Warsaw - WWF plans to introduce lynx from Estonia into the Polish forests of Piska and Napiwodzko-Ramuckie in order to combat the declining population in the country. The first felines should be relocated by February 2011.

Bobcat numbers have been decreasing dramatically in Poland in the past 20 years resulting in the listing of the species, mainly threatened by hunting and habitat loss, in the Polish red Book of Animals in 1995.

‘The lynx's survival is at stake in Poland. With the transfer of animals from Estonia, we hope to repopulate the forests and prevent the species from extinction in the country" said Pawel Sredzinski, leader of the WWF Poland Lynx Campaign.

Lynx population in Poland have benefitted from a ban prohibiting hunting passed in 1995.

Estonia has one of the densest lynx populations in Europe allowing regular harvest. Hunting is legal, strictly regulated and under state control. Lynx is never hunted for fur although the belts and sculls are used as trophies . Adaptive management is rather one of the measures for long-term conservation of lynx in Estonia. Strong local population and similar genetic structure are the reasons why it`s proper to use Estonian lynx in this translocation program. 

"During the last decade the number has been increasing and nowadays the number is higher than ever before. The current number is estimated to be around 800 individuals," says Peep Mannil (Estonia's environment ministry and also ELF´s Council).

WWF started raising funds to pay for the transfers. The cost of relocating just one lynx is 10'000 Zloty, almost eight times more than the country's minimum wage.

There are currently only 200 lynx in Poland. Most of them live in the Polish Carpathians but an estimated 60 felines live in the Piska and Napiwodzko-Ramuckich forests where the Estonia bobcats will be introduced.

WWF Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year Award is annual competition to inspire farmers in the entire Baltic Sea region to take an active part in combating eutrophication. It was launched by WWF and ELF, together with Swedbank, and in cooperation with the Baltic Farmers Forum for the Environment, and farmers' organisations from around the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sea is still one of the most threatened seas in the world. Eutrophication or over-fertilization has been identified as the single most important threat to its health and agricultural runoff is the main cause.

A major solution to this problem is to promote more sustainable farming and land management practices, it should be at the heart of the future Common Agriculture Policy. The purpose of the Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year Award is to highlight best practices in "Baltic-friendly" farming and to recognise and promote farmers who are leading in innovative measures to reduce runoff from their farms. Håkan and Teri Lee Eriksson from Sweden received the WWF Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year Award 2010. The Swedish couple, chosen by an international jury, was among the winners of national contests in seven Baltic Sea countries.

Estonia was represented in the final round by Toomas Jaadla, who won the national award for avoiding soil erosion on abandoned peat fields by establishing cranberry and blueberry plantations.

Jaadla is the first farmer in Europe to develop and successfully employ such a solution. The Estonian Fund for Nature (ELF) and the Farmers Central Union are the participating organizations for Estonia. The prize is 10,000 euros and the award for the national winner is 1,000 euros.

Håkan and Teri Lee Eriksson from Sweden today received the WWF Baltic Sea Farmer of the Year Award. This annual competition aims to inspire farmers in the entire Baltic Sea region to take an active part in combating eutrophication. It was launched by WWF, together with Swedbank, and in cooperation with the Baltic Farmers Forum for the Environment, and farmers' organisations from around the Baltic Sea.

The Swedish couple, chosen by an international jury, was among the winners of national contests in seven Baltic Sea countries. As the regional winners of the competition, they received a 10 000 euro prize provided by Swedbank in recognition of their accomplishment.

Nagoya 18 October 2010. With land and marine ecosystems around the world under intense pressure from human activities, negotiators from around the world meet in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, to shape and agree on a global strategy and instruments to protect biodiversity that would make the value of biodiversity central all human initiatives and development.

The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, hosted by the Government of Japan takes place from 18 to 29 October 2010.

Over 15,000 participants representing the 193 Parties and their partners, the highest number ever recorded for such a meeting, will meet to finalize the negotiation on a new Strategic Plan on biodiversity for the period 2011-2020 with a biodiversity vision for 2050. The adoption of a new protocol on access and benefit sharing will be a key instrument at the service of this new biodiversity vision. The agreement will be submitted to the high-level segment of the Conference, to be held with the participation of five Heads of State and 130 ministers of the environment.