial habitat needed by semiaquatic reptiles often is not. Habitat destruction is however just the beginning of the problem.
Invasive species introduced to new areas can spell real danger for reptiles. One example is the Galapagos tortoise, now near extinct due largely to introduced rats which destroy the tortoise eggs. Other problems include environmental pollution, disease and even the simple presence of humans among s fragile population. Cars kill animals. Predators are attracted by human food wastes. Cats and dogs hunt and people remove interesting animals or handle them correctly.
The commercial use of reptiles is also cited as a cause for declines. The harvesting of reptiles for pets, food and for use in folk medicines can result in overcollection. This kind of use affects reptiles more than amphibians. Human use is not universally bad, according to Gibbons, but such use should be "sustainable". The population from which individuals are harvested should be able to rebound to at least the same population level, says Gibbons. This is a particular problem for long lived species, which may take years to reach maturity.
The secretive nature of many reptiles and their large home ranges may allow a population to decline without notice. Gibbons believes the best course for conservation initiatives is to "assume the worst" for all reptiles and amphibians while gathering more data. "The disappearance of reptiles from the natural world is genuine and should be a matter of concern," according to Gibbons. "Current evidence suggests that these declines constitute a worldwide crisis."
In the last edition of CEPNews (Volume 15 Number 2, second quarter) we reported on the agreement signed in May 2000 between the government of Guyana and the Beal Aerospace Technologies (BAT) of North America, in which Guyana conferred approximately 100 km2 of land to BAT for the installation of a platform for the launching of commercial satellites. Environmental organizations are very concerned, as the construction of the aerospace platform in the proposed area would require that it be "drained and cleaned" and this would result in the destruction of the habitat of the biggest sea turtles on earth and an increase in the greenhouse effect. Such consequences were reported by regional environmental organizations, with no response from the Guyana government.
The proposed site is located between the Waini River and the Atlantic Ocean in northeast Guyana, a swampy zone where many wetlands are located. This ecosystem contain mangroves that perform many important environmental functions like the protection of coasts and wildlife habitat, in addition to being an excellent CO2 sink, and breeding and nursery ground for many marine species. The draining of this area would result in the death of mangroves and other flora species, causing the liberation of methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas.
Even worse is that the aborigines that live in the area were not consulted about the negotiation, despite the fact that 76 indigenous families will have to be removed as a result of the construction. These families have not been given a right of opinion because they dont have property titles over the land they live on.
In her presentation at the Sustainable Tourism Conference held from the 18 23, May, 2000 in Georgetown, Guyana, Anette Arjoon said that marine turtles are an integral part of the coastal ecosystems of Guyana. "We must consider also that the turtles travel long distances in their migrating process until arriving at neighbouring countries like Venezuela and Trinidad", said Arjoon.
Indeed the recent decision to construct the aerospace base in the proposed area could be considered a challenge for both BAT- to build on the site with minimum environmental impacts and the ecological groups and organizations concerned with environmental conservation.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is urging the international community to recognise the Caribbean Sea as a special area. This move is part of efforts to address the special characteristics of the Caribbean Sea and to ensure sustainable management and development of the Sea and its resources for future generations.
In that regard, the Community recently recorded a significant accomplishment when it successfully piloted a Resolution at the Fifty-fourth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, during the last quarter of last year. The Resolution sanctions a proposal "promoting an Integrated Management Approach to the Caribbean Sea Area in the Context of Sustainable Development".
It specifically seeks to encourage the international community to act in a manner consistent with the concept of the Caribbean Sea as a special area and to support the development and implementation of a regime to minimise the possibility of conflict and ecological damage.
CARICOM is working in collaboration with the Association of Caribbean States(ACS) and other partners in initiating follow-up moves. The ten-year review of the 1992 Rio Summit slated for 2002 is one of the initiatives being pursued to consolidate support of the Caribbean Sea to be declared as a special area.
The Caribbean Sea is a fragile ecosystem which provides for the economic, social and recreational well-being of the people of the Region. Its location also places prominence on the waterway in international commerce.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN), citing a dramatic increase in the number of species threatened with extinction, has released its "red list" of endangered plants and animals. The new list, last updated four years ago, adds over 200 animal species worldwide to the most critically endangered list, including 11 mammals, 14 birds and 38 reptiles.
While habitat loss largely through deforestation and the spread of cities is a factor in roughly 90 percent of the endangered listings, the IUCN highlighted three types of animals under attack from specific human threats.
Six primate species were added to the list, largely due to the "bush meat" trade in parts of Asia and Africa. These animals are increasingly targeted for meat for consumption. Thirteen different species of albatross have also been placed on the list. The IUCN said the large seabirds are victims of longline fisheries where vessels trail miles-long steel cables with hundreds of baited hooks. The reptile species like the Asian three-striped box turtle are under threat due to their value to the Asian traditional medicine trade.
IUCN Director Maritta von Bieberstein Koch-Weser said the growing list is further confirmation that a wave of species loss often speculated by scientists is well under way. "These findings should be taken very seriously by the global community," she said.
Human activity was cited as the cause of 816 plant and animal species having vanished in the past 500 years. However, the IUCN cautions that our knowledge of how many species exist, or used to exist, is still partial.
Conservation International (CI) based in Washington , D.C. is trying a new approach to saving natural areas in developing countries leasing trees. The CI is working on a deal to buy the logging rights for up to 25 years for 200,000 acres of pristine rainforest in southern Guyana in South America. It plans to spend several million dollars to protect the land with what it calls a "conservation concession."
Usually concessions, or development rights to land, are sold by cash-strapped governments to logging and mining companies, often at prices as cheap as a few US dollars as acre. CI intends to compete with these private companies to buy concessions and also offering to pay governments enough to compensate for any lost jobs or economic activities. CI may take this model to Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia and Peru.
For further information, visit the website at http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/24/business/24WORL.html
Costa Rican shrimpers who began using turtle excluder devices (TED) in 1996 to avoid killing sea turtles and also an embargo of their shrimp being sold in the United States of America, were recently granted permission to modify the TED design to better meet the fishing conditions along the Costa Rican coast.
Shrimp fishers in that country noted that they were having a problem with TEDs clogging, especially in the southern Pacific white shrimp fishing grounds, an area of the country where they would often encounter large trees that had washed down the rivers in the rainy season and sink in coastal areas where shrimp were abundant. The trees would clog the TEDs resulting in both a loss of shrimp and sea turtle mortality.
U.S. fishery officials will allow Costa Rica to adjust the bar spacing in the TED from 4 inches to 6 inches. These new 6 inch TEDs will be used for two years during which an observer programme will be implemented to provide final and definitive data that they will not harm the sea turtles. This modification guarantees that 97% of the sea turtles will be released.
Commenting on this new development, Mr Randall Arauz, Central American Director of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, stated that the modification from 4 to 6 inches will not solve all the problems of net clogging, but the Costa Rican fishermen believe it will and they feel more comfortable pulling them out.
For further information, visit http://www.seaturtles.org/pdf/ACF563.pdf.
The Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles more popularly known as the Sea Turtle Treaty for the Western Hemisphere was ratified by the United States Senate in September 2000. "The treaty is a landmark in helping to reverse the dramatic decline in sea turtles over the past several decade", said president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, Mark Van Putten.
Under its provisions, the treaty becomes effective once eight of its original signatories ratify it. To date, five nations have completed this process with two other nations expected to sign soon. This ratification by the Senate brings the crucial eighth nation fully on board. Each member nation to the treaty agrees to require its shrimping industry to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), an inexpensive device used to prevent turtles from being drowned in shrimp trawl nets.
In the Western Hemisphere, the treaty also provides for the conservation of sea turtle habitat, the protection of nesting beaches, the prohibition of the international trade in sea turtles and products made from them, and for continued sea turtle research.
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When word of a baby manatee for sale was reported to the local Emperor Valley Zoo in Trinidad, zoo officials headed by G. Lutchmedial of the Manatee Conservation Trust and zoo Board member, decided to make an investigation. The search led to the recovery of a baby manatee, whose sex was not identified. The animal was found in a very small open ditch in central East Trinidad. It had been contained for over a week without food. Its condition was reported as weak and its skin body appeared flaccid with the stomach sunken.
Further investigations revealed that the animal had become separated from the mother and was captured in fishing nets located at the mouth of the Nariva River in the Nariva Swamp on the east coast of Trinidad. The whereabouts of the mother is not known. The baby manatee was returned to the capture site to be release and it refused to depart to sea. This was done without any consultation for best management practices.
The animal is now being held at the Navira Estate where it is being fed milk. The current status of the health of the animal is not known but reports are that a representative from the Florida Sea Aquarium should be visiting the scene to provide assistance with the care of the animal. Skilled personnel trained in the area of manatee health and care is not available locally.
Approximately 18 manatees have been sited in the Navira swamp/river area. They are a protected species but there is no report as to whether charges were filed against the parties who captured the animal.
Last updated: 15 November, 2000
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