Source: portalangop.co.ao

Luanda – The completion of the programme of legislative package on forests, wild fauna and areas of conservation and sustainable management of forest resources topped the actions implemented by the Institute for Forestry Development (IDF) in 2008.

In statements made Thursday to Angop, in Luanda, aimed at assessing the activities carried out in 2008, the Institution’s director-general, Tomás Pedro Caetano, said that his institution concluded in 2008 the Forest Policy and Law Forestry, Wildlife and Conservation Areas.

The official also referred to the conclusion of necessary regulations for the application of these legal instruments, which in the legislative package of the Ministry of Agriculture will be submitted soon to the Cabinet Council for their approval.

Started two years ago, the programme on the legislative package on Forestry, Wildlife and Conservation Areas was funded by the Netherlands and had the support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
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By Mike Cadman, iol.co.za

Illegal trading in protected and threatened animals, including leopards and cheetahs, is openly taking place at the Mai Mai traditional medicines market in central Johannesburg – but the authorities are doing nothing to stop it.

This week at least seven full leopard skins and three cheetah pelts were on display, but traders said they were not aware that they were required to have permits to possess and sell the skins.

Smaller sections of leopard, cheetah and serval skin, for use in capes, headbands and other adornments, were available at the market.

Skins and body parts of at least 40 other species of mammals, birds, reptiles and marine life, some of them endangered, including Cape pangolin, African rock python, honey badger, crocodile, hippo, giraffe and spotted eagle owl are also available. Vulture body parts and feathers, and vervet monkey skins and hands, are also often sold at the market.

The Mai Mai market is a traditional medicines market and many of the traders are traditional healers. Some animal parts are used as medicine to cure physical ailments and others to enhance spiritual wellbeing or for supernatural purposes. Leopard and cheetah skins are widely worn in South Africa by traditionalists and by royal families and other people of status.

“This leopard skin comes from Zambia and its price is R7 500,” a trader who did not want to give her name, working in shop 141 at the market, said. “This one is R6 000; it comes from Botswana.”

She said the cheetah skin displayed in the shop came from KwaZulu-Natal and was for sale for R6 500.

Another trader, working at shop 131, said the several leopard skins and a cheetah skin hanging from the eaves outside came from KwaZulu-Natal.

Both leopards and cheetahs are listed in appendix 1 of the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (Cites), which is intended to impose strict regulations on trade in these species. Permits are required to hunt these animals or sell their skins.

Many of the other species on sale at the market are protected by environmental legislation.

Though the market is administered by the Metropolitan Trading Company, which is owned by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Council, the company does not monitor the legality of the trade at the market.

“We look to [the] council to deal with issues around wildlife to determine whether or not people are complying with regulations and whether they are authorised to be in possession of particular skins and other animal products,” said Nhlanhla Makgoba, the communications and marketing manager for the Metropolitan Trading Company.

Makgoba said she believed that the council’s environmental health division monitored the trade, but Nkosinathi Nkabinda, a spokesperson for the city’s department of health, said this was not the case, but claimed that the Gauteng department of agriculture, conservation and the environment was the responsible authority.

A spokesperson for the department said it was attempting to deal with illegal trading in wildlife at Mai Mai but the matter was “very sensitive”.

“The use of animals in traditional medicine is a very sensitive issue among certain communities and we have an ongoing programme aimed at educating people about environmental laws,” said Sizwe Matshikiza. “We will not be able to change attitudes overnight.”

Animal Rights Africa said nothing had been done to enforce environmental regulations.

“It’s clear that government conservation agencies are not acting in the interests of conservation and wildlife. It’s ironic that South Africa has chosen the leopard as a logo to promote the 2010 soccer World Cup but we do little to offer the species protection.”

© 2008 Independent Online. All rights strictly reserved.

Epson, the leader in digital imaging technology, launched an ambitious initiative to help restore the biodiversity in Serra da Gardunha, Fundão, Central Portugal.

Epson will work with local partners to restore the area’s scenery and wildlife, all of which were devastated by the severe forest fires of 2003 and 2005.

The Epson Gardunha Biodiversity Initiative forms part of Epson’s Environmental Vision 2050: a wide ranging environmental commitment that also includes reducing the company’s entire CO2 emissions by 90% by 2050.

A ceremony was held on the slopes of the Gardunha Mountain to celebrate the first phase of the project, which will focus on restoring 40 hectares of the Serra da Gardunha.
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A major international study says palm oil plantations reduce plant and animal diversity, and do little to reduce carbon emissions.

Researchers say tropical forests are increasingly cleared to make way for palm oil crops, leading to a reduction in habitats for many rare species.

The problem is most acute in Malaysia and Indonesia which produce around 85% of the world’s palm oil.

The report is published in the journal Conservation Biology.

Palm oil is a common vegetable oil, and is now regarded as a major source of biodiesel, however the researchers question whether it really offers environmental benefits over conventional fossil fuels. Read more

Matahora is a fishing village on the island of Wangi-wangi, one of four in an island chain which comprises the Wakatobi National Park, Southeast Sulawesi.

After Wangi-wangi the chain extends southeast — Kaledupa, Tomia, Binongko — between the Banda and Flores seas. The quartet makes up the territory of Wakatobi regency, which has much water and little land: 823 square kilometers are islands and 55,113 square kilometers are ocean, 98.5 percent of its total area.

Wakatobi was declared a protected area in 2002.

“Wakatobi can claim some of the broadest biological marine diversity in the world,” said Ali Basaru, an environmental activist and public high-school teacher from Matahora.

Ali cited data on coral: Ninety percent of the world’s 850 species can be found in Wakatobi regency. Read more

By Celia Taghdiri
UNION-TRIBUNE

Vista is known for its rural character and historical houses such as the sprawling Rancho Buena Vista Adobe. Located on the banks of Buena Vista Creek, the 164-year-old museum and art gallery is deeply connected with nature.

For the first time at the adobe, a series of nature workshops for adults will focus on flora and fauna of the area.

“In April we hosted our first Earth Day event, and we had about 75 participants,” said Beverly Fisher, the program coordinator at the adobe. “We had an overwhelming response from our attendees who wanted to learn more about nature and work with teachers to learn how to draw nature.”
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By Amy K.D. Tobik
The Voice

Sometimes when it rains, it really pours.

As torrential rain descended upon Central Florida during Tropical Storm Fay in August, roadways flooded and once low-level retention areas turned into lakes. The Lawton Environmental Study Area, once filled with butterflies, grasshoppers, turtles and flowering plants, was submerged in water.

Rachelle Groetsch, volunteer program chair of the garden located on South Lake Jessup in Oviedo, said the school property was flooded from fence to fence, spilling onto the Lawton Elementary playground. And with continuing rainstorms during the summer and poor drainage, approximately 6 inches of water became stagnant. Read more