“Islands are showing the way to conserve nature and achieve sustainable livelihoods,” stated Seychelles’ Minister for Environment&Energy, Prof. Rolph Payet, during Island Innovations, a dynamic high-level event held during the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties in Hyderabad, India.
The event, co-hosted by Seychelles and India, demonstrated how islands are demonstrating global leadership and rapid progress in addressing environmental and poverty challenges. They are also inspiring others around the world by implementing a variety of successful large-scale initiatives including world-class, marine-protected areas; multi-country conservation commitments; progressive bio-security planning; and innovative financing mechanisms to support these programs.
Island ecosystems are critical to the health of the world. The earth’s 175,000 plus islands are home to 600 million plus people and support 20% of global biodiversity, including a huge number of species found nowhere else. The increasing challenges facing islands are massive, threatening the very existence of some islands. Yet islands are taking action and making progress to conserve their unique and invaluable environments.
Island Innovations showcased the leadership and commitment to action of island countries and countries with islands to developing solutions to these challenges. A range of new and significant commitments to conserve nature were announced during the event:
• The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, the first regional endowment to be developed in the world to support multiple national-level conservation Trust Funds was launched by Grenada’s Multilateral Environmental Agreement Ambassador, Dr. Spencer Thomas, on behalf of the Caribbean Challenge Initiative countries along with Peter Hilliges, Director Natural Resources Sector for Latin America and the Caribbean for the German development bank (KfW), and Robert Weary, Director of Conservation Finance for The Nature Conservancy. US$30million has already been committed to this fund towards an initial target of US$40million by the government of Germany, The Nature Conservancy, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Once the target is reached, it will provide US$2 million per year in critical sustainable financing to Antigua&Barbuda, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts&Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to support these Caribbean Challenge Initiative countries to protect nature.
• Deputy Premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), The Honorable Dr. Kedrick Pickering, announced that BVI will co-host a Caribbean Political and Business Leaders Summit with Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group and the Prime Minister of Grenada in 2013 as part of the Caribbean Challenge Initiative. The summit will build on the visionary commitments of Caribbean Challenge countries to protect near-shore marine areas by 2020 and in developing sustainable finance mechanisms to support these goals.
• Republic of the Marshall Islands Minister in Assistance to the President, the Honorable Tony de Brum, focused on the progress made in achieving the goals of the Micronesia Challenge to effectively conserve at least 30% of the near-shore marine resources and 20% of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.
• New Caledonia’s Member of the European Parliament, the Honorable M. Maurice Ponga, announced that the European Parliament will support a third phase European Union funding of 2 million euros under the Voluntary Scheme for Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services in Territories of European Overseas (BEST) and push to better integrate EU overseas biodiversity conservation and resource management in EU policies.
• The Chair of Hawai’i’s Department of Land &Natural Resources, USA, William Aila, showcased the state’s innovative approach to achieving a green economy by bringing together Hawai’i leaders from energy, food, and the environment together as part of the Hawai’i Green Growth Initiative to achieve Hawai’i’s sustainability goals and be a model for integrated green growth. “As islands, we understand that these challenges are linked, and we must solve them together. Our economic future depends on caring for our environment mauka to makai [from the mountains to the ocean].”
• Ecuador’s Director of the Galapagos National Park, Edwin Naula, announced the recent creation of the Galapagos Invasive Species Endowment, which currently is generating around US$925,000 for managing invasive species in the archipelago.
• United Nations Development Program Associate Administrator, Rebecca Grynspan, announced that UNDP will be increasing support to islands, and Dr. Naoko Ishii was welcomed as the new CEO and Director of The Global Environment Facility.
Palau was recognized for their global leadership in marine policy in establishing Palau’s Protected Areas Network Act, initiated in 2003, and the Shark Haven Act from 2009 which resulted in Palau being the winner of the Future Policy Award 2012.
“Islands are working together, getting results, and showing the way to achieve the Aichi targets,” stated Dr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, “but further action is urgently needed to conserve and protect the unique island ecosystems and surrounding seas.”
Minister Payet reinforced this statement affirming: “The time for action is now. We must continue to take leadership, to make visionary commitments, and ensure these commitments are implemented on the ground. We must scale up the bright spots emerging from islands and invest in what works. We must continue to work together as a Global Island Partnership.”
The Global Island Partnership is co-chaired by the Presidents of Seychelles and Palau and Prime Minister of Grenada to promote action for island conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Island Innovations was coordinated by the Global Island Partnership and Rare with the support of the Japan Biodiversity Fund, the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat, the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) through the BEST Preparatory Action, and the ISLANDS Project funded by European Union through the Indian Ocean Commission.
Source: repeatingislands.com
Helen Scales describes a series of bioluminescent deep sea dwellers that are being studied off the Bahamas, such as the deep-sea shrimp Parapandalus, which hurls a glowing cloud of organic matter to confuse a potential predator in a laboratory image. According to a new study, this species is among a group of previously known bottom dwellers discovered to make their own light.
Scientists aboard the manned submersible Johnson-Sea-Link collected and observed a bevy of glowing creatures—including sea cucumbers, sea anemones, bamboo corals, and a new species of hermit crab—at depths approaching 3,280 feet (a thousand meters).
As one of the first groups to study bioluminescence among bottom dwellers, the team also examined many of the creatures they’d collected in the laboratory. Their results suggest that bioluminescence could help deep-sea animals color-code their food, said study co-authorTamara Frank, a marine biologist at Florida’s Nova Southeastern Oceanographic Center. ”It’s possible that these animals are using the different colors of bioluminescence to decide, Yes I like that, no I’m not interested in that,” Frank said.
Another revelation: Deep-sea animals tend to glow green, rather than the typical blues emitted by species living in the water column. “Down on the seabed, there’s a lot of current activity and detritus in the water that may make it difficult to see blue light,” she said. “The green light would carry a little bit further.”
Source: repeatingislands.com
Last month (August 30, 2012) John Felder, at the first Caribbean International Electric Car Show, launched at the Cayman Motor Museum in West Bay in Grand Cayman, celebrated the announcement that regulations allowing electric cars to be registered in the Cayman Islands had been approved. After seven long years of pursuing his dream to see Cayman go electric, Felder president of Cayman Automotive, is closer to seeing it come true.CayCompass reports:
It was only in June of this same year that Mr. Felder attempted to register an electric vehicle at the Department of Vehicles and Licensing, but was unable to do so. Safety was among the concerns of Vehicle Licensing Director David Dixon, and Cayman Islands Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly said that “the registration and licensing of vehicles was an intricate process and required extensive research on many issues.”
On Thursday, more than 200 people attended the opening night, which gave many of them their first opportunity to see how far the electric car industry has come. A number of different models were on display, including the popular Wheego; a two-seater zippy vehicle that will be one of the cars available for purchase at Cayman Automotive.
Frank Balderamos Jr. was the master of ceremonies, and after a brief welcome, he introduced Andreas Ugland, owner of the Cayman Motor Museum and sponsor of the electric car show. [. . .] Despite admitting to being a “bit of a petrolhead,” Mr. Ugland admitted that people had to consider the long-term benefits of going electric. “We got together and planned this event and I am proud to be part of it,” he said. “In the long run we all have to realise how we have to change our habits, and there is no better place to start than in Cayman.”
[. . .] Cabinet Minister Mike Adam [said that] “[. . .] Cayman has taken a giant leap here hosting the first electric auto show among all the Caribbean islands.” He continued, “I am made to understand that the organisers are also striving to offer, again, for the first time in the Caribbean, electric cars to rent out of the Alexander Hotel on Cayman Brac.” [Adding that] “It is now official; the traffic regulations allowing electric vehicles to operate on the roads of the Cayman Islands have been approved by Cabinet. And these new traffic regulations will actually become effective in a matter of two weeks.”After Mr. Adam left the podium, Miss Cayman Lindsay Japal pledged her support for electric cars in the Cayman Islands and then invited a clearly emotional Mr. Felder to the podium. “It’s been a long time,” he said. “I persevered, I had a dream and I stayed focused on that dream. When I retired from Chrysler it was my dream to bring electric cars to the Caribbean. I felt this was the perfect place for electric transportation. The perfect place. You have an abundance of sunlight, you have shorter distances [to travel] and you have a beautiful, beautiful island that you want to protect for future generations.”
Source: compasscayman.com