Newsletter November-December 2007

Transcription

1 Newsletter November-December 2007 Hot in this issue: Caspian Seal Monthly newsletter for WWF Caucasus and CEPF mutual effort for biodiversity conservation in the Caucasus In this issue: International Conventions and Local Communities Sustainable Forestry and Alternative Energy Sources New Protected Areas to be planned in the West Caucasus Protection of Caspian Seal in the Absheron Sanctuary The IUCN Red List for amphibians and reptiles in the Caucasus reassessed Updated to the Red List of Georgia Journalists for nature - building awareness for nature conservation WWF Caucasus and CEPF have supported Ministry of Environment Protection and Nature Resources Protection of Georgia in its initiative to motivate young generation to care for nature of their country. Kids drawing competition gathered more then 1000 works throughout Georgia. 1

2 NACRES conducts project related to NBSAP implementation program NACRES team discussing project details. Photo by NACRES. Socio-economic crisis over the last years has severely affected Georgia s species and natural habitats. Unsustainable use of biological resources (extensive poaching and habitat destruction) for various rationales has been a major factor for the dramatic decline of a number of species and for the loss of ecosystem integrity in the project selected corridors. However, poor law enforcement, low public awareness, low capacity within the regional environmental agencies, lack of facilities for providing biodiversity services and information to the public, and underdeveloped biodiversity related NGO sector in the regions of Georgia are major underlying reasons. NACRES, an environmental NGO, conducts project which relates to the development challenge as declared: week biodiversity NGO sector, poor law enforcement and low public awareness support biodiversity degradation, especially that of key species and their habitats. In response, the project will develop NGO/CBOs capacities in the target areas to successfully implement requirements of international treaties and national biodiversity policies on the ground, to monitor development projects in the target areas, and to increase biodiversity awareness among local resource consumers and the general public with three expected outcomes: 1) Strengthening NGO sector in four regions; 2) Law enforcement practices demonstrated by Local Support Groups (LSG) and Environmental Protection Organizations (EPO) on the ground. 3) Improvement of public knowledge, attitude and practices related to biodiversity and key species. The expected outcomes of this project are as follows:- The NGO sector is strengthened and their network among four selected regions established, with building capacity of four LSG supporting other eight EPO and with development of effective communication exchange practices between all these groups. Law enforcement practices demonstrated by LSGs and EPOs on the ground with development of 4 participatory local policy documents and implementation of 8 different species/habitats conservation Micro Projects according to the requirements of international treaties, national and local policies. Public knowledge, attitudes and practices toward biodiversity and key species are improved, environmentally sound practices established and population permanently updated on existing problems in the corridors. 2

3 Sustainable forestry and introduction of alternative energy sources The briquetting system at a glance. Photo by WWF. The project is aimed at: Through the support of CEPF the Sumgayit Center for Environmental Rehabilitation is conducting a project which directly deals with preventing degradation of forests, mainly utilized as fuelwood, in Azerbaijan through promoting sustainable forestry and engagement in utilization of alternative energy sources. Actually a valuable product - sawdust - is considered locally as just garbage and is either burned or thrown into the rivers, thus polluting environment and creating danger to river fauna (piles of waste are simply dumped into rivers polluting freshwater ecosystems and killing fish in large numbers). At the same time worldwide practice shows that sawdust may be a very attractive alternative to fuelwood having much more energy outcome per volume entity. Preventing pollution of freshwater ecosystems; Offering local population alternative energy sources; Generating income for local communities in order to make them less dependent on natural resources. The project contributed to establishing a co-operative by joining efforts of four families in Khachmaz-Gishlag village of Oguz district. This small enterprise produceы briquettes for utilizing them as a very effective fuelwood and thus generate incomes which will be mostly reinvested back in the enterprise. In addition to it a lot of local businessmen are already interested in arranging this business for themselves in case if this project will show good results. Planning of new protected areas in the West Lesser Caucasus Ready product - a better alternative to fuelwood. Photo by WWF. Through the support of CEPF the Association of Scientists- Ecologists - Caucasian Eco-House (CEH) conducted studying and the analysis of social and economic, demographic and geo-ecological characteristics of the West Lesser Caucasus region, particularly Ajara Autonomous Republic, in order to aid in further planning of new protected areas. The project concentrated on following main directions: Inner Ajara - territories are actively populated Photo by CEH. Evaluation of a present condition of natural landscapes; Estimation of social and economic function of territories in order to mach with different types of protected territories; Creation of social and economic maps of the region with scale of 1: The project has been finished recently with all planned activities completed. Two scientific publications dedicated to project purposes have been published in the media. 3

4 Improvement of protection of Caspian Seal in the Absheron sanctuary NGO Ecology and Conservation of Birds conducts a challenging project dedicated to protection of Caspian seal in Absheron National Park, which is a unique wetland where gazelle and seal are protected and tens of thousands of birds overwinter. Thousands of seals appear here in the spring and autumn. In the spring the molt of the young animals born on the surface of ice in northern Caspian Sea comes to an end. Later they move to the south for feeding and in the autumn migrate back. The main Entrance gate to Absheron NP. Photo by WWF goal of the project is improvement of Caspian seal conservation and protection of waterfowl bird habitats (among them there are priority species of CEPF). This project includes following outputs: - Elaboration and approval of management plan of National Park; - Provision of NP with necessary equipment for monitoring key species; - Arranging of entrance gates and monitoring tower; Monitoring tower. Photo by WWF - Publication of information materials on biodiversity in the NP and importance of protection measures. Reassessment of the IUCN Red List for amphibians and reptiles of the Caucasus Viper (Pelias dinniki) from Chugush, Caucasian Reserve. Photo by EHS of herpetofauna in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Turkey and the European experts from Committee on protection of European Herpetological Societies have collected necessary data for changing IUCN red lists according to present situation. European Herpetological Society (Russia) has conducted research on updating red list for amphibians and reptiles of Caucasus Ecoregion. This has become inevitable due to the fact, that support to public institutions dealing with transboundary cooperation and development of a network of protected areas needs substantial support. It also implies prevention of biodiversity loss in the Caucasus Ecoregion, especially along the migration corridors which provide continuity of animal populations in the region. Project leaders and experts in the field of studying and protection Expedition participants at Shavsheti ridge, Turkey. Photo by EHS 4

5 Update to the Red List of Georgia Wild Plants Conservation Association (WPCA) is implementing the project aiming at communicating and promoting the Georgian Red List and relevant IUCN documents to the key stakeholders for further enforcement of the law on ``Georgian Red List and Red Book``. The project objectives are to prepare and publish a bilingual brochure including the Georgian Law On the Red List and Red Book of Georgia and develop a web site as an electronic version of Georgian Red List to be regularly renewed and updated. All activities will be completed this year. One of the Red listed plant species - Salvia garedzhii. Photo by WPCA Building awareness for nature conservation in the Caucasus During meeting with journalists. Photo by WWF International Center for Journalists (founded in 1984 as an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of journalism worldwide, especially in countries with little or no tradition of an independent press) and it s partner in Caucasus - Caucasus Center for Journalists (CCFJ) - have conducted a project which was dedicated to popularization of biodiversity conservation activities in the Caucasus. This project was functioning twofold: as a training initiative for journalists form Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia who publish articles on biodiversity issues in the mass media,, and as a competition between the journalists for best publication regarding biodiversity problems with first prize of US$ 1,000, second prize - US$ 500 and third prize - US$ 200, along with certificates and plaques. An upgrade of the Conservation International s Biodiversity Reporting Award (BDRA) website have been commissioned for posting stories and news about the contest with contests from 10 other parts of the world. The first prize was given to Apri Arutunian (article on ore mining problems in Armenia). Diploma is given to one of the participants by German trainer-journalist Gezine Dornblus. Photo by WWF 5

6 A view to farmer house situated in the Mtirala National Park. Photo by WWF How to Contact Us 11, M. Aleksidze Str. Tbilisi 0193 Georgia Tel.: /55 Fax: Nugzar Zazanashvili Conservation Director, Regional Coordinator nzazanashvili@wwfcaucasus.ge Maka Bitsadze National Coordinator for Georgia mbitsadze@wwfcaucasus.ge Tel.: Karen Manvelyan National Coordinator for Armenia kmanvelyn@wwfcaucasus.am Tel.: Elshad Askerov National Coordinator for Azerbaijan easkerov@wwfcaucasus.az Tel.: Basak Avcioglue National Coordinator for Turkey bavcioglu@wwf.org.tr Tel.: Vladimir Krever National Coordinator for Russia vkrever@wwf.ru Tel.: Tamaz Gamkrelidze Communications Officer tgamkrelidze@wwfcaucasus.ge Tel.: /55 CEPF is a joint initiative of l'agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to engage civil society in biodiversity conservation. 6