Rare cranes in precarious situation

This winter will be a hard one for the whooping crane, one of the most endangered species in the world. The last remaining natural flock of the rare birds took a devastating loss last year at its wintering grounds at the Aransas Natural Wildlife Refuge. The flock lost 23 birds, a heavy blow to a species that only counts an estimated 263.

This November-to-March wintering season is expected to be just as hard on the big birds. At about 5 feet, they are the tallest in North America.

The immediate cause of last winter’s die-off was the scarcity of blue crabs, the chief source of food for the birds during their time along the Gulf Coast. But some environmentalists believe the real cause is far upstream from the coastal marshes where the birds winter.

In December, a coalition of environmentalists filed paperwork in preparation to suing the state, alleging that regulators have allowed too much water to be taken out of the Guadalupe-Blanco river watershed, to the detriment of the cranes.

Developers of subdivisions, industry operators and agricultural interests far from the Gulf Coast — the Guadalupe-Blanco watershed includes parts of the Hill Country may not think of their own water needs as competing with the water demands of whooping cranes. But the survival of the species is connected with the health of the river.

In Texas, where the demand for water is ever increasing from growing cities and suburbs, guarding the downstream flow of rivers is often a thankless task. Even though the Legislature has mandated that river authorities set aside freshwater flows for wildlife needs, to much of the public, water that is allowed to be released from upstream reservoirs is “wasted.” Even in Corpus Christi, whose tourist industry depends heavily on a healthy coastal environment, the release of freshwater from the city’s reservoir at Choke Canyon is still disputed in some quarters. But the necessity of protecting downstream flows is becoming ever clearer as underlined by the stress being placed on the last surviving members of a magnificent species.

Which is not to say that the allegations in the suit will be easy to prove. The scarcity of blue crabs came after one of the hardest droughts in South Texas history. The drought placed stress on every species in the region. And the blue crabs, which help the birds restore their strength from the long migration from Canada, still haven’t come back in the numbers necessary to feed the birds. Some of the big birds already have begun foraging outside the refuge boundaries, using up more of their energy just in finding enough food. Refuge officials have plans to put out food, the same kind that cranes in zoos are fed. But that may not be the answer for a flock that naturally feeds on the rich food of blue crabs.

Defendants in any lawsuit can well point out that the whooping cranes, despite being few in number, have actually increased since their low point in 1941 when only a handful existed. But the species is still in a precarious position. “I feel that we’re probably going to have a die-off,” Allan Strand, field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in South Texas, said last week. “It’s conceivable that we could have a significant die-off.”

The species has been hit hard by a drought, a natural occurrence in South Texas. But the big birds’ situation shouldn’t be made worse by being squeezed out of their share of freshwater river flows, if the evidence says that is happening.

Source:
Caller.com, “Rare cranes in precarious situation“, accessed February 4, 2010

G7 Pledges to Cancel Haiti Debt

G7 pledges to cancel Haiti debt

The world’s leading industrialised nations have pledged to write off the debts that Haiti owes them, following a devastating earthquake last month.

Canada’s finance minister announced at a summit in Iqaluit, northern Canada, that Group of Seven countries planned to cancel Haiti’s bilateral debts.

Jim Flaherty said he would encourage international lenders to do the same.

Bi- and multilateral lenders including international bodies cancelled some $1.2bn (£800m) of Haiti’s debt in 2009.

“We are committed in the G7 to the forgiveness of debt, in fact all bilateral debt has been forgiven by G7 countries vis-a-vis Haiti,” Mr Flaherty said at the end of the two day gathering of finance ministers in the Arctic town.

“The debt to multilateral institutions should be forgiven, and we will work with these institutions and other partners to make this happen as soon as possible,” he added.

At least one million people are in need of aid in Haiti after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake which struck in mid-January, killing more than 200,000 people.

The G7 group - which includes Canada, the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - has been under pressure to help Haiti recover since the 12 January quake by cancelling the money owed by Haiti.

Haiti was rated as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere even before the earthquake struck.

Though exact figures are difficult to obtain, the exact amount owed bilaterally to G7 countries is believed to be quite small. Venezuela and Taiwan are Haiti’s other biggest bilateral creditors.

Brown’s pledge

In Iqaluit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the pledge, saying: “It must be right that a nation buried in rubble must not also be buried in debt”.

“The UK has already cancelled all debts owed to it by Haiti and I strongly welcome today’s G7 commitment to forgive Haiti’s remaining multilateral debt,” he added.

“We will work with others to make sure this is delivered.”

On Friday, the US voiced support for the plan to extend international debt relief for Haiti.

“The earthquake in Haiti was a catastrophic setback to the Haitian people who are now facing tremendous emergency humanitarian and reconstruction needs, and meeting Haiti’s financing needs will require a massive multilateral effort,” said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

He said the US would seek to reach an agreement for the funds owed to the multilateral donors, which include the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the International Development Association.

Mr Geithner also echoed the call by the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, to provide full relief of the country’s outstanding debt to the body, including a $102m emergency loan approved in January.

Last June, the international community agreed to cancel some $1.2bn (£800m) of the country’s total debt of $1.9bn owed to bi- and multilateral lenders including the IMF, World Bank and the US government, as part of a programme for heavily indebted poor countries.

UK-based charity Oxfam has urged the writing off of about an additional $900m (£557m) that Haiti still owes to donor countries and institutions.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/8502567.stm
Published: 2010/02/07 00:15:15 GMT