Tag Archives: opinion
Rare Damani gazelle gives birth in Kalba
Rare Damani gazelle gives birth in Kalba (Wam) / 28 May 2013 One of the first group of endangered Damani gazelles released in the Al Hafiya natural reserve in Kalba by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, in May 2012 gave birth recently. The gazelles’ release marked the inauguration of the first phase of the Kalba Eco-tourism Project undertaken by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) in collaboration with the Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) in Sharjah. The Kalba Eco-Tourism Project, the largest of its kind in the development in the region, is set up in Khor Kalba, 15km south of Fujairah city on the UAE-Oman borders and features natural reserves and diverse tourist and commercial facilities. Speaking on the occasion, EPAA Director-General Hana Saif Al Suwaidi stated: “The birth of the endangered Damani gazelles on April 4 and 7, followed by the birth of three more gazelles, which are known to be breeding in spring and autumn, bring the number of gazelles in the Al Hafiya protected area from 29 to 34.” Al Suwaidi noted that these births are clear evidence of the success of the project’s aims proving that the gazelles have adapted to their natural habitat and signal that the natural reserve provides the type of healthy conditions needed to preserve the species’ natural life cycle. Speaking about future plans to release more gazelles, Al Suwaidi said a specialised team from EPPA is currently tasked with monitoring the animals in accordance with a detailed plan to release and re-introduce more endangered wild animals in the protected areas in Sharjah. “We are working on the re-development of the natural reserves in Kalba (Al Hafiya and Al Qurm natural reserves in Khor Kalba), as part of the first phase of the Kalba-eco-tourism project, in order to preserve the rare biodiversity of the area and rehabilitate its fauna and flora in order to bring it back to what it was before. “These areas were once home to rare animal species that became damaged as a result of overfishing and human wrongdoing. Our plans are being implemented through a carefully studied plan to help curb the environmental degradation and rehabilitate a number of endangered animal and bird species,” she added. Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), commented: “The progress made in the rehabilitation of natural reserves within the Kalba eco-tourism project is an important step for the development of the project as a whole. Especially since the project’s main focus is on eco-tourism, making it dependent on the sustainable development of ecological life and conservation of animal and plant resources in the region.” Al Sarkal also lauded the role of the Environment and Protected Areas Authority in the development of this part of the project. Characterised by its small size, the endangered Damani gazelle is well adapted to the wild environment, feeding on herbs rich in dew to compensate for the scarcity of water, and travelling long distances in search of water. Once found, they drink enough in quantity. The Kalba eco-tourism project is one of the most important tourism projects in the UAE and the region and will offer visitors a unique experience in the form of an incomparable tourist destination featuring many attractions and diverse world-class facilities and amenities. Continue reading
When It Comes To Climate Change, Shell Is Backing The Wrong Horse
Opinion: Shell, with its enthusiastic embrace of fracking, has a credibility problem Eamon Ryan Fri, May 10, 2013, ‘ Shell faces up to climate change challenge” ran the headline in this paper last week. I wish it were true but the company has a credibility problem when it comes to the issue. It is betting everything on the presumption that we will keep burning the fossil fuels that it keeps pulling up out of the ground. It is hard for Shell to be talking climate one minute and a new “golden age of gas” the next. It is a major player in the energy game and that cannot but affect how it sees our energy future. It makes sense when Shell says that the capture and storage of carbon in power stations will be one of the solutions we will need, but relying on that crutch is not enough of a response to the scale of crisis we face. Its own New Len s Scenarios analysis recognises as much. Shell’s scenario planning is always very professional, which makes its latest document all the more scary to read. No matter what way it slices and dices the future, it cannot seem to find a way to keep the global temperature increase beneath the 2-degree safety barrier that scientists say we should not pass. Fossil fuels My only hope is that Shell is missing out on what might be possible because as a fossil fuel company it cannot imagine what it might be like for us to live fossil-free. The company is sceptical that renewable power supplies can provide the energy we will need, but solar power has increased 100-fold in the last 10 years. In Ireland , wind power alone could power our computers, run our cars and heat our homes. The price of solar and wind power is consistently falling and the finance gurus in Bloomberg New Energy Finance say that 70 per cent of all investment in power generation between now and 2030 is going to go into renewables. There is a war raging for who will be our preferred power supplier and I think Shell is backing the wrong horse. However, it is winning the PR battle hands down. The European council of energy ministers met in Dublin last month. They came out of with nothing but fear on their lips about the competitive advantage that the US now has as it fracks its way to energy independence. North Dakota is visible from space at night, as the oil companies flare off their excess natural gas. Shell is heading into the Arctic to drill and is chasing the shale gold rush right across the US and China . It is a risky bet, not just for climate reasons but also for the known unknowns that surround the whole shale revolution. No one is certain what the long-term supply will be, whether there will be enough clean water to flush the gas out and what the real economic price of the gas is. Europe could try to beat the Americans at the shale game by drilling across the Continent or we could instead lead the alternative energy efficiency and renewables revolution. Alternative energy The Shell scenario planning estimates that we will be able to bring the level of carbon emissions down to sustainable levels by the end of this century, but that might be a couple of decades too late. Is it beyond possibility that we could bring that change forward and create a stable economic system that will work as long as the sun still shines? Eamon Ryan is leader of the Green Party and a former minister for energy Continue reading
Peak Farmland Grinds Against Cropland Expansion
by Chris Bennett in Farm Press Blog Welcome to Peak Farmland. The belief that a human plague is gobbling up the Earth has been turned on its head. The belief that a human plague is gobbling up the Earth, carving out more cropland, and hacking down more trees — has been turned on its head. Welcome to Peak Farmland. Farmland expansion has reached its crest and the amount of global land needed to grow food is set to stabilize. That’s the opinion of three Rockefeller University researchers in a recent study: “ Peak Farmland and the Prospects for Sparing Nature .” If the report is on target, global cropland use will shrink by an astounding 370 million acres — about the equivalent of two Californias and one Texas — by 2060. Jessie Ausubel, one of the report authors, says, “Happily, the cause is not exhaustion of arable land, as many had feared, but rather moderation of population and tastes and ingenuity of farmers.” Ausubel and his colleagues believe crop technology will allow agricultural yields to win the race against demand — and it won’t be a neck-and-neck finish. In short, approximately 570,000 square miles of Earth will be abandoned as farmland.) But, as Reuters points out, the Rockefeller report may be a house of cards — buttressed by too much guesswork. “Ausubel’s study admits to making many assumptions — rising crop yields, slowing population growth, a relatively slow rise in the use of crops to produce biofuels, moderate rises in meat consumption — that could all skew the outcome…” The Rockefeller report is in direct conflict with the UN and grinds against a 2009 Food and Agricultural Organization study that projects a 5 percent worldwide expansion of arable land by 2050 — 173 million more acres of farmland will be needed. (That’s the approximate total acreage of California and New Mexico combined.) The UN study projects 9.1 billion people by 2050, requiring a 70 percent increase in food production. Imminent acreage expansion is not just a UN projection. Foreign investment companies across the globe are snapping up farmland in developing countries, anticipating the food rush to come. Speculators see this new land “scramble” as a sure-bet, based on food demand and biofuels mandates. (For example, Spiegel reports that 100 percent of Liberia’s arable land has been bought by foreigners.) Trends over the next few years will show who is right: Ausubel or the UN. The Peak Farmland study is anathema to apocalyptic boilerplate. “We are a plague on the Earth. It’s coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so,” says naturalist and BBC documentary maker David Attenborough. Attenborough told Radio Times there is far more in the tea leaves than ecological doom: “…It’s sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde.” In line with convention, Attenborough believes global agricultural production will never be able to keep up with population increases — and proponents of Peak Farmland believe he is dead wrong. Twitter: @CBennett71 Continue reading
