• SOUTHEAST ASIA
  Regional Haze Prevention Pact Signed
  
  
• NEPAL
  Everest Glacier Melting, UN Climbers Find
  
  
• SYRIA
  Twenty Dead in Dam Collapse
  
  
• CANADA
  Georgia Strait Fished Out
  
  
• JAPAN
  Joins Biodiversity Hotspot Fund
  
  
• EGYPT
  Crackdown on Ivory Trade Catches Crooks

SE Asian Haze Prevention Pact Signed

The agreement signed here by member nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations is designed to prevent a repeat of the suffocating smog caused by forest fires that plagued the region in 1997 and 1998.

The Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution was signed by Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It formalizes the existing Regional Haze Action Plan makes it legally binding.

The agreement addresses policy and technical matters relating to monitoring, preventing and mitigating smoke from forest fires. It follows four rounds of negotiations arranged by the ASEAN Secretariat.

Opening the three day World Conference on Land and Haze Forest Fire Hazard 2002 at the Putra World Trade Centre today, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, “From past experience, if early action can be taken at the national level in respect of surveillance, monitoring, enforcement, preventive and mitigating measures, the impact of trans-boundary haze pollution can be much reduced or even avoided."

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which helped draft the agreement, applauded the signing today.

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer welcomed "the strong stand taken by governments to prosecute, or rescind the licenses of, logging and plantation companies on whose property illegal fires are detected."

The 1997-98 fires started mainly on oil palm plantations and agricultural and forestry holdings on the Indonesian islands of Sumarta and Kalimantan, and were fanned by hot, dry conditions caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

About 10 million hectares of Indonesia's national forests, one of the world's centers of biodiversity, were destroyed while more than 20 million people were exposed to extremely high levels of pollutants known to cause both acute and long-term health effects.

Airports in Singapore and neighboring countries were closed because of thick smog and marine accidents were blamed on the haze. UNEP said the total economic losses from the fires were estimated at around $9.3 billion.

Everest Glacier Melting, UN Climbers Find

The exploratory expedition to document the effects of global warming was backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as part of the UN International Year of Mountains.

Expedition leader Roger Payne, sports and development director at the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA), said, "It is clear that global warming is emerging as one, if not the, biggest threat to mountain areas. The evidence of climate change was all around us, from huge scars gouged in the landscapes by sudden, glacial floods to the lakes swollen by melting glaciers. But it is the observations of some of the people we met, many of whom have lived in the area all their lives, that really hit home."

The seven member team set out from Kathmandu on May 16 and returned June 1. They climbed on Island Peak, which is 6,189 metres (20,305 feet) above sea level in the Khumbu Region of Nepal. They visited the Thyangboche Monastery and spoke with monks, mountain experts and local residents.

Tashi Janghu Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountain Association, told the team that there is a rising degree of concern among local people over the impacts of global warming. They worry that melting glaciers would trigger floods sending huge quantities of water, rubble and mud down the valley,

Expedition leader Ian MacNaught-Davis, president of the UIAA and the host of a popular science series' on British television, recounted his talk with Janghu. "He told us that he had seen quite rapid and significant changes over the past 20 years in the ice fields and that these changes appeared to be accelerating. He told us that Hillary and Tenzing would now have to walk two hours to find the edge of the glacier which was close to their original base camp in 1953, which means that it has retreated by between four and six kilometres."

Twenty Dead in Syrian Dam Collapse

The Zeyzoun dam which cracked and collapse June 4 is located near the town of Idlib in the El-Ghab region, about 300 kilometres (186 miles) north of the Syrian capital Damascus.

The village of Zeyzoun, located next to the dam, was totally destroyed. Residents fled up nearby mountains in a search for higher ground, witnesses said.

The fourth largest dam in Syria, the Zeyzoun dam was built with a capacity of 71 million cubic metres in 1996 on the Orontes River, locally called Nahr al'Asi. River water has been used for irrigation of the surrounding countryside for centuries.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent has sent emergency assistance to villagers in the surrounding area.

"One thousand food parcels, 200 tents, 500 blankets and 100 kitchen sets have been sent out from our headquarters in Damascus," said Abdoul Rahaman Al Attar, president of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Assessment and rescue teams deployed from the towns of Idlib and Hamah, 30 and 80 kilometres respectively from the site, are working to assist the displaced families.

Although the flood has now partially receded, many hectares of crops, in particular wheat and cotton, were reportedly destroyed.

The government has reported 60 kilometers (40 miles) of roads are damaged and damage to power and telecommunications lines. The damage is still being investigated by a government commission.

International donors are responding to the emergency, UN agencies are sending food, shelter and medical supplies. Iraq has sent 12 airplanes with food, medicines and blankets, and has dispatched a 12 member medical team. Algeria has sent two airplanes with medicines, food and blankets, and has also dispatched a medical team.

Morocco has sent four airplanes with food and medicines. Saudi Arabia has sent an airplane with food, tents and medicines, and the United Arab Emirates have sent two trucks and 1 airplane with medicines, food and blankets. Iran has dispatched doctors and volunteers from the Red Crescent to work in the camp.

Japan has made available US$50,000, and has sent a technical team to inspect other dams. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent has offered US$130,000 to support the Syrian Red Crescent Society.

Georgia Strait Fished Out

Calling for an immediate federal fisheries inquiry, the coalition says the situation is most serious in the Strait of Georgia, between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Where once fish of many species were abundant, salmon are nearly gone, and even rockfish and lingcod stocks are down to an estimated "five percent of their former biomass. The coalition warned Saturday that major fisheries continue in the absence of any effective catch limits or catch monitoring in the government's part.

"In Canada's Pacific waters, we are on a collision course between short-term political expediency and the ability of the ocean to withstand such massive removals of fish," Vicky Husband, conservation chair of the Sierra Club of BC, said.

The Oceans Day report released by 16 conservationists and organizations including the Vancouver Aquarium and Marine Science Center, contains an assessment on developments since the first Oceans Day report on June 8, 2001. It contains a "recovery plan" for the troubled Strait of Georgia marine ecosystem.

The group which includes the David Suzuki Foundation and the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society, reports that Canada's Pacific fisheries "routinely fail to meet the basic, minimum requirements set out in the United Nations Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, to which Canada is a signatory."

Full text of the report is available on the Sierra Club of BC website at: http://www.sierraclub.ca/bc

Japan Joins Biodiversity Hotspot Fund

The CEPF, a joint initiative of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the World Bank and the Japanese government, aims to invest at least $150 million over five years in biodiversity hotspots.

These highly threatened regions hold more than 60 percent of terrestrial species diversity on only 1.4 percent of the Earth's surface.

"Biodiversity conservation is one of the most critical issues facing the world today," said Japanese Environment Minister Hiroshi Ohki. "The CEPF approach enables local people in developing nations to create and implement projects for a healthy environment and to prosper economically. That is why the Japanese government has chosen to be a participant in this very focused initiative."

Each CEPF member organization has pledged to commit $5 million annually over five years to the fund, which provides financial support, technical expertise, field knowledge and information to nongovernmental organizations, community groups and private sector partners working to conserve biodiversity in developing countries.

"The biodiversity hotspots are in a state of emergency and this is our last chance to save them," said Jorgen Thomsen, CEPF's executive director and senior vice president at Conservation International, the managing partner of the fund. "By engaging local people in biodiversity conservation, we ensure the best chance of success at protecting the environment for future generations."

The partners made the announcement in Bali, Indonesia at the final preparatory meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa August 26 to September 4.

"Humanity's immediate health and long term well being are indivisible from that of other species and systems sharing and shaping our planet," said Mohamed El-Ashry, CEO and chairman of the Global Environment Facility. "We are living proof that biodiversity matters."

Sumatra, one of the world's most urgent conservation priorities, will receive $10 million in grants through CEPF, the largest portion of the $58.1 million approved for disbursement this year. The island holds 10,000 plant species, mostly in lowland forests, the Indonesian island of Sumatra is part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot. It is the only place where elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, clouded leopards and orangutans are all found.

The eight other hotspots selected for current funding are Brazil's Atlantic Forest, the Cape Floristic Region in South Africa, Choco-Darien in Colombia and Ecuador, the Guinean Forests of West Africa, Madagascar, Mesoamerica, the Philippines and the Tropical Andes.

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is online at: http://www.cepf.net

Egyptian Crackdown on Ivory Trade Catches Crooks

In two letters to Willem Wijnstekers, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Professor Samy El Fellaly, Egyptian Under Secretary of the State for Soils, Water and Environment, says the successful uncovering of the ivory traders began at the Cairo Airport May 20.

Egyptian Customs officials at the airport seized a piece of ivory weighing four kilograms (nine pounds). The ivory was hidden in the luggage of a Brazilian passenger travelling from Cairo to Milano, Italy.

The passenger, Clovis Ludovice, told the police at the Cairo Airport about the location of a gift shop selling ivory. Following this lead, Egyptian authorities has organized a raid to seize ivory in Egyptian gift shops and bazaars located in Misr El Kadima, or old Cairo.

In his role as head of the Egyptian Standing Committee and Egyptian Management Authority for CITES, Professor El Fellaly oversaw the seizure of 42 pieces of raw, worked and semi-worked ivory weighing 63 kilograms (138 pounds).

A second raid was organized to seize ivory in Egyptian gift shops and bazaars located in the famous touristic market at Khan EL Khalili. The Egyptian Management Authority of CITES seized a total of 212 pieces of ivory weighing 103.3 kilograms (227 pounds) from three gift shops.

The four shop owners were arrested. The confiscated ivory was taken to the Agricultural Museum in Dokki near Giza, where it will soon be placed on public exhibition.