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Ecotourism helps revive mangroves in a Filipino surfing location
Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve is a new Ramsar Site Siargao is awash with illegal fishing and mangrove cutting Ecotourism and behaviour change are key to protecting the mangroves By Mariejo Ramos He was once an illegal fisher, who cut down tropical woody trees for fuel. Now he protects them in a civilian patrol force. We were forced to sell and cut mangroves because life was hard back then. "We couldn't find another job," Longos said. Workers like Longos are now part of the solution because the local government has been working to provide job training and cultivate an ecotourism enterprise. He proudly pointed out a mangrove baby he planted along the water. The mangroves in the area were reduced for decades by destructive fishing techniques like dynamite use and illegal deforestation to make wood for bread or charcoal. According to the local authorities, through replanting, the Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve has grown from 4,200 ha of mangroves to more than 4,800 ha. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (an international treaty named for the city in Iran, where it was signed, in 1971) that guides conservation of wetlands throughout the world, designated the reserve as a Wetland Reserve of International Importance in August 2024. Longos patrols the mangrove reserve from its viewing platform, earning him an honorarium each month of 9,000 pesos ($158). He uses his fishing boat to give paid tours of the mangrove reserve in his spare time. Del Carmen Mayor Alfred Coro says the stories of small town fishermen like Longos shows that even communities with limited resources can stop environmental destruction. He said that gaining the support of people through education, ecotourism opportunities and training is more important than policing. Coro said that for a long time, previous leaders in Del Carmen had been told it was impossible to persuade people to stop illegal mangrove harvesting and illegal fishing. He said that it took a decade for them to convince people of the importance of mangroves and to stop using illegal methods. He said that he was limited in financial resources and the majority of his efforts were done through dialogues between fishermen at their homes, as well as community-based campaigns to inform people about mangrove conservation. The local government started the tours, and now they are run by fishing groups. The tour fee is divided between the fisherman and his group, which amounts to about 600 pesos per trip. The town has been preparing for growth in tourism and development since last year when it was awarded the Ramsar certification. In 2023, more than half a millon tourists will visit Siargao, the highest number ever recorded. They are attracted to the impressive waves and surf spots in the area, which have been popular since the 1980s, when the sport began gaining popularity. SUSTAINABLE TOURISM Researchers fear that more visitors to Siargao could put strain on the natural resources of the island and cause waste problems such as plastic and marine debris. The Asian Development Bank found that an increase in Siargao waste is "attributable" to the surge of tourists. The study found that sustainable tourism could be implemented to protect marine life and support local incomes. Del Carmen's municipality has encouraged its residents to make money through eco-tours, and to take care of mangroves to ensure that tourism will support the community for a long time. Longos, a fisherman from the Philippines, was taught about mangroves' science and encouraged to participate in campaigns and replantings for their protection. Coro said that when they first started, "they had doubts." Since 2014, hundreds of illegal fishermen and mangrove cutters have become tourism operators. The town offers 100 ecotrips a day, says a local tourism official. These tours are staffed by guides, boat captains, and assistants. Coro said, "You can tell how much their lives have improved." The mayor stated that developing alternative sources of income has ripple effects on the local economy. Del Carmen, which was a town of the Philippines with the lowest level of income as a fifth-class municipality, became a third class municipality this year. Local government data revealed that the average monthly family income in Del Carmen increased from 2,000 pesos (34.95 USD) in 2010 up to 17,000 pesos (297.05 USD) in 2024. The poverty rate also decreased from 69% to 21% in 2010. The income of the town from tourism grew from 1.2 millions pesos (about $21,000) in 2020, to 9.2million pesos (about 160,381) by 2024. Longos says that by fishing legally and guiding ecotours he has been able to send all four of his children to school. Gina Barquilla said ecotours prevent overfishing, which may destroy mangroves habitats, because the income from tours encourages people to spend less money catching fish. A Task for the Community Barquilla said that mangroves in Siargao (a teardrop-shaped island) helped to protect the area from a powerful typhoon 2021. They also lessened the impact of strong waves and the rising sea level for coastal fishing villages. She has spent more than 10 years educating illegal fishermen and mangrove cutters at home and chasing dynamite fishing boats on the sea, despite threats and harassment. In rare cases, such as in February, fishermen have been arrested for using dynamite against schools of fish. She said that the best strategy is to go out and educate the local communities about the importance of mangroves, conservation and science. She and other ecotourism activists said that generations of families have survived off the money made from cutting mangroves. Therefore, educating youth is crucial, they said.
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Conagra, the tomato producer owned by Hunt's, may raise prices to offset tariffs.
Conagra Brands, the maker of Chef Boyardee, may need to raise prices to offset tariffs on cocoa, olive, palm and steel products used in its canned food, said CEO Sean Connolly on Thursday. Connolly said in an interview that the possible increases are meant to protect Conagra's profit margins so it can continue investing in its Chicago-based business and in new products. Connolly stated that he would "look at everything, from (seeing) whether there is an alternative supply source which is cheaper" to getting the most out of productivity programs. We'll also consider targeted pricing, because at the end, we need to protect our margins. On Wednesday, U.S. president Donald Trump announced new tariffs that will increase the cost of many consumer purchases. These include cars, wine, and electronics. Trump already imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel. Connolly stated that Conagra sources the majority of its tin-mill steel from overseas for their canned tomatoes and chili. Connolly stated that this type of steel was exempted from the tariffs Trump imposed during his first term because it is not commonly manufactured in the United States. The CEO stated, "We are a large canning business." All of them use tin-mill steel that is sourced outside the U.S. from different countries. Connolly confirmed that Conagra buys vegetables in Mexico. However, these purchases could be exempted from tariffs due to a separate agreement. Connolly stated that it was still too early to predict the size of price increases on food products. The Consumer Brands Association (a trade group that represents companies like Conagra) has been pressing the Trump administration to waive import tariffs for products such as tin-mill steel, which aren't available in the United States. (Reporting from Jessica DiNapoli, New York; and Ananya Marym Rajesh, Bengaluru. Editing by Bill Berkrot.)
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PBF restarts certain units at Martinez refinery following February fire. Fire-damaged units are still closed
PBF Energy said that it is restarting several refinery units at its Martinez facility, which were closed after an fire in February. According to the announcement, the units will restart on Thursday. The process should take two weeks. The company stated that any damaged units or those involved in the fire of February, such as the catalytic hydrotreater and the catalytic fuel plant, will be shut down and the restarting process will not start until the fourth quarter. A fire broke out on February 1 at the 157,000 barrels per day (bpd), Martinez, California refinery. The fire started near the 77.500 bpd hydrotreater catalytic feed, which uses hydrogen for removing sulfur from gas oil in order to produce unfinished gasoline using the 70,000 bpd cracker catalytic. The company's investigation team has been working to determine the cause of fire. It is expected to be completed by the end this month. A portable air compressor caught fire at the Martinez refinery on Wednesday night while it was being refueled. One person was injured. The fire was put out and had nothing to do with any of the refinery's process units. Reporting by Nicole Jao, New York; Editing by Franklin Paul and Elaine Hardcastle
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New York's precious metals are less expensive than London because they are not subject to Trump's tariffs
The Comex futures that are most active for precious metals have reduced their premiums over London spot prices after Washington removed the metals' import tariffs. This will encourage more metals to be flown to the United States. On Wednesday night, President Donald Trump announced reciprocal import tariffs that raised effective import taxes to levels not seen in the past century. However, there were some exclusions, including gold, silver, and platinum group metals. Last week, the premium between Comex futures and London spot prices stood at about $20 per troy-ounce compared to $43 on Tuesday. It is usually below $10. Silver and platinum futures premiums over London spot prices also dropped sharply. Few in the industry believed that bullion would end up attracting tariffs. The New York-London Arbitrage still moved a large amount of metals across the Atlantic, as speculators placed bets on the dislocation," said Adrian Ash. Now that metal looks like it is no longer needed. In December-March, gold and silver worth over $80 billion were delivered in Comex's warehouses. Import tariffs were a threat. The latest data from Comex (part of CME Group) shows that gold in U.S. warehouses has reached a record high of 44.5 millions troy ounces, worth $138 billion, compared to 17.1 million in Nov. when Donald Trump became U.S. president. Comex stocks currently equal five years' worth of U.S. gold and silver consumption. The price spread that the market measures through the exchange futures for physicals (EFPs) will not further decrease the premium until then. Robert Gottlieb is an industry expert and a former head of precious-metals at Koch Supply and Trading. He said that for the shipments reversed, EFPs had to go negative. This would allow one to sell London and purchase the futures contracts at a cheaper price. (Reporting and editing by David Evans; Polina Devlin)
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Citi lowers its 2025 price forecasts for base metals due to Trump's trade tariffs
Citi Research revised its 2025 price forecast for base metals on Thursday. The company cited significant headwinds in demand due to tariffs announced by Trump's administration and their immediate implementation. Trump announced Wednesday a 10% tariff for most U.S. imported goods, as well as higher levies against dozens of trading partners. Global markets were shaken by the move, which sparked fears of stagnant economic growth and rising prices. Citi analysts said that copper, zinc and aluminum were the metals most vulnerable to a fall in price due to their elevated positions. Citi has reduced its copper price forecast for 2025 to $8,860/t, down from $9,100/t. Benchmark three-month Copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 3.3% to $9,378 per kilogram at 1605 GMT after hitting $9,353 earlier, its lowest level since March 4. The bank expects Section 232 tariffs to be implemented on copper in the second quarter, despite the fact that metals are generally exempted. The bank has also reduced its forecasts on aluminum (from $2.615/t), Nickel (from $15,500/t), Zinc (from 2.750/t), Lead (from 1.975/t), Tin (from 33,700/t).
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Six reported dead in Bolivia's wildcat mining conflict
Six people were killed and others are missing after a violent clash between two groups in Bolivia who were disputing the exploitation small gold deposits, said a representative of a mining cooperative on Thursday. According to an initial Bolivian Police report, the incident began early in the morning, in the municipality Sorata, located 150 km north of the capital La Paz. Police and firefighters deployed in the area caused severe damage as well. "They've blown up diesel tanks and even machinery with dynamite." Six people have been reported dead, and more are missing", Jhonny Silva said. He is a representative of Hijos de Ingenio Mining Cooperative. Gunther Agudo, departmental police chief, told the media that the conflict involved the Senor de Mayo mine cooperative and the Hijos de Ingenio co-operative. He added that the clash had "caused a great explosion." The mining industry in Bolivia is divided into three different divisions: the state-owned sector, the private sector and the cooperative. The last has been criticized for its illegal exploitation, which harms the environment while causing constant conflict with other rural communities and miners.
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Sources say that EU countries are considering changing their 2025 gas storage goals.
EU diplomats said that if the changes to the future EU gas storage goals are approved by European Union member countries quickly enough, they could also ease this year's storage requirements. The EU is negotiating changes in the future obligations of filling gas storage for 2026-2027. This includes swapping out their current binding goal to fill storage by 90% on November 1, for a target to reach that same level at any time between October 1-December 1. The EU diplomats stated that these changes may also be applicable to the November 1st target for this year, if rules are finalised before then and published. Gas storage regulations were introduced in the EU in 2022, after Russia cut deliveries due to its invasion of Ukraine. This was done to provide a buffer for winter fuels. Poland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency and is responsible for negotiations between its member states, published a document on Wednesday that confirmed planned changes to gas storage regulations would be effective the day following their publication in the EU official journal of law. The EU hopes to reach a consensus on rules and regulations next week. After that, they will negotiate the final law in conjunction with the European parliament. One EU diplomat said that it could take several months for the rules to be agreed upon and published as EU law. This would likely mean they would only affect the November filling goal, but not the other goals the countries have in the months prior. EU has also set gas storage targets for the months of February, May and July. In future years, these targets would be voluntary according to the countries' proposal. Negotiations are still ongoing and the impact of the 2025 target, as well as other changes that countries may propose to future targets, could change. The European Commission originally wanted to extend for two years the current system of binding goals that must be achieved by certain dates. This idea was met with resistance by governments such as Germany, France and The Netherlands. The countries want to loosen the rules due to concerns that the targets will inflate the gas prices because they indicate to the market European buyers need to buy large quantities of fuel within a fixed time frame, giving them an opportunity to manipulate the prices. In the latest document, it was revealed that member states could deviate up to five percentage points from their obligation to fill storage with gas by 90% in the event of "unfavourable market conditions". (Reporting and editing by Nia William in Brussels, Kate Abnett)
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US to develop AI on Energy Department Lands
On Thursday, the administration of Donald Trump announced that it had identified 16 sites in the United States Energy Department where data centers and energy plants could be built to support artificial intelligence. Why it's important The rapid growth of AI has led to the first surge in U.S. electricity demand in 20 years, sending Big Tech companies and utility companies scrambling for new data centers and energy plants. DOE stated that the potential sites were positioned to allow rapid construction of data centers, with in-place infrastructure and the ability for fast-tracking permits for new energy production such as nuclear reactors. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (an independent body that regulates nuclear power) has not yet made it clear how the process of accelerating nuclear power would work. KEY QUOTE The Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said, "The race to dominate AI is the next Manhattan Project, and we can win with President Trump and the innovation from our National Labs." He was referring to a secret U.S. program to create the first nuclear weapon in World War Two. BACKGROUND Energy Department is a top land manager in the United States. The Energy Department did not respond immediately to a query about the locations of 16 sites. Under former president Joe Biden, the DOE claimed that it had identified five sites in Washington, Nevada, South Carolina and other states, which could host clean energy projects, including solar, nuclear and wind power. The DOE had to clean up the land after it was contaminated with nuclear weapons development and other Cold War work. WHAT'S NEXT? DOE encourages private-public partnerships, seeking input from energy developers, data center developers and the general public. It wants to start operations of AI infrastructure by the end of 2027. (Reporting and editing by Elaine Hardcastle; Timothy Gardner)
Trump's auto tariffs will cover imports worth $600 billion, including laptops
According to an analysis of tariff codes in a Federal Register notice published on Wednesday, President Donald Trump's auto tariffs of 25% will cover imports of nearly $600 billion of cars and auto parts annually. They also include all computer imports to the U.S. including laptops. Updated Trump's auto-tariff proclamation last week, it included almost 150 auto part categories that would be subject to tariffs beginning on May 3, one month after the 25% tariffs were activated on Thursday at midnight.
List includes codes for major components such as engines, transmissions and lithium-ion battery, but also less expensive ones like tires, shocks absorbers, wires for spark plugs and brake hoses.
The inclusion of a four-digit code for all computers was a big surprise. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, the category is expected to be worth $138.5 billion by 2024. The list of parts, as well as the timing of tariffs on May 3, was revealed just before Trump announced that all U.S. imported goods would be subject to a 10% baseline tariff. Many countries were then hit with higher reciprocal tariffs meant to counteract nontariff trade barriers.
Senior Trump Administration officials confirmed that autos and auto components subject to Section 232 National Security Tariffs will not be charged separate baseline or reciprocal duties. The auto tariffs are not stacked on top of the new, April 5th, reciprocal tariffs.
The White House has directed the Commerce Department that domestic producers can request to have other parts imported targeted within 90 days.
Importers of vehicles that qualify under the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement's rules for origin can only pay 25% duty on the non-U.S. portion of their order.
(source: Reuters)