Category: Wildlife Habitat: Ocean & Sea Conservation

1. Tell These Big US Banks That Arctic Drilling Is Bad Business!

   Posted on 5:00pm Wednesday 26th Feb 2020

   The Sierra Club (a grassroots environmental organisation in the US) has announced that there’s big, exciting news from a bank! JPMorgan Chase have announced at its annual Investor Day that: It will not finance oil and gas extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge It will not continue financing many coal-related enterprises, including thermal coal mines and coal-fired power plants across the world. The bank is by far the leading US investor in fossil fuels, and environmentalists and indigenous peoples have put pressure on the bank for years trying to move away from projects which threaten the climate. They promised to stop investing in and providing services to companies which derive “the majority of their revenues from the extraction of coal” by 2024, and not to provide financing to offshore and onshore oil and gas extraction in the Arctic Goldman Sachs also made a similar commitment not to financial oil drilling in the Arctic two months ago. Now, it’s vital that we put the pressure on other big banks to follow suit.  I wonder... Could their executives and shareholders live with themselves if there was an accident drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic which they had agreed to finance?  It only takes ONE spill to do unrepairable damage.  As the Sierra Club say, “Clean air, safe drinking water, wildlife and wild places are under attack-and once they're gone, they're gone for good.”  © istockphoto.com Mario Hoppmann Tell These Big US Banks That Arctic Drilling Is Bad Business! The Sierra Club say that banks worldwide are refusing to fund Arctic drilling.  Some US banks are dragging their feet.  But Goldman Sachs have done it;  they were the trail-finders who have ruled out financing Arctic oil and gas drilling, thermal coal mines and coal-fired power projects around the world.  Thank you, everyone at Goldman Sachs. Sierra Club Big banks don’t want to fall behind on industry trends.   The Sierra Club is asking us all to focus our efforts on the other US funders which, they say, are notorious for propping up dirty fuels:  Wells Fargo, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley. The Sierra Club are asking everyone to: Send a message to the CEOs of the other major US banks, telling them that bankrolling Arctic drilling isn’t just bad business -- it’s a threat to Indigenous human rights and to the climate. Add your name here and you can send a message too, if you want to add power to it. Let’s all fight for wildlife and indigenous peoples and drill hard and deep for change in the right direction.  Let’s put pressure on.

2. 41 new Marine Conservation Zones expands England’s Blue Belt

   Posted on 5:00pm Saturday 8th Jun 2019

   In the run up to World Oceans Day (8th June every year), Environment Secretary Michael Gove has created 41 new Marine Conservation Zones. This represents the most significant expansion of England’s Blue Belt of Protected Areas to date. Stretching from Northumberland (where eider ducks live) to the Isles of Scilly off Cornwall (basking sharks, seabirds and fish) , the action Gove has taken safeguards 12,000 square kilometres of marine habitat.   A substantial number of additional zones were created in waters away from the coast – some in the deep sea – thus giving protection to habitats and species such as coral gardens, fan mussel and sea pens. Here’s a map showing the Marine Protected Areas Vulnerable marine wildlife will now have an opportunity to recover.    And if there are richer habitats for marine life, so there life will be better for those whose livelihoods depend on a healthy coastline and sea.  WWF has discovered that in marine protected areas, fish breed more readily and populations recover.  In the Apo Island (Philippines), communities depend heavily on fish.   After a marine protected area was created, catch per unit increased 50%.  Fish populations tripled.  Fisherman were able to save fuel and spend less time at sea. The UK now has over 350 Marine Protected Areas, covering 220,000 square kilometres – that’s twice the size of England. The areas protected include wildlife such as worms, seahorse and oyster.   Sand, tidal mud, rocky reefs and gravel will be protected.  Each as a role to play in the balance of nature.  The evidence about the importance of these new sites was gathered by volunteer divers who dive  for Seasearch, a programme co-ordinated by the Marine Conservation Society.    Divers spent hours diving very diverse seabed habitats to record the marine plants and animals living in our inshore seas.   There were extensive consultations with local fishermen too, and members of the public. This citizen science enabled groups such as the Marine Conservation Society to make a case for protecting many of these sites, and they will now be involved in developing management and monitoring plans for these newly protected areas. After all, protection must be active if it is to mean anything.  It’s no good allocating a protected status to an area if action isn’t taken to ensure that the area IS protected. Bodies such as the Marine Management Organisation and local Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities will have the responsibility of ensuring that the zones are protected, working with local fishing communities and other organisations. The UK government has called for 30% of the world’s oceans to be protected by 2030.  It has co-chaired the creation of the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance with Vanuatu.  Later this year, the government will publish an international strategy setting out more action to conserve the ocean and use it in a sustainable way. Meantime, its next step closer to home is to stop damaging activities in the Marine Protected Zones which affect wildlife.   Beam trawling, dredging for scallops and langoustines are among these – and surely there must be some action to stop some leisure activities, too.  But this is a great start, and the fact that citizen scientists (e.g. willing volunteers) and world-class marine scientists have worked together to contribute towards such an outcome is heart-warming. Watch this space!

    

3. Good news for puffin numbers on the Farne Islands

   Posted on 8:00pm Friday 22nd Feb 2019

   The beautiful Farne Islands are one of the best places to see the much loved puffin in the UK. Puffins mate for life.  They separate over winter and pair up again when they come back to the islands in the spring. National Trust rangers count puffins on the Farne Islands as the birds return there to breed and raise their young between April and late July. Previously, they have undertaken a full puffin census every five years.  From 2019, however, they are going to count the puffins every year.  The numbers tell the rangers if there’s been an increase or decrease in the colony – and that data is fed into national information to monitor trends and give an idea of how we can help puffins survive. They will be checking to see if their holes have anyone in them or not.  They’ll look for signs of puffin footprints and fresh digging, and count the puffins living inside the nests. Puffins have traditionally done well on the Farne Islands.  The National Trust has worked to protect them;there’s been good sources of food, a lack of ground predators and plenty of suitable nesting areas. In May 2018, rangers had been worried that puffins had been hit by a long, harsh winter and poor food supplies.   But on the Farne Islands, the birds have weathered a cold, stormy winter.   Rangers counted 43,956 pairs of birds – a 9% increase from 2013! This is an improvement – a 9% increase from 2013.  Mind you, back in 2003, 55,674 pairs were recorded, so there’s still a way to go. The puffins now face a challenge from increasing seal pup numbers (who went up from 1,704 to 2,602 in the last 5 years) – it means there’s less space for puffins on the outer islands. The Farnes achieved their 25th anniversary of their National Nature Reserve status back in 2018.  Such status has helped in several ways: The provision of significant areas of nature habitats Opening up additional finance for the protection of the islands Providing resource for research and studies into protecting puffin numbers. Monitoring the puffins every year will help the Trust track numbers against likely causes of population change – could changes be down to climate change, changes in the sand eel population or something else completely Meantime, the puffin remains on the British Trust for Ornithology's red list for the UK, indicating concern for its future. Three things we can do to help puffins are: Reducing our single-use of plastic Preventing over-fishing - buy sustainable fish.  The Marine Conservation Society has a sustainable fish guide.   Or eat more vegetarian and/or vegan food!  Limiting our use of non-renewable energy

4. Palau - islands making a difference

   Posted on 9:00pm Friday 2nd Nov 2018

   What’s special about Palau? It’s an island situated in the western part of the Pacific ocean and it consists of one large volcanic island and several smaller coral reef associated islands. It’s small.  But it takes action. Palau is imposing a widespread ban on sunscreen in order to protect its coral reefs.  This ban will come into effect in 2020. The sale and use of sunscreen and skincare products which have a list of 10 different chemicals will be restricted.  Researchers believe that these ingredients are highly toxic to marine life.  They can also make coral more susceptible to bleaching.  The ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate are particularly believed to make coral more susceptible.  Scent Free Sun Lotion from Green People    Palau has taken the lead in protecting marine life before. Back in 2015 it designated almost its entire ocean territory as a marine protected zone. It was the second nation to ratify the 2016 Paris climate agreement. Thousands of visitors go to Palau every year – and the islands are determined to protect their coral reefs. As well as sunscreen, reefs are also threatened by sea water warming, over fishing, nutrient enrichment and pollution. These all need to be stopped to halt the continuing degradation of reef ecosystems. But that said, there is always more that can be done, we have to start somewhere, so thank you Palau for leading the way and showing that action can be taken. After all, many visitors to come to see the coral reefs in all their beauty, not bleached coral reefs in a terrible state. There are bans in other places.  Mexico has banned sunscreen in nature reserves.   The Island of Bonaire in the Caribbean and the state of Hawaii have also passed laws.  But Palau is leading the way as it covers 10 chemicals. Needless to say, some of the big corporates who produce sunscreen products are sulking, saying that there isn’t enough evidence of the impact on coral.  But some have come together to form the Safe Sunscreen Council and they’ve welcomed the move.  Come on other nations – if little Palau can do it, why can’t you?  Visit also Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, a nonprofit organization working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and abundant native fish for the islands of Maui Nui

5. Great news for the Antarctic

   Posted on 9:00pm Wednesday 11th Jul 2018

   Greenpeace has announced some great news. The majority of the krill fishing industry has agreed to voluntarily stop fishing in sensitive Antarctic waters.  And it’s backing the campaign for ocean sanctuaries in the Antarctic. Penguins, whales and other Antarctic wildlife that feed on krill will be very relieved. And when the Antarctic Ocean Commission meet in October to decide on a massive Sanctuary, the influential krill industry won't be standing in the way. Greenpeace started campaigning on the krill industry back in April.   And the public piles on the pressure – Over 45,000 emails went to Holland & Barrett calling on them to ditch krill oil products fished from areas that need protection. Over 11,000 tweets and Facebook messages went to Boots, calling on them to stop sourcing krill oil products from sensitive Antarctic waters Stickered krill products with the message on Holland and Barrett and Boots shelves nationwide, Visited over 30 Boots shops with 'krill-o-meters' which asked people to choose between an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary and industrial krill fishing. More people contacted stores stocking dodgy krill products.  Superdrug, Morrisons, Nature’s Best and others listened to customer concerns. Greenpeace says, “This is a major step forward on the road to protecting the Antarctic. With many krill fishing companies now joining the 1.7 million people across the globe already calling for an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary, we are looking ahead with hope to the Antarctic Ocean Commission's meeting in October.” The British Retail Consortium is now calling on governments to act and protect the Antarctic this year. Do your bit and add your voice The UK Government is part of an Antarctic Ocean Commission which has pledged to protect the Antarctic, so you can urge it to stand up for ocean protection and support the creation of the world’s largest Antarctic ocean sanctuary.  Play a part and add your voice to get governments to act and protect the Antarctic. Sign the petition Greenpeace has got and add your voice.  Penguins, whales and marine life need you!