Information concerning the 2005 round for LIFE-Nature and LIFE-Environment has been updated. Practical information on how to apply for funding under LIFE-Environment (demonstration and preparatory projects), LIFE-Nature, and LIFE-Third Countries: annual deadlines, application forms, who to contact etc can be found at the following link: http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/life/funding/ index.htm The call for proposals for LIFE 2004-2005 has been published in the Official Journal on 12 October 2004 (OJ 252 of 12.10.2004), at the follwing link:
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/archive/2004/ c_25220041012en.html General information for LIFE III:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/life/life/ index.htm
In 1997, the Eurosite Management Planning Toolkit was published and has been a great help for many site managers throughout Europe. During the Annual Meeting held on 25 September 2004 in the Oder Delta Valley in North-west Poland, the Management Planning Guidance was endorsed by the Eurosite network. Eurosite is deeply involved in developing and advocating the protection of Natura 2000 sites. The European Union has underlined this role of Eurosite and has chosen Eurosite to realise the Natura Network Initiative, a project to raise public and stakeholder awareness of Natura 2000 and promote good practice in the management of Natura 2000 sites throughout Europe (Natura 2000 sites in the EU25 account for approximately 20% of Europe’s land surface). Europarc and ELO are Eurosite’s project partners in this initiative. The Management Planning Guidance is developed under the responsibility of Mr. Eddie Idle, former President of Eurosite, and Dr. Tim Bines, former General Manager of English Nature. The endorsement means that this Guidance will be made available to all the members of Eurosite and translated into many European languages. The Guidance is available online. More information on the work of Eurosite can be found at www.eurosite-nature.org
BirdLife strongly welcomed the agreement which recognises the importance of the Birds Directive as an appropriate instrument for the Conservation of Birds at the EU level. Furthermore, both organisations agree not to take measures to amend the Directive. Other points include the recognition of the importance of the Natura 2000 Network and the call for action on illegal hunting and introduction of alien species.
The two key topics of this meeting concerned the enlargement of the European Union and consequent extension of the Habitats Directive into the new Member States, and the fact that the explicit financial instrument for funding environmental work (LIFE funding) is going to be phased out and replaced by integrating environmental obligations within financial instruments and programmes run by other Directorates. Consequently a meeting was held towards the end of the first day with Mr Eddy Hertog, DG Regio, to obtain some sense of how environmental initiatives might be addressed under this new system. It quickly became clear that the main expectation of DG Regio is that Member States themselves will be required to provide most of the funding for such initiatives as a normal part of their obligations, but that DG Regio would be prepared to withold Structural Funds for larger projects if environmental obligations were not also being met. In Mr Hertog’s opinion, there would be no possibility of ‘ring-fencing’ an allocation within the Structural Funds for Natura 2000 and other environmental initiatives. Bids for environmental work would have to seek funds from the same pot as bids for all other issues.
This theme was further developed the following day at a meeting with DG Environment, where Nick Hanley confirmed that the main instruments for providing funds for Natura 2000 in future would be the EU Cohesion Fund, Rural Development funds, Structural Funds, and an instrument called LIFE+, which will cover those aspects that cannot easily or logically be covered through other funds – particularly for innovative site management, management planning, development of monitoring methods, and training and communication.
One thing that comes through current debates is that there is a substantial mis-match between what Member State Environment Ministers are calling for in terms of EU funding for the environment, and what the Council of Ministers (i.e. Premiers and Treasury Ministers, usually) consistently seeks. The general message is that the Council of Ministers regards the environment as a relatively unimportant issue and thus funding mechanisms reflect this. For a substantial change in direction, it will be necessary to convince Prime Ministers and Treasury Ministers that the environment matters…
The issue of monitoring Natura 2000 was discussed, and a draft paper tabled by DG Environment. Questions were raised about quality control for the monitoring process, and it was agreed that there would probably be something akin to the Biogeographical Seminars that have been held to assess the site lists for the current round. For the new Member States, a series of Biogeographic Seminars will be held to review their lists. This will be co-ordinated on the EHF side through Andras Krolopp of CEEWEB (krolopp@ceeweb.org).
The EHF has now produced an A4 leaflet called Implementing the Birds and Habitats Directive, which is available from the EHF Secretariat (janice.weatherley@iucn.org), and on 9th November, the President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell Fontelles, was presented by the EHF with a symbolic pot of plants and a watering can to celebrate the progress of the Habitats Directive, with the message “Take care of Nature, and Nature will take care of you.” A potential crisis was (hopefully) averted when Richard during the EHF Octobre meeting suggested that the EHF should make sure that the pot was filled with peat-free compost – an awkward silence suggesting that, up to that point, this was an issue that had not been considered…
Richard Lindsay
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In October 2003, a catastrophic bog slide occurred near the village of Derrybrien in Co. Galway, Ireland. This bog slide began within the site of a large wind farm development that has permission for 72 turbines. The development area covers most of the summit of Cashlaundrumlahan, which is one of the main peaks in the Slieve Aughty Mountains. Virtually the whole area is dominated by blanket peat, with average peat thicknesses of around 2 metres, but in some areas the depth is more than 5.5 metres. Initially, a large mass of peat slid downslope and travelled some 2.5 kilometres. It then slowed and stopped, but was re-activated some two weeks later during heavy rain, and the peat then travelled more than 20 kilometres along the Derrywee River and entered a major fishing loch, killing more than 100.000 fish of all species and age groups. The developers commissioned two geotechnical reports to determine whether work could continue on the wind farm. The reports both stated that work could continue provided the peat was subjected to a ‘robust’ drainage programme. Richard Lindsay and Olivia Bragg were commissioned by the local community to assess the quality of the original EIAs for the development, review the possible causes of the disaster, and assess the findings of the geotechnical reports.
The report of this assessment (Wind Farms and Blanket Peat: The Bog Slide of 16th October 2003 at Derrybrien, Co. Galway, Ireland) was launched in Dublin on 26th October, and resulted in considerable media interest. The report highlights:
- the need to consider peat as significantly different in properties and behaviour from most mineral soils;
- that bog slides and bog bursts are surprisingly common, especially when associated with human impact;
- the fact that plantation forestry on peat causes extensive cracking of the peat;
- ‘floating’ roads laid on the peat are not a practical option for long-term access;
- the need for sympathetic and sensitive water management if disasters are to be avoided;
- drainage does not necessarily stabilise peat;
- the fact that wind farms are being built to reduce CO2 emissions, yet wind farm construction on peat has the potential to release significant amounts of CO2 during construction, during the life of the wind farm, and potentially beyond.
Unfortunately only limited supplies of the report are currently available because it was commissioned specifically for use by the local community, but we are exploring with a number of environmental bodies the possibility of funding a larger print run. For the moment, copies of the Executive Summary are available on request.
Richard Lindsay (r.lindsay@uel.ac.uk)
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The plant produces many seeds, which are shaken out of canister-like vessels and so are dispersed widely on the bog. As it stands, the patch on Moud’s Bog is approximately 100 m2 , but the danger remains that it may spread to form a larger, extensive colony like that in Derrycashel bog in County Roscommon. If this happens the conservation value of the largest bog remaining in Kildare could be destroyed.
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Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has knighted our Dutch IMCG member Matthijs Schouten. The award was presented in Dublin (Ireland) by His Excellency Mr Jacobus van der Velden, the Dutch Ambassador to Ireland. In bestowing this honour the Queen of the Netherlands recognised the role Matthijs played in bringing the conservation of Irish bogs to the attention of the international community. Matthijs started researching Irish bogs in the 1970’s. He was instrumental in raising awareness of the issues of peatland protectiuon in Ireland, a.o. by founding the Dutch Foundation for the Preservation of Irish Bogs, and continues to inspire bilateral Dutch-Irish research on the conservation and restoration of peatland ecosystems. He teaches Applied Landscape Ecology at University College Cork and University College Galway (Ireland) and in the University of Wageningen (the Netherlands).
The Utrecht Declaration on Wetlands
The 7th INTECOL Conference on International Wetlands, which took place on 25 - 30 July 2004 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has adopted the “Utrecht Declaration on Wetlands” during its final plenary meeting. In paragraph 4), the meeting notes that “The vast peatlands in the Northern hemisphere, as well as the tropical peatlands in Asia, are of paramount importance for global carbon storage. Further peat mining for fuel or horticultural purposes will lead to an even further loss of carbon storage capacity, and at the same time to rapid oxidation of the extracted peat into carbon dioxide.”
Please find the full text of the declaration at www.bio.uu.nl/intecol/declaration/.
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A field seminar-excursion focussing on peatland rehabilitation took place from 7 to 11 October 2004, in the Republic of Belarus. The excursion was organised by Wetlands International Russia Programme and APB Birdlife Belarus.The goal of the seminar was to develop a scientific and methodical background for peatlands restoration and rehabilitation. To achieve this, experience was exchanged on the planning and implementation of peatland rehabilitation projects in Russia and Belarus, including following items:
- Socio-economical aspects
- Legislation aspects
- Natural-science background
- Technical background
- Some practical approaches
- The most frequent failures and mistakes and their consequences
The 29 participants from Russia (21) and Belarus (8) were joined by Olivia Bragg from Dundee University (Scotland). Interestingly, a quarter of the seminar participants had graduated from the “Darwin peatlands courses” in Dundee.
The seminar was organized as a permanently moving round table. Travelling from one demonstration point to the other, discussions continued in the bus. Various cases were demonstrated: natural paludification of abundant peat fields, projects on rewetting carried out by peat enterprises themselves, and rehabilitation projects realised by NGOs.
The group identified a list of problems and potential obstacles in such projects and discussed the ways to solve them. On the last day, through active brain-storming led by Nikolay Bambalov, Alexander Kozulin, and Tatiana Minayeva, the structure of future Guidelines for peatland rehabilitation was developed. The Guidelines will be attuned to the socio-economic and legislation realities of the FSU countries.
A number of case studies on restoration and rehabilitation was presented by participants during the “moving symposium” directly in the bus while driving 5 hours to Minsk and discussions were active and constructive.
The field symposium was organized and funded in the framework of project PIN MATRA/2003/019 “Conserving Peatlands of Central Russia: the wise use approach to peatlands ecosystem management”.
Reported by project coordinator Tatiana Minayeva
See also: http:// www.imcg.net/docum/belorus04/belorus.htm
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The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine, in collaboration with the Wetlands International Black Sea Programme and expert staff members from a number of important protected areas around the country, has presented the data, maps, and designation documents for 11 new Wetlands of International Importance, effective 29 July 2004 and covering 28,401 hectares, in a fascinating variety of habitat types. All of them have already been designated as National Parks or Nature Reserves and already have ongoing research activities, in most cases management plans, and in many cases visitor infrastructure. They are found in nearly all parts of the country - coastal sites in Crimea on the Azov and Black Seas (Cape Kazantyp, Karadag, Cape Opuk); a pod or steppe depression also in the south (Chapelsk); a bay of the Dniester River (Bakotska Bay) and a canyon and delta of one of its tributaries (the Smotrych); floodplains near the Russian border in the north (Desna) and more in the center of the country (Dnipro-Oril); a lake formed by mountain landslides in the Carpathians (Synevyr); and extensive peatlands in the Polesie area near the Belarus frontier (Perebrody, Polissia mires), which are part of continuing discussions with Belarus and Poland concerning transboundary management.
Ukraine now has 33 Ramsar Sites covering a surface area of 744,651 hectares. The Convention's global total now reaches 1376 sites covering 122,691,471 ha. Below are descriptions of the new Ramsar sites with peatlands:
Desna River Floodplains. Sumska Oblast; 4,270 ha; 52°19'N 033°23' E. National Park. River network with lakes, oxbows, mires, and floodplain meadow areas, along the border with Russia, with aquatic and riverside vegetation types, swamp, shrubs, meadow, and partly forest. The site supports rare aquatic plant communities listed in the Green Data Book of Ukraine and internationally threatened species such as the Sterlet, the Common Otter, the Eurasian beaver, the Corncrake, and many other birds which nest within the site. Between the new and former Desna River beds, colonies of grebes, ducks, plovers, sandpipers, gulls, and terns are settled. It is an important reproduction place as well for 33 fish species, which contributes to enriching the ichthyofauna stock of the lower river tributaries. Human activities include nature conservation and recreation activities, regulated hunting and scientific research. Observation of bird migrations and bird ringing during the nesting season are carried out. Ramsar site no. 1398.
Dnipro-Oril Floodplains. Dnipropetrovska Oblast; 2,560 ha; 48°32'N 034°45'E. IBA, Nature Reserve. A well preserved area at the confluence of the Dnipro (or Dneiper) and Oril Rivers, comprising a system of watercourses and related floodplains with numerous lakes, mires, and well-developed flora of vascular plants, including rare communities of Salvinia natans and Trapa natans, floodplain forests with oak, willow, poplar, and alder. The site is an important nesting place for Oystercatcher, Corncrake, Black Stork, Night Heron, and White Tailed Eagle and represents a key point of the Dnipro bird migration route. Large flocks of Mallard, Garganey, Coot and White-fronted Goose stop over during their autumn migrations. It supports many internationally threatened species such as the mammals Lutra lutra, Castor fiber, the reptile species Emys orbicularis, Vipera ursinii, and the amphibian Bombina bombina. Some 40 fish species, including the Sterlet Acipenser ruthenus, are recorded. The water level depends upon weather conditions but also substantially upon operations of a reservoir built downstream. Ramsar site no. 1399.
Perebrody Peatlands. Rivnenska Oblast; 12,718 ha; 51°42'N 027°07'E. Nature Reserve. The site, including several small lakes, is important for conservation of the typical boreal mire flora and fauna, especially the northern part at the border with Belarus. Sedge-reed communities are concentrated in the central over-damp part of the site and transitional sedge-sphagnum communities prevail at its periphery. The association of Carex lasiocarpa with sphagnum mosses is the dominant plant community of the site. Forest and coppice communities cover a large part of it with Scots pine Pinus sylvestris on islands and dune tops and Betula pendula, Alnus glutinosa and Salix alba in swamp areas. Besides the widespread species of Anatidae and Rallidae, Black Stork Ciconia nigra, Common Crane Grus grus, Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus, Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola, and Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus nest within the site. The presence of the European Otter Lutra lutra and Castor fiber is registered. During extensive floods every 10 years or so, the site territory can be almost completely covered by water. Ramsar site no. 1402.
Polissia Mires. Zhytomyrska Oblast; 2,145 ha; 51°31'N 28°01'E. Nature Reserve.A large swamp area of transitional mires and oligotrophic bogs fed by rain and snow waters and, at the border with Belarus, a separated wetland complex of transitional mires and fens integrated in small rivers floodplains. A significant part of the mires is forested with Betula pubescens and Alnus glutinosa. The site is important for the conservation of the flora and supports rare and endangered species of clubmosses, mosses, algae and the endemic vascular plant Tragopogon ucrainicus. Birds such as Crex crex, Ciconia nigra, Grus grus, Gallinago gallinago and Aquila heliaca use the site for reproduction. Felix lynx and Lutra lutra are permanently recorded. Scientific research and nature conservation activities are ongoing. Ramsar site no.1403.Source:
www.ramsar.org
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On 23 July 2004, the United Nations announced an $11 million project to help restore the marshlands of southern Iraq, considered by some to be the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden, after they were massively damaged by dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a vast drainage operation carried out by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.
For the full story go to: http://www.un.org/ apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11447&Cr=Iraq&Cr1
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The listing of ramin in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species’ (CITES) Appendix II was adopted by consensus of all 166 member countries at the 13th Conference of CITES Parties.
CITES, a U.N. treaty that has been in effect for nearly 30 years, subjects the international trade of 30.000 species of animals and plants, including 49 tree species, to varying degrees of control through listing in its three appendices according to the degree of threat and protection required. Appendix I applies the most stringent controls on species threatened with extinction, Appendix II regulates trade in species that could potentially lead to extinction, and Appendix III includes species listed by an “individual” country in an effort to enlist international cooperation to control trade from their country.
Forests where ramin grows are also home to endangered species such as orang-utans and Sumatran tigers, which are losing their habitat because of clearing for agriculture and impacts of illegal logging. In the last century, the number of orang-utans fell by 91 percent in Borneo and Sumatra. Globally, there were thought to be somewhere between 45,000 and 60,000 orang-utans as recently as 1987. But by 2001 that number had fallen by virtually half, to an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 of the animals, more than half of them living outside protected areas. The future of the Sumatran tiger is even bleaker. According to WWF the Sumatran tiger could become extinct within a decade, due to poaching and illegal logging. At least 66 tigers have been killed on the western Indonesian island of Sumatra since 1999, and between 400 and 500 now remain.
Ramin is a blond coloured tropical hardwood, native to the fragile peat-swamp forests of Indonesia and Malaysia. As the most valuable wood species in these ecosystems, ramin trees are usually the first target of illegal loggers, and selective logging of these trees is often the first step leading to forest clearance and incursion into national parks. According to the Indonesian conservation group Telapak, processed ramin can fetch up to 1,000 U.S. dollars per cubic metre and usually ends up in private homes as window blinds and baby cots, and in snooker and pool halls all over the world as cue sticks. The greatest demand comes from the United States, Italy, Japan and Britain. The attempt by Indonesia to upgrade the status of ramin from CITES Appendix III to Appendix II is not surprising as it struggles to control the trade - a large part of it illegal.
In 2001, after the Appendix III listing, the Indonesian government banned exports of ramin logs, sawn timber, and veneer sheets in response to decline of the species in the wild, lack of proper harvest management and high level of illegal export. But according to the Asian Conservation Alliance Task Force – a coalition of 30 non-governmental organisations from 10 Asian countries – around 70,000 cubic metres of banned Indonesian ramin are smuggled each year to the Far East in as many as 2,000 shipping containers – from either Singapore or Malaysia. Being the only other ramin-exporting country in South-east Asia, Malaysia earlier took exception to Indonesia's request to CITES for an Appendix II listing of the hardwood.
source: http://www.ipsnews.net/
Lawsuits against 10 companies
The Indonesian government has submitted the case files of three companies that have allegedly damaged the environment to the prosecutor’s office, as part of its plan to file a Rp 2 trillion (US$213 billion) lawsuit.
The case files of seven other companies are expected to be submitted to the prosecutor’s office by the end of the year. The three are described as a plantation company, an industrial plant that operates in a forested area, and a forest concessionaire, all located in Bengkalis and Siak regencies.
The director of a plantation company in Minas, Riau - had allegedly ordered that 1,200 hectares of land be cleared for farming. The clearance of 800 hectares of that land, via the slash-and-burn method, reportedly contributed to the haze shrouding parts of Sumatra Island and neighboring countries. Local authorities attempted to extinguish the fires, but faced difficulties as most had been lit on peat land. The haze also blanketed parts of mainland Riau. In the neighboring province of Jambi, thick haze caused the city to be blanketed from dusk till dawn last month.
Aside from seeking compensation, the state is also seeking to prosecute the 10 companies based on Law No. 27/1997 on environmental management. The directors of the 10 companies are being investigated as possible suspects as they are responsible for any dubious decisions that were made.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
Two New National Parks in Indonesia
WWF’s partnership with the Indonesian government to protect the most biologically diverse forests in the world - the last remaining lowland forests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra - will result in two new national parks. A timber company agreed to retire its logging rights on some of the land that will be used for the parks, and research and advocacy by WWF field staff helped the government decide to create the parks, which are critical habitat for endangered elephants, tigers and orangutans.
The Indonesian government announced at the meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Malaysia that it will create Tesso Nilo National Park on Sumatra and Sebangau National Park on Borneo in 2004. A 2001 WWF study found that the forests in and around the new Tesso Nilo National Park have the highest vascular plant diversity per area ever recorded by science, with 218 species of plants identified in about a 2000 square feet area, about the square footage of the average American home, twice the plant diversity of the Amazon. Yet it was being clearcut at a rate that would have wiped out the forest in less than a decade.
Land for the 217 square mile Tesso Nilo National Park came from two retired logging concessions owned by Inhutani, an Indonesian logging company. WWF is currently negotiating with other companies to retire more logging concessions and increase the acreage of Tesso Nilo National Park. Indonesia has one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world.
Tesso Nilo National park is home to the critically endangered Sumatran elephant and tiger. Sebangau National Park is home to 2,500-4,500 orangutans, one of the largest known populations of this endangered great ape whose habitat has declined 25-35 percent in just the last decade.
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The achievement of goals in peat extraction in the IPS member countries has been relatively unbalanced this year. By 30 September 2004, Donal Clarke from Ireland reported a plan fulfillment of 105%, while, according to Hartmut Falkenberg, the German peat diggers had reached nearly 100% of their goals. Canada reached about 100% of requirements in New Brunswick by the end of August, which is 40% of all Canada’s extraction volume. Quebec (about 30 percent of Canada’s production) has reached about 75% of their goals. The rest of Canada reported 50-80% of the target, which is below average for this time of year. Overall, Gerry Hood estimates that Canada could have a small shortage, but some regions would face higher losses. Back to Europe, the Swedish peat miners had extracted about 75% of their total requirements by 31 August 2004, according to Bernt Hedlund. The eastern Nordic countries suffered to a high degree from the cold and rainy summer. Nick van de Griendt reported that, in week 33, which was probably the last extraction week in Estonia, most companies had achieved only 40% of their goals. Estonia has had practically daily rain during the summer and the humid autumn weather now makes better results unlikely. In Finland, the peat cutters have extracted 40% of the production goals of fuel peat and about 65% of the goals of horticultural peat by the end of September. As in Estonia, the extraction season can be seen as over for 2004.
source: IPS
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Wetlands have been destroyed and degraded in South Africa over a period of many decades. The loss of these ecosystems has come at a huge price, since wetlands provide many direct and indirect benefits to individuals and society. In recognition of the social, economic and ecological benefits provided by these systems, wetland protection has gained momentum in South Africa, and this country has embarked on a massive programme of wetland rehabilitation. Although several wetlands have been rehabilitated over the last two decades in South Africa, these have not been evaluated to determine the success of rehabilitation. There is a lack of local research to document the processes underlying the degradation of wetlands (e.g. factors causing the advancement of erosion gullies into wetlands), and such understanding will provide a sound basis on which to choose an appropriate means of rehabilitating individual wetlands. There is furthermore, a lack of protocols and guidelines for prioritising wetlands in terms of the functions that they provide to society, and of their need for rehabilitation.
The present project on Wetland Rehabilitation is the first in a programme envisaged in South Africa by the Water Research Commission, details of which can be viewed on the WRC website http://www.wrc.org.za/
Reasons for initiating and operating a national wetland research programme are also related to the management needs of government departments for:
- Information on wetlands and their properties, particularly resource use and economic values,
- Information on the reaction/response to specific interventions and pressures
- Methods on how to implement certain practices
- Guidelines on how to manage wetland areas
- Trained human resources
- Monitoring and reporting programmes
- Evaluation of rehabilitation actions
- Coordination and technology transfer -
The existence of a cooperative research programme will therefore greatly enhance the ability of government departments to implement their responsibilities and obligations.
Funds are available to support postgraduate researchers at the Masters and PhD levels, including research funds and an annual maintenance stipend. Also included are funds for fieldwork and participation in meetings inside South Africa. Dissertation projects must complement the project goals described above.
Funds are also available to support postdoctoral students with a background and interest in wetland ecology, hydrogeomorphology and wetland restoration/rehablitation (including bioengineering).
For further details or an expression of interest, please contact Professor Fred Ellery, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Natal, Durban: Ellery@ukzn.ac.za
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