• SOUTH AFRICA
  Celebrities Combat Soweto's Worst Illegal Waste Dumps

• JAPAN
  Wetlands Landfill at Awase Flat Protested

• GERMANY
  Children Near Airports Read, Remember Poorly

• CANADA
  Fight for National Water Safety Standards

• CANADA
  Small Victory for Spotted Owl

• UK
  Marine Stewardship Council Certifies 100th Product

• INTERNATIONAL
  Children Paint a Bright Environmental Future

Celebrities Combat Soweto's Worst Illegal Waste Dumps

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 16, 2002 (ENS) - Baby Jake Matlala, South Africa's pint-sized boxing hero, and musician Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse are tackling the subject of environmental cleanup as if it were their special field.

According to public waste removal company Pikitup, these celebrities have been appointed as "champions" for the illegal dumping pilot project taking place in Soweto. They are to act as spokespersons, as well as mobilize community support for the initiative.

Project 100 Spots was officially launched on October 11. Pikitup's Marius de Villiers says out of 500 illegal dumping spots in Soweto, the worst were chosen for this project.

Health risks posed by illegal dumping are frightening. Pikitup believes children who play in open areas containing dumped waste are at risk of being injured by broken glass, sharp pieces of metal, used hypodermic needles or other dangerous items in the waste. Also, perishable waste like discarded food creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.

Apart from health risks, illegal dumping is costing the city approximately R20 million (US$2 million) per annum, and that is only from Soweto, where Pikitup collects 7,000 tons of illegally dumped waste each month.

To deal with this predicament, Pikitup has trained 45 staff and 25 Metro Police officers to conduct one-on-one interviews with residents and spread awareness and information about illegal dumping. At the same time, the "educators" will be informing residents about the range of waste management services offered by Pikitup. These include a wide range, from domestic waste and street sweeping to the collection and destruction of animal carcasses and bulk services to industries.

As part of the 100 Spots project, about 192,000 waste bins have been provided to the greater Soweto area. In some areas, householders are to place their rubbish in the bins instead of the usual plastic bags, and specially adapted trucks will collect it.

To keep the "rehabilitated former illegal dumping sites" clean, plans are afoot to form community-based "eco-community forums" that will accept ownership and responsibility of future maintaining the sites. "No dumping signs" will also be posted.

Ninty Metro Police officers will be deployed in Soweto to clamp down on illegal dumping once all the 100 spots have been cleaned up. Research conducted by Pikitup has revealed that illegal dumping is not so much an act of deliberate malice, but rather the result of an illegal dumping culture exacerbated by the apartheid era's failure to deliver effective waste collection and disposal services to all Joburg citizens.

Plans to take the project to other parts of Johannesburg are on the agenda. "With the comprehensive and efficient waste management services offered by Pikitup, there is no reason for any Joburg residents to engage in illegal dumping," says Pikitup.

{Published in cooperation with the City of Johannesburg.}

Wetlands Landfill at Japan's Awase Flat Protested

But work on a landfill in the Awase Tidal Flat Area marine area started last week, a project that includes the large scale mechanical transplanting of seagrass beds. A large amount of seagrass must be transplanted to make room for the landfill.

Conservationists say it is "unbelievable" that Japanese authorities would embark on "the destruction of such an important wetland" between the Johannesburg Summit and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands Conference of the Parties which is coming up in November.

They say developers have paid insufficient attention to the importance of remaining tidal flat areas in Okinawa Island.

Satoshi Kobayashi, who specializes in wetland conservation and environmental geography at Japan's Kushiro Public University, says the Okinawa General Bureau, the government agency in charge of development projects in Okinawa, has ignored its own Review and Monitoring Committee for the Environment. This committee was established to review the feasibility of large scale mechanical transplanting of seagrass beds at Awase.

At the last meeting of the Committee September 20, some members expressed their doubts about the feasibility of such large scale mechanical seagrass transplanting.

But the Okinawa General Bureau concluded that the committee has spent enough time on discussion, and that monitoring of transplanted seagrass should be continued while construction goes ahead, with a view to improving transplanting techniques. Meanwhile, they decided that most of the transplanting of seagrass will be carried out by hand.

Most NGOs oppose the project, as it would needlessly destroy one of the few remaining natural tidal flat/sea grass wetlands in Okinawa. If it must go ahead, they doubt whether a sufficient extent of seagrass beds can be transplanted by hand.

Children Near German Airports Read, Remember Poorly

Cornell University environmental psychologist Gary Evans, an international expert on environmental stress such as noise, crowding and air pollution, worked with Monika Bullinger of the University of Hamburg, Germany, as well as scientists at the German Research Foundation and at Swedish and U.S. institutions to study German children who went from a noisy environment to a quiet one and children who went from a quiet neighborhood to a noisy one.

The study, published in the September issue of "Psychological Science," tracked 326 children with an average age of 10, living near two sites in Munich - near the old airport, which was scheduled to close, and near the new airport site.

The children were assessed three times - six months before the old airport closed and the new one opened, and one year and the two years after the new airport opened.

"This is the first long term study of the same children before and after airports near them opened and closed. It nails down that it is almost certain that noise is causing the differences in children's ability to learn to read," says Evans. Other studies have shown that loud environmental noises interfere with children's ability to learn.

"Noise exposure is consistently linked to reading deficits and may interfere with speech perception and long term memory in primary school children," says Evans. "But it wasn't until we had this unprecedented opportunity to study children near the simultaneous opening and closing of the new and former Munich airports that we could actually find stronger evidence for a causal relation."

The latest study is evidence that exposure to chronic noise can have serious health, learning and motivational effects in children and adults.

Participants in the study include coauthor Staffan Hygge of the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Swedish Institute for Building Research. The study was supported, in part, by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Nordic Scientific Group for Noise Effects.

Fight for Canadian National Water Safety Standards

The national guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality, administered federally by Health Canada, are not legally enforceable, the Body Shop reminds visitors to its website. Regulating drinking water is the responsibility of the provinces, and they are not required to adopt the national standards. Only Alberta, Ontario and Quebec have standards close to the national guidelines. No single agency is clearly responsible for protecting drinking water.

"We need national action on safe drinking water," says Rifka Khalilieh, values facilitator for The Body Shop Canada. "Canadians deserve national legislation that establishes drinking water quality standards that are consistent across Canada. To avoid future disease outbreaks, the deficiencies and discrepancies in provincial and territorial legislation must be remedied."

Many hazardous substances prohibited in the United States' Safe Drinking Water Act, such as asbestos, thallium and a number of pesticides, are not listed in Canada's non-binding drinking water guidelines.

"The majority of Canadians would be shocked to learn about the discrepancies that exist between our two countries when it comes to drinking water protection," says Jerry DeMarco, managing lawyer with the Sierra Legal Defence Fund. "The U.S. legislation is far ahead of Canada's 'recommended' guidelines."

With a petition and request for donations, The Body Shop is supporting the Sierra Legal Defence Fund's push to encourage the federal government to replace the current National Guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality with a binding law that is consistent from coast-to-coast.

"At The Body Shop, as in life, water is central to our operation. Not only is water a main ingredient in many of the products created and sold in our shops, but it is the basis of our business," says Rifka. "From relaxing baths to daily skin care, clean water is an essential component."

"Waterproof: Canada's Drinking Water Report Card," a Sierra Legal Defence Fund report, is online at: http://www.sierralegal.org/reports/waterproof.pdf

Small Victory for Spotted Owl in British Columbia

The announcement by Interfor came three weeks after Sierra Legal Defence Fund, Western Canada Wilderness Committee and Forest Watch of British Columbia released a report entitled "Logging to Extinction" that predicted the extinction of the spotted owl from Canada within 10 years if logging was not immediately stopped in its habitat.

The report identified Interfor as the top corporate logger of spotted owl habitat, with 58 cut blocks totalling 393,180 cubic metres planned in the "core" habitat of this endangered species.

"This is all about doing the right thing," said Joe Foy of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. "Interfor has taken a very important first step. We are requesting a meeting with them to discuss further efforts that will be required to save Canada's most endangered bird species."

Interfor is withdrawing operations from designated spotted owl management areas. While these areas cover some spotted owl habitat, they do not encompass all critical spotted owl habitat in Interfor's license area. Rather, they follow the government's Spotted Owl Management Plan, which has been criticized for contributing to the spotted owl population declining by over 70 percent in just seven years.

There are currently fewer than 25 breeding pairs of spotted owls in southwestern B.C. This figure has been confirmed by government biologists who this year identified only two breeding pairs of spotted owls in the province.

The northern spotted owl is considered an indicator species. This owl requires at least 2,700 acres of dense old-growth forest or deep, narrow, heavily wooded canyons per breeding pair, according to a 1992 study, "The Olympic Rain Forest: an ecological web," published by the University of Washington. When these owls cease to reproduce or are declining in numbers, it is an indication that the forest ecosystem is suffering from fragmentation.

The provincial government refuses to act to preserve the owl. "Logging to Extinction" identified the province's own small business logging program as the number one logger of spotted owl habitat, but a meeting with Joyce Murray, minister of water, land and air protection on October 8, left environmentalists frustrated. "They want to study the owl to death," said Devon Page Sierra Legal Defence Fund lawyer and co-author of the report, "at a time when we need action and real leadership - this means legislation to stop logging in all remaining spotted owl habitat."

"Logging to Extinction" is online at: http://www.wildernesscommittee.org

Marine Stewardship Council Certifies 100th Product

Young's Fish For Life Alaska Salmon, with a lemon and dill crust, is this 100th milestone product. The UK's largest seafood company, Young's Bluecrest, subscribes to the aims and objectives of the Marine Stewardship Council. "When we hunt for fish in the world's oceans, we are seeking out the only wild-caught food that still plays an important part in the modern diet. Because of this, we have to ensure that we are fishing in such a way as to maintain the marine environment for future generations," the company says on its website.

The Marine Stewardship Council was established in 1997 by Unilever and WWF, the conservation organization. It has been independent since 1999.

MSC's eco-labeled products are sold by 23 retailers across nine countries. Six fisheries have been certified as sustainable by the MSC: Western Australian rock lobster, Thames Blackwater herring, Alaskan salmon, New Zealand hoki, Burry Inlet cockles and the South West mackerel handline fisheries. There are over 20 fisheries at some stage of the certification process.

The MSC is governed by a Board of Trustees, chaired by MP John Gummer. "It was only two years ago that we launched the first MSC eco-labeled product," Gummer said. "To have reached 100 products in this short space of time demonstrates just how seriously the commercial sector is taking the issue of overfishing."

"As supermarkets and restaurants increasingly look for solutions the MSC is becoming ever more visible on the ground as a credible and internationally accepted hallmark for the best practice in fisheries management," Gummer said.

UK television food connoisseur Loyd Grossman has lent his support as patron to Sea into the Future, the MSC's first fundraising campaign. Grossman said, 'This is a fantastic achievement for the MSC. It is critically important to support the MSC programme in order to ensure that overfishing is faced head on with genuinely positive solutions. I am proud to be part of a win-win solution for the fishing industry, the retail market, consumers and of course the marine environment."

Children Paint a Bright Environmental Future

The 12th international painting contest, jointly organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Japan's Foundation for Global Peace and the Environment is now underway and will continue until January 31, 2003. All entries will be archived at the National Museums of Ethnology, Japan.

"Preserve the Beautiful Oceans, Skies and Forests for the Future," is this year's theme. Prizes will be awarded for the best 500 entries, which will be used in the production of postcards, a calendar, posters, publications and exhibitions worldwide.

The annual painting competition last year attracted 9,043 entries from 51 countries. From the winning entries selected, several will be used in the preparation of a Calendar for Children for the Year 2004.

Ten of last year's winning paintings, representing the work of children from countries including India, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Japan, Finland and Argentina, are being turned into special cards. These will be available online and for sale in United Nations offices in a matter of weeks.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's executive director, said, "Images have, since primitive times, been sources of inspiration and contemplation able to reveal the joy and tragedy of humankind's place in the world. From the pre-historic cave paintings of Lascaux in the French Pyrenees, the rock art of the ancient Sahara, the carvings of the Inuits, the tattoos of the Maoris, and the photos of more recent times, they have chronicled our relationship with nature, the spiritual world and ourselves."

"Through the International Painting Contest for Children, we are eager to see the visions, aspirations and creativity of children. They are the future and can be inspirational teachers to each other and adults. Indeed many parents tell me that it is through the actions of children, often through community, school projects and competitions like the painting contest, that they have come to understand environmental issues more deeply," Toepfer said.

The Foundation for Global Peace and the Environment of Japan was founded in 1991 to work on wide-ranging global issues related to the environment, peace and sport. Since its inception, the Foundation has been a key partner of UNEP's Children, Youth/ Sport and the Environment Unit and has worked with UNEP to organize global environmental events and activities.

The sponsors of this year's contest are all from Japan. They include Honda Motors, Ajinomoto, Ricoh Unitechno, Fujitsu, Takara, Showa Note, Sun Star Stationary, Japan Toy Culture Foundation, OITA Yuki Center and OYC Corporation. The contest is also being supported by National Museum of Ethnology, Japan, as well as well as the Japanese ministries of environment, foreign affairs, education, agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

For more information, contact: Tomoko Yano, Secretary General, Foundation for Global Peace and Environment, Email: fgpe@chikyu-e.com or log onto: http://www.unep.org/children_youth/kids/painting.htm