Stronger Hong Kong Illegal Wildlife Smuggling Legislation: Too Little, Too Late?

 
Under a new 2021 bill passed by The Legislative Council of Hong, illegal trade offenses can now be investigated and charged under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinances ( OSCO).

Will the enhanced ability to charge and prosecute actually combat illegal wildlife trade?  The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)  says they formerly  “welcome the legislation.” Still, it isn’t clear if the new bill will make a difference.   

Jovy Chan, Manager, Wildlife Conservation, WWF-Hong Kong, said “The volume of illegal wildlife trade in Hong Kong remains high. However, internationally significant cases have not been pursued by Hong Kong prosecutors owing to the insufficiency of evidence.”

Hong Kong’s record pangolin seizure of 8.3 tons seized, along with 2.1 tons of ivory in 2019 remains unprosecuted because of the lack of evidence. Within the three years between 2018 and 2020, local enforcement authorities seized over 929 tons of wildlife valued at over HK $358 million. 

Pangolins are believed to be the world's most trafficked mammal, accounting for as much as 20% of all illegal wildlife trade

 

“Hong Kong is a major transit hub for the illegal wildlife trade. Traffickers exploit the Hong Kong Ports for continuous trade of the world’s most endangered species of wild fauna and flora. The volume of trade is on the rise, contributing to the global extinction crisis," added Chan.

The WWF reported in 2020 a two-thirds decline in wildlife populations on average since 1970. Since declines are not consistent across all species, biodiversity suffers. Protecting illegal trade could make a difference in protecting traded species. 

When consumers find illegal wildlife products for sale, they can use the WWF  online reporting tool at endwildlifetraffickingonline.org.  

Sources:

www.endwildlifetraffickingonline.org

www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/hong-kong-officially-includes-illegal-wildlife-trade-in-organized-and-serious-crimes-ordinance-to-better-curb-smuggling-activities

Poachers of Flying Squirrels Caught

Flying squirrels do not make good pets.

Today the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced they have uncovered a transnational wildlife trafficking operation in Florida and that multiple arrests have been made. The crime involves poachers setting squirrel traps throughout Florida and capturing 3,600 flying squirrels who were exported to Asia through a trail by way of Chicago, Atlanta, and ultimately to South Korea, according to FFWCC.  

In learning of this news, Kate MacFall, Humane Society of the United States Florida senior state director, released the following statement: 

 

“Congratulations to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for uncovering the poachers who captured as many as 3,600 flying squirrels in central Florida to sell internationally in the pet trade. The public’s desire to keep wild animals as pets contributes to an industry plagued with cruelties. In both the legal and illegal wildlife trade, countless wild animals suffer greatly or die due to negligent treatment in the process of capture, at crowded breeder and dealer facilities, in transport, and ultimately possession by families who eventually become overwhelmed by the specialized level of care required. While FWC cracks down on poachers, we urge the public to choose dogs and cats as pets, not wild animals.”

Ad: Howie Tootalot teaches a laugh-filled and important lesson about interacting with wildlife. Gift your kids laughs and lessons with Howie Tootalot in Yellowstone. 

Beef and butterflies

Photo courtesy of Environmental Defense Fund

Austin-area ranchers

 and conservationists

show beef and butterflies 

can thrive together

(AUSTIN, TX – April 3, 2018) The Texas Farmers’ Market and Environmental Defense Fund are co-hosting a Monarch Festival in Austin, Texas this weekend to educate visitors about the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange, a new program for restoring and conserving high-quality monarch habitat on America’s private working lands. The exchange launched on March 1, 2018 with its first five projects located in Texas.

Amy and George Greer, sixth generation ranchers at Winters Family Beef located in Brady, Texas, are early participants in the exchange and sell their Angus and Wagyu beef every weekend at the Texas Farmers’ Market. The Greers and monarch experts from Environmental Defense Fund will be available for interviews.

Market visitors can stop by the main market tent to enjoy a variety of monarch butterfly activities, including monarch butterfly face painting and butterfly wing balloons from Tony the Clown. The first 15 shoppers who sign up for Texas Farmers’ Market weekly newsletter will receive a milkweed start from f-stop farm to grow monarch habitat.

Where:

Saturday, April 7 at Lakeline, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., 11200 Lakeline Mall Drive, Cedar Park, Texas 78613

Sunday, April 8 at Mueller, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., 4209 Airport Blvd., Austin, Texas 78722

Who:

• Amy and George Greer, sixth generation ranchers at Winters Family Beef
• David Wolfe, director of conservation strategies at Environmental Defense Fund

Kids love nature

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited Free Trial

Literary nonfiction: promising

We know that prescriptive non-fiction can be a big seller.  So “ten awesome ways to channel change for a successful life” might be the kind of change book that can be monetized by key words and targeted selling. That kind of book would offer a specific path, not a personal one.  You wouldn’t own that path. 

http://www.jackwalkerpress.com/the-subtle-and-big-promise-of-literary-nonfiction/

Love, Love 'Lab Girl' by Hope Jahren

Buy 'Lab Girl'

‘Lab Girl,’ by Hope Jahren, Vintage, paperback-2017, 282 pages.     One might imagine that no one really needs an autobiography from a bipolar plant geobiologist: one would be mistaken. Hope Jahren’s memoir begins in her father’s lab and continues with a stoic walk in small town Minnesota. As her foot hits the icy pavement, a world appears. With each step, the town, a loving yet emotionally stifled family, Scandinavian paradigms, her past, and the portent of the future appear in multidimensional authenticity. The world she builds is tangible, funny, and troublesome. She writes about fallen leaves: “These brave trees lay all their earthly treasures on the soil, where moth and rust doth immediately corrupt. They know better than all the saints and martyrs put together exactly how to store next year’s treasure in Heaven, where the heart shall be also.” She shares difficult details about dysfunctional head-banging, rejection, snotty crying, and failures that lead to breakthroughs. She writes of poverty, family, love, victory, and plants. Her stories of plant wonders always do double duty as metaphors for humanity.   Read the full review at the JackWalkerPress blog :Dispatches from AL.   And remember that kids need nature too.  Explore the fun of the Tootalot series from Jack Walker Press. 

Row your way to better health and enjoy the journey

Buy from $2.99

Health Benefits of Rowing

Find an exercise you like and you are likely to improve your quality of life as well as your lifespan. If you love rowing, you are lucky because rowing tends to be high in benefits and low in joint impact and injuries. The benefits are so significant that this is a sport you should try if you have access to equipment and a place to row. Using a rowing machine (ergometer) is becoming a hot new sport. Some say the rowing is the new spinning—but rowing is even better and provides a more balanced full-body workout. If you love the water and nature, gliding across a lake or river or even calm ocean waters can be both calming and motivating. Once the technique of rowing becomes habit, the movements can build power and strength to your cardiovascular system and muscle groups.

 Get rid of extra fat

Rowing is predominately an aerobic sport. According to fitness trainer Aamir Becic, most rowers can easily burn up to 600 calories an hour, while competitive rowers expend almost twice the number of calories on a 2,000-meter course as a runner in a 3,000-meter steeplechase. Rowing can promote a healthy balance of fat to muscle in disciplined rowers.

Tone everywhere

Rowing, when done correctly, works the back, hamstrings, gluteal muscles, biceps, and core. It utilizes more body parts than most cardiovascular gym equipment. People of many different fitness levels can approach the sport. Rowing just might be the most efficient exercise ever. “With each stroke, pretty much every part of the body is used,” says Stella Lucia Volpe, an exercise physiologist and professor of nutrition sciences at Drexel University in Philadelphia and an avid rower. And it may let you skip crunches—for good. “A big part of rowing is core strength,” she adds. “People think it’s all arms, but rowing is much more legs and core.”

As quadriceps become stronger, activities and exercises such as walking, jogging, lunges and squats can be done more efficiently.

Convert your SUP or kayak into a scull

More health benefits are explained in Single Scull Rowing for Beginners. 

Not ready to buy a scull? Convert your stand up paddleboard or kayak (SUP) to a single scull.

World Wildlife Fund and Walmart join forces.

While Walmart doesn't srping to mind when considering conservation, they are a  company that is so big, that their efforts may have big effect.  World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), and the Walmart Foundation today announced a research program to maximize crop utilization and edible food recovery. With two grants from FFAR and the Walmart Foundation totaling $1.3 million, WWF will work with research teams across the country including University of California, Davis and the Global Cold Chain Alliance to identify practical opportunities for producers to increase the proportion of crops that are harvested and delivered to the highest value destinations.

Of the estimated 63 million tons of food lost or wasted annually in the U.S., more than 80% is lost or wasted in consumer-facing businesses and in homes. While it’s estimated that less food is lost on farms, the lack of data quantifying this loss in different crops makes it difficult to validate estimates, identify drivers and define cost-effective solutions. Over the next 22 months, research teams aim to bridge those data gaps and test interventions to maximize crop utilization and profitability on farms.

 “Our nation’s producers work hard every harvest to provide food, fuel, and fiber to our economy, but they don’t always see the same return on investment,” said Sally Rockey, Ph.D., FFAR Executive Director. “This on-farm research will uncover opportunities for growers to do more with the same resources. I look forward to practical results that will bolster bottom lines for farmers and deliver more nutritious food to dinner tables.” 

As part of the first phase of the program, researchers at University of California, Davis (UC Davis) are working with farmers to gather their input on strategies and opportunities for maximizing crop harvest and use. Their research is focusing on leafy greens, peaches, and tomatoes. UC Davis will also quantify the environmental impacts from seed to harvest for each of these crops. A team led by the Global Cold Chain Alliance will collect qualitative and quantitative data and organize field studies to estimate on-farm and postharvest losses, and identify the current destinations of produce that never makes it to someone’s dinner plate or another end use. Initial research will focus on the harvesting of potatoes in Idaho and Eastern Oregon, tomatoes in Florida, romaine lettuce in Arizona, and peaches in New Jersey.

“The best way to feed people without putting more stress on our environment is to increase the availability of food that has already been produced,” said Jason Clay, WWF’s senior vice president of markets and food. “Each bite that doesn’t reach consumers represents a loss of the natural resources—and money—used to produce it. We’re grateful to the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and Walmart Foundation for supporting research that can help promote more efficient use of land, water, energy, and natural resources, and deliver more crops to the highest value destinations.”

Researchers will use well-established systems—such as the Community System Assessment Methodology, Life Cycle Assessment, and World Resource Institute’s Food Loss and Waste Standard—to ensure consistent reporting across different in-field and supply chain measurement methods, and to facilitate collaborative research and interventions. The project aims to collaborate with other farm-level research projects and pilots within the food rescue community.

“We’re proud to support this research to find ways to deliver more crops from field to plate,” said Eileen Hyde, director for Walmart Giving. “This program aligns with the Walmart Foundation’s philanthropic work to address gaps in the food system upstream to prevent food waste.”

ABOUT WWF

WWF is one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, working in 100 countries for over half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more and keep up with the latest conservation news by following @WWFNews on Twitter.

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE RESEARCH

The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization established by bipartisan congressional support in the 2014 Farm Bill, builds unique partnerships to support innovative and actionable science addressing today’s food and agriculture challenges.  FFAR leverages public and private resources to increase the scientific and technological research, innovation, and partnerships critical to enhancing sustainable production of nutritious food for a growing global population. The FFAR Board of Directors is chaired by Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum and includes ex officio representation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Science Foundation.

--Published on this site by Amy Lou Jenkins