ASEAN meet highlights status of biodiversity

SINGAPORE – As the International Year of Biodiversity draws near, countries all over the world are assessing how they are faring against the 2010 Biodiversity Target of significantly reducing the loss of biological diversity.
The ASEAN member states, home to 20 percent of the world’s known species of flora and fauna, are actively participating in international efforts to determine the real status of biodiversity and to reduce biodiversity loss.
Over 300 key biodiversity stakeholders from the region and other parts of the world gathered for the inaugural ASEAN Conference on Biodiversity (ACB2009) at Republic Polytechnic in Singapore to discuss the pressing issue of biodiversity loss from 21 to 23 October.
The conference, with the theme “Biodiversity in Focus: 2010 and Beyond,” was hosted by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the National Parks Board, Singapore (NParks).
Guest of Honor Ms. Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education, Singapore, encouraged ASEAN member states to pool together their resources, expertise, and experience to jointly tackle the challenges of biodiversity conservation.
Ms. Fu also reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to play its part in contributing to biodiversity conservation in the international arena. She cited the development of the Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity which, when formalized, will help cities benchmark the success of their efforts to reduce biodiversity loss and hopefully enhance urban biodiversity in the longer term.
“Leveraging on our experience as a Garden City endowed with rich biodiversity, Singapore is now working with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and other partner cities to develop the Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity,” she said.

Source:http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/226493/asean-meet-highlights-status-biodiversity

Melting Kyrgyz glaciers pose threat

Geologist Bakutbek Ermenbaev points up through the pine trees at the glacier above us in Kyrgyzstan's Alatau mountains.
"That one - called Adigene - has decreased in size by about 20% over the last 50 years," he says.
He adds that a neighbouring glacier, Aksai, has disappeared completely.
Mr Ermenbaev, who works for the government's hydrogeology agency, says global warming is to blame. And he warns that unless action is taken to reduce this warming, all of Kyrgyzstan's 2,200 glaciers could have melted within a century.
The Kyrgyz glaciers and those in neighbouring Tajikistan are vital to the water supply of Central Asia. "In normal circumstances the glaciers would melt in the summer season, but regain their size in the winter," Mr Ermenbaev says.
But he adds that on average the glaciers are now decreasing in size by 15-20m ( 50-65ft) annually. One glacier, Petrova, is retreating by 50m a year.
Overflowing lakes
The hydrogeology agency has been monitoring the melting of the glaciers for the past 50 years and has one of its monitoring stations on Adigene.
"On average, all around the country, we can say the glaciers have decreased in size by about 20%. "In the last 20 years this has been happening more rapidly than in the previous years," Mr Ermenbaev says.
We are standing by a fast-flowing mountain stream, less than an hour's drive from the capital, Bishkek, but we are already at more than 2,000m above sea-level.
The majority of Kyrgyzstan is mountainous and we are surrounded by snow-capped peaks.
Mr Ermenbaev says the size of the surrounding mountain lakes is further evidence of the effects of global warming.
"When a glacier starts melting it creates small lakes, and each year the size of those lakes is growing," he says. He adds that when the lakes get too big, the water overflows and rushes down the valleys and gorges, potentially threatening the settlements in its path.
A number of homes and buildings were washed away in the gorge we are in, which is called Ala-Archa, in the late 1990s. In Soviet times permanent building was banned in such areas and Mr Ermenbaev says the restrictions should be re-introduced.
He says the agency's monitoring work has been complicated by the fact that it can no longer get access to some land that has been privatised since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Regional tensions
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan's neighbours, such as Uzbekistan - which has a thirsty cotton growing industry - rely on the glaciers for their water supplies.
Mr Ermenbaev says that although the melting may appear to be good news for the downstream countries, providing increased supplies, it will lead to water shortages in the long term. Access to water resources has already created tension between countries in the region. The glaciers provide a store of frozen water, which in the past was released gradually by the thawing and freezing process.
But even if the water is stored downstream in reservoirs it evaporates much more quickly than it would in colder temperatures at higher altitude. "It's not good for the downstream countries to have a lot of water in their reservoirs which could evaporate without benefiting them," Mr Ermenbaev says.
He says that the short-term solution is to build dams on the mountain lakes, where the water can be stored for longer and its flow downstream can be regulated. However, such projects are not popular with the downstream countries which do not want to see restrictions placed on their access to water.
Mr Ermenbaev says that the only long-term solution is to halt global warming, otherwise the mountain landscape could change for ever.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8326594.stm

Women in Pakistan Hit Hardest By Climate Change

Pakistan is among the countries which will be hit hardest in near future by effects of climate change even though it contributes only a fraction to global warming. The country is witnessing severe pressures on natural resources and environment. This warning has recently come from the mouth of Pakistan’s prime minister in a recent statement. The PM[1] has alarmed the countrymen by disclosing that Pakistan is the 12th most vulnerable country in the world, to environmental degradation, would cost five per cent of the GDP every year.

Very few Pakistanis took such warnings serious. There is no media uproar, no popular movement and no political clamoring over the issue. Sad! The majority of the Pakistani policy makers have no time to think about the horrifying picture of the future, caused by the worsening climatic conditions. The country is busy fighting US-led war on terrorism and now almost trapped in a complex political quagmire where it has found itself fighting a war with itself. Therefore, very little time planners find to apprise the people of Pakistan on the repercussions of adverse climatic effects.
The climate experts in the country are hinting at severe water scarcity saying that water supply, already a serious concern in many parts of the country, will decline dramatically, affecting food production. Export industries such as, agriculture, textile products and fisheries will also be affected, while coastal areas risk being inundated, flooding the homes of millions of people living in low-lying areas.
Pakistan’s north eastern parts already experienced droughts in 1999 and 2000 are one such example that caused sharp declines in water tables and dried up wetlands, severely degrading ecosystems. Although Pakistan contributes least to global warming-one 35th of the world’s average of carbon dioxide emissions-temperatures in the country’s coastal areas have risen since the early 1900s from 0.6 to 1 degree centigrade. Precipitation has decreased 10 to 15 per cent in the coastal belt and hyper arid plains over the last 40 years[2] while there is an increase in summer and winter rains in northern Pakistan.
Although Pakistan produces minimal chlorofluorocarbons and a little sulphur dioxide emissions, thus making a negligible contribution to ozone depletion and acid rain, it will suffer disproportionately from climate change and other global environmental problems. Health of millions would also be affected with diarrhoeal diseases associated with floods and drought becoming more prevalent. Intensifying rural poverty is likely to increase internal migration as well as migration to other countries. Given the enormity of the impact, adaptation and mitigation measures are critically important.
Pakistan’s eco system has suffered greatly due to climatic change; one such example is that of Keti Bandar; one of the richest port in the region of the coastal belt of Pakistan that lost privileges of being at some point in time. The former port facilities bordered both shores of the Indus River delta but have become submerged as a result of coastal erosion, leaving only a thin, 2km long isthmus by way of a land bridge to the mainland.
There was a time when it was known to be an area thriving on mangroves ecosystem, rich with agriculture and boasting a busy seaport. Now the landscape is barren and thatched houses dotted on mudflats. Water logging and salinity is its major problem and the intruding sea has almost eaten up the villages. Thousands of peasant families and fisher folk community already had to migrate to other areas in search of livelihood.
So grave is the situation now in the same region that cyclones often visit the coastline and their intensity has increased many times more. Poor peasant and fisher folk communities always hit hard by these cyclones. The blame relies on the fact that the community residing in Keti Bandar is threatened with global climatic change. The coastal area is said to be most vulnerable to climate change with rising sea surface temperatures and atmospheric water vapor causing an increase in cyclone intensity and rainfall. When it comes to climate change population does matter, particularly for countries like Pakistan with an annual growth rate of 2.69 percent[4], will be the sixth most populous country. As poor families struggle to survive, environmental degradation is going to be more pervasive. Long-term sustainable development goals are disregarded in favor of immediate subsistence needs, leaving vulnerable communities specially women at the mercy of climate. Increased use of wood for fuel, abusive use of land and water resources, in the form of overgrazing, over fishing, depletion of fresh water and desertification- are common in rural areas of Pakistan.
There seems to be no stopping the runaway population growth here in Pakistan because birth control is often portrayed as anti-people. The country's political and religious leaders who could make a difference are to blame. They have ignored the explosive population growth completely. Birth control is a taboo topic in Pakistan. In our culture, the larger the number of children, the stronger the family feels. Poverty does not seem to matter. The mullahs (clerics) may not like it.
The rural population has been kept illiterate in Pakistan. "Instead of building schools we built armies. The feudal landowners saw to it that the rural population is kept away from schooling. Mullahs declare girls' education to be un-Islamic. The reality is that even where women want to practice birth spacing they face difficulty in accessing the family planning services. They meet with a non-supportive environment at home, and encounter misconceptions and misinformation about the use of family planning.
At regional level, according to experts, by 2050, the Indian subcontinent will have to support 350 million Pakistanis; 1.65 billion Indians; 40 million Nepalese; 300 million Bangladeshis and 30 million Sri Lankan. The total will be about 2.4 billion people. This was the total population of the whole earth around 1950[5]. The strain on resources in the region will be tremendous, and consequences catastrophic. By then the glaciers in the Himalayas will be gone, the monsoons will be erratic, sometimes too much or too little rain; new uncontrollable diseases will have emerged. It will come overnight. We will wake up, and find that all we had yesterday (food, water, electricity) are gone.
This horrific picture is, no doubt, a matter of concern for the entire population living in this part of world, but matter of urgency for the marginalized sections especially women who will obviously worst and first hit of the climate bomb. Need of the hour is to highlight the gravity of the issue with focus on demanding security to the rights of the poor and marginalized sections in the future policy planning with regard to Climate Change .
In developing countries like Pakistan, women are already suffering disproportionately; as a consequence of climate change. Local environmentalists estimate that 70 per cent of the poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women. Therefore, women are more likely to be the unseen victims of resource wars and violence as a result of climate change. We witnessed this phenomenon in years 1999 and 2000 when thousands of poor families had to flee from drought-hit areas of Balochistan, the most backward province of Pakistan. Women and children were seen the most suffered sections.
Like other poor countries, climate change is harder on women in Pakistan as well, where mothers have to stay in areas hit by drought, deforestation or crop failure. Many destructive activities against the environment disproportionately affect them, because most women in Pakistan are dependent on primary natural resources: land, forests, and waters. In case of droughts they are immediately affected, and usually women and children can't run away. Men can trek and go looking for greener pastures in other areas and sometimes in other countries ... but for women, they're usually left on site to face the consequences. When there is deforestation, when there is drought, when there is crop failure, it is the women and children who are the most adversely affected.
While women are the main providers of food in Pakistan, they face barriers to the ownership and access to land. 67 percent of women are engaged in agriculture related activities but only 1 per cent own land. When hit by the negative impact of climate change, women lose at the same time their livelihood means and their capacity to cope after a disaster. As a result of climate change, domestic chores such as collecting water and firewood become more burdensome and time consuming. As girls commonly assist their mothers in performing these tasks, there is less time left for school or any other economic activity.
The recent data shows that due to climate change major crops yield in Pakistan has declined by 30% (Lead, 2008). Experts are of the opinion that Climate Change is enhancing the susceptibility of agriculture zones to floods, drought and storms. It is pertinent to mention that the agriculture is the single largest sector in Pakistan’s economy, contributing 21 per cent to the GDP and employing 43 per cent of the workforce (Lead, 2008) of which female are in majority.
There is a common perception that ‘it is men who are the farmers’. Contrary to this perception, women in Pakistan produce 60-80 percent of food consumed in the house (IUCN, 2007). In Pakistan, especially in the mountainous regions, men out-migrate for livelihood opportunities (from 50% to 63% of the households) (WB, 2005) and it is the women who looks after the family’s agriculture piece of land along with many other responsibilities. It is interesting to note how much work female household members contribute outside their homes, but their work is generally less visible and attracts less public recognition.
The rise in temperature is going to affect the farming communities in Pakistan as a whole, but will have severe impacts on individuals/households specially women, who are socially, politically and economically more vulnerable.
Important to mention here is that Pakistan was one of the first countries to ratify the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994 and has also endorsed other related protocols (Kyoto and Montreal) but its Climate Change policy is still in the making. Experts are of the opinion that not much in terms of gender should be expected from the forthcoming national policy on Climate change, as responsive policies can only result when they come out of forums that have equal gender representation along with the necessary sensitivity.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is a new mechanism of the Government of Pakistan (GOP) which is trying to address the disaster vulnerabilities of the communities living in hazardous regions by keeping the gender sensitivities in mind. Since NDMA is a new mechanism not much can be said about its programs at this point, but if women are not involved in developing and monitoring important policies and legislations, gender issues will go unnoticed.
In nutshell climate change could hamper the achievement of many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including those on poverty eradication, child mortality, malaria, and other diseases, and environmental sustainability. Much of this damage would come in the form of severe economic shocks. In addition, the impacts of climate change will exacerbate existing social and environmental problems and lead to migration within and across national borders of Pakistan.

Source:http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0910/S00418.htm

Women bear brunt of climate change but have little say in solutions

Following an increased focus on the role of women in global issues, calls are being made for greater inclusion of women in making and implementing environmental policy and technological changes.
Christina Chan, a senior policy analyst for CARE International, related the situation to the UN news agency IRIN: "Well-designed, top-down approaches to [environmental] adaptation can play a role in reducing vulnerability to climate change; yet they may fail to address the particular needs and concerns of women.”
The IRIN article explores reasons that women are often left out of environmental health approaches, including their almost exclusive responsibility for “daily duties,” such as securing food, cooking and the care of the sick and elderly. These activities fail to capture the attention of men working instead on “big-scale technology."
On Thursday, in testimony to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Peter O'Driscoll of ActionAid USA reiterated that women are among those most vulnerable to negative effects of climate change and their voices should be present in environmental policy discussions. O’Driscoll stated: “Women depend more than men on the fragile ecosystems that are threatened by climate change, yet lack adequate access to and control over the natural resources, technologies, and credit they need to produce food.”
Gender’s role in environmental policy is also the topic of a book, Climate Change and Gender Justice, to be released next month. The book, which is edited by Geraldine Terry, is part of Oxfam’s Working in Gender and Development series. Oxfam also presented Gender, Development, and Climate Change, by Rachel Masika, as part of its Focus on Gender series.

Source:http://www.examiner.com/x-24151-Philanthropy-Examiner~y2009m10d16-Women-bear-brunt-of-climate-change-but-have-little-say-in-solutions

Andean Quechua and American youth engage in dialogue about Climate Change

Andean youth from Cusco, Peru have much to share about their experiences of climate change affecting their biocultural systems in the Potato Park of Pisac, Cusco, Peru, in the same way that youth from Dedham, Massachusetts, United States are eager to share how they too are seeking climate change solutions within their community.

Uniting through collaborative dialogue to develop strength and power for creating climate change solutions, these two groups of young people will engage in a conversation on the 24th of October 2009 at 12:30 pm Peruvian time. The conversation is part of youth climate action for the International Day of Action on Climate Change. A series of conversations have been planed with a forward glance on the 15th COP of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark next December 2009.

The objectives of the conversation is to analyze the impacts of climate change on youth and to catalyze the actions of young people, while promoting creative new ideas and strengthening respect for Pacha Mama (Mother Earth).

The international Indigenous Peoples' Climate Change Assessment Initiative (IPCC), Association ANDES and the communities of the Potato Park are responsible for organizing the local end of this open-ended conversation and will facilitate a videoconference between the groups from its headquarters in Cusco, at 12:30 p.m. on 24 October. The Potato Park youth are part of a team that is facilitating an indigenous climate change assessment in their biocultural territory (please visit:http://www.ipcca.net). Creating a space for sharing knowledge and experiences among young people from around the world will help to demonstrate that the actions of youth can provide significant benefits for the socio-economic and environmental welfare of their nations, while strengthening each group's own actions to maintain their local livelihoods and environments.

Source:http://www.andes.org.pe/climate_change_conversations/

Himalaya – Changing Landscapes photo exhibition on show in Berne, Switzerland

(Berne, 26 October 2009) The large outdoor exhibition by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and sponsored by Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) is currently on show at the Waisenhausplatz (Meret-Oppenheim-Brunnen) in Berne, Switzerland. The exhibition is open 10am – 6pm 25 - 31 October 2009.
In the 1950s Austrian and Swiss scientists conducted extensive studies of the Everest region in Nepal. Photos taken by these scientific teams are vital in trying to understand the impact of climate change on the world’s highest mountain range, the Himalayas. Mountain geographer Alton Byers revisited the photo sites in 2007 and took replicates showing many changes. In 2008, as part of its 25th Anniversary celebrations, ICIMOD united the old and new photographs in a photo exhibition: Himalaya – Changing Landscapes, now on display in Berne.
The exhibition aims to raise awareness of the impact of climate change and other new challenges that mountain people are facing. The stunning repeat panorama views of mountains and glaciers are accompanied by photographs of the scientists conducting glacier research in the 1950s. In the second part of the exhibition, photographs from renowned Swiss photographers Fritz Berger and Toni Hagen (with repeat photographs by Alex Treadway) taken in the mid hills of Nepal and Pakistan show landscape and cultural and socioeconomic changes.
Climate change is affecting people and the environment around the globe and this is especially evident in the Himalayas. The greater Himalayan region has the largest concentration of snow and ice outside the two poles. Warming in the Himalayan region has been much greater than the global average. Himalayan people contribute little to global warming, yet they experience some of its most severe impacts. Weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable and extreme with prolonged dry spells and strong storms. This phenomenon is causing concern over the long-term impact on total water supply. Global warming is likely to have far reaching consequences -- on water, agriculture, biodiversity, and the many other factors that provide a basis for people to survive. The ten river systems originating in the Himalayas serve around 1.3 billion people. The footprint of food and energy production of the Himalayan river basins reaches up to 3 billion people. There is a wide gap in the knowledge of the short and long term implications of climate change on the Himalayas. Most studies conducted have excluded the Himalayan region because of its extreme and complex topography, and the lack of adequate existing data.
Dr. Andreas Schild, Director General of ICIMOD; “Melting glaciers are just the tip of the iceberg. The changes taking place are alarming, and the time to act is now. Scientific evidence shows that the effects of globalisation and climate change are being felt in even the most remote Himalayan environments. The signs are visible, but there is very little in-depth knowledge or data available from the Himalayan region. Global measures of scientific co-operation and regional collaboration are needed to reduce this information gap. What happens in this remote mountain region is a serious concern for the whole world”.
For mountain people there are other drivers of change, too: migration, population growth, changes in land-use, and introduction and removal of species. On the other hand people have better access to roads, electricity, education, and communication. Remittances bring new prosperity, and tourism is increasing. But urbanisation, outmigration of men, and problems with waste disposal are also having a marked effect.
The Himalaya – Changing Landscapes photo exhibition was first unveiled in a small format at the Mount Everest Base Camp (5300m) in April 2008, making it the highest photo exhibition in the world. In 2008 the exhibition was held in Stockholm, Barcelona, and Kathmandu, and earlier this year in Bonn, Germany. ICIMOD sees the exhibition as a powerful tool for raising awareness of the impact of climate change in the Himalayas.
source: www.changing-landscapes.com

Saving forests five times better than carbon capture for climate action

Washington, October 12 (ANI): In a new research, WWF (Worldwide fund for Nature) Sweden has determined that saving forests is five times better than carbon capture for climate action.
WWF Sweden is urging its government to get behind an effective international agreement on halting forest loss as a key and highly cost effective measure on climate change.

Sweden should follow the examples set by its northern neighbors in developing systems to halt deforestation," said WWF CEO General Lasse Gustavsson.
"One Swedish krona to stem deforestation results in the same emissions reductions as five kronor for the controversial carbon capture and storage technique," Gustavsson added.
According to 'Gold in Green Forests', a report issued by WWF-Sweden, next to energy efficiency, halting forest loss and degradation is the most cost-effective method for mitigating climate change.
The annual loss of natural forests in developing countries is equivalent to one third of Sweden's surface area.
Forest fires, the conversion of forests to agricultural land and the cultivation of energy crops are responsible for the high rate of forest loss.
A program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is currently being discussed in the negotiations for a global climate deal.
REDD aims to make it worthwhile for developing countries to maintain their forests, as opposed to cutting them down.

Halting deforestation would not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but would also secure the livelihoods of people living in these forests.
"We should always prioritize solutions that are best for both the environment and our wallets, especially during the ongoing financial crisis. Sweden's cautious attitude in this area is therefore very surprising," said Gustavsson, who calls for the government to take action during the ongoing climate change conference in Bangkok and secure a system to finance the protection of the world's forests.
"Norway, Finland, Denmark and Germany have already guaranteed financing for REDD between 2010 and 2012. It's time for the Swedish government to take action - both domestic and as EU President," he said. (ANI)

Source:http://newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/127761#