Falklands : Environmental Committee Meeting Report (30/05/06)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 02.06.2006 (Article Archived on 16.06.2006)
Find out what happened during this vital committee meeting.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT (30 MAY 2006)
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the Environmental Committee took place in the Liberation Room of the Secretariat at 0830hrs on Tuesday, 30 May 2006. Present were Cllr. Richard Davies (Chair), Cllr. Mike Rendell, Mrs. Phyl Rendell, Mr. Nick Rendell, Mr. Manfred Keenleyside, Mrs. Alison Ingles, Mr. Ian Strange, Mrs. Dominique Giudicelli, , Dr. John Barton, Mr. Julian Morris, Mr. Grant Munro and Mrs. Fiona Wallace-Nannig (Minutes). Apologies were received from Mrs. Sally Blake, who is overseas.
Minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 03 April 2006 were confirmed and Mr. Ian Strange brought up an anomaly about the previous meeting when Ms. Amy Van Buren had said that ringing of Cara-Cara chicks in the nest didn’t cause any problems. Mr. Strange said that Mothers abandoned ringed chicks but there were no problems after the chick left the nest and began to fend for itself.
Mr. Strange showed digital images of aerial surveillance of Albatross rookeries and explained that new digital technology produced excellent resolution and could be very affective in counting the birds. In areas where the ground was not flat there could be comparisons of ground data and aerial counting.
Nick Rendell updated the Committee on progress made with the application to join the Kyoto Protocol. The recommendation is that the Falklands sign up. There is no requirement for monitoring.
Dominique Giudicelli reported little progress on the Conservation and Biodiversity Strategy. This could be the job of a new environmental officer yet to be appointed.
The Kidney Island Draft Management plan is reaching its conclusions with Oily Yates agreeing with the research and the conclusions. There are records of registered guides and visitors. At the moment there are approximately 70 visitors a year but this could rise and it is thought the plan would help to manage the impact visitors have on the Island.
The Gypsy Cove Management Plan is also progressing, with author Fiona Wallace-Nannig speaking to Bob Hancox about the pathways and boardwalks. It if thought that the boardwalks can be made out of the wood from shipping palates. Dominique Giudicelli asked about public consultation before submitting the plan to EXCO and it was thought that all of the media should be consulted for publicity purposes.
There was a good response to the idea about a marine reserve in the vicinity of the north-west area of the Falklands. A model from several alternatives would have to be chosen and work must progress carefully if the project is going to be a success. The reserves would be in shallow waters mainly around the Jason Islands. It was suggested that the proposed new environmental officer would take this on as a task. A marine reserve would give the Islands a much needed boost and satisfy some recommendations that ACAP have suggested. The majority of Black Browed Albatross breed on the Jason Islands. Aquaculture and tourism were not seen to be impacting the area like it does in and around Stanley.
A discussion about thistles and how to remove them encompassed the method of not letting them flower by removing them early. Secondly, merely putting them in the bin and transporting them to the dump was not acceptable. They had to be truly dry and dead before they were disposed of. If we are successful there will be European money to help remove invasive species.
It was decided that longer research licences would be allowed upon presentation of a research plan to the committee and its approval. People researching for college degrees might find a year’s duration thwarting their research. This way it could be more tailored to the needs of the project. It was thought that long-term research licences would be attractive. Seeing that it could take two to three years to research a PhD, for example, longer research licences would be advantageous.
Licences applied for include one by Falklands Conservation. The Environmental studies budget would include projects on satellite tracking of Black-browed Albatross. It is likely that donated equipment could be used for this and there was a consensus that this would be the best way forward as additional, specific equipment adds quality to the research. It was thought that we need to look at Albatross research in detail because it wasn’t covered as much as it should be at the ACAP meeting in March. This would take a global participation as well as looking at our population more closely. The research was approved.
Rat eradication would continue and inspections of areas already cleared would also be a feature of the Rat Eradication Programme. There was £8,214.00 from the budget for the programme.
£5,000.00 was approved for work involving back-filling ditches at the Murrel River.
Finally, information provided by cruise ships was discussed with Dominique Giudicelli saying the information was welcomed. There was discussion about the accuracy and relevance of the information but it was thought that it was a lot better than receiving no information at all.
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