 |
| AGENDA
| |
| IES TOOLS
| |
| WORK IN PROGRESS
| |
| |
New Assessment on the Mekong River Basin
The Institute for Environmental Security
(IES), under the Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation program is
running its 6th Environmental Security Assessment (with the recognition of the Dutch Embassy, Hanoi) in
the Ca Mau Province, Mekong Delta in Vietnam, one of the poorest areas in the
entire Mekong River Basin. Ca Mau faces grave consequences from climate change (salt water intrusions, more extreme droughts and
floods), the destruction of mangrove forests (natural
barriers against some climate change effects) for shrimp farming
and the pollution from these shrimp farms, all leaving an already poor
population even more vulnerable.
| | |
| |
|
|
|
|
| IN THIS ISSUE
|
|
| | |
|
IES INTERACTIVE MAP ON DRC NOW ON-LINE
Discover the new 'Vision' interface on the DRC
 The
Institute for Environmental Security, in collaboration with MARIS, is pleased
to announce the launch of its new Interactive Map Viewer ‘Vision’ on the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ‘Vision’ aims to inform decision makers on
the state of play in specific areas in an interactive way. Fourth in a series
of webGIS interfaces, the DRC interactive map viewer allows internet users to
select any combination of data layers and satellite images in order to run a
visual analysis without having any special GIS expertise or software.
The
interface is produced in the framework of the IES Environmental Security
Assessment (ESA) of the Ngiri – Tumba – Mai Ndombe wetland landscape. One of
the assessment’s main objectives is to investigate threats to environmental
security and formulate recommendations for preventing conflicts and alleviating
poverty. Some of the main threats the
Congo Basin is facing today include temporal and spatial expansion of forest
concessions, poaching mainly associated with logging operations, overfishing,
and illegal trafficking of natural resources.
EMERGENY AID AND ECOSYSTEM
IES and IUCN debate on ecosystem management
 On 27
April, the IES and the IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands organised a
meeting on ecosystem management after natural disasters and violent conflicts. This event took place in Artis Zoo, Amsterdam, as part of a larger conference
called “The Great Escape”, designed for a broader audience of policy makers
from governments, business and NGOs.The meeting brought together various
international experts, including representatives from humanitarian aid
organisations (Red Cross, UNHCR, Cordaid, ZOA Refugee Care), the government of
Sierra Leone and various African and European NGOs.
CLIMATE CHANGE & DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH-ASIA
IES participates in a Round Table at the European Parliament
 On
15 April, IES Vice-Chairman Tom Spencer took part in a roundtable on ‘Climate
Change and Development in South-East Asia’. Second in a series of seminars
organised by MEP Deva Njri in the European Parliament, the round table aimed to
promote the inherent link between changing weather patterns and development
issues, in an area where both challenges are huge.
Participants to these events included the Ambassadors of the Asian countries of China, Bangladesh and Bhutan and representatives of the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, IPBO and others.
THE HAGUE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FACILITY
Experts debate on Satellite Monitoring for Environmental Law Enforcement
 On April 20th the Institute for
Environmental Security and the T.M.C. Asser Institute organised a meeting on The Hague Environmental Law Facility
(HELF) to discuss the application of satellite monitoring for environmental law
enforcement. Around 40 experts took part in the event, including practitioners
from the “remote sensing community”, the legal sphere and enforcement agencies.
The meeting started with a thorough
introduction by Prof. Dr. Frans von der Dunk on the legal aspects of satellite monitoring
for environmental law highlighting the challenges and opportunities.
| | |
|
| |
