THIS NASTY IS WIDELY USED IN TANZANIA.
> DO WE HAVE AN NGO TO TAKE UP THIS CAUSE ?
>
> DO TPRI HAVE A STATEMENT TO MAKE ON THIS PRODUCT ? JAMES MATEE, ANY COMMENT.
>
> Neil
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 12:36 AM
> Subject: Fwd: WildlifeDirect appeals to Kenyan PM to ban carbofuran after 3
> year old dies
From: Paula Kahumbu <paula@wildlifedirect.org>
> > Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2009 20:05:18 +0300
> > Subject: WildlifeDirect appeals to Kenyan PM to ban carbofuran after 3
> > year old dies
> > To: Peter Greste >
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > With the final revokation of carbofuran in USA by the American
> > Environmental
> > Protection Agency even Kenyas exports like coffee will be banned. As you
> > may
> > know carbofuran is sold as Furadan in Kenya and East Africa, but is
> > manufactured in USA where it's use has been banned as it is too hazardous
> > to
> > workers, consumers and the environment.
> >
> > This email explains why Kenya must follow suit to save much more than our
> > lions, it is for the benefit of farmers, farm productivity, families,
> > horticultural consumers, export business and our natural ecosystems.
> > Please
> > circulate widely to contacts in medical, veterinary, wildlife,
> > agriculture,
> > tourism and public health,
> >
> > Kind regards
> >
> > Paula Kahumbu
> >
> > Kenya's Prime Minister Urged to Help Ban Carbofuran
> > Nairobi, 06 November 2009 - On Friday, 30 October 2009, the US
> > Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would implement
> > the
> > agency's May 2009 final rule revoking all tolerances, or residue limits,
> > for
> > the pesticide carbofuran. From 31 December 2009, therefore, any use of
> > carbofuran in USA becomes a crime punishable with fines and jail
> > sentences.
> > Kenyan conservationists now want their government to follow suit and
> > impose
> > a total ban on carbofuran in the country.
> >
> > Conservationists, led by the Nairobi-based NGO, WildlifeDirect, want the
> > support of their Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, who on Monday, 2 November
> > 2009, adopted a lion under the Kenya Wildlife Service's (KWS) Wildlife
> > Endowment Fund. It is a rare conservation gesture coming from one so high
> > in Kenya's political pyramid.
> >
> > WildlifeDirect and its partners have been calling for a total ban on
> > carbofuran in Kenya for about two years and they now see hope in the Prime
> > Minister's small but important gesture of adopting a lion - a species
> > imperiled by this lethal poison. "Mr Odinga should now lead parliament in
> > realizing the ban on this number one lion-killer." says Dr Paula Kahumbu,
> > Executive Director of WildlifeDirect.
> >
> > Carbofuran, known in Kenya by its brand name- Furadan, which is
> > manufactured
> > by the FMC Corporation of Philadelphia, USA and is solely distributed in
> > Kenya (and the rest of East Africa) by Juanco Limited - is known to have
> > killed at least 76 lions in 5 years. Carbofuran is also responsible for
> > the
> > deaths of more than 300 vultures, and truckloads of other birds and
> > animals
> > according to scientists and the KWS.
> >
> > Reports of human death due to carbofuran poisoning have emerged.
> > WildlifeDirect spoke on phone with the heartbroken father of a child who
> > died of Furadan poisoning. The report of this death first appeared on
> > Kenya's The Standard newspaper on Friday, 30 October 2009 saying that on
> > Monday, 26 October 2009, the child had mistakenly ingested Furadan and
> > died.
> >
> > The child's father informed WildlifeDirect that the child died on arrival
> > at
> > the Cherangani Nursing Home in Trans Nzoia East District in western Kenya.
> > The father had bought the pesticide four months ago for use in killing
> > insects in the soil when preparing his vegetable nursery. He says that he
> > was not aware how dangerous the product is and was not informed by the
> > retailer about the first aid approach in case of pesticide ingestion. He
> > gave his child milk and crushed eggs - a method of dealing with poisoning
> > widely used in Africa - instead of water as the label says.
> >
> > This confirms that this poison is critically dangerous for Africans even
> > those with sufficient levels of education like the bereaved man who is a
> > teacher at a local primary school. The lack of the clear and utterly
> > off-putting universal symbol of death - the skull and crossbones - dupes
> > end
> > users of the pesticide into thinking that its poisoning effects are mild.
> >
> > The damage that carbofuran has caused to wildlife, the environment and
> > humans is not unique to Kenya. Of the EPA's 3 year determination, Steve
> > Owens, the assistant administrator for EPA's Office said that "The
> > evidence
> > is clear that carbofuran does not meet today's rigorous food-safety
> > standards."
> >
> > "If the pesticide is not safe for use in the US or Europe, where pesticide
> > users are more informed, why would we think that the pesticide is safe for
> > use in Africa?" asks Dr Richard Leakey, Chairman of WildlifeDirect.
> >
> > This pesticide was developed for largely literate and highly regulated
> > developed countries. In Africa, where most farmers are uneducated and
> > where
> > the regulatory bodies are under-resourced, users are exposed to greater
> > danger. The product is often repackaged in small, affordable but unmarked
> > packets that have no user instructions. "It is immoral to sell a pesticide
> > as dangerous as carbofuran in Africa" Dr Leakey adds.
> >
> > It gets worse for Kenya which is a large exporter of coffee to the US. Dr
> > Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy says, "The revocation of all
> > food tolerances has international implications, as imports of rice,
> > coffee,
> > bananas and sugarcane were previously allowed to contain residues of
> > carbofuran." He adds, "After this revocation, countries wishing to export
> > these foods to the US must stop using carbofuran on these four major
> > crops."
> >
> >
> > Dr Leakey, who has been central to the call to ban this lethal poison,
> > urges
> > Mr Odinga to act now to stop this carnage. "The Prime Minister did well to
> > adopt that young lion cub, but now is the time for him to lead in a much
> > more significant action to save lions - declare them an endangered species
> > in Kenya and enforce a total ban on carbofurans" he says.
> >
> > This, according to WildlifeDirect, must be coupled with proper management
> > of
> > lions, compensation for depredation of livestock, incentives and rewards
> > for
> > communities and land owners to protect lions, plus effective enforcement
> > by
> > the wildlife authorities. These actions could bring the lion back from the
> > brink of national extinction and restore the pride to Kenya's national
> > symbol.
> > WildlifeDirect is a non-profit conservation organization based in Kenya
> > that uses the internet to create awareness about conservation issues and
> > to
> > raise funds for conservation through Web Logs (blogs) written by field
> > conservationists. WildlifeDirect endeavors to create a movement powerful
> > enough to produce a virtual endowment capable of reversing the
> > catastrophic
> > loss of habitats and species. WildlifeDirect is Registered as a charity in
> > the USA and in Kenya.
>
> >
> > For more information and pictures (of poisoned lions) contact:
> > Samuel Maina maina@wildlifedirect.org
>
> > Paula Kahumbu
> > Executive Director WildlifeDirect
> > P.O. Box 24467 Nairobi
> > Kenya
> > cel + 254 722 685 106
> >
> > Raise money for http://wildlifedirect.org
> > just by searching the Internet with http://www.goodsearch.com
>
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