Biodiversity and Why it Matters

Posted on June 19, 2013 by A. Beh

This guest blog was written by Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair of Marine Science at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Dr. Knowlton recently completed a tour in Manila, Batangas, and Quezon City, where she spoke with students, academics, government officials and museum curators about coral reefs, biodiversity conservation efforts and marine research in the Philippines. Dr. Knowlton’s visit to the Philippines was coordinated through support from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Turn over a big rock in the woods and see lots of critters dash or creep for cover. If you lift up rocks in a tide pool (a pool of seawater along the shore refilled by the tide), you will similarly discover a community of organisms you might never have suspected even existed. (Remember to always place the rock back carefully so that they don’t lose their homes.)

No matter where you look, there are different kinds of animals, plants, fungi and microbes making a living on our planet, often unnoticed by us. This is biodiversity and it is everywhere, often hiding in plain sight. But if we don’t usually notice this biodiversity, does it make a difference? Would it matter if the living world consisted of just the common animals and plants we count on to feed us and produce the things we need to make our homes and run our factories?

Losing most of the planet’s biodiversity would not just make for a much more boring world, but also many of the things we take for granted would no longer happen. Did you enjoy an apple recently? Then thank the bee that pollinated the apple flower. Have you noticed that our pathways and beaches are not thickly littered with the stinking corpses of dead animals? Then say thank you to the planet’s undertakers: scavengers great and small, from vultures to tiny insects and microbes, who turn the bodies of the dead into nutrients for new life. Do you enjoy swimming in clear water? If so, be grateful for oysters and sponges, who, after filtering the water for food, return it in a much cleaner state. Had a fish dinner recently? Depending on what you ate, you might want to send a note of appreciation to the coastal seagrasses or mangrove forests that provided it shelter when it was young.

Consider a tiny fish from Fiji that serves as a bodyguard for the corals it calls home. Only last year did we learn that when a nasty species of seaweed that can kill coral settles nearby, the coral sends out a chemical call for help. Within minutes, the tiny fish removes the threat by eating the seaweed. In doing so, that little fish doesn’t just help the coral; it helps us too. The coral creates the reef that in turn provides food, attractions for tourists with the jobs that they bring, and protection for coastal communities against storm waves and tsunamis. Hiding within the branches of these corals are also medicines waiting to be discovered, such as from cone snails. Their lovely shells appeal to collectors, but even more important is the cocktail of poisons that the living cone snails use to catch their prey—deadly to fish, but for us, they are valuable sources of painkillers and possible treatments for arthritis or cancer.

So does biodiversity matter? What do you think?

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This entry reflects the author’s personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.

World Day to Combat Desertification

Posted on June 17, 2013 by lathamsa

Monday, June 17, 2013 is World Day to Combat Desertification. This year’s theme is “drought and water scarcity.” As the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification website states:

Freshwater is valuable. Of all the water on Earth, only 2.5 per cent is freshwater. And of all this freshwater, the total usable supply for ecosystems and humans is less than 1 per cent. When demand for water exceeds available supply, it results in water scarcity.
Drylands are particularly vulnerable to water scarcity. The projected intensiﬁcation of freshwater scarcity will cause greater stresses in drylands. While each person needs at least 2,000 cubic meters of water for human well-being and sustainable development every year, on average, people in the drylands have access to only 1,300 cubic meters.

World Day to Combat Desertification is aimed at raising awareness about these issues, sharing information and resources, and promoting the importance of sustaining healthy soils around the world. What does the slogan, “Don’t let our future dry up” stand for?

This year’s slogan, Don’t let our future dry up’ calls for everyone to take action to promote preparedness and resilience to water scarcity, desertification and drought. The slogan embodies the message that we are all responsible for water and land conservation and sustainable use, and that there are solutions to these serious natural resource challenges. Land degradation does not have to threaten our future.

Check out the website for more information, including what steps you can take to share the message and spread awareness.

Philippe Cousteau, Jr. Video: World Oceans Day Part 2

Posted on June 14, 2013 by lathamsa

Ocean explorer and activist Philippe Cousteau, Jr. has filmed a short video just for you with a simple idea to conserve water. Check out this video, as well as his other World Oceans Day video, his World Oceans Day blog post, and his Facebook photo gallery of him taking small steps to help oceans! We hope you are inspired!

Philippe Cousteau, Jr. Video: World Oceans Day Part 1

Posted on June 12, 2013 by lathamsa

Environmental activist Philippe Cousteau, Jr., President of EarthEcho International, has joined the Global Conversations: Our Planet team for a five-day World Oceans Day Campaign. Check out his guest blog about the importance of oceans and how we can help here. In the short video below, Philippe shows you his vegetable garden and discusses how growing and composting your own food reduces your carbon emissions. Reducing your carbon footprint helps combat climate change, which has serious negative impacts on oceans. Learn more and join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

Celebrate the Ocean with Photos!

Posted on June 10, 2013 by lathamsa

We are excited to announce a photo campaign to celebrate World Oceans Day! Below are instructions explaining what to take a photo of and some Terms and Conditions that must be read and agreed to in order for you to participate. We hope you will send your photo to iipoceans@state.gov before June 17, 2013 – then we will share some of them next week!

How to Participate in the World Oceans Day Photo Campaign

Step One. Take an original photograph of:

A. You and/or your friends/family participating in a water-related activity, such as cleaning up trash along the shore line or turning off the water while you brush your teeth; or

B. You in front of a body of water holding up a sign that says “I the ocean;” or

C. You in front of a body of water making the heart sign or the “hang ten” sign .

Step Two. Email your photo to: IIPOceans@state.gov with the following info: 1) your name or user ID; 2) your country; and 3) where the photo was taken.

Your participation in this campaign is automatically deemed as acceptance of the following Terms and Conditions.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Content Requirements

a. Submissions should be in .jpg, .gif, or .png format and no larger than an eight (8) megabyte (MB) file size. Submissions should not have any visible watermarks, signatures, or personally identifiable information.

b. Submissions must not contain obscenity, explicit sexual material, nudity, profanity, graphic violence, calls or incitement to violence, commercial solicitation or commercial promotion. Submissions must conform to local laws and must not contain content or images that could be considered abusive, inflammatory, denigrating, or disrespectful to any groups, individuals or institutions. Submissions must adhere both in appearance and in fact to the norms of civil discourse. In other words, the content of all Submissions must be suitable for a global, public audience.

c. Submissions must be original content created by the participants and must not contain any elements that are protected by copyright or subject to third party intellectual property or proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights (except as expressly permitted below in (d)). The Campaign Sponsors recognize no allowance for “fair use” of copyrighted material, nor do Campaign Sponsors recognize allowance for use of licensed materials created or owned by a third party.

d. The Campaign Sponsors reserve the right to remove, at their sole and absolute discretion, any submission that does not adhere to these criteria and to the intent and substance of these Official Campaign Rules.

e. Retouching of Photos: The submitted photograph cannot be significantly retouched: nothing in the photograph(s) (people, animals, scenery, objects, etc.) may be altered, removed, augmented or rearranged. Cropping is permitted, as is modest darkening or lightening of parts of the image.

f. By submitting a photo to the campaign, the Participant affirms that he or she has obtained written consent from all individuals whose image or likeness appears in the photo (or from the individuals’ parent/legal guardian if any such individuals are considered a minor in their country of residence), and that he or she has obtained the necessary rights, licenses, consents, and permissions to use all material such as music, images, text and other content in the submission. The Participant further affirms that he or she is prepared to provide reliable documentation of any and all such consents, licenses, etc., upon request. Failure to obtain such rights, license consents, and permissions may result in the disqualification of the Photo Submission at the Campaign Sponsors’ sole and absolute discretion.

g. IMPORTANT: You retain ownership of the copyright in your photograph as its author and you are free to republish it wherever you wish and in whatever medium you want.

Eligibility

a. This campaign is intended for IIP’s overseas audiences active on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. It is not intended for U.S. audiences.

b. Participants must be at least 13 years old on the date of photo submission. Parental/legal guardian consent is required for minors under the age of 18. Participants may not be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

c. Photos may be sent to IIPOceans@state.gov at any time between Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 1200 hours UTC/2000 hours EDT and Sunday, June 16, 2013 at 1200 hours UTC/2000 hours EDT. The photos may be displayed at any time after Monday, June 10, 2013.

Liability and Rights

a. The Campaign Sponsors do not necessarily endorse any submitted photo, messages or advice expressed therein, and the Campaign Sponsors expressly disclaim any and all liability in connection with the submitted photos, including disputes between collaborators related to a submission.

b. The Campaign and its sponsors do not permit copyright infringing activities or infringement of any other intellectual property rights, and Campaign Sponsors reserve the right to remove and disqualify any submission they deem to be in violation of another party’s copyright or other intellectual property rights.

c. Participants retain sole ownership of their original work. The submission remains the intellectual property of the participant, and the Campaign sponsors and U.S. Government make no claim of copyright as to the work of any individual who enters the campaign.

d. By submitting a photograph you: a) give us permission to publish it in any U.S. Department of State publication or online property, including – but not limited to – the Global Conversations: Our Planet Facebook page, @our1planet on Twitter, and Our Planet blog; b) grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to republish it in any format including without limitation in print and electronic formats; c) you give us permission to cut, edit, crop, modify or arrange your photograph in order to fit in our layout or design parameters, and we may remove your photograph at any time; d) you give us permission to use your name and town or city of residence for the purpose of identifying you as the author of your photograph; and, e) you accept that there will be no payment to you for your submission or our subsequent use of it.

Limitations of Liability and Release

a. Campaign Sponsors assume no liability or responsibility for any loss or harm resulting from any user’s participation in or attempt to participate in the Campaign or ability or inability to upload, download, or otherwise access any information in connection with participating in the Campaign. Campaign Sponsors assume no responsibility or liability for technical problems, or technical malfunction arising in connection with any of the following occurrences which may affect the operation of the Campaign: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless or Internet connectivity, or other online communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any email transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted email transmissions; inaccessibility of the Campaign site in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the Campaign site; unauthorized human or non-human intervention in the operation of the Campaign, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of the Campaign, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the Campaign.

b. Use of Campaign site is at user’s own risk. Campaign Sponsors are not responsible for any personal injury, property damage, or losses of any kind which may be sustained to user’s or another person’s computer equipment resulting from participation in the Campaign, use of the Campaign site or the downloading of information from the Campaign site. By participating in the Campaign, the Participant releases Campaign Sponsors from any and all claims, damages or liabilities arising from or relating to such Participant’s participation in the Campaign.

Philippe Cousteau, Jr. on World Oceans Day

Posted on June 6, 2013 by lathamsa

Philippe Cousteau in the Great Barrier Reef (Photo credit: CNN)

This post was written by explorer, social entrepreneur and environmental advocate, Philippe Cousteau, Jr. He is the President of the leading environmental education nonprofit EarthEcho International. Philippe is also a special correspondent for CNN International.

June 8, World Oceans Day, is an opportunity for people around the world to celebrate one of our most precious natural resources. The ocean however needs more than our appreciation, it needs our help. Helping doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be easy and fun (look for photos and videos from me this week of everyday things we can do to help). This year I am joining the Global Conversations: Our Planet team and followers to explore how each of us can have a positive impact on the ocean regardless of whether we live near the water’s edge or thousands of miles away from it. That is the amazing thing about the ocean; it’s a central hub that connects each and every one of us.

Think of the ocean as the center of nature’s worldwide web. Instead of bytes of data its connections are much more essential. It produces half of the world’s oxygen; it provides more than one billion people with their primary source of protein; its natural eco-systems like coral reefs, mangroves and wetlands provide protection against coastal erosion and natural disasters such as tsunamis; it regulates our climate; and a healthy ocean fuels sustainable businesses and a strong economy in industries such as seafood, tourism, pharmaceuticals, shipping and even energy.

It is important to remember that this worldwide connection works both ways. Every stream, creek, river, lake and storm drain ultimately lead back to this life-giving body of water and they carry with them the by-products of daily life from billions of people around the world. The transportation we choose, the energy we use, the amount of water we consume and food we eat also have direct impacts on the health and future of our ocean and its wealth of resources. That means every hour of every day each of us can make choices that have the power to protect and restore our ocean.

I’m inviting Global Conversations: Our Planet followers to join me in a week-long campaign to take action for a brighter future for the ocean and all of us who depend on its resources. Each day, this page will feature different tips, information and resources to help you be part of the solution to the challenges facing our ocean. Of course the big things like how we vote, what we eat and how we consume energy have a big impact, but there are lots of other, everyday things we do that make a difference too. So remember, June 8 is World Oceans Day, and every day is an opportunity to make a positive difference.

You can also find more tools and resources through my non-profit organization, EarthEcho International (www.earthecho.org) where we work to give youth the tools to change the world.

World Environment Day and Oceans

Posted on June 5, 2013 by lathamsa

Today is World Environment Day! This year’s theme is Think. Eat Save. As the United Nations Environment Programme website states, “Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. This is equivalent to the same amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.”

About 400 tons of jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) are caught by a Chilean purse seiner in 1997.

So how does Think. Eat. Save affect oceans? Fish are an important component of billions of people’s diets, and for a very long time it seemed the oceans had a never ending supply of fish. However, years of fishing practices that take in too much catch and waste many fish in the process have taken their toll, and many types of fish are severely depleted. The current methods of over-fishing are unsustainable, and unless we change our practices and consumption habits, certain species will disappear from the oceans.

To learn more about the overfishing problem, check out overfishing.org, a website that splits up the issue into four concrete questions: What is overfishing? Why is overfishing a problem? What can I do to help? Where can I find answers? The site offers up four basic tenets that they think every long-term successful and sustainable fishery should have:

Every long-term successful and sustainable fishery, near-shore or high-seas, needs to be managed according to some basic ground rules:

Safe catch limits
A constantly reassessed, scientifically determined, limit on the total number of fish caught and landed by a fishery. Politics and short time economical incentives should have no role in this.
Controls on bycatch
The use of techniques or management rules to prevent the unintentional killing and disposal of fish, crustaceans and other oceanic life not part of the target catch or landed.
Protection of pristine and important habitats
The key parts in ecosystems need full protection from destructive fisheries; e.g. the spawning and nursing grounds of fish, delicate sea floor, unique unexplored habitats, and corals.
Monitoring and Enforcement
A monitoring system to make sure fishermen do not land more than they are allowed to, do not fish in closed areas and cheat as less as possible. Strong monetary enforcement is needed to make it uneconomic to cheat.

For for information on overfishing, check out the National Geographic site. It follows a timeline from when we first recognized an overfishing problem to when scientists suspect stocks of certain fish will be completely depleted if we keep fishing and consuming at the same rate.

June’s theme is…Oceans!

Posted on May 31, 2013 by lathamsa

This month we will be focusing on oceans, including conservation, pollution, acidification, climate change impacts and a variety of other issues.

Wave off the coast of Teahupoʻo, a village on the south-west coast of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia, southern Pacific Ocean.

We are especially excited to announce a five-day campaign we will be running for World Oceans Day on June 8th, 2013. From June 10-14 we will be featuring one ocean and one action that helps the ocean every day, such as the Atlantic Ocean and Reducing Water Use. These posts will appear on our Facebook page and Twitter account, and we encourage you to check back each day and to engage with our Global Conversations: Our Planet community members as they discuss these important issues.

Let us know what ocean-related topics you are interested in and we will do our best to cover them throughout June!

Daniel Yergin on the “Rebirth of Renewables”

Posted on May 29, 2013 by lathamsa

Daniel Yergin is a Pulitzer Prize winning American author, speaker, and economic researcher. Yergin is the co-founder and chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an energy research consultancy that is now part of IHS Inc. He is best known as author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power; and The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World.

He recently spoke at the U.S. Department of State on energy issues with the Bureau of Energy Resources. Check out this short video interview with Mr. Yergin, which he filmed just for you, the Global Conversations: Our Planet community, on what he calls the “rebirth of renewables.”

Renewable Energy Expos

Posted on May 24, 2013 by lathamsa

Around the world, countries are embracing alternative energies such as solar and wind, and exploring exciting innovations at yearly expositions. Check out these three international examples!

The seventh Renewable Energy India Expo is being held September 12-14, 2013 at the India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida ( National Capital Region of Delhi) India. What was the 2012 expo like? “Spread over 25,000 sqm, the expo was enriched by 475 exhibitors displaying their cutting-edge technology, products and services, 172 high-profiled speakers, multiple knowledge-packed interactive conference sessions, high-level workshops, concurrent activities of Business Matching, Youth Entrepreneurial Green Awards, Theme Display awards, Lucky Draws and participation from 10,169 domestic and international trade professionals.” Check out the website to learn more about the technologies, innovations, and companies who attended the 2012 expo!

The Jamaica Alternative Energy Expo happened recently, in April 2013. Why did they have an energy exposition? “Energy usage, demand and source development will be the defining issue of this century. Jamaica has an abundance of traditional, renewable and sustainable energy resources and these resources and will continue to play a major role in the energy solutions for our country. The energy expo will bring to our region the latest technology and the most visionary participants to discover together how we might meet the energy needs of our children and grandchildren.” The website details the expo’s goals and details about the courses and information shared during the events.

The North America Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo is happening November 12-14, 2013 in Orlando, Florida. Check out the website for information about the 2012 expo, and for the list of exhibitors and details about the products they will be showcasing, such as the American Wind Energy Association.

Have you ever attended an energy expo in your country?