The Miraculous Web of Life Sustains ALL Species on Planet Earth – Healthy Ecosystems, Healthy Humans. WITHOUT NATURE WE DO NOT EXIST. PERIOD. To the degree Nature is sick, so are we. We humans must reintegrate into the greater web of life as a species within it and not separate from it, by returning to respect and restoring balance and harmony to that which supports all life on this planet ... Nature ... #GDP should be replaced by #EcoEconomics ... Putting front and center the concerns for how we are destroying and objectifying the natural world for profit #Conservation #Ecosystems #Wildlife #Forests #Environment #Biodiversity #Ecoeconomics #CSR #GDP #Anthropocene
More than 7.5 billion humans currently occupy Earth together with an estimated three trillion trees, and both of these populations require water. The growing human population and climate change are exacerbating a looming global water crisis that could potentially be averted, if humans paid more attention to the links between forests and water.
Set in Indonesia. Meet "Green" an orangutan and victim of human impact. Follow the devastating journey as her home is destroyed by logging, clearing for palm oil plantations, and the choking haze of rainforest fires. Hauntingly poetic and without narration, the film creatively depicts the effects of consumerism on tropical rainforests as we are faced with our personal accountability in the loss of the world's treasures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WNgoqBGw4Y
Why is palm oil still a leading driver of deforestation?
Eight Years Later Palm Oil is Still a Haunting Reality…As palm oil continues to be a key ingredient in chocolate and candy, this Halloween has us thinking back on our Kit Kat campaign from 2010.
In 2010, Greenpeace launched a video that had us all thinking twice before taking a bite out of Halloween candy. With gory detail, the Kit Kat campaign drove home the death and destruction of rainforests for the expanded production of palm oil. Watch the horror:https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/eight-years-later-palm-oil-is-still-a-haunting-reality/
INTERACTIVE Guardian Sustainable Business, November 10, 2014 ▶ FROM RAINFOREST TO YOUR CUPBOARD:
Palm oil can be used in everything from cosmetics to fuel, and is cheap and efficient to produce. But this versatile crop has a dark side — its incredible popularity has caused widespread environmental destruction.https://p.dw.com/p/32jIg
DW environment, July 25, 2018
▶ PALM OIL PLANTATIONS THREATEN THE RAINFORESTS
Indonesia is the scene of massive deforestation - Most of it illegal slash and burn
An Exquisite Dedication To the Stewards of Our Planet
Solutions For A Sustainable Planet
We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.
Mongabay, October 21, 2014 ▶ INDONESIAN LAW NOW BARS PALM OIL COMPANIES FROM PROTECTING FORESTS. A law passed by the Indonesian government last month makes it even more difficult for palm oil companies to conserve tracts of wildlife-rich and carbon-dense forests within their concessions, potentially undermining these producers' commitments to phase deforestation out of their supply chains, warns a new report. This new law requires them to clear all their concession within 6 years. http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1020-palm-oil-conservation.html
THE BAIT AND SWITCH
Palm Corporations Knew This Law Was Coming Up, Making It Easy to say "No" To Deforestation. They Can Now Blame Deforestation on the Law A Billion Dollar Ecocide Business, they will do everything they can to find a way around any moratorium. (pdjmoo)
▶ PALM OIL GIANTS ANNOUNCE DEFORESTATION MORATORIUM - - REALLY?!Five of the world's largest palm oil producers have announced an immediate moratorium on palm oil sourced via clearance of potential high carbon stock forests. On Friday, Asian Agri, IOI Corporation Berhad, Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) Berhad, Musim Mas Group and Sime Darby Plantation said they will suspend forest clearing until they have completed a year-along study that aims to establish a threshold for defining what constitutes high carbon stock (HCS) forest.http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0920-palm-oil-deforestation-moratorium.html
Green Global Travel, January 25, 2015 ▶ PALM OIL THREATENS PALAWAN PHILLIPPINESFor anyone worried about what GMOs are doing to our agricultural system and how Monsanto is patenting plants across the planet, there’s another dangerous devil on the horizon. Plantation palm oil has been around for years, but its evils largely go unnoticed by the average consumer. If you’ve not gotten the dirty details on palm oil yet, then buckle up for a bumpy ride we all need to take. Because the palm oil industry is not only endangering Palawan Philippines (named the Best Island in the World in 2014 by Conde Nast Traveler readers), but the health of our entire planet.
Mongabay, October 14, 2014 ▶ INDIA PLANS HUGE PALM OIL EXPANSION, PUTS FORESTS AT RISKPalm oil, a ubiquitous ingredient in supermarket products ranging from shampoos and cosmetics to processed foods, comes at a huge environmental cost. Between 1990 and 2010, palm oil monocultures replaced over 3.5 million hectares of forest in Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. This large scale deforestation has resulted in a massive loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitat, best illustrated perhaps by the annihilation of orangutan populations. Moreover, conversion of large peatlands to oil palm plantations releases millions of metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Mongabay, December 16, 2014 ▶ NEW REPORT: PALM OIL FACILITATES LARGE-SCALE LOGGING IN INDONESIA. Oil palm plantations provide a major loophole for evading the country's new protocol — the Timber Legality Verification System (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu, or SVLK) — aimed at improving forest management and rooting out illegal logging. The report, titled Permitting Crime: How palm oil expansion drives illegal logging in Indonesia, shows links between illegal practices and local officials, illustrating continued problems with corruption and resource capture by well-connected businessmen. Forests and local communities lose out. http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1216-palm-oil-logging-indonesia.html
Mongabay, November 03, 2014 ▶ INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT'S PALM OIL CONCESSION POLICY PRIORITIZES COMPANIES OVER FOREST COMMUNITIES. A report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) analyzes 100 of these conflicts around the world in the mining, oil and gas, logging and agricultural sectors and examines how and why they come about. The report focuses on several emerging economies, including Brazil, Colombia, Liberia, Peru, and Indonesia. In Indonesia, the report says, 30 percent of the country has been handed over by the government to some type of extractive industry. Often permits are granted without the knowledge or approval of local communities, raising “grave” human rights concerns. “It’s crazy that local communities are not often seen as equal partners in the decisions regarding their land,” says Bryson Ogden, Private Sector Analyst at RRI. http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1103-sri-eshelman-indonesia-industrial-concessions.html
▶ INDONESIA IS ENCOURAGING A NEW CORPORATE COLONIALISM: PALM OIL DEFORESTATION - ECOCIDE FOR PROFIThttp://sco.lt/88hVFx
▶ MAJOR PALM OIL CORPORATIONS ACCUSED OF ECOCIDE, BREAKING ETHICAL PROMISES IN AFRICA AND ASIA http://sco.lt/8TkGjh
▶ PAPUA : 226 THOUSAND HECTARES OF VIRGIN FOREST WILL BE CLEARED FOR CORPORATE PALM OIL DESTROYING ALL LIFE WITH IN THEM AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIEShttp://sco.lt/8mSxaD
▶ MASSIVE PALM OIL PLANTATION IN CAMEROON WILL "CUT THE HEART OUT" OF RAINFORESTS - THREATENING GREAT APES http://sco.lt/7pufxp
Inter Press Service, October 03, 2014 ▶ NEW GLOBAL DECLARATION "INSUFFICIENT" TO TACKLE DEFORESTATION. “The 2030 timeline would allow deforestation to continue for a decade and a half. By then the declaration could be self-fulfilling, as there might not be much forest left to save.” -- Susanne Breitkopf of Greenpeace http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/10/new-global-declaration-insufficient-to-tackle-deforestation/
WWF, February 05, 2015 ▶ MORE TO CONSERVATION THAN APP's FOREST CLEARING PLEDGE - Not much has changed on the ground - forests continue to disappear, peat soils continue to be drained and social conflicts remain unresolved. The company has even failed to protect forests they are legally required to conserve.” not much has changed on the ground - forests continue to disappear, peat soils continue to be drained and social conflicts remain unresolved. The company has even failed to protect forests they are legally required to conserve.”http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?uNewsID=238430&
▶ WORLD BANK AND UN CARBON OFFSET SCHEME 'COMPLICIT' IN GENOCIDAL LAND GRABShttp://sco.lt/5IxW2j
LAND GRABS
HOW FOREIGN "INVESTMENTS" ARE REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH, LAND AND WATER ACROSS THE GLOBE
▶ MEGA MINING, FOREIGN LAND GRABS DESTROYING LOCAL COMMUNITIES, ENVIRONMENT AND ECOSYSTEMShttp://sco.lt/8nJQf3
▶ FOREIGN CORPORATIONS DESTROYING INDIGENOUS LIVELIHOODS, NULLIFYING LAND RIGHTS, CREATING DEPENDENCY AND POVERTY ON A GLOBAL SCALE http://sco.lt/9KW9wn
▶ DEFORESTATION IS DESERTIFICATION - A DEADLY GAME FOR ALL LIFE - GLOBAL ECOCIDEhttp://sco.lt/7xeu1Z
-▶ TREE HEALTH, FOREST HEALTH LINKED WITH HUMAN HEALTH - OUR INTERCONNECTED LIVEShttp://sco.lt/85WZ2v
Scientists have warned that current hunting trends in Central African forests could result in complete ecological collapse.
The authors maintain that the current rate of unsustainable hunting of forest elephants, gorillas and other seed-dispersing species threatens the ability of forest ecosystems to regenerate, and that landscape-wide hunting management plans are needed to avoid an environmental catastrophe..... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130723103451.htm
Science Daily, November 1`8, 2014 -▶ AS ELEPHANTS GO, SO GO THE TREES. Overhunting has been disastrous for elephants, but their forest habitats have also been caught in the crossfire. A first-of-its-kind study shows that the dramatic loss of elephants, which disperse seeds after eating vegetation, is leading to the local extinction of a dominant tree species, with likely cascading effects for other forest life. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141118124534.htm
▶ THE TRAGIC SLAUGHTER OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ELEPHANTS -- JUST FOR THEIR TUSKS - MAY BE EXTINCT BY 2020http://sco.lt/85wXBZ
SustainableBusiness.com, October 22, 2014 -▶ THE EBOLA-DEFORESTATION CONNECTION. "As the forests disappeared, so too did the buffer separating humans from animals - and from the pathogens that animals harbor," says Vanity Fair.http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/25968
New Scientist, September 08, 2014 ▶ EBOLA'S SILVER LINING: WE CAN CLAMP DOWN ON BUSHMEAT.According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola virus enters human populations when people handle or eat infected wildlife, especially fruit bats, chimpanzees, monkeys, forest antelopes and porcupines. Eating bushmeat remains common throughout Africa, either for subsistence or as a luxury.
Mongabay, July 09, 2014 -▶ SOLD INTO EXTINCTION: GREAT APES BETRAYED BY PROTECTORS.Corruption in high places, CITES, the international body charged with protecting endangered species has turned a blind eye to massive illegal trade of endangered Great Apeshttp://news.mongabay.com/2014/0709-sri-stiles-cites-commentary.html
-▶ SURROUNDED BY DEFORESTATION, CRITICALLY ENDANGERED GORILLAS HANG ON BY A THREADhttp://sco.lt/7yO9ZJ
▶ INDONESIA: THE RAPE AND PILLAGE OF SUMATRAN TIGERS' LAST STRONGHOLDhttp://sco.lt/62jf3h
▶ RUSSIAN FORESTS AND TIGERS LEFT FLOORED BY ILLEGAL LOGGINGhttp://sco.lt/8ROSsD
WATCH
Nature PBS "SIBERIAN TIGER" | Full Episode
Ecologist Chris Morgan travels to far eastern Russia, in search of the Siberian tigers that hold rank in the frozen forests. The film features the work of Korean cameraman Sooyong Park, the first individual ever to film Siberian tigers in the wild. Park spent years in the forest tracking and filming the world’s biggest cat
▶ BIOLOGICAL DESERTS: THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE GMO MONOCULTURE BIOFUEL AND PALM OIL INDUSTRY The mass clearing of trees for farmland disturbs the ecosystem of the rainforest by decimating rare and exotic flora and fauna. With the planting of a single crop plantation, the natural biodiversity of the rainforest is lost. The mono-crop culture that has long-plagued environmentalists in the west displaces or destroys most of the species in a single sitting, as they are unable to adapt to living within vast acres of a single crop. The environment, habitats and species that are destroyed have lived together since the dawn of the rainforest, and the damage caused by palm oil farming is irreversiblehttp://sco.lt/9AeHbN
“Some trees are being genetically engineered to contain the Bt toxin,” notes Anne Peterman of Stop GE Trees. “This could be a tremendous threat to forest ecosystem soils, in which beneficial fungi are a key component of the forest ecosystem.” http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=12-P13-00035&segmentID=1
Once again, no mention of how this would impact the regional ecosystem or biodiversity, or how the resulting chestnuts would affect the squirrels. Never enough disclosure or peer reviewed independent studies before forcing these genetically modified organisms on nature. Always the heart-tugging aspect of "saving the planet", not restoring it's original health. http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21577033-gm-species-may-soon-be-liberated-deliberately-wildwood
▶ PESTICIDES ARE KILLING OUR PLANET: DECIMATING POLLINATORS, DRAGONFLIES AND OTHER AQUATIC INSECTS - And YOU http://sco.lt/5XzNlx
▶ PESTICIDE/INSECTICIDE REGULATION OVERHAUL NEEDED TO PROTECT WILDLIFE, ECOSYSTEMS AND FOOD CHAINhttp://sco.lt/8NIKcT
▶ ERADICATING ECOCIDE: WHY BUSINESS LEADERS MUST STEP UP TO THE CHALLENGEhttp://sco.lt/56vkOH
Common Dreams
▶ LOOTING THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF LIFE: CORPORATE FINANCIALIZATION OF NATURE A RECIPE FOR DISASTERhttp://sco.lt/4mAnuD
▶ GENE GIANTS STOCKPILING PATENTS ON LIFE Nagoya, Japan -- Under the guise of developing “climate-ready” crops, the world’s largest seed and agrochemical corporations are filing hundreds of sweeping, multi-genome patents in a bid to control the world’s plant biomass, according to a report released by ETC Grouphttp://www.etcgroup.org/fr/node/5220
▶ THE NEXT BIOTECH WAVE: EXTREME SYNTHETIC GENETICS. THE IMPLICATIONS AND ETHICShttp://sco.lt/6wiNhx
▶ PATENTING LIFE ITSELF - OUR 21ST CENTURY FACTORY OF LIFE: RE-ENGINEERING, PROGRAMMING - IS BIOTECH OUT OF CONTROL? http://sco.lt/7mNce
As world population climbs from 7 to a projected 9 billion people and emerging and developing economies demand ever more of the food and fiber that drive deforestation, many environmentalists ask with increasing urgency whether and how tropical forests can survive. But the question may actually be whether and how the world’s increasing, and increasingly rich, population can be fed unless tropical forests survive.
- ▶ INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO DEFINE FORESTS BY THEIR TRUE MEANING.
“FAO’s forest definition needs to reflect the cultural wealth that forests represent. The present definition only helps to hide this diversity, rather strengthening a set of false solutions and privatization trends, as well as activities that create negative impacts in the communities that depend on forests”.
For these people who depend on forests, non-timber forest products like fruits, seeds and medicinal plants have a huge importance, as well as fishing, hunting and also agriculture.
“Peasants in forest areas traditionally practice agriculture based on knowledge transmitted over many generations, conserving, not destroying forests. Forests are fundamental for peasants to guarantee their food sovereignty. We oppose the increasing commodification of natural resources like forests, pushed by TNCs and mechanisms like REDD. Forests are crucial to maintain the ecosystem and therefore the farmers' livelihoods”, explains Henry Saragih from the largest global peasant organization La Via Campesina.
December 11, 2012 The world's biggest and oldest living trees are disappearing and will never be replaced, according to a new review of global ecosystems. The world's mighty trees are dying off faster than ever before, a new study reports. (Photo: henryalien / Flickr) The study, published last week in the journal Science, found that trees between 100 and 300 years old are dying off at an alarming rate.... http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/12/11-7
These elders of the forest do many things that smaller, younger trees cannot; for example, providing homes for many types of animals, providing space for other plants to grow in tropical rainforests and producing large amounts of seeds that serve as food for other animals and replenish tree populations, according to the study, published today (Dec. 6) in the journal Science. Old trees also store an enormous amount of carbon and...http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/3856-big-trees-in-decline.html
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS OF WORLD'S OLDEST TREES AT NIGHT
-▶ UN: WORLD LOSING BIODIVERSITY THOUSAND TIME FASTER THAN NATURAL EXTINCTION 'We are losing our biodiversity thousand times faster than natural extinction, leading to widespread and irreversible loss of natural ecosystem. The stakes could not be higher, what we do, or fail to do, over the next 10 years will influence the well-being and prosperity of billions of people for generation to come,' http://www.sify.com/news/world-losing-biodiversity-at-unprecedented-rate-un-news-national-lbhpEhbfcaf.html
The Guardian '▶ WAR AND PEACE - AND WAR AGAIN? THE BATTLE FOR AUSTRALIAN TASMANIAN'S ANCIENT FORESTS. For 30 years activists and loggers fought over the future of Tasmania’s old-growth forests. Finally, in 2012, came a historic peace deal. But on 2 September the state’s newly elected Liberal government tore it up. So what next for both sides?http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/18/-sp-tasmanian-forestry-peace-deal
Sad pics of loggers in 1915 cutting down the giant California Redwoods, destroying all life within them. These trees were over a 1,000 years old and have a life span of between 1,200 and 1,800 yearshttp://ow.ly/BFsr8
RT News, August 18, 2014 '▶ TINY INDIAN VILLAGE MAKES FINAL STAND AGAINST COAL GIANTS WANTING TO CLEAR ANCIENT FOREST FOR MINING PROJECT. Research by Greenpeace India shows that there are 54 villages that are dependent on the Mahan forest for their livelihood.
“The Mahan coal mine is not only placing the climate at risk, but will also destroy the livelihoods of thousands of people who depend on the Mahan forest for survival,” said Priya Pillai from the NGO.
Already on the decline worldwide, big trees face a dire future due to habitat fragmentation, selective harvesting by loggers, exotic invaders, and the effects of climate change, warns an article published this week in New Scientist magazine.
Ecologist Chris Morgan travels to the jungles of Northern Sumatra to document the work being done to save its population of wild orangutans. Asia’s most intelligent ape once roamed across the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, but today, fewer than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild. The film cites rapid deforestation — clearing the land for vast palm oil plantations — as the chief reason for the species’ declining population. But as Morgan shows, conservationists are trying to reverse that trend by teaching orphaned orangutans the survival skills they’ll need for release back into the jungle. He also accompanies researchers deep into a remote and protected peat swamp forest to study wild orangutans up close to learn about their culture and behavior.
Multi award winning. Set in Indonesia. Meet Green, an orangutan and victim of human impact. Follow the devastating journey as her home is destroyed by logging, clearing for palm oil plantations, and the choking haze of rainforest fires. Hauntingly poetic and without narration, the film creatively depicts the effects of consumerism on tropical rainforests as we are faced with our personal accountability in the loss of the world's rainforests http://sco.lt/6IIb0T
All Things Considered, March 11, 2015 ▶ AS PALM OIL FARMS EXPANDS, IT'S A RACE TO SAVE INDONESIA'S ORANGUTANS http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/03/11/392292008/as-palm-oil-farms-expand-its-a-race-to-save-indonesias-orangutans
An eight-part program with our Special Correspondent Philippe Cousteau who explores the Sumatran rainforest and its animal sanctuaries. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/environment/
---- WATCH ----
INDIGENOUS AND THEIR FORESTS DESTROYED IN SARAWAK,
IN 40 YEARS WE HAVE DISAPPEARED HALF OF THE WORLD'S WILD ANIMALS: DEFORESTATION, OCEANS, AGRICULTUREhttp://sco.lt/8fK5
AND ANOTHER GREAT WATCH
"EARTH - A NEW WILD"
Four-Part Series - PBS Nature Take a new look at humankind’s relationship with the wildest places on Earth. Dr. M. Sanjayan, takes viewers on a stunning visual journey to explore how humans are woven into every aspect of Earth’s natural systems. The series features footage from the most striking places on Earth and encounters between wild animals and the people who live and work with them. http://www.pbs.org/earth-a-new-wild/home/
pdjmoo's insight:
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY NEWS AGGREGATES @pdjmoo
Natural Capital can be defined as the world’s stocks of natural assets which include geology, soil, air, water and all living things.
“Offsetting treats nature such as forests or rivers as if it were an exchangeable item you buy in the supermarket. Destroying one forest or river with a promise of protecting another fails to recognise that they are part of a wider ecosystem and intrinsic to human and cultural landscapes. Destruction of complex and site specific biodiversity cannot be offset. It is time to be clear that offsetting will not tackle biodiversity loss but may impoverish communities.” http://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/11/22/no-to-biodiversity-offsetting/
Biodiversity offsetting is a simple idea that makes no sense whatsoever (except for corporations that profit from destruction): Nature can be destroyed in one place as long as it is conserved somewhere else does not equal maintaining healthy, balanced ecosystems
Redd Monitor, October 21, 2014 - ▶ STOP BIODIVERSITY OFFSETS: THOUSANDS SIGN LETTER TO THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION. More than 9,000 people and 67 organisations have signed on to aletter urging the European Commission to drop its plans for biodiversity offsetting. Biodiversity offsets would “harm nature and people” and “give power to those who destroy nature for profit”, the letter states. http://www.redd-monitor.org/2014/10/21/stop-biodiversity-offsets-thousands-sign-letter-to-the-european-commission/
▶ LAND GRABS: HOW FOREIGN "INVESTMENTS" ARE REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH, LAND AND WATER ACROSS THE GLOBEhttp://sco.lt/5YJpKb
-▶ MEGA MINING, FOREIGN LAND GRABS DESTROYING LOCAL COMMUNITIES, ENVIRONMENT AND ECOSYSTEMShttp://sco.lt/8nJQf3
VIDEO
FOREIGN CORPORATIONS DESTROYING ECOSYSTEMS, INDIGENOUS LIVELIHOODS, NULLIFYING LAND RIGHTS, CREATING DEPENDENCY AND POVERTY ON A GLOBAL SCALEhttp://sco.lt/4l725B
Ensia, August 12, 2014 -▶ ECOSYSTEMS ARE NOT MACHINES.If we want to save the world, we need to treat nature more as an organism and less as disposable and replaceable technology. http://ensia.com/voices/ecosystems-are-not-machines/
-▶ CLOUD FORESTS FADING IN THE MIST, THEIR TREASURES LITTLE KNOWNhttp://sco.lt/6F54E5
Our Planet ▶ THE LIVING PLANET REPORT 2012 - United Nations Environment Programme : Nature is The Basis of Our Well-Being and Our Prosperity
"We are living as if we have an extra planet at our disposal. We are using 50 per cent more resources than the Earth can provide, and unless we change course that number will grow very fast – by 2030, even two planets will not be enough. "But we do have a choice. We can create a prosperous future that provides food, water and energy for the 9 or perhaps 10 billion people who will be sharing the planet in 2050." Jim P. Leape Director General, WWF International
TREE HEALTH, FOREST HEALTH LINKED WITH HUMAN HEALTH - OUR INTERCONNECTED LIVES http://sco.lt/85WZ2v
June 17, 2013 Guardian Global Development - John Vidal LA VIA CAMPESINA, WORLD'S LARGEST POLITICAL MOVEMENT, TO CHALLENGE MULTI-NATIONALS ON POVERTY AND INEQUALITY, LAND GRABS AND DEFORESTATION
▶ HUMANS ARE TURNING THE EARTH INTO A 'LONELY AND VERY DANGEROUS PLNET', ECOLOGIST WARNShttp://sco.lt/4xff17
April 22, 2012 National Geographic
▶ SAVING LIVES, LIVELIHOODS AND LIVES
By Harold E. Varmus, Director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute; and Robert D. Hormats, Under Sectary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment
▶ Tragically—and to the detriment of all of us—Earth’s biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming rate. This is due to factors such as deforestation, environmental degradation, and habitat destruction from agriculture, settlement, and other uses; pollution; climate change; and chronic over-exploitation or poaching of fish and wildlife species. Scientists estimate that the planet is losing species at a rate 1,000 to 10,000 times above the rate of species extinction that would occur normally without human activity. Particularly disheartening is the fact that, in many cases, we are losing species before we even know of them or know how they fit into our shared planet....http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/22/saving-lives-livelihoods-and-life/
Inter Press Service, September 30, 2014 -▶ A ROADMAP TO LIVING -- AND THRIVING -- IN HARMONY WITH NATURE. biodiversity is not just a problem to be solved, but rather the source of solutions to 21st century challenges such as climate change, food and water security, health, disaster risk reduction, and poverty alleviation. In taking this action, countries affirmatively recognised that biodiversity is essential for sustainable development and the foundation for human well-being. The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets are a framework for the world to achieve the vision of human beings living in harmony with nature. If achieved, by the middle of the 21st century, we will enjoy economic and social well-being while conserving and sustainably using the biodiversity that sustains our healthy planet and delivers the benefits essential to us all. http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/09/opinion-a-roadmap-to-living-and-thriving-in-harmony-with-nature/
NEW HOLISTIC 'ONE HEALTH' CONNECTS HUMANS, ANIMALS AND ECOSYSTEMS. Recently, the dilemma of human–wildlife conflict has created great opportunity to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems for both people and ecosystems. The emerging holistic “One Health” movement explicitly recognizes the inextricable connections between human, animal, and ecosystem health, and is leading not only to new scientific research but also to projects that help people rise out of poverty, improve their health, reduce conflicts with wildlife, and preserve ecosystems, such as Bwindi’s tropical montane forest...http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0501-nicole-sri-ehp-one-health.html
ECOLOGICAL ARMAGEDDON
EXTINCTION CRISIS
WE HAVE DISAPPEARED HALF OF THE WORLD'S WILD ANIMALS IN 40 YEARS: http://sco.lt/8fK5eT
-▶ DECLINE IN BIODIVERSITY OF FARMED PLANTS AND ANIMALS GATHERING PACE.A decline in the diversity of farmed plants and livestock breeds is gathering pace, threatening future food supplies for the world's growing population, the head of a new United Nations panel on biodiversity said on Monday...
Zakri said there were 30,000 edible plants but that just 30 crops accounted for 95 percent of the energy in human food that is dominated by rice, wheat, maize, millet and sorghum....
He said it was "more important than ever to have a large genetic pool to enable organisms to withstand and adapt to new conditions." That would help to ensure food for a global population set to reach 9 billion by 2050 from 7 billion now.... http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/27/environment-food-idUSL5N0E80Q420130527
One World News, December 9, 2013 -▶ INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE VITAL FOR BIODIVERSITY, SAY EXPERTS. With species disappearing up to 1,000 times faster than the natural extinction rate, biodiversity experts say knowledge co-production with indigenous peoples has growing importance. http://oneworld.org/2013/12/05/indigenous-knowledge-vital-for-biodiversity-say-experts/
-▶HUMANS ARE TURNING THE EARTH INTO A 'LONELY AND VERY DANGEROUS PLANET", ECOLOGIST WARNShttp://sco.lt/4xff17
IUCN RED LIST OF ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEMS Everyone knows that coral reefs are in danger, and that the rainforests are disappearing – or do we? What do we actually know in scientific terms? How much of these ecosystems are left, and how likely are they to disappear? IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature is developing a new tool to provide answers to these questions – the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems.http://www.iucnredlistofecosystems.org/about-us/red-list-ecosystems/
Ensia, August 12, 2014 -▶ ECOSYSTEMS ARE NOT MACHINES. If we want to save the world, we need to treat nature more as an organism and less as disposable and replaceable technology.http://ensia.com/voices/ecosystems-are-not-machines/
-▶ THE END OF CORAL REEFS? AROUND FOR 10 MILLION YEARS, WIPED OUT IN 100 http://sco.lt/7y1XHt
May 7, 2013
▶ ARCTIC OCEAN 'ACIDIFYING RAPIDLY' - HIGHEST LEVELS IN HUMAN HISTORY - ARCTIC OCEAN TO BE ICE-FREE IN TWO YEARShttp://sco.lt/6qm61h
▶ HEALTH OF OCEANS 'DECLINING FAST' - MASS EXTINCTION MAY BE INEVITABLE http://sco.lt/8ZyX6v
-▶ SURROUNDED BY DEFORESTATION, CRITICALLY ENDANGERED GORILLAS HANG ON BY A THREAD http://sco.lt/91dA7F
▶ BACKSTORY: Thousands of Orangutans have become "collateral" damage as a result of the corporate palm oil destruction of natural rainforests in which all life and biodiversity is lost as they ravage the terrain for the profits from the burgeoning demand of palm oil. Below is an indepth look at the terrible price we are paying in the rush by corporations to destroy our forests for palm oil plantations
ANIMATED VIDEO Green Peace WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PALM OIL IN ONE SHORT VIDEO Palm oil is an ingredient in products as diverse as shampoo, toothpaste, chocolate and detergent. But some palm oil is linked to forest destruction. This video tells the story you need to hear about palm oil...http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/code/2014/PalmOilVideo/index.html
Dodo, December 05, 2014 ▶ YOUR SOAP BAR IS KILLING ENDANGERED ORANGUTANS.
In a tragic scene, a dying orangutan was found lying in Borneo with 40 air rifle pellets in her body, 10 of them in her head. Her arms and legs were broken and, despite the best efforts of medics, she died on Thursday.
The orangutan had been living on the fringes of a palm oil plantation, a farm that produces oil used in many packaged foods. It’s also in lipsticks, soaps, biodiesel and countless other products.The plantations are notorious for conflict with orangutans, because they usually set up shop in the heart of orangutan habitat. And, according to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, the group that tried to rescue the female orangutan, palm oil plantations have been known to provoke similar incidents all over Indonesia. https://www.thedodo.com/orangutan-killed-borneo-palm-860568193.html
▶ HOW PALM OIL IS DRIVING THE SUMATRAN TIGER TO BRINK OF EXTINCTIONIt’s in your mascara, your laundry detergent and even your Oreo cookies — the world is addicted to palm oil. Indonesia is the largest exporter, but production there comes at a huge cost. Oil-palm plantations have savagely encroached on the nation’s diverse rainforests, and slash-and-burn clearance for new plantations recently engulfed much of Southeast Asia in acrid smog...http://world.time.com/2013/10/31/palm-oil-is-killing-the-sumatran-tiger/
▶ INDONESIA: THE RAPE AND PILLAGE OF SUMATRAN TIGERS' LAST STRONGHOLDhttp://sco.lt/62jf3h
Steve Leonard and the team at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation help Mama Abut and her baby, found starving in an oil palm plantation. With help from the foundation, both mother and baby are nursed back to health with the aim to release them back into their natural habitat. Great clip from series two of BBC natural history series Orangutan Diary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LK4gfzOIZo&feature=youtube_gdata#
▶ ERADICATING ECOCIDE: WHY BUSINESS LEADERS MUST STEP UP TO THE CHALLENGEhttp://sco.lt/56vkOH
pdjmoo's insight:
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY NEWS AGGREGATES @pdjmoo
“If we never look at the consequences of our behavior, we can always maintain the illusion of our competence. ." Dietrich Dörner
Via: AL JAZEERA "WITNESS" Expose
Green is an unusual film. It contains no narrative or dialogue and yet helps us understand complex commodity chains. It is both a hard hitting portrayal of the causes and consequences of deforestation in Indonesia, and a film which captures the tranquillity and calm of wild nature. The film takes viewers on an emotional journey, following Green's final days and revealing the devastating impact of fulfilling unbridled consumerism thru logging, land-clearing and palm oil plantations.
Stunning images of the natural world and its biodiversity are counter-pointed with scenes of their destruction and the resulting loss of all life in the forest. NOTE: This film contains upsetting scenes including cruelty to animals.
WATCH "VIRUNGA" - Official Trailer 2014 Funded by Howard G Buffett, CEO The Howard G. Buffett Foundation Virunga is the incredible documentary about the brave individuals risking their lives to save Africa’s oldest national parkhttp://virungamovie.com/
VIDEO (3:15)
DW (English), December 02, 2011
GORILLA HABITAT IN RWANDA'S VIRUNGA FORESTS UNDER THREAT
Gorilla habitat in Rwanda Rwanda's verdant Virunga forests are home to rare mountain gorillas. Their habitat however is critically endangered. New projects seek to protect the primates and improve life for local communities.,,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNnRTKLV29c&feature=youtu.be
VIDEO TED TALK A STORY OF CONFLICT RENEWAL AND HOPE IN VIRUNGA Emmanuel De Merode Please take a moment to listen to Emmanuel’s passionate words about his vision for Virunga and its animals via @BenAffleck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhnGzaEOE34#t=616
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WATCH Wildlife Extra News, April 2014 "HOPE" (15:00) - Rwanda's mountain gorillas star in new documentary The film, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, takes a historical look back to 1967 when Dian Fossey began her work. Fewer than 300 mountain gorillas remained at the time, their population ravaged by poachers, who for years targeted the gorillas to make money, selling infant gorillas to zoos or the hands and heads of the adults as trophies to wealthy tourists. http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/Mountain-gorillas-film.html#cr
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PRIMATOLOGIST WARNS OF POSSIBLE GREAT APE EXTINCTION
-▶ HUMANS ARE TURNING THE EARTH INTO A 'LONELY AND VERY DANGEROUS PLANET,' ECOLOGIST WARNShttp://sco.lt/4xff17
VIDEO
-▶ FOREIGN CORPORATIONS DESTROYING ECOSYSTEMS, INDIGENOUS LIVELIHOODS, NULLIFYING LAND RIGHTS, CREATING DEPENDENCY AND POVERTY ON A GLOBAL SCALEhttp://sco.lt/4l725B
-▶ FOOD FORESTS CAN MITIGATE RISKS OF "FEAST OR FAMINE" - BIG CORPORATE AG IS NOT THE ANSWERhttp://sco.lt/5U402L
-▶ DEFORESTATION, MINING RISES AGAIN IN BRAZIL'S AMAZON IMPACTING ECOSYSTEMS, CLIMATE, DEVASTATING INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIEShttp://sco.lt/6831nN
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