The world is getting warmer and natural hazards are becoming more intense, likely bringing higher economic losses in the future. Today, four major weather perils result in expected economic losses of USD 200 billion annually. With more severe weather coming, economic losses are set to rise. The study analysis finds …
There seems to be no reprieve from a natural disasters this year. The latest culprit is the Typhoon Babs, which caused havoc in the Philippines leaving behind at least 124 dead and forcing thousands to flee their homes. President Joseph Estrada declared three provinces on the southern tip of Luzon …
The Philippine government is compelled to take major steps to ease poverty and unemployment in the drought-stricken Southeast Asian region. The farm sector, which analysts say has been neglected by administrators in the past, is reeling under drought conditions propelled by the El Nino phenomenon and is desperately in need …
The department of health imposed a ban on gathering and sale of shellfish in Bulacan after it found a stretch of the Manila Bay along the province to be infested with red tide organisms. Seawater samples showed a considerably low density of red tide organisms in waters off Bulacan, but …
The giant staghorn fern, one of the endangered plants in the Philippines can now be saved from extinction. Professors at the Central Mindanao University ( cmu ) in Musuan, Bukidnon, have developed a technique that can help save endangered species. The giant staghorn fern ( Platycerium grande ), endemic in …
UNUSUAL stoves that make use of rice hull as fuel have been designed by some entrepreneurs in the Philippines. With rising costs of fossil fuels and firewood disappearing from forests, rice-hull stoves are increasingly becoming popular in the service industries as well as in rural households in the Philippines (Sustainable …
Even as dolphin parks are going out of vogue in the West, they are becoming a craze in South-east Asian countries, much to the dismay of conservationists. These countries are keen on boosting tourism revenues by setting up oceanariums featuring captive marine mammals such as dolphins. But conservationists say that …
the way humankind has dealt with the environment has undergone numerous changes over the ages. The earliest civilisations revered the personifications of nature. This attitude changed over time and the environment is now used as a resource-base and a dumpyard. This metamorphosis, if one may call it so, has been …
The much vaunted upgradation of the porous water supply system of the Manila metropolitan water and sewerage systems (mwss), suffered a setback due to a lawsuit that pointed out "serious inconsistencies' in one of the bids. According to the giant privatisation plan, two 25-year concessions to operate and upgrade the …
the Ibaloi tribals of northern Philippines are resisting a mega dam yet again. The San Roque multipurpose dam is projected to be one of the biggest in Southeast Asia, having a capacity of 345 mw. The dam, to be built on the lower Agno river at San Roque will destroy …
Environmental contamination and high production cost could now be eliminated with the discovery of a botanical pesticide using Jatropha curcas (tubang-bakod), say scientists from the Central Development Research Institute> based in Baltac, Ilocos Norte, the Philippines. Pesticide from Jatropha can be easily prepared by farmers themselves. The formulated product is …
Developed as an alternative to manual harvesting in small plots, the stripper-gatherer (sg) is a boon to farmers, particularly in Asia. Designed at the International Rice Research Institute in Philippines, it can harvest, thresh and clean about four tonnes of grain a day. Its simple stripper rotor, the teeth of …
Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( apec ) forum have agreed to liberalise global trade in information technology. The apec nations will chalk out a common position on bringing down tariffs on computers, telecommunications equipment and other
DON RICHARDSON on tiny Apo Island, off the southern coast of the Philippines, a sudden squall has chopped a tranquil sea into angry white caps. Though balanced by the outrigger, our small dugout rocks furiously as the waves toss us around. Luckily, Jesus Delmo, president of the Apo Island marine …
On the island of Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles, the local communities declared their entire reef a marine park in the early '80s. Dive shop operators were granted an operating license giving them access to prime dive spots; scuba divers and snorkellers were charged
On her interest in biodiversity: My involvement with biodiversity stems from my concern for the plant and animal species that are being affected by the use of pesticides, and persistent organic compounds in particular. Working with Pesticide Action Network (pan) has made me realise the importance of feeling the pulse …
Three officials of the Marcopper Mining Corporation in the Philippines have been named in a criminal prosecution launched by the Philippine government last month. The officials have been accused of negligence for allowing a copper mill - on the Marindique island - to leak toxic waste into the Boac river …
Tourism is taking its toll of the country's beautiful beaches. Environmentalists are particularly concerned about Boracay, a small islet once famed for its white sandy beach. Over the years, wanton exploitation by the tourism industry has destroyed the pristine ecology of this islet. The blue-green waters around the islet have …
In the wake of the recent ecological disaster caused by the Marcopper Mining Corp, mining companies in the Philippines are bending backwards to convince skeptics that they have adopted green ways of mining. In March, Marcopper was sued for having spilled about three million tonnes of mine waste into a …
