Thursday, February 19, 2009

Indonesia reopens peatland to palm oil plantation

Government says tighter controls on peatland permits have been set, Campaigners warn of rise in greenhouse gas emissions from land clearance.

Source: Copyright 2009, Guardian
Date: February 18, 2009
Byline: Ian MacKinnon
Original URL
A year-long freeze on the use of peat land for palm oil plantations was quietly lifted by Indonesia, fuelling fears of a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.

The government had been pressed to maintain the ban by environmental groups, but Indonesia's agriculture ministry said that tighter controls will be placed on the issuing of new permits, which were withheld since December 2007 under the ban.

Greenpeace estimates that Indonesia's peat land locks in 37.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide - a significant global store of carbon. As this peat land is cleared and drained to grow palm oil, millions of tonnes of CO2 is released into the atmosphere.

A report by the World Bank abd Britain's department for International Development said defporestation, forest fires and peat land degradation were responsible for up to 84% of Indonesia's carbon emissions.

What Indonesia is certainly taking into account is that it is the world's largest producer of palm oil with 7.1m hectares of estates planted, generating an exports revenue of £7.64bn in 2008.

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Further Information:
See more images of Palm Oil Plantations in Sumatra on the Protect Forests - Save our Climate blog.
Interesting developments in Sustainable Palm Oil Production


Manure could power two million homes

Manure, slurry and food could be used to create enough energy to heat and power more than two million homes in Britain, the Government will claim.

Source: Copyright 2009, Telegraph

Date: February 18, 2009
Original URL

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is launching a task force to help sectors including farming and the water industry meet goals to produce energy from anaerobic digestion, which generates gas from the break down of organic material without oxygen.

More than 100 million tonnes of organic material is produced by the UK per year that could be used to produce biogas.

Speaking at the NFU conference in Birmingham today, Farming and Environment Minister Jane Kennedy is expected to say: "We're producing more organic waste in this country than we can handle, over 12 million tonnes of food waste a year - and farmers know too well the challenges of managing manure and slurry.

"There are alternatives to sending organic waste to landfill. Anaerobic digestion is a true solution.

"This material could produce enough heat and power to run more than two million homes - helping to prevent dangerous climate change by providing a renewable energy source as well as reducing our reliance on landfill.

"Farmers, I know, share this vision of making the UK world leaders in this innovative technology and I applaud their aim for 1,000 on-farm AD plants by 2020 to power their operations, as well as using the leftovers as bio-fertiliser."


Read the full article on the Telegraph

Welfare Groups Lobby to Prevent Legal Dog Racing in South Africa

4 February 2009

(Cape Town, South Africa) - Legalising greyhound racing will only worsen an already out-of-control animal welfare crisis the South African government has been warned.

The Department of Trade and Industry kicks off a second round of public consultations this Friday to gauge opinion on possibly reinstating legal greyhound racing in South Africa. Greyhound racing has been banned in South Africa since 1945.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – www.ifaw.org) said South Africa already found itself in an escalating animal welfare crisis.

“The ngo community, which is largely charged with caring for animals in disadvantaged communities, is overwhelmed and simply can’t keep up with overpopulation, disease control and malnutrition,” said Christina Pretorius, Head of Programmes for IFAW.

“That’s just one part of the crisis. The fact is that South African authorities don’t have the laws, or the manpower to manage illegal activities such as dog fighting and puppy mills – tasks that are left to animal welfare ngos to sort out. Under the circumstances it is inexplicable how they can even consider legalising greyhound racing.”

IFAW said that re-introducing greyhound racing under the poor socio-economic conditions that affect much of the country’s populace would lead the dogs to be seen as expendable commodities.

“By encouraging the idea that one may profit from racing greyhounds, illegal racing will spiral out of control in disadvantaged communities,” said Pretorius.

“Additionally, greyhounds that have reached the end of their usefulness as racing dogs (from two to four years old), will be relinquished further adding to the burden of animal welfare organisations and encouraging a destructive cycle of animal abuse.”

IFAW’s projects in South Africa – Community Led Animal Welfare (CLAW) in Johannesburg, and Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayalitsha outside Cape Town report that they regularly come across large numbers of greyhounds.

“These dogs are usually used illegally, for poaching small buck and game for the pot, and dogs are regularly transported across provincial borders without the required vaccines to reach favoured poaching spots. It is common that dogs are gored, have broken legs or are run to ground while hunting,” said Cora Bailey, founder of CLAW.

“The dogs are often kept in squalid, overcrowded conditions. At various hostels in Johannesburg, it is not unusual for us to find anything between 100 and 200 greyhounds living in appalling conditions.

“Under the current circumstances it would be disastrous to legalise greyhound racing.”

Public consultations will take place on the following dates and venues:

  • 6 February 2009, 09h00-12h30, Protea Edward Hotel, Durban
  • 13 February 2009, 09h00-12h30, Protea Seapoint Hotel, Cape Town
  • 20 February 2009, 09h00-12h30, Protea Marine Hotel, Port Elizabeth
  • 26 February 2009, 09h00-12h30, Garden Court Hotel, Bloemfontein
  • 27 February, 2009, 09h00-12h30, Protea Manor Hotel, Hatfield, Pretoria
  • 6 March 2009, 09h00-12h30, Garden Court East London, Esplanade, East London
  • 13 March 2009, 09h00-12h30, Willows Garden Hotel, Potchefstroom


For media-related inquiries, contact:
Christina Pretorius (IFAW, Southern Africa)
Tel: +27 21 424 2086
Mobile: +27 82 330 2558
Email: cpretorius@ifaw.org

IFAW helps Australia’s wildfire animal victims

11 February 2009

(Whittlesea, Australia) - The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW - www.ifaw.org ) has sent an Emergency Relief team to help wild and domestic animals affected by the devastating fires in Victoria, Australia.

The team, led by IFAW Emergency Responder, Tania Duratovic, arrived on the scene yesterday and has hit the ground running by helping local wildlife carers with search and rescue operations, providing treatment, food and vet supplies.

Working alongside local group Help for Wildlife, the IFAW team has already treated a variety of animals ranging from horses, dogs and goats to koalas, wallabies, a lyrebird and even a dingo.

“Thousands of wild and domestic animals have been killed or injured by the fires and heat. Our priority is to work with the local community, carers and vets to help rescue and treat as many survivors as possible and get them on what will be a long road to recovery,” Ms Duratovic said.

“Some people only just managed to make it out with their beloved cats and dogs alive while others were forced to leave pets and livestock behind. For some people their animals are all they have left - rescuing and treating them will go some way towards helping these people find comfort after this disaster and get back on their feet,” Ms Duratovic said.

One of the team members is IFAW volunteer, Dr Howard Ralph, who is a renowned vet, burns specialist and human doctor, and is already helping local vets to treat pets at the survivors’ shelter in Whittlesea.

The key to rescuing as many animals as possible is for organizations and the local community to work together. IFAW is working alongside local wildlife groups such as Help for Wildlife and Wildlife Victoria and the RSPCA. As well as on the ground support IFAW has provided immediate assistance through emergency grants for carers to help them to operate in the disaster area, conduct search and rescue and coordinate food supplies for the animals that escaped the fires but are now without a food source.

The IFAW team in Whittlesea is also providing a valuable information service for emergency workers are also seeking advice on what to do if they come across injured animals.

For media-related inquiries, contact:
Michael Booth (IFAW, Headquarters)
Tel: +1-508-744-2076
Email: mbooth@ifaw.org

Imogen Scott (IFAW, Australia)
Tel: +61-2-9288 4993
Email: iscott@ifaw.org