Costa Rica saves a unique rain forest
Biosphere reserves proposed
Wetlands Convention in force
Environmental impact statements under consideration in Europe
Promising alternatives to DDT
Living off the forests and the sea
Hunting deer in New Zealand
Parks magazine is born
More than 300 sq km of the Corcovado Basin on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica's Pacific coast have been decreed a national biological reserve. It is the largest protected area of tropical wet forest in Central America.
According to the Tropical Science Centre in Costa Rica, Corcovado is one of the most diverse tropical areas for its size in the Americas. Many thousands of plant and animal species live within 20 or more ecologically distinct but closely linked natural communities.
Within the reserve are sand beaches, rocky intertidal zones, and undisturbed tropical wet forest, both lowland and lower montane. A number of the 287 bird species found on the Osa Peninsula occur in no other place in the world. The scarlet macaw, whose population has declined drastically in recent years, is now believed to occur in significant numbers only on the Osa Peninsula. The harpy eagle, the world's largest eagle, is also found there.
Mammals and reptiles found in the reserve include jaguar, ocelot, puma, margay, giant anteater, tapir, cayman and American crocodile. Scientists have also observed so far 42 species of frog, 19 of lizard, more than 30 bat species, as well as four species of monkey - including the rare titi monkey. Also found in the reserve are two species of sloth, kinkajous, prehensile-tailed porcupines, peccaries and coatis. Four species of turtle, including the endangered Pacific green and hawksbill, nest on the Corcovado beaches.
By decreeing Corcovado a national biological reserve, the Government ensured that it will contribute to national development in at least four ways:
- As a gene pool of enormous diversity to which Costa Rica and other tropical countries could turn in their search for improved or new species and varieties of plants and animals.- As a field laboratory where scientists may acquire the knowledge needed to ease the development of a harmonious adaptation between society and the tropical human environment.
- As a natural biology schoolroom.
- As a source of beauty, inspiration and pleasure for the visitor.
Biosphere reserves in seven European countries, mainly of the northern Mediterranean, have been proposed as a part of Unesco's Man and the Biosphere programme. The sites, all considered uniquely valuable for preservation and study, were put forth by national forest services at a meeting in Potenza, Italy, in October 1975.
The areas proposed for inclusion in the world-wide network of biosphere reserves were the following:
France
Camargue: An outstanding wetland in the Rhone Delta. The site of intensive ecological research on natural ecosystems.
Vallée du Fango: 4000 ha of evergreen oak forest and maquis together with a research laboratory in northern Corsica.
Greece
Gorge of Samaria: 4850 ha reserve in southwestern Crete containing rugged terrain with stands of Pinus brutia and Cupressus sempervirens.
Mount Olympus: 4000 ha in northeastern Greece with forests typical of the region.
Daphne: Site near Athens; intensive studies on "phrygana" vegetation.
Italy
Forest of Circeo: 3268 ha within the Circeo National Park. Selected for its great variety of forest vegetation.
Forest of Collemelluccio and Montedimezzo: Two areas totaling 429 ha in the Apennine Mountains containing old-growth forests and forests greatly modified by man's past activities. They are representative of forest problems in the mountains of southern Italy and possess facilities for scientific research.
Forest of Pixinamanna and Is Cannoneris: An area of typical Sardinian mediterranean forest and maquis which will be part of a large national park being created in southwestern Sardinia. The maquis vegetation is suitable for restoration experiments.
Portugal
Peneda-Gerês: A large national park in mountainous country on northern boundary. Portugal's extensive forests of oaks and other deciduous tree species and a relict population of Pinus silvestris. Excellent opportunities for cooperation with neighbouring Spain.
Arrabida: A reserve near Lisbon with maquis, oak (evergreen and deciduous species) and beech forest.
Castro Marim: A reserve in the Algarve region of southern Portugal containing wetlands and terrestrial salt-tolerant vegetation.
Spain
Ordesa-Vignemale: 51000 ha including one of the highest parts of the Spanish Pyrenees with representative ecosystems. Cooperation with the adjacent French Parc national des Pyrénées has already begun.
Laurel forest on Las Palmas, Canary Islands: A newly protected 511-ha area of typical Canarian Laurisilva with a planned programme of research.
Turkey
Side: 100000 ha in the Taurus Mountains bordering the Mediterranean coast, rich in endemic plant species.
Yugoslavia
Alps of Velebit: 130000 ha in the mountainous coastal region of Croatia. The Croatian Institute for the Protection of Nature is studying this biologically rich area.
The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat, came into force on 21 December 1975. However, very few nations have adhered to it.
So far there are eight contracting parties to the Convention: Australia, Finland, Greece, Iran, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and Bulgaria, which on 24 September 1975 signed it without reservation. Eight other countries have signed but not yet ratified the Convention: Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the U.S.S.R. and the United Kingdom.
Of the three conservation conventions to come into force during 1975, the Wetlands Convention has taken the longest to bridge the gap between adoption and entry into force, and has far fewer contracting parties. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora took just under two years, and has twenty-two parties so far. The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage took just over three years, and has twenty parties so far. The Wetlands Convention has taken four years and ten months, and has only eight parties.
European planning institutions are giving increased attention to the possible use of environmental impact statements
France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany are currently examining the implications of making environmental impact statements a part of legislation In December 1975 the European Environmental Bureau of the European Council for Environmental Law sponsored a seminar in Louvain, Belgium, which examined the effectiveness of such statements in the United States since they became law in 1970 and their possible uses in Europe.
Oliver Thorold, a British barrister, foresaw environmental impact analysis in the United Kingdom being restricted to land use. Dieter Hammer, of the European Economic Community's environmental directorate, outlined a prospective EEC policy which might be limited to environmental assessment. Such an EEC policy would be implemented by a directive which would be binding on all EEC member states.
From Mexico
SAG SUBSECRETARIA FORESTAL Y DE LA FAUNACAMPAÑA NACIONAL DE PREVENCION Y COMBATE DE INCENDIOS FORESTALES
Teléfonos: 554-06-12 y 518-58-19One of a series of striking and effective forest fire-prevention posters designed and put out by the Mexican Forest Service. Another series warns against the land degradation caused by overgrazing.
Three control materials - one chemical and two biological - have promise as alternatives to DDT in stopping future tussock moth epidemics without the adverse effects of a persistent chemical, according to a report of the United States Forest Service.
Intensive research and pilot projects were carried out over the last few years during the tussock moth epidemic which struck Oregon, Washington and Idaho from 1970 to 1974, defoliating and destroying trees, especially Douglas fir, one of the important United States timber species.
While massive DDT spraying had been authorized over 430000 acres (172000 hectares) of forest in the affected states, three of the control materials used during the epidemic were found particularly effective. The first, a chemical insecticide, carbaryl, when applied at two pounds per acre (2.6 kg per hectare) in the pilot project reduced insect population by 95 to 100 percent, which compares well with DDT's 98 percent moth mortality in the treated area. Additional information is still needed on the environmental effects of the application.
The other two controls are biological agents - a nucleopolyhedrosis virus and a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, which are still being tested.
The report was delivered to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The field studies and pilot projects in this case were conducted by Forest Service Research Stations at Portland, Oregon, and Berkeley, California; Forest Service Regional Offices at Portland and Missoula, Montana; and university scientists and independent investigators. Research on the tussock moth will continue through 1977 under a three-year accelerated programme developed cooperatively by forestry schools, land grant universities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and others.
For a year, between August 1973 and July 1974, a study in wildlife utilization was carried out in Papua New Guinea among people who lived directly on the foods of the forest and the sea.
David S. Liem, Wildlife Ecologist of the Department of Stock and Fisheries in Port Moresby, conducted the research among 166 persons who lived in 26 families in the Garu Wildlife Management Area. He found that on an average the community harvested 1190 kg of game, fish and eggs per month, thus providing 240 g per person per day, a relatively high amount of animal protein food. Of course, not all of this was eaten. Some parts were utilized in other ways and there was enough of the wild harvest left over to sell or barter at market.
Mr. Liem estimated the value of all the game, fish and eggs taken during this 12-month period at Australian $1190. In addition to this food the villagers also collected and used in various ways at least 125 species of plants.
Mr. Liem's list of Garu game, fish and eggs and his estimated values:
|
Wildfowl eggs |
A$1200 (5c each) |
|
Wild pig |
5000 ($1.00/kg) |
|
Turtle |
2000 (50c/kg) |
|
Turtle eggs |
100 (2c each) |
|
Wallaby |
50 ($5 each) |
|
Cassowary |
120 ($20 each) |
|
Dugong |
100 (50c/kg) |
|
Fishes |
400 (10c/kg) |
|
Others |
200 (10c/kg) |
|
Total |
A$9170 |
For a number of years helicopters have been used profitably in the New Zealand venison industry for killing and recovering deer from previously inaccessible high country areas. The animals are shot and picked up while the helicopter remains air-borne, lifted to a collection point where they are eviscerated and ferried to the staging point.
The Federal Republic of Germany is the main buyer of New Zealand deer.
The production of an operation is measured in carcass weight delivered to the staging point. The value there has varied greatly with demand. An hourly production of 150 to 300 kg is usual.
The recovery rate depends on many factors, of which the most important relate to the availability of animals. These include deer herd density and size and distance from the nearest staging point. Where these conditions are favourable, high returns can be expected.
Skilled crews have been able to average ten deer an hour for several consecutive months when working in previously unhunted areas. But continuous helicopter shooting has generally resulted in a decrease in the availability of deer, with crews flying further for fewer animals than before.
In spite of this, even the most accessible areas that have sustained heavy hunting pressure for up to seven years have continued to produce an economic return. In some areas where they have competed with professional hunters on foot shooting deer for control purposes, commercial operations with helicopters have been only marginally economic.
Parks, a new international journal for managers of national parks, historic sites and other protected areas, has made its appearance.
Vol. 1, No. 1, in English, French and Spanish editions, includes articles on master planning in parks management, the way in which the Galapagos National Park is meeting and solving its problems, and the world's largest national park in northeast Greenland that is as big as Italy and Paraguay combined. The is also an article on current thinking and practices on the training of national parks personnel in developing countries as seen by FAO. A short introductory piece "National parks, a matter of survival", was written for Parks by the British environmentalist Sir Frank Fraser Darling.
The magazine's statement of purpose and philosophy notes that its creation is in response to a recommendation of the Second World Conference on National Parks in 1972 and earlier calls for an international exchange of expertise in this broad field. Subject matter "will deal mainly with planning, management and operation of national parks and other protected areas, including important cultural landmarks and resources." The statement goes on to say that Parks will hold "no narrow or nationalistic views as to what may be 'best' in national parks or park management. We believe that in park administration and management, as in natural ecosystems, strength results from diversity. This principle applies to ideas, practices and protection philosophy as well as to the physical nature of the resources."
Parks is a pilot project published by the national parks services of the United States and Canada with the collaboration of FAO Unesco and the Organization of American States (OAS). The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is also cooperating. Initially, Parks is being mailed free but there are plans for charging a modest sum later.
Editor of Parks is Robert I. Standish, of the U.S. National Parks Service, formerly the Information Officer of IUCN. He seeks articles which are international in approach on all aspects of work in national parks and related areas. Emphasis should be on technical and operational aspects. Correspondence and editorial contributions should be addressed to him at Parks magazine, c/o National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington D.C., 20240.
