Friday, 5th February 2010
IN THIS ISSUE
Anti-Poaching Fight Still On
Gorongosa Restoration Project
Cooling Hot Rumours
Restoration of a tropical island: Cousine…..
Nations Move to Preserve Resources
Southern African Wildlife College’s new e-newsletter
Rhino Resource Center
Nick and Jan Tredger have posted a new blog
Tailpiece
Hi again,
Herewith, some snippets from various sources.
I appeal to you to send me items to distribute to our members for the Cleft Stick, the Game Ranger magazine and to be posted on the web site. These are your magazines and website, so ensure it gets the news that you would like to see in it.
Please let me have any changes to your physical address, phone no. or e-mail address to keep the database up to date. Remember this is the address we will send your Game Ranger Magazine to.
Thanks to all of you who have made the effort. Please will any of you who know of members who do not get this "electric" Cleft~Stick, & have access to e-mail, pass their address along to me.
Don Yunnie
7 Chalet Drive, Hilton, 3245, South Africa Local Tel & Fax (033) 343 1534
Int. Tel & Fax (+2733) 343 1534 cell 082 377 7562, E-mail dyunnie@telkomsa.net
If you do not wish to receive this e-mail newsletter please send a blank e-mail to me at the above address with the word “Unsubscribe” as the message heading.
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ANTI-POACHING FIGHT STILL ON
Date: 21 January 2010
From: South African National Parks (SANParks)
Embargo: None
The Chief Executive Officer of South African National Parks (SANParks), Dr David Mabunda, announced today (21 January 2010) that the fight against poaching is heating up with the recent arrest of more suspected poachers in the Kruger National Park.
He further announced that with these successes have also come the sad news of more rhinos continuing to be poached across the country.
Thus far, 46 arrests have been made since 2008, with 17 having been made in 2008, 29 arrests in 2009 and two (2) arrests in the first two (2) weeks of January 2010. Investigations are continuing, with a number of leads on some more suspects, and the investigating team predicts that more arrests will be made soon.
South African National Parks has in the last three years (2008-2010) lost 93 rhinos; 36 in 2008, 50 in 2009 and seven (7) in 2010.
The final recorded figure for South Africa for 2009 was 122, with the most losses being in the Kruger National Park (50), Gauteng province (7), Limpopo province (16), Mpumalanga province (6), North West province (10), Eastern Cape province (3), Free State province (2) and Kwazulu Natal province (28).
In the first two weeks of 2010 seven (7) rhinos were lost in North West province and seven (7) in the Kruger National Park.
SANParks also wants to extend a heartfelt gratitude to a tourist that cannot be named for her own safety, who assisted SANParks in discovering one of the rhinos which were poached in recent weeks. The tourist, upon seeing a hornless rhino wondering by the tourist road, immediately called the authorities to inform them of this sighting. The poachers are still at large but SANParks has strong leads on the suspects.
“We would like to encourage our guests to continue to be vigilant while driving in the park and report any suspicious incident, movement or behaviour because their presence is vital in the gathering of information and ultimate reduction of this assault on our wildlife.”
“We are not forgetting upstanding members of our communities who have in the past assisted us in foiling the plans of these would be poachers and even arresting them. We are saying that we cannot finish this task without your invaluable help. We need all the information you can provide on these criminals so that we can put them away for a long time.”
Dr Mabunda also indicated that plans are at an advanced stage to bring in members of the military to patrol the international borders of the Kruger National Park as well as to camp out in specific areas of the park.
“South Africans must realise that we are not dealing with your ordinary petty criminal here, these poachers are members of well-resourced syndicates and are also involved in chilling crimes like human trafficking, arms smuggling, prostitution and drug trafficking. They are dangerous criminals. South Africans throughout the country must be on the lookout for these criminals as some of them may be your neighbour in your quiet neighbourhood far from the parks.”
For other previous related articles on the matter please visit the SANParks website www.sanparks.org or link to the following pages:
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/news/2009/poaching.php
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/news/2009/anti-poaching.php
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/news/2009/poachers_arrested.php
http://www.sanparks.org/about/news/2009/july/rhino_response_knp.php
http://www.sanparks.org/about/news/2009/july/rhino_response.php
http://www.sanparks.org/about/news/2009/september/mabunda_editorial.php
ENDS
Issued by:
SANParks Corporate Communications
Media Enquiries:
wanda mkutshulwa - Head of Communications, Tel: (012) 426 5201, Cell: 083 908 2692 email:
wandam@sanparks.org
Gorongosa Restoration Project
Who can be in any doubt about the efficacy of the "Gorongosa Restoration Project" (formerly-Carr Foundation) in turning around a world famous national park from an area devastated by 14 years of war to one on the road, not only to complete recovery but also with the probability of expanding its ecological boundaries to include vitally important Serra Gorongosa whose perennial rivers are the lifeblood of the park
Community of Nhangúo receives 20 percent of GNP revenues
http://www.gorongosa.net/en/news-event/271109_Nhanguo_Recebe_20/community-of-nhango-receives-20-percent-of-gnp-revenues
The Gorongosa District Government, on the past 27th of October, proceeded with the assignment of a cheque of 88 623,95 MT in favor of the community of Nhangúo, represented by the Ngaiwanwe Nhangúo Association, led by the local Natural Resources Management Committee.
The monetary value corresponds to the quotient of division of 20 percent of the revenues derived from the tourism fees of Gorongosa National Park (GNP), regarding the 2007 economic outcome. An equal value was proportioned by four among 15 resident communities in the buffer zone of the conservation area now referred to as namely Nhambita, Tambarara and Sandjungira. They all benefited in an equal amount the past year, in the scope of the Mozambican legislation about forests and wildlife.
Nhanguo receives its portion late because only recently has it obtained a bank account in which the consigned profit money was transferred by the licensed entity.
The presentation ceremony united members of the district and local government, representatives of GNP, leaders of community authorities, people of the region and of other nearby zones, among other guests.
The administrator of the district of Gorongosa, speaking in the occasion, said that "GNP is a national heritage and generates benefits for Mozambicans", of whom he asked "the greatest involvement of everybody in its conservation is through the inspection and management of uncontrolled burnings, poaching, deforestation as well as the removal of the vegetation cover along the hydrographic basins".
João Oliveira explained that without ecosystems the Park will stop being a place of tourist appeal and will consequently stop generating socioeconomic benefits for the local communities and the Country in general.
"If animals are killed, trees are cut and farms are made along the rivers, the tourists will not have more reasons for visit Gorongosa and the Park will remain without money to continue building schools, hospitals and fountains, finance community development projects, create job opportunities, and contributing to the profits of the State" – he concluded.
In his turn, the director of GNP Community Relations, Mateus Mutemba, described the origin and the form of deduction of the percentage of the 88.623,95 MT delivered, as being within the signed long-term management Agreement between the Government of Mozambique and the "Gorongosa Restoration Project" (formerly-Carr Foundation), aiming at the restoration of GNP.
In parallel, he appealed for the reinforcement of good neighborhood relations between the surrounding communities, aiming at the protection, conservation and promotion of the sustainable use of natural resources.
The vigorous appeal was released regarding Nhangúo doing less in matter of defense of the integrity of that area of total protection. "Several fires reached the Sanctuary of the PNG in the beginning of the past September, however, the register of the fire detection satellite images indicated that some of them had begun in this community", referred Mateus Mutemba.
In another development, he explained that "starting from next year the distribution of the 20 percent of the profits consigned in favor of the communities of the buffer zone will be on the basis of the level of their participation in the conservation of the Park, meaning, those who work will receive more money and those who take on less will have little reward". For this, he said, the Park will sign agreements of conservation with each one of the communities of the park buffer zone, establishing all the rules and obligations of each part.
Nhangúo commits to controlling burnings and hunting
The community of Nhangúo, with more than two thousand people, publicly assumed in the end of the action, a commitment to preserve the distinct ecosystems of GNP.
The president of the Natural Resources Management Committee, Martinho António, when he spoke to those present in the name of the collective said "we are happy with what just happened. Nobody of the zone believed in the availability of 20 percent of the profits of the Park in our favor. We thought that was a lie of the Government when they spoke if it".
Knowing the certainty of the benefits, Martinho António, lent an oath in which said "if we set fires and hunted animals of the Park, from today we will stop doing so”, under the strong applause of the participants, in gesture of agreement to the abandonment of the previously practiced illicit activities.
The Community already decided in what to invest
Being impossible to resolve all of their needs with the funding received, the population of the chiefdom of Nhangúo, in the locality of Púnguè, in Gorongosa, has many, but it already knows how the money will be used.
According to Francisco Júnior, member of the Natural Resources Management Committee, the community that was united there days ago in a consultative forum with an aim to enlist the local problems and in the respective prioritization, decided to use the budget for the construction of an emergency post in the region and that which, by happiness remain, will be used in the financing of agricultural projects. Nhangúo is one of the communities in which GNP lends the service of a mobile clinic because of the distance of the community from a health unit.
Ceremony in a festive environment
The Chibango Mapaza Cultural Group of Gorongosa, coming from the district town-headquarters, under the leadership of José Chibango, gave more light and color to the party with songs and good dances to the rhythm of drum sounds played with a lot of expertise.
The inhabitants of Nhangúo showed themselves to be very satisfied with the money, having shown their joy through the traditional dances of Mapaza and Djole.
The party finished with a lunch of fellowship in the home of the Chief Abreu Nhangúo, where the people ate and drank.
Carlitos Sunza
GNP Department of Communications
Cooling Hot Rumours By Andrew Kenny
In the next two months you will see hysterical stories about melting ice caps, rising seas and other catastrophes to be caused by manmade global warming.
They are all nonsense. The reason for them is the Copenhagen Conference in December, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse emissions. Overwhelming scientific evidence shows there is no basis for the belief that mankind is changing the climate in a dangerous way.
This is causing near panic among climate alarmists. So they are dreaming up scare stories to try to raise consternation before Copenhagen.
The climate always changes, There was nothing unusual about the slight warming (about 0,6C) in the 20th century. It was no different from previous natural warming periods.
During the Medieval Warm Period from about 900 to 1200 AD, temperatures around the world were rather higher than now.
The Vikings had a colony on Greenland, growing crops where it is now too cold for them. Then temperatures dropped into the Little Ice Age, from about 1400 to 1800AD. Since then they have been rising naturally. Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is a harmless, natural gas upon which green plants depend and therefore we depend. Over the past half a billion years it has averaged over 2 000ppm(parts per million). It is now at 390ppm, extremely low, far below the optimum level for green plants. It was even lower in the 19th century, but mankind has pushed it up slightly by deforestation and burning fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide is a feeble greenhouse gas and its only significant absorption band is already saturated, so adding more has little effect. It has never been seen to drive global temperatures.
Mounting evidence shows that global temperatures are mainly influenced by variations in the Sun, especially in its emission of charged particles. These affect the formation of low clouds on Earth, which reflect away sunlight and cause cooling. There is a good correlation between solar activity and global temperatures.
Since satellite measurements began in 1978, the Antarctic has been cooling and its ice increasing. Only the West Antarctic Peninsula, about 5% of the total, has been warming. (The alarmists only show you this 5%, they don’t want you to see the 95% that is cooling.)
The Arctic was warmer than now in the 1930s, when the North East Passage from Europe to Asia was a regular shipping lane. In the past 30 years or so, until 2007, the Arctic has been warming and its ice decreasing. Since 2007 it has been increasing again.
The warmest year globally in the past 100 years was 1998 (in the US it was 1934). All years since have been cooler.
Belief in manmade global warming is not science, it is religion. It is a lucrative religion, bringing jobs, funding, travel and conferences to a multitude of people who now have a huge vested interest in keeping the scare going. Its high church is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a politically funded propaganda organisation which is dedicated to promoting climate alarm.
The Sun has become very quiet recently. We might be in for a period of cooling. Let’s hope not, because cooling is far more dangerous than warming.
Let us also hope that the nonsense at Copenhagen is kept to a minimum.
What some of our members have been up to!
Restoration of a tropical island: Cousine Island, Seychelles
Michael J. Samways • Peter M. Hitchins •Orty Bourquin • Jock Henwood
Received: 1 April 2008 / Accepted: 14 November 2008 / Published online: 3 December 2008 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008
Abstract Tropical island species and ecosystems are threatened worldwide as a result of increasing human pressure. Yet some of these islands also lend themselves to restoration, as they are physically deWned units that can be given focused attention, as long as resources are available and clear conservation targets are set. Cousine Island, Seychelles, is a tropical island that has received such intensive restoration. From a highly degraded island in the 1960s, the island has now been restored to what is believed to be a semblance of the natural state. All alien vertebrates have been eradicated, as have 25 invasive alien plants. Cultivated plants are now confined to one small section of the island. Poaching of nesting marine turtles has been stopped, leading to an increase in turtle breeding numbers. The shearwater population has increased in size with poaching activities under control. The Sooty tern has also returned to the island to breed. The coastal plain has been restored with over 2,500 indigenous shrubs and trees, which have now grown into a forest carpet. There are strict quarantine procedures on the island, keeping it free of rats, mice, various alien invertebrates and potentially invasive alien plants. Three threatened Seychelles endemic land birds (Seychelles warbler, Seychelles magpie robin and Seychelles white-eye) have been introduced and are thriving, with these introductions contributing to both the magpie robin and the white-eye being downgraded from CR to EN (the warbler remains at VU). Ecotourism, and nature conservation for the local inhabitants, have been introduced in a way that does not reduce the improved compositional, structural and functional biodiversity of the island. The result of the restoration eVort appears to be sustainable in the long term, although challenges still remain, especially with regards to adequate clean water and a non-polluting power supply on the island. Cousine is thus paving the way in the art and science of tropical island restoration as a legacy for future generations. This paper is dedicated to Fred Keeley, patron of Cousine Island, whose insight bequeaths to future generations a jewel of an island.
M. J. Samways (&)
Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology and Centre for Invasion Biology,
Stellenbosch University, Matieland 7612, South Africa
e-mail: Samways@sun.ac.za
P. M. Hitchins
P.O. Box 101834, Meer en See 3901, South Africa
e-mail: pmhitchins@mweb.co.za
O. Bourquin
172 Stillwater Loop, Columbus, MT 59019, USA
e-mail: ortyb@imt.net
J. Henwood
P.O. Box 977, Cousine Island, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles
e-mail: cousine@seychelles.net
Nations Move to Preserve Resources
In the vast arid plains and coastline of the Sperrgebiet region of Namibia and the lush forests of the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania, nations took bold steps this year to protect ecosystems that are crucial to people and biodiversity.
The declaration of Sperrgebiet National Park in Namibia was a tremendous boon for the Succulent Karoo, one of just two desert biodiversity hotspots. The 2.6-million-hectare park remained virtually untouched for more than 100 years while under the control of mining companies who limited access. It is a refuge for nearly 25 percent of Namibia’s plant species.
“The declaration of this area as a national park was the catalyst needed to create and consolidate a series of protected areas that will span the entire Namibian coastline,” says Chris Brown, of the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF). Such large swaths of natural habitat buffer climate change, predicted to alter rainfall patterns and threaten the resiliency of the area’s plants.
CEPF supported NNF in development of management and tourism plans that include ecotourism concessions for nearby communities, allowing them to benefit from the growing influx of visitors.
Concerns about the impact of climate change also came into the fore in the declaration of the Uluguru Nature Reserve in Tanzania. Through the efforts of the U.N. Development Program and Global Environment Facility, and with support from CEPF, the Tanzanian government recognized the need to preserve these forests. Located west of Dar es Salaam, the new protected area links three forest reserves and a strip of previously farmed land to create a 24,000-hectare reserve.
Conserving these mountain forests protects the headwaters that feed the Ruvu River, the major water supply and source of hydroelectric power for millions of residents of Dar es Salaam and beyond. It also prevents the release of the carbon the forests store, averting furtherance of climate change.
More info at http://www.cepf.net/Pages/default.aspx
Southern African Wildlife College’s new e-newsletter
The SAWC have produced the first issue of the Southern African Wildlife College’s new e-newsletter.
It is a 1.44mb pdf attachment – If you would like to receive it contact me for a copy, or go to their website
http://www.wildlifecollege.org.za , or contact
Sunel Lindeque
Resource Centre Supervisor
Southern African Wildlife College
Tel: 015 793 7315
Fax: 015 793 7314
RHINO RESOURCE CENTER Newsletter 18 - February 2010
Here is the quarterly newsletter of the Rhino Resource Center, no. 18, dated 1 February 2010. Edited by Kees Rookmaaker.
You can find the full version in PDF format on our website – click here.
RHINO RESOURCE CENTER
www.rhinoresourcecenter.com
mail to Rhino Resource Center [mailto:rhino@rookmaaker.freeserve.co.uk]
NEWSLETTER #18
FEBRUARY 2010
Dear colleagues and friends,
This is the 18th issue of the quarterly e-newsletter of the RRC – the Rhino Resource Center. Edited by Dr Kees Rookmaaker.
This quarter, there are 92 new references to literature about rhinos in Africa, in Asia and in captivity. There are now 5739 PDFs of these papers on the website, which shows an increase of over three hundred in these three months.
The website of the RRC changes daily, with new items being listed as they come in. Many are now sent to me by authors or publishers, because they realize that the RRC is the best method to provide information on rhinos to a wide audience. The RRC receives an average of 250 visits every day, with thousands of pages being read. It is good to know that over seven thousand people look at the site every month.
The picture gallery on the website must be used to be fully appreciated. There are over two thousand pictures, some from old books, some from the wild, and many from zoos around the world. We are always looking for additions, which are fully attributed and can be seen by thousands across the world. Contact me and send the pictures as jpg in email attachment.
This edition of the newsletter is sent out slightly early, because I am in the process of moving to Singapore to take up a post at the National University (NUS) working on a project to provide the works of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace online. For the first time in my life, I will be close enough to rhino habitats in Asia to visit the sites and discuss all the important conservation initiatives in the region.
The last part of 2009 has seen some special happenings. On 5 September 2009, the Sumatran rhino ‘Emi’ died in the zoo of Cincinnati due to liver failure. As she had been a succesfull mother during her stay in the USA, her death is a severe blow to the captive breeding programme. Soon after, there was positive news from Sumatra, that two rhinos in the rhino facility in Way Kambas, Andalas and Ratu, had successfully mated. So we should write June 2011 in our diary for the next celebration.
In an attempt to save the white rhino of Central Africa from imminent extinction, four specimens were transported from the zoo of Dvur Kralove to the Ol Pejeta Reserve in northern Kenya. It is hoped that a change of environment will induce breeding. This is of course a challenging course of action, and we can only wish that it will bring great success for future generations of the taxon. However, to keep the genetics clear, there should be no cross-breeding with animals from other parts of Africa.
Soon after the arrival of the four white rhino in Kenya in December 2009, there was news of a sighting of three rhino in Southern Sudan by Russian pilots flying over the region. I have not seen details of the actual locality, but would just want to recall that both black and white rhino have historically been seen in the southern half of the Sudan. Both would be special, and this time conservation action should beat the poachers.
Research is essential. Students and staff need information about past work, the best approach, the most significant questions to be answered in their particular expertise. They can spend months in a library gathering elusive papers and books, or simply log on the Rhino Resource Center for immediate results anywhere in the world.
The work of the Rhino Resource Center
is supported by International Rhino Foundationand SOS Rhino
MEETINGS
The annual Rhino Mayday is taking place on Wednesday 5 May 2010 at the Huxley Conference Theatre at London Zoo in Regent's Park. A definite date for your diary. It is organised by Save the Rhino International – who have just given a great donation to further the work of the RRC.
NEW LITERATURE
(finalised 14 January 2010)
In the past quarter (November 2009 to January 2010), we have added 92 new references, to bring the total number of items in the database to 13,229. Of these, 43 percent are available as PDF, and many are searchable in the notes.
Below I have listed new entries published in the 21st century (and a few special older ones) in four categories: General, African rhinos, Asian rhinos and Fossil species. If you are interested in one of these titles, always check the RRC website first if it may be available there.
Nick and Jan Tredger have posted a new blog
Hi all,
New Blog posted - enjoy, For those who haven't opened one yet, just click on the link and it will open itself. Very easy. No viruses!
Nick and Jan
http://eco-muses.spaces.live.com/
Tailpiece
At the end of the tax year, the IRS office sent an inspector to audit the books of a local hospital. While the IRS agent was checking the books he turned to the CFO of the hospital and said, "I notice you buy a lot of bandages. What do you do with the end of the roll when there's too little left to be of any use?"
"Good question," noted the CFO. "We save them up and send them back to the bandage company and every now and then they send us a free box of bandages."
"Oh," replied the auditor, somewhat disappointed that his unusual question had a practical answer. But on he went, in his obnoxious way.
"What about all these plaster purchases? What do you do with what's left over after setting a cast on a patient?"
"Ah, yes," replied the CFO, realizing that the inspector was trying to trap him with an unanswerable question. "We save it and send it back to the manufacturer, and every now and then they send us a free package of plaster."
"I see," replied the auditor, thinking hard about how he could fluster the know-it-all CFO. "Well," he went on, "What do you do with all the leftover foreskins from the circumcisions you perform?"
"Here, too, we do not waste," answered the CFO. "What we do is save all the little foreskins and send them to the IRS Office, and about once a year they send us a complete dick."