Posts for the ‘News’ topic
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Galápagos Islands taken off danger list
At a meeting this week in Brasilia, the World Heritage Committee agreed to remove the Galápagos Islands from the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger. That’s good news – right? Well yes, it is: an official “thumbs up” that we are headed in the right direction. Here at CI, we’re proud of our own contribution (together with many partners) towards improving management and capacity in Galápagos and across the entire Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape initiative. This includes supporting the park service’s installation of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), which is deterring illegal fishing by industrial vessels and securing the livelihoods of about ... -
U.S. Senate Delays Climate Bill
Yesterday the U.S. Senate decided to shelve efforts to pass comprehensive energy and climate change legislation. The reason? Sixty senators could not be convinced about the importance of this legislation and the dire need to end our addiction to dirty fossil fuels – not even when we have a coast covered in oil. To say that I’m disappointed in this decision is a huge understatement. But sadly, I’m not surprised. Although everyone agrees that the United States needs to move to clean energy, to create a cleaner and healthier environment, to develop a new economy that will create jobs and allow us ... -
New U.S. National Ocean Policy Signed
Earlier this week, President Obama signed an executive order for the new U.S. National Policy for Stewardship of Ocean, Coasts and Great Lakes – a monumental step toward improving management of American coastlines and seas. As a member of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and advisor to the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, which drafted the new policy, I am acutely aware of the multitude of threats that our oceans face – including pollution, fishery collapse, climate change and coastal development – and the challenge of creating a holistic vision for ocean protection that tackles all threats and meets everyone’s ... -
Good News for Forests – A Decline in Illegal Logging
A new report by London-based think tank Chatham House indicates that illegal logging is down 22 percent worldwide since 2002. This decrease may have kept between 1.2 billion and 14.6 billion metric tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere, thereby reducing the impact of deforestation on global climate change. Reasons for this decline vary by country; a 50-75 percent reduction in Brazil is partially the result of a government crackdown on illegal logging led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, while a 75 percent reduction in Indonesia has been aided by pressure from nonprofit organizations. Not only does this decline in ... -
Joining forces for the Mediterranean Basin
[caption id="attachment_3296" align="aligncenter" width="603" caption="Participants at the final CEPF stakeholder meeting held at Tour du Valat in the Camargue, France gathered around Dr. Luc Hoffmann (centre wearing a red sweater). The meeting sought to agree on conservation priorities for the entire Mediterranean Basin. © John Watkin "][/caption] Simply put, partnerships present an opportunity to improve each organization’s impact on the ground and also extend activities beyond the means of each individual member. Partnerships also have a myriad of forms. Over the last year a powerful partnership of three donor organizations came together to develop a conservation strategy for the ... -
U.S. Senate Narrowly Defeats Murkowski Amendment: Sign of Hope, or Close Call?
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate narrowly voted (53-47) to defeat Senator Lisa Murkowski’s attempt to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from imposing new limits on carbon emissions. Manuel Oliva, CI’s director of U.S. Policy, reacts to the vote. As I read yesterday’s “New York Times” article about the defeat of the amendment from Senator Murkowski, it was hard to understand how we got here, how protecting the environment and our health is such a bad thing. How “even if it is the right thing to do, now is not the time to do it,” as Senator Tom Coburn stated. The purpose of this ... -
Madagascar Bird Declared Extinct
[caption id="attachment_3168" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Madagascar pochard."][/caption] This week, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the Alaotra grebe (Tachybaptus rufolavatus) extinct. CI’s Frank Hawkins recalls his personal experience with the water fowl, and emphasizes our ability to prevent other species from meeting the same fate. Eleven years ago, I was paddling across Lake Alaotra in central-eastern Madagascar in a local dugout canoe, in the company of a team of Malagasy bird researchers, looking for any sign of diving waterbirds. The main target for our search was the Alaotra grebe, a mysterious small diving bird that had not reliably been seen for ... -
The United States Launches New Food Security Initiative
Last week, John Buchanan, CI’s Food Security Lead, and I attended the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security. This event launched Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s new global hunger and food security initiative strategy and implementation guide. The day-long event also had an impressive array of keynote speakers, including USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, Secretary of USDA Thomas Vilsack, AGRA President Namanga Ngongi, and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. Global hunger is a serious global challenge; more than 1 billion people, or 1/6 of humanity, are food insecure. This has many devastating consequences, with more ... -
In Colombia, Rival Presidential Candidates Come Together for Conservation
[caption id="attachment_2930" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Presidential candidate Noemi Sanin signs the "Environmental Pact". "][/caption] At a recent event revealing the Colombian government’s increasing commitment to conservation, five out of six of the country’s presidential candidates signed an "Environmental Pact," in which they promised that, if elected, they will take ambitious steps to make the sustainable management of natural resources central to the national development strategy. The Colombian Environmental Pact is an alliance with citizens who seek to promote the country’s commitment to conservation and sustainable development. The document presents 12 points to guide governmental commitments on specific issues, including ecosystem restoration, climate change, ... -
All That Glitters is Green!
All I can say is, wow. They’re going to need a longer green carpet next year. It’s the day after the first-ever Green Auction in New York City, hosted by Christie's International, and my feet are still recovering from the all the activity leading up to and during this amazing event. Actors, news people, paparazzi shutterbugs, deep-pocketed business leaders and philanthropists, all stepped out in classic New York style last night to show their support for Earth Day and the four organizations, including CI, whose conservation work would benefit from the bidding. The night started with arrivals outside the auction house in Rockefeller ...
