1º Workshop SUSTAINAMICS

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Chico

A semana passada (dia 16 de Dezembro 2009) participei no 1º workshop do projecto SUSTAINAMICS.

O projecto SUSTAINAMICS – Modelação Participada para a Avaliação Integrada da Sustentabilidade, que aborda o desafio “Como criar uma visão holística dos problemas que afectam a sustentabilidade dos ambientes marinhos e costeiros em Portugal?”.

Foi organizado pelos Centro de Investigação em Ambiente e Sustentabilidade (CENSE) da FCT/UNL e Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia (CIES) do ISCTE; e teve lugar no Auditório António Silva Leal na Ala Autónoma do ISCTE (Instituto Universitário de Lisboa).

Foi um exercício interessante. Presentes estavam pessoas de vários sectores da sociedade (relacionados com a pesca, transportes marítimos, almirantes, gente do governo, gente de ONGs, académicos, entre outros), divididos por 4 mesas temáticas distintas. Governança, sobre-exploração de recursos, problemas das zonas costeiras, e ordenamento do território marítimo.

Foi-nos pedido então para relacionarmos causas e consequências que intervinham nas temáticas apresentadas, com repercussões positivas ou negativas. Ou seja, a falta de fiscalização levava a uma maior sobre-exploração de recursos, e assim por diante. No final foram feitas apresentações sobre cada uma das temáticas e foram dados 5 votos, para que cada um dos envolvidos pudesse assinalar nos esquemas as causas e/ou consequências que achava mais pertinentes.

O segundo workshop irá ter lugar no final Janeiro ou inicio de Fevereiro de 2010.

Para saber mais: aqui e aqui

Informação em http://www.dcea.fct.unl.pt/cense/

END OF THE LINE – 2048!

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Chico

The first time I saw the groundbreaking movie, End of the Line was at the 61^st International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Madeira, Portugal, last June. It was brought as a last minute feature; in fact it was shown after the meeting had closed, by Melanie Salmon, CEO of the UK based charity Global Ocean.

Then during the Rip Curl Pro Search, surf championship, in Peniche (October), Portugal, I had the chance, thanks to Melanie Salmon and George Duffield (producer of the movie) of screening it to a small audience, and see their faces of astonishment for the facts lay down before them.

Last November, the Portuguese Platform of Non Governmental Organizations, PESCA (meaning fishery in Portuguese), hosted a great event at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, followed by a debate on the state of fisheries, worldwide. Present at the discussion was the author the book that inspired the movie, Charles Clover; César Deben from the European Commisson; representatives from NGOs and Portuguese fisheries. It was very interesting, and I was impressed by Mr. Clover direct and intense responses at the EU politician present, basically saying that “what your are doing is not enough, do better, do it now!”. Superb!

About the movie:
I was blown away by it, and felt a few shivers down my spine, when confronted with the facts and concrete reality of today’s oceans, our responsibility towards them. Fish is running out, and we (humans) are not slowing down to get every last one of them! The United Nations state the ocean as property, not of fisherman, not of any company or multinational, nor from an entity but from the citizen, like you and me. It is time to claim them back, care about them and allow it to heal, recover, and so we can still use the resources it offer us, on a sustainable way, and perpetuate its uses into the future.

Now, it is clear, we have reached the limits of what the ocean is capable of providing; the end of a finite resource that will run-out if we do not take appropriate measures, NOW!

“Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048.

The End of the Line chronicles how demand for cod off the coast of Newfoundland in the early 1990s led to the decimation of the most abundant cod population in the world, how hi-tech fishing vessels leave no escape routes for fish populations and how farmed fish as a solution is a myth.

The film lays the responsibility squarely on consumers who innocently buy endangered fish, politicians who ignore the advice and pleas of scientists, fishermen who break quotas and fish illegally, and the global fishing industry that is slow to react to an impending disaster.

The End of the Line points to solutions that are simple and doable, but political will and activism are crucial to solve this international problem.

We need to control fishing by reducing the number of fishing boats across the world, protect large areas of the ocean through a network of marine reserves off limits to fishing, and educate consumers that they have a choice by purchasing fish from independently certified sustainable fisheries.”
Read more here!

Greenpeace developed a Seafood Red List. Using it you can power yourself to change things around by your ultimate decision-making as a consumer. If there is no market, there is no industry for it, pretty simple.

The problems of the ocean are easy to forget, with calm seas, blue skies, a gentle breeze, a wonderful sunset the problems beneath the surface, are far from sight, thus far from mind.

We need to save the oceans from harm sway. If we want to see the Tuna, Shark, Cod, Salmon, Shrimp and so many other species, strive and recover and the endangered stamp they have been “awarded” taken away.

It is time for something; we humans are normally afraid, CHANGE.

CHANGE in fishing methods;
CHANGE in fishing practices;
CHANGE in fish consuming habits;
(to allow fish stocks to recover)
CHANGE the way we think about the oceans;
(and the need of Marine Protected Areas off limits to fisheries)
CHANGE our MIND and CLAIM the oceans back to us!

The End of Whaling in the Southern Ocean (?!?!)

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Chico

I recall the message from the pro surfer and environmentalist warrior Dave Rastovich, just days before the 61^st International Whaling Commission meeting started in Madeira, Portugal. He ended it by saying that “Honour and respect are nowhere to be found within the modern whaling crime”.

This sentence to me marked that meeting and period, when Japan uses corruption end to meet his aims, with no regard to nature and the livelihood and heritage of the next generations, using resources for profit or stubbornness, if that resources goes extinct, it doesn’t really matter. The IWC61 itself was a big hole full of nothing, and especially big governmental mouths full of empty words and no actions, no resolutions and no whales saved during that meeting.

Mr. Mark Simmonds summed it up very well when he wrote on his blog: “So where were we – ah yes in the gloom of a vast meeting chamber of a big international meeting room where ‘nothing is decided until everything is decided’ … or possibly just ‘nothing is decided’”

I was profoundly sad and as it has been usual during the last period that I’ve attended the IWC and done actions and contributed to the movement devoted to end whaling, I was feeling what I like to call a “post-action depression”. Happens after a very intense period of work and by the end of it nothing has been accomplished. Our struggle was in vain, and it has been since Japan started whaling in the southern ocean sanctuary, to recruit countries to their side, and established a stalemate inside the IWC, meaning that nothing changes year after year.

But some light is shinning ahead, maybe it is a tunnel end, or not…

In the beginning of the year I wrote an entry titled “And if the crisis would solve the whaling issue?” where I wondered that even though “we cannot really forecast what will happen, and do nothing but wondering about it [while we keep fighting to make whaling history], the fuel prices will fell dramatically, the Japanese whaling industry and hardware is getting old and they been having repeated misfortunes lately. The Oriental Bluebird, the refueling vessel that would go down to the Antarctic lost its registration and Panamá flag and is now registered in Japan requiring more staff and funds etc.”

Now it seems that my thoughts were not so astray.

The eminent change it is not only due to crisis, but to a number of given situations lead by it. Political change in Japan itself; shortly after taking office last October the Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama confide his dislike for whale meat saying that “I hate whale meat”.

Even thou the government at the time was showing no signs of discontinue the policy followed by his antecedents; buttressing up an unnecessary, unsustainable and uneconomic industry that has no place in the 21st century, now things seem to be changing.

IFAW was also focusing efforts inside Japan and with other NGOs such as Greenpeace urged the new Prime Minister to rethink about Japan stance on whaling and its national fleet.

The end of whaling in the southern ocean seems a possible reality now! I have withstand long conversations with Milko Schvartzman from Greenpeace International, and his belief was that if we are to save whales, the frontline of resistance must be inside Japan, our activism our efforts must come from within. Us on the outside are like little helpers, and can do just up to some point. My dear friend Sidney Holt also shared that vision; he always says that whaling has to be so economically unbearable that it is abandoned.

Now it seems that crisis will also affect whaling. We hope!

Information arrived to me via the Greenpeace International website with the topic: End of Japanese whaling might be in sight.

On it you can read:

“A major review of Japanese government spending could spell the end to whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Commissioned to cut wasteful programmes by Japan’s new government, a review committee has proposed massive cuts in subsidies to a body which funds the so-called whaling research programme.

Without government subsidies, the whaling programme would be doomed.

The Spending Review Committee recommended that the Overseas Fisheries Cooperation Fund (OFCF), which gives loans to the Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) to run the discredited science programme, have all of its funding revoked, except monies needed for loans in 2010.

The OFCF claims it needs 70.4 billion yen (around US$780 million) for various programmes, including whaling, in 2010. The Review Committee and Cabinet Office will determine by early next year if the proposed operations for 2010 are actually “necessary” or should also be cut.

The Institute for Cetacean Research, which runs the whaling programme, has failed to repay government loans for several years now, as demand for whale meat has plummeted and the cost of whaling increased. Practises which would have lead to bankruptcy for any commercial firm have been the target of outspoken criticism not only from Greenpeace Japan, but from the business press and even the former spokesperson for the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Tomohiko Taniguchi. Taniguchi lamented the financial propping up of a programme that caused endless headaches for Tokyo abroad and generated revenues worth “less than one-tenth the value of the country’s annual market for toothbrushes.”

With the change in government at the recent election, a new focus on reducing spending and cutting wasteful programmes.

Two Greenpeace activists, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, have spoken out against the cost of the whaling programme and the fact that only a handful of fat-cat bureaucrats really profit from the programme. Last year alone it cost 8 billion yen, or nearly US$90 million, to run the annual Southern Ocean whale hunt. Of that, 1.2 billion yen, or more than US$10 million, came from government subsidies. The rest is in theory covered by the sales of whale meat.”

Still I’m not 100% convinced and I’m afraid that what Japan does is to resize their fleet, keep its recruited countries in sufficient number to take away a 75% majority to the pro-whale bloc inside the IWC thus preventing them from taking resolutions to vote that are binding; and keep on whaling. Other perspective if for Japan to hold its status as it is until the Small Working Group (SWG) negotiations are finished, and accomplish its goals and face-saving.

But I’m optimistic; the actions lead by Junichi and Toru had a big impact, not only in the media but also, because there was some tight control over meat coming from the Antarctic, some Japanese whalers stopped from going boarding for the Antarctic whaling season. Because, without the extra money they were making from meat they kept for free, after returning from the Antarctic, it was not worth to embark on that voyage. For this reason Japan had to start hiring and training whalers from Korea and other countries of Southeast Asia, making whaling even more expensive. Also the toll they get with their recruiting programme in order to have enough support inside the IWC and control roughly 50% of votes is so big that I wonder until when can it keep up, with an industry that doesn’t contribute to the Japanese economy health, and in fact it is a drag and forces Japan to spend taxpayers’ money, rather than making profit.

Now we need to keep up with our work, in my opinion we should even direct more actions and efforts inside Japan, and watch as a economical crisis and the necessity of cuts on public spending, take whalers from the southern ocean sanctuary forever, as it should be!

The only living thing that was saved at the IWC 61 meeting – Zeca! by D.J. Schubert (I Helped!)

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Chico

At the 61^st meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) nothing happened, apart from a great deal of wasted resources from both attending governments and NGOs. Unfortunately, and despite of all the good efforts from whale conservation governments and civil society representatives, no actual whales were saved at the meeting. Japan will keep their “scientific” whaling (that truly is commercial whaling disguised as science) and Greenland will keep their actual quota (from which it sells 25%, but in theory the type of whaling they practice is “aboriginal subsistence whaling” (?!?)), tried to ask for more whale meat but that agenda item was postpone to another time, possibly a intersessional meeting, all in defense of the consensus and harmony now lived inside the IWC until the Small Working Group comes up with a magic recipe to solve all IWC problems (and the SWG didn’t do much if any dash forward), but D.J. Schubert saved Zeca; a stray dog. Here is Zeca’s story!

———————————–

Dear Colleagues, Friends, and Family,

Many of you may recall that in June, on the last day of the International Whaling Commission meeting, I arranged for a small dog living outside an Italian restaurant to be taken to the Sociedade Protectora dos Animais Domesticos do Funchal (SPAD) for treatment and care.

I first noticed this dog when dining at the restaurant. While friendly it was clear that he was injured as he would routinely hobble around on three legs to avoid placing any weight on his rear right let. Despite this apparent injury, the little dog was able to hop up and down the street barking at the random passerby. Because he seemed well fed, didn’t seem to be in any pain, and was active I thought that I would let him be though I did provide him with a small water bowl and bought him puppy biscuits which he completely ignored. Towards the end of my stay in Madeira, however, while on a late night excursion in search of snacks, I noticed the dog having difficulty walking with both of his rear legs causing him pain. The next day, with the assistance of Francisco of IFAW, the dog was rescued by the local fire department and taken to SPAD.

During the rescue Franciso spoke to the restaurant owner and learned that he had cared for the dog for 3 ½ years feeding him leftovers every night. That, of course, explained the dog’s reaction to the puppy biscuits. We also learned that the dog had been hit by a car at least once while living in front of the restaurant but had not been taken to a veterinarian for treatment.

Once at SPAD, the dog, named Zeca by SPAD caretakers, was understandably frightened and not particularly trusting of those trying to provide him care. A colleague and I visited Zeca at the SPAD facility before leaving Madeira and learned that he was, for the moment, in quarantine (as is the procedure for all new dogs), that the SPAD veterinarians had examined him, that he would eventually be placed with other dogs to test his social skills, and, if everything went well, he would be made available for adoption. I expressed an interest in staying in contact with SPAD and indicated that, if a home couldn’t be found for him in Madeira, I might be able to arrange for his transport to the United States.

In subsequent e-mails with Guida, the director of SPAD, I learned that Zeca was acting aggressively toward SPAD personnel, had tried to bite or had bitten two caretakers, that his aggressiveness made it unsafe and difficult to clean his pen, and that he tested positive for heartworm. Given what was thought to be his advanced age, I was also told that his prospects for adoption were slim.

At that point I decided to arrange for Zeca to come to the United States for further treatment and either adoption or to become a new member of our family. During the weeks – which became months — that it took to make all of the arrangements, I received an encouraging e-mail from Guida who reported that Zeca had finally begun to trust his human caretakers allowing them to more safely work with him.

To make a long story short, I am happy to report that Zeca arrived in the United States on Saturday, October 17 and is adapting remarkably well to living in a home with dog, cat, and human companions. Upon his arrival in Newark, after what was a nearly 18 hour journey from Madeira, I was prepared for a frightened and angry dog. Much to my surprise and delight, though frightened, Zeca was more gentle and docile than I ever expected. This is clearly a testament to the patience and care that he was provided at SPAD. He welcomed my touch and I was quickly able to get a harness on him to finally allow him out of the transport carrier and into the frigid New Jersey weather.

Once home, Zeca met the rest of the family including Janet, my wife, our rescued dogs Shadow and Faith, and our rescued cats. He slept in the kitchen the first night on a fluffy and warm blanket and, though he had a few accidents, within less than a day he was housebroken. Once he was allowed upstairs and discovered carpeting and a bed, I think he found his own personal utopia. He loves to sleep on the carpet and is frequently found sacked out on the bed (see picture). He enjoys going out into our yard (see picture), has bonded with Faith, and has learned that cats don’t necessarily like to play with dogs. Shadow, our Chow-mix, has graciously accepted our new friend but has yet to form a close bond with Zeca. Zeca, however, has completely fallen for my wife and her for him so he has become the newest permanent member of our family.

Zeca went to see his new veterinarian yesterday and received a positive initial evaluation. We will receive blood test results soon and at some point he will be neutered. Graciously, Drs. Nordt and Stull at the Atlantic Animal Health Center have offered to treat Zeca at cost as they too were touched by his story.

Though it was took some time to arrange for Zeca’s travel to the US, he has been nothing but a joy since his arrival. His personality is infectious, his temperament perfect, and his adjustment to life in a loving home has been nothing short of incredible. We can only hope that he is as happy with us as we are with him.

None of this would have been possible without the help of a number of people who all deserve great thanks for their role in this rescue. They include:

The owner of the Italian restaurant who permitted Zeca to be taken to SPAD. I intend to send him a letter so that he too knows that Zeca is doing well and living in America.

Francisco Goncalves of IFAW who initially aided with the rescue.

Guida, the Director of SPAD, and her staff who exhibited amazing patience with a very frightened dog and providing him loving care for nearly 3 ½ months.

Fernando Melim and his colleagues at TAP Airlines who provided a discounted rate to transport Zeca from Madeira to Newark and who provided care to Zeca along the way.

Luis Freitas, the Director of the Whale Museum in Madeira who, though I only had met briefly during the IWC meeting, graciously agreed to provide assistance in making Zeca’s trip to America possible.

Deidre Volcker, Barbara Schubert, Vivian Romano, Karen Michael, and Susan Millward for generously donating funds to help offset the costs of Zeca’s trip.

Susan Millward and Jen Rinnick for supportive and encouraging words throughout this process.

Dr. Nordt, Dr. Stull, and the staff at the Atlantic Animal Health Center for their generosity in providing Zeca with excellent veterinary care.

Janet, my wife, who only wanted a tourist souvenir spoon from Portugal but who got a dog instead.

And a very special thanks to Ricardo Carvalho, who works with Mr. Freitas, without whose incredible assistance in Madeira this story could not have been told. Thank you Ricardo from the bottom of our hearts.

While there are millions of dogs deserving loving homes, Zeca has found his and will never again have to live on the streets. We dream of the day when all stray, feral, and abandoned dogs can enjoy the same fate and future as Zeca.

With gratitude,

D.J. Schubert and Janet Romano
and, of course, Zeca

IWC 61 (reflections and ruminations)

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Chico

I had great expectations regarding the 61^st meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) held in the Portuguese island of Madeira. My “training” to prepare the grounds for this gathering started in Santiago, Chile. That was my 2^nd IWC meeting. The first was in the Caribbean on the islands state of St. Kitts and Nevis, there I ended up being arrested and deported from the country after a peaceful demonstration outside the Marriott Resort & The Royal Beach Casino.

The setting in Santiago was very different than the one in St. Kitts. Everyone was talking nice to each other; all were very polite into the meeting room. Pro-whaling and the like-minded (the name given to the pro-whale/anti-whaling group or countries) blocs were talking like they were old good chaps, and there was a feeling of harmony in the air. To me all of it was nothing but hypocrisy; all for the good of the recent formed Small Working Group (SWG), to be roughly translated as a smaller group of countries inside the IWC that is invested by the commission to solve all IWC problems and divergences in a record time. All I thought was that there would not be any top and fastest decision making process at all, the IWC per se is not good at fast processing body, and will not start now, at least not under this conjecture. It would also be a slow process because it is not in the best interest of some countries that are part of the SWG to get all the IWC business sorted.

In a straight condensation of the decisions and conclusions reached at the 60^th meeting of the IWC the answer is a one word reply: none.

After that I was present at the intersessional meeting in Rome during March 2009, at the FAO headquarters, and there I had the chance (even that not on purpose) to step into a side-meeting of an even smaller working group than the SWG. I left my bag into a room of the IWC secretariat and when I when to retrieve it, there was Mr. William Hogarth (USA’s Commissioner and IWC Chairman), Mr. Joji Morishita (Japan’s Commissioner), Dr. Greg Donovan (Head of Science of the IWC) and some other IWC staff I could not identify. My thought then was; “so here is where decisions are drawn”.

During the intersessional meeting of the IWC there was only one outcome: nothingness.

By the time the 61^st IWC meeting was on the horizon I already feared that not much would come out of that meeting. To me was a big disappointment, and I was already envisaging that the truthful decisions, the ones that mattered (for good or for worst) would be postponed again. As long as there are decisions being made, we as civil society can act according to what we believe is best but, when literally nothing is decided, there is a stalemate in place, a feeling of almost despair started to install in me!

I signed my first ever working contract with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), to be the lead the Portuguese front of activists on the whaling subject. Well I was not leading anything, mostly because I was the only Portuguese in that front. The Portuguese NGOs find the subject very sensitive and do whatever they can to stay away from it.

I had a number of tasks assigned to me:
- Briefing the Embassy of India in Lisbon about the IWC, as they normally send a local diplomatic representative, contrary to many who have an appointed commissioner;
- Do a number of political visits and have meetings with decision makers within the country;
- Do various media work, briefing and appoint journalists to specific people;
- I also did a personal project. The Baleal Surf Fest; a two day festival calling out to whale conservation, through different activities (beach clean-ups, screening of documentaries, painting of murals, a paddling contest, music and art in between other things), this was done together with the organization Surfers for Cetaceans;
- Work with the Portuguese IWC Commission and the Civil Society in various themes.
- I also had the chance to work with DJ Schubert, the coordinator of all the like-minded NGOs. Many daily e-mails are exchanged between us, under a closed circle, with actions, strategies, opinions and other issues.

And there was a big one!
The so called vetting process: no one is really sure why and what provoked this, but the Portuguese government gave instruction that for anyone from the NGOs and Media (governments would not be obliged to this) to attend the meeting they had to be submitted to a vetting process. This was an unprecedented and specific threat to the transparency and legal functioning of the IWC at the meeting. NGOs were informed of this on the 5th of June through a circular with the title: IMPORTANT ISSUES RELATING TO SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS AT IWC/61. This didn’t suit very well within the NGOs.

According to this circular the local security forces in Madeira would require all representatives of NGOs and the Press to undergo security vetting before being issued with an IWC badge by the Secretariat. According to the IWC Secretariat identity badges, which are required to gain access to the meeting, would not be issued to anyone from NGOs and the Media who does not pass the vetting procedure.

As Karen Sack, from Greenpeace International putted it very well:
“We are very concerned to see that for the first time in the history of the IWC, observer rights have been made contingent on the approval of a third party, in this case Portugal as the host state. We are concerned at the precedent this may set in the future. As a matter of international law, it is the IWC itself as an international organisation that may determine who attends its meetings. You will understand that the IWC cannot be accountable only to a single Contracting Government. The recommendations of a national security service should not and may not be binding on the Secretariat of an international organisation. While immigration issues are to some extent under the control of the host State, the host State has no role whatsoever in determining who may attend the meeting.

We note that this is not about immigration. It is made clear that the issue is who will be admitted to the meeting. As such this is intruding upon the IWC’s exclusive competence. We are surprised that the Secretariat should have acceded to this request, apparently without further discussion with IWC Commissioners, but in any case, as representatives of organizations that are enjoy Observer Status in accordance to the rules of the IWC, we cannot allow this breach of rules to take place.

[This was an outrage and a violation of] the Aarhus Convention, to which Portugal is a party. [It] guarantees the rights of access to information and public participation in decision-making. Each Party must endeavour to ensure that officials and authorities assist and provide guidance to the public in seeking access to information and in facilitating participation in decision-making, including, specifically, in international environmental decision-making processes and within the framework of international organizations in matters relating to the environment, such as the IWC. The Convention also requires that each Party shall ensure that persons exercising their rights in conformity with the provisions of the Convention shall not be penalized, persecuted or harassed in any way for their involvement. The public is to have access to information and the possibility to participate in decision-making without discrimination as to citizenship, nationality or domicile.”

Read all of Karen Sack’s letter here

There were many movements regarding this issue and Karen Sack, Sue Lieberman, Rémi Parmentier, Sidney Hotl and I were instrumental in revoking this route. The Portuguese government, I think, was not aware and didn’t envisage the proportions and seriousness this decision could have meant, if it was enforced. I was in close contact with Luis Freitas from the Whale Museum of Madeira, who was also part of our commission (the Portuguese one). He was tireless in assisting with virtually everything that came up, including the issue of the vetting process. In the end I believe the Portuguese Government was scared of retaliation by the NGOs, something that would have a gigantic coverage by all press around the globe. The main issue, I suppose, was a security breach by any of the NGOs with actions regarding whaling and this vetting process in my opinion was the way they found to remove possible trouble-makers; and again, all for the good of the harmony and friendly spirits.

All of this happened even before the plenary opening on the 22ndof June.
When the meeting started and after some talks with Milko Shvartzman (Greenpeace), Leslie Busby (PEW Environment Group), Patrick Ramage (IFAW), Vassili Papastavrou (IFAW), Mick McIntyre (Whales Alive) and some others, I was already getting into a depression and feeling very little motivation to extend any efforts regarding this doomed commission!

And then the “circus” (term I think fits very well to describe the IWC) began!!

(The daily resumes were initially made by Vassili Papastavrou from IFAW, but I changed them and commented of them, but the base was his work)

Day 1- Monday 22^nd of June 2009

Voting rights; the following countries had their voting rights suspended as a result of being behind with their payments: Cameroon (voting always with Japan member since 2005), Gambia (voting always with Japan – member since 2005), Guatemala (a “dodger”, was originally recruited by Japan to join the IWC but didn’t really knew what it was get in, NGO work and civil society quickly made it come around, but it avoids IWC affairs as often as possible, it is expected that it will leave the IWC sometime in the future – member since 2006), Guinea-Bissau (a Portuguese speaking country, recruited and voting always with Japan – member since 2007), Kenya (voting always with Japan – member since 1981), Mali (voting always with Japan – member since 2004), Palau (voting always with Japan – member since 2002), Peru (for conservation, was also for some time a Japanese puppet until Greenpeace made it come around – member since 1979), Senegal (voting always with Japan – member since 1982), Tanzania (voting always with Japan: member since 2008) and Togo (voting always with Japan – member since 2005).

From the 11 countries behind their membership payments, 8 adhered to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) during the Japanese recruitment program initiated in 2002 (detailed in the “Japan’s vote consolidation operation”, a report by Leslie Busby and the 3^rd Millenium Foundation). This raises the rhetorical question: Why are these countries really in the IWC; to defend their national interests or someone else’s?

However, the secretary hoped that there would not be any voting at this meeting. Hogarth as Chair urged that there should be no resolutions unless they could go through by consensus.

Consensus is the illusion of good relations and harmony lived inside the IWC, this is a pre-request for “the deal” to be forged and accepted by the commission. In reality it is an agreement by Japan and the USA

NGO Speakers. NGOs will address the meeting on Wednesday morning. Those speaking from our side are Sidney Holt, Patti Forkhan and Mark Simmonds. Statements from the speakers have been received.

Whale Killing Methods and Associated Welfare Issues: the report of this Committee was introduced and briefly discussed. Very briefly discussed as Japan, Norway and Iceland do not supply animal welfare to the IWC. There will be a workshop in Hawaii to look at welfare issues of entangled whales and the humane killing of whales that cannot be disentangled.

Shortest time spent at the IWC: Huw Irranca Davies (UK Minister) came to the meeting after lunch today for about a couple of hours. He returns to the UK this evening.

The Small Working Group: the process to negotiate a deal will continue with a re-constituted group. It will be smaller than before and more of the discussions will apparently be open to NGO observers. It has yet to be discussed but a “consensus resolution” on the subject has been distributed.

I’m always wary when talking about the SWG as a whole and the progressions it will (or might) make in the future. My guess is that it will drown the IWC into pointless discussions and negotiations for years, because the disagreeing parts will not simplify the process and the current consensus feeling is a mere misapprehension for a deal to be reached, is a deception and fantasy that all is good, steps forward are being taken and this whaling thing will be all solved in a few more meetings. It is not real and does not reflect the current state of affairs.

Day 2 – Tuesday 23^rd of June 2009

Whale watching Press Conference. At lunch time IFAW launched Whale watching worldwide, the new report on the economic value of whale watching, at a press conference with Peter Garrett, Australian Federal Environment Minister. Patrick Ramage and I spoke. The minister gave an excellent summary and generously mentioned IFAW frequently in his speech. Good press attendance and excellent media coverage.

Report available here

Future of the IWC. long speeches in the morning on the negotiations regarding the proposed “deal”, starting with a very powerful intervention from Australia (Garrett) which set the tone for the anti-whaling countries. Equally robust interventions from Japan and the other whaling countries. Outcome so far is a consensus resolution for the process to continue another year and states the terms for a smaller Small Working Group, apparently more openness etc.

Greenland humpbacks. Presentation with PowerPoint regarding the Greenland request to add 10 humpbacks per annum to the catch. A flurry of emotive speeches from the Caribbeans and other developing countries. List of speakers cut off and further discussion today. Greenland has hinted that it will leave the IWC (if it can! maybe it can’t without Denmark leaving too).

Japan Small type coastal whaling and South Korea Whaling. Long presentations from both Japan and Korea (Korea was new this year). Unclear how many whales Korea wants to take and no written documents. Japan wanted 150 but withdrew its request because of the “Future” discussions.

I must say I’m very worried about the coastal type whaling, it terminology and usage.

I had the chance to discuss this with some people including Sidney Holt, who also classifies the coastal whaling discussion as “dangerous”.

Read here the full opinion on terminology by Sidney Holt

EU Coordination. Cumbersome this year (long coordination meetings). The test will be to find a common position on the Greenland quota.

It failed totally! And as good Europeans we tried to get our guilt into someone else’s back. Words circulating were that we [Europeans] didn’t get any support from other countries, we were left alone, consensus inside the bloc couldn’t be reached etc.

Greenland is a European “problem”, so it needs to be solved by us, do not blame the Latin Americans and other countries for our cowardice and lack of strength…

Day 3 – Tuesday 24^th June 2009

Whale watching. Australian minister Peter Garrett introduced the IFAW report, Whale Watching Worldwide to the IWC Commission meeting with an excellent speech, crediting IFAW for its production on the floor of the meeting. There was a great deal of support on the floor for the report, with the only adverse comments from St Lucia, which felt we had under-reported the value of whale watching in its country.

JARPN- Scientific Whaling in the North Pacific. The IWC discussion took place following an intersessional review of the JARPN programme. As to be expected there were a mixture of views with strong condemnation by some countries and support from others. Of note was a strong statement of opposition by the USA (in additional to other usual countries).

NGO presentations. There were six five minute NGO presentations. From our side, Susan Millward [replacing Mark Simmonds], Sidney Holt and Patti Forkhan spoke. All the interventions were very good and supported by the NGOs present. IFAW signed on to all three statements. His main proposal was that the Small Working Group considers a permanent end to all commercial and scientific whaling with a brief phase out period similar to the moratorium decision.

Japan made the point of order that Mark Simmonds was part of the UK’s Commission. He being one of the speakers for the NGOs would raise questions on Mr. Simmonds true role. If he was sitting into a commissioner’s seat, he had no business talking, at the same meeting, into a NGO stool. As strange as it may appear I agree with Japan of this; I always defended that NGO people cannot compromise their work being two-sided. Or we stand for civil society as observers or we take care of our country’s interests, can’t have both! The appropriate interaction to have, I believe, is NGOs offering advice and consultation to governments and for that we do not need a blue badge (NGOs get green badges and governments have blue ones). Also Mr. Simmonds having the blue badge could raise his hand any time he wanted and speak, freely, cannot get any better than that!

Mark Simmonds was then replaced by Susan Milllward, who in the end read Mr. Simmonds text.

I don’t mean any disrespect to the NGO speakers on the conservation side, who have been invaluable to the movement and conservation of whales, and who I deeply admire. However, I must say that Japan and the pro-whaling bloc, was way smarter than us in this regard!

They got a Japanese speaker (representing the International Transport Workers, A Russian Native (from the Association of Traditional Marine Mammal Hunters of Chuktoka) and Te Ohu Kaimoana (New Zealand natives). The first speaker was a crew member on a Japanese “research” whaling ship and he addressed safety at sea, condemning the aggressive actions of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The second two speakers defended the native right to hunt whales and encouraged the IWC to compromise to move the organization forward.

Smarter because we had civil representatives from Norway, Iceland, Japan, Senegal and other countries recruited by Japan, and we chose to use the occidental, first countries, white people to talk. This gives arguments to Japan’s usage as propaganda to tell their citizens: “see this is oppression from the west that we need to oppose it, this is our tradition” etc. and people will buy it! Also having campaigners from countries that are pro-whaling to take the stance, their speech is prolonged in the future, used in campaigns in their countries, stating that the participation of their country in the IWC is biased and compromised, not representing the views of their citizens. We had 3 excellent speeches but they died there, I just think we were not very strategic on this matter, and with this the only participation NGOs have on the IWC meetings was gone!

Even though I liked all speeches I will make public available the one from Dr. Sidney J. Holt. A great speech from a great mind!

“(…) The wondrous, vulnerable whales will never contribute substantially to the food security of humans. Nor do they threaten it. Despite insistent propaganda they’re not responsible for the troubles of the fishing industry.

Commercial whaling is now unnecessary, is inhumane, and is even unprofitable, continuing – subsidized – for minimal financial gain. (…)”

Read it here.

Safety at Sea. There was a long presentation by Japan regarding the conflicts between Sea Shepherd and the Japanese fleet in the Southern ocean. Several countries stated that the IWC was not the appropriate forum to determine the rights and wrongs of the issue. Some thought that the IMO could do this, however most realised that it was the responsibility of the flag states and the port state.

The usual same …

NGO reception. The NGO evening reception was well-attended by IWC commissioners (as well as NGOs!). It was notable by the absence of speeches, except that Patrick and Sara Holden from Greenpeace presented Sidney Holt with a t-shirt to commemorate 50 years since he first attended an IWC meeting. Patrick, Sara and Francisco [yes, myself :-)] organised the design of the t-shirt which listed all the locations of the IWC meetings Sidney had attended.

Day 4 – Wednesday 25th June 2009

Greenland Humpbacks. IFAW does not campaign on aboriginal whaling. The discussion continued behind the scenes with serious lobbying from a number of countries on both sides. No consensus could be found even for a reduced proposal. In the event it was agreed to set up a scientific intersessional group to resolve some of the remaining issues with the idea that a decision should be taken prior to the 2010 hunting season.

Climate Change Resolution. A resolution, drafted by USA and Norway was adopted by consensus. The resolution draws attention to the IWC climate change workshop and supports its conclusions, directs the scientific committee to continue work on the subject and calls on governments to take urgent action to reduce the rate and extent of climate change

Intersessional IWC meeting. I think it was agreed that one should be held (probably following a meeting of the Chairs Support group of 12 countries in Chile in October 2009)

Last word from the USA: Monica Medina signified a clear take over at the end of the meeting to a new Obama Team but graciously thanked Hogarth and DeMaster for all their hard work. “Obama” was mentioned at least three times in her remarks.

New Chairman: Cristian Maquieira from Chile, with whom we have good relations – he is very NGO friendly. He noted that the business of the commission is protecting whales. Anthony Liverpool (Antigua and Barbuda) is the new vice chair.

Initially it was supposed to be the Portuguese Commissioner, Dr. Jorge Palmeirim, to take the position of Chairman, but he was then informed that, after some debate, that Portugal didn’t made part, it was decided (I wonder by who!) that it would be the Chilean Comissioner to take the place. I would like to see the IWC problems solved under a Portuguese Chairmanship, but I believe we are still on time for that maybe in the next ten years!

NGO Participation. France urged that the meeting become properly open to NGO speakers and received support from Hogarth. Maquieira also mentioned the importance of civil society in his speech.

Date and Place of next meeting: Agadir, Morocco in May and June 2010

Final remarks (and leftover thoughts):
I had the change to spend some time with Sea Shepherd and the crew of Captain Paul Watson, good people, was fun to get out with them!
Also all the Surfers for Cetaceans crew was amazing to be able to interact with them the way I did first in the Portuguese mainland a then at the meeting, where Dave Rastovich, Hilts Dawe and Johnny Vass joined us, shame I missed their party on the last day!

The vetting thing was not that over during the meeting, by the way, there were many people being targeted for regular inspections, and one of the security people let it slip off while I was talking with him that there was a list, and people on that list had to be pass inspections! One of “those” people on the list was my co-worker Naoko Funahashi, who was very mad at some point, but it served the purpose and she wasn’t bothered any more. Security was nice and were obeying orders, as their role demands, but to me always friendly, no harass at all.

I close this post with a statement by Mark Simmonds that I feel sums up this meeting.

“So where were we – ah yes in the gloom of a vast meeting chamber of a big international meeting room where ‘nothing is decided until everything is decided’ … or possibly just ‘nothing is decided’. – Mark Simmonds (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society)

NO a las Granjas Atuneras! (interlude with Sean McGonagle)

Posted on September 6, 2009 by Chico

Almost every day I had the chance to talk a little with our landlord, Sean McGonagle, from Riviera Villas. Always with a smile and a nice word, soon I started to realize that besides a soul surfer he is also a electrician, a builder, a gardener and everything the place needs, always working in a deep connection with the local community, he is also part; a great host and respectable man.

Our conversations were diverse, around and about different topics, and from those exchanges I could perceive how much rooted he is into the environment down here in Pavones.
One of the topics I got really interest was the Granjas Atuneras, or Tuna Aquaculture…

Granjas Atuneras means “a nightmare at your doorstep!” (as Sean putted it), and in this case it a true outlandish scenario at his doorstep, the Golfo Dulce.

There is a huge project awaiting the final approval from the Costa Rica’s Environmental Ministry to install up to 80 aquaculture cages in the Golfo Dulce.

Rapid development and expansion of intensive aquaculture for species such as salmon and shrimp has, for example, resulted in widespread degradation of the environment and the displacement of coastal fishing and farming communities.
Unsustainable aquaculture also negatively impacts on the food supplies and food security of developing coastal countries. Aquaculture development often blocks access to common lands, used by local people for fishing and cleaning (collecting of seafood from the ground), and takes away traditional food sources, for use in fishmeal and oil production for aquaculture production.

The endeavor if carried out would not offer any substantial economic outcome for the rural communities that surround the Golfo Dulce. But the case is not confined only to economical opportunities to the local population; the project poses huge problems to the region, namely:
1) Threatens to fragment the gulf’s delicate ecosystem, affecting local fisheries and sustainable tourism opportunities;
2) This project is based on the unsustainable production of species for high-value export markets (Japan in this case) with little concern for local needs.
3) The tuna aquaculture cages would attract big predators to the area, such as sharks that would potentially start to attack surfers at Pavones, a world known wave attracting surfers from every corner of the world, and other nearly areas like Punta Banco (the closest surf beach to the aquaculture project site);
4) Cause distress to turtles and possibly make them avoid to nest in the area;
5) The current flowing from where the tuna cages will be placed to the inside of Golfo Dulce would drag with them all the waste from the tuna farming facilities posing a huge threat to the local humpback whale population breeding in the area
The government says that actually this current is not flowing into the gulf, but some markers have been place on the site where the project is supposed to be placed and after 2 days or so they were tracked and collected inside the gulf.
6) This same waste would spread towards the surrounding pristine beaches and national parks like Piedras Blancas.

Besides all these factors surveys and the general feeling of the local population show an overwhelming anti-tuna farm sentiment; however, with few expendable resources to allocate to derailing the project, more powerful political and economical intentions are driving the proposal closer to implementation.

Aquaculture itself is not sustainable having many dreadful consequences to the environment. It is a manmade response to a manmade problem, the decline of wild stocks of fish; and a way to meet the demand for some species that are becoming “harder” to catch in the wild because there aren’t much left in the wild, lead to aquaculture projects spreading around the globe to supply the market. Shrimp, salmon, tuna, tilapia and other marine finfish are now farmed!

But this is no solution to overfishing!

To get a kilo of farmed fish it is required 4 times more of wild fishes, process them into fish food (wait but those are normally already food themselves!), and then feed the fish farms, not sustainable at all, a industry with little room to grow, in a world of already depleted fish stocks.

This associated with other problems such as:
- the extraction of marine species from oceans, including wild juveniles vital for future stock growth, increasing the burden on wild fish stocks and having major food security implications;
- the extraction of marine species from oceans, including wild juveniles vital for future stock growth, increasing the burden on wild fish stocks and having as referred already major food security implications;
- fishmeal and so-called ‘trash fish’ used for feed production – often the main food for local people – taken for use in aquaculture ponds;
- the release of organic wastes (that, for instance, act as plant nutrients for harmful algal blooms) and toxic effluents into the oceans;
- the destruction of coastal ecosystems, displacement of coastal communities and depletion of fresh water sources to build aquaculture ponds.

However, there is still hope to save Golfo Dulce from this dark glimpse of the future.

PRETOMA a local NGO has several actions on their agenda to fight this project and hopefully bring it to hold next year (2010).

Check out their page for actions

The most decisive measure to stop this project would be a referendum in August, 2010. But for this to have binding effects 50% of the local population as to vote; I also learned from Sean that 60% of the population are indigenous Guaymí that live rather inland, with no high means of locomotion, so an awareness campaign needed to take place in order to inform them and take appropriate means of transport to allow them to vote, otherwise this would be a lost cause.

If you can help please do, visit PRETOMA’s website and arm yourself with knowledge!

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Also while shooting the breeze with Sean I also learned some interesting facts, some about the environmental conservation measures taken by the Tiskita Jungle Lodge, and the reintroduction of the Scarlet Macaw. A hundred years ago, Scarlet Macaws were abundant in the lowland tropical forests of Costa Rica. Poaching for the pet trade has eliminated this species from the area around Tiskita. The re-introduction of the Scarlet Macaw began in 1999 in conjunction with Amigos de las Aves. A free-flying flock of over thirty birds has successfully been established. The birds are currently in the process of dating as they are finding their life-long partner.

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Other things here are very interesting like the fact that some time ago Sean couldn’t buy any iron for construction from any supplier, and apparently all of Costa Rica had the same problem. Why? Story tells that China was building a dam so big it was buying and using up so mush iron, it was none left to reach areas like Pavones!

Well… stories from the paradise that is Pavones;
Question is: a Paradise for how long?

Visit: PRETOMA!!

Pavones (live motion picture)

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Chico

I just wanted to leave some footage from this piece of paradise, so you can see it moving and alive.

Pavones – The Myth

Young Gun from Pavones – Noe Mar McGonagle

The Facts About Dan Fowlie and Pavones

http://www.thefactsaboutdanfowlieandpavones.com

Enjoy!
Mahalo!

Surf’s UP! (day 6 and 7)

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Chico

Friday 4^th of September
Here we rise with the Sun, drink pipa (coconut water), eat sandwiches and fresh fruit, and drive off to find waves. As the forecast was showing the swell was rising and it was supposed to be some good waves today, we expected to surf Pavones for the first time today, and we were bummed because there was a championship scheduled for today right on the main peak of the famous left-hander Pavones.

We drove off to find the judges tent built on the left corner of the Cantina (the bar overseeing the beach of Pavones), and very little waves. Gero (Fatum Surfboards Shaper) had told me that the bay was very deep and it was needed pretty decent and consistent swell for the waves to break and the sections connect around the bay, and he was very right. We watched 1 or 2 heats before we drove off to Punta Banco to find better waves and surf conditions.

We spent all day surfing at Punta Banco stopping only to eat and rest a little, getting the best of both tides. The afternoon session the waves got overhead and I was still using my 5’5’’ “Joker” (the name I gave to the model, because it is so fun on small to medium waves), and it was still performing and responding very well, I was impressed, happy, and able to turn on critics section and I thought I couldn’t with this type of boards … stoked!

This day there was also a local festivity (the championship at Pavones was part of it), I had a look at it while seeping a fruit juice at Café de la Suerte and browsing the web for surf forecasts, e-mails and facebook.

Later on at the supermarket we met Henry, we told us he won the open category of the championship today, good on him!

We tried to eat at La Manta today, supposed to be a very good restaurant in the area, but it was raining so much that everything seemed to be flooded!

As usual we had an early night. Reading more of Civil Disobedience, Henry Thoreau’s book, I start to perceive how it inspired so many history changing figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Moreover I admire John Brown the anti-slavery hero condemn to death for freeing slaves and make them cross the state of Massachusetts towards freedom.

He defends something I find remarkable; “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.”

Tomorrow is our last day in Pavones before heading up towards Playa Hermosa, forecast looks good and tonight I dream and wish of long lefts for tomorrow!

Saturday 5^th of September
I woke up with Filipe running around saying “Pavones is PUMPING!!”
He is normally the first to get down to the beach for the morning check in.
Got up and had something quick to eat and headed off! I took the 5’5’’ and I wanted to try it even in more demanding conditions, if it was not working I would come back and take my 6’0’’.

When we got down to the river mouth it seemed nothing special. Pavones requires some ocean breathe to work, and after some minute some set waves rolled down and around the bay, and yes it was on! Because there was not enough swell for the wave to be running in all its glory we had to place ourselves on side of the river mouth since the set waves were not breaking out enough for all the section to connect.

When we got to the lineup I saw Sean, his wife Jamie, and both his children, Noe Mar and Leilani. Sean has one of the smoothest; most polished; and yet super powerful backside hand attack I’ve ever witnessed! And right after seeing him on a good one I saw his son and seen the generation step-up to be taken place in not too long! No wonder the Costa Rican Surfing federation is taking his to the Juniors World Championships in New Zealand this year.

The first waves I got were intermediate ones, just to have a go. This wave had no flat sections, I had to be pumping my board all the way and it would finish normally in a big mushy close-out.

Then I paddled to where Sean was and talking to him about this wave I could see he has his bearings sharp, he could describe the behavior of each waves coming up and position wise where to be. It was a bit hectic on the main peak and I could see Sean was a little more to the side, with none of the local arrogance we find in many places we surf around the globe.

I manage to score some decent size set waves shoulder to head-high and man they were long, the wall of the wave has so much power you don’t lose any speed on the turns, the only thing is that if you make the turns too tight the section is gone and you are left riding foam. Great wave, one of the bigger ones I got today was the longest thing I’ve ever ride, I reckon!

For Tourita this wave wasn’t so goo as for bodyboarders it doesn’t offer the hollow barrels, he was looking for but I reckon he also had fun.

With the tide coming in the surf conditions got poorer and I decided to take the afternoon to relax walk around a little, taking some shots, and read. Also, because we get up so early I’m taking some nice siestas in the outside hammock.

Also during the afternoon we met Alex Outerbridge, the owner of Sea Kings Surf Shop, a nice surf shop right across the road from Cantina, and I believe the only one in Pavones. Great guy, we find a connection via Thomas Lange (from Fatum Travel) and Future Fins, he talked to us about his experience in the area, we also met Fred, the owner of the restaurant La Manta, where we wanted to have dinner yesterday, and the artist Alex Lanau, from San Diego who is also living in Pavones. I loved his artwork and bought a print from a painting made by him called Tiki-Takeover, superbly nice!

You can visit his website at http://www.myspace.com/alexlanau

Our last night was spent at La Manta, Fred’s Restaurant, the best we had so far in Pavones, great ambience, and very good food.

We watched the documentary about Pavones and the man who discovered it, Dan Fowlie (aka King of Pavones) (trailer below).

Now is bed time and tomorrow we hope to surf Pavones in the morning and then head towards Playa Hermosa…

PURA VIDA to you all!
:-)

Guaymí (day 5)

Posted on September 3, 2009 by Chico

Got up around 0600, no wind, no rain, sun rising, another day in Rio Claro de PAVONES.

Surf wasn’t good and since yesterday PP and I didn’t manage to take any photos on the Indigenous Reserve while trekking up to come down the river on the buoy we decided to drive with the car until where we could and walk the rest until we reached the river.

On the way we picked up an elder and who I think to be his grandson and gave them a ride up the reserve. The new car was way better, the brakes were working and it was doing great doing on the dirt roads since the tires were not the best for the terrain conditions around Pavones and it had rained last night.

We left the elder and boy where they asked us to be dropped and followed the road until the school we had seen yesterday, and after which we thought the car couldn’t go further. This is a school for the Guaymí Indigenous children of the reserve, they were happy to be photographed jumping around and acting as children would. Good big smile that brought to my face.

We proceeded on foot from there, with no one to be seen until we reached the river, a thrilling scenario with a thick rainforest and patches of field where cattle was being raised, no waste lands with no trees and bare ground as we have seen on the way to Pavones. We sighted a few animals on the way. This is so different from what I’ve seen so far that almost 90% of what we see daily is new to me and I cannot name correctly (some photos embedded).

After about 30 minutes walking we reached the river and were close to the heart of the Guaymí reserve. There was a hanging bridge there leading to a place that seemed not to have any paths of trails, but it was actually where many of the Guaymí had their homes, pure wilderness!

The earliest inhabitants of Costa Rica far southern corner were the Guaymí, or Ngöbe, who migrated over generations from neighboring Panama. The Guaymí inhabit indigenous reserves in the Valle de Coto Brus, on the Osa peninsula in the southern Golfo Dulce, though they retain semi-nomadic ways and are allowed to pass freely over the border into Panama. This occurs frequently during the coffee harvesting season, when many Guaymí travel to work on plantations.

The Guaymí have been able to preserve – to some degree – their customs and culture, and it is not unusual to see women wearing traditional dress. These vibrant, solid-colour pollera dresses hang to the ankles, often trimmed in contrasting colours and patterns. Unlike other indigenous groups, the Guaymí still speak their native language and teach it in local schools.

The Guaymí traditionally live in wooden hut with palm roofs and dirty floors, although most families have now upgraded to wooden houses on stilts. However, they still live off the land, cultivating corn, rice and tubers, while fruit and palmitos grow in the wild.

The Guaymí reserves are largely inaccessible, which may be one reason why culture persists. However as tourism filters into the farthest corners of the country, there is growing interest in the indigenous traditions and handicrafts, and this demand may actually encourage their preservation. But, the reserves are also at a precipitous point – without proper managemenr and community participation, an influx of tourists (and tourist dollars) can also lead to cultural dilution and ultimately leave the younger generations to be engulfed in the process of globalization and loose what makes them unique… their traditions, customs, ethnicity and ways of life.

We took some time to take photos on the hanging bridge, around the river and to some point at the house that was built right on the riverside. I wandered around the hut, looking and approaching the horse grazing on the tropical pasture; he had a big hump on his column, I guess from the friction of the saddle, it wasn’t looking good, it wasn’t even being treated and I guess animal welfare around here is a minor issue.

I then decided to go up to the house and try to reach out to the Guaymí culture. I asked for permission to enter the field closer to the house. A few days ago a Guaymí visited us at the Riviera, Teoro is name was, and I noticed he never stepped into the balcony even we was sitting there talking to PP and Tourita, until I told him not be stay sitting there, and use one of the chairs. He had walked 6 hours to reach Pavones and take provisions to his family. He was selling 2 items, sombreros (hats) and bags (traditional style ones). I bought him one bag, it was 5000 colones (around US$6) and it was a good way of in a way help him out and to have something to take a gift to my girlfriend. He also asked for some food and I readily prepared him a sandwich. When people ask me for money I don’t really like to give it away I rather buy something of theirs, or a similar way of helping them out; but when I’m asked for food I cannot refuse, never, it happened in Uruguay a couple of times, in Argentina and like on those place here I cannot say no…

But back to the house by the river; I as granted permission to enter the grounds with a “por favor, pase” (please pass). I greeted the old man and introduced myself as Francisco, he replied with “mucho gusto, Alberto” (a pleasure, Alberto). I then asked about the region, what was that he was doing and other things. This 83 year old elder was an artesano (artisan) making sombreros (like Teoro) and he also worked with wood. His lovely wife Cecilia was making bags. PP was looking for a sombrero so it was a good opportunity for him to get one. And he did; by chance Don Alberto (as I called him with respect) had one prepared and fitted the big headed PP! A sombrero takes about a week to be made, as described by Don Alberto, working a little, and then taking a walk to do other things around the house, smoking a pipe, and then continue the sombrero making. He sold the sombrero for 15,000 colones (approx. US$25).

Don Alberto lived in a traditional hut built by him, he was telling us that it took around 3 months to build the roof but with palm tree leaves but then it lasts for a few years, he added. Inside the hut it was fish being smoked, and it would be there for another 3 or 4 hours he told us. With permission I took a few photos, told a little about where we came from, he was pleased his sombrero was to the taken “muy, muy lejos” (very, very faraway).

After some more talking we said goodbye and leaving that magical place, with Don Alberto waving at us while we were going back uphill is something that will be in my mind forever.

The took the journey back, the kids at the school still waved, jumped and smiled at us, and the car did well on the way back into Pavones. The lunch was at Cafe de la Suerte, eating a Sabijh “an iraqui vegeratian burrito”, and we went to check the surf at Punta Banco since Pavones was still pretty small. The guys stayed out of the water but I went for a surf, the swell was rising and there were some better size waves, since we had only really small surf up to now, and it was very fun, everyday I’m more happy with my small 5’5’’ Fatum Surfboard, even on faster and hollow waves it pumps and has a great drive, also recovering from manoeuvres, great feel!

After that, I was stoked! The best day so far, and behind doubt it would be one of the best in the whole trip! I was thankful, still don’t know to who or what, maybe to nature …

After eating this now is bedtime, it is 1900 :-)

PURA VIDA!

Head stitched up! (day 4)

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Chico

The morning was spent laying low, not much happening, we knew that there would be no waves, so we stayed near the house, putting our stuff together, chatting, listening to music, reading, and drinking pipa. The only high troubled episode during the morning was when Henry told us that Friday there would be a championship at Pavones, when it is supposed to be some good waves coming in this direction. So we were a bit bumped by that, still he assured us that there would be plenty o waves to be surfed and that the championship was to be short lived.

Sean had told us about something we could do when there would be no waves that was to come down the Claro River with a buoy, 2 and a half hours trekking upland and then about an hour and a half coming down the river. That was what we decided to do today, for that we had to go about the Guaymí Indigenous of Conte Burica.

Before we headed there I had a nice chat with him, about the surroundings and the indigenous around here, these make up 60% of the population on the south of the Osa Peninsula. Still living among them and relatively into the wild they still manage to keep some of their culture and ways, that space and momentum I call the “Lost Costa Rica”, because I’m afraid we are losing our ways, and they are losing theirs, our influence if not lead and oriented in a good way will engulf them and this troubled and viscous process of globalization will turn us into clones of each one of us. So if you ask me, the connection the Guaymí manage to still keep with nature is priceless. But finding and meeting new cultures is what drives most of us to travel and I do not defend they are to be left alone and we should to keep our cultures isolated, none of that, what I mean is that we need to keep being ourselves, giving and receiving from others and not changing them… I guess I would be here forever trying to get this point across. The following might help!

(While we were chatting with Sean the new car arrived, the Pandereta II)

The coastlines and rainforest of Central America have been inhabited by humans for at least 10,000 years. On the eve of European discovery some 500 years ago, an estimated 400,000 people were living in today’s Costa Rica, though sadly our knowledge about pre-Columbian culture is scant. The remains of lost civilizations were washed away by torrential rains, and Spanish conquerors were more intent on subjugating rather than describing native lifestyles.

Unlike massive pyramid complexes found throughout much of Latin America, the ancient towns and cities of Costa Rica (with the exception of Guayabo), vanished in the jungles, never to be seen again by the eyes of the modern world. However, tales of lost cities still survive in the oral histories of Costa Rica’s indigenous community and there is hope among archaeologists that a great discovery lies in waiting. Considering that much of the country consists in inaccessible mountains and rainforests, perhaps these dreams aren’t so fanciful.

The invasion of Central America by the Spanish conquistadores (conquerors) brought about incalculable human suffering and loss; entire cultures and histories were erased by sword and disease alike.

What is known about pre-Columbian Costa Rica is that early inhabitants were part of an extensive trading zone that extended as far south as Peru and as far North as Mexico. The region hosted roughly 20 small tribes, organized into chiefdoms, indicating a permanent leader, or cacique, who sat atop a hierarchical society that included shamans, warriors, toilers and slaves.

Adept at seafaring, the Carib dominated the Atlantic coastal lowlands, and served as a conduit of trade with the South America mainland. In the northwest, several tribes were connected to the great Mesoamerican cultures. Aztec religious practices and Maya jade and craftsmanship are in evidence in the Peninsula de Nicoya, while Costa Rican quetzal feathers and golden trinkets have turned up in Mexico. In the southwest, three chiefdoms showed the influence of Andean Indian Cultures, including coca leaves, yucca and sweet popatoes.

There is also evidence that the language of Central Valley Huetar was known by all of Costa Rica indigenous groups, which may be an indication of their power and influence. The Central Valley is home to the only major archaeological site uncovered in Costa Rica, namely Guayabo.

Thought to be an ancient ceremonial center, Guayabo once featured paved streets, an aqueduct and decorative gold. Here, archaeologists uncovered exquisite gold ornaments and unusual life-size stone statues of human figures, as well as distinctive types of pottery and metates, stone platforms that were used to grinding corn. Today, the site consists of little more than ancient hewed rock and stone, though Guayabo continues to stand as a testament to a once-great civilization of the New World.

Still a puzzle, however, are the hundreds of hand-sculpted, monolithic stone spheres that dot the landscape of the Diquis valley in Palmar and the Isla del Caño. Weighing up to 16 tons and ranging in size from a baseball to a Volkswagen, the spheres have inspired many theories: an ancient calendar, extraterrestrial meddling, or a game of bocce gone terribly awry.

According to some sources; in recent years, it seems that Costa Ricans of all backgrounds have taken as increased interest in the pre-Columbian history of their country.

El Mighty Pelado (PP) and I took the buoys (tractor pneumatics) that Sean kindly provided us and took the 2 and a half hour trekking to the river, since we took off from Pavones we were in fact the only two white faces to be seen during the entire journey! The 2 or 3 people we passed by laughed at the fact of 2 white guys carrying buoys upland, sweating and tired like pigs, trying to reach the river. And we did!!

I thought the river to be much deeper that what it actually was, so we had to lift our bottoms very often not to drag them around in the gravel. There were some rapids. On the way down, one of them with the infamous name of “death rock” was passed with no harm, a couple of minutes later, El Mighty Pelado suffers a fall and almost knocks himself out, opened his head and blood started to pour out. I was a little scared at the beginning but he assured me he was ok and so we continued. I also got a nasty fall and hit my head harm, trying not to let my buoy go I injured my arm, but nothing major.

Coming down the river is an excellent way of overseeing the nature surrounding the peninsula, many species of birds and reptiles can be seen, and on the calmer parts of the river you feel really hooked up by all the nature surrounding you. The tall trees and the wildlife that doesn’t seem so affected by our presence; the water carrying you effortless and suddenly you feel you become part or her.

By the end I was getting a little cold (believe it or not) and with all the bumps and falls I was ready to get out. I recognized the place near the Villas Riviera and hooped off with PP.

Back at the house I had to shave and stitch PP’s head with some straps he brought from home, and it seemed fine.

Later on, I was reading part of the book I brought with me from Thoreau, and I read something that I can relate completely. “If a plant cannot live accord its nature it will die. The same would happen to a man.”

Gossypium in Umbilico

[exteriorized introspections] by Francisco Gonçalves