[Coral-List] Chinese Fishers Destroying SCS reefs as anti-ivory action boosts giant clam market...

johnny langenheim johnnylangenheim at gmail.com
Thu May 5 09:01:25 EDT 2016


Hi David,

I responded to this at some length on John's behalf on the comments thread
on the Coral Triangle. Just to clarify here briefly, the title and intro
were mine - I'm a journalist and that was the clear hook to me. Not meant
to be divisive, but to give an immediate sense of the complexity of the
issues to a lay audience. Please do check the comments section as I'd love
to run an op ed by you based on some of the issues you raise in your post!

All the best,


Johnny

On 5 May 2016 at 07:01, David Obura <dobura at cordioea.net> wrote:

> Hi John, apologies for this public post, but reacting to Johnny
> Langenheim’s posting of the link to your blog post on the above …
>
> Your motivation for linking the giant clam issue to the gap in ivory
> supply resulting from the recent upsurge in activism and enforcement to
> stop poaching elephants is understandable. But to blame the entire upswing
> of clam harvesting on successful elephant conservation is disingenuous and
> doesn’t really help (we should congratulate and emulate, not lament!). Even
> worse, putting the onus on “global NGOs” committed to elephant conservation
> to also take up giant clam protection misses the point entirely.
>
> While some global NGOs are clearly central to current success in the
> elephant scene, it is really the commitment of national NGOs, individuals
> and government employees (particularly rangers) that bear the brunt of this
> work, and the very high personal risk.
>
> Just like with climate change, overpopulation and other pressing issues
> facing coral reefs, it is upon US to get up and do something about it!! Not
> some amorphous entity out there that will solve the problems! The
> conclusions in Carin Jantzen’s and Sarah Frias-Torres’ posts (‘Coral reefs
> in the face of climate change’, 4/5 May) are right on – let’s not fiddle
> while our Rome burns! We need to build OUR champions, OUR institutions, OUR
> networks and REALLY support countries and individuals that are the engine
> of successful action (rather than doing what we have done in the coral reef
> world, which is to often compete with one another as our science and
> conservation agenda has matured)
>
> I know you know this and already do this John – but the title and first
> and last paragraphs of your 3 May blog post just don’t help!! Mine is
> really a general call for many with technical and public platforms that
> social media provide - you have great platforms to reach out and do it
> really well, but I do feel it is worth being self-critical and reaching for
> the best standard that coral reefs urgently need – to raise the game, and
> how our work delivers on action, at every step!
>
> Sincerely!
> David Obura
>
> CORDIO East Africa
> #9 Kibaki Flats, Kenyatta Beach, Bamburi Beach
> P.O.BOX 10135 Mombasa 80101, Kenya
> www.cordioea.net ; Email: dobura at cordioea.net [dobura at cordioea.net] ;
> davidobura at gmail.com [davidobura at gmail.com]
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-- 
Johnny Langenheim
+44(0)7427 312 760  (UK)
+62 (0) 8123 657 3757.  (INDONESIA)
www.johnnylangenheim.com
Skype: Johnny Langenheim


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