Costa Rica proposes to downgrade Las Baulas National Park, threatening leatherback sea turtles

"This new law introduced by President Arias will be the death of the Costa Rican National Park System and the protection it provides to your environmental national treasures. The world has looked-up to Costa Rica as an example of how to shape an ecotouristic economy; yet this action by the Arias administration will open Pandora’s box to the elimination and attacks on all the other national parks," marine biologist Frank Paladino of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne stated in a letter.

Leatherback sea turtle laying eggs on a beach in Suriname. Photo by Tiffany Roufs.

The law if passed would reduce protected area along the beaches where leatherbacks nest from 120 meters to 50. It would further allow a wide-variety of development, including condominiums and tourist facilities. Conservationists say that such developments would bring a flood of people, vehicles, and domestic animals that will harm the leatherback habitat.

"[The Leatherback sea turtle] Pacific population is in great trouble due mainly to beach disturbance. They have declined by about 98 percent since the early 1980s. Former large nesting populations in Mexico are a tiny fraction of earlier numbers. In the west Pacific, the leatherback turtle’s largest population has apparently gone extinct in the last few years," explains President and co-founder of the Blue Ocean Institute, Carl Safina. "These creatures, and the world, need Costa Rica to do what it can to protect the remaining Pacific leatherbacks and promote their recovery. And so little is required. All that is needed is darkness on the beach at night and protection of nests. The beach at Las Baulas Park that is currently without houses should remain so, and the Park should be reaffirmed by Costa Rica’s Congress."

On hatching sea turtles head toward the lightest area on the horizon, which in a natural environment is the ocean. Electric lights often lead turtle hatchlings astray, sometimes causing heavy mortality among baby sea turtles.

The government has stated that its reasoning for downgrading the park is that it is too expensive to purchase the land set aside for the park. Yet conservationists attest that the government estimates for purchasing park land are grossly inflated and that the Costa Rican government has several means at its disposal to acquire the land.

Leatherback sea turtle returning to the ocean after laying eggs on a beach in Suriname. Photo by Tiffany Roufs.

"I think the important thing here is that it would be very easy to acquire the land within Las Baulas park if the government had a one dollar a night tax on hotel rooms and one dollar a day tax on rental cars. That would raise at least 10 million a year, a conservative estimate, and a 30-year bond could be done to raise 300 million that could be used to reimburse all landowners in all parks and have an endowment for the parks into the future. What is missing is the political will in the government," offered Jim Spotila, president of Leatherback Trust.

In addition, conservationists say that the President's proposal to downgrade the park violates numerous agreements it has signed including Peace with Nature; the International Sea Turtle Convention; the Convention on Biological Diversity Biological; as well as the Convention for the Protection of Flora, Fauna and Natural Scenic Beauty of the Americas.

Taken from:
Mongabay

Palm oil industry pledges wildlife corridors to save orangutans

In an unlikely—and perhaps tenuous—alliance, conservationists and the palm oil industry met this week to draw up plans to save Asia's last great ape, the orangutan. As if to underscore the colloquium's importance, delegates on arriving in the Malaysian State of Sabah found the capital covered in a thick and strange fog caused by the burning of rainforests and peat lands in neighboring Kalimantan. After two days of intensive meetings the colloquium adopted a resolution which included the acquisition of land for creating wildlife buffer zones of at least 100 meters along all major rivers, in addition to corridors for connecting forests. Researchers said such corridors were essential if orangutans were to have a future in Sabah.


Taken from:
www.mongabay.com

Palm oil both a leading threat to orangutans and a key source of jobs in Sumatra

Of the world's two species of orangutan, a great ape that shares 96 percent of man's genetic makeup, the Sumatran orangutan is considerably more endangered than its cousin in Borneo. Today there are believed to be fewer than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans in the wild, a consequence of the wildlife trade, hunting, and accelerating destruction of their native forest habitat by loggers, small-scale farmers, and agribusiness.

Gunung Leuser National Park in North Sumatra is one of the last strongholds for the species, serving as a refuge among paper pulp concessions and rubber and oil palm plantations. While orangutans are relatively well protected in areas around tourist centers, they are affected by poorly regulated interactions with tourists, which have increased the risk of disease and resulted in high mortality rates among infants near tourist centers like Bukit Lawang. Further, orangutans that range outside the park or live in remote areas or on its margins face conflicts with developers, including loggers, who may or may not know about the existence of the park, and plantation workers, who may kill any orangutans they encounter in the fields.

Working to improve the fate of orangutans that find their way into plantations and unprotected community areas is the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC), a local NGO that collaborates with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS). Founded by Panut Hadisiswoyo, OIC runs outreach and education programs to help local people better co-exist with orangutans and the park. Its "OrangUvan," a bus equipped with a library and a mobile cinema, regularly visits villages to make children and adults aware of conservation efforts and the importance of protecting forests. OIC also operates tree nurseries and replanting programs to help restore livelihoods where unsustainable logging and environmental degradation have pushed villagers to illegally cut timber from the national park. Further, OIC is preparing the next generation of conservationists and ecotourism guides, running how-to workshops on surveying forest conditions and orangutan density, boat handling, nature photography, composting and organic farming, and responsible nature guiding (that doesn't harm orangutans or the environment). In conjunction with the Orang Utan Republik Foundation, OIC runs a scholarship program for Indonesian University students that aims to help enable them become key members of the conservation movement in Sumatra and inspire others to care for nature and their environment.

OIC is also working to engage the palm oil industry, a challenge since oil palm expansion is both a leading driver of deforestation and an important source of jobs in the region. While many large palm oil companies are eager to shed the perception that they are a threat to orangutans, plantation developers continue to drive destruction of important orangutan habitat, especially in unprotected areas. Deforestation, as well as drainage of carbon-dense peatlands, is also a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions, undermining claims that palm oil is necessarily a "green" source of fuel and vegetable oil. Indeed, palm oil produced on newly deforested lands is actually the opposite—a larger source of carbon dioxide than conventional fossil fuels. But demonizing all palm oil is neither productive nor fair. Oil palm is the world’s highest yielding oilseed, generating substantially more vegetable oil per unit of land than soy, rapeseed/canola, or corn. Further, the crop has become an important source of income in much of rural Sumatra, while serving as an inexpensive foodstuff for local people and the world.

Is there a way to balance palm oil production and environmental aims? Some environment groups are advocating a ban on all palm oil, but given rising demand for edible oils, especially in China and India, this is an unlikely solution. Other groups, including SOS and OIC, are hopeful that the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a multi-stakeholder body devising a certification standard that aims to improve the environmental performance of palm oil production, could be the path forward, provided the scheme is credible. But credibility is elusive when RSPO members (whom are not necessarily certified palm oil producers; they are only required to pay a membership fee to be part of RSPO) are found to be attempting to game the system, breaking rules and refusing third-party compliance monitoring. Such practices risk turning RSPO into little more than another greenwashing initiative, a concern that has already turned away some potential supporters, including a few major buyers of palm oil who are now seeking other vegetable oil options. Still, OIC believes that in the end a credible RSPO will be better for orangutans and better for business than the alternative—continued destruction of tropical forests and peatlands.

In a series of interviews conducted in Medan and Bukit Lawang (Sumatra) and via e-mail, Panut Hadisiswoyo and David Dellatore of OIC, and Helen Buckland, UK Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society, talked about their efforts to save the world's rarest orangutan species as well as the "palm oil paradox."

(a) Protected and unprotected forests in 1990 for the main island of Sumatra and the smaller island of Siberut, including adjacent unprotected land lying within 10 km of protected area (PA) boundaries and the wider unprotected landscape, and showing the spatial distribution of the 1264 sample cells (25 km2). (b) Remaining forests in 2000, deforestation and logging trails occurring during the period 1990–2000 (UTM projection, WGS84). Protected areas (PAs) protecting mangroves or created after 2000 are not shown. MAPS available at sumatranforest.org Taken from www.mongabay.com

Oil company in Ecuador transforms indigenous community into commercial poachers, threatening wildlife in a protected area

The documentary Crude opened this weekend in New York, while the film shows the direct impact of the oil industry on indigenous groups a new study proves that the presence of oil companies can have subtler, but still major impacts, on indigenous groups and the ecosystems in which they live.

In Ecuador's Yasuni National Park—comprising 982,000 hectares of what the researchers call "one of the most species diverse forests in the world"—the presence of an oil company has disrupted the lives of the Waorani and the Kichwa peoples, and the rich abundance of wildlife living within the forest. By building a 149 kilometer (92 mile) road through the protected forest and providing subsidies to the local tribes, the oil company Maxus Ecuador Inc. transformed some members of the tribes from semi-nomadic subsistence hunters into commercial poachers.




"We’ve found that a road in a forest can bring huge social changes to local groups and the ways in which they utilize wildlife resources," said Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) researcher Esteban Suárez, lead author of the study. "Communities existing inside and around the park are changing their customs to a lifestyle of commercial hunting, the first stage in a potential overexploitation of wildlife."

According to the new study by the WCS and the IDEAS-Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, the creation of the single road allowed tribe members to transport game to a market where it is sold illegally. In addition, the subsidies and free access to the road, all provided by the oil company, make the transportation of the meat—and thereby the wild meat market itself—economically viable.

Although sale of wild meat and products in Ecuador is illegal, the researchers report that "local authorities and park rangers know about the market, [but] they lack the resources and political will to stop the illegal trade of wildlife in Pompeya, primarily to avoid conflicts with the local indigenous population."


Some communities of the Waorani tribe even abandoned their traditional semi-nomadic life and built settled villages along the road for easy transport of their game. They took up firearms (instead of the traditional blowguns), which became more prevalent following the arrival of the oil company.

"These changes," the authors explain, "are amplified by patronizing relationships in which large companies buy their right to operate in the area by providing local communities with resources, money or infrastructure without consideration of the social and ecological impact of these 'compensation plans'".

The study published in Animal Conservation found that the wild meat market appeared shortly after the road was constructed in early 1990s and free travel was given to the indigenous tribes. Between 2005 and 2007, 11,000 kilograms (24,000 pounds) of wild meat were sold at the Pompeya market every year. The amount of meat sold every day doubled between 2005 and 2007, from 150 kilograms (330 pounds) to 300 kilograms (661 pounds).

"While the magnitude of the wildlife trade occurring at Pompeya is still limited, its emergence and continuous growth are symptomatic of the dramatic changes that the area is experiencing under the influence of the oil industry and the absence of effective management and control strategies," the authors write.


Taken from: www.mongabay.com

Conservation groups condemn 'open and organized plundering' of Madagascar's natural resources

Eleven conservation organizations—including WWF, CI, and WCS—have banded together to condemn logging in Madagascar's world renowned parks during a time of political crisis.

Taking advantage of the turmoil after interim president Andry Rajoelina took control of the country in a bloodless coup from former president Marc Ravalomanana on March 17th, pristine forests have been plundered for valuable wood, wildlife trafficking has increased, and illegal mining operations have begun say the conservation organizations.
As reported last week by Mongabay.com, the forces involved in the logging are not just impoverished locals, but according to a local source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, 'foreign traders' and 'big businessmen'.

“[They] have arrived in local towns seeking to take advantage of the political crisis that has weakened park protection and enforcement," the source said. "This is the worst, by far, that has happened to [Marojejy] park in recent years. The situation is worse than desperate."

The lawlessness of the situation is confirmed by the conservation organizations who write that the logging is done with “open and organized plundering, sometimes using firearms, of precious wood from several natural forests, including national parks such as Marojejy and Masoala.”

The chaos has put a halt to Madagascar's tourism industry—one of the impoverished nations most important growth industries. Valued at $400-million-dollars-a-year the industry could be hurt for years to come, especially if its natural treasures are devastated.



Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
March 30, 2009

Howler monkeys poisoned because of misinformed link to yellow fever

There have been numerous reports of howler monkeys poisoned in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul due to misinformation regarding the monkeys and the yellow fever virus. Some locals believed that the monkeys, which also suffer from yellow fever, were in fact the disease-carriers, but yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes not monkeys.

A new campaign headed by Dr. Julio Cesar Bicca-Marques wants to set the record straight. The campaign, entitled ‘Save Our Guardian Angels’, is working to inform the public of the actual and important role of howler monkeys in yellow fever outbreaks.

Adult male brown howler monkey. Photo Julio Cesar Bicca Marques.

“Howler monkeys are more susceptible to the [yellow fever] virus and often die a few days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. The death of howlers alerts local health offices to the local spread of the virus in the region enabling the implementation of local vaccination campaigns. Far from being seen as a threat,” Bicca-Marques explains, “the Brazilian Ministry for Health considers these monkeys important ‘sentinels’ for the circulation of the virus. So howler monkeys are in fact our ‘Guardian Angels’! Their disappearance would mean our discovery of the arrival of yellow fever in a given region would only occur once the disease had been contracted by people, and for many by that time it may well be too late!”

Since the end of 2008, seven people have died from yellow fever in Rio Grande do Sul, while nine more have succumbed to the disease in the state of Sao Paulo. It was this sudden outbreak of the disease that led some unknown locals to poison the howler monkeys. Bicca-Marques, a primatologist at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, says that the media is partly to blame for the misinformation that leading to the howler monkeys’ death.

Female black-and-gold howler monkey. Photo by: Julio Cesar Bicca Marques.

“[The media] has frequently related the disease with the observation of sick, but especially, dead howler monkeys, without taking the appropriate steps to stress that mosquitoes are the vectors of the yellow fever,” Bicca-Marques told Mongabay.com. “In the absence of this essential information on the mode of transmission, people have wrongly interpreted that the monkeys are the responsible for the current yellow fever outbreak.”

Howler monkeys in Brazil are not just suffering from human ignorance. Other threats have caused the two species of howler monkey in the state to be listed as Vulnerable on the Red List in Rio Grande do Sul.

“In addition to the current high mortality by yellow fever and the killing of monkeys as a consequence of this misinformation, both black-and-gold Alouatta caraya and brown Alouatta guariba clamitans howler monkeys are threatened by habitat loss, and the illegal hunting and pet trade,” Bicca-Marques says. “As a consequence they live mostly in small populations in highly fragmented and isolated forest patches within an agricultural and cattle ranching landscape.”

Infant brown howler monkey with parent. Photo Julio Cesar Bicca Marques.

Deforestation may not only be negatively affecting the howler monkeys; it may also play a role in the sudden rise in yellow fever. “State health authorities observed a population explosion of mosquitoes in the last spring and summer, likely related to climate changes and habitat alteration,” says Bicca-Marques.

Bicca-Marques hopes that his campaign will effectively educate local Brazilians about the innocence of howler monkeys when it comes to yellow fever. In fact, the monkeys are actually more susceptible to the disease than people, often succumbing within a few days of being bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus.

“It is crucial to inform the population that there is no possibility that the spread of the disease within the State of Rio Grande do Sul, or the State of São Paulo where an outbreak began this year, has any relationship with the howler monkeys,” Bicca-Marques says. “The campaign Protect our Guardian Angels has this goal.”

Taken from Howler monkeys poisoned because of misinformed link to yellow fever Jeremy Hance mongabay.com April 22, 2009

May beetles

When the first rain showers of the year begin, the May beetles appear. These insects from the Phyllophaga genre emerge from the ground to mate and reproduce.

There are around 70 species of May beetles in Costa Rica. In general terms, they have longer legs that make them look clumsy when they walk outside of their natural habitat.
Most of these beetles measure between 1 and 1,5 centimeters in length.

People talk about May beetles mostly in the Central Valley and the North Pacific area of Costa Rica, because that’s the month when rain showers begin. In the South Pacific, these beetles emerge earlier in April, while in the Atlantic, since it rains constantly, there is not such a strong link between their life cycle and the weather.

When the first rain showers occur, the adult beetles come out of the ground to mate and reproduce. The female beetles stay on leaves or tree branches, while the males flutter around them, attracted by fermones (chemical active substances) that the females emit.

On occasions, it is possible to see thousands of beetles flying simultaneously 60 or 70 centimeters above the ground.

Once copulation takes place, the female buries herself in the ground and lays her eggs in the already humid soil. A few days later, the larva comes out and starts to feed mostly on plant roots.

Towards the end of the rainy season, these larvae turn into pupas and then into adults. These adults remain inactive under the ground, inside a cell, until it starts to rain again.

Source: Ángel Solís, biologist at INBio