Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
EUROPE's largest remaining wetlands may yet be saved from devastation. The Global Environment Facility has given a $4.5 million grant to Romania to help it preserve the rare flora and fauna of the Danube delta. The greatest threat to the delta comes from the pollutants and waste accumulated by the …
IN AN attempt to pour oil over troubled waters, the Union ministry of water resources (MWR) has prepared a draft national policy guideline for the allocation of river waters amongst states. The guideline, formulated by the Central Water Commission (CWC), has drawn sharp criticism from state governments. Barring a handful …
RAMAN Sukumar's book on elephants begins with a bull with a headache. We meet Biligiri in the first paragraph: he is an adolescent wild male elephant, "confused, like other sixteen year olds" (sic), with "a dull ache in his temples". He thrashes about in water, and does some pretty strange …
A major land conservation bill lies stalled in the us Congress. The California Desert Protection Bill, described as the biggest land conservation measure in the country in over a decade, is being fought tooth and nail by 5 Republican representatives from California. The Bill seeks to create 74 wilderness areas …
THE government of the state of Hesse in Germany sent shock waves across the nation when it slapped speed limits of 90 kmph on autobahns and 80 kmph on other highways, apparently to lower the emission levels of ozone-depleting gases. The measure seems a bit tough to hang on to: …
"FROM the Nile to the Jordan to the Euphrates, armies have been mobilised and treaties signed over this precious commodity. In recent years, the needs of ever-increasing populations and burgeoning national development have begun to approach and sometimes exceed local hydrologic limits. As shortages become more acute, unilateral plans increasingly …
THE conflict between the US oil industry, which manufactures methanol, and the ethanol producers lobby, has acquired the overtones of a guerrilla war. Charges are flying thick and fast. A recent advertisement in the Washington Post proclaimed: "One ounce of methanol will make you permanently blind." Using ethanol -- an …
Tanzanian farmers need no longer flee to the cities in search of greener pastures. The spectre of mass migration from rural areas has been haunting the nation ever since it was hit by a severe crop failure early this year due to drought in its northern highlands and the late …
The Little Rann of Kutch is under attack from the Gujarat forest department, which is merrily planting a weed that is sucking the area of its juices. The history of the Little Rann tells us that before the '50s, sweet water could be found at a depth of 6 metres. …
The Nepali government has finally admitted that the state-run Himal cement factory in Kathmandu is a major polluter. The factory will now be fitted with pulse jet filters and filter bags to trap the huge quantities of dust that it emits, according to a Panos report. Once this equipment is …
Fish wars are brewing all over the globe. The year began with French fisherfolk protesting violently against cheap imports from the US, Russia and eastern Europe. The French government pulled out all the stops to pacify the fisherfolk, who had given vent to their frustration by burning down the country's …
FRUIT and vegetable farmers in California, USA, are experiencing one of the driest seasons of the century, not because of paltry rains but due to a shortsighted official policy. A new ruling has reined back billions of gallons of water in rivers and streams to protect the dwindling supply of …
Since the '70s, the Israelis have enjoyed international recognition for using well-managed modern technologies to get the Negev desert and other arid parts of their young country to bloom. Perhaps impressed by the grass being greener on that side of the world, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the chief minister of Rajasthan, …
SOUTH Africa's president-elect Nelson Mandela shocked environmentalists in the West when he told a Time correspondent: "My health is good ... One of these days I am going to take a gun and go and shoot, but don't tell the environmentalists!" The remark by the leader of the African National …
THE countdown has begun for the adoption, in June, of the UN's International Convention to Combat Desertification. However, global efforts to arrive at a consensus on the issue are proving almost as tortuous as the problem that the convention seeks to address. The recently-held 4th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating …
THE Bellanwila-Attitdiaya marsh, near Colombo in Sri Lanka, is in deep trouble, reports Mallika Wanigasundara. Despite being declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1990, its survival is threatened by the dumping of wastes, water pollution caused by the discharge of industrial effluents from nearby factories, and the reckless exploitation of its …
PAMPERED residents of metropolitan cities have so far paid only nominal charges for the water piped to their homes. However, this largesse is being partially corrected in Madras where the Madras Water Supply and Sewerage Board, commonly called Metrowater, has tripled the water charges with effect from April 1. The …
JAPAN has commissioned the Monju fast-breeder reactor, heedless of severe criticism from Western anti-nuclear proliferation groups. The plant is a $6 billion prototype of a chain of reactors that Japan hopes will help meet its future energy demands. Environmentalists say that the new reactor breeds plutonium, a toxic material that …
DELEGATES to the recent international ministerial conference on drinking water and environmental sanitation, held in Noordwijk, Netherlands, on March 22-23, adroitly sidestepped any commitment to deadlines, funding or even a well thought out action plan. Most of the target dates, set in brackets in earlier drafts, did not even come …
