Conservation Gets the Ax

U.S. House strips funding for wildlife here and abroad. Please take a moment to read this article.

 

Press Release

Environmental Protections Cut to the Bone in House Budget Proposal

Legislation Has the Potential to Devastate Conservation Efforts Both in the U.S. and Abroad and Ignores the Threat of Climate Change

WASHINGTON, DC, February 19, 2011 – America’s conservation heritage took a major hit in the reckless budget plan that passed the House of Representatives, including many programs intended to protect the health of our children and the natural world that we all depend on, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said today. The budget proposal strips away funding to save the world’s forests, fisheries and disappearing wildlife. It would also take unprecedented steps to prevent the stewards of our air, water and public lands from doing their jobs, leaving millions of Americans in harms way.  Many of the proposed cuts would slash funding by 30 percent or more, and some programs to maintain America’s parks, protect tropical rainforests and to address the causes and consequences of climate change would be eliminated entirely.
“I want my kids to breathe clean air, drink clean water and enjoy the outdoors, whether it’s a local baseball field or Yellowstone National park,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF. “I want to be able to catch fish in America's rivers and not worry they’re poisoned with mercury.  I want to tell my kids that they share a world with wild tigers and elephants.  Do the House members who voted for this bill not share these same values?”
Funding for global conservation programs is a historically small part of the budget.  Overall foreign aid, for example, accounts for approximately 1.5 percent of the budget and this has been consistent in both good and bad economic times.  Surveys have long shown Americans think we should spend 5 to 10 percent of our budget on helping people around the world.
“Our budget woes are temporary, but extinction is forever,” said Bill Eichbaum, vice president of government relations with WWF.  “Budget discipline is important, but there is a difference between reasonable and radical. This is simply an all-out assault on science and reason. From cutting funding for food banks to education to environmental protection…this is an anti-everything budget.”
President Obama introduced a budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 that includes more than $1 trillion in deficit reductions, two-thirds of it from cuts.
"In contrast to the House of Representatives' slash-and-burn budget bill, President Obama's funding proposals for the coming year take a measured and reasonable approach - reducing our deficit while protecting essential programs and American values," added Eichbaum.  “As this debate moves on to the Senate, we now look to them to take a similarly thoughtful approach to the budget.”
The House budget proposal would have a profound negative impact on successful conservation and science programs currently underway. Agencies facing cuts include:

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - 30%
• US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Multinational Species Conservation Funds - 32%
• Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) – 86%
• Global Environment Facility (GEF) - 63%
• USAID - 30%
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) -  8%, including 100% funding for the Climate Service program
• Clean Technology Fund (CTF) : Zeroes Out Funding
• Forest Investment Program (FIP) : Zeroes Out Funding
• Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) : Zeroes Out Funding
• North American Wetlands Conservation Fund  (NAWCF) – Zeroes Out Funding
• Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation (NMBC) – 11%
• Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) – 33% cut in supporting fund with TFCA targeted for zero funding

The budget would also prohibit any funds:

• to support the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• for the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide pollution from stationary sources for seven months
• for the EPA to update the national air quality standards
• for the EPA to consider, review or invalidate any permits for offshore drilling near Alaska

One a Day

Rhino poaching reached reached an all-time high in 2010 with almost one rhino a day being illegaly killed for their prized horns. 10 of the rhino's killed were the endangered black rhinos. This is truely a tragedy. There are only approximately 3,000 black rhinos left in the wild. 3,000 seems like a big number but its not really. Especially when you consider 10 rhinos are killed a year.

Rhinos are killed for their horns which are used in traditional Asian medicines. There are claims that rhino horns can help cure cancer but there is no medical evidence  to prove these claims. So basically, the killing of these rhinos is completely pointless. To read the complete article and find out how you can help stop illegal rhino poaching click here.

Until next time,

A photo for thought...

Ring out the old, Ring in the new

The new year is coming 'round and with it needs to come new changes. In the last 20 years the illegal pet trade has boomed from a $3million business to a $10million business. In the last couple of years conservation has made itself more well know to the public. Much more of America's population has turned green. Concerned people are joining groups and donating money left and right. But it can't stop here. It can't stop now. 2011 needs to be the year of change. The whole world needs to be made aware of the wildlife crisis going on around them and that awareness starts with you! Be a voice. A loud one. Let people hear. Educate all those around you. Don't just think "ah, the other guys'll do it". That's were we have a problem. Don't slack. Push forward. Be the change this new year needs to see. Be hardcore. A hardcore wildlife warrior. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to find out how to find your voice.

Until next time,

Tigers

Funny that this article should surfice on Yahoo this morning. Take a moment to read....

Tigers could be extinct in 12 years if unprotected

By IRINA TITOVA, Associated Press Irina Titova, Associated Press – Sun Nov 21, 10:53 am ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Wild tigers could become extinct in 12 years if countries where they still roam fail to take quick action to protect their habitats and step up the fight against poaching, global wildlife experts told a "tiger summit" Sunday.

The World Wildlife Fund and other experts say only about 3,200 tigers remain in the wild, a dramatic plunge from an estimated 100,000 a century ago.

James Leape, director general of the World Wildlife Fund, told the meeting in St. Petersburg that if the proper protective measures aren't taken, tigers may disappear by 2022, the next Chinese calendar year of the tiger.
Their habitat is being destroyed by forest cutting and construction, and they are a valuable trophy for poachers who want their skins and body parts prized in Chinese traditional medicine.
The summit approved a wide-ranging program with the goal of doubling the world's tiger population in the wild by 2022 backed by governments of the 13 countries that still have tiger populations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia.
The Global Tiger Recovery Program estimates the countries will need about $350 million in outside funding in the first five years of the 12-year plan. The summit will be seeking donor commitments to help governments finance conservation measures.
"For most people tigers are one of the wonders of the world," Leape told The Associated Press. "In the end, the tigers are the inspiration and the flagship for much broader efforts to conserve forests and grasslands."
The program aims to protect tiger habitats, eradicate poaching, smuggling, and illegal trade of tigers and their parts, and also create incentives for local communities to engage them in helping protect the big cats.
The summit, which runs through Wednesday, is hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has used encounters with tigers and other wild animals to bolster his image. It's driven by the Global Tiger Initiative which was launched two years ago by World Bank President Robert Zoellick.
Leape said that along with a stronger action against poaching, it's necessary to set up specialized reserves for tigers and restore and conserve forests outside them to let tigers expand.
"And you have to find a way to make it work for the local communities so that they would be partners in tigers conservation and benefit from them," Leape said.
"To save tigers you need to save the forests, grasslands and lots of other species," he added. "But at the same time you are also conserving the foundations of the societies who live there. Their economy depends very much on the food, water and materials they get from those forests."
About 30 percent of the program's cost would go toward suppressing the poaching of tigers and of the animals they prey on.

Russia's Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said that Russia and China will create a protected area for tigers alongside their border and pool resources to combat poaching.

Leape said that for some of the nations involved outside financing would be essential to fulfill the goals.

"We need to see signficant commitment by the multilateral and bilateral indsitutions like the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank plus individual governments like the U.S. and Germany," Leape told the AP.

For advocates, saving tigers has implications far beyond the emotional appeal of preserving a graceful and majestic animal.

"Wild tigers are not only a symbol of all that is splendid, mystical and powerful about nature," the Global Tiger Initiative said in a statement. "The loss of tigers and degradation of their ecosystems would inevitably result in a historic, cultural, spiritual, and environmental catastrophe for the tiger range countries."

Three of the nine tiger subspecies — the Bali, Javan, and Caspian — already have become extinct in the past 70 years.

Much has been done recently to try to save tigers, but conservation groups say their numbers and habitats have continued to fall, by 40 percent in the past decade alone.

In part, that decline is because conservation efforts have been increasingly diverse and often aimed at improving habitats outside protected areas where tigers can breed, according to a study published in September in the Popular Library of Science Biology journal.

Putin has done much to draw attention to tigers' plight. During a visit to a wildlife preserve in 2008, he shot a female tiger with a tranquilizer gun and helped place a transmitter around her neck as part of a program to track the rare cats.

Later in the year, Putin was given a 2-month-old female Siberian tiger for his birthday. State television showed him at his home gently petting the cub, which was curled up in a wicker basket with a tiger-print cushion. The tiger now lives in a zoo in southern Russia.

Until text time,

Be a Wildlife Warrior

Wildlife:  1. Undomesticated animals living in the wild

Warrior: 1.  A person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness

I first heard the term "Wildlife Warrior" while reading a book about one of my all time heros, Steve Irwin. (http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/) Steve was a true wildlife warrior. He fought hard to preserve the animals he loved. But you don't have to be Steve Irwin to be a Wildlife Warrior. Anyone can help protect the wildlife. Dontate to a cuase, volunteer your time, educate others. Take a little time to give to the earth and the animals therein.

Until next time,

Hello.

This blog has one simple mission - To educate and inform people like me and you about the tremendous need to protect and preserve wildlife.

The world was created beautiful. It was man's job to care for and tend to the earth. As the years have gone by people have forgotten their duty to God's creation.

As people expand, cities go up. As civilization grows the natural habitat dwindles away. Yes, progress in the human world is good. However, when our progress demolishes natures habitats and our animal neighbors fall towards extinction Man's gone too far. A perfect balance needs to be found.

But unfortunately, human expansion is not the only threat to wildlife. Do the words "poachers" or "illegal traders" sound familiar? It is a fact that only between 5,000 to 7,000 wild tigers roam the earth. If you think about it, that's not many. Not many at all. Tigers are hunted and killed for fur. This is illegal. If tiger poaching continues the tiger population will be wiped out. Just think, your grandchildren will read about tigers and dinosaurs on the same textbook page. Unless, you do your part to save the earth. Inform yourself about what's going on in the world around you and take action.

Until next time,