WWF - WWF in Senegal & West Africa

Environmental Education Programme in Joal Fadiouth: using paintings to sensitize

2009-09-25

The second phase of the environmental education programme started in Joal Fadiouth, an area where WWF WAMER is very active mainly through the development and the management of the marine protected area, the protection of sea turtle, restoration of the mangrove, sustainable fishery, and thrash management.

A survey conducted recently by WWF volunteers has shown that Environmental education programme is the best way to sensitize people on environment degradation in Joal Fadiouth.

The Environmental Education Programme (EEP) is directed to primary and secondary schools in Joal Fadiouth with 80 schools boys and girls between the age of 8 and 15. The EE Programme is conducted with three steps:

School boys and girls are given lessons and information about the environmental problems Joal Fadiouth is facing like degradation of the mangrove, depletion of fish stock, sea turtles consumption;
They are taken in the field to see the reality of those issues; all these steps are done under the supervision of teachers and environment and fishery experts.
After combining and collecting information, they produced factsheets, and paintings. This year, the novelty is that schools boys and girls based on what they have seen and learnt will produce works of art on environmental thematic with the help of professional painters.

Those who will make the best paintings will be awarded during a public ceremony.

Wamer Infos

2009-04-17

WWF WAMER clarifies the debate between the Senegalese Minstry of Environment and Ministry of Fisheries (Ministry of Maritime Economy) over administrative and technical supervision of the AMP. The intense media campaign included press releases, publicized stakeholder interviews and a field visit to the WAMER supported Marine Protected Area in Joal Fadiouth all of which encouraged the Senegalese government to take a final decision. The Head of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Maritime Economy announced the formation of a Marine Protected Areas Directorate within his Ministry at the recent General Assembly of GREP the environmental press NGO, The announcement followed a marine protected areas (MPA) co-management workshop which brought together MPA managers, fisheries managers, and MPA management committees during which the participants voiced serious concerns about several issues including MPA funding and the
impediments to operations linked the confusion within government between the two ministries.

Battered sharks get critical listing

2008-12-05

Rome, Italy: Four commercially valuable shark species have just been recognized as being “of conservation concern” under the international Convention on Migratory Species.

The listing applies to northern hemisphere populations of spiny dogfish, a common ingredient of food staple fish and chips, and global populations of Porbeagle shark and both species of mako shark.

Intense debate saw southern hemisphere populations of spiny dogfish excluded from the listing on the agreement that a comprehensive population review will be conducted for the next meeting of the convention.

"WWF welcomes this listing by the CMS--the first listing by an international conservation convention of commercially utilized shark species,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, director of WWF International’s Species Programme.

“This shows that the world community now recognizes that sharks are over-fished, declining, and worthy of the kind of conservation concern afforded to other species."

The sharks have been listed under Appendix ll of the convention, which supports co-operation between range states on conservation plans for listed species. For migratory species it focuses attention on the status of the species and can help trigger other regional and international initiatives in fisheries management and trade.

The sharks, which are among the most valued of shark species for both meat and fins, suffer from excessive levels of targeted fishing as well as being bycatch casualties of other fisheries such as purse seining and long-lining for tuna.

The slow growth, late maturity, small litters and long lives of sharks make them vulnerable to over-exploitation. Porbeagle sharks gather together, making them especially easy targets for fishing – a critical factor in the collapse of their populations in the 1970s and continuing failure to demonstrate any lasting recovery.

Listing of all four species across their entire ranges was proposed but the porbeagle shark and the compromise on spiny dogfish were only agreed after intense negotiation.

WWF has also raised concerns over declining populations of Mediterranean bluefin tuna – subject of a recent International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) decision to continue fishing at well over scientifically recommended levels – as a species of concern before the migratory species convention.

WWF Signs New Agreement for African Cetaceans

2008-12-05

Mamadou Diallo, from the WWF's West African Marine Ecoregion Programme today signed a new intergovernmental agreement to conserve the West African Manatee and Small Whales in Western Africa and Macaronesia.

The conservation instrument consists of 2 Action Plans for the conservation of theses species was first adopted by 15 countries in Togo in October, and opened for signatory by implementing partners today.

Along with WWF, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society also signed the agreement.

More than 30 small cetacean species will be covered in this agreement, in an area that stretches from Macaronesia, through Morocco to South Africa.

The need to conserve and raise awareness of western Africa's marine mammals is as pressing as ever. Various threats, includin:

direct and accidental catch,
coastal development,
pollution and
habitat degradation,

...have caused western African marine mammal populations to decline rapidly. These issues require action on a regional, national and global level.

This agreement can play a vital role in future conservation efforts by helping to facilitate transboundary cooperation and by providing an international platform to negotiate and coordinate research and conservation measures.

15 country representatives signed the agreement in October - Angola, Benin, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Togo).

Tuna commission comes up with "a disgrace, not a decision"

2008-11-24

Marrakech, Morocco - The commission tasked with preventing a collapse of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery today opted for catch quotas still far higher than its own scientists recommend and leaving industrial fleets free to scoop up tuna at the height of its spawning period.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, for the past week, brushed aside its own review’s description of its management of the bluefin fishery as “an international disgrace” to endorse a total allowable catch (TAC) of 22,000 tonnes for next year.

ICCAT’s own scientists had recommended a TAC ranging 8,500 to 15,000 tonnes per year, warning there were real risks of the fishery collapsing otherwise. The scientists also urged a seasonal closure during the fragile spawning months of May and June, while today’s outcome allows industrial fishing in practice up to 20 June.

“This is not a decision, it is a disgrace which leaves WWF little choice but to look elsewhere to save this fishery from itself,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, head of WWF Mediterranean’s fisheries programme, speaking from Marrakech.

“Any alternative is preferable to an organization which boasts of its respect for science but where in a decade catches have gone from twice to four times the scientific recommendations, with massive legal and illegal overfishing. It is clear that the only thing to slow the fishery with ICCAT at the helm is running out of fish.”

The European Union drove today’s decision, supported by Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria and later joined by Japan.

Japan had initially been party to a US, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Iceland and Brazil proposal, supported by a brace of developing nations, to fix the allowed catch at the upper levels recommended by scientists and closing the fishery for the full spawning period.

The debate has been marred by allegations of the European Commission threatening developing state members with trade retaliations should they support lower catch limits and extended closed seasons, with the names of some nations appearing and disappearing from the more scientifically-based proposals.

“ICCAT’s string of successive failures leaves us little option now but to seek effective remedies through trade measures and extending the boycott of retailers, restaurants, chefs and consumers,” Dr Tudela said.
WWF has been urging a suspension of the out-of-control fishery, an option endorsed by the recent World Conservation Congress and recommended by ICCAT’s own internal high-level review.

The world’s largest bluefin tuna trader, Mitsubishi, signalled earlier in November that it would “reassess” its “involvement in this business” should ICCAT continue to be unable to sustainably manage the fishery.

“WWF will also actively push for a listing under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in the hope that stringent trade controls tied explicitly to the survival of the species will turn around the half-hearted attempt at fisheries management shown here by ICCAT and especially its European contingent.”

CITES next meets in Doha in January 2010 with submissions on listings required by August 2009.
“Today’s outcome is a recipe for economic as well as biological bankruptcy with the European Union squarely to blame,” said Dr Tudela.

“Bluefin consumption in the main consumer market of Japan is expected to drop from 18,000 tonnes due to the economic crisis, with around 30,000 tonnes of frozen bluefin already in Hong Kong and Japan and additional unknown amounts in other Asian countries and in freezer ships.

“Our industry sources also tell us that there are 7,000 tonnes of illegally fished tuna in fattening cages across the Mediterranean that nobody wants to buy.”

The moratorium option, which the scientific panel said would lead to the quickest recovery in bluefin stock and the best future prospects for fulfilling ICCAT’s charter of delivering a long-term sustainable fishery, was not even given consideration by the commission in Marrakech despite increasing support for this option from European fishermen.

West Africa Marine Newsletter (April 08)

2008-04-14

Contents:

Hygiene and quality: two major challenges for artisanal fish processing: the case of WWF’s work in Cayar.
Artisanal fish processing in Senegal: Economic emergence and development actions
Environmental Education : Start of the second edition.
Networking artisanal fishers’ professional organizations in the subregion
PREM comes to Guinea
Joal Fadiouth MPA marked by the first buoy
Campaign to monitor marine turtles in Joal-Fadiouth, St-Louis and Palmarin in Senegal.

New guide to reducing bycatch goes online

2008-02-12

As a service to the long-term sustainability of both fish stocks and fishing communities, WWF has established an online resource providing up-to-date information on bycatch (the capture of non-target creatures in fishing gear) and how to reduce it.

The new website, accessed through WWF’s familiar www.panda.org portal, aims to take fishers, consumers and those simply concerned, through the whole bycatch story, from problems to proven or potential solutions.

“Bycatch costs fishers time and money,” said Amanda Nickson, Head of WWF’s Bycatch Initiative. “It contributes to the already critical problem of over-fishing, it jeopardizes future revenue, jobs and long-term food security.

“It is also a major killer of marine wildlife. How many more reasons do you need to change the way we fish?”

Each year, many millions of tonnes of marine animals such as turtles, whales, dolphins, sharks, and seabirds, right through to juvenile fish, corals, crabs and starfish etc are caught by modern, indiscriminate yet highly efficient fishing gear and thrown back into the water (‘discarded’), dead or dying.

In the tropical shrimp trawl fisheries, for example, bycatch may outweigh the shrimp catch by 20 to 1 or more, according the UN Food and Agricultural Organization.

Much of this bycatch consists of juvenile and low-value fish which are then often discarded, usually dead. Such wastages constitute a serious mismanagement of our valuable ocean resources. In many cases, however, bycatch can be reduced with modifications to fishing gear, which according to Nickson makes “the ongoing high level of bycatch unethical”.

“It's time to change - and we hope this site and the resources we've provided will help us all contribute to bycatch reduction," she said.

The new site maps where fisheries are working to reduce bycatch and includes a new searchable database that showcases bycatch solutions through fishing gear modifications. WWF, which is devoting major new resources to tackling this problem in key fisheries, is confident the new site will become an invaluable source of information for everyone, including fishers, politicians, technical experts, journalists and interested members of the public.

The site is found at www.panda.org/bycatch

Green turtle nesting sites discovered in Senegal

2007-10-31

Dakar, Senegal – A WWF survey has discovered several marine turtle nesting sites on the beaches of Senegal, prompting calls from conservationists to improve protection of the endangered species.

The survey — conducted by WWF staff, Senegalese wildlife officials and the local community between July and September — discovered nine new green turtle nests on the beaches of Joal-Fadiouth in the Saloum Delta south of the capital, Dakar.

Turtle tracks in the sand left by female turtles were also discovered at nearby Palmarine Beach as well as at Langue de Barbarie at the mouth of the Senegal River in the northern part of the country.

“The nests confirm that these beaches are important nesting sites and must be protected,” said Dr Mamadou Diallo, WWF Senegal’s programme manager for species.

“Even beaches with tracks but no nests are important to protect as they are potential nesting sites.”
In Joal-Fadiouth, where the nine nests were found, each was marked and enclosed with wire mesh to protect them from predators.

Thanks to a broadly supported public awareness campaign, illegal turtle capture and consumption has dropped by over 80% in Joal-Fadiouth.

"By protecting the nesting beaches, we not only help conserve this rare species but also provide the basis to develop sustainable tourism to watch these rare turtles in their natural setting,” Dr Diallo added.

In October and November, as hatching time draws near, the surveillance teams will work all night to take photographs and count the hatchlings as they find their way back to the sea.

In addition to green turtles, the waters of Senegal, and the greater West African Marine Ecoregion, are also home to other marine turtle species, including the loggerhead, hawksbill, olive ridley, Kemp’s ridley and leatherback.

For further information:
Birima Fall, Communications Manager
WWF West African Marine Ecoregion
Tel : +221 33 869 37 00
E-mail: bfall@wwfsenegal.org

Sea turtles threatened by rising seas

2007-09-10

Climate change is warming the earth. Ice is melting and sea levels have started to rise. This causes damage, with serious consequences for nature and for coastal communities.

Scientists have now looked at the impacts of sea level rise on sea turtles. These ancient animals lay their eggs into the beach sand. Many turtle species return to the exact beaches that they were hatched to lay the eggs for the next generation of turtles.

However, sea level rise threatens beach habitat and turtle reproduction will be hard hit. To investigate the threat of climate change, a recent study examined the nesting sites of sea turtles in the Caribbean Islands under three likely sea-level rise scenarios.

The authors of this report found that with a moderate 0.5 m rise in sea level, a third of the total current beach area could be lost. Among the 13 beaches that were surveyed one particularly vulnerable beach could lose almost its entire suitable sea turtle habitat. This magnitude of beach habitat loss could literally be the point of no return for populations of already critically endangered sea turtles, such as the hawksbill turtle.

Climate change effects on marine turtles can include:

loss of nesting and feeding habitats due to sea-level rise;
increased sand temperatures, which can lead to changes in sex ratios or potentially result in mortality;
increased ocean temperatures, which can lead to coral bleaching and other damage to turtle feeding habitats;
changes in ocean currents, which can modify migrations paths and feeding patterns; and
extreme rainfall events, which can increase the potentially lethal transfer of sediment to coral reefs and raise water tables, thereby flooding nests.

WWF´s Latin America and Caribbean Programme and the Climate Change Programme are constructing a research project to quantify the impacts that climate change will have on hawksbill turtles, provide a model for assessing future climate change impacts to other marine turtle species, and begin to shape how we develop conservation strategies to protect marine turtles in the face of climate change. The first stage of this project targets the Caribbean region.

This study will identify the location and susceptibility of known hawksbill nesting areas to climate change and will provide management prescriptions to reduce the vulnerability of hawksbill turtles and increase their resilience to climate change. When completed WWF will provide tools, such as a map highlighting current nesting areas, key habitats and migration paths that are potentially threatened by sea level and temperature rise, so that managers and conservationists can prioritize their efforts. WWF is currently looking for partners to embark in this program of work.

WWF is also working across the globe to help protect hawksbill, leatherback, and other species of sea turtles and the habitats that they need to survive. They are threatened by hunting, pollution, beach development (such as coastal resorts), and by unsustainable fishing practices (for example, unintentionally catching turtles when harvesting fish). Now climate change adds an additional threat.

“As we continue to pollute our atmosphere with emissions from power plants, sea level rise increases and will drastically reduce sea turtle nesting sites,” says Michael Case, WWF Climate Change Research Scientist. “Climate change could well be the long-term threat that determines whether some species of sea turtles survive or go extinct.”

Will the people also be affected?

Nearly half of the world’s human populations live within 200 km of coasts. Many countries rely on the environmental and economic values of coasts such as fishing, tourism, and transport. Many of the largest cities are coastal cities, for example London, New York, Shanghai and Singapore.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the current rate of sea level rise is 1-2 mm per year. By 2100 we could see the water rising between 90 and 880 mm. This rise in sea levels will have a number of impacts including coastal flooding, the destruction of coastal wetlands, increased erosion of beaches and other coastal land.

We can only guess how prohibitively expensive sea level rise will be.

Source:
Fish et al. 2005. Predicting the Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Caribbean Sea Turtle Nesting Habitat. Conservation Biology 19(2):482-491.

See Carlos Drews' interview with CNN en Español on September 13, 2007

Fish Dish - exposing the unacceptable face of seafood

2006-09-27

We have chosen six seafood dishes eaten in Europe – cod and chips, tuna, sushi, plaice fillet, swordfish steak, langoustine linguine, and seafood paella — and exposed the major problems behind them, namely:

Overfishing ( taking more fish than the population can replenish)
Illegal fishing ( over-quota, unlicensed, unreported, and/or unregulated fishing)
Wasteful fishing ( discarding huge numbers of unwanted fish, including juvenile fish)
Unselective fishing ( bycatch of non-target species)
Destructive fishing ( the use of fishing gear that damages marine habitats)
Unfair fishing ( in the waters of developing countries).

Cape Verde: tourism or turtles?

2006-02-03

By Olivier van Bogaert*

Slowly dragging its shell onto the beach, a turtle emerges from the ocean. It is midnight and the moon is casting its shadow over the remote, white-sandy coastline of Boa Vista — one of the ten islands that make up the West African island-nation of Cape Verde.

The strong sea breeze does not seem to bother the turtle as it slowly, but determinedly, finds its way among the dunes in search of a safe spot to lay its eggs. Once found, a two-hour ritual then begins as the prehistoric sea creature meticulously digs a 30cm hole with its rear flippers. This exhausting exercise will provide a nest for more than 40 whitish, golfball-sized eggs. After covering the hole with its hidden treasures, the turtle will slowly return to the sea, never to know what becomes of her offspring.

Later that night and further on down the beach, dozens of turtle hatchlings break through another nest after days of digging, only to begin their frenzied and chaotic rush towards the waves.

Every year, from late May to September, more than 3,000 loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) come ashore on Cape Verde’s beaches, particularly at Ervatao beach, the third most important loggerhead nesting site in the world after Oman’s Massirah Island and the Floridian keys. Amazingly enough, the Boa Vista site was discovered only a few years ago.

“Marine turtles have been wiped out on almost all of the other Cape Verdean islands, but they have thrived so far on Boa Vista where human predation and pressure is lower,” says Dr Luis Felipe Lopez, a 64-year-old Spanish biology professor from Las Palmas University. Lopez is leading a local conservation group, Natura 2000, to protect the turtles’ nesting habitat at Ervatao.

With only 4,200 people living on the 620km² island — mostly inhabiting the small town of Sal Rei and a few neighbouring villages — Boa Vista is one of the archipelago’s most pristine islands. But for how long?

Tourist attraction or turtle destruction
Ironically, the island’s biggest threat — and by extension a threat to the turtles — may come from the unspoiled coastline itself. With 50km of beautiful, uninhabited beaches, the island is likely to become a magnet for sun-seekers, especially if the government’s plans to develop the area for tourism go through.

Because of poor soils and regular droughts, only 10 per cent of Cape Verde’s land is suitable for agriculture. Like other small-island states with limited resources, the government is trying to boost revenue through tourism development, including actively promoting foreign investments throughout the archipelago. This strategy is starting to pay off as the number of tourists visiting Cape Verde has jumped from 67,000 in 2000 to 178,000 in 2004, with about 60 per cent of all visitors coming from Italy, Germany, and its former colonial ruler, Portugal.

Boa Vista is part of the development strategy. The island now has the second most hotel rooms in Cape Verde, with more than 1,200 beds in 12 hotels. Four more are under construction, including two large resorts that will double the island’s accommodation capacity. Some suggest that future tourism development will increase the island’s capacity to 30,000 beds within 20 years.

To help reach that projection, Boa Vista has been chosen as the site of one of three planned international airports. Currently, there is only one main international airport on the island of Sal.

“With the new airport, we believe that up to one million tourists could visit Boa Vista each year,” says Ricardo Monteiro, WWF’s Programme Officer in Cape Verde.

“However, the planning process lacks transparency. Nothing has been done to assess the potential effect of land speculation, inflation, and increased immigration to the island. And, it does not address the likely negative impact on the natural beauty and biodiversity of the island.”

Cape yellow
When Portuguese mariners first landed on the Cape Verde islands in 1456, the vegetation was so green that they named the place “green cape”. But severe, recurrent droughts since the 18th century have destroyed most of that green cover.

Nonetheless, Cape Verde still hosts a high degree of biodiversity, featuring many species of animals and plants that are found nowhere else. These include four species of birds — the Cape Verde sparrow (Passer iagoensis), the Cape Verde swift (Apus alexandri), the endangered raso lark (Alauda razae), and the Cape Verde warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis), as well as 12 species of lizards, 5 small bats and some 92 species of plants, such as the endangered marmulan tree (Sideroxylon mermulana).

The surrounding waters of the Atlantic Ocean provide important feeding grounds for marine turtles and breeding humpback whales, as well as fishing grounds for both local and international fishers. Recent studies have also found coral reefs of global significance off the coast of several of the islands, and the João Valente seamount — an underwater mountain range between the islands of Boa Vista and Maio — is a unique marine environment hosting a high concentration of fish and other species.

With help from WWF and Natura 2000, the government has identified and declared 47 protected areas throughout the archipelago. At the international level, the country has recently joined the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), and Boa Vista’s Curral Velho wetland will soon be added to the Ramsar list of wetlands on international importance.

“There are rays of hope as the government starts to realize that it must take the protection of the environment seriously,” says Celeste Benchimol, coordinator of WWF’s marine and coastal biodiversity conservation project in Cape Verde. “They need to strengthen their environmental legislation, as well as conduct environmental impact assessments. These should be carried by independent experts and not by tourism investors themselves.”

WWF fears that certain areas slated for tourism development are adjacent to, or overlap with, protected areas.

“Criteria for selecting these zones are not always transparent, and they usually lack clear marked boundaries and management plans,” Benchimol added.

For example, a project on the island of Sal aims to build a marina and a tourist resort for 15,000 people in the middle of a marine protected area where humpback whales feed. Around Praia, Cape Verde’s capital, large-scale tourism projects are already being developed, copying the successes of the “nearby” Canary Islands — some 1,500km to the north. But not everyone wants Cape Verde to become one big resort.

“We believe tourism is not only sea and sun,” stresses Filomena Ribeiro, Cape Verde’s Tourism Director. “We don’t want to be the next Canary Islands. We have learned from our initial mistakes when we developed tourism infrastructure without control.”

WWF, together with Wetlands International, is working with the government and local communities to protect the marine and coastal biodiversity of the archipelago by developing and implementing sound environmental management plans. The project is also contributing to the creation of more marine protected areas and the protection of such key species as marine turtles and whales.

“Given the strategic economic importance of tourism to the country it is vitally important to develop and implement policies and practices that will ensure sustainability,” says Arona Soumare, WWF’s Marine Protected Areas Programme Officer based in Dakar, Senegal. “Ultimately, authorities need to understand that it is better to implement sound tourism practices on a wider territory than to allow massive, destructive, operations in a concentrated area as they plan in Boa Vista.”

Returning to sea
Hunting turtles in Cape Verde dates back as far as the 15th century, when European explorers reported that leprosy was being treated locally by a diet of turtle meat and by rubbing the affected areas with turtle blood. Even today, unemployed villagers near Ervatao beach occasionally hunt turtles to feed their families. But, as marine turtles are among the most endangered species on the planet, environmental groups are doing their best to protect the nesting beach from further poaching.

Natura 2000 is currently working on a turtle conservation project that assesses the status, distribution, and abundance of marine turtles in Cape Verde. To date, the team of scientists and volunteers has tagged thousands of loggerheads on the beaches of Boa Vista. Some turtles are being equipped with satellite transmitters that will enable researchers to track their migratory routes and feeding areas. Natura 2000 also regularly offers training to turtle specialists from Cape Verde and other West African countries, and is partnering with WWF on an ecotourism programme based on turtle watching.

“We will employ guides from the local communities,” says Dr Lopez. “If locals can be directly involved in, and benefit from, turtle protection, the beach will remain a paradise for the endangered loggerhead.”

It is dawn on Ervatao and Dr Lopez, helped by a couple of young volunteers, is counting, weighing and measuring loggerhead hatchlings recently born at a protected hatchery set up on the beach. Volunteers and project staff alike bring eggs taken from nests likely to be destroyed by the tide. Once examined and documented, the hatchlings are released to the sea.

“What happens at sea is anyone’s guess,” Lopez says, “but here on land we are doing everything we can to ensure their survival.”

* Olivier van Bogaert is Senior Press Officer at WWF International

END NOTES:

• Loggerhead turtles are widely distributed in coastal waters, mainly in subtropical and temperate regions and travel large distances following major warm-water currents like the Gulf Stream. The age of sexual maturity for loggerheads is not certain, but some scientists have estimate the age between 10 and 30 years (Recent studies from Australia indicate that it may be between 34 and 37 years). Nesting frequency is also uncertain. Females nest an average of three to five times per season, but they have been documented to nest up to six times, laying between 40 and 190 eggs per clutch. As with the other marine turtles, the loggerhead does not appear to nest every year. Data from the US suggests that nesting takes place about every two years.

• Marine turtles are one of the oldest creatures on earth, but today most are threatened with extinction as a result of getting caught in fish hooks and nets, as well as from the illegal poaching and sale of turtle shell, leather, and meat. Turtle eggs are also collected in large numbers. As a result, all seven species of marine turtles — hawksbill, green, Kemp’s ridley, Olive ridley, leatherback, flatback, and loggerhead — are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), while six of the seven species are listed as “Endangered” or “Critically Endangered” by IUCN-The World Conservation Union.

• The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 150 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1,589 wetland sites, totaling 134 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Cape Verde currently has three wetland sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance — Curral Velho, Lagoa de Rabil, and Lagoa de Pedra Badejo.

Time to clean up the chemicals in Africa

2006-02-03

By Clifton Curtis

If you are already worried about global warming, melting glaciers and rising sea temperatures as some of our planet’s most serious threats, there’s more. While largely out of sight and mind of most peoples’ daily lives, there is another threat that is silently fouling our air, food, water, soil, and overall health: toxic chemicals.

Just as it is the richest countries in the world which have caused a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, the same can be said about the manufacturing and dumping of chemicals. Sadly, it is the poorer countries, especially in Africa, that are paying the price.

Modern society has developed an extensive array of synthetic chemicals over the last several decades — chemicals to control disease, improve public health, increase food production, and provide more convenience to our already busy lives. Ironically, many of these well-intentioned chemicals are now wreaking havoc around the world.

Humans, wildlife and entire ecosystems are threatened by chemicals that can alter sexual and neurological development, impair reproduction and undermine immune systems. Today, there is unequivocal evidence that a number of widely distributed synthetic chemicals — including PCBs as well as other industrial chemicals and pesticides — have already caused serious damage to our health and pose an ongoing danger, especially when they are discarded and mismanaged.

In Africa, more than 50,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticides and seriously contaminated soils have accumulated throughout the continent over the last four decades, with less than 5% of the stockpiles being disposed of. These dangerous chemicals are a serious threat to the health of both rural and urban populations — often the poorest and most vulnerable — and significantly contribute to land and water degradation.

Because many African and other developing countries suffer from weak import controls, lack of training on appropriate pesticide use, a lack of safe destruction technologies, and poor storage and stock management, the situation is only getting worse.

Removal of old chemicals is rarely perceived as a priority development issue. In fact, both international donor agencies and recipient countries alike are often reluctant to divert funds already allocated to poverty reduction, food security or other aspects of sustainable development to the issue of waste disposal. That’s a shame as the linkage between waste, health impacts and poverty issues couldn’t be more obvious.

Some are already responding to the need to protect African communities and the environment from the never-ending build-up of hazardous pesticide stockpiles. A unique partnership between governments, the private sector, institutions such as the World Bank, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, African Union, CropLife, and environmental organizations like WWF, are working with national governments and their local communities to clean up obsolete pesticide stocks and help prevent future accumulations.

By reducing and removing long-standing toxic threats, this African stockpiles programme is promoting public health and environmental management and safety, and in effect, contributing to poverty reduction — a goal that is at the top of the international community’s development agenda.

However, even with all the numerous international agreements that are addressing hazardous chemicals — agreements that cover how chemicals are traded and transported, and how they can be reduced and substituted with safe alternatives — what continues to be missing is an overarching strategic approach to international chemicals management.

As delegates gather at an international conference on chemicals management in Dubai this week (4-6 February 2006) to finalize a new strategic approach agreement, they need to commit to strengthening national, regional and international laws and programmes to reduce or eliminate stockpiled chemicals that continue to pose the most serious health threats to humans and wildlife.

Although this agreement is to be voluntary — rather than a legally binding instrument — it is widely seen as a moral and political necessity, in line with the UN’s goal of minimizing chemical-related harm to the environment and human health by 2020. While most governments have endorsed the strategic approach, a few have expressed reservations about committing to chemical management reform, opposing new or innovative initiatives, as well as references to the need for new and additional financial and technical assistance. Regrettably, these countries, for the most part, are the same ones that are equally reluctant to agree on targets and timetables for reducing gas emissions in another international agreement on climate change.

International chemical safety requires cooperation among all stakeholders. By adopting and implementing a strategic approach to international management of chemicals, the international community will be doing an enormous service to developing countries in strengthening their capacity for the sound management of chemicals and hazardous wastes and improving the quality of life of its citizens.

* Clifton Curtis is director of WWF's Global Toxics Programme

Melon-headed whales guided to safety in Cape Verde

2005-10-27

Sal, Cape Verde – A pod of melon-headed whales recently stranded in a Cape Verdian bay in the Atlantic Ocean were guided back to sea in a rescue operation after being spotted by local residents.

Of the nine whales that were stranded, seven made it to safety. Unfortunately, two did not survive.

“We congratulate the residents of Murdeira Bay for this excellent conservation rapid response,” said Ricardo Monteiro, Programme Officer at WWF’s office in Cape Verde.

"For the first time residents, developers, construction workers and conservationists really worked together for a common conservation cause."

The melon-headed whale (Peponocephala electra) — closely related to pilot whales and pygmy killer whales — is widespread throughout the world's tropical and sub-tropical waters, although not often seen by humans on account of its preference for deep water. The whale mostly feeds on small fishes and squids, which are abundant in Murdeira Bay.

The bay is also temporary heaven for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeanglie), which come to nurse their calves between September and April each year.

This is not the first time melon-headed strandings have been reported in Cape Verde, an archipelago consisting of nine islands some 500km off the coast of West Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. In 2003, there was a mass stranding on Santa Luzia Island where more than 100 individuals died.

“Last year in Santo Antão Island, there were also reports of 9 whales stranded at Sinagoga,” added Vanda Monteiro of Cape Verde’s Fisheries Development Institute. “This is the second stranding in less than a year in Cape Verde.”

The first stranding took place at Laginha beach on São Vicente Island last April. Beach goers and government officials were able to guide them out to sea with no casualties reported.

“Local people are in the front line of conservation and should be relied upon for such great conservation deeds,” said Celeste Benchimol, WWF’s Project coordinator in Cape Verde.

In Cape Verde, WWF is managing a marine and coastal conservation project with a view to helping to secure healthy habitats for whales and other species. Specific efforts are currently being put into the creation of two Marine Protected Areas — one at Santa Luzia and another at Murdeira Bay.

"The project is at the early stages of a biodiversity inventory, which will provide park managers and local communities with the right tools to better manage their parks," added Benchimol.

END NOTES:

• WWF's Western African Marine Ecoregion (WAMER) programme covers the Cape Verde Islands, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal. One of WWF's objective in this area is to improve the conservation status of marine turtles in West Africa by preserving marine turtle hotspots, improving knowledge on marine turtles species, and stengthening sub-regional collaboration.

For further information:
Celeste Benchimol, Programme Coordinator
WWF Cape Verde
Tel: +238 262 2585
Email: cbenchimol@wwfcaboverde.org

Ricardo Monteiro, Programme Officer
WWF Cape Verde
Tel: +238 241 2060
Email: rmonteiro@wwfcaboverde.org

Frédéric Bambara, Communications Officer
WWF West Africa Marine Ecoregion Programme
Tel:+221 869 37 00
Email: fbambara@wwfsenegal.org

Creation of a Marine Protected Area network in Senegal

2005-07-13

This is an important step towards establishment of a viable, ecologically-representative MPA network in Senegal’s waters.These new MPAs will support sustainable fisheries management by protecting important fish breeding and nursery areas, and by securing support from fishing communities close to the parks to help with monitoring and surveys. It is anticipated this will encourage other communities to seek establishment of MPAs.Particularly significant in this process is the extremely strong community involvement starting with requests from coastal communities for MPAs, also in site selection and in

final agreement on the creation of these five new MPAs.Senegal is at the heart of the West African Marine Ecoregion (WAMER), one of the Global 200 – a science-based ranking of the world’s most biologically outstanding and globally representative areas of biodiversity, and a conservation priority for WWF. WAMER countries include Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, and Guinea. WWF recognizes the creation of the five new MPAs as a Gift to the Earth – a globally significant conservation achievement, and an example of environmental leadership which can inspire others.

Download the full factsheet - click on the document in the top right of this screen.

Senegal celebrates creation of new marine protected areas

2005-07-13

Dakar, Senegal – WWF has recognized the creation of five new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by the government and local communities of Senegal as a Gift to the Earth, the global conservation organization's highest accolade for significant conservation achievements.

The establishment of a network of MPAs off the Senegalese coast – covering a total area of 82,500ha – is crucial for the protection of fish spawning grounds and stock recovery. Nearly 700 fish species have been recorded in Senegal's waters, together with 20 cetaceans and five marine turtle species.

“We welcome this historic and visionary act made by local communities and the government of Senegal for future generations,” declared Dr Claude Martin, Director General of WWF International, who attended the ceremony in Senegal.

"We also look to Senegal to continue its leadership in marine resource managmenet and to work with other countries in the region to develop more sustainable fisheries agreements."

Over the past few years, local communities have been working with the Senegalese government to ensure the protection of the country's marine and coastal resources, which are being threatened by overfishing, illegal catches, and the destruction of spawning grounds

According to WWF, the quantity of commercially-valued fish caught in Senegal's territorial waters has decreased by more than 80 per cent since the 1950s. These are worrying statistics as the fishing industry makes up a fourth of Senegal's national budget, creates numerous jobs, and constitutes an important source of protein for coastal and inland populations.

The establishment of the five MPAs represents a benchmark for the regional programme for the protection of coastal and marine resources (PRCM), which was catalyzed through a partnership between WWF, IUCN, the International Foundation for the Banc d'Arguin, Wetlands International, and the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission for the safeguard of the region’s marine resources and benefit of local fishermen.

"It is a new hope for Senegalese fishermen," said Papa Samba Diouf, Coordinator of WWF's Western Africa Marine Ecoregion Programme.

"The MPAs are essential to a sustainable management of fishing areas, especially when resources are already strongly exploited in Senegal. We hope that the creation of the new reserves will be a model for the creation of others in Senegal and in the sub-region.”

During the event, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade pledged to create 10–15 new MPAs in his country, as well as establish two transboundary MPAs with neighbouring Mauritania and The Gambia.

Representatives from The Gambia committed to establishing a further two MPAs, as well as Cape Verde, which said it was also committed to the establishment of a biosphere reserve. Guinea Bissau committed to one new MPA to be established by 2007.

END NOTES:

• At the fifth World Parks Congress in September 2003, the government of Senegal declared its intention to create five new marine protected areas. This declaration of intent was honoured one year later through a government decree.

• The five MPAs consist of the St Louis, Kayar, Joal-Fadiouth, Abéné, and Bamboung Marine Protected Areas.

• The Western African Marine Ecoregion (WAMER) covers the Cape Verde Islands, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal. One of WWF's objective in this area is to improve the conservation status of marine turtles in West Africa by preserving marine turtle hotspots, improving knowledge on marine turtles species, and stengthening sub-regional collaboration.

For more information:
Papa Samba Diouf, Coordinator
WWF West Africa Marine Ecoregion
Tel:+221 869 37 00
E-mail: wamer@wwfsenegal.org

Arona Soumaré, Marine Protected Areas Programme Officer
WWF West Africa Marine Ecoregion
Tel:+221 869 37 04
E-mail: asoumare@wwfsenegal.org

Frédéric Bambara, Communications Officer
WWF West Africa Marine Ecoregion
Tel:+221 869 37 05
E-mail: fbambara@wwfsenegal.org

Marine Protected Areas - providing a future for fish and people

2005-06-27

They also provide services to local communities who depend on the sea and its resources, increasing food security and reducing poverty. MPAs can also benefit local people by opening new opportunities to gain income. Countries with coral reefs attract millions of SCUBA divers every year, yielding significant economic benefits to the host country. Globally, almost USD 10 billion are spent on coral reef tourism annually.

By establishing MPAs, we can restore the balance in the use of our oceans, safeguarding valuable fish stocks and important habitats while providing long-term solutions for local communities.

The challenge

The world’s oceans are under more pressure than ever before. From France to Japan, from Senegal to Australia and Chile, fish stocks are overfished and important habitats are being lost or degraded at an unprecedented rate. Sixty per cent of coral reefs are expected to be lost by 2030 if present rates of decline continue. The increasing number of people living on the coasts and the rapid rise in consumer demand for fish threaten marine biodiversity across the oceans.

Inadequate fisheries management and widespread overuse of marine and coastal resources are also eroding the traditional basis of life for millions of people and even entire countries, depriving communities of their main source of vital protein and increasing poverty.

Yet, only a mere 0.5 per cent of the oceans are protected – compare this to 13 per cent of land area under protection. And the large majority of that is inadequately managed, with almost all marine protected areas open to tourism and recreation and 90 per cent open to fishing.

To turn the tide towards healthy oceans, the world’s leaders agreed, at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002, to create representative networks of MPAs by 2012.

It’s time to put these global agreements into action!

Download the brochure (PDF format) to find out more about the benefits of Marine Protected Areas

Fair fishing deals

2005-06-22

Fisheries access agreements are increasingly common arrangements between big fishing nations and coastal developing countries. Many of these agreements simply allow foreign vessels access to coastal fisheries through paying a lump sum in cash, with no obligations on how this money should be used, nor for the vessel owners to respect the state of fish stocks.

Such agreements often entail negative consequences for fisheries and local communities, for example by depriving local communities and local fishing industries from revenue opportunities, and are in breach with the development goals agreed upon by the international community.

The European Union's reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) includes principles of sustainability – both in terms of environment, economy and social aspects – and the EU is now aiming for all its vessels to exploit fisheries in a sustainable manner, whether in European or distant waters. If these principles are incorporated into all new fisheries access agreements between the EU and third countries, fishing deals could achieve healthy fisheries, contribute to sustainable development and reduce poverty.

To bring about this essential change of direction in access agreements, WWF is focussing our work on the EU. We believe the EU's legal framework for distant water fleets can, if properly designed, serve as a model for sustainable agreements to be used by all countries engaged in distant water fishing.

Download our leaflet

Caught in nets: WWF report identifies dolphins, porpoises most in need of urgent action

2005-06-09

Gland, Switzerland – Nine dolphin and porpoise populations around the world need immediate action if they are to survive the threat of entanglement in fishing gear.

These are the findings of a new WWF report based on a first-ever assessment by leading marine scientists.

According to WWF, bycatch – the capture in fishing gear of unwanted fish and other species – is one of the greatest global threats facing dolphins, porpoises, as well as whales.

When caught in fishing nets, many of these cetaceans, which need to come to the surface for air, get trapped underwater and die.

Previous estimates show that more than 300,000 cetaceans are killed in fishing gear each year in the world’s oceans.

The report indicates these dolphins and porpoises as languishing without attention, but stresses they could recover if changes to fishing methods and other conservation efforts were made.

They include harbour porpoises in the Black Sea, where thousands of porpoises are killed each year; Atlantic humpback dolphins off the coast of West Africa; Irrawaddy dolphins in South East Asia; and Franciscana dolphins in South America.

Most of the species on the list are threatened by the widespread use of one type of fishing gear – gillnets. These nets are difficult for dolphins and porpoises to spot visually or detect with their sonar, so they may become tangled in the netting or in the ropes attached to the nets.

“Almost 1,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die every day in nets and fishing gear. That’s one every two minutes," said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF's Global Species Programme. "Some species are being pushed to the brink of extinction. Urgent action is needed - and we developed this ranking to help governments and aid agencies know where their money and efforts can really make a difference."

For example, between 1993 and 2003, fisheries in the United States introduced changes, such as modifications of fishing gear, that reduced cetacean bycatch to one-third of its previous levels.

But so far, few of these successful measures have been transferred to other countries, and in much of the rest of the world, progress to reduce bycatch has been slow or nonexistent.

"Rather than simply identifying the species or populations at greatest risk, or the geographical locations where the bycatch problem is most severe, the group of scientists was asked to emphasize where the prospects for successful intervention were especially good," said Dr Randall Reeves, lead author of the report and the chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Cetacean Specialist Group.

The report will be submitted to the International Whaling Commission’s scientific committee at its annual meeting next week in the Republic of Korea.

The scientific committee last year endorsed the methodology of the WWF report.

NOTE:

Species and populations designated in the report as among the top priorities for investment of resources are:

Irrawaddy dolphins in the crab net/trap fishery in Malampaya Sound, Philippines

Irrawaddy dolphins in gillnets in the Mekong, Mahakam and Ayeyarwady rivers and in Chilka and Songkhla lakes, Southeast Asia

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in drift and bottom-set gillnets on the south coast of Zanzibar (Tanzania)

Harbour porpoises in coastal gillnets in the Black Sea

Spinner dolphins and Fraser’s dolphins in large-mesh driftnets and purse seines in the Philippines

Atlantic humpback dolphins in coastal gillnets in the northern Gulf of Guinea (Ghana, Togo)

Burmeister’s porpoises in artisanal gillnets in Peru

Franciscana dolphins in coastal gillnets in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil

Commerson’s dolphins in coastal gillnets and midwater trawls in Argentina

For further information:

Joanna Benn, Communications Manager
WWF Global Species Programme
Tel: +41 22 364 9093

Olivier van Bogaert, Senior Press Officer
WWF International Press Office
Tel: +41 22 364 9554

Le Lac Rose, un diamant à préserver

2005-05-03

Dakar, Sénégal- Le Bureau du programme marin du WWF pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest est heureux de s’associer à la première édition, le samedi 14 mai au Lac Rose, de l’évènement éco-culturel BIO’TOP, créé par Dasha Nicoué, styliste de renommée Internationale. Cette manifestation vise à sensibiliser l'opinion publique internationale sur les menaces qui pèsent sur ce joyau écologique de la sous-région.

Cet évènement éco-culturel, le premier du genre, portera une attention particulière sur Lac Rose (ou Lac Retba), site unique au Sénégal et dans la sous-région ouest africaine qui, de par son degré élevé de salinité et la présence de bactéries vivant dans le sel qu'il contient, donne une couleur rose à ses eaux sous l’effet combiné du vent et du soleil.
Selon Papa Samba Diouf, Coordonnateur du Bureau de programme marin du WWF pour l'Afrique de lOuest « cette manifestation sera l’occasion pour solliciter l’engagement des populations locales et des autorités comptétentes du Sénégal pour faire du Lac Rose un site à protéger». Quant à madame Dasha Nicoué, Organisatrice de l'évenement, elle désire faire de cette manifestation, dénommée Bio'Top, un outil de communication en faveur du Lac Rose.

En effet, ce lac constitue non seulement un attrait touristique majeur (connu aussi comme point d’arrivée du rallye Paris-Dakar) mais permet également l’extraction du sel.Cette activité, pratiquée de manière artisanale, fait vivre la quasi-totalité des populations riveraines et attire un flux migratoire considérable de l’intérieur du Sénégal et de pays de la sous-région tels que la Guinée, la Gambie, le Mali, le Burkina Faso, etc.

Le Lac Rose et son bassin versant (160 km2) sont actuellement dans un état de dégradation très avancé, conséquence des multiples agressions naturelles et surtout humaines liées aux nombreuses formes d’empiètements et de pressions (tourisme, urbanisation anarchique, agriculture, etc.) qu’il subit. Ces pressions qui détruisent le couvert végétal riverain du lac, ont pour conséquences directes l’ensablement du lac et la réduction de sa superficie le menaçant ainsi de disparition.

BIO’TOP contribuant au développement d’une conscience écologique globale, il est apparu important au WWF d’appuyer l’initiative en ce sens que le Lac Rose fait partie intégrante de ce qui rend l’Afrique de l’Ouest riche en joyaux naturels. A ce titre, il mérite un statut particulier.

Depuis l’ouverture de son bureau du programme marin pour l'Afrique de l'Ouest à Dakar en 2001, le WWF déploie d’importants efforts pour accomplir sa mission principale qui est de préserver la diversité biologique des habitats côtiers et marins. Il concentre pour l'instant ses actions dans six pays de la sous-région totalisant environ 3500 km: la Mauritanie, la Gambie, le Sénégal, la Guinée-Bissau, la Guinée et le Cap-Vert.

Pour plus d’informations :
Lyne Larochelle (221) 869 37 00 llarochelle@wwfsenegal.org ou wamer@wwfsenegal.org

:::Video:::
Tracks: an unsual challenge for marine turtle hatchlings

2005-04-20

Sea turtles are endangered.

The main threats are incidental mortality in fishers' nets and hooks, destruction of nesting beaches and feeding habitats, and overexploitation for eggs, meat and shells.

Natural predators take an additional toll, particularly on eggs and hatchlings.

Only about 1 in a 1000 make it to adulthood.

On some beaches, turtle hatchlings face an additional challenge: climbing across vehicle tracks.

Many do not succeed and walk along these deadly traps, failing to find a way out to the sea.

This 3.5 minute video shows these loggerhead hatchlings struggling to cross a vehicle track on a beach in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. (Flash download version also available 7.7MB)

The conservation implications of allowing vehicle traffic on nesting beaches are a concern for WWF´s marine turtle programme.

Production, footage and editing: Carlos Drews - WWF Marine Turtle Coordinator for LAC

Date of filming: 6th February, 2005

Location: Bangha Nek, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Species: Loggerheads (Caretta caretta)

Format: MPEG 4 (readable with Mac)

Duration: 3 min 24 sec

Date of release: 2 April 2005

Soundtrack: no narration, original sound

Note: the video sequence includes footage of hawksbill turtles hatching (filmed in Costa Rica). All shots of hatchlings walking portrait loggerheads in Kwazulu-Natal.