Jair Bolsonaro’s neglect of the Amazon has made him “the most despised and detested leader” on earth, Brazil’s former environment minister has claimed, as the far-right leader again rebuked French president Emmanuel Macron for challenging his environmental record.

Rubens Ricupero warned Bolsonaro was wreaking havoc on both Brazil’s environment and its global standing, as Bolsonaro used Facebook to scold Macron’s “inappropriate and gratuitous attacks” over the Amazon fires and insult France’s first lady.

“These people are lunatics,” Ricupero said of Bolsonaro’s administration in an interview with the Guardian.

“In my opinion, he has turned himself into the most despised and detested leader in the world. I can’t see anyone else – not even Duterte in the Philippines … not Trump, not anyone – who today provokes so much anger.”

“Never, in more than 50 years of our history, has there been a disaster involving Brazil’s image and the perception of Brazil so serious and probably so irremediable as this one,” added Ricupero, who was also Brazil’s finance minister and ambassador to the United States.

“Even in the military period – when Brazil had a negative image above all because of human rights, torture and disappearances – what went on here never drew so much attention as now.”

On Friday, amid a barrage of domestic and international censure, Bolsonaro ordered Brazilian troops to the Amazon to help contain the conflagration and professed “profound love” for a region environmentalists accuse him of helping destroy.

But Bolsonaro has continued to dismiss the crisis as a campaign of “fake news” and “disinformation” designed to discredit his government.

“We are doing what we can,” the rightwing populist told reporters in the capital, Brasília, on Saturday. “The Amazon is bigger than the whole of Europe. Even if I had 10 million people I wouldn’t be able to prevent [these fires].”

At the G7 summit, Macron is pushing for world powers to help put out the fires and fund reforestation and management projects in the Amazon.

Ricupero, Brazil’s minister for the environment and the Amazon in the early 1990s, admitted fighting illegal deforestation was a massive task in a sprawling region where the government’s presence was limited and environmental criminals often armed and dangerous.

“It’s a wild west like in the American films,” Ricupero said of the Amazon. “[It’s not like] Sussex or East Anglia … Even in the best circumstances – even when a government is determined to enforce the law – it is an uphill struggle.”

But Ricupero accused Bolsonaro’s government of simply “folding its arms” when it came to protecting the Amazon, giving criminals a carte blanche to destroy by undermining Brazil’s environmental agency, Ibama.

“[Bolsonaro] has the same mentality as the military rulers in the 1970s: that the Amazon should be colonzied and become soy plantations and cattle ranches,” Ricupero said.

“In the 1970s the government had a slogan: ‘Amazonia will be colonized by hooves of cows’. They never accepted the idea that the Amazon had to be preserved. They see no reason for the forest not to be chopped down and replaced with agriculture and mining. This is his [Bolsonaro’s] mindset.”

Marina Silva, Brazil’s environment minister from 2003 until 2008, said she felt “deep sadness and anger” at the devastation unfolding in the region where she was born and raised.

Silva agreed Amazon destruction was not a new phenomenon.

“We’ve had fires and deforestation under every government – but with the difference that [before] you had environment ministers … who were genuinely committed to protecting the forests, biodiversity and our water resources,” Silva said.

By contrast, Bolsonaro’s environment minister, Ricardo Salles, was “an anti-environment minister” actively working against nature. “Instead of strengthening his employees he strengthens the offenders,” Silva said.

Ricupero said: “He isn’t a minister – he’s an anti-minister. He’s the opposite of what a minister should be.”

Ricupero said he feared Bolsonaro’s antagonistic reaction to European criticism meant international cooperation to control the destruction would be hard.

Only “the fear of economic consequences” – such as a boycott of Brazilian products or the halting of a trade deal with the EU – were likely to make Bolsonaro’s Brazil change course. “If nothing concrete happens, beyond the complaints … this will continue getting worse,” he predicted.

Bolsonaro continued his attacks on Macron on Saturday, accusing the French president of treating Brazil like “a colony or a no man’s land”.

Bolsonaro’s education minister, Abraham Weintraub, branded Macron a characterless, “opportunistic knave” and “a cretin”, while Brazil’s president mocked the French first lady’s appearance on Facebook.

Ricupero said: “The impression I have right now is that Brazil is committing suicide. That the president himself is ‘suiciding’ the country. It is a strong expression – but it’s what I feel. Destroying your own patrimony is tantamount to suicide.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/25/brazil-the-amazon-fires-bolsonaro

WAV Comment – if it is the EU then there has to be a ‘strategy’. Lets hope that more is done by the EU on this global destruction than all the promises they gave us about taking firm action against Romania and the export of 70,000 live sheep to the Middle East in temperatures which well exceeded the EU’s very on regulations on the ‘protection’ of live animals in transport.  Like all things, some member states of the EU will do whatever they can to adhere to the rules; others (like Romania) will not give a damn and probably do almost nothing – except take whatever they can in EU financial handouts that is.  We have an ‘EU Strategy’ – it is basically called enforcing all members states to follow the rules; otherwise they are punished hard ! – this has yet to be adopted.

European strategy for plastics

Plastics are an important material in our economy, and modern daily life is unthinkable without them. At the same time however, they can have serious downsides on the environment and health. Action on plastics was identified as a priority in the Circular Economy Action Plan, to help European businesses and consumers to use resources in a more sustainable way.

The first-ever European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy adopted on January 2018 will transform the way plastic products are designed, used, produced and recycled in the EU. Better design of plastic products, higher plastic waste recycling rates, more and better quality recyclates will help boosting the market for recycled plastics. It will deliver greater added value for a more competitive, resilient plastics industry.

The strategy is part of Europe’s transition towards a circular economy, and will also contribute to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals, the global climate commitments and the EU’s industrial policy objectives. This strategy will help protect our environment, reduce marine litter, greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on imported fossil fuels. It will support more sustainable and safer consumption and production patterns for plastics.

EU plastics strategy key documents:

• EU Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy – staff working document – brochure
• Strategy for plastics press release and questions and answers
• Factsheets on the strategy for plastics in a circular economy
• Factsheet – changing the way we use plastics (EU wide)
• Factsheet – changing the way we use plastics -EU countries (in all EU languages)
• Other 2018 Circular Economy Action Plan initiatives

EU-wide pledging campaign:

The European Commission is promoting an EU-wide pledging campaign for the uptake of recycled plastics and calls on stakeholders to come forward with ambitious voluntary pledges to boost the uptake of recycled plastics.

 

Proposal for a single-use plastics directive

The European Commission proposed on May 2018 new EU-wide rules to target the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe’s beaches and seas, as well as lost and bandoned fishing gear. Together these constitute 70% of all marine litter items.

Single-use plastic directive key documents:

• Single-use plastics directive proposal and annex
• Impact assessment part 1 – part 2 – part 3 and summary
• Supporting study
• Implementation plan
• Synopsis report stakeholder consultation
• Single-use plastics – factsheet
• Single-use plastics – press release
• Single-use plastics – questions and answers

 

Conference “Reinventing Plastics – Closing the Circle”

The conference “Reinventing Plastics – Closing the Circle” took place the 26th September 2017 in Brussels and was an important opportunity to explore issues and potential solutions to be proposed in the plastics strategy.

Related links

• Infographic with facts and figures on plastic waste
• Intentionally added microplastics in products – october 2017
• Plastic study
• Coherence study
• Green Paper on a Strategy on Plastic and Plastic waste in the Environment
• Green paper on Plastic Waste – results of the consultation

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/plastic_waste.htm

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/23/brazil-protests-amazon-bolsonaro-failure-protect

Protesters have laid siege to Brazilian embassies around the world as international outrage over Jair Bolsonaro’s failure to protect the Amazon intensified and supporters maligned critics of the Brazilian president as leftist conspirators.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Brazil’s embassy in central London on Friday with placards reading: “The planet deserves better” and “Our house is on fire”.

“Bolsonaro wants to destroy the forest … and we do not want this,” one indigenous leader from Brazil told the crowd.

There were also rallies outside Brazil’s embassies in Mexico City and Paris, where demonstrators reportedly carried banners reading: “Fora Bolsonaro!” or “Bolsonaro, out!”

Protesters also surrounded the Brazilian consulate in Geneva while further marches were planned in cities including Adelaide, Lisbon, Stockholm, Boston and Florida.

Brazil’s far-right president has rejected the international outcry over the fires raging in the Amazon and his stance on the environment.

Bolsonaro on Thursday painted the barrage of criticism as part of a foreign conspiracy that might eventually be used to justify a foreign “intervention” in the Amazon.

“This happens all over the world, it’s not just in Brazil,” he said of the fires decimating the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

Bolsonaro’s politician son, Eduardo, claimed criticism of his father was part of an international intrigue designed to damage his government.

 

“The GLOBAL left has come together in a clear attack against president Jair Bolsonaro,” he tweeted.

Rômulo Batista, a Greenpeace campaigner in the Amazon, said such claims – and Bolsonaro’s baseless insinuation that NGOs were behind the fires – were merely an attempt to deflect from Bolsonaro’s own responsibility for the environment calamity. “He is trying to hide behind a smokescreen,” Batista said.

In Brazil, demonstrators were preparing to mobilize for a weekend of protests in cities including Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Curitiba, Recife and the Amazon city of Manaus.

“Almost everyone I know will go,” said Frederico Svoboda, 18, a history student from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

“I believe that if there is not international pressure to force the government to deal with the fires and guarantee the protection of biodiversity and indigenous peoples there could be climate disasters in Brazil and maybe South America.”

People around the world should “pressure the Brazilian government to act”, Svoboda added.

Anna Mello, a 24-year-old biologist, said she would march in the north-eastern city of Recife.

“For me this is surreal, I can’t believe it is happening. It is absurd that … people can support this as if it were totally normal rather than a crime and something that might affect the whole of humanity.”

Writing in the O Globo newspaper, the columnist Bernando Mello Franco said that thanks to Bolsonaro, “Brazil is on track to go back to being seen as an environmental pariah”.

 

If you wish to contact your local Brazilian embassy, then please use the following link:

https://www.embassy-worldwide.com/country/brazil/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diplomatic_missions_of_Brazil

 

LONDON:

Address: 14-16 Cockspur St, St. James’s, London SW1Y 5BL

Hours:

Closed ⋅ Opens 9AM Mon

Saturday	Closed
Sunday	Closed
Monday (Summer Bank Holiday)	9am–6pm Hours might differ
Tuesday	9am–6pm
Wednesday	9am–6pm
Thursday	9am–6pm
Friday	9am–6pm

 

Phone: 020 7747 4500

 

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/macron-amazon-forest-fires-veto-mercosur-eu-trade-deal-brazil-a9076181.html

France will block an EU trade deal with Brazil and its neighbours over the country’s handling of fires in the Amazon rainforest, a spokesperson for Emmanuel Macron has said.

Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been criticised around the world for his response to the fires, which scientists say are man-made and campaigners have linked to businesses looking to exploit the land.

“The president can only conclude President Bolsonaro lied to him at the Osaka summit,” a spokesperson for the Elysee told the Reuters news agency.

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amazon-rainforest-fires-bolsonaro-blames-charities-for-worst-ever-blazes-z8c0tkt7h

Wildfires raging in the Amazon rainforest are an international crisis that must be tackled by the world’s richest nations, President Macron has declared.

The French leader said that the record number of fires that have broken out this month, ravaging forests in Brazil and neighbouring countries, must be top of the agenda at this weekend’s G7 summit in Biarritz.

His remarks drew a sharp response from President Bolsonaro of Brazil, who blames environmental groups for the surge in wildfires as he tries to deflect international criticism

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/23/amazon-rainforest-fires-deforestation-jair-bolsonaro

The rainforest might seem a remote place, but it is the heart of the planet – and it is under attack as never before

The Amazon is the centre of the world. Right now, as our planet experiences climate collapse, there is nowhere more important. If we don’t grasp this, there is no way to meet that challenge.

For 500 years, this has been a place of ruins. First with the European invasion, which brought a particularly destructive form of civilisation, the death of hundreds of thousands of indigenous men and women and the extinction of dozens of peoples. More recently, with the clearance of vast swaths of the forest and all life within it. Right now, in 2019, we are witnessing the beginning of a new, disastrous chapter. The area of trees being cleared has surged this year. In July, the deforestation rate was an area the size of Manhattan every day, a Greater London every three weeks. This month, fires are incinerating the Amazon at a record rate, almost certainly part of a scorched-earth strategy to clear territory. Why is this happening now? Because of a change in power.

A predatory form of politics called Bolsonarism has assumed nearly total, and totalitarian, power in BrazilA predatory form of politics called Bolsonarism has assumed nearly total, and totalitarian, power in Brazil. President Jair Bolsonaro’s chief project is to create more ruins in the Amazon forest, methodically and swiftly. This is why, for the first time since Brazil became a democracy again, it effectively has a minister against the environment.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/amazon-fires-what-is-happening-anything-we-can-do

What is happening in the Amazon?

Thousands of fires are burning in Brazil, many of them in the world’s biggest rainforest, which is sending clouds of smoke across the region and pumping alarming quantities of carbon into the world’s atmosphere.

Does this happen every year?

Yes, but some areas have suffered far more than usual. In the worst-affected Brazilian state of Amazonas, the peak day this month was 700% higher than the average for the same date over the past 15 years. In other states, the amount of ash and other particulates in August has hit the highest level since 2010.

What is the cause?

Most of the fires are agricultural, either smallholders burning stubble after harvest, or farmers clearing forest for cropland. Illegal land-grabbers also destroy trees so they can raise the value of the property they seize. But they are man-made and mostly deliberate.

Unlike the huge recent blazes in Siberia and Alaska, the Amazon fires are very unlikely to have been caused by lightning.

Is the entire forest ablaze?

No. Satellite monitoring experts say the images of an entire forest ablaze are exaggerated. A great deal of misinformation has been spread by social media, including the use of striking images from previous years’ burning seasons. This week, there are more large fires in Colombia and eastern Brazil than in the Amazon. Most of the agricultural burn-offs are in deforested areas. But there are also fires in protected reserves.

So should we still be concerned?

Extremely. The fires are mostly illegal and they are degrading the world’s biggest terrestrial carbon sink and most important home for biodiversity. They also contribute to a more important trend, which is an alarming rise in deforestation. Scientists say the Amazon is approaching a tipping point, after which it will irreversibly degrade into a dry savannah. At a time when the world needs billions more trees to absorb carbon and stabilise the climate, the planet is losing its biggest forest.

How much forest is being lost?

In July, deforestation spiked to a level not seen in more than a decade. According to preliminary satellite data from Brazil’s space agency trees were being cleared at the rate of five football pitches every minute. Over the single month, ,2,254 sq km (870 sq miles) were lost, a rise of 278% on the same month last year. Scientists say this year could be the first for 10 years in which 10,000 sq km of Amazon are lost.

Is this the fault of the Brazilian president?

Jair Bolsonaro has made things a lot worse by weakening the environment agency, attacking conservation NGOs and promoting the opening of the Amazon to mining, farming and logging. The far-right leader has dismissed satellite data on deforestation and fired the head of the space agency. But it is not solely his fault. The agricultural lobby is powerful in Brazil and it has steadily eroded the protection system that was so successful from 2005-2014. Deforestation crept up in the past five years under the previous presidents Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer. But the rate has accelerated rapidly in the first eight months of Bolsonaro’s rule.

What is the outside world doing?

The UN secretary general and many world leaders and celebrities have expressed concern. The Amazon will be high on the agenda for G7 leaders at a summit in France this weekend. They are likely to make a strong statement condemning the recent increase in deforestation and urge Brazil to restore the Amazon protections that previously made the country a global environmental leader.

Is that enough?

No. The priority should be building a buffer against the tipping point and drawing down emissions, which means not just protection of the Amazon but massive reforestation. This will require far more financial support than anything seen until now. For this to be effective, governments will also need to align their environment and trade policies. Currently countries like the UK spend small sums on overseas conservation, then promote billions of dollars worth of trade in beef, soy, timber, minerals and other products that undermine Amazon protection efforts. Politicians should also listen more to the voices of the people who live in the forest, such as indigenous groups and riverine communities.

 

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Indigenous people from the Mura tribe show a deforested area in unmarked indigenous lands in Amazonas state. Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

What can individuals do?

Sign up to the Green Light email to get the planet’s most important stories

Read more

The most important actions are political and collective. Join a party or campaign group that makes the Amazon a priority. Through these groups, urge your elected representatives to block trade deals with countries that destroy their forests and to provide more support for countries that expand tree cover.

Apart from this, donate to organisations that support the forest, forest dwellers and biodiversity, including Instituto Socioambiental, Amazon Watch, WWF, Greenpeace, Imazon, International Rivers and Friends of the Earth.

As consumers, think twice before buying Brazilian beef or other products unless certified by groups such as Rainforest Alliance. The Amazon connection is not always obvious.

As the crisis escalates…

… in our natural world, we refuse to turn away from the climate catastrophe and species extinction. For The Guardian, reporting on the environment is a priority. We give reporting on climate, nature and pollution the prominence it deserves, stories which often go unreported by others in the media. At this pivotal time for our species and our planet, we are determined to inform readers about threats, consequences and solutions based on scientific facts, not political prejudice or business interests.

 

 

See also https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/08/21/brazil-there-is-war-in-amazonas/

 

This site is primarily an animal rights / welfare site. But we also attempt to cover environmental issues when we feel there is need. Now is major need time for the Amazon.

https://mailchi.mp/amazonfrontlines/brazil?e=84705a74b2

The Amazon rainforest is on fire. Millions of acres of indigenous territory across Brazil are burning, releasing enormous amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. This is what the climate crisis looks like: Our planet’s largest and most important rainforest going up in smoke.

Amazon Frontlines has joined forces with our indigenous allies in Brazil and is raising funds for the Indigenous Confederation of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB). All funds raised will support the frontline brigades now fighting these fires, and help them build political and technical capacity to continue protecting the forest in the future.

The fires now raging across the Amazon are not natural. They are part of a political crisis in which the governments of the region, most notably that of Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, has enabled the wanton destruction of formerly protected areas, including hundreds of indigneous lands. For years, indigenous groups in Brazil have been trying to warn the world that they cannot hold off the devastation alone. Too often, their voices have been silenced, just as the Amazon is being silenced now.

Let’s turn this disaster into hope, lets change this into action, and let’s work towards the future together. Let’s pray for the Amazon, but also fight for it.

Donate to the Amazon fund – https://www.amazonfrontlines.org/donate/brazil/

 

Amazon fires: ‘Our house is burning’, Macron warns ahead of G7

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-49443389

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the record number of fires in the Amazon rainforest is an “international crisis” that needs to top the agenda at this weekend’s G7 summit.

“Our house is burning,” he tweeted.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro responded by accusing Mr Macron of using the issue for “political gain”.

He said calls to discuss the fires at the G7 summit in Biarritz, which Brazil is not participating in, evoke “a misplaced colonialist mindset”.

The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming.

Satellite data published by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) has shown an increase of 85% this year in fires across Brazil, most of them in the Amazon region.

• In graphics: How bad are the Amazon fires?
• ‘Football pitch’ of Amazon forest lost every minute

Conservationists have blamed Mr Bolsonaro’s government for the Amazon’s plight, saying that he has encouraged loggers and farmers to clear the land.

Mr Bolsonaro has suggested that non-governmental organisations started the fires, but admitted he had no evidence for this claim. In comments on Thursday, he acknowledged that farmers might be involved in setting fires in the region, according to Reuters news agency.

Environmental groups have called for protests in cities across Brazil on Friday to demand action to combat the fires.

Mr Bolsonaro responded by accusing the French president of using a Brazilian domestic issue for “personal political gain”.

He said he was open to dialogue about the fires if it was “based on objective data and mutual respect”, but hit out at the calls for it to be discussed at the G7 summit.

“The French president’s suggestion that Amazonian issues be discussed at the G7 without the participation of the countries of the region evokes a misplaced colonialist mindset, which does not belong in the 21st century,” he wrote on social media.

• Brazil wildfires prompt ‘prayers’ for the Amazon rainforest
• Is the honeymoon period over for Brazil’s Bolsonaro?

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also said he is “deeply concerned” about the fires in the Amazon.

“In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected,” he tweeted.

A new level of dismissal

Analysis by Daniel Gallas, BBC News, Sao Paulo

Brazilian presidents shrugging off international concern about the Amazon is nothing new.

Others before Mr Bolsonaro have dismissed international NGOs and European leaders as foreign meddlers into national affairs.

But Mr Bolsonaro has taken this to a new level by suggesting NGOs may be responsible for encouraging wildfires to sabotage him.

His words may shock some international audiences, but they ring true to his supporters at home, where he remains a popular leader.

Surprisingly the one reproving voice that could influence this debate is that of Brazilian farmers.

One would think that they would support policies to promote more farming in the Amazon. But some agricultural leaders fear Mr Bolsonaro’s poor handling of Brazil’s image abroad could hurt exports of soybeans and beef.

Some farmers have already urged a change of tone from the government. These are voices the president may be open to hearing.

How has Bolsonaro reacted to the fires?

Mr Bolsonaro has said that the country is not equipped to fight the fires. “The Amazon is bigger than Europe, how will you fight criminal fires in such an area?,” he asked reporters as he left the presidential residence on Thursday. “We do not have the resources for that.”

The president has suggested that NGOs may have started fires as revenge for his government slashing their funding.

Asked on Thursday who was responsible, he said: “The Indians, do you want me to blame the Indians? Do you want me to blame the Martians?… Everyone is a suspect, but the biggest suspects are NGOs.”

When asked if there was any proof of this, he replied: “Did I accuse NGOs directly? I just said I suspect them.”

Mr Bolsonaro has further angered those concerned over the spike in fires by brushing off the data.

He argued that it was the season of the “queimada”, when farmers burn land to clear it before planting. However, Inpe has noted that the number of fires is not in line with those normally reported during the dry season.

It is not the first time that Mr Bolsonaro has cast doubt on figures suggesting that the Amazon is deteriorating rapidly.

Last month, he accused Inpe’s director of lying about the scale of deforestation there. It came after Inpe published data showing an 88% increase in deforestation in the Amazon in June compared with the same month a year ago.

The director of the agency later announced that he was being sacked amid the row.

 

 

Why is he being criticised?

Climate activists and conservationists have been scathing about the Bolsonaro government and its policies, which favour development over conservation.

They say that since President Bolsonaro took office, the Amazon rainforest has suffered losses at an accelerated rate.

Their anger was further fuelled by satellite data showing a steep rise in fires in the Amazon region this year.

The figures suggest there have been more than 75,000 fires so far this year for the whole of Brazil, compared with just over 40,000 over the same period in 2018.

The figures and satellite images showing most of the state of Roraima, in northern Brazil, covered by smoke have shocked many Brazilians and triggered a global Twitter trend under the hashtag #prayforamazonia

As well as a fifth of the world’s oxygen, the region also produces about 20% of the world’s fresh water, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The Amazon is also home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people.

What causes the fires?

Wildfires often occur in the dry season in Brazil but they are also deliberately started in efforts to illegally deforest land for cattle ranching.

“The dry season creates the favourable conditions for the use and spread of fire, but starting a fire is the work of humans, either deliberately or by accident,” Inpe researcher Alberto Setzer told Reuters news agency.

Ricardo Mello, head of the WWF Amazon Programme, said the fires were “a consequence of the increase in deforestation seen in recent figures.

 

Suit Takes On Trump’s Gutting of the Endangered Species Act

The fight is on.

The Center for Biological Diversity and allies sued the Trump administration Wednesday for its unprecedented attack on the Endangered Species Act.

President Trump’s lethal new rules will have a profound effect on the future of endangered species, making it harder to protect their critical habitat and denying protection to animals and plants newly listed as “threatened.” The rules will increase hunting, trapping and killing. They’ll accelerate logging, drilling and mining of key habitat.

We’ll do everything in our power to overturn these scorched-earth rules. The future of bears, wolves, sea turtles and hundreds of other species depends on it. Read more at USA TODAY and consider donating to our Endangered Species Act Protection Fund.

Are You Ready to Mobilize for the Wild?

If we’re going to defeat President Trump’s attack on the Endangered Species Act, we need to show massive grassroots support for the creatures it saves. That’s where you come in.

Join the Center’s Executive Director Kierán Suckling and our top organizing staff this Tuesday, Aug. 27, on a national call to learn what’s at stake and how we can stop the Trump bulldozer in its tracks. This is a do-or-die moment for the Endangered Species Act. Call in to our “Mobilize for the Wild” meeting, and we’ll plug you into this important campaign.

RSVP for the Aug. 27 call.

 

Courtroom Roundup: Taking on Trump

In addition to suing Trump over his vicious assault on the Endangered Species Act itself, this week the Center filed several suits against his administration to defend wildlife: orcas, corals and bees.

We sued the National Marine Fisheries Service for ignoring a legal petition to protect critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales from ship traffic that interferes with their feeding in the heart of their Salish Sea foraging habitat. The suit follows news that three more of these starving orcas are presumed dead, leaving their number at 73.

We also sued the Fisheries Service for failing to protect 12 coral species around Florida and islands in the Pacific Ocean. These corals received Endangered Species Act protection in 2014, but not the critical habitat protection they need to recover, which the law requires. About 30 percent of the world’s corals have been lost, and scientists say the rest could be gone by the end of the century. We can’t wait any longer to save them.

Last but not least, we sued Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency over its approval of the bee-killing pesticide sulfoxaflor for use on 200 million acres of crops. The EPA made this approval despite the fact that its own scientists concluded sulfoxaflor is “very highly toxic” to bees.

This brings our Trump lawsuit count to 158

 

WAV Comment – What else do you expect from this family of nature abusing Psycho’s ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World Orangutan Day

Did you know that over 100,000 Bornean orangutans were lost between 1999 and 2015 mainly due to deforestation and poaching? And now these orangutans are  critically endangered.

To help prevent further habitat loss, WWF Malaysia led a project in Sarawak to provide a sustainable habitat for orangutans as well as create a stable income for the local communities living alongside these great apes.

The Gaharu Tree

At the centre of this project is the Gaharu tree –  a native plant to Sarawak that traditionally provided valuable wood to the local people. It was then discovered that the tree leaves could be made into a tea which can be farmed and sold.

Great news for both the local people and the orangutans, as the tree no longer needs to be cut down and can continue to grow with only its leaves being trimmed for the tea.

Because of this, the Menyang Taih people planted 8,000 Gaharu trees on empty and degraded land which prevented further deforestation – and with the help of WWF volunteers a further 3,000 trees were planted.

Encouraging tree planting means that the orangutan habitat can be protected and hopefully orangutan populations will grow and thrive in Sarawak.

Find out more:

https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/planting-future-orangutans-and-people?pc=GLN005002&utm_source=Supporters&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=FindOutMore&utm_campaign=GLN005002_FriendsActive_FY20_WorldOrangDay&_ccCt=tpKGLIbyPykBIbEfbsB7P8C3NEnb7vdHSY%7eiozMGgtAbBZsl5qbf5mrvZlcNWqqu

 

Adopt an Orangutan

Projects like this create a sustainable economy and a stable ecosystem for both orangutans and people. But more still needs to be done.

Borneo is projected to lose 22 million hectares of forest between 2010 and 2030. We’re running out of time.

Adopt an orangutan today so we can continue to help local communities manage protected areas and to fund our other essential work with orangutans.

Adopt an Orangutan:

https://support.wwf.org.uk/adopt-an-orang-utan?pc=GLN005002&utm_source=Supporters&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=AdoptOrangutan&utm_campaign=GLN005002_FriendsActive_FY20_WorldOrangDay&_ccCt=il9iQ3C9z8hBIbEfbsB7P8C3NEnb7vdHSY%7eiozMGgtAbBZsl5qbf5mrvZlcNWqqu

 

Top 10 Orangutan Facts

Want to find out more about orangutans? Our top 10 facts page will tell you everything you need to know!

View the top 10 facts here:

https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/top-10-facts-about-orangutans?_ccCt=99WzneLiJRnBIbEfbsB7P8C3NEnb7vdHSY~iozMGgtAbBZsl5qbf5mrvZlcNWqqu&pc=GLN005002