June 2011 Blog Posts (13)

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

 

According to staggering new statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), roughly…

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New model helps unmask crucial social-ecologial feedbacks.

 

Centre researchers have previously argued that current market system drives fisheries to the brink and blocks sustainable fishing.

 

They argue that ecologically-relevant feedbacks are not only missing in the present market system, but are, in fact,…

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Resilience researchers call for new stewardship approach to fisheries trade.

 

Fisheries represent one of the last major wild extractive endeavours undertaken at a global scale. However, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN (FAO), three-quarters of the world's fisheries are already fished maximally or over-exploited.

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New UN book calls for resilience thinking to curb biodiversity loss.

 

Having important consequences for human well-being and security, protecting the earth's biodiversity is so much more than a moral responsibility.



This is the starting point of a new book from Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.



Biodiversity and planetary boundaries

The book,…

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By Imelda V. Abano

 

READ this and weep: A marine scientist from the University of the Philippines has revealed that only 5 percent —equivalent to  just around 1,000 square kilometers—of the country’s total reef area remain in good condition in the face of the wanton destruction of our coral reefs by poachers.

The estimated reef area of the Philippines ranges from 19,000 to 27,000 square kilometers, depending on the territorial boundaries and depth ranges. This makes the…

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By Imelda V Abano

President

Philippine Network of Environmental Journalists

 

Despite widespread perception that the country’s forest cover is diminishing, a forestry expert said that it has, in fact, increased within a period of 10 years, from 1998 to 2008.

Dr. Rodel Lasco, Philippine coordinator of the World Agroforestry Center, indicated that the Philippines’ total forest…

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Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.

 

As people move from rural to urban settings in search of economic opportunities, urban agriculture is becoming an important provider of both food and employment, according to researchers with the Worldwatch Institute. “Urban agriculture is providing food, jobs, and hope in Nairobi, Kampala, Dakar, and…

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With climate change and the decrease in the amount of rainfall in many countries, the need to sustainably conserve wetlands is becoming urgent



A dark snipe, 28-32 centimeters in length with a short, broad-based bill used to be a common sight in Thimphu. The bird which searched for food in marshy land is not more seen here, thanks to development.

A few years back Bhutan had a rich composition of wetlands at various locations. Now only a few remain, but threatened.

In… Continue

As Himalayan tribes in Bhutan are forced to slaughter more yaks and erratic rainfall kill yields, villagers resort to appease local deities

Highlanders living at the base of the snowcapped Himalayan Mountains in Bhutan are witnessing unprecedented change in weather patterns. They have no clue why it is happening and resort to blaming their fate or appeasing the mountain gods and local deities or both.

Every winter, they are losing an increasing number…

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“Africa is already experiencing climate change fallout, since 1970’s records show that rainfall in Africa is becoming less predictable. Impacts on agriculture mean harvests in Zambia are less predictable leading to greater extremes and more difficulty planning for food security,” these are the words of British High Commissioner to Zambia Carolyn…

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The country is in debt to three young men who lost their lives for a national cause. But it is a sad story that their deaths have been downplayed in every sense of the term.

They lost their lives while they were on their way to lower the water level at Thorthormi, the biggest and the most dangerous glacial lake in the Bhutanese Himalayas, which could cause an unimaginable catastrophe if not tamed in advance.

The deaths expose the failings of a system which is unprepared to…

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