5 posts tagged “conservation”

Vast swathes of the western Amazon are to be opened up for oil and gas exploration, putting some of the planet's most pristine and biodiverse forests at risk, conservationists have warned. A survey of land earmarked for exploration by energy companies revealed a steep rise in recent years, to around 180 zones, which together cover an area of 688,000 sq km, almost equivalent to the size of Texas. Detailed mapping of the region shows the majority of planned oil and gas projects, which are operated by at least 35 multinational companies, are in the most species-rich areas of the Amazon for mammals, birds and amphibians.

Researchers used government information on land that has been leased to state or multinational energy companies over the past four years to create oil and gas exploration maps for western Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia. The maps showed that in Peru and Ecuador, regions designated for oil and gas projects already cover more than two thirds of the Amazon. Of 64 oil and gas regions that cover 72% of the Peruvian Amazon, all but eight were approved since 2003. Major increases in activity are expected in Bolivia and western Brazil. [source: guardian] full story

The murder of two radio activists in Oaxaca has brought the repression suffered by indigenous Mexicans into sharp focus. Oaxaca has the biggest percentage of indigenous people who speak many different languages and suffering serious discrimination including the theft of their natural resources.

One such example is the village of San Isidro Aloapam who have been fighting the destruction of their local forest by commercial loggers who are bending the law to justify their activity. Attempts by the villagers to protect the forest have been met with extreme violence leaving many villagers injured and imprisoned. The village is represented politically by indigenous action group CIPO-RFM who have organized a series of media and international solidarity events to highlight the struggle. CIPO-RFM activists Miguel Cruz Moreno and Pedro Bautista Rojas were recently interviewed by IMC UK about the struggle.

oaxaca resists

CIPO-RFM in Oaxaca have documented to date 517 detentions and tortured people, 103 police and paramilitary incursions into their communities, 81 prison orders, 229 penal, civil and commercial processes, 263 people assaulted, 37 death threats and 27 murders - There will be a prisoner support benefit gig in London on Wednesday April 16th.

[ clipping from indymedia ] full story www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/396419.html which has various links to get the background on the main item with much more detail.

This report is from the Times on-line.......... Rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo believe that rising demand for ivory in China is to blame for an unprecedented wave of elephant poaching in one of the country's war-torn national parks. 14 elephants have been slaughtered in as many days as government soldiers and militias use ivory to raise money for guns. Conservationists believe that the ivory is being smuggled from Virunga National Park through Uganda and Burundi en route to China.

South Africa has lifted a 13-year moratorium on elephant culling, aimed at tackling a surge in population numbers, despite the protestations of animal rights activists. Alexandre Wathaut, provincial director of the ICCN, the Congolese wildlife authority, said that a solution to the region's political instability was crucial to protecting the elephants. “This is the worst month we have seen in a long time in terms of recorded elephant deaths,” he added.

The DRC has been racked by years of civil war. A United Nations peacekeeping force has helped to bring a degree of stability to much of the country but the east remains in the grip of fighting between militias and government forces. They have turned Virunga which is home to a population of extremely rare mountain gorillas into a battleground. Populations of hippos, elephants and antelope in the park have nearly been wiped out by gunmen who kill them for food. Part of the park is under the control of the rebel commander Laurent Nkunda, making it inaccessible to rangers.

african elephant

A report by the conservation charity WildlifeDirect says that the militias, which include armed Hutu groups responsible for the Rwandan genocide, have killed 14 elephants for their tusks in a two-week period, 4 were killed by the FDLR militia, comprising members of the former Rwandan Interahamwe, 5 by the Congolese military, 3 by the local Mai-Mai militia, and 2 by villagers. It is a high toll for a population estimated in 2006 to be no more than 350 but is probably far less. Emmanuel de Merode, director of WildlifeDirect, said that the elephants were the victims of international pressures. “The upsurge in elephant killings in Virunga is part of a widespread slaughter across the Congo Basin and is being driven by developments on the international scene: the liberalisation of the ivory trade, being pushed by South Africa, and the increased presence of Chinese operators on the ground who feed a massive domestic demand for ivory in their home country,”

A report last year suggested that as many as 23,000 elephants were being killed across the continent to meet soaring demand from a growing Chinese middle class. Much of it ends up in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, where it is turned into chopsticks bought by Chinese oil workers. [source:times]

Elephants are on the threatened species list already and there is a really simple solution, make chopsticks out of another material, there is no need to use ivory at all. China will survive if plastic chopsticks replaced the ivory. I don't understand why these amazing animals have to suffer in this way. 

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Farley Mowat was attacked by armed officers from the Canadian Coast Guard on 12th April. The 1st officer and the captain of the ship have been arrested and will be brought before a court in Canada charged with offences related to coming too close to the seal hunt. One woman allegedly sustained a head injury when was roughed up and received a blow to the head by an officer. The ship has been impounded and is currently being towed to a nearby port.

The Sea Shepherd has been documenting the Canadian seal hunt since the middle of March. On the 30th March, the Coast Guard rammed the Sea Shepherd ship twice, in an attempt to keep it away from the seal hunt. On 5th April, the ship was attacked by a mob of 30-40 angry seal hunters while anchored in the French island of St. Pierre. The crew of the Farley Mowat has been documenting violations of the humane regulations and gathering proof that seals are still being killed in an inhumane manner. The EU Parliament will be voting on an import ban on seal products later this year. The Canadian government has been actively lobbying to show that the hunt has become 'humane and sustainable'. [source - indymedia]

I now read as much as I can on-line so that I don't feel guilty about the devastation to the Amazon Rainforest where they fell tress in areas larger than most European Countries every year. When they have run out of Trees, Magazines will be forced on-line. I say jump the gun. Go on-line now whilst we still have some Rainforests left and make magazines in p.d.f format like these = www.adobemagazine.com