Emergency Action Taken for Threatened and Endangered Sea Turtles:Six-month Closure Ordered of Gulf of Mexico Fishery

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— The National Marine Fisheries Service has ordered a six-month emergency closure of the bottom longline fishery in the Gulf of Mexico to protect imperiled sea turtles from capture and death. During the closure, which will go into effect May 16, the agency will determine whether and how the fishery can operate while ensuring the survival of the turtles over the long term.

The Service is closing the fishery because its data indicate the fishery had captured more than eight times the number of sea turtles it authorized in its 2005 biological opinion. A Federal Register notice that will be published May 1 explains that further bottom longline fishing could jeopardize the existence of loggerhead sea turtles "unless action is taken to reduce the fishery’s impact on this threatened species."

Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, and a coalition of other conservation groups — Caribbean Conservation Corporation, Florida Wildlife Federation, Gulf Restoration Network and Sea Turtle Restoration Project — had sued the agency in mid-April to seek protection for these imperiled animals and requested the emergency closure implemented today.

"Today is a great day for all who believe in protecting vulnerable sea turtles from unnecessary and illegal harm and ensuring their continued survival in the wild," said Steve Roady, an attorney with Earthjustice. "We commend NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco for setting a new course for NMFS that relies on sound science to manage our oceans for the great benefit of our nation and local communities."

"This temporary closure gives sea turtles a much-needed reprieve and gives the agency time to make scientifically sound decisions regarding the long-term operation of the fishery," said Andrea Treece, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "More sea turtles will now have a chance to make it back to their nesting beaches — and even just look for food — without getting caught up in longlines."

"After years of delay and the death of hundreds of turtles, it's great to know that protections are finally on their way," said Sierra Weaver, an attorney with Defenders of Wildlife. "This closure will insure that the fishery can operate without threatening these species with extinction."

Details on Emergency Closure:

1. Following the conservation organizations' lawsuit filed April 15 and renewed action by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to support an emergency closure in mid-April, the Fisheries Service is closing the bottom longline fishery for up to 180 days.
2. The closure will become effective May 16, 2009 (15 days after publication in the Federal Register) to provide two weeks for fishing trips that are now occurring to receive notice and reduce disruption on the fishery for already initiated trips.
3. During this closure, the agency states that it plans to complete a new biological opinion that will evaluate the impact of the fishery and ensure that it is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the sea turtle species captured in it. It will also consider measures that could be used to reduce turtle capture and killing by the fishery, to allow it to reopen at a future date.
4. The Service also states that it is working with the Gulf Council to implement “long-term measures to reduce bycatch of sea turtles in the eastern Gulf of Mexico," which "are needed to provide protection for loggerhead sea turtles" in particular due to the long-term decline in their nesting population in Florida. Such long-term measures, for consideration on a permanent basis, would be implemented after a period of public notice during which all interested citizens would have full opportunity to comment.
5. The Service provides notice that it may renew the closure for a longer period of time if necessary for the agency to fulfill its legal obligations under the Endangered Species Act and the Magnuson Stevens Act to prevent further harm to threatened and endangered sea turtles.

Background

The National Marine Fisheries Service took this action in part because in 2005, it had determined that the Gulf of Mexico fishery could capture up to 114 sea turtles, including 85 loggerheads, during a three-year period without violating the Endangered Species Act. But in recent months the agency released new information that vessels in the Gulf caught nearly 1,000 turtles between July 2006 and December 2008 — more than eight times the number allowed. In February 2009, the Service requested public comment regarding an emergency closure to protect sea turtles in view of the high numbers of unexpected turtle captures but still had not acted as of April 15, 2009 when conservation groups filed suit to compel protective action by the agency. The National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is responsible for ensuring that bottom longline fishing does not pose a threat to sea turtle populations.

Bottom longline fishing is a fishing process that uses hundreds or even thousands of baited hooks along miles of lines laid behind fishing vessels and stretching down to the reef and Gulf floor. The fishing hooks target species like grouper, tilefish, and sharks, but often catch other fish or wildlife, including endangered and threatened sea turtles. Injuries from these hooks affect a sea turtle's ability to feed, swim, avoid predators, and reproduce. Many times the turtles drown or, unable to recover from the extreme physiological stress, die soon after being released from the longlines. A portion of fishing vessels within the reef fish fishery have used bottom longline fishing gear off the west Florida shelf within the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which the Fisheries Service has described as "an important sea turtle foraging habitat."

For more information visit: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/sea-turtles-04-29-2009.html

Grey Wolf Taken Off Endangered List

The grey wolf was Monday taken off the U.S. list of endangered species, making a comeback 35 years after it virtually disappeared and can now be hunted in most states, officials said.

"We have recovered a wolf population," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, based in Montana.

"The populations are viable, they are in great shape, they have extreme genetic diversity and so the endangered species act did its job to bring wolves back."

The grey wolf was placed on the endangered list in 1974 after the animals

were almost eliminated in many U.S. states.

But thanks to conservation efforts its numbers now reach some 4,000 in the Great Lakes region, which includes Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and there are more than 1,300 in the Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana. There are also between 8,000 and 11,000 grey wolves in Alaska.

Article continues: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/05/04/gray-wolf-delisted.html

The Carbon Budget

In these tough economic times none of us are strangers to the concept of ‘budgeting’. It makes perfect sense doesn’t it? You have a limited amount of funds to allocate so you try to live within those means. Of course you could ‘live now, pay later’ but that way disaster lies.

That concept is applied to carbon in the context of climate change in a new study published today in the science journal Nature.

There's a Q and A on the article here

Keeping global temperature increase below 2 degrees C – beyond which we can expect climate chaos – requires limiting greenhouse gas emissions. According to the study, staying within a ‘budget’ of one trillion tonnes of CO2 in the first 50 years of this century would give us 75% chance of staying below 2 degrees.

This has huge implications for the 192 governments currently negotiating a new climate deal, due to be agreed at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December - not least because we have, in the last nine years, already used a third of that carbon budget. If emissions stay at current levels, the rest will be gone by 2030, - much earlier, if they continue to increase according to current trends.

Staying within the carbon budget means we cannot afford to burn even a quarter of the oil, coal and gas that has already been discovered. Searching for more or developing technology to extract unconventional sources such as highly polluting tar sands is unnecessary at best and madness at worst.

The sooner we can turn the global growth trend in emissions into a rapidly declining trend, the better chance we will have in staying within the budget and consequently - below the 2 degree threshold.

However, with 2°C warming, the Earth is likely to be warmer than it has been for millions of years. For Greenpeace the associated impacts would be totally unacceptable. Even a 1 in 4 chance of overshooting this limit is too high a risk. We believe global emissions will need to peak by 2015 and then decline rapidly to as close to zero as possible by 2050. This would reduce the risk of exceeding 2 degrees C to roughly 13 % and leave a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C or less.

Live now pay later is as dangerous for the climate as it has proven to be for the economy. The longer we wait to cut emissions, the faster and deeper the cuts will need to be in the future. As the study shows, if we don’t take the bull by the horns now we will find ourselves locked into a fossil fuelled future where it will be incredibly difficult and expensive to make the cuts needed to stay well below a 2 degree increase. Instead of adapting our energy systems to a low-carbon future, which is today’s opportunity, the change will have to be immediate and painful - and that is assuming it will still be possible.

As the international negotiations limp towards their Copenhagen conclusion governments need to take heed of this study and apply the lessons learned from the economic crisis. Use the budget wisely and fairly, live within your means and don’t put off until tomorrow what must be done today. (Greenpeace)

Indonesia trains forestry personnel from Timor Leste

Kupang (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is conducting a training course for 30 officers of the Timor Leste forestry office here May 4-19 as part of the implementation of a forestry cooperation agreement.

The agreement was signed by Indonesia`s forestry minister and Timor Leste`s agriculture, forestry and fishery minister in Jakarta on October 29, 2008.

The training was officially opened by the foreign affairs ministry`s information and public diplomatic director general, Andri Hadi, and at the presence of among others Timor Leste`s Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Minister Mariano Assanami Sabino, Indonesian Ambassador to Timor Leste Eddy Setia Budhi, the forestry ministry`s rehabilitation and social forestry director general, Indiastuti, and NTT Vice Governor Esthon L Foenay.

The training course was entitled "International Training on Multi Disaster Risk Management: Focusing on Forest Rehabilitation for Timor Leste".

Indonesia`s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has launched a tree planting movement with a slogan of "One Man One Tree` and the Indonesian Tree Planting Day to be observed on every November 28.

Timor Leste`s Forestry Minister also planned to launch a National Tree Planting Movement with a target of planting at least one million trees.

Apart from the bilateral cooperation with Timor Leste, Indonesia is preparing a draft agreement on trilateral forestry cooperation which will also involve Timor Leste and Brazil.

The cooperation will include forest restoration, land erosion mitigation, wood product revitalization, and tree rejuvenation, as well as forestry trainings. (Antara)

Indonesia not to reject WOC delegates from Mexico

Manado, N Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government will not hamper the participation of delegates from Mexico to attend the World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Manado, North Sulawesi, on May 11-15, 2009, a government spokesman said.

"Delegates from Mexico will get a similar treatment with the thousands of other delegates who will attend the WOC conference. No special treatment will be given to them," chief maritime and fishery researcher of the Maritime and Fisheries Affairs Ministry, Gellwyn Yusuf said here on Sunday.

The statement was made in connection with the outbreak of the swine flu in Mexico where over 100 people have been killed.

The Indonesian government has registered the Mexican delegation which is composed of 20 members to attend the ocean conference in North Sulawesi.

In an effort to prevent the spread of swine flu, the government has installed a thermo scanner at Sam Ratulangi airport in Manado as well as at some other airports in Indonesia.

In his visit here on Saturday, Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie said the anticipatory steps were taken at the Sam Ratulangi international airport here in connection with the WOC conference from May 11-15, 2009.

The thermo scanner detects the body temperature of people after arriving from abroad to find out whether or not they had the swine flu virus H1N1. The H1N1 which first attacked Mexico has killed hundreds of people and raised worldwide fear.

The WOC on May 11-14 which aims to build a commitment for sustainable management of marine resources will be themed "Climate Change Impacts on Oceans and the Role of Oceans in Climate Change".

During the WOC, ministers, senior officials, and oceanographers from all over the world will discuss the complex relationship between the oceans and climate change.
The government has registered delegations from 50 countries to the WOC conference of the 121 maritime nations sending about 2,700 delegates. (Ant)

Oil Sands Could Threaten Millions of Migratory Birds

An anonymous tip last April alerted Canadian officials to the fact that 500 ducks had mistaken an oil sands company's pollutant-filled reservoir in Alberta as a safe place to land. To the public's dismay, only three birds survived.

Hundreds of decomposed ducks have since risen to the surface, leading Syncrude Canada to clarify last week that its lake-sized reservoir, known as a tailings pond, in fact killed an estimated 1,606 birds, mostly mallards. Tailings ponds hold a watery mix of clay, sand, hydrocarbons, and heavy metals that remains after the oil extraction process.

The company's allegedly negligent environmental management has become symbolic of the problems associated with the development of oil sands - strips of sand or clay mixed with a dense form of petroleum known as bitumen. While the true impact of the fuel's extraction and production on wildlife and the climate is still unknown, environmentalists caution that further investments in oil sands would result in much wider damage.

To quantify the potential impact on migratory bird species, the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) explored how many birds - currently alive or yet to be born - would be lost if all the oil sands projects proposed in Alberta came to pass. The report, discussed at a Washington, D.C., briefing on Friday, estimates a maximum death toll of 166 million birds over the next 50-60 years.

"The numbers are of much greater magnitude than anyone imagined because no one ever studied the whole impact of these projects," said lead author Jeff Wells, a senior scientist at the Seattle-based Boreal Songbird Initiative.

Many of the migratory birds threatened by oil sands development already face the prospects of extinction, according to the Canadian government. Endangered species include the whooping crane and piping plover, the NRDC report said.

"We say we have laws that are supposedly protecting migratory birds in both Canada and the United States, but clearly that is not happening," said co-author Susan Casey-Lefkowtiz, a senior attorney with NRDC who is currently suing the governments of both countries to halt oil-sands refinery and pipeline developments.

Higher energy prices turned costly oil sands - also known as "tar sands" - into an affordable option for many energy companies before oil prices nosedived this past year. The province of Alberta, which has received almost Can$1 billion in royalties each year from the fuel, anticipates production to reach 3-5 million barrels a day by 2030.

Beyond the toxic dangers of tailing ponds, oil sands contribute to significant habitat destruction, water depletion, and air pollution across Alberta's boreal forests, critics say. Moreover, producing a barrel of crude from oil sands emits as much as three times more carbon dioxide than is released from conventional oil wells, according to estimates. Although oil sands account for less than one-tenth of 1 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, the NRDC report notes that the fuel source has become Canada's fastest growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

"Exploiting tar sands in Canada does not make sense in the way ecologists think they know about the workings of the world," said George Woodwell, founder of the Woods Hole Research Center and NRDC's vice chairman, at Friday's event.

Woodwell noted that climate change may pose an even greater risk to America's bird species as regional warming triggers shifts in the location of boreal forests - popular avian breeding grounds. "Birds are able to pick up their suitcases and move, but trees can't do that," he said.

The report's authors caution, however, that their projections combine various oil sands development scenarios to determine the number of birds that could potentially be lost. The study included 170 million birds that breed across 35 million acres of boreal forest. Yet many of the strip-mining operations, tailings ponds, and associated developments such as roads and pipelines included in the analysis have not been approved.

Dave Ealey, a spokesman for Alberta's environmental oversight department, said that the report exaggerated the true impact of oil sands on the region's forests. Habitat fragmentation caused by new refineries and roads, for instance, would not cause more harm than natural wildfires, he said.

"The scale here is misleading by accumulating the lost [bird] populations over future generations," Ealey said. "It creates the impression that more birds are impacted by oil sands than is actually the case."

With regard to climate change, Ealey noted that the province is providing Can$2 billion to oil sands producers to enable them to add carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies to their sites. "No doubt global warming is an issue," he said. "Alberta is the only area with CCS legislation. It's something we'll pursue."

But several companies that were selected by the province in November to receive the CCS funds have since removed their funding bids, citing the high infrastructure costs that the government still would require. "Only a few of the tar sand companies have even submitted [CCS] proposals," Casey-Lefkowitz said.

Without CCS projects, the future of oil sands developments could be jeopardized. The Canadian government has required companies to reduce only the rate at which they emit greenhouse gases, without restricting overall emissions levels. But recent economic analyses have cast doubt on whether international momentum toward a low-carbon economy will support controversial oil sands projects financially.

"Oil sands extraction is very carbon intensive, yet most oil sands projects do not anticipate regulatory constraints on CO2 emissions," according to a March report by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. The report warned that the cheaper cost of natural gas may also prevent oil sands from overcoming the current economic recession: "Projects in the pipeline will never recoup their investment."

Climate change and fossil fuel developments are already a leading driver behind bird population declines in the United States, the dominant purchaser of Canadian oil shale. An estimated one-third of the roughly 800 U.S. bird species are endangered, threatened, or in significant decline due to habitat loss, invasive species, and other threats, according to a U.S. Department of Interior report released last month.

"Birds tell us so much about what is going on around us," said Gabriela Chavarria, director of the NRDC's science center. "They tell us that there needs to be a change in U.S. energy policy."

This article is reproduced with the kind permission of the Worldwatch Institute. For more news and articles, visit www.worldwatch.org. (ENN)

How kangaroo burgers could save the planet

COWS, sheep and goats may seem like innocent victims of humanity's appetite for meat, but when it comes to climate change they have a dark secret. Forget cars, planes or even power stations, some of the world's worst greenhouse gas emitters wander idly across rolling pastures chewing the cud, oblivious to the fact that their continuous belching (and to a lesser degree, farting) is warming the planet.

Take New Zealand, where 34.2 million sheep, 9.7 million cattle, 1.4 million deer and 155,000 goats emit 48 per cent of the country's greenhouse gases in the form of methane and nitrous oxide. Worldwide, livestock burps are responsible for 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions - more than produced from all forms of transport combined. Methane accounts for the bulk of ruminant green house gas emissions, one tonne of the gas has 25 times the global warming potential of the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide.

Rising populations and incomes are expected to double the global demand for meat and milk from 229 to 465 million tonnes and 580 to 1043 million tonnes, respectively, by 2050. This will almost double the amount of greenhouse gases produced by livestock, dwarfing attempts to cut emissions elsewhere. Apart from all of us turning to a vegetarian diet, can anything be done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock? (ENN)

Article Continues: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026873.100-how-kangaroo-burgers-could-save-the-planet.html

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Mercury in seals linked to vanishing sea ice

Every summer, seal hunters in the village of Ulukhaktok in Canada’s Northwest Territories carve out small pieces of muscle from ringed seals during their annual subsistence hunt. As part of their collaboration with Arctic researchers, they carefully bag the tissue samples, draw blood, and measure each seal.

After more than 30 years of monitoring the seals, the researchers have noticed a disturbing pattern: levels of the dangerous metal mercury in the seals are connected to the state of sea ice on the ocean. The new research, published in ES&T, reveals that more mercury may be spiraling up the food chain as sea ice disappears.

“The trend now in the loss of sea ice suggests that mercury in ringed seals will increase over time,”� says Gary Stern, a study coauthor from the University of Manitoba (Canada). His team, along with colleagues from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, measured mercury levels in ringed seals collected from 1973 to 2007 and related the levels to the length of the summer ice-free season in the seals’ habitat.

The Arctic environment already contains more mercury than animals there can take up, Stern explains. However, a shifting climate could result in ecosystems converting the mercury into highly toxic forms that biomagnify up the food chain.

The researchers found that mercury concentrations in seals were higher in years when the ice-free season was either very long or very short. The researchers think this is related to the seals’ food supplies. Cod are the most-mercury-contaminated food that ringed seals eat, so the seals’ summer mercury levels depend largely on how much cod the seals ate during their previous fall and winter hunting season. Older cod are the most contaminated, because the metal accumulates over time.

The researchers think that a longer ice-free season creates milder conditions that favor cod growth. So in years with less sea ice, seals have a longer ice-free period in which to catch cod, plus there may be more cod to eat. Alternatively, when sea ice stays frozen for a long time, young cod may have a harder time surviving the winter, leaving a greater proportion of older and more contaminated cod as a food supply. (ENN)

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Depletion of Prey Fish may be Starving the Oceans

Rome, Italy -- Scientists are finding evidence of widespread malnutrition in commercial and recreational fish, marine mammals, and seabirds because of the global depletion of the small fish they need to survive, according to Oceana's new report, "Hungry Oceans: What Happens When the Prey is Gone?" These "prey fish" underpin marine food webs and are being steadily exhausted by heavy fishing, increasing demand for aquaculture feed, and climate change.

"We have caught all the big fish and now we are going after their food," said Margot Stiles, marine scientist at Oceana. "Until recently it has been widely believed that prey fish are impossible to overexploit because their populations grow so quickly. We are now proving that untrue as the demands of commercial fisheries and aquaculture outpace the ocean's ability to provide food for us and itself."

Hungry Oceans finds that 7 of the top 10 fisheries in the world target prey fish. These fisheries have emerged as populations of bigger fish have become overexploited and depleted. The report concludes that the impacts of fishing activity over the past decades has been so great that the nearly all prey fisheries now cannot withstand increased fishing pressure. Hungry Oceans also finds that aquaculture is increasingly the driver behind overfishing of prey fish, as salmon, tuna and other carnivorous farmed fish become the fastest growing seafood products in the world. Changing ocean temperatures and currents caused by climate change also make prey fish populations more vulnerable.

Hungry Oceans coincides with the release today of the biennial State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO). The FAO concludes that 80% of all marine fish stocks are currently fully exploited, overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion; including stocks of the 7 largest prey fisheries. Very few marine fish populations remain with the potential to sustain production increases, and more have now reached their limit than ever before.

Impacts

The future of valuable commercial and recreational fisheries is threatened by the loss of prey fish, especially those that are currently rebuilding from historic depletion. Hungry Oceans identifies bluefin tuna, striped bass, Pacific salmon, and Pacific halibut as key species dependent on prey fish.

"We're constantly making life difficult for endangered species from seabirds to whales, and going hungry is not going to help. Valuable fish like bluefin tuna are struggling, and we can't expect the fishery to recover when we are stealing their food supply. By taking food from the tuna we could end up hungry ourselves" said Stiles.

Marine mammals and seabirds also depend on access to prey fish for their daily survival and for their young, including blue whales, humpback whales, penguins, and terns. Even species protected under national and international laws are experiencing food shortages.

Solutions

More responsible management is needed to prevent predators from going hungry. Hungry Oceans proposes a series of measures including a moratorium on new fisheries targeting prey species, conservative catch limits for existing fisheries, first priority for the needs of ocean predators, and stopping fishing for prey in predator breeding hotspots.

"Fisheries managers simply take prey for granted despite their critical role in the ecosystem," said Stiles. "We need to act responsibly when taking prey from natural predators, with our eyes open to the consequences for the ocean and for our own supply of seafood."

This article is reproduced with kind permission of the Oceana
For more news and articles, visit oceana.org. (ENN)

Ultra-Rare Shark Caught and Eaten

A megamouth shark, one of the world's most elusive species, was caught, carved up and eaten by fishermen from a town in the Philippines, the environmental conservation group WWF said Tuesday.

So rare are megamouth shark sightings that each find is given a number -- this one, caught by fishermen from the coastal town of Donsol, was only the 41st ever seen or captured in the world.

But Elson Aca, a Donsol WWF representative, said it was butchered and its meat sauteed in coconut milk as a local delicacy, against the organization's advice.

The 13-foot, 1,100-pound megamouth was snared by fishermen trawling for mackerel off the Bicol peninsula on Luzon island. (ENN/AFP)

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EPA Adds Nine Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List

(Washington, D.C.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding nine new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites. Also, EPA is proposing to add 13 other sites to the list. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

To date, there have been 1,596 sites listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 332 sites have been deleted resulting in 1,264 final sites currently on the NPL. With the proposal of the 13 new sites, there are 67 proposed sites awaiting final agency action: 62 in the general Superfund section and five in the federal facilities section. There are a total of 1,331 final and proposed sites.

Contaminants found at the final and proposed sites include arsenic, asbestos, barium, cadmium, carbon tetrachloride, chloromethane, chromium, copper, dichloroethene (DCE), lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), selenium, silver, sulfuric acid, tetrachloroethene (PCE), trichloroethane (TCA), trichloroethene (TCE), vinyl chloride, and zinc.

With all Superfund sites, EPA tries to identify and locate the parties potentially responsible for the contamination. For the newly listed sites without viable potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site. Therefore, it may be several years before significant cleanup funding is required for these sites.

Sites may be placed on the list through various mechanisms:

• Numeric ranking established by EPA’s Hazard Ranking System
• Designation by states or territories of one top-priority site
• Meeting all three of the following requirements:
  • The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a health advisory that recommends removing people from the site;
  • EPA determines the site poses a significant threat to public health; and
  • EPA anticipates it will be more cost-effective to use its remedial authority than to use its emergency removal authority to respond to the site.

Federal Register notices and supporting documents for these final and proposed sites: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm

The following nine sites have been added to the National Priorities List:

Raleigh Street Dump (Tampa, Fla.)
Arkla Terra Property (Thonotosassa, Fla.)
U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery, Inc. (East Chicago, Ind.)
Fort Detrick Area B Ground Water (Frederick, Md.)
Behr Dayton Thermal System VOC Plume (Dayton, Ohio)
New Carlisle Landfill (New Carlisle, Ohio)
BoRit Asbestos (Ambler, Pa.)
Barite Hill/Nevada Goldfields (McCormick, S.C.)
Attebury Grain Storage Facility (Happy, Texas)

The following 13 sites have been proposed to the National Priorities List:

General Dynamics Longwood (Longwood, Fla.)
Lane Street Ground Water Contamination (Elkhart, Ind.)
Southwest Jefferson County Mining (Jefferson County, Mo.)
Flat Creek IMM (Superior, Mont.)
Ore Knob Mine (Ashe County, N.C.)
GMH Electronics (Roxboro, N.C.)
Raritan Bay Slag (Old Bridge/Sayreville, N.J.)
Gowanus Canal (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Little Scioto River (Marion County, Ohio)
Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation/Church Road TCE (Mountain Top, Pa.)
Papelera Puertorriquena, Inc. (Utuado, Puerto Rico)
Peck Iron and Metal (Portsmouth, Va.)
Amcast Industrial Corporation (Cedarburg, Wis.)

By ENN

Activists throw "stink" bombs at Japanese whaler

/wildlife/article/38945

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Environmentalists chasing a Japanese whaling fleet off Antarctica threw "stink" bombs and dye at one of the vessels, Japanese authorities and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said.

The two vessels collided during the incident, but both sustained only minor damage limited mainly to their paintwork, said Paul Watson, founder of the environmental group.

The U.S.-based group said the Japanese ship, the Kaiko Maru, was spotted by its vessel the Steve Irwin north of Mawson Peninsula.

The stink bombs were made of biodegradable, harmless materials including rancid butter, chemically known as butyric acid, Watson said, adding that the Japanese ship appeared to have been taken by surprise.

"Butyric acid is the technical name for rotten butter. Beer is more acidic than this stuff," he said from the Steve Irwin.

The Japanese Fisheries Agency said no one was hurt during the incident which lasted about three hours, Kyodo news agency reported.

Japan's whaling fleet is in the Antarctic for an annual hunt. Despite an international ban on whaling, Japan justifies the hunt on the grounds this whaling is for "scientific" purposes.

Much of the meat ends up on supermarket shelves.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence/ENN)

No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in 'Passive Houses'

/lifestyle/article/38940

DARMSTADT, Germany — From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the stylish new gray and orange row houses in the Kranichstein District, with wreaths on the doors and Christmas lights twinkling through a freezing drizzle. But these houses are part of a revolution in building design: There are no drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no furnace.

In Berthold Kaufmann’s home, there is, to be fair, one radiator for emergency backup in the living room — but it is not in use. Even on the coldest nights in central Germany, Mr. Kaufmann’s new “passive house”� and others of this design get all the heat and hot water they need from the amount of energy that would be needed to run a hair dryer.

“You don’t think about temperature — the house just adjusts,”� said Mr. Kaufmann, watching his 2-year-old daughter, dressed in a T-shirt, tuck into her sausage in the spacious living room, whose glass doors open to a patio. His new home uses about one-twentieth the heating energy of his parents’ home of roughly the same size, he said.

Architects in many countries, in attempts to meet new energy efficiency standards like the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design standard in the United States, are designing homes with better insulation and high-efficiency appliances, as well as tapping into alternative sources of power, like solar panels and wind turbines.

Article Continues: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/europe/27house.html?_r=1&ref=world

Cycles for health, clean air

Marwan
JAKARTA

Sunday, August 19, 2006

JAKARTA is notorious for its air pollution and traffic jam. Taking bicycles to work places, as well as for shopping or visiting friends and relatives has captured the hearts and minds of a number of people in this busy, smoky city.

Started among people who like cycling for sports and recreation, more and more Jakarta inhabitants have moved forward by using their bicycles as their main transportation on their daily routines.

The community of bikers among professionals, who call themselves Komunitas Bike to Work (Bike to Work Community), believe that by cycling to work, they help preserve the environment, keep themselves healthy, save energy as well as reduce pollution, stress on the streets and traffic jams.

The initiative of using this environment-friendly transport started two years ago among mountain bikers, who dreamt of having clean air in Jakarta. They felt that the Jakarta air was worsening, with more and more smoke from motor vehicles flooding the streets.

"It started with the community of mountain bikers, where we usually get together on weekends outside Jakarta," said Toto Sugiharto, chairman of Bike to Work Community Indonesia.

"And we thought, 'why not use these bicycles to go to work, and reduce pollution?' We all agreed on that idea. From then on, we campaigned on using this alternative transport to go to work in super-crowded Jakarta."

The community gains members quite quickly. Only after two years, it now has about 5,000 members, according to its information officer Rivo Pamudji. Some 2,500 of them are active in communicating with one another via the community's mailing list.

"Every day, about 100 new members enlist," said Rivo, when met at the Bicycle for Earth event at Senayan last month. Among professionals who are cycling to offices in Jakarta are Andi Malarangeng, the President's spokesperson, Minister of Environment Rachmat Witoelar and his wife, the environmental public figure Erna Witoelar, and other famous names in business, politics, and other fields of professions.

Bike to Work also has branches in other Indonesian cities like Yogyakarta, Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi), Bandung, Mojokerto, Aceh and Balikpapan and are always looking to expand.

"Bike to Work Makassar will be established this month," Rivo added. The rapid development of this community is made possible by the seriousness of the chairman, Toto Sugiharto, in making this programme work. A strong fellowship between bikers also contributes to it members are always helpful to bikers, even though they are not members, when they have problems on the streets.

"Our community is open to everybody. It requires only ownership of a bicycle, regardless the type and class of the bike," said Lutfi, a biker from Bekasi who only recently started cycling to work.

"I enjoyed biking since my childhood. Three years ago, I started cycling again. I started using my bike to go shopping and to office. I kind of enjoy it. With this community, I am more encouraged." He also tries to influence his colleagues at his office to do the same, reminding them about the worsening air quality in Jakarta that may endanger people's health.

Jakarta's traffic snarls are notorious it could take some one two to three hours to get from home to the office.

One biker said he was doing better by bicycle on the 36km home to office trip, compared to using his car.

"The government should realise that there is a crisis of transportation in Jakarta, and there must be a solution to that," Luthfi said.

Some people might raise the possibility of inhaling polluted air while cycling, therefore making the exercise unhealthy. However, there is a study by Rank J, Folke J and Jespersen from University of Roskilde, Department of Environment, Technology and Social Studies, Denmark, that says otherwise.

They sent two teams of bikers and motorists, equipped with air-testing devices, to roam the streets for four hours in two different mornings in Copenhagen. The air sample the teams took were analysed of their benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) content, including dust particles.

The results: The concentration of BTEX in drivers was two to four times the amount recorded for the cyclists.

What has been initiated by the Bike to Work Community is good to emulate, since Jakarta is projected as one zone that may be severely affected by global warming.

Research from the International Institute for Environment and Development Britania in cooperation with City University of New York and Colombia University in 2007 says a tenth of the world's population, or 634 million people, living near the oceans will drown when polar ice melts as a result of global warming.

This research also predicts that Jakarta, some parts of West Java and Banten province are some zones that would drown by the end of this century. The Brunei Times

Pemanasan Global Hantui Warga Dunia

Perubahan iklim saat ini bukan lagi wacana yang mengawan-awan, tapi sudah mulai terasa bahkan telah menjadi momok yang menakutkan bagi warga bumi, tengoklah beberapa kejadian alam di berbagai belahan bumi seperti naiknya permukaan air laut dan kondisi cuaca yang tak menentu serta suhu udara makin meningkat. Tak pelak peringatan hari lingkungan hidup se-dunia mengumandangkan isu ini.

Oleh : Marwan.

Gejala alam tersebut mulai diteliti secara aktif mulai dekade tahun 1980-an dan hasilnya sangat mengejutkan para ahli lingkungan karena kengerian akan dampak yang dikuatirkan muncul kemudian.

Pemanasan bumi sebenarnya hal yang biasa, sejarah planet bumi terus menghangat dan mendingin berkali-kali selama 4,65 milyar tahun. Seperti apa proses terjadinya?, bumi yang kita huni memiliki lapisan atmosfer yang melindunginya dari dampak radisai sinar matahari. Setiap hari, panas matahari masuk ke bumi menembus lapisan atmosfir, berupa radiasi gelombang pendek. Sebagian diserap bumi, dan sisanya dipantulkan lagi ke angkasan sebagai gelombang panjang.

Pada lapisan atmosfer bumi itu, terdapat selimut gas yang biasa dikenal dengan Gas Rumah Kaca. (GRK). Gas Rumah Kaca ini yang berfungsi menahan panas matahari agar tidak dilepas kembali seluruhnya keangkasan, sehingga bumi tetap hangat.

Selama bumi masih dalam temperatur yang “nyaman” bagi hewan, tumbuhan dan manusia untuk bertahan hidup yaitu 60-F/16-C, pemanasan bumi adalah hal yang baik. Namun hal tersebut akan menjadi masalah, jika terjadi peningkatan konsentrasi Gas Rumah Kaca yang melebihi dari batas normal.

Berdasarkan hasil pengamatan para ahli menunjukkan bahwa dalam satu abad terakhir ini telah terjadi peningkatan suhu secara global atau yang dikenal Global Warming. ”Peningkatan ini menyebabkan terjadinya efek rumah kaca sehingga suhu udara di bumi meningkat, yang dikenal dengan nama Pemanasan Global serta terjadinya pola perubahan iklim,”kata Menteri Negara Lingkungan Hidup Republik Indonesia, Ir Rachmat Witoelar saat pembukaan pekan lingkungan hidup Indonesia di Taman Buah Mekar Sari Bogor beberapa waktu lalu.

Menurut Racmat Witoelar, kondisi lingkungan global yang kian memburuk dipicu oleh pembangunan di berbagai negara di dunia yang kurang berwawasan lingkungan. “Karenanya itu lanjut Rachmat, dalam peringatan hari lingkungan, Indonesia menetapkan tema ”Iklim Berubah, Waspadalah Terhadap Lingkungan!,”. Tema tersebut mengingatkan seluruh pihak agar mengantisipasi dampak perubahan iklim secara global akibat meningkatnya rumah kaca yang berlebihan karena pembakaran bahan fosil oleh penduduk dunia.

Carbon Dioksida (CO2) dan beberapa jenis gas lainnya (CH4, N2O, CFC), sisa pembakaran bahan bakar minyak bumi ternyata telah memenuhi atmosfer bumi dan seolah menciptakan dinding kaca yang menjebak panas sinar matahari tertahan di permukaan bumi, fenomena ini dikenal sebagai efek rumah kaca.

Menurut para ahli cuaca internasional sebagaimana yang dikutip Radio Nederland memperkirakan bahwa planet bumi bakal mengalami kenaikan suhu rata-rata 3,5 derajat Celcius memasuki abad mendatang sebagai efek akumulasi penumpukan gas tersebut.

Dampaknya cukup mencemaskan antara lain meliputi, kenaikan permukaan laut akibat proses pencairan es di kutub, perubahan pola angin, meningkatnya badai atmosferik, bertambahnya populasi dan jenis organisme penyebab penyakit yang berdampak pada kesehatan, perubahan pola curah hujan dan siklus hidrologi serta perubahan ekosistem hutan, daratan dan ekosistem lainnya.

Para pakar lingkungan dunia selama bertahun-tahun telah mencoba mengumpulkan bukti-bukti ilmiah yang dapat menjelaskan fenomena alam ini, dan hasilnya cukup mengejutkan yaitu berupa, iklim mulai tidak stabil pada bulan Juni 1998 di Tibet terjadi gelombang udara panas, temperatur berkisar 25 derajat Celcius selama 23 hari, kejadian tersebut belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya. Kawasan Siberia, Eropa Timur dan Amerika Utara yang dikenal udaranya sangat membekukan tulang kini mulai menghangat.

Sementara Kairo pada Agustus 1998 tercatat suhu udara menembus angka 410 C. Pada Agustus 1998 di Sidney Australia terjadi badai besar disertai hujan dengan curah hujan mencapai tiga kali ukuran normal. Sementara di Indonesia, Meksiko dan Spanyol terjadi musim kering berkepanjangan akibat dipicu oleh badai tropis yang berujung pada terbakarnya hutan dengan luasan kumulatif mencapai jutaan hektar.

Fenomena alam lainnya adalah, naiknya permukaan air Laut di kawasan kepulauan Bermuda Amerika Tengah dilaporkan bahwa air laut telah meluap melampaui batas air payau dan memusnahkan areal hutan bakau di kawasan tersebut. Hal serupa juga terjadi di Indonesia, dimana sejumlah daerah pesisir dihadapkan oleh kenaikkan permukaan air laut yang telah mengakibatkan kerugian materi yang dialami sebagian besar penduduk yang bermukim di sekitar kawasan pesisir pantai.

Mencairnya es di kutub utara akan menyebabkan permukaan air laut meningkat sehingga pulau-pulau kecil akan tenggelam. Sudah barang tentu, ini merupakan ancaman yang serius bagi Indonesia sebagai negara kepulauan. Sementara di Fiji terjadi penyusutan garis pantai sepanjang 15 cm per tahun selama 90 tahun terakhir ini. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian IPCC (1990) permukaan air laut telah naik sekitar 10-20 cm pada masa abad terakhir ini. Bila angka kenaikan permukaan air laut ini sampai menyentuh kisaran angka 20-50 cm maka habitat di daerah pantai akan mengalami gangguan bahkan musnah.

Sedangkan peningkatan sebesar 1 meter diprediksi akan mampu menggusur puluhan juta orang akibat terendamnya kota dan desa dikawasan pesisir, lahan pertanian produktif akan hancur terendam dan persediaan air tawar akan tercemar.

Sementara itu populasi penguin jenis Adeline di Antartika berkurang 33 persen dalam masa 25 tahun terakhir akibat surutnya permukaan lautan es. Team peneliti dari Kanada melaporkan bahwa jumlah rusa kutub Peary menurun drastis jumlahnya dari 24.000 pada tahun 1961 menjadi hanya sekitar 1.000 pada tahun 1997 akibat perubahan iklim yang cukup ekstrim.

Perubahan iklim terutama peningkatan suhu juga menyebabkan penyebaran berbagai penyakit berlansung cepat, bahkan memicu munculnya beberapa serangan penyakit yang sebelumnya belum pernah ada pada daerah tertentu. Sebut saja di Papua tahun 1997, penyakit malaria terdeteksi untuk pertama kalinya pada pemukiman di ketinggian 2.100 meter dari permukaan laut. Meskipun dampak yang ditimbulkan akibat pemanasan global amatlah mengerikan hal ini bukan berarti kita tidak bisa berbuat sesuatu.

Adaptasi dan Mitigasi Lingkungan

Lalu Apa yang bisa dilakukan mengantisipasi dampak pemanasan global? Perlu kerjasama dan komitemen berbagai pihak yang menghuni bumi ini untuk mengatasi dan menghentikan wabah bencana tersebut.

Kementerian Negara Lingkungan Hidup saat pembukaan hari lingkungan hidup se-Dunia di Jakarta telah menghimbau semua pihak agar mengupayakan langkah ”adaptasi” dan “mitigasi” terhadap lingkungan.” Kegiatan adaptasi dilakukan untuk menekan dampak perubahan iklim baik secara antisipatif maupun reaktif.

Secara sederhana adaptasi lingkungan dilakukan dengan membiasakan diri menaman pohon dan hindari menebang pohon terutama di daerah berbukit agar tidak terjadi tanah longsor dan diharapkan keberadaan pohon tersebut bisa menyerap polusi udara, budayakan hidup bersih dengan cara membuang sampah pada tempat yang telah disediakan.

Selain itu, upayakan membuat sumur resapan atau bak untuk menampung air hujan, serta menghindari daerah pemukiman di lereng bukit. Bagi pelaut, petani dan yang akan melakukan perjalanan jarak jauh, carilah informasi ramalan cuaca dan musim sebelum beraktifitas.

Sedangkan kegiatan mitigasi dilakukan sebagai salah satu upaya menurunkan efek gas rumah kaca sehingga dapat memperlambat laju pemanasan global. Yang bisa dilakukan untuk meredam laju kenaikan suhu bumi yaitu melalui pengembangan etika hemat energi dan ramah lingkungan,

Upaya lainnya adalah penghematan pemakaian listrik konsumsi rumah tangga perlu terus diupayakan terutama bila pembangkit listriknya mempergunakan bahan bakar diesel/batu bara.

Saat belanja, pilih produk dengan kemasan minimal untuk mengurangi sampah, dan bawahlah tas belanja sendiri agar meminimalkan penggunaan kantong plastik. Sebagai konsumen, kita harus kritis melakukan penolakan untuk mepergunakan barang konsumsi dan peralatan yang masih mempergunakan Kloroflourkarbon (CFC) dalam produknya karena saat kita memakainya tak ubahnya kita menyediakan tali untuk menjerat leher kita sendiri dimasa mendatang karena CFC merusak lapisan ozon. Bahan CFC banyak dijumpai pada peralatan pendingin (Kulkas, AC) serta tabung penyemprot parfum.

Menggiatkan pelestarian hutan dan reboisasi, karena keberadaan hutan ternyata berfungsi luar biasa dalam menyerap gas CO2 sehingga dapat memperlambat penimbunan gas-gas rumah kaca. Penelitian menunjukkan bahwa untuk menyerap 10 persen emisi CO2 yang ada di atmosfer saat ini diperlukan upaya penanaman setidaknya pada areal seluas negara Turki. Seandainya saja setiap jiwa di Makassar menaman satu batang pohon maka setidaknya ada sekitar 2.000 Ha hutan baru yang akan mampu menyerap sekitar 200.000 ton Carbon. Suatu jumlah yang cukup berarti bagi pelestarian bumi.”Ini bisa dilakukan oleh semua kalangan masyarakat dalam mengatisipasi perubahan iklim,”kata Arief Yuwono Sekretaris Menteri Lingkungan Hidup pada sejumlah wartawan yang meliput acara pekan lingkungan hidup beberapa waktu lalu.

Sebenarnya masih banyak langkah-langkah antisipatif yang dapat dilakukan baik ditataran individu maupun pengambil kebijakan, namun namun semuanya berpulang kembali kepada kesadaran masing-masing sebagai warga bumi.

Saatnya kita berpartisipasi menyelamatkan bumi dari kehancuran dan memberikan ruang bagi kehidupan, bagi generasi sekarang dan mendatang, karena bumi ini merupan pinjaman dari anak cucu kita yang wajib kita lestarikan. ***

Penulis : Sekjen Green Press (Perkumpulan Wartawan Lingkungan)

Warga Kendari, Peringati Hari Bumi Dengan Menanam Pohon.

Peringatan hari bumi 22 April tahun ini yang dilakukan oleh sejumlah kelompok penggiat dan pemerhati lingkungan di tanah air, dalam pesannya lebih banyak menyeruhkan perlunya aksi bersama dalam pemulihan lingkungan melalui gerakan penanaman pohon tak tercuali di Kota Kendari. Berikut kilasan peristiwa peringatan hari lingkungan di Kota Kendari.

Aksi peringatan hari bumi sedunia di Kota Kendari, agak berbeda dengan tahun-tahun sebelumnya, aksi dilakukan ratusan mahasiswa dari Program Studi Kehutanan Universitas Haluoleo (Unhalu) Kendari dilakukan dengan turun jalan sambil membagikan ratusan bibit pohon.

Peringatan hari bumi tersebut diikuti oleh ratusan mahasiswa dari Universitas Haluoleo, mereka melalukan long march dan membagikan ratusan pohon mahoni, rambutan dan petai kepada sejumlah pengguna jalan. ”Tujuan kita dalam peringatan hari bumi dengan pembagian tanaman ini adalah agar masyarakat peduli dengan kondisi lingkungan masing-masing. Saat ini kondisi hutan kita sangat memprihatinkan. Nah kalau ini dibiarkan tanpa ada penyadaran, kejadian (bencana red) tidak menutup kemungkinan akan terjadi di Kota Kendari,”Kata Zainal Koordintor Aksi Hari Bumi di Kendari.

Aksi tersebut dipusatkan di Perempatan Lampu Merah, Jalan Balaikota dan Abdullah Silondae Kecamatan Mandonga Kota Kendari (21/4) lalu. Mereka berorasi secara bergantian yang intinya mereka menyeruhkan agar warga Kota Kendari mengambil peran dalam penyelamatan bumi dan lingkungan dengan membiasakan diri menanam pohon minimal di lingkungan masing-masing.

Selain berorasi sambil, mereka juga membawa spanduk dengan berbagai tema yang mengingatkan pentingnya pelestarian lingkungan hidup, mereka juga tampak antusias membagikan ratusan bibit pohon pelindung pada setiap kendaraan yang lewat.

Aksi tersebut mendapatkan sambutan hangat dari sejumlah warga dan pengguna jalan yang menyaksikan aksi itu tak terkecuali sejumlah jurnalis yang meliput aksi tersebut.”Sebagai warga kota Kendari tentu kami mendukung kegiatan semacam ini. Apalagi dilakukan oleh adik-adik mahasiswa yang sudah pasti akan memberi contoh yang baik pada masyarakat tentang menjaga lingkungan. Melalui moment ini, saya berharap agar kegiatan peduli lingkungan ini bisa ditiru oleh seluruh lapisan masyarakat,”Kata Harum yang saat ini bekerja sebagai Pegawai Negeri Sipil lingkup Kota Kendari seperti yang dikutip Harian Kendari Ekspres.

Kegiatan serupa juga dilakukan aktifis Organisasi Pencinta Alam Mapernus Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas (Unhalu) Haluoleo, mereka memperingati hari bumi sedunia dengan cara menanam pohon di seputar lingkungan Fakultas Ekonomi Unhalu. Selain itu mereka juga memasang spanduk berukuran besar yang bertuliskan ”Jangan Tunggu Bencana, Baru Peduli Lingkungan”.

Aksi Bersama Menanam Pohon

Menjelang hari peringatan puncak Hari Bumi se-Dunia, tanggal 14 April 2007 lalu, LSM Focil Indonesia bersama Harian Kendari Pos, Telkomsel dan Dinas Pendidikan dan Dinas Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan Kota Kendari melakukan penanam pohon di sekitar jalan bay pass Teluk Kendari yang dikemas dengan nama gerakanan menanam 20 ribu pohon.

Launcing gerakan menanam 20 ribu pohon itu berjalan lancar serta diikuti oleh berbagai stakeholder seperti pemerintah daerah Sultra, Kota Kendari, tokoh masyarakat, anak-anak sekolah, aktivis LSM Lingkungan Hidup, jurnalis dan perguruan tinggi yang bertempat di Teluk Kendari.

Menurut Amar Ma’ruf, program tersebut bertujuan untuk menghijaukan Kota Kendari. Selain itu untuk mencegah perubahan iklim dan pemanasan global.”Awal Pebruari lalu, panel perubahan iklim PBB di Paris, merilis pernyataan resmi tentang bukti ilmiah akibat pemanasan global. Jika tak segera diatasi akan terjadi bencana ekonomi dan lingkungan yang bermuara pada tragedi kemanusian.,”kata Amar

Program penanaman 20 ribu pohon itu dilakukan secara bertahap. Untuk sementara sekitar 500 pohon dahulu, hingga tercapai jumlah penanaman 20 ribu pohon.”Kami tidak ingin kegiatan ini sekedar seremoni saja, mengingat dengan menanam pohon 500 pohon, dapat menyiapkan oksigen untuk sekitar 1000 hingga 1500 orang,”tegas Amar seperti yang dikutip Harian Kendari Pos.

Jenis pohon yang ditanam dalam gerakan bersama hijau Kota Kendari yaitu berbagai jenis pohon terambesi. Soal pengawasan, Amar mengatakan, kendali pengawasan dan pemeliharaan terhadap semua pohon yang telah ditanam akan diambil alih secara kelembagaan Dinas Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan Kota Kendari, namun pihaknya juga akan terus mengawasi.

Tangggung jawab pengawasan tak hanya melibatkan Dinas Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan Kota Kendari tapi juga melibatkan anak sekolahan. Rencananya tiap pekan akan dilibatkan satu anak sekolah untuk mengawasi, minimal 10 pohon.”Rencananya, kami akan program adopsi lingkungan. Jadi bukan hanya perawatan pohon tapi juga soal penanganan sampahnya,”kata Amar.

Pimpinan Redaksi Kendari Pos, Milwan dan Manajer Telkomsel Kendari Risal Firmansyah menyambut baik kegiatan penanaman 20 ribu pohon tersebut. ”Kota Kendari sudah berulang kali terkena musibah seperti banjir. Ini terjadi karena lingkungan di rusak. Jadi dengan adanya penanaman pohon ini, kita berharap lingkungan bisa kembali dipulihkan sehingga generasi mendatang dapat merasakannya,”ujar Milwan yang juga aktif di Green Press (Perkumpulan Wartawan Lingkungan). Gerakan menaman 20 ribu pohon merupakan pertama kalinya dilakukan di Kota Kendari yang dilakukan secara swadaya dengan melibatkan berbagai stakeholder.,”Ini belum tersosialisasi dengan baik, namun bukan penghalang untuk berbuat. Kedepan tidak menutup kemungkinan lebih dari 20 ribu pohon yang akan ditanam,”tutur Rizal Firmansyah.

Wakil Walikota Kendari, Andi Musakkir Mustafa sependapat dengan Milwan dan Rizal. Olehnya itu ia meminta tak hanya Pemkot, dalam hal ini Dinas PLH dan Kehutanan yang menjaga keamanan pohon tersebut. Tapi juga butuh dukungan dari masyarakat untuk tidak merusakanya.”Ini sangat bermanfaat. Bukan sekarang, tapi masa mendatang,”tandasnya.*** (Marwan )

Potret Sekolah Hijau di Jantung Kota Kendari

Apa yang dilakukan NP Dahlan, dalam menciptakan lingkungan hijau dan sehat patut dicontoh। Meski sekolah yang dipimpinnya tak pernah dilibatkan dalam lomba sekolah hijau yang sering diselenggarakan pemerintah, namun tak menyurutkan niatnya untuk menata lingkungan sekolah milik Yayasan Kartika TNI Angkatan Darat itu, sehingga memberi kenyaman dalam proses belajar mengajar.

Oleh : Marwan ,

Siang itu udara Kota Kendari terik sekali, meski matahari mulai condong ke barat, hawanya sangat terasa di kulit saat itu sudah menunjukan pukul 13.00 Wita. Jam sekolah berdering tanda pergantian masuk sekolah, anak-anak berseragam putih biru berlarian turun dari kendaraan angkot (angkutan kota) yang membawa mereka dari rumah masing-masing, buru-buru jalan menuju rimbunan pohon yang tertata rapi di halaman sekolah, sementara itu ribuan siswa-siswi berseragam putih abuabu, berderetan keluar pagar sekolah menuju jalan raya untuk kembali ke rumah mereka.

Hari itu anak-anak dari sekolah yang berada tepat dikaki bukit Taman Hutan Raya (Tahura) Murhum, akan memulai ulangan harian. Ratusan murid dari SMP Kartika Kendari, sejenak tampak seperti semut berkeruman di halaman sekolah, sinar surya yang keluar dari selah-selah rimbunnya daun pohon cendana dan ketapang yang menaungi halaman sekolah menambah asiknya suasana belajar mereka. Di dalam kelas meski tak tersedia kipas angin atau AC, tapi serasa berada di sebuah rungan full AC.

Kondisi damai, nyaman nan asri itu, berlangsung sudah sejak lama, sejak sepuluh bahkan belasan tahun lalu. Seiring dibangunnya sarana pendidikan di Jantung Kota Kendari itu.

Sekolah yang dikenal luas masyarakat Kota Kendari ini sebagai sekolah pemegang teguh motto ”kedisiplinan kunci keberhasilan”itu, disana sini halaman sekolahnya banyak ditumbuhi pohon dengan ukuran mulai membesar namun tetap terjaga rapi dan tidak dibiarkan tinggi melampaui atap tertinggi sekolah.

Meski sekolah itu dipadati pohon namun tidak ditemukan selembar pun daun yang terjatuh dihalaman, sebab setiap hari anak-anak dari sekolah itu sebelum memulai pelajaran diwajibkan untuk melakukan pembersihan (memungut) daun yang berguguran. Setelah bersih barulah mereka dipersilakan masuk kelas.

Meja, dinding dan batang pohon tidak ada coretan-coretan ballpoint atau luka sayatan, sebab sanksi yang diterapkan di sekolah itu bagi yang ketahuan melakukan perusakan, cukup berat. Sehingga suasana asri nan hijau bagai berada di taman alam itu tetap dapat dipertahankan meski umur sekolah itu sudah uzur."Dimanapun saja kita berada jika kita melakukan dengan hati, kita pasti berhasil, seperti di sini sejak dulu hingga saat sekarang tempat ini tetap rindang dengan pepohonan, hijau, nyaman, sejuk. Ini sesuatu yang sudah dilupakan dunia pendidikan kita saat ini," jelas Drs NP Dahlan, Kepala Sekolah SMP-SMA Kartika Kendari dikenal kritis ini.

Pria yang sudah banyak makan asam garam pengalaman hidup ini, menceritakan, kondisi sekolah yang dipimpinnya itu. Tahun 1986 lalu katanya, tempat itu termasuk daerah yang kering dan hanya ditumbuhi beberapa pohon, seiring didirikannya sekolah itu, pihak sekolah mulai melakukan penataan dengan konsep, "sekolah hijau sekolah sehat". Motto ini terus dipegang sekolah yang sudah berumur 21 tahun itu.

Ia sendiri mulai mengajar di sekolah itu sejak 1987 lalu, sebelumnya dia menjadi tenaga pengajar di Unhol (Nama Universitas Haluoleo (Unhalu) dulu) di jurusan Sosial dan Politik (Sospol). tahun 1992 pihak yayasan menunjuknya menjadi penanggung jawab di sekolah itu hingga sekarang. Latar belakang pendidikannya adalah tamatan Lembaga Administrasi Negara (LAN) di salah satu Universitas di Jakarta, jurusan manajemen.

Pengalamannya aktif diberbagai kegiatan lingkungan semisal pramuka dan dunia pecinta alam (Mapala) dikala Dahlan muda masih menuntut ilmu, menjadi inspirasi untuk menata sekolah yang terbilang tanah tandus itu, menjadi sekolah hijau dengan beragam jenis pohon-pohonan keras namun tak lupa menanaminya dengan berbagai jenis tanaman bunga yang tersusun rapi dan ditanam dalam pot. Berkat kegigihannya sekolah itu berkembang menjadi sekolah satu-satunya berpanorama alam ditengah hiruk pikuknya kehidupan Kota Kendari. Inilah pula yang mendorong sejumlah orang tua memasukan anaknya untuk sekolah di SMP-SMA Kartika.

Berdasarkan data dari sekolah itu tiap tahunnya sekolah swasta terkemuka di Kota Kendari ini, menerima ratusan siswa baru, baik SMP maupun SMA. Dimana saat ini sekolah yang berada di Jalan Sam Ratulangi, Kelurahan Kemaraya, Kecamatan Kendari Barat ini siswanya mencapai 1500 orang.

Sistem pembelajarannya antara SMP dan SMA diatur sangat rapi, SMA masuk di pagi hari sedangkan SMP-nya masuk siang hari. Sehingga meski kapasitas sekolah ini hanya punya 23 ruang kelas belajar (RKB) namun siswa tak pernah mengeluh kekurangan ruang belajar, padahal bila ditotal antara murid dengan jumlah kelas dimana ditempati maksimal perkelasnya 40 siswa, sangat tidak memungkinkan. Tapi itulah yang dirasakan di sekolah itu.

Bangunan yang didirikan diatas tanah sekitar dua hektar persegi ini, selain dihalamannya ditanami pohon pelindung, cendana, ketapang, dan pinang, juga terdapat sebuah kebun mini yang ditanami pohon buah-buahan, misal pisang, mangga dan lainnya. Serta dilengkapi dengan pondok belajar dibangun disela-sela pohon-pohonan yang berfungsi sebagai tempat membaca buku-buku pelajaran yang dipinjam diperpustakaan dan juga sebagai arael diskusi siswa sekaligus sebagai tempat istrahat.

Pemilihan jenis pohon cendana, ketapang dan pinang, karena masing-masing pohon memiliki keunggulan kata Dahlan. Misalnya cendana dipilih karena canopi (daerah penutupannya luas) serta dia hanya menggugurkan daunnya sekali setahun selanjutnya hijau terus sehingga tak menyulitkan untuk dilakukan pembersihan dan perawatan.

Begitu juga dengan pohon ketapang. Selain daerah penutupannya luas daunnya lebar-lebar sehingga juga memudahkan untuk dibersihkan. ”Kita tinggal menugasi dua orang siswa memungut daun-daun yang jatuh sudah bersih,”kata Dahlan. Sementara pinang dipilih karena dia memiliki nilai ekonomis, baik dari buahnya maupun dari batangnya.

Lalu bagaimana keterlibatan siswa? Menurut Dahlan, sejak awal siswa baik SMP maupun SMA telah dilibatkan dalam menciptakan sekolah yang rindah dan hijau.”Pohon-pohon yang ada disini sebagian berasal dari siswa dan sebagian lagi merupakan swadaya sekolah,”paparnya.

Selain itu, pihak sekolah juga melibatkan siswa dalam penanganan kebersihan dan kelestarian pohon dipercayakan sepenuhnya pada siswa.”Kalau ada anak-anak (siswa red) yang merusak pohon, ancamannya kami berikan sanksi pada siswa bersangkutan bahkan kalau sampai betul-betul mematikan pohon, maka kami diberi skorsing,”ungkapnya.

Namun hingga saat ini belum ada satupun siswa yang dijatuhi sanksi karena merusak pohon.”Mereka paham betul, bahwa pohon itu sangat membantu artinya siswa sangat menyadari betul dengan memelihara pohon maka akan menciptakan lingkungan hijau, nyaman, sehat dan tentunya indah sehingga membuat warga sekolah beta belajar disekolah,”tuturnya.

Selain itu, pihak sekolah juga senantiasa memberikan motivasi pada siswa agar siswa ikut berperan dalam menciptakan lingkungan yang indah dan bersih.”Selain sanksi, kami juga memberikan motivasi dan pemahaman bahwa sesungguhnya ukuran manusia rasional harus bisa mampu memahami bahwa alam ini adalah anugerah. Jadi kita harus jaga, kelola ciptaan Tuhan ini termasuk berbagai jenis tumbuhan yang terdapat didalamnya,”paparnya.

Saat ditanya apakah keinginan menciptakan lingkungan sekolah yang hijau karena terdorong program pemerintah?. Dahlan mengelak, karena setahunya Dinas Pendidikan Nasional (Diknas) Kota Kendari, tidak pernah menyeruhkan untuk menghijauhkan sekolah, yang ada hanya lomba penghijauan, setelah selesai lomba sisanya tumbuh atau tidak diketahui, dibiarkan terlantar."Kami disini tidak pernah dilibatkan lomba, namun demikian kami terdorong berdasarkan kesadaran dan kebutuhan sendiri bahwa dengan lingkungan hijau, tertata, dan teratur pastilah menyenangkan akhirnya sekolah ini menjadi sekolah hijau,”tandasnya.

Hal tersebut juga diamini oleh beberapa pengurus Organisasi Intra Sekolah (OSIS) SMA Kartika. ”Kami sangat mendukung program yang ditelurkan Bapak kepala sekolah, karena ini sangat bermanfaat dalam mendukung proses belajar mengajar. Apalagi kami diberikan tanggung jawab penuh dalam hal kebersihan sekolah, sehingga kita cukup aktif mendorong teman-teman siswa disini untuk tetap menjaga kebersihan dan kelestarian lingkungan sekolah,”kata Herdiyanti.

Pernyataan senada juga diungkapkan Roni Sianturi yang menjabat sebagai Wakil Ketua OSISI SMA Kartika.” Di OSIS SMA Kartika ada satu bidang yang khusus menangani lingkungan hidup yang selama ini aktif memberikan penyuluhan pada semua kelas. Selain itu jika ada siswa yang kedapatan merusak pohon yang ada dilingkungan sekolah, maka akan diberikan sanksi,”ujarnya. Yuk mari ciptakan Sekolah Hijau.