• AUSTRALIA
  Zoning Plan Safeguards One-Third of World's Largest Reef

• LIBERIA
  Habitat Protected for Critically Endangered Chimpanzees

• SOUTH AFRICA
  St. Lucia Wetlands to Be Developed for Ecotourism

• INTERNATIONAL
  Global Warming Melts Ski Resort Profits

• BELGIUM
  Human Drugs Cure Banana Disease

• USA/CANADA
  Strong Wins National Academy of Sciences' Top Honor

• INTERNATIONAL
  Gateway to World of Environmental Law Now Online

Zoning Plan Safeguards One-Third of World's Largest Reef

"The zoning plan will provide the largest network of protected marine areas in the world and is the largest marine protection plan in the history of the Great Barrier Reef," Kemp said.

"It is based on the best science from Australia and internationally and will become an important insurance policy for the reef, offering environmental protection as well as security for industries and communities that depend on the reef, the minister said. The government has agreed in principle recently to a structural adjustment package for commercial fishers and others who may be adversely impacted by the implementation of the plan.

"This plan is also based on one of the most extensive and comprehensive formal community consultations in Australia's history, extending over two years, with over 31,000 submissions from individuals, community groups and industry bodies," said Kemp.

Many conservationists were pleased with the zoning plan. "This is a win for all Australians," said Imogen Zethoven, Great Barrier Reef campaign manager at WWF-Australia, which has campaigned for three years for better reef protection.

Healthy acropora coral on Australia's Great Barrier Reef (Photo courtesy NOAA)

But others were more critical. The country's largest organization, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), said the plan is a step forward, but more needs to be done. ACF Director Don Henry said the plan leaves unanswered key environmental issues facing the feef, such as "land based pollution, the effects of climate change and the threat of oil exploration offshore from the reef."

"We are also disappointed that some of the 53 areas identified by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) as "special and unique" have been given inadequate protection, in particular Bowling Green Bay, Princess Charlotte Bay and Repulse Bay," said Henry. "This raises real concerns about the level of protection for dugongs, dolphins, turtles and their habitats."

Kemp says the new zoning plan is only one of the government's environmental initiatives to protect the reef. "In concert with the Queensland Government, we have released the draft Water Quality Protection Plan to protect the reef from land based pollution. We are also funding community based water improvement projects through the Natural Heritage Trust and have significantly strengthened law enforcement on the reef."

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is the largest marine park in the world, covering more than 348,000 square kilometers - larger than England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales combined. It is also the only living thing that can be seen from space with the naked eye.

The reef is more than 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) long and is made up of more than 2,900 reefs and about 940 islands. There are 1,500 types of fish, 360 types of hard corals, 4000 types of molluscs, 1,500 types of sponge, 800 types of echinoderms such as sea stars and sea urchins, 500 types of seaweed, over 30 types of marine mammals, and six types of marine turtles.

But today there are fewer fish in some areas, and up to 80 percent of coastal wetlands have been lost in most of the major river catchments adjacent to the reef.

Nutrients such as phosphate and nitrogen have increased by 200 to 1,500 percent in river discharges. Coastal development, fishing and farming have all contributed to the increase in pollution threatening the animals and plants on the reef.

The Queensland population of loggerhead turtles has suffered a 90 percent decline in the annual number of nesting females - now an estimated 200 - since the 1970s. Dugongs have also suffered a 90 percent decline - now an estimated 4,000 south of Cooktown since the 1960s.

The reef is an economic powerhouse for northern Australia, responsible for tens of thousands of jobs and nearly five billion dollars worth of economic activity. A recent Yale University study showed the reef is the most valuable coral reef in the world and that it is one of the world's most popular ecotourism sites.

Liberia Protects Habitat for Critically Endangered Chimpanzees

The protected areas will benefit the world's largest known population of the critically endangered Western chimpanzee by helping to defend against major threats to the Liberia's biodiversity such as unsustainable logging and poaching.

The Sapo National Park will expand by 123,550 acres, (50,000 hectares). The newly created Nimba Nature Reserve borders a World Heritage Site in neighboring Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire and will expand Liberia's protected areas by an additional 33,350 acres (13,500 hectares).

"These new protected areas open avenues for economic expansion through the ecological, social and recreational value of biological diversity," said Harry A. Greaves, Jr., Bryant's economic advisor.

Liberia is emerging from a three year civil war that has been part of a 14 year conflict claiming the lives of more than 200,000 people. Liberia's former president, Charles Taylor, is exiled in Nigeria.

Today, hundreds of Liberian fighters handed in their guns to United Nations peacekeepers at Schieffelin camp, 35 kilometers southeast of the capital, Monrovia, as the formal disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of an estimated 40,000 combatants began. A United Nations peacekeeping force is set to expand to 15,000 troops by March.

Conservationists regard the three laws expanding the country's protected areas as a sign that the new Liberian government is committed to ensuring that critical remaining forests are secured for the more than 2,000 flowering plants, 620 birds, 150 mammals, and 120 reptiles that can still be found there.

"Liberia's new government took a significant leap forward today by expanding its protected area system by 60 percent," said Alex Peal, director of Conservation International Liberia. "By safeguarding its natural resources, the people of Liberia will be able to enjoy a more sustainable long term future."

Boundaries of the newly protected areas were determined by satellite imagery and geographic information systems, as well as field surveys contributed by the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International and the nonprofit organization Fauna and Flora International working together.

The two groups also provided technical input for the preparation of the new laws. The European Union and Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund both supported the Liberia Forest Reassessment.

Scientists estimate that 600,000 western chimpanzees once lived throughout western Africa, but fewer than 25,000 remain. The numbers are expected to drop dramatically, with entire populations forecast to disappear within 10 to 20 years. They are classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Other endemic species are at risk in the region, including the pygmy hippopotamus, the Liberian mongoose and the white-breasted guinea fowl. Several populations of endangered forest elephants also inhabit the region.

The forest reform process took a major step forward in mid-October, when more than 200 Liberian foresters gathered at a workshop led by Conservation International and the Society for Liberian Foresters.

Workshop participants from the public and private sector, civil society and international organizations agreed upon a resolution to increase Liberia's technical capacity for sustainable logging, improve financial management and transparency and improve overall management of the Forest Development Authority.

Liberia lies within the Guinean Forest of West Africa Hotspot, making it one of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots, areas that contain large numbers of endemic species under severe threat.

The hotspot covers portions of 11 countries in the region, but more than 40 percent of the original forest cover survives in Liberia. The forest is home to half of all known African mammal species, and is among the highest priority regions in the world for primate conservation.

With the expansion, four percent of Liberia's forests now fall within protected areas. Extreme habitat fragmentation and degradation continue to threaten much of the remainder of Liberia's unprotected forests.

St. Lucia Wetlands to Be Developed for Ecotourism

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mohammed Valli Moosa announced the investment of R432million (US$67.2 million) at a press briefing held at Durban’s Hilton Hotel Thursday. “This latest investment is the culmination of efforts by the national government to uplift one of the poorest regions in the country,” Moosa said.

He said eight winning bidders have been given concessions to develop lodges, self-catering resorts, camping facilities and adventure travel activities at eight sites in the park. This will create more than 800 new and redeveloped beds as the new investments come on stream, offering a range of luxury and affordable accommodation to domestic and international tourists.

St. Lucia Wetland Park is the largest estuarine system in Africa and includes the southernmost extension of coral reefs on the continent. (Photo courtesy UNESCO)

Up to 50 percent of the construction work for the new resorts will be conducted by local small businesses, and at least 900 permanent jobs will be created.

The developers will also be obliged to conduct Environmental Impact Assessments at their sites, and the government will attempt to ensure conservation is a key ethic for development of the area.

“The tourism investments will conform to strict international guidelines designed to preserve the biological diversity of the St. Lucia Wetland Park," said Moosa. "The park has an integrated development management plan that sets carrying capacities and zones different sections of the wetlands for development while reserving other large areas as wilderness areas."

The development is part of the South African government’s Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative, under which the Lubombo road from Durban to the Mozambique border was completed.

Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park has been prepared to host the world under a new dedicated World Heritage Authority. Preparations include reintroduction of the oldest, fastest, and largest land mammals onto the shores of Lake St. Lucia. The rhino, elephant, and cheetah on land now live alongside whales and ancient turtles in the adjacent Indian Ocean.

A malaria control program in the area has resulted in a decrease in infection rates of up to 94 percent.

Situated on the east coast of South Africa, St. Lucia is one of the oldest game reserves in Africa. Proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1999, the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park includes coral reefs, long sandy beaches, coastal dunes, lake systems, swamps and extensive reed and papyrus wetlands.

“The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park, South Africa’s first World Heritage Site, is set to become an international model of the way in which the protection of wilderness can contribute to the alleviation of poverty and benefit social groups way beyond their boundaries," said Moosa, "in accordance with new conservation principles recently adopted at World Summit on Sustainable Development as well as the World Parks Congress in Durban."

The new facilities at the park will accommodate between 80,000 and 100,000 guests a year. This influx of tourists will generate over R300 million a year in direct spending, the government estimates.

Global Warming Melts Ski Resort Profits

Their report, presented last week to the V World Conference on Sport and the Environment in Turin, Italy, host city for the 2006 Winter Games, warned that 15 percent of Switzerland’s ski resorts already have unreliable levels of snowfall, a number that could go up to 56 percent in the future.

The researchers considered a ski resort “snow reliable” if, in seven out of 10 winters, it receives at least 30 to 50 centimeters (11.8 to 19.6 inches) of snow on at least 100 days between December 1 and April 15.

“The impacts of climate change on winter tourism may be even more severe in countries such as Germany or Austria due to the lower altitudes of their ski resorts,” say the researchers.

The conference was organized by the International Olympic Committee in cooperation with the Organizing Committee for the winter games in Turin and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The researchers say that ski resorts in North America and Australia will be impacted too. None of Australia’s ski resorts will be economically viable by 2070 under the study's worst case scenario.

The study's lead author Dr. Rolf Burki said, “Climate change will have the effect of pushing more and more winter sports, higher and higher up mountains, concentrating impacts in ever decreasing, high altitude, areas. As ski resorts in lower altitudes face bankruptcy, so the pressure in highly, environmentally sensitive, upper altitude areas rises along with the pressures to build new ski lifts and other infrastructure.”

Burki, who lectures at the University of Higher Education, St Gallen and at the International School of Tourism Management, Zurich, said, “It appears clear that many resorts particularly in the traditional, lower altitude resorts of Europe will be either unable to operate as a result of lack of snow or will face additional costs, including artificial snowmaking, that may render them uneconomic.”

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP executive director and a former German environment minister, said the study shows that it is not just the developing world that will suffer from climate change. "Even rich nations are facing potentially massive upheavals with significant economic, social and cultural implications."

Burki, and colleagues Hans Elsasser, professor for economic geography at the University of Zurich, and Dr. Bruno Abegg, a travel journalist, used temperature forecasts produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body of some 2,000 scientists. The IPCC was established by UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization to model the impact of rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and to offer advice to governments on how to deal with the threats.

The IPCC estimates that Earth's surface temperatures will rise by between 1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees Celsius by 2100 unless action is taken to sharply reduce emissions from sources such as vehicles, industry, offices and homes.

Global warming is expected to be stronger on land areas in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter months, making mountain based winter tourism acutely vulnerable.

The researchers, who also included precipitation models in their calculations, suggest that avalanches may become more common above 2,000 meters (6,560 feet), which may increase risks to skiers and damage to infrastructure.

The researchers argue that, while winter sports tourism is a potential victim of climate change, it also has a responsibility towards reducing carbon dioxide and the other emissions linked with global warming. These can arise from traffic travelling to the resorts and the energy intensive equipment used to make artificial snow and ice.

Human Drugs Cure Banana Disease

Dr. Emil Frison, director-general of the Interntional Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and an author of the paper, said, "This is very significant because it means we can now make full use of the diversity of bananas to create and distribute improved varieties."

Some 400 million people in developing countries depend on bananas and plantains as a staple food. Plant breeders need access to as much diversity as possible in order to develop higher yielding varieties with resistance to pests and diseases. For bananas, the world's biggest collection is maintained in trust for humanity in Belgium at the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven (KUL).

KUL sends plants to researchers worldwide through IPGRI's International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain. International guidelines allow only movement of healthy plants, but a substantial part of the collection has been blocked because it is infected with banana streak virus (BSV).

Researchers from KUL and the Gembloux Faculty of Agriculture in Belgium have developed several techniques for eliminating viruses from sterile cultures in the banana collection. These techniques are effective against other diseases, but banana streak virus remained a problem.

Knowing that banana streak virus is related to hepatitis B virus, and uses some of the same chemical processes, the banana scientists got together with the scientists at the Rega Institute for Medical Research at KUL. This institute was responsible for developing adefovir and tenofovir, antiviral compounds tested and approved for the treatment of hepatatis B and AIDS.

The researchers grew infected banana cells in the presence of small doses of the human drugs for six months. Testing of whole plantlets produced from those cells demonstrated that up to 90 percent of the plantlets showed no sign of banana streak virus.

Work is now proceeding to remove banana streak virus from all samples in the collection at KUL. "The production of virus free stocks is a very important control measure," said Dr. Frison. "Not only does it mean the diversity collection is healthier, it also enables us to distribute newly bred varieties to [those] who need them."

The technique may also be useful in the treatment of other viral diseases of economically important plants.

Banana streak disease was first recorded in Morocco and the causal virus, Banana streak badnavirus, was described in 1986. Banana streak virus has since been recorded in Africa, in the Canary Islands and Madeira, in Asia, in Florida, in Central and South America, and in the Pacific Islands.

Maurice Strong Wins National Academy of Sciences' Top Honor

The Academy chose Strong, a Canadian and the first non-U.S. citizen to receive the award, in recognition of his leadership of global conferences that became the basis for international environmental negotiations and for his efforts to link science, technology, and society for common benefit.

"Mr. Strong has always supported multilateral approaches to sustainable and equitable development and international peace," said John Brauman, home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of the selection committee. "Very few individuals have contributed so much to the path toward a sane and sensible future for world society."

Maurice Strong is currently the chairman of Technology Development, Inc., which funds nanotechnology research to create energy sources that are affordable as well as ecofriendly. (Photo courtesy IISD)

"A leader of extraordinary ability, Mr. Strong is uniquely able to weave together the capabilities of academia, business and industry, governments, and nongovernmental organizations - a skill crucial to marshalling science and technology in the interest of social progress," said National Academy of Sciences President Bruce Alberts. "He is an idealist who can translate vision into action and is truly a citizen of the world."

Strong was born in rural Oak Lake, Manitoba, in 1929. He worked as a junior officer with the newly formed United Nations when he was just 18. From 1948 to 1966, Strong served in investment and senior management positions with corporations in the energy and financial sectors. In the late 1960s, he helped found the International Development Research Center, which is regarded as a model for using science research results and technology to aid economic development in Third World countries.

Strong also served as president, chair, and chief executive officer of Petro-Canada from 1976 to 1978. He was chair of the International Energy Development Corp. from 1980 to 1983 and of the Canada Development Investment Corp. from 1982 to 1984.

Strong returned to the United Nations as chief organizer and secretary-general of the 1972 U.N. Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, the first "Earth Summit." He helped craft the Stockholm Declaration, which contained a set of principles that have considerably influenced the law on international protection of the environment.

He became the founding executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme to pursue the declaration's objectives. Among his early initiatives was the creation in 1973 of a program to consider the impact of human activity on the biosphere.

As undersecretary-general of the United Nations, Strong was in charge of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, to which he personally recruited representatives from more than 130 nations, including 110 heads of state. The summit produced Agenda 21, a comprehensive blueprint for action, and steps leading to international conventions on climate change and biodiversity.

After the Earth Summit, Strong became chair and chief executive officer of Ontario Hydro, North America's largest public utility, and applied the principles of sustainable development that were developed in Rio. Today he is the chair of Technology Development Inc., which funds research in nanotechnology to create affordable and environmentally friendly energy sources.

He has served on the board of directors for the United Nations Foundation, a U.N. affiliated organization established by Ted Turner's historic $1 billion donation. He is also a director of the World Economic Forum Foundation and since 1993 has been chair of the Earth Council, an international nongovernmental organization that promotes the implementation of the Earth Summit agreements.

He has received numerous conservation and humanitarian awards, as well as honorary doctorates from 52 universities in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia. Strong is a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star, and the Royal Societies of both Canada and Great Britain. His publications include the book "Where on Earth Are We Going?"

The Public Welfare Medal, consisting of a medal and an illuminated scroll, will be presented to Strong during the NAS annual meeting in April.

Just before he goes to Washington to accept the Public Welfare Medal in April, Strong will chair the opening plenary at GLOBE 2004, the world’s largest environmental business summit, held biennially in Vancouver, Canada. GLOBE 2004 will take place from March 31 to April 2, 2004.

GLOBE President and CEO John Wiebe said, “Maurice is one of the most influential men in the world, and his involvement as a plenary speaker will be of significant value to our delegates. In the past 30 years, no single person has done more for the environment movement.”

Gateway to World of Environmental Law Now Online

With more than 100,000 legal references, ECOLEX is intended as an essential resource for developing the necessary tools to promote environmental management and build capacity worldwide.

The new database was developed by combining the legal libraries of three organizations - the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and IUCN–The World Conservation Union, the world’s largest conservation organization.

The need for such a service became apparent in the constantly growing number and variety of requests to these three organizations for data, and for help in locating information on specific environmental law topics.

The information in the system covers treaties, national legislation, soft law and other non-binding policy and technical guidance documents, judicial decisions, and law and policy literature.

One of the unique aspects of the database is the inclusion of legal references from developing countries. Currently, more than 120 developing countries have provided input to ECOLEX.

Ensuring adequate information coverage from developing countries will remain an important goal for the ECOLEX partner organizations.

Over the past 30 years, environmental law become a recognized legal discipline, and a major tool for the achievement of environment and natural resource management, in the context of sustainable development.

Ever since the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment there has been a rapid growth in the number of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) negotiated by governments such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biodiversity, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistant Organic Pollutants.

Users of ECOLEX can now examine any one of 450 Multilateral Environmental Agreements and see which governments have signed or ratified that particular agreement. Conversely, it is also possible to see all the MEAs signed or ratified by any one government.

The ECOLEX partners are committed to the further development and enhancement of the gateway in order to respond to the ever increasing demand for information about environmental law from a wide user base ranging from decision makers, policy advisors and lawyers to nongovernmental organizations, advocacy groups, students, and the general public.