Norway to double carbon tax on oil industry

Extra funding for climate change mitigation and forestry programmes also part of oil-rich nation's radical programme

guardian.co.uk, Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent, Thursday 11 October 2012

Ekofisk oil platform in the North Sea, Norway. The Norwegian government has
 proposed increasing its carbon tax on offshore oil companies. Photograph:
Ulrich Baumgarten/Getty Images

Norway is to double carbon tax on its North Sea oil industry and set up a £1bn fund to help combat the damaging impacts of climate change in the developing world.

In one of the most radical climate programmes yet by an oil-producing nation, the Norwegian government has proposed increasing its carbon tax on offshore oil companies by £21 to £45 (Nkr410) per tonne of CO2 and a £5.50 (Nkr50) per tonne CO2 tax on its fishing industry.

Norway will also plough an extra £1bn (Nkr10bn) into its funds for climate change mitigation, renewable energy, food security in developing countries and conversion to low-carbon energy sources, Environmental Finance reported.

It will step up spending on new projects to combat deforestation in developing countries to £44m, taking up its spending overall on forestry programmes to £327m. Previous forestry projects have involved Brazil, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

The Oslo government is also to spend £69m on buying carbon credits in 2013, to help offset its emissions, force through new building regulations to make all new homes carbon-neutral by 2015 and increase efforts to heavily cut emissions from cars, switching to electric vehicles.

The scale of these initiatives will pose a significant political challenge to other oil-producing nations, who are also investing in low-carbon technologies and cutting their own emissions, but not yet investing heavily in tackling the impacts of climate change on developing countries.

The UK and Scottish governments estimate there are up to 24bn barrels of oil left to be exploited over the next 40 years from the UK's oil and gas fields in the North Sea, west of Shetland and smaller sites off western England.

But that would lead to total CO2 emissions of an extra 10bn tonnes – dwarfing the UK's annual 500m tonnes of CO2 emissions, at a time when many climate scientists urge cutbacks in oil, gas and coal use to avoid significant global warming and to meet climate targets.

Neither the UK or Scottish government has supported a carbon tax on the oil and gas industry.

The Scottish government, which often looks to Norway as a model for its independence plans, has greatly increased its funding and support for renewable energy investment. It announced a £103m investment fund for marine renewables and community power schemes on Wednesday and has a £4m "climate justice fund" to help developing countries.

But fields in Scottish waters account for about 80% of the UK's North Sea oil and gas fields, which produced 1m barrels of oil a day in August.

Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, said on Wednesday that oil economies have a"moral obligation" to increase low-carbon energy and tackle climate change, but says there is no contradiction in maximising oil, gas and coal production.

He told a conference on low-carbon investment: "As countries such as Denmark show, there's no contradiction between making use of substantial in their case gas reserves which will be needed by the rest of the world in the coming decades by the rest of the world, while leading the transition to a low-carbon economy."

After speaking at the same conference on Thursday, Ed Davey, the UK energy and climate secretary, told the Guardian he believed the UK's actions on climate change and green energy were also world-leading. The UK government was putting £3bn into the new green investment bank, and aims to cut CO2 emissions by 34% by 2020, he said.

Asked about Norway's new programme, Davey said: "I would say that the UK government has very ambitious climate change targets and carbon emission reduction targets.

"We were one of the first countries in the world to pass legally binding targets on ourselves, with the Climate Change Act 2008 which had cross party support. And the government has introduced on the back of that, the fourth carbon budget and the whole electricity market reform, the green deal, the green investment bank.

"These are all our tools to deliver on those targets; these are incredibly ambitious and maybe some countries are catching us up."

Ranking third among the world's oil exporters, with production peaking at 3m barrels of oil a day, Norway has 51 active oil and gas fields in the North Sea, and believes it has more than 7bn barrels of undiscovered reserves. Its oil and gas sector is the world's richest: its employees earn $180,000 on average a year.

With a population of 5 million - the same as Scotland - it is the third wealthiest country per capita in the world thanks to its oil and gas exports. Norway's plans to offset the impacts of its oil exports on the world's climate come as it also proposes to expand oil exploration into the Barents Sea to the far north.

Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said: "Norway is showing how you can use oil income to fund the transition out of oil, we should be doing the same with UK oil revenues. The Scottish National Party have always been keen on the Norwegian oil fund, and now it is setting an example really worth following."

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"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”

Costa Rica set to ban recreational hunting

Hindustan Times, AFP, San Jose, October 05, 2012

A wild Capuchin Monkey in Costa Rica. Photo: AFP/ Matt Tilghman/
Shutterstock.com

Costa Rica is set to be the first country in the American continent to ban recreational hunting after the country's legislature approved the popular measure by a wide margin. The bill, which bans hunting for sport but still allows culling and subsistence hunting, was approved late Tuesday by a 41-5 vote. Congress will revisit the issue on Thursday, but the second round is seen as just a formality.

President Laura Chinchilla, who supports the measure, is expected to sign it into law in the next days.

The ban, which does not affect fishing for sport, does allow researchers to hunt for scientific purposes.

Hunters violating the ban would have to pay a fine of up to $3,000.

Costa Rica supports an enormous variety of fauna, and is one of the countries with the highest density of biodiversity in the world.

Wildlife in Costa Rica include jaguars, armadillos, deer, sloths and several species of monkeys, as well as a variety of birds, amphibians and reptiles.

Some two million people visit Costa Rica each year -- a $2 billion business -- and the country's natural reserves and variety of species are a great attraction.

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Spain's model monarchy shoots itself in the foot

King Juan Carlos on his €10,000-a-day hunting safari in Botswana, which
had  been hushed up before he fell and broke his hip. Photograph: Target
Press/Barcroft Media

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Rare Sumatran tiger's aircraft death probed

BBC News, 4 October 2012

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The exact circumstances of
the tiger's death are not clear

Indonesian officials are investigating why one of the world's rarest tigers died during attempts to transport it to a wildlife sanctuary.

The Sumatran tiger was supposed to have been taken from Banda Aceh on Sumatra island to the sanctuary on Java.

But for reasons correspondents say are unclear, the tiger was instead taken back to Banda Aceh after a stopover.

One report said airline officials took it off the flight after passengers complained about an unpleasant smell.

An autopsy revealed that the tiger died from severe trauma.

Officials say it died while being taken back to Banda Aceh from Medan, another city on Sumatra closer to its intended destination.

A spokesman for Garuda Indonesia airlines insisted that the correct procedures for carrying the animal were followed.

The spokesman told the AFP news agency that Garuda would co-operate with forestry ministry officials in their inquiry.

Wildlife experts estimate that there are about 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild.

They have blamed the demise of the animals on rampant human incursions into rapidly diminishing forests.

'Already dead'

Correspondents say that the precise sequence of events leading up to the tiger's death are disputed - wildlife officials say that the animal may have been mistreated and that there were passenger complaints about "unpleasant odours".

"When the tiger arrived [back] in Banda Aceh on the same day, we found out that it was already dead," conservation agency chief Afan Absory told the AFP news agency.

He said that it was being transported with a gibbon and two bearcats, which have a distinctive smell.

"We are seeking clarification from the airline as they returned the tiger to Banda Aceh without informing our official who was flying with them," Mr Absory said.

Blood was found coming out of the dead tiger's nose, he added.

Indonesian forestry ministry spokesman Sumarto Suharno told the BBC that this was not the first time an animal had died during a flight.

He said that a tiger died in 2010 on a plane from Yogya to West Sumatra - and in 2008 a primate died on a flight from Indonesia to Japan.

Correspondents say that the male tiger that died on Wednesday was rescued in 2010 from a forest in Aceh province, where it was threatened by human encroachment onto its territory.

The Animals are Not Waiting for Us

The 2012 Scenario, Steve Beckow, 28 September 2012

Cross-species friendships are springing up all over. Of them, Matthew said in 2010:

“The innocence of animals, who act from instinct, never from malice, automatically qualifies all except a few species to ascend with Earth. Along the way those who now are wild will become tame, predators will become vegetarians, and all will live peaceably with each other and humankind. Already there is evidence of cross-species friendship, even mothers of one species nurturing infants of another, and instances of bonding between wild animals and humans.”  (Matthew message - Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Aug 13, 2010)

Thanks to Odette.

--------------------------------

Give us a cuddle: Baby rhesus macaque Taoqi cosies up to a young tiger

cub at a zoo in Hefei, China

Molly The Dog Plays Mom To A Bundle Of Kittens

Swiss Shepherd dog adopts 3 baby tigers in Sochi, Russia

Swiss Shepherd dog Talli feeds orphaned tiger cubs and her own cubs in the
Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. The little tigers were born last month
in the Oktyabrsky Zoo but abandoned by their birth mother, tigress Bagira.
 (AFP PHOTO /  MIKHAIL MORDASOV)

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Sacred Animal Kingdom - Healing Divine Love" - FEB 16, 2012 (Metraton channelled by Tyberonn)

"Do Animals Reincarnate?" - NOV 22, 2010 (Kuthumi channelled by Lynette Leckie-Clark)

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Forest Fires Rage in Central Java, East Kalimantan

Jakarta Globe, SP/Imron Rosyid & Tunggadewa Mattangkilang, September 27, 2012

A forest fire on Lawu mountain is seen from Magetan, East Java,
on Tuesday. (Antara Photo/Siswowidodo)

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Solo/West Kutai. Forest fires have razed thousands of hectares of land in Central Java and East Kalimantan as an unusually intense and protracted dry spell drags on, officials reported on Wednesday.

In Karanganyar, Central Java, more than 500 hectares of forests and tree nurseries on the slopes of Mount Lawu have been torched since Monday, with the fires still raging as of Wednesday.

Aji Pratama, head of the Karanganyar Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), said the extremely dry conditions and strong winds were fueling the flames and making it hard for firefighters to douse them.

“The fires started in Ngawi district [in East Java] and have spread here because of the winds,” he said.

“It’s not just the brush and shrubs that are getting burned, but also trees, especially pines.”

Much of the affected area on Mount Lawu consists of logging concessions that include pine, acacia and eucalyptus trees.

Sunardi, a resident of Ngargoyoso subdistrict further down the slope, said the ash from the burning vegetation was raining down on residential areas. He added residents were afraid that the fire would reach their homes.

“We’re 25 kilometers away from the fires, but you never know with the way the wind’s blowing,” he said.

Maryono, coordinator of the district emergency response unit, said the size of the scorched area was increasing by the hour, with the fire now encroaching on a community forest.

Rina Iriani, the Karanganyar district head, said fires were not an uncommon problem on Lawu’s slopes, but this year’s blaze was worse because of the dry conditions and strong winds.

She said she had ordered all hiking routes in the area to be temporarily closed and called on resident’s living on the mountain’s slopes to help in putting out the fires.

In West Kutai, East Kalimantan, forest fires have razed more than 1,500 hectares of land since Monday. A harsh dry spell has also been blamed for the extent of the disaster there.

Yustinus A.S., head of the district forestry office, said the fires were not believed to be man-made. He said the affected area, on the periphery of the Kersik Luway orchid park, a forest conservation area, had previously experienced severe fires lasting several months in 1987 and 1997.

“Both those previous times we lost around 5,000 hectares of forest. This time it’s only around 1,500 hectares, most of which was forest area that was replanted after the 1997 fire,” Yustinus said.

He added that firefighters and residents alike were trying to put out the flames and prevent the fire spreading to the orchid park.

Haze from the fire is also causing problems at West Kutai’s Melalan Sendawar Airport, where visibility was down to one kilometer on Wednesday, well below the usual three kilometers.

The conditions forced the airport to freeze operations from Wednesday. Suparno, the airport manager, said scheduled flights to Samarinda and Balikpapan had to be canceled because of the haze. “We don’t know yet when we can reopen the airport,” he said.

New monkey species identified in Democratic Republic of Congo

Lesula found in remote forests is only the second new monkey species to be discovered in Africa in 28 years

guardian.co.uk, Adam Vaughan, Thursday 13 September 2012

A new species of monkey (Cercopithecus lomamiensis), known locally
as the lesula. Photograph: Hart JA, Detwiler KM, Gilbert CC/PA

A new species of monkey has been identified in Africa, only the second time such a discovery has been made on the continent in 28 years.

The identification of the monkey in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is significant, as identification of mammals new to science is rare.

Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) has a naked face and a mane of long blond hairs, and is described by the researchers who identified it as shy and quiet. It lives on the ground and in trees in a 6,500 square mile habitat of the lowland rainforests in the centre of the DRC between the middle Lomami (the inspiration for its name) and the upper Tshuapa Rivers. Its diet is mostly fruit and vegetation.

John and Terese Hart of Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History first saw the species in 2007 at the home of a primary school director, who was keeping a young female in the town of Opala. Later that year, the team found the species – which is similar in appearance to the owl-faced monkey (Cercopithecushamlyni) but with different colouring – in the wild. Genetic tests later verified it was a new species.

"This was a totally unexpected find, and we knew we had something unusual and possibly unknown when we first saw the animal. But it was not until we had the genetic and morphological analyses of our collaborating team that we knew we really had a new species," said the Harts, who are also conservation biologists at the Lukuru Wildlife Research Project.

The monkey lives mostly in small groups of one to five, and only one animal was seen on its own during eight encounters. In what they describe as an "exceptional" sighting, the researchers observed an apparent attack on one of the monkeys by a crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus), which killed the female monkey.

There are already fears for the newly discovered species' fate despite its home in a relatively remote and underpopulated region, as it is hunted for bushmeat. The director who owned the captive monkey said he had acquired it after a family member had killed its mother in the forest. The researchers have provisionally categorised it as already vulnerable under the authoritative IUCN red list of threatened species.

"The challenge now is to make the lesula an iconic species that carries the message for conservation for all of Congo's endangered fauna," said John Hart. "Species with small ranges like the lesula can move from vulnerable to seriously endangered over the course of just a few years."

The last monkey to be discovered in Africa was the kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji) in Tanzania in 2003, nearly two decades after the last find, the sun-tailed monkey (Cercopithecus solatus) in Gabon, in 1984.

The researchers' work on the Lesula was published this week in the journal PLOSONE

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Endangered tiger cubs and pangolins seized by Vietnam police

BBC News, 4 September 2012

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About 85 pangolins seized from suspected
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Four rare tiger cubs and more than 100 endangered pangolins have been seized from suspected wildlife smugglers in Vietnam, police say.

The animals were found in a car in central Ha Tinh province, they said. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of illegally transporting them.

A police official told the AFP news agency that all the animals apart from one pangolin were alive.

It is estimated that globally as few as 3,200 tigers remain in the wild.

The animals are hunted for their fur, bones and other body parts which are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Pangolins, often referred to as "scaly anteaters", are also prized in China and Vietnam for their food and medicinal value.

The WWF conservation and environmental group in June labelled Vietnam as having one of the worst records in the world in the fight against trade in endangered species - an accusation which Vietnam has denied.

Police said the animals discovered on Tuesday will be handed over to forest rangers who will soon release them into the wild.

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Coconut oil could combat tooth decay

BBC News, 3 September 2012

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Coconut oil attacks the bacteria behind tooth decay and could be used in dental care products, according to research.

Scientists found that coconut oil which had been treated with enzymes stopped the growth of Streptococcus bacteria - a major cause of tooth decay.

Tooth decay affects 60% to 90% of children in industralised countries.

Speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's conference, the Irish researchers say that coconut oil also attacks the yeast which causes thrush.

The research team from the Athlone Institute of Technology in Ireland tested the impact of coconut oil, vegetable oil and olive oil in their natural states and when treated with enzymes, in a process similar to digestion.

The oils were then tested against Streptococcus bacteria which are common inhabitants of the mouth.

Only the enzyme-modified coconut oil showed an ability to inhibit the growth of most strains of the bacteria.

It also attacked Streptococcus mutans, an acid-producing bacterium which is a major cause of tooth decay.

Active acids

It is thought that the breaking down of the fatty coconut oil by the enzymes turns it into acids which are active and effective against bacteria.

Previous research found that enzyme-modified milk could stop Streptococcus mutans from binding to tooth enamel.

Researchers now want to look at how coconut oil interacts with Streptococcus bacteria at the molecular level and which other strains of harmful bacteria it can inhibit.

Dr Damien Brady who led the research at the Athlone Institute of Technology with Patricia Hughes, a Masters student, said coconut oil could be an attractive alternative to chemical additives.

"It works at relatively low concentrations.

"Also, with increasing antibiotic resistance, it is important that we turn our attention to new ways to combat microbial infection."

Their studies are also looking into the workings of antibacterial activity in the human gut.

"Our data suggests that products of human digestion show antimicrobial activity. This could have implications for how bacteria colonise the cells lining the digestive tract and for overall gut health," said Dr Brady.

Norway Urges Indonesia to Keep Forest Protection

Jakarta Globe, August 24, 2012

An excavator clears a ditch on a road owned by a disputed palm oil plantation
 firm near Sebangau Kuala, Pulang Pisau district in Central Kalimantan on
June 19, 2012. Plantation firm Suryamas Cipta Perkasa is accused by NGOs
of developing the site without environmental approvals and clearing forest on deep
peatlands, in violation of Indonesian laws. (Reuters Photo/David Fogarty)

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Oslo. Norway’s environment minister on Friday urged Brazil and Indonesia to avoid backtracking on policies to protect tropical forests, saying up to $2 billion in aid promised by Oslo hinged on proof of slower rates of forest clearance.

Norway, rich from oil and gas, has promised more cash than any other donor nation to slow rainforest clearance from the Amazon to the Congo. Protecting forests slows climate change, since plants soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas.

Environment Minister Baard Vegar Solhjell, whose country is failing to meet goals for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, said he was closely following debate in Brazil that might brake what he called a “huge success story” in slowing deforestation.

Oslo has promised up to $1 billion each to Brazil and Indonesia, the two main beneficiaries of a forest initiative worth 3 billion Norwegian crowns ($514.75 million) a year to help combat global warming.

“It is important that they [Brazil] follow policies that mean that they continue reducing deforestation in future,” he told Reuters. “We are paying for actual results.”

President Dilma Rousseff in May vetoed elements of a new law passed by Congress that would relax the forest cover farmers must preserve on their land. “We don’t know what is going to happen” after the veto, Solhjell said.

Other policies under Rousseff have slowed, for instance, the new areas of forest set aside as protected land.

Norway has transferred slightly less than $100 million to projects in Brazil from a total of $425 million set aside for the nation in the years 2008-11, he said. The rest of that total is still to be assigned to projects.

Of the up to $1 billion promised to Brazil, up to $575 million is yet to be set aside. However a weakening of forest protection would mean a lower payout, Solhjell said.

‘Big step forward’

He also said Indonesia had made a “big step forward” with a moratorium on forest clearance in 2011 as part of the deal with Norway, despite wide criticism that illegal logging continues.

“They [Indonesia] need to develop from this initial phase into a phase of actual reductions” of deforestation, he said. “The big money will be connected to actual results.”

Norway helps about 40 nations protect forests.

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the world lost a net 5.2 million hectares of forests a year in 2000-10 — totaling an area the size of Costa Rica — down from 8.3 million a year in the 1990s.

Slower deforestation rates in Brazil and Indonesia and forest plantings in China, India and other countries helped brake losses, it said. Norway says that 17 percent of man-made carbon dioxide emissions are caused by deforestation.

Some environmentalists say Norway is poorly placed to lecture other nations about their environmental policies when it has not lived up to its own.

Solhjell said Norway was failing to meet its domestic plans for deep cuts in emissions as part of efforts to avert warming that a UN panel of experts says will bring more floods, dust storms, heat waves and rising sea levels.

He said it was impossible even to say if Norway’s emissions had peaked.

“My friend who is a historian says it is easier to talk about the past than the future,” he said.

In 2011, emissions were 5.6 percent above 1990 levels at 52.7 million tons of carbon dioxide, the highest year so far was 2007 with 55.5 million. Norway is the world’s No. 8 oil exporter and number two gas exporter by pipeline.

Norway has set aside 2 billion crowns to buy carbon emissions rights under the Kyoto Protocol, the UN deal for slowing global warming, to meet a self-imposed goal of cutting emissions by 9 percent below 1990 levels in 2008-12, he said.

He said that Norway was planning extra measures, such as higher carbon taxes on its oil and gas industry, to meet its target of a cut in emissions to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, deeper than almost any other rich nation.

Reuters

'Almost Toothless' Rat Species Discovered in Indonesia's Sulawesi

Jakarta Globe, August 23, 2012

The new species of rodent, Paucidentomys vermidax. (Image courtesy of
Kevin Rowe/Museum Victoria website)

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A rare and extreme species of rodent was recently discovered in Indonesia, showcasing biodiversity in the country and the evolutionary process, a new research paper has said.

The paper “Evolutionary novelty in a rat with no molars,” published in this month's Biology Letters, said the new species, Paucidentomys vermidax, is an almost toothless, worm-eating rat unable to gnaw or chew, according to a statement released on Wednesday by the Museum Victoria in Australia.

Written by Jacob Esselstyn of McMaster University, Canada, Anang Achmadi of Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Indonesia, and Kevin Rowe of Museum Victoria, the paper states that the discovery illustrates how the process of evolution can lead to the loss of previously successful traits in species faced with new opportunities.

“There are more than 2,200 rodent species in the world and until this discovery all had molars in the back of their mouth and incisors at the front,” said Rowe, according to the statement posted on the museum's website.

Paucidentomys means “few-toothed mouse” and vermidax means “devourer of worms,” the statement explained.

“The specialised incisors of rodents give them the distinct ability to gnaw — a defining characteristic of rodents worldwide. In having lost all teeth except a pair of unusually shaped incisors that are incapable of gnawing, this new rat is unique among rodents,” Anang was quoted as saying.

“This is an example of how species, when faced with a new ecological opportunity, in this case an abundance of earthworms, can evolve the loss of traits that were wildly successful in previous circumstances,” Rowe said.

“While we face a global crisis of biodiversity loss, this new species reminds us that we are still in an age of biodiversity discovery. Wild habitats where new species wait to be discovered are still out there,” Rowe added.

However, the researchers added that the habitat of the new species, discovered in the rainforests of Sulawesi, is under threat.

“In the mountains of Sulawesi, where we discovered Paucidentomys, healthy forests still nurture rare and remarkable species, however, they are isolated patches imperiled by expanding logging, mining, plantations and other human activities,” Rowe said.

Another Illegal Wildlife Trading Ring Uncovered in Jakarta

Jakarta Globe, Fidelis E. Satriastanti,  August 17, 2012

Indonesian officers display the skins of a Sumatran tiger, left, and Javan
leopard in Jakarta on Wednesday. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

               

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Authorities have uncovered a second illegal wildlife trading operation in the space of less than a month, seizing endangered animal pelts during a raid on a house in Cilandak, South Jakarta, on Tuesday night.

Darori, the Forestry Ministry’s director general of nature conservation and forest protection, said his office had managed to scupper an attempt to sell the pelt of a Sumatran tiger and a Javan leopard.

Officers also arrested four people at the house. One of them, identified only as R.S., has been identified as an illegal wildlife trafficker and named a suspect by the police.

He has been charged with trading in protected animal parts under the 1990 Natural Resources Conservation Law, for which he could get up to five years in prison and up to Rp 100 million ($10,500) in fines.

Tuesday’s raid comes just four weeks after police seized dozens of stuffed rare animals and pelts from a suspected taxidermist in Depok.

The stuffed animals confiscated in the July 17 bust included 14 tigers, two leopards, one clouded leopard, a lion, three bears and a tapir. There were also two sacks full of tiger pelts, as well as a stuffed tiger head and four mounted deer heads.

The Sumatran tiger and Javan leopard are classified as critically endangered species, one step away from being extinct. Trading in or possession of these protected animals or their parts is a criminal offense.

The suspect, Feri, has also been charged under the Natural Resources Conservation Law and faces up to five years in prison.

His arrest came a day after Greenpeace Indonesia reported that the Sumatran tiger, one of the most threatened of the remaining six tiger subspecies in the world, was disappearing from the wild at a rate of around 51 animals a year.

The World Wide Fund for Nature recently identified Indonesia as a key country of origin for tiger parts and elephant ivory in the illegal trade of wild animal parts.

In its “Wildlife Crime Scorecard” released last month, it rated the government as “failing on key aspects of compliance or enforcement.”

“Although Indonesia has increased its efforts to protect wild tiger populations and detect illegal trade, there remains a significant enforcement gap for tigers at the retail level, with Sumatra having a significant illegal domestic market for tiger parts,” the report said.

Additional reporting from Antara

Dutch vet fights South African rhino poachers

RNW, by Elles van Gelder, 16 August 2012

 (Elles van Gelder)

              

Every day in South Africa, a rhinoceros will bleed to death after its horn has been hacked off by poachers. The horns are sold on the black market in Asia, mostly in Vietnam, where they’re believed to have powerful medicinal properties. Dutch veterinarian Martine van Zijl Langhout works together with local wardens to try and protect this threatened species.

Van Zijll Langhout stalks as quietly as possible through the tall grass at Mauricedale Park in the east of South Africa near the famous Kruger Park. She pulls back the trigger on her special tranquiliser rifle, takes aim and fires. The rhinoceros in her sights wobbles groggily for a few minutes before sinking onto its knees and rolling unconscious onto its side. Van Zijll Langhout and her team, carrying a chainsaw, approach the animal cautiously.

Brutal killings

There are some 20,000 rhinos in South Africa, 80 percent of the world population. And every day these animals are slaughtered savagely by poachers. First the rhino is shot to bring it down, and then the horn is hacked off with axes and machetes. The poachers cut as deeply into the animal’s head as possible. Every extra centimetre of horn means more money in their pockets. In 2007, thirteen rhinos in South Africa fell victim to poachers.  Last year that number had soared to 448, and the toll so far this year is 312.

Reducing risk

Loud snoring can be heard. The vet blindfolds the rhinoceros and then the park manager starts up the chainsaw and proceeds to slice into the beast’s horn.  Van Zijll Langhout monitors its breathing: “This is one way to stop the poachers” she explains. “They want as much horn as possible so rhinos with a small horn are a less attractive target”.

Van Zijll Langhout came to South Africa in 1997 when she was still a student and worked at Kruger Park with lions, elephants and rhinos. She knew she’d found her dream job, and five years ago she returned as a qualified vet. “It’s an unquenchable passion, such an adventure, and every day is different,” she says, “It’s such a privilege to work with African animals and an honour to be able to do something for them”.

No better option

The preventive removal of the rhinoceros’ horn takes about ten minutes. Van Zijll Langhout, an energetic woman in her thirties with wildly curly hair, compares the process to clipping nails or having a haircut: “It’s completely painless; we cut above the blood vessels”. Again she checks the animal’s breathing as its snores echo through the bush. “It’s not nice that we have to do this, but I don’t really see a better option”, she sighs, “and the horn does grow back, otherwise we wouldn’t do it.” The fact that visitors to the park might be disappointed and expect to see rhinos complete with proud curving horns doesn’t bother her: “What matters is the animals’ survival”.

Organised crime

The fight against poaching is a difficult one. “These are professional criminals”, explains Van Zijll Langhout. “This isn’t about poor locals living in huts. Poachers have advanced weapons and sometimes even use helicopters.” The horns are worth more than their weight in gold, so it’s a lucrative trade for organised crime syndicates.

The horn falls to the ground; the team will preserve it and register it. The rhino is given an injection. Within minutes he’s back on his feet and walking off into the bush. His newly weightless head is no guarantee of safety though. A rhino was poached in the park the same week as the horns were sawn off. Even the stump that remains after the procedure is worth big money.

Click to watch Elles van Gelder's video about rhino poaching (Dutch language)

http://www.stoprhinopoaching.com/

Rhino and wardens in Mauricedale Park (Elles van Gelder - www.rnw.nl)

Anaethsetised rhinoceros (Elles van Gelder - www.rnw.nl)

Sawing off the horn (Elles van Gelder - www.rnw.nl)

Proceedure completed (Elles van Gelder - www.rnw.nl)

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