• JAPAN
  Cabinet Ratifies Kyoto Protocol
  
  
• INTERNATIONAL
  UNEP to Probe Palestinian Environment
  
  
• SWEDEN
  21 Unique Wetlands Protected
  
  
• MEXICO
  Coastal Zone Becomes a Whale Sanctuary
  
  
• VIETNAM
  New Conifer Species Found
  
  
• BRAZIL
  Rare Bird Rediscovered After 45 Years
  
  
• UNITED KINGDOM
  Native Wood Promoted Over Plastic
  
  
• EUROPE
  Parliament Urges Corporate Social Responsibility

JAPAN: Cabinet Ratifies Kyoto Protocol

Japan will submit its ratification documents for the pact to the United Nations headquarters in New York today.

Japan is the fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), the major heat trapping gas released by burning fossil fuels and the main cause of global warming. Only the United States, the European Union and Russia emit more CO2.

After signing the Kyoto Protocol under the Clinton administration, the United States withdrew from participation under President George W. Bush. Koizumi said Japan will do "its utmost" to bring "all nations, including the United States and developing ones," into the agreement.

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said in a statement today that Japan will help developing countries to deal with global warming by offering official development assistance.

The World Wildlife Fund hailed the Japanese decision especially because it follows six months of internal debate and was taken in the face of opposition from influential sections of Japan's business community.

"This is a welcome and essential step that puts global responsibility above special interest appeals," said Jennifer Morgan, director of WWF's Climate Change Program. "As the largest industrial emitter of gases that cause global warming, the United States also needs to act responsibly and put in place strong domestic policies that meet or beat its Kyoto Protocol targets."

For the treaty that was agreed in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan to become legally binding, it must be ratified by at least 55 countries and by industrialized nations that emitted at least 55 percent of the world's CO2 in 1990.

UNEP to Probe Palestinian Environment

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer will visit Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in late June or early July to launch an environmental study of the territories by UNEP experts, the agency announced at its Nairobi headquarters today. This high level visit will be preceded by a UNEP technical mission in mid-June.

Toepfer has been invited to meet with Israeli Environment Minister Tzachi Hanegbi and Palestinian Environment Minister Yousef Yousef Abu Safieh. He will also consult with a range of environmental experts.

The preliminary study ahead of Toepfer's visit will be based on interviews with officials and experts and a review of existing data. It will "outline the state of the environment and identify major areas of environmental damage requiring urgent attention," UNEP said today.

If necessary, the study will be followed up by field visits aimed at generating proposals on how to improve environmental conditions.

The decision to assess the environmental situation in the Palestinian Territories was taken unanimously in February 2002 by the UNEP Governing Council at its Seventh Special Session/Global Ministerial Environment Forum. At that time the Governing Council said it was, "Gravely concerned over the continuing deterioration and destruction of the environment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories."

UNEP is required to report back to the Governing Council at its next meeting in February 2003.

SWEDEN: 21 Unique Wetlands Protected

The largest site to be newly protected is 20,100 hectares in Jämtland northern Sweden called Aloppkölen-Köpmankölen. Bears, lynx and wolves roam the large mire complex southwest of Lake Storsjön. The area and its surroundings are used for reindeer husbandry by the indigenous Sami people.

At another large newly protected site, two bays of Lake Mälaren and an archipelago of some 160 islands and islets between them hold more than 75 globally and nationally red-listed species, including birds, fish and molluscs, fungi, moss and lichen, and insects.

The lower reaches and mouth of the Emån River is now a protected Ramsar site. The river valley has been put to human use since the Stone Age and still contains many representative wetland types and extraordinary fish diversity.

Sweden, now with 51 Wetlands of International Importance totaling 514,500 hectares (1.27 million acres), has leapt past Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Canada, the Russian Federation, and Germany to third place in the total number of Ramsar sites, behind only the UK and Australia, Peck says.

A complete list of Sweden's 21 new Ramsar sites with brief descriptions is online at: http://ramsar.org/w.n.sweden_names_21.htm

A list of the recently announced nine boundary extensions can be found at: http://ramsar.org/w.n.sweden_9enlarge.htm

Peck says the Ramsar Convention now lists 1,171 sites in 131 countries totaling 96,454,325 hectares (372,419 square miles).

MEXICO: Coastal Zone Becomes a Whale Sanctuary

Calling itself "a pioneer in the protection of whales," Mexico said it will promote economic activities through whale watching.

With this decree, signed May 24, on the last day of the International Whaling Commission meeting, Mexico seeks to protect 39 of the 81 known whale species that spend part of their life in the marine areas within Mexico's national territory.

President Vincente Fox said that his government wishes to ensure "the improvement and care for our environment, because harmony with nature and the protection of the life of other species is a central part of our wealth."

The three million square kilometers sanctuary is the result of a campaign started in 1999 by Greenpeace Mexico. More than 120,000 signatures were collected in 1999, and 125 Mexican and international nongovernmental organizations signed a letter to the Mexican government requesting the sanctuary.

In 2000, a poll in Mexico City showed that 84 percent of those questioned were in favor of the creation of the sanctuary, Greenpeace says.

"The Mexican whale sanctuary is the biggest protected area in Mexico and the largest national whale sanctuary in the world. It occupies an area equivalent to half of Europe," said Juan Carlos Cantú, biodiversity campaigner of Greenpeace Mexico.

The campaign also resulted in the modification of the Wildlife Law in 2000 to forbid all whaling in Mexico for commercial or subsistence purposes, and the listing of all cetaceans as eligible for special protection.

The decree creating the protected area states that the sanctuary will support the maintenance of the environmental conditions that are necessary for the biological functions of whales, such as reproduction, calving, growth, migration, learning and feeding.

VIETNAM: New Conifer Species Found

Botanists have named it Xanthocyparis vietnamensis, the golden Vietnamese cypress. Its closest relative is the yellow spruce of the U.S. Pacific Northwest, known as the Nootka cypress. Previously classified as Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, the yellow spruce is now classified as the second species in the new genus Xanthocyparis.

The new species is distinctive in that it bears two different types of foliage - needles and scale leaves - on mature trees. It produces fine, yellowish, hard, fragrant timber prized by local citizens.

Single branch of Xanthocyparis vietnamensis with two foliage types. Immature foliage on the left and mature foliage on the right. (Photo by Daniel Harder courtesy National Science Foundation)

Harder spent several years in Vietnam. During that time, he and his collaborators discovered more than 100 new species of plants. But the conifer now known as the golden Vietnamese cypress is by far the most remarkable of those discoveries, he said.

"For us to find a previously undescribed large tree like this indicates that there is probably a lot more to be discovered there," Harder said. "It's comparable to the recent discoveries of previously unknown large mammals in Southeast Asia, like the giant muntjac and the saola, a type of ox."

The mountaintop ridges hold remnants of a forest that was once much more widespread, Harder said. "This tree was already rare and endangered when it was discovered, which lends urgency to putting in place some protections. These limestone mountains might actually harbor other valuable species."

Other scientists involved in the conifer discovery include Vietnamese botanists Nguyen Tien Hiep and Phan Ke Loc, Russian botanist Leonid Averyanov, and United Kingdown botanist Philip Cribb from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

In addition to the cypress, the collaborative team of botanists exploring the area has found about two dozen new orchid species, a variety of new shrubs, and numerous herbs and bulbs, including six new species in the Jack-in-the pulpit family (Araceae).

"Biologists don't need to contemplate finding life on another planet to imagine making extraordinary discoveries. The fact is, most of the species living on our own planet are still unknown," says Norman Platnick, program director in the National Science Foundation's division of environmental biology, which funded the research. "That kind of basic, new knowledge about life, its interrelationships, and how it is distributed across the globe, often has enormous practical implications, guiding the search for new medicines, new pesticides, and even new ways to control alien, invasive species."

The discovery is published in the current issue of the journal "Novon."

BRAZIL: Rare Bird Rediscovered After 45 Years

Fábio Olmos who, together with José Fernando Pacheco rediscovered the species in the Pará region of Brazil, said, "We were thrilled to find the lost manakin - quite distinctive from other manakins."

Golden-crowned manakin (Photo by Fabio Olmos courtesy BirdLife International)

Olmos warns that the rare bird is still on the brink of extinction. "The local economy of the area is based on logging and cattle raising on cleared land. The Brazilian government is encouraging colonization but has no way of controlling loggers, squatters, colonists and gold miners once access is created."

"Forest destruction will remain a major threat to the long term survival of this beautiful bird and other wildlife of the area," he said.

The manakin was found while making surveys along the Cuiabá-Santarém Road which is planned to be paved as part of the Avança Brasil Development Program to ease transport access for the logging industry. This area is located between the Tapajós and Xingu rivers. There are no protected areas for habitat conservation in this region of Brazil. Existing national forests and Indian reserves do not guarantee the integrity of the ecosystem, as timber exploitation along with other potentially destructive activities are allowed.

Based in Cambridge, BirdLife Internation has a Brazil program that is establishing a network of conservationists, including Olmos and Fernando who rediscovered the manakin.

Alison Stattersfield who leads BirdLife's globally threatened species monitoring said, "This is tremendous news. This bird hasn't been recorded for 45 years, but there are genuine concerns that its habitat is under threat from the continued destruction of the fantastic Amazonian rainforest. It is vital that this wonderful natural resource is saved from further destruction and that the Brazilian environmental authorities implement an effective system of protected areas for the region's biodiversity."

UNITED KINGDOM: Native Wood Promoted Over Plastic

At a conference this week English Nature is urging people to rediscover wood as "the ultimate sustainable building material."

English Nature is sponsoring the conference "In Praise of Trees" Thursday and Friday as part of the Salisbury Festival to bring conservationists who care for woodland together with builders, designers, architects and artists who use wood.

The agency points out that the vast majority of wood used in UK manufacturing is imported, yet some 8.4 percent of England is covered with woodland, and there are another 90 million trees in gardens, parks and avenues across the country.

Sir Martin Doughty, chair of English Nature, said, "We need to change our attitude from seeking value for money to obtaining value for people. Traditional trees such as oak, ash and beech are being used in stunning modern architecture and beautifully designed furniture. It's time to focus on British timber with the Forestry Stewardship Council stamp of approval so that we guarantee a commercial and wildlife friendly future for our woodlands."

Sir Martin sees plastic as part of "the disposable society" that should be consigned "to the dustbin of history." He wants Britain to "rediscover the delights of natural building materials that are sustainable in every sense of the word."

Guest speakers include author Dr. Oliver Rackham, who wrotes pf his love of native woodland, Professor Roland Schweitzer and MP Elliot Morley.

In addition to the conference as part of its effort to rekindle British interest in using native timber, English Nature teams have helped create 40 Books of Trees with drawings, poetry and writing inspired by trees and sponsored a series of gallery exhibitions and displays of sculpture in natural settings.

The conference website is: http://www.inpraiseoftrees.co.uk

EUROPE: Parliament Urges Corporate Social Responsibility

News of the resolution was welcomed by the Corporate Responsibility (CORE) Coalition, supported by nongovernmental organizations including Amnesty International-UK, CAFOD, Friends of the Earth, New Economics Foundation and Save the Children-UK.

The resolution still treats corporate social responsibility as a voluntary concept, but the NGOs view it as a step forward in the creation of a comprehensive EU framework on corporate social responsibility, in line with similar legislation in Denmark, Holland and France.

“I would also like to see more reporting on environmental and social performance," Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an October 2000 keynote address to the Confederation of British Industry. "I am issuing a challenge, today, to all of the top 350 companies to be publishing annual environment reports by the end of 2001,” Blair said.

UK government figures show that only 79 of the top 350 companies produced substantive reports on their environmental performance by the end of 2001, and that only 24 of the other companies in the Financial Times Stock Exchange 350 indicated their intention to do so. Ten percent of the remaining top 350 companies mentioned the environment in their annual reports but, in many cases, it was given a few short paragraphs.

The CORE Coalition is asking the UK Government to require mandatory economic, environmental, financial and social reporting.

Craig Bennett of Friends of the Earth UK said, “Companies are always talking about their green commitments and ethical behaviour. But in too many cases the reality does not match the claims. We need a new law to oblige companies to report on their environmental performance, to a common standard.”