Dying oceans a life and death issue

via JON SUMBY, AFP News

The destruction of the world’s oceans due to climate change and overuse is a “life and death issue” for humanity, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said today.

“We must come to the rescue of the oceans,” Mr Yudhoyono said at a global conference on oceans.

“We must save them from the ravages of abuse and over-exploitation by humankind, from the havoc due to pollution and dire effects of climate change.

“This is a life and death issue for the community of nations, including Indonesia, who prides itself on being the world’s largest archipelago.”

Ministers and officials from more than 70 countries are meeting in the Indonesian city of Manado for the World Ocean Conference, the first global meeting on the relationship between oceans and climate change.

Nations aim to pass a joint-declaration aimed at influencing the direction of talks in the Danish capital Copenhagen in December, which will discuss a new global climate change agreement to replace the expiring Kyoto Protocol.

“Today it is time for the world to hear yet another important message: that we can only survive the 21st century if we are united in caring for and preserving our oceans,” Mr Yudhoyono said.

The president made no mention of his own country’s massive failings in conserving its environment, ranging from rampant illegal logging to over-fishing and the destruction of coral reefs through the use of bombs.

Greenhouse gas emissions from extensive logging of Indonesia’s tropical forests have pushed Indonesia to become the world’s third-largest emitter behind the United States and China.

Illegal fishing and pollution are widespread, with garbage and diesel oil clogging the waters at Manado’s harbour close to the conference venue

From: AFP News

Fears of collapse as coral reefs feel the heat
THE most spectacular stretch of coral reefs on the planet is in danger of collapse from climate change, overfishing and pollution, according to a report being presented today at the World Oceans Conference in Indonesia.

Scientists consider the region known as the “coral triangle” to be the centre of marine life on Earth, teeming with fish and almost one-third of the world’s coral reefs. Covering 1 per cent of the planet from South-East Asia to the Pacific, the area also supports about 100 million people.

But in the past 40 years, 40 per cent of the coral reefs and coastal mangroves in the coral triangle have been lost because of pollution, coastal development and overfishing, said a University of Queensland professor, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, who led the study commissioned by WWF.

“It’s an astounding amount,” Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said. “At the moment the coral reefs are disappearing at about 1 to 2 per cent a year. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to see that within 40 years we could lose the rest. This may sound alarming but this is not alarmist. This is what we are probably going to experience if we don’t get our act together”.

The report, The Coral Triangle and Climate Change, comes as ministers involved in the coral triangle initiative, the international effort to protect region, meet at the World Oceans Conference this week. Since the initiative began in August 2007 environment groups have lobbied to declare the region the largest marine reserve in the world.

Australia’s Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, will join leaders from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor at the meeting.

The new report examines two scenarios for the region under climate change, one where an ambitious global agreement to prevent dangerous climate change is struck at Copenhagen in December and one where this fails. The report warns without decisive action on climate change, “many parts of the coral triangle will be largely unliveable by the end of this century”.

An ambitious global climate agreement would require the world to cut greenhouse gases steeply by 2050 with all countries making commitments, the report finds. Developed countries would need to cut their greenhouse emissions by up to 40 per cent of 1990 levels.

The report warns the collapse of marine life will have a serious effect on the 100 million people who live in the region.

“Some of the most impoverished people in the world, living on a knife edge with respect to climate change, are going to be really seriously affected by the decisions we take from Copenhagen onwards”, Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said.

From: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/fears-of-collapse-as-coral-reefs-feel-the-heat-20090512-b1u3.html

Activists in the dock over protests

Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) executive director Berry Nahdian Furqon and water and food campaign manager Erwin Usman stood trial Tuesday, following their public protest of the inaugural World Ocean Conference (WOC) and Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) Summit in Manado.

They were charged with violating Article 216 of the Criminal Code on public order.

Presiding judge I Made Sukanada said the trial of the two activists would have to be postponed, pending the summoning of two witnesses put forward by the defendants’ lawyer.

“They staged a rally of protest, had an oration at Malalayang Beach, and refused to desist when the police came to disband the action,” he said. “They were deemed to have caused a public disturbance.”

Made added that should the activists be found guilty, they could face a maximum sentence of 20 weeks in jail.
The prosecution witness presented in Tuesday’s hearing was the local police’s Comr. Sudjarwoko, who testified that the event staged by Walhi violated regulations because no permit had been requested for it earlier.

“We negotiated three times, asking for proper documents, but they did not respond. They even taunted us to settle the matter in court,” he said. Outside the courthouse, dozens of protesters rallied in support of the activists.

Full story: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/05/13/activists-dock-over-protests.html-0

Indonesia to deport activists over ocean protest

JAKARTA (AFP) — Indonesia will deport 15 Philippine activists on Tuesday after they held a protest with local fisherman near the venue of a global conference on ocean conservation, officials said. Police broke up the demonstration Monday at a beach near Manado, Sulawesi island, where the World Oceans Conference is under way this week.

“They didn’t have any permits from police to stage a rally,” immigration ministry official Pramela Pasaribu told AFP.

The activists were calling for more involvement of local stakeholders in the five-day conference, which has gathered senior officials and experts from 70 countries, she said. Eleven men and four women from the Philippines will be sent home later Tuesday.

Rally spokesman Riza Damanik said the protest was peaceful and was held about an hour’s drive from the conference venue. “Coastal communities and fishermen are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. They should be involved in this conference in order to get a better result,” he said.

From: AFP News

World Ocean Conference draws activists
By Neil Ray, SeafoodSource contributing editor, reporting from Bangkok
5/13/2009 10:07:02 AM – With the World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado, Indonesia, now under way, the Manado Alliance is calling on the host nation to clamp down on illegal fishing and condemning conference organizers for failing to put the issue on the agenda.

The group consists of the Peoples Coalition for Equal Fisheries (PCEF), the Center for Ocean Development Institute and the Mining Advocacy Network, among others.

PCEF coordinator Reza Damanik said the conference fails to address rampant illegal fishing as well as illegal dumping of mining waste into the ocean. According to conference organizers, the focus of the WOC is climate change and its effect on the oceans.

The Manado Alliance said it is participating in the WOC and the Coral Triangle Initiative Summit, held concurrently with the WOC, as an observer. (The Coral Triangle encompasses the coral-rich waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.)

However, Indonesian authorities have deported 11 Filipinos protestors from the country because they do not possess permits to stage a rally, which they did on a beach away from the conference venue. Damanik said the protest was peaceful and was held about an hour’s drive from the conference venue.

“Coastal communities and fishermen are the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change,” said Damanik. “They should be involved in this conference in order to get a better result.”

From: http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=4811