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100 Hawksbill turtles die in latest Filipino poaching incident
4 Sep 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />Foreign poaching of Philippines marine life has flared up as an issue again following the discovery of more than 100 dead Hawksbill turtles aboard a Vietnamese fishing vessel apprehended near Malampaya.

The fishing boat?s 13-man crew flooded their vessel as a Filipino gunboat approached them near the country?s main gas field, around 80km off the coast of Palawan Island in the South China Sea. A total of 101 Hawksbill turtles were found drowned in the vessel?s cargo hold.

Resting sea turtles, which grow up to a metre in length and can weigh as much as 80kg, can remain submerged for up to two hours but stressed individuals must resurface every few minutes.

?Again and again, foreign nationals have encroached upon Philippine waters to plunder our nation?s dwindling marine resources,? said WWF Project Manager RJ de la Calzada. ?It disheartens us to find the animals we work so hard to conserve slaughtered on a wholesale basis.?

Distinguished from other sea turtles by a hooked beak and heavily-serrated carapace, the Hawksbill has for millennia been hunted for food and tortoiseshell, a material used as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman times to fashion jewellery, combs and brushes.

The Hawksbill turtle is protected under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which prohibits all international trade. It is also now classified by the IUCN as Critically Endangered, the highest risk rating for a living animal. Under Philippine and international law it is illegal to capture and kill sea turtles and to trade in turtle by-products.

The 13 Vietnamese poachers are just the latest in a long line to have intruded upon Philippine waters, violating both local and international laws. Last year over 200 Green turtles were retrieved in the Sulu Sea and two years ago 359 CITES-protected Napoleon or Humphead Wrasse were seized.

?The list goes on and not one case has ever led to a serious conviction,? said De La Calzada. ?The Vietnamese poachers were not the first and they will certainly not be the last.?

Amid fears that justice might again prove elusive, WWF is acting as a watchdog to ensure that charges are pressed in this case. The 13 Vietnamese crewmen will be charged with violating the Philippine Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, penalties for which can include a fine of up to one million Philipppine pesos (US$21,500) coupled with a six-year jail term.

?WWF condemns such blatant poaching of internationally-protected marine life and hopes that the Philippine government will finally have the resolve to dispense due justice against foreign poachers who disregard both local and international laws,? said WWF-Philippines president Dave Valdes.

Narwhal massacre provokes outrage in Greenland
4 Sep 2008 at 12:00am
© Thor Hjarsen / www.ecoadvise.dk" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />The discovery of dozens of massacred narwhals on the east coast of Greenland has widened divisions between hunting and tourism interests.

Narwhals are a small Arctic whale with a single long tusk, sought after by poachers because of its ivory.

A scientific expedition from New Zealand discovered the whale carcasses as they sailed along the coastline about two weeks ago. According to local media 48 animals were killed and poaching is suspected.

"We received a complaint that there may have been a possible violation of the Greenlandic law regarding the protection of narwhals, after the discovery of cadavers in Illoqqortoormiut," said the deputy chief of Greenland police Morten Nielsen.

Greenland?s Hunters and Fishers Organisation, KNAPK, was quick to condemn the apparent slaughter, along with many ordinary people as well as representatives of the tourist industry

People in Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, are authorized to hunt narwhals "but there are rules that say you can't shoot females and that you have to remove the body" after killing the animal?, Nielsen said.

There were females and calves among the dead, Danish news agency Ritzau reported, adding that only the males' long tusks, some meat and blubber had been removed from the carcasses.

"We're now trying to investigate the incident and figure out what has happened and if the law has been broken," Nielsen said.

Narwhals can grow up to five metres in length and live primarily in the Arctic Ocean. Males have a single long, twisted tusk that protrudes from the upper left side of the jaw and which can grow up to three metres

Some females may also grow tusks, albeit much smaller. The export of narwhal tusks is banned in Greenland, and imports are banned in the European Union, according to Ritzau.

At the International Whaling Commission meeting in Chile in June, Greenland failed in a bid to extend indigenous subsistence hunting quotas to humpback whales, following revelations that the whale hunting had a large commercial component ending up on supermarket shelves.

Putin collars Dr Darman?s tiger
3 Sep 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF-Canon / Kevin Schafer" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />The Amur tiger has leapt into the headlines with former Russian president Vladimir Putin shooting a tiger with a tranquillizing gun in Russia?s far east, before tagging the tiger with a collar containing a satellite radio.

Putin, now his country?s prime minister, was taken on a trip into the Ussuriisk nature reserve near the Chinese border to see how researchers monitor the tigers in the wild. He helped measure the tiger?s incisors before placing the satellite transmitter around its neck.

WWF-Russia, active in efforts to protect the Amur tiger for many years, is delighted at the wide publicity the tiger has received.

?This was the same tigress I tracked in January 2004 in the same place in Ussuriiskii,? said Dr.Yury Darman, Director of the Amur branch of WWF Russia. ?At that time the size of its heel was 10cm and it had a brood of three tiger cubs.?

The Amur tiger, which can weigh up to 450kg and measure around three metres from its nose to the tip of its tail, has come back from the brink of extinction to its highest population for at least 100 years.

Only about 40 were alive in 1950 but nowadays there are around 450, one of the strongest tiger populations in the world.

Although this is a healthy increase, it doesn?t translate to the Amur tiger being out of danger. Poachers still target the animal for illegal markets, particularly in nearby China. Hunters are also a threat, with an illegal tiger trap being discovered on an adjacent hunting reserve last year.

And, as Dr Darman explained, ?wild boar population defines the well-being of the Amur tigers, while the wild boar depends on a crop of Korean Cedar pine nuts and Mongolian oak acorns?.

As president, Putin received pleas from WWF and local residents to halt the destruction of Korean Cedar Pine forests, now encroaching on the reserve to the extent that loggers destroyed a popular ecological track.

Dr Darman said no state authority has real responsibility for the implementation of the 1996 Conservation strategy of the Amur tiger in Russia with basic financing still coming from international funds

?Vladimir Putin has heard all these issue from Andrey Kotlyar, the director of Ussuriiskii nature reserve,? Dr Darman said. ?Now we may hope,that the problems which the WWF and nature reserve failed to solve for many years will receive state resolution at last.?

Long haul to measure Arctic sea ice confirmed
3 Sep 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />WWF has welcomed the news that a pioneering expedition to deliver the most accurate measurements yet of the arctic ocean ice sheet has secured the funding it needs for the survey.

The survey team, led by the experienced British polar expedition leader Pen Hadow, will depart in mid-February and plans to spend over 100 days hauling ground-penetrating radar equipment over the ice to the North Pole.

?This will allow climate scientists to refine their predictions for the climate of this region and the world,? says Martin Sommerkorn, Senior Climate Change Advisor for the WWF International Arctic Programme.

?The ice thickness in the Arctic has been the missing variable in being able to more accurately predict how quickly the arctic ice will melt away,? he said.

The trend of diminishing arctic ice due to climate change raises fears for entire arctic ecosystems that depend on the ice, from single-celled organisms, all the way up to larger animals.

The polar bear was recently listed as threatened by the US government, based on projections for the disappearance of the ice.

?The Arctic could be entirely ice-free in the summer as early as 2013, or as late as 2040,? said Sommerkorn.

?The more the ice disappears, the more vulnerable life in the Arctic becomes. What many people do not realise is that there are also climate feedbacks from the Arctic to the rest of the world.

?As arctic ice melts, it makes the climate more unstable across the whole world. We need to know the rate at which the ice is likely to go, to help us prepare, and to help us persuade governments of the urgency of immediate and effective action on limiting greenhouse gases.?

WWF is helping to support the Catlin Arctic Survey, and looks forward to receiving the data the expedition will generate. It will help feed into preparations for securing an effective global deal on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009.

New report loosens noose around Albatross?s neck
28 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF-Canon / Fritz POLKING" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />The survival chances of the albatross, now officially the most threatened seabird family in the world, have been improved following a new report released by WWF-South Africa.

At least 28 species of albatross and petrel have been caught by South African fisheries, of which 13 are threatened with extinction. The birds are caught trying to retrieve bait from longline fishing hooks, or are injured or killed during trawling operations. A deterioration of their breeding habitats and targeted hunting operations are other factors.

Samantha Petersen, manager of the WWF-South Africa Responsible Fisheries Programme, said that the report - ?Understanding and Mitigating Vulnerable Bycatch in Southern African Trawl and Longline Fisheries? - improved substantially the understanding of the circumstances under which seabirds were killed.

?The findings help accurately identify management measures to reduce the wasteful killing of these magnificent birds while not unnecessarily disrupting fishing activities or impacting other vulnerable marine life like turtles and sharks,? said Dr Petersen.

The report, which follows WWF?s release of the results of four years of groundbreaking longline marine turtle bycatch data in Latin America, reinforces the need for fishermen to implement the mandatory and readily available measures that help prevent birds from becoming entangled in fishing gear.

?While this information is valuable, it?s crucial that it translates into compliance with mitigation measures on the part of fishing operations,? added Dr Petersen.

The report says that bird-scaring lines have proved to be simple yet effective way of preventing seabirds from being snagged during longline fishing, and similar measures have helped limit the impact of other fishing techniques.

The report also for the first time describes the movements of two of the most common species, Black-browed and White-capped Albatrosses, in South African waters and provides insights into how they are using the waters and how much they are dependent on fishery discards.

?This has management implications for seabirds because of the dramatic changes in marine ecosystems as a result of past fishing activities,? said Dr Pederesen. ?The possibility exists that management actions could place a further burden on these species.

?Albatrosses and petrels undertake amazing journeys where many species frequently circumnavigate the globe crossing many national and international jurisdictions as well as coming across numerous fishing fleets from various nations.

?The health of our oceans can in many ways be judged by the health of our seabirds. Only together can we have any hope of saving these birds from extinction and protect our oceans.?

The report also informed the Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) working parties which met in South Africa last week. The 12 countries signatory to this convention, observers and NGOs including WWF have started discussions on how nations can collaborate on the international problem.

Shot in the arm for Sumatran elephants and tigers
28 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF-Indonesia/Tesso Nilo Program" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />The Indonesian government is to double the size of a national park that is one of the last havens for endangered Sumatran elephants and tigers.

Tesso Nilo National Park was created in 2004 with 38,000 hectares of forest. Today?s declaration will see that figure increase to 86,000 by the end of this year.

"This is an important milestone toward securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger," said Dr. Mubariq Ahmad, WWF-Indonesia's Chief Executive. ?To ensure the commitment is effectively implemented we must redouble our efforts to eliminate poaching and illegal settlements within this special forest.?

With more than 4,000 plant species recorded so far, the forest of Tesso Nilo has the highest lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science, with many species yet to be discovered.

WWF has been supporting the government effort to extend and protect the park as the last block of lowland forest in central Sumatra large enough to support a viable elephant population. About 60 to 80 elephants are estimated to live there, along with 50 tigers.

Tesso Nilo forest is also an important watershed for more than 40,000 people living in the surrounding 22 villages.

?Tesso Nilo is still under serious threat from illegal activities, but if we can protect the forests there it will give some of Sumatra?s most endangered wildlife the breathing room they need to survive,? Dr Ahmad said.

?And while we greatly appreciate this precedent for more protection from the Indonesian government, there are other areas on Sumatra that need safeguarding for the sake of its wildlife, its threatened indigenous peoples and to reduce the climate impacts of clearing.?

WWF helped establish and supports the Tesso Nilo Community Forum, run by all 22 local communities living in the buffer zone of the national park. The forum supports joint actions to protect the Tesso Nilo forest and gives the communities a unified and more influential voice in park management.

WWF is working with local communities that suffer from human-wildlife conflict as a result of disappearing forests in the province. Hundreds of elephants have died in the last few years.

A successful Elephant Flying Squad uses domesticated elephants and mahouts to keep wild elephants inside the park from raiding village crops outside the park. WWF also promotes the planting of buffer crops that are not attractive to elephants.

Baltic states failing to protect most damaged sea
27 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
© Ola Jennersten" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />Nine Baltic sea states all scored failing grades in an annual WWF evaluation of their performance in protecting and restoring the world?s most damaged sea.

The assessment, presented today at the Baltic Sea Festival, graded the countries on how well they are doing in six separate areas - biodiversity, fisheries, hazardous substances, marine transport and eutrophication - and on how they have succeeded in developing an integrated sea-use management system.

The best grade (an F for just 46 per cent) was received by Germany, followed by Denmark (41 per cent) and the worst were Poland (25 per cent) and Russia (26 per cent).

?It is a shame no country could be given a satisfactory total score,? said Lasse Gustavsson, CEO of WWF Sweden. ?The Baltic Sea is influenced by a multitude of human activities, regulated by a patchwork of international and national regulations and authorities.

?What the Baltic Sea needs now is political leadership that can look beyond national or sectoral interests and take an integrated approach to solving the problems.?

Behind the bad overall scores there were some rays of hope. Germany received an A on the biodiversity score for their protection of marine areas with around 40 per cent of the country?s sea areas protected.

Latvia and Lithuania have taken measures to combat illegal fishing of cod, partly by giving inspectors the mandate to impose sanctions on site. Estonia has a narrow lead in lowering the impact of hazardous substances.

Also at the festival WWF awarded Tarja Halonen, president of the Republic of Finland, with the Baltic Sea Leadership Award for ?her persistent efforts to unite groups and encourage cross-border discussions on the future of the Baltic Sea?.

Finland is the only country in the region that has developed a cross-sectoral marine policy and several other countries are now taking steps to review their marine management.

?We now have an opportunity in the area of sea-use management with two current processes on the European level,? said Vicki Lee Wallgren, programme manager for WWF?s Baltic Ecoregion Programme.

She said initiatives such as the EU?s Maritime Policy and the EU Baltic Sea Strategy meant that ?there is hope for the Baltic Sea?.

The poor state of the Baltic Sea environment has received attention this summer because of the extensive algal blooms caused by eutrophication and for recent scientific reports on the vast ?dead zones? on the sea bottom. Seven of the world?s 10 biggest dead zones, where nothing can survive due to lack of oxygen, are found in the Baltic Sea.

Climate change leadership baton passes to new hands
27 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF-Canon / Adam Oswell" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />WWF has welcomed the initiative taken by a new group of countries in showing the way forward as the latest round of UN climate talks drew to a close in Accra, Ghana today.

Confirming trends observed at previous talks, according to the WWF climate team Accra again demonstrated that the EU is losing its role as a climate leader to a range of developing countries and creative players such as Norway, Switzerland, Mexico, South Korea and India as well as the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu.

By improving old proposals or fleshing out new ones, the global conservation agency sees these countries becoming reliable agents of progress. Together with big emerging economies they form the new engine of the talks, highlighted by South Korea?s pledge in Accra to set emission reduction targets and boost renewable energies.

While the mandate to agree a new global climate treaty by 2009 remains a gigantic challenge, Accra showed that overcoming the muddle of conflicting views and crafting an effective deal to tackle climate change is possible and depends on the political will to show leadership.

?Currently the glory in the global fight against climate change is reserved for those progressive governments which are getting the debate further down to the essentials,? says Kim Carstensen, Director WWF Global Climate Initiative.

?The cumbersome talks in Accra did not stop a first group of determined negotiators from working towards a critical shift in the debate, but a success at the next climate talks in Poznan is far from secured and we need to see more countries engage seriously in lifting the political ambitions.?

According to WWF governments managed to push their critical discussions closer to conclusions on some key issues: strategies are shaping up to reduce CO2 emissions from the destruction of forests, while talks about financing deep emission cuts and adaptation to climate impacts have gained clarity. However, other tracks of the complex negotiations failed to progress in Accra and are falling dangerously behind schedule.

?Smoke grenades thrown by backward parties and an overdose of procedural discussions have paralyzed the climate talks and overwhelmed negotiators for too long,? said Kathrin Gutmann, Policy Coordinator WWF Global Climate Initiative. ?In Accra we start seeing the first positive examples of constructive dialogue led by innovative parties, which should become a solid trend in Poznan in December.?

?The EU disappointed in Accra, just like it disappointed at previous talks in Bonn, expressing regret for coming to the negotiation table with empty hands,? said Diane McFadzien, Programme Coordinator WWF Global Climate Initiative. ?Poznan should be a home match for the Europeans and a perfect opportunity to live up to their full potential - in order to avoid matching Canada, Russia, Japan, Australia and the US in their lack of ambition.?

For further information please see press release here

Fishing Technology Letting Turtles Off the Hook
26 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
Caretta caretta) drown annually on longlines set around the world for tuna, swordfish, and other fish.
© WWF-Canon / Michel GUNTHER" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />Alternative fishing technology has been shown to save turtles while not affecting fish catches, according to a report released by WWF and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

The report demonstrates how changing from the classic J hook to circular hooks, providing adequate training and tools to release turtles accidentally hooked and enhancing sustainable fishing practices, can dramatically reduce incidental catch (bycatch) of marine turtles without impacting fishing activity.

?The results keep demonstrating that changing to circular hooks is the right choice, since it favours turtle conservation without having an impact on the economy of artisanal fisheries," said Moises Mug, Coordinator of the WWF Bycatch Initiative for the Eastern Pacific. "Together with fishermen we are building a culture for sustainable fishing practices that will guarantee fish stocks in the long term.?

The report - Bycatch Initiative: Eastern Pacific Program, A Vehicle Towards Sustainable Fisheries - is a comprehensive analysis of data collected during four years of work in eight different countries in the Eastern Pacific - Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

?Our goal is to reduce the incidental catch of marine turtles from the long-line fishing operations without affecting the fisheries activity which is a main source of food and income for local communities,? explained Martin Hall, Principal Researcher for the IATTC.

Data gathered showed an overall significant trend of bycatch reduction, with a reduction of up to 89 per cent in the marine turtle bycatch per thousand hooks. Ninety-five per cent of all turtles caught in long-line fishing were recovered alive, while circle hooks performed as well as J hooks in the catch rates of tuna, billfishes and sharks fishery.

?This programme is going beyond an initial focus of saving sea turtles from bycatch, and is creating the groundwork toward sustainable artisanal long-line fishing in the eastern Pacific,? said Amanda Nickson, Global Leader of WWF?s Bycatch Initiative.

?By working co-operatively, collecting data and learning how to improve practices, this programme is living proof that conservation and industry can work together for sustainability.?

For further information please see the press release, here

Polar bears found swimming miles from Alaskan coast
22 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF / Geoff York" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />An aerial survey by government scientists in Alaska?s Chukchi Sea this week found at least nine polar bears swimming in open water ? with one at least 60 miles from shore ? raising concern among wildlife experts about their survival.

Geoff York, the polar bear coordinator for WWF's Arctic Programme, said that when polar bears swim so far from land, they could have difficulty making it safely to shore and are at risk of drowning, particularly if a storm arises.

?To find so many polar bears at sea at one time is extremely worrisome because it could be an indication that as the sea ice on which they live and hunt continues to melt, many more bears may be out there facing similar risk,? he said.

?As climate change continues to dramatically disrupt the Arctic, polar bears and their cubs are being forced to swim longer distances to find food and habitat.?

Scientists say the Arctic is changing more rapidly and acutely than anywhere on the planet, noting that 2007 witnessed the lowest sea ice coverage in recorded history.

Satellite images indicate that ice was absent in most of the region where the bears were found on August 16, 2008, and some experts predict this year?s sea ice loss could meet or exceed the record set last year.

The discovery of the nine bears at sea came as the US Minerals Management Service was conducting marine surveys in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in advance of potential offshore oil development.

In May, the US Department of Interior listed polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited the strong body of science pointing to the significant loss of Arctic sea ice habitat as the primary reason for protecting the bear with federal legislation.

However, the state of Alaska has opposed the listing and has sued the federal government over its decision to list the bear.

Professor Richard Steiner of the University of Alaska?s Marine Advisory Program said: ?While these bears are swimming around in an ice-free coastal Arctic Ocean, the only thing the State of Alaska is doing is suing the federal government trying to overturn the listing of polar bears.

?The bottom line here is that polar bears need sea ice, sea ice is decaying, and the bears are in very serious trouble. For any people who are still non-believers in global warming and the impacts it is having in the Arctic, this should answer their doubts once and for all.?

Flow plan for less talk and more action as climate change hits rivers
21 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF-Canon / Michel Gunther" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />Managers and stakeholders in freshwater systems need to stop talking about adaptation to climate change and start doing it, WWF told the World Water Week symposium in Stockholm today.

The global conservation group presented a series of case studies from four continents showing that measures to improving the health of stressed water systems now would improve their ability to cope with projected climate impacts in the future.

"There are no regrets to many of the actions we can take now," said WWF freshwater researcher Jamie Pittock. "We are talking about improving river management and restoring the flood holding and drought proofing services of flood plains and wetlands, all of which can be shown to have short term economic, social and environmental pay-offs.

"The fact that they help climate-proof our river basins now is an added benefit."

Launching the new WWF report Water for life: Lessons for climate change adaptation from better management of rivers for people and nature at World Water Week, Mr Pittock said climate adaptation strategies that neglected freshwater systems were asking for trouble.

"Setting biofuel targets without considering where the water to grow biomass crops will come from is a recipe for a worsening water crisis in many regions and freshwater systems less able to cope with extreme weather events," Mr Pittock said.

"More dams for hydropower is a recipe for even more fragmented rivers that will inhibit freshwater species - the food for millions - adapting to climate impacts by migrating up or down river systems."

WWF field studies show that work already begun on opening up Danube River floodplains and wetlands and reconnecting lakes to the river is improving fishing and drinking water availability, bringing back birds and reducing vulnerability to floods.

"Restoration of the 37 sites that make up the Lower Danube Green Corridor is estimated to cost ?183 million, compared to damages of ?396 million from the 2005 flood and likely earnings of ?85.6 million per year," Mr Pittock said. "This is adaptation to climate impacts even if it is not planned or labeled as adaptation."

Perrenial flows in Tanzania's Great Ruaha River stopped in 1993 after years of declining rainfall and increasing water extractions, putting at risk important hydropower generation and tourism and reducing livelihoods for low income upstream and downstream communities.

The establishment of local water users associations and their work in restoring catchments, rescheduling diversions by major agricultural enterprises and the shutting off of illegal diversions resulted in year round river flows to the important Ihefu wetlands beginning again in 2004, with improved water security and livelihood opportunities to local communities.

Restoration of silted-up and abandoned water tanks used from around 1200 years ago to collect monsoon waters in a tributary area of India's Godavari River is lifting depleted groundwater levels, bringing dried out wells back into service and improving soil fertility and crop yields for disadvantaged farmers. Scaling up the project to cover all tanks in the area would cost $US 635 million to store about the same amount of water as a projected dam project costing $US 4 billion with significant adverse social and environmental impacts.

"This is adaptation that involves and respects the needs of local communities and people and provides immediate benefits, Mr Pittock said.

And in China's central Yangtse, WWF began working with local communities in 2002 to reconnect lakes and wetlands to absorb flood flows and counter sever pollution linked with increased heat and droughts.

Other benefits have been an increased variety and quantity of fish and improved access to safe water for communities.

"Our studies show that it is often a disaster that leads to the river restoration activities that will increase resilience to climate impacts," Mr Pittock said. "It would make more sense to avoid or reduce the impact of disaster by restoring and strengthening our river systems now.

WWF also released an overview on climate change adaptation for freshwater systems, as a guide to planners and managers.

The author of the guide, Dr John Matthews, said "Uncertainty is no reason for not acting on climate change impacts on vital water systems. We are certain there will be significant impacts even if we can't put as many decimal points on them as we would like to."

Notes:
? Adapting Water to a Changing Climate: An Overview by Dr John Matthews & Dr. Tom Le Quesne.

? Water for life: Lessons for Climate change adaptation from better management of rivers for people and nature by Jamie Pittock.

For further information:
Jamie Pittock ? Mob: +61 407 265 131, e-mail: jpittock@wwf.org.au

Dr John Matthews ? Tel: +1 202 203 8957, e-mail: john.matthews@wwfus.org

Phil Dickie ? Mob: +41 79 703 1952, e-mail: pdickie@wwfint.org

About WWF
WWF, the global conservation organization, is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations. WWF has a global network active in over 100 countries with almost 5 million supporters.

WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

Russian government gives Far Eastern Leopard chance for survival
21 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
© (C) WWF / V. Solkin" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />The survival of the 35 remaining Amur leopards of the Russian Far East has been given a huge boost following a government decision to establish a unified, centrally governed protected area.

The proposal will see jurisdiction of Russia?s oldest nature reserve, Kedrovaya Pad, as well as two adjacent wildlife refuges transferred to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology from the three separate agencies that currently regulate them.

?Decentralised management of the protected areas in the leopard habitat made it impossible to implement a unified program for leopard restoration over many years,? said Igor Chestin, Director of WWF Russia. ?Moreover, protection of Red List species, which includes the Far Eastern Leopards, did not fall under the remit of any of the other agencies.?

Russian Vice-Premier Sergei Ivanov served as arbiter in meetings between the agencies, and his support for the proposal was key to enabling all parties to come to an agreement.

?This announcement marks the culmination of five years of hard work by WWF? added Chestin ?This is a real opportunity for the leopard population in the region to gain a foothold and pull themselves up from the brink of extinction."

Once established, the joint protected area will cover about 2,000 square kilometres, and will be home to half of the remaining leopard population.

Discussions at the meeting also turned to other threats to the leopard population, including poaching and construction projects through the protected area.

?Any construction in the region should take into consideration the fragile state of this leopard population,? said Chestin. ?Activities undertaken should in no way threaten the existence of the species.?

The agreement also includes a mandate for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start formal talks with the Chinese Government on an agreement for transboundary conservation of the Far Eastern leopard.

UK citizens using 58 baths of water a day
20 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
While each person in the UK drinks, hoses, flushes and washes their way through around 150 litres of mains water a day, they consume about 30 times as much in ?virtual? water embedded in food, clothes and other items ? the equivalent of about 58 bathtubs full of water every day.

Launching the report, UK Water Footprint: the impact of the UK?s food and fibre consumption on global water resources, at World Water Week in Stockholm today, Stuart Orr, WWF-UK?s water footprint expert, said the UK was the sixth largest importer of water in the world.

?Only 38 per cent of the UK?s total water use comes from its own rivers, lakes and groundwater reserves,? he said. ?The rest is taken from water bodies in many countries across the world to irrigate and process food and fibre crops that people in Britain subsequently consume

?What?s particularly worrying is that huge amounts of these products are grown in drier areas of the world where water resources are either already stressed or very likely to become so in the near future.?

Just one tomato from Morocco takes 13 litres of water to grow while the various ingredients in a cup of coffee collectively use 140 litres. A shirt made from cotton grown in Pakistan or Uzbekistan cotton ? and possibly irrigated by water from the Indus river or the rivers that feed the Aral Sea in central Asia ? soaks up 2,700 litres of water.

Cotton producing Pakistan has recently experienced its lowest water availability on record and the Indus river often runs dry before it reaches the sea. This affects the communities and critical habitats in the Indus delta as well as endangered species such as the Indus river dolphin. Over abstraction from the rivers that flow into the Aral Sea for the irrigation of cotton fields has led to the loss of 60% of its area and 80% of its volume in the last 40 years.

Closer to home, Spanish oranges and grapes come from a country where, earlier this year, drinking water has been shipped in from France due to acute shortages.

?Most people aren?t even aware that it takes massive amounts of water to grow the food and fibres we consume on top of what is used for drinking and washing and watering the lawn,? Mr Orr said.

?Therefore, it is essential that business and government identify the areas that could potentially suffer water crises and develop solutions so the environment is not overexploited to the point that people and wildlife lose out.?

WWF is encouraging some of the UK?s largest companies, such as Marks and Spencer, to evaluate their water footprints. A water footprint assesses the amount of water a business uses both directly from the tap and virtually through its supply chain. It includes water taken from both UK rivers and aquifers and those in other countries where crops are grown and processed.

WWF also asks companies to promote sustainable water use in areas where water is scarce.

?The private sector has a very important role to play. It can engage with governments and communities along its supply chain to support better water management,? Mr Orr said. ?In order to reduce risk, businesses need to do their utmost to encourage more efficient and effective water use in water stressed areas where they operate.?

In India and Pakistan, WWF is working with farmers who grow thirsty crops such as cotton, rice and sugar cane to explore ways in which farmers can use less water to grow more crops. In one sugar cane trial, agricultural water use has dropped by 40 per cent while yields have risen by a third.

?This is not just an issue for food and clothing companies, producers and retailers. Insurers and investors have a vested interest in encouraging efficiency of water use and security of water supply in an ever thirstier world. Water is irreplaceable and climate change and population growth are only going to exacerbate the problem,? said Mr Orr.

He added: ?There?s an important role for the public here. As a consumer you can ask businesses, including your local supermarkets, to tell you what they are doing to ensure good water management along their supply chains. As a citizen you can urge your government to make good water management a priority both in this country and overseas. But if we do nothing to alleviate the acute pressures on water resources at home and abroad then our inaction could have far reaching consequences for people and habitats.?

Notes: A copy of the report is available from http://www.wwf.org.uk/freshwater To find out more about your own water consumption visit: http://www.waterfootprint.org/
For further information, please contact:

Phil Dickie tel +41 797031952, email: pdickie@wwfint.org
Robin Clegg, tel: +44 7771 818 707, rclegg@wwf.org.uk

World needs global water agreement now
19 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
WWF Director-General James Leape today called on governments to support the entry into force of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention?an international agreement which could play a key role in water security for about 40% of the world's population.

Launching the booklet Everything you need to know about the UN Watercourses Convention at World Water Week in Stockholm, Mr Leape said, "This essential treaty has languished in limbo for more than a decade, largely due to the failure of nations in not signing up to what they long ago agreed to.

More than 100 states voted for the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses in 1997, with only China, Turkey and Burundi voting against. Since then only 16 nations out of a required 35 to bring it into force have joined the treaty despite a succession of calls for its implementation from key international bodies, UN agencies, and even governments.

Mr Leape praised the efforts of Ghana, The Netherlands, and the Economic Community of West Africa States in standing up for the convention and urging their neighbors to take action.

?Because most of the world?s transboundary river basins lack adequate legal protection, the world needs a global framework for sustainably managing and preventing disputes over those resources and this is the only such framework available in the timescale to help us deal with a growing water crisis,? Mr Leape said,

If brought into force and widely implemented by the nations sharing the water of river systems and associated lakes and aquifers the convention could greatly contribute to ending the chaos of water grabbing and to improving the health of 263 rivers and lakes in 145 countries. Rivers that cross or form borders, most suffering from non-existent or inadequate regulation, drain half the earth's surface, provide water to 40 percent of the human population and generate about 60 percent of global freshwater flow.

Flavia Loures, who heads the WWF initiative to have the convention brought into force, said "Now, when there are increasing water shortages and water quality issues world-wide, and climate change will only make things worse, is when we need to have an effective and widely accepted agreement of global scope covering shared freshwater resources?.

A key benefit of the UN Watercourses Convention will be its procedures for consultation and benefit-sharing on large infrastructure projects and for peacefully settling water disputes between countries.

"This is about national and global security as much as human and water security," Mr Leape said. "The experts are telling us that rivalries over water will be a significant source of future conflict as indeed, they already are.

"An essential element of the response to our current water crisis and the looming escalation of that crisis is on the shelf and ready to go. All we need is for the world's nations to match their actions on water to their rhetoric."

Behind world food crisis is a world water crisis
18 Aug 2008 at 12:00am
© WWF / Fred Hazelhoff" border="0" align="left" hspace="4" vspace="2" />WWF Director General James Leape will tell the opening session of World Water Week in Stockholm that a world water crisis is a key factor behind current global anxieties over faltering food supplies and rising food costs.

"Behind the world food crisis is a global freshwater crisis, expected to rapidly worsen as climate change impacts intensify," Mr Leape said. "Irrigation-fed agriculture provides 45 per cent of the world?s food supplies, and without it, we could not feed our planet's population of six billion people."

Many of the world's irrigation areas, however, from wealthy to less developed nations, are highly stressed and drawing more water than rivers and groundwater reserves can sustain.

Freshwater food reserves are also declining in the face of the quickening pace of dam construction and unsustainable water extractions from rivers.

"Millions of people depend on freshwater fisheries as a major food source," Mr Leape said. "Freshwater food stocks can provide up to 80 per cent of dietary protein for the 60 million people of the Mekong basin, for example. And that's just one river."

WWF is taking a major role in World Water Week to highlight a host of other water related problems and their potential solutions.

Faltering river systems are increasing conflict, reducing power production, weakening important aquatic transport networks and increasing health risks - not least through reduced performance in transporting and naturally treating wastes.

Wetlands in particular play a major role in reducing disaster impacts and in climate regulation, with peatlands covering just 3-4 per cent of world land area but containing an estimated 25-30 per cent of the carbon in terrestrial vegetation and soils. Release of this stored carbon would be enough to raise global temperatures by 2-3� C.

"Freshwater systems are home to around 40 per cent of all the species on earth," Mr Leape said. "And our impact is shown by the fact that we are losing these species faster than any other."

Mr Leape said the world was a long way from being ready for a worsening water crisis, with profligate water use still the rule rather than the exception, protection and management schemes for only a minority of freshwater reserves and effective protection and management for only a minority of schemes.

"A global treaty for co-operatively managing rivers and lakes that cross or form borders is still languishing in limbo more than a decade after being approved by a clear majority in the United Nations," Mr Leape said.

WWF will spend the week in Stockholm outlining solutions to the water crisis grounded in its work with governments, business and communities world wide.

"Water management for human needs alone is damaging the natural systems we all depend on," Mr Leape said. "No management is even worse.

"Maintaining the health of freshwater ecosystems has to become one of the major aims of freshwater management generally."

WWF is to present studies showing the water footprint of the UK and conference hosts Sweden extends to some of the driest and most under-privileged areas of the world - but both water exporting and water importing areas can do much to reduce their demand on water resources.

"We are also concerned that the world continues to mainly discuss adaption to climate change rather than doing it," Mr Leape said. "We have been doing it, all over the world, and we have found that that improving the health of freshwater ecosystems now makes a great contribution to improving their resilience to climate impacts in the future.

"It is ironic that currently it is not foresight and planning but major natural disasters that lead to significant efforts to repair damaged rivers and wetlands. Foresight and planning now will reduce the risk and damage from future extreme weather events, while having many economic, social and environmental benefits."

Of the world's total water resources, 97.5 per cent is salty and of the remaining but mainly frozen freshwater, only one per cent is available for human use.

"Even this tiny proportion, however, would be enough for humans to live on earth if the water cycle was properly functioning and if we managed our water use wisely," Mr Leape said.

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