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 UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME Did you know that...
• One cubic metre of water can hold as many as 212 million microscopic plants. • 13,000 species of fish and 50,000 species of mollusks have been identified. • Not since the extinction of dinosaurs has there been such destruction of the planet's biodiversity as there is today. • 17 million hectares of tropical forests (or four times the area of Switzerland) are cut down every year. Sheep with sunglasses? Fernando Pinares raises sheep near Punta Arenas at the Southern tip of Chile. "I started noticing a few years ago that some of my sheep were going blind. I thought it might be because of a virus. But the veterinarian told me that there was a big hole in the Earth's ozone layer. He said that ozone shields life on our planet from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. This is really scary. What am I supposed to do? Have my sheep wear sunglasses as many of our children now do?" The 1987 UNEP-brokered Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer resulted in industrialized countries ceasing production of all ozone depleting substances in 1996. The diminishing worldwide consumption of ozone depleting substances - nearly 75 percent in the last seven years - has led to a simultaneous decline in the growth rate of these substances in the atmosphere. No more dirty looks Roger Levert is Chief Executive Officer of a large company that produces chemicals in Strasbourg, France. "A few years ago, my daughter's geography teacher told her class that chemical industries are big polluters in Europe. For years, she did not want to tell her friends that I run a big chemical business, because she was afraid of getting dirty looks. But I have told her that things have changed here. We have made so much progress in the last decade. Generally speaking, France's chemical industry has managed to halve pollution levels over a ten-year period while increasing production by 25 per cent. I am rather proud of that." The Cleaner Production Programme of UNEP promotes the use of environmentally sound production methods in industries and has assisted in the reduction of pollution and energy consumption levels in many industrialized nations while at the same time increasing production. The
animal police
Since 1970, more than 90 per cent of the world's rhinoceroses have disappeared. Rhinos are killed primarily for their horns, which are used in traditional oriental medicines to reduce fevers. In some countries, rhino horns are carved into ceremonial dagger horns. The rhinos' hides, hooves and other body parts are also used for medicinal purposes. Rhinos are legally protected from poaching and illegal trade in most countries throughout their range. Consuming nations also have legal restrictions on the international trade of rhino horns. These prohibitions, however, are not always well-enforced. Countries need to forge regional agreements on law-inforcement to halt illegal cross-border trafficking which threatens rhino populations. UNEP led the process to the finalization of the recent Lusaka Agreement, between Kenya, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, which provides for the establishment of an international task force for combating illegal trafficking in African wildlife including rhinos. The Lusaka Agreement is increasingly being referred to as the only regional wildlife treaty establishing a regional Interpol. UNEP in brief UNEP was established as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. Its mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnerships in caring for the environment by enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without comprising that of future generations. Its major priorities include:
• Promoting environmental activities throughout the United Nations system; • Raising public awareness on environmental issues; • Facilitating information exchange on environmentally sound technologies; • Providing technical, legal and institutional advice to Governments. United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
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cyberschoolbus@un.org
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