tagged w/ Conservation
-
-
If you are looking for a Christmas gift for your children, then buy this action adventure fiction book for children and help save the planet or tropical rainforest preservation.
The Doughty Warriors discover that all the bear cubs are disappearing from the forest. With lots of adventure on the way, they trace the bear cubs to a ‘bear bile farm’. They are so shocked at what they find that they agree to rescue all the bears from the farm. But, of course, they have to incorporate the efforts of their forest friends to do so.If you are looking for a Christmas gift for your children, then buy this action... more
-
-
We have seen unsettling changes in the hydrologic cycle and in the world of water in general this past year which have affected economy, health, and agriculture as well as water access. Climate events were the big news in 2010 with droughts, floods, glacier melt and stronger storms (both rain and snow) leading us to the reality that we indeed have entered a period of consequences regarding our climate.
The BP Gulf Oil Ecocide that is now virtually forgotten is still working its evil on the Gulf, with an 80 mile stretch all the way to the bottom of oil with no life present. The Arctic also saw its second lowest ice extent this past November and the melting is affecting ocean currents in line with a La Nina weather event.
Floods are now taking place in the North of Australia that cover an area as big as France and Germany combined that have stranded 200,000 people, with people saying it is now a catastrophe of "biblical" proportions. Pakistan, India, China, Latin America, the Southwest and Northeast US, all examples recently of climate events where the reality of what we are doing to affect the hydrologic cycle is becoming more evident and that is also related to oversaturation of land and oceans with CO2. The proliferation of dams globally is also a factor that we must now also consider regarding our concerns about water access and availability.
As climate change bears down on us water will be affected drastically regarding both access and quality in relation as well to pollution, privitization, politics and outdated infrastructure (which led to Ireland's current water woes.) Yet, governments of the world (Cancun the most recent example with water left out again) are woefully unprepared for the effects bearing down on us as we continue to push out 90 million tons of Co2 along with other GHGs daily which exacerbates the release of methane from permafrost, which then effects the atmosphere, glaciers, all the way to ocean currents which effect our climate in both extremes. And that does not even take into consideration climate refugees which are already beginning to leave lands due to sea level rise, drought, dying of crops, livestock, etc.
How are events like these not in the consciousness of all sentient beings? How can we say Happy New Year unless we are truly resigned to changing the factors that lead us to disasters like these?
In the coming year we must become more involved in seeking water justice, food security and climate justice for all peoples of the world. We can no longer leave it just in the hands of governments in collusion with corporations seeking to profit off the misery of others. The challenges we now face regarding our global water resources are challenges that if not addressed now will bring nothing but hardship for those feeling the effects of climate change the worst, and those who are the prey of interests using land and water for profit at the expense of our planet's sustainability and the cultural/economic sovereignty of those nations.
Therefore, in reviewing the year gone by and looking ahead we must all become part of the Water Justice Movement in whatever way we can. Whether it is in protest, in writing, in educating, in conserving, it is incumbant upon us all to become part of the solution. Seventy percent of our planet is now is some stage of environmental stress. The signs are evident, the message is clear. We can no longer afford to close our eyes, ears and hearts to the work at hand.
In this year I will be working to provide potable water to those in need through organizations that make a difference, as well as standing up for indigenous people of the world in regards to their land and water, writing my book in earnest and doing all I can to conserve. Whatever you do however small you may think it is, just remember that many raindrops together make a flood, only this flood should be one that turns the tide for true water justice, food sovereignty, climate balance and peace.
This year, let's make it happen.
Thank you for all of the support on this blog.We have seen unsettling changes in the hydrologic cycle and in the world of water in... more
-
-
-
Orphaned gorillas find a safe haven
From Jessica Ellis, CNN
December 17, 2010 5:19 a.m. EST
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (CNN) --
In a remote, rural area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has opened the country's first rehabilitation center for Grauer's gorillas.
Called GRACE (Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education), the center's goal is to teach orphaned gorillas how to survive in the wild as a new, self-sufficient "family," with the longer-term goal to release them into a natural habitat in a neighboring forest in the Congo Basin.
These young gorillas are physically and emotionally fragile, most having suffered from extremely traumatic conditions and experiences. Many have been violently taken from the forest by poachers, intent on selling them either as bush meat or for the animal trafficking trade.
CNN's Jessica Ellis and Ferre Dollar recently followed the first group of gorillas to be transported to the forested area from a temporary facility in Goma, in eastern DRC.
The pioneering young orphans were airlifted to GRACE by a helicopter donated by MONUC, the United Nations peacekeeping force in the DRC -- a first for a U.N. mission. Traveling by road would have been almost impossible due to poor infrastructure and potential trauma to the animals.
Mapendo, Amani, Kighoma and Ndjingala were all originally snatched from the forest and their families by poachers. They are all Grauer's gorillas, a subspecies related to the Mountain gorilla, but live exclusively in eastern DRC.
Sandy Jones is the confiscated gorilla rehabilitation manager for the Dian Fossey Fund and now the manager of GRACE. "All of the gorilla species are endangered because Congo is so unexplored they have not done a real census on how many Grauer's gorillas there are," she says.
"But at the rate at which we know they are being killed and the forest is being destroyed we are really concerned that if things aren't stopped and changed now they can be wiped out very soon."
This freshman class of GRACE gorillas range in age from between one and five years old. Mapendo, whose name means "love," was rescued in December 2007. She was confiscated along with a male gorilla but he only survived for two days.
When Amani -- which means "peace" -- was rescued a year ago she had a large wound on her leg. "It seemed obvious that her mother was shot and she was caught in the crossfire," Jones explains. "It took many weeks to heal but now she is walking perfectly normal."
Kighoma -- "drums" -- is the only male in the group. He arrived in May 2009, and Ndjingala was rescued earlier this year. She is only a year old and was named after the place from which she was taken.
"A lot of primates, when they are taken by poachers, they have ropes around their hips and it digs in and so they have bad wounds and Ndjingala suffered from that," Jones says.
The Dian Fossey gorilla fund and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project have been caring for rescued gorillas in temporary quarters in Kinigi, in Rwanda, and in Goma.
Now they (the gorillas) are in the real forest and they are climbing and getting some forest food, so they are happy.
"What I know is that many of them have died," says Dr. Eddie Kambale of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. "We may have, I can say, about 20% that have been taken from the forest."
The GRACE center is the first facility of its kind in east Central Africa. It has room for up to 30 young gorillas to live in species-typical groups and roam through 350 acres of natural habitat.
Kambale helped bring the four orphans from Goma to GRACE. "The gorillas are enjoying this place compared to where they were," he says.
"In Goma there was too much noise and dust from the road; here is less pollution so this will be good for their health. Now they are in the real forest and they are climbing and getting some forest food, so they are happy."
The remaining rescued Grauer's gorillas currently cared for by the Dian Fossey Fund and Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project will leave Kinigi on a second airlift scheduled for early next year.
"Having the gorillas here will help give the people a glimpse of the world of gorillas," says Debby Cox, of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance.
Cox worked with the local community to build the infrastructure for GRACE. "When the local people see gorillas as so much like us -- they live in families, the infants need their mothers, they hug each other -- you immediately get an empathy coming," she says.
"So we need to work with the people in this area, and that helps create stability and that creates confidence too."
While for decades the world has only heard bad news from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, conservation is striking an increasingly important chord of awareness among the people.Orphaned gorillas find a safe haven
From Jessica Ellis, CNN
December 17, 2010 5:19... more
-
-
A lot of businesses, households and campuses have recently adopted water conservation plans to save money and protect the environment, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us.Here are 101 ways to conserve water in college, whether you’re a student, college president or professor.
LINK : http://www.onlineclasses.org/2010/12/14/101-way-to-conserve-water-in-college/A lot of businesses, households and campuses have recently adopted water conservation... more
-
-
Chinese conservationists have traded their birkenstocks and lab coats for giant fluffy panda costumes to help prepare captive-born cubs to survive in the wild. The researchers are anxious to ensure the endangered animals have as little contact with humans as possible. By dressing up as giant pandas the researchers hope that the newborn cubs will have a better chance to survive amongst wild pandas in the future.
Funnily the costumes look just like the hilarious "Never Say No To Panda" cheese ads - but luckily these mama pandas don't have such a temper.
Most pandas born in captivity are hand-reared but these little ones are being brought up by their "mothers" in a piece of protected woodland. The researchers are never far away, and the cubs every move is monitored by CCTV. Their vigilant keepers can see in a moment if they need medicine or a health check-up. Keepers at the Hetaoping Research and Conservation Centre in western China don't want the cubs to get used to seeing humans and believe the costumes are vital if the cubs are to survive when finally released into the wild. In 2006, Xiang Xiang, a five-year-old male, was freed after spending three years being taught survival skills such as foraging for food and marking his territory. After initially appearing to be adjusting well, he died after getting into a fight with a group of wild pandas.They are thought to have sensed something different about the human-reared interloper.With fewer than 2,500 giant pandas living free in China, conservationists are desperate not to take any chances with the next group facing life in the wild.
Chinese conservationists have traded their birkenstocks and lab coats for giant... more
-
-
In Defense of Smart Meters attempts to debunk the myths and fright talk circulating about the smart grid installations around the country. These meters are the latest tool needed to control our energy waste but, as usual, rumors abound about their safety and reliability. Regarding risk, it might be smarter to worry about the radiation from an electric can opener, microwave oven or blow dryer.:) http://greenlandlady.com/site/energy/in-defense-of-smart-meters/In Defense of Smart Meters attempts to debunk the myths and fright talk circulating... more
-
-
In 2010, the Year of the Tiger, about 3,600 of the majestic predators remain in the wild, their existence threatened by habitat-loss and poaching.If there is one man who can give hope to a species whose numbers have plummeted from 100,000 only a century ago, it would be Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
LINK : http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/11/19/tiger.summit/index.html?hpt=C1In 2010, the Year of the Tiger, about 3,600 of the majestic predators remain in the... more
-
-
Governments of the 13 countries where tigers still live aim to agree moves that could double numbers of the endangered big cats within 12 years.
The International Tiger Conservation Forum in St Petersburg will discuss proposals on protecting habitat, tackling poaching, and finance.
About 3,000 tigers live in the wild - a 40% decline in a decade.
There are warnings that without major advances, some populations will disappear within the next 20 years.
Five prime ministers are due to attend the summit, including China's Wen Jiabao and Vladimir Putin of the Russian hosts.
"Here's a species that's literally on the brink of extinction," said Jim Leape, director general of conservation group WWF.
"This is the first time that world leaders have come together to focus on saving a single species, and this is a unique opportunity to mobilise the political will that's required in saving the tiger."
More at link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11791105Governments of the 13 countries where tigers still live aim to agree moves that could... more
-
-
"The fear of drinking water contamination from CO2 leaks is one of several sticking points about CCS and has contributed to local opposition to it," says Jackson, who directs Duke's Center on Global Change.
Leaks from carbon dioxide injected deep underground to help fight climate change could bubble up into drinking water aquifers near the surface, driving up levels of contaminants in the water tenfold or more in some places, according to a study by Duke University scientists.
Based on a year-long analysis of core samples from four drinking water aquifers, "We found the potential for contamination is real, but there are ways to avoid or reduce the risk," says Robert B. Jackson, Nicholas Professor of Global Environmental Change and professor of biology at Duke.
"Geologic criteria that we identified in the study can help identify locations around the country that should be monitored or avoided," he says. "By no means would all sites be susceptible to problems of water quality."
Storing carbon dioxide deep below Earth's surface, a process known as geosequestration, is part of a suite of new carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies being developed by governments and industries worldwide to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions entering Earth's atmosphere.
The still-evolving technologies are designed to capture and compress CO2, emissions at their source - typically power plants and other industrial facilities - and transport the CO2 to locations where it can be injected far below the Earth's surface for long-term storage.
The U.S. Department of Energy, working with industry and academia, has begun the planning for at least seven regional CCS projects.
"The fear of drinking water contamination from CO2 leaks is one of several sticking points about CCS and has contributed to local opposition to it," says Jackson, who directs Duke's Center on Global Change.
"We examined the idea that if CO2 leaked out slowly from deep formations, where might it negatively impact freshwater aquifers near the surface, and why."
Jackson and his postdoctoral fellow Mark G. Little collected core samples from four freshwater aquifers around the nation that overlie potential CCS sites and incubated the samples in their lab at Duke for a year, with CO2 bubbling through them.
After a year's exposure to the CO2, analysis of the samples showed that "there are a number of potential sites where CO2 leaks drive contaminants up tenfold or more, in some cases to levels above the maximum contaminant loads set by the EPA for potable water," Jackson says.
Three key factors - solid-phase metal mobility, carbonate buffering capacity and electron exchanges in the overlying freshwater aquifer - were found to influence the risk of drinking water contamination from underground carbon leaks.
The study also identified four markers that scientists can use to test for early warnings of potential carbon dioxide leaks.
"Along with changes in carbonate concentration and acidity of the water, concentrations of manganese, iron and calcium could all be used as geochemical markers of a leak, as their concentration increase within two weeks of exposure to CO2," Jackson says.
The study was funded by the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory and Duke's Center on Global Change."The fear of drinking water contamination from CO2 leaks is one of several... more
-
-
New Monkey Discovered in Burma Sneezes When it Rains
by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder, Colorado on 10.27.10
Myanmar snub-nosed monkey.jpeg
Image: Reconstructed photo of the monkey by Dr. Thomas Geissmann
Conservationists have found a new species of monkey in northern Burma that has such a uniquely shaped nose, its upturned nostrils fill with water when it rains, causing it to sneeze. On rainy days, the monkeys are known to sit with their heads tucked between their knees.
Known in the local dialect as mey nwoah, or "monkey with an upturned face," the snub-nosed monkey is thought to be critically endangered, with an estimated population of 300 or less, according to Fauna and Flora International.
Local populations told the Primate Conservation Programme the monkeys were easy to find on rainy days, because people can hear the sneezing.
The monkey, which is mostly black with white fur and protruding lips, has been named Rhinopithecus strykeri by conservationists, according to the BBC.
All snub-nosed monkeys are endangered, and while other species are known to exist in China and Vietnam, this is the first to be found (by scientists) in Burma. Since no photos are available yet of the monkey alive, the photo above is a Photoshop reconstruction by Dr. Thomas Geissmann "based on a Yunnan snub-nosed monkey and the carcass of the newly discovered species."
AFP reports that the monkey is geographically isolated from other species because its habitat, an area in Kachin State, is separated by the Mekong and Salween rivers. Like most primates and other endangered species, its habitat is threatened by deforestation due to logging, both local and by Chinese companies operating illegally. Local hunting is also a problem, and better enforcement is needed to combat the illegal international wildlife trade.New Monkey Discovered in Burma Sneezes When it Rains
by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder,... more
-
-
Efforts to conserve Tanzania's Eastern Arc rainforest - one of the most biologically important places on the Earth.Efforts to conserve Tanzania's Eastern Arc rainforest - one of the most... more
-
-
PHOTO: Orangutan populations in Indonesia's Borneo and Sumatera island are facing severe threats from habitat loss, illegal logging, fires and poaching. Conservationists predicted that without immediate action, orangutans are likely to be the first great ape to become extinct in the wild, 17 Aug 2010. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/The-Malaysian-Government-See-Red-on-Borneo-Over-Fresh-Dam-Plans-105667523.html
Borneo island is home to some of the world's rarest animals and plants. But conservationists are alarmed by new plans to dam some of the rivers on Borneo, which is divided among Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Luke Hunt reports from Kota Kinabalu, on Malaysian Borneo.
The Malaysian government has approved construction of dams in the Kaiduan Valley and near Kota Belud in the state of Sabah. Another dam on the Tutoh River is planned for the neighboring state of Sarawak.
Conflict brews
The government says the dams and perhaps more will be needed to ensure East Malaysian water and electricity needs.
However, environmentalists, villagers and a growing number of people in the broader electorate disagree. They want the dams stopped.
S.M. Muthu is a spokesman for the Malaysia Nature Society and says energy supplies - such as biomass fuel, gas and solar - are plentiful in Sabah and Sarawak and should be developed.
He says engineers have examined East Malaysia's infrastructure needs and determined dams are not required to produce electricity given the abundance of fast flowing rivers and natural catchments that are capable of producing electricity.
"The problem is we are destroying the water catchment areas. Then we have a lack of water. Then we want to build dams which is actually trying to find a solution to a problem we keep repeating," Muthu says, "Whereas if you go to the root cause of the problem and we maintain our water catchment areas then you don't even need a dam.
Residents and environmentalists opposition against dam
Residents in the Kaiduan valley have built a blockade to stop preliminary work on the dam. They raised a 1.8-meter Christian cross and the dam location and have also voiced opposition to the dam planned for Kota Belud.
Activists in Sarawak state on the island warn a hydropower dam on the Tutoh River also risks changing the boundary of a national park. That could see its World Heritage status revoked under the regulations of the United Nations cultural body UNESCO.
In addition, Bakun Dam - also in Sarawak - has raised eyebrows. The federal government decided to sell the project, which covers an area the size of Singapore, back to the state government despite intense criticism over environmental damage caused by its construction.
Malaysian Borneo's wildlife threatened
Borneo is home to scores of rare species, including the orangutan, the pygmy elephant and the Borneo rhinoceros. Its wildlife, however, is threatened by development, logging and the expansion of palm oil plantations.
The environmental movement in Malaysian Borneo has grown significantly in recent years. It has managed to block construction of a coal-fired power plant along a pristine stretch of coastline. Environmentalists say the plant threatened the globally recognized Coral Triangle off east Borneo.
Cynthia Ong is the executive director for LEAP Conservancy, an environmental advocacy group that has been at the heart of a coalition of organizations challenging the authorities over their environmental practices. "You know about the coal fired power plant issue. That single issue has mobilized the environment movement in a way I haven't seen before. We hung in there with each other and then made breakthrough after breakthrough after breakthrough and each time when we had successes on our campaign it really empowered us," Ong said.
As momentum within the environmental movement in Sabah spreads among the villagers and urban middle class, environmentalists and government officials in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and beyond are closely monitoring developments here.
"Whether it's coal or whether it's logging it doesn't stop at our borders. It's a line on a map, right. As we work locally there's always this alignment with what's happening in Borneo and what's happening in the region, what's happening globally even," Ong says, "It's not grandiose for us to think that Sabah's a leader and has the potential to be a leader in the region of Southeast Asia."
The Malaysian government says the dams are needed - not only to ensure water supplies - but to guarantee electricity to power the economic growth this country must generate if it is to meet its target of becoming an industrialized nation by 2020.
Managing those economic targets within the constraints of a burgeoning environmental movement could prove difficult, if Borneo's rare and endangered species are to be protected.PHOTO: Orangutan populations in Indonesia's Borneo and Sumatera island are facing... more
-
-
-
-
eva2
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
One fifth of animal and plant species are under the threat of extinction, a global conservation study has warned.Scientists who compiled the Red List of Threatened Species say the proportion of species facing wipeout is rising. :http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11630355One fifth of animal and plant species are under the threat of extinction, a global... more
-
-
suzane
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
’s-greenest-hotel-opens-doors-in-toronto/
Author of Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: Ten Clean Technologies to Save Our World opens the doors of Planet Traveler, “the greenest hotel” in North America
Tom Rand, the author of the recently released Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit: Ten Clean Technologies to Save Our World, green entrepreneur and venture capitalist, has just opened the doors to his latest initiative, The Planet Traveler, North America’s greenest hotel.
The Toronto Hotel is a new, best-in-class 114-bed hotel/hostel in the heart of downtown Toronto. Formerly an abandoned building, the project was co-developed with partner Anthony Aarts, and is a showcase of ‘green’ building that far exceeds standard measurements of energy efficiency. The Planet Traveler’s environmental credentials are exceptional; its carbon emissions have been lowered by more than three-quarters, thanks to the installation of a groundbreaking geothermal heating and cooling system, solar panels, a system for recovering heat from wastewater, and installed LED lighting throughout the entire building. In addition to this, Rand boast that the building far surpasses LEED platinum standards.
Continue reading after the jump: http://www.enviralment.ca/2010/10/19/canada’s-greenest-hotel-opens-doors-in-toronto/’s-greenest-hotel-opens-doors-in-toronto/
Author of Kick the Fossil Fuel... more
-
-
Weemz
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
This past April, a rare giant jellyfish known as Stygiomedusa gigantean was spotted swimming in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time ever.
These animals are 3 feet in diameter across the "bell" or head, and have four tentacle arms that are 20 feet long. Although the creature's size makes it quite intimidating, it lacks the stinging capabilities of its smaller cousins.
With only 114 sightings in the last 110 years it is a jellyfish that is rarely seen, but believed to be widespread throughout the world.
Scientists say finding this massive species can provide better insight into habitat, behavior, and ecology of this mysterious creature.
Check out the video here: http://ow.ly/2VVCxThis past April, a rare giant jellyfish known as Stygiomedusa gigantean was spotted... more
-
-
Maude Barlow gave this stirring plenary speech, full of hope even in the face of ecological disasters, to the Environmental Grantmakers Association annual retreat in Pacific Grove, California. Barlow, a former UN Senior Water Advisor, is National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and founder of the Blue Planet Project. Barlow is a contributor to AlterNet's forth-coming book Water Matters: Why We Need to Act Now to Save Our Most Critical Resource.
We all know that the earth and all upon it face a growing crisis. Global climate change is rapidly advancing, melting glaciers, eroding soil, causing freak and increasingly wild storms, and displacing untold millions from rural communities to live in desperate poverty in peri-urban slums. Almost every human victim lives in the global South, in communities not responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. The atmosphere has already warmed up almost a full degree in the last several decades and a new Canadian study reports that we may be on course to add another 6 degrees Celsius (10.8 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100.
Half the tropical forests in the world – the lungs of our ecosystems – are gone; by 2030, at the current rate of harvest, only 10% will be left standing. Ninety percent of the big fish in the sea are gone, victim to wanton predatory fishing practices. Says a prominent scientist studying their demise “there is no blue frontier left.” Half the world’s wetlands – the kidneys of our ecosystems – were destroyed in the 20th century. Species extinction is taking place at a rate one thousand times greater than before humans existed. According to a Smithsonian scientist, we are headed toward a “biodiversity deficit” in which species and ecosystems will be destroyed at a rate faster than Nature can create new ones.
We are polluting our lakes, rivers and streams to death. Every day, 2 million tons of sewage and industrial and agricultural waste are discharged into the world’s water, the equivalent of the weight of the entire human population of 6.8 billion people. The amount of wastewater produced annually is about six times more water than exists in all the rivers of the world. A comprehensive new global study recently reported that 80% of the world’s rivers are now in peril, affecting 5 billion people on the planet. We are also mining our groundwater far faster than nature can replenish it, sucking it up to grow water-guzzling chemical-fed crops in deserts or to water thirsty cities that dump an astounding 200 trillion gallons of land-based water as waste in the oceans every year. The global mining industry sucks up another 200 trillion gallons, which it leaves behind as poison. Fully one third of global water withdrawals are now used to produce biofuels, enough water to feed the world. A recent global survey of groundwater found that the rate of depletion more than doubled in the last half century. If water was drained as rapidly from the Great Lakes, they would be bone dry in 80 years.
The global water crisis is the greatest ecological and human threat humanity has ever faced. As vast areas of the planet are becoming desert as we suck the remaining waters out of living ecosystems and drain remaining aquifers in India, China, Australia, most of Africa, all of the Middle East, Mexico, Southern Europe, US Southwest and other places. Dirty water is the biggest killer of children; every day more children die of water borne disease than HIV/AIDS, malaria and war together. In the global South, dirty water kills a child every three and a half seconds. And it is getting worse, fast. By 2030, global demand for water will exceed supply by 40%— an astounding figure foretelling of terrible suffering.
Knowing there will not be enough food and water for all in the near future, wealthy countries and global investment, pension and hedge funds are buying up land and water, fields and forests in the global South, creating a new wave of invasive colonialism that will have huge geo-political ramifications. Rich investors have already bought up an amount of land double the size of the United Kingdom in Africa alone.
We Simply Cannot Continue on the Present Path
I do not think it possible to exaggerate the threat to our earth and every living thing upon it. Quite simply we cannot continue on the path that brought us here. Einstein said that problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. While mouthing platitudes about caring for the earth, most of our governments are deepening the crisis with new plans for expanded resource exploitation, unregulated free trade deals, more invasive investment, the privatization of absolutely everything and unlimited growth. This model of development is literally killing the planet.
cont.Maude Barlow gave this stirring plenary speech, full of hope even in the face of... more
-
-
When the 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) affirmed last week that the right to water and sanitation was a basic human right, the consensus resolution was described as a "historic first" for the U.N.’s premier human rights body based in Geneva.
"This landmark decision has the potential to change the lives of billions of human beings who still lack access to water and sanitation," claimed Catarina de Albuquerque, a U.N. independent expert on human rights obligations.
What this means, Albuquerque explained, is that the right to water and sanitation is equal to all other human rights - and is therefore legally binding and enforceable in existing human rights treaties.
The consensus resolution was a logical follow-up to a key General Assembly resolution adopted last July which also - for the first time - recognised water and sanitation as basic human rights.
But in reality water and sanitation have remained two of the most neglected sub-texts of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which came under scrutiny at the MDG summit here last month.
At this much-ballyhooed summit, world leaders adopted a plan of action - officially called the ‘outcome document’ - which recognised the obstacles thwarting the MDGs and offered pledges and commitments to reach the defined goals by the targeted date: 2015.
The primary goals and sub-goals include a reduction by 50 percent the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and hunger, the reversal of the spread of HIV/AIDS, the elimination of gender inequality, and the reduction by half the proportion of people without access to water and sanitation.
Currently, over 800-900 million people have no access to safe drinking water and over 2.6 billion people are living without adequate sanitation.
While most developing nations have made limited progress in providing clean water, the targets for sanitation remain virtually unreachable.
"If current trends continue unchanged, the international community will miss the 2015 sanitation MDG target by almost one billion people," warns U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro.
In an interview with IPS, Jon Lane, executive director of the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), said he sees visible signs of progress since 1.3 billion people have gained access to improved sanitation since 1990.
Still, he says, "the pace is too slow to allow the world to meet the MDG target on sanitation."
"There are many reasons for this slow pace," Lane said, "but the main one is that political leaders in developed and developing countries have not grasped the fundamental role that good sanitation plays for people’s health, dignity, economic well-being and local environment."
Success with sanitation would bring a huge swag of benefits, plus it would support the achievement of other MDG targets on child and maternal mortality, education, and poverty reduction, among others, he added.
Jamie Bartram, director of the Water Institute at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, told IPS the MDG targets for water and sanitation are "wildly under-ambitious".
The idea that anything less than water and sanitation in every home is a serious target in today’s world is astonishing and binds millions in poverty, he pointed out.
"Today’s MDG targets focus on water and sanitation for households. But these essential needs are required elsewhere too - in schools, workplaces and markets for example," said Bartram.
The idea that it is possible to deliver effective health care services without reliable and safe water and sanitation makes no sense, but yet it is the reality of many health facilities.
"It is often said that sanitation lags water. Yet, if we use as simple benchmarks their availability at home, then we see that water lags sanitation and both are available for only around half of humankind," Bartram noted.
He also said that water and sanitation offer rare opportunities to make progress across the MDG agenda, yet have not attracted the attention they deserve.
Asked if the outcome document adopted by the U.N. summit last week offers any hope, Lane, of the WSSCC, told IPS the document makes note of sanitation 17 times. "This is good, and an improvement over the past." Remember, sanitation was not originally an MDG target, he said.
However, it remains to be seen whether the outcome document as a whole is concrete enough to accelerate progress so that the target is reached.
What’s missing, Lane pointed out, is a reference to hygiene practices: hand washing with soap can save one million lives per year - mostly children in developing countries.
Fortunately, there is momentum in the sector and sanitation’s profile is rising, thanks in part to new initiatives like the Global Sanitation Fund operated by WSSCC and the new Sanitation and Water for All initiative, a multi-stakeholder network reaching out directly to finance ministers, among others.
Pointing out existing deficiencies, Bartram told IPS there is still far too much focus on building new systems, sources and supplies, and too little on keeping them working.
"The allure of opening a new facility far outweighs the prosaic task of keeping them working, but we see a large proportion of all hand pumps [for example] out of action at any one time, and investing in sustaining systems offers more bang for the buck."
He said maintaining and extending effective water supply is challenged by other demands for water for agriculture, and by other threats, such as climate change.
"It is imperative that after 2015, water and sanitation are part of the international development agenda not as part of environmental protection but as key motors for health and development in their own right," said Bartram.When the 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) affirmed last week that the right to... more
-
