Information & Meetings
	Conferences & Events
	India's first ICZM course calls for support

Organisations
	Green Parties announce boycott of U.S. oil companies
	New hyperlinks

Environment
	WRI report on coastal ecosystems confirms alarming trend
	Effects of oceans and biodiversity on climate change

Development & Trends
	Leases granted to 18 British offshore windmill developers

Policy
	Conservation treaty pressures Commission to limit Cetacean by-catch

Events recently announded

Please note:
The overview of the Coastal Guide conference and event  meeting list can be found at http://www.coastalguide.org/meetings/

India's first ICZM course calls for support

The Department of Applied Geology, School of Earth and Atmosphere Sciences of the University of Madras is planning to start India's first diploma course in ICZM aimed both at students and low to middle level professionals from governmental and non-governmental organisations. To make this course more effective, the department is calling for technical assistance from developed countries. Please contact Dr R. Krishnamoorthy at krish_r_46@hotmail.com and visit the website at http://www.madrasuniversity.org

Green Parties announce boycott of U.S. oil companies

From the 14th to 16th of April, delegates from 70 countries at the first international green parties conference in Canberra, Australia, announced major campaigns to boycott U.S. oil companies believed to have pressured the Bush Administration into the United States' retreat from the International Climate Change Treaty. Exxon Mobil, one of the largest oil companies in the U.S., decided to issue a publicity campaign defending the company's position on global warming in response to the announced boycott, and efforts made by its own shareholders to make the company take responsibility for its role in climate change. How the boycott would be instituted has yet to be decided. The delegates gave few details about the planned boycott, but indicated they would use their popular support in Europe to rally action.
More information on the conference can be found at http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10519 and
http://www.ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-17-01.html,
additional information on recent Kyoto Protocol developments at http://www.coastalguide.org/news/2001-07.html#env4 and
ExxonMobil briefings on environmental resolutions can be downloaded at http://campaignexxonmobil.org

New hyperlinks

ENEA Coastal Modelling Project
This project provides knowledge on coastal dynamics and supports sustainable development of the coastal zones

Centre for Coastal Management
A Research Consultancy based at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Check out the other Website Links on the Coastal Guide 

WRI report on coastal ecosystems confirms alarming trend

A new report by the World Resources Institute (WRI) warns that if the planet's coastal zone continues to be extensively modified or destroyed, its capacity to provide fish, protect homes and businesses, reduce pollution and erosion, and sustain biological diversity will be gravely endangered. Nearly 30 percent of the land area in the world's coastal ecosystems have already been extensively altered or destroyed by growing demands for housing, industry and recreation. An estimated four out of every ten people live within 100 km of a coast. Nearly two-thirds of all the fish harvested in the world depend on coastal wetlands, mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. About 95 percent of the world's marine fish harvest come from coastal waters. More low-value fish are being caught today as stocks of valuable fish like cod, hake, and tuna are declining. Overall, 75% of fish stocks are depleted or being fished at their biological limit. The report says that beach erosion is also a growing problem and affects tourism revenue, especially in island nations. Studies by the world's climate scientists indicate that an increase in ocean temperatures could result in rising sea levels by as much as 95 cm at the end of this century. The resulting storm surges could intensify erosion, habitat loss, increased salinity of freshwater aquifers, and extreme coastal flooding. The protection of shorelines, especially in small countries and countries with limited fertile land, has become particularly important. The report also warns that the outright destruction of coral reefs by destructive fishing practices and mining is a serious problem. Coral bleaching - which results from rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change - is also increasing and further threatens this valuable resource. The Coastal Ecosystems report also reveals that more invasive or alien species are being found in coastal areas, often disrupting the food chain and eliminating native species. Scientists estimate that on any given day, as many as 3,000 different species are carried in the ballast of the world's ocean fleet. Scientists have identified 480 invasive species in the Mediterranean and 89 in the Baltic Sea. The report can be downloaded from http://www.wri.org/wr2000/coast_page.html

Effects of oceans and biodiversity on climate change

According to new research of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans are slowly heating up - by an average of 0.06 degrees Celsius since 1955 - due to man-made build-up of greenhouse gasses. The positive side of this otherwise disturbing study is evidence that by absorbing heat, oceans are likely to slow down global warming. Another new NOAA study claims that the recent warming of tropical oceans has lead to changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation which drives winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere. This theory explains stronger westerly winds over Europe and southerly flows over the Mediterranean observed over the past two decades. A paper just released by the University of Minnesota, USA, concludes that the more diverse an ecosystem is, the better it can serve to absorb carbon dioxide. All plants absorb Carbon Dioxide as they grow, but different species absorb Carbon at different rates and different environmental conditions can also affect how well plants absorb CO2. Thus, ecosystems with high biodiversity will take up and sequester more carbon and nitrogen than do ecosystems with reduced biodiversity. These results have implications for the assessment of the role man-made ecosystems have in reducing climate change.
For more information contact the Scripps Institute: scrippsnews@ucsd.edu or visit their website at http://scripps.ucsd.edu,
NOAA at http://www.noaa.gov, Martin Hoerling: martin.p.hoerling@noaa.gov
The National Center for Atmospheric Research at http://www.cgd.ucar.edu, James Hurrell by mail: jhurrel@ucar.edu.
For more information on biodiversity research contact Peter Reich: preich@umn.edu

Leases granted to 18 British offshore windmill developers

The British Crown Estate - landowner of the UK territorial seabed - granted leases to 18 developers, thereby clearing the way for a 1.6 billion pound investment in offshore wind power. The projects foresee 540 windmills of three megawatts each, installed in groups of 30, with the nearest turbines between 1.5 and 10 kilometres offshore. More than half will be positioned in the Irish Sea along England's north-west coast between Liverpool and the Scottish border. The windmills will supply one percent of Britain's energy needs by 2004/2005. The government will now be able to meet its domestic goal of cutting carbon CO2 emissions by 19 percent by 2010. Offshore wind is more expensive to tap than onshore wind, but local resistance to noise and to the sight of tall land-based turbines has made it an option worth exploring. The British Wind Energy Association already backs a pilot offshore wind project at Blyth with two wind turbines capable of generating two megawatts of electricity. Wind power is a key element of the UK government's renewable energy strategy. According to the association, the wind blowing across the seas around Britain could supply the island's electricity needs three times over, and could easily be producing 10 percent of its needs by 2010.
For more information, visit http://www.britishwindenergy.co.uk, http://www.blyth-offshore.co.uk, or read the windpower specials in the Coastal Guide: http://www.coastalguide.org/windpower/index.html

Conservation treaty pressures Commission to limit Cetacean by-catch

A recommendation issued by ACROBANS, the Agreement on Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas, will be pressing the European Commission to restrict the level of marine mammals dying after entanglement in nets to less than 1.7 % of their populations annually as a first step towards improving their conservation. ASCOBANS is an international conservation treaty backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It hopes that these "catch-limits" will form part of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), recently launched by the Commission and expects to have it completed by December 2002. According to UNEP, every year 6 % of the small cetacean population is being lost in certain parts of the North Sea or adjacent waters as a result of becoming entangled in fishing nets. To continue, this may amount to more than 2000 harbour porpoises annually in the Celtic Sea. UNEP therefor stated that this ever-increasing level of by catch is unsustainable and threatens to undermine conservation efforts. ASCOBANS, whose members are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, suggests the use of pingers by fisherman to help further decrease the level of by-catch. Tests in British and Danish waters have so far indicated that the by-catch of cetaceans can be cut by more than 90 % when these small electric devices are deployed. Other options for consideration are the use of small underwater video cameras, or using the so-called "smart nets" (see: Coastal Guide News 5/2001)
For more information read the full UNEP press release at http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=197&ArticleID=2814, contact Mark Tasker, chair of ASCOBANS, e-mail: mark.tasker@jncc.gov.uk or Mark Simmonds of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, e-mail: msimmond@wdcs.org

Deadline for submitting contributions to Coastal Guide News No 09: Wednesday 2 May, 2001

COASTAL GUIDE NEWS is a biweekly newsletter published by the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) with financial support of Stichting DOEN, the foundation of the Dutch lottery "Postcode Loterij". For free subscriptions, comments or contributions to this newsletter, please contact news@coastalguide.org. 

© Articles may be reproduced free of charge with acknowledgement and citation of Coastal Guide News and the URL of the Coastal Guide (http://www.coastalguide.org). The articles of this and previous issues of Coastal Guide News can be found at http://www.coastalguide.org/news

Members of the Coastal Guide News editorial team: Ramon v. Barneveld, Erik Devilee, Irene Lucius, Hanneke Mesters, Guy Monod de Froideville, Albert Salman, Jolanda v.d. Sman, Josefien Wormgoor. 

Established in 1989, the European Union for Coastal Conservation (EUCC) is an association involving the largest coastal network in Europe with 750 members and member organisations in 40 countries. For more information please contact EUCC International Secretariat, POBox 11232, NL-2301 EE Leiden, the Netherlands, tel.: +31-71-5122900, internet: http://www.eucc.nl

© EUCC