“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”... ALBERT EINSTEIN
True environmentalism is not about making our rapacious and destructive industrialism a little more sustainable, writes Derrick Jensen, but transforming humankind's relationship with Earth and the life she sustains - for us to take our true place within, and as part of, the living biosphere... http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2751996/reclaim_environmentalism.html
- ▶ BIODIVERSITY IS VITAL TO MAINTAINING ECOSYSTEM AND HUMAN HEALTHhttp://sco.lt/5gy5Q1
EarthBlog, Glen Barry, August 04, 2014 -▶ NEW SCIENCE SUGGESTS MORE LAND-BASED ECOSYSTEMS LOST THAN BIOSPHERE CAN BEAR. New science finds that two-thirds of Earth’s land-based ecosystems must be protected to sustain the biosphere long-term. Yet about one-half of Earth’s natural ecosystems have already been lost. The scientific review article by Dr. Glen Barry – entitled “Terrestrial ecosystem loss and biosphere collapse” – was published today in the international journal “Management of Environmental Quality”.http://www.ecointernet.org/2014/08/04/biosphere_collapse/
IMPORTANT WATCH "A THOUSAND INVISIBLE CORDS"
University of Arizona The Community of Genes in Ecosystems
The Greater the Biodiversity in the Ecosystem, The Greater Resilience of an ecological community and for adaption. Everything is Interconnected and interdependent. Myopic genetic engineering destroys these connections and breaks the link of naturally evolving organisms “A Thousand Invisible Cords: Connecting Genes to Ecosystems” is a 56-minute eco-documentary that can change how we view the world. Community genetics can be used to help save and restore natural ecosystems particularly in view of Climate Change evolutionary impacts. No longer will we see species as isolated members of ecosystems but as genetically connected members of a rich interacting community. In the words of the 19th century naturalist, writer, and environmental activist John Muir: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken to everything in the universe.”http://vimeo.com/40615050
The Mind Unleashed, May 15, 2014 -▶ THE EARTH IS A SENTIENT LIVING ORGANISM. Contrary to the common belief that the Earth is simply a dense planet whose only function is a resource for its inhabitants, our planet is in fact a breathing, living organism. When we think of the Earth holistically, as one living entity of its own, instead of the sum of its parts, it takes on a new meaning. Our planet functions as a single organism that maintains conditions necessary for its survival.http://themindunleashed.org/2014/05/earth-sentient-living-organism.html
A TED VIDEO Louie Schwartzberg: TED.com "HIDDEN MIRACLES OF THE NATURAL WORLD" We live in a world of unseeable beauty, so subtle and delicate that it is imperceptible to the human eye. To bring this invisible world to light, filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg bends the boundaries of time and space with high-speed cameras, time lapses and microscopes. http://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_hidden_miracles_of_the_natural_world
IN 40 YEARS WE HAVE DISAPPEARED HALF OF THE WORLD'S WILD ANIMALS http://sco.lt/8fK5eT
SUMMARY TRANSCRIPT
NPR FreshAir, February 12, 2014 Interview With Elizabeth Kolbert, Author
▶ IN THE WORLD'S "SIXTH EXTINCTION": ARE HUMANS THE ASTEROID?Elizabeth Kolbert is the author of the new book The Sixth Extinction. It begins with a history of the "big five" extinctions of the past, and goes on to explain how human behavior is creating this sixth one — including our use of fossil fuels and the effects of climate change.
"We are effectively undoing the beauty and the variety and the richness of the world which has taken tens of millions of years to reach," Kolbert tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "... We're sort of unraveling that. ... We're doing, it's often said, a massive experiment on the planet and we really don't know what the end point is going to be."http://www.npr.org/2014/02/12/275885377/in-the-worlds-sixth-extinction-are-humans-the-asteroid
An inviting perch turns out to be a deadly trap for two warblers. With feet and wings stuck to “lime sticks,” the songbirds cannot escape. Poachers placed these decoy shrubs along a highway near the Mediterranean
-▶ MASSIVE BIRD SLAUGHTER AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN
Each year, millions of songbirds are killed for food, for profit or just for the joy of shooting something, as they move from their winter grounds in AFRICA to their summer breeding territories in Europe.
In EGYPT, hundreds of miles of nets cover the entire coastline, catching almost every bird that makes its way to shore from across the Mediterranean Sea. In ALBANIA, hunters set up dozens of hunting blinds inside wildlife refuges while officials turn a blind eye.
In CYPRUS, trees are outfitted with glue-covered lime sticks that catch birds like flies on flypaper as they attempt to land, breaking wings as the birds struggle to free themselves. The problem is widespread and growing as new methods and technology increase the deadly toll of the annual slaughter....http://focusingonwildlife.com/news/massive-bird-slaughter-around-the-mediterranean-shocking-photos/
Yale Environment 360, October 23, 2014 -▶ ALBANIA'S COASTAL WETLANDS: KILLING FIELD FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MIGRATING BIRDS. Each spring, hundreds of thousands of migrating waterbirds flock northward from Africa across the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. In search of food, they alight briefly on Albania’s Buna Delta — one of the largest remaining wetlands in all of the Balkan Peninsula. The delta is also one of the most notorious killing grounds for migrating birds in all of Europe.http://e360.yale.edu/feature/poachers_in_albanias_wetlands_decimate_migrating_waterbirds/2819/
VIDEO REPORT
Al Jazeera English, November 06, 2014 EMPTYING THE SKIES
If you want to impress your dining companions in Cyprus, it is not caviar that you order, but ambelopoulia: a tiny songbird. But as this film reveals, the cost to bring such delicacies to the table is enormous.
Bestselling novelist Jonathan Franzen takes a break from the world of fiction to guide us through an all too horrifying reality: tens of millions of protected migratory songbirds are illegally killed every year.
Green Prophet, October 18, 2014 -▶ PICKLED SONGBIRDS FOR A SONG:If you think migratory birds are in trouble as they pass over just Lebanon, think again. In Cyprus song birds are hunted down by the millions every year for a pickled dish, and the images coming out of Cairo are just as gruesome...
There is no fighting chance for migratory birds when they fly over Lebanon: Hunting laws may be in place in the Middle East, but who’s enforcing them? From storks and pelicans to hoopoes to eagles to migratory songbirds… see the images of the bloodbath in Lebanon during this year’s hunting season. And these images are only from the jerks who posted their kill on social media networks. . http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/10/europeans-try-to-save-storks-then-this-happens-over-lebanon-warning-graphic-images/
BBC News, December 18, 2013 -▶ UK BASES IN CYPRUS ARE BIRD-TRAPPING HOTSPOTS.The researchers estimate that, during the 2013 trapping season, 1.5 million birds were killed across Cyprus.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25433008
-▶ JAPANESE PIGEON MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING IN CANADA Imagine going more than 4,000 miles in the wrong direction. You’d end up in the wrong town. On the wrong island. And in the wrong country. That’s what happened to a racing pigeon from Japan who took off in Sapporo, Japan, and came in for landing way off course — in a Canadian town in British Columbiahttp://www.theworld.org/2013/07/japanese-pigeon-makes-emergency-landing-in-canada/
July 30, 2013 Focusing on Wildlife -▶ THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE HAS ISSUED A PERMIT TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO KILL OVER 90 SPECIES OF BIRDSwithin New York State this year, ANIMAL has learned. The birds slated for killing include owls, herons, hawks, and woodpeckers, in addition to the slaughter of Canada geese that has been widely publicized... http://focusingonwildlife.com/news/dozens-of-bird-species-could-be-slaughtered-in-new-york/
France24, March 17, 2014 -▶ HUNTERS SWEAR OFF KILLING IN BID TO PRESERVE IRANIAN WILDLIFE. "Hunting is out of control, and it’s destroying our wildlife. That’s why I and other hunters decided to set an example by taking an oath to stop killing all animals. We hope that this will make a dent in the problem, but the most effective solution would be for the government to revoke the huge number of gun licenses it has issued in recent years." http://observers.france24.com/content/20140317-iranian-hunters-rifles-protect-species
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CLIMATE CHANGE
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National Geographic, October 3, 2013 -▶ CLIMATE CHANGE:CAN LONG-DISTANCE MIGRATING SHOREBIRD SURVIVE. Rufa red knot faces depletion of its food sources and its Arctic breeding grounds. Twice a year, the rufa red knot performs one of the planet's most amazing migrations. After wintering in the southern reaches of Argentina and Chile, the red knot will fly roughly 9,300 miles (15,000 kilometers) north, eventually reaching the Canadian Arctic for a summer of mating and breeding. Come fall, it will return south, this robin-size bird with a mere 20-inch (51-centimeter) wingspan flying without rest for stretches of up to 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers)http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131003-rufa-red-knot-threatened-endangered-migrating-birds/#close-modal
"Guardianship is a word that rings out in my head. We are meant to be guardians and trustees of this planet. For me, and for many others, the collective goal of humanity is towards the stewardship of our people, the planet and our ecosystems. We have a duty to protect and enhance our communities and ecosystems for the betterment of future generations"...Nicole Tilde
Common Dreams, October 14, 2012 ▶ CORPORATE FINANCIALIZATION OF NATURE IS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER: The "financialization of nature" is a flawed approach to saving biodiversity, "Biodiversity and forests are critical for the survival of people and the planet, and are thus priceless. Our biodiversity needs to be protected, not speculated on by reckless and unaccountable financial markets,” says Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth International Coordinator of the Forests and Biodiversity Program.http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/10/13
It is not easy to put a value on a forest, a clean river, or unpolluted air, but that is what a group of the world's biggest banks is attempting to do.
43 financial institutions have agreed that the way the present economic system uses and often destroys the environment without paying to do so is not sustainable.
The banks are also concerned that some companies are using up natural resources so fast, with no thought for their own future, let alone that of the planet, that they will collapse. They want a way of warning them and ultimately withdrawing their credit unless the companies mend their ways...http://www.eco-business.com/news/banks-put-price-earths-life-support/
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/
▶ FOREIGN CORPORATIONS DESTROYING INDIGENOUS LIVELIHOODS, NULLIFYING LAND RIGHTS, CREATING DEPENDENCY AND POVERTY ON A GLOBAL SCALEhttp://sco.lt/9KW9wn
Environmental News Network, September 11, 2014 ▶ ILLEGAL LAND CLEARING FOR COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE RESPONSIBLE FOR HALF OF TROPICAL DEFORESTATION. A comprehensive new analysis says that nearly half (49%) of all recent tropical deforestation is the result of illegal clearing for commercial agriculture. The study also finds that the majority of this illegal destruction was driven by overseas demand for agricultural commodities including palm oil, beef, soy, and wood products. In addition to devastating impacts on forest-dependent people and biodiversity, the illegal conversion of tropical forests for commercial agriculture is estimated to produce 1.47 gigatonnes of carbon each year—equivalent to 25% of the EU's annual fossil fuel-based emissions.http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/47822
VIDEO (3.30) Grassroots International PUTTING PEOPLE AND COMMUNITY BEFORE CORPORATE INTERESTS Big business wants to control our resources--grabbing land, privatizing water, patenting seeds, and trying to squeeze out anyone who gets in the way of their profits. Fortunately, there is an alternative that places the rights of people and communities ahead of corporate interests--resource rights.http://www.grassrootsonline.org/issues/resource-rights
Sustainable Brands, September 11, 2014 ▶ INVESTORS PRESS PALM OIL PRODUCERS TO HALT DEFORESTATION. Institutional investors representing over half a trillion dollars in assets under management are calling on four major palm oil producers to adopt an immediate moratorium on deforestation and join the growing effort within the industry to establish traceable, deforestation-free palm oil supply chains. http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/supply_chain/mike_hower/investors_press_palm_oil_producers_halt_deforestation
-▶ THE NEW CORPORATE COLONIALISM. DESTRUCTION OF PLANETARY LIFE IN THE NAME OF "GROWTH" http://sco.lt/5nT3OT
▶ SHOULD COMPANIES COMPENSATE SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION FROM WHICH THEY PROFIT? http://sco.lt/5I5UeX
-▶ THE GREAT AMERICAN CORPORATE GIVEAWAY, OUR PUBLIC LANDS: : COAL, OIL, FRACKING DESTROYING FOREST, WATER, ENVIRONMENThttp://sco.lt/9JCs8f
▶ HOLDING CORPORATIONS RESPONSIBLE: MINING COMPANIES DEVASTATE PRISTINE WISCONSIN FOR FRAC-SAND LEAVING CHEMICAL CESSPOOLhttp://sco.lt/6gL1ov
Mongabay, May 14, 2014 ▶ NEW REPORT REVEALS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY CORPORATIONS, GOVERNMENTS IN THE AMAZON.
The report took over six months to complete and gives an in-depth account of the conflicts activists and indigenous peoples (IPs) are having with corporations and governmental agencies. It relays a situation that does not look good. http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0514-dulaney-regnskogfondet.html
The bankers went on to acknowledge this was partly their fault because they had no way of valuing this natural capital, nor did they currently recognize the danger to the stability of some companies because of its destruction. They want governments to force companies to disclose their dependence on natural capital and the impact they have on it by disclosures in annual financial reports.
“Here is this vast, savage, howling mother of ours, Nature, lying all around, with such beauty, and such affection for her children, as the leopard; and yet we are so early weaned from her breast to society, to that culture which is exclusively an interaction of man on man.” Henry David Thoreau
Treehugger, February 26, 2015 - ▶ 'LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS" IS A MUST-READ FOR PARENTS AND EDUCATORS.Kids are developing more problems than ever (think obesity, technology addiction, adolescent depression, suicide, etc.), all of which Louv connects to nature deficit disorder. Spending more time outdoors could help resolve many of these issues, but this can happen only if kids are allowed greater access to nature. That’s where parents and policies come into play http://www.treehugger.com/culture/last-child-woods-must-read-all-parents-and-educators.html
Treehugger, March 18, 2015 - ▶ LET THE KIDS PLAY: NATURE CAN TAKE IT. Kids can be hard on a forest if left to run wild and free, but that's the best way to teach them to love nature. And kids' games will never be as destructive as what adults continue to do to the planet.http://www.treehugger.com/culture/let-kids-play-nature-can-take-it.html
Scholastic.com - ▶ WHY KIDS NEED NATURE. When a child is out in nature, all the senses get activated. He/She is immersed in something bigger than themselves, rather than focusing narrowly on one thing, such as a computer screen. They're seeing, hearing, touching, even tasting. Out in nature, a child's brain has the chance to rejuvenate, so the next time he has to focus and pay attention, perhaps in school, he'll do better.http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/why-kids-need-nature
TribLIVE, August 02, 2014 - ▶ MORE PEOPLE AFRAID OF OUTDOORS - DISCONNECT WITH NATURE BLAMED.Once upon a time, children grew up playing outside: fishing the local creek, riding their bikes or building forts in the woods. But that's not the norm anymore...“You've kind of got a whole generation now that's isolated. They didn't grow up playing outside... http://triblive.com/sports/outdoors/6519595-74/outdoors-outside-baker
David Suzuki Foundation, September 18, 2014 - ▶ LEARNING IN NATURE IS GOOD FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.Children belong outdoors. We know this intuitively, but now an extensive and ever-growing body of research supports it. Kids who spend time outside every day are healthier, happier, more creative, less stressed and more alert than those who don't. Several recent studies even show time in nature or green space helps reduce ADHD symptoms.http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2014/09/learning-in-nature-is-good-for-teachers-and-students/
Children In Nature Collaborative - ▶ LOOKING TOWARDS THAT MAGICAL MOMENT. A 69 percent decrease in time spent in outdoor activities and games on days off from school. These concerns and others related to children’s lack of connection to the natural world are part of a complex picture. Despite the extraordinary efforts of the movement, time spent outdoors by children across the globe continues to decline at an alarming ratehttp://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=5098ae2bbd84a5038da2a0128&id=1766599b45&e=82fb31e8b3
Mother Nature Network, March 25, 2015 - ▶ EXPERIENCING NATURE MAKES US MORE LIKELY TO SAVE IT.A new study took a look at this relationship and found that we might have a kinder, gentler society if we all just spent a little more time outside.
- ▶ IF CHILDREN LOSE CONTACT WITH NATURE THEY WON'T FIGHT FOR IT. With half of their time spent at screens, the next generation will be poorly equipped to defend the natural world from harm...
... While the surveys show that the great majority would like to see the living planet protected, few are prepared to take action. This, I think, reflects a second environmental crisis: the removal of children from the natural world. The young people we might have expected to lead the defence of nature have less and less to do with it... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/19/children-lose-contact-with-nature
- ▶ DON'T FORGET WHAT IS KEEPING YOU ALIVE: DAVID ATTENBOROUGH ON OUR ALIENATION FROM NATUREhttp://sco.lt/8oZkvZ
- ▶ ‘AGENTS OF NATURE' APP LAUNCHED FOR CHILDREN TO EXPLORE LOS ANGELES PARK . Agents of Nature gives youth the ability to learn about the plants, animals and sites they find while hiking through the park. It was developed by the non-profit Get to Know for kids to become “secret agents of nature” by getting outdoors and unlocking nature's mysteries...http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/09/15/agents-of-nature-app-launched-for-children-to-explore-griffith-park/
- ▶ KIDS ADOPT POLAR BEAR AND LEARN ABOUT ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION WITH FUN NEW #KIDSAPP @HabitatTheGame http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/multimedia/habitat-app
documents innovative outdoor-education programs around the country created to help children understand and experience the wonders and joys of nature. The film explores the immediate and lasting benefits of introducing young children to "green" experiences. Natural spaces - in the form of gardens, small trails and outdoor "green adventure" areas - allow for the discoveries and choices vital to child development and learning. In addition, outdoor education can cultivate in children a permanent connection with the natural world - a crucial ethic of environmental responsibility. http://vimeo.com/channels/371945/30186232/77981721
-▶ CLASSROOMS THAT GROW FOOD. The SEED classroom is a place for children to learn and think about sustainability (SEED itself standing for Sustainable Education Every Day). Each 900 sq ft (84 sq m) building catches rainwater to be used in the sinks and basins, from which water is intercepted once again, and filtered through a "living wall" of edible plants. The classroom's energy is provided by rooftop solar powerhttp://www.gizmag.com/seed-classroom/27763/
BENEFITS OF SPENDING TIME IN NATURE Showing children how everything is connected reminds us all that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves!http://www.naturerocks.org/benefits/index.htm
Guardian, February 12, 2014 - ▶ TEN REASONS WHY WE NEED MORE CONTACT WITH NATURE. It improves your memory, helps you recuperate and even makes your sense of smell more acute. So turn off your computer and get outside
DOCUMENTARY DEEPWATER DISASTER - BP OIL SPILL (59:07) Published on Jan 28, 2013 BBC Horizon reveals the untold story of the 87-day battle to kill the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout a mile beneath the waves - a crisis that became America's worst environmental disaster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWh9jDei-og
ClimateProgress, February 13, 2015 UNUSUAL STRING OF BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN DEATHS LINKED TO BP OIL SPILLhttp://ow.ly/J3Xdu
Summit County Citizens Voice, January 30, 2015 FIVE YEARS ON: STUDY FINDS MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF OIL FROM DEEPWATER HORIZON DISASTER BURIED IN GULF OF MEXICO. Five years after BP’s failed Deepwater Horizon drill rig spewed 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a significant amount of that oil remains buried in seafloor sediments. A new study by a Florida State University researcher estimates that about 6 to 10 million gallons of oil are still there, perhaps decomposing slowly, but probably affecting Gulf ecosystems. “This is going to affect the Gulf for years to come,” said researcher Jeff Chanton. “Fish will likely ingest contaminants because worms ingest the sediment, and fish eat the worms. It’s a conduit for contamination into the food web,” he said sediments
RT Business, March 04, 2015 BP CEO GETS 35% PAY RISE IN 2014 - FREEZES PAY OF ITS 84,000 WORKFORCE AROUND THE WORLD.Dudley's remuneration rose from $10.17 million in 2013 to $12.74 million last year, according to BP’s annual report released Tuesday. He also received $9.8 million in share awards. In January the company cuts its capital spending program and imposed a salary freeze, weeks after axing hundreds of jobs in Scotland and thousands more globally as a result of falling oil prices and profits. http://rt.com/business/237617-bp-dudley-remuneration-rise/
BP was banned from preforming any work in the US in 2012 and now the suspension has been lifted. They are back in the oil game. They had to pay a $4.5 billion fine, admit to lying about the damages, plead guilty, and now they are back in business. Their incident caused the death of 11 workers and the destruction of the Gulf of Mexico. Their attempts to make it better were pathetic. It is interesting how people can put a dollar value to the damage and death of people and a huge mass of water and fish population.
This was a huge example of poor corporate social responsibility and the damages are still taking its toll. Reading about the research on how the fish and sea creatures are still being affected 5 years later. The response that the BP representatives are giving in respect to the research on how the fish's hearts are being affected just shows that they are still not practicing good corporate social responsibility and it is sad to see how little a company will take care for their mistakes and the world they live in.
This film investigates the parallel stories of collapsing Pacific salmon populations and how biologists and engineers have become instruments in audacious experiments to replicate every stage of the fish’s life cycle. Each of our desperate efforts to save salmon has involved replacing their natural cycle of reproduction and death with a radically manipulated life history. Our once great runs of salmon are now conceived in laboratories, raised in tanks, driven in trucks, and farmed in pens. Here we go beyond the ongoing debate over how to save an endangered species. In its exposure of a wildly creative, hopelessly complex, and stunningly expensive approach to managing salmon, the film reveals one of the most ambitious plans ever conceived for taking the reins of the planet. Watch the full episode..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZrFT_pBHg4
OnEarth, February 16, 2015 -▶ BEAVERS ARE BUSY SAVING CALIFORNIA'S SALMON POPULATIONS. Only 5 percent of the Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon survived this year, according to a recent report from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Beavers Are Saving The Water table in Drought-stricken Californiahttp://www.onearth.org/earthwire/beavers-save-california-salmon
Summit County Citizens Voice, February 09, 2015 -▶ CLIMATE: GROWING VARIABILITY OF STREAM FLOW THREATENS CHINOOK SALMON SPAWNING IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST
New York Times, January 25, 2012 -▶ RUNAWAY GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SALMON STIR CONSERVATION WORRIES.The disappearance of 300,000 farmed Scottish salmon from their cages in a storm has left many wondering whether they will breed with wild ones and upset the gene pool
“FATALLY FLAWED' FDA ASSESSMENT TO UNLEASH GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SALMON ONTO YOUR DINNER PLATE: NO REGULATION. NO OVERSIGHT. NO LABELINGhttp://sco.lt/67gold
IS GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FARMED SALMON SAFE AND ETHICAL?
Summit Voice, November 26, 2014 -▶ IDAHO'S SOCKEYE SALMON ESCAPE THE 'EXTINCTION VORTEX'' A real American endangered species success story. After nearly disappearing in swirl of an “extinction vortex,” Snake River sockeye salmon are back and regaining the fitness of their wild ancestorshttp://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/11/26/idahos-sockeye-salmon-escape-the-extinction-vortex/
VIDEO
Mongabay, Jan 7, 2013
FISH UNABLE TO PASS THROUGH DAMS IN U.S. PRESENTS 'CAUTIONARY TALE' FOR DEVELOPING WORLD
Dams create a largely impenetrable barrier for fish even when the dams were installed with specially-built passages, according to a new study in Conservation Letters...The result has been a decimation of U.S. fisheries, food production, and wildlife across the river systems. "Once these rivers supported tens of millions of pounds of biomass of these species and provided valuable protein to a growing nation," noted another co-author, Karin Limburg, with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Dams create a largely impenetrable barrier for fish even when the dams were installed with specially-built passages, according to a new study in Conservation Letters...The result has been a decimation of U.S. fisheries, food production, and wildlife across the river systems. "Once these rivers supported tens of millions of pounds of biomass of these species and provided valuable protein to a growing nation," noted another co-author, Karin Limburg, with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
International Rivers THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S RIVERS 2014 - INTERACTIVE
Already, over 50,000 large dams
have degraded more than two-thirds of the world’s. Mapping The Health of the World's Fifty Major River Basins
Our world’s rivers are at a tipping point – and now is the time to demand change before it’s too late.The database is really a stunning piece of interactive software. There’s a lot of excellent information and it’s easy to get lost in exploration. Make sure to have a look through it here.http://www.internationalrivers.org/worldsrivers/
WATCH
April 22, 2013 - International Rivers "DAMOCRACY THE MOVIE"
-▶ ICELAND DAM PROJECT PLAYS DICE WITH NATURE, AND LOSES
Since the controversial Karahnjukar dam in East Iceland was brought into operation in 2006, conditions in the downstream Lagarfljot lake have become much worse, according to information gathered...
The salmon stock has virtually disappeared and the trout population has decreased by 80 percent. The colour of the lake has changed and become much darker due to all the sediment and suspended sediment emanating from the glacial river that now runs into the lake. The capacity for photosynthesis by algae and other plants has decreased as so little light penetrates due to the sediments in the lake. And the plant biota as a whole has declined.
PETITION · Stand with us and support removing the four lower Snake River dams to save the Southern Resident Killer Whales from being dammed to extinction. · Change.org
▶APPROXIMATELY 229,729 ELEPHANTS KILLED WORLDWIDE AND TRAFFICKED IN FEWER THAN SIX YEARS- INVESTIGATION REVEALS A HIGHLY ORGANISED IVORY TRADE ACROSS ASIA AND AFRICA -
-▶ 62% OF ALL AFRICAN FOREST ELEPHANTS SLAUGHTERED IN 10 YEARS = INFOGRAPH More than 60 percent of Africa’s forest elephants have been killed in the past decade due to the ivory trade, reports a new study published in the online journal PLOS ONE. The study warns that the diminutive elephant species — genetically distinct from the better-known savanna elephant — is rapidly heading toward extinction....http://focusingonwildlife.com/news/62-of-all-africas-forest-elephants-killed-in-10-years-warning-graphic-images/
-▶IMAGINING A WORLD WITHOUT ELEPHANTS. A poacher’s bullet kills more than elephants — an elephant’s death ricochets through the ecosystem, affecting everything from other animals to the vegetation where the pachyderms roam.https://www.thedodo.com/world-without-elephants-832031961.html
Mongabay, July 07, 2014 -▶ PRICE OF IVORY TRIPLES IN CHINA. In the last four years the price of ivory in China has tripled, according to new research from Save the Elephants. The news has worrying implications for governments and conservationists struggling to save elephants in Africa amidst a poaching epidemic, which has seen tens-of-thousands of elephants butchered for their tusks across the continent annually.http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0707-hance-ivory-price.html
MAPPING THE GLOBAL TRADE IN ILLICIT ELEPHANT IVORY
On August 27, 2014, Born Free USA and data analysts at C4ADS released a new groundbreaking report, Out of Africa: Mapping the Global Trade in Illicit Elephant Ivory which focuses on the ivory supply chain and the trafficking of ivory from the bush in Africa to retail markets tens of thousands of miles away in Asia. We would like to thank the Giles W. and Elise G. Mead Foundation for their generous support.
The elephant, Earth’s most charismatic and majestic land animal, today faces market forces driving the value of its tusks to levels once reserved for gold. This groundbreaking National Geographic special goes undercover to expose the criminal network behind ivory’s supply and demand. It also demonstrates how the elephant is far more complex than ever imagined. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/battle-elephants-preview OR http://video.pbs.org/video/2336802391/
World Wildlife Fund, May 15, 2014 ▶ HONG KONG SET TO DESTROY RECORD IVORY STOCKPILE - 28 TONS (HOW MANY DEAD ELEPHANTS IS THAT?) - The Hong Kong government has begun the destruction of a staggering 28 tons of illegal ivory, the world’s largest illegal ivory stockpile and more than every other country in history combined. Advocates believe this public stance against ivory trafficking is a hopeful sign that Hong Kong’s centuries-old ivory worship traditions are crumbling.http://worldwildlife.org/stories/hong-kong-set-to-destroy-record-ivory-stockpile
The Dodo, May 08, 2014 -▶ CHINA STEPS UP: PLEDGE A WHOPPING $100 MILLION TO STOP POACHINGChina, a notorious source of demand for a massive illegal wildlife trade, is stepping up its game to save wildlife with a massive $100 million donation to combat poaching in Africa. The Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, announced the fund during a visit to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa. The fund is not a moment too soon -- an estimated 22,000-35,000 elephants are killed every year by poachers, while last year poachers killed over 1,000 rhinos in South Africa alone...https://www.thedodo.com/china-steps-up-politician-pled-542006018.html
Mongabay, November 06, 2014 -▶ CORRUPTION IN TANZANIA FACILITATES IVORY TRADE. Corruption in Tanzania is enabling large volumes of illegal elephant ivory to be smuggled out of the country, alleges a new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) The report, titled Vanishing Point, says that high ranking officials are involved in the illicit trade, which have devastated the country's wild elephant population. http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1106-tanzania-corruption-drives-ivory-trade.html
National Geographic, August 29, 2014 ▶CAN ELEPHANTS SURVIVE A LEGAL IVORY TRADE? It's one of the more incendiary questions discussed in wildlife conservation circles: Should there be a legal trade in elephant ivory? Elephant deaths from poachers skyrocketed after a one-off auction of stockpiled ivory was allowed in 2008. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140829-elephants-trophy-hunting-poaching-ivory-ban-cities/
VIDEO BBC News, September 04, 2014 THE ELEPHANT THAT FLEW.
A baby elephant is filmed standing in a small aircraft, eye-to-eye with the pilot, Gary Roberts - an American nurse and missionary. The orphaned calf is the only survivor of a 100 elephant massacre by poachers. This is how Roberts did his best to keep the animal alive.http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29060814
Yale Environment 360, August 11, 2014 ▶ POISONED BY ELEPHANT POACHERS: AFRICA'S VULTURES THREATENED BY AN ASSAULT ON ALL FRONTS. Vultures are being killed on an unprecedented scale across Africa, with the latest slaughter perpetrated by elephant poachers who poison the scavenging birds so they won’t give away the location of their activities.http://e360.yale.edu/feature/africas_vultures_threatened_by_an_assault_on_all_fronts/2792/
Environment News Service, November 06, 2014 -▶ TANZANIA'S ELEPHANTS FALL TO CORRUPT OFFICIALS CONSPIRING WITH CHINESE GANGS.Chinese-led criminal syndicates are conspiring with corrupt Tanzanian officials to traffic huge amounts of ivory, a trade that has caused half of Tanzania’s elephants to be poached in the past five years, alleges a new study released today by the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency. http://ens-newswire.com/2014/11/06/tanzanias-elephants-fall-to-corrupt-officials-chinese-gangs/
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
-▶ POACHERS KILL 300 ELEPHANTS (AND OTHER ANIMALS) WITH CYANIDE AT WATER HOLE IN 'WORST MASSACRE IN SOUTH AFRICAhttp://sco.lt/7WbG9R
Wildlife Extra News TROPHY HUNTING IS BACK IN ZAMBIA
WHEN KILLING WILDLIFE BECOMES AN ECONOMIC BOON
Zambia’s 2013 ban on hunting has been lifted, its Minister of Tourism and Arts, Jean Kapata, has announced. This means hunting wildlife, with the exception of big cats, is now legal across the 19 hunting blocks. Hunting elephants, though, will be allowed. This news comes at the same time as new research has revealed that an estimated 100,000 elephants in Africa were killed for their ivory between 2010 and 2012 and elephant population numbers are declining by two per cent to three per cent a year. This effectively means that more of the animals are being killed than are being born. http://www.wildlifeextra.com
A LOVELY WATCH
"ECHO" AN ELEPHANT TO REMEMBER" (53:10)
THE CULTURE OF ELEPHANTS PBS Nature: Intro & Full Episode
Echo, Africa’s most famous elephant, was the subject of many films and the matriarch of perhaps the most studied wild elephant herd in the world. In May of 2009, she died of natural causes. This film is a look back at this remarkable animal through extraordinary footage and interviews with the researchers that cared for and studied Echo and her family http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/echo-an-elephant-to-remember/introduction/5755/
WATCH
"ASIAN ELEPHANTS IN PERIL"
Link TV
In Sumatra, Indonesia, just 2,500 Sumatran elephants remain. As their last great forest habitat is being logged at a feverish pace to make way for palm oil plantations, elephants are pushed into conflict with local people. In Thailand and Myanmar, an illegal and brutal trade in wild baby elephants is contributing to declining elephant populations http://www.linktv.org/video/9160/asian-elephants-in-peril
-▶ THE PALM OIL HOLOCAUST - DEFORESTATION DESTROYING ALL LIFE WITHIN IT -- AND WE STAND BY AND ALLOW CORPORATE ECOCIDE?http://sco.lt/5wsAPh
Mongabay, September 29, 2013 ▶ WORST RHINO POACHING YEAR ON RECORD FOR SOUTH AFRICA - 688 RHINOS At least 688 rhinos have been poached in South Africa this year, surpassing last year's record of 668 with more than three months remaining in 2013http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0929-rhino-poaching-record.html
France 24 TV, November 13, 2014 ▶ RHINOPOACHING-WEARY SOUTH AFRICA MULLS LEGALISING RHINO HORN TRADE. A kilogramme of rhino horn recently sold for $100,000 in Vietnam, double the price of gold... There is also criticism that the pro-trade lobby is promoting an argument from which it stands to benefit: in 2010, government and private owners were estimated to have more than 15 tonnes of rhino horn stockpiled, about a third of it belonging to the state.http://www.france24.com/en/20141113-poaching-weary-south-africa-mulls-legalising-rhino-horn-trade/
Reuters, July 11, 2014 ▶ FOUR RHINOS KILLED IN KENYA'S WORST POACHING ATTACK IN YEARS. The killings take the number of rhinos poached in Kenya so far this year to 22, which leaves just 1,037 rhinos still roaming private wildlife conservancies and KWS national parks, Muya said. Last year, 59 rhinos were poached in Kenya, a country famous for its sprawling Maasai Mara game park and abundant wildlife. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/11/us-kenya-rhinos-idUSKBN0FG1K920140711
Mongabay, October 20, 2014 ▶ WITH DEATH OF RHINO, ONLY SIX NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS LEFT ON THE PLANET. "Consequently the species now stands at the brink of complete extinction, a sorry testament to the greed of the human race," wrote the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in a statement. http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1020-hance-suni-rhino-death.html
New York Times, February 05, 2014 IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO PROTECT A RHINO.
The illegal wildlife trade and poaching are decimating the animals and landscapes of Africa. If you go there, it’s shocking. We hear about it and see these stories, but until you see it first hand it’s really hard to get your head wrapped around that... http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/it-takes-a-village-to-protect-a-rhino/?_r=0
The Dodo, November 25, 2014 ▶ RHINOS MOVED TO 'INTENSIVE PROTECTION ZONES' -
WATCH MY WILD AFFAIR (53.41) "The Rhino Who Joined The Family" Hear extraordinary stories of the bonds between humans and their animal companions, including an orphaned baby elephant, an orangutan raised as a human child, a rhinoceros raised in suburbia and a harbor seal that entered the human world but remained wild at heart.http://www.pbs.org/program/my-wild-affair/
▶ — Illegal trade in rhino horns involves highly organized, mobile and well-financed criminal groups, mainly composed of Asian nationals based in Africa. These networks have ... http://ecowatch.org/2013/rhinos-in-crisis/
▶APPROXIMATELY 229,729 ELEPHANTS KILLED AND TRAFFICKED IN FEWER THAN SIX YEARS - INVESTIGATION REVEALS A HIGHLY ORGANISED IVORY TRADE ACROSS ASIA AND AFRICA - A new report uncovers the fact that Chinese ivory traffickers are present in virtually every African state, and operate at nearly every point along the supply chain. http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/organised-ivory-trade.htm
▶THE TRAGIC SLAUGHTER OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ELEPHANTS... JUST FOR THEIR TUSKS...MAY BE EXTINCT BY 2020http://sco.lt/85wXBZ
A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land..- Franklin D. Roosevelt
May 11, 2013 New York Times
- ▶ THE HIDDEN WORLD OF SOIL UNDER OUR FEET.Scientists are working hard to understand the life that teems within our soil and that is threatened by farming and development... Forget the term “dumb as dirt.” The complex soil ecosystem is highly evolved and sophisticated. It processes organic waste into soil. It filters and cleans much of the water we drink and the air we breathe by retaining dust and pathogens. It plays a large role in how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere. Soil, with all of its organic matter, is second to the oceans as the largest carbon repository on the planet. Annual plowing, erosion and other mismanagement releases carbon in the form of carbon dioxide, and exacerbates climate change... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/opinion/sunday/the-hidden-world-of-soil-under-our-feet.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
- ▶ KEEPING NATURE IN OUR FUTURE: HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS ESSENTIAL FOR ECONOMIC AND PLANETARY SURVIVALhttp://sco.lt/5863W5
Scientific American, May 12, 2014
▶ DRUGS, CHEMICALS SEEP DEEP INTO U.S. SOIL FROM SEWAGE SLUDGE FERTILIZER. The researchers looked for 57 “emerging” contaminants that are increasingly showing up in the environment. Ten were detected in the soil at depths between 7 and 50 inches 18 months after the treated sludge was applied. None was in the field’s soil beforehand. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drugs-chemicals-seep-deep-into-soil-from-sewage-sludge/
One of our biggest potential climate allies is directly under our feet: soil. Healthy, living soil has an enormous capacity to store carbon. In fact, carbon stored in soil accounts for roughly three times the amount stored in the atmosphere! Improving the health of degraded soil holds tremendous potential to mitigate climate changehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KamMRhlu9dA
- ▶ CARBON BURIED IN THE SOIL RISES AGAIN: CARBON CAPTURE WAS A GOOD IDEAWhile earlier studies have found that erosion can bury carbon in the soil, acting as a carbon sink, or storage, the new study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that part of that sink is only temporary. The researchers estimated that roughly half of the carbon buried in soil by erosion will be re-released into the atmosphere within about 500 years, and possibly faster due to climate change. Climate change can speed the rate of decomposition, aiding the release of the buried carbon....http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Carbon_buried_in_the_soil_rises_again_999.html
ScienceDaily, April 14, 2014 - ▶ NUTRIENT-RICH FORESTS ABSORB MORE CARBON.The ability of forests to sequester carbon from the atmosphere depends on nutrients available in the forest soils, shows new research from an international team of researchers. "This paper produces the first evidence that to really understand the carbon cycle, you have to look into issues of nutrient cycling within the soil," said one of the researchers.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140414101158.htm
August 30, 2013 Modern Farming - ▶ NO-TILL FARMING: WHAT'S THE DEAL? Like clean water and fresh air, fertile soil ensures our continued survival — and we're destroying it in mass quantities... http://modernfarmer.com/2013/08/7-facts-till-farming/
August 30, 2013 National Environment Research Council
- ▶ THE LAND BENEATH THE LAKES:There's more carbon in soil and vegetation worldwide than in the whole atmosphere, so even marginal changes can make a big difference. The Lake District itself is estimated to hold the equivalent of 84 million tonnes of CO2 in peat, which underlies some 40 per cent of the park, and some 13 million more in woodlands... http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=1515
August 23, 2013 Natural Environment Research Council
The Mind Unleashed, May 15, 2014 - ▶ THE EARTH IS A SENTIENT LIVING ORGANISM. Contrary to the common belief that the Earth is simply a dense planet whose only function is a resource for its inhabitants, our planet is in fact a breathing, living organism. When we think of the Earth holistically, as one living entity of its own, instead of the sum of its parts, it takes on a new meaning. Our planet functions as a single organism that maintains conditions necessary for its survival.http://themindunleashed.org/2014/05/earth-sentient-living-organism.html
DW Eco, February 03, 2015 ▶SAVING KENYA'S ANTI-CANCER TREE.The Prunus Africana tree contains ingredients that help fight illnesses like prostate cancer. But the tree is now under threat. Two Kenyan women have taken up the fight to protect this valuable tree.http://www.dw.de/saving-kenyas-anti-cancer-tree/a-18284972
Living on Earth, January 24, 2014 -▶ MOTHER OF MEDICINE TREE.A story of a dangerous collision between two worlds. On the Pacific island of Palau, the modern world rubs shoulders with the traditional, and as the inhabitants eat a more Western diet, they often develop diabetes. But a traditional tree that grows there, known as the mother of medicine tree, promises a treatmenthttp://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=14-P13-00004&segmentID=7
True environmentalism is not about making our rapacious and destructive industrialism a little more sustainable, writes Derrick Jensen, but transforming humankind's relationship with Earth and the life she sustains - for us to take our true place within, and as part of, the living biosphere... http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2751996/reclaim_environmentalism.html
Mongabay, -▶ IT'S NOT JUST EXTINCTION: MEET DEFAUNATIONExperts say defaunation is already having large-scale impacts across ecosystems, undercutting everything from pollination to pest control to water and soil quality. For example, a flood of recent research has found that the world's pollinators may be in crisis—including bees and butterflies—threatening global agriculture and potentially costing billions. But the impacts of defaunation could even lead to worsening outbreaks of disease in humans. Defaunation can also result in co-extinctions. For example, many animals are ecologically connected to plant species, who may depend on them for pollination or seed dispersal. But if you lose the animal species—or if its population drops below a certain threshold—plants are likely to vanish as well.http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0724-hance-defaunation.html
July 03, 2013 TerraDaily MAPPING THE BENEFITS OF OUR ECOSYSTEMS
DR. VANDANA SHIVA: "RIGHTS OF NATURE" TRIBUNAL PRESIDENT presents closing statement at the first Ethics Tribunal in Quito January 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Tl02_bcbw
-▶ ECO-CIVILIZATION: CHINA'S BLUEPRINT FOR A NEW ERA, PDF
Eco-civilization: China's blueprint for a new era focuses on its pioneering low carbon ‘eco-civilization’ concept, which will have a profound impact on China’s future economy. This is the first time that eco-civilization has been elevated to such a high-level, not only in parallel with, but also cutting across economic, political, cultural, and social systems.http://www.theclimategroup.org/_assets/files/China-Ecocivilisation.pdf
-▶ CHINA TO PRIORITIZE ENVIRONMENT OVER ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT
-▶ BRINGING NATURE BACK INTO YOUR LIFE -- AND THE WORK PLACE AND SCHOOLShttp://sco.lt/8JxfJB
A TED VIDEO Louie Schwartzberg: TED.com "HIDDEN MIRACLES OF THE NATURAL WORLD" We live in a world of unseeable beauty, so subtle and delicate that it is imperceptible to the human eye. To bring this invisible world to light, filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg bends the boundaries of time and space with high-speed cameras, time lapses and microscopes. http://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_hidden_miracles_of_the_natural_world
- ▶ TOMATOES WATERED BY THE SEA: SPROUTING A NEW WAY OF FARMING?Isn’t it remarkable that we recognise the fact that the world faces huge problems in terms of water, energy and food security – and yet we tend to tackle these as separate problems, as if they have no interconnections. So here’s a radical idea. What if the world’s food, water and energy problems were tackled together, in a way that lowered costs and made the whole greater than the sum of the parts? A project is taking shape in Australia that promises to take just such an approach.http://theconversation.com/tomatoes-watered-by-the-sea-sprouting-a-new-way-of-farming-23119
WATCH Quest TV "HOG WILD" In 1924 a hunter purposely released a handful of wild boar in Monterey County. Now the pigs number in the hundreds of thousands and reside in all but two of California's 58 counties. Big, fast, smart and hungry, these animals often out-compete native species and damage fragile native ecosystems. Now hunters are stepping up to be part of the solution. http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/hog-wild/
IMPORTANT WATCH
February 16, 2014 - Secretary of State, John Kerry in Indonesia
-▶ THE BARBARIC ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE FLOURISHES IN SUMATRA AND MUST CEASE . In a chilly rain on Sunday, in a town just a few kilometers beyond the edge of a protected Sumatran rainforest, a young orangutan sat perched on a piece of plywood and grabbed the metal wires of his tiny cage... http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0610-kellogg-aceh-wildlife-trade.html
VIDEO REPORT Al Jazeera English, January 04, 2015 POACHERS NOW TARGETING ENDANGERED GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES FOR THEIR SKULLS, NOT MEAT Yaounde, Cameroon - For years, traffickers fuelled the slaughter of gorillas and chimpanzees in Cameroon's rainforests to meet demand for bush meat - an activity conservationists feared could wipe out the great apes in the wild in a few decades. But now they fear a far worse scenario is taking place. A previously unknown trade in ape heads, bones and limbs - rather than full bodies for meat - is encouraging poachers to kill more animals than previously done, and wildlife law enforcement officials say it is speeding up population decline.http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/01/trafficking-great-ape-body-parts-cameroon-2015148945815121.html
-▶ 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
▶ A DISASTER: LOSS OF TWO THIRDS OF TOP PREDATORS CAUSING GLOBAL ECOSYSTEMS COLLAPSEhttp://sco.lt/7XHisr
Guardian, July 21, 2014 -▶ ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE ALONG THE BURMA-CHINA BORDER -- IN PICTURES.The town of Mong-La in Burma's Shan state, close to the border with China, is at the crossroads of illegal wildlife trade routes that are sucking the forests, jungles and plains of India, Burma, Laos and Thailand dry of their native animals and plants – many of them endangeredhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/21/-sp-endangered-species-on-sale-along-burmachina-border
Soi Dog Foundation Petition: -▶ THAILAND: END THE DOG MEAT TRADE.The trade’s terrified victims, many of them family pets, are crushed into cages and suffer horribly on the prolonged journey to slaughter. They are transported to primitive abattoirs that should be called torture chambers.https://savedogs.soidog.org/petition
BBC News, July 06, 2014 -▶ CRUEL TRADE IN ASIAN ELEPHANTS THREATENS SURVIVAL.Wild elephants are being held in horrific conditions in Myanmar by smugglers looking to resume a lucrative trade, a report says.It claims the animals, mainly calves, are being brutally treated as they are "tamed" for tourist camps in Thailand.http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28161472
VIDEO - CBC News August 14, 2014 QUEBEC FUR FARM ACCUSED OF ANIMAL CRUELTY Quebec government not doing enough to protect foxes and mink kept in inhumane conditions at fur farm south of Montreal http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/ID/2488575094/
VIDEO IFAW, June 21, 2014 -▶ BINGE WATCH "SEIZED" , GRIPPING 5 EPISODE OF NEW YORK ANIMAL SEIZURE SERIES. The ownership of exotic animals in the United States is a huge and looming issue. REALITY CHECK: : Did you know there are more tigers in captivity in the U.S. than there are living in the whole wild population? Sometimes, the places where some of these animals are kept can fall into disrepair, animals can suffer from neglect, and drastic actions involving law enforcement and trusted, caring partners are required.http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/video-binge-watch-seized-gripping
-▶ DO ANIMALS HAVE EMOTIONS? -▶ Full Episode, PBS Nature Series
"ANIMAL ODD COUPLES: ANIMAL CROSS SPECIES FRIENDSHIPS"
Are animals capable of feeling complex emotions? Recent observations of unexpected cross-species relationships in zoos and animal sanctuaries around the world may provide some answers. Endearing interactions between a cheetah and a retriever, a lion and a coyote, a dog and a deer, a goat and a horse, and even a tortoise and a goose offer captivating glimpses of supportive connections in the animal world. Each interspecies pair challenges the conventional wisdom that humans are the only species capable of feeling compassion and forming long-lasting friendships. Animal behavior experts weigh in with their opinions, and animal caretakers share their personal experiences with cross-species relationships in this compelling tale of unlikely animal couples. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/animal-odd-couples/preview/7958/
VIDEO
TROPHY & CANNED HUNTING:
Lions, Tigers Bred In Captivity For Trophy Slaughter
-▶ ECOCIDE: INDONESIA'S RAPE AND PILLAGE OF IT'S FORESTS AND WILDLIFE------DEFORESTATION SWEEPS ACROSS SOUTHEAST ASIA WITH TERRIBLE LOSS OF WILDLIFE AND BIODIVERSITYhttp://sco.lt/4lJ5ZR
WATCH
FILM: ***"HOME"
An Exquisite Dedication To the Stewards of Our Planet
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”... ALBERT EINSTEIN
-▶ BIODIVERSITY VITAL TO MAINTAIN ECOSYSTEM AND HUMAN HEALTH Over the years ecologists have shown how biological diversity benefits the health of small, natural communities. New analysis by ecologists at UC Santa Cruz demonstrates that even higher levels of biological diversity are necessary to maintain ecosystem health in larger landscapes over long periods of time....http://news.ucsc.edu/2013/06/ecosystem-biodiversity.html
VIDEO 11:35 Peak Prosperity, December 05, 2014 THE ENVIRONMENT: INCREASING WASTE
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.
The Mind Unleashed, May 15, 2014 - ▶ THE EARTH IS A SENTIENT LIVING ORGANISM. Contrary to the common belief that the Earth is simply a dense planet whose only function is a resource for its inhabitants, our planet is in fact a breathing, living organism. When we think of the Earth holistically, as one living entity of its own, instead of the sum of its parts, it takes on a new meaning. Our planet functions as a single organism that maintains conditions necessary for its survival.http://themindunleashed.org/2014/05/earth-sentient-living-organism.html
IMPORTANT WATCH "A THOUSAND INVISIBLE CORDS" (56 min)
The Community of Genes in Ecosystems
The Greater the Biodiversity in the Ecosystem, The Greater Resilience of an ecological community and for adaption. Everything is Interconnected and interdependent. Myopic genetic engineering destroys these connections and breaks the link of naturally evolving organisms “A Thousand Invisible Cords: Connecting Genes to Ecosystems” is a 56-minute eco-documentary that can change how we view the world. Community genetics. No longer will we see species as isolated members of ecosystems but as genetically connected members of a rich interacting community. In the words of the 19th century naturalist, writer, and environmental activist John Muir: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken to everything in the universe.” http://vimeo.com/40615050
-▶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
Biodiversity International - INFOGRAPH AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY IS KEY FOR RESILIENT FAMILY FARMS.Did you know that there are over 500 million family farms around the world and that 80% of all farms in Africa are small farms? When peoples' livelihoods directly depend on their small farm or home garden, pests, climate change and other variables can have a life-changing impact. Agricultural and tree biodiversity play an essential role in achieving a more nutritious, productive and adaptable food and agricultural system. Learn more in this Biodiversity International infographichttp://visual.ly/agricultural-biodiversity-key-resilient-family-farms
▶ **** IN COSTA RICA, FARMERS START TO SEE VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY(As It Used to Be Before Man Decided He Knew Better)
In Costa Rica, birds, bats and bees serve vital roles in controlling pests and pollinating crops. Now, researchers are measuring the contributions of these critters to encourage farmers to move away from the single-crop model and toward biodiversityhttp://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/06/food-for-9-billion-costa-rica.html
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/
PHOTO: Father of five Joseph Kilimo Chebet stands next to the burned remains of his homestead, destroyed only hours prior by Kenya Forest Service officers.
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The Guardian environment, July 03, 2014
WORLD BANK, UN REDD COMPLICIT IN GENOCIDAL LAND GRABS
UN's REDD scheme promises carbon offsetting will empower local communities in the developing world while conserving forests - but critics say the scheme is fuelling genocidal evictions of indigenous people from their lands. Between 2000 and 2010, a total of 500 million acres of land in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean was acquired or negotiated under deals brokered on behalf of foreign governments or transnational corporations.
Many such deals are geared toward growing crops or biofuels for export to richer, developed countries – with the consequence that small-holder farmers are displaced from their land and lose their livelihood while local communities go hungry. The concentration of ownership of the world's farmland in the hands of powerful investors and corporations is rapidly accelerating, driven by resource scarcity and, thus, rising prices. According to a new report by the US land rights organisation Grain: "The powerful demands of food and energy industries are shifting farmland and water away from direct local food production to the production of commodities for industrial processing." Less known factors, however, include 'conservation' and 'carbon offsetting.' http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/jul/03/world-bank-un-redd-genocide-land-carbon-grab-sengwer-kenya
INVESTIGATION Center for Public Integrity, April 16 2015 HOW THE WORLD BANK BREAKS ITS PROMISE TO PROTECT THE POOR Since 2004 an estimated 3,350,449 people were forced from their homes, deprived of their land or had their livelihoods damaged because they lived in the path of a World Bank project http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/04/16/17147/how-world-bank-breaks-its-promise-protect-poor
The Ecologist, December 07, 2014 ▶ KENYA: A FOREST PEOPLE ILLEGALLY EVICTED, BEATEN IMPRISONED: PAID FOR BY THE WORLD BANK. Financed by the World Bank, the Kenya Forest Service has intensified its illegal campaign of evictions, arson, beatings and arrests of the Sengwer forest people of the Embobut forest. And behind the violence lies the lure of hard cash - from the prospect of selling the forest's carbon to international financiershttp://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2664793/kenya_a_forest_people_illegally_evicted_beaten_imprisoned_paid_for_by_the_world_bank.html
Oakland Institute, July 28, 2014 -▶ THE WORLD BANK, THE IMF, US AID OPEN UP UKRAINE TO WESTERN INTERESTS. A new report from the Oakland Institute, Walking on the West Side: the World Bank and the IMF in the Ukraine Conflict, exposes how the international financial institutions swooped in on the heels of the political upheaval and are vying to deregulate and throw open Ukraine’s vast agricultural sector to foreign investors, in return for aid
Inter Press Service, March 21, 2014 -▶ WORLD BANK CLEAR $73 BILLION DOLLAR GRANT FOR CONTROVERSIAL MEGA-DAM IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)As currently envisioned, the Inga III dam would be the first in a series of hydroelectric installations along the Congo River, collectively referred to as the Grand Inga project. This would include a single 145-metre dam, which would flood an area known as the BundiValley, home to around 30,000 people... “The project is being presented as if it will help the population...but these big mega-dam projects end up serving mines and related industry at the expense of local communities bein displaced once Inga 3 is fully developed.”http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/03/world-bank-clears-congos-controversial-dam-project/
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/
A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security."~ Albert Einstein
University of Wisconsin-Madison, January 15, 2015 -▶ HUMANITY HAS EXCEEDED 4 of 9 'PLANETARY BOUNDARIES,' ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS. An international team of researchers says climate change, the loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, and altered biogeochemical cycles like phosphorus and nitrogen runoff have all passed beyond levels that put humanity in a “safe operating space.”http://www.news.wisc.edu/23409
IC Magazine, December 09, 2014 -▶ ARIZONA DEFENDERS FACE IMMINENT LAND GRAB OF SACRED LANDS BY FOREIGN MINING COMPANIES.Congress is set to approve the giveaway of 2,400 acres of National Forest lands, including the burial, ceremonial and medicinal lands of the San Carlos Apaches, to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of British-Australian Rio Tinto Mining Corp., a company with a long history of environmental and human rights abuses in developing countries.https://intercontinentalcry.org/arizona-defenders-face-imminent-land-grab-26496/
-▶ BUDDHIST ECONOMICS: HOW TO STOP PRIORITIZING GOODS OVER PEOPLE AND CONSUMPTION OVER CREATIVE ACTIVITY: "Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered" — a magnificent collection of essays at the intersection of economics, ethics, and environmental awareness http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/07/07/buddhist-economics-schumacher/
SHORT TED VIDEO 3:34 FRANS LANTING: PHOTOS THAT GIVE VOICE TO THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. Nature photographer Frans Lanting uses vibrant images to take us deep into the animal world. In this short, visual talk he calls for us to reconnect with other earthly creatures, and to shed the metaphorical skins that separate us from each otherhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F8-jp_6Uqg
"Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that a greater intellectual knowledge of the impact of our destructive behaviour, or of nature's wonders, will not create the change that is necessary and that only a deeper connection to our hearts and a personal insight into the inter-being of everything in the universe, can offer hope to humanity."
WATCH - New Documentary "AMERICA'S SECRET WAR ON WILDLIFE"
In FY 2010, Wildlife Services admitted it killed 5 million animals (but its numbers are suspect. In 2010, it belatedly claimed to have poisoned 4 million starlings, black birds, and others in 2009), including 112,781 mammalian carnivores such as coyotes, wolves, bobcats, cougars, badgers and bears.... http://www.predatordefense.org/exposed/
-▶ BETWEEN 2004 AND 2011 U.S. WILDLIFE SERVICE KILLED OVER 26 MILLION ANIMALS. Every year literally hundreds of thousands of our nation's most majestic animals - including wolves, coyotes, grizzly bears and mountain lions- are poisoned, trapped and gunned down by the US government. Few taxpayers realize that we help fund an agency called "Wildlife Services', a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that wages a dirty war on America's wildlife. Between 2004 and 2011, Wildlife Services killed over 26 million animals purportedly to “protect” agribusiness or “bolster” hunting opportunities – a contention based on unsupported myths. The agency spends over $100 million each year on wildlife-killing actions...http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=priorities_wildlife_war_wildlife
-▶ THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE HAS ISSUED A PERMIT TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO KILL OVER 90 SPECIES OF BIRDSwithin New York State this year, ANIMAL has learned. The birds slated for killing include owls, herons, hawks, and woodpeckers, in addition to the slaughter of Canada geese that has been widely publicized...http://focusingonwildlife.com/news/dozens-of-bird-species-could-be-slaughtered-in-new-york/
Portland Press Herald, June 14, 2014 -▶ STATE REDUCES NUMBER OF MOOSE HUNTING PERMITS FOR HUNTING LOTTERY DUE TO DECIMATION OF HERDS FALLING PREY TO WINTER TICKS. This spring, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife reduced the number of moose permits for the 2014 fall hunt by nearly 25 percent – from 4,085, the number set in March, to 3,095, the fewest issued since 2009. http://www.pressherald.com/2014/06/14/winter-ticks-raise-concerns-about-future-of-maines-moose-herd/
==========================
Albuquerque Journal News, January 30, 2015 ▶ THE SHAME OF WILDLIFE KILLING CONTESTS MARS HUMANKIND. Perhaps you’ve never heard of wildlife-killing contests. They are organized events in which participants compete for prizes for killing the most animals. Prizes are also often awarded for shooting the largest, as well as the smallest – and youngest – animalshttp://www.abqjournal.com/533855/north/the-shame-of-killing-contests-mars-humankind.html
Summit Voice, December 19, 2014 ▶ TIME TO END BARBARIC WILDLIFE KILLING CONTESTS Wildlife-killing contests are organized events in which participants compete for prizes by attempting to kill the most animals over a certain time period. Coyotes are the most common target, but other targeted species include bobcats, badgers, foxes, skunks and prairie dogs.http://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/12/19/is-it-time-to-end-barbaric-wildlife-killing-contests/
INCREDIBLE PHOTO
Peaceful Co-Existence
▶ 2-DAY SLAUGHTER WITH PRIZES AND RECOGNITION TEACHES KIDS TO KILL USING WILDLIFE AS TARGETS Idaho coyotes and wolves will die in an unconscionable holiday killing contest. Following a 2-day slaughter, prizes and recognition will be bestowed upon contestants, including children as young as 10, for killing the most female coyotes and the largest wolf...http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/567808/ea2d7a99cf/1557503015/4e6cdd2cba/
Focusing On Wildlife, February 25, 2014 ▶ STOP WILDLIFE KILLING CONTESTS IN CALIFORNIA.
“ “This is obviously not about sport or fair-chase. Wildlife killing contests are conducted for profit, entertainment, prizes and, simply, for the ‘fun’ of killing. Such contests perpetuate a culture of violence and send the message to children that life has little value and that an entire species of animals is disposable.” http://focusingonwildlife.com/news/stop-wildlife-killing-contests-in-california/
IN 40 YEARS WE HAVE DISAPPEARED HALF OF THE WORLD'S WILD ANIMALS http://sco.lt/8fK5eT
===========================
NEW YORK STATE'S WAR ON WILDLIFE
==========================
July 30, 2013 Focusing on Wildlife
-▶ THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE HAS ISSUED A PERMIT TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO KILL OVER 90 SPECIES OF BIRDSwithin New York State this year, ANIMAL has learned. The birds slated for killing include owls, herons, hawks, and woodpeckers, in addition to the slaughter of Canada geese that has been widely publicized...http://focusingonwildlife.com/news/dozens-of-bird-species-could-be-slaughtered-in-new-york/
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.
An Award Winning Documentary by Patrick Rouxel on the Indonesian rainforest, deforestation and orangutan extinction.
▶ Her name is GREEN, she is alone in a world that doesn’t belong to her. She is a female orangutan, victim of deforestation and resource exploitation. This film is an emotional journey with GREEN’s final days. With no narration, it is a visual ride presenting the devastating impacts of logging and land clearing for palm oil plantations, the choking haze created by rainforest fires and the tragic end of rainforest biodiversity. We watch the effects of consumerism and are faced with our personal accountability in the loss of the world’s rainforest treasures. 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
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”... ALBERT EINSTEIN
The Independent, November 10, 2014
-▶ HUMANS ARE TURNING THE EARTH INTO A 'LONELY AND VERY DANGEROUS PLANET' ECOLOGIST WARNS
HuffPost Green, March 05, 2015 -▶ THIS IS WHAT HUMANITY'S IMPACT ON THE PLANET LOOKS LIKE. A new photo book from conservation experts aims to shine a light on humanity's impact on the planet and convince people to think about their contribution. Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot includes photos and essays exploring man's complicated relationship with the planet.
IN 40 YEARS WE HAVE DISAPPEARED HALF OF THE WORLD'S WILD ANIMALS http://sco.lt/8fK5eT
A GREAT WATCH
"EARTH - A NEW WILD"
Four-Part Series - PBS Nature Humans Are Part of Nature, Not Separate From It. 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/
True environmentalism is not about making our rapacious and destructive industrialism a little more sustainable, writes Derrick Jensen, but transforming humankind's relationship with Earth and the life she sustains - for us to take our true place within, and as part of, the living biosphere... http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2751996/reclaim_environmentalism.html
"We cannot continue to place our environment in danger. As long as we continue to put corporate profits ahead of the health and well-being of people and the environment, we have learned nothing."..Karen Graham, Digital Journal
University of Wisconsin-Madison, January 15, 2015 -▶ HUMANITY HAS EXCEEDED 4 of 9 'PLANETARY BOUNDARIES,' ACCORDING TO RESEARCHERS. An international team of researchers says climate change, the loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, and altered biogeochemical cycles like phosphorus and nitrogen runoff have all passed beyond levels that put humanity in a “safe operating space.”http://www.news.wisc.edu/23409
HuffPost Green, March 05, 2015 -▶ THIS IS WHAT HUMANITY'S IMPACT ON THE PLANET LOOKS LIKE. A new photo book from conservation experts aims to shine a light on humanity's impact on the planet and convince people to think about their contribution. Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot includes photos and essays exploring man's complicated relationship with the planet.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/05/human-impact-on-planet-photos_n_6784080.html
Mother Jones, January 16, 2016 -▶ WE'RE DESTROYING THE PLANET IN WAYS THAT ARE EVEN WORSE THAN GLOBAL WARMING.Humans are "eating away at our own life support systems" at a rate unseen in the past 10,000 years by degrading land and freshwater systems, emitting greenhouse gases and releasing vast amounts of agricultural chemicals into the environment, new research has found.http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/01/humans-destorying-planet-earth
TakePart, March 02, 2015 -▶ THE FORCE BEHIND SHRINKING SALMON, KILLER MICE, AND SILENT SONGBIRDS. Well-documented shifts in animal traits in response to urbanization: Pacific salmon in rivers are getting smaller, for instance, and some songbirds are changing their mating songs to find each other amid a city’s noise. That could mean that animals like endangered Southern Resident killer whales that depend on salmon for food will have to hunt harder and longer to get the same amount of calories, hurting their chances for survival.http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/03/02/urbanization-speeding-evolution-ecosystem-services-risks
RECLAIM ENVIRONMENTALISM
The Ecologist, February 13, 2015
True environmentalism is not about making our rapacious and destructive industrialism a little more sustainable, writes Derrick Jensen, but transforming humankind's relationship with Earth and the life she sustains - for us to take our true place within, and as part of, the living biosphere... http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2751996/reclaim_environmentalism.html
-▶ HEALING THE EARTH: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND CLIMATE CHANGE http://sco.lt/9HQq37
▶ AT THE LIMITS OF THE MARKET: WHY CAPITALISM HASN'T AND CAN'T SOLVE CLIMATE CHANGEhttp://sco.lt/84Vywz
Guardian Environment, June 07, 2014 ▶ AS FORESTS FALL AND SPECIES VANISH, THERE'S ONE OTHER LOSS: A WORLD OF LANGUAGE: A new report shows a direct link between disappearing habitats and the loss of languages. One in four of the world's 7,000 spoken tongues is now at risk of falling silent for ever as the threat to cultural biodiversity growshttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/08/why-we-are-losing-a-world-of-languages
-▶ BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABILITY ARE CLOSELY LINKED TO SURVIVAL OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE.An unprecedented study published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Loss of global biological and cultural diversity paints a dire picture of the state and future of our species. The world’s animal and plant species are disappearing 1,000 times faster than ever in recorded history. Some areas of the world have lost 60 percent of their languages since the mid-1970’s, and 90 percent of the world’s languages are expected to vanish by the year 2099. Life, in general, has suffered horribly from the runaway spread of European values and the notions of progress that began with the Industrial Revolution. A sharp bit of mathematics finally brings forth the maps that expose the poverty of the world’s major carbon emitters and the wealth that remains in those parts of the world where the indigenous are making their final stand....http://newsjunkiepost.com/2012/10/11/biodiversity-and-sustainability-are-closely-linked-to-language-and-culture/
Winner of the Grand Festival Award for Documentary
at the 23rd Annual Berkeley Video and Film Festival 2014
"Language Matters" asks what we lose when languages die and how we can save them. It was filmed around the world: on a remote island off the coast of Australia, where 400 Aboriginal people speak 10 different languages, all at risk; in Wales, where Welsh, once in danger, is today making a comeback; and in Hawaii, where a group of Hawaiian activists is fighting to save the native tongue. http://video.pbs.org/video/2365391566/
WEBSITE "Language Matters" with Bob Holman
What do we lose when a language dies? What does it take to save a language? There are over 6000 languages in the whole world. We lose one every two weeks. Hundreds will be lost within the next generation. By the end of this century, half of the world’s languages will have vanished.
Intercontinental Cry Magazine, April 19, 2014 RESISTING 'THE FOREIGN TENTACLE' The story of the last of the Kuna people, and their struggle to maintain its culture in a quickly developing country.http://intercontinentalcry.org/resisting-foreign-tentacle/
Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the U.S. , October 14, -▶ 2014 VENEZUELA TO CREATE INSTITUTE FOR INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced Monday the creation of the Institute for Indigenous Languages in order to rescue the culture of native peoples.http://venezuela-us.org/2014/10/14/venezuela-to-create-institute-for-indigenous-languages/
Mongabay, February 11, 2014 ▶ HELPING THE AMAZON'S JAGUAR PEOPLE PROTECT THEIR CULTURE AND TRADITIONAL WISDOM. The process of acculturation transformed once proud cultures into fragmented remnants, their self-sufficiency and social cohesion stripped away, left to struggle in a new world marked by poverty and external dependence. ... Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0211-matses-fleck-interview.html
-▶ THE VANISHING CULTURES PROJECT:The Vanishing Cultures Project is devoted to assisting indigenous, traditional groups preserve their culture by documenting their lifestyle through photography and research, assisting local preservation initiatives, and educating the public
In this era of rapid change, indigenous communities with rich cultural heritages urgently need the world’s attention. Anthropologists estimate that every two weeks a tribal elder dies with the last remaining knowledge of his or her people’s language, and along with them dies many other living expressions—the crafts, skills, beliefs, lore—of a unique heritage...http://www.vcproject.org
HuffPost Arts and Culture, February 18, 2015 ▶PHOTOS OF MONGOLIA'S DESERTIFICATION REVEAL SHOCKING EFFECTS OF CHANGING CLIMATE. To this day, at least 25% of Mongolia's population lives a nomadic life, and in doing so, they remain fiercely dependent on open land for survival. However, due to the fluctuation in climate in recent years, changes to the landscape have rendered this lifestyle difficult, if not impossible, to maintain. Over the course of the past 30 years, approximately a quarter of the country has turned to desert, with around 850 lakes and 2,000 rivers having dried out. If this pattern persists, the Mongolian tradition that's existed for thousands of years will become extinct.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/10/daesung-lee_n_6648868.html
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), November 2014 Non-Carbon Benefits in REDD+
▶NON-CARBON BENEFITS ARE CRITICAL FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES CONTINUED SURVIVAL AND FUTURE GENERATIONS, as their identities, livelihoods and cultural heritage are historically rooted in their forests that are part of their traditional territories. It is therefore necessary and imperative to ensure the recognition of indigenous peoples’ collective rights to their forest, land and resources as part of the human rights framework in approaches to Non-Carbon Benefits as well as to the overall design and implementation of REDD+. Likewise, incentivizing Non-Carbon Benefits should take into account the historical role of indigenous peoples and, in particular, indigenous women in forest protection and conservation with a view of providing for their needs and priorities for their overall wellbeing.http://www.iwgia.org/publications/search-pubs?publication_id=700
VIDEOS BETWEEN THE FOREST AND THE SEA
Mongabay
3-PART SERIES
The island-dwelling Guna people of Panama are one of the most sovereign indigenous communities in the world, being endowed with extensive land tenure and self-governance rights. And like many of the world’s traditional cultures, they have a tiny carbon footprint...
VIDEO
THE YARSUISUIT PART II
Thanks in part to their exceptional sovereignty and land tenure, the Guna have preserved their primary forests for hundreds of years through their cooperative use of the land and their cultural and spiritual traditions rooted in conservation. http://news.mongabay.com/2014/1031-sri-guerra-yarsuisuit-video.html
▶ NICARAGUA'S MAYAGNA PEOPLE AND THEIR RAINFOREST COULD VANISH – More than 30,000 members of the Mayagna indigenous community are in danger of disappearing, along with the rainforest which is their home in Nicaragua, if the state fails to take immediate action to curb the destruction of the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve, the largest forest reserve in Central America and the third-largest in the world. http://intercontinentalcry.org/nicaraguas-mayagna-people-rainforest-vanish-24439/
Guardian, December 30, 2014, John Vidal ▶ 'PEOPLE IN THE WEST LIVE SQUEEZED TOGETHER, FRENZIED AS WASPS IN THE NEST'An indigenous Yanomami leader and shaman from Brazil shares his views on wealth, the environment and politics
Earthblog, August 04, 2014 -▶ NEW SCIENCE SUGGESTS MORE LAND-BASED ECOSYSTEMS LOST THAN BIOSPHERE CAN BEARAn important scientific journal article published today finds that 66% of Earth’s land area must be maintained as natural and agro-ecological ecosystems to sustain a livable environment. Yet about 50% have already been lost, threatening global biosphere collapse http://www.ecointernet.org/2014/08/04/biosphere_collapse/
THE NEW CORPORATE COLONIALISM.
DESTRUCTION OF PLANETARY LIFE, INDIGENOUS LAND AND LIVELIHOODS IN THE NAME OF "GROWTH" http://sco.lt/5nT3OT
▶ BOLIVIA GIVES LEGAL RIGHT TO THE EARTH. Law of Mother Earth sees Bolivia pilot new social and economic model based on protection of and respect for nature. Bolivia is to become the first country in the world to give nature comprehensive legal rights in an effort to halt climate change and the exploitation of the natural world, and to improve quality of life for the Bolivian people. http://sco.lt/9EV0jZ
Mongabay, August 11, 2014 ▶ INDONESIA'S CHILDREN SEE RAVAGED ENVIRONMENT IN THEIR FUTURE. A generation ago, Borneo was one of the wildest places on the planet, a stronghold for species like orangutan, pygmy elephants, Sumatran rhinos, and clouded leopards among tens-of-thousands of other. But decades of logging and oil palm plantations has changed the landscape of Borneo forever: in fact a recent study found that the island has lost 73 percent of its intact lowland forest and 30 percent of its total forest cover since 1973. In the face of this large-scale environmental destruction, a new study in PLOS ONE finds that Indonesian Borneo's children have a pessimistic view of their future, predicting rising temperatures, wildlife declines, and continued destruction of the island's great rainforests.http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0811-hance-kalimantan-children.html
Mongabay, May 14, 2014 ▶ NEW REPORT REVEALS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY CORPORATIONS, GOVERNMENTS IN THE AMAZON. The report took over six months to complete and gives an in-depth account of the conflicts activists and indigenous peoples (IPs) are having with corporations and governmental agencies. It relays a situation that does not look good. The report details everything from physical attacks to “systematic pressure” by corporations and governments. According to the report, conflicts over land and territories have reached a ten-year peak in Brazil. In Peru, social conflicts have tripled since 2008, with two-thirds of the reported cases defined as “socioenvironmental” conflicts.http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0514-dulaney-regnskogfondet.html
-▶ WEST PAPUA : 226 THOUSAND HECTARES OF VIRGIN FORESTS TO BE RAZED FOR CORPORATE PALM OIL, DESTROYING ALL LIFE AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIEShttp://sco.lt/67I9ZJ
▶ AMAZON RAINFORESTS: DEFORESTATION, MINING RISES AGAIN IN BRAZIL'S AMAZON IMPACTING ECOSYSTEMS, CLIMATE, DEVASTATING INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIEShttp://sco.lt/9FG1Lt
-▶ 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
▶ LAND GRABS: HOW FOREIGN "INVESTMENTS" ARE REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH, LAND AND WATER ACROSS THE GLOBEhttp://sco.lt/5YJpKb
farmlandgrab.org, May 07, 2014 -▶ WHEN OUR LAND IS FREE, WE'RE ALL FREE.Communities are resisting this corporate takeover of their land and they are winning. All over Africa people are sending a clear message to their governments; stop selling Africa to corporations. The Jogbahn Clan in Liberia is one such community and here is their story.http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/23469
-▶ SHELL OIL WRECKS NIGERIA'S OGONILAND WITH OIL SPILLS...AND GET'S AWAY WITH IT: http://sco.lt/4vZqvB
Reuters: August 29, 2013
-▶ COLUMBIA DISPLACEMENT:Thousands die and tens of thousands are displaced every year by a conflict that started in the mid-1960s as a Marxist-inspired uprising about inequality, land redistribution and poverty. It has gradually turned into a seemingly interminable war that has disrupted life in rural villages and remote indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, creating urban slums. http://www.trust.org/spotlight/Colombia-displacement/?tab=background
- ▶ NO TO BIODIVERSITY OFFSETTING: CONSERVING OUR BIODIVERSITY IS BECOMING DEPENDENT ON IT'S DESTRUCTIONhttp://sco.lt/6ZjXGr
-▶ OUR INDUSTRIAL, WESTERN AGRICULTURAL FOOD SYSTEM IS DESTROYING THE EARTH, OUR CULTURES AND OUR HEALTHhttp://sco.lt/686Qi1
▶ KEEPING NATURE IN OUR FUTURE: HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS ESSENTIAL FOR PLANETARY SURVIVALhttp://sco.lt/99SfhJ
-▶ ECO-SPIRITUALITY: TOWARDS A VALUES-BASED ECONOMIC STRUCTUREhttp://sco.lt/7tcgQj
WATCH "INSIDE THE GARBAGE OF THE WORLD" (80 min) We're living on a beautiful planet and as a human race we've been here for thousands of years. Our planet didn't need to be protected; life was flourishing on its own, with its own agenda. However for the past 100 years we've made a tremendous impact with our footprint due to the growth of world population and the industrialization of our everyday life. Economy, profit and capitalization became more important than respecting our planet and an ancient knowledge to advance a new way of life. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/inside-garbage-world/
In this scoop i noticed many key points including, acculturation, placelessness, loss of language, and groups of indigenous people. We can see the acculturation since through the years languages, animal species and traditions have started disappearing 1000 times faster.Soon 90% of all languages will be gone. This will lead to loss of uniqueness and inevitably placelessness among the world. The reason why languages are being lost is because these indigenous people want to take the opportunity to get a higher level education and end up leaving their homes. Also they could be out on reserves and are confined to a certain area with many restrictions. If we continue this pattern we will lose the diverse groups in the world.
This scoop explains the rate at which the worlds languages are disappearing and how many languages have been lost. It compares the languages of the world to endangered species, being found in less and less areas.