RSS Feed
Archive for January 17th, 2013
Ecuadorian tribe gets reprieve from oil intrusion
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2013
Guardian: An indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon has won a reprieve after building up an arsenal of spears, blowpipes, machetes and guns to fend off an expected intrusion by the army and a state-run oil company.
The residents of Sani Isla expressed relief that a confrontation with Petroamazonas did not take place on Monday as anticipated, but said the firm is still trying to secure exploration rights in their area of pristine rainforest.
"We have won a victory in our community. We're united,"...
Posted in 
Horsemeat scandal: watchdog to test all beef products at UK supermarkets
Posted by Guardian: Felicity Lawrence and James Meikle on January 17th, 2013
Guardian: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is preparing to test all beef products being sold in UK supermarkets for the presence of horse and other animals, the Guardian has learned. The watchdog is expected to announce that it will make its own checks on meat shortly, following revelations from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland earlier this week that it had found significant contamination and adulteration of beefburgers with horse and pig in supplies that had been sold not just in Ireland but also in the...
China leads on watershed protection investment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2013
BBC: China is the leading nation in terms of global investment in protecting natural watersheds, an assessment has found.
The report's authors said water insecurity was probably "the single biggest risk to the country's continued economic growth".
Globally, US$8.17bn (£5.07bn) was spent in 2011 on projects to protect areas that provided drinking water and supplies, the assessment reported.
The review was produced by US-based NGO Forest Trends' Ecosystems Marketplace.
"Healthy watershed systems...
Farming project tackles cloud forest deforestation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2013
Guardian: A new technique known as layer farming is giving thousands of poor farmers in the Chinchipe river basin vital training in sustainable farming that could ensure the long-term survival of the pristine cloud forest
United Kingdom: Ministry of Defence has water consumption in its sights
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on January 17th, 2013
BusinessGreen: Contractors working with Ministry of Defence (MOD) facilities will have targets to reduce water consumption written into their contracts as part of an ongoing efficiency drive.
The MOD has committed to a 2016 goal of cutting water consumption seven per cent against 2011 levels across its estate of 260 main Defence establishments, 140 training sites, and 49,000 military homes. Together, these sites use around 17.5 billion litres of water each year.
Now, under the department's Next Generation...
Watershed protection schemes growing, China takes lead – report
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on January 17th, 2013
AlertNet: The number of initiatives that offer compensation for protecting and restoring water-rich ecosystems around the world doubled from 2008 to 2011, with annual investment rising to more than $8 billion, a report said on Thursday.
It counted at least 205 programmes in 2011 that paid individuals and communities in cash or in-kind to revive or preserve water-friendly landscape features, including wetlands, streams and forests that capture, filter and store freshwater.
These schemes generated $8.17...
EU helps MRC to tackle climate change in the Mekong
Posted by Vientiane Times: None Given on January 17th, 2013
Vientiane Times: The European Union (EU) yesterday committed 4.95 million euros (over US$6 million) to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to boost its efforts to respond to the region's climate change challenges.
Representatives of the EU and the MRC signed the funding agreement in Luang Prabang yesterday on the sidelines of the 19th Mekong River Commission Council meeting.
Lao Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Mr Noulin Sinbandhit, who chaired the meeting, representatives from MRC member countries...
Salazar departure leaves ‘green’ posts vacant
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2013
Washington Post: With Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's announcement Wednesday that he intends to resign, the Obama administration finds itself in exactly the same place it was four years ago: looking to fill the three most important environmental posts in the federal government.
The Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration all have openings at the top, while the administration has a limited amount of time to press a second-term environmental...
United Kingdom: Protests spread on Cumbria nuclear waste dump plan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2013
Guardian: Here's more on the growing concern that nuclear waste burial could be considered within the borders of the Lake District national park, following Cumbria Tourism's stand against the prospect earlier this week.
A meeting in Keswick saw all but three of 500 present vote against the idea of pursuing research in Ennerdale and Eskdale, one of the few areas of stable geology in West Cumbria, the home of the Sellafield nuclear complex.
As well as being in the national park, the lonely valley is the...
United Kingdom: Grass-feeding butterflies defy wet summers, survey shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2013
Guardian: The UK's second wettest year on record was disastrous for sun-loving butterflies but at least three grass-feeding species defied the gloom.
Almost twice as many meadow browns were counted in the UK in 2012 compared with the previous year, and the gatekeeper and ringlet also increased, according to the Wider Countryside butterfly survey (WCBS).
What this brown trio lack in charisma they make up for with their tenacious ability to fly on the darkest of summer days. Their caterpillars also thrived...