What a wonderful way to combine livelihoods with environmental conservation. Congratulations to BirdLife International, Nature Seychelles, Nirmal Shah, and others involved. See the website for a short video.

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http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/12/cousin_island.html

17-12-2008

This week BirdLife International and Nature Seychelles (BirdLife in Seychelles) are celebrating the anniversary of one the world’s greatest conservation success stories. In 1968, Cousin Island was purchased by the International Council of Bird Preservation (ICBP now BirdLife International) to save the last remaining population of Seychelles Warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis from extinction. Forty years on, warbler numbers have risen by 300%, and the island has been transformed from a coconut plantation to a profitable Nature Reserve which greatly benefits local people and global biodiversity.

Cousin Island – a small island in Seychelles - is today home to a wealth of globally important wildlife. It is the most significant nesting site for Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata in the Western Indian Ocean, and supports over 300,000 nesting seabirds of seven species. Cousin also hosts five of the Seychelles’ eleven endemic land-birds including: Seychelles Magpie-robin Copsychus seychellarum (Endangered), Seychelles Sunbird Nectarinia dussumieri, Seychelles Fody Foudia seychellarum and Seychelles Blue-pigeon Alectroenas pulcherrima.

“Seychelles Warbler population was so small that a single severe weather event could have caused their extinction” —Dr Mike Rands, BirdLife’s CEO and Director

Until 1968 Cousin was a coconut plantation which had lost most of its native vegetation. The Seychelles Warbler was almost extinct and fewer than 30 birds remained in the world; being confined mostly to a mangrove swamp on Cousin. In response, ICBP launched a world wide campaign and bought the island with the aim of saving the warbler. That year Cousin was declared a legally protected Nature Reserve by the Seychelles Government.

“Seychelles Warbler population was so small that a single severe climate, disease or man made event could have caused their extinction”, said Dr Mike Rands – BirdLife’s CEO and Director. “Transformation from a coconut plantation to an ecologically-restored island was achieved through careful habitat management and preventing alien predators - such as rats - from arriving”.

Conservation on Cousin has enjoyed great success with a 300% increase in the population of Seychelles Warbler over the last 40 years. Furthermore, translocation of Seychelles Magpie-robin from Fregate Island contributed to it’s downlisting from Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The population on Cousin is now being used to seed a new magpie-robin population on nearby La Denis.

“Our aim is to keep this incredible reserve totally reserved for conservation” —Nirmal Shah, CEO of Nature Seychelles

In 1974 Cousin, and it’s surrounding marine area, was further designated a Special Reserve - the highest protection level currently applied in Seychelles. Today, Cousin is managed as an integrated seascape reserve by Nature Seychelles and activities include monitoring the island's biodiversity, undertaking research, re-introducing endangered species and promoting ecotourism. The island now receives around 10,000 visitors each year.

“Saving the Seychelles Warbler also saved other endemic birds, globally important seabirds, Critically Endangered marine turtles, precious coral reefs and fish”, said Nirmal Shah - CEO of Nature Seychelles. The Reserve’s coral reefs support some of the highest biomass of fish which are important to local Seychelois fishermen. “Our aim is to keep this incredible reserve totally reserved for conservation. We employ only local wardens, and ensure that income generated through eco-tourism goes towards management of the reserve. It’s important that local communities and Cousin’s wildlife jointly benefit from any revenue generated”.

The successful model for managing the reserve developed by Nature Seychelles has been used by private land owners, governments and NGOs alike for restoring and managing conservation sites and islands and for training conservationists in the Indian Ocean. As a result, Nature Seychelles – celebrating their 10th anniversary this year – have won several prizes including the ‘Conde Nast Traveler Ecotourism Award’, the ‘British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Highly Commended Award’ and the ‘BirdLife Africa Alice Bhukoli Award’.

“Nature Seychelles deserves their international recognition for successfully marrying wildlife conservation with sustainable eco-tourism”, said Hazell Shokellu Thompson – Head of BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat.

An example of island livelihoods on a one-very-rich-person island? His displays of energy-saving approaches are admirable, but why waste energy to light up his Stonehenge replica? Aside from the fact that few others have such replicas that they would want to light up, surely the point of LEDs would be show how useful they are for more common day-to-day tasks? And fake election signs are cute, but hardly representative of sustainability.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081122/ap_on_re_us/first_green_nation

Segway inventor touts island as an energy model

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press Writer John Christoffersen, Associated Press Writer – Sat Nov 22, 6:50 pm ET

MYSTIC, Conn. – Energy independence is still only a hypothetical goal for the U.S., but the owner of a tiny island off the coast of Connecticut says he has already achieved that feat and is offering his work as a model.

Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway and numerous medical devices, jokingly refers to his North Dumpling Island as an independent nation and himself as Lord Dumpling. Kamen claims to have his own currency and offers visas to visitors to the tiny island a few miles from Mystic, where he is the only resident.

But Kamen, who bought the three-acre island in the 1980s as a retreat, is serious about energy independence and the lessons it offers at a time of volatile gas prices and fears about global warming.

"The rest of the world will eventually catch up if the Dumplonians can get their message out," Kamen said.

Kamen's energy plan began when the Coast Guard recently notified him that it was cutting off electrical service to the rocky island, part of New York state, because it was switching to solar energy to power a lighthouse.

"That can typically ruin your day," said Kamen.

Then he had an epiphany: Why not make the island energy self-sufficient and a showcase to the world.

Kamen, a prolific inventor who has hundreds of patents, already had been working on energy conservation projects that he has introduced in poor countries.

He also figured his island's timely new status could be used to draw attention to the annual high school robotics competition he created called FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Kamen believes that by getting children excited about science and technology, the robotics competition is creating a large pool of innovators who can eventually solve the world's energy crisis and other challenges.

Kamen granted "visas" to representatives of a select group of corporate sponsors such as Wal-Mart and other companies, inviting them to North Dumpling Island to brainstorm about his plans for the island and how it could be used to raise awareness and money for his robotics competition.

Visitors arrived on a wind-swept day, with Kamen's wind turbine spinning a generator and solar panels facing the sky. A replica of Stonehenge is lit up with green LED lights that use less electricity than common incandescent light bulbs.

Kamen has been installing LED lights all over the island.

"We have zero tolerance for filaments," he said of incandescent bulbs.

Philips Color Kenetics, a Massachusetts-based company doing the project to draw attention to LEDs, says the lights cut Kamen's electrical use at least in half.

The tiny island even has rapid transit — Kamen's Segways. He says the self-balancing, two-wheel vehicles go up to 12 mph, faster than traffic moves in most major cities around the world, and his point is underscored as a Segway rider zips past.

Kamen says his island nation will distribute the technology he is demonstrating to poor countries.

"It will be part of our foreign aid program," Kamen says.

Kamen showed his visitors his basement water purification system, which he already has put to work in Honduras. The system can turn water from any source into clean drinking water free of disease, he said.

He also demonstrated the energy-efficient Stirling engine that he has used in Bangladesh to produce electricity by burning methane gas generated by cow manure.

Before Kamen can show off his green nation, he says he'll have to win "re-election." The campaign even features negative advertising, with "Dump Dumpy '08" signs abounding on the island.

"I'm quite sure I'm going to win again," says the island's sole resident. "I'm the only green candidate."

"Forced Migration Review" has published an issue on "Climate change and displacement" with several articles relevant to island livelihoods. See the full issue at http://www.fmreview.org/climatechange.htm and the contents at http://www.fmreview.org/pdf/FMR31/contents.pdf

Articles of particular interest:

-"Island evacuation", page 20, by me.

-"Kiribati – relocation and adaptation", page 51, by Maryanne Loughry and Jane McAdam.

-"Palau – coral reef protection", page 52, by Jesse Cameron-Glickenhaus.

-"Communicating changing risks", page 57, by Maarten van Aalst which uses Samoa as a principal case study.

For some more general background, not specifically island livelihoods related, but useful for explaining the misleading aspects of the phrase "climate refugees" and similar terms, see the Norwegian Refugee Council report at http://www.nrc.no/?did=9268973

Ilan

Congratulations to the parties involved in lauching the "Caribbean Challenge" as outlined in the press release below. It is particularly important that the focus is on livelihoods, rather than just considering setting areas aside for protection. Without livelihoods being generated and maintained, little incentive exists locally for what the project seeks to achieve. But by including livelihoods as a prominent aspect, this project has much more chance for success. Best wishes to everyone involved for making it happen.

http://pdfserver.prweb.com/pdfdownload/975914/pr.pdf

Caribbean Nations Launch Unprecedented Challenge Initiative to Protect
Marine and Coastal Resources
The Nature Conservancy joins Caribbean leaders to launch "Caribbean Challenge" at United
Nations COP-9 conference
Bonn, Germany (PRWeb via PRWeb) May 27, 2008 -- Today, The Nature Conservancy and Caribbean leaders
announced the launch of the Caribbean Challenge, an effort by regional governments to build political support
and generate long-term funding to protect at least 20 percent of participating countries’ marine and coastal
habitats by 2020.

If you have any questions regarding information in these press releases, please contact the company listed in the press release.
Contact Information
Cristina Mestre
The Nature Conservancy
http://www.nature.org
703-841-8779

Its sustainability might be questionable, but an Iranian kebab on the island of Svalbard in arctic Norway is apparently irresistible for many.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/03/1206851098054.html?page=ful...

(excerpts are below)

I wonder if there is a vegetarian version? And hopefully the polar bears will stay far away so that no one suggests polar bear kebab as a menu item.

This island livelihood relies on non-local resources and a cash economy (as my entire livelihood does), but demonstrates creativity, entrepreneurship, and making an island home. Opportunities for island livelihoods can be created by those with the wit to do so--without forgetting about making them as sustainable as feasible within the realistic constraints of all our lives.

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Excerpts from http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/04/03/1206851098054.html?page=ful...

Rejected Iranian asylum-seeker sells kebabs in Arctic Norway

When Kazem Ariaiwand fled Iran to seek asylum in the West he never imagined he would end up here, at the frozen edge of civilisation, hawking kebabs in a place where polar bears outnumber people.

But he's become a familiar sight in this desolate Arctic settlement, luring the hungry with the inviting fumes that tumble from the grill of his stand, a retired US military field kitchen truck he has named The Red Polar Bear.

"I came here without knowing anyone. I had nothing. I came on a plane with my backpack," said the 48-year-old Iranian. "Now I have many friends, almost the whole town."

How the native of hot and bustling Tehran went on to win the unofficial title of "world's northernmost kebab seller" comes down to the vagaries of early 20th century geopolitics.

Under a 1920 treaty, Svalbard is an international zone under Norwegian sovereignty that requires no tourist or resident visas. So when Norway rejected Ariaiwand's asylum application in 2003, he fled as far north as you can fly on a commercial flight - to this land of legal limbo.

When he arrived in Longyearbyen, the main settlement of about 2,000 people, he had no job or accommodations. Left behind on the mainland were his son, then 15, and ex-wife, who both won permission to stay in Norway.

Realising his stay could be a long one, he went into business last year as a kebab seller, opening The Red Polar Bear in his bright red truck parked on a public lot at the centre of tiny Longyearbyen.

"I had to move on," Ariaiwand said. "The only option was here on Svalbard, which was the only place where you didn't need some kind of permission to live."

[...]

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration said it could not discuss details of his case, citing privacy laws.

His journey took him to Sweden for 18 months and then Norway for almost five years, before he ended up on Svalbard in self-imposed exile on the 61,000-square-kilometre archipelago on the planet's northern fringe.

[...]

Ariaiwand made his polar bear red because "it has to be a little different so people come over."

The kebab vendor longs to see his now 20-year-old son, who has visited the islands once, and to escape the spectacular but mind-numbingly unchanging polar landscape. But he fears deportation if he sets foot on the mainland without a visa.

At the small souvenir store nearby, shopkeeper Lise Klungseth Brattset, 39, was among locals who say Ariaiwand should be allowed to visit mainland Norway and not be "imprisoned on Svalbard."

"He is very likable, very nice," she said. "I think he has managed unbelievably well, considering his circumstances."

His latest of many visa applications was rejected in February, leaving him stranded near the North Pole. "I personally need to get out of this town at times. It is not a place where you can live for such a long time," he said.

On 31 March 2008, Malaysia's "New Strait Times" reported plans to build a 360 hectare island for an oil refinery and pipeline project near three river mouths in Yan. The cost is over 16 billion Euros. Imagine what an investment of 15 billion Euros would be for the sustainable liveilhoods of all islanders of Malayasia! Plus, this plan would save more than one billion Euros from the cost of the island.

In defence, one comment was that "developers were putting a lid on the cost by using sand from the sea to build it" and "The investors will also save by building the island instead of buying land for the project as planned". And that is supposed to make this project okay? So "the investors" save, but at what cost to the rest of the people in the area?

Even better, "Asked about the livelihood of some 1,000 fishermen who were anxious after the announcement of the island plan, he said fishermen were free to fish in the area." And the fisherman are presumably also free to suffer from any adverse health and environmental effects which the island and refinery create. Not to mention being free to change their livelihoods, to move, or to fish elsewhere so that the island and refinery do not bother them.

To be fair, "about 50 residents from eight villages have appealed to the government to return the project to the Yan mainland, saying it would benefit the young more directly". Perhaps other solutions for sustainable livelihoods could be considered?

Bob Conrich from Anguilla posted the message below to an email list regarding finances on Tristan da Cunha, a dependency of the UK overseas territory of St Helena. One response was "Just print more stamps", a reference to the income which these islanders receive through their stamps. Aside from the so-called law of supply and demand not necessarily agreeing with such an approach, it violates a tenet of sustainable livelihoods regarding diversification to ensure that different approaches are available for living and for earning income. Whilst more stamps (and coins and medals and other icons) might be useful as part of a solution, that should not be assumed to solve all livelihood problems, especially over the long-term.

When considering livelihoods, multiple but simultaneous approaches are required to avoid reliance on one source, to ensure flexibility to adjust to external whims, and to generate creativity rather than being trapped by a single approach. Because living on an island is about livelihoods, not just about finances.  Quick-fix, simple solutions are rarely present.

Ever since I arrived here, I've been warning the community about the
state of the island's economy. I've been saying that unless we make
some significant changes to the way we operate, the island risks going
bankrupt within a very few years. Some of you believe me, but I
suspect a great many don't. I've made some changes and increased some
Government charges, but these go nowhere near far enough.

Following the recent visit of an economic expert I can now offer a
little more detail about the challenges we face, in the hope that you
will all finally begin to understand that I am not crying wolf. First,
here's what the consultant has to say about what he found.

The future medium to long-term economic and financial viability of TDC
is still uncertain. There is concern that the island will be
effectively bankrupt in 3 to 4 years unless strong action is taken to
address the underlying issues that have been ignored or "swept under
the carpet" for the last decade. The following general observations
about the future and the need for action were presented to the Island
Council on 14 th February 2008 . The observations reflect the
Consultant's views based on the results of the review and discussions
with a broad spectrum of Government officials and Heads of Department:

    * Island faces a challenging situation that demands bold,
sustained and consistent action
    * Need for greater awareness and appreciation of the real
financial situation
    * Need for partnership between Government and the Islanders
    * Need for phased reduction in the open and obscured subsidies
that have masked the real financial position. In other words,
Islanders have got to face more of the real costs of maintaining the
island and its way of life
    * Fact that the island has an ageing population, which is putting
increased pressure on the health budget and the pensions fund
    * Need to encourage young families, including the potential of new
immigrant families
    * Commitment to change and progress – including some "belt
tightening" and increased charges – are important for the financial
health of the island and will encourage active external support
    * Need to invest in education and training that will improve the
quality of the human resource base
    * Need to encourage the private enterprise spirit by out-sourcing
and/or privatising certain operations, and foster less reliance and
dependence on Government
    * Need to prepare a comprehensive Strategic Development Plan for
the next 5 years and in general terms for the following 5 years. This
should provide a consistent framework for development that should
attract investment funds. 

Before I spell out what this could mean to the community, here's some
background. Reserves have declined by 72% in the last 10 years from
more that £3 million in 1998 to £1.5 million in 2002 and £862,000 by
31 st December 2007 . They currently stand at little more than
£600,000. At the present rate, they will be exhausted in 2010 or 2011
(i.e. in 3 or 4 years). There are two main reasons for the decline:
(i) continuing deficits on the current account – ranging from £17,000
in 2001 to £164,000 in 2004 and £180,000 in 2000; and (ii) substantial
capital expenditure of more than £750,000 in the three-year period
from 1999 to 2001.

Turning to what we might call our current account, from a modest
surplus of £166,000 in 1997, the cumulative deficit has risen steadily
from £600,000 in 2000 to £1.1 million in 2003, £1.3 million in 2006
and £1.5 million in 2007. That means that in 10 years we've spent £1.5
million more than we have earnt.

What I've just said might be a little unclear to some of you, so let
me spell out the implications. Clearly, Government needs to spend a
lot less, and earn a lot more. So here are some of the possible
measures that lay ahead:

In order to reduce the Government wage bill we may need to cut
salaries or make a significant number of Government staff redundant.
Alternatively, but possibly as well, it may also be necessary to
introduce income tax on everyone's pay;

The Community tax will have to rise over the next few years to as much
as 10%;

Households will have to begin paying for the services they receive
from Government that are currently free to them (but not to
 Government);

Islanders may have to start paying tax on imports;

The policy of full employment will need to be abandoned;

And Tristan House (in Cape Town) will not be immune. We have three
choices:

    * Charge accommodation rates that will yield a commercial rate of
return of at least 6% and preferably more; or
    * Sell TDCH for approximately £158,000 (net) and transfer the
money into the reserves; or
    * Sell TDCH and purchase a cheaper property, resulting in a net
addition to the reserves of approximately £74,000 (net). In addition,
the new property would need to run on a commercial basis. 

There must also be a huge question mark over the future of the Wave
Dancer.

You might like to know why we've got ourselves into this mess.
According to the consultant the reason is mainly this. From 1997 to
2007 there has been no concerted effort to address and/or reverse the
Government's declining financial performance. Indeed, there have been
periods when executive decisions have been taken that have accelerated
the decline; and past Administrators and Island Councils have ignored
the periodic warnings of the Finance Department. That's it in a
 nutshell.

I've been very selective in drawing from Malcolm Summerfield's report.
It contained very little good news. But it did contain recommendations
and ideas of what we can do to increase our income as well as cut our
spending. I'm not going to go into these now. The purpose of this
presentation is to try and convince everyone on Tristan that the
chickens have now well and truly come home to roost.

And it's no use saying that the British Government must help. It is
currently helping us in a number of ways (harbour, medical, training)
and will continue to help, but only if Government gets a grip on its
financial management and eliminates its budget deficit. In return for
this, HMG may offer new support in areas such as education, Government
planning and financial management. But it's up to us to show that this
won't be good money after bad.

And the same applies to Ovenstone. The loss of the old factory, and
its replacement, as well as the measures needed to ensure that we
actually have a fishing season this year, will cost it a great deal of
money.

Islanders have got to face the reality – we got ourselves into this
mess. No one is going to get Tristan out of it except the community
itself. As a first step, with effect from tomorrow, all Government
expenditure will require Treasury authorisation, so Heads of
Department should clear in advance with Lorraine any expenditure they
plan to commit. I'll circulate details of this shortly.

D J Morley
Administrator

9th March 2008 

Climate change has become a prominent issue for islands, island communities, and island livelihoods. From sea-level rise to ocean acidification, from changes in storm regimes to fish species migrations, how will islands and islanders be able to deal with such drastic environmental changes, in addition to the social challenges which are also impinging on their lives and livelihoods?

Does anyone have suggestions, especially solid examples, of how sustainable island livelihoods could deal with the expected challenges which climate change will bring? As one project, see Many Strong Voices http://www.manystrongvoices.org

UNESCO runs two excellent internet forums related to island issues:

• Small Islands Voice Global Forum http://www.sivglobal.org
  
• Wise Coastal Practices for Sustainable Human Development Forum http://www.csiwisepractices.org

Some of the non-energy island livelihood debates have been:

• Bottled water http://www.sivglobal.org/?read=44
• Destructive fishing http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=300 and sea farming http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=399
• Natural heritage http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=372
• Protected areas http://www.csiwisepractices.org/?read=448
• Tourism http://www.sivglobal.org/?read=185
• Whaling http://www.sivglobal.org/?read=138