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Tribute to a Slain Environment Activist
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on March 15th, 2016
Inter Press Service: Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores, was in her early 20s when she co-founded the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (Cophin), a group that campaigned for the rights of indigenous communities in the South American nation.
Influenced by a mother, who took in fleeing El Salvadorian refugees, Cáceres was fully committed to her cause. She told friends and colleagues that her struggle was against ‘deadly powers’ that put profit before the rights of her people. In the last two decades,...
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Sri Lanka: Changing Weather, Changing Fortunes
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on March 12th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Sri Lanka has paused for breath after the extreme weather conditions last year that many associate with climate change.
The reservoirs had hit new lows after a dry spell. That has now changed. "Thank god the weather has helped, all the reservoirs are at spill level," finance secretary P. B. Jayasundera announced last month. "It is a kind of a bonus."
During the first ten months of the year, regions ranging from the north through the east to the south and south-west suffered a serious drought....
Sri Lanka: Rural Water Projects Depend on Women
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on January 17th, 2013
Inter Press Service: During the dry season, when dirt roads are cracked from the relentless heat, the sight of women walking miles, balancing pots of water on their heads, is common in rural Sri Lanka.
While the men tend to paddy fields, the women are left with the arduous task of collecting water for household use. They account for every drop of water consumed, utilised or wasted -- making them crucial players in rural water projects.
Talpothta is a typical agricultural village in Sri Lanka's dry zone, whose life...
Between Drought and Floods – A Year of Extremes in Sri Lanka
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on December 30th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Wild elephants are usually the primary attraction in the remote shrub jungles of Udawalawe, about 180 kilometres southeast of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. But this Christmas season, the massive Udawalawe dam stole the limelight from the lumbering beasts.
By the end of December, heavy rains had brought water levels in the Udawalawe reservoir close to spilling point, forcing irrigation engineers to open the sluice gates.
Despite these efforts, the massive tank continued to spill over, creating...
New Plans to Protect Nature
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on September 18th, 2012
Inter Press Service: At the close of the ten-day World Conservation Congress that ran from Sept. 6-15 on the South Korean island of Jeju, members of the convening International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) agreed on an ambitious four-year action plan for protecting global natural resources.
Taking the form of a 24-page document, the four-year programme focuses on the two main themes that dominated discussions among 10,000 participants at Jeju last week - that natural resources are stretched dangerously...
Companies Calculate Their Debt to Planet Earth
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on September 17th, 2012
Inter Press Service: As ravenous consumers of natural resources, companies are beginning to recognise that they owe a monetary debt to the planet, and are sharpening their pencils to calculate it.
In 2004, when the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) held its four-yearly World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, there were only two major business leaders attending it, recalled Peter Bakker, the current president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
"In 2008,...
Saving the Top 100 Threatened Species – a Question of Valuing Life
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on September 15th, 2012
Inter Press Service: The Red River Giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) is the stuff of legend in Vietnam. The fabled turtle in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake is popularly known by the name Kim Qui or Golden Turtle God, and it made its first historical appearance in 250 BC.
Today this species could indeed use some divine intervention. Experts at the World Conservation Congress here in South Korea`s southern resort island of Jeju warned that there are only four specimens of the famous turtle known to be alive. And only...
Getting Into the Business of Environment
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on September 8th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Regulations that stand in the way of conservation programmes lower their likely success, experts warned at the World Conservation Congress of the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Jeju, South Korea.
They say there is mounting evidence to show that with participation of communities, businesses and other groups, conservation efforts have shown better results.
"Generally we find that protection efforts are more effective if they involve participation by different stakeholders,"...
As Temperatures Rise in Sri Lanka, Drought Wreaks Havoc
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on August 29th, 2012
Inter Press Service: - It is a time of extreme heat and anxiety in Sri Lanka. Even the rains last week felt like a sudden burst of cold water on the smouldering asbestos sheets on most Sri Lankan household roofs, creating a blast of cold air before the heat returns once the rains end.
In some regions, like the north-central Pollonaruwa District, temperatures have been hitting highs in the region of 35 Celsius at uncomfortably regular intervals between July and mid-August.
"Temperatures have been rising for some...
When the rains don’t fall
Posted by Inter Press Service: Amantha Perera on July 22nd, 2012
Inter Press Service: For many Sri Lankans, the effects of climate change can be summed up in one word: rainfall.
"The biggest impact (of climate change) is rainfall or the lack of it," W L Sumathipala, one of Sri Lanka's foremost experts in changing climate patterns, told IPS on a scorching hot and humid day in Colombo.
"The availability of water can effect multiple things in Sri Lanka from crops to power generation to the currency," Sumathipala, who formerly headed the climate change unit at the Ministry of...