Japan had issued its whaling company with permits to kill 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpback whales in Antarctic waters during the southern summer.

More than half of about 500 whales killed by Japan in Antarctic waters during the last southern summer were pregnant, the Humane Society International (HSI) charged.
The global arm of the US-based animal welfare group said the figure was based on a review of Japan’s own reports on the latest annual hunt, which Tokyo says is carried out for scientific research purposes, AFP reported.
Of the 505 minke whales killed, 262 were pregnant, while one of the three fin whales killed was also pregnant.
“These are gruesome statistics that the Japanese government dresses up as science“, said spokeswoman Nicola Beynon.
HSI said the statistics would be used in a court case against the Japanese whalers, which was due to resume in Australia’s Federal Court, with a date to be set for a full hearing.
The court will be asked to issue an injunction to stop the hunt if it finds that the Japanese whalers are in breach of Australian law when they hunt whales in Australia’s self-proclaimed Whale Sanctuary in Antarctica.
Japan has used a research loophole to circumvent an international moratorium on commercial whaling but makes no secret of the fact that the meat eventually winds up on Japanese dinner plates.
“HSI will ask for the final hearing to be held as soon as possible before the hunt starts up again this summer,“ the group said in a statement.
“It horrifies Australians to know that pregnant humpback whales breeding in the warm waters off Australia this (southern) winter will be targeted by the Japanese hunters in Antarctic waters this Christmas“, Beynon said.
HSI said Japan had issued its whaling company with permits to kill 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpback whales in Antarctic waters during the coming southern summer.
“Based on their past hunting grounds, we expect 90 percent of the hunt to be conducted within the Australian Whale Sanctuary, and a large proportion of the females to be pregnant.“

It is a paradox of note: the fact that while Nigerians live in the world’s sixth-largest oil producer, most of them still rely on wood for their fuel.
Of the country’s population of over 140 million, about 70 percent live in rural areas and are directly or indirectly dependent on forest resources--especially wood--to meet their domestic energy needs, says Musa Amiebinomo of the national Department of Forestry, Allafrica wrote.
This is leading to destruction of forest cover, a situation aggravated by illegal commercial logging.
Figures from the 2005 ’ State of the World’s Forests’ report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicate that between 1990 and 2005, Nigeria lost 35.7 percent of its forest cover.
Boniface Egboka, an environmentalist and dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies at Anambra State University in south-eastern Nigeria, blames the continued use of firewood on corruption.
“Nigeria is still dependent of firewood when we have abundant oil and gas because our so-called leaders are fraudulent and corrupt. They care less about the welfare of the citizens and so they allow the forests to be mowed down“
“We have no reason to be using firewood. We have the financial and human resources to pipe gas into homes for domestic use We are deforesting the whole of the north through harvesting of wood for fire, and now we are shifting the savannah southwards into the rain forest through logging.“
Nigeria’s first forestry act was passed by the British colonial authorities in 1937. It established a forest reserve system under which certain areas could be exploited for timber by firms and individuals granted licenses to do so. Replanting was expected to prevent these areas from becoming depleted.
The 1988 National Agricultural Policy further sought to ensure sustainable use of forests, and to expand wooded land to 20 percent of the country’s territory. According to the FAO report, 12.2 percent of Nigeria’s land is currently forested.
While there is currently no law against the felling of trees for firewood except in protected areas, chopping of oil palms and of mango, cashew, cocoa and cola-nut trees is controlled through by-laws because of the economic value of such trees.
But, legislation alone has proved unable to protect Nigeria’s forests.

Australia becomes the first country to contribute to the World Bank’s new Global Forest Alliance to help protect the world’s remaining great forests from deforestation and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the new contribution of 11.7 million Australian dollars (10 million US dollars), at the High Level Meeting on Forests and Climate in Sydney, attended by representatives from more than 60 governments and international organizations, reported Xinhua.
“That Australia is hosting such an important event demonstrates our deep concern about the environmental problems created by deforestation,“ the ministers said in a joint statement.
Australia’s contribution will assist the World Bank to help developing countries to establish credible estimates of national forest carbon stocks identify sources of forest emissions and develop incentives for conserving forests and investing in sustainable forest management.
“Tackling deforestation is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse emissions in the short term,“ the ministers said in the statement.
“Together with the World Bank we aim to set the stage for a long term, sustainable approach to addressing deforestation,“ they said.

A vast underground lake that scientists hoped could help to end violence in Sudan’s Darfur region probably dried up thousands of years ago, an expert says.
Alain Gachet, who used satellite images and radar in his research, said the area received too little rain and had the wrong rock types for water storage, reported BBC.
But the French geologist said there was enough water elsewhere in Darfur to end the fighting and rebuild the economy.
Analysts say competition for resources such as water is behind the unrest.
More than 200,000 Darfuris have died and two million fled their homes since 2003.
Boston University’s Farouk El-Baz said he had received the backing of Sudan’s government to begin drilling for water in the newly-discovered lake, in North Darfur.
We can build peace with what is already mapped; we don’t need to try to find more water.
He said radar studies had revealed a depression the size of Lake Erie in North America--the 10th largest lake in the world.
But Mr Gachet, who has worked on mineral and water exploration in Africa for 20 years, said the depression identified by the Boston researchers was probably full of water 5,000 to 25,000 years ago.
“This lake was at the bottom of a broad watershed feeding the Nile above Khartoum,“ he said.
“This watershed is completely dry today on the southern border of Egypt, Libya and north-western border of Sudan--one of the worst areas in the world.“

Boroujerd Birds Garden in IranÕs Lorestan province

Scientists with a Chinese sturgeon conservation authority announced that the population of the rare fish in the Yangtze River appeared to have dropped sharply since last year, Xinhua said.
A report from the Shanghai Yangtze Estuary Chinese Sturgeon Conservation Administration said that by last Wednesday, scientists had located just 14 young sturgeons in the Chongming monitoring base, an area where the fish are believed to gather, compared with 600 at the same time last year.
“We used the same methods to trace the fish at the same time and place, but unfortunately that’s the result we got,“ said Liu Jian, director of the administration.
The report said at least 100,000 Chinese sturgeon had been released into the Yangtze this year to restock the river. In Shanghai alone, about 2,156 artificially-bred fry were released, but only five had been detected to date.
Since November last year, 11 adult Chinese sturgeon had been found dead, most killed by ship propellers and some in electrified fishing nets, said Liu, adding that two sturgeon remained severely injured.
On June 17, a 3.37-meter Chinese sturgeon was caught by fishermen who were netting jellyfish at Jinhui port in Shanghai. The fish, which suffered multiple lacerations, was recovering in the conservation area.
Liu said the fish could need another two months to completely recover.
“What we have found, the deaths and injuries, are abnormal, and we fear they may be a bad omen for the ecological environment of the Yangtze,“ Liu said.
The Chinese sturgeon, one of the oldest vertebrates in the world, has existed for more than 200 million years.
However, rapid economic development, over-exploitation of the river and shocking levels of pollution have taken a terrible toll.
Scientists with the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute said the number of sturgeon that migrated to the river each year to spawn had dropped from more than 2,000 in the 1980s to just 500.
A report on Yangtze River protection and development says that more than 600 kilometers of the river are in critical condition, and pollution, damming and too many boats have caused a dramatic decline in Yangtze aquatic life.

Guillemots in Scotland

Scotland’s seabirds are having a “disastrous“ breeding season.
It said mid-season reports had found cliffs, where there should be thousands of birds, almost empty.
Parts of Shetland, Orkney and Cape Wrath in the Highlands were among the worst affected.
RSPB Scotland said climate change appeared to be disrupting food supply, but added that more research would need to be done.
The charity said Scotland’s coastline supported 45 percent of the European Union’s seabird breeding population.
It said that for some areas the season was worse than last year and heading towards being the worst since a “dreadful“ 2004 season.
Some cliffs which should be packed with birds are just about bare as adult birds abandon the nest once their breeding attempt has failed.
However, reserves on the east coast such as Fowlsheugh and Troup Head along with southern colonies like Mull of Galloway were doing better, but still down on previous years.
Common terns and guillemots were doing badly, while kittiwakes were holding on in the south and east.
Norman Ratcliffe, seabird ecologist said chicks were not getting enough food.
He said: “Some cliffs which should be packed with birds are just about bare as adult birds abandon the nest once their breeding attempt has failed. This is all linked to food availability, which can be disrupted for a number of reasons.
“We’re fairly certain that on the east coast, rising sea temperatures are leading to plankton regime shifts, which in turn affects fish like sand eels--a major food source for seabirds.“

Gardens provide a lifeline for Britain’s dwindling bumblebee population and are a far more popular nesting location than open countryside, scientists said.
The plight of the bumblebee prompted a nationwide survey by conservationists, involving more than 700 volunteers, which found Britons’ popular back gardens contained the highest densities of bumblebee nests at 36 per hectare, Reuters said.
That was two to three times higher than grassland and woodland.
Until now, little has been known about which habitats are best for the furry yellow-and-black insects and experts hope the finding will aid conservation work.
Britain once had more than 25 native species of bumblebee, but three of those have been lost in the past 50 years and several more are under threat. Scientists blame the decline on modern farming methods that have deprived bumblebees of many traditional flowering plant food sources.
Gardens, by contrast, have plenty of flowers and good nesting sites-- particularly messy ones, according to lead researcher Juliet Osborne from the Rothamsted Research centre in central England. Favorite nesting spots include undisturbed flower beds and compost heaps.