The Environment Chronicle

Stefan Merker of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and colleagues have now found a new species of tarsier in Central Sulawesi. They have named it Wallace's tarsier, after Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection. The new species looks pretty similar to other Sulawesi tarsiers, but differs genetically in many ways. It also has a characteristic copper-coloured throat, and males and females sing unique songs to each other.

On 10 November 2010 the European Commission presented its new strategy for a competitive, sustainable and secure energy. The Communication "Energy 2020" defines the energy priorities for the next ten years and sets the actions to be taken in order to tackle the challenges of saving energy, achieving a market with competitive prizes and secure supplies, boosting technological leadership, and effectively negotiate with our international partners.

In November 2010 the 12th Castor transport of high level radioactive waste was shipped from the plutonium factory La Hague in France to a temporary repository in Gorleben, federal state of Lower Saxony. The transport of 11 containers carrying highly radioactive nuclear waste arrived at the Gorleben on 9 November 2010 after a 92-hour journey - the longest ever for such a shipment.

On 4 Novemder 2010 the European Commission proposed to ban the use of phosphates and to limit the content of other phosphorous containing compounds in laundry detergents. The draft Regulation aims to reduce the phosphates found in waste water and to improve water quality. The draft Regulation does not affect detergents for automatic dishwashers or those used by professionals as technically and economically feasible alternatives are not yet available throughout the EU. However, Member States can regulate the phosphate content of these detergents in specific circumstances.

On 3 November 2010 the European Commission proposed safety standards for disposing spent fuel and radioactive waste from nuclear power plants as well as from medicine or research. In this Directive Member States are asked to present national programmes, indicating when, where and how they will construct and manage final repositories aimed at guaranteeing the highest safety standards. With the Directive internationally agreed safety standards become legally binding and enforceable in the European Union.

Marine species of November 2010 in the International Year of Biodiversity is the Stephos longipes – an ice copepod. Stephos longipes is a small neritic calanoid copepod that is native to waters surrounding the Antarctic continent. Copepods are crustaceans that range from less than one to twelve millimetres in size and occur in the ocean from the shallow shelf areas to the deepest depths. In most marine regions they represent both the most frequent and the most diverse species of zooplankton.

On 1st April 2010, the British Government announced designation of the British Indian Ocean Territory – or Chagos Archipelago – as the world’s largest marine protected area (MPA). Commercial fishing around Chagos ended on 31 October 2010 making it officially the largest no-take marine protected area (MPA) in the world.

On 29 October 2010 the European Commission published guidelines for wind energy development in protected natural areas. The guidelines are aimed at avoiding conflict between wind energy development and biodiversity conservation in Natura 2000 protected areas. The guidelines apply to the Natura 2000 network, a cornerstone of EU biodiversity policy and a key tool to achieve the EU target of halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2020. Wind energy has an important role to play in meeting the EU target of 20% renewable energy in Europe’s total energy consumption by 2020, and its deployment in Natura 2000 areas is not automatically excluded. But such developments need to be evaluated on a case by case basis.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the special MIDORI Prize for biodiversity in recognition for her special contribution to saving biodiversity during the International Year of Biodiversity. The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity was announced at an awards ceremony held 27 October at a reception hosted by the Japanese Minister of Environment in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the margins of the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention. The MIDORI Prize for Biodiversity honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to conservation and sustainable use at local and global levels, and who have developmentally influenced various biodiversity-related efforts, as well as raising awareness about biodiversity.

The German city of Freiburg has been elected Federal capital of climate protection 2010 (Hauptstadt im Klimaschutz) by the German Environmental Aid (Deutschen Umwelthilfe).

An electric car drove from Munich in southern Germany to Berlin without recharging its battery on on 26 October 2010, setting what organisers hailed as a new world distance record for an everyday vehicle.

Federal Cabinet adopted on 17 November 2010 the first report tracking indicators for the National Strategy on Biological Diversity. The report gives an account of the positive progress of nature conservation in Germany. In November 2007, the German Government adopted an internationally acclaimed National Strategy on Biological Diversity. It contains some 330 objectives and 430 specific actions that are assigned to both state and non-state actors. The report lays the foundation for a reliable and transparent performance review. It contains 19 indicators for this purpose, covering a wide range of topics.

On 16 October 1990, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands signed the first Agreement under the Bonn Convention. The Agreement on the Conservation of Seals in the Wadden Sea was concluded after the first distemper in 1988, when almost 60% of the seal population in the Wadden Sea died. The recovery of seals in the Wadden Sea is a true success story of the Agreement. For Seal numbers in the trilateral Wadden Sea are on the rise. In total, about 21,600 Harbour Seals were counted in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands during the seal census in 2009. Also for the Grey Seals, though formally not covered by the Agreement on the Conservation of Seals in the Wadden Sea but protected indirectly through the Agreement, the increasing population trend has continued during the last years. In 2009, around 2,800 Grey Seals were counted in the entire Wadden Sea area.

On 15 October 2010 a new international treaty, “the Nagoya – Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety”, was adopted at one of the largest intergovernmental meetings ever held on the safe use of modern biotechnology in Nagoya, Japan. The adoption of the new treaty came at the end of the five-day meeting of the governing body of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (known as the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Protocol or COP-MOP 5) and concluded six years of negotiations. The new supplementary Protocol provides international rules and procedure on liability and redress for damage to biodiversity resulting from living modified organisms (LMO). The new treaty shall be open for signature at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 7 March 2011 to 6 March 2012 and will enter into force 90 days after being ratified by at least 40 Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

On 9 October tens of thousands of people took part in Munich anti-nuclear protest. A focus of the protest was the formation of a human chain, about 10 kilometers long, through the center of the city. Organizers said that some 50,000 people in all took part in the day's events, while police put the number at around 25,000. The event was the largest of its kind in Bavaria for more than two decades.

Brüssel, 07 October 2010: With easy-to-reach oil becoming harder to find, there has been an increase in potentially hazardous deep-sea exploration and drilling. While the Environment Committee and many MEPs favoured a moratorium on any new deep-sea drilling in the EU, a majority (323 votes to 285) considered this a step too far.

Ursula Heinen-Esser, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry accepted the UNESCO certificate recognising the German-Dutch Wadden Sea as World Natural Heritage on behalf of the German government on 2 Oktober 2010. The ceremony took place aboard a ship in the German Wadden Sea.

Marine species of October 2010 in the International Year of Biodiversity is the Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina). The southern elephant seal, Mirounga leonina, is the biggest species of seal and its total number is estimated at 750,000 animals. To gain an insight into the underwater world of the seals, marine biologists from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven have been using special satellite transmitters on the animals for several years. The data obtained in this way are of the utmost interest for oceanographers as well.

The European Commission is urging five Member States to comply with EU air quality standards. Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Slovakia have so far failed to effectively tackle excess emissions of tiny airborne particles known as PM10. The Member States have two months to comply with the reasoned opinion under EU infringement procedures. In the absence of satisfactory responses from the Member States concerned, the Commission may refer them to the European Court of Justice. Airborne particles (PM10) are mainly present in pollutant emissions from industry, traffic and domestic heating. They can cause asthma, cardiovascular problems, lung cancer and premature death.

On 28 September 2010, the German Government adopted its new Energy Concept for the period until 2050.

On 27 September 2010,the world’s largest solar boat MS TÛRANOR PlanetSolar started on its journey around the world in Monaco. With this expedition, the iniatiors of this project would like to focus the public awareness on the importance of renewable energies for environmental protection.

On 24 September 2010, the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) designated the first ever network of marine protected areas in the high seas beyond national jurisdiction. With the decisions, the area covered by marine protected areas in the North-East Atlantic has been expanded to 433,000 square kilometres, which is equal in size to the Baltic Sea. Now a total of around 3 percent of the North-East Atlantic is under protection. Two of the six areas designated today lie beyond national jurisdiction in the high seas.

On 23 September 2010, Vattenfall inaugurated the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, off the south east coast of England, currently the largest offshore wind farm in the world. With its 100 turbines, the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm has a combined energy capacity corresponding to the annual electricity needs of over 200,000 households.

The EU needs to halt biodiversity loss by 2020 and to restore biodiversity wherever feasible, says Parliament in a resolution approved on 21 September 2010. MEPs deeply regret that the aim of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been met and they believe that biodiversity conservation should be mainstreamed in all EU policy areas. The resolution was approved by a show of hands.

Tens of thousands demonstrated in Berlin on 18 September 2010 against plans by the government to extend the lifetimes of Germany's nuclear power stations. Organizers said the protest drew 100,000 people. Police put the figure much lower, at around 40,000 according to initial estimates. Opposition party leaders joined the peaceful march around Berlin's government district.

Marine species of September 2010 in the International Year of Biodiversity is the Antarctic is the Oarweed (Laminaria digitata), a North Atlantic brown alga. Laminarians are brown algae that are several metres long and are designated as kelp because of their form of growth and leathery structure. They form large forest-like underwater stocks along rocky coasts flooded with light (kelp forests). As they offer protection, food and a habitat for many other marine organisms, they are especially important for coastal ecosystems.

Cairn Energy's Stena Don oil rig is scaled by Greenpeace activists to demand an end to offshore drilling.

On 30 August 2010, the Federal Government published the study it commissioned to model scenarios for its upcoming energy concept. The government instructed three research institutes to provide a scientific basis for its energy concept. Prognos (Basel), EWI (Cologne) and GWS (Osnabrück) submitted their joint study last Friday, 27 August 2010. The Federal Government is planning to decide about the Energy Concept on 28 September 2010. The nine scenarios consist of one reference scenario and 8 different prolongation scenarios. The reference scenario assumes a continuation of current trends and no changes to the present energy law regime, in particular no prolongation of the operating times of the German nuclear power plants. The 8 target scenarios consist of two sets of 4 scenarios each, with extensions of 4, 12, 20 and 28 years for the operation of nuclear power plants. The two sets differ regarding upgrading costs for the existing nuclear power plants.

On 27 August 2010 the Mongolian cabinet held meeting in the Gobi desert. The meeting of 12 government ministers was held in scorching heat in Gashuunii Khooloi, a sandy valley in South Gobi province, about 670 kilometers south of Ulan-Bator. Minister of Natural Environment and Tourism Gansukh Luumed said Mongolian herders' traditional way of life is under threat. "Global climate change accelerates the desertification process in Mongolia. Currently, 70 percent of Mongolian land is affected by desertification."

EU scientists have succeeded in obtaining viable mass eggs from Atlantic bluefin tuna in captivity, using natural means and without any hormonal induction. If breeding can be developed on a commercial scale, pressure on endangered wild stocks could be significantly relieved. This is the result of the third year of work of SELFDOTT, a research project funded by the European Union to the tune of € 2.98 million and co-ordinated by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO). A total of 10 million eggs were produced in a single day. Getting naturally spawned eggs from captive individuals represents an important step forward in research on Atlantic bluefin tuna aquaculture, bringing commercial breeding of this species closer. That could contribute to a sustainable management of bluefin tuna. SELFDOTT is a consortium representing 13 government bodies, research institutes and industry organisations from France (IFREMER, CNRS, University of Montpellier 2), Germany (University of Düsseldorf), Greece (HCMR), Israel (NCM-IOLR), Italy (University of Bari), Malta (MCFS, Malta FishFarming), Norway (Skretting) and Spain (University of Cádiz, Ricardo Fuentes Group and the co-ordinating IEO).

On 24 August 2010, the Minstry of Environment and Forests rejected the environment clearance of Vedanta bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri of Orissa, India.

On 23 August 2010 Greenpeace was confronted by a Danish warship in the freezing seas off Greenland as the environmental group's protest ship ‘Esperanza' approached one of the world's most controversial oil drilling projects operated by the British company Cairn Energy. The Greenpeace ship left London 12 days ago vowing to challenge the oil industry at the site of a dangerous deepwater drilling project in the wake of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, but didn't reveal its intended location until 23 August when the ship arrived in the seas west of Disko Island in the Arctic. The Danish government has sent warship, to protect two drilling sites being operated by Britain's Cairn Energy. There is a 500m security zone surrounding each of the rigs.

On 12 August 2010 Greenpeace launched a three-month ship expedition to support independent research into the impacts of the Gulf oil disaster on marine life, as well as researching the unique environments and marine life that are at risk. The Arctic Sunrise departed from St. Petersburg, Florida.

LAVA has created two giant origami tigers made of recyclable materials, aluminium and barrisol for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The giant origami tigers are on public display at Hauptbahnhof, Berlin’s central station, until 30 August 2010. The project was commissioned by Customs House Sydney, for WWF. The artistic creations will be used to raise awareness for conservation, as there are only 3,200 tigers left, according to WWF. Each tiger measures eight feet high and 22 feet long, and weigh 200kgs. Each tiger is illuminated with sustainable LED lights, drawing inspiration from the ancient tradition of Chinese paper lantern making. The digital origami tigers have been adopted by WWF for their international Year of the Tiger Campaign.

On 9 August 2010 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched in New YYork a new High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability that brings together some of the world’s leading policymakers and thinkers to formulate a new blueprint for sustainable growth and low-carbon prosperity for all on a planet under increasing strain, not least from climate change. To be co-chaired by Finland’s President Tarja Halonen and South African President Jacob Zuma, the 21-member High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability brings together representatives from government, the private sector and civil society in countries rich and poor. The new body is expected to deliver its final report by the end of next year, ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development scheduled for 2012, as well as annual conferences of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) has commissioned the Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (Association for Plant and Reactor Safety, GRS) to carry out a preliminary safety analysis for Gorleben and summarise all available information on the salt dome and the results of exploration activities to date. The main goal of the project is to develop a clearly documented forecast, on the basis of existing information, of whether the Gorleben site can comply with the new safety requirements for the final disposal of heat-generating, radioactive waste. The focus of the preliminary safety analysis will be on the question of long-term safety, i.e. it must be demonstrated in a transparent way whether the site is suited for safe final disposal at all, and if so, under which conditions. Moreover, an optimised final disposal concept will be developed, taking into account operational safety, and the future need for additional examination and exploration will be assessed. The preliminary safety analysis is expected to be concluded by the end of 2012.

The Government of Myanmar formally announced on 3 August 2010 that the entire Hukaung Valley would be declared a Protected Tiger Area. Isolated in Myanmar, the Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve stretches approximately 8,452 square miles in the northernmost part of the country. The Valley is known as a tiger reserve with the potential of holding several hundred tigers, but illegal hunting both of tigers and their prey has caused a steep decline in their numbers with some estimates showing as few as 50 of the big cats in the region. In 2004, the Myanmar government designated 2,500 square miles of the Hukaung Valley as an inviolate wildlife sanctuary, based off of the first ever biological expedition of the area in 1999 led by Dr. Alan Rabinowitz.

On 4 August, 2010 the Federal government adopted a national renewable energy action plan. The action plan outlines that the binding domestic target of an 18 percent share of renewable energies in gross domestic energy consumption will be reached by 2020 and may even be surpassed and amount to 19.6 percent. Currently this share is about 10 percent. The national renewable energy action plan is the core element of reporting obligations laid down in the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (Directive 2009/28/EC). Based on a specific template EU member states must submit a national renewable energy action plan, including measures and expansion strategies geared towards achieving the binding national target. The national action plan was drawn up with the scientific support of the German Aerospace Center in Stuttgart (DLR), Ecofys consultants, the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ).

Marine species of August 2010 in the International Year of Biodiversity is the Antarctic is the Fragilariopsis kerguelensis.