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In country
Villagers cited for freeing whale sharks
Tourism officials have commended residents of a coastal village in Sorsogon, Sorsogon for setting free a whale shark, locally known as butanding. The whale shark, measuring 21 feet long and 3.5 feet wide, was accidentally trapped in a fishing net in Sorsogon Bay.
Butanding Interaction Officers from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Sorsogon Provincial Tourism Council, alerted about the incident, rescued the trapped animal. The shark was released to the sea after two hours of documentation and tagging.
Tourism officials lauded the community's participation in the protection of the gentle sea giant. "Local authorities do not face much difficulty in implementing protected area management in Sorsogon because most residents, particularly fishers, set free most of the butanding caught in this province," said Bicol Regional Tourism Council chair Cecilia Duran.
The coastal waters of Sorsogon, particularly those of Donsol town, are a major habitat of the whale shark. R.T. Jamoralin in the Philippine Daily Inquirer , 02.22.00
Fishers affected by reclamation project to be compensated - Cebu City mayor
Php17 million will be released this year through the Department of Trade and Industry for fishers affected by the South Reclamation Project in Cebu, Mayor Alvin Garcia announced. The money was included in the national budget by Senator John Osmena to fund an assistance program to be carried out by an inter-agency task force to be headed by the Office of Research and Planning and Development of the Cebu Normal University.
Reacting to the announcement, Dave Tumulak, leader of the Integrated Sagip Dagat Association (Isda) which is said to be the main beneficiary of the assistance program, said he will meet with leaders of different groups so that they can create a committee to determine who among them are qualified beneficiaries. He added he wants other groups to benefit from the program. AGG in Sun.Star Daily
Cebu mangroves being cut at faster rate- DENR
Poachers have been cutting down Cebu's mangrove trees at a faster rate in recent years, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Antonio Cabrido reported. Mangroves have a high heating capacity and are thus the preferred source of firewood by local fisheries.
Cabrido said mangroves are being cut faster than they are planted. Reforestation covered only 23.5 hectares from 1995 to 1998, with the survival rate of planted mangroves estimated at 80 percent.
The cutting of mangroves, unless done in a prescribed manner under the DENR's Community-Based Forest Management program. F. Gallardo in Cebu Daily News, 02.02.2000
Overseas
Eastbourne to host International Children's Conference on the Environment
 The city of Eastbourne, England will host the Millennium International Children's Conference on the Environment (ICC) to be held from 22 to 24 May 2000. Promising to be the largest and most rewarding gathering of children, ICC will bring together 1,000 delegates aged between 10 and 12 years from all over the world to share and voice their environmental ideas, concerns, and achievements.
Eastbourne, on the Sussex coast south of London, was the birthplace of the original ICC in 1995, which brought together 800 children from 90 countries to evaluate their role in the implementation of Agenda 21 and develop environmental challenges for governments and peoples of the world. The town's environmental credentials are sound and constantly improving and the unqualified success of the first ICC has brought the largest Conference ever back to its home.
The second ICC was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 23 to 25 November 1998 and also served as a preparation towards the Millennium ICC on the Environment.
This year's ICC has three themes, namely, "Sharing the planet", "Water is life", and "Living in cities."
The delegates will lead the Conference sessions and attend daily study tours and workshops about environmental issues. They are expected to monitor the progress on the challenges issued from Eastbourne in 1995 and Nairobi in 1998 and develop new challenges for the millennium.
Any child from any country who is aged between 10 and
12 on January 1, 2000, actively interested in environmental issues,
involved in an environmental project or keen to set up a particular
project, and excited by the idea of making friends with other young
environmentalists from around the world can join the conference.
The event is organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Eastbourne Borough Council. For more details, visit the UNEP website. Canada's Burrard Inlet hit by canola spill
Vancouver, February 12, 2000 - Investigation continues to determine the extent of a canola oil spill into Burrard Inlet. The spill estimated to be about 50 tonnes occurred late Friday evening at Neptune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Ltd. in North Vancouver.
Neptune has accepted responsibility for cleanup activities and retained the services of Burrard Clean Operations Ltd. to carry out on-water oil recovery and is assisting the SPCA in the recovery of oiled waterfowl. The SPCA has been retained to carry out waterfowl rescue operations and oiled bird rehabilitation. An oiled bird rehabilitation centre is being established at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) and officials do not yet know the full extent of the impact on waterfowl in the harbor.
Fred Beech of Environment Canada added, "Our immediate focus is on minimizing environmental damage and the rescue and rehabilitation of affected wildlife and habitat."
Canola oil is vegetable-based and presents a low risk to humans and the marine environment. However, it does present a significant threat to waterfowl because of its effect on the insulating properties of bird feathers. Full text Three dolphin species in danger of extinction, scientists warn
At least three dolphin species could be extinct by 2020 if the tide of global pollution is not controlled, marine scientists warned Asian governments. They said the first casualty of the new century is likely to be China's baiji dolphin, of which only about 30 are left in China's Yangtze River. The baiji has a life expectancy of about 10 years.
Next is Pakistan's river dolphin, the bhulan, and third is the irrawaddy dolphin of southeast Asia.
Scientists also fear that India's river dolphin, the susu, could be another casualty as 2030 approaches.
Global contamination and the destruction of coastal habitats by urbanization are the main causes of these dolphin's decline, said American scientist Thomas Jefferson. "Prospects for the baiji are very dismal," he told AFP. "Conservation methods put in place by the Chinese government, put simply, are ineffective." L. Hunt, Agence France Press in Sun.Star Daily , 02.14.2000 Experts on Data Exchange to discuss ocean data management
The eighth Session of the IODE Group of Experts on Technical Aspects of Data Exchange (GETADE-VIII) will be held in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States between 13 and 17 March.
Hosted by the Goddard Space Flight Center, this year's Session will focus on the use of the latest for the management and dissemination to end-users of ocean data. It will also discuss new Partnerships with national and international data and metadata initiatives. Click here for more details. Clinton seeks record budget increase for wildlife conservation
Washington, February 7, 2000 - The record $250 million increase for the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in President Clinton's $1.75 billion FY 2001 budget proposal will underwrite major improvements in the National Wildlife Refuge System, wildlife law enforcement, and State and community-based habitat conservation efforts.
Under the proposed budget, overall funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System is increased by nearly $20 million to $282 million. The additional funding will address high-priority conservation and maintenance needs, as well as promote new recreational and educational opportunities for refuge visitors. These projects include concerted efforts to control non-native invasive species, conserve migratory birds and protect coral reefs.
An $82.7 million budget is proposed for the Service's fisheries program. The funding will support efforts to operate and maintain fish hatcheries as well as a variety of projects aimed at restoring fish populations such as salmon and steelhead. The budget includes an increase of over $1.2 million for Service hatchery operations. These funds will be used for native fish restoration in the Mississippi Basin and the States of Montana, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Washington; with an increase of $500,000 slated to address deferred maintenance throughout the hatchery system. Other fisheries projects include mimicking natural river flows along California's Trinity River and studies aimed at protecting aquatic species while providing maximum flexibility for water users along the Klamath River. The fisheries request includes $11 million to fully implement the court-ordered Federal takeover of the subsistence fisheries program in Alaska. The Department plans to contract out 60 percent of resource monitoring work with the State and Native Corporations and other organizations.
The President's budget also includes an additional $3.4 million to support the Service's international conservation operations programs. The Service plays a major role in implementing U.S. treaty commitments for migratory birds, endangered species, wildlife trade, Arctic species, and wetlands. The Service will give special attention to bilateral programs with Canada, Mexico, Chile and other Latin American nations. Plus an additional
$600,000 will support elephant, rhino, and tiger conservation efforts overseas.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. (Full text)
First in decades: Pallid sturgeon reproduces in Lower Missouri River
Washington, February 9, 2000 - The first known reproduction of the pallid sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River in at least the last 50 years has been confirmed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists, who point to the startling discovery as evidence that the fish, whose ancestors date to the days of the dinosaurs, may have a better chance at recovery than previously believed.
"This remarkable news is more than just a testimony to the need to conserve habitat in order to pull an endangered species back from the brink of extinction," Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt said.
The fish, which can
attain a weight of 100 pounds, a length of 6 feet and which have a
lifespan of 60 years, have been listed as an endangered species since
1990, indicating a concern that the species was headed for extinction.
The sturgeon is also
considered an indicator species whose abundance and distribution are
directly related to the quantity and quality of suitable habitat and river
hydrology. That these specimens were collected at a habitat restoration
project on a unit of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge
indicates that efforts to put back some of the 500,000 acres of habitat
lost to channelization can produce dramatic results.
Jim Milligan, project leader for the Fisheries Resources Office in
Columbia, Missouri, said the specimens were found along a restored sandbar
in a side channel of the Lower Missouri River that had been cut by the
flood of 1993 and expanded to a chute-island-sandbar complex by more flooding in 1995 and in 1996. It is the first new habitat of its kind the river has been allowed to create in more than 50 years.
"We acquired the land for the Refuge and gave the river some freedom to re-create some lost habitat through natural processes of erosion, deposition and succession," Milligan said. "And the area became nursery habitat for juvenile pallid sturgeon. The most significant aspect of this find is that it clearly demonstrates that we can use the river's energy to restore habitat for the benefit of threatened, endangered and declining fish species. More than 40 other Missouri River fish species have also been documented using the restored habitat."
"It speaks eloquently for the need to restore some natural flows to rivers so they're more than just dammed and channelized flood control projects sluicing fresh water toward the sea," said Babbit. "When the Edwards Dam was removed from the Kennebec River in Maine, Atlantic salmon were seen back in that stretch of river almost immediately. When we let the Big Muddy be the Big Muddy, suddenly on of America's historic and most endangered gamefish is spotted spawning in nature once again."
Pallid sturgeon populations began to drop with the advent of dams, and also when their habitat was altered from shallow, silty rivers with sand and gravel bars to deeper clear channels favored by commercial river traffic. The side channel where the sturgeon were found is not a part of the navigation channel.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. (Full text)
People crowd other species in Earth's biodiversity hotspots
WASHINGTON, DC, February 8, 2000 (ENS) - More than 1.1 billion people live within the 25 areas on Earth that are simultaneously the most species rich and environmentally threatened, reveals a new report by Population Action International. © Environment News Service (ENS) 2000. (Full text and graphics) CRMP News
oneocean.org, CRMP ecotourism project win awards
oneocean.org and the Olango Birds and Seascape Tour (OBST), an ecotourism project managed by the community of Olango with support from CRMP and the governments of Lapu Lapu City and the Municipality of Cordova, are winners of this year's 35th Anvil Awards.
oneocean.org received the Award of Excellence for Public Relations Tools under the Web Pages/Homepages category, while the OBST was given the Award of Merit for Public Relations Programs under the category of "Program/Project Directed at Specific Stakeholder-Community" during the Anvil Awards Night held at Hotel InterContinental in Makati City last February 18.
The OBST serves as a model of how an ecotourism enterprise can catalyze community awareness and cooperation in protected area conservation, showcase best practices in coastal resource use, community business ownership, and tour management capability. It has been cited on several occasions as a pioneering environment conservation initiative involving the participation of the community.
Launched in January 1998 in observance of the 1998 International Year of the Ocean, www.oneocean.org serves as a source and venue for exchange of information on coastal management issues and initiatives in the Philippines.
The Anvil competition is conducted annually to determine outstanding PR programs and tools designed or implemented in the past year and which have clearly identified with the public interest. Now on its 35th year, the Anvil Award is highly coveted and is considered the "Oscars" of the PR industry.
Close to 60 companies and organizations, both government and private, participated in the 35th Anvil competition. The merit award is given to a program, project or tool that meets more than the minimum qualifying standards but falls short of being adjudged outstanding for its category. The award of excellence is given to an outstanding program, project or tool that surpasses the qualifying standards, and shows the confluence of objectives set, planning, professional execution, and effectiveness to create impact.
The Board of Judges for the 35th Anvil Awards, composed of personalities from different sectors, was chaired by Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr. Former finance secretary now Asian Institute of Management president Roberto de Ocampo, and civic leader and presidential son Joseph Victor Ejercito were the co-chair in the competition. The other judges were Sec. Jose Jaime Policarpio, Rep. Rosenda Ann Ocampo (6th District, Manila), PBSP president Ma. Luisa Perez-Rubio, Mel Tiangco, UST Dean Ophelia Dimalanta and SGV and Co. chair and managing partner Cesar Purisima.
The Anvil is the second major industry award given to www.oneocean.org in a span of four months. Last November, the web site was named the Philippine Web Awards Most Outstanding Web Site for Environment. The Philippine Web Awards is an award-giving body that honors the best Filipino-created web sites for the year, and the individuals and teams behind them. Now on its second year, it was adapted from and is affiliated with the Webby Awards organized by the global giant International Data Group.
oneocean.org has also received a number of citations from the Internet community, the latest of which was the Global Pinoy's "GPLink of the Week".
Lapu Lapu City Health Officer Rodolfo Berame (second from left) and Deputy Project Coordinator for CRMP Eustaquito Tandug of DENR (second from right) receive the Anvil Award of Merit for the Olango Birds and Seascape Tour in behalf of the Olango community. Also in photo are former finance secretary (now Asian Institute of Management President) Roberto de Ocampo (center), 35th Anvil Awards chair Amylyn de Quiros (left) and 1999 Public Relations Society of the Philippines president Roel Ramirez. 
CRMP Deputy Chief of Party Alan White (third from right) and USAID Supervisory Natural Resources Officer Alfred Nakatsuma (extreme right) receive the Anvil Award of Excellence for oneocean.org from Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of this year's Anvil Board of Judges. Also in photo are 1999 Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) president Roel Ramirez (second from left), and 35th Anvil Awards chair Amylyn de Quiros.
CRMP holds coastal, mangrove management training in Masbate
Local government officials of the municipality of Masbate in Region 5 participated in a 5-day mangrove management and integrated coastal management training at the Masbate Municipal Training Center in Masbate, Masbate last February 7-11. The training was conducted by CRMP in response to a request from Masbate Mayor Juan Sanchez for technical assistance in the rehabilitation of the town's mangrove habitats.
Representatives from the Provincial Planning and Development Office, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agricutlure-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the church-run Social Action Center also participated. These agencies are expected to assist the Masbate municipal government in the implementation of its mangrove management program.
Two crucial outputs of the training were the formulation of barangay-level mangrove management plans and the formation of a Technical Working Group that will put together a coastal resource management plan for the municipality.
Mayor Sanchez said he is determined to see the project through and ensure its sustainability beyond his current term - his third and final term as mayor.
Masbate has earmarked a budget of Php550,000 for its mangrove rehabilitation program in 2000. ILOM News
Raffle draw for A Million Mangroves postponed
The raffle draw for the "A Million Mangroves for the Millennium," originally set for February 12, has been postponed for the second quarter to allow greater participation by interested groups and individuals, organizers announced. The draw date has yet to be set but is likely to coincide with a mangrove planting activity at the project's proposed mangrovetum site in Jugan, Consolacion, Cebu.
For more details, contact Mario Gasalatan at mario@oneocean.org. Related stories
Cebu to plant "A Million Mangroves for the Millennium", Davao sets Celebrity Dive
ILOM-Cebu's A Million Mangroves Project gets LGU support |
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