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Articles in: Conservation
Conservation, Nature, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 28th, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature takes us to Africa and the Middle East, where you’ll find a rather odd member of the Ibis family. The Northern Bald Ibis (aka the Hermit Ibis or Waldrapp) is a decent sized member of the Ibis family (about 28-31 inches or 70-80 cm). Once found across northern Africa, southern Europe, and the Middle East, this critically endangered bird is now limited to Morocco (about 500) and Syria—where less than 10 remain. Although there have been some semi-wilding breeding colonies or reintroduction programs added to a few countries, including Turkey, Austria, and Spain, these birds are…
Tags: Africa, bird, Creature Feature, critically endangered species, Europe, Hermit Ibis, Middle East, Northern Bald Ibis, spiritual, Thoth, Waldrapp
Conservation, Pollution, Jul 27th, 2010,
Mining giant Vedanta Resources will be having its annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday in London, where the company is headquartered. But this year, shareholders will be met by a well-publicized protest. Activist groups including Amnesty International have consistently criticized Vedanta for human rights violations and poor environmental practices, particularly in the Indian state of Orissa. From an article in the Observer: […] a damning Amnesty report criticised Vedanta’s record in Orissa, where it runs an alumina refinery at the foot of the Niyamgiri hills, alleging river pollution and damage to crops. The hills are home to around 8,000 Dongria Kondh…
Tags: activist, Amnesty, Avatar, Dongria, India, international, Kondh, london, Na’vi, Niyamgiri, Orissa, protest, shareholders, Vedanta
Conservation, Pollution, Jul 25th, 2010,
As gold prices climb, the poor of Peru flock to the country’s rainforest in search of wealth. Check out the below video report from Al Jazeera English on Peru’s illegal gold mining and how it is impacting both the rainforest and the poor of this South American nation. Along with the unregulated digging comes a trail of deforestation and chemical contamination that is damaging one of the most biodiverse regions on earth. –Al Jazeera English Peru poverty drives illegal mining Graham Land Additional resources: Peru: President Garcia will not negotiate with wildcat miners unless they stop protests.
Tags: chemical, gold, illegal, mining, Peru, poor, poverty, rainforest
Climate & Change, Conservation, Jul 23rd, 2010,
Much of the feed for British livestock comes from soybeans imported from South America – mainly Brazil and Argentina. According to an article in the Telegraph, 350,000 hectares of rainforest is being cut down to grow soy for UK animal feed. Environmental group Friends of the Earth (FoE) has published a report entitled ‘Pastures New’ detailing how the British meat and dairy industry indirectly causes rainforest destruction in South America. The report incorporates new research by the Royal Agricultural College stating that only 8% of the UK’s agricultural land is used to grow animal feed. FOE urged the government to…
Tags: amazon, animal, beans, Brazil, British, dairy, deforestation, Earth, farmers, feed, FoE, Friends, meat, rainforest, South America, soy, UK
Conservation, Nature, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 22nd, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature takes us to the shallow oceans of the Indo-Pacific region. The Freshwater Sawfish (also known as the Largetooth Sawfish or Leichhardt’s Sawfish) is a critically endangered species that can be found between latitudes 11 N and 39 S in the Indo-West Pacific oceans. It grows up to 23 ft (approx. 7 m) in length, though you’re probably more interested in its “saw” feature. The saw is broad-based and has between 14 and 23 teeth along each side. They prefer going upstream in rivers or into freshwater lakes. I can’t say for certain what it all likes…
Tags: Creature Feature, critically endangered species, freshwater sawfish
Conservation, Politics, Videos & Documentaries, ,
The Economist recently featured an interview with ‘green economist’ Pavan Sukhdev on their regular segment ‘Tea with The Economist’. Pavan Sukhdev is a study leader for The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study (TEEB), a report commissioned by the G8+5 and funded by the European Union. He is special advisor and head of the UN Environment Program’s (UNEP) Green Economy Initiative, also funded by the EU/EC and Norway. In the following video interview, Sukhdev discusses natural capital and economic as well as political solutions to preserving and encouraging biodiversity an environmentally conscious business practices. Pavan Sukhdev on the green economy…
Tags: biodiversity, capital, Economist, economy, environmental, Green, initiative, natural, Pavan, Sukhdev, TEEB, UN, UNEP
Conservation, Sustainable living, Jul 19th, 2010,
The rise of inexpensive non-European wines and convenience-obsessed consumer culture are threatening the ancient and sustainable cork industry. But besides the potential loss of long-established ‘green jobs’ and the fact that plastic stoppers and screw caps are bad for the environment, the cork industry also sustains large areas of industry-managed forests, which are hotspots for biodiversity. Large bird populations depend on these forests, as does the endangered Iberian Lynx. Cork forests are not cut down, but rather the trees are stripped of their soft bark every nine years throughout their 200-year lifespan. This makes the industry very sustainable because it…
Tags: biodiversity, caps, cork, environment, forests, Green, Iberian, industry, lynx, Portugal, screw, stoppers, trees, wine
Conservation, Wildlife & Flora, ,
The last female rhino at Krugersdorp Nature Reserve in South Africa was killed by poachers on Wednesday. The poachers are suspected to have entered the game reserve – near South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg – by helicopter, where they then shot the white rhino cow with tranquilizers before cutting off her horn with a chainsaw. This latest killing marks the 136th rhino in South Africa that has been murdered for its horn this year – already more than last year’s total of 129, suggesting that the number of killings this year will double. The sophistication of the operation leaves conservationists…
Tags: Africa, animal, Asia, calf, CITES, Krugersdorp, park, poachers, poaching, Reserve, rhino, South, white
Conservation, Nature, Jul 18th, 2010,
Russia’s recent heat wave led to 1200 cases of drinking and drowning as revelers fatally beat the heat. The country’s Polar Bears suffer too, but might finally gain new relief as a result of the government’s commitment to expand its protected regions to 3% of its vast territory. Mostly on the Kurill Islands, a volcanic archipelago, along the mountainous southern border, and in the Ural mountains on the western plain, 9 nature reserves, 13 national parks, and 1 million ha of marine buffer zone will be established by 2020.
Tags: biodiversity, International Year of Biodiversity, Russia, The Nature Conservancy, WWF
Conservation, Recycling, Sustainable living, Weird & Wonderful, ,
Last week, I gave you a list of green home improvements you can do around your home for free. Many news articles will lead you to believe that you need to spend thousands of dollars on renewable energy devices, renovations, and new appliances that you may not really need (or can afford). So, I gave you a list of things you can do in the bathroom, kitchen, or while doing cleaning and laundry that wouldn’t cost a single penny and over time can do just as much good as an upgrade that may cost several thousand dollars (or more). As…
Tags: appliances, climates, computers, cooling, efficiency, electronics, energy use, general home improvements, Go Green, green home improvements you can do for free, heating, home improvements, home office, hose, lawn and garden, lights, natural energy, paper, printers, Recycling, tips, watering
Conservation, Nature, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 15th, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature is about a little flower found in the Mediterranean. This little flower is special because it’s part of the IUCN’s Top 50 Plants Campaign. The campaign’s purpose is to save 50 plant species that face a high level of extinction in the Mediterranean region. The Buglosse Crépu (Anchusa crispa) is a critically endangered species and can only be found in 2 places: the French island of Corsica and the Italian island of Sardinia. Their habitat on both islands is limited to the sandy soils found along the upper part of beaches and covers an area less…
Tags: buglosse crepu, buglosse crepue, Corsica, Creature Feature, critically endangered species, flower, France, Italy, Mediterranean, Sardinia, Top 50 Plants Campaign
Conservation, Jul 14th, 2010,
A recent study published in the scientific journal Nature found that quality is more effective than quantity when it comes to nature conservation strategies: Replacing the least cost-effective 1% of Australia’s 6,990 strictly protected areas could increase the number of vegetation types that have 15% or more of their original extent protected from 18 to 54, of a maximum possible of 58. This approach to conservation may seem businesslike or even Darwinian, but human beings have already, in a manner of speaking, ‘won’ in terms of outcompeting the rest of the world’s species. However, if humanity’s successes go too far,…
Tags: australia, biodiversity, Conservation, Philippines, rainforest, species
Conservation, Nature, Politics, ,
Economist Pavan Sukhdev is the independent study leader of a European Union research project, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) hosted by the UN Environment Program (UNEP). Sukhdev has argued that current economic models do not sufficiently address the true value of nature and natural resources outside of commerce. He is a proponent of the concept of ‘natural capital’, in which a value is placed on food, clean water, clean air, forests, etc, but without commodifying nature. Poor rural populations who live outside of consumption-based economies value nature because they depend on it to survive rather than because they…
Tags: biodiversity, Business, corporation, economic, ecosystem, Europe, European, forestry, forests, government, natural, Nature, resources, UN, value
Climate & Change, Conservation, Jul 13th, 2010,
The Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne, has founded an international project against ecological disaster, the International Sustainability Unit. Prince Charles has long been involved in environmental issues and warned last year that there were less than 100 months left to avoid irreversible damage due to climate change. The unit aims to address the depletion of the world’s natural capital by helping to create a consensus as to the best ways to enhance long-term food, water and energy security. –Spokesman for Prince Charles Besides climate change, other environmental issues close to the Prince’s heart include rainforest conservation, stopping…
Tags: Charles, climate change, development, environmental, international, Prince, sustainability, sustainable, unit, Wales
Climate & Change, Conservation, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 12th, 2010,
Just as zoos underwent an image makeover in the 1990s from carnival-like places to gawk at exotic animals into ‘bastions of conservation,’ so are formal gardens similarly being re-branded. No longer just ornamental green urban escapes, the world’s leading botanical gardens are focusing on conservation and biodiversity. In a time when ecosystems and biodiversity are degrading at an alarming rate, formal gardens play an increasingly important role. Not only do they act as museums or places to conserve rare plants, but also as centers to build up plant species so that they might once again flourish in the wild. That’s…
Tags: assisted, biodiversity, botanic, botanical, botanist, change, climate, Conservation, formal, gardens, migration, plant, species, tree
Climate & Change, Conservation, Politics, Jul 11th, 2010,
European Parliament has voted in favor of new regulations to insure that timber imported into the EU comes from legal sources. Similar legislation was adopted in the US in 2008, though in the case of Europe, enforcing the new regulations will be the responsibility of individual member states. If properly implemented, the rules could have a significant effect in reducing deforestation. From a piece in The Ecologist: While the EU has spoken out against illegal timber, a major driver of deforestation worldwide, it has up until now remained one of the trade’s biggest markets. Europe currently consumes around 12 per…
Tags: deforestation, EU, Europe, European, illegal, parliament, regulations, rules, timber, vote, WWF
Conservation, Videos & Documentaries, ,
Africa’s rhinos are facing a constant threat due to poachers and trophy hunting. The increasing demand for rhino horn used in traditional Chinese medicine – especially in new markets such as Vietnam – is fueling an illegal trade involving corruption and organized crime. In a recent poaching attack in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, poachers entered a wildlife reserve via helicopter and cut the horns off of a drugged white rhino with a chainsaw. The rhino miraculously survived the brutal attack. From a report in South Africa’s Independent: It appears that the poachers may also have captured the cow’s…
Tags: Africa, brutal, Chinese, endangered, horn, medicine, rhino, rhinos, South
Conservation, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, ,
One interesting turn of events certainly deserves another. Last week, it was announced that anti-whaling activist, Captain Pete Bethune, would be heading back to his New Zealand home. The Japanese court sentenced him to 2 years in jail, but that sentence was also suspended for 5 years, which means if he can stay out of trouble with Japanese authorities for the next 5 years, he will continue to be a free man. Over the weekend, it was announced that Bethune was deported by Japan back to New Zealand. Upon his release, Bethune commented that he would never stop fighting Japanese…
Tags: anti-whaling, Captain Paul Watson, Captain Pete Bethune, heading back to New Zealand, Sea Shepherd, turn of events, updates, welcomed back to crew, Whale Wars, whales
Conservation, Sustainable living, Jul 8th, 2010,
Lanzarote is the easternmost of Spain’s Canary Islands and a highly popular travel destination, especially amongst British tourists. The island is known for its many volcanoes, beaches and spectacular views. Lanzarote has eschewed the touristy high-rise hotels, apartments and go-for-broke party atmosphere of some of the other Canary Islands in favor of an eco-tourism approach, which focuses on the island’s natural riches. This, in combination with the preservation of its natural character, prompted UNESCO to list Lanzarote as a Biosphere Reserve in 1993. But a spate of illegal construction has put the Spanish island’s Biosphere status in jeopardy. From a…
Tags: Biosphere, Canary, Financial Times, island, Lanzarote, Reserve, Spain, Spanish, status, tourism, UNESCO
Conservation, Nature, Weird & Wonderful, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 7th, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature takes us to Round Island: an uninhabited nature reserve off the coast of Mauritius—which is also an island and approximately 560 miles east of Madagascar. The Round Island Boa (or Round Island Keel-scaled Boa) is an endangered species and the only existing member of the Bolyeriidae family. They can grow to a length of 5 feet (150 cm), are typically dark brown in color (with lighter-colored stomachs) and the males are typically smaller than the females. They can also shift their color from a darker shade during the day to a lighter color during the night…
Tags: Africa, Creature Feature, endangered species, Mauritius, reptile, Round Island, Round Island Boa, Round Island Keel-scaled Boa, snake
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