Ancient forest tribe under threat

Ancient forest tribe under threat

The Mau forest is being cleared to grow food

By Ishbel Matheson in Nairobi

In Kenya's ancient Mau forest, a group of Ogiek boys are on their journey to manhood.

In an initiation ceremony marked by secrecy and ritual, their arrival is celebrated using the branches of sacred trees.

As warriors, the young men will be expected to protect their homeland, 200 kilometres northwest of Nairobi.

But Kenya's last forest tribe is under threat.

A traditional warrior ceremony is held for the boys

Settlers are burning the woodland to make way for fields. Trees are turning to ash.

When the Ogieks see the destruction, they wonder what will become of their people.

"I think it's the end of our lives," says one man. " We are no more."

Voting favours

But powerful forces are at work. It is illegal to farm here. However poor Kenyans are desperate for food, not trees.

The government wants to open up much of Kenya's protected woodland for settlement.

This is an election year and land means votes.

One settler, David Saang, says he is grateful for his plot of land.

David Saang has a plot of land in the forest

He also says he will vote for the ruling Kanu party in the election.

Now the Ogieks are fighting back - but on unfamiliar territory.

They are trying to challenge the government in the High Court in Nairobi.

But some have never been to the capital before, let alone a court, and they don't know their way around the system.

Stalling tactics

The government is outwitting these people. Their lawyer tells them the government is stalling. The case has been adjourned again after only half an hour in court.

The Ogiek people wait for news at the courthouse

There is disappointment and dejection among those who have travelled to watch the hearing.

They will come back in two months but this is virtually the last chance for these people.

If the Ogieks do not win this court case, it is not only the forests which will disappear.

A unique way of life will also vanish

Kenya's heart stops pumping

Kenya's heart stops pumping Mau forest Dry lake In pictures 'My land' Conflict fears

By James Morgan BBC News, Kenya At the edges of Kenya's Lake Nakuru, Paul Opiyo picks up a dead flamingo and warns some eager tourists not to touch it, just in case. He points down to his feet - the brown earth is speckled with brittle white feather shafts. "We should be underwater, standing here," says the deputy warden of Lake Nakuru national park. "This isn't the lake shore. This is the lake floor." The disappearing lake To reach the water's edge, we have driven hundreds of metres out across the former lake bed - now a barren moonscape of tyre tracks and bones. The pelicans and the flamingos are surviving on treated sewage Paul Opiyo, Deputy warden, Lake Nakuru In pictures: Mau forest "Twenty years ago, this lake was 2.6 metres deep," says Mr Opiyo, of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). "Last month, it was 1.4 metres. "One point four metres," he says again. "It is a lake you can literally walk across." Lake Nakuru is disappearing. And with it, around 1.5 million flamingoes - the icon of the Rift Valley - are under threat. The pink ribbon round the lakeshore is a marvel which attracts 1,000 people a day to Nakuru, the most visited of all Kenya's national parks. "They come to be baptised in the birdwatchers' paradise," says Mr Opiyo. "We have marabou stork, pelicans, yellow billed stork, Egyptian geese..." Trouble in paradise But this year, there is not enough water to be "baptised" in. All three of the rivers that feed Nakuru are bone dry. The rivers flow from Mau forest. We climb down into a dusty brown ditch - the remains of the Njoro, the main river flowing into Lake Nakuru. The River Njoro - in the rainy season This is the rainy season - the water should be over our heads. But the measuring gauges are redundant. "This used to be a permanent river - even in the dry season there was always some water flowing," says Bernard Kuloba, a KWS ecologist. "Now it's becoming a seasonal river. And the dry period is increasing. "One reason is climate change. But the other is land use change - upstream in Mau forest. If Lake Nakuru dies, many smaller parks in Kenya will be at great risk Paul Udoto, Kenya Wildlife Service "Settlement and agriculture have increased. The water entering at the top does not reach the bottom." Down at the lakeside, the animals are thirsty - and not only the flamingoes. The park is home to black rhino, water buffalo, hippos and tree-climbing lions. All these animals need fresh river water for drinking because the lake itself is saline - like many in Rift Valley. With the rivers empty, the marabou storks are now drinking instead from a stagnant pool of greasy grey gloop. "This is sewage from the nearby town," says Mr Opiyo. "The smell is a sign that it was not completely treated. "The pelicans, the flamingoes... this is what they have to survive on - treated sewage." Desperate strategy To keep the wildlife alive, the Kenya Wildlife Service has adopted a slightly desperate strategy. Each month, they use 12,000 litres of diesel and spend 100,000 shillings pumping water from deep underground boreholes into drinking troughs. These boreholes are sustaining the animals - so far. Already, one of the boreholes we dug in the park is dry Bernard Kuloba, Ecologist, Kenya Wildlife Service But the trouble, says Mr Kuloba, is that the underground reservoir is fast drying up. The water in the aquifer is not being replenished because of the damage to the forest ecosystem. "Already, one of the boreholes we dug in the park is dry - we are not able to pump," says the ecologist. "The aquifer is low. If we had a consistent drought, it would dry out." He points to a pile of bones - the remains of a buffalo that has desiccated in the heat. "It came here to drink and then it died. If the droughts continue, this will become an annual ritual." The Kenya Wildlife Service knows the park cannot depend on boreholes forever. The boreholes dug in the park were not enough to save this buffalo In the neighbouring towns of Nakuru and Njoro, hundreds of thousands of people are also suffering from water shortages. To compensate, they rely on boreholes - which drain from the same aquifer as the animals in the park. "A situation is arising where humans and wildlife are competing. And when that happens, people will switch off water for wildlife so we can get some for ourselves," says Mr Kuloba. "I see that happening very soon. I see conflict coming. The next thing we might see is vandalism of the park fences." Lake Nakuru is the flagship of Kenya's 36 national parks and reserves. Once the Mau recovers, you can be sure the rivers will flow Paul Opiyo, Deputy warden, Lake Nakuru The park took 513 million shillings ($6.8m; £4m) in 2007 - money which is essential to keep the smaller parks alive. "Parks like Sibiloi and Kakamega - the revenue from Nakuru is what keeps them afloat," says Paul Udoto, a KWS spokesman. "If Lake Nakuru dies, those parks will be at great risk". From the roan antelope in Ruma to the turtles at Malindi, one way or another, they all drink from Lake Nakuru. Which is why the Kenya Wildlife Service has become a major player in the operation to restore the Mau forest ecosystem. Their rangers patrol the park in search of illegal loggers - and they will oversee the removal of settlers. "Once the Mau recovers, you can be sure the rivers will flow," says Paul Opiyo. "The sun will rise over Nakuru again". Lake Nakuru - slowly disappearing

EU approves cervical cancer jab

EU approves cervical cancer jabhttp://www.richimag.co.uk/rich%20life/

Cancerous cervical cells are detected through smear tests

The European Union has approved the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, which could prevent nearly 3,000 cancers each year in the UK alone.

An independent expert advisory committee to the Department of Health will now decide whether it should be made available on the NHS.

Gardasil, made by Merck and Sanofi Pasteur, is designed to be given to girls and women aged nine to 26.

It works against human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer.

Gardasil protects against cervical cancer caused by HPV strains 6, 11, 16 and 18, and also against genital warts.

The vaccine has been in fierce competition with a rival from UK-based GlaxoSmithKline, called Cervarix, which is still a year off the European approval stage.

HPV

Around 80% of sexually active women can expect to have an HPV infection at some point in their lives.

The vaccines have caused controversy over plans to give it to girls as young as nine, before they become sexually active.

Boys could also be vaccinated in the hope of eventually eradicating HPV.

Cervical cancer kills 274,000 women worldwide every year, including 1,120 in the UK.

No decisions will be taken until the main JCVI present their recommendations to ministers for consideration A Department of Health spokeswoman

Trials suggest vaccinating all 12-year-old girls against HPV could cut deaths from the disease by 75%.

Women will soon be able to go along to clinics and request the jab at a cost of around £65 per dose. Three doses are usually given over six months.

But it is not yet clear whether the vaccine will be available on the NHS.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We are currently seeking expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the efficacy, safety and benefits that these new vaccines may offer."

She said that a JCVI subgroup had met in May 2006 to review all available information on HPV vaccines and would hold further meetings during 2006, reporting to the main JCVI committee once they have all the relevant information.

"No decisions will be taken until the main JCVI present their recommendations to ministers for consideration," she added.

Smear tests still necessary

Doctors stress that the vast majority of HPV cases do not go on to cause cervical cancer.

Women can protect themselves against HPV by not having unprotected sex and not smoking. They are also advised to have regular smears to check for the virus.

Professor Alex Markham of Cancer Research UK said: "If a national vaccination programme is introduced it will be vital that women continue to attend for cervical smears.

"We don't yet know if the vaccines are effective in women who may already have been infected with HPV, nor how long the immunity given by the vaccines lasts."

Gardasil has already been approved for use in the US, Mexico, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

A spokesman from GSK said: "It's good news that the European authorities have approved it. This is the first of two vaccines that will be targeting cervical cancer. We hope to have a similar approval some time in the first half of 2007."

Death of cancer-jab girl probed

Other girls at the school reported mild symptoms like dizziness and nausea

http://www.richimag.co.uk/rich%20life/ chiefs have launched a "full and urgent" investigation into the death of a 14-year-old girl after she was given a cervical cancer vaccine at school.

Post-mortem tests into the exact cause are understood to be held on Tuesday.

The girl, named locally as Natalie Morton, died in hospital on Monday after receiving the Cervarix jab at the Blue Coat CofE School in Coventry.

The batch of the vaccine used has been placed into quarantine as a "precautionary measure".

Dizziness and nausea

The local NHS also confirmed the vaccination programme would continue, but after a "short pause".

Dr Caron Grainger, joint director of public health for NHS Coventry and Coventry City Council, said their sympathies were with the girl's family and friends.

She said: "The incident happened shortly after the girl had received her HPV vaccine in the school. No link can be made between the death and the vaccine until all the facts are known and a post-mortem takes place.

"We are conducting an urgent and full investigation into the events surrounding this tragedy."

It is important we have the results of further investigations as soon as possible to establish the cause of this sad event Department of Health Q&A: The cervical cancer vaccine

The teenager died at the city's University Hospital on Monday lunchtime.

A small number of girls at the school had also reported mild symptoms such as dizziness and nausea but were not admitted to hospital.

In a statement posted on the school's website, headteacher Dr Julie Roberts said during the immunisation, "one of the girls suffered a rare, but extreme reaction to the vaccine".

"A number of other girls also reported being unwell and some were sent home," she said.

"If your daughter has received a vaccine today we ask that you are extra vigilant regarding any signs or symptoms."

She listed possible reactions as mild to moderate short-lasting pain at the injection site, headache, muscle pain, fatigue and a low-grade fever.

Different vaccine

The injection - part of a national immunisation programme - protects against the human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease linked to most cervical cancers.

A routine programme of vaccinating 12 and 13-year-old girls started in September 2008 across the UK using the Cervarix vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline. A catch-up campaign is now under way for older girls.

It is thought about a million girls have already safely received the jab.

When the national immunisation project was announced, there was some controversy about the selection of Cervarix over Gardasil, which is used by the majority of vaccination programmes worldwide.

Dr Pim Kon, medical director at GlaxoSmithKline UK, which makes Cervarix, said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the family and friends of the young girl.

"We are working with the Department of Health and MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) to better understand this case, as at this stage the exact cause of this tragic death is unknown."

We are conducting an urgent and full investigation into the events surrounding this tragedy Dr Caron Grainger

The global pharmaceutical company added that the vast majority of suspected adverse reactions have related either to the symptoms of recognised side effects or were due to the injection process and not the vaccine itself.

Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the family. It is important we have the results of further investigations as soon as possible to establish the cause of this sad event."

In the UK, about 3,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and about 1,000 die from it.

The department said Cervarix had a strong safety record.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said the tragedy needed to be investigated "as a matter of urgency".

He said: "This again raises the question which we have asked for some time, as to why the government won't publish the assessments it made of the relative merits of the two HPV vaccines and why we therefore use a different vaccine to most other comparable countries."

There are more than 100 types of HPV but only 13 of them are known to cause cancer.

Cervarix protects against two strains of HPV that cause more than 70% of cases of cervical cancer in women.

Vaccination is not compulsory and consent is required before it is administered to the under-16s

Quick guide: Biofuels

Quick guide: Biofuels

What are biofuels?

Biofuels are any kind of fuel made from living things, or from the waste they produce.

This is a very long and diverse list, including:

• wood, wood chippings and straw
• pellets or liquids made from wood
• biogas (methane) from animals' excrement
• ethanol, diesel or other liquid fuels made from processing plant material or waste oil

In recent years, the term "biofuel" has come to mean the last category - ethanol and diesel, made from crops including corn, sugarcane and rapeseed.

Rudolph Diesel: biofuel pioneer

Bio-ethanol, an alcohol, is usually mixed with petrol, while biodiesel is either used on its own or in a mixture.

Pioneers such as Henry Ford and Rudolph Diesel designed cars and engines to run on biofuels. Before World War II, the UK and Germany both sold biofuels mixed with petrol or diesel made from crude oil; the availability of cheap oil later ensured market dominance.

Ethanol for fuel is made through fermentation, the same process which produces it in wine and beer. Biodiesel is made through a variety of chemical processes.

There is interest in trying biobutanol, another alcohol, in aviation fuel.

Are biofuels climate-friendly?

In principle, biofuels are a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional transport fuels.

WHAT IS A QUICK GUIDE? Quick guides are concise explanations of topics or issues in the news. More Quick Guides

Burning the fuels releases carbon dioxide; but growing the plants absorbs a comparable amount of the gas from the atmosphere.

However, energy is used in farming and processing the crops, and this can make biofuels as polluting as petroleum-based fuels, depending on what is grown and how it is treated.

A recent UK government publication declared that biofuels reduced emissions "by 50-60% compared to fossil fuels".

Where are biofuels used?

Production of ethanol doubled globally between 2000 and 2005, with biodiesel output quadrupling.

Biofuels: the next batch

Brazil leads the world in production and use, making about 16 billion litres per year of ethanol from its sugarcane industry.

Sixty percent of new cars can run on a fuel mix which includes 85% ethanol.

The European Union has a target for 2010 that 5.75% of transport fuels should come from biological sources, but the target is unlikely to be met.

The British government's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires 5% of the fuel sold at the pump by 2010 to be biofuel.

In the US, the Renewable Fuels Standard aims to double the use of biofuels in transport by 2012.

What are the downsides?

From the environmental point of the view, the big issue is biodiversity.

With much of the western world's farmland already consisting of identikit fields of monocultured crops, the fear is that a major adoption of biofuels will reduce habitat for animals and wild plants still further.

Asian countries may be tempted to replace rainforest with more palm oil plantations, critics say.

No hunger from biofuels Green energy or grim reaper?

If increased proportions of food crops such as corn or soy are used for fuel, that may push prices up, affecting food supplies for less prosperous citizens.

The mixed picture regarding the climate benefit of biofuels leads some observers to say that the priority should be reducing energy use; initiatives on biofuels detract attention from this, they say, and are more of a financial help to politically important farming lobbies than a serious attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

There are few problems technically; engines can generally cope with the new fuels.

But current technologies limit production, because only certain parts of specific plants can be used.

The big hope is the so-called second-generation of biofuels, which will process the cellulose found in many plants. This should lead to far more efficient production using a much greater range of plants and plant waste.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen negotiating text: 200 pages to save the world?

Draft agreement being discussed ahead of December's crucial Copenhagen summit is long, confusing and contradictory

Interactive: Beginner's guide to the negotiating text

The draft document includes sections on the traditional sticking points that have delayed progress on climate change to date. Photograph: John Giles/PA

It is a blueprint to save the world. And yet it is long, confusing and contradictory. Negotiators have released a draft version of a new global agreement on climate change, which is widely billed as the last chance to save the planet from the ravages of global warming.

Running to some 200 pages, the draft agreement is being discussed for the first time this week as officials from 190 countries gather in Bangkok for the latest round of UN talks. There is only one short meeting after this before they meet in Copenhagen aiming to hammer out a final version.

The draft text consolidates and reorders hundreds of changes demanded by countries to the previous version, which saw it balloon to an unmanageable 300 pages. It has no official status yet, and must be formally approved before negotiators can start to whittle it down. Here, we present key, edited sections from the text and attempt to decipher what the words mean.

The text includes sections on the traditional sticking points that have delayed progress on climate change for a decade or longer.

• How much are rich countries willing to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, and by when?

• Will large developing nations such as China make an effort to put at least a dent in their soaring levels of pollution?

• How much money must flow from the developed world to developing countries to grease the wheels and secure their approval? How much to compensate for the impact of past emissions, and how much to help prevent future emissions?

According to the UN rules, for a new treaty to be agreed, every country must sign up – a challenging requirement. The new treaty is designed to follow the Kyoto protocol, the world's existing treaty to regulate greenhouse gases, the first phase of which expires in 2012. Because the US did not ratify Kyoto, the climate talks have been forced on to awkward parallel tracks, with one set of negotiations, from which the US is excluded, debating how the treaty could be extended past 2012. This new text comes from the second track, which lays out a plan to include all countries in long-term co-operative action.

Behind the scenes, pessimism about the Copenhagen talks is rising. Despite references in the text to a global goal and collective emission cuts of 25-40% by 2020 for rich countries, many observers believe there is little chance such an approach will succeed.

Stuart Eizenstat, who negotiated Kyoto for the US, said: "Copenhagen is more likely to be a way station to a final agreement, where each country posts the best that it can do... The key thing is let's not go into Copenhagen with all the same kind of guns blazing like we did in Kyoto."

A top European official told the Guardian: "We've moved on from the idea that we can negotiate on targets. That's naive and just not the way the deal will be done. The best we can get is that countries will put in what they want to commit to."

Once all the carbon offsets – buying pollution credits instead of cutting emissions – and "fudges" are taken into account, the outcome is likely to be that emissions in 2020 from rich countries will be broadly similar to those in 1990, he said. "That's really scary stuff."

Newport City Council has refused a biofuel

City casts out palm oil power plant bid

http://www.richimag.co.uk/biofools/ , Planning, 18 September 2009

Newport City Council has refused a biofuel power plant that would have run on so-called sustainable palm oil.

The authority came to the decision over health fears and the environmental impacts of the scheme, to the delight of its opponents. The plant at Newport's South Dock would have used palm..

Policy News

Lib Dems get savage with quangos

The Liberal Democrats would scrap the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) and the nine regional development agencies along with other quangos if they get into power.

Healey hits back over Spelman letter

Housing minister John Healey has criticised a letter sent to councils by the shadow communities secretary which urged them to delay major developments until after the general election.

We will learn from local councils, say Tories

Shadow chancellor George Obsorne has spoken about how a conservative administration would learn from local government.

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Trouble With Biofuels

The Trouble With Biofuels

By BRYAN WALSH Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008

The cornfield at Didier Farms in Prairie View, Illinois.

Tim Boyle / Getty

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Bryan Walsh talks to Nature Conservancy scientist Joe Fargione about his research, which argues that many biofuels may be worse for the climate than the fossil fuels they are meant to replace

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But according to a pair of studies published in the journal Science recently, biofuels may not fulfill that promise — and in fact, may be worse for the climate than the fossil fuels they're meant to supplement. According to researchers at Princeton University and the Nature Conservancy, almost all the biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels, if the full environmental cost of producing them is factored in. As virgin land is converted for growing biofuels, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere; at the same time, biofuel crops themselves are much less effective at absorbing carbon than the natural forests or grasslands they may be replacing. "When land is converted from natural ecosystems it releases carbon," says Joseph Fargione, a lead author of one of the papers and a scientist at the Nature Conservancy. "Any climate change policy that doesn't take this fact into account doesn't work."

Many environmentalists have been making the case against biofuels for some time, arguing that biofuel production takes valuable agricultural land away from food, driving up the price of staple crops like corn. But the Science papers make a more sweeping argument. In their paper, Fargione's team calculated the "carbon debt" created by raising biofuel crops — the amount of carbon released in the process of converting natural landscapes into cropland. They found that corn ethanol produced in the U.S. had a carbon debt of 93 years, meaning it would take nearly a century for ethanol, which does produce fewer greenhouse gases when burned than fossil fuels, to make up for the carbon released in that initial landscape conversion. Palm tree biodiesel in Indonesia and Malaysia — one of the most controversial biofuels currently in use, because of its connection to tropical deforestation in those countries — has a carbon debt of 86 years. Soybean biodiesel in the Amazonian rainforest has a debt of 320 years. "People don't realize there is three times as much carbon in plants and soil than there is in the air," says Fargione. "Cut down forests, burn them, churn the soil, and you release all the carbon that's been stored."

Worse, as demand for biofuels go up — the European Union alone targets 5.75% of all its transport fuel to come from biofuel by the end of the year — the price of crops rises. That in turn encourages farmers to clear virgin land and plant more crops, releasing even more carbon in a vicious cycle. For instance, as the U.S. uses more biodiesel, much of which is made from soybeans or palm oil, farmers in Brazil or Indonesia will clear more land to raise soybeans to replace those used for fuel. "When we ask the world's farmers to feed 6 billion people and ask them to produce fuel, that requires them to use additional land," says Fargione. "That land has to come from somewhere."

Industry groups like the Renewable Fuels Association criticized the studies for being too simplistic, and failing to put biofuels in context. And it's true that the switch to biofuels can have benefits that go beyond climate change. Biofuels tend to produce less local pollution than fossil fuels, one reason why Brazil — which gets 30% of its automobile fuel from sugar-cane ethanol — has managed to reduce once stifling air pollution. In the U.S., switching to domestically produced biofuels helps cut dependence on foreign oil, and boosts income for farmers. But in all of these cases, the benefits now seem to pale next to the climate change deficits. Fargione points out that if the U.S. managed to use 15 billion gallons of ethanol by 2015 — as is mandated in last year's energy bill — it would still only offset 7% of projected energy demand. That won't put Venezuela or Iran out of business.

This is all depressing news, especially if you're a corn farmer. Biofuels are one of the few alternative fuels that are actually available right now, but the evidence suggests we be better off not relying on them. But even Fargione doesn't argue that we should ditch biofuels altogether. Biofuels using waste matter — like wood chips, or the leftover sections of corn stalks — or from perennial plants like switchgrass, effectively amount to free fuel, because they don't require clearing additional land. "There's no carbon debt," notes Fargione. Unfortunately, the technology for yielding fuel from those sources — like cellulosic biofuels — is still in its infancy, though it is improving fast. In the end, the right kind of biofuel won't be a silver bullet, but just one more tool in the growing arsenal against climate change