Indonesia: Mangrove clearance threatens Komodo National Park

Komodo National Park in West Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), is being threatened by the cutting down of mangrove trees around the park’s perimeter.

House of Representatives Commission IV members visited the park and received information from West Manggarai residents about the felling of mangrove trees.

The park office has been urged to immediately take stern measures against those who cut down mangrove trees in the park or its buffer zones as felling mangrove trees is against the law.

West Manggarai community figure Pastor Marselinus Agot, who once received an environmental award from the Forestry Ministry, told The Jakarta Post on Monday that law enforcers in the regency never took action against offenders.

Marselinus said law enforcers in the regency were reluctant to act against any officials responsible for environmental damage and instead opted to arrest civilians.

Full story at www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/03/03/mangrove-clearance-threatens-komodo-national-park.html

#Indonesia #illegallogging #komodo

Image: Komodo dragon, Komodo island, Indonesia, by Thomas Hirsch ... See MoreSee Less

18 hours ago  ·  

Canada: Iceland's whale meat has been shipped through Vancouver, local MP claims

Canada is opposed to the hunting of the endangered fin whale but apparently can’t do anything about being used as a conduit for the animal’s meat.

MP Don Davies on Monday used the fact World Wildlife Day is Tuesday to highlight that Canada is being used to facilitate trade in whale meat.

Canada is part of an agreement, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, that bans commercial hunting of endangered species. The fin whale, which is the second-largest creature, after the blue whale, remains at risk.

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* Do you want to know more? Read the EIA report 'Slayed in Iceland: The commercial hunting and international trade in endangered fin whales' at eia-international.org/reports/slayed-in-iceland-the-commercial-hunting-and-international-trade-in...
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But one shipment of fin whale meat from Iceland was sent to Halifax in January 2014 and shipped by rail to Vancouver for export to Japan.

Another shipment of an unknown type of whale meat was sent from Nova Scotia in March 2014 to Iceland, according to export data from Statistics Canada.

“Canada’s marine mammal regulations prohibit the commercial export of any cetacean species,” said Davies.

“I’m calling on the government to take their international obligations seriously, to quit breaking the law and to protect endangered species.”

Full story at www.theprovince.com/business/Whale+meat+been+shipped+through+Port+Vancouver+local+claims/10855051...

#Iceland #Canada #whales

Image: Fin whale landed at Miòsandur whaling station, Hvalfjördur, Iceland, in August 2014 (c) EIA ... See MoreSee Less

18 hours ago  ·  

UN Says Africa’s Elephant, Rhino Poaching Worth US$380 Million

The proceeds of elephant and rhino poaching in Africa are currently equivalent to as much as $380 million, the United Nations Congress on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora said.

Poaching of elephants for ivory, which is reducing the population of the animals faster than they can reproduce, is worth $165 million to $188 million a year in Asia while the rhino-horn trade last year was valued at between $63 million and $192 million, Cites figures show, the UN said in a statement on Tuesday, which has been designated as Wildlife Day.

Wildlife crime has grown into one of the largest transnational organized criminal activities, according to the UN.

Full story at www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-03/cites-says-elephant-rhino-poaching-in-africa-worth-380...

#Africa #ivory #rhinos #elephants

Image: Rhino horns and ivory confiscated by the authorities in South Africa (c) Anthony Bannister ... See MoreSee Less

19 hours ago  ·