Caño Tiburones © SOPI
Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña Inc. (SOPI, BirdLife in Puerto Rico) has been awarded funds by the Mangrove Alliance Small Grants Program (SGP) to perform the first comprehensive study of the mangrove community at Caño Tiburones. SOPI will document past and present distribution of mangroves from both scientific research (including the use of aerial photographs) and local knowledge, and will be involving the local community, groups, students, and the general public in their actions.
Caño Tiburones Important Bird Area (IBA) is located on the north coast of Puerto Rico. It is the largest estuarine wetland on the island and supports a variety of habitats from mangroves to freshwater springs to small offshore cays; home to large numbers of ducks, herons, egrets and shorebirds. This IBA is a globally significant waterbird and seabird site, supporting important populations of the Vulnerable West Indian Whistling-duck Dendrocygna arborea, Masked Duck Nomonyx dominicus and Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii. It is also significant to both the adjacent local communities (c. 6,000 people) and visitors, who benefit from the multiple services generated by the natural wetland systems.
Red mangroves in Caño Tiburones have suffered degradation © SOPI
Despite its importance to biodiversity and people, Caño Tiburones´s natural habitats – including its mangroves – are being lost to give way to housing, industrial or agricultural development, and other human-related activities. “Little to no knowledge about the past and present distribution of mangroves in Caño Tiburones has been documented”, commented Alcides Morales, SOPI´s President. “However, once the scientific information has been collated by this project, it will serve as the basis to determine the negative effects that past human activities have had on the mangrove communities and help predict the future impact of planned development projects.” Furthermore, even though there are organizations and environmental groups within the local community promoting the conservation of Caño Tiburones, SOPI recognizes the need for stronger linkages between, and a greater consensus among these interested stakeholders.
SOPI will work to combine science and community involvement through activities such as:
- Compilation of aerial photographs and maps
- Revision of data on bird censuses from the area
- Recording the oral history of the surrounding local communities
- Identification of flora in the mangrove community
- Bird monitoring in the mangrove habitat
- Community education and outreach
- Production of awareness materials
Results from this study will be used to inform planning and management decisions relating to Caño Tiburones’s mangrove habitat, and improve its protection.
The site project Historical distribution and current status of the mangroves in the Caño Tiburones IBA is supported by the Mangrove Alliance SGP with funds from the MacArthur Foundation which are helping to catalyze community-based mangrove conservation in the Insular Caribbean. The Mangrove Alliance also supports small grants funded-projects in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
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This post was written by:
Mangrove Alliance – who has written 5 posts on BirdLife Community.
The Mangrove Alliance is a habitat conservation initiative of BirdLife Partners and other organizations, that aims to conserve, restore and manage mangrove ecosystems sustainably throughout the Neotropics.
EU plays down talk of Kyoto rift
Divisions have again emerged on the first few days of the latest round of international climate change talks in Bonn, with the EU and groups of developing countries clashing over the future of the controversial Kyoto protocol.
Under the terms of the Durban Platform agreed at last year’s UN climate summit, the EU said it would sign on to an extension of the Kyoto protocol before it lapses at the end of this year in return for an agreement from all nations that a new binding treaty will be finalised by 2015 and enacted by 2020.
The fortnight-long Bonn talks are intended to develop a timetable for agreeing the new treaty and finalise details for how the so-called “Kyoto 2″ extension will work for the countries that have agreed to sign up to the treaty.
However, negotiators are divided over how long the extended Kyoto protocol should operate, with developing countries insisting the treaty should continue to be enforced over five-year commitment periods, and the EU expressing its preference for an eight-year commitment period that would allow it to be replaced by the new international treaty in 2020.
Negotiators for the group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Alliance for Small Island States issued a joint statement earlier this week warning that an eight-year commitment would allow industrialised nations to delay action to curb emissions. They also hinted that failure to agree to a five-year period could undermine the alliance between the EU and poorer nations, which provided an effective negotiating bloc at the Durban Summit.
“The environmental integrity of the Kyoto protocol… depends on having a five-year commitment period to avoid locking in inadequate level of ambition,” said the statement, arguing that longer term targets tend to be ignored by governments.
Writing on Twitter, EU climate change commissioner Connie Hedegaard said the EU’s preference for an eight-year period was simply intended as a means of smoothing the transition between Kyoto and the new treaty that should come into force in 2020.
“In Durban, EU declared willingness for both 5 & 8-year CP2. A 8-year period will avoid gap btw end CP2 & start of new regime,” she wrote. “So just for the record: the 8-year CP2 is the result of the parties’ decision to start new regime in 2020.”
Her comments were echoed by Artur Runge-Metzger, the head of climate strategy at the European Commission, who told reporters that he remained confident an agreement could be reached at the annual UN climate summit in Doha, Qatar at the end of the year.
“We want to move in the same direction, even if in terms of instruments we might have some different views,” he said. “By Doha, I’m sure we will have sorted them out. And hopefully we can show to the world that we have been able to close that ambition gap.”
A number of large emitters, including the US, Japan, Russia, and Canada, have signalled they will not sign up to an extension of Kyoto, while large emerging economies will only sign up to an agreement that does not impose binding emission reduction targets on them.
As such critics have noted that only around 15 per cent of global emissions will be covered by any extended treaty.
However, the finalisation of the extension to Kyoto will be crucial for large numbers of businesses as it will further codify emission reduction targets for the EU and other signatory countries, while also extending the legal foundations for UN-backed carbon trading schemes such as the Clean Development Mechanism.
In addition, the first two days of talks in Bonn have seen continued negotiations over the UN’s proposed Green Climate Fund, which is expected to provide up to $ 100bn of climate funding a year from 2020.
UN Climate Chief Christiana Figueres insisted it was critical the Bonn talks made further progress on how the funds will be raised post-2020 and how funding will be directed to poorer countries in the year’s running up to 2020.
It had been hoped that a parallel meeting of EU finance ministers taking place earlier this week would provide some clarification on funding commitments from 2013 onwards, but the talks delivered only a vague pledge to “work in a constructive manner towards the identification of a path for scaling up climate finance from 2013 to 2020″.
Developing countries are fearful that with industrialised nations facing increasingly severe budget deficits there could be a funding gap for green projects after the current commitment to provide up to $ 30bn of “fast-track” climate funding lapses in 2013.
However, Hedegaard hinted the EU could continue to provide funding by diverting the revenue raised from its controversial levy on aviation emissions to help fund climate initiatives in developing countries.
Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk
Only biofuels will cut emissions
As a small, maritime trading nation Britain has always been some distance from big international markets. Our ability to visit far-off places and people, and their access to us, has always been at the heart of our ability to punch above our weight in the world, whether that’s commercially, culturally or diplomatically.
In the past we were dependent on ships, now we are reliant on commercial airlines, as well as the Channel Tunnel and secure data networks. This infrastructure is critical for our future, particularly as we look to major economies like India, China and Brazil for export opportunities. But it is also vital for sustaining our outward facing society and culture; one that’s confident engaging with the world and welcoming of its diversity.
Rail and video-conferencing will help, but air travel will remain absolutely essential and more people are going to fly, especially to and from a networked, diverse, outward-facing island nation like our own.
We should embrace this, but we must also recognise that flying more will also have negative consequences, in particular greenhouse gas emissions. The positive progress on including aviation in Europe’s carbon trading scheme this week is welcome, but neither that nor more efficient aircraft will deal with the industry’s climate problem. As I will argue, only biofuels can do that. Aviation currently accounts for a relatively small proportion of global carbon emissions: 6% of UK, 4% of European Union and 2% of world. This will change fast though, with global aviation expected to grow at 5% a year for at least the next 15 years. If so, by 2050 aviation emissions will account for up to 20% of global emissions, making tackling global warming significantly harder.
Though new airport capacity in the UK is essential, plans for it must convincingly address this important pollution challenge.
Including aviation in the Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme is a step in the right direction, but at current carbon prices it will not spur the innovations needed to cut pollution. Some say the aviation sector has a good track record of improving the fuel efficiency of new aircraft, achieving an average annual improvement of about 1.5%. But these emissions savings will be completely overwhelmed by growing global demand for aviation.
So we desperately need something that can deliver a step-change in emission reductions from existing fleets, particularly as planes built today will be in service for many years to come. The only option is to replace existing jet fuel (kerosene) with an alternative that can deliver deep emission reductions and be used to current aircraft. Fortunately, this technology exists: sustainable bio jet fuels. Made from advanced feedstocks and able to provide significant life-cycle emission reductions and meet other stringent sustainability standards, these fuels can be produced today and have already received certification for use in commercial jet aircraft. They can also be produced now at costs not far above the high and volatile price of jet fuel, with Bloomberg predicting that they could potentially reach price parity with kerosene in 2016.
There is an opportunity for the UK to align its need to develop new airport capacity with the development of sustainable bio jet fuels at scale. We should work to ensure that any new airport provide airlines with the best biofuels available.
Airport operators should have to provide airlines with a blend of jet fuel that has a significant and rising proportion of sustainable bio jet fuel. This would significantly reduce emissions from flights. The mandate should start at an achievable level, say where the blend would have to be 15% less polluting than jet fuel today based on the strictest sustainability standards. It could then ratchet up to reach a point where the blend was 60% less polluting within a reasonable time-frame.
Airlines would benefit from a genuine and cost-effective emission reduction strategy, which might even attract environmentally conscious flyers. Not many hubs would need to follow the UK before the majority of international flights used sustainable bio jet fuel blends, perhaps only New York, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore need change, in addition to London.
An ambitious blending mandate would send exactly the signal required to accelerate the development of sustainable bio jet fuels. Airport operators would be required to demonstrate they had a plan to meet the incoming mandate and would sign supply contracts with developers, which would spur innovation and investment. The UK government could also ensure that our leading biotech, aviation and university sectors work in unison to create solutions, through targeted research programmes and tax relief for collaborative work.
The luddite wing of the environmental movement will think such proposals sacrilegious – their only solution is to stop flying. But the reality is that there will be and should be more international travel, particularly to and from the UK. The challenge is to make this as least polluting as is possible, while also minimising local airport impacts. By aligning the debate about airport capacity sensibly with environmental objectives, we can make a significant dent in aviation emissions globally as well as guarantee sufficient airport capacity to keep UK plc open for both business and pleasure.
• Ben Caldecott is head of policy at Climate Change Capital and co-author of ‘Green Skies Thinking: Promoting the development and commercialisation of sustainable bio-jet fuels‘
Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk
Boris Johnson to boost capital green building retrofit programmes
Boris Johnson has said that he will create green jobs as one of his key priorities during his second term in office as the Mayor of London, while also increasing the amount of green building retrofit programmes around the capital.
Johnson, who saw off competition from Ken Livingstone to reseal his spot as the Mayor of London earlier this month, has said that he plans to shift the green programmes he started at the end of his first term into the spotlight over course of the next four years. One of the key priorities for Johnson will be guaranteeing that buildings are made more energy efficient.
Under new housing powers, he will control a development budget of £1.6 billion as well as 530 hectares’ worth of land assets that were previously the property of the Homes and Communities Agency and LDA – the London Development Agency. According to a statement, Johnson’s newly given powers will scale up the RE:NEW programme and the RE:FIT building retrofit programme.
The RE:NEW programme currently provides householders across London with advice on energy efficiency while guiding them on how to make improvements to simple energy efficiency. RE:FIT offers cost neutral ways to slash energy use while cutting CO2 emission throughout public sector buildings.
As of yet, the Mayor’s office hasn’t detailed the exact levels of the scaling up that these programmes are to receive, although it has been confirmed that the work is to be overseen by Rick Blakeway, his newly-appointed Mayor for Housing, Land and Property.
Underwater CO2 Emissions Leak Study Begins
Carbon capture and storage is now a well-recognised method of stopping CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere but what happens if something goes wrong and there’s a carbon leak? That’s a scenario now being addressed by a research team who are exploring the impact of a simulated underwater CO2 escape.
Based in the northern UK, they’re carrying out an experiment in Scottish waters, letting CO2 pass through a sea floor pipe and then seeing how this gas affects local marine life, including molluscs, sea urchins and polychaete worms.
The pipe’s located around 30 feet below the surface of the water and it’ll emit up to 800 kilograms of carbon dioxide on a daily basis.
Carbon Leak Study
This carbon leak study is thought to be the first of its kind and it was expected to be underway as this article was being prepared. The scientists involved think that a significant pH change will be produced by the carbon flow – predicting it’ll drop from 8.2 to 6.5. They also say that if the marine life impact is severe, they’ll bring this research to a close.
The UK presently has no marine-based carbon capture and storage systems in operation but, being an island, is arguably well-placed to embrace technology of this kind. Right now, there are a number of firms – Shell and SSE included – bidding for a £1bn UK government investment that would allow the first UK CCS system to be constructed.
Underwater CO2 Emissions
“We want to study what happens if there is a leak from a carbon capture and storage reservoir – or more likely, from a fault in a pipe or at the injection site”, underwater CO2 emissions study head Henrik Stahl, representing the Scottish Marine Institute, explained to the BBC.
He added: “We’ll study how this affects the ecosystem, the animals and microbes living in the sediments, and how the CO2 transforms in its passage through the upper layers of the sediment.”
SalvaNATURA registers 67 species in 2nd Central American Aquatic Bird Census
© Rigoberto Galán
With the help of BirdLife International, on February 18th and 19th, SalvaNATURA held the 2nd Central American Aquatic Bird Census, registering 67 species, of which 6 are considered Critically Endangered in the Official List of Endangered Species at the national level.
The census took place with the participation of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) and El Salvador Partners in Flight (PIF-SV). Simultaneously, the VI Shorebird Count was carried out with the objective of identifying species and the behavior of shorebird and aquatic migratory and resident populations distributed in wetlands and along the coast of the country.
Groups of ornithologists observed species in 14 sites located along the Salvadorian coast, including the following Important Bird Areas:
Other sites visited were:
- Las Bocanitas, San Diego, Los Pinos y Toluca Beaches (La Libertad)
- Río Jiboa Rivermouth, and La Pita y Guadalupe La Zorra – San Luis La Herradura Wetlands (La Paz)
- Handal Salt Flat- Parada Port (Usulután)
- La Punta El Tamarindo Rivermouth and Maculiz Salt Flat (La Unión)
Some of the species identified were the Black Skimmer Rynchops niger, resident – migratory species– listed as critically endangered. The endangered species found were Wilson’s Plover Charadrius wilsonia, Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja y Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus, among others.
© Vicky Galán
According to Carlos Funes, the SalvaNATURA Shorebird Census Coordinator, “Through this activity the ornithologists were able to observe diverse factors that affect this group of birds including: extensive agriculture, depredation of mangroves for the extraction of firewood, mass tourism, extraction of water for irrigation, and the filling of wetlands.”
The Executive Director of SalvaNATURA, Alvaro Moises, valued the support of BirdLife International for this and other activities such as the financing provided by Canadian Wildlife Service for the development of the census. He also commented that, “By being part of BirdLife International, SalvaNATURA affirms its commitment to biodiversity conservation in general and of birds in particular.”
On the other hand, the Director of SalvaECOSISTEMAS, Marta Lilian Quezada, explained the importance of these scientific activities. “They generate knowledge about the state of aquatic bird populations and their habitats in order to be able to design strategies and more effective actions for the conservation of flora, fauna, and threatened ecosystems”, commented Quezada.
In addition, Quezada observed that SalvaNATURA is part of the Mangrove Alliance, an initiative of Birdlife International and its network members, which focuses on the conservation and sustainable management of Neotropical mangrove ecosystems. She emphasized that, “With this we reaffirm our commitment to the conservation and restoration of those ecosystems that support livelihoods for coastal communities in the country; they are key to local development and habitat for bird fauna.”
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Do we live in a ‘green economy’? New report assesses progress in Europe
Green economy is set to be one of the two main themes at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June this year. Simply put, a ‘green economy’ is one in which environmental, economic and social policies and innovations enable society to use resources efficiently, while maintaining the natural systems that sustain us.
“The focus on green economy in Rio reflects the issue’s importance as a key environmental priority, and is particularly timely, given that it can provide a path to renewed economic growth and job creation in response to the current severe economic crises facing Europe,” EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said.
The ‘Environmental indicator report 2012‘ presents established indicators that illustrate progress towards improving resource efficiency, and indicators that depict the risk of passing environmental thresholds. Jointly, they enable policymakers and the public to reflect on where Europe stands vis-à-vis some aspects of a green economy.
Several of the indicators presented in this report show encouraging trends, while others point to issues that require urgent attention.
European environmental policies have helped Europe use resources more efficiently. However, policies aimed at making ecosystems more resilient have been less successful. Both are central to Europe achieving a green economy and becoming sustainable, according to the report.
The report emphasises that improving resource efficiency remains necessary, but stresses that this in itself may not be sufficient to ensure a resilient, sustainable natural environment. In some cases, reduced ecosystem resilience may even be irreversible, for example biodiversity loss leading to species extinction, or when environmental or climate tipping points are passed.
Following these findings, the report also considers the merits of designing policy objectives and targets that more explicitly address the links between resource efficiency, ecosystem resilience and human well-being to support the transition to a green economy.
Key findings
The report uses well-established environmental indicators, assessing progress towards a green economy along six environmental themes.
- Nitrogen emissions and threats to biodiversity: progress has been made to reduce pollution causing acidification and eutrophication. However, nitrogen emissions from sewage and agriculture remain high, and these pollutants continue to damage ecosystems and habitats.
- Carbon emissions and climate change: domestic greenhouse gas emissions have decreased substantially across the European Union but continue to rise on the global level. Rising temperatures threaten ecosystem resilience.
- Air pollution and air quality: air pollutant emissions have decreased in many parts of Europe; nonetheless, poor air quality is still a serious health issue, particularly in many cities.
- The marine environment: overfishing, shipping and other maritime activities put pressure on the marine environment; leading to altered, often less resilient marine ecosystems.
- Stress on water resources: managing water use and demand has helped reduce water use in all sectors; but high levels of water stress still endanger ecosystems in European water bodies. This problem is exacerbated by climate change and inefficient water use in some areas.
- Use of material resources: there has been progress in ‘decoupling’ economic growth and material resource use. However, overall consumption and production patterns are not sustainable.
Green economy across Europe
The report was presented to members of parliament (MPs) from more than 20 EU Member States during a visit to the EEA on Monday 14 May 2012.
Slovak MP Mikuláš Huba, Chairman of the Agriculture and Environment Committee said: “Green economy is mentioned in the government’s programme in Slovakia. This is a positive first step, but we are yet to see what might develop in terms of action.” He added: “I believe it is very important to carefully consider the outcomes of economic decisions, so growth and job creation (even if called ‘green’) do not result environmental destruction.”
José Llorens Torres MP, who is President of the Spanish government’s Commission on Agriculture, Food and Environment, explained the need for a green economy in his country: “Spain has to both comply with EU objectives to reduce carbon emissions, and we have to reduce the deficit in line with the demands of the EU.”
UK MP Joan Walley, Chair of the UK government’s Environmental Audit Committee said: “Everyone understands what is meant by business as usual but few have signed up for the step change now urgently needed if we are to withstand the pressures on the earth’s natural resources. The EEA’s measured and robust research is the necessary point of departure if we are to safeguard our future. Their work needs to be understood, applied and used by all government departments including the Treasury.”
American rivers under threat
The America’s Most Endangered Rivers report highlights 10 rivers whose fate will be decided in the coming year, and encourages decision-makers to protect them and the communities they support. The 10 most endangered rivers are shown in red on the map below. Click on the buttons for details
Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk
Bird trapping on the rise in Cyprus – an estimated 2.8 million birds killed in 2011
(c) BirdLife Cyprus
The latest monitoring results in Cyprus show that bird trapping with mist nets and limesticks continues to rise, threatening many migrants travelling through the Eastern Mediterranean Island.
BirdLife Cyprus has carried out monitoring of illegal trapping right through 2011 and discovered that 2.8 million birds have been victims of this practice during the year. It is the highest number of cases reported since BirdLife Cyprus’ campaign against the illegal killing of birds was launched ten years ago. This dramatic figure highlights the increasing trend in bird trapping in the country, which threatens to reverse all the progresses achieved in the first years of the new millennium.
The campaign, supported by the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK), started in 2002. Each year, BirdLife Cyprus has undertaken field surveys on trapping activities especially during the spring, the autumn and the winter in the country.
It has also just produced a new report assessing trapping cases that happened during winter 2011-2012. It includes an overview on the situation and the ecological impact of illegal bird trapping in Cyprus, and a section on the latest survey results.
BirdLife Cyprus calls upon the competent authorities, both from the Republic of Cyprus and the UK sovereign base areas, to adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ approach, if illegal bird trapping is to be stopped.
Please find BirdLife Cyprus new report on winter trapping 2011-2012 here.
For more information, please contact Tassos Shialis, Illegal Bird Killing Campaigns Officer at BirdLife Cyprus
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This post was written by:
BirdLife Europe – who has written 96 posts on BirdLife Community.
The BirdLife Europe Partnership consists of 45 conservation organisations with almost 3,000 staff, 1.9 million members and more than 6,000 reserves covering over 300,000 hectares.