From carbon sink to source: Brazil puts Amazon, Paris goals at risk
"Most Primate Species Threatened With Extinction, Scientists Find"
by Claire Salisbury on 9 November 2017
* Brazil is committed to cutting carbon emissions by 37 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, to ending illegal deforestation, and restoring 120,000 square kilometers of forest by 2030. Scientists warn these Paris commitments are at risk due to a flood of anti-environmental and anti-indigenous measures forwarded by President Michel Temer.
* “If these initiatives succeed, Temer will go down in history with the ruralistas as the ones who put a stake in the beating heart of the Amazon.” — Thomas Lovejoy, conservation biologist and director of the Center for Biodiversity and Sustainability at George Mason University.
* “The Temer government’s reckless behavior flies in the face of Brazil’s commitments to the Paris Agreement.” — Christian Poirier, program director at Amazon Watch.
* “There was, or maybe there still is, a very slim chance we can avoid a catastrophic desertification of South America. No doubt, there will be horrific damage if the Brazilian government initiatives move forward in the region.” — Antonio Donato Nobre, scientist at INPA, the Institute for Amazonian Research.
President Michel Temer’s initiatives will promote development in the Amazon, with agribusiness, mines, dams, railways and roads fueling widespread deforestation. Not only will this mean a loss of habitat for threatened species within the biome, but also the release of significant amounts of carbon, jeopardizing Brazil’s commitments to the Paris Agreement, while contributing significantly to global climate change. Photo by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay
In 2012, Brazil celebrated a dramatic reduction in its deforestation rate. A sharp annual decline took forest loss to a record low .. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/nov/28/amazon-deforestation-record-low , down 76 percent from 1990. Accomplishing this milestone — achieved alongside GDP growth and a major financial incentive scheme for reducing deforestation in collaboration with Norway — Brazil was hailed as an example for other nations to aspire to, especially during the landmark 2015 climate summit in Paris.
A major point of concern: will Donald Trump’s U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement provide Temer with political cover to disregard Brazil’s voluntary carbon reduction and deforestation commitments? This is a question that will likely be on negotiators’ minds this week and next as the world’s Paris signatories gather for the COP23 summit .. https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/cop23-trump-u-s-govt-seen-as-irrelevant-to-global-climate-action/ .. in Bonn, Germany, from Nov. 6-17.
Taken all together, Temer’s anti-environmental measures pose a serious threat to the Amazon biome, Brazil’s commitments to the Paris Agreement, and to the global climate, according to the scientists interviewed for this story.
Brazil’s president, Michel Temer, is pushing forward an “exceedingly dangerous” suite of initiatives that, if successful, will change the face of the Amazon. Photo by Diego DEAA used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license
"Most Primate Species Threatened With Extinction, Scientists Find"
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Published on Jan 9, 2018
The totoaba bass is a critically endangered species. Totoabas share their waters with the vaquita porpoise, the most endangered marine mammal in the world.
Sea Shepherd says one of its ships has been set on fire and pelted with rocks during a violent confrontation in a marine refuge in Mexican waters.
Key points:
* Sea Shepherd says the ship was attacked by 50 poachers
* They threw rocks and a petrol bomb, causing a fire
* The boat ship was on a mission to protect endangered marine animals in the Gulf of California
The conservation group said the M/V Farley Mowat was in the Gulf of California on a mission to protect the vaquita porpoise, one of the world's most endangered marine mammals.
[... to end ...]
The Farley Mowat was on a mission to protect the Vaquita Marine Refuge, which has suffered from overfishing in recent years, with totoaba fish attracting poachers and criminal gangs to the area.
Totoaba swim bladders sometimes fetch thousands of dollars per kilo for use in traditional Chinese medicine.
A 2018 report from the Elephant Action League found dried totoaba fish bladders were being smuggled out of Mexico via indirect flights to China, often carried in checked luggage.
Photo: At least three cartels reportedly target totoaba fish for illegal trafficking. (Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)
The report said the bladders were priced higher than gold and the trade was considered lower-risk than drug ventures, with at least three major cartels illegally trafficking the fish.
Totoaba cartels target the highly-prized fish with large gillnets, which have been banned in the area since May 2015.
Along with killing the endangered fish, the nets also trap and kill other wildlife, including vaquita porpoises.
According to a report from Environmental Investigation Agency, there were fewer than 30 vaquita porpoises in the area in July last year.
Photo: Crew members retrieve an illegal gillnet. (Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)
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