"Big Profit from Nature Protection"

True to the main intended theme of this blog, this post is a simple link to highlight an article published on the BBC News Website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8357723.stm. It seems obvious that this objective conclusion would be reached eventually, once comprehensive evidence had been gathered.

Water !

The latest issue of Africa Geographic (Oct 2009), focuses on the criticality, threat to, and scarceness of Africa's fresh water resources. A continuous thread in many of the articles is that key components of the fresh water supply are often located outside of existing protected areas and therefore vulnerable to all sorts of human induced pressures. Over exploitation through deforestation, pollution of the water resources, and excessive use of available water supplies, are examples that not only have local impacts, but also significant negative downstream impacts. One article identifies an example of human activities actually having a devastating impact upstream of the actual activity. The enlarging of the Massingir Dam on the Olifants River in Mozambique caused flooding of the upstream gorge located in the Kruger National Park, South Africa's flagship conservation area. Firstly, this allowed for easy illegal access into the park. Secondly, although the exact cause has not been identified, it is also possible that the flooding of the gorge and associated water contamination corresponded with the mass death of over 200 crocodiles in the gorge, during the winter of 2008. The gorge is a critical breeding location for Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus). The boundaries and location of the Kruger National Park provide a stark example of a conservation area totally dependant on water sources located outside the park itself. The water sources and rivers are located in areas with intense human activities such as mining, agriculture and forestry. All six of the main rivers flow west to east through the park. Last year, during our backpacking trip to South America, we gained first hand experience of another staggering example of river pollution causing untold damage to fish and wildlife species downstream, as well as local communities dependant on the river for their survival. In Bolivia, we travelled for three days down stream to Rurrenebaque by boat, spending two nights camped on the river bank, and experiencing the rain forest predominantly from the river. A large part of the trip was outside of conservation areas. Gold extraction from the river continues by both family size and larger company operations. The alluvial gold is extracted by using a sluice box to separate the heavier sediment, and mercury to amalgamate the gold. A proportion of this mercury ends up back in the river entering the food chain. What these examples highlight is the need for conservation approaches to focus at an ecosystem level as a minimum, taking into account the full fresh water process including fresh water sources, catchment areas, the entire length of rivers and streams, and including ground water aquifers. Historically , many conservation areas have been proclaimed without taking into account ecosystem boundaries. An added challenge is that this more than often will require collaboration between neighboring countries.

Loch Lommond and The Trossachs National Park, Scotland

Just returned from a two week trip to the United Kingdom and learnt a bit more about the threats to the United Kingdom's only native squirrel - the red squirrel. The loch Lommond and The Trossachs National Park in Scotland, which we visited, is one of the areas where the red squirrel is still common, and was just spectacular with the autumn colours. The red squirrel has been displaced over a large part of its range by the exotic grey squirrel from North America, introduced in 1870. There are two main causes for the red squirrel decline. The larger grey squirrel out competes the red squirrel for food resources, the grey squirrels being able to digest unripened acorn and hazel nuts therefore reducing the availability of this food source to red squirrels. Secondly, the grey squirrels carry the parapox virus lethal to the red squirrels. It is not one way traffic though as red squirrels are conifer cone specialists able to strip away the scales to get at the seeds.

Rationale for Conservation Outside Protected Areas

Second assignment completed as part of my course in Biodiversity Conservation and Management. Rationale for Conservation Outside Protected Areas

Zimbabwe's Wildlife Catastrophe

A recent article in the Africa Geographic magazine, (Zimbabwe Lifelines), is a stark reminder that apart from the tremendous human suffering and ongoing poverty in the country, the countries spectacular wildlife and natural areas are under severe pressure as well. The article focuses on the Mana Pools National Park, which is a protected area I have never visited but read so much about. Having being born and raised in Zimbabwe, I have a close tie to the country, and ongoing hope that the country will be restored to a prime international widlife tourism destination, and all the benefits to the local people that go with that. The park staff, who are responsible for managing the area and it's wildlife, are unable to feed themselves with a salary that is worthless and to purchase the fuel necessary for work in a remote location.

What is a bigger struggle in my mind is to grasp the disparity between conservation initiatives in other parts of the world, and the fact that existing proclaimed protected areas in Zimbabwe, are at risk of at worst deproclamation, but certainly ongoing massive deterioration of the natural ecosystem and associated wildlife. We celebrate the re-introduction of spawning salmon to a local river system off Lake Ontario, and yet existing parks in Zimbabwe comprising stable populations of Africa's megafauna are being destroyed. Obviously both are important, but I begin to wonder if there is any hope on a global scale of reducing the ongoing loss in biodiversity. The reality is that the loss of natural ecosystems in Zimbabwe will eventually cause more suffering for the people of Zimbabwe, if not already.

Conservation of the North Atlantic Right Whale

As part of my ongoing part-time studies to learn more about conservation and the environment, I am currently studying a course in Biodiversity Conservation and Management through the University of London. Below is the link to a paper on the current conservation status of the North Atlantic Right Whale.
Conservation of Eubalaena glacialis (North Atlantic Right Whale)

Back Country Canoeing, Algonquin Provincial Park

Most remarkable about our recent canoeing trip into Algonquin Provincial Park was that for three nights and four days, we didn't see another human being. I didn't think that was possible in any conservation area so close to the huge population of southern Ontario. We had entered the park from the east and launched our canoe from Achray Camp. We only had a single portage of one kilometre to traverse to our final destination of Clemow Lake where we were the only campers for the complete duration of our stay. The trip in was miserable due to heavy rainfall, and for parts of our stay we stayed in camp reading and playing cards due to the rain. Besides that the spot was idyllic with magnificent views of the lake and surrounding coniferous forests. We were treated though to an abundance of smaller wildlife close to our camp including numerous watersnakes (see below), attracted by the many frogs.

Common Loon, Algonquin Provincial Park

A favourite sight and sound of a canoeing trip into Algonquin. To a rule, there is almost always a single pair without or without chicks on each of the lakes during summer.

Northern Watersnake, Eastern Algonquin Provincial Park

It seemed at times as though our campsite on Clemow Lake was overrun with watersnakes, very common on the east side of the park. The snakes are harmless, but still agressive as proved by one juvenile snake that threatened us when we went down to the water to clean our pots and cutlery. Below an adult and juvenile ...

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children

(Native American Proverb)

Great Crested Flycatcher

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Yellow Warbler - The Best Photo from the Trip !

Birding ! - Point Pelee National Park, Lake Erie

Our interest focussed again on the spring bird migrations and this time we spent three days in and around Point Pelee National Park on Lake Erie, the southern most point of Canada (except for a few islands offshore). It is a world-renowned "Important Bird Area", and famous for the birding concentrations in spring and fall, and monarch butterflies in autumn. Jutting out into the lake, the point provides the first stop-over for birds having crossed the lake heading north in spring. We had a terrific time, and although there were hordes of other birders with expensive "bins", cameras, lenses, and scopes, we managed to find pathways away from the crowd. It is certainly the best concentration of species I have seen in Canada so far, being used to the species rich areas of southern Africa. The morning dawn chorus is loud, and the tiny warblers are delightful. Our trip was well timed, as within a couple of weeks, the trees and bushes will be fully leaved, and many of the small birds will be very hard to find.

World Wildlife Fund CN Tower Climb

Took part for the second year in the annual World Wildlife Fund CN Tower Climb last weekend. Amazingly, this years climb raised over $ 1.1 million dollars with 6200 people participating over two separate events - team and individual. It is extremely well organised, and the more I find out about the organisation here in Canada, the more impressive it becomes. WWF - Canada really does some superb work, and further details can be found in last years Annual Report at http://assets.wwf.ca/downloads/wwfcanada_annualreport2008.pdf. As an example during 2008, and after probably 10 years of negotiation, WWF-Canada was a part of historical agreements with NAFO, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation. Agreements were signed committing to a cod recovery plan, as well as banning bottom fishing on the southwest slope of the Grand Banks in order to protect cold water corals. Some real achievements being made amongst a very sad state globally on the destruction of wildlife and the environment. Included in the details is that the efforts not only benefit the marine environment, but also the people and communities dependant on what used to be one of the richest fishing areas in the world. New breakthroughs in net design reduce the bycatch, and add to the efficiency of the shipping crews.

Hockley Valley Provincial Park

We continue to explore conservation areas not too far from where we live in Mississauga, Toronto. On Easter Friday we completed a terrific and challenging hike in the Hockley Valley Provincial Park, another of the conservation areas located on the Niagara Escarpment. It turned out to be one of my favourite hikes in all the areas we have hiked close to Toronto. There are no facilities, and we walked for long periods with no sign of human construction or habitation, other than wooden bridges crossing streams. The terrain is also challenging winding up and down the valley slopes.

Beamer Memorial Conservation Area, Grimsby

One of the wildlife sights that has sparked our interest is the bird migrations in this part of the world. Just an hour from where we live, we spent a couple of hours yesterday at Beamer Memorial Conservation Area, a wooded area on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment. At this time of year it provides a good vantage point to view migrating raptors. A stong pair of binoculars is needed to view most of the birds, but it really is an astonishing sight to see the birds heading north to their summer breeding grounds. The majority of the birds we saw were turkey vultures, but there were also a couple of hawks that we could not specifically identify, and at least one immature bald eagle (so we were told by one of the other birders !). The escarpment with it's updraft provides good conditions for the birds to travel, and during March and April, tens of thousands of the birds migrate that way.

Photo Selected for Daily Dozen by National Geographic

Really pleased that so far one of the photographs from our South American trip has been recognised beyond this website. The above photograph was selected as one of the daily dozen on the National Geographic website for the second week of March (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/daily-dozen). As a reminder from a previous blog entry, we spent over two hours with this exhausted Magellanic Penguin on one of the beaches close to Punta del Diablo, Uruguay. The chest feathers were covered in a petroleum residue, the result of a recent oil spill. This was one of the birds still alive, but we also came across a number of dead birds washed up on the beach.

South Africa Seizes Shark Fishing Boat

Cape Town - South African authorities have seized a Taiwanese fishing boat accused of violating limits on shark fishing. Inspectors confiscated 1.6 tons of dried shark fins from the vessel and said it was "the biggest alleged illegal consignment during recent years." The boat's permit was valid for just 100kg of shark fins. The environment ministry said the amount of dried shark fin suggested that the vessel had caught at least 30 tons of sharks, nearly 15 times what the crew claimed to have caught. In a statement on Saturday it said the vessel would remain in Cape Town pending criminal proceedings and would be blacklisted worldwide. Shark-finning is fuelled by big profit margins with shark fins estimated to fetch between $400-$700 per kilogram.
- SAPA - (http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2485681,00.html)

Scuba Diving, The Reef House, Roatan Island, Honduras

Three of us, Heather, Louise and myself, just returned from an excellent week long trip to Roatan Island, Honduras, my first trip to Central America and the Caribbean region. We flew directly from Toronto to the island, and the contrast in climate and landscape at this time of year is vast - a stark cold wintery landscape in Toronto, replaced by a lush wooded island with beautifully coloured seas and reefs. After 15 dives during the week, Heather's and my skill and comfort levels underwater have jumped a level. The reefs were in good condition with some amazing wildlife, although we understand the proper protection and monitoring of the marine environment is only slowly being implemented. We stayed at the Reef House Resort all week which was relaxed with great food, and a competent dive team we were confident with. The Reef House also provided some close encounters with turtles. Rescued, tagged and quarantined for a period in a fenced-off pool in front of the resort, before being relelased into the wild. Other than 15 dives in six days, the trip also provided two other firsts - a sea night dive, and an afternoon dive with a female group of Caribbean Reef Sharks.

Roatan Island, Honduras

United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre

An interesting source of conservation related material, and specifically biodiversity management ...

http://www.unep-wcmc.org/biodiversity/

Take a look at the presentation: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/biodiversity/presentation/4422/index.html

Climate Change ?

As part of my ongoing interest, education and involvement in conservation and wildlife, I joined the North American Wildlife Society during 2008. Unlike most of the membership who work full time in the industry, my involvement is only part-time and certainly with far less academic qualifications to most of those I interact with occasionally. Even so, the latest issue of The Wildlife Professional magazine (Winter, 2008) caught me by surprise, and I thought required comment. A number of letters to the editor strongly reacted to a previous edition of the magazine and it's stance on climate change. More specifically, one letter states, "… Clearly, climate change is currently not a mainstream area of research for TWS (The Wildlife Society). Although climate change is an important subject, we suggest TWP (The Wildlife Professional) redirect the topical nature of future issues to better reflect our published science while providing practical, objective, and science-based information for practicing wildlife biologists…" Wow ! In my view that is just a remarkable statement to be making in the year 2009, when numerous other publications are dominated by issues around climate and the response required by wildlife managers. In fact the letters in general claim to represent a huge scientific community in the United States. Coming from where I do in South Africa, this reminded me of our previous President Thabo Mbeki and his stance on the AIDS crisis ! I hardly have the scientific credentials to argue details, but just from my limited reading and interest, a view like that on climate change has got be questioned. For example, as a general member of the public, I subscribe to much of the available general reading coming out of Algonquin Provincial Park in Southern Ontario. Amongst their magazines are many references to data on the changing arrival dates of migratory bird species, and the impact on the breeding success due to decreased availability of food with the earlier arrival. As a second example, the changing southern and northern limits of tree species distribution with the current and predicted future average increase in temperatures. If these sorts of issues are not important to wildlife managers and their plans for the future, I am not sure what is. As another example from South Africa, a friend of mine has worked on a mini-thesis as part of a course, examining the current available data on predicted biome distribution, temperature and rainfall changes, and how this should be taken into account when wildlife managers plan burning cycles and regimens. Now all these examples might be taken as small and irrelevant, but if all of that is available to me out of general interest in the topic, surely the main current is that climate change is accepted as a very big thing in our current world, and what are we going to do about it as wildlife enthusiasts and managers?

Albion Hills Conservation Area

One of several conservation areas close to Toronto we have visited in summer to hike and trail run, and in winter to snowshoe and cross country ski. We were there again on Saturday taking on what are for us some challenging cross country ski trails ! Still beginners, and working on some sort of consistent technique, some of the steep downhills provide for some 'hair-rising' rides, and occassional dramatic tumbles. The Albion Hills Conservation Area was the first conservation area in Ontario, declared in 1954. The area is the source of the Humber River that drains south, eventually reaching Lake Ontario just west of Toronto downtown.