A staggering 1060 new species have been discovered over the past ten years on the pacific island of New Guinea according to a new report by WWF. Around 260 new species of vertebrate, 580 species of invertebrates and 220 new species of plants were discovered during the course of the study which was carried out between 1998 and 2008. The report titled ‘Final Frontier: Newly discovered species of New Guinea (1998 – 2008)’ forms part of WWFs 50th anniversary celebrations drawing attention to the loss of biodiversity.

Approximately two species were discovered per week throughout the study. Many new species of mammal were discovered including a new species of dolphin, a group in which new discoveries are very rare. Many new species of birds, amphibians and insects were also discovered. The study serves as a reminder of the undiscovered diversity of earth. Dr Mark Wright, conservation science adviser at WWF, said “The world is full of fantastic and fantastical creatures, of quirky and improbable lifestyles. The more we look, the more we find. But this exuberance of nature is under threat. Despite the best efforts of groups like WWF, it is clear that we will not save all we would like to.”

The island of New Guinea has an area of only 0.5% of the earth’s landmass but it has been estimated that it contains around 6 to 8% of global species, and remains relatively understudied despite this fact. The country also has extraordinarily high levels of endemic species. However the forest ecosystems of New Guinea are under threat from deforestation cause by rapid development and conversion of land to agriculture, particularly for the production of palm oil. 99 of New Guinea’s vertebrate species are on the IUCN red list of threatened species. It has been predicted that forest cover could be reduced to just 50% of its original area by over the next 10 years. Mangroves and coral reefs are also at risk from development in costal regions.

It is hoped that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation and certification of sustainable palm oil through the Roundtable on Sustainable palm oil could provide a solution to some of the problems both people and nature are facing in the country.

A new government report titled Mapping and Understanding UK Palm Oil Use has identified possible policy options to increase the volume of sustainable palm oil used in the UK. The use of by-products of the palm oil industry in animal feed as one of the main challenges facing the move towards use of only sustainable palm oil in the UK. The report also noted the importance of commitment by the biofuels and personal care product industries as crucial for success. In 2009 the UK imported 643,000 tons of palm oil, and 663,000 tons of palm kernel meal, the by-product of the palm oil industry that is commonly used in animal feed. Over 10% of the world’s entire production of palm kernel meal is used to feed animals in Britain.

The report which was compiled for Defra by Proforest was designed to inform the government of potential policy options relating to palm oil.

Palm oil plantations are one of the main causes of deforestation in South East Asia and are frequently established on peatland resulting in loss of biodiverse forests and high greenhouse gas emissions. Palm oil and palm kernel meal can be used in products as diverse as biofuels and confectionary.

Certification by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil was set up in 2004 as a standardised certification system for palm oil. Currently 24% palm oil is currently obtained from sustainable sources, with many supermarkets and manufacturers committed to becoming 100% sustainable by 2015. However the UK government has no policy of sustainability for palm oil, and many pubs, restaurants, and manufacturers of animal feed have made no commitment so far. The report suggested that more needs to be done to gain commitments from refineries, producers of personal care and cleaning products, and the biofuel sector to increase the volume of sustainable palm oil used during manufacturing.

The report identified five main policy options:
• Awareness raising campaigns.
• Goals for removing unsustainable palm oil from supply chains.
• Government procurement policy promoting sustainable palm oil within supply chains.
• Voluntary or mandatory reporting of companies’ performance
• Private sector due diligence demonstrating sustainable sourcing

A report being launched today at Bristol Zoo shows that 48% of the world’s 634 primate species, which includes apes, monkeys and lemurs, are threatened with extinction. The report, which was compiled by 85 primatologists, highlights the top 25 most endangered primate species, including the golden headed langur, found in north-eastern Vietnam, whose population is down to between 60 and 70 individuals. The main threats to primates are illegal logging, hunting and trade, and fragmentation of forests through fires.

The report aims to encourage governments to find resources to implement greater conservation measures. Indeed, there is evidence that conservation measures can be effective in helping primate species to recover: more than 30 years of conservation effort at zoos and by scientists enabled the black lion tamarin to be moved from “critically endangered” to “endangered” on the IUCN Red List.

The UN’s Redd programme (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) involves rich countries paying developing countries to maintain their forests in order to prevent further greenhouse gas emissions. The programme might also involve incentives for developing countries to plant more trees and would be highly valuable for primate conservation.

Source: Guardian, 18th January 2010

The BES Policy Team yesterday attended the launch of the National Assessment of UK Forestry and Climate Change report, an exercise established by the Forestry Commission and conducted by a team of experts, led by Professor Sir David Read, Biological Secretary of the Royal Society and Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield.

Professor Sir Read began the afternoon with a presentation outlining the main results of the report, which examines the potential of UK forests to assist society in mitigating and adapting to, climate change. The Assessment set out to review and synthesise existing knowledge, to provide baseline information on forests in the UK and to identify gaps and weaknesses to determine research priorities for the next few years.

From the 1950’s – 70’s around 25,000 hectares of woodland was planted each year, but this has declined massively in recent years: we are now harvesting the trees planted during these decades and, as this occurs and forests aren’t replaced, the sequestration of carbon by trees in the UK will fall. UK forests store 790 megatonnes of carbon and remove 15 megatonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year. The headline conclusion of the Assessment is that traditional management of the tree stock we already have is not sufficient. In order to enhance sequestration we have to plant new woodland, approximately 23,000 hectares per year on an annual basis from now to 2050.

Professor Read also highlighted ’substitution’, carbon lock-up after felling, as a key way in which the forestry sector could contribute to tackling climate change in the UK. Wood should be used as biomass, as a substitute for fossil fuels, and wood should be greater used by the construction sector.

Professor Read highlighted, albeit briefly, that the Assessment’s proposals would pose difficult questions for the conservation of biodiversity in woodland communities in the UK, particularly given recommendations that non-native tree species (e.g. from the Mediterranean) make up the new forests – as these species may be more likely to thrive as the climate warms. Professor Read called for immediate field-trials to identify those species which it would be most appropriate to grow in the UK, and which would be least likely to beome invasively.

Professor Read’s presentation was followed by an address from the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Hilary Benn, who remained afterwards to take questions as part of the panel discussion. Mr Benn welcomed the report on behalf of the Government, stating that as a nation the UK will have to plant more trees and that the Government will have to ensure that this happens. Alluding to the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) study, the Minister stressed that trees must be assigned a value standing, as they are felled, and that the UK Government is wiling to pledge its share at the forthcoming Copenhagen climate negotiations to support a REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) mechanism in developing countries. Mr Benn is due to host a round-table of environment Ministers today, with the Director of the IUCN, examining the sustainable use of the world’s forests.

One major point to emerge from the discussion session following the presentations was the need to recognise the increasing threat posed to trees by pests and disease, with losses eroding any gains in coverage through planting more trees. Increasingly mild and wet winters are likely to favour the development and survival of pathogen populations. Panellists stressed the need to apply science to find a solution, with the Minister drawing attention to a £25 million Defra-funded research project into two major tree diseases. Nevertheless, there was acknowledgment that it will be necessary to live with some future tree diseases, and their consequences.

The Forestry Commission and UK Government will now consider the contents of the report before making a decision on how to implement its recommendations.

Climate change remains a present and future threat to biodiversity. REDD, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, aims to curb climate change by conserving the world’s remaining forests.

REDD aim to ensure that measures to tackle climate change include accounting for the carbon sinks that forests and bogs provide. After lenghty dialogue, both the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol have made provisions to reduce emissions released from forest degradation and deforestation.

December 07 witnessed the unilateral agreement between the conference of the parties to strengthen agreements made at the fourteenth conference. UNEP and WCMC have now produced a paper that outlines opportunities for multiple benefits of forest protection, including increased watershed and coastal protection.

It seems likely that protection of native forests will offer greater resilience to the effects of climate change than new plantations, and this should be taken into consideration in decision-making.

At the UN climate conference in Bali in December last year, the international community accepted the need to build forest protection into the successor to the Kyoto Protocol. However, how forests will be protected was not decided and is now being hotly contested.

Advocates of the market-approach argue that including forestry credits in carbon-trading schemes is the only way to secure the future of rainforests: “In global markets, forests are worth more dead than alive…You have to look to markets to turn around what is in fact a market failure.” The European Commission argues that including deforestation in carbon trading would result in the market becoming flooded, devaluing the system and instead wish to use some of the proceeds from carbon trading to create an international fund to tackle deforestation.

There is no dobut that a well-defined and focussed programme to tackle deforestation will have a marked effect on global emissions. Deforestation accounts for 5-6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide annually, compared with 2 gigatonnes in the entire European trading scheme.

See the original article in Nature