First up is an interview with Jack Ewing, owner of an eco-lodge in Costa Rica. I must admit that writing checks to conservation organizations is about as pleasurable as a trip to the dentist. Spending a week in a place like Hacienda Barú also supports conservation and is a hell of a lot more fun. I managed to photograph about half of the wildlife I saw while staying less than a week in Costa Rica. Best vacation I've ever had. I might put the video (much more interesting than photos) on YouTube one of these days.
After reading that upbeat article, grit your teeth and click on the one about the eminent extinction of the orangutan and understand that palm biodiesel will play a large role in it.
The photos and graphics are shocking. Attempts to certify that palm oil will be grown sustainably will simply clear more rainforest adjacent to the certified plantations to supply those who are more concerned about price (leakage). Once demand outstrips supply, and costs begin to rise as a result, more carbon sinks will fall. Burning biodiesel in your car, unless it is made from recycled sources, consumes a food crop, which simply creates an economic incentive for someone, somewhere in the world, to clear more land to replace what you fed to your car (leakage). Agrodiesel producers will seek out the cheapest possible base stock and nothing comes close to palm oil. Imbecilic politicians funding and mandating the consumption of agrofuels are the biggest problem, but consumers wanting to save the planet by voluntarily burning these environmentally destructive fuels in their cars have made a gross miscalculation, IMHO.
Next up is an interview with John Cain Carter, an ex-Texan who now raises cattle in the Cerrado of Brazil. I'm not sure what to think of this article. The guy raises cattle in the Amazon. You would be hard pressed to find a more environmentally destructive vocation. On the other hand, if he didn't raise cattle there, someone would just take his place, and he is working hard on a plan to get other ranchers to obey the Brazilian law that requires ranchers to set aside half of their land as he has done.
The nearest equivalent here in the States is the conservation reserve program where our farmers are paid by taxpayers to protect part of their land (which, by the way, is now being plowed under to grow agrofuels). However, if our farmers were not penalized for farming land that is supposed to be in reserve, we would have the same problem here as in Brazil. The blame lies with Brazilian politicians, not those taking advantage of the situation created by those politicians. I don't much care for politicians in general.
Imagine trying to compete with other cattle ranchers when you can only use half of the land you pay a mortgage and taxes on. But then again, life is how you choose to see it:
- Preserving that forestland was the deal the farmer accepted from the government that sold it to him for the privilege of burning for profit part of the planet's lungs. Those who didn't set the land aside are cheats, but we are all cheats given the right incentives.
- A corrupt Brazilian government that won't enforce its own laws is also unlikely to enforce private property rights so it is only a matter of time before the corruption that has allowed these farmers to cheat comes back to bite them when a powerbroker decides he wants their land.
- One can assume that the low purchase price of the land was compensation for keeping half of it as forest. "You may purchase this land for half price only if you promise to leave half of it as forest."
And so it goes.
It isn't clear to me exactly how Carter plans to get ranchers to obey the law. In a nutshell, he hopes to use economic forces to reward those who set aside land (or inversely, punish those who do not) by giving them access to favorable markets. How he is going to give them exclusive access to these markets is where things get fuzzy.
Without enforcement, laws are meaningless. The laws are not enforced due to corruption inside the Brazilian government. Essentially, Carter is planning to enforce the laws by skirting the government. He is trying to establish a level playing field for all ranchers, which is what government is supposed to do. Imagine a governing sports body that looked the other way when a soccer team sews shut the opening to its goal. A government solution to that problem today might be to allow both teams to sew their nets closed (subsidizing competing energy schemes). The real challenge will be to keep corrupt government officials from skirting his plan. I sure don't have a better plan. I also really like the idea of using high tech satellite imagery to verify which ranchers are in compliance.
There is also an interview with Dr. Daniel Nepstad, a mover and shaker in Amazon conservation circles. It is in general a hopeful interview, but it was the following quote that stuck in my mind:
When we put all this together we come up with a very bleak outlook for the Amazon Rainforest. I don't have the final numbers, we're running these right now, but it's not out of the question to think that half of the basin will be either cleared or severely impoverished just 20 years from now.
Another article discusses a report that has found the populations of many once common birds crashing 54 to 96 percent in just the last forty years. This is how extinctions happen. Populations drop to the point that they cannot rebound when struck by disease or a spate of bad weather:
The National Audubon Society said agricultural and development pressures have driven grassland birds to the worst declines.
For all you agrofuel supporters out there, may your favorite bird go extinct so that you can continue to fuel your eco-fantasy along with you four-ton wheelchair. And no, I'm not just talking corn ethanol. Rapeseed takes 30 percent more land than corn to produce the same gas mileage and of course soy takes almost five times as much. Yeah, I'm getting testy. It must be a symptom of impending vacation time. I think I'll stop there and put up more in another post. There are several articles I haven't gotten to yet.
I'm off on vacation tonight. I'll be in a tent for about five days with my family communing with nature along with several other families. I will find a working internet café once or twice to upload some more stuff, so you won't be completely rid of me. Expect some interesting wildlife footage.
Michael Pollan on agriculture and health care
How industry pressures and competing national agendas dim prospects for a climate treaty
Tweet for the bees
Comments
View as Flat
caniscandida Posted 1:59 am
30 Jun 2007
On your photographs:
Reptiles: Nice lizards. A basilisk! At the top of the second page is something that looks very much like a monitor lizard; but the Varanidae are not native to the Western Hemisphere, are they. Also, the crocodiles smiled very sweetly for you, but it is too bad you saw no turtles.
Birds: Lovely close-up shots of hummingbirds! How ever did you manage to get so close? I shall see if I can ID that light-brown-and-white large bird which I assume is a raptor. Also, there is what I think is an ibis. But actually I am surprised you did not see more birds, especially waterfowl.
Arthropods: Amazing beetles! Your daughters are mighty brave to handle them, while Daddy stands a safe distance away with his camera. And that butterfly with transparent wings is gorgeous! In the bottom right corner of the first page is something that looks very much like a spider, but I feel it may be a spider-mimicking insect: do you know which it is?
Mammals: How exciting!, a sloth walking (or whatever it is they do by way of moving) on the ground!, and a coatimundi! Too bad the ocelot happened to be out-of-town.
On orangutans: Yes, the Mongabay page is very distressing. The tone comes across as one of plangent helplessness: We can blame everyone from all around the world who are interested in cutting down the forests of Borneo, whether for lumber or for palm oil, but the global economy seems so hardened at this point, that it is not clear that anything effective can be done in time. The figure with maps at the bottom of the page, showing the range of orangutans on three dates, is especially frightening: consider the great diminution of the range just between 1999 and 2004.
At least there was one bit of good news, maybe, again down toward the bottom: the CITES people managed to get an international ban on trading the slow loris, which, unfortunately for the slow loris, happens to be one of the cutest animals on the planet. But since so much trade in exotic animals is done on the black market anyway, we cannot be confident that even now with the ban, the loris will be left in peace.
This should be a part of your "Make Good Eco-Behavior Look Cool" campaign: Collecting exotic animals should become a form of social leprosy.
On John Cain Carter, the Texan ex-patriot raising cattle in Brazil: Like you, I am of two minds on that. Well, keep an eye out for what he is up to.
On declining numbers of grassland birds: Right, there you go, an excellent example of one kind of Western American attitude toward the land. Dick Cheney's pals in Wyoming, punching holes, building access roads and erecting barriers all over the place, are at the top of the list, but are by no means the only ones who make life hard for the sage grouse, etc.
Great post, BioD. Have fun during your woodland retreat. I look forward to the pictures.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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caniscandida Posted 2:49 am
30 Jun 2007
So, by that reasoning: We should prefer the interests of the great apes to those of, say, dogs; and those of dogs to those of mice; and those of mice to those of chickens; and those of chickens to those of turtles; and so forth. From what I have read, the people who reason like that seem to take the hierarchy down as far as some arthropods (e.g. lobsters) and mollusks (e.g. octopuses and squids), and stop there.
I myself do not find this very interesting. For one thing, there is a great deal of subjectivity which rightly should be taken into account, above the evolutionary relationships -- even as in human relationships, we often have greater obligations to our friends than to our relatives. In fact, Primates seem to be more closely related to Rodents than to Carnivora, including our beloved cats and dogs, and to the hoofed mammals, including the similarly beloved and admired horses, cetaceans and elephants.
To say nothing of our beloved chickens, over in a completely different Class.
Anyway, that objection does not matter much right now. What matters is, if the consideration that we are very close cousins to orangutans moves at least a few people to do something beneficial for them, then by all means we should do our best to put that consideration out there.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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caniscandida Posted 3:23 am
01 Jul 2007
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughing_Falcon
It is always a bit puzzling to see raptors in such thick foliage. Accipiters manage it, with their relatively short, broad wings. In this case, though, it is even more remarkable that the Laughing Falcon is not an accipiter, but a true falcon.
The genus name means "hunter of creeping things"; unclear if the scientist who named it was using the term herpeton technically to refer to reptiles, but that of course is possible. Anyway, no doubt the bird frequently perches on low branches, looking at the forest floor in the hope of seeing something creeping by.
Cachinnans means not just laughing, but guffawing, slapping thighs, holding ribs. You know, ROTFLMAO. Did you actually hear this bird utter anything?
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
Permalink
Biodiversivist Posted 12:30 am
06 Jul 2007
This should be a part of your "Make Good Eco-Behavior Look Cool" campaign: Collecting exotic animals should become a form of social leprosy.
In all seriousness, environmental groups need to accept advertising as a legitimate way to channel behavior. Gore's film can be likened to an infomercial. They would have to be good ads of course by professional ad firms. I suspect that they would also hold the moral high-ground, enhancing their effectiveness and might be paid for by companies wanting to enhance their environmental image, while bashing a competitors.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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SustainableGreen Posted 1:40 am
06 Jul 2007
You both are right on the money. The bird is an example of convergent evolution, in which a falcon has adopted both the appearance and feeding behavior of an accipiter. My old Peterson guide states: "unfalconlike in flight". And the Herpeto- prefix does refer to its diet of reptiles. Related overlapping species, in range and habitat, are Collared Forest Falcon Micrastur semitorquatus and Barred Forest Falcon M. ruficollis.
These species (and many others) get as far North as the northernmost cloudforest in Mexico at Rancho del Cielo Preserve, where the clouds from the Gulf of Mexico collide with the Sierra de Tamaulipas.
I wish I could be more positive about their status, and the others you pictured, but with population increases, development pressure, habitat fragmentation, etc., etc., etc.... Sometimes I think pictures and skins and other preserved specimens are all we will have left. Sorry for the depressing note....
David
Sustainability For Life
Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!
Permalink
caniscandida Posted 2:52 am
06 Jul 2007
I gather it is somewhere between Gomez Farias and the Cerro del Tigre, and that students of entomology and ornithology from Texas often go there. And getting there has its hardships, or at least it did ten years ago, when the very detailed guide in planeta.com was written. The author serenely says, "Be nice to the natives, and do not whine if the store in Gomez Farias does not carry Diet Coke or Doctor Pepper, as I once heard students from Texas Tech do."
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
Permalink
SustainableGreen Posted 4:09 am
06 Jul 2007
Yes, I let out a howl of pain when I was reminded that that "B" actor/figurehead President had a place of the same name.
There is a wonderful description of the area in a beautiful book "At a Bend in Mexican River" by George M. Sutton, who was one of the premier U.S. ornithologists and naturalists. Specifically on nearby Rancho Cielito in the lowland coastal plain, it covers the area quite well, and yes, the jumping off place for Rancho del Cielo--at least used to be-- was Gomez Farias. I would take several first-born as collateral for the loan of my copy of the book.
I have a tenuous connection to the location through family/geography, but few know much about it. The last I knew of it, it was still sponsored/operated by the Gorgas Science Society (Foundation?) of Univ. Texas at Brownsville. The sharp ones here (all) will recognize the Gorgas name.
The area BioD visited in Costa Rica is rich in Neotropical diversity (no news there) and much of that extends up into the 'Rancho's' area. I heard someone estimate, ~30 years ago, that there were ~200 undescribed species of ferns--one general taxon--in the mountains surrounding Rancho del Cielo.
Heh heh, I have gone on so much I could spoil the book for its readers! Would not want to do that!
David
Sustainability For Life
Messages done with sustainable energy, with Wind and Sun!
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GreyFlcn Posted 4:31 am
06 Jul 2007
http://media.globalpublicmedia.com/RM/2007/06/FridleyBrad ...
Sums up a lot of the knowledge I've been amassing on biofuels.
And for some supplimentrary info:
What is peat? Why is it important?
Pretty much because Peat contains lots of oganic carbon matter, which is held in near suspended-animation by a lack of oxygen, which is enforced by a water layer perpetually trapping the soil together.
You dry out the marshy soil to make farmland, and suddenly the peat has access to oxygen, and then all the enzymes go to work breaking it down into CO2.
Palm Oil Rainforrests, and Peat.
Soybeans, Rainforrests, and Peat.
Also why are rainforrests important to global warming, in more ways than JUST the CO2.
"Our study shows that tropical forests are very beneficial to the climate because they take up carbon and increase cloudiness, which in turn helps cool the planet,"
In tropical regions, forests help keep the Earth cool by not only absorbing carbon dioxide, but by evaporating plenty of water as well.
http://www.llnl.gov/pao/news/news_releases/2005/NR-05-12- ...
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caniscandida Posted 8:59 am
06 Jul 2007
In an old but very nicely written popular reference book, by Oliver L. Austin, Jr., "Birds of the World," with splendid illustrations by Arthur Singer, we read:
<<
The family Falconidae is another heterogeneous group, varying from the swiftly darting little falconets 6 1/2 inches in length to the 24-inch Gyrfalcon of the arctic tundras and from the swift-flying predatory Peregrine, Hobby, and Merlin to the comparatively sluggish, scavenging caracaras. ...
The subfamily Herpetotherinae contains the rather primitive [!] Laughing Falcon and the four forest falcons of continental Central and South America [including the two that David mentioned]. These dashing, soft-feathered predators of the tropic and subtropical forests live largely on reptiles.
>>
No doubt much work has been done on the systematics of the Falconidae since 1961. In any event, I expect I shall remain a bit confused, no matter what the experts are saying nowadays.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
Permalink