World Wetlands Day 2014 Highlights Agriculture

Yesterday, Sunday February 2nd was World Wetlands Day (WWD). As 2014 is the UN International Year of Family Farming, the theme for this year is 'Wetlands and Agriculture.' The slogal for the Day is 'Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth,' placing a focus on the need for the wetland, water and agricultural sectors to work together for the best shared outcomes.

Our wetlands are of great importance to the health of the planet and all its inhabitants. Our waters provide habitat for a myriad of species, recharge groundwater and provide opportunities for wildlife viewing and other outdoor recreation.

As is becoming increasingly obvious climate change is drastically altering the water cycle. We are now living with more intense storms, floods, droughts, in addition to rising sea-levels. Many species are suffering from the impacts of habitat loss and we continue to make ever-increasing demands on our waters. Now more than ever we need to protect and restore these precious resources and the beneficial functions they offer.

The Financial Costs of Biodiversity Loss

The loss of biodiversity is a tragedy for everyone. We often forget that nature provides a plethora of services all for free. A 2012 report indicates that the world's biodiversity is down 30 percent since the 1970s. Humanity is outstripping the Earth's resources by 50 percent — essentially using the resources of one and a half Earths every year, according to the 2012 Living Planet Report, produced by conservation agency the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

As we undermine natural systems we are incurring immense costs. This is the central premise of a BBC News article by Richard Anderson.

Scientists Defend the Lacey Act

A prominent group of scientists have published a report that claims the Lacey Act legislation curbs deforestation and enhances the competitiveness of US logging and wood processing industries. The new report urges Congress to leave the law alone and provide enough money to enforce it.

Challenge to the Lacey Act

Efforts are underway to erode the Lacey Act which protects Americans from wood that is illegally harvested. In March, two Republicans, Paul Broun, R-Ga., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced legislation to repeal the requirement that US companies comply with foreign environmental laws. Their bill would lower the penalties for violations under the Lacey Act. A bill introduced last fall by Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville and Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood would eliminate penalties for people who procure illegal woods.

The Lacey Act Combats Illegal Logging

The Lacey Act protects forests making it one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation in US law books. An amendment to the Lacey Act is the first-ever law prohibiting the trade of products made with illegally logged wood. The Lacey Act was first passed in 1900 to ban the transport of poached game across state lines. It was amended in 2008 to bar importing wood that is illegally exported under another country’s laws.

The Costs of Illegal Logging

Illegal loggers undermine the competitive advantage of legal producers by selling unlawfully cut or stolen wood at artificially low prices. This practice creates trade distortions that decrease the global price of legal wood by about 16 percent.

Russia Lining Up Investors for Arctic Drilling

In April Russian President Vladimir Putin made public his plans to attract foreign investment to Russia’s Arctic. As reported in Oil Change International, Putin has set his sights on exploiting Russia's Arctic oil fields while their is still a demand for oil.

Endangered Species

On World Animal Day 2010, it is fitting that we acknowledge the long list of endangered species* that are at risk of becoming extinct due to human habitation and the changing environment.

Animals and plant life are at risk in largely due to humans. As human populations have grown in the last 150 years we have seen much higher rates of extinction. These rates are commonly associated with the destruction of habitat attributable to human activity.

These activities include over population and overbuilding, over exploitation of the species by hunting, illegal wildlife trade, and pollution.

We need to see legislation and building laws which protect sensitive habitats. Natural preserves are another way of protecting pockets of land for creatures to live in, but our interdependent ecosystems do not recognize park boundaries and every creature on earth has a role in the environment.

There are a total of 1,589,361 known plant and animal species on planet earth. The 59,811 vertebrate animals include 5,416 mammals, 9,956 birds, 8,240 reptiles, and 6,199 amphibians. The 1,203,375 invertebrate animals, include 950,000 insects, 81,000 molluscs, 40,000 crustaceans, 2,175 corals and 130,200 others.

There are a total of 297,326 plants, 980 conifers, 13,025 ferns and horsetails, 15,000 mosses, 9,671 red and green algae, 10,000 lichens, 16,000 mushrooms, 2,849 brown algae and 28,849 others.

Unfortunately, there is also a long list of endangered plants and animals. (See the list of endangered species by country, state or region or see, a complete list of endangered species, and a complete list of endangered plants.

These are the endangered species amongst the roughly two million species we know about, however, there an estimated nine million species yet to be discovered by science. Sadly many of these species will go extinct before we even acknowledge they exist.

For more information see world animals and endangered species.

*Endangered Species Day is celebrated in USA on the Third Friday of May, it is a celebration of wildlife and wild places, it was started in 2006 by the US Congress to recognize the national conservation effort to protect endangered species and their habitats.


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World Animal Day 2010

World Animal Day is celebrated each year on October 4. It started in Florence, Italy in 1931 at a convention of ecologists as a way of highlighting the plight of endangered species. On this day, animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned on locations all over the globe.

October 4 was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environment. Numerous churches throughout the world observe the Sunday closest to 4 October with a Blessing for the Animals.

However, World Animal Day is not an exclusively Christian event, the day is observed by animal-lovers of all beliefs, nationalities and backgrounds. World Animal Day is not linked to any one individual, organization, or campaign, but belongs to everyone.

The number of World Animal Day events taking place throughout the world has increased year upon year and with your help we can ensure the trend continues. World Animal Day is reporting that in 2010, hundreds of events are taking place in more than 73 countries around the globe.

For more information go to World Animal Day.


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