EIA Investigator - Autumn 2015

Investigator environmental investigation agency

EIA Investigator Autumn 15 | www.eia-international.org

Also inside this issue 03 tanzania trying to spin its devastating elephant poaching crisis

06 seafood firm’s link to iceland’s largest hunt of fin whales since ban

exposed: the massive illegal trade in timber stolen from Myanmar’s precious forests

08 Montreal Protocol advances super greenhouse gases phase-down discussions

09 obama pressed to raise tiger trade during Chinese President’s visit

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EIA Investigator Autumn 15 | www.eia-international.org

A message from our Campaigns director, Julian newman The cover story for this issue of Investigator is EIA’s new report on the illicit timber trade between Myanmar and China, one of the largest overland flows of contraband we have ever uncovered. Yet while the main findings of the report and the press launch are highlighted in this issue, the sheer amount of work that goes on behind the scenes for a project such as this usually remains unknown to the outside world.

To produce authoritative investigative reports and films, and to release the information strategically, requires input from a host of EIA staff ranging from campaigners, researchers and investigators to film editors and press officers. As EIA is a relatively small organisation it is only by working cooperatively and often beyond the call of duty that we are able to turn around investigative findings into high quality campaign materials that make a difference.

In the case of our Organised Crime report, it took four separate field investigations in Myanmar and China to piece the story together, as well as months of research delving into business records and trade data. By mid-July, we had a wealth of information and the decision was taken to release our findings at an important conference in mid-September, leaving just months to write the report, design it, translate it into Chinese and Burmese, and to produce a short film. The fact that we are able to achieve this is testimony to the dedication of our staff and their willingness to go the extra mile.

As you will see from the articles inside it is not just the Forest team that has been busy – all of our campaigns have been working full tilt, with new findings on whaling in Iceland, building support for decisive action to tackle climate-changing gases and maintaining pressure on Tanzania to tackle rampant elephant poaching.

The EIA team is committed to do all we can to protect the natural world from criminal and unethical exploitation. We know that you, our supporters, share this dedication and thank you for your vital help.

Julian Newman Campaigns Director

Contents

Written and edited by EIA Designed by: www.designsolutions.me.uk Printed by: Emmerson Press (www.emmersonpress.co.uk) All images © EIA unless otherwise shown Printed on 100% recycled paper

A huge and heartfelt thanks to our members and supporters. Without you we would not be able to carry out our vital work. enViRonMentAl inVestiGAtion AGenCY 62-63 upper street, london n1 onY, uK tel: 020 7354 7960 email: ukinfo@eia-international.org Po Box 53343, Washington dC 20009, usA. tel: 202 483 6621 Fax: 202 986 8626 email: info@eia-global.org

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tanzania still trying to spin its way out of an elephant poaching crisis

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seemingly chaotic illicit trade in timber from Myanmar to China is really a well-organised money-making machine for criminals

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seafood giant implicated in iceland’s largest hunt of fin whales since ban

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Japan still gambles with human health over toxic whale and dolphin meat

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Montreal Protocol advances phase-down discussions for super greenhouse gases

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obama is pressed to raise tiger trade during Chinese President’s visit to us

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it’s time to turn the tide of plastic waste choking our oceans

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Members’ Zone

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tanzania still trying to spin its way out of an elephant poaching crisis

China must back up announcement to end ivory trade with substance in May, China took onlookers by surprise at a public ivory-destruction event in Beijing by announcing it will “strictly control ivory processing and trade until the commercial processing and sale of ivory and its products are eventually halted.”

MoRe than six months after the launch of eiA’s landmark report Vanishing Point exposed how Chinese-led criminal gangs conspired with corrupt tanzanian officials to traffic huge amounts of ivory, the Government of tanzania admitted to a 60 per cent collapse in elephant numbers.

But although it finally released figures in June confirming the catastrophic population drop over a five-year period, it was still flailing around in denial as to the cause of crisis.

In an evident bid to deflect official responsibility, Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu partially blamed the huge population crash on natural elephant migration to neighbouring states. The reality is that since January the Government had deliberately suppressed the elephant census figures, which show a fall in numbers from 110,000 in 2009 to 43,521 last year, on the grounds that they needed to be validated or a recount conducted.

If nothing else, the Government was at least maintaining consistency in its responses to the situation.

Vanishing Point – Criminality, Corruption and the Devastation of Tanzania’s Elephants was released on the eve of a major regional wildlife crime summit in Tanzania in November 2014 and documented how even diplomatic visits by high-level Chinese Government delegations have been used to smuggle ivory.

Yet in a statement to Parliament on November 7, Minister for Foreign Affairs Bernard Membe claimed: “The EIA report has been cooked up with the aim of tainting the good reputation of our country and that of our friends, the People’s

Republic of China.”

Such clumsy politicking might be amusing were it not for the grim reality that Membe’s Government has presided over a virtual elephant slaughterhouse.

Seeking to bury the real state of elephant populations is nothing new in Tanzania – in 2009, a similar report highlighting a serious drop in elephant numbers in the Selous was buried although the figures, to great official embarrassment, were subsequently leaked at a major international meeting.

There is much the Government of Tanzania could – and should – be doing after reading EIA’s report, but sadly it seems far more concerned with shoring up its own hopelessly tainted credentials and gagging voices it does not wish to hear.

Yet while the Government is still in denial, there are signs the country’s enforcement agencies are stepping up efforts to track down the main culprits involved in ivory smuggling. In early October, the arrest of Chinese national Yang Feng Glan in Dar es Salaam was announced. Described as the “Queen of Ivory”, Yang is implicated in a seizure of 706 tusks in November 2013, a case covered in EIA’s Vanishing Point report.

EIA Executive Director Mary Rice said: “While this high profile arrest is welcome it must be followed by a timely prosecution. Most of the main suspects arrested in connection with ivory trading over the past five years have still not been sentenced.”

The statement by Director Zhao Shucong of the State Forestry Administration (SFA) was unsurprisingly picked up by the world’s press but EIA remained cautious, wanting to know what the seemingly bold words would mean in reality.

Although the Director made reference to the possibility that the ivory trade may eventually be halted, a step we would fully support, the commitment by the Government of China to tackle illegal trade in ivory – or its implied intent to close down all legal ivory markets within its territory – remains open to speculation, interpretation and spin.

With no detail or timeframe, the statement can only remain ambiguous, making congratulations and celebrations premature.

Fight whaling with the Big Give this Christmas!

For three years, eiA has taken part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge – a matched funding scheme that has so far greatly benefitted our campaigns, so we are asking for your support once again.

Last year we raised over £20,000 and this year, will be competing for matched funding to benefit our Oceans Campaign and its efforts to put a stop to North Atlantic whaling.

All you have to do is go to EIA’s project page on the Big Give website at 12pm on Friday 4, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December, make an online donation and your gift could be matched pound for pound!

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EIA Investigator Autumn 15 | www.eia-international.org

seemingly chaotic illicit trade in timber from Myanmar to China is really a well-organised money-making machine for criminals the latest report from eiA’s Forest Campaign exposes the massive illegal trade in timber stolen from Myanmar’s precious frontier forests.

log trucks in Kachin waiting to cross into China, April 2015

Flowing unhindered into China for decades, the trade is one of the single largest bilateral overland flows of illegal timber in the world, worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Based on extensive undercover investigations in both countries, Organised Chaos: The illicit overland timber trade between Myanmar and China exposes the key players and systemic corruption which drive and facilitate it.

In Myanmar’s conflict-torn Kachin State all parties profit, from the shady Chinese businesses paying in gold bars for the rights to log entire mountains to the official corruption which allows the timber through various checkpoints.

Destructive logging in Kachin is severely damaging the state’s unique forests which provide habitat for a host of species.

Chinese loggers told EIA investigators they have to go further into Myanmar to find commercial wood species. In northern Kachin, the logging threatens the survival of a new snub-nosed monkey species only discovered in 2010.

This huge illegal timber flow has been happening for decades but the international spotlight was only fully turned onto the trade earlier this year with the conviction and subsequent pardon of 155 Chinese nationals in July for illegal logging in Myanmar.

clamped down, the scale is once again nearing peak levels. This trade contravenes Myanmar regulations prohibiting overland export of wood and the country’s log export ban introduced in April 2014.

Although the trade may initially appear to be both chaotic and complex, the reality beneath the apparent anarchy is an intricate and structured supply chain within which different players have defined functions and collude to ensure the logs keep flowing.

Organised Chaos called on both countries to take urgent effective action against the massive illicit trade and campaigners used its findings to help push the issue onto the agenda of talks in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on September 24.

The trade appeared to have peaked in 2005 when one million cubic metres of logs crossed the border but, following a brief hiatus when Chinese authorities

Getting the attention of key policy- and decision-makers is crucial because at stake are some of the most ecologically important forests left in South-East Asia.

it has been well over a decade since eiA began investigating illegal logging and the associated trade from within east Asia and one country that has always been on our minds is Myanmar.

Over the past three years our attention has been focused on the huge trade of illicit timber sourced from deep within the country which is then transported through ethnic areas such as Kachin and Shan states, across the Myanmar/China border and onto Chinese markets.

China is dragging its feet in responding to a growing crisis within Myanmar’s forests but we know that reports such as Organised Chaos will assist those who are in positions of power to change the course – especially within Myanmar.

We have had the privilege of working with some of the most courageous and committed people, whose forests and land are under siege in the country, who are having to respond to one crisis after another, including horrendous floods that are now being seen as a result of logging, escalated conflict linked to access for the country’s many natural resources and high levels of corruption. It is because of the people we work with in-country that EIA believes there is hope and opportunities to bring much-needed reform to Myanmar.

Faith doherty, Forest Campaign Team Leader

05 BeiJinG lAunCh: the only way to win is to end timber theft

Forest Campaign team leader Faith doherty presents eiA’s short film.

eiA’s Forest Campaign team travelled to Beijing in China in september to launch the new report Organised Chaos.

As well as screening a short documentary, campaigners took questions for the assembled media at an event organised by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China and kindly hosted at the Danish Embassy in Beijing.

“EIA’s report makes clear that, quite simply, everyone is cashing in,” said Senior Campaigner Jago Wadley, “from the Chinese timber kingpins driving demand and the assorted Kachin armed groups to Myanmar’s army and Government authorities.”

The timber being illegally cut deep in Myanmar in areas such as Sagaing Division is being openly trucked en masse as raw logs through Myanmar Government and military checkpoints, Kachin armed group checkpoints and on through Chinese customs gates, where taxes are collected and the illicit goods are illegitimately ‘legalised’ by the Chinese state.

High value timbers such as Burmese teak and, particularly, rosewood species are the main contraband, as China’s burgeoning wealthy classes seek status in expensive wood products made with stolen wood.

Myanmar has a log export ban and regulations in China’s Yunnan Province prohibit imports of timber not explicitly authorised for export by the central Government in Myanmar – but none of this counts thanks to corrupt cash payments from an organised criminal network to bribe influential parties.

At the event, EIA repeated its call for China to prohibit the import of illegally logged timber. The 30 or so journalists and diplomats at the launch certainly appeared to take notice of EIA’s new information; a contribution garnered, as usual, at great personal risk to our investigators and brave local partners.

YAnGon lAunCh: eiA in Myanmar to spread word of massive illegal logging BARelY a week after releasing Organised Chaos in China, the eiA team reconvened at a special event in Yangon to launch the Burmese language version of the report.

Present were over 50 people from civil society groups, media, activists and representatives of international institutions such as the European Union and the UK Government.

The issues highlighted were for Myanmar to formally communicate its log export ban to Beijing and for China to recognise this law. EIA strongly advocates the abolition of the current role of the Myanmar Timber Enterprise in the oversight of logging operations and for Myanmar to work towards greater transparency of information to all stakeholders.

Several of those at the Yangon launch, especially the media, raised the question of the relationship between the two countries as well as the issues of the two countries’ roles and that of the main stakeholders in stopping the situation.

Another concern aired was the new agreement between China and Myanmar to stop illegal timber trading until the end of December 2015 following President Thein Sein’s visit to China last summer.

The EIA team again strongly stated that all illegal trading has to stop immediately and that all responsible stakeholders in illegal logging and trading have to cooperate to tackle the issue.

Campaigns director Julian newman takes questions at the launch.

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EIA Investigator Autumn 15 | www.eia-international.org

seafood giant implicated in iceland’s largest hunt of fin whales since ban iCelAnd’s controversial annual whaling season ended this year with a catch of 155 endangered fin whales, the largest slaughter since the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling.

And new evidence obtained by EIA and its partner the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) released in October revealed the ongoing involvement of international seafood giant HB Grandi in the whaling business, despite its claims to the contrary.

Major international shipping firm Eimskip continues to be closely involved in transporting whale products.

A truck operated by Norðanfiskur – a seafood company wholly owned by HB Grandi since 2014 – was documented transporting crates of whale meat and blubber from the whaling station at Hvalfjörður to whaling company Hvalur’s freezer facility in Hafnarfjörður.

HB Grandi is Iceland’s largest seafood company and its CEO, Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, has repeatedly insisted that the company “is not involved in whaling and never has been.” This claim ignores the fact that multi-millionaire Icelandic whaler Kristján Loftsson is chairman of HB Grandi’s board of directors and his whaling company, Hvalur, remains its single largest shareholder (via holding company Vogun).

“It is deeply disappointing, but no surprise, that HB Grandi’s repeated assurances that it has nothing to do with whaling have yet again been exposed as nothing but a worthless sop to shareholders and customers who are rightly concerned about its association with the internationally condemned hunting of endangered fin whales,” said Clare Perry, Team Leader of EIA’s Oceans Campaign.

Loftsson’s belligerent pursuit of fin whales made headlines earlier in the season when his activities effectively harpooned Iceland’s image as a whale-watching capital.

US tourist Timothy Baker and friends had hoped to see fin whales in their natural environment but instead found themselves taking photographs of Loftsson’s whaler Hvalur 8 and its bloody cargo.

“Watching the whaling vessel heading into port dragging the dead whales was the definition of a crossroad for Iceland,” Baker said.

“You can’t have dead whales being the only thing seen by people who spend money on whale-watching.”

After leaving Iceland, Baker alerted EIA and its campaign partners who in turn released the facts and images to the media and called on Iceland’s Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture to immediately rescind all whaling quotas to protect the country’s reputation as a premiere nature tourism destination. * In May, EIA reported how Loftsson’s company Hvalur was shipping 1,700 tonnes of whale meat to Japan, where he has helped to set up an import company, adding to more than 5,500 tonnes of fin whale meat and blubber shipped to Japan in the recent years.

sPAR norway’s whale meat sales are helping to prop up norwegian whaling sPAR convenience stores are a familiar feature of neighbourhoods throughout europe and further afield but regular customers will probably be dismayed to learn of the brand’s direct support of whaling in norway. in July, eiA and its campaign partners revealed that sPAR norway – a part of the international chain – is a major enabler of norway’s struggling whaling industry.

Meat products from the hunts of protected minke whales killed in norwegian waters are sold in sPAR norway stores as well as in other retail outlets also owned by parent company norgesGruppen. there are currently 276 sPAR and eurosPAR stores in norway and investigations throughout summer found a variety of whale products on sale.

Releasing the facts in the briefing Convenience Kills, eiA detailed the company’s whale meat sales, called on it to stop and urged sPAR customers to protest directly to sPAR’s senior management in norway, to sPAR international’s hQ in the netherlands and to sPAR regional chains around the world. “sPAR shops are a familiar sight in communities around the world and a company with such an international profile has a responsibility to ensure its policies do not directly support a dying industry characterised by cruelty and exploitation of a protected species,” said Clare Perry, team leader of eiA’s oceans Campaign. norway’s whaling has escalated in recent years, raising its self-allocated quotas from 549 in 2001 to 1,286 today. the country can whale legally due to its objection to the global moratorium on commercial whaling and its reservation to the ban on international trade in minke whales, although its quotas are not approved by the international Whaling Commission (iWC). the norwegian Government and private entities have created marketing campaigns to boost dwindling domestic whale meat sales and sPAR norway, the country’s fourth biggest food retailer, is in the vanguard of these efforts.

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Whale products on sale in a fish market in Japan

Japan still gambles with human health over toxic whale and dolphin meat As Japan’s annual coastal whale and dolphin hunting season got under way in september with the aim of killing more than 15,000 marine mammals, eiA released new evidence that the Government of Japan continues to recklessly expose its citizens to heavily polluted whale and dolphin products.

recommended safe limit for mercury in marine food of 0.4 parts per million (ppm).

One sample of long-finned pilot whale contained 19ppm total mercury – a stunning 47 times the safe limit. Of the 341 cetacean products tested by EIA between 2001-15, 56 per cent had mercury levels in excess of recommended limits.

The new report Dangerous Diet shows the ongoing risks to human health posed by eating cetacean (whale, dolphin and porpoise) products contaminated with excessive levels of mercury and other marine pollutants such as carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

EIA contends that every government has a basic duty of care to its people, a duty the Government of Japan shamefully abdicates each time it permits a citizen to buy toxic whale and dolphin meat in ignorance of the serious health risks and often even of the species they are buying due to widespread mis-labelling.

Independent EIA analysis in 2015 found all 20 products tested were above the Japanese Government’s own

Having been one of the initial signatories to 2013’s Minamata Convention to control

trade and use of mercury, it is even more startling that the Japanese Government continues to fail to protect its citizens from mercury in foodstuffs.

Dangerous Diet strongly urged Japan to permanently ban toxic cetacean products for human consumption and to phase out all whale, dolphin and porpoise hunts, working with hunters to find alternative livelihoods.

Until then, it should update its advice on safe intake levels, ensure wider public awareness, enforce labelling laws, legally require warnings of high pollutant levels on products and conduct new medical studies of the health status of the coastal communities most at risk.

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EIA Investigator Autumn 15 | www.eia-international.org

Montreal Protocol advances phase-down discussions for super greenhouse gases FoR over five years, eiA Climate campaigners have been urging parties to the Montreal Protocol to control hydrofluorocarbons (hFCs), super greenhouse gases used in refrigeration, air-conditioning, fire protection, aerosols and foams.

EIA’s team was in Paris in July for the 36th Open-Ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol which had four amendment proposals – including one from the EU – to consider for negotiating a global phase-down of HFCs. The EU move follows similar proposals submitted since 2009 by the USA, Canada, Mexico and Micronesia, and would significantly reduce HFCs in developed countries by following a phase-down schedule closely matching the EU F-Gas Regulation, groundbreaking legislation adopted by the EU in 2014.

If an ambitious amendment is ultimately agreed, more than 100 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent will be prevented from impacting on the Earth’s climate.

Although after a five-day preparatory session the meeting in Paris failed to finalise a formal negotiation process for discussing HFCs, it was at least agreed to hold an additional meeting prior to the Dubai Meeting of the Parties in early November.

Support for tackling HFCs under the Ozone Convention has grown since the first amendment proposals were tabled in 2009.

Pakistan emerged as the only country blocking progress by the end of the five-day meeting, refusing to allow reference to the amendment proposals in the negotiated mandate even after proponents agreed to first address issues

of importance to the countries that have up to now opposed phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol.

A successful negotiation process in Dubai, which precedes the landmark Paris Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, could breathe air into the Paris climate negotiations and set a heavyweight precedent for an effective global climate treaty.

“Given that the vast majority of Parties to the Montreal Protocol support these proposals’ amendment, it’s extremely frustrating that after another week of discussions we are yet to start formal negotiations,” said Clare Perry, EIA Climate Campaign Team Leader.

“Time is running out and substantial political efforts need to be made to clear the path towards a rapid global agreement on HFCs.”

illegal fish drives vaquita closer towards extinction A suRVeY by eiA of marine animal product sellers in southern China and hong Kong revealed a continuing illegal trade in a banned fish species which is threatening the survival of the critically endangered vaquita. the world’s most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita is a small porpoise found only in the northern Gulf of California, off Mexico. in 1997, its population was estimated at 567 but by 2014 it had plummeted to just 97 animals due to fishery bycatch. this alarming drop is due to the resurgence of illegal gillnet fishing targeting totoaba fish, the swim bladders of which are highly sought in hong Kong and southern mainland China. international trade in totoaba fish has been banned under a global convention since 1977, yet black market trade persists. its dried swim bladder, known as fish maw, is used in foods such as soups for its supposed health benefits. there are around 34 different types of fish maw but totoaba is one of the most highly prized and expensive and is referred to as “golden coin” maw in the trade. in May 2015, eiA conducted a survey of 23 fish maw retailers in hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, as well as online research to ascertain the availability of illegal totoaba products on the market and found illegal trade continuing to supply a relatively small group of entrenched consumers, indicating a failure by enforcement agencies to curb the smuggling and sale.

totoaba maws openly on sale in Guangzhou, China

09 Interactive tiger resource pulls together all the facts

© elliott neep | www.elliottneep.com

to mark Global tiger day in July, eiA unveiled the new online resource Where R The Tigers?

obama is pressed to raise tiger trade during Chinese President’s visit to us eiA and many other concerned international and national organisations joined forces in september to urge President obama to raise the issue of tiger trade with China’s President Xi Jinping during his formal visit to the us.

As global attention has focused on the poaching and trafficking crisis sweeping across Africa, the trade threat facing wildlife in Asia has received less attention.

With fewer than 3,200 wild tigers remaining throughout Asia, EIA joined the chorus of appeals to President Obama to ensure tigers receive the attention they urgently need and so get the highest levels of political and financial investment to end the demand making them worth more dead than alive.

EIA has consistently demonstrated that one of the most critical threats to the survival of wild tigers is trade in their meat, skins and bones to satisfy demand driven by wealth rather than health – for high-status food, drink, home décor and even as investment assets.

This demand is fuelled by a marked increase in tiger farms in China, Laos,

Vietnam and Thailand, where tigers are intensively bred for trade in their parts and products; China alone claims to house more than 5,000 tigers on farms.

China is the main consumer market for tiger parts and products and its State Forestry Administration has helped to grow demand by supporting the expansion of tiger farms, allowing legal trade in skins from farmed tigers and approving farm wineries manufacturing tiger-bone wine.

These actions have stimulated consumer interest in tiger products from all sources, undermining law enforcement, incentivising poaching and facilitating trafficking by organised criminal networks.

Tiger farm investors continue to push hard for full legalisation of trade in tiger bones – the very trade China banned in 1993 because it threatened the survival of wild tigers.

If trade were legalised, it would unleash a devastating demand that could quickly wipe out the last wild tigers, as the bones of wild tigers are far more valuable than those from captive tigers.

Showcasing a new interactive tool allowing users to navigate through a wealth of tiger-related information in an easy-to-digest format, the resource pulls together the latest information on the plight of wild tigers and, especially, the threat posed to them by the thousands of tigers held and bred in captivity.

And because it’s important to know what to do once armed with the facts, Where R The Tigers? also sets out a variety of meaningful actions that can be easily taken.

See for yourself and visit the great new resource at www.eia-international.org/ where-are-the-tigers

Call to action to stop review diluting EU nature laws in May, eiA joined with 99 other organisations across the uK to call for the protection of europe’s natural environment and urged all supporters to join in by submitting comments to a european Commission review of the eu Birds and habitats directives We were particularly concerned that the process could be used by some big business to try to dilute the legislation and remove what they see as unnecessary barriers to business and economic growth.

The Directives offer vital protection to more than 1,400 rare or threatened species of animals and plants in Europe.

Adopted to address failures and inconsistencies in national nature protection, since they came into place some 27,000 areas of nature-rich habitat covering approximately 18 per cent of the EU and over four per cent of its seas have been designated and protected as part of the Natura 2000 network.

EIA Investigator Autumn 15 | www.eia-international.org

MEET THE TEAM

NAME: sandy Watt AGE: 32 BORN: edinburgh EDUCATION:

© Forest & Kim starr

10

Bsc Zoology from university of Glasgow, Masters in Biological Photography and imaging from nottingham university

CAMPAIGN SPECIALISM:

Visual communication/film production, photography, visual asset management.

WHAT FIRST INTERESTED YOU IN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES?:

one of my earliest wildlife memories is of seeing an adder while out walking with my family. After that i became obsessed with all things herpetological which in turn led me to study zoology at university. it was here and on various expeditions that i knew i wanted to work to conserve our environment. i picked up my first camera at about the same time and soon realised how effective photographs and video were for showing people how amazing the natural world is, and also what we are fighting to protect.

WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE ExPERIENCE AT EIA?:

A large part of my job is travelling to our partners in countries where we work, teaching them how to document evidence of the environmental crimes they witness on a daily basis. one such training took place in an undisclosed location in Myanmar. i hadn’t worked for eiA for very long at that stage and meeting these people, learning what they had been through and seeing how much they cared about protecting their forests was humbling. to know we were working with such passionate and dedicated people like this gave me hope. i knew then that i had made the right choice coming to work for eiA.

it’s time to turn the tide of plastic waste choking our oceans As a mandatory five pence charge for plastic bags came into effect in england on october 5, eiA released a new report calling on governments, industry, retailers and consumers alike to help end the appalling damage plastic waste inflicts on marine environments.

Lost at Sea: The urgent need to tackle marine litter urged a focus on cutting single-use plastics, removing plastics from down-the-drain products and to dramatically reduce and better recycle plastic products and packaging.

The amount of plastics the world produces has skyrocketed from five million tonnes a year in the 1960s to a staggering 299 million tonnes in 2013.

Plastics are just about everywhere you look – from packaging and toys to clothes, computers and beauty products – including in our delicate marine environments.

Europe is the world’s second largest plastics producer, after China, the majority of which are destined for packaging, which is one of the reason’s EIA has strongly supported efforts to achieve a single-use bag charge.

An estimated 4.8 to 12.7 million tonnes of plastics enter the world’s oceans every

year due to littering and inadequate waste management; without action to address the problem, this figure is expected to increase to as much as 28 million tonnes a year by 2025.

“Plastic waste pollutes and causes immense damage to fragile marine environments, it impacts many endangered species and it’s a problem that’s not going away any time soon,” said Clare Perry, of EIA’s Oceans Campaign.

“No area is uncontaminated by plastics – they are fatally ingested by seabirds off remote islands, concentrate in Arctic Sea ice and are accumulating in deep sea sediments.”

Microplastics are a growing cause for concern. Comprising fragments less than 5mm in size, they derive from such sources as plastic pellets (also known as nurdles), microbeads used in down-the-drain personal care products and household cleaners, microfibres from synthetic clothing and the break-down of larger plastic objects. They are ingested by a range of marine organisms, from commercially important fish and shellfish to baleen whales and may result in negative physical and toxicological effects.

11 Gary hodges’ heart & soul exhibition We are thrilled to announce renowned wildlife artist Gary hodges' first solo exhibition in 22 years! the exhibition will be open to the public between April 19-23, 2016, where you can get involved with the silent auction and purchase limited edition prints and merchandise. You can see more of Gary’s art on his website: www.garyhodges-wildlife-art.com Funds raised will go towards two charities close to Gary's heart - eiA and the Born Free Foundation. to find out more, please email us at fundraising@eia-international.org or give us a call on 020 7354 7960.

We hope to see you there!

eiA Christmas Raffle! to be in with a chance of winning £1,000 in our Christmas Raffle 2015, please fill in the raffle tickets contained in your pack and return in the freepost envelope provided. if you don’t have any raffle tickets with your investigator but would like to enter, please call 020 7354 7960 or email fundraising@eia-international.org.

Get your limited edition Gary hodges calendar today! this beautifully designed, 16 month calendar comes just in time for Christmas and will make a great gift for friends and family! the calendar contains more than 70 of Gary’s unique drawings and includes an introduction by tV presenter, nigel Marven.

1 x calendar £20 3 x calendars £45 5 x calendars £60 (Prices include p/p in the UK)

to place an order, please contact us via fundraising@eia-international.org or give us a call on 020 7354 7960.

Members’

Z NE SUPPORTER PROFILE Sophie Kay

in May 2014, i found myself looking for a new challenge, and decided on a half marathon.

Choosing a charity to support was easy - eiA stood out because they are heavily involved in so many of the issues that i care about! since then, i have run many miles for this worthy cause. i am currently training for another half marathon, which i hope will raise even more funds for eiA. having worked closely with endangered species, protecting their future is particularly close to my heart. eiA's efforts towards tackling the illegal wildlife trade are second to none, and make a very real and vital difference. i am also a keen traveller, and have seen at first hand the problems caused by deforestation and the very real threat of global warming, which eiA campaigns so hard to combat. i am a relatively recent supporter of eiA and look forward to continue helping them in their important work to make the world a better place!

Get involved!

• DECEMBER 6, 2015 – Santa Run. A charity fun run over five or 10km in london’s Victoria Park, plus a FRee costume for every participant.

• MARCH 13, 2016 – Vitality Bath Half Marathon. eiA has five places available for the 13.1 mile route along the river Avon and through the beautiful town of Bath.

Franziska D ieter le

• APRIL 17, 2016 – Brighton Marathon. eiA will again have places available for the 26.2 mile course around the picturesque seaside town.

tea m Super Hero Run

if you don’t fancy taking on any of these runs, we’ve got great tips and ideas on organising your own fundraising event and we’d love to hear from you!

Get in touch at fundraising@eia-international.org or call us on 020 7354 7960.

a igner Jil p m a C e t a m li EIA C

l Thomson