Sea mammal dugong dying out, U.N. environmental group says

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http://nandotimes.com/healthscience/v-text/story/249572p-2353779c.html

 

Sea mammal dugong dying out, U.N. environmental group

says

2002 AP Online

 

By ANDREW SELSKY, Associated Press

 

BOGOTA, Colombia (February 12, 2002 1:08 p.m. EST) - A

mammal considered the inspiration for seafarers' tales

of mermaids is disappearing from the planet, signaling

the despoilment of coastal environments, a U.N. agency

told the world's environment ministers Tuesday.

The dugong is apparently gone from many of its

habitats in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea,

including tropical waters off Mauritius, Sri Lanka,

Hong Kong, and the Seychelles, the U.N. Environment

Program said. It is on the brink of vanishing from the

Indian Ocean off East Africa.

 

" The situation in East Africa is particularly alarming

and it is possible that this will be the next place

where the dugong becomes extinct unless urgent action

is taken, " said Helene March, an Australian

environmental science professor and the lead author of

an agency report.

 

The dugong is a key indicator species, meaning that if

it is declining, " then the coastal environment which

provides protein in the forms of fish and income in

terms of tourism is also being degraded, " the report

said.

 

For food, the herbivorous mammal depends on seagrass

beds, which in many areas of the world are being

cleared for development or smothered by silt and mud

from runoff caused by overgrazing and deforestation,

the report said.

 

The report was released in Cartagena, Colombia, where

environment ministers were gathering for a conference

to help set the stage for the U.N. World Summit on

Sustainable Development this summer in Johannesburg,

South Africa.

 

Participants at the Cartagena conference, which opens

Wednesday and ends Friday, are to consider a plan by

the U.N. environment agency to strengthen safeguards

against hazardous chemicals. If adopted, the plan will

be submitted for approval in Johannesburg.

 

Governments have so far given mainly lip service to

agreements to protect the environment, said Klaus

Toepfer, executive director of the U.N. Environment

Program.

 

" The huge growth in environmental agreements ... has

not been matched by a political will to make these

binding or enforceable, " Toepfer said.

 

The U.N. proposal calls for nations to:

 

- Improve the ability of developing countries to deal

with hazardous chemicals.

 

- Crack down on illegal trade in banned chemicals and

prevent dumping of outlawed substances.

 

- Assess risks of new and existing chemicals uniformly

and their effects on humans and animals.

 

2001 Nando Media

 

 

 

 

 

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