Hope for the Jaguar and other migratory species

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) has held the 13th Conference of Parties Wildlife Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujurat, India, this week.

One of the big headlines has been around an initiative to help strengthen protections for the Jaguar across the Americas. It ranges across an area stretching from the southern US border with Mexico, down through Central America and into South America, where it can be found as far down as Paraguay and northern Argentina.

It has seen about 40% of its habitat lost over the last hundred years, and while laws exist in each country it can be found in, it is hoped that new measures for migratory species will strengthen protection for it (and other species) as it goes across international borders. Threats include deforestation and poaching.

The CMS covers all migratory species, including the jaguar, and its existence can help bring about protection to vital habitats, and maintaining vital wildlife corridors that allow animals to move between areas. Without these, animals can become isolated - once isolated, the chances of them facing extinction grow....

Jaguar (image: Wikipedia)

Rebecca Regney, Deputy Director for the Human Society International, hopes that the CMS will create a vital legal framework. "This will provide increased incentives and funding opportunities for this work and that is crucial for curbing habitat destruction, maintaining key migratory corridors and addressing killings for retaliation and trafficking."

Help for the Asian elephants - and more:

The CMS also provides hope for many other migratory species, including the Asian elephant. It too has faced loss of habitat, poaching, poisoning and disruption of its habitats, such as blockages by rail lines and the like.

India hosts around 60% of the remaining numbers of the species, but cross-border migration occurs with some of its neighbours, such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal. Mark Simmonds, also of the Humane Society International says of the CMS, "The highly migratory Asian elephant for example, is endangered throughout much of its substantial range, trying to survive in continually shrinking, degraded and fragmented habitats."

Representatives of 130 nations have signed the CMS, which will increase the conservation status of many species, including;

• Oceanic whitetip shark - now one of the most endangered shark species
• Great Indian bustard
• Antipodean albatross

Getting giraffes off the endangered list:

A century ago, there were over one million giraffes in sub-Saharan Africa. They used to roam at least 28 countries, but are now extinct in at least seven of them (Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal). There are now estimated to only be around 100,000 left, and they are generally in fragmented populations.

This massive decline, 40% in just the last 30 years, has seen the species as a whole labelled as 'vulnerable' on the IUCN Red List. Two sub-species, the Nubian and Kordofan giraffes, are now 'critically endangered'; while two more, the Reticulated and Masai giraffes, are 'endangered'.

Nubian giraffe (image: Wikipedia)

What is the IUCN Red List?

Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungus and plant species.

The IUCN Red List is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity. Far more than a list of species and their status, it is a powerful tool to inform and catalyze action for biodiversity conservation and policy change, critical to protecting the natural resources we need to survive. It provides information about range, population size, habitat and ecology, use and/or trade, threats, and conservation actions that will help inform necessary conservation decisions.

As part of an effort to halt this decline, conservation measures have been submitted by six of the countries where giraffes can still be found; Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. They cite a number of issues faced by giraffes across their range:

• Fragmentation of habitat - roads, railways, power lines etc. all hinder their migration.
• Habitat loss - wildfires, livestock encroachment and human spread all increase this issue.
• Poaching / snaring - for bushmeat, skins and traditional medicine.

These issues are all further exacerbated by factors like disease, war and a lack of awareness and knowledge of the issues. The 'Concerted Action for the Giraffe' is calling for an Africa-wide strategy, with much more trans-boundary collaboration, better exchange of information and the creation of an international database. This, it is hoped, will lead to better legal protection, more research and ultimately a raising of awareness around the issues, which in itself may help to push it up the priority list for various governments.

Other stories from the Convention:

There is a commitment to evaluate the impacts of climate changes on migration, specifically through the lens of some focal species and ecosystems. It is hoped this will help animals adapt to a warming world, especially as January was the hottest one globally on record. This year it reached a point where it was 1.14°C above the global average for the twentieth century.

Ethiopia this week signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia (luckily more commonly known as the Raptors MOU). It was signed on behalf of the Ethiopian government by Kumara Wakjira, the Director General of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority - bringing the total number of signatories to 61.

Wakjira said, on his country signing, "The country is a staging post for migratory birds, including raptors. Most species are coming from Europe and Asia for wintering. Nonetheless, due to growing habitat threats, the distribution and status of raptor species is declining. Ethiopia is thus pleased to sign the Raptors MOU to strengthen the protection of raptors."

Ethiopia is indeed a strategically important country for this, especially as it is located on the East African flyway, a significant route for millions of migrating birds of prey. 40 of the 93 species featured in the MOU can be found in Ethiopia, including the Steppe eagle, Sakar falcon and Egyptian vulture.

Research:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51561697 

https://www.cms.int/en/news 

https://www.cms.int/en/news/africa-wide-conservation-strategy-giraffe 

https://www.cms.int/en/news/cms-raptors-mou-welcomes-ethiopia-signatory 

https://www.iucnredlist.org/about/background-history 

Will we see the wood for the trees?

Following on from a recent election based post - I was wondering if some of the, frankly massive, tree planting pledges being put forward by the various parties in the run up to the general election, are particularly realistic to achieve?

But first, let us go back a few years to see where the land lay....

The last pledge:

The government's last pledge on tree planting was 11 million trees a year in England. In 2016, Stuart Goodall, Chief Executive of the UK forestry industry body Confor, told the Environmental, Forestry & Rural Affairs committee in Westminster, that this target was most certainly achievable, but not with the current grant system in place at the time.

The target represented a shift in England to get from 10% tree cover, up to around 12% by 2060 - that is about 50,000 hectares a year. Goodall pointed out that the grant system was "overly complex and bureaucratic." It was felt that there had been a steady disconnect between policy and the realities of the timber industry over the previous 20 years.

Confor pointed to a number of new options that would be needed to get things going again. This would include ideas like productive mixed forestry being introduced in some areas of northern England where farmers were under pressure, and so something like this may be of interest. They also pointed to the out of date view of conifer planting being 'demonised' - without it, the timber industry would be facing major issues with sourcing supplies by the mid 2030's.

Then there was also a need for more experience in dealing with large scale schemes from the Forestry Commission and other such bodies, as many of them had not had to deal with such applications in many years. Sir William Worsley, Chairman of the National Forest for the East Midlands, said, "To look at hardwoods as being attractive and softwoods as unattractive and commercial is the wrong way to look at it. Well managed commercial forestry can be very beautiful."

The big pledges!

So since the last government targets were set, things have moved on at pace. Climate change is now front and centre on the agenda, in fact for some groups it will be the second or third most thing on their minds when voting this month.

The legislation in June of this year, making net-zero carbon emissions a legal commitment for the UK by 2050, meant that people (including those in power) suddenly had to give some thought on how to achieve this rather daunting target!

Step forward the humble tree! A thing of great beauty and of great importance for many ecosystems - now realised as a potential lifeline for achieving carbon emission reductions, through their ability to sequester CO2.

Oak Tree (photo: Wikimedia)

• Conservatives: pledging 30 million trees a year
• Lib Dems and SNP: both pledging to plant 60m a year
• Greens: they have gone for a pledge of 70m a year
• Labour: reckon they can plant 100m a year for the next 20 years. That's 2 billion more trees!

Now, there are some other issues around planting this number of trees, like can we provide enough nursery stock of suitable native trees to meet any of these demands? And where are such numbers going to be planted? Many sparsely populated areas, like say northern Scotland, actually don't necessarily need huge numbers of trees - northern Scotland would actually largely benefit from protecting and enhancing its peat bogs (another great CO2 sequesterer).

But lets just concentrate on the sheer numbers and not some of these other technicalities, that will have to be covered in great depth in the next few years, as one of these parties is actually going to have to try and enact what it has promised........ (or not)

The Labour party pledge represents planting a quarter of a million trees every day!

To put that in perspective, in the year to March 2019, 13,400ha was planted in the UK (11,200 of that was in Scotland). But there is some historic precedent of sorts, as in the 1980s we did manage to plant at a rate of around 30,000ha a year.

Depending on tree species, habitat, terrain etc., you can plant between 1,000 and 2,500 trees per hectare, so taking a reasonable average, that means 30,000ha would be covered by around 50 million trees.

The Woodland Trust say that things need to change fundamentally for large-scale planting to happen;

• More people need to get involved in planting - at national and local level, and in statutory bodies
• There needs to be a big boost in tree stocks
• There needs to be more money / grants for farmers and landowners to encourage them to plant trees
• Natural reforestation must be encouraged alongside planting

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has stated in its guidance that the UK needs a net gain of 32,000ha of trees per year for 30 years to help hit the net-zero emissions target by 2050. That is 1.5 billion trees. That would see the overall tree coverage for the UK going from 13% to 17% in that time - but that compares with an EU average of 35% tree cover.

Confor has analysed the tree planting pledges of the main parties - here is a little of what it has said on the four main national parties; 

Conifer forest (photo: Wikimedia)

• Conservatives: they need to do much more to meet the targets. It points out that they failed to reach the last, much more modest target, of 11m trees a year over 5 years.
• Labour: they need big leadership commitments to make any progress on such a target. Confor likes the recognition Labour have given to what the forestry / timber industries can do to help meet their green jobs pledge.
• Lib Dems: their targets are in line with what Confor have been suggesting is needed, but Confor say that their processes will need to be much improved. They also like the commitment to use more timber in house construction. Their position could be interesting if they end up holding a balance of power after the election.
• Greens: their targets, like the Lib Dems, line up with Confor ambitions, and will need similar overhaul of current processes. They also like their emphasis on integration between farming and forestry.

Research:

https://www.confor.org.uk/news/latest-news/ge2019-tree-planting-pledges-analysed/ 

http://www.confor.org.uk/news/latest-news/planting-targets-achievable-but-grant-system-not-fit-for-purpose/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/50591261 

Europe's fight with illegal logging: Romania on the frontline

Liviu Pop, is a recent victim of a war that pretty much no one seems to know about.

When we think of illegal logging, we tend to think of the Amazon or maybe southeast Asia, but perhaps not eastern Europe. But Romania contains almost half of Europe's remaining old growth and primeval forest, a vital ecosystem housing bears, wolves, lynx and wildcats.

Boreal Forest in Romania (photo: Wikimedia)

Rangers paying the price:

But it is under threat. The threat comes from illegal loggers who will resort to extreme violence to protect their shady business. The wood they take, ends up around Europe in paper, furniture and the like. Greenpeace Romania estimate that 3 hectares of forest cover is lost every hour in the country from degradation and illegal logging, as well as permitted work.

Pop was a Forest Ranger in the Maramures district of northern Romania, and last week while on duty, he disappeared from contact with his colleagues. Increasingly worried about his whereabouts, his body was found last Wednesday evening in a forest gorge. He had been shot with a hunting rifle - which may have been his own weapon.

A little more than a month earlier, Raducu Garciaia, a Ranger in the Pascani forest district in the northeast of the country, was found near his car with fatal injuries, possibly from an axe. Gabriel Paun, the head of environmental group Agent Green, has been attacked by forestry gangs on several occasions. One time, around four years ago, Paun was attacked in Retezat National Park, and suffered broken ribs and hand, and a cracked skull. His attackers have only just gone to trial.

Romsilva, the state owned forestry company, say they have counted 16 attacks this year alone. Silviu Geana, the head of the Silva Trade Union Federation, says that Rangers are unable to defend themselves, and six Rangers have dies in recent years.

In September 2019, NGO's including Agent Green, ClientEarth and EuroNatr, filed a complaint with the European Commission against the Romanian government for illegal logging practices, which they say contravene EU laws on nature conservation. The government says it has boosted the fight against such logging, with better inspection and monitoring introduced, although the EU say big challenges remain ahead.

The scale of Romania's forests:
There is no reliable inventory of the unique areas of wilderness and forest in Romania; and there is no adequate systems in place to protect such areas either. A 2005 survey by Dutch scientists did complete an inventory and mapping exercise, but it seems it contained many errors and omissions.

More was done in 2016 with a new government catalogue was created, with criteria for identifying virgin and quasi-virgin forest. Numerous studies have been handed in by Agent Green, Greenpeace and WWF, but only a few of them have been accepted - leading to complaints that the authorities are stalling, and that the government is under pressure from logging companies to ensure such areas are not designated.

These old forests used to be locally managed for firewood, crafts and housebuilding; but years of state backed lax regulation and corruption led to this being eroded. The giveaway was when factory processing of timber was far outstripping the legal timber cutting quotas. Locals started to sell their forest stakes to the big buyers, perhaps under pressure, and the old forests were becoming more easily broken up.

Environmental fight back?
Environmentalists have started to fight back, by trying to expose the unsustainability of the practices going on. There is now a Forest Inspector website, that makes transportation data available, and people can now report shipments they suspect might be illegal. 

But the corruption still largely remains, and there is a fear of reprisals for anyone thinking about speaking out.

In September 2017, a truck leaving the Fagaras mountains was stopped by activists. A subsequent investigation found that over-cutting in the area has been at a staggering 4,100 percent!

The World Heritage Commission recently recognised 24,000 hectares of beech forests as having "outstanding universal value." But activists have identified logging in buffer zones of several World Heritage areas, such as in Domogled National Park and Sinca Woods.

Sarmisegetuza Regia (photo: Wikimedia)

Sarmisegetuza Regia is the site of the ancient Dacian capital, and contains a ruined citadel over 2,000 years old - known as 'Romania's Macchu Pichu'. Nature and culture are bound together here - and at times quite literally - as the roots from trees surrounding the fortress help bind and stabilise the soil. Yet the government approved the cutting down of 100 trees, and the big logging tractors sent in to do the job caused irreparable damage. Once drone footage showed that many of these trees were well away from tourist trails (one key defence had been to remove dying trees for health and safety purposes), and this started to cause a stir among the Romanian public.

While much attention has been given to the horrific destruction going on in the Amazon's forests over the last few decades, the end result still seems to be largely unchanged - acre after acre of forest continues to disappear. But if the action has moved to our own (relative) back door - perhaps the activists of Europe will be joined by the rest of the public, and can make some noise and force some changes? To do that, there needs to be awareness - so spread the word please.......

Research:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50094830 
https://theecologist.org/2018/mar/07/protecting-romanias-primeval-forests 

The plastic we eat!

The humble lugworm may not figure in our thinking very often - but to researchers of microplastics, it can be a very illuminating species.

Lugworm (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Researchers from Royal Holloway (University of London) find them as they do their research on the coasts and islands of Scotland. Lugworms ingest anything they come across, including plastic, as they go along swallowing sand. And this ingested microplastic (anything less than 5mm long) gets passed up the food chain into birds and fish.

There are many unanswered questions around what impacts microplastics have, but these researchers are looking at how plastic is getting into the marine ecosystem. They are analysing the types of plastic polymer they are finding in the washed up plastic they find in Scotland, to try and guess where it might be coming from.

Microplastic is now considered to be one of the most widespread contaminants in the world, being found everywhere from deep oceans and in whale stomachs, to arctic regions. 

The Plastic Age?

Following on from the Bronze and Iron Ages, might we be entering the Plastic Age? Is this what our phase of civilisation will be remembered for?

Dr Jennifer Brandon, from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego, is studying sedimentary rocks off the Californian coast. "I found this exponential increase in microplastics being left behind in our sediment record.... The plastic we're using is getting out into the ocean and we're leaving it behind in our fossil record."

(photo: ecomagazine.com)

This is incredible to think about - that centuries down the line, this (plastic) will be used by future geologists and archaeologists, as our geological marker!

Plastic in the wilderness:

Airborne microplastics have been found in the Pyrenees mountains (on the French / Spanish border), an area previously considered to be pristine wilderness. Researchers from Strathclyde and Toulouse Universities estimate that an average of 365 plastic pieces per m2, per day, are winding up in the Pyrenees - and some of them may be travelling up to 60 miles to get there!

Plastic in animals:

So if microplastic particles are being ingested by plankton and coral polyps; how much bio-accumulation (the gradual accumulation of substances in an organism) is going on by the time you go up the food chain to the larger fish species? If you buy a nice piece of fish, like a tuna steak, how much plastic has made its way into that animal?

University of Exeter and Plymouth Marine Laboratories examined 50 animals from 10 species of dolphin, seal and whale, and found that they all had microplastics in their gut. 84% of these were synthetic fibres, and the rest were fragments of food packaging and plastic bottles.

Lead researcher, Sarah Nelms, said, "The number of particles in each animal was relatively low suggesting they eventually pass through the digestive system or are regurgitated."

How does it affect us?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report in August this year, which basically says that there is no conclusive proof that plastic particles found in tap and bottled water pose any type of health hazard to humans - but - more studies are needed.

They found that larger, and most smaller, particles pass through the human body without being absorbed. But they admit that this is based on limited information, as research has only begun in recent years, and also that there is no standardisation to tests being used. So that means that there is no risk, 'at current levels.'

WHO say that proper water treatment processes remove at least 90% of microplastics, and that water companies should focus on the known risks; so in the short-term that means faecal matter, as this is responsible for at least one million deaths each year.

We'll leave the last word to Dr Brandon, "We know that there's a lot of microplastic and we keep finding it everywhere we look for it. But the implications of the health effects of it and how it really affects animals and humans, we're only just starting to scratch the surface of those questions."

Research:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49798057 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-47947235
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-47078733
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49430038

Losing the conker fight?

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUNC) has been doing the research to update its Red List for endangered species, which gives us a picture of biodiversity health.

The research brought together over 150 experts from across Europe to contribute to the project, which was funded by organisations like the European Council, British Entomological Society and National Parks & Wildlife Service Ireland, as well as individual nations like Luxembourg, Switzerland and Netherlands.

One of the headlines of the 2019 update in the UK, published this month, is that the iconic horse chestnut tree is now one of many species on the vulnerable list, as moths and disease take their toll.

Horse Chestnut (photo: Wikipedia)

The IUCN have assessed 454 native tree species across Europe to gauge them for a risk of extinction, and found that 42% of them face being lost completely (rated as - Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered). The rate is at 58% for endemic species - that is, species that are only found in a specific area; 15% of endemic species (66) are at the Critically Endangered end of the list.

As well as our beloved conker tree, around three-quarters of the 170 or so members of the family that includes Rowan (Sorbus), are assessed as being threatened, and especially Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia) and Crimean Rowan (Sorbus tauricola).

Going back to the conker (Aesculus hippocastanum); listed as being Vulnerable, it has suffered at the hands (or mouths) of the leaf-miner moth. This is an invasive species found in isolated and mountainous parts of Europe like the Balkans. The moth has added to the existing pressure of logging, forest fires and tourism pressure.

"Trees are essential for life on Earth and European trees in all their diversity are a source of food and shelter for countless animal species such as birds and squirrels, and play a key economic role," says Craig Hilton-Taylor, the head of the IUCN Red List Unit.

What's to blame?
There are a wide range of threats and reasons that are causing the danger to these trees (and other species), which include some, or all, of the following;

• Pest and disease
• Competition from invasive species
• Deforestation - and unsustainable logging practices
• Climate change
• Agricultural practices

Dr Steven Bachman, at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, says, "The results reveal a disturbingly high level of extinction risk that requires urgent and effective conservation action at all levels."

What else is at risk?
The new research has also found that almost half of European shrub species are in trouble, as are a fifth of terrestrial molluscs (snails etc.) and bryophytes (things like mosses and liverworts). Mike Seddon, the Chief Executive for Forestry England, says that the climate crisis is posing a real threat to our woodlands. "Our efforts to have resilient forests include planting a greater variety of trees, including native species only grown in the UK."

Terrestrial molluscs play a key role in soil regeneration, and are seen as a good indicator of soil health. They also provide a vital source of food for birds and mammals. 90% of native European  mollusc species are also endemic, so it is worrying that 22% of the 2,469 species are at risk.

"The impact of human-led activities is resulting in population declines and a heightened risk of extinction of important species across Europe. This report has shown how dire the situation is for many overlooked, undervalued species that form the backbone of Europe's ecosystems and contribute to a healthy planet. We need to mitigate human impact on our ecosystems and prioritise the protection of these species."

Luc Bas - Director of IUCN European Regional Office

Research:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49838650 
https://www.iucn.org/news/species/201909/over-half-europes-endemic-trees-face-extinction