Home/Posts Tagged ‘illegal’
Posts Tagged ‘illegal’
Politics, Videos & Documentaries, Feb 9th, 2011,
This raises the spectre of de facto state sanctioning of slavery in 21st century Europe. –Anti-Slavery International’s director, Aidan McQuade Illegal aliens, mostly from Africa, work in slave-like conditions in industrial greenhouses on the Spanish Costa del Sol. The Spanish authorities and agricultural industry have been found to be working in cooperation to exploit desperate immigrant workers. According to a special investigative report by the Guardian, workers live in appalling conditions with inadequate housing, no sanitation and so little food they often depend on parcels from the Red Cross. Their employers also strictly control the workers’ movements and behavior. The…
Tags: African, costa del sol, greenhouse, illegal, slavery, slaves, Spain, veg, workers
Politics, Pollution, Recycling, Sep 13th, 2010,
Old computers and other e-waste from British government departments have been discovered at dumpsites in African countries and in containers headed for the continent, according to the UK’s environment agency. The chairman of the agency, Lord Smith, warned that the amount of illegally exported e-waste is rising and that in addition to health and environmental concerns, it is also a threat to British national security, due to the risk that sensitive information could still be stored in the computers’ hardware. He said that waste from the UK, which includes computers, monitors, televisions and DVD players, is sent to countries in…
Tags: Africa, British, computers, e-waste, Europe, European, government, Greenpeace, illegal, Nigeria, UK
Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Aug 29th, 2010,
Illegally smuggled, abandoned and/or maltreated exotic pets get a second chance at life thanks to a unique animal hospital in Munich, Germany. Germany’s largest reptile rescue home takes in crocodiles, iguanas, snakes, turtles and more, giving them veterinary care and a suitable living environment. Many are seized in customs while being smuggled into the country as part of a global trade in exotic pets. The hospital often keeps these animals until it can find a more permanent place for them, such as a zoo. Almost 40,000 exotic animals and plants were found being smuggled in Germany last year alone. See…
Tags: animals, exotic, Germany, home, hospital, house, iguana, illegal, Munich, pet, reptile
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
Health, Nature, Weird Stuff, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 13th, 2010,
Did you know that the Peace Lily is actually toxic; that corn was responsible for a nasty illness which affected 3 million Americans in the early 20th century; and that although beautiful, the Water Hyacinth is actually the world’s worst aquatic weed? If not, then there’s a book you should definitely check out. Last week, I picked up a new book, called Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities, by Amy Stewart. This book teaches the reader about more than 60 plants that are deadly, illegal, painful, offensive, dangerous, intoxicating, or destructive. These are plants…
Tags: book, botanical assassins, dangerous plants, deadly plants, destructive, dinner, flowers, fruit, garden plants, harmful plants, herbs, houseplants, illegal, mistaken identity, offensive, painful, TOXIC, trees, vegetables, weeds, Wicked Plants, wild plants
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
Nature, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, May 11th, 2010,
A Sumatran tiger can fetch as much as $5,000 US in Indonesia. This is more than enough incentive for poachers to hunt and capture tigers; sometimes selling them on as pets or killing them in order to harvest their body parts. The body parts of Sumatran tigers are used as charms, to make religious artifacts and status symbols; and as ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine. Other threatened species in Indonesia being illegally trafficked include the pangolin – a scaly anteater considered both a delicacy and a source of medicine in China – the slow loris; gibbons, and several birds of…
Tags: Al Jazeera, animal, illegal, Indonesia, medicine, report, Sumatran, tiger, trade, video, wildlife
Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Apr 24th, 2010,
A ton of shark fins bound for Japan was seized in Brazil on Tuesday. Uncovered by prosecutors from IBAMA’s Fish and Wildlife Division, the frozen shark fins had an estimated value of $17,000. You can bet that the boats responsible for catching the sharks will receive penalties. The owner of the export company was also fined $29,700 (52,000 reales). IBAMA environmental analyst, Rita Barreto, said “careful monitoring” was necessary to “ensure that commercial fishing is not threatening shark species off the Brazilian coast, some of which are endangered.” As for the cargo, the state body said it will all be…
Tags: Brazil, illegal, japan, seized, shark fins, shipment
Climate Change, Nature, Videos & Documentaries, Jan 11th, 2010,
As international gold prices rise, demand for the precious metal increases and prospectors in search of fortune – or simply trying to eek out a living – are flooding into gold mining areas. Peru, Honduras and The Congo have all been in the news as nations where gold mining is linked to environmental, political and human disaster. Sensitive ecological regions of Venezuela – including rainforest– are also suffering the effects of a toxic gold rush. Toxic – because of the mercury used for gold mining, which is not recycled or disposed of properly and in turn contaminates the water, poisoning…
Tags: ecological, environmental, gold, gold rush, illegal, mine, rainforest, TOXIC, VBS, Venezuela
