August 2005

CSI has been asked to be a founding board member of the World Environmental Alliance. The World Environmental Alliance is bringing together 3,500 scientists and 500 non-profit organizations throughout the world to assist each other in making critical environmental changes.

CSI staff and fellows have participated worldwide on studying oil pollution events and educating people about the toxicity of oil. The work has including advising several governments leading to stricter oil pollution and transportation laws and regulations in the EU. This month CSI Fellow, Kristin Reed, will discuss her work and concerns about oil development in Angola.

Cabinda, Angola: The rippled surface of a zinc roof gleams under a searing sun. The roof's shiny new exterior contrasts with the patchwork structure of dull boards supporting it. A scrawny dog, ears bleeding and mouth agape in a pant, rests in a wedge of shade that recedes as the sun rises higher. Fishing nets hang in the crook of a nearby tree, its dangling styrofoam blocks used as buoys clap against one another in the almost imperceptible breeze. The sand surrounding the fisherman's house is neatly swept and a small pile of dried leaves sits near a heap of smoldering ashes and faded orange Fanta cans. João looks down the bamboo and palm-lined path to the sea. He has fished these waters for thirty years. Deep creases surround his watery green eyes. He says there has been an oil spill and points to a dark clump on his fishing net. It looks like tar and sand is sticking to it.

Oil floats. It spreads out over the surface of the water in a slick or a sheen. Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, owned by ChevronTexaco, has been extracting oil from the wells offshore of Cabinda since it was a protectorate of Portugal. Locals say that under Portuguese rule until 1975 and through the Marxist-Leninist era, the surface of the sea was often dark with oil. But they were afraid to speak out. Angolans recall this period as a time of fear and suspicion, when neighbors were spies and secret police quashed any dissent with the most brutal of techniques. Even when Angola began to transition to a liberal democratic system in the early 1990s, people were cautious to complain. Despite constitutional guarantees, the ongoing war between MPLA government troops and UNITA forces since independence hindered free speech and expression. However, in spite of the peace secured with the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in 2002, Cabinda, in particular, retains a climate of mistrust and anxiety. By some estimates, 50,000 government troops are currently installed in the province, particularly the deep forests of Maiombe, attempting to destroy the remaining guerrillas loyal to the FLEC secessionist movement.

Unlike most roads in the province, the tarmac stretching out to Maiombe is smooth and freshly painted with yellow and white stripes. Trucks full of young soldiers in camouflage pants toting assault weapons barrel down the road. The village of São Jorge appears sleepy. Broad-leafed banana plants droop with heavy bunches of bananas. Women knead a milky paste from shredded cassava in brightly-colored plastic basins. Children run and shriek with laughter, rolling tires along dusty paths. The district administrator tells me that the violence against local inhabitants has decreased since the government reprimanded soldiers serving in Cabinda for `indecent behavior' but villagers disagree. A teenage boy showing me the dry well in his village whispers that soldiers often beat or threatened the boys there, claiming that they are FLEC sympathizers. He says women fear working in their fields and walk out together in an attempt to fend off sexual assault by drunken soldiers - but the soldiers are often armed. These villages are far from the offshore oil fields, but locals speak of oil as the basis of the provincial occupation. Production contracts require that the government secure existing offshore and potential new onshore extraction sites.

João's boat sits heavy upon the sand. The dog stretches out in the widened patch of shade cast by the zinc roof. João motions toward the roof and explains that ChevronTexaco offered these roofs to local people as part of a community engagement project. He shrugs slightly and says that jobs would be better - those who work at the oil base or on the platforms make more than fishermen and the catch isn't so good these days. But oil production is a capital and technology-intensive, labor-poor operation and local people rarely have the level of education required to compete with expatriates or workers from the Angolan capital, Luanda.

Since the late 1990s when the world learned about the polluting and violent sins of Royal Dutch Shell's operations in Nigeria and Texaco's similar legacy in Ecuador, oil companies have sought to improve their image. Glossy pamphlets with colorful images of smiling children proudly tell stories of corporate responsibility. Officials from ChevronTexaco say that the company rigorously adheres to international environmental standards, although Angola still is working with oil companies to create its own set of regulations. ChevronTexaco also spends millions annually on community engagement projects - building schools and health posts, distributing roofs and even providing scholarships to the most promising students in Cabinda.

Yet João is skeptical. He argues that ChevronTexaco is undertaking these projects simply to divert attention from the company's linkages to pollution and violence. A settlement following a major spill in 1999 required ChevronTexaco to build a laboratory in Cabinda and to train local staff in water quality testing. The laboratory has not yet been completed. João laments that local people have little idea of how polluted their waters are, not to mention the fish that they eat. Decades of poor environmental practices, like natural gas flaring and use of drilling fluids containing heavy metals may have contributed to high mercury levels in fish and the people who eat them. Previous accidents and long-term pipeline leaks may have compounded to create a devastating environmental impact over time. Though Chevron Texaco's environmental policies are now improved, locals still suspect that the company is not being fully forthcoming with them. João and other fishermen talk about how ChevronTexaco immediately flies helicopters over spills and dump chemical dispersants to mix oil into the water column so that locals cannot see the slick and claim for damages. The toxic dispersants can often cause more damage to the ecosystem than the oil itself.

João asserts that his average catch has decreased since he first began fishing and that he must now use a motor to find the fish which fled the coast for unpolluted waters. The company blames overfishing for the depleted stocks, underpinned by a fast growing population and a lack of employment alternatives. Independent testing for the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the water column and mercury in both fish and local people are necessary. The Conservation Science Institute is currently seeking funding to carry out this important research. For, as João says with a wry smile, “You can't always judge by what you see on the surface.”

Note: All names of persons and places have been changed to protect sources. Kristin is a doctoral student in the Environmental Science, Policy and Management program at the University of California, Berkeley. Her present work addresses the effects of offshore oil production on artisanal fishing communities in Angola.

It is being called the largest construction project in China since the Great Wall and the Great Canal. The project is China's Three Gorges Dam, a future hydroelectric power resource designed to generate electricity equal to about 40 million tons of coal by taming the fabled Yangtze River. The project will be completed by 2009 and the electricity generated will reportedly illuminate half of China.

China's growing economy demands extensive coal consumption posing a threat to the environment. Coal burning emits carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas contributing to the global warming. China is the world's second largest source of greenhouse gases, and the International Energy Agency in Paris predicts that the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2030 in China alone will nearly equal the increase from the entire industrialized world. Three quarters of the country's energy comes from coal. The dam's power generation potential of 84.68 billion kilowatt hours is the energy equivalent of burning 50 million tons of coal or 25 million tons of crude oil.

China-which accounts for 11% of global carbon dioxide emissions-was among the 141 countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol when it took effect on February 16, 2005. Under the terms of the agreement, these countries must reduce their combined emissions of six greenhouse gases that are responsible for causing global warming-in particular carbon dioxide- by an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels by 2012. Along with India - another major contributor to the world's greenhouse gases, China is under no obligation to cut emissions during the protocol's first phase to 2012.

As with many dams under construction, there is controversy over the rights and wrongs of this project. Environmental opposition focuses on the consequences of dislocating 1.2 to 2 million area residents, inundation of 74,000 acres of cultivated land, possible extinction of native species, the loss of many valuable archaeological and cultural sites, the dam's inability to stop flooding from downstream tributaries to the Yangtze, increasing the risk of earthquakes and landslides, and other concerns.

For thousands of years humans have transported local flora and fauna to distant lands. Although some species cannot adapt to their new surroundings and die off, others have persisted and have had significant impacts on native species, communities, and ecosystems. Some species have

been so successful that they have virtually eliminated their native counterparts and reshaped the landscape. The “Golden Hills” of California, for example, are the result of non-native annual grasses out-competing the native perennial grasses that used to retain their green color for much of the year.

Europeans have spread more species to more places than people of any other region. The impact of invasive species has been extensively studied. However, most studies focused on the establishment and spread of invasive species but have not looked at the actual origin of the introduction or compared the extent of introductions between locations.

of the National Academy of Sciences analyzing the flow of invasive vertebrates between Europe and North America. They define invasive as any species that extends beyond its native range. Their study examines all native fish, birds, and mammals native to either continent to determine the proportion introduced abroad.

They chose to study vertebrates because of their conspicuous nature and because of the number of records that exist due to centuries of extensive study of vertebrates in both North American and Europe. Their study looked at when species were introduced, which continent introduced more to the other continent, how many introduced species proved successful and whether species from one continent have a higher likelihood of persisting than species from the other.

Many assumptions regarding invasive species exist. Some argue that as a rule 10% of introduced species will establish themselves and that 10% of those will flourish and spread. Another assumption holds that European vertebrates have some sort of inherent advantage and that explains their prolific spread over the centuries. The authors of this study sought to find empirical evidence to support either of these notions.

The authors started the study by compiling a list of all the native fish, bird, and mammal species native to Europe and North America and of documented introductions. As one would expect, European species started flowing to North America first. Mammals predominated in the 15th and 16th centuries, changing to birds in the 18th century, and changing again to fish in the 20th century. Birds were the primary export to Europe from North America through the 19th century, with fish becoming more prevalent thereafter. All in all the authors conclude that even though Europeans began bringing species over to North America first, in the end each continent received the same number of species from the other. Each continent introduced 70 species of vertebrates to the other.

The results contradict the assumptions listed above. More than 10% of the species introduced from one continent to the other persisted and more than 10% eventually spread. In fact, the results indicate that the percentage for each is likely over 50%. The results also indicate that species of European vertebrates are no more likely to spread and persist than North American species.

The results indicate that species of vertebrates are much more likely to persist and spread than previously thought. Thus, managers and governments should do all they can to impede the initial spread of species from continent to continent. Once established, control and eradication of invasive species can prove incredibly difficult. Actions to control already introduce species remain important, but the findings of this study indicate the necessity of early intervention to reduce the spread of species as the best method of controlling the spread of invasive species.

The crisis confronting coral reefs has received increasing attention of late. Coral reefs are rich biological systems that promote abundant and diverse marine life. This abundance has important ecological and cultural value. Many countries depend on fisheries and the tourism that coral reefs provide. Their global decline has prompted a reassessment of their management and their ability to recover after disturbance.

An article titled “Confronting the coral reef crisis,” indicates that it has become increasingly clear that human impacts have played a primary role in the decline of coral reefs. Many natural disturbances, including hurricanes, damage or destroy coral reefs. But in the absence of human induced damage, coral reefs prove capable of recovering over time. As human impacts have increased coral reefs have shown less resilience to recover from natural impacts. This has led to a reduction in their ability to persist and as a

Coral reefs vary tremendously from one region to another. They harbor different species in different proportions. These differences have consequences for the ability of coral reefs to recover from disturbance. More research is needed to assess what factors influence a reefs ability to recover from disturbance. This information will enable managers to determine what human impacts have the most potential of doing long-term damage.

The authors of the article recommend an aggressive reassessment of adaptive management for coral reefs and the active management of the human activities that impact marine systems. This will clearly require more scientific research on these systems. This may prove difficult, however, as the rapid degradation of coral reefs in recent decades has eliminated many species and created a scenario in which researchers may have no knowledge of what an intact coral reef should look like or harbor.

To combat the current decline of coral reefs the authors propose four recommendations to address the human activities impacting them. An important first step is to increase the size and number of no take zones around coral reefs. Australians have instituted a no-take zone plan for the Great Barrier Reef that the authors suggest other countries use as a model. The United States has taken only modest steps and needs to do more. In addition, the more affluent countries need to support the efforts of developing countries to protect their coral resources.

Second, the authors warn against focusing too heavily on no take zones and hot-spots, at the expense of the other, heavily impacted reefs that also deserve and warrant attention. Instead of closing off management, oversight and the use of the coral resource, the authors recommend governments empowering users to protect the resource. This could include ownership rights, incentives, and realistic restrictions that do not alienate or anger users. Lastly, the authors suggest addressing the markets for coral reef products. This includes providing incentives to help protect against the over-exploitation of reef resources, locally and globally. This will help to ensure not only the recovery and maintenance of coral reefs, but also the economic development they provide.

Implementation of these recommendations, the authors contend, would dramatically improve the chance of coral reef communities rebounding worldwide. A combination of science based management, public policy that supports responsible use of coral reef resources, and the support of the public will help to ensure the recovery and sustainable use of coral reefs in the future.