New 40,000 square mile haven for Pacific’s leatherbacks

But how do they get there safely?

January 2012: Protection for 40,000 square miles of protected critical ocean habitat off the shores of Washington, Oregon and California are now in place - creating a haven for the endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle. The new protection laws establish critical habitat in areas where leatherbacks feed on jellyfish after swimming 6,000 miles across the ocean from nests in Indonesia.

This is the first permanently designated area for leatherbacks in continental US waters and, although it is substantially smaller than the original proposals for 70,600 square miles, it is the largest area set aside to protect sea turtle habitat in the United States or its territories.

Now we need migration safeguards for these ancient animals‘Habitat protections are vital to the survival of leatherbacks. We urgently need migration safeguards for these ancient animals as they make the longest, most epic journey of any creature on the planet to get to our West Coast every year,' said Catherine Kilduff of Florida's Center for Biological Diversity.

However, there are concerns that the new rules do not extend to protect turtles' migratory paths from commercial fishing, water pollution and marine vessel traffic. The new regulation excludes protections for migration through these habitats and also excludes consideration of dangers to the turtles from fishing, such as mile-long drift nets used for swordfish off California.

‘This is a major decision to protect feeding hotspots for endangered leatherback sea turtles, but the federal government failed to acknowledge that the turtles need safe passage to get there,' said Ben Enticknap, Oceana's Pacific project manager.

‘Leatherbacks finally have a safe haven along our coast, but still face extinction due growing threats from fisheries, pollution and ship strikes,' said Teri Shore, programme director at SeaTurtles.org in California.

Pacific leatherback population declined by more than 95 per centMile-long drift gillnets and longline gear used to catch swordfish, sharks and tunas are the two types of fishing gear most commonly known to capture and kill leatherback sea turtles. While current regulations restrict fishing to protect these sea turtles, the Fisheries Service is currently developing proposals to expand the use of these fishing gears into areas important to the leatherback.

The largest of all sea turtles, leatherbacks can grow up to nine feet long and weigh up to 2,000 pounds. Pacific leatherback sea turtles have declined more than 95 per cent since the 1980s; as few as 2,300 adult female western Pacific leatherbacks remain. The species dates from the time of the dinosaurs, having survived for 100 million years virtually unchanged; but now they face the danger of extinction.

The leatherback sea turtles feeding off the US West Coast make the longest known migration of any reptile, across the Pacific Ocean where they nest on beaches in Papua, Indonesia. They make this great migration to feed on jellyfish in the productive ocean waters of the American Pacific. They are generally found off the West Coast in the summer and fall months.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/pacific-leatherback.html

Vast shark sanctuary created in Pacific

The Marshall Islands government has created the world's largest shark sanctuary, covering nearly two million sq km (750,000 sq miles) of ocean.

The Pacific republic will ban trade in shark products and commercial shark fishing throughout its waters.

Tourism, including diving, is a staple of the Marshall Islands archipelago, which is home to just 68,000 people.

Sharks and their near relatives such as rays are seriously threatened by issues such as habitat loss and fishing.

About a third of ocean-going sharks are on the internationally-recognised Red List of Threatened Species.

"In passing this [shark protection] bill, there is no greater statement we can make about the importance of sharks to our culture, environment and economy," said Senator Tony deBrum, who co-sponsored the bill through the Marshallese parliament.

"Ours may be a small island nation, but our waters are now the biggest place sharks are protected."

To put the sanctuary in context, it covers roughly the same area as Indonesia, Mexico or Saudi Arabia, and is about eight times bigger than the UK.

The move will extend the area of ocean in which sharks are protected from about 2.7 million sq km to 4.6 million sq km (1.0 to 1.8 million sq miles).

By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News
Read on...

Endangered New Caledonian Kagu recovery plan boosted

Kagu listening posts set up September 2011. Société Calédonienne d'Ornithologie (SCO - BirdLife in New Caledonia) has received support from the USFWS Wildlife Without Borders - Critically Endangered Species Conservation Fund to help save their national bird from extinction.

Kagus are listed as Endangered by BirdLife International on behalf of the IUCN Red List, and is the only living member of the family Rhynochetidae. Physical features of Kagu that make it distinct from other birds include its dramatic displays with its strikingly banded wings.

Endemic
As with many bird species endemic to the Pacific, Kagu evolved without mammalian predators and its lifestyle - it is flightless and ground-nesting - makes it highly susceptible to predation, particularly by recently introduced mammals such as dogs, cats and pigs.

SCO have been striving to improve knowledge about the birds of New Caledonia, and is involved in the projects to protect both the birds and the habitats upon which they depend. In 2008, SCO compiled a ten year Kagu Recovery Plan.

Special recording equipment
This newly funded project deals with a crucial aspect of the Kagu Recovery Plan, namely the documentation of its distribution and density in priority areas. The most robust method for determining this (the first step in aiding their recovery) is to monitor Kagu calls using sound recorders. These are favoured because Kagu are found in remote difficult-to-access forested areas, and only call for short periods of the day.

SCO have tested the recording equipment to ensure its efficacy and now urgently need funds to undertake island-wide surveys in areas where Kagu have previously been recorded. SCO will also train local "Kagu Listeners" - members of the local communities - to collect additional data and increase the capacity for on-the-ground conservation of the species.

Recovery plan
Funds from the USFWS Critically Endangered Animals Fund amounts to about half of the total project costs, and will be used to implement some of the Kagu Recovery Plan's most important aspects, through:

Assessment and monitoring of Kagu populations at four Kagu refuges
Raising awareness and enabling local communities to protect Kagus.
Establishing community Kagu monitoring.

This project is a vital part of a wider program of work to save the Kagu (which includes funding from The BBC Wildlife Fund) from extinction by identifying new locations which will become a focus for addition conservation actions, and increasing the capacity of local people to help conserve this charismatic species and national emblem of New Caledonia.

Courtesy of Birdlife
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kagu.html