Si è appena conclusa la prima campagna di ricerche sul paleolitico della Valle dello Zarqa, condotta dall’Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana insieme alla Universidade de Sao Paulo (Brasile) e alla Hashemite University di Zarqa (Giordania). L’obbiettivo è quello di datare i siti archeologici paleolitici scoperti negli anni ’90 dalla missione dell’Università di Roma coordinanata da Gaetano Palumbo. A quel tempo vennero trovati numerosi giacimenti del Pleistocene inferiore e medio, con grandi quantità di industrie litiche di modo 1 e 2.

Una prima attribuzione cronologica, basata sui dati archeologici e biostratigrafici attribuiva al giacimento più antico un’età di un milione di anni (scarica l’articolo). Successivamente non è stato possibile ritornare sul posto, ma da quest’anno, grazie alla collaborazione tra il nostro Istituto e l’Università di Sao Paulo, si sono create le condizioni minime per la ripresa delle ricerche. Vi partecipano Fabio Parenti (archeologo e coordinatore), Giancarlo Scardia (geologo) Walter Neves (Paleoantropologo), Astolfo Araujo (Geoarcheologo), Bilal Khreishat (geoarcheologo) e Fareed Al-Shishani (studente in gestione dei beni culturali). L’équipe sta lavorando nei dintorni del villaggio di sukhne, prelevando campioni per le datazioni al paleomagntismo, industrie litiche in affioramento e facendo analisi stratigrafichje e geomorfologiche.

La missione è terminata il 12 ottobre 2013.

http://www.isipu.org/

di Antonio Coviello
Collana SIGEA - Dario Flaccovio Editore
ISBN 978-88-579-0209-8 (Pagg. 304, prezzo euro 25)

Il volume si ispira all’attuale dibattito sulla necessità di intervenire sulla prevenzione e sulla tutela dei danni causati dalle catastrofi naturali. Idealmente strutturato in due parti, nella prima parte del volume viene  trattato il tema della gestione dei rischi catastrofali dal punto di vista teorico, in particolare del ruolo del risk management, che costituisce 'nelle sue tipologie evolute' un esempio di innovazione manageriale relativa alle problematiche della gestione degli eventi avversi di origine (dolosa ed) accidentale, dalle tecniche di prevenzione al trasferimento assicurativo: l’analisi dei rischi è argomento di grande attenzione da parte degli studiosi ed importante attualità in quanto alla base delle decisioni finanziarie (cap.1). Un'operazione sicuramente difficile che costituisce per l’organo di governo pubblico l’elemento qualificante e, in ultima istanza, determinante per garantire un’evoluzione risonante dei rapporti sistemici. Successivamente viene rappresentato lo stato dell’arte circa le calamità naturali dal punto di vista strettamente geologico- ed i danni socio-economici  che essi provocano (cap.2), ipotizzando le possibilità offerte alle amministrazioni locali di destinare le risorse economiche a misure di prevenzione, con effetti di mitigazione delle conseguenze delle calamità naturali su persone, cose ed economie dei territori colpiti. (cap.3). Dopo aver ripercorso l’evoluzione del ruolo dell’assicurazione delle catastrofi naturali in Italia, alla luce dell’esperienza europea, nell’ottica di una “sana e prudente gestione” (cap.4 e 5), viene data rilevanza al ruolo dell’assicuratore pubblico ed alla necessità di un partnerariato pubblico-privato nella copertura dei rischi da calamità naturali (cap.6).

I costi delle calamità naturali arrivano fino al 2,9% del Pil annuo. Singoli eventi recenti hanno procurato danni per decine di miliardi di dollari. Per questo l’Ocse incentiva la copertura assicurativa contro i rischi da calamità, che un ddl presentato al Senato in questi giorni propone di rendere obbligatoria. Un volume sul tema, con contributo dell’Irat-Cnr, viene presentato a Napoli

Tra il 1963 ed il 2012 ben 782 Comuni italiani hanno subito inondazioni e frane, che hanno causato rispettivamente 1.563 e 5.192 vittime tra morti, feriti e dispersi e un totale di 421.227 tra sfollati e senzatetto (dati dell’Istituto di ricerca per la protezione idrogeologica del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche), con un costo medio dello 0,2% del Pil annuo (Ocse 2012). Nel solo 2011 il numero dei disastri naturali nel mondo è stato impressionante: 332, con oltre 30.000 vittime, 245 milioni di persone colpite e oltre 366 miliardi di dollari statunitensi di danni economici ((Universitè Catholique de Louvain 2012).
“A livello globale i danni causati dalle catastrofi naturali sono aumentati negli ultimi 30 anni, principalmente a causa del crescente valore economico e il settore assicurativo appare il candidato principale per la distribuzione e gestione dei rischi cui sono esposte le famiglie e le imprese, e per la liquidazione dei danni”, spiega il volume 'Calamità naturali e coperture assicurative', curato da Antonio Coviello, ricercatore dell’Istituto di ricerche sulle attività terziarie (Irat) del Cnr e docente di Economia e gestione delle imprese di assicurazione alla Seconda Università di Napoli.

News tips:

please read this interesting article on de zeen magazine

Sinuous structure by NEXT architects wins Chinese bridge competition

News: Dutch studio NEXT architects has won a competition to design a pedestrian bridge for Changsha, China, with plans for a wavy structure based on the continuous form of a Möbius strip.

NEXT Architects designed the 150-metre bridge to span the Dragon King Harbour River in Changsha's Meixi Lake district - a 6.5 million square-metre development masterplanned by Kohn Pedersen Fox and being built from scratch in the south west of the city.......

http://www.dezeen.com/2013/11/04/next-architects-chinese-bridge-competition/#!

Da oltre vent’anni, prima nell’ambito delle attività di ricerca condotte dal Gruppo Nazionale per la Difesa dalle Catastrofi Idrogeologiche (GNDCI), del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), e successivamente nell’ambito di attività di ricerca e sviluppo tecnologico svolta per il Dipartimento nazionale della Protezione Civile, della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, raccogliamo, organizziamo e analizziamo informazioni sull’impatto che eventi di frana e d’inondazione hanno sulla popolazione. Dall’anno 843 al 2012, abbiamo catalogate informazioni di 1676 eventi di frana che hanno causato almeno 17.500 vittime, numero che comprende i morti, dispersi e feriti, avvenute in 1450 diverse località. Per quanto riguarda gli eventi di inondazione dall’anno 589 al 2012, abbiamo notizie di 1346 eventi che hanno causato almeno 42.000 vittime in 1040 diverse località.

Negli ultimi 50 anni trascorsi dal 1963 al 2012 tutte le regioni italiane hanno subito eventi per i quali si sono registrate vittime. Più in particolare le frane avvenute hanno prodotto 5.192 vittime (3.302 morti, 17 dispersi, 1.873 feriti), e nello stesso periodo ci sono le inondazioni hanno prodotto 1.563 vittime (692 morti, 66 dispersi, 805 feriti). Nello stesso periodo la regione Sardegna ha registrato 42 vittime (somma dei morti, dispersi feriti) per frana e 50 per inondazione.

PHOTO LIBRO

What:    Launch a FAO Newsbook: Six-legged livestock: edible insect farming, collecting and marketing in Thailand. The event will be a lunch-time book launch and signing ceremony with two of the authors of a book that explores Thailand’s thriving edible insect sector. More than 20 000 insect farming enterprises are registered in the country; most are small-scale household operations. Insect farming and collecting has become is a significant economic activity in Thailand in the past two decades, driven by strong market demand and supported by university research and extension and innovative private-sector food processors and sellers. Overall, insect farming, collection, processing, transport and marketing has emerged as a multi-million dollar sector, providing income and employment for tens of thousands of Thai people, and healthy and nutritious food for millions of consumers.

Tuesday’s book launch and signing follows the release of the FAO report: Edible insects: Future prospects for food and feed security, which was issued at the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition in Rome 13-15 May. That report looks at the global market for edible insects. The new publication to be released in Bangkok on 21 May complements the global report with a focused review of the sector in Thailand, which represents one of the most dynamic areas in the world for human consumption of insects.

Who:      Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, who penned the forward to the book; Lead Author Yupa Hanboonsong, Associate Professor of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University; and  Author Patrick Durst, FAO Senior Forestry Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Snacks and Soft drinks will be offered at the book-signing.
One-on-one interviews with the authors will be possible.

When:  11:30 Tuesday, 21 May 2013.

Where:  Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) Penthouse, Maneeya Bldg., 518/5 Phloen Chit Rd., beside Amarin Plaza, nearest BTS station is Chitlom Station. (Phone:+66 2 652 0580-1)

http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/rap/home/news/detail/en/?news_uid=176061

Graziano da Silva meets with South West Pacific ministers on food security


Efforts to end hunger and fight the effects of climate change in the Pacific Islands will hinge on the success of sustainable development, including wise use of oceans and fisheries, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told ministers from the region today.

“There can be no truly ‘green economy’ without a ‘blue economy’, one that makes the sustainable development of oceans and fishery resources a priority,” Graziano da Silva said.
“The importance of capture fisheries and aquaculture cannot be neglected. They provide over 3 billion people with about 15 percent of their average per capita intake of animal protein. And these two activities contribute over 200 million jobs globally,” 
“At the same time, these vital services must not jeopardize the key role oceans play in regulating the earth’s climate. They absorb more than 25 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from human activities.”

Speaking at the 10th Meeting of FAO South West Pacific Ministers for Agriculture in the Samoan capital, Graziano da Silva also said addressing climate change had become “a question of survival – just like hunger.” 

The South West Pacific area accounts for roughly 15 percent of the globe, and includes about two thousand islands and atolls, which are particularly vulnerable to storms and flooding, water scarcity, and stresses on fishery and forestry systems.
The Director-General said one of FAO’s priorities was to work on the especially urgent climate change issues faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and low-lying coastal areas in the Pacific and all regions.
FAO supports Pacific island countries in many ways, in part, by working to broaden and deepen implementation of internationally agreed norms, like the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and related instruments.
The organization works with governments and partners at the national, regional and international levels on issues like illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; the management of tuna fishing; and the management of marine areas beyond national jurisdictions.

Nourishing ideas

Graziano da Silva pointed out that the world had gained ground in the fight against hunger, but there was still much work to be done to improve both food security and the quality of nutrition, and to achieve the Millennium Development Goal to halve by 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, as measured against 1990 benchmarks.

Graziano da Silva also noted that three-quarters of all adult deaths in the Pacific are linked to nutrition and lifestyle-related diseases. He highlighted the importance of addressing nutritional issues by implementing integrated nutrition strategies, diversifying diets and recovering the use of traditional, local crops produced by smallholders.

“Every region has a variety of non-commodity crops that were used in the past as food,” said the FAO Director-General, citing  pandanus plants as an example from the Pacific. “Research shows that pandanus contains high levels of carotenoids, which protected many generations from Vitamin A deficiency.”

Regional and global cooperation

The main task before participants of the meeting was to review and adopt an overall plan for FAO’s work in 14 countries in the region from 2013 to 2017.

“The support FAO offers you must respond to your development needs and priorities, as laid out in your sustainable development plans,” said the FAO Director-General, who also stressed the importance of aligning them with FAO’s revised strategic framework.

During his three-day visit, Graziano da Silva was bestowed with an honorary chiefly title during the Samoan Ava ceremony. He was scheduled to meet with Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, ministers from other countries in the region, and local representatives of civil society and the private sector.

The Director-General was on his first visit to the Pacific islands since taking the helm of the hunger-fighting agency. Earlier in the week, he met with government authorities in Australia. After Samoa, he will travel to Vanuatu and New Zealand. 
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/173975/icode/

"Serious implications" feared for marine ecosystems and beyond

Shark populations in the Mediterranean and Black Sea have dropped dramatically over the last two centuries and now risk extinction, with serious implications for the region's entire marine ecosystem and food chains, according to a FAO Newsstudy.

"Sharks in the Mediterranean Sea have declined by more than 97 percent in number and ‘catch weight' over the last 200 years. They risk extinction if current fishing pressure continues," the study found.

In the Black Sea, although information is scarce, catches of the main shark species have also declined to about half of catches in the early 1990s.
"This loss of top predators could hold serious implications for the entire marine ecosystem, greatly affecting food webs throughout this region," it added.
The study, Elasmobranchs of the Mediterranean and Black Sea: Status, Ecology and Biology, was undertaken by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, one of several FAO regional bodies working in the fisheries sector.

Critically endangered

It found that cartilaginous fish species, such as sharks and rays, "are by far the most endangered group of marine fish in the Mediterranean and Black sea where 85 species are known to occur. Of 71 species assessed in the Mediterranean Sea in 2007, 30 (42 percent)  were found to be threatened, including 13 percent  critically endangered, 11 percent endangered and 13 percent vulnerable. Another 18 percent  were categorized as near-threatened.
Cartilaginous fish have skeletons made of cartilage, rather than bones. Within that group, sharks, rays and skates are scientifically termed Elasmobranchs. Their biological characteristics, including low fecundity, late maturity and slow growth make them more vulnerable than bony fish, as their regeneration rates are slower.

Issues such as "overfishing, wide use of non-selective fishing practices and habitat degradation" are therefore affecting these species more than others.

In general sharks and rays have not been deliberately targeted in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, but caught accidentally. Annual aggregated reported landings in the Mediterranean and Black Sea currently amount to some 7 000 tonnes, compared to 25 000 tonnes in 1985 - an indication of the severity of their decline.

At the same time, however fishing activities targeting sharks are intensifying due to rapidly increasing demand for shark fins, meat and cartilage.

Habitat disturbance

This is compounded by extensive damage to, or disturbance of, their habitats, caused by shipping, underwater construction and mining or by chemical, sound and electromagnetic contamination.
Among the most recent measures adopted by the Commission to protect sharks and rays is the prohibition of ‘finning' (removal of fins at sea and discarding of carcass) and the reduction of trawl fishing within 3 nautical miles off the coast to enhance protection of coastal sharks.
The Commission has also recommended Mediterranean and Black Sea countries to invest in scientific research programmes aimed at identifying potential nursery areas and to consider time and area closures to protect juveniles of sharks and rays from fishing activities.

Other initiatives undertaken by the Commission have included the organization of several meetings and  courses aimed at better understanding these species and their habitats and creating a background of Regional knowledge to guide GFCM Members in developing national plans to protect these key species.
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/171847/icode/

Focus placed on responsibilities of flag states


After several years of negotiations, countries have taken a major step against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), one of the greatest threats to sustainable fisheries and related livelihoods.

International guidelines developed through an FAO-led consultative process aim to cut down on IUU fishing by improving the accountability of flag states - those countries which register fishing vessels and authorize them to fly their flags.

The Voluntary Guidelines for Flag State Performance were agreed upon after over five years of consensus-building among FAO Member Countries. The guidelines will be presented to the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) for endorsement at its next Session in June, 2014.


The guidelines include recommended approaches to encourage and help flag states comply with their international duties and obligations regarding the flagging and control of fishing vessels. They also present possible actions in response to non-compliance.
While no exact figures are known, it is widely accepted that IUU fishing has escalated in the past two decades and its magnitude is considerable.
The Technical Consultation was funded by the Governments of Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United States of America, and by the European Commission.

A breakthrough

“The Voluntary Guidelines for Flag State Performance are a real breakthrough. They will be a valuable tool in efforts to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” said Árni Mathiesen, FAO Assistant Director-General for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

“Ultimately, these guidelines can help to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of precious, living marine resources and ecosystems,” Mathiesen added.
“We all face the challenge of sustainability, and these guidelines give countries a new way to work together to meet this challenge.”
The proposed guidelines are wide-ranging and include, among other things, performance assessment criteria and procedures for carrying out assessments, and the cooperation between flag states and coastal states. They also look at ways to encourage compliance and deter non-compliance by flag states; ways to cooperate with and assist developing states in capacity development, and the role that FAO can play in supporting these processes.

FAO support

In addition to facilitating the development of the guidelines, FAO will monitor and report on implementation of the guidelines to COFI. It will also provide in-country technical assistance to countries requiring support. That support may include capacity-building measures like the development of an adequate legal and regulatory framework; strengthening of institutional organization and infrastructure needed to ensure adequate control of vessels; the development or improvement of monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) of fishing vessels, and training.

“Some flag States may need more support than others, especially developing countries. In certain cases, they may lack the institutional setup and technical know-how. They may be short on human and financial resources. Or, they may lack the drive to direct their efforts and to invest their available resources in the effective implementation of their duties under international laws relevant to fishing, in which case there is a greater need to build awareness of the long-term benefits of compliance,” said Matthew Camilleri, Fishery Liaison Officer within the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Economics Division.

The Guidelines draw on existing international law, like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 and other international instruments such as the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and the 2001 FAO International Plan of Action to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing.

Committee on Fisheries


COFI is the only global inter-governmental forum where major international fisheries and aquaculture problems and issues are periodically examined and recommendations are addressed to governments, regional fishery bodies, NGOs, fish workers, FAO and the international community.
COFI has emphasized the fundamental importance of compliance by flag States with their duties under international law.

For more information on the Voluntary Guidelines for Flag State performance and other international instruments related to combating IUU fishing, see: http://www.fao.org/fishery/en

http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/170570/icode/

Nobel laureate a "tireless advocate for a hunger-free world"



The death of Italian scientist and physician Rita Levi Montalcini, 103, has claimed a tireless advocate for a hunger-free world, FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said today.

Montalcini, an FAO goodwill ambassador since 1999, died on 30 December in Rome.
"Professor Montalcini was recognized internationally as one of the world's finest minds. At FAO, we knew her as a wise and gracious friend, a tireless advocate for a hunger-free world," said Graziano da Silva.

"FAO will always be grateful to her for helping to keep the drive to end hunger, malnutrition and extreme poverty high on the international agenda," he added.
Montalcini, a physician and neurobiologist, won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1986 and was named Senator for Life by the Republic of Italy. As a goodwill ambassador, she wrote articles and editorials on the plight of the hungry, and regularly attended and spoke at high-level FAO events.

In recent years, Montalcini urged young people to become more involved in eliminating hunger, which she called a "tragic reality."

http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/167739/icode/