Russia-Iran: the "animal diplomacy" doesn't stop.

Russia and Iran want to reintroduce the leopards in the Caucasus. The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology and the Iranian Ministry of Environment are about to sign a draft agreement for cooperation in the protection of the environment. 
The Russian vice Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Igor Maidanov, during a visit to Iran signed a document which "is regulating the cooperation between the two countries to preserve the biodiversity and to develop the protected natural territories. The parties have signed the agreement during a meeting in Teheran (on the 29th of December of 2009) between the Russian vice Minister of the Resources, Igor Maidanov, and the Deputy Director of the Iranian Organization for the environment, G. B. Saduk". 
This document disciplines the cooperation between the two countries "in the field of biodiversity conservation, development of particularly protected natural zones and Convention of Teheran". Iranians and Russians also examined the practical aspects of the programme of reintroduction of the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in the Western Caucasus. 

The programme, which started during September of 2009, aims to restore the population of these extremely rare felines, which are at risk of extinction, in the Russian part of the Caucasus, restoring the presence of the leopards in their ancient areal. 
In September Maidanov asked the Iranian Ambassador in Moscow, Mamud Reza Sajjadi, if Iran could give some Persian leopards to reintroduce them in the Caucasus. This request concerns at least two female specimens so that they mate with the two males which were given to Russia from Turkmenistan and that are housed in a reserve near Sochi. 
The leopard project was wanted directly from Vladimir Putin as a demonstration of environmental commitment on the occasion of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Putin, who has a penchant for large carnivores, went to the city on the shores of the Black Sea to personally welcome the Turkmenain leopards. 
Iran is one of the last shelters of Persian leopards, which once populated all the forests and mountains of the Caucasus and central Asia, Small populations of these leopards resist also in Armenia, Georgia and Turkmenistan. 

Things we lost... Falkland Islands wolf.

The Antarctic wolf (Dusicyon Australis) was a native of the Falkland Islands. 
Because of its small size, it was perfect for life on those islands, rich of low and dense forests. 
It hunted birds and small mammals, both in the green spots and in the moors, swept by the cold southern winds. 
Darwin described it, in 1833, as common and meek. Unfortunately, these features couldn't save it from the inhabitans of the islands, who came from England and massacred it, up to the last specimen with the excuse that they had to protect the flocks of sheep. 
It became extinct just twenty years after the arrival of the Europeans in the Falkland Islands. 

(Thanks to Lorenzo S. for helping me writing this post)

The dangers of soluble fertilizers.

Chemical soluble fertilizers are manufactured in liquid, powdery or granular forms. 

In the last 50 years they have been widely used to meet the farmers' requirements for productivity. As a matter of fact, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers don't only improve plant growth but dramatically increase crop yields. If fertilizers, adequately used, are good for plant development, they're not so for soil life. Some potassium fertilizers are lethal to earthworms so, as time goes by, the soil loses its fertility. Moreover, too much potassium makes the plants walls thin and too much nitrogen causes a watery growth. Therefore, the plants become more susceptible to pests and diseases. 

Soluble fertilizers move in three different directions: downwards, sidewards and out of the farm boundaries. 

The downward movement is harmful, as fertilizers go down to the deepest layers and pollute the water tables. 

The sideward movement is also dangerous, as fertilizers reach rivers and waterways, causing the growth of water weeds and algae: the consequence is that insects and fish die. 

Fertilizers which go out of the farms can be found inside the vegetables in our diet, particularly in leafy vegetables. 

However, they shouldn't be confused with chemical pesticides and fungicides, which are highly polluting and have devastating effects on human health and the environment. 

(Thanks to Lorenzo S. for helping me writing this post)

Sharkwater: a shark lover, a battle.

Rob Stewart has been a shark lover since the very first years of his life. In 2007, he made a documentary film to report the dangerous situation in which the sharks are. 
In the film he interviews some people who think it's right to hunt sharks and kill them because they are "man-eaters", a danger to people. Well, this is the result of ignorance surrounding these incredible creatures, which rarely attack men and never do it to eat them, but simply because it can happen that they confuse them with seals or because they are annoyed by electronic equipment. Sharks tend to be afraid of human beings, even our heartbeat can scare them. 
In collaboration with Sea Shepherd, he went to the places that have the largest presence of sharks in the world to show the corruption and exploitation surrounding even the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. 
Sharks have gone from predator to prey because of the demand of their meat and especially of their fins, with which a prized soup is made (even if shark fins have no taste). 
I could see that Sharkwater is a beautiful, well made documentary film and I strongly advise you to watch it! 

"An eye-opening film...visually stunning...this movie will change the way you see our oceans."
- Bonnie Laufer, Tribute Magazine 

Tiger: the largest cat.

The tiger is the largest cat in the world. 
Because of hunting and persecutions its population has decreased very rapidly: in 1930, in Asia, there were 100.000 tigers, in 1940 (only 10 years after) they were 40.000 and in 1970 their number was only 5.000 and 2 years later they were less than 2.000. 
The measures against the poachers and the establishment of protected parks has led, since 1979, to a gradual recovery of the tigers, that today have reached approximately 6.400 specimens. 

However, it was calculated that today there are more tigers in zoos and circuses than in nature. 
The habitat of the tigers varies depending on the subspecies, from the Syberian coniferous forests to the mangrove swamps of Sundarban, to the arid scrublands in northwest India. 
The surviving species of tiger today are: the Bengal tiger (4.500 specimens), the Syberian tiger (450 specimens), the Chinese tiger (30-80 specimens), the tiger of Sumatra (400-600 specimens) and the Indochinese tiger (1.000-1.750 specimens). 

The Javan tiger has been driven to extinction (in the first years of the 19th century). The same thing happened to the Bali tiger (extinct in the 40s) and to the Caspian tiger (extinct in the 70s). 
The tiger meat is used in Malaysia as a remedy against the irritations to the spleen and stomach while, in other Asian areas, it is believed that eating some parts of the tiger gives courage and heals some diseases. In Taiwan there's a kind of "wine" produced with tiger bones. 

(Thanks to Lorenzo S. for helping me writing this post)

About sustainability... ORGANIC FARMING.

The common definition of organic farming is "farming without chemicals". 
As a matter of fact, all living or dead things are made up of chemical compounds. Therefore, organic farming does use chemicals, though naturally derived, in plant protection, fertilizing and livestock husbandry. 
It is a system which tries to avoid the routine use of chemicals and to exploit natural renewable resources. 

The principles of organic farming are: 
- work with natural systems rather than trying to dominate them;
- to encourage and enhance biological cycles within the farming system involving microorganisms, soil flora and fauna, plants and animals;
- to maintain and increase the long term fertility of soils: 
- to use, as far as possible, renewable resources;
- to give all livestock conditions of life that allow them to perform all aspects of their innate behaviour; 
- to avoid all forms of pollutions;
- to maintain the generic diversity of the agricultural system. 

It is the duty of humanity to fix the mess we've made and everyone have to do it in its own sector, beginning with agriculture. 

(Thanks to Lorenzo S. for helping me writing this post)

Things we lost... Honshu wolf.

The Honshu wolf (or Japanese wolf) was the smallest wolf existing in the world, as it was only 84 cm long (not counting the tail) and 39 cm tall. 

In the Japanese Islands it was called "the howling God" and it was respected but also widely feared, so much so that in the country houses people hung talismans outside to protect themselves from those beasts. 

At the end of the 19th century, Japan knew an unprecedented process of industrialization and this led to the felling of many forests where the small wolf lived. 

Furthermore, an always more ruthless hunt to this animal began, with a bounty of 10 YEN by the government for each specimen. 

Tremendous rabies outbreaks finally decimated them. 

The last specimen was killed in 1905 (same fate befell its "cousin", the Hokkaido wolf). 

(Thanks to Lorenzo S. for helping me writing this post)