Ancient Sahara Site Celebrated for World Wetlands Day

Tunis, Tunisia:  A remote seasonal salt lake on the edge of the Sahara leads a list of 15 new Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance being declared in the country on World Wetlands Day, February 2.

Addax nasomaculatus, Chay-Bar Yotvata, Israel. Photo wikipedia commons

Chott Elguetar, a 7,400 ha (18,286 acre) site with an intermittent lake, is vital to the survival of the threatened Scimitar Oryx, Addax and Dama Gazelle. It also contains traces of human religious and industrial activity that have been dated back 40,000 years.

World Wildlife Fund has welcomed the announcement, noting that Tunisia’s designation of 15 new Ramsar Sites nearly doubles the country’s total, to 35.

“These designations are the result of a long process that requires effort and time from the government and conservation groups,” said Faouzi Maamouri, Coordinator of the WWF office in Tunisia.

“But even with everything this country has been through recently, there is a strong commitment to protecting wetlands and the services they provide for both people and nature.”

The Ramsar Convention, so named for its signing in the Iranian city of the same name, is an intergovernmental treaty to maintain and conserve Wetlands of International Importance – or Ramsar Sites. These include rivers, lakes, marshes, mangroves, coral reefs and other natural or human-made wetlands.

The new sites in Tunisia include structures such as dams and reservoirs, as well as natural wetlands. Many of them contribute directly to human well-being by supporting agriculture or fisheries. Others provide habitat for vulnerable or endangered birds and mammals.

Highlights in addition to Chott Elguetar include:

Barrage de Sidi El Barrak – 2,734 ha (6,756 acres); one of the most important dams and reservoirs in Tunisia for irrigation and supplying drinking water to the cities of Tunis and Sfax.

Bottoms up - gadwalls feeding. Photo wikipedia commons

Barrage Oued Ermal – 620 ha (1,532acres); a dam and reservoir that provides a vital habitat for several waterfowl at various critical stages of their life cycle. It is a nesting place for Cattle Egret, Spoonbill, Eurasian Coot, Shoveler Ducks, Plover, Gadwall, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Northern Lapwing, Common Snipe, Marbled Duck, Marsh Harrier, Kingfisher, Water Pipit, Skylark and Chiffchaff.

Marais d’eau douce Garaet Douza – 1,400 ha (3,460 acres); a seasonal freshwater marsh surrounded by a circle of mountains, which give it a wonderful landscape. It is a good site for the promotion of Saharan ecotourism, as it is a natural wetland that has not been adversely affected by agriculture and harbours a wealth of biodiversity.

Tunisia isn’t the only country expanding its list of Ramsar Sites. Since the beginning of 2012, Indonesia, Estonia, Romania, France and Kazakhstan have added new sites.

“World Wetlands Day is a moment to reflect on the freshwater ecosystems that we all depend on,” said Denis Landenbergue, WWF International Freshwater Manager. “But the recent additions to the Ramsar List – and others to come in the near future – show that the work to conserve wetlands happens all year. As one of five international organization partners that have been with the convention since the beginning, WWF is proud to support Ramsar.”

Source: World Wildlife Fund 

The $230 million plant, located in central Pahang state and built by the Lynas Corporation of Australia, is the first to be commissioned outside of China in years, and will process rare earth minerals mined at Lynas’ Mount Weld site in western Australia.

The plant is seen by proponents in Malaysia and worldwide as critical to breaking China’s stranglehold on the rare earth metals used in a wide range of high-tech products, including mobile telephones, laptops, flat-screen televisions, wind turbines, hybrid cars, and weapons.

China currently accounts for more than 90% of the worlds supply of rare earths metals, but has been less than reliable in recent years, curtailing production and driving prices up 30-fold at one point last summer.

The Malaysian plant is expected to be able to supply up to 20% of the world market when fully operational. Japan, which arguably has suffered the most from China’s cutbacks, has invested heavily in Lynas and expect to procure up to 8,500 tons from the Malaysian operation by next year.

Public concern over environmental and health effects is not unfounded. In 1992, the Bukit Merah rare earths operation was closed when residents faulted it for an increase in birth defects and leukemia. Twenty years later, the site remains one of Asia’s largest radioactive cleanup projects with an estimated cost of $100 million.

Lynas contends that the new plant and the ore it will process bear little in common with the Mitsubishi-owned plant closed in 1992, but as yet has not submitted plans for permanent disposal of an estimated 20,000 tons a year of low-level radioactive wastes.

The conditional license granted today gives the operators 10 months to submit such plans along with $50 million as a financial guarantee. If conditions of the temporary license are met, the government can issue a permanent license within two years. In the meantime, Lynas will be permitted to operate the plant and market its products. Production is expected to commence in the second quarter of this year.

Despite the name, the 17 metals classified as rare earth elements are, with the exception of promethium, relatively common in the earth’s crust. However, unlike metals such as copper or iron ores — which are concentrated in specific locations  – the rare earths are widely dispersed and more difficult to extract.

Diorama with a Monachus monachus (Monk seal). Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto

The Plight of the Mediterranean Monk Seal

The entire world watched as the Costa Concordia gradually sank beneath the waters of the Tuscan coast on January 13, 2012. The passengers were from a wide variety of countries, and as the 114,500-ton cruise ship slid ever lower into the water, the spirits of an entire globe of onlookers descended as well. With-at the time of this writing-17 people confirmed dead and 16 still unaccounted for, the sinking of the massive vessel has been a striking human tragedy, affecting thousands of people around the globe.

While the surviving passengers begin to recover, and as searches for the missing become more heavy-hearted, attention is shifting from the spectacle of a city-sized sea vessel being defeated by the ocean, to the dire consequences in store for the surrounding environment. According to the local Environment Minister, Corrado Clini, the cruise ship contains 2,380 metric tonnes (2,624 tons) of diesel fuel and oil–enough to fill a small oil tanker. It also carried additional tons of electronics, cleaning supplies, refrigerators and freezers, and other items made of material that can be highly toxic to plants and animals.

Sensitive Environment

The Tuscan Archipelago where the Costa Concordia ran aground

This situation would pose a serious environmental threat anywhere, but the massive vessel happened to go down near the acclaimed Tuscan Archipelago National Park. This park extends over seven islands—including the Isola del Giglio, where the Costa Concordia crashed—and is home to hundreds and hundreds of species of animals, as well as distinctive vegetation such as mountain chestnut trees, cypresses, olive groves, and other species that comprise the Mediterranean macchia habitat.

The Tuscan Archipelago also includes sites visited by one of the rarest marine mammals in the world: the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus). This species is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species (Aguilar and Lowry 2008). There are thought to be only 350-450 Mediterranean monk seals left in the wild, including less than 250 mature adults.

If a population of 450 animals doesn’t sound too shabby, consider that a Broadway theater has 600 seats. All of the Mediterranean monk seals left in the world could attend the same showing of a play, and they would have almost half the theater to spare.

Isolated Pockets

Unfortunately, you would never find all of the remaining Mediterranean monk seals in one place, Broadway play or otherwise. The problems incurred by having a small total population size are compounded by the fact that the remaining seals are scattered around the Mediterranean in tiny, isolated pockets. There are two main sites in which these seals can still be found:

1. Cabo Blanco, a peninsula off the northwest coast of Africa, and
2. A stretch of Greek/Turkish coast along the northern Aegean Sea.

A glance at a map shows that these two sites are at such a distance from one another as to effectively prevent any natural flow of individuals between the colonies. The only other places still home to these seals are small outposts of stragglers. Madeira, in the Desertas Islands, is home to about two dozen individuals, but outside of that, the IUCN reports that any other occupied sites are usually home to less than five seals. They are known to occur amongst the Tuscan Islands, but are not often sighted. After generations of aggressive persecution by humans, the seals appear to have adopted much more elusive habits than they historically displayed, and often den in caves only accessible from the sea.

Mediterranean monk seals bask in a cove

The Mediterranean monk seal’s current distribution is a mere sprinkling of individuals, compared to the range that the species used to cover, throughout the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and along the Atlantic coast of northwestern Africa. There is evidence that these tiny groups of seals are now suffering from low reproductive success due to high rates of inbreeding, a common problem faced by species that have undergone dramatic population decline or fragmentation.

The risks to fragmented populations go beyond genetic issues: the smaller the individual population of animals, the more likely they can be wiped out suddenly, which makes the survival of the species increasingly tenuous as populations shrink—an unfortunate positive feed-back loop of risk.

Mass Die-Off

The danger posed by stochastic disasters is exemplified by the catastrophe on Cabo Blanco—home to what was, until the mid-1990s, the largest remaining Mediterranean monk seal colony. In 1996, the local seal population suddenly crashed from 317 seals to just 130. There has been controversy about the precise cause of the mass die-off, and the possible causes include a large local bloom of phytoplankton, which produce toxins that can be deadly for mammals, or a wave of deaths caused by a virus picked up from dolphins or domestic dogs.

The IUCN’s report on the risks facing the species hits directly on the issue now facing the Tuscan Islands:

Mediterranean monk seals are at an unknown but suspected high level of risk from oil tanker and other ship accidents, spills and groundings. Animals could be oiled or coated in fuels and lubricants, exposed to other toxic or environment-altering chemicals or products and experience disturbance at haulouts or coastal feeding areas.

The report also mentions a few previous oil spills in the region, and notes that effects on the seals were not documented, but the species is tough to monitor and the risks are real. In a population of so few individuals, even the loss of a dozen or so could be a major setback for the species.

The timing of the Costa Concordia crash is also unfortunate. Research has shown that pups born between September and January have a survival rate of just 29 percent, much lower than the 71percent survival rate of those born during the remainder of the year (Gazo et al. 2000). In other words, the ship went down at just the right time to wipe out a cohort of pups that were already extremely vulnerable.

The Mediterranean monk seal is hanging on by a thread, and makes for a good flagship species, but it is fortunate that the Tuscan Archipelago is not one of the main remaining colony sites. On the other hand, the seal is just one among hundreds of species that are vulnerable to toxic spills in this region. The Tuscan Archipelago is a critical stopover point for many rare birds during their annual migrations between Europe and Africa, and the waters around the island boast an array of corals and other flashy marine invertebrates, fish, and dolphins.

Hopefully, a method will be found to minimize the leakage of toxins from the Costa Concordia into the surrounding environment. One can only hope that the tragic event will bring much-needed attention to the biodiversity of the area, to the plight of the Mediterranean monk seal, and to the very real risks that random accidents—either natural or man-made—pose to endangered species, which are far too easily pushed over the thin line between persistence and extinction.

For more on the Mediterranean monk seal, see:

Aguilar, A. & Lowry, L. 2008. Monachus monachus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2.

Gazo, M., Aparaicio, F., Layna, M. A., Layna, J. F., & Gonzáalez, L. M. (2000). Pup survival in a Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) colony at Cabo Blanco Peninsula (Western Sahara-Mauritania). Marine Mammal Science, 16(January), 158-168.

Monachus Guardian species profile

The technology involves embedding charged quantum dots into photovoltaic cells, thereby enabling the cells to capture the energy of infrared light.

Moreover, giving the dots a built-in charge repels electrons, forcing them to travel around the quantum dots, thus preventing electron “capture” which would otherwise interfere with their contribution to electrical current.

Three members of the research team, Vladimir Mitin, Andrei Sergeev and Nizami Vagidov, have founded OPtoElectronic Nanodevices LLC, and are now seeking private and public funding to bring the innovative panels to market.

Green School in Bali, Indonesia

This week, Julie Janney took us to school – The Green School, that is — in her piece on Bali’s K-11 educational institute, where traditional curricula is blended with courses on environmentally friendly practices and sustainability.

We traveled with Ace & Ace to Thisted Denmark, a city that supplies 100% of its electricity and more its 85% of heating from renewable resources, and learned about six family-owned wineries that produce wine based on sustainable practices.

In Species, Anne-Marie Hodge reported on how noise pollution can adversely affect sea and land creatures, decreasing biodiversity. In ecoTipping, Lisa Rosen shared a story from her own experience about people who want to do their part for the environment, but sometimes just need a little push.

On Ecology Campus, we learned about the possibilities of online classes, from topics such as artificial intelligence to the story of five Ecuadorian students working to preserve the indigenous knowledge of their elders.

Shop Ecology highlighted a new offering — the Supernatural Kids Cookbook – with healthy, easy recipes that parents and children can make together.

Shark fins drying in the sun

Here at Ecology Today, Betsy Crowfoot covered the ongoing controversy, cruelty and dangers associated with the making of shark fin soup and efforts to stop it.

We looked at a new map detailing U.S. vegetation zones, watched one solar storm light up the skies in the Netherlands as a second storm approached, and asked ourselves. who is really responsible for the state of the environment.

It’s a more interesting question than it might first appear.

There’s an obvious theme running through the responses, but what struck me was something the last gentleman said: “…we allow it.”

To accept that premise is to acknowledge a position of empowerment. One cannot allow something to happen without the power to stop it from happening. It’s the same power. And the only difference is how, or whether, we choose to exercise it.

In our daily lives, many of us try to consider the environmental impacts of our choices and actions. Yet from time to time, we can feel powerless. We see corporations acting irresponsibly and governments in paralysis, unable to act at all, and perhaps wonder whether our individual actions make any difference at all.

Acknowledging that “we allow it” changes the game entirely.

New, USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Maps offer more detail and accuracy (click to enlarge).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a new, interactive version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) for gardeners, horticulturists and researchers, offering more accurate and granular information than the 1990 version it replaces.

The new map divides the U.S. into 13 zones according to the average annual extreme minimum temperature. Each zone represents a difference of 10° F, and is further divided into A and B zones representing 5° F differentials.

In addition to offering nationwide, regional and state maps, the online utility also enables users to locate their plant hardiness zone by ZIP code.

Compared to the 1990 map, many zone boundaries have changed, with most areas measuring 5° F warmer than before.

According to the USDA, the changes are primarily due to when data was collected: the new map is based upon measurements during the 30-year period from 1976-2005, whereas the older version used data from 1974-1986.

The USDA cautions gardeners whose hardiness zones may have changed that there many other factors that determine whether a specific plant will thrive in a particular location, including wind, soil type, soil moisture, humidity, pollution, snow and winter sunshine.

The way plants are placed in the landscape and how they are planted — along with their size and health — can also influence a plant’s chances of survival. In addition, site topography can create microclimates with conditions that vary from that of the hardiness zone indicated for the surrounding area.

Still, the new map is a welcome improvement and a good resource to consult when considering new plantings.

Conservationists are hoping the Year of the Dragon is the last time shark fin soup is ladled out to celebrate the New Year.

Since the Ming Dynasty, Chinese Emperors and more recently, the elite have served shark fin soup, as a symbol of the wealth and power of the host, and homage to the guests.

A circa 1981 recipe from The New York Times describes it as a gelatinous but otherwise unremarkable soup derived from chicken broth flavored with ginger, mushrooms, soy sauce and a few strips of boiled shark fin.

Because of the rarity of shark fin, a bowl might cost several hundred dollars. But economic reforms and liberalization over the past three decades in China have boosted the commerce, standard of living, literacy and autonomy among its 1.3-billion residents. And hand in hand with this upturn has been a desire by the Chinese to show off their newly found worldliness – with a status symbol such as shark fin soup.

What is Shark Finning?

NOAA describes shark finning as the practice of catching a shark, removing a fin or fins and dumping the remainder of the animal back into the sea. Often they are still alive, but helpless and unable to hunt or survive.

In addition to charges of wastefulness and cruelty, the practice is detrimental because sharks mature and reach reproductive age slowly, and produce few young – making some species significantly vulnerable to the increasing carnage.

Estimates from various resources put the number at 26-million and 73-million shark fins taken annually. Because the practice is illegal, statistics are hard to come by. What is known is the growing concern about overfishing, the impact on shark stocks and the trickle-down effect on the food web.

“Free For All”

Shark fins drying in the sun

Several UN directives forbid shark finning and promote the conservation of sharks. But a paper published by Boston College stated that only 15 of 125 shark fishing nations have solid regulations regarding finning, and added, “Beyond national boundaries, shark fishing is a free for all.”

International waters are difficult to patrol, police and regulate. And penalties remain weak. In 2008, as the US Coast Guard approached a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of Texas, officers saw the operator discard four shark fins over the side. The vessel operator was cited and received a $15,000 penalty. A year later again, USCG officials were boarding another commercial fishing boat, and discovered evidence of shark finning. The angler was fined only US $100: hardly a deterrent, when supply and demand has pushed shark fins to an all-time high of $200-400 per fin.

Numerous countries including Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica and Seychelles have banned shark finning, but it takes vast resources to enforce the bans.  Recently, Fin Donnelly, a Canadian Member of Parliament announced federal legislation banning the trade in shark fins. This is the first import ban initiated by a national government in the Western hemisphere, while many individual states in the United States have also banned importing shark fins.

Caught in the Crossfire

The repercussions of commercial shark fishing – be it legal or illegal – are great. Sea turtles, marine mammals, sea birds and other non-targeted fish are killed as by-catch, as well as sharks. Illegal finning operations often take place on substandard vessels, far out at sea: providing hazardous conditions for boat workers.

In addition, studies by the Census of Marine Life show the removal of sharks from ocean habitat creates an increase in their prey: rays, skates and smaller sharks. As a result, shellfish stocks are disadvantaged by a glut of these predators. The report told of shell fisheries in Japan and North America, decimated – once the apex predators were eliminated, and stated, “Without a proportionate number of sharks, an ecological imbalance with potentially disastrous repercussions will occur.”

Tide is Turning

With supply and demand driving fin prices ever higher, it is unlikely illegal and black market operators will cease. But leading hospitality businesses in Asia are turning the tide against shark fin products, and finning.

Peninsula Hotels CEO Clement K.M. Kwok announced that Asia’s oldest hotel chain was removing shark fin from its menus, saying, “We hope our decision can contribute to preserving the marine ecosystem for the world’s future generations. We also hope our decision will inspire other hospitality companies to do the same and that our industry will play a role in helping to preserve the biodiversity of our oceans.”

Shangri-La Hotels, with properties on mainland China and elsewhere in Asia, followed suit; as well as Singapore’s largest supermarket chain – FairPrice – which vowed to stop selling shark fin products by the end of March. Said CEO Seah Kian Peng, “This will be the last Chinese New Year in which customers can buy shark fin products at all our stores.”

In keeping, the staff at Ecology Global Network wishes everyone 新年快樂 ( Happy New Year) and offers this Faux Shark Fin Soup recipe from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Following the M3 solar flare that occurred January 19, a more powerful M9 erupted January 23 at 0400 GMT (11pm Jan 22 EST). The blast was once again directed toward Earth, and is the largest since May 2005.

The coronal mass ejection is expected to reach earth on Tuesday @ 1400 UTC (9 AM EST), kicking off a geomagnetic storm that should last through Wednesday.

The increase in activity is due to the fact that the Sun is is heading toward the most active period in its 11-year cycle, known as solar maximum, which it should reach next year.

NOAA reports that some airline flights over the north pole have been rerouted, while some flights at high latitudes are flying at lower altitudes. NASA expects that the storm will pose no danger to the the six astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Last week’s solar storm generated an impressive auroral display that could be seen in Northern Canada and Scandanavia. The time lapse video below was recorded at Tromvik, Norway, on Saturday night.

In our continuing series of video presentations from Ace and Ace, we were inspired by one town’s devotion to protecting an ancient, endangered (and adorable) turtle species, and three brothers’ dedication to sustainable, organic farming in beautiful Tuscany.

In Business, we met Mark Armen, whose desire to create a business that helped rather than hindered the environment led him to a creative solution to the problem of toxic cigarette litter on the health and wellbeing of fish.

In Species, we watched the mysterious and artful phenomenon of a starling murmuration, in which thousands of birds perform a gracefully synchronized aerial ballet. Penny Stallings wrote of plans to monitor ground-level radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant by attaching radiation counters to a thousand wild monkeys, and in Ecology Kids, Jane Engelsiepen reminded us that squirrels deserve a little love, too.

On Ecology Campus, we learned that no matter how much we text, our phones need never die if powered by the nPeg, an innovative, handheld device that turns human-generated kinetic energy into useable electricity for our gadgets. We were introduced to the artistic and resourceful practice of indoor window gardening, watched a time-lapse video featuring the colors and intricate details of nature, and learned how university researchers are mimicking nature to solve a diverse collection of real-world problems.

And at Shop Ecology, the classic, 1970s sci-fi film, Soylent Green, provided yet another reason to think about the best use of our existing resources in the face of a growing population.

Here at Ecology Today, we ducked when a crippled space probe fell from orbit, braced as a powerful solar flare hurled a plasma wave in our direction, and took a moment to reconsider the “leap second.”

We watched as rescuers attempted to save an unusually large number of beached dolphins on the shores of Cape Cod, and watched again as the number of strandings continued to rise days later. We were reminded that rhinoceros poaching is dangerous business — to both poachers and rhinos. And we learned — not surprisingly — that last year’s global average surface temperature made 2011 the ninth warmest on record.