eeuu-naturaleza 28-11-2006
Terra Actualidad - EFE
La fragmentación forestal es una amenaza mayor de lo que se creía para la biodiversidad en la cuenca del Amazonas, revela un estudio divulgado hoy por la revista 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'.
Esa fragmentación se produce como resultado de las actividades madereras, ganaderas e industriales en una zona que contiene las mayores comunidades forestales del planeta.
Según el estudio, se calcula que en una superficie que cubre apenas el área de dos canchas de fútbol conviven hasta 300 especies de árboles diferentes.
La Cuenca del Amazonas, ocupada por el río y sus tributarios, ocupa una superficie de unos siete millones de kilómetros cuadrados
La investigación incluyó el análisis de la suerte corrida por casi 32.000 árboles amazónicos desde 1980, en lo que se considera como el estudio experimental más grande y prolongado realizado hasta ahora sobre la fragmentación del hábitat amazónico.
Según William Laurance, del Instituto Smithsonian de Investigación Tropical en Panamá, uno de los descubrimientos de la investigación fue la notable velocidad con la que las comunidades de árboles cambian como consecuencia de la fragmentación.
'Los árboles de las selvas húmedas pueden vivir siglos, y hasta milenios. Por ello es que ninguno de nosotros esperaba algo tan rápido. En solo dos décadas -que es un segundo en la vida de un árbol milenario- el ecosistema ha sufrido una grave degradación', manifestó Laurance.
Según los científicos, el factor principal de esa degradación son los cambios ecológicos que ocurren en los márgenes de las fragmentaciones forestales.
'Cuando se fragmenta el bosque, los vientos cálidos de las llanuras adyacentes matan muchos árboles', indicó Henrique Nascimento, miembro del Instituto Nacional para la Investigación Amazónica de Brasil.
Según el científico brasileño, el estudio determinó que la fragmentación produce una reestructuración completa de las comunidades de árboles.
'Los más vulnerables son los que sobreviven bajo las copas y que necesitan de animales como pájaros o murciélagos para esparcir sus semillas o el polen', agregó.
Para los científicos el problema también puede ser un factor en el cambio climático por cuanto los árboles más pequeños en una zona fragmentada tienen menos biomasa y, por lo tanto, menos carbono que las selvas originales.
El carbono de los árboles muertos es reconvertido por los insectos en dióxido de carbono, el más importante de los gases invernadero.
'La fragmentación está afectando las selvas de muchas maneras.
Estos cambios son rápidos y cuando se altera completamente algo tan básico como los árboles, las especies que viven en la selva también ser verán afectadas', indicó Laurance.
28 November 2006
27 November 2006
Indigenous Amazonian people score rare victory against oil company
By taking drastic action, the Achuar people of the Amazon have forced an oil company to finally start cutting back on pollution
By Dan Collyns
THE GUARDIAN, IQUITOS, PERU
Taipei Times
Sunday, Nov 26, 2006, Page 9
It was by any measure a remarkable protest. More than 800 Achuar tribespeople from the borders of Peru and Ecuador, headed by their traditional leaders with their red and yellow feathered headdresses, arrived last month by the boatload in the twilight hours at four oil wells in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest.
Their faces streaked with paint and with some of them carrying hunting shotguns and ceremonial spears, they formed a peaceful blockade of Peru's largest oil facility. They stayed for nearly two weeks, shutting down power to most of the region's oil production, and its road, airport and river access.
It was a desperate attempt by the Achuar to get the Peruvian government to take notice of their plight. For decades they had been saying that their land had been heavily polluted and their waters poisoned by oil exploration, but they had been consistently ignored.
The plan worked. The loss of millions of dollars in revenue and around 40,000 barrels of oil per day forced the government and Pluspetrol -- Peru's largest oil and gas operator -- to concede to most of the Achuar's demands, including reinjecting all the contaminated waste water back into the ground within two years, and building a new hospital with enough money to run a health service for 10 years.
The victory was particularly sweet for the Achuar -- who number around 8,000 in Peru's vast Amazon region of Loreto -- because it was the only time in 36 years of oil exploration and extraction in their area that the state had intervened. Companies have long been given a carte blanche to flout international environmental laws.
"It was like a carnival back then -- they were bathing in it," says Luis Canale, the environment manager for the current operator, Pluspetrol. "That was the typical attitude when they first discovered oil here. It's certain that there was a lot of contamination caused by the oil companies who were here before, but the environmental laws now have fundamentally changed."
The laws may have changed but, the Achuar say attitudes haven't. When Pluspetrol took on the two oil drilling blocks in 1996 and 2000, it promised to clean the areas polluted by the abandoned oil wells of previous companies. But the daily dumping of around a million barrels of production waters -- containing high concentrations of hydrocarbons and heavy metals -- into rivers and streams has continued.
Canale admits it is "not the best practice."
In part of a complex relationship, the oil company now provides medical care for some 1,800 Achuar due to the lack of state facilities. Until now, the Peruvian state has had virtually no presence in many parts of Loreto, something the new government has said it wants to change.
For the Achuar, water is the source of life, but it has become the bringer of death. It has been contaminated with heavy metals and hydrocarbons through the production waters of oil drilling that are spewed out untreated into the rivers and streams without regard for international standards.
It wasn't until May this year that the Achuar's complaints of contamination were officially vindicated when Peru's health ministry found high concentrations of lead and cadmium in the blood samples of more than 200 of them. Pluspetrol maintains that levels of the heavy metals in its production waters do not exceed permitted limits.
On the banks of the Corrientes river, the village of San Cristobal exists side-by-side with Pluspetrol's Block 8, the second largest oil plant in the country. The community's leader, Chief Alfonso Hualinga Sandy, says the animals he used to hunt have been driven away by the pollution, the fish are scarce, and the medicinal plants he once gathered are dying.
The Achuar use the river water to bathe in, to wash their clothes, and they mix it with the fermented mash of cassava to make their traditional drink, masato.
The chief's wife, Ana Hualinga Sandy, a grandmother who has endured contamination by successive oil companies for almost 40 years, says: "When we say we are dying and demand that they stop the contamination, they do nothing. But when we take drastic measures, only then will we solve this problem. I feel a great sickness throughout my entire body. With this feeling I think I'm going to die. We were told they would stop the contamination. They said they would help us."
She says that stomach complaints, often with vomiting of blood, are common. Latin America is a major source of oil, not only for the US, but increasingly for the world's second largest consumer, China.
Peru has already signed away an estimated 43 percent of its tropical rainforest to oil concessions -- around 27 million hectares -- in the last five years.
Bill Powers, an American engineering consultant, says Peru needs to be more cautious about how it issues oil concessions in the Amazon. "If they refuse to demand best practices then they'll be setting up more conflict in the Amazon," he predicts.
"They'll also be setting up the knock-out environmental punch for the Amazon. It will become a degraded environment with degraded terrain, and the indigenous people will become just a bunch of dirt-poor people. For years the government has been marketing Peru as one of the best places on the planet to invest in, but there's not been a word about protecting the environment or its native people," he says.
Meanwhile, oil companies such as Conoco Phillips have already signed contracts to explore new concessions in Peru.
"The future is very bleak if the case is that an indigenous group is simply not going to be listened to unless they stop petrol production," says Gregor MacLennan, co-founder of Shinai, an NGO that works with indigenous people in Peru.
"The problem is that petrol companies think they can go to the jungle, act how they like, cover up any spills with mud, and be pretty sure that no one's ever going to find out what happened -- and that no one really cares enough about the people that live there to invest some money and do something about it."
By Dan Collyns
THE GUARDIAN, IQUITOS, PERU
Taipei Times
Sunday, Nov 26, 2006, Page 9
It was by any measure a remarkable protest. More than 800 Achuar tribespeople from the borders of Peru and Ecuador, headed by their traditional leaders with their red and yellow feathered headdresses, arrived last month by the boatload in the twilight hours at four oil wells in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest.
Their faces streaked with paint and with some of them carrying hunting shotguns and ceremonial spears, they formed a peaceful blockade of Peru's largest oil facility. They stayed for nearly two weeks, shutting down power to most of the region's oil production, and its road, airport and river access.
It was a desperate attempt by the Achuar to get the Peruvian government to take notice of their plight. For decades they had been saying that their land had been heavily polluted and their waters poisoned by oil exploration, but they had been consistently ignored.
The plan worked. The loss of millions of dollars in revenue and around 40,000 barrels of oil per day forced the government and Pluspetrol -- Peru's largest oil and gas operator -- to concede to most of the Achuar's demands, including reinjecting all the contaminated waste water back into the ground within two years, and building a new hospital with enough money to run a health service for 10 years.
The victory was particularly sweet for the Achuar -- who number around 8,000 in Peru's vast Amazon region of Loreto -- because it was the only time in 36 years of oil exploration and extraction in their area that the state had intervened. Companies have long been given a carte blanche to flout international environmental laws.
"It was like a carnival back then -- they were bathing in it," says Luis Canale, the environment manager for the current operator, Pluspetrol. "That was the typical attitude when they first discovered oil here. It's certain that there was a lot of contamination caused by the oil companies who were here before, but the environmental laws now have fundamentally changed."
The laws may have changed but, the Achuar say attitudes haven't. When Pluspetrol took on the two oil drilling blocks in 1996 and 2000, it promised to clean the areas polluted by the abandoned oil wells of previous companies. But the daily dumping of around a million barrels of production waters -- containing high concentrations of hydrocarbons and heavy metals -- into rivers and streams has continued.
Canale admits it is "not the best practice."
In part of a complex relationship, the oil company now provides medical care for some 1,800 Achuar due to the lack of state facilities. Until now, the Peruvian state has had virtually no presence in many parts of Loreto, something the new government has said it wants to change.
For the Achuar, water is the source of life, but it has become the bringer of death. It has been contaminated with heavy metals and hydrocarbons through the production waters of oil drilling that are spewed out untreated into the rivers and streams without regard for international standards.
It wasn't until May this year that the Achuar's complaints of contamination were officially vindicated when Peru's health ministry found high concentrations of lead and cadmium in the blood samples of more than 200 of them. Pluspetrol maintains that levels of the heavy metals in its production waters do not exceed permitted limits.
On the banks of the Corrientes river, the village of San Cristobal exists side-by-side with Pluspetrol's Block 8, the second largest oil plant in the country. The community's leader, Chief Alfonso Hualinga Sandy, says the animals he used to hunt have been driven away by the pollution, the fish are scarce, and the medicinal plants he once gathered are dying.
The Achuar use the river water to bathe in, to wash their clothes, and they mix it with the fermented mash of cassava to make their traditional drink, masato.
The chief's wife, Ana Hualinga Sandy, a grandmother who has endured contamination by successive oil companies for almost 40 years, says: "When we say we are dying and demand that they stop the contamination, they do nothing. But when we take drastic measures, only then will we solve this problem. I feel a great sickness throughout my entire body. With this feeling I think I'm going to die. We were told they would stop the contamination. They said they would help us."
She says that stomach complaints, often with vomiting of blood, are common. Latin America is a major source of oil, not only for the US, but increasingly for the world's second largest consumer, China.
Peru has already signed away an estimated 43 percent of its tropical rainforest to oil concessions -- around 27 million hectares -- in the last five years.
Bill Powers, an American engineering consultant, says Peru needs to be more cautious about how it issues oil concessions in the Amazon. "If they refuse to demand best practices then they'll be setting up more conflict in the Amazon," he predicts.
"They'll also be setting up the knock-out environmental punch for the Amazon. It will become a degraded environment with degraded terrain, and the indigenous people will become just a bunch of dirt-poor people. For years the government has been marketing Peru as one of the best places on the planet to invest in, but there's not been a word about protecting the environment or its native people," he says.
Meanwhile, oil companies such as Conoco Phillips have already signed contracts to explore new concessions in Peru.
"The future is very bleak if the case is that an indigenous group is simply not going to be listened to unless they stop petrol production," says Gregor MacLennan, co-founder of Shinai, an NGO that works with indigenous people in Peru.
"The problem is that petrol companies think they can go to the jungle, act how they like, cover up any spills with mud, and be pretty sure that no one's ever going to find out what happened -- and that no one really cares enough about the people that live there to invest some money and do something about it."
20 November 2006
La cumbre de Nairobi aprueba una nueva revisión del Protocolo de Kioto en 2008
CONFERENCIA SOBRE EL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO
El Mundo, España
Actualizado viernes 17/11/2006 20:14 (CET)
EFE
NAIROBI.- La Conferencia sobre Cambio Climático de las Naciones Unidas celebrada en Nairobi ha acordado una nueva revisión del Protocolo de Kioto de reducción de gases contaminantes en la cuarta Conferencia de las Partes del año 2008.
El texto aprobado indica que la primera revisión ha concluido que Kioto puede "hacer una contribución decisiva a cómo abordar el cambio climático" y que la nueva no debe necesariamente llevar a la adopción de nuevos compromisos por las partes que han ratificado el Protocolo.
La revisión actual ha llegado a la conclusión de que el Protocolo de Kioto, acordado en 1997, "ha iniciado una acción importante y tiene el potencial de hacer una contribución decisiva a cómo abordar el cambio climático".
Kioto también ha provisto a los países desarrollados con una oportunidad para tomar el liderazgo en la lucha contra el cambio climático y sus efectos adversos, y ha impulsado la cooperación entre países avanzados y en desarrollo a través de su Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio, añade.
El texto acuerda que la segunda revisión "no debe prejuzgar qué acciones deben ser decididas por la Conferencia de las Partes y no debe llevar a nuevos compromisos para ninguna parte".
El nuevo estudio del Protocolo de 1997 para reducir los gases contaminantes debe basarse en la mejor información científica disponible, incluido el cuarto informe del Panel Intergubernamental sobre Cambio Climático (IPCC), previsto para su entrega en 2007.
En la Conferencia de las Partes del año que viene debe ser considerado el contenido de la actual revisión de Kioto, para lo que se pide a los países que envíen sus opiniones para elaborar una propuesta común.
Ratificado por 166 países y en vigor desde el 16 de febrero de 2005, el Protocolo de Kioto impone a las naciones industrializadas metas obligatorias de emisiones de dióxido de carbono -causantes del calentamiento global- con objeto de reducirlas entre 2008 y 2012 en un 5,2 por ciento respecto de los niveles de 1990.
El Mundo, España
Actualizado viernes 17/11/2006 20:14 (CET)
EFE
NAIROBI.- La Conferencia sobre Cambio Climático de las Naciones Unidas celebrada en Nairobi ha acordado una nueva revisión del Protocolo de Kioto de reducción de gases contaminantes en la cuarta Conferencia de las Partes del año 2008.
El texto aprobado indica que la primera revisión ha concluido que Kioto puede "hacer una contribución decisiva a cómo abordar el cambio climático" y que la nueva no debe necesariamente llevar a la adopción de nuevos compromisos por las partes que han ratificado el Protocolo.
La revisión actual ha llegado a la conclusión de que el Protocolo de Kioto, acordado en 1997, "ha iniciado una acción importante y tiene el potencial de hacer una contribución decisiva a cómo abordar el cambio climático".
Kioto también ha provisto a los países desarrollados con una oportunidad para tomar el liderazgo en la lucha contra el cambio climático y sus efectos adversos, y ha impulsado la cooperación entre países avanzados y en desarrollo a través de su Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio, añade.
El texto acuerda que la segunda revisión "no debe prejuzgar qué acciones deben ser decididas por la Conferencia de las Partes y no debe llevar a nuevos compromisos para ninguna parte".
El nuevo estudio del Protocolo de 1997 para reducir los gases contaminantes debe basarse en la mejor información científica disponible, incluido el cuarto informe del Panel Intergubernamental sobre Cambio Climático (IPCC), previsto para su entrega en 2007.
En la Conferencia de las Partes del año que viene debe ser considerado el contenido de la actual revisión de Kioto, para lo que se pide a los países que envíen sus opiniones para elaborar una propuesta común.
Ratificado por 166 países y en vigor desde el 16 de febrero de 2005, el Protocolo de Kioto impone a las naciones industrializadas metas obligatorias de emisiones de dióxido de carbono -causantes del calentamiento global- con objeto de reducirlas entre 2008 y 2012 en un 5,2 por ciento respecto de los niveles de 1990.
Little progress at climate summit
Xan Rice in Nairobi
Saturday November 18, 2006
The Guardian
Environmental campaigners expressed anger last night after a UN climate change conference in Nairobi seemed to be about to end without major breakthroughs.
As talks continued, more than 180 countries had tentatively agreed to review the Kyoto protocol, which requires rich countries to limit greenhouse emissions, in 2008. But there was no deal on a deadline for setting new global targets that will apply after 2012, when Kyoto expires. Nor were there any signs that the US and Australia, which have rejected the treaty, would consider signing a successor agreement, or that industrialising countries such as China and India would agree to cut their carbon emissions in future.
The Kyoto review would show how much or how little progress has been made in tackling global warming. If the latter, the results could put pressure on rich nations to agree steeper cuts and on developing countries to limit emissions.
Barbara Helfferich, a European commission spokeswoman, said the timing of the review would ensure there was no gap between Kyoto and "son of Kyoto".
But environmentalists were unhappy with the outcome. "It means that the Kyoto show is still rolling on, which is good," said Andrew Pendleton of Christian Aid. "But if you look at the scale of the problem, the results we have seen are timid."
Saturday November 18, 2006
The Guardian
Environmental campaigners expressed anger last night after a UN climate change conference in Nairobi seemed to be about to end without major breakthroughs.
As talks continued, more than 180 countries had tentatively agreed to review the Kyoto protocol, which requires rich countries to limit greenhouse emissions, in 2008. But there was no deal on a deadline for setting new global targets that will apply after 2012, when Kyoto expires. Nor were there any signs that the US and Australia, which have rejected the treaty, would consider signing a successor agreement, or that industrialising countries such as China and India would agree to cut their carbon emissions in future.
The Kyoto review would show how much or how little progress has been made in tackling global warming. If the latter, the results could put pressure on rich nations to agree steeper cuts and on developing countries to limit emissions.
Barbara Helfferich, a European commission spokeswoman, said the timing of the review would ensure there was no gap between Kyoto and "son of Kyoto".
But environmentalists were unhappy with the outcome. "It means that the Kyoto show is still rolling on, which is good," said Andrew Pendleton of Christian Aid. "But if you look at the scale of the problem, the results we have seen are timid."
18 November 2006
African Lake's Iconic Birds are Vanishing
ENN FULL STORY
November 16, 2006 — By Charles J. Hanley, Associated Press
LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK, Kenya — The famous flamingos of Nakuru are fading away.
The spindly, exquisite birds, clouds of pink rising on a million wings in generations of tourist photographs, are dying, flying off, fleeing a seemingly fatal brew of environmental threats in a shrinking Lake Nakuru, the home that has sheltered them for uncounted centuries.
Where just six years ago as many as 1 million flamingos fed in Nakuru's shallows, in vast rosy carpets of plumage, hooked beaks and curved necks, as few as 30,000 stay-behinds hug the equatorial lake's receding shoreline. The carcasses of many hundreds of dead flamingos litter newly dried and caked sections of lakebed.
Nakuru, whose recent maximum size was about 50 square kilometers (18 square miles), may have lost half its water in the past few years, residents say.
"Something must be done," said Jackson Kilonzo, manager of the Lake Nakuru Lodge. "People have to come together and decide to do whatever it takes to bring the water level back up."
Precisely why the shallow lake and its flamingo population are shrinking remains a complex question.
The water catchment area around Nakuru has been heavily deforested, and its rivers are running dry. Years of drought have further reduced the water supply. African temperatures, like global temperatures, are rising. Sewer and industrial runoff from nearby Nakuru town pollute the lake. And its blue-green algae, the flamingos' food, has diminished with the lake.
The U.N. Environment Program will soon undertake a comprehensive Lake Nakuru study, said the Nairobi-based agency's Nehemiah Rodich, a former director of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
"It won't be easy to pin down a complexity of issues that ultimately might be the causes," he said.
The flamingo, to many, symbolizes Africa as much as the lion or rhino.
Ancient Egyptians revered the impossibly graceful bird. In her classic 1938 memoir, "Out of Africa," Karen Blixen told of a vast flamingo flock alarmed by duck hunters: "At the first shot they rise in a cloud, like dust from a beaten carpet; they are the color of pink alabaster."
Such sights have drawn 200,000 visitors a year to Lake Nakuru, long home to what was believed to be the bulk of the global population of lesser flamingos, one of two species, with greater flamingos, inhabiting Nakuru, in the Rift Valley 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Nairobi.
Paul Opiyo, deputy warden of the Lake Nakuru National Park, questioned a recent report in The Nation newspaper of Nairobi that the flamingo population had dropped to 30,000.
"There's slightly more than that," he said, although he offered no current official figures. He also said the Nation's estimate that the population had recently declined by 800,000 was too high.
Many birds are known to have relocated to other Rift Valley lakes that, like Nakuru, are heavily alkaline, waters hospitable to blue-green algae growth. But those lakes are shrinking, too, and Rodich said mass flamingo deaths have been reported at nearby Lake Oloidien.
"There's a problem with the algae," said Opiyo. "If the lake is shrinking, there will be less food for the flamingos."
The park deputy said a smaller Lake Nakuru presents another problem: Toxic urban runoffs become more concentrated in less water. He said many flamingos have developed sores on their legs because of the pollutants.
"We're working to clean up a sewage treatment plant," he said.
Lake Nakuru -- with a mean depth 2.5 meters (8 feet) -- has shrunk before, even disappeared. But this time, because of global warming, it may be different.
"The lake is threatened by deforestation and other problems, but now with a climate signature on top of that," said U.N. Environment Program spokesman Nick Nuttall. The shallowness of many Rift Valley lakes makes them vulnerable as temperatures rise and more water evaporates.
Ringed by big spreading acacia trees and grasslands where zebra, waterbuck and rhinoceros browse, Lake Nakuru is slowly pulling back toward its center, leaving a whitish, salt-encrusted rim several hundred meters (yards) wide at some points. Die-hard flamingos retreat with the water, their muted honks breaking a haunting afternoon silence.
Where will it end?
"The life of the flamingo depends on the water level, and we haven't had reliable rainfall for years," said lodge manager Kilonzo. "Tourism is the lifeline of this area. Without the lake and the flamingos, our lifeline is threatened."
Source: Associated Press
November 16, 2006 — By Charles J. Hanley, Associated Press
LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK, Kenya — The famous flamingos of Nakuru are fading away.
The spindly, exquisite birds, clouds of pink rising on a million wings in generations of tourist photographs, are dying, flying off, fleeing a seemingly fatal brew of environmental threats in a shrinking Lake Nakuru, the home that has sheltered them for uncounted centuries.
Where just six years ago as many as 1 million flamingos fed in Nakuru's shallows, in vast rosy carpets of plumage, hooked beaks and curved necks, as few as 30,000 stay-behinds hug the equatorial lake's receding shoreline. The carcasses of many hundreds of dead flamingos litter newly dried and caked sections of lakebed.
Nakuru, whose recent maximum size was about 50 square kilometers (18 square miles), may have lost half its water in the past few years, residents say.
"Something must be done," said Jackson Kilonzo, manager of the Lake Nakuru Lodge. "People have to come together and decide to do whatever it takes to bring the water level back up."
Precisely why the shallow lake and its flamingo population are shrinking remains a complex question.
The water catchment area around Nakuru has been heavily deforested, and its rivers are running dry. Years of drought have further reduced the water supply. African temperatures, like global temperatures, are rising. Sewer and industrial runoff from nearby Nakuru town pollute the lake. And its blue-green algae, the flamingos' food, has diminished with the lake.
The U.N. Environment Program will soon undertake a comprehensive Lake Nakuru study, said the Nairobi-based agency's Nehemiah Rodich, a former director of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
"It won't be easy to pin down a complexity of issues that ultimately might be the causes," he said.
The flamingo, to many, symbolizes Africa as much as the lion or rhino.
Ancient Egyptians revered the impossibly graceful bird. In her classic 1938 memoir, "Out of Africa," Karen Blixen told of a vast flamingo flock alarmed by duck hunters: "At the first shot they rise in a cloud, like dust from a beaten carpet; they are the color of pink alabaster."
Such sights have drawn 200,000 visitors a year to Lake Nakuru, long home to what was believed to be the bulk of the global population of lesser flamingos, one of two species, with greater flamingos, inhabiting Nakuru, in the Rift Valley 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Nairobi.
Paul Opiyo, deputy warden of the Lake Nakuru National Park, questioned a recent report in The Nation newspaper of Nairobi that the flamingo population had dropped to 30,000.
"There's slightly more than that," he said, although he offered no current official figures. He also said the Nation's estimate that the population had recently declined by 800,000 was too high.
Many birds are known to have relocated to other Rift Valley lakes that, like Nakuru, are heavily alkaline, waters hospitable to blue-green algae growth. But those lakes are shrinking, too, and Rodich said mass flamingo deaths have been reported at nearby Lake Oloidien.
"There's a problem with the algae," said Opiyo. "If the lake is shrinking, there will be less food for the flamingos."
The park deputy said a smaller Lake Nakuru presents another problem: Toxic urban runoffs become more concentrated in less water. He said many flamingos have developed sores on their legs because of the pollutants.
"We're working to clean up a sewage treatment plant," he said.
Lake Nakuru -- with a mean depth 2.5 meters (8 feet) -- has shrunk before, even disappeared. But this time, because of global warming, it may be different.
"The lake is threatened by deforestation and other problems, but now with a climate signature on top of that," said U.N. Environment Program spokesman Nick Nuttall. The shallowness of many Rift Valley lakes makes them vulnerable as temperatures rise and more water evaporates.
Ringed by big spreading acacia trees and grasslands where zebra, waterbuck and rhinoceros browse, Lake Nakuru is slowly pulling back toward its center, leaving a whitish, salt-encrusted rim several hundred meters (yards) wide at some points. Die-hard flamingos retreat with the water, their muted honks breaking a haunting afternoon silence.
Where will it end?
"The life of the flamingo depends on the water level, and we haven't had reliable rainfall for years," said lodge manager Kilonzo. "Tourism is the lifeline of this area. Without the lake and the flamingos, our lifeline is threatened."
Source: Associated Press
Asume nuevo Viceministro de Biodiversidad con la promesa de preservar medio ambiente
Sábado, 18 de Noviembre del 2006
ABI Noviembre 16, 2006, 23:23 EST
La Paz, Bolivia -- Para impulsar la “nacionalización o recuperación” de los recursos forestales y áreas protegidas, este jueves el ministro de Desarrollo Rural, Hugo Salvatierra, posesionó al nuevo viceministro de Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente, cargo que recayó en Sandro Luís Rodríguez Ramos.
El ministro Salvatierra dijo que con la flamante autoridad habrá una reconducción del Viceministerio de Biodiversidad, Recursos Forestales y Medio Ambiente con el objetivo encarar las políticas y las estrategias diseñadas para este sector.
También demandó a las organizaciones sociales acompañar este proceso de cambios ya que se necesita una forestería comunitaria, donde los campesinos no sólo vean el aprovechamiento de los recursos forestales, sino participen en el uso y aprovechen de estos bienes en función del desarrollo y bienestar de sus comunidades.
Insistió en que las áreas protegidas y biodiversidad, hoy en manos del nuevo viceministro que goza el respaldo de las organizaciones campesinas, indígenas de Cochabamba y del país, tiene que significar el repunte de la nueva estrategia de desarrollo, no sólo de la agricultura, sino recuperar la propiedad de los recursos forestales y darle uso para la humanidad.
Dijo que se requiere de un medio ambiente habitable para el país y el mundo entero y contribuir de esta manera al mejoramiento de la calidad de vida.
En criterio de la autoridad, Bolivia es privilegiada de contar con semejantes recursos de la naturaleza como los bosques en la amazonía como una contribución a la descontaminación del medio ambiente en el mundo y de mejorar la calidad de vida de la humanidad.
De su parte, la nueva autoridad, a tiempo de agradecer al presidente Evo Morales por su nombramiento y la confianza depositada en su persona para desempeñar estas funciones, se comprometió en poner todo de sí para trabajar por la preservación de los recursos y el medio ambiente.
ABI Noviembre 16, 2006, 23:23 EST
La Paz, Bolivia -- Para impulsar la “nacionalización o recuperación” de los recursos forestales y áreas protegidas, este jueves el ministro de Desarrollo Rural, Hugo Salvatierra, posesionó al nuevo viceministro de Biodiversidad y Medio Ambiente, cargo que recayó en Sandro Luís Rodríguez Ramos.
El ministro Salvatierra dijo que con la flamante autoridad habrá una reconducción del Viceministerio de Biodiversidad, Recursos Forestales y Medio Ambiente con el objetivo encarar las políticas y las estrategias diseñadas para este sector.
También demandó a las organizaciones sociales acompañar este proceso de cambios ya que se necesita una forestería comunitaria, donde los campesinos no sólo vean el aprovechamiento de los recursos forestales, sino participen en el uso y aprovechen de estos bienes en función del desarrollo y bienestar de sus comunidades.
Insistió en que las áreas protegidas y biodiversidad, hoy en manos del nuevo viceministro que goza el respaldo de las organizaciones campesinas, indígenas de Cochabamba y del país, tiene que significar el repunte de la nueva estrategia de desarrollo, no sólo de la agricultura, sino recuperar la propiedad de los recursos forestales y darle uso para la humanidad.
Dijo que se requiere de un medio ambiente habitable para el país y el mundo entero y contribuir de esta manera al mejoramiento de la calidad de vida.
En criterio de la autoridad, Bolivia es privilegiada de contar con semejantes recursos de la naturaleza como los bosques en la amazonía como una contribución a la descontaminación del medio ambiente en el mundo y de mejorar la calidad de vida de la humanidad.
De su parte, la nueva autoridad, a tiempo de agradecer al presidente Evo Morales por su nombramiento y la confianza depositada en su persona para desempeñar estas funciones, se comprometió en poner todo de sí para trabajar por la preservación de los recursos y el medio ambiente.
10 November 2006
Pronostican efectos del cambio climático en Centroamérica
Nación, Costa Rica
San José (EFE). Los científicos no se cansan de advertir que el calentamiento global traerá grandes catástrofes naturales en todo el mundo, y en el caso de Centroamérica se cree que afectará a la agricultura, biodiversidad y salud en la región.
San José (EFE). Los científicos no se cansan de advertir que el calentamiento global traerá grandes catástrofes naturales en todo el mundo, y en el caso de Centroamérica se cree que afectará a la agricultura, biodiversidad y salud en la región.
Expertos en el tema del cambio climático reunidos en un foro en Costa Rica aseguraron que si la humanidad no cambia su estilo de vida, en los próximos 50 años la temperatura mundial podría elevarse al menos de tres a cinco grados celsius, lo que la pondrá a las puertas de un desastre planetario.
John Kermond, director de comunicación del Programa Climático de la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica de EEUU, afirmó que Centroamérica ya vive los primeros efectos del calentamiento global, pues los fuertes huracanes de los últimos años, las inundaciones y los cambios provocados por el fenómeno “ El Niño ” son consecuencia del aumento en la temperatura de los océanos.
Aunque no se espera que los países del istmo queden bajo las aguas, como se ha pronosticado para grandes áreas de Europa, Asia, EEUU y Japón, el aumento en el nivel del de Marzo producto del deshielo de los polos, sí traerá graves consecuencias a la región.
La especialista en contaminación ambiental de la Universidad de Missouri, María del Rosario Alfaro, explicó que en Centroamérica los más afectados con el calentamiento global serán los habitantes de las zonas costeras, así como la biodiversidad, la agricultura y la salud, especialmente para las personas más pobres.
“ Todos hemos visto desaparecer en Costa Rica al sapo dorado y la rana arlequín, dos especies muy susceptibles a los cambios en clima. Esto es una alarma que no se puede pasar por alto, y la situación continuará empeorando, podríamos ver muchas más extinciones si no hacemos algo ” , dijo.
Según Alfaro, el calentamiento del planeta traerá más y peores inundaciones y sequías a los países centroamericanos, lo que además favorecerá la pérdida de fertilidad en los suelos, la propagación de enfermedades tropicales y las crisis alimentarias.
“ Con la pérdida de muchas especies se da una selección natural en la que sobreviven las más fuertes, pero esto no necesariamente es positivo. Por ejemplo, las plagas de ratas en nuestras ciudades y campos no deben ser tomadas a la ligera, son una manifestación de la descomposición ambiental que enfrentamos ” , añadió.
En los últimos años, recordaron los científicos, Centroamérica ha padecido el retorno de enfermedades ya superadas como la malaria, el cólera y el dengue, estrechamente ligadas con las condiciones ambientales.
La especialista subrayó que “ el calentamiento global tiene ya un impacto directo en nuestra agricultura, bosques, recursos acuíferos, nuestra salud, las áreas costeras y la biodiversidad, pero los ciudadanos todavía no tienen claro que el cambio climático es una realidad tangible ” .
Alfaro detalló que al disminuir las lluvias como consecuencia del calentamiento, no sólo se acortan los ciclos de cultivo, sino que disminuye el rendimiento de la tierra, y esto afecta directamente a las personas más pobres, cuyos ingresos están íntimamente ligados a la producción agrícola.
“ Pensemos en qué pasará con cultivos tan importantes como el banano y el café. *Cómo se comportarán las plantas a varios grados más de temperatura?, y si tenemos en cuenta la cantidad de personas que dependen de esta actividad, las consecuencias podrían ser muy graves ” , dijo Ronald Woodman, físico de la Universidad de Harvard.
Luis Diego Marín, presidente de la Asociación para la Preservación de la Flora y la Fauna Silvestre (Apreflofas) , llamó la atención a los gobiernos y empresarios de la región para “ implementar tecnologías limpias y apropiadas que ayuden a minimizar las emisiones de dióxido de carbono (CO2) a la atmósfera ” .
“ Los científicos han pronosticado mucha vulnerabilidad para Centroamérica, por lo que es necesario educar a la ciudadanía sobre cómo frenar los efectos del cambio climático ” , manifestó.
09 November 2006
Water Flow in China's Yellow River Hits Record Low
CHINA: November 8, 2006
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
BEIJING - Water levels in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, China's second longest, have hit a historic low, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday, after a senior official warned that China might run out of water by 2030.
Hot weather and low rainfall led to the dry-up, with water flow over the first 10 months of the year down nearly 33 percent from the long-term average.
The river, which supplies water to over 150 million people and irrigates 15 percent of the country's farmland, is also at serious risk from over-exploitation, Li Guoying, director of the Yellow River Conservancy Committee, told Xinhua.
Nearly two-thirds of the river's water is used for residential and industrial supplies, while international guidelines suggest a 40 percent limit, Li said.
Once known as China's sorrow because of its flooding, in recent years it has sometimes run dry before it reaches the sea.
From 1971 to 1998, its lower reaches were dry for 1,091 days although a new management system means there have been no entirely dry days since 1999, Xinhua said.
But China's increasing wealth and growing population means it faces an uphill challenge in managing its already-scarce water. The country is home to one-fifth of the world's population but has only 7 percent of its water resources.
Vice-Minister of Water Resources Hu Siyi expects the country will consume between 700 and 800 billion cubic metres of water annually by 2030, the South China Morning Post said on Tuesday.
But the country will only have around 800 billion to 900 billion cubic metres available.
With the country trying to clean up its air and cut back dependence on fossil fuels, low water levels cause another problem by denting hydropower generating capacity.
In October, water levels at key hydropower reservoirs nationwide were down 12 percent from a year earlier, meaning China was likely to rely more on dirty-burning coal and oil powered plants for its electricity supplies.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
BEIJING - Water levels in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, China's second longest, have hit a historic low, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday, after a senior official warned that China might run out of water by 2030.
Hot weather and low rainfall led to the dry-up, with water flow over the first 10 months of the year down nearly 33 percent from the long-term average.
The river, which supplies water to over 150 million people and irrigates 15 percent of the country's farmland, is also at serious risk from over-exploitation, Li Guoying, director of the Yellow River Conservancy Committee, told Xinhua.
Nearly two-thirds of the river's water is used for residential and industrial supplies, while international guidelines suggest a 40 percent limit, Li said.
Once known as China's sorrow because of its flooding, in recent years it has sometimes run dry before it reaches the sea.
From 1971 to 1998, its lower reaches were dry for 1,091 days although a new management system means there have been no entirely dry days since 1999, Xinhua said.
But China's increasing wealth and growing population means it faces an uphill challenge in managing its already-scarce water. The country is home to one-fifth of the world's population but has only 7 percent of its water resources.
Vice-Minister of Water Resources Hu Siyi expects the country will consume between 700 and 800 billion cubic metres of water annually by 2030, the South China Morning Post said on Tuesday.
But the country will only have around 800 billion to 900 billion cubic metres available.
With the country trying to clean up its air and cut back dependence on fossil fuels, low water levels cause another problem by denting hydropower generating capacity.
In October, water levels at key hydropower reservoirs nationwide were down 12 percent from a year earlier, meaning China was likely to rely more on dirty-burning coal and oil powered plants for its electricity supplies.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
Indigenous People See Harm from Kyoto Warming Pact
Planet Ark
KENYA: November 9, 2006
NAIROBI - Indigenous peoples from the Amazon to Asia said on Wednesday that UN-backed clean energy projects meant to combat global warming were aggravating threats to their livelihoods.
They said hydropower projects or plantations of fast-growing trees, prompted by a billion-dollar scheme under the UN's Kyoto Protocol for limiting the planet's dependence on fossil fuels, were damaging nature.
"We are not only victims of climate change, we are now victims of the carbon market," Jocelyn Therese, a spokesman for indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin, told a news conference on the fringes of UN talks on global warming.
"Efforts that are supposed to...retard climate change are having an equally disastrous effect," said Ana Pinto, representing indigenous peoples in India.
She said that 162 small hydro dams were planned in northern India alone, flooding lands, under a Kyoto project allowing rich countries to invest in Third World clean energy schemes and claim credits back home for shifting from coal, oil and gas.
"All development projects in indigenous territories must respect our fundamental rights to our lands, territories, waters and self-determination," the International Indigenous Forum said in a statement.
Some experts say the Kyoto scheme, known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), could transfer US$100 billion of investment to poor nations in projects ranging from wind farms to power generation from rotting vegetation in trash dumps.
"The negative effects are not intended by the CDM," Artur Runge-Metzger, the European Commission's chief climate official, said of the indigenous people's objections. He said the Commission wanted to hear all views to improve the CDM.
ICE, PACIFIC
Kyoto obliges 35 industrial states to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, by 2012 in a first step to slow a warming that most scientists say could trigger more floods, erosion, disease and rising seas.
The indigenous peoples said that they needed a voice in the UN climate talks, grouping 189 governments, saying that people from Inuit hunters in the Arctic to Pacific islanders lived on the front lines of climate change.
Climate change "is here now, people are being left without fresh water, without homes, and sometimes they will be left without countries," said Sandy Gauntlett, a Maori representing Pacific nations.
"Your children will grow up with friends who come from countries that no longer exist," he said. The highest point on the Pacific island state of Tuvalu, for instance, is 4 metres (13 ft) above sea level and could be swamped by rising seas.
Hussein Abilan, of northeastern Kenya, said climate change had disrupted traditional signs of rains. The natural warnings allowed people, for instance, to move livestock to higher ground to avoid floods.
"I never required meteorology to tell when rains would come -- the frogs would tell me something, there were signs in the stars and the sky...We had the birds who told us of rains," he said.
"All those are now gone," he said.
Story by Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
KENYA: November 9, 2006
NAIROBI - Indigenous peoples from the Amazon to Asia said on Wednesday that UN-backed clean energy projects meant to combat global warming were aggravating threats to their livelihoods.
They said hydropower projects or plantations of fast-growing trees, prompted by a billion-dollar scheme under the UN's Kyoto Protocol for limiting the planet's dependence on fossil fuels, were damaging nature.
"We are not only victims of climate change, we are now victims of the carbon market," Jocelyn Therese, a spokesman for indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin, told a news conference on the fringes of UN talks on global warming.
"Efforts that are supposed to...retard climate change are having an equally disastrous effect," said Ana Pinto, representing indigenous peoples in India.
She said that 162 small hydro dams were planned in northern India alone, flooding lands, under a Kyoto project allowing rich countries to invest in Third World clean energy schemes and claim credits back home for shifting from coal, oil and gas.
"All development projects in indigenous territories must respect our fundamental rights to our lands, territories, waters and self-determination," the International Indigenous Forum said in a statement.
Some experts say the Kyoto scheme, known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), could transfer US$100 billion of investment to poor nations in projects ranging from wind farms to power generation from rotting vegetation in trash dumps.
"The negative effects are not intended by the CDM," Artur Runge-Metzger, the European Commission's chief climate official, said of the indigenous people's objections. He said the Commission wanted to hear all views to improve the CDM.
ICE, PACIFIC
Kyoto obliges 35 industrial states to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, by 2012 in a first step to slow a warming that most scientists say could trigger more floods, erosion, disease and rising seas.
The indigenous peoples said that they needed a voice in the UN climate talks, grouping 189 governments, saying that people from Inuit hunters in the Arctic to Pacific islanders lived on the front lines of climate change.
Climate change "is here now, people are being left without fresh water, without homes, and sometimes they will be left without countries," said Sandy Gauntlett, a Maori representing Pacific nations.
"Your children will grow up with friends who come from countries that no longer exist," he said. The highest point on the Pacific island state of Tuvalu, for instance, is 4 metres (13 ft) above sea level and could be swamped by rising seas.
Hussein Abilan, of northeastern Kenya, said climate change had disrupted traditional signs of rains. The natural warnings allowed people, for instance, to move livestock to higher ground to avoid floods.
"I never required meteorology to tell when rains would come -- the frogs would tell me something, there were signs in the stars and the sky...We had the birds who told us of rains," he said.
"All those are now gone," he said.
Story by Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
07 November 2006
Uganda: Mt. Elgon Conservation Causes Tension
The Monitor (Kampala)
November 6, 2006
Ben Simon & David Mafabi
Tension has been mounting among local communities around Mt. Elgon National Park over environment conservation policies.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) believes there are short-term solutions to the tension currently plaguing Mt. Elgon National Park MENP.
UWA has already had considerable success sensitising communities about the importance of environmental conservation and has established programmes to enable local communities to continue to benefit from park resources without living on, and causing serious degradation to park land.
But all of UWA's strategies centre on the concept of 'sustainable use:' how to extract resources from the environment without causing permanent harm.
The reason the long-term outlook for their efforts, and the long-term future for the region are potentially bleak is that sustainable use is inseparable from population growth. As the size of park communities grow, their demand for resources also grows and it therefore becomes increasingly difficult to use park resources in a sustainable way.
The population growth rate in the MENP communities and throughout the country as a whole is high; therefore, the sustainability strategies in place now are all but certain to face serious challenges in the years to come.
Short term success
Public attention for the MENP issue has been focused exclusively on the issue of encroachers, but encroachment is just one aspect of a very complicated situation.
Encroachers are a specific group that UWA believes has no legitimate claim to park land. They are disgruntled at the moment, but UWA's resettlement efforts with many other local communities have been successful.
On October 5, Daily Monitor attended a meeting in Bulago sub-county, about 100 metres from the MENP boundary. Present at the meeting were UWA officials, and local leadership for Busiya, Bunabude and Bunasufwa parishes.
The purpose of the meeting was the renewal of a resource sharing agreement.
In 2002, UWA began sensitising communities about the dangers of living on parkland. In response, those living within the park agreed to relocate, and practice sustainability, in exchange for certain resource sharing benefits.
Among other things, the agreement entitles communities to grow crops up to 10 metres inside the park boundary and guarantees locals 20 per cent of all MENP tourism revenues.
At the meeting, community leaders uniformly praised UWA for their assistance. Only a few minor grievances were voiced.
Richard Matanda, deputy chief warden for community affairs at MENP, frequently attends meetings like this one.
While he concedes attitude change from parish to parish vary, for example Buluganya parish is fiercely contesting the park boundaries that UWA is enforcing, he insists that overall relations between park officials and the surrounding communities, encroachers aside, are amicable.
Long term outlook
The Ndroba of Benet are a community that have received considerable media attention over the past few years. They are unique because they are recognised as the only community legitimately entitled to live entirely within MENP boundaries. They have done so since 1957, and the government and park officials are hesitant to ask them to move.
As Matanda puts it, their lifestyle poses no real environmental threat. They are hunter gathers and therefore not inclined toward the large-scale agricultural practice that is particularly damaging to the natural environment.
And yet, they must be moved. Because their way of life notwithstanding, their population is steadily growing, and Matanda believes if they are allowed to continue to live nomadically in the park, "the results will be catastrophic."
So, the plan is to find a contained area within the park where the Benet can live. "This is a difficult problem," chief warden Johnson Masereka says.
There is territory available to allocate to the Benet. 6000 acres of parkland was given to them in 2002 and probably could be done again.
The Benet never received the originally allocated territory. UWA officials and local leaders indicated that certain influential people effectively stole the land and the Benet were forced to return their nomadic life in the remainder of the park.
But if the population continues to grow the problem will re-emerge in another 10 years. As Masereka puts it, "to compensate these people without addressing population explosion is not a solution."
Be it land pressure in the east, or unemployment in urban centres, a doubling population is a powerful and complicated socio-economic force.
One could argue that now is the time to ask what other strategies for managing population growth are available, and whether the government should be exploring them.
November 6, 2006
Ben Simon & David Mafabi
Tension has been mounting among local communities around Mt. Elgon National Park over environment conservation policies.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) believes there are short-term solutions to the tension currently plaguing Mt. Elgon National Park MENP.
UWA has already had considerable success sensitising communities about the importance of environmental conservation and has established programmes to enable local communities to continue to benefit from park resources without living on, and causing serious degradation to park land.
But all of UWA's strategies centre on the concept of 'sustainable use:' how to extract resources from the environment without causing permanent harm.
The reason the long-term outlook for their efforts, and the long-term future for the region are potentially bleak is that sustainable use is inseparable from population growth. As the size of park communities grow, their demand for resources also grows and it therefore becomes increasingly difficult to use park resources in a sustainable way.
The population growth rate in the MENP communities and throughout the country as a whole is high; therefore, the sustainability strategies in place now are all but certain to face serious challenges in the years to come.
Short term success
Public attention for the MENP issue has been focused exclusively on the issue of encroachers, but encroachment is just one aspect of a very complicated situation.
Encroachers are a specific group that UWA believes has no legitimate claim to park land. They are disgruntled at the moment, but UWA's resettlement efforts with many other local communities have been successful.
On October 5, Daily Monitor attended a meeting in Bulago sub-county, about 100 metres from the MENP boundary. Present at the meeting were UWA officials, and local leadership for Busiya, Bunabude and Bunasufwa parishes.
The purpose of the meeting was the renewal of a resource sharing agreement.
In 2002, UWA began sensitising communities about the dangers of living on parkland. In response, those living within the park agreed to relocate, and practice sustainability, in exchange for certain resource sharing benefits.
Among other things, the agreement entitles communities to grow crops up to 10 metres inside the park boundary and guarantees locals 20 per cent of all MENP tourism revenues.
At the meeting, community leaders uniformly praised UWA for their assistance. Only a few minor grievances were voiced.
Richard Matanda, deputy chief warden for community affairs at MENP, frequently attends meetings like this one.
While he concedes attitude change from parish to parish vary, for example Buluganya parish is fiercely contesting the park boundaries that UWA is enforcing, he insists that overall relations between park officials and the surrounding communities, encroachers aside, are amicable.
Long term outlook
The Ndroba of Benet are a community that have received considerable media attention over the past few years. They are unique because they are recognised as the only community legitimately entitled to live entirely within MENP boundaries. They have done so since 1957, and the government and park officials are hesitant to ask them to move.
As Matanda puts it, their lifestyle poses no real environmental threat. They are hunter gathers and therefore not inclined toward the large-scale agricultural practice that is particularly damaging to the natural environment.
And yet, they must be moved. Because their way of life notwithstanding, their population is steadily growing, and Matanda believes if they are allowed to continue to live nomadically in the park, "the results will be catastrophic."
So, the plan is to find a contained area within the park where the Benet can live. "This is a difficult problem," chief warden Johnson Masereka says.
There is territory available to allocate to the Benet. 6000 acres of parkland was given to them in 2002 and probably could be done again.
The Benet never received the originally allocated territory. UWA officials and local leaders indicated that certain influential people effectively stole the land and the Benet were forced to return their nomadic life in the remainder of the park.
But if the population continues to grow the problem will re-emerge in another 10 years. As Masereka puts it, "to compensate these people without addressing population explosion is not a solution."
Be it land pressure in the east, or unemployment in urban centres, a doubling population is a powerful and complicated socio-economic force.
One could argue that now is the time to ask what other strategies for managing population growth are available, and whether the government should be exploring them.
05 November 2006
Declaración del Foro por la Defensa de la Biodiversidad y la Soberanía Alimentaria
Cartagena, Colombia
Friday, Nov. 03, 2006 at 8:58 AM
Más de 70 organizaciones de comunidades indígenas, campesinas, jóvenes y mujeres de la región Caribe, reunidos en Cartagena, Teniendo en cuenta que:
La región de la Costa Caribe es un espacio de diversidad biológica, cultural y política.
· Las profundas inequidades de los modelos de apropiación territorial en la región han desconocido los aportes y los esfuerzos de los grupos humanos locales, han deteriorado la base natural y han generado una condiciones de concentración de la tierra que hacen insostenible la vida para millares de personas.
· El Tratado de Libre Comercio- TLC, acordado entre los gobiernos de Colombia y Estados Unidos, enajena los recursos estratégicos y determina la pérdida de soberanía en muchos aspectos de la vida económica, social, cultural y política del país. Entre muchos otros aspectos, para preparar a Colombia frente al TLC, se presiona la inserción en las denominadas cadenas productivas especializadas en proveer materias primas para la demanda de los países desarrollados. Esto se hace con un enorme costo ambiental y socioeconómico como lo demuestran las plantaciones de palma africana, la caña de azúcar, la yuca amarga y demás materias primas para los llamados biocombustibles. Un enfoque de política que parte de la premisa de suponer que los únicos que pueden subsistir en el campo sean los eficientes y competitivos es una clara decisión de liquidar las poblaciones culturalmente ligadas al campo.
· En el país, el actual gobierno promueve reformas regresivas, antidemocráticas, inconsultas y excluyentes en temas estructurales ligados a la vida e integridad de comunidades rurales y aún, las urbanas. La ley de Desarrollo Rural (30S) es un claro ejemplo de ello.
· La integridad de los ecosistemas, base y patrimonio natural de Colombia, que la colocan como país megabiodiverso del planeta y centro de domesticación de cultivos, queda estructural y negativamente afectada con la puesta en marcha de la ley forestal y el código de Minas y con la ley de aguas en trámite. Tales políticas fragmentan la visión ecosistémica, privatizan los recursos y agotan la base de las comunidades asociadas a tales recursos.
· La biodiversidad y el conocimiento tradicional asociado a ella, son patrimonio colectivo de las comunidades indígenas, negras y campesinas, por lo tanto sobre ellos no se puede aplicar ninguna forma de propiedad intelectual a través de patentes.
· En el mundo existen fuertes cuestionamientos y evidencias sobre los riesgos e impactos de los cultivos y alimentos transgénicos sobre el ambiente, la biodiversidad y los efectos socioeconómicos del país y las comunidades locales.
Por lo tanto:
1. Convocamos la unión y solidaridad de las organizaciones sociales, los estudiantes, académicos, Ongs, periodistas y demás sectores democráticos de la región Caribe, frente a las amenazas que afectan la integridad de los territorios, sus sistemas y los recursos locales, frente a las amenazas y políticas que afectan la integridad de los territorios y recursos de las comunidades locales.
2. Rechazamos los mecanismos e intenciones del proyecto de ley de Desarrollo Rural que actualmente cursa trámite en el Congreso. Es ilegal y atenta contra la integridad de más de 10 millones de personas que viven en el campo. Exigimos se archive el proyecto de ley y nos unimos a las demandas que adelantan otras organizaciones.
3. Rechazamos el TLC porque más que un tratado comercial, es una entrega de la soberanía nacional y de los recursos naturales que conlleva a una pérdida de los derechos de los ciudadanos colombianos y significa una imposición desventajosa hacia Colombia por parte de los Estados Unidos y porque no fue consultado con toda la sociedad. El TLC acentúa la pobreza, el desplazamiento y la inequidad.
4. Rechazamos la implementación de los monocultivos que causan enorme daño sobre los ecosistemas locales y sobre la estructura social y económica de las comunidades locales.
5. Rechazamos las leyes nacionales e internacionales que permiten la privatización de la vida y las actividades de biopiratería sobre nuestra biodiversidad y conocimiento tradicional. Denunciamos que en la carta de entendimiento sobre biodiversidad y conocimiento tradicional incluida en el Tratado de Libre Comercio entre el gobierno colombiano con los Estados Unidos se amplia la aplicación de las patentes a todas las formas de vida y el conocimiento tradicional asociado, legitimando y fomentando la biopiratería del patrimonio genético de la Nación y especialmente, de los recursos genéticos y el conocimiento tradicional de las comunidades indígenas, negras y campesinas.
6. A su vez, la ley 1032 del 2006, que modifica el Código Penal respecto a la usurpación de derechos de propiedad industrial y derechos de obtentores de variedades vegetales, es una clara violación a los derechos de los agricultores y las comunidades locales a mejorar, conservar y usar las semillas tradicionales. Rechazamos el carácter de esta ley, debido a que penaliza con cárcel y multas el uso no autorizado de semillas registradas o patentadas, dejando como única opción legal el uso de semillas registradas. Esta ley es una clara evidencia a favor de las patentes y control monopólico a favor de las transnacionales semilleras, lo cual llevaría a que los agricultores no utilicen sus propias semillas.
7. Rechazamos las políticas del Gobierno Nacional que permiten y promueven la introducción de cultivos y alimentos transgénicos. Especialmente rechazamos la introducción de maíz transgénico en la región Caribe por ser esta una de las regiones del mundo de mayor biodiversidad de semillas criollas de maíz y por el significado que tiene la cultura del maíz en toda la región, la cual se vería afectada por la introducción de las semillas transgénicas.
8. No aceptamos los programas de fomento agrícola y de ayuda alimentaria que contienen y promueven las semillas y alimentos transgénicas.
9. Respaldamos la Declaración del Territorio Indígena Zenú Libre de Transgénicos, suscrito en Octubre de 2005 por 177 cabildos, ubicados en 5 municipios de los departamentos de Córdoba y Sucre, como una estrategia de defensa de la cultura del maíz frente a la amenaza evidente de los cultivos transgénicos en la Región Caribe y en ejercicio de los derechos constitucionales para el gobierno propio de los territorios indígenas. Exigimos que las instituciones y autoridades gubernamentales reconozcan, respeten y apoyen esta decisión y hacemos un llamado a otras organizaciones indígenas, afrodescendientes y campesinas para que protejan sus territorios y los declaren libres de transgénicos.
10. Animamos y nos unimos a las marchas, protestas y demás acciones que en el Caribe y a nivel nacional expresen públicamente el rechazo a la ley de Desarrollo Rural. Hacemos un fuerte llamado a las mujeres, los niños, los hombres, los y las jóvenes, a los consumidores, a los académicos, investigadores y en general a los ciudadanos que comparten nuestras preocupaciones para que tomen parte decidida por las alternativas que planteamos.
11. Proponemos al gobierno colombiano, se tengan en cuenta las iniciativas de las comunidades para el manejo del territorio y las estrategias de conservación y uso de la vida.
¡Por una Colombia diversa, soberana y que respete los derechos de la gente y la naturaleza!
Organizaciones que suscriben esta declaración:
- Consejo de Cabildo de San Antonio de Palmito
- Acción Comunal de Mahates
- Acción Comunal Montes de María
- Agropesca
- Apralsa
- APSENA asopensionados del SENA
- Artesanos y Artesanas de San Andrés de Sotavento
- Artesanos Unión de Bolívar
- Asalga
- Asalma
- Asociación agropecuaria AGROCIN (Bolivar)
- Asociación de desplazados de Soledad Barranquilla –ADUSOC
- Asociación de mujeres El Progreso
- Asociación de mujeres la Esmeralda de Montería
- Asociación Resurgír San Onofre
- Asociación de productores de Ceja del Mango
- Asproal
- Asproas
- Asprocig
- Asprocin
- Asuma
- Corporación de Desarrollo Solidario
- Asproinpal
- Asproinsu
- Asociación Barranco de Loba
- Benposta muchachos.
- Cabildo Gobernador Indígena Zenú de Sucre
- Cabildo Indígena Zenú de Arjona Bolívar
- Cabildo Indígena Zenú Membrillal
- Cabildo Mayor Municipal de San Andrés Cordoba
- Cabildo Mayor Regional Indígena Zenú de Córdoba y Sucre
- Asap Caramanta
- ONIC- Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia.
- Corporación Nueva Esperanza
- COPEPAS
- Corporación Opción Legal Barranquilla
- Corporación de la Hoja
- Corporación Tiempos de Vida
- EAT Empresa Asociatva de Trabajo
- CUT, Central Unitaria de Trabajadores. Bolívar.
- Asociación de Mujeres Artesanas de Mompox
- Ecofrubol
- Emcofrubol
- Emfrubol
- Fundación Mujeres y Futuro (Carmen de Bolívar)
- Fundación Sabanas
- Funoxivida Cartagena
- Funsarep
- Cabildo Indígena Embera Katio del Alto San Jorge
- OIK, Organizació Indígena Kankuama
- Madres Comunitarias de Cartagena
- OFP, Organización Femenina Popular, Cartagena.
- OIA- Organización Indígena de Antioquia
- Organización Colombiana de Pensionados
- Partido Comunista de Colombia- Cartagena
- Plan Internacional Sincelejo
- Planeta Paz, Cartagena
- Prodesal
- Red de Artesanos de la Costa
- Red Mujeres del Caribe
- Representantes de grupos Étnicos de Cartagena
- Resguardo Indígena de San Pedro Alcántara
- Ruta Pacifica de Mujeres
- Mesa de Fortalecimiento de Bolivar OPD
- Sindicato de Pequeños Agricultores de Bolívar SINPABOL
- Sindicato Unico de Educadores de Cartagena
- Madres comunitarias- Sintrasihoby
- Swissaid Colombia
- Tiempos de Vida
- Unamos Nuestras Fuerzas, Las Palmeras
- Unamos Nuestras Fuerzas, Las Palomos (Montería)
- Grupo Semillas
- RECAR
03 November 2006
En 2050, el mar ya no será una fuente de alimentos
La Gaceta de los Negocios, Madrid, España.
Un estudio alerta de que, si no lo remediamos, peces y marisco desaparecerán de los oceános
F. J. Gutiérrez.
EN los últimos años, han sido varios los organismos e instituciones que vienen advertiendo de la peligrosa pérdida de biodiversidad marina. Hoy, la revista Science publica el primer estudio que, de forma integral, analiza la situación de los ecosistemas oceánicos de todo el mundo e incluso realiza una prospectiva que concluye que, en 2048, el mar se habrá secado como fuente alimenticia para los humanos.
El motivo no es otro que el hecho de que la tasa de pérdida de biodiversidad marina está acelerándose y, si continuamos al ritmo actual, antes de mitad de la presente centuria quedarán pocas existencias pesqueras. Esta es la mala noticia. La buena es que, según los científicos de la Universidad de Dalhousie en Halifax (Canadá), aún estamos a tiempo de invertir la tendencia. Los científicos señalan la existencia de datos esperanzadores, ya que algunas áreas específicas han mejorado en cuanto a biodiversidad marina.
Los investigadores, que han utilizado archivos, registros pesqueros, sedimentos y datos de 12 regiones costeras, descubrieron que experimentos a pequeña escala pueden utilizarse para predecir cambios en los océanos a gran escala.
El equipo internacional de ecólogos, liderado por Boris Worm, señala que el daño no será únicamente el desabastecimiento de las pescaderías, sino que también se verá perjudicada la estabilidad global de los oceános. Esto influirá en la pérdida de la calidad del agua y podrá ocasionar inundaciones costeras e incluso el cierre de algunas playas. “Los océanos definen nuestro planeta y su destino puede que determine también nuestro destino, ahora y en el futuro”, añade el conservacionista marino.
Un estudio alerta de que, si no lo remediamos, peces y marisco desaparecerán de los oceános
F. J. Gutiérrez.
EN los últimos años, han sido varios los organismos e instituciones que vienen advertiendo de la peligrosa pérdida de biodiversidad marina. Hoy, la revista Science publica el primer estudio que, de forma integral, analiza la situación de los ecosistemas oceánicos de todo el mundo e incluso realiza una prospectiva que concluye que, en 2048, el mar se habrá secado como fuente alimenticia para los humanos.
El motivo no es otro que el hecho de que la tasa de pérdida de biodiversidad marina está acelerándose y, si continuamos al ritmo actual, antes de mitad de la presente centuria quedarán pocas existencias pesqueras. Esta es la mala noticia. La buena es que, según los científicos de la Universidad de Dalhousie en Halifax (Canadá), aún estamos a tiempo de invertir la tendencia. Los científicos señalan la existencia de datos esperanzadores, ya que algunas áreas específicas han mejorado en cuanto a biodiversidad marina.
Los investigadores, que han utilizado archivos, registros pesqueros, sedimentos y datos de 12 regiones costeras, descubrieron que experimentos a pequeña escala pueden utilizarse para predecir cambios en los océanos a gran escala.
El equipo internacional de ecólogos, liderado por Boris Worm, señala que el daño no será únicamente el desabastecimiento de las pescaderías, sino que también se verá perjudicada la estabilidad global de los oceános. Esto influirá en la pérdida de la calidad del agua y podrá ocasionar inundaciones costeras e incluso el cierre de algunas playas. “Los océanos definen nuestro planeta y su destino puede que determine también nuestro destino, ahora y en el futuro”, añade el conservacionista marino.
01 November 2006
Compra de Tierras para Conservar la Biodiversidad
Cor Doeswijk, 31-10-2006. Recientemente se realizó en Holanda el Simposio "Compra de Tierras como una Intervención Estratégica para la Conservación de la Biodiversidad". Representantes de 16 organizaciones ecologistas procedentes de América Latina, Asia y África estuvieron reunidos durante cuatro días en el Parque Nacional Sallandse Heuvelrug de la localidad de Holten. El simposio finalizó con una presentación de los resultados en un encuentro con otras organizaciones en la capital Ámsterdam.
La urgencia de la crisis mundial de los ecosistemas y sus consecuencias sociales y económicas ha sido fundamentada científicamente en la Evaluación de Ecosistemas del Milenio realizado por 1.300 expertos de las Naciones Unidas; el Panorama Ambiental Mundial del PNUD; y la Lista Roja de Especies Amenazadas 2006 del Unión Mundial para la Naturaleza, conocida por sus siglas UICN.
Estos informes subrayan la urgencia de una intervención enérgica para preservar la naturaleza. Cada vez más personas son concientes de ello y ponen medios a disposición para que grandes zonas naturales sean conservadas para el futuro.
La compra de tierras puede ser un instrumento importante para evitar la pérdida de biodiversidad. El comité holandés de, UICN, ejecuta desde el 2001 un programa de adquisición de terrenos. Los objetivos del programa son el financiamiento para la compra de zonas naturales frágiles o amenazadas y el traspaso del derecho de propiedad y el manejo a organizaciones locales de conservación. Con frecuencia este es el único camino sostenible para conservar la biodiversidad y evitar la tala ilegal, desarrollo turístico desenfrenado o que esas tierras sean destinadas para plantaciones de palma aceitera o soja, algo que puede provocar daños irreparables. En los años de funcionamiento del programa, se han adquirido decenas de terrenos en más de 20 países.
Durante el Simposio realizado en Holanda tuvimos la oportunidad de conversar con varios participantes. Entre ellos Benno Glauser, de la Iniciativa Amotocodie de Paraguay, Marco Cerezo, de FUNDAECO de Guatemala y Edilberto Romero, del Programme for Belize.
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Estos informes subrayan la urgencia de una intervención enérgica para preservar la naturaleza. Cada vez más personas son concientes de ello y ponen medios a disposición para que grandes zonas naturales sean conservadas para el futuro.
La compra de tierras puede ser un instrumento importante para evitar la pérdida de biodiversidad. El comité holandés de, UICN, ejecuta desde el 2001 un programa de adquisición de terrenos. Los objetivos del programa son el financiamiento para la compra de zonas naturales frágiles o amenazadas y el traspaso del derecho de propiedad y el manejo a organizaciones locales de conservación. Con frecuencia este es el único camino sostenible para conservar la biodiversidad y evitar la tala ilegal, desarrollo turístico desenfrenado o que esas tierras sean destinadas para plantaciones de palma aceitera o soja, algo que puede provocar daños irreparables. En los años de funcionamiento del programa, se han adquirido decenas de terrenos en más de 20 países.
Durante el Simposio realizado en Holanda tuvimos la oportunidad de conversar con varios participantes. Entre ellos Benno Glauser, de la Iniciativa Amotocodie de Paraguay, Marco Cerezo, de FUNDAECO de Guatemala y Edilberto Romero, del Programme for Belize.
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