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| (Toronto: June 25, 2008) - WWF-Canada announced today that Gerald Butts will become President and Chief Executive Officer effective September 2nd. He will succeed Mike Russill, who announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down on September 30th. Gerald has been the Principal Secretary to Premier Dalton McGuinty and will be leaving that role on June 30th. As Principal Secretary, he worked directly with the Premier, the Ontario Cabinet and the Ontario Public Service to develop, implement and communicate the Ontario Government’s agenda... |
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Vague land ownership a factor in Amazon deforestation
(2008-07-04) - <a href="http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=139821"><img src="http://assets.panda.org/img/treecutting_139040.jpg" width="146" height="109" alt="If carried out the right way, sustainable forestry activities can generate income, provide long-term timber supplies and ensure that forests continue to be ecologically functional. However, a lack of enforced regulation by State authorities is threatening the sustainability of the entire Amazon region.<br />© João Gonçalves / WWF-Brazil" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" /></a><b>Curitiba, Brazil</b> – A “fragile” land tenure system and “a scarce presence” by the State were identified as key factors in rising Amazon deforestation last week.<br />
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The diagnosis was delivered to the 3rd International Congress on Bioenergy last week by WWF-Brazil forest engineer Ana Euler, who said there was a need to re-discuss the Brazilian development model.<br />
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“In many areas of the Amazon we come across a situation in which there are various 'landowners' for the same piece of land and proof of land ownership is extremely difficult,” Euler said. “In such a scenario, the populations that are more vulnerable end up being penalized." <br />
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“Indigenous peoples, extractivists and small peasants generally lose the dispute to agribusiness and other groups that deploy greater political and economic strength.”<br />
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The findings draw on studies of the states of Para and Rondônia where a high incidence of land conflict and associated violence were linked to forest degradation and destruction. <br />
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Using satellite images of the state of Rondônia - one of the Amazon region's most deforested states, Ana Euler showed that protected areas are proving effective instruments for containing deforestation and conflicts resulting from land use. <br />
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"It can be noted that indigenous lands, extractive reserves, national and state forests, and other protected areas work as barriers against forest degradation," she said. <br />
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Also raised by Euler was the great influence of infrastructure projects, as hydroelectric power plants, highways, pipelines and waterways in increasing conflicts over land use and occupation in the Amazon region. <br />
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"The speculation generated by the announcement of great infrastructure construction work, as well as the lack of transparence in the project-licensing processes, has serious impacts to local biodiversity and to surrounding communities even before construction is started," she said.<br />
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WWF-Brazil is fostering the creation and implementation of protected areas and the promotion of sustainable development in the Amazon. Through providing technical and financial support to the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA), WWF-Brazil contributed to the creation of 23 million hectares of additional protected areas between 2003 and 2008. <br />
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WWF-Brazil and its partner organizations also provide training, technical and marketing support to forest communities for sustainable income generating extraction and production activities Such arrangements strengthen civil society, support community involvement in policy making and can in part make up for a meagre presence of other government resources and services.
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<link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CGComm%5CLocal%20Settings%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><w:WordDocument><w:View>Normal</w:View><w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom><w:HyphenationZone>7</w:HyphenationZone><w:Compatibility><w:BreakWrappedTables /><w:SnapToGridInCell /><w:WrapTextWithPunct /><w:UseAsianBreakRules /></w:Compatibility><w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel></w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><objectclassid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui></object><style>st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }</style><![endif]--><style type="text/css"><!--{12151589762582}<span _fck_bookmark="true" id="1215159331480S" style="display: none;"> </span>Curitiba, Brazil – A “fragile” land tenure system and “a scarce presence” by the State were identified as key factors in rising Amazon deforestation last week.<br /><br />The diagnosis was delivered to the 3rd International Congress on Bioenergy last week by WWF-Brazil forest engineer Ana Euler, who said there was a need to re-discuss the Brazilian development model.<br /><br />“In many areas of the Amazon we come across a situation in which there are various 'landowners' for the same piece of land and proof of land ownership is extremely difficult,” Euler said. “In such a scenario, the populations that are more vulnerable end up being penalized." <br /><br />“Indigenous peoples, extractivists and small peasants generally lose the dispute to agribusiness and other groups that deploy greater political and economic strength.”<br /><br />The findings draw on studies of the states of Para and Rondônia where a high incidence of land conflict and associated violence were linked to forest degradation and destruction. <br /><br />Using satellite images of the state of Rondônia - one of the Amazon region's most deforested states, Ana Euler showed that protected areas are proving effective instruments for containing deforestation and conflicts resulting from land use. <br /><br />"It can be noted that indigenous lands, extractive reserves, national and state forests, and other protected areas work as barriers against forest degradation," she said. <br /> <br />Also raised by Euler was the great influence of infrastructure projects, as hydroelectric power plants, highways, pipelines and waterways in increasing conflicts over land use and occupation in the Amazon region. <br /><br />"The speculation generated by the announcement of great infrastructure construction work, as well as the lack of transparence in the project-licensing processes, has serious impacts to local biodiversity and to surrounding communities even before construction is started," she said.<br /><br />WWF-Brazil is fostering the creation and implementation of protected areas and the promotion of sustainable development in the Amazon. Through providing technical and financial support to the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA), WWF-Brazil contributed to the creation of 23 million hectares of additional protected areas between 2003 and 2008. <br /> <br />WWF-Brazil and its partner organizations also provide training, technical and marketing support to forest communities for sustainable income generating extraction and production activities Such arrangements strengthen civil society, support community involvement in policy making and can in part make up for a meagre presence of other government resources and services.<span _fck_bookmark="true" id="1215159331688E" style="display: none;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><span style=""></span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><span style=""><br></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></style><!--[if gte mso 10]><style>/* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";}</style><![endif]--></meta>
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Azores faces fishing out after court appeal fails
(2008-07-03) - <a href="http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=139602"><img src="http://assets.panda.org/img/107581_40766.jpg" width="146" height="95" alt="The Azores is one of the best preserved deep sea environments in European waters.<br />© WWF-Canon / Chris Martin Bahr" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" /></a><b>Luxembourg/Brussels</b> – A Court ruling has cleared the way for even more intensive fishing of one of the Atlantic’s most diverse deep sea habitats.<br />
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“The people of the Azores have used small vessels and traditional fishing methods for generations without endangering fish stocks or the environment,” said Stephan Lutter of WWF Germany. <br />
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“Now the number of Spanish longliners licensed to fish in Azorean waters has increased from zero to at least 140 vessels in only 2 years.”<br />
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After the European Council of Ministers <a href="http://www.richardbuxton.co.uk/v3.0/?q=node/343">decided</a> in 2003 to open the region up to the fishing fleets of all EU member states, the decision was appealed to the Court of First Instance of the European Communities by the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with the support of Greenpeace, Seas at Risk and WWF. <br />
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The Azores is the most isolated archipelago in the North-East Atlantic and forms part of the volcanic mid-ocean ridge. Averaging 3000 metres in depth, the waters around the Azores contain vast undersea mountain ranges – seamounts – deep water coral reefs and volcanic hydrothermal vents that are rare in European waters. The deep water commercial fish species found around the Azores are long-lived and slow to reproduce and even modest fishing pressure can seriously deplete stocks.<br />
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Tuesday’s court ruling marks the failure to overturn the 2003 decision, with the Court of First Instance citing the lack of legal status of the Azores to bring forth such a case. The latter have pledged to appeal though, in an effort to protect their region from the devastation caused by such intensive fishing.<br />
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“We are deeply disappointed that the Court has decided that the case brought by the Azores and NGOs is inadmissible. The consequence is that the Azores’ unique marine life remains vulnerable to increasingly intensive fishing practices.” saidMonica Verbeek of Seas at Risk.<br />
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While the Council of Ministers banned bottom trawling (a particularly intensive and damaging form of fishing) in the fisheries around the Azores in 2004, the number of longliners targeting swordfish has increased dramatically since 2003. Longlining causes significant loss of life to non-target species such as turtles and sharks, while also devastating deep-sea corals. <br />
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Since the opening up of the Azores fisheries, several thousand loggerhead turtles, which rely on the Azores' waters as their feeding and nursery grounds, have been killed by EU vessels.<br />
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“The Court’s ruling has primarily considered legal and not ecological aspects. It is therefore crucial that Spain and any other EU member states that have vessels fishing in the area make an immediate assessment of how their individual fisheries impact on ocean ecosystems around the Azores.” Said Saskia Richartz of Greenpeace.<br />
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“Unless they can prove that no negative impact occurs, EU member states should prohibit their vessels from fishing around the Azores.”<br />
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On 23rd of June, the Council of Ministers adopted rules that will apply to bottom fisheries in certain deep-sea areas on the high seas. These will require vessels to carry observers on board, and for Member States to perform impact assessments before authorising any fishing activities in such deep-sea areas. However, these rules do not currently apply to the Azores, though adoption of similar measures would go some way to maintaining the sustainability and stability of the region. <br />
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