BIG NEWS!

BIG NEWS! Latin American and Caribbean countries yesterday launched Initiative 20x20, an effort to begin restoring 20 million hectares of degraded land — an area larger than Uruguay — by 2020: http://bit.ly/12E7RID

Scientists and policy makers call for greater efforts to integrate biodiversity into climate change politics

Lima, 5 December 2014 – A group of scientists and policymakers delivered a declaration to the Minister of the Environment of Peru, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, the president of UNFCCC Cop-20, that calls for integrated research on biodiversity and climate change and increased recognition of key biodiversity issues in the context of climate change.

The declaration contains a set of recommendations from scientists who assessed the status, trends and vulnerability of biodiversity to climate change. According to scientists who met during a 2-day symposium on Biodiversity and Climate Change held in Lima, the role of biodiversity in carbon sequestration and in resilience for adaptation needs to be better recognized in the climate negotiations.

"To protect people and the planet from climate change, we need to agree on urgent actions to reduce GHG emissions and to help countries adapt to the unavoidable impacts. The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity -- in our forests, mountains and oceans -- and the restoration of these ecosystems, can be an important part of the solution to the climate change problem. To develop integrated policies for biodiversity and climate change we need to understand how biodiversity and the climate are changing, the effects of each on the other, as well as how our response measures to address climate change affect
biodiversity and vice-versa." said Gabriel Quijandria Acosta, vice-minister of Strategic Development of Natural Resources of the Ministry of Environment, Peru.

Specifically, the work presented at the conference demonstrated that:
- Biodiversity can enhance the resilience of ecosystem structure to environmental changes, such as prolonged drought,
- Biodiversity is changing across many different taxonomic groups and biomes, including
mountains, oceans and forests, as a result of a wide range of recent environmental changes such as increasing temperature, and increased frequencies of extreme floods and droughts;
- Effective sustainable management requires understanding both the ecological and socio-economic dimensions of the problem and requires coherent policies at all levels of government;
- Possible solutions include community-based projects that provide economic or other benefits, carefully designed restoration projects, and/or appropriate incentives to support ecologically sustainable land-use practices; and
- A coherent set of actions across sectors and levels of government and society is needed for effective action to address climate change and biodiversity loss, including a policy framework, economic incentives aligned with that framework, public participation continuous monitoring and effective enforcement.

Scientists identified recommendations and potential areas for collaboration and called for enhanced collaboration and support for research in biodiversity, climate change and socio-economic factors. "Biodiversity is affected by climate change and in turn affects the carbon balance of ecosystems.

Understanding these feedbacks and their relationship to human activities is the aim of the collaborative, international research and capacity building networks of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI). The CBD secretariat, international cooperation agencies, such as GIZ and international scientific research organizations are expanding the networking and linkages between disciplines, and between the science and policy sectors. We truly hope the dialogue will be taken as an example by others," said Holm Tiessen, IAI Executive Director.

The symposium was held after the publication earlier this year of the IPPC’s 5th Assessment report and the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-4), with the aim to assess the current state of scientific knowledge on biodiversity and climate change. The declaration was presented at a side-event on December 5th from 08:00-09:30am at the Peru pavilion. The text of the declaration is available at www.iai.int

TWO LEOPARDS CAPTURED- INDIA

Two leopards were captured  and sent to the Assam State Zoo by the forest authorities of Guwahati, Assam, northern India on 27 November.  People had been complaining about  increased leopards in the locality which were causing  panic among the residents. According to the environmentalist, the reason for increased population of the animal in residential areas is due to habitat loss and declining prey base.

November 28

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=nov2914/city055

CENSUS OF TIGER AND SNOW LEOPARD COMMENCED- NEPAL

Counting of world’s rare Bengal tiger (Panthea tigris tigris) has commenced in Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve of Kanchanpur, far-western Nepal through camera trapping technology where about 50 cameras were installed for monitoring. Similarly, 17 cameras were also installed in nine places of Taplejung district, north-eastern Nepal to find exact population of snow leopard (Panthera uncia). Also, a one horned rhino was fitted with a satellite collar and released into Khata corridor that connects Nepal’s Bardiya National Park with India’s Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary to monitor their preferred habitat and reduce human animal conflict.

November 27, 28

http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Royal+Bengal+tiger+count+starts+in+Shuklaphanta+&NewsID=435040

http://epaper.thehimalayantimes.com/Details.aspx?id=3757&boxid=159991568
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=87528
http://epaper.thehimalayantimes.com/Details.aspx?id=3758&boxid=160077712

YOUTH EXODUS BAJURA AND JUMLA- NEPAL

Hundreds of youths of Bajura and Jumla districts, western Nepal migrate to India after harvest season, in search of job for better livelihood. Unproductive land and lack of awareness about modern farming are adding to the numbers even more. But the Karnali Employment program (KEP) implemented by Ministry for Local Development (MLD) in Jumla has solved the problem to some extent by providing job opportunities. The programme has capacity to deploy about 134 locals to build irrigation canal and reservoir for Dapkana Kuirimare hydropower.

November 25

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=87311
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=87313
 

ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE- NEPAL

Climate change has been hitting Nepal since long and the production of paddy was projected to decrease this year too due to several hazards like erratic rainfall, drought, landslides and floods which has wiped out 35,040 ha of farm land of country. To cope with inadequate rainfall, the farmers have now started to shift to the cultivation of water efficient crops like pulses. Similarly, Nepal government is also likely to release the resilient varieties of paddy by June next year to enhance the paddy production.

November 25

http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/11/25/development/preparing-farmers-for-climate-change/398140.html

 

Call for abstracts for the 8th World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC2015)

World Environmental Education Congress – WEEC – is an international congress addressing education for environment and sustainable development. It is THE meeting point for everyone working with education for environment and sustainable development or which have an interest in the field. WEEC2015 is as such an opportunity to learn more about the latest in environmental and sustainability education, to discuss with people from all over the world, to share your own work and to learn from others.