WCS Annual Report 2012 - Wildlife Conservation Society

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wildlife conservation society Annual Report 2012
[ above ] WCS conservationists
have identified
a connection between
mercury contamination
and reproductive success
in Adirondack loons.
In some areas, cement plants and mining-related
industries contribute to mercury pollution.
Winds carry the pollutant from distant point
sources. Airborne mercury eventually returns
to the earth in rain, snow, and fog droplets,
as well as in dry form. Adirondack lakes—
where aquatic loons live and raise young—are
exposed to mercury contamination deposited
in the environment.
Mercury is toxic at even small levels and
accumulates in animals as it progresses up the
food chain. Loons feed at the highest level in
that chain, increasing their risk of toxic mercury
exposure. Scientists found that adult loons
with high mercury levels do not incubate eggs
consistently enough for chicks to hatch, undermining
reproductive success. More than half of
the adult Adirondack loons are at moderate to
high risk of mercury poisoning. Their long-term
survival requires a reduction of mercury in
the atmosphere.
In December of 2011, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency finalized the Mercury and
Aix Toxics Standards rule that requires coal-fired
power plants to update their mercury pollution
control technologies. However, overseas emissions
pose an additional problem. The U.N.
Environmental Programme (UNEP) is developing
a global treaty on mercury monitoring, which is
expected to be ratified in 2013.
Leading the Push for Clean
Urban Waters
Since 2001, a grant from National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) managed
by WCS has contributed to dramatic results
along the Bronx River: eight acres of habitat restored
or preserved; 7,000 students instructed;
1,500 educators trained; and the reintroduction
of the once-native alewife fish. Some 3,000 people
canoe on the river annually. Thousands of
others come to enjoy the acres of new riverside
parks, bike paths and green spaces. The Bronx
River restoration provides a national model for
the new federal Urban Waters initiative, designed
to stimulate local economies, create jobs,
and protect Americans’ health by revitalizing
waterways in underserved communities.
WCS’s leadership caps a decades-long effort
to restore the Bronx River for New Yorkers – an
effort with roots in New York City’s very founding.
In 1639, a Swedish businessman named Jonas
Bronck purchased 500 acres from the Lenape
Indians north of New Amsterdam that featured
a beautiful 23-mile waterway. Bronck’s River,
as it became known, supported so many beavers
that Europeans flocked to the area to acquire
their pelts. As New Amsterdam morphed into
New York, the animal became such an important
symbol of the region’s growing economy
that it was enshrined in the seal of the city.