22.

Mobile nature reserves could save marine species from extinction

The Guardian February 18, 2012 Some of the world's most endangered marine life could be saved from extinction by establishing mobile nature reserves that would protect vulnerable species as they moved around the oceans, scientists say. The initiative could provide safe havens for endangered loggerhead and leatherback turtles, albatrosses, sharks and other travelling species, and sea life that is abandoning its historic territories in response to climate change. Under the proposals, trawlers would agree to avoid certain stretches of the sea at set times of the year when endangered species are mating, spawning or passing through. Those ocean regions might move with the seasons, ocean currents and long-term environmental events like El Nio, the researchers said. Mobile marine reserves could bolster existing protected areas that draw an invisible cordon around fixed regions of the oceans, such as coral reefs and sea mounts, where ecological diversity is linked to geographical features. Instead of restricting areas by their location, mobile reserves would identify particular conditions that attract marine life "The stationary reserves do little to protect highly mobile animals, like most of the fish, turtles, sharks and seabirds," said Larry Crowder, science director at the Centre for Ocean Solutions at Stanford University. "We think of protected areas as places that are locked down on a map. But places in oceans are not locked down, they move." The idea was proposed at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver. One potential mobile marine reserve could protect the north Pacific convergence zone, a region where two giant currents meet head-on, bringing plankton, small fish, turtles and major predators together. The zone is always teeming with life, but it moves from season to season. "In the summer, it's 1,000 miles [1,800 kilometres] further north than in the winter, so if you were going to protect something there, it makes no sense to protect that latitude, because it moves," said Crowder. Similarly, as the oceans warm, some marine species are shifting their territories to find more comfortable habitats. Marine reserves will be no benefit if they do not track the species as they move, Crowder said. Hopes of creating mobile marine reserves have been around for more than a decade, but Crowder said that only in recent years has the concept become plausible because of improvements in satellite imaging and GPS tagging of species. With these technologies, marine biologists have learned in great detail the movements of different sea creatures.

Another area of interest to conservationists is known as the white shark cafe, a patch of water 2,000km off the Californian coast that is teeming with sharks and is probably a mating ground. Environmental changes may see the meeting spot drift in future years, but a mobile reserve would move with them. The new reserves could work in favour of fisheries by opening areas of the ocean that might otherwise be restricted. Modern trawlers are fitted with GPS equipment and could have maps updated each year or season to make clear which areas were off limits to protect vulnerable species. The initiative would not prevent unlawful fishing, but would help trawlers that were trying to work the oceans without pushing species to the brink of extinction. "People might say the only way to achieve conservation for some marine life is to protect it everywhere in the ocean. But if we know where they move to, we don't need to close the entire Pacific Ocean, we just need to close this place where they are really concentrated," Crowder said. "The time is right for this idea. We are scientifically primed to do it."

Comment: This seems like a fantastic idea, but I think where the majority of fishing takes place currently is where the environment is rich in nutrients sadly this is also where these endangered species gather. I fully support mobile reserves, but foresee a lot of future conflict. Maybe require all fishing boats to have gps, and law enforcement can monitor if they break the law and go into mobile reserves would help?

23. Bird feeding proves recession-proof

Wildlife Extra News February 17, 2012 While people are tightening their belts, it seems that garden birds are not having to do the same, with sales of bird food expanding amidst the cold conditions. Birds are soaring above the economic downturn. When a recent poll posed the question: "Are you cutting back on feeding the birds this winter as a result of pressure on household budgets?", it emerged that birds bring enjoyment that people cannot live without. Two thirds of respondents to the Omnibus poll fed birds in their garden and, of these, 88% said that they would not be making any cut backs. Spending commitments of older (66+) garden bird enthusiasts were particularly robust. The recent cold weather has also seen sales of bird food spike, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) understands. Compared with mid-January, total sales at Ernest Charles, for example, a leading mail-order bird food company, rose more than 70% over the past week. Latest figures from Gardman, one or Britain's largest bird food suppliers, also show a sharp rise in bird food sales.

Garden BirdWatch: This increased spending has followed a huge influx of birds into gardens, charted through the simple, weekly observations of BTO Garden BirdWatch survey participants. Big rises in numbers of Fieldfares, Redwings, Blackbirds, Wrens, Bramblings and many other species have been noted over recent days. Tim Harrison, BTO Garden BirdWatch, commented: "These resilient sales figures show the deep affection that people have for garden birds. This is why, as a country, we spend hundreds of millions of pounds on bird foods and feeders every year. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, give chocolates to your loved one, sunflower hearts to your birds, and your precious sightings to BTO Garden BirdWatch."

Comment: With bird sales this profitable, they should make some proceeds go to habitat rehabilitation programs or conservation research.

24. Armed Thai Officials Raid Wildlife Rescue NGO

National Geographic NewsWatch February 17, 2012 On Monday morning, February 13, 60 armed agents from the Thailand Department of National Parks and the Thai paramilitary Border Patrol Police raided non-profit wildlife rescue facility Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand in Petchaburi about three hours southwest of Bangkok. According to accounts by Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, Jansaeng Sangnanork, wife of founder Edwin Wiek, was arrested and escorted by 30 armed agents from the facility after failure to produce requested legal documentation. The Bangkok Post reports that 450 documents proving legal licensing of the centers animals were requested to be produced in a three-hour period. When Sangnanork was unable to gather all the paperwork in that timeframe, she was taken into custody.The Elephant Nature Park, an elephant rescue sanctuary in the Chiang Mai Province of northern Thailand was stormed on February 8, 2012, by about 100 agents. Officials raided the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand after they received complaints that Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand had custody of undocumented wildlife and that animals were being held in inhumane conditions. This is not the first time Edwin Wiek and his team have been targeted by such accusations. The Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand states on their website that they think that they are being raided in retaliation for drawing attention to recent elephant poaching. In an expos for The Nation on January 24th, Wiek specifically mentioned corruption by politicians, government officials and businessmen tied to elephant camps and the cover-up of baby elephant smuggling to safe houses near Thailands borders and, on February 12, was quoted in The Guardian about a tiger trafficking bust allegedly in connection with several private zoos in Thailand. Officials have thus far confiscated more than 100 animals from Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, including Asian elephants, gibbons, leopard cats, civets, and macaques that were being rehabilitated and otherwise sheltered there.

While reporting on an unrelated project, CAT in WATER, last December, Joanna Nasar and I visited Wiek at Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. We saw firsthand how much this center is helping to save abused wildlife, and spoke with Wiek about the legal challenges hes faced while trying to give these animals a second chance.

Comment: Owner of the centre makes a comment about corrupted politics, government officials and businessman and their involvement in illegal animal trafficking then the government asks for 450 documents in 3 hours (ridiculous). Coincidence?

25. Infra-red cameras shed light on forest life in Gwent

South Wales Argus February 13, 2012 Forest managers are using state-of-the-art 'stealth' cameras to capture infra-red images of deer and wild boar roaming Welsh woodlands, including some in Gwent. The cameras, which are hidden on trees and are triggered by movement, will help Forestry Commission Wales to mount round-the-clock surveillance on the animals which, if left unmanaged, can cause significant damage to agriculture, forestry and vulnerable habitats. The equipment was set up all over Wales, including the Lower Wye Valley, in areas where there is evidence of deer or wild boar movement. The cameras will provide Forestry Commission Wales with vital information on the animals' spread and help it to protect rare habitats from the effects of damaging browsing. The specialised "Reconyx" cameras, which can capture still photographs of deer and wild boar as they roam public woodlands in the dead of night, can also record video clips to monitor their habits. David Jam, Wales Silvicultural Operations (WSO) Wildlife Management Officer, said, "These cameras are a very useful tool for Forestry Commission Wales as they save us many thousands of man hours and a huge amount of vehicle mileage. "The cameras act as a silent observer, detecting and recording any living thing which passes their infra red beam. "By using the cameras to constantly monitor an area for up to six months, we are gathering data every day without physically driving to visit areas and undertaking survey work. It's like having extra members of the team working full time on surveys for us.

Comment: Good initiative. Although, maybe it would have been better to hire a few people to do this and create jobs.

26. New poster launched in fight against parrot trade

World Wildlife Federation India February 15, 2012 All of Indias native wildlife is protected by law but this does not stop traders from taking wildlife from their native habitat. The pet trade is the most highly visible of the buying and selling of wildlife. To help stamp out the trade in parrots for the pet trade enforcement officers and other organisations in India are being given a free poster detailing the 12 native parrot species. Parrot ID poster issued to Indias public officlas and education departments. By issuing the new posters to police, forestry officials, environmental officers together with schools and colleges TRAFFIC India and WWF India hope to cut the impacts of the pet trade on endangered and vulnerable bird species in India. Few know that our favourite and well-known mithu is a protected species in India. Their chicks are captured remorselessly from the wild, and many to not make it to the final destination. Wild parrot trading banned since the early 90s. Trading in any native bird species has been banned in India since the early 90s but there are still some criminals happy to make a fast buck out of taking parrots from the wild. Most of the parrots taken from the wild for the pet trade involves removing chicks from their nests in the forest. Most of the chicks are between 3 and 4 weeks old. Hundreds of these young chicks are taken from their nests each year. With chicks being traded between December and June the new posters are being released right in the peak of the parrot chick trading period. Adult birds are also caught and sold year round. The adults are normally caught using nets and bird-lime. Bird-lime is nothing more than a powerful glue that poachers paint onto branches and tree trunks so any bird landing on it gets stuck. The methods of capture and the way that birds are transported means that there is a very high death rate. For every bird that makes it to the pet shop several would have died during the capture and transport of the birds. Abrar Ahmed, ornithologist and a bird trade consultant to TRAFFIC India said, The Alexandrine Parakeet is one of the most sought after species in the Indian live bird trade and is traded in large volumes throughout the year. The chicks are collected from forested areas and transported to bird markets in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Patna, Lucknow and Kolkata. Many specimens are smuggled by Indian dealers via Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh to bird markets in various parts of the world. Alarmingly, three species of Indian parrotsNicobar, Long-tailed & Derbys Parakeetsare considered by IUCN as Near Threatened with extinction, with illegal trade posing a significant threat. MKS Pasha, Co-ordinator of TRAFFIC India said: Few know that our favourite and well-known mithu is a protected species in India. Their chicks are captured remorselessly from the wild, and many to not make it to the final destination.

The parrot trade is substantial and well organized, but it can be counteracted through concerted enforcement actions at the grassroot level and mass awareness campaigns. TRAFFIC Indias new poster is a step in this direction. We hope it will also inspire children and young people too, because they are the ones who will influence future change and can play a significant role in curtailing the demand for our native wildlife. Its hoped that the new poster entitled Parrots of India in Illegal Trade will raise awareness of the issues with schools children and students as well as those actively involved with countering wildlife crime.

Comment: Nice, easy way of raising public awareness and educating citizens about their local species. Hope it works out (and that the posters arent made from trees in forests full of endangered species!)