Never forget the Chatham Island Forget-me-not

Tomorrow I fly to the Chatham Islands, a remote archipelago, 800km due east of NZ. They are a wild and wonderful place. With approximately 700 inhabitants the islands seem somewhat deserted. And yet with the wild landscapes, huge sea cliffs, basalt columns, massive dunes and the endemic plant life there is plenty to discover there.

I am going for a week to assist with a programme to protect and conserve the threatened and unique components of the Chatham Island indigenous plant communities. I will be working of species such as the Chatham Island forget-me-not (Myosotidium hortensia) - see photo to the right - and other species not found anywhere else in the world. There are approximately 45 endemic plants on the Chathams including the Chatham toetoe (Cortaderia turbaria), the remarkable yellow flowered Chatham Island Christmas tree (Brachyglottis huntii) and several undescribed species of Cook's scurvy grass (Lepidium oleraceum).

There are many reasons why the Chatham plant life is under threat. Animal pests such as pig and possum browse the plants. Exotic weeds (such as Chilean rhubarb and veldt grass) compete for habitat with the natives. Then of course there is habitat destruction that changes indigenous landscapes into farmland for sheep or cattle. Add climate change to the mix and you end up requiring a plant conservation programme to assist with safeguarding these special species.

Whatever the case, there is huge interest on the Chathams amongst its population to conserve the unique landscape and species. In fact, the Chathams have more protective covenants on private land per capita than anywhere else in NZ. This is one indicator of the love the Chatham Islanders have for their environment. Chatham Island plants are loved by gardeners nationwide whether it be the Astelia chathamica or Olearia traversii that grow in many peoples gardens or the forget-me-not that fills a border with deep blue flowers in summer.

I look forward to providing an update of my trip on my return.

World Heritage Committee meeting, Christchurch, New Zealand, June 2007

Since this years World Heritage Committee (run by UNESCO) has just started in Christchurch I thought I would find out more about what it does. The committee's main job is to identify, on the basis of nominations submitted by countries, cultural and natural properties of outstanding universal value which are to be protected under the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and to list those properties on the World Heritage List.

The World Heritage List currently includes 830 properties which the Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. These include 644 cultural, 162 natural and 24 mixed properties in 184 countries. The Committee consists of representatives from 21 countries that are party to the Convention. The current composition of the Committee is: Benin, Canada (Rapporteur), Chile, Cuba, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand (Chair), Norway, Peru, Spain, Republic of Korea, Tunisia, United States of America.

NZ has three World Heritage Sites on the list:
Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand (1990)
Tongariro National Park (1990, 1993)
New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands (1998)

So what are the advantages of having a listed site? It seems the main advantage for a country having World Heritage Sites is the kudos attached, the tourism potential and possible the provision of support from the World Heritage Fund ($4 million available annually) for managing listed sites. The downside is that you may be 'leaned on' by UNESCO to spend more protecting sites. While the Committee has no jurisdiction in the countries where the sites occur it is bad form to be seen to be letting sites fall into disrepair. Although to date I do not believe any site has ever been removed from the list.

My interest is mainly in the natural areas although when travelling I always seem to seek out and visit any Wolrd Heritage Site. During my travels I have been to 64 of the sites and if you at all interested they are listed below.

I wonder though, as the planet fills with more and more people and our evergrowing footprint spreads out across the surface of the globe whether we will increasingly seek out these places of outstanding universal value to humanity for solace and inspiration? I tend to think so. In which case the work of the World Heritage Committee must continue. More resources must be made available to protect these special sites. Those resources must come from the countries themselves and from the people that gain so much from industries associated with them. The Galapagos Islands are a good example. The Ecuadorian Government has asked the committee to list the islands as "In danger" due to continued growth in tourism and the pressures that brings. Tongariro National Park still looks beautiful but the exotic weeds - heather and wilding pines - are still spreading across the landscape impacting detrimentally on the unique indigenous plant communities there. We must, as a species, recognise the global need to conserve these spiritually vital places now and forever.

And here is a list of World Heritage Sites I have visited:

In Argentina:
Los Glaciares (1981)
Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis: San Ignacio Mini, Santa Ana, Nuestra Señora de Loreto and Santa Maria Mayor (Argentina)
Iguazu National Park (1984)
Península Valdés (1999)

In Australia
Great Barrier Reef (1981)
Kakadu National Park (1981, 1987, 1992)
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (1987, 1994)
Wet Tropics of Queensland (1988)
Shark Bay, Western Australia (1991)
Fraser Island (1992)
Greater Blue Mountains Area (2000)
Purnululu National Park (2003)

In Bolivia
Historic City of Sucre (1991)

In Brazil
Iguaçu National Park (1986)
Brasilia (1987)
Central Amazon Conservation Complex (2000, 2003)
Pantanal Conservation Area (2000)

In Canada
Kluane / Wrangell-St Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek (1979, 1992, 1994)

In Chile
Churches of Chiloé (2000)
Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso (2003)

In Ecuador
City of Quito (1978)
Sangay National Park (1983)

In France
Palace and Park of Versailles (1979)
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, Reims (1991)
Paris, Banks of the Seine (1991)
Le Havre, the City Rebuilt by Auguste Perret (2005)

In Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala (1979)
Tikal National Park (1979)

In Italy
Historic Centre of Florence (1982)
Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (1987)

In New Zealand
Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand (1990)
Tongariro National Park (1990, 1993)

In Paraguay
Jesuit Missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue (1993)

In Peru
City of Cuzco (1983)
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu (1983)
Huascarán National Park (1985) #
Manú National Park (1987)
Historic Centre of Lima (1988, 1991) 18
Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa (2000)

In Portugal
Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon (1983)
Historic Centre of Évora (1986)

In Spain
Doñana National Park (1984, 2005)
Monastery and Site of the Escurial, Madrid (1984)
Works of Antoni Gaudí (1984, 2005)
Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville (1987)
Old City of Salamanca (1988)
Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona (1997)

In Thailand
Historic City of Ayutthaya (1991)

In Britain
Durham Castle and Cathedral (1986)
Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast (1986)
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites (1986)
Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey (1986)
City of Bath (1987)
Frontiers of the Roman Empire (1987, 2005) * 27
Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret's Church (1987)
Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church (1988)
Tower of London (1988)
Old and New Towns of Edinburgh (1995)
Maritime Greenwich (1997)
Dorset and East Devon Coast (2001)
Saltaire (2001)
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2003)
Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City (2004)

In Uruguay
Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento (1995)

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - a good place to start

Whether you have seen Al Gore in his movie “An Inconvenient Truth”, standing on his cherry picker to show how rapidly the concentration of CO2 is increasing in our atmosphere, or images of polar bears stranded on melting lumps of ice, it is hard not to be convinced that something is happening to our climate and to our planet. As English snow drops flower earlier and earlier and as ice melts from the summit of Kilimanjaro there is evidence aplenty of the changes occurring around us.

It is hard also, to be unaware of at least some of the effects that humans are now having on the Earth’s ecosystems. Anyone with an interest in these matters will already be aware of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (see web link). This was called for in 2000 by the then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and assessed the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. It involved the work of more than 1,360 experts worldwide. Their findings provided a state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and the services they provide, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably. Their four main findings are given below and provide an important context for this blog.

There is currently, at least in New Zealand where I am currently living, a religious-like fervour amongst the populace to care for our planet in a more enlightened way than we have over the past 200 years. This has to be good but is it enough? Whether our concern be driven by a desire for our children to have what we have had or purely from a human want to conserve the myriad of species that share our planet, is largely irrelevant. Through my writings here I want to introduce some of the key themes of environmental protection and conservation that we face over the coming years.

I should point out that I am an ecologist with no expertise in any particular field. One of my main interests is in conserving the world’s plant life so that future generations can benefit from the services it provides. They may be soil conservation, flood attenuation, provision of medicines, climate regulation through sequestration of carbon, providing timber and fuel, or habitat for the worlds biodiversity or just cultural or spiritual inspiration and fulfillment. We have a duty of care for this world and that means action must be taken today. But remember that we are a part of nature not apart from it. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Four Main Findings of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
■ Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber, and fuel. This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth.
■ The changes that have been made to ecosystems have contributed to substantial net gains in human well-being and economic development, but these gains have been achieved at growing costs in the form of the degradation of many ecosystem services, increased risks of nonlinear changes, and the exacerbation of poverty for some groups of people. These problems, unless addressed, will substantially diminish the benefits that future generations obtain from ecosystems.
■ The degradation of ecosystem services could grow significantly worse during the first half of this century and is a barrier to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
■ The challenge of reversing the degradation of ecosystems while meeting increasing demands for their services can be partially met under some scenarios that the MA has considered, but these involve significant changes in policies, institutions, and practices that are not currently under way. Many options exist to conserve or enhance specific ecosystem services in ways that reduce negative trade-offs or that provide positive synergies with other ecosystem services.