Rangers said burning poisoned vulture carcasses removes the poison from the ecosystem. Wildlife ACT / Mongabay
By Fred Kockott
Another mass vulture poisoning incident has ended the year on a sour note for Wildlife ACT rangers in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal.
<p>Soon after releasing two rehabilitated vultures, rescued from a different poisoning scene earlier this year, WildLife ACT was alerted to another incident on Dec. 23, on Rolling Valley Ranch, located between Pongola and Mkuze in the far north of the province.</p>
<p>"Arriving at a scene like this with everything so fresh, but too late to assist in saving any poisoned birds is heartbreaking. Losing one vulture is always a tragedy. Losing at least 16 birds at one feeding is a crisis," said PJ Roberts, manager of Wildlife ACT's Emergency Response Team.</p><p>Wildlife ACT works closely with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, local farmers and communities, and other conservation groups to <a href="https://wildlifeact.com/about-wildlife-act/wildlife-species/vultures/" target="_blank">protect three endangered vulture species in KwaZulu-Natal</a>.</p><p>The first bird found, a white-backed vulture (<em>Gyps africanus</em>), hinted at Roberts's worst fears: "It had a full crop (still containing undigested food), contorted feet and many dead flies were scattered around its remains — all clear signs of fast-acting poison."</p><p>The team swept the area, but it took an aerial search to locate more victims. "We landed to find the devastating remains of multiple birds hidden at the base of the tree. Included in this discovery was the removed, yellow, wing tags of H065; a young lappet-faced vulture (<em>Torgos tracheliotos</em>) tagged in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in October 2017 as a fledgling," said Roberts.</p><p>"No more than 30m away, the morbid discovery of 13 processed and harvested white-backed vultures, with their heads and feet removed, were found very purposefully hidden in a thick bush," added Roberts.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjM2MTcyNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTY0MDg3Mn0.MysjGvCDwhJ6aPXpCNJl8q7oOFVeaJl5yJSp2U16nRQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="5aa35" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7f41bafad10c573d40bfcce0a2654e0b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Wildlife ACT response team with the bodies of 13 white-backed vultures, poisoned for the traditional medicine trade. Wildlife ACT / Mongabay
<p>Nearby was the body of an impala — snared, killed, and laced with poison. The rangers burned all the contaminated carcasses to ash to remove the poison from the ecosystem.</p><p>It is the fourth vulture poisoning incident in northern Zululand this year, bringing the total recorded number of vultures harvested for body parts in this region alone to 53. The actual number of birds killed is believed to be much higher as many incidents are never detected.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ewt.org.za/what-we-do/what-we-do-species/vultures-for-africa/" target="_blank">Endangered WildLife Trust's (EWT) Vultures for Africa Programme</a> manager, Andre Botha, said it was difficult to quantify how many vultures are deliberately poisoned for body parts.</p><p>According to records kept by EWT, more than 1,200 vultures have been deliberately poisoned in Southern and Eastern Africa this year. Culprits include poachers who poison the carcasses of elephant and other game in an apparent effort to conceal illegal activities from rangers. These poisonings are referred to as "sentinel poisonings", as vultures circling over poached animals alert rangers to the killings.</p><p><a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12182" target="_blank">Africa's vulture populations have already declined by an average 62 percent over the past three decades</a> — with seven species crashing by 80 percent. Experts recently warned that the continent's vulture populations face the prospect of collapsing, in much the same way as vulture species did in Asia thirty years ago.</p><p>In the early 1990s, millions of Asian vultures died after eating the remains of cows in carcass dumps; India has 500 million cows raised for milk, but not eaten by the majority Hindu population. Scientists identified the culprit: diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory used by vets. Vultures feeding on carcasses containing the drug died swiftly of kidney failure.</p><p>The reasons for the African vulture crisis are vastly different. They include habitat loss, ingestion of lead ammunition, collisions with power lines, accidental drownings in farm water reservoirs, and the use of poisoned bait by livestock owners to kill predators like jackals. Vultures feeding off the carcasses subsequently die, often in significant numbers.</p><p>But many more are poisoned deliberately to harvest body parts for belief-based use.</p>
<p>"The vultures are killed for their heads and feet and other parts," said Chris Kelly, a species director at Wildlife ACT. "This is definitely the single biggest threat to diminishing vulture populations in this province," said Kelly.</p><p>In many parts of Africa, vultures are believed to have psychic powers, including an ability to see into the future.</p><p>According to a fact sheet from EWT, the brains of the bird are dried, rolled and smoked as joints or simply burnt and the fumes inhaled. Users believe this improves their odds when they gamble on the lottery or place bets on sport. Students take it when preparing for exams. Other reported uses of vultures include consuming their eyes to improve eyesight, their beaks for protection, or their feet to heal fractured bones or make a person run faster.</p><p>In 2014, EWT estimated that 130,000 traders, hunters and traditional healers were operating in South Africa. This figure is believed to have increased, sparking calls from conservationists, environmental scientists and wildlife experts at this year's <a href="https://conservationsym2019.dryfta.com/" target="_blank">Conservation Symposium</a> for an awareness-building campaign to reduce this consumption and demand for vulture parts.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjM2MTkwNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODE0NjkxNX0.R-62PKK1sJiwH0LF9GK5HXZLLqIuLBw4I6iuH-ZW5Ec/img.jpg?width=980" id="3be72" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="85a0cc8ac0066e9e095f3a83a1d607d7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Poisoned vulture: more than 1,200 vultures have been deliberately poisoned in Southern and Eastern Africa in 2019. Wildlife ACT / Mongabay
<p>"Vultures provide critically important ecosystem services by cleaning up carcasses thus reducing the spread of dangerous diseases such as anthrax and rabies and resulting in highly significant economic and human health benefits," said Brent Coverdale, an animal scientist for Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife at the symposium. "We really can't afford to lose them."</p><p>As vultures are protected by law, it is illegal to possess or kill any of the six vulture species found in South Africa. Nevertheless, deliberate killings continue.</p><p>Roberts said the latest poisoning incident had been reported to local police.</p><p>"We are hoping this leads to an arrest," said Roberts. "If the illegal harvest of these birds is not halted, then extinction may be just around the corner and the services that they provide within the ecosystem will be lost forever."</p><p>As part of a bid to save vulture populations, managers of conservation areas and private game reserves in South Africa are collaborating to <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/lift-off-for-first-african-vulture-safe-zones/" target="_blank">create safe havens for existing vulture populations</a>.</p><p><em><em>Fred Kockott is the founding director of <a href="https://rovingreporters.co.za/" target="_blank">Roving Reporters</a>, a journalism training agency that focuses on environmental, social and justice issues.</em></em></p><p><em>Additional reporting by Mlu Mdletshe, Roving Reporters.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/alarm-over-mass-vulture-poisoning-in-south-africa/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Nitrogen dioxide pollution around the world. Greenpeace
Greenpeace has revealed the world's largest nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution hotspots across six continents, and identified Mpumalanga, South Africa as the biggest NO2 hotspot, even outranking areas in China, India and the U.S.
The lush, green province is home to the southern half of Kruger National Park and the iconic Blyde River Canyon. At the same time, it's home to a dozen coal fired power plants owned and operated by the power utility Eskom.
<p>
NO2 is a dangerous pollutant that's emitted when <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> such as coal, oil, gas or diesel are burned at high temperatures, and also comes from transportation, forest fires and crop burning. The gas can react to create smog, acid rain and is central to the formation of fine particles and ground ozone, which are <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/air-pollution-health-effects-2615116926.html">both linked to adverse health effects</a>.</p><p>
"The health toll from these emissions shows the need for an energy revolution that eliminates our reliance on fossil fuels: <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy">renewable power generation</a>, energy efficiency, transport and mobility systems that rely less on private cars, as well as electric vehicles," Greenpeace explained in a <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/planet4-international-stateless/2018/10/07426a79-no2-air-pollution-analysis-greenpeace.pdf" target="_blank">report</a>.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e6ad5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0WSA0U1576662657"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1056893239809269762" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Burning coal releases NO2 into the air. NO2 is a dangerous air pollutant that causes asthma and lung cancer. Reside… https://t.co/GKdmnGtfBc</div> — Greenpeace Africa (@Greenpeace Africa)<a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeaceafric/statuses/1056893239809269762">1540817959.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Greenpeace's new analysis is based on data produced by the European Space Agency's <a href="https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-eo-missions/sentinel-5p" target="_blank">Sentinel 5P satellite</a>, which measures air pollution in the atmosphere, between June to August 2018.<br></p><p>
Besides Mpumalanga being the biggest NO2 hotspot, the findings show that China has the world's highest number of individual hotspots, followed by the Middle East, the European Union, India, the U.S. and the Democratic Republic of Congo, <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1441504/highest-concentration-of-deadly-air-pollution-found-in-south-africa/" target="_blank">Quartz Africa</a> noted from the study.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODc3ODYxOS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MjYyNjE0NH0.F3GU_X5PlWcJo4cvFwbMwJCXtlRR40AcAAmg1IAF4Ds/img.png?width=980" id="3d37d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="25fd23980a249f035ab6a40ee4e065df" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">NO2 pollution in the United States. The colored dots represent a power plant. The colored clouds show the level of NO2 in the area. The darker—or pinker–the cloud, the higher the concentration. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Greenpeace</small>
</p><p>
An interactive mapping of global NO2 pollution can be <a href="https://energydesk.carto.com/builder/4c2ece4f-3367-4432-a418-8ce61ca01801/embed" target="_blank">seen here</a>.
</p><p>
"The map also points to the impact of emissions regulations in some places. While there are plenty of coal plants in the U.S., NO2 concentrations near plants in India, <a href="https://cer.org.za/news/despite-severe-health-impacts-eskom-again-seeks-to-delay-compliance-with-air-pollution-standards" target="_blank">South Africa</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/15/australian-coal-power-pollution-would-be-illegal-in-us-europe-and-china-report" target="_blank">Australia </a><a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/02/12/ngo-planned-new-coal-emission-standards-not-strict-enough.html" target="_blank">and Indonesia</a> stand out much more. In these countries, there has been <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/pollution/over-300-coal-based-power-plants-continue-to-emit-more-as-deadline-to-comply-with-strict-emission-norms-ends/articleshow/61967541.cms" target="_blank">a failure</a> to enforce meaningful pollution standards, or to implement them," Greenpeace's journalism unit, <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2018/10/29/nitrogen-dioxide-no2-pollution-world-map/" target="_blank">Unearthed</a>, pointed out.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f61b7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="U5O1ZW1576662657"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1054870133137641473" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">5 Ways Trump Is 'Gaslighting' Us on U.S. Air Pollution Levels #TrumpWatch #TrumpTweets #CleanAir #TuesdayThoughts… https://t.co/a8VIl09yBE</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1054870133137641473">1540335612.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Greenpeace researchers noted that the extreme NO2 pollution levels emanating from Mpumalanga blow into the nearby cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
</p><p>
"Because South Africa's coal-belts are hidden from view for the majority of South Africans, it can be easy to pretend that they don't actually exist. The reality is that coal extraction and burning has devastating impacts on the people living in the area," Melita Steele, the senior climate and energy campaign manager of Greenpeace Africa, said in a <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/Press-Centre-Hub/New-satellite-data-reveals-the-worlds-largest-air-pollution-hotspot-is-Mpumalanga---South-Africa/" target="_blank">press release</a>. "This satellite data now confirms that there is nowhere to hide: Eskom's coal addiction in Mpumalanga means that millions of people living in Johannesburg and Pretoria are also impacted by the pollution from coal."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e383f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="K7WMT31576662658"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1056916493240356865" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">THREAD: @KhuluPhasiwe your tweets seem to be in response to news that Mpumalanga has the world's dirtiest air:… https://t.co/WgBZRJlNqB</div> — Melita Steele (@Melita Steele)<a href="https://twitter.com/Melita_Steele/statuses/1056916493240356865">1540823503.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Cities such as Santiago de Chile, London, Paris, Dubai and Tehran were also singled out by the analysis due to transport-related emissions.
</p><p>
"Air pollution is a global health crisis, with up to 95 percent of the world's population breathing unsafe air," Steele continued in the press release. "South Africa is a significant global hotspot with its high concentration of coal power stations and its weak air pollution standards. Our Government urgently needs to come up with an action plan that protects millions of people, instead of dirty coal power stations." <span></span>
</p><p>
Steele <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muhm09ZgUWA&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">explained</a> the new findings in the video:</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a79cc3cbbe13bdab1293338fbfd62017"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Muhm09ZgUWA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Mpumalanga is the world's biggest air pollution hotspot</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muhm09ZgUWA&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p>
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One World Animal Day event protests the killing of mother macaques as children are captured for the pet trade. Thai National Parks / CC BY-SA 2.0
Thursday is World Animal Day, a day dedicated to improving the well-being of animals across the planet.
"To achieve this, we encourage animal welfare organisations, community groups, youth and children's clubs, businesses and individuals to organize events in celebration of World Animal Day. Involvement is growing at an astonishing rate and it's now widely accepted and celebrated in a variety of different ways in many countries, with no regard to nationality, religion, faith or political ideology," the event's website says.
<p>Here are some of the creative, informative and sometimes adorable <a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events" target="_blank">happenings</a> around the world in honor of both wild and domestic animals.</p><p><strong>Jakarta, Indonesia</strong></p><p>Activists in Jakarta, Indonesia have organized a moving protest to oppose the killing of mother macaques, whose children are then captured and sold as pets. On World Animal Day, the <a href="https://www.jakartaanimalaid.com/" target="_blank">Jakarta Animal Aid Network</a> <a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events/view/sending-flowers-to-remind-the-mothers-of-primate-babies-killed-for-the-primate-pet-trade" target="_blank">is asking</a> concerned citizens to mail or bring flowers to decision makers' offices in order to commemorate the thousands of monkeys killed in Indonesia every year as part of this cruel practice and to encourage them to put a stop to the deaths.</p><p><strong>Dhaka, Bangladesh</strong></p><p>The People for Animal Welfare (PAW) Foundation is offering free checkups to pets at its clinic, the <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2018/10/04/world-animal-day-paw-foundation-offers-free-checkups" target="_blank">Dhaka Tribune reported</a>. They also offered discounts on vaccines and vaccinated 20 stray dogs for free.</p><p><strong>Cape Town, South Africa</strong></p><p>The Cape Animal Welfare Forum, a conglomeration of 31 animal welfare organizations in Cape Town, is organizing a <a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events/view/moonlight-dog-walk-1" target="_blank">Moonlight Dog Walk</a> on Friday to raise funds. They aim to get 1,000 dogs walking around the Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town for a first in Africa. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Serbia and the Philippines</strong></p><p>Organizations across the globe are teaming up for an international art contest to promote "care and responsibility to animals." The "<a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events/view/art-competition-and-international-artwork-exchange--pets-are-family-too--" target="_blank">Pets are Family Too</a>" art competition, hosted by <a href="http://animalkingdomfoundation.org.ph/main/" target="_blank">Animal Kingdom Foundation</a> in the Philippines and the Society for the Protection of Animals LJUBIMCI in Serbia will invite school children from both countries to send in artwork celebrating their pets. Selected entries will be displayed at exhibits in both countries. </p><p><strong>New York, USA</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/" target="_blank">Cruelty Free International</a> and the <a href="https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/" target="_blank">Body Shop</a> are <a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events/view/high-level-roundtable-to-celebrate-8-million-signatures-calling-for-an-end-to-global-cosmetics-anima" target="_blank">celebrating</a> their success in partnering to collect more than <a href="https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/about-us/against-animal-testing" target="_blank">8 million signatures</a> in favor of prohibiting the use of animal testing for beauty products. The event will take the form of a roundtable hosted by the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations, and speakers will include representatives of the three host organizations plus members of British and European parliaments and actors Declan McDermott and Maggie Q.</p>
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Tess Thompson Talley of Kentucky has sparked public outcry after photos of her proudly posing with a black giraffe she killed in South Africa last year went viral.
The big game hunter posted images of the June 2017 hunt onto her social media page. Then last month, the South Africa-based news outlet Africland tweeted out the images with a missive describing Talley as a "White American savage" for shooting down the "very rare" animal.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="329e9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PGPM3G1576662167"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1008018728879992833" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">White american savage who is partly a neanderthal comes to Africa and shoot down a very rare black giraffe coutrsey… https://t.co/sdtdU7Ij29</div> — AfricaDigest (@AfricaDigest)<a href="https://twitter.com/africlandpost/statuses/1008018728879992833">1529165367.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Talley's original post of the photos, which she has since deleted, contained the caption: "Prayers for my once in a lifetime dream hunt came true today! Spotted this rare black giraffe bull and stalked him for quite a while. I knew it was the one. He was over 18 years old, 4000 lbs. and was blessed to be able to get 2000 lbs. of meat from him."
</p><p>
The images have drawn global outrage, including searing criticism from comedian and animal advocate Ricky Gervais, who wrote on Twitter that the African giraffe population has <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/plummeting-giraffe-numbers-2495243527.html">dropped significantly</a> and face extinction. About 100,000 are left on the continent.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="5debf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="70TG591576662167"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1009519816762372096" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Giraffes are now on the 'red list' of endangerment due to a 40% decline over the last 25 years. They could become e… https://t.co/8QLtkgADoy</div> — Ricky Gervais (@Ricky Gervais)<a href="https://twitter.com/rickygervais/statuses/1009519816762372096">1529523254.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
In a blistering <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkgdxyfnWN1/" target="_blank">Instagram post</a>, actress Debra Messing also called Talley a "disgusting, vile, amoral, heartless, selfish murderer."
</p><p>
<span></span>Talley has defended herself, telling <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/giraffe-killed-by-american-woman-tess-thompson-talley-sparks-outrage/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> in a statement that the hunt was legal and permitted and the giraffe was more than 18 years old and "beyond breeding age, yet had killed 3 younger bulls ... Now that the giraffe is gone, the younger bulls are able to breed."
</p><p>
"This is called conservation through game management," she said.
</p><p>
Paul Babaz, the president of the hunting advocacy group Safari Club International, also defended Talley. He said that the fee for a hunting giraffe is about $2,000 to $3,000 per animal, which provides financial help for the local community.
</p><p>
<span></span>"Without that … the poachers will come in and kill the animals indiscriminately, which is very unfortunate," Babaz told CBS News.
</p><p>
Gervais previously wrote in a 2015 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rickygervais/posts/i%E2%80%99m-sick-of-trophy-hunters/331943360263357/" target="_blank">Facebook post</a> that he's "sick of trophy hunters trying to excuse their grim sport by saying they provide a service."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="2ea02" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="R2XCKO1576662168"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="854768391399383042" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Earth’s Tallest Land Animal Needs Endangered Species Protection https://t.co/PoxOd9EvQp @CenterForBioDiv @NRDC @HumaneSociety @action4ifaw</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/854768391399383042">1492627639.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Black rhinoceros were driven to extinction in Chad due to their prized horns. CC0 Public Domain
The black rhino will return to the Central African nation of Chad after five decades of poaching drove the species to local extinction.
Six black rhinos were airlifted Thursday from South Africa to Zakouma National Park in Chad, a journey of more than 3,000 miles.
<p>
According to the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/black-rhino" target="_blank">WWF</a>, black rhino numbers dramatically dropped 98 percent between 1960-1995 mainly due to human appetite for their distinctive horns. There are around 5,400 today. Much of its population is in South Africa, which is home to about 2,000 of the pachyderms.
</p><p>
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wildlife-rhinos-africa/rhinos-to-return-to-chad-in-airlift-after-five-decade-absence-idUSKBN1I410V" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported that the two bulls and four cows were sedated and confined in special crates to ensure they do not cause an in-flight commotion. Once the mammals are settled, the hope is that they establish a breeding herd.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="452fd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1TO0061576683822"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="992041595204767746" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Watch now: The rare black rhino is being returned to the nation of Chad. “Usually headlines on rhinos are about the… https://t.co/jV1IBbrb7P</div> — African Parks (@African Parks)<a href="https://twitter.com/AfricanParks/statuses/992041595204767746">1525356122.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The conservation initiative came after the governments of South Africa and Chad signed a memorandum of understanding in October 2017 to enable the translocation of the rhinos. The aim is to aid the long-term survival of this critically
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_blank">endangered</a> animal.
</p><p>
According to the
<a href="https://www.african-parks.org/campaign/rhinos-return" target="_blank">campaign website</a>, "this is a hopeful story about the revival of a highly threatened species, as well as the trajectory of Zakouma—a park that was once ravaged by poaching and insecurity but has been transformed into a secure and flourishing park since 2010."
</p><p>
Zakouma National Park is managed by the non-government organization African Parks in partnership with the government of Chad.
</p><p>
"Usually headlines on rhinos are about their demise; today it is about their brighter future," said African Parks CEO Peter Fearnhead in a statement.
</p><p>
African Parks has successfully translocated the animals before, including 18 black rhinos to Akagera National Park in Rwanda in 2017. The organization also reintroduced black rhinos to Majete Wildlife Reserve in Malawi in 2003.
</p>
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“Day Zero," the day drought-stricken Cape Town, South Africa is projected to run out of municipal water, has been moved to mid-May 2018 following a decline in agricultural usage, according to a statement from Alderman Ian Neilson, the city's executive deputy mayor. Day Zero was previously projected to fall on April 16.
Capetonians, however, were urged to continue reducing consumption as "there has not been any significant decline in urban usage," Neilson said. The city's four million residents must continue to use no more than 50 liters of water per person per day.
<p>
Total consumption is at 547 million liters per day—97 million liters above the target of 450 million liters per day. <a href="http://www.capetown.gov.za/Family%20and%20home/residential-utility-services/residential-water-and-sanitation-services/this-weeks-dam-levels" target="_blank">Current dam levels</a> stand at 25.85 percent capacity, compared to 26.3 percent the week before. If the dams reach 13.5 percent, the municipal water supply shuts off for all but essential services, such as hospitals and key commercial areas.
</p><p>
Neilson said that many of the agricultural users in the Western Cape Supply System, where the city also gets its water, have used up the water allocated to them per an agreement with the National Department of Water and Sanitation. Agricultural usage is therefore likely to drop significantly over the next weeks.
</p><p>
The agriculture sector currently draws about 30 percent of the water in the supply scheme. It should fall to approximately 15 percent in March and 10 percent in April.
</p><p>
"This is a welcome decline in water usage and gives Cape Town and some of the other municipalities hope," Neilson said.
</p><p>
However, he noted that water consumption still needs to come down so the remaining water supply does not run out before the arrival of winter rains.
</p><p>
"We cannot accurately predict the volume of rainfall still to come, or when it will come," Neilson said. "Last year, we had abnormally low winter rainfall, and we cannot assume that this year will be any different. Even if we have been given a slight reprieve at this stage, we are likely to be facing a late and dry winter."
</p><p>
He warned that with hot weather predicted over the week ahead and expected high evaporation rates, coupled with an expected increase in water use by our residents as a result of the weather, "we dare not rest on our laurels now."
</p><p>
"It will be to the detriment of our efforts as Team Cape Town," Neilson said.
</p>
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After three years of unprecedented drought, the South African metropolis of Cape Town is at risk of becoming the first major city in the world to run out of water.
Dam levels fell to 26 percent capacity on Wednesday, compared to 26.3 percent on Monday and 26.6 percent last week. Once the dams reach 13.5 percent, the municipal water supply shuts off for all but essential services, such as hospitals and key commercial areas.
<p>
<span></span>Persistent warnings of "Day Zero"—when the taps run dry—have forced a new individual water limit of 50 liters a day starting in February. That target could be difficult to fulfill, as only 55 percent of Cape Town's four million residents could meet the previous and much higher limit of 87 liters per day.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="747ac" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="A39ZXN1576663009"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="958653577169289216" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Dam levels are at 16.3% useable water. Daily consumption exceeded the daily usage target of 500 million litres per… https://t.co/4rGNhbWMC8</div> — City of Cape Town (@City of Cape Town)<a href="https://twitter.com/CityofCT/statuses/958653577169289216">1517395798.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The water crisis has raised tensions and <a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2018/0131/937346-cape-town-water/" target="_blank">sparked a fight</a> this week that resulted in an arrest at the Newland spring, southeast of the city center.
</p><p>
"A physical conflict broke out and a person was arrested by the South African Police Service," said city security chief, councillor Jean-Pierre Smith in a statement.
</p><p>
"Congestion and noise from cars and persons visiting the site at all hours of the day and night is causing many complaints."
</p><p>
The glimmer of good news is that the water restrictions appear to be working. Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane, who leads the <a href="https://www.defeatdayzero.co.za/" target="_blank">Defeat Day Zero</a> campaign, announced that Day Zero was pushed back four days later than previously expected.
</p><p>
"Thanks to the water-saving efforts of many Cape Town residents, I can confirm that we have begun to push back Day Zero, which is now 16 April 2018," Maimane said.
</p><p>
"Pushing back Day Zero by four days may not seem like a lot, but actually it is a significant victory. It shows that residents are coming together and cutting water consumption," he added.
</p><p>
Still, the fight is far from over and could get worse in a world of rising temperatures due to climate change.
</p><p>
According to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/world/africa/cape-town-day-zero.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a>:
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"Cape Town has grown warmer in recent years and a bit drier over the last century, according to Piotr Wolski, a hydrologist at the University of Cape Town who has measured average rainfall from the turn of the 20th century to the present.
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"Climate models show that Cape Town is destined to face a drier future, with rains becoming more unpredictable in the coming decades. 'The drier years are expected to be drier than they were, and the wetter years will not be as wet,' Mr. Wolski said."
</p><p>
<a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/" target="_blank">Greenpeace Africa</a> said it could take four years of good rain before dam levels are restored and is calling on South Africa President Jacob Zuma to declare Western and Eastern Cape Provinces disaster areas immediately.
</p><p>
"Declaring national disaster areas is now the only way to ensure that every government structure can mobilize the necessary resources to respond effectively," the environmental organization said in a <a href="https://act.greenpeace.org/page/19029/action/1" target="_blank">petition</a>. "The fact that this has not happened is a catastrophic failure in leadership at a time when South Africans need it most."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="9aeeb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4GG6LE1576663009"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="958701614352781318" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It could take 4 years of good rain before dam levels are restored. The SA government must do something to avoid the… https://t.co/dZv84TWzgn</div> — Greenpeace Africa (@Greenpeace Africa)<a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeaceafric/statuses/958701614352781318">1517407251.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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Cape Town: Three months to Day Zero? SkyPixels / Wikimedia Commons
By Alex Kirby
Water scarcity is now a real threat in two developing countries at the forefront of efforts to reduce climate change, India and South Africa.
This is not the tragically familiar story of extreme weather, stunted crops and foreshortened lives. It is a different sort of threat: to urban life, to industrial development and to attempts to end poverty.
<p style="">More than 80 percent of India's electricity comes from thermal power stations, burning coal, oil, gas and nuclear fuel. Now researchers from the U.S.-based <a href="http://www.wri.org/" target="_blank">World Resources Institute</a> (WRI), after analyzing all of India's 400+ thermal power plants, report that its <a href="http://www.wri.org/publication/parched-power" target="_blank">power supply is increasingly in jeopardy from water shortages</a>.</p><p style="">The researchers found that 90 percent of these thermal power plants are cooled by freshwater, and nearly 40 percent of them experience high water stress. The plants are increasingly vulnerable, while India remains committed to providing electricity to every household by 2019.</p><p style="">Between 2015 and 2050 the Indian power sector's share of national water consumption is projected to grow from 1.4 to nine percent, and by 2030, 70 percent of the country's thermal power plants are likely to experience increased competition for water from agriculture, industry and municipalities.</p><p style=""><strong>Power Sector Choking</strong></p><p>"Water shortages shut down power plants across India every year," said O P Agarwal of WRI India. "When power plants rely on water sourced from scarce regions, they put electricity generation at risk and leave less water for cities, farms and families. Without urgent action, water will become a chokepoint for India's power sector."</p><p style="">Between 2013 and 2016 14 of India's 20 largest thermal utility companies experienced one or more shutdowns because of water shortages. WRI calculates that shutdowns cost these companies over INR 91 billion ($1.4 billion) in potential revenue from the sale of power.</p><p style="">It says water shortages canceled out more than 20 percent of the country's growth in electricity generation in 2015 and 2016.</p><p style="">The report offers solutions, including notably a move towards solar and wind energy. India already has a target for 40 percent of its power to come from <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewables</a> by 2030, under the <a href="http://newsroom.unfccc.int/paris-agreement/" target="_blank">Paris agreement on climate change</a>.</p><p style="">"Renewable energy is a viable solution to India's water-energy crisis," said Deepak Krishnan, co-author of the report. "Solar PV and wind power can thrive in the same water-stressed areas where thermal plants struggle …"</p><p style="">A policy brief produced by <a href="http://www.irena.org/publications/2018/Jan/Water-Use-in-India-Power-Impact-of-renewables-to-2030" target="_blank">WRI and the International Renewable Energy Agency</a> details ways for India's power sector to reduce water usage and carbon emissions by 2030.</p><p style="">In Africa the dangers of water scarcity for one of the continent's best-known cities, Cape Town, are imminent and, some believe, almost apocalyptic.</p><p style="">The city faces the prospect within three months of becoming the world's first major city to run out of water, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/Search/?q=south%20africa%20drought" target="_blank">al-Jazeera</a> reported.</p><p style="">It said the city's water supplies are now so low that in late April it will declare "Day Zero," the day when its reservoirs fall below a combined capacity of 13.5 percent.</p><p style="">This will mean Cape Town turning off the taps, except in the poorest neighborhoods, and installing around 200 water collection sites across the city.</p><p style="">Water usage in the Western Cape province, which includes Cape Town, is now limited to a daily ration of 87 liters per person. If Day Zero dawns, that will drop to about 25 liters. The World Health Organization said <a href="http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/emergencies/qa/emergencies_qa5/en/" target="_blank">about 20 liters should be enough</a> "to take care of basic hygiene needs and basic food hygiene."</p><p style=""><strong>Rains Start Later</strong></p><p style="">The province has had three years of drought. <a href="https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2017-08-10-whats-driving-cape-towns-water-insecurity-and-what-can-be-done-about-it" target="_blank">Kevin Winter, a senior lecturer in environmental science</a> at the University of Cape Town, told al-Jazeera that as a winter rainfall region, people would normally expect rainfall to start somewhere around April.</p><p style="">"But that's no longer the case, it comes a whole lot later at the end of June, or in early July, if we are lucky," he said. "We are experiencing a rapid change in our weather patterns, which is increasingly evident of a climate change…"</p><p style=""><a href="http://www.capetownwatercrisis.com/#/" target="_blank">Bridgetti Lim Bandi</a>, who has lived in the city all her life, said Cape Town's rainfall pattern had changed dramatically within the last two decades. "We don't have a traditional Cape Town winter any more," she told al-Jazeera.</p><p style="">Helen Zille is <a href="http://whoswho.co.za/helen-zille-3528" target="_blank">premier of the Western Cape province</a>. She wrote on Jan. 22 in the <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-01-22-from-the-inside-the-countdown-to-day-zero/#.Wmc7BEvLjqu" target="_blank">Daily Maverick</a>: "The question that dominates my waking hours now is: When Day Zero arrives‚ how do we make water accessible and prevent anarchy?</p><p style="">"And if there is any chance of still preventing it‚ what is it we can do? … the challenge exceeds anything a major city has had to face anywhere in the world since the Second World War or 9/ll." </p><p style=""> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://climatenewsnetwork.net/23742-2/" target="_blank">Climate News Network</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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Molteno Dam Reservoir in Cape Town. Wikimedia Commons
Cape Town is on track to become the first major city in the world to run out of water.
The world-renowned tourist destination—and the second-most populous urban area in South Africa after Johannesburg—could approach "Day Zero," when most taps run dry, by April 21, Mayor Patricia de Lille said Tuesday.
<p>"Day Zero" may sound ominous, but it is an actual date based on current reservoir capacity and the current rate of consumption. The <a href="https://www.enca.com/south-africa/cape-town-day-zero-moved-forward-by-a-week" target="_blank">original projection</a> was April 29, but the date has unfortunately been moved forward.
</p><p>
"Dam levels have dipped to 28.7 percent this past week—down by one percentage point," de Lille said. "The city has ramped up pressure management to drive down consumption—aiming to stretch our water supply past the winter rainy season."
</p><p>
As <a href="http://time.com/5103259/cape-town-water-crisis/" target="_blank">TIME</a> reported, once the dams reach 13.5 percent capacity, the municipal water supply shuts off for all but essential services, such as hospitals.
</p><p>
De Lille further lamented that only 39 percent of Cape Town's 4 million residents used less than the 87 liters of water a day the city council has set as the individual limit.
</p><p>
According to de Lille, total water consumption has increased to 618 million liters per day‚ up from 578 million liters per day. The target is to cut water use to 500 million liters a day.
</p><p>"Cape Town's average daily collective consumption is still too high," the mayor said.
</p><p>To reduce water usage, the local government has banned residents from watering their gardens and washing their cars, shut most public swimming pools and cut the water pressure, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-08/will-cape-town-run-out-of-water" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>. A cricket team was even <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-42578484" target="_blank">advised</a> not to shower for more than two minutes.</p><p>
The city's water woes comes after three years of unprecedented <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_blank">drought</a> and the growing population's increased water consumption.
</p><p>
However, as Bloomberg reported, even in a time of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change" target="_blank">climate</a> extremes, the severity of the Cape Town's water crisis is highly unusual.
</p><p>
"Running out of water in places that have a highly developed water infrastructure is not that common," Bob Scholes, a professor of systems ecology at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. "I know of no example of a city the size of Cape Town running out of water. It would be quite catastrophic."
</p>
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The world's last remaining tigers are living under severe threat of extinction, having lost 93 percent of their historical range and suffered a population crash of 95 percent during the past century.
The major threat to their continued existence on Earth is poaching to meet the high demand in Asia for their parts and derivatives.
<p>This demand is exacerbated by the legal trade in lion bone, so it was with dismay that the Environmental Investigation Agency witnessed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 17th Conference of the Parties last year decide to allow South Africa to export up to 800 lion skeletons a year—as long as the lions were sourced from captive breeding facilities in South Africa.</p><p>Ahead of next week's 29th meeting of the CITES Animals Committee, in Geneva, Switzerland, the Environmental Investigation Agency has produced the detailed <a href="https://eia-international.org/report/the-lions-share" target="_blank">briefing</a> <em>The Lion's Share: South Africa's trade exacerbates demand for tiger parts and derivatives</em> outlining the threat.</p><p>Any quota for a trade in captive-bred lions is of major concern. Not only is it likely this decision will negatively impact wild lion populations but it will also adversely impact on other large big cat species, especially the endangered tiger.<br></p><p>South Africa currently has up to 200 facilities breeding lions, with as many as 8,000 captive lions dwarfing the estimated 3,490 free-roaming lions found in the country.</p><p>Tigers are also being commercially bred in South Africa. In 2015, there were a known 44 facilities with at least 280 tigers being bred for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trophy-hunting">trophy hunting</a> and trade—in direct contravention of a CITES decision.</p><p>Legal exports of lion skeletons and parts from South Africa have increased markedly since 2008; exports of bodies and skeletons alone during this time period account for more than 4,200 lions.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xMDAzOTcyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjM3MTg2NH0.bq06yvEVNfO3i_VHdG6GWzm6SVryM9g9yS0LJ78NrRk/img.jpg?width=980" id="1e889" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="52c82f29bc4eaf5855386b830b697793" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p>The main destination countries for skeletons, bodies, claws and teeth are within Asia—Vietnam and Laos alone imported 755 bodies, 5.87.5kg of bones (equivalent to 65 lions), 54 claws, 3,125 skeletons, 67 skulls and 90 teeth, all commercial purposes.<br></p><p>Exports of lion parts from South Africa undermines enforcement efforts to end illegal tiger trade since without DNA analysis it is very difficult to distinguish between tiger and lion bone, teeth and claws. Exports also stimulate demand for tiger parts and derivatives since large amounts of lion bone and derivatives are marketed as tiger and offered for sale in China and South-East Asia. For example, in May last year a Vietnamese national was arrested with 680 tiger claws in their possession although DNA testing showed they were in fact lion claws.</p><p>Discerning consumers preferring wild-sourced tiger parts desire proof that purported tiger bones and their derivatives are genuine, requesting the display of skins and/or carcasses as evidence. Such demand drives the poaching of wild tigers. Since 2000, globally more than 950 tiger skins have been either seized or observed in the illegal trade; more than 270 carcasses, 1,800kg of bones and 12,000 bottles of tiger bone wine have also been seized.</p><p>It is clear that a legal trade in captive lion parts is unworkable. The government of South Africa must adopt urgent action to end this trade which feeds a market not only consuming captive-bred lions but also wild tigers.</p><p>The Environmental Investigation Agency urges the South African Government to stop all commercial exports of lion parts and derivatives, to implement CITES decisions applicable to tigers (amending legislation if required to do so) and to undertake targeted intelligence-led enforcement operations in cooperation with main demand countries to dismantle criminal networks facilitating the lion and tiger trade.</p>
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Greenpeace activists in Berlin projected an image of Donald Trump on the U.S. Embassy. Michael Sohn / DPA
The overwhelming global response to President Donald Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement was essentially, "Go jump in a lake"—or as one Germany tabloid succinctly phrased it in a widely circulated headline:
Very much enjoying the German press at the moment. "Earth to Trump..." https://t.co/sPqkUPYVlw— J.K. Rowling (@J.K. Rowling)1496386149.0
<p>Following Trump's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/01/destructive-fossil-fuel-puppet-trump-ditches-climate-deal-fact-free-speech" target="_blank">Thursday announcement</a>, world leaders from China to Germany to the Marshall Islands and beyond promised to uphold the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/paris-agreement" target="_blank">climate accord</a> while citizens and civil society from across the globe vowed to "harness public outrage into meaningful on-the-ground action" to combat the crisis of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/">climate change</a>.</p><p>German Chancellor Angela Merkel <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20170602-live-world-reacts-after-us-pulls-out-paris-climate-accord" target="_blank">told</a> reporters on Friday that European leaders "will band together to take more decisive action than ever to confront and successfully surmount major challenges to humanity such as climate change." Merkel called Trump's withdrawal "highly regrettable, to put it very mildly," but added: "This decision cannot and will not stop those of us who feel obligated to protect our earth."</p><p>Newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron similarly <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/870404913062449152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.ie%2Fnews%2Femmanuel-macron-590395" target="_blank">reiterated</a> his country's commitment to climate action, and extended an invitation to "all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision of the United States," saying: "I want to say that they will find in France a second homeland."</p><p>Merkel, Macron and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni also immediately issued a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/01/trump-withdraw-paris-climate-deal-world-leaders-react" target="_blank">statement</a> Thursday making clear that "the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated, since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies," rejecting Trump's assertion that he would try to broker new terms for the accord.</p><p>Later, Macron took to Twitter to highlight Trump's divisive "America first" rhetoric, which the U.S president employed to falsely justify the withdrawal.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed"></p><div id="b0bf2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7F2F1F1524750176"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="870407981044834304" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">https://t.co/3g5LYO9Osj</div> — Emmanuel Macron (@Emmanuel Macron)<a href="https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/statuses/870407981044834304">1496356408.0</a></blockquote></div><p></p><p>Nations already experiencing some of the more dramatic effects of global warming, including fierce storms and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">rising seas</a>, were also quick to condemn the move.</p><p>"Today's decision is not only disappointing, but also highly concerning for those of us that live on the frontline of climate change," <a href="https://twitter.com/President_Heine/status/870379308329697280" target="_blank">said</a> Marshall Islands President Dr. Hilda Heine. While the U.S.'s withdrawal "will have grave impacts," she continued, "it is not too late to act. We must not give up hope. Our children and their children deserve not only to survive, they deserve to thrive. That is why the rest of the world remains firmly committed to the Paris Agreement, and our own commitment to it—and that of our wider Pacific family—will never waver."</p><p>The government of South Africa issued a <a href="http://www.gov.za/speeches/government-reacts-united-states-america%E2%80%99s-withdrawal-paris-agreement-2-jun-2017-0000" target="_blank">statement</a> Friday expressing its "profound regret" over Trump's decision, noting that the U.S. stands alone in its denial of the crisis, which it has largely worsened with decades of industrial growth and excessive consumption, "and therefore has a moral obligation not only to lead in reducing emissions, but to support poorer economies in contributing to the global effort."</p><p>"The international community regards climate change as the single biggest threat to well-being, health and socio-economic development facing humanity this century," the statement continues. "Its impacts are widespread, unprecedented and disproportionately burdens to the poorest and most vulnerable." </p><p>Speaking on behalf of the Chinese government, which many observers noted would benefit from the failure of climate <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/us/politics/climate-accord-trump-china-global-leadership.html" target="_blank">leadership </a>and <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/us-backsliding-paris-deal-gift-china" target="_blank">innovation</a> from the U.S., foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20170602-china-vows-uphold-climate-pact-after-us-pullout" target="_blank">promised</a> to "earnestly implement our obligations" to the Paris agreement, saying it is a "responsibility shouldered by China as a responsible major country."</p><p>In the U.S., many city and state officials made clear that the position of the federal government did not represent the majority of American opinion and promised to continue reducing their fossil fuel footprint, with or without support from Trump.</p><p>The governors of California, New York and Washington state on Thursday <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/california-york-washington-unite-back-climate-pact-47778881" target="_blank">announced </a>the formation of the U.S. Climate Alliance, which would continue to uphold the target, set forth by the Obama administration, to reduce emissions 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels.</p><p>"We governors are going to step into this cockpit and fly the plane," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told reporters. "The president wants to ground it—we're going to fly it."</p><p>Meanwhile, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/climate/american-cities-climate-standards.html" target="_blank">reported</a> that a growing coalition of U.S. government, academic and business leaders are "preparing to submit a plan to the United Nations pledging to meet the United States' greenhouse gas emissions targets under the Paris climate accord." So far, the pact includes "30 mayors, three governors, more than 80 university presidents and more than 100 businesses."</p><p>The outpouring of commitment to climate action spurred by the U.S. withdrawal seemed to give campaigners and civil society a measure of hope, as they reacted to the news by emphasizing that the only way to combat the Trump administration's pro-fossil fuel agenda is mobilize from the ground up, forcing other governments to take the lead.</p><p>"Trump has made his decision and we're making ours—the rest of the world and the majority of Americans who support the Paris Climate Agreement will stand by it," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/06/01/trump-out-paris-road-ahead-us#" target="_blank">said</a> 350.org executive director May Boeve. "We're already seeing dozens of cities commit to 100 percent renewable energy, a trend that will only continue. And throughout the world, leaders are committing to filling the gap that the U.S has created.</p><p>"We must use Trump's bad example to demand that our cities, states and other institutions step up on climate action in meaningful ways," Boeve added. "By working at the local and regional level, communities can organize for powerful and lasting change, forcing elected officials to choose a side: that of Trump and his fossil fuel billionaire cabinet, or that of the people fighting for a stable climate and an economy that works for everyone."</p><p>"We move on and we move forward, together," <a href="http://350pacific.org/pacific-island-civil-society-organizations-respond-to-trump-pulling-out-of-the-paris-agreement/" target="_blank">said</a> Matisse Walkden Brown, head of Pacific Net with Greenpeace Australia.</p><p>"The United States administration has shown their allegiance to the glory days of the past," Walkden Brown added. "Sadly for them, the economics, the science, and the people, all agree that the fossil fuel days are over, and that the transformation towards zero carbon is now irreversibly under way and accelerating. </p><p>"While this is a shameful day for President Trump and his people, it will not deter the rest of us. It is time for international politics to begin embracing new economies, new technologies, and commit to the fighting for the interests of the people, not the polluters. One man, one country will not change that."</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/02/earth-trump-you-are-your-own" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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Disastrous Decision for Rhinos: South Africa's Top Court Lifts Ban on Rhino Horn Sales
06 April 2017
Popular
As a result of South Africa's highest court rejecting a bid by the government to keep a ban on the sale of rhinoceros horn, it will soon be legal to buy and sell the land mammals' horns in the country.
<p>This news comes just weeks after poachers <a href="http://www.trueactivist.com/poachers-killed-two-rhinos-at-a-wildlife-orphanage-after-brutally-attacking-staff/" target="_blank">broke into a rhino orphanage</a> in South Africa, killing two baby <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rhino">rhinos</a> for their prematurely developed horns. The development also follows the news that <a href="http://www.trueactivist.com/16-rhinos-killed-in-kruger-national-park-since-beginning-of-march/" target="_blank">16 rhino carcasses were been found</a> in Kruger National Park in South Africa since the beginning of March.</p><p>According to <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/wildlife-watch-rhino-horn-ban-overturned-south-africa/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a>, the moratorium on the domestic trade has been lifted as a result of a lengthy legal battle between rhino owners, who farm rhinos like livestock and desire to sell their horns on the market and the government's Department of Environmental Affairs. Though the trade of rhinoceros horn was internationally banned in 1977, the Department of Environmental Affairs restricted domestic tradition in 2009 after a jump in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/poaching">poaching</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.thedodo.com/people-are-farming-rhinos-1592752412.html" target="_blank">John Hume</a> is one of the individuals who fought hard against the government's moratorium. The owner of the world's largest rhino farm (with more than 1,000 rhinos he's bred), he sued the government in 2009 to overturn the policy. Hume claims the only way to protect the rhinos he raises is to sell the horns they grow, that way enough funds will be procured to protect them.</p><p><span></span>Now that it is legal to domestically trade rhino horn, people in South Africa can get a permit to sell the item that is responsible for driving poaching. Foreigners will be allowed to export a maximum of two horns for "personal purposes."</p><p><span></span>Rhino horn is worth more than its weight in gold, as The Dodo <a href="https://www.thedodo.com/south-africa-rhino-horn-2346417835.html" target="_blank">pointed out</a>, despite it being made of keratin—the same material as one's fingernails. Already, organized crime groups profit from the illegal trafficking of the horn into Asia, where it is believed to have medicinal properties.</p><p>According to Susie Watts of <a href="http://wildaid.org/tags/africa" target="_blank">WildAid's Africa Program</a>, allowing domestic trade in South Africa to resume will undoubtedly result in the horn being trafficked to Asia. She said:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Legalizing domestic rhino horn trade in South Africa opens the door to further illegal exports of rhino horn. There is no domestic demand for rhino horn products and, as the pro-trade lobby very well knows, the reason why the moratorium was implemented in the first place was to prevent domestic trade from being used as a cover for smuggling.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><span></span>"There is no realistic way to maintain chain of custody over rhino horns and prevent them from being trafficked abroad. There should be no legal horn market so long as <a href="http://www.trueactivist.com/czech-zoo-makes-drastic-decision-about-rhinos-in-captivity/" target="_blank">rhino poaching</a>, illegal trade and consumer demand are out of control." <br></p><p>Now that the moratorium has been lifted, conservationists and activists fear that poaching will increase exponentially in South Africa. This is because the country is home to 70 percent of the world's 29,500 rhinos—all of which are in the midst of a poaching crisis. Clearly, there is a reason for concern, as poaching has skyrocketed in the past decade. In 2016, for example, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/rhino-poaching-africa-2288410742.html">1,054 rhinos were poached in South Africa</a>.</p><p>"If these regs are promulgated, we will see a significant rise in poaching, as poachers use the significant loopholes to cater to the increased demand for horn in the Far East," Morgan Griffiths of the <a href="http://wessa.org.za/" target="_blank">Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa</a> said.<br></p><p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="http://www.trueactivist.com/breaking-south-africa-just-made-it-legal-to-sell-rhino-horn/" target="_blank">True Activist</a>.</em></p>
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By Nicole D'Alessandro
Worldwide, a trillion single-use plastic bags are used each year, nearly 2 million each minute. Usage varies widely among countries, from more than 400 a year for many East Europeans, to just four a year for people in Denmark and Finland. Plastic bags, made of depletable natural gas or petroleum resources, are often used only for a matter of minutes. Yet they last in the environment for hundreds of years, shredding into ever-smaller pieces but never fully breaking down.
<p>Over the last century, plastic has taken over the planet. On the one hand, plastic seems a miracle material, with beneficial uses ranging from medical devices to making vehicles lighter and more fuel-efficient. On the other hand, it is a curse, allowing for the seemingly cheap mass production of disposable materials that fill up landfills, <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/21/5-gyres-plastic-trash-pollutes-oceans/" target="_blank">cloud the oceans</a>, <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2013/08/06/the-danger-of-plastic-bags-to-marine-life/" target="_blank">choke wildlife</a> and sully vistas. Filled with additives that lack a safety record, plastics have been linked with a slew of health concerns, including certain types of cancer and infertility. While plastics can be used and recycled wisely, the majority of those produced are neither. Perhaps no other item symbolizes the problems of our throwaway culture more than the single-use plastic bag.</p><p>Given the multitude of problems associated with plastic bags, many communities around the world have attempted to free themselves from their addictions by implementing bag bans or fees. The oldest existing bag tax is in Denmark. Passed in 1993, this regulation affected plastic bag makers who paid a tax based on the bag's weight. Stores were allowed to pass the cost on to consumers either in bag charges or absorbed into the prices of other items. The initial effect of this system was an impressive 60 percent drop in plastic bag use.</p><p>One of the most well-known <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2013/01/23/must-see-doc-trashed/" target="_blank">bag measures</a> is Ireland's national bag tax, adopted in 2002. It was the first to charge consumers directly, starting at a rate of 15 euro cents (20ȼ) per bag. Within five months of the measure's introduction, bag usage fell by more than 90 percent. Litter was greatly reduced as well. Over the years, bag use started to creep up, however, so in 2007 the charge was increased to 22 euro cents, and in 2011 the law was amended with the aim of keeping annual bag use at or below 21 bags per person. Frank Convery of <a href="http://www.ucd.ie/" target="_blank">University College Dublin</a> calls Ireland's plastic bag levy “the most popular tax in Europe" and believes that it would be politically damaging to remove it.</p><p>Indeed, many communities looking at plastic bag reduction measures hope to emulate the Irish success. Other European countries where consumers pay for plastic shopping bags—either through law or voluntary initiatives—include Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Latvia and the Netherlands. Throughout the European Union, member states will soon be required to take measures to <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2014/01/15/eu-to-ban-hazardous-plastics-by-2020/" target="_blank">reduce plastic bag use</a> 80 percent by 2019.</p><p>Reducing the amount of plastics in the marine environment has been a major driver of bag regulations in Europe and elsewhere. In a memo on its bag reduction proposal, the European Commission notes that “in the North Sea, the stomachs of 94 percent of all <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2012/07/09/marine-litter-birds/" target="_blank">birds contain plastic</a>. Plastic bags have been found in stomachs of several endangered marine species, such as green turtles, loggerhead turtles, leatherback turtles, black footed albatrosses and harbour porpoises." In sum, “at least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine litter." The desire to protect the whales that migrate off the coast of Tasmania led to Australia's first local plastic bag ban in 2003. Now half of Australian states and territories ban plastic bags.</p><p>Beyond the seas, the reasons for taking action against plastic bags vary from malaria outbreaks associated with bags collecting water in Kenya to sewers clogged with plastic bags exacerbating flooding in Bangladesh, Cameroon, and the Philippines. Cattle choking on plastic bags gave impetus for bag regulations in Texas ranch country and in Indian communities concerned about the sacred cow. In the capital of Mauritania, an estimated 70 percent of cattle and sheep deaths are from plastic bag ingestion; in the United Arab Emirates, the concern is for camels. <a href="http://www.earth-policy.org" target="_blank">View</a> additional details on anti-plastic bag initiatives around the world.</p><p>The world's strictest anti-plastic bag implementation strategy may be in Rwanda. Since a ban went into effect in 2008, airline passengers arriving from outside the country have recounted being forced to surrender plastic bags on arrival. It is unclear, however, how successful the ban is at reducing overall bag use, particularly in less urban areas, because of an active black market for plastic bags. In South Africa, where plastic bags caught in bushes and trees had become so common that they were called the national flower, a ban on the very thin non-biodegradable bags that tear readily and easily blow away went into effect in 2003. Thicker bags are taxed. Botswana's plastic bag fee, which began in 2007, is credited with cutting bag use in half at major retailers. All told, at least 16 African countries have announced bans on certain types of plastic bags, to varying levels of effectiveness.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy82NDU1MzYwL29yaWdpbi5qcGciLCJleHBpcmVzX2F0IjoxNjYyOTM5MjQ4fQ.UPHi54yFnzn-XUsvVv506rJ2ej_clSyb4dJhuigPpjs/img.jpg?width=980" id="c9b6b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5f05c266e805e9b98b661a7b6e13f8f6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p>In China, where plastic bag pollution was widespread, a few cities and provinces tried to introduce policies to limit bag use in the 1990s, but poor enforcement led to limited success. Before Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympic Games, a national law went into effect banning extra thin bags and requiring stores to charge a fee for thicker bags. The Chinese government reported that bag use has dropped by more than two-thirds, although compliance appears to be spotty. A number of cities in Southeast Asia, the source of many of the world's plastic bag exports, have come up with legislation to reduce bag use.</p><p>In the U.S., <a href="http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2014/update122" target="_blank">133 city- or county-wide anti-plastic bag regulations</a> have been passed. Bag bans cover one of every three <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2014/03/04/100th-plastic-bag-ban-passed-california/" target="_blank">Californians</a> and virtually all <a href="http://ecowatch.com/2012/05/15/hawaii-becomes-first-state-in-the-u-s-to-ban-plastic-bags/" target="_blank">Hawaiians</a>. Chicago's city council voted for a bag ban in April. Dallas and Washington, D.C., are among the handful of jurisdictions that charge 5-10ȼ for each plastic or paper bag; in both cities, charges were instituted to reduce the number of bags in local rivers. In Canada, much of the anti-bag action is voluntary, with a number of retailers participating. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec have each halved their plastic bag use through a variety of measures, including store incentives for using reusable bags and retailer-imposed fees. Liquor stores in Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia have tossed out the plastic bag for good.
</p><p>Latin America also hosts a number of initiatives to reduce plastic bag litter and waste, including bans in the Chilean cities of Pucón and Punta Arenas and in the states of Buenos Aires and Mendoza in Argentina, to name a few. Carryout bags in a couple of Brazilian states are required to be biodegradable. São Paulo state banned free single-use plastic bags starting in January 2012, allowing heavy reusable or biodegradable bags to be sold for 10ȼ, but the measure was removed by an industry-supported court injunction, despite the backing of the supermarket trade association. Similarly, Mexico City banned plastic shopping bags in 2009, but, under pressure from plastics manufacturers, the measure was replaced before enforcement began with a recycling initiative—a common tactic used by industry groups around the world against stricter bans or fees.
</p><p style="">Plastic bags clearly have a cost to society, one that is not yet fully paid. Reducing disposable bag use is one small part of the move from a throwaway economy to one based on the prudent use of resources, where materials are reused rather than designed for rapid obsolescence.</p>
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