Showing posts with label UNEP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UNEP. Show all posts

June 05, 2020

World Environment Day: Wildlife and People in the Struggle for Survival and Sustainability




As people throughout the world have been forced to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many lessons we’ve learned (and are still learning). One of them is that the destiny of people and nature go hand in hand, and we simply can’t ignore that fact. The celebration of the 2020 World Environment Day is a good moment to stop and reflect on some key aspects of the relationship between people and wildlife that have been highlighted by this global crisis.

Bat shaming

During the first weeks since news of the coronavirus emerged, several reports pointed to bats being the origin of this novel contagious disease. Led by misinformation and fear, many people throughout the world attacked bats to avoid the spread of COVID-19. However, as more research was conducted, scientists and conservation leaders warned that this link was not 100% proven and launched communication campaigns to remove the stigma on bats and highlight their important environmental benefits including pollination, seed dispersal, and pest and disease-vector control. Although COVID-19 has indeed been identified as a zoonotic disease - a human disease of animal origin - its exact animal source is yet not clear.

Nevertheless, zoonoses have been an increasing problem for many years. According to the UN Environment Programme, 75% of all emerging infectious diseases are transferred to people from wildlife. They include Ebola, avian influenza (or bird flu), H1N1 flu virus (or swine flu), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), Rift Valley fever, sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus, and the Zika virus. Evidence shows that the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic diseases are closely interlinked with the health of ecosystems, and their spread increases with the intensification of human activities surrounding and encroaching into natural habitats, enabling pathogens in wildlife reservoirs to spill over to livestock and humans.

Reclaiming lost habitat?

When the lockdown and isolation began across different countries, we were impressed to see how wildlife quickly appeared in cities and other places where they would previously not dare to go, because they had been occupied by humans. Dolphins in Turkey, boars in Israel, and pumas in Chile are examples of animals touring largely empty city streets, fascinating -and sometimes scaring- urban dwellers.

Explanations given by experts vary. Some claim that these species are once again roaming what used to be part of their original habitat, while others attribute this behavior to dire conditions in their natural environment, such as the megadrought in Chile, which would drive them to leave their comfort zone in search for food and water.

Wildlife abandoned by tourists

While some wildlife species have seized the opportunity to explore new horizons, others are not so lucky. Many zoos and other wildlife attractions across the globe have been hardly hit by the drop of tourism as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve written before about the risks of feeding wildlife and other impacts of wildlife tourism, including buying souvenirs made from endangered species and observing whales and dolphins. However, the crisis in the tourism industry caused by the spread of this new coronavirus brings this issue into the spotlight once again.

From the monkeys at the Prang Sam Yod temple in Thailand to Neumünster Zoo in Germany, animals in captivity are starving as a result of lower revenues from tourism, which affects the capacity of the facilities to provide food for them, and, in some cases such as the temple in Thailand, less tourists to bring snacks to feed them. In Chile, zoos are working together with authorities and reaching out to the community for help through the advanced sale of tickets for when the facilities are able to open once again.

The drop in tourism has also affected protected areas in many countries, where it has resulted in less stress to local wildlife, but at the same time has reduced the number of potential witnesses or casual guardians against criminal acts. With parks closed and law enforcement personnel diverted to other duties related to COVID-19, poachers have taken advantage of reduced human presence to increase their activities.

What can we do?

This is a huge question. In fact, during this worldwide health, economic, and environmental crisis there are many things society as a whole needs to reflect on if we want to be successful in the common struggle of humans and wildlife for survival and sustainability.

How can we avoid the outbreak of new zoonotic diseases? How can we halt and mitigate habitat fragmentation to allow healthy wildlife populations to flourish? How can we reduce poaching to save species from extinction? What will be the role of wildlife tourism when travel resumes? What should be the role of zoos and wildlife attractions? Should they still exist, or should they be eliminated, following the lead of countries such as Costa Rica? 

Nature is making a clear statement! As countries start to plan ways to build back once the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, getting nature at the heart of all decision making  must be our top priority. We need to act now to make the world a better place for people and for nature!

February 22, 2017

Hernán Torres (1946-2017): A Great Nature Lover



by Marcela Torres

It was January 2000 and my dad and I were sitting on top of a rocky promontory in Torres del Paine National Park, in southern Chile, withstanding the strong cold Patagonian winds that pierced through our parkas, gloves and hats. But we were on a mission: To photograph the elusive Andean Condor.

We were fortunate enough to stay at a park ranger post, where the staff gave us tips on the best spots to find the Condor. Since this is a scavenger bird, they suggested we take with us some really stinky cat food that would surely do the trick of attracting it to us.

Following their instructions, we trekked for hours through the tall grasslands of the “pampa” to reach one of the hills they had recommended. It was a rocky mount, completely barren, but after climbing it we discovered it provided a great lookout point. There we sat, with our stock of smelly cat food, and waited, and waited, and waited…

As we waited, I remembered how we came to be there on the first place. In 1982, the BBC produced one of my dad’s favorite documentaries, “The Flight of the Condor”. Mind you, he got a copy and played it over and over again. Being just a girl, I was more into cartoons and Michael Jackson videos, but I ended up liking this incredible film about a bird that is a national symbol in most Andean countries, including Chile, where we lived.

In fact, it wasn’t the first time I had enjoyed a national park with him. My dad had been Regional Director for CONAF, the agency in charge of Chilean protected areas, in Arica between 1974 and 1985. As a child, I traveled with him many times to Lauca National Park, in the high Andes, during his field visits. He taught me about the Vicuña, the Flamingos, the Vizcacha, and the Condor.

It was so much fun that I never paid attention to the cold and loved accompanying him while he photographed nature, which was his passion. When I turned nine, he gave me my first camera, a Polaroid that I still have, and taught me how use it. I was so happy that I took pictures of everything!!

Thanks to him, my family and I enjoyed living in Ann Arbor, Michigan; San José, Costa Rica; New Haven, Connecticut; and Arlington, Virginia. This gave us some unforgettable experiences, such as camping around the Great Lakes and visiting all of the beautiful national parks in these areas.

Torres del Paine had always been on my wish list. So, when he offered to take me in 2000, I said yes immediately! And there we were, waiting for the condor…

A couple of hours had gone by and we had almost lost all hope when suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge bird appeared flying straight towards us. It was a Condor! We quickly ditched our gloves and grabbed our cameras, getting ready to take great shots of this amazing animal. But in only a few seconds it was right on top of us!

As it came, and we realized how low it was flying, we instinctively leaned back until we lay flat on the rock.  It was such an awesome sight, having this massive bird glide only a meter above us, that we completely froze. We could see all the details of its belly and the long wings. When we snapped out of our awe, we realized we had not taken any pictures! So, we quickly rolled over on our bellies and started shooting with our cameras to try to catch at least a glimpse of the Condor. It was too late! We were only able to capture a tiny speck that was quickly flying away from us towards higher altitudes.

We stayed there a while, letting the experience sink in. It had been so amazing! Finally, we grabbed our cameras and the stinky cat food and walked back to the park ranger post. At night, while we sat with the rangers around a fire sharing a “mate” (muh-teh) –a typical Patagonia herbal tea-, they laughed at our adventure.

Our common love for nature led us to co-author two editions of the Guide to Chile’s National Parks (1999and 2004), in Spanish, and to work together in the development of the firstsustainable visitor center in a protected area in Chile, in Los FlamencosNational Reserve, between 2005 and 2006. That experience made me decide to study my Master in Ecotourism at James Cook University, in Cairns, Australia, in 2009.

My dad always supported my endeavors and often contributed with photographs for my blog. He was a member of several professional associations and chaired for many years the IUCN South American Camelid Specialist Group, promoting the conservation of the vicuña until the end of his life. I will continue contributing as well, honoring his memory.

He passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2017. It is still so recent that it’s hard to believe… I still feel him close… He will be with me forever… And my love and gratitude for all that he taught me will remain…


HERNÁN TORRES BIO

Hernán held a Master of Environmental Studies from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from The University of Michigan, both in the United States. He was Regional Director for CONAF (1974-1981 and 1984-1985); team leader for protected areas management plans at the CATIE, in Costa Rica (1986-1988); Protected Areas Specialist of The Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Region Department (1995-1998); and an accomplished international consultant in protected area planning and management, sustainable development, ecosystem services and biodiversity, working with multilateral agencies, such as the UNDP, UNEP, World Bank and RAMSAR, and actively participating in IUCN initiatives until the end.