WWF - Conservation and environmental news & publications: Brazil

Mediterranean bluefin catches continue to mock quotas and science

2009-11-12

Porto de Galinhas, Brazil: New bluefin tuna catch estimates show Mediterranean fishing fleets continuing to make a mockery of fishing quotas set by the beleaguered Atlantic tuna commission.

The new catch estimates – themselves likely to severely underestimate the effect of continuing rampant illegal fishing – are also around four times the level scientists estimate would give the collapsing tuna population only limited chances of recovery over a time span of more than a decade.

Scientists attached to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) estimated the 2008 bluefin catch at 34,120 tonnes, well over last year’s quota of 28,500 tonnes set under the discredited 2006 ICCAT “recovery plan”.

Last year, ICCAT set a 22,000-tonne catch quota for 2009 in a controversial response to its scientists’ recommendations for a quota as low as 8,500 tonnes.

The new estimates come as ICCAT considers radical amendments to management measures in the face of rising calls for an international trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna and a supporting suspension of the fishery.

“New estimates lodged with ICCAT’s science committee show that one quarter of the latest estimated bluefin tuna catch would give us just a toss of the coin chance of recovering the tuna population by 2023,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, WWF Mediterranean.

Dr Tudela said he believed the latest estimates themselves were well under the real catch.

“To accept these figures at face value we have to accept a huge reduction in the amount of illegal fishing over the previous year,” he said. “I just don’t see the evidence or the reasoning for this miraculous drop in illegal fishing, while there is abundant evidence that pirate fishing remains rampant.”

ICCAT’s scientific committee notes that the estimates take no account of illegal fishing by unregistered boats.

The French navy reported dubious catch data and a lack of observers in intercepted Turkish bluefin boats, investigations are underway into the reflagging of vessels in Algerian waters and a Spanish study revealed laundering of undersize tuna through tuna fattening farms for the Japanese fresh tuna trade.

Opening the ICCAT meeting, chair Dr Fabio Hazin of Brazil said ICCAT had to set up “an efficient mechanism for the monitoring and control of the fishing fleets” and capable of “applying penalties proportional to the infringements detected”.

“We have been very much able to impose sanctions on non-members in the past and time has also come for ICCAT to show it does not have double standards, and that it is equally determined to also impose sanctions on its members in the same way it does with non-members,” he said.

G20 finance ministers fail to reach green on climate financing

2009-11-07

St Andrews, Scotland – Finance ministers of the world’s dominant economies failed to reach agreement on the financing required for a global agreement to stave off catastrophic climate change, WWF said today as the G20 finance ministers meeting here broke up with no resolution to issues dividing developed and emerging economies.

The lack of progress made by the G20 in St. Andrews, follows another week of inconclusive negotiations in UN climate talks in Barcelona as the world heads towards the crucial UN climate conference in Copenhagen in a month’s time.

With the G20 now having considered the climate financing issue three times without reaching common ground, WWF remains sceptical about today's promise to make further progress before Copenhagen.

“The G20 Finance Ministers meeting turned out to be a mostly irrelevant sideshow on the way to the talks in Copenhagen in a months’ time," said Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland.

"Failure to come to agreement here is a major disappointment.

“This is a group that can throw money at collapsing banks but cannot find adequate figures for the far worse challenge to the global economy of a collapsing climate system."

In detail, the G20 ministers acknowledged the need to increase significantly and urgently the scale of funding but failed to make any reference to the sums required, estimated to be around $160bn a year of public financing.

They also failed to agree on new sources of funding for a climate deal, such as auctioning emissions credits and levies on aviation and shipping.

"Talk of a financial transaction tax which has the potential to raise hundreds of billions in new funding every year turned out to be a red herring without solid political support," Dr Dixon said.

The G20 agreed some principals on a mechanism to administer and distribute these funds but failed to turn these into concrete proposals and - despite last week's pledges from Europe - no new money was put on the table to help the most vulnerable countries adapt to a changing climate.

It is estimated the immediate need for the most vulnerable nations is around $10bn a year.

WWF endorsed the G20s continuing professed interest in winding back fossil fuel use subsidies, but said the group needed to focus its main attention on getting an effective global deal on climate.

“If we are to keep the planet below the danger threshold of a 2ºC temperature rise, the rich nations of the world are going to have to help developing countries follow a low-carbon development path and help them cope with the impacts of current and future climate change," Dr Dixon said.

"We wanted to see solid proposals on how the money would be raised, managed and distributed and an indication of how soon the countries most vulnerable to climate change will receive assistance. The G20 has failed to deliver and the real work will now have to be done at Copenhagen.”

WWF, Greenpeace y otras ONGs hacen propuesta a Ministros Iberoamericanos

2009-09-11

A menos de 90 días a Copenhague ministros de medio ambiente reciben documento "Tratado Climático a Copenhague" .

Santiago, Chile. 10 de septiembre de 2009.- El documento técnico “Tratado Climático de Copenhague” elaborado por un grupo de organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG), entre las que se encuentran WWF y Greenpeace, fue entregado a la Ministra de Medio Ambiente de Chile, Ana Lya Uriarte, anfitriona del IX Foro Iberoamericano de Ministros de Medio Ambiente, con el fin de que ella pueda ponerlo a disposición de los ministros y autoridades regionales que se encuentran participando de este Foro, celebrado los días 9, 10 y 11 de septiembre de este año.

Ricardo Bosshard, Director de WWF Chile, Gustavo Ampugnani, Coordinador de Políticas de Greenpeace en Latinoamérica y Rodrigo Herrera, Director de Greenpeace Chile, tuvieron la oportunidad de reunirse con la Ministra chilena, minutos antes de que se inaugurara el Foro de Ministros, para entregarle los tratados y expresarle su interés de que esta información pueda ser discutida en la reunión.

El Tratado insta a los países que participan de las negociaciones del cambio climático a combinar acciones ambiciosas y urgentes sobre una propuesta que refleja una visión compartida en donde se resalta el esfuerzo internacional necesario para abordar el cambio climático y, simultáneamente, cumplir con los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible.

Esa visión expone los objetivos globales a largo plazo respecto a cuatro piedras angulares: mitigación, adaptación, tecnología y financiación, indicando que es necesario para una transición del mundo hacia una economía con cero emisiones de carbono a lo largo de las próximas décadas, incluyendo una reducción global de las emisiones de al menos el 80% en 2050 respecto a los niveles de 1990.

Por su parte, Ricardo Bosshard, Director de WWF Chile, hace un especial llamado al Gobierno de Chile, país anfitrión, para que aproveche esta oportunidad de liderar las discusiones que permitirán tomar las decisiones, difíciles pero necesarias, que permitan enfrentar los efectos negativos del cambio climático.

Son alrededor de 14 ministros y viceministros de toda Iberoamérica, los que están participando, durante estos dos días, en un encuentro que tiene como fin discutir acerca de los planes nacionales que los países están adoptando frente al cambio climático, con miras a la próxima Conferencia de la ONU sobre Cambio Climático que se realizará en diciembre en Copenhague.

Los resultados y conclusiones de esta reunión serán elevados a la consideración de los mandatarios durante el desarrollo de la XIX Cumbre Iberoamericana de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno, que se celebrará a fines de noviembre en Portugal.

Massive river water transfers lacking scrutiny

2009-08-20

Stockholm, Sweden - Large scale transfers of water from one river basin to another are generally occurring without adequate scrutiny of their economic, environmental and social impacts, according to an analysis released to World Water Week by WWF.

“With the number of large water transfer schemes possibly nearly tripling by 2020 and the amount of water transferred expected to double, poorly assessed mega-transfers have the potential to inflict immense harm on both the communities donating the water and the communities receiving it,” said WWF-Germany Freshwater Director, Martin Geiger.

Pipe dreams? looked at existing and proposed large water transfer schemes in Spain, Australia, Lesotho and South Africa, Greece, Brazil, Peru and China and found the schemes to be high cost, high risk solutions to water problems “with the benefits much less, or likely to be much less, than the sales pitch,” Geiger said.

By 2020, large scale water transfers from one river basin to another are expected to reach around 800 cubic kilometres a year - around half a Lake Ontario or more than eight Lake Genevas. With problems evident in many of the 360 schemes implemented since 1950, the total number of schemes is predicted to reach between 760 and 1240 by 2020.

Australia’s Snowy Mountains Scheme took 99 per cent of the iconic Snowy River’s flows to produce power and provide for distant irrigation, causing generations of conflict. Despite expensive re-engineering and irrigation efficiency schemes, implementation of a decision to return a forth of the Snowy River flows is well behind schedule while climate change impacts are threatening to seriously reduce power generation.

Both donating and receiving basins experienced depletion and damage as Spain’s 282 km Tagus-Segura transfer provoked a unrestrained expansion of irrigated land, much now watered illegally. Planners were wildly optimistic about the water available and while users of the transferred water were to pay for the scheme and its operations only around 30 per cent of these payments have been collected.

Greece’s proposed diversion of the Acheloos River, mainly an economically questionable US$ 3.9-5.9 billion (€ 2.9 – 4.4 billion) prop to thirsty cotton farming heavily subsidised by the EU on the Thessaly Plains, is likely to go ahead following government circumvention of a Supreme Court declaration it was illegal and would be in violation of local, European and international laws on issues including water management, environmental assessment procedures and cultural heritage protection.

The report finds that in many cases there was little examination of alternatives to massive schemes, particularly in managing demand and promoting efficient water use in the mostly water scarce regions.
“Often it is going to make much greater sense to import water in extra food grown in wetter areas than to import water to grow food in a drier area,” said Geiger. “However, non-technical solutions such as this trade in virtual water, less water intensive farming or more water efficient industries and cities tend to be neglected in planning directed at just supplying more water continually.”

Water planning in isolation is also likely to lead to unforeseen problems. The report details the numerous examples of poor integration with land use planning, particularly for agriculture and inadequate consultation on schemes leading to often severe local and regional conflict.

“Don’t venture into interbasin transfers unless you have done your homework on impacts and alternatives,” Geiger said.

“Otherwise you could face serious planning deadlocks, operational shortfalls, unforeseen economic and environmental disruption, and expensive follow-up works that will only partly remedy the damage. If trends in water tables through climate change are not properly taken into account, the water planned for transfer might not be there any more in future.”

Programa Pantanal de WWF Bolivia - hoja informativa

2009-07-01

Desde 1998, WWF trabaja en la región, focalizada en la llanura de sedimentación de la cuenca, es decir el Gran Pantanal, a través de programas de conservación tanto en Bolivia como en Brasil. Pero, conocedores de que la conservación del Pantanal depende del mantenimiento integral de la parte alta de la cuenca del río Paraguay, las acciones del programa ahora se extienden hacia otros ecosistemas relacionados, que se encuentran fuera del humedal.

El Programa Pantanal se realiza bajo el objetivo de mantener los procesos hidro-biológicos que sustentan la parte alta de la cuenca del río Paraguay, y el Pantanal en particular, facilitando oportunidades de desarrollo sostenible y gestión ambiental en la región.

Las intervenciones de WWF en el Pantanal se basan en la fortaleza institucional de trabajar en una red mundial, de manera coordinada en regiones transfronterizas. Las acciones se implementan de manera coordinada entre WWF Brasil y WWF Bolivia a través de un plan ecorregional, resultado de un trabajo técnico que definió las estrategias de intervención para los próximos tres años en el Pantanal (2010-2012).

Amazon squatter law fuels deforestation worries

2009-07-01

Brasília, Brazil – Conservationists worry that further deforestation will follow from Brazil now allowing squatting on Amazon land – regulations that encompass parcels equal to the combined size of Germany and Italy.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva late last week signed into law new land regulations covering 67 millions hectares that are occupied without proper ownership documentation. However, some mechanisms inserted by the National Congress into this law open the way for possible fraud and do not contain strong enough conservation guidelines, which could lead to further cutting down of the Amazon.

Concerned with these consequences of the law, Brazilian NGOs, including WWF-Brazil, conducted intense lobbying to push President Lula to veto the added mechanisms.

WWF-Brazil supports the land regulation and believes it is essential to ensure property to family scale farmers dwelling in the region, if enforced with social and environmental responsibility.

But some aspects of the law may lead to an inappropriate occupation of Amazon’s lands. For example, the provision allowing the selling properties of more than 400 hectares after three years could stimulate the market for land in the region without necessarily improving the production of food or guarantees against deforestation.

Overall, the law does not establish preventive actions against future land occupation and deforestation, said Claudio Maretti, WWF-Brazil's Conservation Director.

The new law also includes:
• Expanding the maximum size of areas that can be legalized and regulated, from 100 to 1,500 hectares
• Rejecting government inspection of land
• Allowing lands exceeding 400 hectares to be sold to someone else just three years after being legalized, which will stimulate the land market in Amazon

"We need to sensitize lawmakers and the government in order to bring Brazil to a position of leadership concerning sustainable development,” said Denise Hamú, WWF-Brazil's CEO.

While WWF-Brazil applauded Lula’s decision to prohibit the transfer of Amazon's public lands to private companies and the indirect exploitation through an intermediary, the government still needs to clarify how it will prevent deforestation on these areas.

"The debate about climate changes and the struggle against deforestation – the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions of Brazil -- is a global concern, and we are witnessing several natural catastrophes in the country”, Maretti said. “We need actions to encourage an environmentally responsible economy, more protection to the Amazon forest and benefits to local communities, as the creation of sustainable use reserves and real concession of the use to those who live in the reserves.”

More studies needed for Amazon dams

2009-06-09

La Paz, Bolivia - An international group of scientists has called for more studies into the impacts of large hydro-energy projects in the Amazon and other tropical regions.

The International Symposium held in Bolivian government seat La Paz looked at multiple studies, focusing on the Madeira river watershed, to assess required and prudent levels of environmental, social and economic evaluation of tropical dam projects.

“The main objective of the studies supported by WWF is to contribute to the fair and expected Bolivian Amazon development to be reached in a sound manner, especially considering enough elements not to jeopardize the ecosystem and its use irreversibly for future generations,” said Marcela Añez, Infrastructure Officer with WWF Bolivia.

The Madeira river is the Amazon’s main tributary and supplies the greatest quantity of water and sediments to the river. Research presented at the symposium showed that the Brazilian dams of Jirau and Santo Antonio would cause hydraulic and hydrological impacts in Bolivia, including an increased risk of floods.

The symposium, attended by scientists from Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and France, also heard an estimated that 80 percent of fish in the Bolivian Amazon are migratory, and some of the species with an important value from a commercial and subsistence point of view could be affected.

“Within the possible impacts are the gradual reduction in fishing, which could affect at least 16,000 Bolivian families whose livelihood depends on this activity,” said Paul Van Damme, from the FaunAgua Association.

Marc Pouilly, from IRD, also warned that “there is considerable data that is precise and which predicts that floods will occur as a consequence of the dams, which could affect the use of natural resources and increase diseases such as malaria, yellow and dengue fevers. It is very important to carry out further studies to estimate the extension of the area of the Bolivian Amazon that could be flooded, as well as the impacts in the dams’ nearby areas and downstream”.

Other impacts that have been observed in dams that are constructed in tropical areas is the increase in mercury in fish (in the reservoir and mainly down river), deforestation in the area along the power lines, contamination with herbicides to maintain these power lines, retention of sediments and erosion on river banks, according to Jean Remy Davée Guimaraes, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

In terms of socioeconomic impacts, Manuel Antonio Valdés, from the Rondonia Federal University (UNIR), added that, in the case of Brazil, 65 percent of the population that was visited in the area of the Madeira river (close to 1,100 families) as part of the research will very likely have the need to move, leaving behind their animals, crops, customs and ways of life in harmony with the river. Of these, only 30 percent have land property titles, which would make social compensation efforts difficult.

The event was coordinated by Jorge Molina of the Institute of Hydraulics and Hydrology at Andrés University (IHH/UMSA), the Institute for Research and Development (IRD) and WWF, the global conservation organization.

IHH, IRD and WWF have been supporting research and dissemination of technical information related to the possible impacts that might occur in Bolivia as a result of the construction of dams on the Madeira river in Brazil, aiming to provide input for stakeholders to be able to influence decision makers, minimize negative impacts and promote the development of sustainable energy infrastructure in the Bolivian Amazon. The scientists’ main concerns revolve around the sensitivity of the northern Amazon in Bolivia in regards to the dams, and the need for improved evaluations.

MEJORAR LA CALIDAD DE EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL, SOCIAL Y ECONÓMICA, ASÍ COMO BUSCAR ALTERNATIVAS ENERGÉTICAS

2009-06-02

Coinciden científicos al analizar obras de infraestructura hidro-energética en la Amazonia

La Paz, 20 de mayo de 2009 – Es esencial mejorar la evaluación ambiental, social y económica de los proyectos hidro-energéticos en ejecución y previstos para la cuenca del río Madera, y que estos criterios sean la base para la toma decisiones en relación al desarrollo energético sostenible en la Amazonia. Esta fue una de las principales conclusiones del Simposio Internacional "Evaluación de Impactos Ambientales de grandes hidroeléctricas en regiones tropicales: El caso del río Madera", llevado a cabo en La Paz, Bolivia, el 19 y 20 de mayo.

Jorge Molina del Instituto de Hidrología e Hidráulica de la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (IHH/UMSA), quien lideró el evento junto al Instituto de Investigación para el Desarrollo (IRD) y WWF, la organización mundial de conservación, mostró que las represas brasileñas de Jirau y Santo Antonio provocarán impactos hidráulicos e hidrológicos en territorio boliviano, incluyendo el aumento del riesgo de inundaciones.

IHH, IRD y WWF vienen apoyando la investigación y difusión de información técnica relacionada a los posibles impactos que se puedan generar en territorio boliviano por la construcción de las represas sobre el río Madera en Brasil, con miras a proveer insumos para que los actores involucrados incidan en tomadores de decisiones, minimizando los impactos negativos y promoviendo el desarrollo de una infraestructura energética sostenible en la Amazonia boliviana. Las principales preocupaciones de los científicos giran en torno a la sensibilidad del Norte amazónico boliviano en relación a las represas, y la necesidad de mejores evaluaciones.

Se estima que el 80% de peces amazónicos bolivianos son migratorios y algunas especies que tienen importante valor comercial y de susbsistencia podrán ser afectadas. “Dentro de los posibles impactos está la reducción gradual de la pesca, la cual puede afectar por lo menos a 16.000 familias bolivianas que actualmente viven de esta actividad”, dijo Paul Van Damme, de la Asociación FaunAgua.

Marc Pouilly, de IRD, advirtió también que “existen datos bastante precisos que predicen que las inundaciones se darán como consecuencia de las represas, las cuales podrían afectar las actividades de aprovechamiento de recursos naturales e incrementar enfermedades como la malaria, la fiebre amarilla y el dengue. Es muy importante hacer más estudios para estimar la extensión del área de la Amazonia boliviana que puede ser inundada, así como los impactos no sólo en los embalses, sino en las zonas aledañas y río abajo”.

Según Jean Remy Davée Guimaraes, de la Universidad Federal de Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), otros impactos observados en represas que se construyen en ambientes tropicales son el aumento de mercurio en los peces (en el embalse y principalmente río abajo), la deforestación del área y del trazado de las líneas de transmisión, la contaminación por herbicidas para el mantenimiento de las líneas de transmisión, la retención de sedimentos y la erosión de las riberas del río.

Miguel Petrere de la Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) en Brasil, indicó que con las experiencias de las represas tropicales sabemos que estas no representan una energía limpia, “la diversidad, población y tamaño de peces disminuyeron considerablemente después de las represas. La comunidad científica puede ayudar a encontrar alternativas energéticas, así como locaciones para las represas que minimicen las repercusiones al ser humano y al medio ambiente”.

Sobre los impactos socio-económicos, Manuel Antonio Valdés, de la Universidad Federal de Rondonia (UNIR), agregó que, en el caso del Brasil, 65% de la población visitada en el área del río Madera (cerca de 1.100 familias) muy probablemente se verán en la necesidad de mudarse, dejando atrás sus crías de animales, plantaciones, costumbres y formas de vida en armonía con el río. De estos, solo el 30% cuenta con títulos de propiedad, lo que hará más difícil la implementación de un esquema de compensación social.

Durante las palabras de inauguración, la Directora de IRD, Marie-Danièlle Demelas, destacó el importante rol de las represas para el desarrollo humano, pero recordó que en muchos casos estas han generado un costo inaceptable y a menudo innecesario en términos sociales y ambientales.

Antecedentes

Participaron en este Simposio científicos expositores de Bolivia, Brasil, Ecuador, los Estados Unidos y Francia, que han venido desarrollando trabajos de investigación sobre los posibles impactos económicos, sociales y ambientales que resultarán de la construcción de represas en la cuenca amazónica y en particular en la cuenca del río Madera.

El río Madera es el principal tributario del Amazonas el cual aporta la mayor cantidad de agua y sedimentos, permitiendo la generación natural de una gran riqueza biológica y el equilibrio de toda la Amazonia.

Para mayor información:
Jorge Molina, IHH/UMSA: jmolina_ihh@acelerate.com
Marc Pouilly, IRD: pouilly@ird.fr
Nardyn Pizarro, WWF: npizarro@wwfbolivia.org

Soy industry adopts environmental safeguards

2009-05-28

Campinas, Brazil: Elements of the soy industry have agreed to take a milestone step toward improving their production practices, which have led to widespread deforestation, displacement of small-farmers and indigenous peoples, and loss of natural habitats.

On Thursday, participants in the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) unanimously agreed to implement a pilot program of voluntary production standards aimed at reducing the negative impacts of soy production on the environment and people, particularly in South America.

Most importantly, the interim standards require producers to take certain measures to protect the environment. Those include prohibitions on the conversion of areas with high conservation value – such as forests and savannahs –reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and eliminating the most hazardous pesticides in soy farming.

“We welcome this decision by RTRS members, but now the hard work begins to test and improve these standards over the next 12 months,” said Cassio Moreira, Coordinator of WWF Brazil’s Agriculture and Environment Program, who also serves on the RTRS board. “Everybody in the soy supply chain needs to jump into this process and make it work, especially the buyers who must show their commitment to support the implementation of these standards.”

The agreement is the result of years of dialogue between WWF, other NGOs, farmers, and the soy industry and was finalized at the group’s fourth annual meeting this week in Brazil. The RTRS currently counts more than 100 members, including major private interests in the soy industry, smallholder farmers, feed mill operators, traders, retailers, financial institutions, and social and environmental organizations.

The program is based on a set of standards – known as Principals and Criteria— to improve soy production. They will be tested among several growers and then revised before the next RTRS meeting in 2010. Members will then take a final vote on long-term standards.

The Principles and Criteria also require producers to:

Comply with the law and adopt good business practices.
Maintain good working conditions, such as paying workers the prevailing wage.
Dialogue with surrounding communities, such as equitably resolving land disputes.
Engage in good agricultural practices, such as reducing soil erosion, water use and pollution, and the safe handling and minimizing the use of agrochemicals.

The RTRS now needs to maintain momentum by developing a certification system to verify compliance with the standards and establish methods to trace the soy.

Expanding soy production has been linked to the dramatic loss of natural habitats, especially forests and savannahs, in South America. Soy fields have already replaced much of Brazil's savannahs - the Cerrado – and are threatening the Amazon by pushing cattle ranching into that area. The expansion of soy production also threatens the livelihoods of local communities. Agriculture contributed to the disappearance of most of the Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil and eastern Paraguay in the 1970s and 1980s – a scenario that could be repeated in other regions as the global demand for soy is expected to double by 2050.

Soybeans are used in the production of edible oil, cosmetics, foods, and feed for cattle, pigs, poultry and fish. More recently, soy has been used in the production of biofuels to meet increasing energy needs.

Ecotourism could help the Amazon reduce deforestation and handle climate change

2009-03-24

Responsible ecotourism in the Amazon tributary of the Aripuana River, could help reduce deforestation and help to protect one in 10 of the world's species.

WWF was party to an expedition to assess ecotourism prospects in the Amazon, home of the world’s largest water basin and most diverse rainforest.

The expedition party found that responsible tourism could be a successful way to engage local communities currently relying on slash and burn agriculture by offering an alternative livelihood.

Ecotourism is little practiced in the Amazon, partly due to the expense but also due to a lack of information about places where implementation is possible.

“When carried out in an ecologically correct manner ecotourism is a low impact environmental activity that contributes to maintenance of species and natural habitats,” said WWF-Brazil’s General Secretary Denise Hamú.

“It also promotes the value of culture and involves local communities.”

Deforestation is by far the most dangerous threat to the Amazon, home to one in 10 known species on Earth.

Victim and Villain

Human settlement and agriculture prompt people to slash and burn hectares of precious trees, causing habitat loss for hundreds of species and contributing to massive CO2 emissions.

The Amazon is both a victim and a villain of climate change with scientists warning that a 2C spike in temperatures will severely damage the vast forests; and a 4C rise would effectively kill it. But an estimated 60% of Brazil's emissions are directly linked to deforestation.

The ecotourism project under consideration would be mainly carried out by Brazil’s State Secretary for the Environment and Sustainable Development (SDS) of Amazonas and State Center for Climate Change.

In many other countries, such as Madagascar, responsibly run tourist sites are already producing good results and help to reduce the rate of deforestation.

Reducing deforestation is also, according to scientists, one of the cheapest way to combat climate change.

“You usually need a large initial investment to get something started if you want to offer safe, interesting and comfortable ecotourism options,” said Therese Aubreton, a researcher from SDS specializing in ecotourism. Aubreton participated in an expedition held between February 17 and 24 aiming to analyze the viability of the installation of ecotourism facilities along the Aripuanã River, in the Aripuanã Sustainable Development Reserve and its adjacent areas.

Difficult Access

The remote location of many beautiful and interesting places in the Amazon, some of which can only be reached by helicopter, together with a lack of transport and communication have to date prevented the development of tourism potential in this region.

WWF-Brazil is supporting projects that study these potential areas in order to, amongst other aims, attract more investment and enable successful ecotourism projects.

“More than just identify the natural vocation of Amazon for ecotourism, the expedition also studied the enterprise potential and the return for the local population from the reserve, the creation of opportunities for qualification and work in the tourist business,” Brazil’s Amazonas State Secretary for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Nádia Ferreira said

According to a study carried out by the Copérnico Institute of Holland’s Utrecht University, successful ecotourism projects could yield an average of US$3.26 to US$6.58 per ha of standing forest per year.

Cuenta regresiva hacia La Hora del Planeta crece como ímpetu global

2009-03-23

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia – La estatua del Cristo Redentor de Santa Cruz de la Sierra y su homónima en Río de Janeiro repentinamente se oscurecerán. Lo propio sucederá con el puente Golden Gate, la torre Eiffel y la Table Mountain de Sudáfrica.

Desde San Francisco hasta Shanghai, desde Estocolmo hasta Sydney, decenas de millones de personas se están preparando para “La Hora del Planeta”, cuando el sábado (28 de marzo) a las 8.30 pm apaguen sus luces para enviar a los líderes políticos mundiales una señal que no podrán obviar o malentender: la gente está demandando acciones referidas al cambio climático.

Una idea lanzada hace dos años por la oficina de WWF en Sydney en el intento de impulsar a políticos australianos recalcitrantes a la acción en relación al cambio climático, ha tocado una cuerda que ahora suena en todo el mundo.

Un estimado de dos millones de residentes de Sydney apagaron sus luces en 2007. En 2008, 371 ciudades en 35 países, entre ellas Santa Cruz de la Sierra, se unieron al espectáculo, y el número de participantes ascendió a unos 53 millones. Este año, unas 1500 ciudades y poblaciones en más de 75 países se han suscrito, y los impulsores esperan atraer a cerca de mil millones de personas.

El Secretario General de las NN.UU. Ban Ki-moon ha urgido a la gente a participar de La Hora del Planeta, sumándose a una cantidad de personalidades públicas, lo que el Arzobispo Desmond Tutu, otro protagonista del evento, describe como un voto mundial por la acción contra el cambio climático y potencialmente “uno de los mayores movimientos sociales que el mundo haya presenciado jamás”.

“El cambio climático es la mayor crisis inducida por el hombre que el mundo enfrenta actualmente. No discrimina raza, cultura ni religión. Afecta a cada ser humano en el planeta,” dijo el Arzobispo Tutu en una declaración emitida por WWF. “Si todos llevamos adelante este sencillo acto juntos, enviaremos un mensaje demasiado poderoso para ser ignorado a nuestros gobiernos.”

La urgencia de este acto y el mensaje que manda se potencia con la crisis financiera mundial. “Muchos líderes políticos no están oyendo las demandas públicas de toma de acción en torno al cambio climático que requieren escuchar, y de eso se trata La Hora del Planeta”, dice James Leape, Director General de la red mundial de WWF.

“Lo que se escucha de muchos líderes es ‘no estamos escuchando una demanda de nuestros votantes respecto a priorizar este tema, lo que estamos escuchando de ellos es arreglen la economía’,” agrega Leape. “El peligro en la crisis financiera es que va a ser usada como excusa para diferir acciones contra el cambio climático.”

Científicos advierten que esa es una opción cargada de riesgo. “Todas las señales del sistema terrestre y del sistema climático nos muestran que estamos en un camino de enormes e inaceptables consecuencias,” dijo la Prof. Katherine Richardson, organizadora de una conferencia en Copenhague a inicios de marzo para revisar los más recientes datos sobre cambio climático.

“El cambio climático no es un tema que desaparecerá,” dice Leape. “Cada año descargamos más y más carbono a la atmósfera, que se queda allí por mucho tiempo. Cada año posponemos tomar acciones, los costos se elevan y las probabilidades de ser exitosos en reducir emisiones se reducen. Es por ello que debemos tomar medidas ya.”

La Hora del Planeta de este año sucede en un momento particularmente propicio, justo días antes de la cumbre G20 en Londres. Los activistas esperan ayudar a mover al cambio climático al tope de la agenda internacional, actualmente dominada por la crisis financiera mundial, y en este proceso generar el momento político necesario para que los gobiernos se pongan de acuerdo en acciones agresivas para detener emisiones de carbono en la cumbre sobre cambio climático de las NN.UU. en Copenhague en diciembre.

La cumbre de Londres, enfocada en coordinar respuestas a la crisis financiera mundial, no será la ocasión para decidir sobre acciones referidas al cambio climático, pero sus líderes deben reconocer que la recuperación económica y el cambio climático son complementarios, no prioridades que compiten entre sí, dice Leape.

De hecho, el cambio climático debe ser central en las iniciativas de recuperación económica, argumenta Nicholas Stern, el economista británico asignado por el Primer Ministro Gordon Brown para evaluar el impacto del cambio climático y presidente de un instituto de investigación que estudia el tema. Los gobiernos deben asegurar que los miles de millones de dólares que están invirtiendo en paquetes de incentivo no encierren sus economías en tecnologías costosas e insostenibles.

Adicionalmente, la cumbre de Londres representa una oportunidad de enfocar a los líderes de las mayores y más ricas economías mundiales en lo que deben hacer y promover acciones previas a Copenhague en diciembre.

“La cumbre puede concluir que el cambio climático es un problema que debe ser atendido este año”, dice Leape, “que los países industrializados deben comprometerse a metas agresivas de reducción de emisiones de carbono, que todos los países deben comprometerse a un crecimiento bajo en emisiones de carbono en el mundo en vías de desarrollo y que los países industrializados deben implementar mecanismos financieros robustos que viabilicen esto.”

En Copenhague, destaca Leape, los países industrializados deben acordar reducir sus emisiones de carbono en un 25 a 40% respecto al nivel de 1990 hasta 2020, los países en vías de desarrollo deben reconocer la importancia de sus emisiones y aceptar participar en las reducciones, los países con bosques tropicales deberán aceptar y actuar para reducir la deforestación, y las economías desarrolladas deberán encontrar en el orden de 100 mil millones de euros anuales hasta 2020.

Lograr consenso en torno a estos objetivos es un reto formidable en el prevaleciente ánimo de crisis e incertidumbre, pero Leape aun ve varias influencias positivas: un reciente estudio de McKinsey & Co. subraya que los costos para migrar a una economía baja en emisiones de carbono son eminentemente accesibles; de hecho, países como China, Corea del Sur y EE.UU. ya están invirtiendo fuertemente en medidas de estímulo verdes; un tercer factor de importancia crítica ha sido el advenimiento de un nuevo gobierno en EE.UU.

“Ha sido muy difícil para la comunidad internacional progresar en este tema encarando la resistencia de EE.UU. durante los pasados ocho años,” dice Leape de WWF. “Con EE.UU. entrando al juego, ahora tenemos el potencial de masa crítica. Le ha dado a la gente nuevas esperanzas de que podemos unirnos en torno a esto en los plazos que nos hemos fijado.”

Ahora depende de los políticos alrededor del mundo si lo hacen o no. Al apagar las luces para La Hora del Planeta, el Arzobispo Tutu resalta que el público les dirá “los ojos del mundo están mirando.”

Sobre WWF
WWF es una de las organizaciones independientes de conservación más grandes y con mayor experiencia en el mundo. WWF nació en 1961 y es conocida por el símbolo del Panda. Actualmente, cerca de 5 millones de personas cooperan con WWF, y cuenta con una red mundial que trabaja en más de 100 países. WWF trabaja por un planeta vivo y su misión es detener la degradación ambiental de la Tierra y construir un futuro en el que el ser humano viva en armonía con la naturaleza, conservando la diversidad biológica mundial, asegurando que el uso de los recursos naturales renovables sea sostenible y promoviendo la reducción de la contaminación y del consumo desmedido.

www.panda.org/media para noticias recientes y recursos mediáticos.

Sao Paulo's industry commits to legal wood use to protect Amazon

2009-03-18

Wood and construction companies in Sao Paulo -- Brazil’s most industrialised and populous state -- have committed themselves to the use of legal and certified wood in a move which could help preserve the country’s vast endangered forests.

Under the agreement brokered with help of WWF Brazil and Sao Paulo’s authorities, these businesses will develop mechanisms which demand from their suppliers to acquire wood in compliance with environmental legislation and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

“The project involves training buyers on how to identify the origin of wood they are purchasing, working to eliminate illegal wood and to increase certified wood from their suppliers,” says WWF-Brazil’s CEO, Mrs. Denise Hamú. The Legal Timber Commitment also aims to develop studies and sustainable products adequate to the construction.

The voluntary agreement, called the Legal Timber Commitment, has been signed by dozens of companies operating within the state of Sao Paulo, plus representatives from the government and third sector.
The state and municipal government will also commit themselves to buy wood only from legal or certified sources.

The state consumes 15 percent of the 16 million m3 of Amazonian timber produced annually in Brazil, of which 70 percent is used for construction.

“We are doing our part in sustainable environmental preservation. We will disseminate the environmental legislation and the guidelines for the responsible consumption of wood to the construction companies and their suppliers,” said Sergio Watanabe, the president of SindusCon-SP, Brazil’s largest association of construction companies.

Brazil’s Amazon forests, where most of the tropical wood is acquired from, are endangered by both climate change and deforestation. Reducing deforestation is, according to scientists, one of the cheapest ways to fight global warming.

The agreement encourages using certified wood, which does not degrade the environment and contributes to the social and economic development of local communities.

The certification process guarantees forest maintenance by reducing the impact of logging and securing a long-term economic viability of the activity. A sustainable exploitation of forests helps to reduce waste and enables financial benefits.

East meets West for Earth Hour in over 500 cities

2009-02-19

Number of cities and towns signed up to Earth Hour 2009 exceeds 500
75 countries now committed
Global brands pledge support for the lights-out campaign

The global call to action on climate change has been answered from east to west as a record 538 cities and towns in 75 countries sign up to turn their lights off at 8.30pm on 28 March for Earth Hour 2009.

East meets west for Earth Hour as icons such as the Merlion in Singapore, Hong Kong’s Symphony of Lights and the Shanghai Hong Kong New World Tower, unite with some of the Western world’s most famous landmarks, including Paris’ Eiffel Tower, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Sydney’s Opera House, Table Mountain in Cape Town, CN Tower in Toronto and Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Casino, to go dark.

Earth Hour Executive Director Andy Ridley said the global growth in support for Earth Hour has been phenomenal.

“In 2007, Earth Hour was held in one city, Sydney. A year later, the number of cities had skyrocketed to 371. With six weeks to go before Earth Hour 2009 we are well over the half-way mark towards our goal of 1,000 cities and towns.

“Earth Hour is bringing together the diverse peoples of the world in a truly universal and unifying way. From Auckland to Hawaii and Cape Town to St Petersburg, people are coming together to vote with their light switch for action on climate change,” said Mr Ridley.

As the campaign continues to gather pace, some of the world’s best known brands are leading the call for action from the business community.

“The business community has an incredible ability and responsibility to engage employees, customers and suppliers to create a sustainable future for our planet,” Mr Ridley said.

HSBC is supporting Earth Hour by pledging to turn off lights in offices in 33 countries around the globe. Swedish furniture giant IKEA is running Earth Hour awareness campaigns in its stores, not only in its home country but as far away as China.

Global leader in commercial real estate services, CB Richard Ellis, is encouraging lights-out participation in the more than 2.0 billion square feet of buildings it manages in more than 50 countries. Leading professional services firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, is providing consultants across Asia Pacific and other territories.

Boutique companies are getting involved in creative ways, such as luxury travel business Abercrombie & Kent, which will be ensuring Earth Hour is celebrated in some of the most remote parts of Africa, including on wildlife reserves and on the Nile.

“With the support of businesses, countries and citizens globally, Earth Hour 2009 can reach out to one billion people voting with their light switch on 28 March for action on climate change,” said Mr Ridley.

Amazon could prosper thanks to emission payments, be lost without

2009-02-10

Zeist, the Netherlands - Global payments for ecological services rendered by the Amazon such as the carbon retaining in its forests could go a long way to preserving them, a new study has found.

Keeping the Amazon forests standing: a matter of values, carried by the Copernicus Institute of the University of Utrecht on behalf of WWF, valued the avoided emissions from deforestation or degradation over large areas of the Amazon at between 55 and 78 euro per hectare per year.

These include erosion protection (up to 185 euro per hectare per year) , pollination services by rainforest insects (38 euro/$49 USD) per hectare per year in Ecuadorian coffee plantations), forest products such as honey, fruits and mushrooms (40-80 euro) and ecotourism (2.5 -5.5 Euro).

This compares to the returns from the production of commodities as beef and soya, the main Amazonian products imported by Europe. Soya generates 230 to 470 euro per hectare annually and cattle breeding adds up 40 to 115 euro per hectare per year

While the the major areas of Brazilian soya production are outside the Amazon, the economic interest for this commodity is adding to pressure in the region.

The WWF report shows that the revenue currently received from economic activities in which the natural environment remains intact is not high enough to offset the non-sustainable activities, but finding mechanisms to secure global payments for the forest's ecological services would be a major impetus to both preserving the forest and paying for and providing for proper management.

The key emerging likely mechanism as the world tackles climate change is the s so-called REDD mechanism (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) where industrialised countries would pay for forest preservation and the combating of CO2 emissions in tropical countries.

The plans for this mechanism allow for large money flows to become available for sustainable forest management, which will also benefit local communities such as the native population of the Amazon region.

Johan van de Gronden, General Manager of WWF-Netherlands, comments: “REDD is not the only mechanism for the realisation of sustainable forest management, but certainly the one that is the most promising.’’

WWF Brazil emphasised the importance of tackling issues at the receiving end of any REDD mechanism, such as the lack of clarity concerning land ownership, the illegal occupation of land and the illegal land market.

“National and international companies should also play a role of leadership, selecting their suppliers and cleaning and decarbonizing their productive chains thus participating actively of the sustainable development of the Amazon”, said Denise Hamú, CEO of WWF-Brazil.

As the fourth-largest trade partner of Brazil, the Netherlands is a major contributor to the destruction of the rainforests. For example, the country is the largest importer of soya in the world after China.

“Humans are very dependent on the services provided by the Amazon region that are disappearing rapidly but for which we are not paying as yet: rain for agriculture, clean drinking water, pure air and the combating of global warming,” said Van de Gronden:

“Especially because of its large contribution to the Brazilian economy, the Netherlands can play a leading role in stimulating a sustainable economic development of the Amazon region by choosing to import sustainable produced goods – such as FSC-certified timber- only.’’

Earth Hour 2009 setting new records in climate concern

2009-02-05

Already twice the participating countries of Earth Hour 2008
Archbishop Desmond Tutu leads call for action on climate change
Obama artist Shepard Fairey likens flicking switch to climate vote

With eight weeks still to go, citizens, businesses and public authorities in 375 cities across 74 countries have already committed to turning off their lights for one hour at 8.30pm on 28 March in a graphic show of support for decisive action on climate change.

The list of cities confirming their participation in Earth Hour 2009 includes 37 national capitals and some of the great cities of the world, including London, Beijing, Rome, Moscow, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Athens, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Sydney, Mexico City, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Manila, Las Vegas, Brussels, Cape Town and Helsinki.

The WWF-sponsored event continues to show amazing momentum, from being a Sydney, Australia awareness-raising event in 2007, to the astounding 371 cities across 35 countries total last year. As participation for Earth Hour 2009 storms past this level of municipal involvement in more than twice the number of countries, discussions are under way or nearing completion in hundreds of other cities.

WWF Director General, Mr James Leape, said he is optimistic about the campaign’s potential to drive key decision making on the issue of climate change.

“With hundreds more cities expected to sign up to switch off in the coming months, Earth Hour 2009 is setting the platform for an unprecedented global mandate for action on climate change,” he said.

Along with the great metropolises of the world, Earth Hour 2009 will also see the lights go out on some of the most recognised landmarks on the planet, including Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Table Mountain in Cape Town, Merlion in Singapore, Sydney Opera House, CN Tower in Toronto, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the world’s tallest constructed building Taipei 101.

A host of high profile ambassadors across the world have also lent their support to the campaign, most notably Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett.

Shepard Fairey, the artist noted for his graphic portrayals of Barack Obama during the recent US Presidential Election, has likened flicking the switch to casting a vote on climate change in artwork for the Earth Hour campaign.

Earth Hour Executive Director, Mr Andy Ridley, said the 2009 campaign as an opportunity for the people of the world to cast their vote on this important global issue.

"Earth Hour by its very nature is the essence of grassroots action. This is the opportunity for individuals, from all corners of the globe to unite in a single voice and demand action on climate change”, said Mr Ridley.

2009 is a critical year for action on climate change, with the world’s leaders due to meet at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December to sign a new deal to supersede the Kyoto Protocol.

Brazil falls short with forest emission reduction ambitions

2008-12-03

Brasilia, Brail: Brazil's revised National Climate Change Plan, which for the first time defines goals for reducing massive emissions from deforestation in the Amazon, is commendable but still short on ambition and detail, WWF-Brazil said today.

The revised plan was released to coincide with the Conference of Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Poznan, Poland which is to put key processes in place to achieve an international climate agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol by the next COP meeting in Copenhagen in December next year.

Under the revised plan, the Brazilian government establishes a goal of reducing the annual rate of deforestation by 40 per cent from average 1996-2005 levels during 2006-09, with reductions of a further 30 per cent in each of the subsequent four-year periods. The aim is to achieve a total decrease of over 70% by 2014-2017.

Achieving these goals would avoid 4.8 billion tons of CO2 emissions during 2006-2017, a figure greater than the annual emissions of the European Union.

“This goal is reasonably ambitious,” says Carlos Alberto de Mattos Scaramuzza, Conservation Director at WWF-Brazil. “To achieve it, next year deforestation will have to drop 23% in relation to this year.”

In Brazil, land use and land use change represent 75% of greenhouse gas emissions, the vast majority originating from deforestation in the Amazon region. Hence reducing deforestation in the Amazon is a critical component of any strategy aimed at lowering Brazil´s greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the scenario defined in the plan, the average area of Amazon forest cleared each year would be 5,742 km2 by 2014-17.

“That´s bigger than the US state of Rhode Island,” says Scaramuzza. “The CO2 released from clearing this area of Amazon forest would be roughly equivalent to the current annual emissions of Canada.”

Together with eight other environmental NGOs, WWF-Brazil has proposed zero deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 2015. According to Scaramuzza: “This goal is achievable if key actors—ranging from indigenous peoples to ranchers—are compensated for conserving the forest and thereby avoiding deforestation.”

In August the government of Norway pledged US$1 billion toward a newly established Amazon Fund. This voluntary contribution complements the ongoing climate negotiations, which are contemplating payments for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). Yet environmental NGOs such as WWF-Brazil have expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the Amazon Fund.

“This fund appears to be geared primarily to supporting government command-and-control programmes,” says WWF-Brazil’s CEO Denise Hamú. “To achieve more ambitious reductions in deforestation, it will be effective mechanisms to compensate the key actors on the ground who determine the fate of the forest.”

As part of its long-term conservation strategy for the Amazon, WWF-Brazil supports a wide range of initiatives aimed at protecting natural ecosystems and managing natural resources.

WWF-Brazil assists the Brazilian government´s ambitious Amazon Protected Area (ARPA) programme, which aims to consolidate a total of 600,000 km2 in new and existing protected areas in the region by 2012. A recent study found that the protected areas established or planned for establishment in 2008 under the program would result in a total reduction of 5.1 gigatons of CO2 emissions by 2050, which is roughly equivalent to 14% of global CO2e emissions per year, or 70% of the emissions targeted for reduction under the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

Amazon deforestation trend on the increase

2008-11-29

Brasilia, Brazil: Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon forests has flipped from a decreasing to an increasing trend, according to new annual figures released yesterday by the country's space agency INPE.

Commenting on the figures, Brazilian environment minister Carlos Minc confirmed that the government will on Monday announce forest related carbon emission reduction targets, which will link halting deforestation to the national climate change campaign.

From August 2007 to July 2008, Brazil deforested 11,968 square kilometers of forests in the area designated as the Legal Amazon, a 3.8 per cent increase over the previous year and an unwelcome surprise following declines of 18 per cent over the previous period.

From 2003-2004 to 2006-2007, annual deforestation totals from the agency fell from 27,423 km2 to
11,532 km2. There were fears that the current trend could have been worse but for new measures introduced part way through the year when it became apparent that annual deforestation was accelerating towards a possible 15,000 hectare level.

WWF-Brazil has praised in particular restraints on credit for properties not complying with environmental rules on deforestation licenses, legal reserve and permanent preservation areas, strengthened land ownership rules, increased patrolling activity and a sharing of responsibility for halting deforestation with states and municipalities.

“Credit restrain prevents effects linked to illegal land occupation and exploitation (“grilagem”), which is the main direct and specific cause for deforestation in the Amazon”, says WWF-Brazil’s CEO, Denise Hamú.

“Nevertheless, we are concerned with such a deforestation which is equivalent to almost 40% the size of Belgium or the size of Jamaica.

“WWF-Brazil favors that which was established in the Amazon Pact for Forest Value Acknowledgement and Deforestation Decrease, which proposes concrete actions and urges the government and society to endeavor all efforts to curb deforestation to zero level in seven years”.

The Pact was an initiative by a group of NGOs and the proposed actions have an estimate cost of R$ 1 billion (1,000,000,000 reais) per year, which is relatively cheap as compared to the social costs (droughts, floods, deaths, economic difficulties and so forth) inflicted on everyone by deforestation.

WWF-Brazil’s CEO says that it is necessary to adopt a wider conservation strategy. “We favor a definition of clear deforestation mitigation targets, besides economic and fiscal mechanisms to encourage conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources, as well as to discourage predatory practices”, says Denise Hamú.

WWF Brazil welcomed the forthcoming carbon emission reduction targets, noting that deforestation and forest fires together are responsible for 75% of Brazilian green house gas emissions. The targets add to a range of other new measures announced in October, following preliminary assessments that deforestation rates in August 2008 had reached triple those a year earlier.

“Negligence towards our forests causes Brazil to rank fourth among the larger contributors to the planet warming,” Hamú said.

The decrease in the Amazon deforestation rate achieved in the last two years shows that it is viable for Brazil to adopt emission curb targets. The adoption of targets to decrease emissions from deforestation could place Brazil in a forefront position for the international climate negotiations due to start in a few days, in Poznan, Poland.

WWF-Brazil’s Conservation Director, Carlos Alberto de Mattos Scaramuzza, explains that actions to fight deforestation must run on four tracks. The first one is the effective protection of forests through creation and implementation of protected areas. Secondly, there is the promotion of sustainable use of natural resources, through forest management capacity building in the Amazon states. Then there are patrolling actions to tackle illegal activity threats which are linked to land property and occupation (“grilagem”), to agribusiness and to large infrastructure works. Finally, we must have financial offset actions to reward those who protect the forest.

“We acknowledge some positive actions taken by the federal government, but we urge some improvements,” Scaramuzza said. “In particular, we call for the continuation of the protected areas creation process, the strengthening of implementation efforts in the already created protected areas, the allocation of personnel and their management capacity building, plus the effective implementation of the new forest policy, including forest management capacity development in the Amazon states.”

The Amazon Fund, created by the government in August 2008, is also an important policy to make financial offset viable for those who protect the forest. Nevertheless, WWF-Brazil claims that funds should be applied in the end of the chain.

“It is crucial that funds reach the field, direct to local communities, land owners and protected areas”, Scaramuzza said. “We hope that the Amazon Fund implementation will encourage innovation, creativity, experimentation and the involvement of civil society; and that it will be complemented by public funds, instead of being used to fulfill the blanks and gaps in governmental programs”.

Consumidores y restaurantes de toda Europa apoyan el boicot de WWF al atún rojo

2008-11-21

Marrakech (Marruecos). Cerca de 16.000 ciudadanos de 149 países se han unido, entre otros, a un gran número de restaurantes, chefs y supermercados europeos en el boicot de WWF al atún rojo. Los consumidores han firmado una petición, que se entrega hoy en la reunión del ICCAT, renunciando a su uso hasta que las poblaciones se recuperen, estén bajo control y sean gestionadas de forma sostenible. Tres prestigiosos cocineros españoles ya se han sumado a esta iniciativa por la conservación de esta especie en peligro.

WWF presentó ayer en la reunión de la Comisión Internacional para la Conservación del Atún Atlántico (ICCAT), que se celebra esta semana en Marrakech (Marruecos), las firmas de casi 16.000 ciudadanos de 149 países de todo el mundo negándose a comprar, vender o a practicar algún tipo de practica comercial relacionada que ponga en riesgo la supervivencia del atún rojo. A esta iniciativa se han unido igualmente numerosos restaurantes, chefs, proveedores, procesadores y distribuidores de atún. Así mismo, cadenas de supermercados como Auchan (Francia) o Carrefour (Italia) también han adoptado esta medida.

Tras más de 3000 años de explotación, el atún rojo del Atlántico oriental y Mediterráneo está al borde de la extinción. En las últimas décadas, su población se ha visto diezmada, reduciéndose al 36 por ciento de su población reproductora existente en 1970. De ahí que tres importantes restaurantes españoles hayan unido sus esfuerzos a la campaña: Sergi Arola Gastro, Dassa Bassa y Memento. Sus responsables, Sergi Arola, Darío Barrio y Karen Bell, respectivamente, son conscientes del grave problema al que se enfrenta el atún rojo y han decidido retirarlo de su carta.

WWF asiste a esta reunión de ICCAT como observador en una delegación de varios miembros, con el objetivo de influir en las negociaciones que están teniendo lugar en este foro. La organización pide la puesta en marcha de varias medidas para evitar la extinción comercial del atún rojo. De un lado, cerrar la pesquería, hasta que se encuentre bajo control y se den las condiciones para gestionarla de manera sostenible. De otro, establecer un auténtico plan de recuperación que, basándose en datos científicos, suponga un recorte drástico en las cuotas de pesca y en la capacidad de las flotas. Un plan que debe reducir el periodo de pesca, prohibiéndola durante los meses clave de la reproducción, especialmente, durante mayo y junio.

Por último, WWF solicita también la creación de Santuarios, para proteger las áreas clave para la reproducción de la especie, en el Mediterráneo, como las aguas de Baleares, el Mediterráneo Oriental y Central. Es importante señalar que en el caladero de Baleares, tradicionalmente el más importante del mundo en atún rojo, las capturas han caído un 85%, desde 2000.

"No queda tiempo para el atún; ICCAT es responsable de la situación actual y se juega su credibilidad y su futuro como organismo pesquero", dijo Juan Carlos del Olmo, Secretario General de WWF España. "La Unión Europea, con más de la mitad de la cuota mundial de atún rojo, no puede seguir impidiendo el establecimiento de medidas de conservación en la pesquería.".

Notas para el Editor:

Entre el 17 y el 24 de noviembre, en Marrakech (Marruecos), se está llevando a cabo la reunión de la Comisión Internacional para la Conservación del Atún Atlántico (ICCAT). Allí, sus 49 Partes Contratantes mantendrán negociaciones cruciales que decidirán el futuro del atún rojo.
La Comisión Internacional para la Conservación del Atún Atlántico (ICCAT) es una organización pesquera intergubernamental responsable de la conservación de los túnidos y especies afines en el océano Atlántico y mares adyacentes. La organización se estableció en la Conferencia de Plenipotenciarios, que preparó y adoptó el Convenio Internacional para la Conservación del Atún del Atlántico firmado en Río de Janeiro (Brasil), en 1966. Tras el proceso de ratificación, el Convenio entró formalmente en vigor en 1969.
Los chef que apoyan el boicot. Sergi Arola, desde su restaurante Sergi Arola Gastro, destaca: “El atún rojo se encontraba entre los productos estrella en mi cocina desde hace años. Sin embargo, su crítica situación me ha llevado a retirarlo de la carta para asegurarme de que mis clientes van a poder seguir disfrutando de este manjar en el futuro”. Y añade: “creo que es mi deber moral y mi obligación. Esta actitud la hago extensiva a otros productos en similares circunstancias y, muy especialmente, al tiburón, animal imprescindible para el equilibrio del medio marino, tal y como lo conocemos”.

Por su parte, Darío Barrio, de Dassa Bassa, también secunda esta opinión y subraya: “considero que es mi responsabilidad no sólo cuidar la calidad de los productos, sino también su sostenibilidad. Si queremos salvar al atún de su extinción comercial, no podemos quedarnos de brazos cruzados. Por eso, he decidido apoyar la campaña de WWF España y dejar de usarlo a la hora de elaborar los platos en mi establecimiento”.

Asimismo, Karen Bell, de Memento, insiste en que: “No es realista, ni siquiera viable, seguir consumiendo atún rojo al mismo ritmo que antes, como si nada pasara. Sus poblaciones están en serio peligro y tenemos que actuar en consecuencia. Estoy convencida de que los primeros en dar ejemplo a los consumidores debemos ser los cocineros. Esta es la razón por la que me he sumado al boicot al atún rojo propuesto por WWF”.

Para mayor información:
Sandra Tatiana Rodríguez M.
Consultora de Comunicaciones
WWF Colombia
Tel: (2) 558 2577 Ext: 217
strodriguez@wwf.org.co

Reserve in the Brazilian Pantanal is awarded as the best tourism attraction 2009

2008-10-30

For the second time, the Natural Heritage Private Reserve (RPPN) Rio da Prata was awarded first place as “The Best Attraction” by Guia Brasil Quatro Rodas, a famous Brazilian guide-book for travelers. The result was presented in September 22th in São Paulo and the winners will be listed in the 2009 version of the guide.

The award is a result of a poll carried out by Quatro Rodas in its internet site Viajeaqui (which could be translated to English as “Travel Here”) during two months to enlist the best attractions, hotels and restaurants of the year. Last year, the reserve was also awarded with the prize and is listed in the Guide 2008.

Created in 1999, the reserve is located on the Cabeceira do Prata cattle ranch in the municipality of Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul, which borders the Pantanal Wetlands. It belongs to the Private Owners Heritage Reserves Association (Repams), partner of WWF-Brazil to promote the creation of RPPNs and the protection of the Pantanal forest and rivers.

The Reserve protects one of the greatest landscape beauties of Brazil, maintaining outstanding populations of fauna and flora such as the Collared peccary (Tayassu tajacu), Brown capuchin (Cebus apella), Marmosets (Callithrix spp), and many species of birds. The Reserve is a main attraction for ecotourism activities, scientific research, and conservation.

A tour of the property offers the visitor a variety of activities including horseback riding, bird watching, and hiking. But the best attraction is, by far, floating down the silver waters of the Prata River.

What is a RPPN?
A Private Heritage Reserve (RPPN) is a conservation unit voluntarily created by landowners into perpetuity, without the necessity of expropriating the land. The landowner who decides to create a RPPN, has demonstrated a great commitment to conserving nature.

In addition to preserving the scenic beauty and historical environments, the RPPNs goals include water resource protection, natural resource management, development of scientific research, and maintenance of ecological balances between climatic and several other environmental services.

Recreation activities, tourism, education and research are allowed in the reserve, provided they are authorized by a responsible environmental agency.

In the Pantanal, where the great majority of the land is privately , the creation of private reserves is an important conservation strategy.

For further information about Recanto Ecológico Rio da Prata, see:
http://www.bonitoweb.com.br/riodaprata/index.php

For information about the conquest, see:
http://viajeaqui.abril.com.br/premioguia4rodas2009/?origem=fh1

Towards the Creation of a Regional Conservation Vision for the Amazon

2008-10-17

The Amazon biome is a sub-regional priority. Its future depends on maintaining the integrity of ecosystems, ecological processes, and the regional climatic dynamic to be able to resist the threats and pressures that come from climate change and land use change from demand for natural resources and economic development. Our challenge is to develop the basis for creation of a sub-regional vision.