WWF - Forest Conversion Programme News

Most European palm oil buyers fail sustainability test

2009-10-27

Gland, Switzerland – The majority of European palm oil buyers are failing to buy certified sustainable palm oil, despite its availability and the previous commitments by many companies to purchase it, according to a first assessment by WWF.

WWF’s Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard, released today, scored the performance of 59 of the most prominent retailers and manufacturers in Europe that buy and use palm oil in their products. The Scorecard comes as the world’s largest producers, buyers, and traders of palm oil gather for the 7th Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, held Nov. 2-4 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Scorecard reveals that 10 of those 59 companies have scored 20 or more points, and thus are considered by WWF to be showing real progress on their commitments to buy and use sustainable palm oil. They have joined the Roundtable, properly monitored their palm oil purchases, and have put in place and started to take action on commitments to buy certified sustainable palm oil.

WWF has been asking buyers of palm oil to commit to the RSPO since 2003, and while some of these companies show encouraging signs of stepping up their commitments and actions on sustainable palm oil, the majority of companies are not. 19 of the 59 companies scored between 0 and 3 out of 29 possible points, meaning that they have taken very little or no action to curb their use of non-certified palm oil and are failing to respond to the efforts that palm oil producers have made to achieve certification under the Roundtable

Meanwhile, a range of 28 companies scored between 5 – 20 points. While a few are showing progress many of these have only just begun to take action on responsible palm oil. While some have put policies and systems in place, often they have yet to start buying certified sustainable palm oil.

“WWF welcomes the action of those companies that have moved toward buying certified palm oil,” said Rod Taylor, Director of the Forests Programme at WWF International. “Although many companies have a long way to go, the performances of the top companies in the Scorecard signal to the rest of the industry that it is possible to turn commitment into action and transform the market.”
Further actions by these companies will be captured in the next version of the Scorecard, scheduled for 2011.

“However, WWF also acknowledges that even the top scoring companies in the Scorecard need to continue to raise their game if they are to use certified palm oil for 100% of their palm oil supply, which is the stated objective of many of these companies.”

“Because certified palm oil is now available, it is time to hold major palm oil users to account for their policies and actions,” Taylor said.

The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia is threatening the survival of species such as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant. Forest loss and the draining of peatlands for palm oil plantations is also contributing to climate change and displacing local people who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is one of the world’s fastest expanding crops in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa and South America.

It is because of threats like this that WWF worked with other NGOs and the palm oil industry to set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2003. Since then WWF has worked with the industry to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests. Certified Sustainable Palm Oil has been available since November 2008 and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the production of the palm oil.

WWF opted to grade palm oil buyers after releasing figures in May showing that only a small percentage of the sustainable palm oil available on the market had been bought. Since then, the situation is starting to improve. Over the last year, RSPO certified plantations have produced over 1,000,000 tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and over 195,000 tonnes have been sold to date. While this still represents only 19 percent of the available supply on average, the RSPO has reported that CSPO sales have been growing in recent months.

The scoring of companies was a two-step process that took six months to complete. In the first step, WWF evaluated the performance of companies based on publicly available data, such as corporate sustainability reports. WWF then sent a preliminary score to each company with a package of information to brief companies about the Scorecard, including details on the project’s objectives and the methodology. The companies were given the opportunity to submit additional information to WWF that might improve their scores.

The Scorecard will be published every two years and eventually will expand to include palm oil buyers in other markets around the world.

Investors ready for forest carbon market if Copenhagen and countries supply certainty

2009-09-28

Bangkok, Thailand: A survey of investors with approximately US$7 trillion of assets under management has shown significant support for an expanded carbon market mechanism which would address the estimated 20 percent of global carbon emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation.

But the 2009 Forest Carbon Investor Survey, conducted by the Brunswick Group on behalf of the WWF Forest Carbon Initiative, found investors looking for initial public financing viable policy frameworks, and more certainty from both international agreements and national legislation, before private funds can be mobilized.

The investment community is looking to December’s UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen to add substance to REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) as the over-arching policy framework for combating forest related emissions.

“Any global deal on climate change must take into account the significant role forests play in combating global warming,” said James Leape, Director General, WWF International. “If strong policies are put in place to ensure real reductions in emissions and real benefits to forest communities, investors can play a key role in supporting REDD.

“Agreement in Copenhagen – coupled with progress on national initiatives – will be a signal to investors that REDD can and will succeed, and will ensure forests are more valuable standing than cut down.”

The key findings from in depth interviews with 25 senior institutional money managers, sell-side analysts and specialist sustainability investors in Europe, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific are:

There is significant potential for a multi-billon dollar expanded carbon market, however substantial preconditions still need to be met for REDD to succeed
Agreement at Copenhagen and legislation in key countries including the U.S. are crucial pre-requisites
Public sector funding will be vital before a market-based approach can take effect
Problems of verification and monitoring can be addressed if there is a strong political framework in place
National governments must put in place robust and durable legal frameworks to create certainty for investors

The survey found investors have a high degree of knowledge about REDD and see strong potential in a future carbon market. However, they are also unlikely to invest in the market without clear political commitment, funding and on-the-ground implementation by key developed and developing countries.

The investors also believed that a compliance market in forest carbon would provide powerful incentives to reverse deforestation in forest countries

More than one-third expect a forest carbon market will evolve from a voluntary to a compliance market over the next five to fifteen years if certain conditions for a market-based approach can be met. This will require action from governments, including public sector funding, to lay the foundation for the market and support efforts by forest nations to build legal and technical capacity for REDD.

Key milestones sought by investors are agreement at the Copenhagen climate talks with support from major economies such as China and India, as well as the passage of U.S. climate change legislation. A strong legislative framework in forest countries is seen as core to addressing problems of verification and monitoring that have hampered agreement on REDD in the past.

Investors have a favorable view of proposals on REDD, supported by WWF, which recognize the value of a phased approach including pilot projects.

"REDD is critical to a climate solution, and finance is critical to making REDD work,” said Donald Kanak, Chairman of WWF’s Forest Carbon Initiative. “In the long term, private capital could play a major role, if certain conditions are satisfied. We need governments to step up to create sufficient financing in the near term to support forest countries’ efforts to become REDD-ready."

Kanak presented the survey results (summary attached) as negotiators met in Bangkok in a lead up session to the Copenhagen climate change talks convened by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The survey presentation was followed by an expert panel discussion which included: Prof. Dr. Singgih Riphat of the Ministry of Finance, Republic of Indonesia, and Mr. David McCauley of the Asian Development Bank.

Sustainable palm oil gets boost in China

2009-07-16

Beijing, China– Major China-based producers and users of palm oil have announced they intend to provide more support for sustainable palm oil, an important boost for efforts to halt tropical deforestation.

The public statement, made at the 2nd International Oil and Fats Summit in Beijing on July 9, committed the companies to “support the promotion, procurement and use of sustainable palm oil in China,” as well as “support the production of sustainable palm oil through any investments in producing countries.”

Increasing demand for palm oil is causing damage to rainforests
China is currently the world’s largest importer of palm oil, accounting for one third of all global trade. Increasing demand for palm oil, which is used in everything from soap to chocolate bars, is causing considerable damage to fragile rainforest environments, threatening endangered species like tigers, and contributing to global climate change.

Palm oil producers and buyers making the statement included Wilmar International, IOI Corporation, KLK Berhad, Kulim Malaysia Berhad, Asia Agri., Premier Foods PLC and Unilever PLC. Oxfam International, TransAsia Lawyers, and Solidaridad China were signatories.

A big influence on protecting rainforests
“Given the massive of volumes of palm oil now being purchased, any move China makes towards using sustainable palm oil will have a big influence on protecting tropical forest resources in South East Asia and other areas,” said WWF-China Country Representative Dermot O’Gorman.

The role of RSPO
WWF helped set up the international Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004, with the aim of establishing global standards for sustainable palm oil production and promoting the use of products containing sustainable palm oil.

WWF-China first introduced sustainable palm oil to Chinese companies in 2004, and continues to encourage the country’s buyers, producers, and traders to participate in RSPO.

A big boost for sustainable palm oil
Sustainable palm oil received a massive boost in November 2008 when Dr. Huo Jiangguo, President of China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs and Native Produce, attended the RSPO annual conference in Indonesia and announced that China supported the drive for more sustainable palm oil products.

Sustainability, a key criteria to ensure competence in the global market
“Industry in China acknowledges that sustainability is one of the key criteria of ensuring competence in the global market,” said Dr. Bian Zhenghu, vice president of the China Chamber of Commerce during his opening address to the forum.

“The roundtable encourages the entire industry chain to make a move towards sustainability, and also gives Chinese stakeholders a big opportunity to play a significant role achieving the aims of RSPO,” Dr. Bian said.

In conjunction with the summit, CFNA and WWF China organized a dialogue on promoting sustainable palm oil in China. More than 100 participants from government and industry attended the summit. Representatives from Malaysia, Indonesia and Europe presented findings on the growth and impact of sustainable palm oil development in key producing countries and trade regions. At the conclusion, the names of pioneer signatories to the Statement of Support for promoting sustainable palm oil in China were announced.

For further information please contact:

Chris Chaplin
Communications Officer
WWF-China
+86 10 6511 6237
Email

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.

WWF Statement on the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

2009-05-20

WWF is currently one of the targets of a letter writing campaign by NGOs, including Friends of the Earth, Fern, and ASEED, criticizing its participation in the RTRS, which they accuse of encouraging soy monoculture production and promoting Genetically Modified Soy (GM) soy as being “responsible”.

In a letter to RTRS members dated April 2009, various organizations have called for members to abandon the RTRS.

Soy cultivation and its impacts
Soy is a crop that provides both edible oil and livestock protein feed (soy meal).

The global demand for soy is rising rapidly, driven by the growing need for livestock feed to satisfy the world’s increased appetite for meat, chicken and dairy products.

Most of the recent industry growth has taken place in the subtropical and tropical regions of Latin America.

Recently, additional demand has originated from the bioenergy sector, which has identified soy as a potential alternative to replace fossil fuels for transport and energy, and by shortages of other edible oils used for food and fuel (such as rapeseed oil).

Soy expansion in Latin America has more than doubled (from 18 million hectares in 1995 to 40 million hectares in 2005). Having expanded globally on average 4.3% yearly from 1996 to 2006, the rapid expansion of intensive (monoculture) soy production has had serious environmental impacts from habitat conversion (loss of forests and savannahs) and soil degradation, to excessive water and pesticide use.

Social impacts include conflicts over land-rights and inequitable labour conditions.

Because of its high degree of mechanization, large-scale soy farming is not very labour-intensive, often resulting in only seasonal, low-paying jobs for the local population.

About the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS)
RTRS is a multi-stakeholder initiative established in 2005, with the following objectives:

Facilitate a global dialogue on soy that is economically viable, socially equitable and environmentally sound.
Reach consensus among key stakeholders and players linked to the soy industry.
Act as Forum to develop and promote a standard of sustainability for the production, processing, trading and use of soy.
Act as an internationally recognized forum for the monitoring of global soy production in terms of sustainability.
Mobilize diverse sectors interested in participating in the Round Table process and organize International Round Table Conferences on Responsible Soy on a periodical basis

The RTRS is developing a voluntary standard for responsible soy production and encouraging buyers of soy products to direct their purchasing to suppliers that comply with this standard.

WWF is a founding member of the RTRS and is currently represented on the Executive Board.

The Roundtable format enables stakeholders to have an open dialog on how to mitigate environmental impacts and improve production practices.

WWF does not agree with all the viewpoints presented, nor do we endorse the positions of all the stakeholders. However, WWF believes that by developing standards with other stakeholders, we can have a far greater impact than by refusing to participate.

WWF clearly accepts that the RTRS, alone, will not solve the vast array of concerns raised in the letter.

The scope of concern ranges from the local politics of governance, land-use policy and indigenous peoples’ rights, through to complex questions about a “one-planet” global economy, such as the sustainability of the world’s appetite for soy-fed meat.

The RTRS isn’t a magic bullet that can deal with all these issues, however it can play a role in encouraging better management practices in soy production and reducing the industry’s environmental and social impacts in producer countries.

The RTRS and Genetically Modified Soy (GM soy)
The RTRS is currently "technology neutral" meaning that both GM and non-GM technologies can meet the RTRS standard, along with other technologies such as organic production.

The signatories to the letter are concerned at the prospect of GM soy being marketed as a “responsible” form of production.

This is an obvious consequence of a technology neutral standard.

However, while the RTRS standards in development (at the time of writing the RTRS General Assembly has not yet ratified a standard) do not bar GM production, they do address many of the social and environmental concerns cited in the letter.

For example, the letter expresses concern over use of the herbicide “glyphosate”. This chemical tends to be associated with zero-till farming methods (zero till has the positive effect of reducing soil erosion, but relies on herbicides rather than mechanical cultivation to control weeds). This farming method is often associated with “Round-up Ready” Soy (a GM variety of soy). The RTRS proposed standard includes a specific provision requiring producers (both GM and non-GM) to prevent drift of agro-chemicals to neighbouring areas and requires them to eliminate use of the “dirty dozen” most toxic agro-chemicals.

WWF’s position on GMOs and RTRS
WWF’s position on GM organisms includes:

A moratorium on use or release of GMOs into the general environment until ecological interactions are fully researched and safeguards put in place
Regulatory frameworks for environmental use and release of GMOs should support the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
Transparent, comprehensive environmental impact assessment of planned releases into the environment
Avoidance of additional impacts through genetic modifications
The control of gene technology

See the full WWF Policy on GM.

If the RTRS principles and criteria included a prohibition on the use of GMs, their potential application would be restricted to the limited proportion of global production (estimated at 30%) that is GM-free. This would limit the potential of the RTRS to address impacts of GM soy production as well.

For this reason, WWF believes that the RTRS criteria should apply to all production technologies, including use of GM soy.

WWF offices in Europe have a history of promoting GM-free soy, as evidenced by their development and promotion of the Basel Criteria for Responsible Soy (a scheme that was developed in advance of the RTRS), and will continue to do so.

WWF will explore and promote options for identifying and labeling RTRS soy that is non-GM.

Options include an optional protocol within RTRS for those who want to verify that soy is non-GM or use of systems already operating in some national markets to identify non-GM products.

The RTRS and habitat loss
The RTRS members have so far not been able to agree on measures or criteria to discourage expansion of soy cultivation where this involves the conversion of natural habitats.

WWF believes urgent action is needed to resolve the impasse on this issue before the RTRS principles and criteria are presented for ratification.

WWF is working within the RTRS to ensure that the RTRS standard contains strong criteria for the protection of biodiversity and other environmental and social values threatened by the indiscriminate expansion of soy production.

Pulp giant APP set to assault Sumatra orangutan sanctuary

2009-05-18

Jambi, INDONESIA: A massive logging operation planned by Asian Pulp & Paper and the Sinar Mas Group (APP/SMG) and associated companies is to include large portions of the only areas that Sumatran orangutans have ever successfully been re-introduced into the wild, conservation groups active in Jambi province have learned.

Also threatened in natural forest areas around the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park are a quarter of the last critically endangered Sumatran tigers left in the wild, the Talang Mamak and Orang Rimba indigenous peoples and a significant population of endangered Sumatran elephants.

Conservation groups WARSI, the Sumatran Tiger Conservation and Protection Foundation, the Frankfurt Zoological Society, the Zoological Society of London and WWF-Indonesia learned last week that an APP/SMG joint venture had acquired the largest of the former and inactive ex PT IPA selective logging concessions in the Bukit Tigapuluh forest area - covering the orangutan reintroduction area and areas recording the most frequent sightings of tigers.

The groups have been highly critical of an APP/SMG environmental impact assessment for the neighbouring and also critically important PT Dalek Hutani Esa concession, saying it takes no account of key wildlife and indigenous peoples’ needs and should be rejected.

APP/SMG pushed a legally questionable logging road through both areas last year, opening up access for rampant illegal logging and clearing linked with increased fatalities as tigers are driven into closer contact with humans.

With the latest acquisition, APP/SMG now holds the majority of the buffer areas to the national park , including large areas the Forestry Service of Jambi and the National Park management authority agreed in 2008 to designate as the Bukit Tigapuluh Ecosystem which would be sustainably managed as natural forest.

Less than one third of the 2007 forest cover is within the National Park, with the areas most preferred by animals and indigenous peoples lying in the surrounding lowland forests now vulnerable to clearing.

“It took scientists decades to discover how to successfully reintroduce critically endangered orangutans from captivity into the wild. It could take APP just months to destroy an important part of their new habitat,” said Peter Pratje of the Frankfurt Zoological Society.

“These lowland forests are excellent habitat for orangutans, which is why we got government permission to release them here beginning in 2002. The apes are thriving now, breeding and establishing new family groups.”

Between 1985 and 2007, Sumatra island lost 12 million hectares of natural forest, a 48 percent loss in 22 years, with the accelerating rampage provoking international concern over the loss of biodiversity, smoke hazards from forest fires and peat swamp and soil degradation from clearing that made Indonesia one of the largest sources of the emissions causing climate change.

The Indonesian Ministries of Forestry, Environment, Public Works and Interior, as well as the governors of all 10 Sumatran provinces, including Jambi, announced at the World Conservation Congress in Spain last year that they were committed to protecting areas of the island with “high conservation values.”

The Bukit Tigapuluh landscape is widely regarded as one of Indonesia’s key areas of biodiversity..

“These NGOs are ready to support the Jambi governor to implement his public commitment to protecting Sumatra’s high conservation value areas and halt APP/SMG’s plan and identify alternative financing that would provide money and still save the forests, such as credits in the emerging forest carbon market,” said Ian Kosasih of WWF Indonesia.

“Bukit Tigapuluh’s forest have great potential for earning avoided deforestation credits, due to the high co-benefits of biodiversity and an indigenous community, as well as high avoidable emissions.”

WWF to grade palm oil buyers

2009-05-12

Gland, Switzerland – Only one percent of the sustainable palm oil available on the market has been bought, according to new figures released by the WWF today.

In a bid to speed up this “sluggish performance”, WWF will assess the world’s major users of palm oil over the next six months and publish a Palm Oil Buyer’s Scorecard highlighting companies that support sustainable palm oil and exposing those who have not fulfilled their commitments to buy it.

WWF helped set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as an international body for the industry to develop sustainability standards. Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) has been available since November 2008 and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the production of palm oil. Yet further production will hinge on manufacturers and retailers committing to buy what’s available.

“So far around 1.3 million tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil has been produced by RSPO member plantation companies, but less than 15,000 tonnes have been sold,” said Rodney Taylor, Director of WWF International’s Forests Programme. “This sluggish demand from palm oil buyers, such as supermarkets, food and cosmetic manufacturers, could undermine the success of the RSPO and threatens the remaining natural tropical forests of Southeast Asia, as well as other forests where oil palm is set to expand, such as the Amazon.”

WWF asks all companies buying palm oil to make public commitments that they will use 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil by 2015; to make public their plans with deadlines to achieve this goal; and to begin purchasing certified sustainable palm oil immediately.

The Palm Oil Buyer’s Scorecard will rank the commitments and actions of major global retailers, manufacturers and traders that buy palm oil. Companies will be scored on a variety of criteria relating to their commitments to, and actions on, sustainable palm oil. The resulting scores will not only help consumers evaluate the performance of these companies but will also encourage the companies themselves to better support the use of sustainable palm oil.

As a founding member of the RSPO, WWF has worked since 2002 with the palm oil industry to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests. The RSPO brings together oil palm growers, oil processors, food companies, retailers, NGOs and investors to help ensure that no rainforest areas are sacrificed for new palm oil plantations, that all plantations minimize their environmental impacts and that basic rights of local peoples and plantation workers are fully respected.

The RSPO began in 2002 as an informal cooperation on production and usage of sustainable palm oil among Aarhus United UK Ltd, Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, Migros, Malaysian Palm Oil Association, Sainsbury’s and Unilever together with WWF. These organizations held the first Roundtable meeting in August 2003 in Kuala Lumpur in order to prepare the foundation for the organizational and governance structure that resulted in the formation of the RSPO. Since then the RSPO has grown to include more than 300 members between them accounting for more than 35% of global palm oil production.

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.’’

Conflict zone Mountain Gorillas viewed by rangers for first time in more than a year

2008-12-23

Eastern DRC – Mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been seen by park rangers for the first time since the rangers were forced out of areas of Virunga National Park by Laurent Nkunda’s army 15 months ago.

Virunga National Park director, Emmanuel de Merode, successfully negotiated with Nkunda and got confirmation that Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) would be allowed to reenter and work in the southern part of the park.

ICCN, the government institution in charge of protected areas management, park rangers and their families were forced out of the park when rebel leader Nkunda and his army took control of several parts of the park including the areas where mountain gorillas are found in September 2007. Since that time, no one outside of Nkunda’s army has been allowed to monitor the gorillas.

“We were very worried about the mountain gorillas as we had not any contact with them for over a year but ICCN rangers have already seen many of the mountain gorilla families and we are happy to report that most of them seem to be doing well,” said de Merode. “We are continuing our census of the gorillas and are reinstating our antipoaching operations.”

In spite of this good news in the southern part of the park, the central and eastern sectors of the park remain very unsafe. Over half of ICCN’s staff and their families who work in Virunga National Park (over 2000 people) are now living at IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) sites outside of the park because of fighting between Nkunda’s army and the Congolese army.

The conflict in the Congo has forced thousands of people to flee their homes and there are now an estimated 145,000 IDPs scattered in 6 sites just outside of the national park. The people living in these sites are in desperate need of food, shelter and fuelwood.

WWF has been focusing its efforts in the area on the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict and is distributing fuelwood from sustainable tree plantations to people living in IDP sites. WWF has also been passing out improved cooking stoves, which use half the amount of wood as a normal stove.

“WWF believes that the needs of people displaced by the fighting and the gorillas are inextricably linked—we are providing displaced people with the basic resources they need for shelter and cooking, while at the same time protecting Virugna National Park’s forests, which are already heavily damaged by illegal logging for wood and charcoal,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme. “We hope that a normal life can quickly be restored for local communities living near and benefiting from the park and its gorillas.”

Virunga National Park was created in 1925 as Africa's first protected area and is located in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Rwanda and Uganda. Despite its protected status, encroachment for farming and settlement, as well as by warring rebel factions, is leading to uncontrolled exploitation of its forests.

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WWF Statement on the "GM Soy Debate"

2008-12-12

We would like to reassure all WWF supporters that WWF does NOT support GMOs (genetically modified organism). We understand that the text on the GM soy debate web site may have mislead many to believe that WWF supports GMOs.

We apologise for this and any distress caused.

WWF's position on GMOs is:

Where it is proposed that GMOs be released in to the environment, WWF wishes to see a strong precautionary approach to environmental and social impacts and transparent monitoring for such impacts.
Use and environmental releases of GMOs should be subject to a rigorous case-by-case approval process by governments and designated government authorities before approval is given for a GMO in a country.
Regulatory frameworks for environmental use and release of GMOs (including field trials and commercialisation) should support the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and should implement its provisions, including risk assessment and risk management, at national level.

Precisely because GM soy is already present in the environment and soy is implicated very strongly in deforestation that its impacts need study and debate. The work by Wageningen University and the "GM Soy Debate" in Amsterdam on 9 December was intended to contribute to greater understanding of the issues.

From WWF's perspective, the key question on soy is how to reduce the major environmental and social impacts of soy cultivation, including impacts of GM soy.

Key components of this question are

how to prevent soy and livestock ranching pushing further into natural habitats in areas like the Amazon, Cerrado and related priority places for biodiversity conservation, and
how to reduce the overall global “footprint” of the soy and livestock industries.

In some circumstances this footprint may be reduced by producing more from less while also enabling farmers to earn a decent living.

WWF is pursuing various strategies to address the environmental and social issues associated with soy production, including:

Successful conclusion of the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS), with strong environmental and social safeguards, and
cost efficient options for certifying and recognising soy production that complies with these safeguards. (WWF is one of the founding members of the RTRS)

Until the RTRS is up and running, promoting Basel Criteria Soy (non GMO) to soy buyers.

Enforcement of land use planning policies (including identifying and protecting high conservation values), voluntary initiatives such as the Amazon Soy Moratorium, and use of degraded/under-used land for further soy development.
Engagement with companies all along the soy supply chain to persuade them to commit to responsible soy targets.
Attitude change among consumers in rich countries e.g. consuming smaller portions, skipping meat X times per week, etc, and
helping developing countries to increase improved health and diets without making the same mistakes as in the west.

WWF will review its involvement in the GM soy dialogue project in the coming weeks. We do still consider that the project's aim, i.e. to foster debate on the basis of scientific information that responds to key stakeholder issues, is worthwhile. WWF will work to ensure that the debate is better formulated and that there is a mechanism in place to include all views and concerns of not only those people or groups that have joined the dialogue but other interested stakeholders as well.

At the Amsterdam meeting there were clear requests expressed on correcting the potentially misleading text on the GM soy website. WWF supports this view and have already asked the dialogue organizers to do so. They have agreed and assured us they will do so quickly.

We hope this answers the concerns raised and thank all those who wrote in to WWF on this issue.

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”.

Sustainable shipment opens new palm oil options

2008-11-12

Rotterdam, NL: The arrival of the first certified sustainable palm oil shipment in Europe opens up possibilities for palm oil users to move away from subsidising forest destruction and social disruption from expanding palm oil plantations.

The shipment, from south-east Asia, is of palm oil certified as compliant with the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Principles and Criteria, a set of standards that ensure that palm oil is produced in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

As a founding member of the RSPO, WWF has worked since 2002 with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests.

“The arrival of RSPO certified palm oil in Europe is an important milestone,” said Rodney Taylor, Director of WWF International’s Forest Programme. “With the RSPO’s certification system up and running, companies now have the means to buy responsibly.”

Over 28 million tonnes of palm oil are produced worldwide and it is used in a wide variety of foods including margarine, cooking oil, crisps, cakes, biscuits and pastry. It is also found in cosmetics, soaps, shampoos and detergents.

However oil palm plantations have often imposed environmental and social costs due to loss of habitat important to threatened and endangered species and indiscriminate forest clearing which contributes to climate change.

The RSPO brings together oil palm growers, oil processors, food companies, retailers, NGOs and investors to help ensure that no rainforest areas are sacrificed for new palm oil plantations, that all plantations minimize their environmental impacts and that basic rights of local peoples and plantation workers are fully respected.

Several European companies, including Unilever, Sainsbury’s and Albert Heijn, have already made strong public commitments to buy certified sustainable palm oil.
Many more companies need to do the same. WWF calls on retailers and manufacturers to get behind the RSPO by making concrete, timebound plans to shift their palm oil purchases to 100 per cent certified.

While welcoming the shipment, WWF also believes that the RSPO needs to tighten and strengthen its systems, and will be encouraging such action at the November annual meeting of the body.

RSPO membership is open to producers who are not certified. While its Code of Conduct encourages member producers to pursue certification, the RSPO lacks any real checks on the practices of these uncertified members.

Stakeholders do not always appreciate the distinction between a company’s membership of the RSPO and the certification of individual plantations.

This places the RSPO’s credibility at risk, especially given the recent Greenpeace reports alleging that several RSPO members are engaged in practices prohibited by the RSPO criteria for socially and environmentally responsible production of palm oil.

“The RSPO should fully investigate allegations of misconduct against its members,” said Taylor. “The RSPO can maintain its credibility by refusing to provide any form of cover for a company that violates the RSPO sustainability criteria.”

For more information:
Carrie Svingen
WWF Global Forests Programme
Tel: +62 361 730 185
email:csvingen@wallacea.wwf.or.id

WWF celebra el primer embarque de aceite de palma certificada, pero el sector debe hacer más

2008-11-12

Rotterdam, Países Bajos. Con la llegada a Europa del primer embarque de aceite de palma sostenible y certificada, el WWF insta a los grandes usuarios de aceite de palma a cambiar sus políticas de compra a favor de la compra sostenible y dejar de hacer negocios con productores que persistan con prácticas destructivas.

El envío, proveniente del sudeste asiático, es de aceite de palma certificada de acuerdo con los principios y criterios de la Mesa Redonda de Aceite de Palma Sostenible (RSPO, por su sigla en inglés), un conjunto de normas que garantizan que el aceite de palma se produce en una empresa social y ambientalmente responsable.

Como un miembro fundador de la RSPO, WWF ha trabajado desde 2002 con una amplia gama de partes interesadas para asegurarse de que las normas RSPO contienen sólidos criterios sociales y ambientales, incluida una prohibición de la conversión de bosques hacia plantaciones de palma.

"La llegada de aceite de palma RSPO certificada en Europa es un hito importante", dijo Rodney Taylor, director del Programa Forestal de WWF Internacional. "Con el sistema de certificación de la RSPO en marcha y funcionando, las empresas ahora tienen los medios para comprar responsablemente".

La RSPO reúne a los productores de aceite de palma, procesadores del aceite, empresas de alimentos, minoristas, inversionistas y organizaciones no gubernamentales para garantizar que las zonas de bosques tropicales no sean sacrificadas por nuevas plantaciones de aceite de palma, y que todas estas minimicen sus impactos ambientales, al mismo tiempo que se respeten los derechos fundamentales de las poblaciones locales y los trabajadores del sector.

Varias empresas europeas, incluyendo Unilever, Sainsbury's y Albert Heijn, ya han realizado fuertes compromisos públicos para comprar aceite de palma certificada. Muchas más empresas necesitan hacer lo mismo. WWF pide a los minoristas y fabricantes respaldar la RSPO comprometiéndose, con plazos específicos de tiempo, en trasladar el 100% de sus compras hacia aceite de palma certificada.

WWF también pide a la RSPO fortalecer su sistema para mantener y consolidar su credibilidad en el mercado. La membresía de la RSPO está abierta a productores no certificados. Si bien su Código de Conducta insta a los productores a buscar la certificación, la RSPO carece de cualquier control real sobre las prácticas de los miembros no certificados.

Los grupos de interés no siempre aprecian la distinción entre la membresía de la RSPO y la certificación individual de las plantaciones. Esto coloca la credibilidad de la RSPO en una situación de riesgo, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta las recientes denuncias de Greenpeace de que varios miembros de la Mesa se dedican a prácticas prohibidas por los criterios de la RSPO para la empresa de aceite de palma social y ambientalmente responsable. WWF instará a la RSPO y sus miembros a reforzar las normas sobre éste y otros asuntos en su reunión anual, entre los próximos 18 y el 20 noviembre.

"La RSPO debería investigar las denuncias de mala conducta contra sus miembros”, dijo Taylor, "Además, puede mantener su credibilidad al negarse a proporcionar cualquier tipo de cobertura para empresas que violen sus criterios de sostenibilidad".

Notas para el Editor:

1. La palma de aceite se originó en el África occidental, pero se ha plantado con éxito en muchas regiones tropicales entre ellas los más grandes exportadores de aceite de palma en el mundo, Indonesia y Malasia. Más de 28 millones de toneladas de aceite de palma se producen anualmente y consisten en una importante fuente de alimento en todo el mundo. Este producto se utiliza en una amplia variedad de alimentos, incluidos la margarina, aceite para cocinar, papas fritas, pasteles, galletas y pastelería. Derivados de aceite de palma también se encuentran en los productos cosméticos, jabones, champús y detergentes. Las ventas en Europa han aumentado recientemente debido a que éste es un sustituto eficaz para aceites blandos parcialmente hidrogenados -hechos a partir de aceite de soya, colza y girasol- eliminando así ácidos grasos trans de muchos productos.

2. WWF y el sector palmicultor. WWF reconoce que el aceite de palma es un producto alimenticio básico con alta demanda de los consumidores. Europa importa 2,7 millones de toneladas de aceite vegetal cada año para alimentación y jabones, por lo que es el tercer mayor mercado para este producto en el mundo, después de India y China. A través del subsidio a los biocombustibles, los gobiernos europeos han aumentado la demanda de aceite de palma. Además, el aceite de palma se utiliza cada vez más para sustituir combustibles fósiles en los sectores de transporte y energía de los países desarrollados. Teniendo en cuenta la creciente demanda de aceite de palma para la bioenergía, así como los usos tradicionales, la FAO estima que su producción se duplicará entre 1999/2001 y 2030.

3. Presiones ambientales y palma de aceite. A pesar de ser totalmente libre de modificaciones genéticas y con el más alto rendimiento por hectárea de cualquier aceite o semilla oleaginosa cultivada, se reconoce que hay presiones sobre el ambiente en su expansión hacia áreas eco-sensibles de las zonas tropicales de Asia, África y América, única zona climática donde puede sembrarse. Las plantaciones de aceite de palma a menudo conllevan costos ambientales y sociales altos debido a la indiscriminada tala de bosques, la pérdida de hábitat importante para especies amenazadas y en peligro como el orangután, los tigres y elefantes, la quema incontrolada y la neblina asociada con esta práctica, y el irrespeto de los derechos e intereses de las comunidades locales.

4. La deforestación. Además, la conversión de los bosques a plantaciones contribuye al cambio climático, ya que el 20% de las emisiones globales de gases de efecto invernadero son causadas por la deforestación. La deforestación es la principal razón por la que Indonesia, productor de aceite de palma más grande del mundo, es el tercer emisor de gases de invernadero a nivel global.

5. Conversión de bosques a cultivos. La práctica de drenar y convertir a plantaciones las turberas (bosques de turba) es especialmente perjudicial para los esfuerzos de mitigación del cambio climático, ya que estos "sumideros de carbono" almacenan más carbono por unidad de área que cualquier otro ecosistema en el mundo. Un promedio de 1,8 millones de toneladas de gases de efecto invernadero son liberados por la degradación y la quema de las turberas de Indonesia cada año.

6. La Mesa Redonda de Aceite de Palma - RSPO comenzó como una cooperación informal sobre la producción y el uso sostenible de aceite de palma entre Aarhus United UK Ltd, Golden Hope, Plantaciones Berhad Migros, la Asociación de Aceite de Palma de Malasia, Sainsbury's y Unilever, junto con WWF, a finales de 2002. Estas organizaciones constituyeron el Comité Organizador para realizar la primera reunión de la Mesa Redonda en agosto de 2003, en Kuala Lumpur, y prepararon las bases para la organización y estructura de gobierno que resultó en su formación. Más tarde, 40 organizaciones firmaron una declaración de intención de participar en ella. Desde el 2003 se ha tenido una mesa de reuniones cada año, y la RSPO ha crecido para abarcar casi el 50% de la industria del aceite de palma.

7. WWF trabaja incentivando la producción y adquisición responsable de aceite de palma, incluyendo:

· El desarrollo de mejores prácticas de producción que reduzcan el impacto ambiental y social del aceite de palma

· La identificación de áreas que deberían ser zonificadas para la producción o para la protección debido a su alto valor de conservación, promoviendo al mismo tiempo la creación de zonas de producción en las tierras degradadas disponibles

· El apoyo al desarrollo de un sistema de contabilidad de gases de efecto invernadero –GEI- para el aceite de palma que se utiliza para la generación de energía o como combustible (para determinar si el aceite de palma como biocombustible se traduce en una suficiente reducción de las emisiones de GEI en comparación con los combustibles fósiles)

· La exigencia de la transparencia de los procesos de planificación del uso de la tierra para lograr una distribución óptima de los bosques naturales, plantaciones, zonas agrícolas, zonas urbanas y de otro tipo de uso de la tierra

· La promoción de la compra responsable y las políticas de inversión en el sector

8. WWF Colombia y la Federación Nacional de Cultivadores del Palma – Fedepalma (y con el aval de los Ministerios de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Territorial y Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural), están llevando a cabo una iniciativa que busca implementar prácticas sostenibles con los ecosistemas colombianos y eviten la deforestación en áreas de Alto Valor de Conservación y que, al mismo tiempo, mejoren las condiciones de vida de las comunidades étnicas y campesinas que trabajan en el sector, todo ello, de acuerdo con los lineamientos de la RSPO.

Para mayor información:

Sandra Tatiana Rodríguez M.

Consultora de Comunicaciones

WWF Colombia

Tel + 57 2 558 25 77 Ext 217

strodriguez@wwf.org.co

Demand for African natural resources can ensure sustainable use

2008-10-29

Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo: African nations could turn the demand for their natural resources currently driving deforestation and other destruction into a force for higher returns from sustainable development, WWF has said today.

“Certified, sustainable forestry yields far better returns for companies, communities and Congo basin countries than illegal logging ever will,” said Andre Kamdem, Head of the WWF Green Heart of Africa Initiative.

“And the yield is forever, whereas allowing one-off plunder of natural resources usually damages future returns.”

Over 100 delegations from Congo Basin countries, NGOs and multilateral agencies are attending the 6th World Forum for Sustainable Development from 27 – 30 October 2008 in Brazzaville, Congo. Talks have been focused on conservation, sustainable use and benefit sharing of natural resources as well as the vulnerability of ecosystems in the face of climate change.

Held under the auspices of the government of the Republic of Congo, the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the forum seeks to take stock after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, South Africa). With the theme, “Africa, Environment, globalization”, the springboard of the event is the apparent absence of real solidarity in handling the economic doldrums of developing countries by the international community.

“The world will still come for the natural resources of the Congo if they are managed for sustainability,”Kamdem said. “Our challenge is to put the machinery in place to turn from plunder to preservation of resources and it is in the interests of the world to assist the nations of the green heart of Africa to do this.

“WWF is urging governments, in this forum and elsewhere, to ensure that the financial investments in development and infrastructure across the region are guided by environmentally responsible policies and principles”.

The stock taking in Brazzaville is dwelling on lessons learnt in the execution of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Action Plan. Governments were expected to put in place new bases for strategic and credible partnerships for the realization of objectives of the Millennium Development Goals.

One common thread links the fate of the Congo Basin: the continued existence of the world's second largest tropical rainforest expanse. International economic forces, a growing demand for natural resources, and widespread regional poverty are putting the forests, wildlife and freshwater areas of the Congo Basin at risk. Current patterns of resource exploitation and infrastructure development across the region could result in as much as 70% of remaining forest being lost by 2040. At the same time, commercial hunting for bushmeat – already at 1 million tones a year – is expected to double in the next 25 years.

To counter these adverse forces, governments need to identify and commit to developing tools for a finance framework, which guarantees predictable and secure resources for conservation in developing countries. Financing on conservation issues must be additional to existing development aid. Development aid is aimed at alleviating poverty in the poorest countries, and should not be mixed with funding aimed at solving the global environmental crisis. All payments, whether for development or for conservation must be measurable, reportable and verifiable.

“Financial investments in development and infrastructure across the region should be guided by environmentally responsible policies and principles”, said Kamdem. “In addition, certification and best practices should be adopted and applied by a significant percentage of extractive businesses and infrastructure developments. And, crucially, government policies, incentives and capacities should seek to safeguard natural resource protection and sustainable development at all levels across this vast region”.

Ministers, governors commit to saving Sumatra

2008-10-09

Barcelona, Spain – New hope was extended to some of the world's most diverse and endangered forests today as WWF, four Indonesian ministers and ten provincial governors announced a bold commitment to protect the remaining forests and critical ecosystems of Sumatra.

The agreement, announced to wide acclaim today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Indonesian government and WWF today , is the first-ever comprehensive commitment to protect the world's sixth largest island and one of its major environmental hotspots..

Sumatra is the only place on earth where tigers, elephants, orangutans and rhinos co-exist, but all are under threat as are the island's indigenous peoples. Deforestation and forest conversion for palm oil and acacia plantations in lowland deep peat forests is a major contributor to global carbon emissions.

“This agreement commits all the Governors of Sumatra’s ten provinces, along with the Indonesian Ministries of Forestry, Environment, Interior and Public Works, to restore critical ecosystems in Sumatraand protect areas with high conservation values,” said Hermien Roosita, Deputy Minister of Environment.

“The Governors will now work together to develop ecosystem-based spatial plans that will serve as the basis for future development on the island.”

WWF, CI, FFI, WCS, and other conservation groups working in Sumatrahave agreed to help implement the political commitment to protect what remains of the island’s species-rich forests and critical areas.

“WWF is eager to help make this commitment a reality to protect the magnificent tropical forests across Sumatra. These forests shelter some of the world’s rarest species and provide livelihoods for millions of people," said Mubariq Ahmad, CEO of WWF-Indonesia.

The island has lost 48 percent of its natural forest cover since 1985. More than 13 percent of Sumatra’s remaining forests are peat forests, sitting over the deepest peat soils in the world which degrade when cleared and drained to produce stupendous emissions of carbon.

“By protecting these forests from deforestation, Sumatra will provide a significant contribution to mitigate global climate change,” said Marlis Rahman, Vice Governor of West Sumatra Province.

“There are a lot of challenges in the future to ensure the successful implementation of the commitment,” said Noor Hidayat, Director of Conservation Areas at the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry. “A broad-based effort involving local and national government officials, financial institutions, NGOs, and communities needs to work together to make this commitment a reality."

“We are calling international communities to support us in implementing the commitment on the ground,” Rahman said.

The Sumatra announcement comes a day Indonesia announced substantial measures to achieve a zero net deforestation by 2020 commitment made at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity conference in Bonn in May.

For further information please see press release here:

Basic food crops dangerously vulnerable

2008-05-22

As a deadly new strain of Black Stem Rust devastates wheat harvests across Africa and Arabia, and threatens the staple food supply of a billion people from Egypt to Pakistan, the areas where potentially crop and life-saving remnant wild wheat relatives grow are only minimally protected.

“Our basic food plants have always been vulnerable to attack from new strains of disease or pests and the result is often mass hunger and starvation, as anyone who remembers their school history of the Irish Potato Famine will know,” said Liza Higgins-Zogib, Manager of People and Conservation at WWF International.

“In more recent times we have avoided similar collapses in the production when disease strikes essential foodstuffs like wheat by developing new commercial varieties from naturally resistant wild relatives.”

“Unfortunately the natural habitat of most of the wild or traditional descendents of our modern food plants is without legal and physical protection, leaving them at risk.”

Also at risk are the indigenous and traditional peoples who are critical parts of the landscapes associated with crop wild relatives, who are losing their lands and cultural practices – which puts humanity's food at even further risk.

Wheat and barley originated in an arc mainly to the north of the Fertile Crescent (modern day Iraq) where their domestication was linked with the development by early Mesopotamian civilizations of cities, irrigation and laws. Ecoregions such as the Eastern Anatolian montane steppe, where wheat's wild relatives remain, now combine low levels of critical habitat in protected areas (3.14 per cent) with alarming levels of habitat loss (55.6 per cent).

WWF today release a map Centres of food crop diversity threatened and under protected correlates updated protected area statistics with key Crop Wild Relative (CWR) areas and draws on a study conducted by WWF, environmental research group Equilibrium and the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham, published as Food Stores: Using protected areas to secure crop genetic diversity in 2006.

Other crops where levels of protection for remnant crop wild relatives fall below five percent include rice varieties in Bangladesh, homelands for lentils, peas, grapes and almonds, and areas of Spain where a protected area ratio of 4.6% significant for wild olive relatives is mismatched by the loss of almost three quarters of all habitat.

The Americas fare slightly better, but important areas of agrobiodiversity including areas where corn originated and important to wild relatives of the potato are less than 10 % protected.

“The wild relatives of commercial crops provide a critical reserve of genes that are regularly needed to strengthen and adapt their modern domestic cousins in a changing world,” Higgins-Zogib said.

“We already have reserves and national parks to protect charismatic species like pandas and tigers, and to preserve outstanding areas of natural beauty. It is now time to offer protection to the equally valuable wild and traditional relatives of the plants that feed the world like rice, wheat and potatoes.

“And because people are part of landscapes too, we urge conservationists and governments thinking of new protected areas to allow the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples – particularly the women who have traditionally been the gardeners and seedkeepers of their communities.”

Extinct Javan elephants may have been found again - in Borneo

2008-04-17

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: The Borneo pygmy elephant may not be native to Borneo after all. Instead, the population could be the last survivors of the Javan elephant race – accidentally saved from extinction by the Sultan of Sulu centuries ago, a new publication suggests.

The origins of the pygmy elephants, found in a range extending from the north-east of the island into the Heart of Borneo, have long been shrouded in mystery. Their looks and behaviour differ from other Asian elephants and scientists have questioned why they never dispersed to other parts of the island.

But a new paper published today supports a long-held local belief that the elephants were brought to Borneo centuries ago by the Sultan of Sulu, now in the Philippines, and later abandoned in the jungle. The Sulu elephants, in turn, are thought to have originated in Java.

Javan elephants became extinct some time in the period after Europeans arrived in South-East Asia. Elephants on Sulu, never considered native to the island, were hunted out in the 1800s.

“Elephants were shipped from place to place across Asia many hundreds of years ago, usually as gifts between rulers,” said Mr Shim Phyau Soon, a retired Malaysian forester whose ideas on the origins of the elephants partly inspired the current research. “It’s exciting to consider that the forest-dwelling Borneo elephants may be the last vestiges of a subspecies that went extinct on its native Java Island, in Indonesia, centuries ago.”

If the Borneo pygmy elephants are in fact elephants from Java, an island more than 1,200 km (800 miles) south of their current range, it could be the first known elephant translocation in history that has survived to modern times, providing scientists with critical data from a centuries-long experiment.

Scientists solved part of the mystery in 2003, when DNA testing by Columbia University and WWF ruled out the possibility that the Borneo elephants were from Sumatra or mainland Asia, where the other Asian subspecies are found, leaving either Borneo or Java as the most probable source.

The new paper, “Origins of the Elephants Elephas Maximus L. of Borneo,” published in this month’s Sarawak Museum Journal shows that there is no archaeological evidence of a long-term elephant presence on Borneo.

“Just one fertile female and one fertile male elephant, if left undisturbed in enough good habitat, could in theory end up as a population of 2,000 elephants within less than 300 years,” said Junaidi Payne of WWF, one of the paper’s co-authors. “And that may be what happened in practice here.”

There are perhaps just 1,000 of the elephants in the wild, mostly in the Malaysian state of Sabah. WWF satellite tracking has shown they prefer the same lowland habitat that is being increasingly cleared for timber rubber and palm oil plantations. Their possible origins in Java make them even more a conservation priority.

“If they came from Java, this fascinating story demonstrates the value of efforts to save even small populations of certain species, often thought to be doomed,” said Dr Christy Williams, coordinator of WWF’s Asian elephant and rhino programme. “It gives us the courage to propose such undertakings with the small remaining populations of critically endangered Sumatran rhinos and Javan rhinos, by translocating a few to better habitats to increase their numbers. It has worked for Africa’s southern white rhinos and Indian rhinos, and now we have seen it may have worked for the Javan elephant, too.”

For contacts and more information, see media release

APP irregularities threaten massive climate and tiger impact

2008-03-25

Pekanbaru, INDONESIA – One of the world’s biggest carbon stores and a key tiger habitat are threatened by a new logging road in Riau Province, Sumatra, according to a new investigative report published today.

An absence of permits and other irregularities suggest that the new road cutting into Kampar peninsula is likely to be illegal, says Riau’s Eyes on the Forest group, a coalition of local NGO network Jikalahari, Walhi Riau, and WWF-Indonesia.

The road, like another exposed in January threatening indigenous peoples, elephants, orangutans and tigers in Sumatra’s Bukit Tigapuluh forest landscape, has been constructed by companies linked to controversial conglomerate Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

“It is morally reprehensible for one of the world’s largest paper companies to so brazenly ignore Indonesian laws and destroy the natural resources that belong to the people of Riau,” said Teguh Surya of Walhi Riau.

“We strongly urge APP to join the ranks of responsible businesses and conduct its operations within the law. Until that time, the world’s paper buyers and investors should stop doing business with APP.”

Kampar peninsula can be considered a single hydro-ecological system, consisting entirely of a single dome of peat at depths mostly over 10 meters – extremely deep for a peatland, with an enormous store of carbon.

Drainage and plantation development activities on the top of the Kampar peat dome could cause the dome to collapse and emit large amounts of carbon, according to Eyes on the Forest.

Last month, a report [PDF - 5.3MB] by WWF, Remote Sensing Solution GmbH and Hokkaido University found that deforestation, peat decomposition and forest fires in Riau Province resulted in annual carbon emissions equivalent to 122 percent of the Netherlands total annual emissions, 58 percent of Australia's annual emissions, 39 per cent of annual UK emissions and 26 per cent of annual German emissions.

That report also found that the province had Indonesia’s highest deforestation rates, substantially driven by the operations of global paper giants APP and competitor Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL).

Until 2002, the 700,000 ha of Kampar peninsular were still fully covered by by natural forest, but clearing for APP and APRIL pulp mills and related plantation development has been the major factor in cover being reduced to 400,000 ha by 2007

The Kampar peninsula area is also considered one of the last havens for critically endangered Sumatran tigers, whose wild population is estimated to be down to just 400-500. It is feared that Sumatran tigers may be on course to follow Indonesia’s Java and Bali tigers into extinction.

The landscape was designated a “regional priority” tiger conservation landscape by the world’s leading tiger scientists in 2006. A preliminary estimate by WWF-Indonesia shows that a well-managed Kampar peninsula could be home to as many as 60 tigers.

“Even as our investigators were out surveying the site last month, they came across tiger tracks walking along the APP logging road,” said Nursamsu of WWF-Indonesia and Eyes on the Forest coordinator.

“But the tigers of Kampar don’t stand a chance once APP begins logging full-scale and the poachers discover there’s easy access to this critical tiger habitat.”

Local NGO network Jikalahari and WWF have formally proposed that the Ministry of Forestry protect the natural forest of Kampar. Jikalahari also jointly signed an MoU with Siak and Pelalawan District Administrations at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali last year.

APP told Eyes of the Forest that the Siak district government had granted the company permission to build the highway to connect the two remote villages of Teluk Lanus and Sungai Rawa. But satellite images show that the road was not built anywhere close to the two villages, but does connect to two new logging concessions affiliated with APP.

”APP claimed that it was building this state-of-the-art, paved highway for the benefit of the local communities,” said Susanto Kurniawan of Jikalahari.

“It’s shameful to see a multibillion-dollar enterprise hiding behind the needs of desperately poor, isolated villagers, who will receive absolutely no benefit from this road but will likely suffer the consequences of APP’s activities.”

The logging concessions also suffer from irregularities, not least being an apparent contravention on clearing natural forest in good condition for plantation development or clearing on deep peat soils. Both concessions are based on licenses issued by District heads, who are not supposed to issue such licenses, according to Eyes on the Forest.

As well as Bukit Tigapuluh, APP also is currently threatening the Senepis and Kerumutan peatland forests in central Sumatra, Eyes on the Forest said.

More of Africa urged to boost rhino numbers

2008-03-14

KwaZulu Natal, South Africa – After bringing Africa’s black rhinos spectacularly back from the brink of extinction one of the world’s most successful conservation programmes is to celebrate its first decade by seeking to extend its operations to more of Africa.

Representatives of the governments of Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia are expected to join in WWF’s African Rhino Programme (ARP) 10th anniversary celebration in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, today. They will join government and wildlife representatives, community representatives and eco-tourism operators from the current ARP participating States of in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

“What we have shown is that in partnership with governments and communities and business it is possible to stave off extinction for the rhino in some of its former range,” said WWF International’s Species Programme Director Dr Susan Lieberman. “The task now is to secure a future for the rhino in the rest of its range, where threats from poaching and development urgently need to be addressed.”

Africa’s savannas once teemed with more than a million white and black rhinos. However, relentless hunting by European settlers saw rhino numbers and distribution quickly decline. The southern white rhino was close to extinction by the late 19th century but concerted conservation efforts by KwaZulu Natal and others has led to a significantly larger population.

Added to hunting and habitat loss, trade in rhino horn peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, when huge quantities were shipped to the lucrative markets of the Middle East and Asia.

Responding to the crisis, both species of African rhino were listed in 1977 in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibited all international trade of rhino parts and products. Despite this international legal protection, the black rhino population at its lowest point dipped to 2,400 in 1995.

In 1997, there were 8,466 white rhinos and 2,599 black rhinos remaining in the wild. Today, there are 14,500 white rhinos and nearly 4,000 of the more endangered black rhinos.

Today, most of Africa’s black rhinos are found in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe, where the species’ decline has been stopped through effective security monitoring, better biological management, wildlife-based tourism and extensive assistance to enable communities to benefit from rather than be in conflict with wildlife.

According to the African Rhino Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, Africa’s white and black rhino numbers have shown annual growth rates of 6.8 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively, since 1995.

“What we know from looking back at the last ten years is that sustained conservation can and does work,” says George Kampamba, WWF International’s African Rhino Programme Coordinator.

Although WWF has worked on Rhino conservation throughout its 45-year history, the ARP was notable for its overall approach. Working through field projects, it combined action at every level from local communities to global policy.

One striking, if unanticipated, indicator of the success of the programme is that land prices immediately increase in areas where rhinos are re-introduced through a range expansion program. The ARP, which has had experience reintroducing rhinos to national parks, also passed a milestone last year when a KwaZulu Natal community received black rhinos for community-owned land dedicated to wildlife and ecotourism uses.

“Rhino conservation in Africa is going from strength to strength,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF’s Global Species Programme. “But poaching, illegal trade, and unplanned development remain significant problems across the rhinos’ range and there is no room for complacency.”

In celebration of a decade of rhino conservation, WWF honoured six leaders as “rhino champions” today at Pongola Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal. "These rhino champions have made extraordinary contributions to rhino conservation," Dr Lieberman said.

The champions are:.

Emmanuel-Cebo Gumbi (known as “Nathi Gumbi”) director Somkhanda Game Reserve and member of the Gumbi royal family

Kevin John Pretorius, regional director for Phinda Game Reserve

Clive Vivier, owner Leopold Mountain Game Reserve

Manfred Kohrs, former chairman Pongola Game Reserve Association

Dr Jacques Flammand, project leader WWF/Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Black Rhino Range Expansion Project.

Taye Teferi, conservation director of WWF’s East Africa Regional Program

Jackson Kamwi, Senior Rhino Monitor at the Lowveld Conservancy Project, Zimbabwe

See under media releases for further information and contact details

Search for "night time spinach" threatens wildlife, local livelihoods

2008-01-22

Meat hungry refugees are sustaining a thriving wildlife poaching trade in Tanzania, according to a report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

Wild meat, cooked after dark in the refugee camps of northern Tanzania, is called "night time spinach". Generally cheaper than beef and culturally more appetizing, poaching or trading wild meat is one of the few income earning opportunities available to refugees.

But the decimation of local wildlife in widening areas around camps is threatening the viability of established local non-refugee communities that traditionally supplemented their diet and income with wild foods.

“The scale of wild meat consumption in refugee camps has helped the international community to conceal its failure of meeting basic refugee needs,” said Dr George Jambiya, the main author of the "Night Time Spinach’ report.

“Relief agencies are turning a blind eye to the real cause of the poaching and illegal trade: a lack of meat protein in refugees’ rations.”

Sheer numbers of refugees often leads to extensive habitat degradation and dramatic loss of wildlife in affected areas, with rare species like chimpanzees threatened by the demand for meat. Populations of buffalo, sable antelope and other grazing animals have also shown steep declines.

Since Tanzanian independence in 1961, more than 20 major refugee camps have been located close to game reserves, national parks or other protected areas; 13 of them still remained in 2005. In the mid-1990s, an estimated 7.5 tons of illegal wild meat was consumed weekly in the two main refugee camps.

TRAFFIC says that refugees are doubly penalized: their rights to minimum humanitarian care are not always being met and their own attempts to meet them are criminalized. In contrast, humanitarian assistance to displaced populations in Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia during the early 1990s included the provision of corned beef.

“Something has to be wrong if refugees, who have run from guns in their home country, then find themselves fleeing wildlife rangers’ firearms in their search for food,” says Simon Milledge of TRAFFIC and an author of the report.

Conservation organizations believe the key is to supply meat from legal and sustainable wild meat supplies, as well as rigorous law enforcement on the ground.

“The sad reality is that those who most depend upon wild sources of food are usually the ones who pay the heaviest price for biodiversity loss,” says Dr Susan Lieberman, Director WWF’s International Species Programme. “WWF calls upon humanitarian agencies to provide for basic food security of refugees, including animal protein, to ensure a sustainable future for all.”

“The IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species shows that many of Sub-Saharan Africa’s wildlife species are threatened, with around 20 percent suffering recorded population declines from the wild meat trade,” said Dr Jane Smart, Head of the World Conservation Union (IUCN)’s Global Species Programme.

“Also the depletion of wildlife is likely to cause an overall loss of income as areas become devoid of species and of less interest to visitors, which may cause economic impacts as well as resentment by local people. ”

The report recommends closer partnerships between wildlife and humanitarian agencies, which have already showed progress to address other environmental impacts of refugee camps such as deforestation.