Stop Wildlife Poisoning

According to internet sources, “FMC and three national growers groups filed a petition in November 2009 with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging EPA’s action to deny an Administrative Hearing. In December 2009, the court denied a request for a stay, granted our request for expedited review, and granted the request of CLA and others to file amicus briefs. Both the EPA and FMC filed briefs and the court heard oral arguments this past Monday, March 22. As is generally the case, the judges did not decide from the bench, and instead will issue their ruling by written opinion. While there is no fixed deadline for publication, we expect a decision within two to five months.”

And, Salem-news.com reports that “Opening arguments were heard in an appeal starting yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that will decide the fate of carbofuran, one of the most toxic pesticides to birds. American Bird Conservancy (ABC) – the nation’s leading bird conservation organization – hopes the judge’s gavel will sound the death knell for this chemical in the United States, which is thought to have caused the deaths of tens of millions of birds since its use began in 1965.

Carbofuran, which is produced by FMC Corp, is an insecticide used to kill pests on corn, soy beans, cotton, potatoes, and other crops. It has already been much restricted, with the most dangerous, granular formulation that was estimated by the EPA to have killed up to three million birds per year (though other estimates suggest up to 90 million birds were killed), banned in 1994 and restricted uses only to the liquid formulation, which is also highly toxic. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began the process of cancelling all uses in 2006. In an unprecedented move, FMC fought the cancellation, necessitating a protracted Agency hearing process and court battle leading to today’s final appeal”

Well things are hotting up here in Kenya too.

In response to our complaints and reports, the Ministry of Agriculture has created a task force to address the problem of Furadan and our first meeting is tomorrow. At that meeting will be government departments as well as industry and NGO participants. We are hoping  to impress on the stakeholders, the need for a precautionary approach when dealing with pesticides in this country. To date the Ministry of Agriculture and the Pest Control Products Board have been stating that Furadan is a “safe pesticide” and that the “benefits outweigh the harm”.

We do not know what this judgement is based on as we are not aware of any research that proves thisn, or any regular monitoring of howt eh pesticide is being distributed, used, whether proper use is enforced, or monitoring of residues on food crops, impacts on health or environmental.

Based on our own work we know that the labeled instructions are hardly ever implemented due to lack of safety materials (gloves, overalls, boots, face masks, air filters), most farmers do not store this or any pesticide under lock and key, and the pesticides are used in water ways, in irrigation schemes and for elimination of vermin all of which is against the instructions on the label. When people are harmed by this pesticide they do not report to the PCPB  or national Poison board. According to one agrovet and a victim we spoke to, there is no guidance for treatment of pesticide poisoning, they simply advise users to drink water or milk, and eat raw eggs as a remedy.

Though FMC and our government agencies have not exactly been sympathetic about the impacts  of carbofuran on wildlife, I keep reminding our friends that we should not feel so helpless. Our Pesticide control laws are on our side. The Pesticide Control Act allows for the Minister for Agriculture to ban any registered pesticide if new information becomes available; The EPA revocation of carbofuran tolerances in USA constitutes new information and this is something they cannot deny. No country in Africa can afford a Silent Spring, Kenya can be proud to lead the way on saying no to becoming a pesticide dumping ground for pesticides banned in the west.

As Richard Leakey says “If Furadan is not safe enough for use in America, then it’s not safe enough for us to use in Africa”

The problem of pesticide poisoning of predators is not unique to Kenya. All across Africa pesticides are being used as an easy and effective way of killing. A case in point is the recent tragic poisoning of 40 critically endangered vultures in Botswana. Though the pesticide has not been identified, it is extremely potent and took only minute to kill the birds. The tragedy is that these  birds were killed on the edge of the Okovango Swamp. They were the casualty in an attempt to kill lions and hyenas. Despite the heavy  penalties in Botswana the poisoning of wildlife using pesticides is driving vultures to extinction.

Although FMC have removed Fruadan from teh shelves in Kenya,  we are asking our government for a complete ban on Carbofuran to prevent other producers from distributing it, and to make the message crystal clear. We want Agrovets that are storing this and other  unapproved products to know that it is illegal and to enable enforcement officers to take action. To date the Governmetn of Kenya has been mum on the hazards posed by Furadan and carbofuran based pesticides.

So, wherever you are, please keep us in your thoughts and send positive vibrations tomorrow. We will presenting new evidence of the lion deaths near Amboseli as well as the preliminary findings of Martins research in the irrigation schemes.

Keep supporting us, we are confident that we can make progress on this deadly pesticide.

Keep reading this blog for updates

Dear Friends,

We have just heard from the Defenders of Wildlife that the DC Circuit yesterday rejected a request by FMC Corporation, the manufacturer of carbofuran, and several U.S. users of carbofuran, for a stay of EPA’s decision to revoke food tolerances of the deadly pesticide. FMC and some organizations were trying to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing their decision at the end of this year.

This court ruling means that the EPA’s decision to revoke all tolerances of carbofuran will take effect after December 31, 2009.

However it does not affect exports of Furadan – one of the the primary causes of death of lions in Africa.

The Defenders of Wildlife are running their own campaign to ban Carbofuran.

Music provided by Kevin McLeod incompetech.com – to all you out there who have stood by us we  Thank you! Your support gives us strength.

So far!

Bunyala Rice Irrigation Scheme: In these rice fields, birds are poisoned using Furadan by the thousands each month

Dear readers, early 2000 marked the start of confronting the problem of poisoning using Furadan by conservationists especially ornithologists amongst others ecologists in Kenya. Furadan had been introduced into Kenya in the early 80′s as an agricultural nematicide pesticide and people, farmers and non-farmers alike had discovered its deadly poisonious nature, harnessing the property for destructive non-agicultural related killing of biodiversity.

In the early 2000s, FMC sent some officials to Kenyafor the first time to come discuss the issue with the conservationists that the pesticide had been observed to be killing birds, especially waterbirds in rice irrigation schemes. At the end of the meeting the FMC delegates left with amongst the agreed measures they had to undertake back at their company in the U.S.A to: brand on Furadan’s label, “Not for use in paddy” and to sell the pesticide in packages of 25+ Kg weight. Everyone then sat back and waited in joyful hope.

Time continued wearing past and the faithful Kenyan conservationists that had shared the same discussion table with FMC ran out of patience, realizing they had been taken for a raw deal. Afterall, none of the agreed on steps to be taken by FMC were implimented and nobody from FMC ever justified the one-sided decision to rubbish the decisions. Meanwhile, the pesticide continued to be abused to kill biodiversity which Kenya, a struggling third world country relies on for its revenue.

It is unfortunate that the turn of events associated with Furadan poisoning caught everyone unawares. But I think it is expected when you understand the sniping nature with which the pesticide operates as a poison and I bet it would be the same with many other poisons. Even the regulatory organizations, PCPB and AAK (their names must have changed) sat tight and did not consider that their role to verify the safety of the pesticide product was an absolute failure and the proof of the pesticide’s safety either by the manufacturer or even by the Kenyan regulatory agencies’ a total sham. Instead the pesticide continued hiding behind wiping completely the nematodes (soil worms) as it was any biodiversity unabatedly.

With just birds as the reference point for Furadan’s foul play and lacking in progressive mortality documentation, there was no much to face the local regulators and persuade them that the pesticides needed their urgent attention. Soon however, whispers of extended foul play of the pesticide in killing other biodiversity in the background grew louder . Two surveys were then undertaken to find out the distribution and general use of the pesticide. Amongst the findings of the surveys were wide distribution of the pesticide extending to non-crop agricultural areas or pastoralist areas and commercial crop farming areas especially rice growing areas. Also, intents for which Furadan was being used in most of these areas was revealed to be downrightly inclined more to abuse as a poison than proper pesticidal use. Furadan had become rogue and even EPA points it out clearly that it is unsafe even when properly used hence its ban in the U.S.

The surveys listed amongst the poisoned biodiversity include birds with especially shocking mortalities in vultures and water birds, also seedeaters, lions, hyenas, wildebeests, warthogs, crocodiles, fish, domestic dogs, domestic cats and unconfirmed human mortality cases. The list is longer and disturbing and drove Wildlife Direct Chaired by Dr. Richard Leakey in May 2008 to organize a stakeholder’s meeting to share and discuss the matter of poisoning using Furadan: The Kenya Wildlife Service, World Wildlife Fund, Endangered Wildlife Trust, National Museums of Kenya, Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, EAWLS, BirdLife International, Wetlands International, Peregrine Fund, National Environmental Management Authority, JUANCO, PCPB all attended. Numerous presentations were made on cases of various biodiversity poisoning giving testimony to the heineous destruction attributed to the poison and showing how urgent an issue Furadan poisoning had become. While ALL saw the endangering conservation problem associated with Furadan poisoning, Juanco and PCPB saw otherwise with some of the officials from these two organizations declaring some of the studies whose results had been presented non-scientific; data insufficient hence inadequate evidence against Furadan.

While the 2 defenders of the pesticide made their stand clear that ‘Furadan is not a problem’, Dr. Richard Leakey nonetheless led our campaign at Wildlife Direct to end wildlife poisoning by calling for a ban on carbofurans (Furadan and its likes) just days after the meeting. The call was directed at various relevant government ministries: Ministry of Wildlife and Natural Resources, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. With Dr. Richard Leakey’s and Wildlife direct’s motive bold, sincere and with natinal interest at heart, unfortunately nobody seemed to heed us. Further at Wildlife Direct, this blog was set up to tell the world on the dangerous, latent, wildlife poisoning issues, focusing particularly on Wildlife poisoning. Other Wildlife Direct blogs also continue to document on the issue as it affects them: Baraza Blog, lionguardians and kilimanjaro lion conservation plroject blog (currently inactive)amongst others.

Fighting almost aloof in Furadan poisoning terrorism, the CBS documentaryin March 2009 rejuvenated our vigour. The reality of mad lion poisoning was vividly highlighted; Over 60 lions killed from the pesticide’s poisoning. It goes just beyond this with various other organisms studied to be under great threat for instance during the meeting in May 2008 lorries of poisoned birds were shown to have been poisoned by Furadan; Vulture population in Kenya has nose-dived with some species such as the Egyptian Vulture possibly extirpated in the region. Instanteneous vulture mortalities in Kenya were reported in 2005 reaching up to over 200 strong which is about the largest congregatory figure of mixed species of vultures. This means a total loss of whole colonies in some poisoning instances; Numerous waterbirds and currently in Bunyala, Kenya montly bird mortalities are projected up to 3000 mixed bird species in one site whose area is hardly 400 ha.

We went further on at wildlifedirect to pursue on getting long term data at one present day Furadan poisoning site in the name of ‘evidence’ for our local regulatory agents, PCPB and AAK because the pesticide continues to be easily aquired for use from agrovet shops despite its evidenced gross abuse. This goes on even after the buy back program by FMC and recently the pesticide has been found broadly displayed in a number of agrovets in one of the capital towns in the country, Eldoret; check Furadan availability on our blog. So after some fundraising, we have been gathering data and documenting the observations on this blog on Bird Poisoning in Bunyala since February this year (2009). Even with this, no expertise has heeded these revelations and no regulatory persona have gotten on the ground to witness this. What it means is that we have hit a regulation stalemate of the pesticide. The regulatory agencies remain put and indifferent despite our monthly updates on Furadan poisoning to them.

With the prevalent stalemate however certain recent developments have occured. For instance various conservationists met with FMC officials in June 2009;Wildlife Direct’s top person met with the Minister for Wildlife on the issue; also we have had some other politicians’ support in fighting against the pesticide in parliament and a parliamentary discussion on the ban of the substance. The problem is that our motive is clear: ban Furadan for human and biodiversity’s safety in Kenya, while the various people and institutions we are meeting are taking too long to take on a sound decision and impliment it.

Please keep reading for more updates and revelations and support us in our campaign to end wildlife poisoning. You realize the case of Furadan availability in Eldoret was from a coleague who is doing his other research. It may not always be the case and it is not possible for me to be everywhere. However, just through a scout located on the site we can be able to integrate the information and make a follow up. The case stresses the need for me to get scouts at areas I refer to as ‘hot spots’ which are essentially intensive poisoning areas. I have done surveys in 3 major rice growing schemes and in two of these I have nobody on the ground. For a start, a scout just needs a phone with a camera option to be able to send me a short text message and to take a photo of the incidence.Such phone locally would cost 90 dollars, so 3 pieces for a start. Further, I have noted Furadan supply is on the increase again but traded on secretly. We therefore need to be clear on Furadan availability, another task that scouts would easily help me accomplish, because most likely there is another supplier or suppliers taking root and the killer will just keep wreaking havoc with its continued supply. While the regulatory agencies are indifferent, I strongly believe with continued gathering of whooping evidence of the cases of poisoning with a diverted approach now to media publicity we still have a greater chance of getting the poison banned.

keep reading.

Hi friends. I have a couple of things that seem to be looking up which I would like to put across to you. Indeed you are the pro-anti-wildlife poisoning community with whom we share with every little success we attain. Thank you so much for your support and please keep supporting us.

First, We [Dr. Richard Leakey (Chairman, Wildlife Direct), Dr. Paula Kahumbu(CEO,Wildlife Direct and myself))] have been trying to have the poisoned bird samples tested for Furadan, now two weeks since I got them from the field. After going through what I would describe as seemingly protracted delay in the testing of the samples, finally we have word that the analysis will be done. I however still dread the rates which during my last visit at the institute I was informed that ‘new, international rates were to be adopted starting any second in time’. I however believe that we will pull through this.

We are also aware that our Kenyan parliament will be discussing ‘Why Furadan should not be banned in Kenya ‘, today. Our fingers are crossed.

Third, it appears the buy back by FMC, through the local supplier, JUANCO is doing well, but my fear is how effective the buy back process is. I have a hunch that the we could be deceived by a pseudo success with the buy back of Furadan. This especially follows the findings, from a visit to an area, 2 days ago, where I have done two surveys in the past. This is in Kajiado District, Kenya where in the surrounding rural neighbourhood, Furadan has been used to poison carnivores: lions and hyenas as per the surveys’ findings, to resolve human-wildlife (carnivore) conflict.
After going around virtually all the agrovet shops in the small market centre, of all the agrovet shops that were open, I only found Mocap (the replacement of Furadan)in one. The others did not have Mocap. Then I wondered, how come they all said Mocap had replaced Furadan and significantly, no agrovet seemed to be stocking it? In addition, all the peopple I asked about Furadan and Mocap were so suspicious and a number needed my phone contact!?

Mocap in 1 agrovet shop out of about 15 agrovets.

I was yet to get more overwhelmed in wonder until when I got mocked at with a pack of the killer pesticide in the last agrovet that I paid a visit. In the earlier surveys, I had met a male sales person at the counter of this agrovet. This time it was a lady. So I informed the lady that I had come looking for a certain young man whom I had interacted with sometime back and that I was doing a survey on Mocap and Furadan. I described the man precisely, hoping the fortune from furadan sale had not changed his physical appearance.As the lady regarded me with suspicion, the gentleman matched in. Strange, she informed him that I had just been asking for him. Thanks to the matching of my description. A few exchange of Masai words that left me enshrouded in ignorance but at last I was welcome.

The gentleman was suspicious but when I truthfully told him that I had come to seek some information about Furadan, his Moran ego, being Masai, overtook him and as he mockingly rebuked me and my associates for succeeding in ‘banning’ furadan, he danced and went behind the sales lady where there was another shelf facing the other way round, fished out something, blew off some dust from it with his strong exhalation, picked up a rag and wiped the white container with a pink cap, then marched back to the counter and with a resounding thud, dropped it under my nose in my full view!a 200gram Furadan 5G pack! I shook it to confirm it had the granules. Yes it had contents! God! What if there were hundreds of this where he had got this one from?

I thought quickly, realizing I had to be cautious here. I pushed away the thought of what could be fished out next. A club?…or a spear?afterall I noticed I was foe at this point. Tactfully, I sought to know his opinion in pesticidal effectiveness of Mocap versus Furadan, giving him a lead that Furadan might afterall be the way better pesticide.

And so my friend let loose of all that lay covered at heart with my lead: He revealed that loads of the pesticide are stashed by some farmers and some retailers (some poachers too I bet); he did not trust the buy back and said most likely Furadan would just be given a different trade name and be re-introduced to the market, may be with a slight colour modification and would be sold more expensively to recover for the years that it is will have been lying underground. He went ahead to give me an example of a domestic fly insecticide once called SNIP that was banned then 3 years later reintroduced as AGITA, with slight colour modification and infact the package was maintained but for the trade name and now costs 300% higher (Does it mean 100% for every year in ‘banned’ state?). For some reason, he said contraband Furadan is infiltrating into Kenya from Tanzania. To the best of my Knowledge, Furadan supply is supposed to be withdrawn and is being bought back by FMC from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The salesman could not resist smiling as he reminded me that the ‘sweetness of profits’ in this agrovet business is realized in dealing with contraband products and that Furadan could bring big-time returns!

I cunningly divulged from the Furadan discussion and slowly cooled down the heat that ensued from what the agrovet man had revealed as I sought a way to disengage from the dialogue and leave. I had samples to be analysed that I had to go follow up with. And so I contemplated in my mind about the whole experience. I cannot stop thiking the other agrovets still had Furadan stock somewhere. What if JUANCO were buying what was just on the shelves?Do they really have authority to check back stage supply storages of these agrovets? may be this is where PCPB and AAK can flex their muscles undefeatably, but sad that they are not just willing to do it yet. They are still in denial that Furadan is indeed more of a poison than a pesticide.

I am due to get back to the field in just about 1 week. Remember my operation A MONTH OUT WITH BIRDS GETTING POISONED and kindly support me. I believe there was no better timing for this operation especially with seeming attention captured from the agro-retail, governmental and the general public. Let’s see how bird poisoning goes this month which should indeed reflect on the effectiveness of the Furadan withdrawal process and reveal if the rice schemes are to be targeted for urgent buy back.

Will keep updating you. keep reading.

Hi everyone.Furadan withdrawal by FMC comes with renewed hope that Kenya’s wildlife should thrive again, especially the lions and birds that have been worst hit Furadan poisoning. We acknowledge the delicate situation that comes with the withdrawal of the poison and that there may be complications resulting to continued poisoning. At Wildlife Direct and I believe the entire conservation community, we are dedicated to try and stop the situation in the least almost altogether. To this effect, we are meeting with the manufacturers of Furadan, FMC, this week as highlighted in the Richard Leakey blog and Wildlife Direct’s press release on 8/April/2009 to among other things, share and discuss the withdrawal process and related underlying issues.

In Bunyala area, I honestly anticipate incapacitated poisoning of birds even with the small scale Furadan vendors in the scene. This is because I hope their Furadan stock is dismal and will soon run out if the withdrawal process is successful. In this area, I know at least 7 pairs of captive African Open-billed Storks due to the practice of using Furadan for poisoning. My hope is that these enslaved birds will soon find freedom!

The pesticide’s withdrawal process should yield emancipation for such poor captives as in the photo above.

It has also come to my attention that most poachers are not only poachers. Some are watchmen at night, some work in the rice scheme as subordinate staff, others are herdsmen and even fishermen. However, a few are specialized poachers. Generally numerous other economic activities besides poaching take place in Bunyala. May be this is a good thing in the sense that most of the poachers have an alternative activity to fall back to. I took photos of people involved in some of these:

This fisherman traps fish in the irrigation canals of Bunyala Rice Scheme. His economic activity seems to yield gains at least nutritionwise judging from his healthy look! Honestly I cannot compare him to the diminished physiques of the bird poachers.

Some people are productively involved in the transport sector. This young man and his colleagues offer my team bicycle taxi services when we are out in Bunyala for fieldwork.

The photograph above was taken at the bank of River Nzoia, one of Kenya’s prime rivers. The final stages of the river snake through Bunyala. It is a pity that destructive economic activities, particularly vegetation clearing and charcoal burning are taking place in its vicinity.

Some engage in sand harvesting from the river as seen in the photo, probably a better undertaking if done correctly.

So, will the poachers, deprived of Furadan take to ‘back door’ sources of poison, be it Furadan or other, to continue with the unsustainable wildlife poisoning or other destructive economic activities? This is what for the sake of conservation I wish to avert. But how?

River Nzoia, above is an all year round source of water in the region.

The rains, though inconsistent, when they come they fill to flooding the plains of Bunyala with water. The photo above was taken in Bunyala just before the end of my last month’s survey. The skies were readying to send the rains down.

Bunyala is characterized by high poverty prevalence. With uncontrolled bird poisoning having evolved with the availability of Furadan, the people against their knowledge have for long suffered nutritional injustices from eating poisoned bird meat. Further, vitamin-rich foods in the area are markedly deficient. I believe harnessing the water resource appropriately can make vegetable farming possible and an attractive, lucrative venture compared to poaching, a destructive, unhealthy, time consuming and a means of survival rather than an economic developmental activity. While this will take care of nutritional needs of the community, it will satiate the economic needs of the liberated poachers. It is this option that I want to market to the poachers and will give you details while calling for your support.

Please keep reading

Dear Friends, we have just received word that the manufacturers of Furadan are about to withdraw all stocks from the continent .

FMC Response to 60 Minutes Story on Kenyan Lion Poisonings

March 29, 2009

On Sunday, March 29, CBS News 60 Minutes aired a story on the human-wildlife conflict in Kenya that reports Furadan®, an FMC insecticide, has become the preferred product that many cattle herders use to poison lions that kill their livestock. FMC strongly condemns the use of its products to kill wildlife and is very concerned about these allegations. The company has taken several actions to address the situation including:

• Stopping all sales of Furadan to Kenya immediately after learning of an incident in May 2008
• Immediately initiating a Furadan buy-back program in Kenya to remove any remaining product from the market
• Direct outreach to leading conservationists to get any data concerning lion poisonings

In the segment, “60 Minutes” implies that more than 75 lion poisonings have been caused by Furadan. We are greatly troubled by the potential magnitude of this situation as it has never been brought to our attention despite our repeated requests to the Kenyan Wildlife Service to share any and all information about lion poisonings.

When a report surfaced last year that Furadan may have been involved in poisoning lions in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya, FMC immediately suspended the introduction of any additional Furadan into the distribution channel. We have now instituted a buy-back of Furadan to speed its removal from the market. We will not reintroduce Furadan into Kenya until appropriate safeguards are in place.

FMC is a global company dedicated to delivering innovative products that improve the lives of people around the world. We take tremendous pride, not only in our products, but in our stewardship programs. We will continue to work with the Kenyan government, agricultural industry and conservation groups to try to prevent the misuse of our product or any other pesticide used to kill wildlife.

For further information about FMC products and stewardship initiatives, please visit www.furadanfacts.com.

Media contact: Jim Fitzwater – 215.299.6633 or james.fitzwater@fmc.com

Download: FMC Statement on 60 Minutes Story on Lion Poisonings – Press Statement (PDF, 137KB)

This is a big day for us – read the full story on the Baraza blog

Hi all,

We are now struggling with pushing on with the implimentation of the outcomes of the just convened meeting of the Stop Wildlife Poisoning Task Force at Wildlife Direct, Nairobi, Kenya . We still hope Richard Leakey’s call for ban of carbofuran will yield a reasonable response from the government. Meanwhile we are trying to make headways with a review of all that concerns carbofuran which is essentially our mission. Hopefully, we will garner enough of more of the necessary evidence (of course in addition to what we already have) against carbofuran to get everybody’s attention and only justifiably lay to rest the chemical that clearly is dangerously outliving its time. I say enough of more necessary evidence because we hope it will not be deemed insufficient. I just do not know when the evidence will be sufficient to the local and international custodians of this chemical and many others. What it means is that the chemical continues to act out there both in its good ways (limited since even proper use is harmful; EPA will agree with me) and limitless lethal toxic ways. I hope when the information is enough, our wildlife populations will still stand at handsome figures though. I hope this will not be when almost, if not every organism, including humans, when tested they will positively have carbofuran in their systems (A sad case for Alaska where pollutants are just in almost every living thing which is what I have stumbled on, thinking that I would read something far from toxic chemicals).

The wild supply and haphazard distribution of the pesticide Carbofuran will therefore continue facilitating poisoning of wildlife, birds, fish and who knows even of human poisoning whose facts lie locked in the confines of lack of data and documentation. Such is the desperate need of heed at which we stand.

After ‘a break’ from head aching matters of carbofuran, today I ventured into the current affairs of the fate of our planet and read of the goings on in the U.S.

Based on a conference held in July 17-20 the15th Protecting Mother Earth conference – organized by Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) where there were more than 600 attendants, mostly from indigenous nations of the United States and Canada, but also from as far as Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, and Europe Came together. Generally, they talked of global problems, challenges and solutions. They discussed energy and climate change as it affects indigenous peoples. Stories were told of health damage and ecological destruction brought about by oil refineries, coal power plants, gold mining, and nuclear military activity.

I think the whole issue of energy and climate change just infers global warming. Indeed this is documented of the conference of Minnesota’s new proposed 1600-mile oil pipeline extension which opponents say would contribute significantly to global warming for the way oil is extracted from the tar sands, which is extremely energy intensive. Tar sand oil extraction requires stripping all the trees and vegetation, scooping up and steaming the sands. Potential oil spills on Minnesota’s wetlands is also a concern. IEN states that very few of these projects are assessed for their social and cultural costs or their cumulative environmental and health impacts, which would cause fragmentation of the boreal forest, disruption to indigenous cultural life-ways and production of greenhouse gases.

Here we go again, global warming directly linked to a toxin-highly acknowledged energetic fluid-oil- which will intoxicate wildlife, fish, birds and humans during its extraction, distribution and use for man’s energy requirements.

Shawna Larson, Ahtna Athabascan and Supiaq, Aleut/Eskimo from Alaska, working with the Alaska Community Action on Toxics said that heavy metals and highly toxic persistent organic pollutants, such as DDT, PCBs, and dioxins, some already banned and rarely used in the Arctic are found in very high levels in native people and wildlife in Alaska. These pollutants used somewhere else are transported by wind, water currents and migratory species and concentrate in large quantities in the Artic. Alaskan indigenous people according to their cultural traditions feed on local fish and wildlife, which are considered to be the most contaminated in the world.

At this point, I think we should refresh our minds on the contaminants of Alaska.

For the whole story, read Talking about the future of Mother Earth.

Hi, I am back from field. No poisoning encounters during my short trip to Machakos in eastern Kenya. I am yet to get down to Mwea. Only through a phone call yesterday, I was briefed by a friend that carbofuran poisoning is on as always. ‘The people of Mwea cannot resist the ducks’, my informant jocked!

As part of Wildlife Direct’s campaign against carbofuran, we wish to come up with supportive statistics of human cases of intoxication by carbofuran so that we try to win Kenya’s Ministry of Public Health’s support in the campaign against carbofuran.

Two sites have been identified so far where humans are eating birds killed through carbofuran poisoning. These are Mwea and Bunyala irrigation schemes in Eastern and Western provinces of Kenya respectively. There are allegations by laymen from Mwea that when you feed on the carbofuran-poisoned ducks, you feel a sensation described only as ‘weak knees’ after the meal, which clears up shortly after (nervous disfunctioning?). They add that continued regular feeding on the poisoned birds eventually kills the people who fancy the poisoned birds’ meat. $ 600 is required to get someone to these two sites to:

1. Interview the people who subsist on the poisoned birds and,

2. To obtain human neurotoxication (relating to nervous disfunctioning which might suggest effects of carbofuran) data from nearby health centres and,

3. Gather similar data from health centres whose surrounding population is not exposed to carbofuran-poisoned wildlife for their subsistence for comparison with data in where individuals are eating carbofuran-poisoned birds.

The more the evidence we gather against carbofuran, the bigger our alliance becomes. This then accredits more the appeal by Dr. Richard Leakey to barn carbofuran in Kenya and increases the chances of this conservation appeal being heeded.

This comes in the wake of the outrageous poisoning of wildlife in Kenya by the deadly toxic carbofuran pesticide. Richard Leakey, the chairman of Wildlife Direct has sent a letter appealing for the ban of furadan supply and use in Kenya to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife in Kenya. Other ministries as well as a number of other stakeholders. concerned and/or directly or indirectly affected by the chemical’s poisoning have also been sent for the apppeal documents. You may also petition for this action through your comments here at our blog.