Obama renews protection for endangered species

FLORA AND FAUNA

Pangolins face worst threat in SE Asia: wildlife official
Pangolins face the worst threat from poachers and smugglers in Southeast Asia with inadequate punishment and lack of information encouraging the burgeoning trade, a wildlife official said Tuesday. Trade in the animals, also known as scaly anteaters, is expected to increase unless governments here take tougher action, Chumphon Sukkaseam, a senior official with the Association of Southeast Asean Nations (ASEAN) Wildlife Enforcement Network said. "More than a 100 tonnes of smuggled pangolin meat heading to China was confiscated in the region last year but that is only 10 to 20 percent of the amount of Pangolin meat successfully smuggled into China," he said. "Smuggling will increase unless tough action is taken as pangolins now face the worst threat from smugglers and poachers in Southeast Asia," Chumphon added, speaking on the sidelines of a workshop on wildlife crime and prosecution for the Malaysian judiciary. Pangolins are indigenous to the jungles of Indonesia, parts of Malaysia and areas of southern Thailand, with its meat considered a delicacy in China. It is classified as a protected species under the UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. "The main route for smuggling Pangolins is from Indonesia to Malaysia and then through Thailand to Laos or Vietnam which border China," he added. Chumphon said the main problem was porous borders between the countries, insufficient information exchange on cases and the small fines given to smugglers. The head of Malaysia's wildlife and national parks department Abdul Rasid Samsudin said the government was planning to strengthen its wildlife laws this year.

Reintroduced golden eagle poisoned in Ireland
The Irish government said Tuesday it was considering banning poisoned baits following the death of a golden eagle, a species specially introduced into Ireland. Environment and Heritage Minister John Gormley expressed his "concern and disgust" about the death of the eagle in County Donegal in northwest Ireland. "This is not the first case of poisoning of a rare reintroduced bird in Ireland," he said. "Last year we had incidences in County Kerry (in the southwest) where a white-tailed eagle was also killed after eating poisoned bait. "I have been concerned since then that our laws regarding the use of poisoned bait are not strong enough, and that a very small number of people have been acting irresponsibly and possibly illegally in this regard." Gormley said his ministry was drafting proposals to regulate poisoned meat-based bait so it can only be used under licence in exceptional circumstances when there is no alternative. Farmers use poisoned bait in Ireland against unwanted animals. Imported golden eagles from Scotland have been set free every year in the Glenveagh national park in Donegal since the project was adopted by the government as a new millennium scheme. The first eagle chick to be born in the country for almost 100 years hatched out in 2007. Golden eagles died out in Ireland after they became a popular target in the era of shooting parties on large estates in the 19th century. Stuffed specimens were a fashionable decorative item in the country's big houses and their eggs were highly prized by collectors. Golden eagles were last bred in Glenveagh in 1910 and became extinct in Ireland after the last breeding attempt in County Mayo on the west coast in 1912.

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) March 3, 2009
President Barack Obama on Tuesday restored rules aimed at saving endangered species from harm by government projects, in his latest move to undo Bush-era laws seen as damaging to the environment.

"The work of scientists and experts in my administration... will be respected," Obama said, announcing all government departments would now be consulted on projects which may affect endangered species.

"For more than three decades, the Endangered Species Act has successfully protected our nation's most threatened wildlife. We should be looking for ways to improve it, not weaken it," Obama said.

Late last year, the Bush administration changed rules under the Endangered Species Act to allow government projects to go ahead without an independent review by the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Critics, among them environmental groups, warned the move could result in further harm to already endangered species and welcomed Obama's executive order.

"The Bush rules would have allowed agencies with little or no wildlife expertise to make decisions that could mean life or death for animals like the polar bear," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, a conservation group.

"When it comes to protecting wildlife, we should listen to the scientists who spend their lives studying these animals.

"Our wildlife are clearly in much better hands now. President Obama is bringing science back into decision-making."

Obama also demanded a review of the laws issued in the waning days of the administration of president George W. Bush.

"Until such review is completed, I request the heads of all agencies to exercise their discretion, under the new regulation, to follow the prior longstanding consultation and concurrence practices," Obama said in a memorandum.

It was yet another reversal of a Bush-era policy, as the Obama administration seeks to fulfill a campaign pledge to protect the environment.

In early February, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered the Bureau of Land Management not to accept bids by energy companies on 77 parcels of Utah wilderness.

The lands involved sit "at the doorstep of some of our nation's most treasured landscapes in Utah," Salazar said, referring to the Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Parks, Dinosaur National Monument and Nine Mile Canyon.

The move was hailed by US environmentalists including actor Robert Redford, who had fought the Bush administration's rush to sell off the land in its final days.

Bush had widely pressed Congress to lift bans on offshore oil prospecting and backed moves to allow oil exploration in wilderness areas including Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Salazar then also moved away from "drill-only" energy policies as he blocked what he called a "midnight action" by the Bush administration to push through the sale of offshore leases to gas and oil companies.

"On January 16, the last business day of the Bush administration, the administration proposed a new five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing," Salazar said on February 10.

It would have brought forward from 2012 to 2010 the creation of a new energy development plan that would affect some 300 million offshore acres (121 million hectares) on the outer continental shelf, from the US eastern seaboard to the Pacific Ocean off California, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

"We need to set aside the Bush administration's midnight timetable for the plan," Salazar said, ordering a six-month extension for the public hearings that put the deadline back from March to September.

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FLORA AND FAUNA

Faced with possible EU ban, Canada defends seal hunting

Ottawa (AFP) March 2, 2009
The government of Canada on Monday defended the "humaneness" of seal-hunting and rejected efforts to outlaw the practice, after a European Parliament committee voted to ban the import of seal products.

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