Save the Children this week voiced their concerns over the future of Cairo’s significant street child population, after a momentous month for Egypt.

The ousted Egyptian government claimed that only 5,000 beggar children live on the streets, a figure which has been roundly dismissed by local non-governmental organisations and western agencies as a fabrication; it is thought that at least 50,000 children are living on the streets of Cairo.

“I want a president who will be kind to us, someone who can feel the suffering of the people,” said Mohamed, a boy of 14 wearing a headband in the colours of the Egyptian flag. Mohamed told Save the Children he had been living on the streets for five or six years, cleaning cars to survive after his father beat him so badly that he ran away from home.

There is concern that children like Mohamed remain vulnerable to violence and commercial and sexual exploitation; Save the Children has confirmed reports of girls as young as thirteen giving birth. The charity also claims that many street children are using drugs to escape the harsh reality of life in the city.

Street children in Cairo are withheld access to basic services such as education and healthcare because they are not registered with the authorities; none of the children Save the Children talked to had an official ID or a birth certificate, making it virtually impossible for them to register with the government.  Asked what he wants from the future, Karim, who doesn’t know how old he is, told Save the Children’s Andrew Wander:  “I hope that one day I can get an ID, a birth certificate, a place to live and a family.”

Karim told the organisation he had lived on the streets for 11 years, and recounted how his friend, Ismail, was shot dead during the demonstrations:

“He was just walking up Khairat Street and was hit by a bullet,” he said. “I heard that the whole country was in trouble, that everyone was dying, and I thought I was going to die.”

The Independent on Sunday last week revealed how Mubarak supporters brought children to Tahrir Square to throw stones at the pro-democracy protestors, and how government advocates persuaded penniless street children to participate in pro-Mubarak marches.

All those concerned with child welfare will hope that as a symbol of the previous regime’s legacy, street children across Cairo will benefit from the country’s fresh start, and be able to transform their dangerous existence under a new government.

Marevie was found weighing only four kilograms and suffering severe malnutrition in the wake of the earthquake. Her father’s girlfriend had used Marevie to gain access to more food and medicine, but had only been feeding her biological children. When she arrived at SOS Santo she was so malnourished she could hardly keep her eyes open, but a year later she is a lively and healthy young girl celebrating turning two.

Marevie lives in house number 8 at SOS Santo; today she is the star attraction as well-wishers gather to enjoy the party food and music. The young, healthy girl dancing with her friends is a million miles away from the child immediately admitted to hospital following her discovery by an SOS worker last year. Marevie was taken into the SOS Children‘s Village in Santo on 10 February 2010, where she joined an SOS family, with a mother, aunties and brothers and sisters who continue to look after and care for her.

Marevie is now a normal energetic two year old, dancing around her home in her bright white princess’ dress. “She loves to dance”, says her SOS mother, “she dances all the time.”

While Marevie is one success story of the aid efforts in Haiti over the past year, efforts are ongoing to promote and aid the country’s full recovery from the earthquake. The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission was set up in April 2010, led by former US President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive with the intention of facilitating a flow of funds toward the development of reconstruction projects and to help Haitian ministries with their implementation. Last month Angelina Jolie announced that Nathalie Nozile from Santo, Haiti, had been selected as the first Jolie Legal Fellow, under a pilot program created to support the Government of Haiti’s efforts in maintaining and strengthening the post-earthquake Haitian judicial system.

SOS Children’s Villages has worked in Haiti for over 30 years, providing care and support for disadvantaged young people across its Children’s Villages and schools. Up to a million people in the country are still thought to be internally displaced in the aftermath of last year’s disaster.

“The hardships that my family and I had to face have always been the inspiring factor for my hard work, but I have come a long way. I grew up in a family that were not only poor but were also treated as untouchables because we were one of the lower castes (in South Asian countries caste stigmatisation is common). I am now studying in the UK on a two-year Pestalozzi scholarship. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of SOS Children, who sponsored twelve years of my education.

I have some unpleasant memories of my childhood. None of the other children would play with me, or even eat with me because my surname was from a lower caste. I pleaded my mother to let me change my surname but she told me that the only thing that I had to do was to concentrate on my studies. My mother was a single parent and worked as a labourer. She could never have afforded my schooling but I was fortunate to get a scholarship from the SOS School, Sanothimi.

The academic, sporting and social opportunities that I got at my SOS School were amazing and it all helped me grow as a person and gain a few friends. One of my most special memories was when I came top in the SLC (Secondary level Board) examination and, hearing this, my mother started crying with happiness.

After my SLC examination, my school encouraged me to sit the Pestalozzi Scholarship test. I was selected and am currently in the UK doing the second year of the International Baccalaureate Diploma. The opportunities that I have here are amazing; including basketball lessons, swimming lessons, volunteering at St. Michaels Hospice and piano lessons. I am now in the process of applying to study pre-law at a university in the US, UK or Germany.

I can see the difference SOS Children has brought about in me. The quiet and shy girl has been transformed into a confident, responsible young adult. SOS Children provided me with the opportunity that would otherwise have been denied to someone of my caste and economic status. They have not only supported me but also my brother and my sister. The only way I could repay SOS Children is through helping other people who are in a similar situation to the one I faced.

I intend to be a role model for the Dalit community, to show them that a Dalit person can do anything if they get the chance. I believe education is the right path to achieve this. I want to show my society that people should not be judged by their surnames. No child should ever have to ask their parents to change their surname, as I once did.”

SOS Children have been working in Nepal since the 1970s. There are now nine SOS Children’s Villages  in the country, which are altogether home to over 1000 children and young people. The organization also operates social, medical and educational facilities which support local communities across Nepal.

Charities today distributed rice and noodles to families sleeping in makeshift tents near their former homes, while Save the Children warned that “children may be displaced for weeks, during which they will be at an increased risk for diseases, stressed by the uncertainty of the situation and without access to schools and comforting daily routines”.

Sitting under a tarpaulin with her three adult children and four young grandchildren, Morena Leoncito, 58, told Agence France Presse she was worried about food and shelter for her family over coming days.”We lost everything except the clothes on our backs. Our first priority had to be the children,” she told reporters.

The latest disaster comes as the Philippines struggles to regain normalcy in the wake of disruptive and fatal flooding over the past month. According to the disaster council, flooding across the southern and central areas of the country last month claimed 75 lives, with heavy water damage claiming the lives of four people in Surigao ten days ago.

The country’s economy and infrastructure took a huge hit in late 2009, as the worst typhoon season in 40 years devastated Metro Manila and the key agricultural areas inland. According to a recent Asian Development Bank study storms, landslides or earthquakes displace as many as eight million people every year.

There is concern that the country is ill equipped to predict and deal with natural disasters. Last year the Pacific Strategies and Assessments (PSA) noted:

“ The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa)and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) have limited capabilities to issue on-time and accurate early disaster warnings and are largely underequipped and understaffed due to drastic funding constraints.”

The challenge is to increase awareness of the current amount of orphaned and abandoned children in the care of SOS, and to raise funds in support of the organisation’s work in the country.

In 2008, the journey happened in reverse; three Morris Minors travelled from South Africa to the UK in convoy, covering a distance of 10 000 miles in two months. The group are hoping for a similar success this time; Brian Clark from MAD will be driving from the UK to South Africa in his car “floppy”, a Morris Minor almost as old as the first SOS Children’s Village in Africa. He will be accompanied by a Goodwill Ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages South Africa, and Mr. Biggles Bear, the mascot for the trip. Brian and Biggles plan to meet staff and children from various SOS Children’s Villages en route.

Mandy Spies, from SOS Children’s Village Port Elizabeth, said:

“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to raise awareness of the plight of the African child and the unique challenges and serious issues he/she faces every day, including conflict and war, HIV/AIDS, poverty and the lack of basic services.  Too many African children do not have a place where they can grow up loved and protected. SOS Children’s Villages helps provide that comfort and security only a family can give, to children who have lost the care of their parents”.

There are approximately 3.6 million orphans in South Africa alone, 1.8 million of which are orphaned as a direct result of HIV/AIDS. SOS Children have been working in South Africa since 1982, and have eight Children’s Villages across the country, providing over 1000 at risk children with a permanent new home. Spies says “Our aim this year is to get as many people as possible working together toward the common goal of assisting those children without families.”

Interested onlookers can follow the epic journey on the team’s facebook page.

The report used data gathered from interviews with former child soldiers and officials between April 2009 and October 2010, and said that recruiters use family links or appeal to ethnic allegiances to win the support of adolescent boys as well as bribing them with money, clothes or cigarettes.

“Thousands of children are being manipulated by adults into fighting their wars, into killing and being killed. This is child abuse on a massive scale and must not be allowed to continue,” said Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland.

Whilst the study also claimed that other children were abducted and forcibly recruited, for many child soldiers economic necessity, family influence and a sense of prestige inform their decision to join.  One former child soldier told Amnesty he volunteered to join a rebel group when he was 13:

“My father is old. At home we did not have enough for everyone, so I wanted to better our situation and join the army to help my family and my mother,” he is quoted as saying.

Amnesty cited U.N. statistics dating back to 2007 of between 7,000 and 10,000 child soldiers. The figures indicated around 80% of child soldiers were fighting with rebel groups while the remaining were enlisted in the Chadian army.

Chad hosted a regional conference in June, attended by officials from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan, focusing on the issue of ending the use of children by national armies and rebel groups. Six months later however, the Chadian government declared an amnesty on crimes committed by rebel groups, thereby ruling out criminal investigation of rebel leaders over the recruitment of child soldiers. Amnesty’s Africa Programme Director, Erwin van der Borght claimed lack of political will is a major obstacle in curbing the practice:

“(There is a contrast between) certain rhetoric from the Chadian authorities and the reality on the ground,” he said. “It’s obviously the political will which is not there and a level of hypocrisy which is there from the Chadian authorities.”

Whilst the data suggests otherwise, the Chadian government strongly denied that children between the ages of 13 and 17 were being used in the army.

“We do not recruit children. There are no children operating in Chad’s government forces,” Ngarbatina Odjimbeye Soukate, the Minister of Social Action, National Solidarity and Family, told The Irish Times . “On the contrary, we are helping former child soldiers that are still being recruited by rebel groups reintegrate into society.”

Despite the government statement, Amnesty noted that from the U.N figures only around 850 former recruits had received help to rebuild their lives through UNICEF by December 2010, suggesting that thousands of child soldiers are potentially still active and at risk. Civil war in Chad has been ever present in Chad since 2005, and has accounted for 710 reported casualties up to now.

WWF has voiced concerns over anticipated gas drilling in the Mediterranean Sea. The organization says that the recent discovery of significant gas fields off the coasts of Israel and Egypt has triggered a ‘scramble to start drilling’, with scant regard given to the potential effect on the respective ecosystems and biodiversity.

The Leviathan gas field, 135 km off the coast of Israel, has an estimated volume of 16 trillion cubic feet of gas, while the West Nile Delta gas field, also recently discovered, lies in Egyptian waters, 80 km northwest of Alexandria.

“The deep-sea floor in the Levant is teeming with life of a very special and unique kind. WWF strongly condemns blind drilling on biodiversity hotspots that could cause irreversible damage,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.

WWF stated that all eastern Mediterranean countries are bound by sea-protection treaties, including a protocol on preventing pollution from drilling, part of the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution. The organization also claims there is an absolute ban on drilling in ecologically sensitive areas, and is therefore demanding studies on the potential environmental impact of these drills before they go ahead. Israel, however, has yet to ratify the protocol on drilling pollution, with Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan only recently giving the order to begin such a process. The ministry has stated that it currently lacks tools to supervise gas drills and prevent them from causing environmental damage. If the government ratified the treaty, it says, it would strengthen Israel’s legal commitment to responsible drilling.

Prof. Bella Galil of the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Institute in Haifa said the prospective drilling sites contain countless coral species, sponges and crabs, as well as various types of sharks. “These are small populations, so if they suffer damage, it will be very hard for them to recover,” she explained. “This is a region that is likely to be important to humans, because of these species’ contribution to the development of various products. But it’s also very interesting and special, and therefore, it must be protected.”

WWF went on to state that “Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) must be urgently carried out – and acted upon”.  The organization maintains that industrial development and drilling should be ruled out on deep-sea areas harbouring the most valuable biological communities, to avoid irreversible damage.

“Environmental Impact Assessments should be carried out specifically to account for the potential effects of drilling on the integrity, structure and functioning of these deep-sea ecosystems – before any gas explorers even set foot in this part of the Mediterranean,” said Tudela.

“Once a deep-sea community has been drilled through, it can take a millennium or more before the unique micro-ecosystem grows again – so the most fragile and valuable species and under-sea areas must be left untouched by gas development.”

The ‘What Wood You Choose’ study, in conjunction with the Earthsight research group, found that certain timber on sale in the UK for use in British homes comes from parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Congo Basin where illegal logging is harming biodiversity and people. It goes on to suggest British businesses aren’t checking the sources of the wood they import, and in some cases are misleading their customers by inferring the wood they are selling has ethical credentials where none exist.

Colin Butfield, WWF’s head of campaigns, said:

“This study should act as a wake up call to companies here in the UK and highlight to the consumer that they are the ones with the power to demand that whatever they’re buying, from doors to kitchen worktops, is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). If it doesn’t have the FSC logo then it could originate from a place where there have been devastating impacts on species such as the orang-utan and communities that earn a living from the forest.”

“While some of the major retailers are clearing up their supply chains there are a large number of UK companies that simply don’t have the information or the understanding to make them fit for purpose when the new regulations come into force.”

It is hoped that the new EU timber laws, due to come into force next year, will force illegal retailers to clean up their act to avoid conviction. However, the report also found that in some cases companies simply had no idea of the source of their wood products, and showed little desire to research its origins.  Butfield added:

“The EU law, coming into force in early 2013, will mean anyone intending to sell timber products into the UK market will have to be able show where it’s come from and that it isn’t illegal. The study suggests that UK businesses are a long way from meeting the demands of that new law.”

WWF was able to trace UK wood products back to saw mills in Indonesia and Malaysia through phone calls and visits, and used investigators posing as buyers to collect data.  It was found that Cornish-based Barncrest furniture retailer exploited tropical hardwood for their kitchen worktops from parts of the Ivory Coast; illegal logging in the Ivory Coast has been linked in the past to conflict and health risks for local people. Despite claims that the timber is legally compliant, Barncrest were unable to supply evidence to support the claims.

Many companies use the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo on their websites to assure customers of the credibility of the their sourcing. Colin Butfield stated: “By looking for the FSC logo on a product, a customer can be confident that the timber used has come from a forest that has been managed in an environmentally and socially responsible way.”

WWF marked the end of the Year of the Tiger last week by calling on corporations around the world to “reduce their impact on tiger habitats through responsible procurement of wood, paper, palm oil, coffee, and other commodities.” The organization’s sentiments are already publically backed by over 285 leading companies worldwide.

100 years ago there were an estimated 100,000 tigers; today there are fewer than 3,200 wild tigers in the world. The critically endangered animal has lost 40 percent of its habitat, and in 2011 occupies only seven percent of its historic range. By moving supply chains towards credibly certified sources, companies producing commodities can ensure that they are not contributing to the habitat loss that endangers tigers in the wild, WWF said.

“With as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild, there is an urgent need to save this species from the brink of extinction and we need action from government and industry alike,” said Mike Baltzer, leader of WWF’s Tigers Alive initiative. “Conversion of forest habitats for palm oil, fiber and timber products increasingly threatens the survival of wild tigers.”

Unsustainable practice in the timber and palm oil industries are thought to be two of the leading causes of tiger habitat conversion. Baltzer believes that companies restructuring their business activities to include tiger-safe policies will have a knock on effect on other corporations in terms of an established code of good practice:

“By taking the initiative to sign their own declaration of support for tiger conservation efforts, these companies aim to inspire others to do the same. We hope that more companies will show their commitment to find solutions for tigers just as the governments did in St. Petersburg. We know that corporate based action can make a difference and we need those solutions, that type of action, for tigers now.”

Signatories of the tiger-safe policy declaration include Adis Pte Ltd, a furniture retailer based in Singapore and operating in Vietnam. “As a company operating in several Asian countries, we are well aware of the importance of responsible forestry. GFTN-Vietnam helps us understand the source of our wood supply and select responsible and legitimate forest sources,” said Olivier Roy, Adis’ chief representative in Vietnam. “We hope to become one of the leading businesses in supporting sustainable forestry processes and production.”

Additional signatories of the Tiger Declaration include HP, Tetra Pak, Anco Furniture, BKB Hevea Products, Dai Thanh Furniture, Dasso Industrial Group, Forexco, Holzpunkt AG, Khai Vy, Nature Flooring, Power Dekor Group, Ropress Genossenschaft, ScanCom Vietnam, Sommer Holzwerkstatt, Thang Loi Enterprise, Thanh Hoa, Tran Duc Group, Tri Tin Co Ltd, and Truong Thanh.

“Recognizing that the time to act is now, these companies’ commitment to ensuring that their procurement activities do not unwittingly contribute to the destruction of vital tiger habitats is important in reversing the trajectory of dwindling wild tiger populations,” said George White, head of the Global Forest and Trade Network. “By establishing traceability in their supply chains and demanding credibly certified timber and fiber, companies across the forest products industry can do their part to ensure that tigers stand a fighting chance.”

A new study in the journal PLoS Medicine has shown a dramatic decrease in HIV/ AIDS rates in Zimbabwe. The study claimed the country’s HIV infection rate dropped by almost 50% between 1997 and 2007, and is being viewed as offering important lessons on how to fight the HIV / AIDS epidemic in the rest of Africa.

British researchers said Zimbabweans were motivated to change their sexual behavior thanks to improved public awareness of HIV / AIDS statistics, and a consequent fear of contracting the deadly virus.

“The HIV epidemic is still very large, with more than one in 10 adults infected today,” said Timothy Hallett of Imperial College, London, who worked on the study.

“We hope that Zimbabwe and other countries in southern Africa can learn from these lessons and strengthen programs to drive infections down even further.”

Whilst the latest data from Zimbabwe is encouraging, statistics from the United Nations show that an estimated 33.3 million people worldwide are still infected with HIV, with the majority of those in sub-Saharan Africa. Simon Gregson, a senior investigator on the study, said that it was important to analyze the reasons for Zimbabwe’s success, given the high prevalence rates in neighbouring countries and the improbability of the findings:

“Very few other countries around the world have seen reductions in HIV infection, and of all African nations, Zimbabwe was thought least likely to see such a turnaround. This is why there was such an urgent need to understand its direct and underlying causes.”

HIV/AIDS prevention programs organised by the National AIDS Council in Zimbabwe are thought to be in part to thank for the welcome decline, with initiatives throughout the media and in churches and workplaces.  Zimbabwe also has a relatively strong education system and existing traditions of marriage which may have formed the basis of the changes in behaviour,

Despite the positive nature of the report, some observers found the data to be overly simplistic. Emmanuel Gasa, director of The AIDS and Arts Foundation (TAAF), said the research method, testing citizens at clinics, was potentially inaccurate as it did not take into account the many infected Zimbabweans who cannot afford to travel to clinics to be evaluated.

“Not everyone will go for tests. The rate of promiscuity is actually very high because of the unemployment rate which is over 90 percent,” said Gasa, referring to women who have turned to prostitution in order to feed their families. Gasa went on to note the millions of Zimbabweans who have left the country in recent years to escape violence and unemployment, and who may have ‘exported’ the disease.

The United Nations AIDS program said last year that young people in Africa were beginning a “revolution” in HIV prevention, and were driving down rates of infection through safer sex and fewer sexual partners.

Floods in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern provinces have displaced up to 350, 000 people, causing widespread devastation. At least 57 people have been killed and over 1.2 million affected,  in what is the highest ever recorded rainfall in the country.

The worst affected areas have seen many  taking refuge in emergency shelters; however, SOS Children’s Villages reports that “persistent downpours have led to a number of these camps flooding themselves, and families being forced to relocate elsewhere.” It comes as villages were trying to recover from severe floods last month, and the projected damage to agriculture and infrastructure is thought to be devastating.

“A large amount (of rice crop) is destroyed. More than 90 percent of the crop will be destroyed this time. There is no other option than replanting,” Agriculture Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene told Reuters.

World Concern announced it is distributing food and emergency supplies to around 9,000 people in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, SOS reported on Tuesday that its own operations in Sri Lanka had been affected by the disaster:

“Flood water has affected SOS Children’s Village Anuradhapura, in the north of the country. Roads have been closed and one of the main water tanks in Anuradhapura is on the verge of over spilling. Water has entered the Children’s Village, causing sanitation facilities to overflow. The SOS children, mothers and Village staff remain on the Village site for the time being, but the rain is continuing.”

The Sri Lankan government has estimated that the recent round of floods has caused damage worth LKR 50 billion (£280 million). Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Amaraweera told reporters that thousands of acres of cultivations, around 450 irrigation schemes, at least 75,000 cattle and many thousands of poultry and other animals were destroyed in the floods. There is the concern that poverty and malnutrition levels will increase as a result of loss of food sources and livelihoods.

Furthermore, international aid for the 1.2 million Sri Lankans affected by the monsoon flooding has fallen short of the immediate humanitarian needs, United Nations figures showed Wednesday.

“Donors have provided $8.4 million of the $51 million requested by humanitarian agencies last month to respond to the flood crisis,” the UN said.

On the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Angelina Jolie this week announced that Nathalie Nozile from Santo, Haiti, has been selected as the first Jolie Legal Fellow, under a pilot program created to support the Government of Haiti’s  efforts in maintaining and strengthening the post-earthquake Haitian judicial system.

Jolie Legal Fellows are attorneys who will function as special assistants to key Government of Haiti officials, focusing their attention on the interests of the Haiti’s most vulnerable children in the judicial system. Jolie believes Nozile, who grew up in the SOS Children’s Village in Santo, will go on to help ensure more children get the legal protection they need:

“I am thrilled that Nathalie Nozile will be our first legal fellow in Haiti – where the need to enhance child protection is so great. Nathalie is a force. Just wait and see. She will be doing many great things. I am proud to know her and extremely grateful to have the opportunity to work with her.”"

The actress went on to state she believes Nozile’s upbringing is key to her in-depth understanding of children’s needs and rights:

“Nathalie has a heartfelt commitment to improving conditions in her homeland, and brings to her work the unique perspective of growing up in an SOS Village. There, she learned firsthand the importance to a childhood of a stable and nurturing environment. Now, as a promising attorney, she will draw on her personal experience as she returns to help strengthen the Haitian judicial system.”

After graduating from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law in spring, Nozile has spent much of the year volunteering for the aid effort in Haiti, and will begin her new role later this month. The 25-year old yesterday expressed her gratitude at being given the position, and her admiration for Jolie’s humanitarian efforts:

“I am truly honored and humbled that I was chosen as the first-ever Jolie Legal Fellow. Ms. Jolie has demonstrated her commitment to Haiti and to child protection as evidenced by her support for SOS Children’s Villages and I welcome the wonderful opportunity to return to my homeland and support child protection – which is without a doubt my dream job.”

Dr. Heather Paul, CEO of SOS Children USA, gave her endorsement to the appointment:

“Nathalie is an excellent example of SOS youths who are educated and imbued with a sense of responsibility to give back to their community and their country. We are so proud that a former SOS child will work within the Haitian judicial system with an eye to protecting those who are most vulnerable. Nathalie’s devotion to her country and demonstrated willingness to support its justice system echoes Ms. Jolie’s long-term commitment to ensuring legal equality and protecting the rights of children in Haiti and across the globe.”

SOS Children’s Villages has worked in Haiti for over 30 years, providing care and support for disadvantaged young people across its Children’s Villages and schools. Up to a million people in the country are still thought to be internally displaced in the aftermath of last year’s disaster.

A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador has expressed concern for the welfare of Egypt’s most vulnerable children, as violent demonstrations in Cairo continue unabated. SOS Children’s Villages has also reported that two of their three Children’s Villages in the country have come under attack.

Mahmoud Kabil, a famous Egyptian actor known for his humanitarian work for UNICEF, was asked by BBC reporters about the impact of the crisis on children. Mr Kabil’s resonse was succinct: “trauma.”

Despite President Mubarak’s assurances that he will not stand for re-election when his term ends in September, anti-government demonstrators are calling for him to step down with immediate effect. 376 casualties have been reported since the riots broke out a week ago, with over 3,000 people injured so far. Recently supporters of President Mubarak have fought back against protestors, causing further bloodshed.

Concern is high over the effects of the fighting on vulnerable children across Egypt, with the charity SOS Children’s Villages issuing the following statement:

‘Two of the three SOS Children’s Villages in (Egypt) have been targeted by mobs. The SOS Children’s Villages in Cairo and Alexandria were broken into on Tuesday by groups of men climbing over the perimeter walls. At the SOS Village in Alexandria, the Village Director was injured and required medical attention. However, his injuries were not serious and he will make a full recovery.

At both Children’s Villages, the children and SOS mothers are well and no structural damage has been reported. The situation has calmed down slightly, but as the general situation outside the Villages worsens, food has been stored in anticipation of potential shortages – access to shops is increasingly difficult and food prices have risen significantly caused by panic buying. Internet access and mobile telephone networks which had been disrupted were fully reconnected this morning.’

UNICEF reports that children have been involved at many of the protests, despite the volatile and potentially life-threatening conditions. “I want my sons to see the freedom I never saw,” Sayyed, a 40-year-old small business owner, tells Al-Masry Al-Youm News when asked why he decided to bring his two young sons to Tahrir Square in Cairo on Monday. “I went alone on Friday because it was too dangerous, but now they have to be here. I want them to have their honor back, to express their opinion freely, to earn a decent wage, and to have their country respected here as well as abroad. This is the only way for them to have a future.”

Given that there are thought to be roughly 1 million orphans inhabiting the streets of Cairo, lack of protection for at-risk children across Egypt is a growing concern for aid agencies such as UNICEF and SOS, as rioting, gang violence and looting continues. Mr. Kabil noted that he remains concerned about the welfare of Egypt’s street children, who may tragically find it impossible to avoid the ongoing violence.

According to the United Nations, the lasting impact of the devastating floods six months ago has caused devastating malnutrition in the Sindh province especially, the area worst affected by the natural disaster. The findings suggest that almost a quarter of children under five are malnourished in Sindh, an area the size of England. Pascal Villeneuve, the U.N. Children’s Fund Representative in Pakistan, said that whilst child malnutrition has always been a problem, the floods have worsened this situation:

“This rate is well above the World Health Organization’s 15 percent emergency threshold level, triggering a humanitarian response.  Extensive screening procedures are now in place and emergency feeding centers have already been set up to ensure that malnourished children are properly treated with therapeutic feeding and appropriate health care.”

The last nutrition survey across Pakistan in 2002 found a national malnutrition rate of 13.2%. The current survey of 786 households, a collaboration between the UN, several aid agencies and the government, recorded malnutrition rates of 23.1% in northern Sindh and 21.2% in the southern part of the province. According to several aid officials, the publication of the statistics were delayed by the Pakistan government, who were reluctant to share the findings immediately after completion in November. Figures are still awaited for the southern Punjab region, also badly affected by the floods.

The floods of August 2010 affected around 20 million people, and damaged or destroyed around 1.7 million homes. The knock-on effect of such upheaval on an already poor society has had devastating repercussions for the country’s most vulnerable families. “I haven’t seen malnutrition this bad since the worst of the famine in Ethiopia, Darfur and Chad. It’s shockingly bad,” said Karen Allen, deputy head of Unicef in Pakistan.

Efforts are ongoing by organizations such as UNICEF, SOS Children’s Villages and Save the Children to support families affected by loss of life and damage to infrastructure caused by the floods. Villeneuve says UNICEF is providing clean water to 3.5 million people every day, and sanitation facilities to nearly two million people.

“To bring normalcy back to children’s lives and protect them from risks of abuse, neglect and exploitation, we have established 700 child-friendly spaces, serving 200,000 children,” he said. “Soon after the floods started, we scaled up our operations to reach the most affected and vulnerable with life-saving relief supplies and recovery services.”

It is widely accepted that the new data reflects upon a part of Pakistan’s society that had severe health problems before the floods; the current crisis is the consequence of poverty, poor diet, exposure to communicable diseases , lack of education and of course the instability caused by last year’s disaster.  “The floods just pushed people over the edge,” said Ms. Allen.

John Yap, B.C.’s minister of state for climate action, and Ted Sturdevant, director of Washington state’s Department of Ecology inked the joint action plans on Wednesday, although the agreements have no legal weight and merely indicate a willingness work together against climate change.  Minister Yap stated:

“British Columbia has taken decisive action to lower the province’s greenhouse gas emissions and we continue to see that same resolve in Washington state. We share the air, a coastline vulnerable to a similar range of climate change impacts and, most importantly, an understanding that immediate strong actions today can lead to a strong low-carbon economy tomorrow.”

Ecology Director Sturdevant placed emphasis on the need for immediacy in tackling climate change:

“Climate is changing due to build-up of carbon already in the atmosphere from fossil fuel use around the world. We’re already suffering diminished stream flows, diseased forests, and other natural resource losses that undermine our quality of life and economic strength. Rising sea level from shrinking glaciers and ice caps will put coastal communities and infrastructure at risk. Only with decisive action to address emissions will we see a moderation of future impacts. Regional agreements like these we’ve signed today matter — because climate change doesn’t recognize borders and boundaries. It affects us all.”

The agreement pledges to:

• Demonstrate how to make government operations as carbon-neutral as possible — sharing information and drawing on British Columbia’s success in achieving a carbon-neutral public sector.

• Further strengthen engagement with Washingtonians and British Columbians in helping their fellow citizens learn how sea level rise threatens critical shoreland areas and communities.

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The agreement is the latest in efforts made by British Columbia and Washington to promote public awareness of the immediate dangers to the environment posed by climate change. The two states recently launched a program known as  “king tides”, eliciting photos from members of the public to show the impacts of rising ocean levels through pictures extreme high tides. Other pre-existing initiatives between B.C and Washington include:

• Work under the Washington-British Columbia Memorandum of Understanding on Coastal Climate Change Adaptation, including joint science workshops, exchanging information on sea level rise projections and mapping, sharing information on Green Shores programs, and Washington and B.C. “king tide” photo initiatives.

• The Salish Sea Ecosystem / Puget Sound-Georgia Basin Ecosystem Research Conference, the most comprehensive scientific research and policy conference that focuses on issues impacting the region known as the Salish Sea. British Columbia and Washington take turns hosting the biennial conference.

• Washington and British Columbia as active participants in the Western Climate Initiative, a cooperative effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in seven U.S. states and four Canadian provinces.

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Whilst a lack of any legal obligation to fulfill climate change targets means the agreement has limited significance, the paper is being viewed in the same way as the Cancun agreement; both agreements represent a symbolic step forward and an indicator of co-operation in the fight against climate change.

The report was completed in collaboration with Ecofys, a global consulting firm on sustainable energy, and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, an international partnership that practices architecture, urbanism and cultural analysis. The paper aims to encourage governments across the world to move away from reliance on fossil fuels and towards a sustainable energy future, and makes fiscal claims that will surprise many; a projected $5.5 trillion saved per year through the switch to renewable energy.

The report says the effort would require $4.8 trillion a year in spending, on modernizing buildings and electricity grids and expanding wind farms and solar parks. However, after 2040 it is projected that the initial outlay on sustainable projects would begin to be recouped.

“By 2050, we save nearly 4 trillion euros per year through energy efficiency and reduced fuel costs compared to a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario,” said the report. “But big increases in capital expenditure are needed first to install renewable energy-generating capacity on a massive scale, modernize electricity grids, transform goods and public transport and improve the energy efficiency of our existing buildings.”

The study, using analysis based on population, passenger travel and industrial output against potential renewable energy initiatives, says it is possible for 95 per cent of the world’s energy requirements to come from renewable sources by 2050. Josh Laughren, WWF-Canada’s director of climate and energy, said such an outcome is a necessity rather than a choice, as supplies of cheap oil and gasoline from conventional sources are running out.

“The status quo doesn’t exist,” Laughren said in an interview. “If we stay on the course of fossil fuels, the price is going up. It’s getting harder to find. We’re having to go farther to find it . . . So comparing to yesterday’s prices isn’t real.”

In the absence of peer reviewing of the report, its proponents are keen to emphasise that its findings are achievable, and are practical suggestions that would benefit the planet economically and environmentally in the long term. “This is insurance against the volatility of oil and gas prices and climate change,” Stephan Singer, editor of the study and director of energy policy at WWF, said from Brussels. “It can be done using currently available technologies and ones due in the market in the next few years.”

Singer went on to list the various changes to behavior necessary if the paper’s targets are to be achieved. Such a significant increase in energy efficiency and renewable power would require for example eating less meat, using more public transport, and electrifying cars. New financial models will be required that place emphasis on generating long-term gains rather than immediate profits, he stated.

“Sufficiency must be part of the solution — technology is not the sole provider,” Singer said. “The global middle classes and the global rich of this world are not a blueprint model for the poor. It’s not just the U.S. and Canada, (but) the global rich have an overconsumption that not everyone can have.”

Dr David Mabunda, Chief Executive Officer of South African National Parks (SANParks), made the announcement on Monday in Pretoria. Whilst admitting the figures were disappointing, he promised to pursue the poachers responsible for the significant loss of life in recent years:

“The loss of 333 rhinos to poaching in 2010 was a devastating loss for us but we are determined that in 2011 that should not happen.”

“Anyone who is involved in poaching at whatever level will be a prime target for our investigations and we will leave no stone unturned in this respect, including going for the kingpins of these operations.”

The South African government’s National Wildlife Crime Investigation Unit was launched in October to crack down on poachers, and national parks and reserves have recently introduced a range of anti-poaching programmes. Such measures include dyeing the sought after horns, tracking them with microchips so they can locate the culprit after the crime has been committed, and safely cutting them off before poachers can get to them. However, Pelham Jones of the Private Rhino Association said that the January figures, whilst lower than last year’s, show that the steps taken to combat poaching have not positively impacted on the situation yet:

“Last year we lost 333 rhinos, which means we lost one rhino every 26 hours. We are hugely concerned that we have not seen a remarkable reduction, and we don’t think the situation is improving.”

Although the loss of life this month has been met with disappointment, in the same period there have been 31 poaching arrests made throughout the country. Of the 31, sixteen were detained in North West province, ten in the Kruger National Park, three in Gauteng province and two in Limpopo. Since the beginning of the year five suspected rhino poachers have been killed in combat with park rangers in the Kruger National Park.

It is thought that poachers are going to extreme lengths to capture rhino derivatives as there is currently a huge demand for the product on the black market, particularly in Asia where the horns are thought to have mysterious powers and are sold as aphrodisiacs or healing agents. Government officials and conservation groups say poachers in South Africa use high-end equipment such as night-vision equipment, silencers and animal tranquilizers, and transport themselves by helicopter to avoid being caught.

South Africa has more rhinos – more than 21,000 – than any other country, and there is growing concern that African wildlife officials are increasingly unable to cope with the developed techniques used by poachers in their ruthless pursuit of the animal.

“Rhino poaching across Africa has risen sharply in the past few years, threatening to reverse hard-won population increases achieved by governments and conservation groups during the 20th century,” the World Wildlife Fund warned recently.

The researchers suggest that increased sea ice melts are radically changing the animal’s hunting patterns, pushing them to swim greater distances and in the process risking their own health and that of their offspring.

“This bear swam continuously for 232 hours and 687 km and through waters that were 2-6 degrees Celsius,” said research zoologist George M. Durner.

“We are in awe that an animal that spends most of its time on the surface of sea ice could swim constantly for so long in water so cold. It is truly an amazing feat.”

The study, which was able to determine when the bear was in the water by collar data and a temperature logger implanted beneath the bear’s skin, shows that this epic journey came at a very high cost. Durner notes: “This individual lost 22% of her body fat in two months and her yearling cub”. The paper concluded:

“The extraordinary long distance swimming ability of polar bears, which we confirm here, may help them cope with reduced Arctic sea ice. Our observation, however, indicates that long distance swimming in Arctic waters, and travel over deep water pack ice, may result in high energetic costs and compromise reproductive fitness.”

Polar bears in the Artic Circle survive on a calorie-rich diet of ringed seals, and with climate change restricting access to their primary source of food, the animals are being forced to desperately search further afield. Professor David Barber spent last winter in the area studying the sea ice for a project funded by the Canadian government, and told journalists at a press conference last Friday that thinning of the ice is happening at a quicker rate than previously thought: “It’s happening much faster than our most pessimistic projections … It’s an early indicator of what we can expect to happen further south.”

News of the incredible swim comes at a time when NASA and NOAA released data showing that 2010 tied with 2005 as the hottest year for the planet, and amid evidence of a decline in numbers of the 22,000 polar bears that live in about 20 sites across the Arctic Circle. Dr Charles Monnett, marine ecologist at the American government’s Minerals Management Service remarks:

“(Polar bear) Mortalities due to offshore swimming may be a relatively important and unaccounted source of natural mortality given the energetic demands placed on individual bears engaged in long-distance swimming. Drowning-related deaths of polar bears may increase in the future if the observed trend of regression of pack ice continues.”

The project, part-funded by Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic, took ten years from inception to completion. At a cost of $1 million, the tunnel has successfully connected two distinct elephant populations kept apart for centuries by human development. The elephants can now successfully cross the major road that separates the two forests, without putting themselves or motorists in danger.

Susie Weeks, executive officer of one of Mount Kenya Trust, remarked:

“The first time we had a report about an elephant going under the underpass it was very exciting. We didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. They actually managed to go through it within days of it being opened.”

The 15-foot-high tunnel opened for elephant business around Christmas.  An AP reporter captured the first ever photos (see above) and video of elephants making use of the underpass, as a bull elephant named Tony made the first crossing in early January.  A 9-mile corridor surrounds the tunnel, allowing elephants to move from low to high terrain to search for food and mates. The fenced-in corridor will also help strengthen the elephants’ gene pool, according to Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save The Elephants:

“All over Africa this incredible wildlife is increasingly being fragmented by the growing human population, and if African wildlife is to survive, solutions must be found of this nature, where connectivity is preserved through corridors. I think it’s a good example of the compromises that can be made between human interest and the survival of wild animals.”

Human development is exerting increasing pressure on Africa’s wildlife. Villages are being built and crops planted in areas that for centuries were animal habitat. Conservationists have welcomed the collaboration between donors as a positive step to re-establish designated animal areas in Africa.

The tunnel has not put an end to the threat to elephant life in the area; poaching is increasing, fueled by demand for ivory in China. John Pameri, senior warden at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, one of the partners in the underpass project, said poachers killed more than 30 elephants in northern Kenya in December. Because elephant tusks have increased in value, poaching is “really a big, big danger,” Pameri said.

It is hoped that the symbolic value of the new underpass will prompt an increased focus on elephant warfare and biodiversity, and the conservation of one of the world’s most iconic species.

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The study, a collaboration between scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science, San Diego Zoo Global, China West Normal University, China Wildlife Conservation Association and the Sichuan Forestry Department, emphasizes the fact that old-growth forests often exhibit rare qualities due to the longevity and development of their ecosystems.

The data was collected during a five-year forest survey in the Sichuan Province, and although its findings clearly show the types of areas pandas are drawn to, it was not clear on exactly why old-growth forests offer so much. The report suggests it may be the quality of bamboo growth which is all-important rather than the quantity, and that the proliferation of suitable child-rearing areas may also be a factor:

‘One possibility is that the bamboo that grows underneath old growth is more nutritious (than in other forested areas). Another intriguing possibility is that only old-growth trees grow large enough to form cavities suitable for maternity dens. This raises the question: are birth dens a factor-limiting panda population size in reserves with a history of logging?’

Iain Valentine, Director of Animals, Conservation and Education for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) told BBC News there are a number of potential reasons for the iconic animal favouring old-growth:

“It could be as simple as that old stands of bamboo produce large new shoots of bamboo at their bases, which are rich in sugars. These large shoots are softer too, and are therefore easier to eat than hard stalks. (Conversely), it could be far more complicated than this and involve complex seasonal nutritional needs of the panda which themselves vary as a result of the bamboo forest structure and age.”

The study comes at a crucial time; although a recent WWF survey indicates that panda numbers are increasing slightly, there are still no more than 1,600 left in the wild.  The logging ban introduced by the Chinese government in 1998 is up for review this year, and it has been suggested that some areas may remain protected, with other areas opened to logging. The Chinese government has gone to great lengths in the past to preserve its beloved guobao (‘national treasure’) but it may be that it will also have to adopt measures to protect its oldest forests in order to ensure the animal’s future.

“In this study we show that pandas are associated with old-growth forests more than with any ecological variable other than bamboo,” concludes Ron Swaisgood, Ph.D., one of the authors of the work and a panda researcher at San Diego Zoo. “This finding indicates that in order to conserve this species, we need to conserve both bamboo and old-growth forests.”

Utilising new database technology alongside cloud and mobile services, HP hopes to take the current paper-based records system of recording medical information online. This new management system will enable easy sharing of information across the 700 mothers2mothers sites in sub-Saharan Africa. It is hoped that the efficacy of the new system will equip counselors with reliable information quicker, empowering them to provide better education and support services to pregnant mothers.

Gene Falk, co-founder and chief executive officer of mothers2mothers, believes that implementing the new technology at this stage will see the company modernizing its infrastructure for the immediate benefit of the women and unborn children it works with:

“mothers2mothers now helps more than 1.5 million women each year. With technological expertise from HP, we can modernize our paper-based infrastructure to a highly efficient digital model, allowing us to meet the growing demand for our services and put information directly into the hands of our Mentor Mothers. This new system will enable us to serve women much more effectively through improved knowledge and insight.”

Demographically, mother-to-child HIV transmission rates remain high across Africa. There are more than 1.3 million pregnant women living with HIV in the continent; without any intervention, 40 percent of those women will have a HIV-positive child. Preventing the transmission of HIV from a mother to a child is a relatively straightforward process, with a single dose of medication given to a mother during labor, and a dose to her infant shortly after birth, cutting the transmission risk nearly in half.

On HP’s part, its global health initiative has been a key component of the company’s worldwide social innovation program. Its agenda is to use the breadth and scale of cutting edge HP technology to facilitate structural and systemic improvements in health access and delivery in disadvantaged societies. The corporation is connecting social entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations with access to mobile, cloud and enterprise technology expertise, with the ultimate goal of saving lives in mind. Gabriele Zedlmayer, vice president of HP’s Office of Global Social Innovation said yesterday:

“Global health is one of the last frontiers for IT transformation and holds immense promise for significant improvement to the quality of care available through the appropriate application and use of technology. With mothers2mothers’ rich understanding of health challenges in Africa, we can transform the lives of women in Africa and provide greater hope in winning the fight against HIV/AIDS.”

The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to account for the significant loss of lives across the world, with an estimated 2.5 million children under 15 living with the disease globally. SOS Children’s Villages reports that in sub-Saharan Africa alone, more than seven million children have lost both parents to HIV/AIDS, and that the number of HIV/AIDS orphans is expected to reach 25 million by 2010. It is hoped that other influential corporations like HP will join forces to a significant extent with governments, NGO’s and aid organizations, in the continued fight to stem the devastating spread of the disease.

Ten days ago raging summer storms deposited more than a month’s worth of rain on Rio’s steep slopes in just a few hours, causing the immediate destruction of around 3000 homes and untold damage to infrastructure. Although drinking water, electricity and telephone lines have largely been restored, the number of people made homeless by the floods tops 20,000, and a dozen villages remain cut off.  Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis, Petropolis, Sao Jose do Vale do Rio Preto, Sumidouro and Bom Jardin were the towns worst hit by the deadly flooding.

The final death toll from the disaster is likely to hit 1,000, as authorities warned hundreds were still missing. Roberto Batto, a spokesman for the Civil Defence agency in Nova Friburgo, said: ‘There are families that were so decimated that there is no one left to confirm who is missing.’

SOS, aided by other aid agencies and NGOs have stated that “children who have lost their families in the ongoing disaster or who have been separated from their families with no knowledge of their whereabouts must be identified and registered as soon as possible in cooperation with local authorities.” The organization has also declared that “those children who have nobody to take care of them, even if only temporarily, must be provided with basic necessities, such as food, medical and psychological support, and a safe place to stay.”

The geography of the area has been totally transformed by the catastrophic event; hundreds of people are still thought to be in areas at risk of further mudslides, with many cut off by damaged roads and bridges. Icaro Moreno, president of EMOP, a governmental public works company, said:

“Streams have turned into wide, deep rivers. There is a huge geographical change; it’s as if towns were completely reshaped. People in these mountainside areas aren’t as secure as they used to think.”

Five million Brazilians live in danger zones vulnerable to unpredictable weather patterns, according to Aloizio Mercadante, the science minister. The latest tragedy has raised concerns over why Brazil’s satellite technology, able to locate forest fires and predict the weather was unable to forecast the devastating effects of  La Niña, the Pacific cooling period responsible for the extreme downpour.

Efforts by SOS to aid the recovery comes six months after the organization launched emergency relief programmes to support communities in the aftermath of floods in the Pernambuco and Alagoas areas. Globally, the floods are the latest in a string of recent catastrophes, with Pakistan, Australia, Guatemala, Peru, Sri Lanka, Senegal and China all suffering to varying degrees from water devastation.

The organization cites a recent study by a UNICEF-led group on children caught up in conflict, which states that 26 children were shot by Israeli soldiers near the border in 2010. It is thought that children are being forced to scavenge dangerously near the border due to the ongoing effects of the most recent blockade imposed by the Israeli army on trade in and out of the strip.

“Because of the blockade’s devastating economic impact, children are being forced to work and scavenge near the fence. Even those who are not in the so-called “buffer zone” unilaterally imposed by Israel are being targeted by Israeli soldiers,” Chris Gunness, spokesman for the U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees, said in a statement.

The buffer (or exclusion) zone extends 300m into Gaza; the report states that 16 of the 26 children were shot outside of this prohibited area.

The children’s author Michael Michael Morpurgo recently visited Gaza with Save the Children, and witnessed a child being shot at the border himself, detailed in his diary from that day:

“9.30am: Sitting in the car- a shot from the tower, and another boy is wounded. A cry goes up from all over the wilderness of the rubble, and they run towards him, pull him up and carry him in the racing donkey cart surrounded by his friends. The scavengers are angry now and are more angry by the minute. It’s a stand off.”

Whilst Israeli officials were not available for comment, the country has previously claimed that Palestinian militants in the past have been detected trying to plant explosives in the buffer zone, in the hope of harming military patrols.

Attacks on the Gaza Strip have so far cost the lives of an estimated 1,300 Palestinians, including 300 children, but it is the trade restrictions imposed by the blockade which are now forcing children to put their lives in danger.  Import levels have risen by around a third since an easing on restrictions last year, but the combination of a total export ban and lack of significant construction imports has left the area’s economy stagnant. Salam Kanaan, Save the Children UK’s Country Director in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said: “The blockade must end immediately and there must be a review of policies with respect to the border area – The Gaza blockade has put children’s lives at risk.”

Michael Mopurgo writes:

“10.30am: It’s psychological warfare here all the time. Meanwhile I’ve left back behind me in Gaza City all those families and children I’ve met who are permanently shut in, who endure day by day the privations and humiliations put on them by the blockades. That’s all I’ve learnt here, in spades, with my own eyes – I’ve seen what war does to children on both sides.”

Charities such as UNICEF, SOS Children’s Villages and Save the Children have played an important part in monitoring child warfare in the area, and providing care and support for vulnerable children. Save the Children said it had had reports that children were dropping out of school to take up whatever work they could find in order to financially aid their families. The Gaza strip has the 6th highest population growth rate in the world; concern is still growing about the conditions children are being born into, as poverty and conflict continue to compromise child safety in the area.

To mark this landmark occasion, Lynsey Marsh, principal clarinettist with the Hallé, will give a short performance with pianist Darius Battiwalla at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

The FSC-certified Hanson clarinet is made from African blackwood, a species which is rapidly disappearing due to over-exploitation, primarily for the woodwind industry. The woodwind industry is one of the primary drivers of illegal logging with as much as 96% of wood exported from countries such as Tanzania being harvested illegally. FSC-certification ensures that wood is harvested responsibly, legally and guarantees that forest-dependent people are fully rewarded for the use of the resources that are the basis of their livelihoods.

Alastair Hanson, Hanson co-founder said: “We are proud to become the world’s first FSC-certified maker of woodwind instruments. We buy our wood responsibly to help safeguard the hugely valuable natural resources of the tropical forests that provide the material needed to make clarinets.”

Mike Chandler, Chairman of Environment Africa Trust, which has funded the Sound & Fair campaign to develop the market for FSC-certified African blackwood, said: “The launch of this world-first FSC-certified Hanson clarinet marks the culmination of over 15 years of vision and hard work involving the forest-dependent people of Tanzania, who are amongst the world’s poorest communities. The wood in the clarinet has made a pioneering journey and it is immensely satisfying seeing the finished instrument the hands of celebrated musicians such as Lynsey Marsh.”

Both Alastair Hanson and Mike Chandler will be speaking ahead of Lynsey Marsh’s performance and there will be opportunities for questions and photos with all parties and the instrument. Afterwards the event will be opened up to Royal Northern College of Music woodwind students giving them the opportunity to try the instrument for themselves.

Read more about African blackwood and illegal logging at Sound & Fair

Lynsey Marsh – Biography

Lynsey was appointed Principal Clarinet with the Hallé in 2001. Before moving to Manchester, she was a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the orchestra of English National Opera. Lynsey studied at Chetham’s School of Music with Barry Gregson and Graham Turner, both former members of the Hallé, and went on the read music at Cambridge University.

Whilst at Cambridge, she was awarded the Gold Medal in the Shell/London Symphony Orchestra Scholarship, and was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra.  As a postgraduate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, she studied with Joy Farrall and Thea King, and spent a second postgraduate year studying in Paris with Pascal Moragues.

Lynsey plays guest principal with many British orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has given recitals for BBC Radio 3, and appeared at festivals throughout Britain, including Aldeburgh and Cheltenham.  A member of the Marais Ensemble, Lynsey helped found the annual Potton Music Festival, which is now in its seventh year. Lynsey has performed at the Wigmore Hall as a guest with the Nash Ensemble, and the Purcell Room with the Marais Ensemble.  Abroad, she has performed with the Wind Soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, including concerts at the Tanglewood International Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.

Two new Village Land Forest Reserves were successfully audited under FSC conditions during 2010 and are now able to supply timber branded with the FSC stamp.

Liwiti (6,229 hectares) and Nainokwe (8,502 hectares) have been registered under the FSC Group Certificate Scheme of the Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative, the Tanzanian partner of the Sound & Fair campaign.

The inclusion of Liwiti and Nainokwe increases the total area of community-managed and FSC-certified forest in Tanzania from 2,420 to 17,151 hectares.

Liwiti and Nainokwe ready for timber harvesting

FSC regulations require detailed surveys of the number and types of tree that are present within each Village Land Forest Reserve, the data being the basis for sustainable harvesting quotas.

Both Liwiti and Nainokwe have completed their surveys and are now ready for their first harvests, which are expected to take place during in early 2011.

Increased revenue opportunities from new FSC timber species

Nainokwe’s forest in particular holds good stocks of African blackwood, significantly more than Kikole, where the first FSC African blackwood harvest took place in December 2009, and both villages will earn good revenue from this species.

Liwiti and Nainokwe also stand to gain significant additional revenue from other timber species, especially Julbernardia and Pterocarpus (sometimes known as Bloodwood for its red colour).

Neither of these species are of use in the woodwind instrument industry, nor are they as valuable as African blackwood, but their presence in high volumes, offers increased revenue earning opportunities and subsequently better prospects for community development projects.

It is through the responsible harvesting and sale of such species, in addition to African blackwood, that forest-dependent people in Tanzania will be able to generate the revenue needed to safeguard the forest in the long-run.

Read more about African blackwood and illegal logging at Sound & Fair