Six hundred experts from seventy countries concluding a biodiversity conference today in Cape Town, South Africa, described preliminary research revealing "jaw-dropping" dollar values of the ecosystem services of forests and coral reefs, including food, pollution treatment, and climate regulation.

"Undertaken to help societies make better-informed choices, the economic research shows a single hectare [2.47 acres] of coral reef, for example, provides annual services to humans valued at U.S.$130,000 on average, rising to as much as $1.2 million," said a statement released by Diversitas, a Paris-based international partnership of inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations formed to promote and facilitate scientific research on biodiversity. Diversitas convened the conference.

NGS photo by Bates Littlehales

The research described in Cape Town today provides insights into the worth of ecosystems in human economic terms, says economist Pavan Sukhdev of the United Nations Environment Programme, head of a Cambridge, England-based project called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB).

 

Based on analysis of more than 80 coral reef valuation studies, TEEB calculated the worth of services per hectare of coral reef breaks down as follows: 

• Food, raw materials, ornamental resources: average $1,100 (up to $6,000);
• Climate regulation, moderation of extreme events, waste treatment / water purification, biological control: average $26,000 (up to $35,000);
• Cultural services (eg. recreation / tourism): average $88,700 (up to $1.1 million)
• Maintenance of genetic diversity: average $13,500 (up to $57,000)

Taken together, coral reef services worldwide have an average annual value estimated at $172 billion, Sukhdev said.

NGS photo by Paul Zahl

Sukhdev noted growing scientific agreement that coral reefs are unlikely to survive if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels exceed 350 parts per million. Negotiators of a new climate change deal in Copenhagen in December, however, "would be proud" to achieve an agreement that limits atmospheric carbon to 450 parts per million, he said, calling that "a death sentence on the world's coral reefs."

Halving deforestation worth trillions

"Halving the destruction of tropical forests, meanwhile, would allow them to continue absorbing roughly 4.8 gigatonnes of carbon per year, slow the rise of atmospheric carbon levels and forestall anticipated climate change damage, Diversitas said in its statement. "Halving deforestation has a net present value estimated at U.S.$3.7 trillion, according to research."

The economic choice of turning such forests into timber or clearing them to make way for agriculture is "not very clever," Sukhdev said.

"Stopping deforestation offers an excellent cost-benefit ratio. "Investment in protected areas holds exceptional high returns," he said.

"Investing $45 billion could secure nature-based services worth some $4.5 to 5.2 trillion annually."

Previous studies have shown that investing $45 billion "could secure nature-based services worth some $4.5 to 5.2 trillion annually," Diversitas added. "Among the specific examples cited: planting mangroves along a coastline in Vietnam cost $1.1 million but saved $7.3 million annually in dyke maintenance."

Diversitas released these examples of a rate of return on investments in ecosystem restoration:

• Coral reefs: 7%, (with a cost-benefit ratio of 2.8);
• Rivers: 27%, (cost-benefit ratio 15.5);
• Tropical forests: 50% (cost-benefit ratio 37.3);
• Mangroves: 40%, (cost-benefit ratio 26.4);
• Grasslands: 79%, (cost-benefit ratio 75.1).

 

Cape Town "Declaration" 

Scientists attending the conference issued a concluding statement confirming stating that "as we approach the 2010 Year of Biodiversity ... the fabric out of which the Earth system is woven is unravelling at an accelerating rate."

"At the same time, we are discovering ever more about biodiversity and the benefits it provides to people. It is clear that biodiversity loss erodes the integrity of ecosystems and their capacity to adapt in a changing world. It represents a serious risk to human wellbeing and a squandering of current assets and future opportunities.

"The biodiversity scientists gathered here commit themselves to finding practical solutions to this problem. They will do so by: increasing shared knowledge of biodiversity and its functions; helping to develop systems for monitoring the biodiversity of the planet; and being responsive to the knowledge needs of society with clear communication of findings.

"The proposed mechanism for the ongoing evaluation and communication of scientific evidence on these issues is an Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). We call on governments and non-governmental organisations to join us in establishing IPBES as soon as possible. We urge policy-makers to act swiftly and effectively on the already-established and future findings relating to ways of limiting further biodiversity loss and restoring ecosystem services."

"Meeting current and future human needs must make adequate provision for the complex web of life of which people are an integral part. People everywhere must give effect to their shared desire for a biologically-rich and productive planet through their individual decisions and political voices."

Rhinos are falling to poachers at the rate of two to three per week in some areas as Asian demand for their horns escalates, according to a report to the 58th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Standing Committee this week in Geneva.

Photo of white rhino poached for horn by Martin harvey/WWF-Canon

Poachers in Africa and Asia are killing an ever increasing number of rhinos to meet a growing demand for horns believed in some countries to have medicinal value, says the briefing to the international wildlife trade regulation body by WWF, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and their affiliated wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

An estimated three rhinos were illegally killed each month in all of Africa from 2000-05, out of a population of around 18,000, the groups said in a news statement today. "In contrast, 12 rhinoceroses now are being poached each month in South Africa and Zimbabwe alone."

"Illegal rhino horn trade to destinations in Asia is driving the killing, with growing evidence of involvement of Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai nationals in the illegal procurement and transport of rhino horn out of Africa," the briefing states.

NGS photo of knives made with rhino horn on sale in Yemen by Steve Raymer

Rhino poaching is also a problem in Asia. About 10 rhinos have been poached in India and at least seven in Nepal since January alone--out of a combined population of only 2,400 endangered rhinos.

"Rhinos are in a desperate situation ...This is the worst rhino poaching we have seen in many years and it is critical for governments to stand up and take action."

"Rhinos are in a desperate situation," said Susan Lieberman, director of the Species Programme, WWF-International. "This is the worst rhino poaching we have seen in many years and it is critical for governments to stand up and take action to stop this deadly threat to rhinos worldwide.

"It is time to crack down on organized criminal elements responsible for this trade, and to vastly increase assistance to range countries in their enforcement efforts."

Almost all rhino species are listed in CITES (the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in Appendix I, which means that any international trade of any rhino parts for commercial purposes is illegal.

"Increased demand for rhino horn, alongside a lack of law enforcement, a low level of prosecutions for poachers who are actually arrested and increasingly daring attempts by poachers and thieves to obtain the horn is proving to be too much for rhinos and some populations are seriously declining," said Steven Broad, executive director of TRAFFIC.

NGS photo of slices of rhino horn sold in Japan as aphrodisiacs by Steve Raymer.

The situation is particularly dire in Zimbabwe where such problems are threatening the success of more than a decade's work of bringing rhino populations back to healthy levels, the briefing said.

"For example, earlier this week a park ranger arrested with overwhelming evidence against him for having killed three rhinos in the Chipinge Safari Area, was acquitted without any satisfactory explanation for the verdict.

"Similarly, in September 2008, a gang of four Zimbabwean poachers who admitted to killing 18 rhinos were also freed in a failed judiciary process."

Firm International Action

The briefing concludes that governments need "an accurate and up-to-date picture of the status, conservation and trade in African and Asian rhinoceroses, as well as the factors driving the consumption of rhinoceros horn, so that firm international action can be taken to arrest this immediate threat to rhinoceros populations worldwide."

"Rhino populations in both Africa and Asia are being seriously threatened by poaching and illegal trade," said Jane Smart, director of IUCN's Biodiversity Conservation Group. "IUCN and its African and Asian Rhino Specialist Groups are working hard to gather data and information on rhinos so that CITES parties can make informed decisions and ensure that rhinos are still here for generations to come."

NGS photo of live rhinos in Africa by Robert Sisson

The 58th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee is being held in Geneva from July 6 -10 . This issue will be further discussed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, which will be held in Doha, Qatar March 13-25, 2010.

CITES is an international agreement between 175 governments that aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

The largest-ever study on African genetics has determined that the ancestral origin of humans was probably located in southern Africa, near the South Africa-Namibia border, scientists said today.

African, American, and European researchers working in collaboration over ten years released their study of African genetic data, providing a library of new information on the continent which is thought to be the source of the oldest settlements of modern humans, said a news statement released by the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).

Sarah Tishkoff collects samples in Tanzania. Participants provided information about their ethnicity, language, parents, and grandparents.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Tishkoff

"The study demonstrates startling diversity on the continent, shared ancestry among geographically diverse groups and traces the origins of Africans and African Americans," the statement said. The research is published in the April 30 issue of the journal Science Express.

The yellow shaded area on the border of South Africa and Namibia is the likely ancestral birthplace of modern humans, researchers calculate. The arrow on the Red Sea indicates the likely point where modern humans first left Africa to colonize the rest of the world.

Map courtesy Google Earth

The research team said that its work demonstrated that there is more genetic diversity in Africa than anywhere else on earth.

They analyzed the DNA of more than 3,000 individuals--from 121 African populations, 4 African American populations and 60 non-African populations--to trace the genetic structure of Africans to 14 ancestral population clusters that correlated with ethnicity and shared cultural and/or linguistic properties.

Extrapolating the data, scientists were able to map ancient migrations of populations and determined that the exit point of modern humans out of Africa was near the middle of the Red Sea in East Africa, the news statement added. (See map above.)

Ancient Common Ancestry

"They also provide evidence for ancient common ancestry of geographically diverse hunter-gatherer populations in Africa, including Pygmies from central Africa and click-speaking populations from southern and eastern Africa, suggesting the possibility that the original pygmy language may have contained clicks. Overall, they demonstrate remarkable correspondence between cultural, linguistic, and genetic diversity in Africa."

"This is the largest study to date of African genetic diversity in the nuclear genome," said Sarah Tishkoff, a geneticist with joint appointments in the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

"This long term collaboration, involving an international team of researchers and years of research expeditions to collect samples from populations living in remote regions of Africa, has resulted in novel insights about levels and patterns of genetic diversity in Africa, a region that has been underrepresented in human genetic studies.

"Our goal has been to do research that will benefit Africans, both by learning more about their population history and by setting the stage for future genetic studies, including studies of genetic and environmental risk factors for disease and drug response."

Hadza and Datog peoples listen to an explanation of the study in a village near Lake
Eyasi in the Arusha district of northern Tanzania.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Tishkoff

Tishkoff says that there is no single African population that is representative of the diversity present on the continent. Therefore, many ethnically diverse African populations should be included in studies of human genetic variation, disease susceptibility, and drug response.

Anthropologists, historians and linguists now have at their disposal a completely new volume of research with which to test theories of human migration, cultural evolution and population history in Africa, Penn said.

"Basic scientists, physicians and public health officials now have a foundation for illuminating the complex history of Africans and African-Americans, with implications for studies aimed at finding disease genes in these populations and learning which genetic differences make some individuals more susceptible to diseases like HIV, cancer or malaria."

African American Ancestry

The researchers said the study also sheds light on African American ancestry, which they find originates predominantly from western African Niger-Kordofanian (71 percent), European (13 percent), and other African (8 percent) populations, although admixture levels varied considerably among individuals.

These results could have important implications for the design and interpretation of studies which aim to identify genetic and environmental risk factors for diseases common in the African American community, including prostate cancer, hypertension and diabetes.

By Tasha Eichenseher in Istanbul, Turkey

News from Africa for the 5th World Water Forum:

Tanzania Brewer Drafted into Water Efficiency Effort

To brew just one 250 ml glass of beer it takes 75 liters of water, according to the Water Footprint Network. Water is primarily used for growing barley, but the brewing process itself also uses the resource.

Despite re-occurring drought in Tanzania, Safari and Kilimanjaro Premium Lagers may be sold at the local watering hole for some time to come.

Based in the capital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Breweries Limited was worried about the region's water supply. The company brought together citizens, environmentalists, and government agencies who are now working on large-scale infrastructure and efficiency projects to secure the city's supply into the long-term future.

Tanzania Breweries, and its parent company SABMiller, were recognized in a report on corporate action the World Wildlife Fund-United Kingdom released yesterday at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul.

SABMiller, along with MillerCoors and dozens of other big businesses--not all breweries--helped to develop the United Nations CEO Water Mandate, a voluntary initiative to become more water efficient.

The Dar es Salaam region is subject to drought and crop failure, and is expected to become even more vulnerable as climate change intensifies.

The government isn't doing it's job to secure a water source, said report author Stuart Orr.

 

African Countries Come Together to Manage Groundwater

The Iullemenden Aquifer sprawls 193,000 square miles (500,000 square kilometers)--about the size of California--below Mali, Niger, and Nigeria in Northwestern Africa.

The aquifer is a primary source of drinking water for the region, but depends on rainfall for recharge and has been exploited to a point that could spur serious conflict.

It is estimated that withdrawals have increased from 50 million cubic meters in 1970 to 180 million cubic meters in 2004, mostly due to a population increase of 9 million in the region over that same period of time.

NGS photo of Tazole Well, Niger, by James L. Stanfield

The area has been labeled one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change as drought--which has persisted since 1970---is expected to get worse.

Recognizing the situation was potentially explosive, government agencies in all three countries got together to form the Sahara and Sahel Observatory to assess the situation and work on an agreement to manage the aquifer.

The U.N. has highlighted the project as a model for other possible conflict areas.

 

Aquatic Species at Risk in Southern Africa

The World Conservation Union (IUCN)--one of the definitive sources on endangered and threatened species--announced today at the World Water Forum that many southern African freshwater fish, crabs, dragonflies and aquatic plants risk extinction.

The biggest threat to survival: development.

Out of 1,279 freshwater species in southern Africa, 94 are threatened--78 of these are found in South Africa.

"Here at the World Water Forum the trend is to think about water supply in terms of irrigation, hydropower and drinking water," said William Darwall, Manager of IUCN's Freshwater Biodiversity Unit, in a statement. "People tend to forget about the species that live in the water but we can no longer afford to do this."

IUCN goes on to explain that many of these species are an important source of food.

Read more about this: Action Urged to Avert Extinction of Southern Africa's Aquatic Species

 

Schools in Kenya Secure Clean Water, a Better Learning Environment

Much of Nyanza Province in Kenya is drought-prone. Women and children end up walking four miles (six kilometers), or three hours, a day to haul water. Nearly 90 percent of the province's schools do not have a clean source, according to the nonprofit Global Water Challenge, based in Washington, D.C.

In the last three years teachers from 285 schools in Nyanza have learned how to treat water with a chlorine solution. In addition, they have installed hand-washing stations.

The Sustaining and Scaling School Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (SWASH) program is a five-year funding effort by U.S. businesses, government agencies, and advocacy organizations and foundations to bring proper hygiene, and ideally better health and therefore better education to classrooms. (It is hard to concentrate when you're sick.)

Tasha Eichenseher's attendance at the 5th World Water Forum is sponsored by Media21 -- a Switzerland-based journalism foundation that brings reporters and producers from around the globe to work together on coverage of major issues such as human rights, climate change, and health.

Last seen two million years ago, one of the early stone tools discovered in Wonderwerk Cave.

Photo by M. Chazan

The earliest evidence for cave occupation by hominids has been discovered in South Africa.

Stone tools found at the bottom level of Wonderwerk Cave show that human ancestors were in the cave two million years ago, earlier than thought, according to an international research team led by Michael Chazan, director of the University of Toronto's Archaeology Centre.

Geological evidence indicates that the tools were deposited in the cave by ancestors, not washed into the site from the outside, the team announced last week.

"There were a number of species of hominids in southern Africa two million years ago," according to a University of Toronto news release. "The most likely candidate as the manufacturer of the stone tools found at Wonderwerk is Homo habilis."

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Photo by Jodi Cobb/NGS

The first ivory auction in ten years sold over seven tons of tusks to Chinese and Japanese bidders in Namibia today, raising more than U.S. $1,200,000 for elephant conservation, the Associated Press reported.

The sales will continue over the next two weeks in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. In total, nearly 110 tons of ivory -- harvested from more than 10,000 elephants -- are being offered in four sales sanctioned by the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Environmental groups are furious.

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