In country

DENR tightens rules, imposes fees on use of small islands
Effective December 14, 2000, existing holders of permits and leases covering public lands on small islands will be required to pay rental and user fees for all development and resource use.

As defined by law, a small island is an island or islet having an area of not more than 50,000 hectares.

The imposition of rental and user fees is included in Administrative Order (AO) 2000-83 issued recently by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which contains guidelines for the management and development of small islands and their coastal areas. It is expected to affect resorts, tour operators and other resource users.

“The rental/user fees are meant to correct biases caused by underpricing of life-support systems and natural resources in small islands. They are also meant to enable resource users in small islands meet environmental standards in the most cost effective way, do better that the standards require, and add their resources to those of government to protect the ecosystem of small islands,” said Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Antonio Cerilles.

Under the guidelines, plantation establishments will be charged a fee of not less than 5 percent of the gross sale is required. The use of recreation areas, settlements, bathing establishments, hotels, ports, and piers, as well as other special forestland uses, is subject to an annual user fee of not less than 5 percent of the value of the land and 1 percent of the improvements.

For ecological destinations, or sites that show a unique natural feature of a landscape that benefits people because of its aesthetic, recreational and scientific value, the user/rental fee is based on the target market, the type of destination, the area to be developed and the extent of investment required. Fees will be computed based on an evaluation to be conducted by an assessment team headed by the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) with representatives from the Natural Resources Development Corporation (NRDC), Special Concerns Office (SCO), the concerned DENR regional office, the affected local communities and government agencies.

The fees will be revised every five years.

All development activities on a small island are also subject to the requirement of the Environmental Impact Statement System. No development activity is allowed without an ECC.

Cerilles said rental/user fees are “economic instruments intended to promote conservation and sustainable development using the User Pays Principle.”

The User Pays Principle requires that prices reflect the full social cost of use or depletion of a resource. This in turn provides an incentive for sustainable use and discourages needless depletion. For example, a timber industry should pay the costs of soil loss, irregular water run-off, and loss of biological diversity that it causes, as well as the direct cost of timber extraction.

DENR AO 2000-83 classifies islands under three categories according to their size:

1. All islands and islets less than 500 hectares are strict conservation areas and cannot be alienated or disposed of in any manner. Existing permits or leases are allowed to continue until their termination.
2. Islands and islets 500 to 5,000 hectares are for restricted use. Land titling is limited to those with pending applications on classified alienable and disposable lands as of the effectivity of the guidelines. Land leases and permits inconsistent with the Island Physical Framework Plan will not be renewed after their termination.
3. Islands and islets 5,000 to 50,000 hectares are open to sustainable development. Land titling may be undertaken in certified alienable and disposable lands.The guidelines do not cover islands proclaimed, declared, or classified by law as island province or municipality.

The DENR is mandated to file the proper legal action for the cancellation of titles fraudulently acquired over small islands. Cerilles assured, however, that DENR would respect valid and legally acquired titles.

Valid and existing mining agreements on highly mineralized islands and island groups where residents are economically dependent primarily on mining activities will be allowed to continue until the expiration of the mining permit.

Renewal of the mining permit will be granted only if this is included in the Island Physical Framework Plan (IPFP) and an Environmental Compliance Certificate has been secured. Leases and permits for small islands that are up for renewal or extension may be renewed or extended by one year subject to the requirements, while new applications may be issued a one-year provisional Small Island Management Agreement.

The IPFP defines the boundaries of the islands and island groups and their coastal areas, including foreshore and nearshore areas, and outline their development potential in accordance with the Regional/Provincial Physical Framework Plan and Comprehensive Land Use Plan including their sustainable uses. It will be prepared in consultation with other government agencies, local government units and other stakeholders by the DENR Provincial and Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices.

Effective January 2001, only islands and islets with a land area of 5,000 to 50,000 hectares will be open to sustainable development, with land titling undertaken in certified alienable and disposable lands.

The guidelines also resolve the conflicting land use on small islands where the Land Management Bureau issues Foreshore Lease Agreements (FLA) while the Forestry Management Bureau issues Special Land Use Permits (SPLUP). A FLA is a type of application covering foreshore lands (i.e., marshy lands and other lands bordering bodies of water) for residential, commercial, industrial and other productive purposes. Under the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions, an individual may lease not more than 500 hectares and a corporation may lease not more than 1,000 hectares.

A SPLUP, on the other hand, is a permit issued covering public lands within DENR’s jurisdiction to be used for special purposes other than for customary uses, such as reforestation or grazing. Activities that fall under SPULP include the installation of transmitter towers, dry docking areas for ships, camps for military training, among others.

Plan to turn island into dumpsite hit
The Department of Tourism (DOT) expressed opposition to a plan to use Semirara Island off Antique as a dump for Metro Manila garbage, saying it would drive tourists away from nearby Boracay Island.

Semirara is only about 10 km away from the world-famous Boracay Island off Malay, Aklan, one of the country’s eight anchor destinations.

The plan, a component of the Greater Metropolitan Manila Solid Waste Management Project of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), seeks to make use of an abandoned mine site on Semirara as a garbage landfill.

Semirara, one of the nine islands comprising the town of Caluya, is about 10 hours by boat from Libertad, Antique’s northernmost town. Its marine ecosystem has been described as “one of the richest fishing grounds in the Philippines.” It is also a bird and turtle sanctuary and is surrounded by corals.

Officials and residents of Antique also oppose the MMDA plan. N. Lujan in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12.21.00

RP now full member of world aquaculture body
After 12 years of being merely an observer in the Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia (NACA), the Philippines, on the prodding of Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara, finally became a full member of the organization of top aquaculture producers in the world.

The Philippines’ accession papers were received by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome last November 12, and at the NACA meeting in Brisbane, Australia on November 28 to December 2, the Philippines became the organization’s 15^th member. During the meeting, a Filipino, Pedro Bueno, was elected as new coordinator of NACA to be based in Thailand.

Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) Director Malcolm Sarmiento said that, as a full member, the Philippines will now be in a position to demand that NACA researches and studies be done in the country to ensure that Philippine aquaculture producers have first-hand experience in any research breakthroughs.               

Sarmiento requested that NACA restore the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD) to regional lead center status in the network. SEAFDEC-AQD was NACA regional lead center during the project phase from 1980 to 1989, and has continued to maintain close collaborative relations with NACA since 1990. He also asked that the National Integrated Fisheries Technology Development Center (NIFTDC) located in Dagupan City be declared a NACA-collaborating center, and that the government’s thrust to convert sand dunes into productive and environment-friendly aquaculture areas be considered as a NACA pilot project.               

The network’s members are Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Korea, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, India, Pakistan and Cambodia.               

As network member, the Philippines can participate in joint research efforts, information sharing, consultations, coordination and joint venture projects under NACA’s auspices. R. Dela Cruz in the Philippine Star, 12.24.00.

70 Filipino poachers caught in Indonesia repatriated, claim there’s no more fish to catch in Mindanao
Their heads shaved by Indonesian authorities, 70 Filipino fishermen repatriated from Indonesia arrived at the Sasa International Seaport in Davao City in late November on board a Philippine Navy battleship.               

The fishermen were among 139 Filipinos caught separately by the Indonesian Navy while poaching near the Buaya and Seven Islands off the coast of North Sulawesi on November 15 and November 20.               

The fishers, who were on board 12 large pumpboats owned by various fishing operators and financiers from General Santos City when they were arrested, admitted they knew they were violating the law but were forced to go to Indonesia because “there was nothing more to fish in Mindanao.”               

One of the fishers, Raymundo Lagidong, said his group has been fishing in the same area for several years now but was caught only last week. Another, Willie Tanguan, said he and his companions took the risk of apprehension by Indonesian authorities rather than return home without a catch. He claimed they had to bring home a large catch because the fishing boat owners and their financiers would pay them only a fourth of the their total fish haul. J. Canuday in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 11.27.00

Colgate slashes order from Shemberg
Colgate Palmolive Co. (CP) has committed to buy 150 metric tons of toothpaste-grade carrageenan from Shemberg Biotech Corporation (SBC) in 2001. The volume, which is worth more than USD2 million, is 45 percent less than the company’s orders in 2000.               

The reduction was an offshoot of trading and employment issues that soured relations between CP and SBC. SBC has debts totaling USD10 million, which have undermined the company’s profitability and almost cost it the CP account.CP spends USD125 million a year in the Philippines to buy carrageenan and other materials. In 1999, the company purchased 77 percent of SBC’s carrageenan output. E.M. Dago-oc in The Freeman, 12.21.00

Overseas

Weather experts say global warming trend continued in 2000
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 21, 2000 (ENS) - The global climate continues to be warmer than normal, the World Meteorological Organization said in its yearend analysis. The year 2000 has continued the run of warm years in spite of the persistent cooling influence of the tropical Pacific La Niña. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/dec2000/2000L-12-21-01.html

Sea level to rise more than expected – UN report
A new, yet unpublished report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that it is already too late to prevent large areas of arctic ice sheets from melting, reports the New Scientist of 25 November. Moreover, sea levels are going to rise more than the IPCC forecast reported four years ago. Instead of a maximum rise of half a meter in this century and 1,5 to 3 metres in the next 500 years, the rise will be 7 to 13 meters. This is enough to drown large areas of land and major cities. These rises will occur even if governments succeed in halting global warming within the next few decades, the unpublished report says.

There are two factors that might lead to this stronger and longer rise: the slow spread of heat to the ocean depths and the destabilizing of major ice sheets. It will take about thousand years for warming in the atmosphere to reach the bottom of the oceans, but the resulting thermal expansion would continue to raise sea levels for many centuries after stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations. Models show that after any warming above 2,7ºC, the Greenland ice sheet will disappear. The Western Antarctic ice shelf is also threatened, and if it melted it would raise sea levels by a further 6 meters. The IPCC report is being studied by the world's governments and is due to be published in May 2001. Coastal Guide News

Climate change talks suspended, to resume in 2001
THE HAGUE, November 25, 2000. After two weeks of intensive negotiations, ministers and diplomats have suspended talks on making the Kyoto Protocol operational and strengthening financial and technical co-operation between developed and developing countries on climate-friendly policies and technologies.

The Conference made progress towards outlining a package of financial support and technology transfer to help developing countries contribute to global action on climate change. But the key political issue - including an international emissions trading system, a "clean development mechanism", the rules for counting emissions reductions from carbon "sinks" such as forests, and a compliance regime - could not be resolved in the time available.

"This conference highlights both the importance and the difficulty of making the transition to low-carbon economies, "said Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme. "It is better to suspend the talks and resume later to ensure that we find the right path forward rather than take a hasty step that moves us in the wrong direction."

A compromise text tabled by Mr. Pronk will be forwarded as an input to a resumed sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. These talks could be held in late May 2001 in Bonn, the home of the climate change secretariat. The Seventh Session of the Convention will take place in Marrakesh on 29 October until 9 November 2001.

The suspension has a hopeful precedent. In February 1999, governments meeting in Cartagena, Colombia were forced to suspend a final round of talks on the Biosafety Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity (which, like the Climate Change Convention, was signed at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit). In January 2000, the resumed session succeeded in adopting an agreement on genetically modified organisms that was widely applauded by all negotiating groups and by environmentalists and industry representatives.

The Hague Conference was attended by over 7,000 participants from 182 governments, 323 inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, and 443 media outlets.

Organic pollutants treaty signed
NAIROBI, 11 December 2000 - Diplomats from 122 countries have finalized the text of a legally binding treaty that will require governments to minimize and eliminate some of the most toxic chemicals ever created.

"Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) threaten the health and well-being of humans and wildlife in every region of the world," said John Buccini, the Canadian government official who chaired the talks. "This new treaty will protect present and future generations from the cancers, birth defects, and other tragedies caused by POPs."

Of all the pollutants released into the environment every year by human activity, POPs are among the most dangerous. They are highly toxic, causing an array of adverse effects, notably death, disease, and birth defects, among humans and animals. They can last for years or decades before breaking down, and circulate globally through a process known as the "grasshopper effect". POPs released in one part of the world can, through a repeated (and often seasonal) process of evaporation, deposit, evaporation, deposit, be transported through the atmosphere to regions far away from the original source.

In addition, POPs concentrate in living organisms through another process called bioaccumulation. Though not soluble in water, POPs are readily absorbed in fatty tissue, where concentrations can become magnified by up to 70,000 times the background levels. Fish, predatory birds, mammals, and humans are high up the food chain and so absorb the greatest concentrations. When they travel, the POPs travel with them. As a result of these two processes, POPs can be found in people and animals living in regions such as the Arctic, thousands of kilometers from any major POPs source.

The treaty sets out control measures covering the production, import, export, disposal, and use of POPs. Governments have agreed draw up national legislation and develop action plans for carrying out their commitments and promote the best available technologies and practices for replacing existing POPs while preventing the development of new POPs. There are alternatives to most POPs. The problem is that high costs, a lack of public awareness, and the absence of appropriate infrastructure and technology often prevent their adoption. Solutions must be tailored to the specific properties and uses of each chemical, as well as to each country's climatic and socio-economic conditions.

The POPs Review Committee will consider additional candidates for the POPs list on a regular basis. This will ensure that the treaty remains dynamic and responsive to new scientific findings.

A financial "mechanism" will help developing countries and  countries with economies in transition meet their obligations to minimize and eliminate POPs. "New and additional" funding and technical assistance will be provided.

The 12 initial POPs include eight pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, and toxaphene), two industrial chemicals (PCBs and hexachlorobenzene, which is also a pesticide), and two unwanted by-products of combustion and industrial processes (dioxins and furans). Most of these 12 chemicals are subject to an immediate ban. However, a health-related exemption has been granted for DDT, which is still needed in many countries to control malarial mosquitoes. This will permit governments to protect their citizens from malaria - a major killer in many tropical regions - until they are able to replace DDT with chemical and non-chemical alternatives that are cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

In the case of PCBs, which have been widely used in electrical transformers and other equipment, governments may maintain existing equipment in a way that prevents leaks until 2025 to give them time to arrange for PCB-free replacements. Although PCBs are no longer produced, hundreds of thousands of tons are still in use in such equipment. In addition, a number of country-specific and time-limited exemptions have been agreed for other chemicals.

Governments agree to reduce releases of furans and dioxins, which are accidental by-products and thus more difficult to control, "with the goal of their continuing minimization and, where feasible, ultimate elimination". Other national measures required under the treaty relate to reporting, research, development, monitoring, public information and education.

The meeting in Johannesburg was the fifth and final POPs negotiating session and was attended by some 600 participants. The treaty will be formally adopted and signed by ministers and other plenipotentiaries at a Diplomatic Conference in Stockholm on 22 - 23 May 2001. Governments must then ratify, and when 50 have done so the treaty will enter into force; this process normally takes several years.

Executive Director Klaus Toepfer of the United Nations Environment Programme, which organized the negotiations, applauded the strong international regime that has been stablished for promoting global action on POPs. "This is a sound and effective treaty that can be updated and expanded over the coming decades to maintain the best possible protection against POPs," he said.

Johannesburg will host the Earth Summit in 2002
The United Nations General Assembly on Environment and Sustainable Development (UNCED) had chosen South Africa to host the Earth Summit in 2002.

In a statement, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, South Africa’s deputy minister of environmental affairs and tourism, said they welcomed the decision to bring the conference to the African continent, which would be held in Johannesburg. "Bringing the Earth Summit to South Africa is a major boost for Africa as the major conference on sustainable development on our soil will firmly place these issues and debates on the agenda of our continent" said Mabudafhasi.

In February, President Thabo Mbeki made a formal offer to the United Nations to host the 10-year Review Summit, popularly referred to as the Earth Summit 2002. Several heads of state will attend the summit that is expected to draw about 40,000 participants. More than 130 heads of state participated and 15,000 NGOs were represented in the summit in 1992.

Mabudafhasi said the significance of the conference went beyond the actual event because it set the agenda for sustainable development and the environment for the next decade. "It is significant that it should take place in the developing world where the issues of development and the environment are fundamental to the daily struggle against poverty."

There is wide consensus that the primary focus of the summit should be poverty, development and the environment. Poverty and underdevelopment are seen as the fundamental threats to environmental security and sustainable development.

In related news, the UN Secretariat has also released the following information from the UN General Assembly:

• The Rio+10 event will carry the title “World Summit on Sustainable Development”
• CSD10 will function as the preparatory committee (prepcom) for Rio+10, and will hold four prepcoms. The first prepcom is set for 30 April to 2 May 2001 (in New York), followed by prepcoms in late January 2002 (in New York), mid-March 2002 (in New York) and mid-May 2002 (in Indonesia, at Ministerial level).
• The event and its preparatory process will include active participation of NGOs and other major groups, including multi-stakeholder dialogues. The event will open accreditation to new NGOs interested in making a contribution to Rio+10.

EU fisheries ministers agree on big cuts in fishing quotas
In the morning of 15 December, the EU fisheries ministers decided on "the most drastic cuts we've ever had since quotas were introduced," according to European Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler.

For North Sea cod, a total allowable catch (TAC) for 2001 corresponding to a 50 % reduction in fishing mortality rate was agreed. That will bring the TAC for 2001 down to 48,600 tons (of which 40,340 tons is for the Community) from 81,000 tons in 2000. In the coming months, the ministers will come up with a specific recovery plan for this stock to be implemented as early as possible in 2001, potentially including the establishment of no-fishing zones. However, the TAC for other species in the North Sea were limited to 10%, instead of the 20% originally planned by the European Commission. Coastal Guide News

European Parliament, Council accept Water Framework Directive
After five years of discussing and revising drafts, the European Parliament and European Council finally accepted last September the European Water Framework Directive (WFD).

The new legislation will replace a long list of present water related laws and enter into force the day it will be published in the Official Journal which is expected until the end of this year. However, the European Union member states have three years - until autumn 2003 - to adapt their national rules to the new European legislation.

One of the key elements is the aim to achieve "good status" of inland waters, transitional waters (e.g. estuaries), coastal waters and groundwater. The objective is to prevent deterioration of the present status and to protect, enhance and restore all waters with the ultimate goal of achieving "good status".

The criteria for "good status" include both concentrations of various substances in water bodies and emitted into the aquatic environment and the composition of biological communities. Their definition is a major challenge for European research. 

Other key elements include the concept of integrated river basin management across administrative and political borders, specific control and phasing out of riskier pollutants, and strengthening of public participation procedures. The World Wildlife Fund Europe/Middle East Programme has opened an informative website with original documents and explanatory text related to the WFD under http://www.wwffreshwater.org/initiatives/wfd.html. Coastal Guide News

Reptile smuggler pleads guilty to multiple felony charges
Keng Liang “Anson” Wong, a well-known international wildlife dealer who spent nearly two years in a Mexican prison fighting extradition to the United States, pleaded guilty to 40 felony charges stemming from 1992 and 1998 federal indictments for trafficking in some of the most rare and endangered reptile species on earth.

The charges include money laundering, conspiracy, smuggling, and violations of the Lacey Act, a United States wildlife protection law that prohibits trade in animals protected under federal, state, or international law and the making of false statements concerning wildlife shipments.  The maximum penalty for money laundering is 20 years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine; the remaining charges each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Wong will be sentenced in March 2001.
Some of Wong’s black market dealings, which involved the unlawful importation and sale of more than 300 protected reptiles native to Asia and Africa between 1996 and 1998, were documented by an undercover US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) investigation that successfully infiltrated the illegal reptile trade.  That investigation revealed that Wong spearheaded an international wildlife smuggling ring that illegally imported exotic reptiles by concealing them in express delivery packages, airline baggage, and large commercial shipments of legally declared animals. A number of the species involved, such as Komodo dragons and plowshare tortoises, already on the brink of extinction, occur only in very limited, geographically isolated habitats.

At the time of these transactions, Wong was wanted in the United States under a 1992 indictment charging him with conspiring to smuggle endangered Fiji banded iguanas, Bengal monitor lizards, and Indian soft-shelled turtles into this country for sale to a reptile dealer in Florida.

“Reptile trafficking is a high-profit criminal enterprise, and the United States is one of its largest markets,” said Service Director Jamie Rappaport Clark.  “Plundering the world’s rare reptiles takes a toll that cannot be measured in dollars.  Such trafficking robs countries of their natural heritage, disrupts ecosystems, and shortchanges future generations.”

In July 1998, a federal grand jury in San Francisco returned a sealed indictment against Wong and three of his associates, based on evidence showing that the Malaysian businessman, who owned and operated Sungai Rusa Wildlife in Penang, had sent 14 illegal shipments to the United States containing protected reptiles worth nearly a half million dollars on the black market.

Two months later, in September 1998, Wong traveled to Mexico City for a pre-arranged meeting with an undercover Service special agent posing as an American reptile dealer.  Acting at the request of the U.S. Government, the Government of Mexico arrested Wong and held him pending extradition on the U.S. charges.  Imprisoned in Mexico, Wong fought extradition to the United States until June 2000, when he filed papers in the Mexican courts abandoning his efforts to avoid prosecution in this country.  On August 29, the Government of Mexico transferred Wong to the custody of U.S. Marshals and he was flown to San Francisco to face trial.

Long an active player in the global wildlife trade and suspected smuggler, Wong had been careful to stay out of the United States since 1992 when a warrant was issued for his arrest following his indictment in Florida for reptile trafficking.  In 1996, however, he began dealing by phone and fax with a U.S. reptile import “business” in the San Francisco area, a business specifically set up by the Service to intercept illegal trade. Wong negotiated deals that delivered an array of highly prized exotic reptiles to the United States.

Trade of the animals smuggled and sold by Wong in both the California and Florida cases is regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a global agreement that controls the importation and exportation of hundreds of imperiled animals and plants. Commercial traffic in many of these reptiles is prohibited; others require permits to legally enter trade.  A number are also protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, which outlaws their importation into the United States for commercial purposes.

Endangered species traded by Wong included two particularly rare reptiles from island nations.  The Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard, is native only to a relatively small area of Indonesia.  The plowshare or Madagascan spurred tortoise, believed by many to be the rarest tortoise species, occurs only on the island of Madagascar, off the southeastern coast of Africa.

These species bring particularly high prices on the black market.  Both the Komodo dragon and the plowshare tortoise can each fetch up to about $30,000 in the illegal trade.

Wong also trafficked in such rarities as the Chinese alligator (which inhabits the lower course of the Yangtze River); the false gavial (a crocodile whose range is restricted to parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and southern Thailand along the Perak River); and the radiated tortoise, another species found only on Madagascar.  Black market prices for these endangered reptiles range from $5,000 to $15,000.

Other species smuggled by Wong included Grey’s monitor lizards, spider tortoises, Burmese star tortoises, Indian star tortoises, Boelen’s pythons, Timor pythons, green tree pythons, and Fly River turtles.

Wong’s co-defendants in the California case include James Michael Burroughs, of San Francisco, who pleaded guilty to several charges and awaits sentencing, and three individuals from the Phoenix, Arizona area,  Beau Lee Lewis, Jeffery Miller, and Robert Paluch, who are scheduled to go to trial in January.  The sixth individual indicted with Wong and his U.S. associates, Yuk Wah “Oscar” Shiu, a Hong Kong resident who runs a wildlife import/export business in that city, is still wanted.  Three other U.S. citizens have also been charged in connection with this smuggling ring.

The undercover federal probe of Wong and his business associates was conducted by special agents from the Service’s Branch of Special Operations, an enforcement unit specializing in covert investigations of illegal wildlife trade, with assistance from the U.S. Customs Service, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office, INTERPOL, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada.  The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and the Wildlife and Marine Resources Section of the Justice Department=s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

The California-based Wong case was one of several completed as part of Operation Chameleon, a comprehensive multi-year Service investigation of the illegal reptile trade conducted in partnership with the Justice Department’s Wildlife and Marine Resources Section and U.S. Attorney’s offices in several states.  This long-term, concentrated effort to combat reptile trafficking also broke up a major smuggling ring that was funneling Madagascan snakes and tortoises to Germany and then on to markets in the United States and Canada; secured a guilty plea to charges of fraud and theft from the reptile curator of a well-known California zoo; and produced charges against more than 40 people in the United States, Canada, and
Germany.

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. FWS,  12.13.00.
 
Import of bigeye tuna banned
In a major move against illegal fishing, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) banned this week the import of bigeye tuna from Belize, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

All five countries are notorious flag of convenience countries - those that allow fishing vessels to operate under their flag without exercising any control over the activities of the vessel - and collectively operate a fleet of some 280 industrial longline vessels fishing illegally on the high seas in the Atlantic Ocean.

Bigeye tuna, the main target of the Atlantic pirate fishing fleets, commands a high price on the Japanese market and is mainly used for sushi. Japan the European Union, the United States and other countries that are members of ICCAT, are now legally bound to close their markets to the tuna caught by vessels registered under the five flag of convenience countries. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is in the process of developing an international plan of action to 'prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing'.  Coastal Guide News

Ecuador outlaws mangrove destruction for shrimp farming
QUITO/AMSTERDAM, December 18, 2000 - The purchase and destruction of mangrove forests for aquaculture exploitation has been declared illegal by the President of the Constitutional Tribunal (CT) of Ecuador. Twenty-two articles from the Ecuadorean Law Trole II were declared unconstitutional on 12th December, including Article 164, which allowed the Ecuadorean state to sell to the shrimp industrials zones of beaches and bays where the mangrove ecosystem lives and develops.

Greenpeace and the communities fighting against shrimp farming have demanded that the Ecuadorean Government impose a moratorium on shrimp farm expansion, shut down all of the illegal shrimp farms, and impose heavy fines on the illegal operators to pay for restoration of the mangrove ecosystems that they destroyed.

“This historic ruling is a clear signal to the aquaculture industry that things are changing in Ecuador and that the local fishermen and concheros are finally being heard. The state has given us the legal instruments to protect the environment and to act against the illegal shrimp farming exploitations,” said Mike Hagler of Greenpeace International.

Over the past 30 years, about half (150,000 hectares) of Ecuador’s mangrove forests have been destroyed by the shrimp aquaculture industry. Shrimp farmers clear-cut the mangrove forests and block the natural flow of water through the estuaries, killing the rich network of life that inhabits these forests and sustains the coastal communities’ traditional way of life.

“This decision is a landmark in the fight against aquaculture exploitation in Ecuador. It is the first time that our coastal communities have received a favorable legal decision in their 10-years struggle to defend the mangroves,” added Hagler. “The decision of the Constitutional Tribunal of Ecuador is a recognition of our efforts to protect the mangroves and attempts to restore the priceless ecosystem devastated by the greedy expansion of the shrimp farm industry over the past thirty years.”

A presidential decree in 1994 guaranteed a moratorium on mangrove destruction in Ecuador. Few respected it, and Greenpeace estimates of official statistics suggest that, of the 207,000 hectares of shrimp ponds existing today, nearly three-quarters are illegal.

The cost to the environment and local communities of shrimp farming is enormous. The destruction of mangrove forests to make way for the farms causes potentially irreversible damage to coastal biodiversity and productive fisheries in tropical coastal countries around the world. In Latin American and Asian countries, thousands of families are forced out by the developments and often their only hope for survival is to migrate to urban centers, where work is scare, or even overseas to Europe and the United States. www.greenpeace.org

Environmental performance calendar for small and medium companies available
The United Nations Environment Programme UNEP and Wuppertal Institute launched recently the “Efficient Entrepreneur Calendar”

The calendar aims to raise awareness of environmental issues among employees in small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. In combination with a booklet entitled "The Efficient Entrepreneur Assistant", it provides assistance and guidance on how to measure and improve environmental performance and stakeholder relations in seven areas. On the basis of "You can't manage what you can't measure", it introduces environmental performance measures that are easy to assess and evaluate, and charts a "month-by-month" program that ends with a simple SME environmental report.

The calendar will be useful to any firm that considers itself to be an SME-type company or indeed to any company that requires an introduction to environmental performance measurement and communication. It helps companies find out how much energy, water and raw materials they consume, how much pollution (such as waste, air and water emission and noise) they produce, and where costs can be reduced and customer satisfaction improved.

Copies may be purchased on-line at 20% discount off the standard price of US$25.00 at http://www.earthprint.com. For more information or extra discount on multiple copy orders, contact SMI (Distribution Services) Ltd, Contracted International Distributor of United Nations Environment Programme publications, Tel. +44 1438 748111; Fax +44 1438 748844, or email
customerservices@earthprint.co.uk. Coastal Guide News.

$73 million cleanup targets contaminated ocean floor
TORRANCE, California, December 20, 2000 (ENS) - Four companies will pay $73 million to clean up contamination from the pesticide DDT and restore the ocean environment off the coast of Los Angeles. The settlement with the United States and State of California, filed Tuesday, ends a 10-year suit over the world's largest DDT pollution site. For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/dec2000/2000L-12-20-06.html

Mellon donates sea turtle nesting beaches to Florida National Wildlife Refuge
 The Richard King Mellon Foundation has donated one of the world’s most important sea turtle nesting beaches and other adjacent wildlife habitat to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Florida.

The donation includes one-half-mile of oceanfront that is intensely used by nesting sea turtles in the refuge area. A total of 19,000 threatened loggerhead, 2,800 endangered green, and 13 endangered leatherback sea turtles nested at Archie Carr NWR this past summer.

The donation also includes scrub habitat important for the threatened Florida scrub jay an eastern Indigo snake and three structures, including one used as a University of Central Florida research station.  It totals about 35 acres, and nearly doubles the amount of land owned by the FWS at the Archie Carr NWR.

"This generous donation by the Richard King Mellon Foundation will assure the protection of this extremely important sea turtle nesting area for the future," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, Director of the FWS. “In addition, it will enable the Service to care for the scrub habitat, which must be actively managed to provide good quality habitat for Florida scrub jays and other species.

Seward Prosser Mellon, president of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, said,  "The Foundation’s American Land Conservation Program, under which this donation has been made, reflects our Foundation’s and family’s traditional and continuing interest in land conservation.  We feel the private sector has an opportunity and an obligation to augment the conservation work of state and federal agencies.  We are pleased that our program will help safeguard this critical nesting area for marine turtles and enlarge the resources of the Archie Carr NWR."

The Archie Carr NWR was established in 1990 to protect sea turtle nesting beaches, oceanfront areas that are extremely valuable for development and thus are highly threatened around the world.  The 20-mile section of coast from Melbourne Beach to Wabasso Beach in Florida is the most important nesting area for loggerhead sea turtles in the western hemisphere and the second most important nesting beach in the world.

Established in 1947, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has a longstanding commitment to conservation.  Since 1977 the Foundation has made major grants and gifts for conservation primarily in the areas of land acquisition, wetlands protection, and wildlife preservation.

The Conservation Fund provides technical assistance to the Foundation on identification, purchase and disposition of conservation land acquired under auspices of the American Land Conservation Program. During a little more than a decade, the Foundation has acquired land worth more than $270 million for conservation and historic preservation.

The US 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. FWS. 12.19.00

Madeira environmental group calls for help in fighting coastal pollution
Cosmos - the Association for the Defense of the Environment and the Quality of life of Madeira, intends to file a complaint against the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal, for authorizing the dumping of municipal and construction waste along the coast of the Santa Cruz district. Cosmos calls for international support in their fight against pollution. Contact Gil Ganha, e-mail cosmosambiente@netc.pt. Coastal Guide News


CRMP News

Guihulngan, Negros Oriental Bantay Dagat gets para-legal training
The Coastal Resource Management Project (CRMP) and the Negros Oriental Provincial Government’s Environment and Natural Resources Management Division, in cooperation with the local government unit, conducted a two-day para-legal training for Bantay Dagat (citizen’s sea patrol group) on November 9-10.

The activity was aimed at training Bantay Dagat members in procedural aspects of apprehension, relevant fishery laws and rules, as well as in the preservation of evidences during arrests.

Another training, a three-day workshop on tour guiding, was held on November 12-14 in Dumaguete, this time by CRMP and the Provincial Tourism Office.

“The growing influx of domestic and foreign visitors in the coastal areas of Negros Oriental points to a need for skilled and competent coast guides who can assist guests in their appreciation of the province’s natural attractions in an instructive and environment-friendly manner,” said CRMP Area Coordinator William Ablong.