White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer on May 9 (Washington Post): 
"President Bush would NOT urge Americans to conserve. That's a big no. The president believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy-makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a BLESSED one." In this spirit we are posting below what the new President's Conservation Diary must have looked like in May, based on real events.

"May 10:  Warm Today. Canceled a 2004 deadline for automakers to develop prototype fuel efficient cars that would get up to 80 miles per gallon.
May 11: What a sunny day. Instituted a two-year moratorium on expanding all national parks and monuments.  Explained to House Speaker who is upset coz he wants the federal government to buy former President Ronald Reagan's childhood home in Dixon, Ill.. 
May 12: Warmer still. Block Clinton's Road Ban in U.S. Forests. Open logging, road construction and other activities on 58.5 million acres of federal forests.
May 22: Torrential Rain. Nominated MONSANTO Executive for the second-ranking job at the Environmental Protection Agency.
May 24: Very warm. 59% Californians favour Nuclear Plants a Poll Says. We're on a roll.
May 25: Still no clouds. Oops, there goes a Senator. He was from Vermont, dad saiz they use maple syrup, no oil there you see"

Happy World Environment Day to all readers. Or at least try.

Top

SCULPTURE WORKSHOP IN SOUTH AFRICA, 24 JULY - 1 AUGUST: 
AT BELLAVISTA FOREST LODGE -> http://ecoclub.com/bellavista

"Due to the increasing number of enquiries, we have decided to hold a Sculpture workshop in July/August this year, from Wednesday 24 July till Wednesday 1 August 2001. Participants will arrive on Tuesday 23 July and leave on Thursday 2 August( 9 nights) A further extension at extra cost. Special package on offer as follows: PACKAGE COST US$ 450,00 (ECOCLUB Members will receive a 10% Discount) which includes: a. Full lodging that includes Dinner Bed & Breakfast x 9 nights in a single room. b. Tuition fees . c. Guided tour to the bushman rock art site in the Drakensberg. c. Visit to a Sangoma/healer. d. Demonstration of bronze castings. e. Visit pottery studio and paper making studio. f. Transport from port of arrival/departure. Excluded from the package: a. All materials used for modelling and sculpting. b. Hiring of special tools c. All drinks and lunches. d. Cost for casting your own bronze piece. PROGRAM: Tuesday 24 July: Arrive and settling in the chalets: Dinner and Bed. Wednesday 25 July; Introductory lecture and demonstration of carving techniques; Establishing ideas and preparatory sketches: Thursday 26 July: Starting maquettes and modelling either in clay or wax: also modern techniques in polystarine/plaster. For those whom have already a maquette made start carving or modelling. Friday 27 July: Continuation of modeling or carving your own piece. Saturday 28 July: Same as above till noon. Thereafter visit bronze foundry, pottery studio and paper making studio. Sunday 29 July: Day tour to the Drakensberg to see bushman rock art and visit Sangoma/healer and picnic. Monday 30 July: Continuation of own work . Tuesday 31 July: Finishing off own work. Wednesday 1 Aug.: General discussion of own work and possibly finishing off work cast at the foundry . End of the course party. Night out. Thursday 2 Aug. Departure to other destinations or going back home. On request we can add small safaries: party interested please advise in advance and ask for a quote. Minimum number required 3 persons. Please note that for a small additional cost for full board only, you can bring a partner with you. 
For Enquiries http://ecoclub.com/forms/ecp053.html

HARVEST CELEBRATION IN TURKEY AUGUST, 15 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2001
AT TOHUM LIVING EARTH CENTER -> http://ecoclub.com/tohum

Weekly Programs. Join us in the grand opening of our new center in magnificent surroundings! Tohum means 'seed" in Turkish and we are building a seed of sustainable living, a mini eco-village where traditional farming and food processing, environmentally conscious tourism and the practice of the healing arts go hand in hand. Visit our nature sanctuary situated in one of the most secluded corners of the Mediterranean and you will be supporting our efforts in starting a peace center in this part of the world in this crucial times! Celebrate Harvest in the land of Artemis, the Goddess of Fertility, participate in the harvest of sesame and other crops, and the preparation of traditional foods. Treat yourself to a relaxing and rejuvenating vacation in a pristine pure environment where you can swim and snorkel in turquoise waters, be nourished with delicious foods made with organic ingredients from Tohum's and local family's gardens, visit a mountain village where Tohum is setting up a women's carpet cooperative and organic farming projects for its natural foods business in the US. You will be contributing to Tohum's efforts to promote and preserve traditional lifestyles and food processing customs of selected Anatolian villages. Embark on nature hikes, scuba diving, paragliding and trips to beaches where loggerhead turtles lay their eggs and to other nature preserves in the area. Weekly Rate: US $ 425 per person / US $ 750 per couple of 2 family members sharing Daily Rate: US $ 61 per person / US $ 107 per couple of 2 family members sharing Included: Breakfast & Dinner. Not included: Ecotours 
ECOCLUB.com Members will receive a 10% Discount on the above rates.
For Enquiries http://ecoclub.com/forms/ecp055.html

Members are encouraged to send us ecotourism news and views.
Top

ECOTOURISM EXPERTISE GROWING AT ECOCLUB.com
Five new Ecotourism Experts have joined ECOCLUB.com during the past month and now offer a free basic consultancy to other Members ! 

They are as follows, in chronological order of joining:

Search our Ecotourism Experts Directory at http://ecoclub.com/experts.html

PHOTO COMPETITION MAY WINNER
A photograph from Pyrenees by our Member Alan Jeffrey from the United Kingdom is the winner of our first competition ever. The winning photograph may be seen at http://ecoclub.com/members/winners

Sign up for your own Photo Gallery at http://ecoclub.com/members and win.
Top

To become a Correspondent, please apply at http://ecoclub.com/correspondents.html
If you wish to contact any of our Correspondents you may email news@ecoclub.com
with your specific request. The views that appear in this section do not necessarily represent those of ECOCLUB S.A.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM OR ECOTOURISM. DOES REALITY SUBSTANTIATE THE MYTH?
By our Pakistan Correspondent, Agha Iqrar Haroon,  President Ecotourism Society of Pakistan

"Integrated tourism, to be successful, must promote sustainable development by establishing a durable productive base that allows local inhabitants and service providers to enjoy rising standards of living". This was said by Mr. David Berkin in one of his papers in 1996 when the concept of Ecotourism was shaping up and word used for sustainable tourism development was "Integrated" Tourism. Now I am sure that word "Ecotourism has taken its place. Sustainability, environmental management and ecotourism. Does reality substantiate the myth?". There is no doubt that people consider "Ecotourism" as "sustainable Tourism". Ecotourism for me is a tool which ensure ecological, environmental, economical and cultural friendly tourism. I believe that Ecotourism is activity controlled by local community of any respective area where tourism activities are being generated. Can it be possible? Are local poor communities of mountain areas being involved in decision making of tourism activities? Who is planning tourism activities for mountain areas? Who is getting benefits out of tourism? Who is selling tours to mountain areas? Who is buying tours to mountain areas? Can sustainability be achieved without the active participation of local communities? These are serious questions who come in my mind when I talk about Pakistan as Role Model. Before we see how can integrated tourism be achieved? . And what types of policies can be formulated for getting this target; I must say that we should go into detail nature of tourism business in mountain areas. It may be mentioned here that Mountain Areas all over the world have similar problems like deforestation, land utilization, unplanned growth of tourism industry and mushroom growth of accommodations. And most of all-----brain drain situation due to lack of financial resources and limited job opportunities. Tourism is marketed internationally but it is "consumed" at the point of production-----destinations. Integrated tourism or whatever you call is possible when: Consumer (tourists) respects for "integrated Tourism". Producer (operators) understands threats being faced by area where she/he is planning and ...
Report continued at http://ecoclub.com/news/26ecr7.html

Auroville Township Project
By our India Correspondent C.S Mani, Director, Green Tourism Promotion

"Auroville, or ‘the city of dawn’, is a unique township located in a predominantly rural district of Villupuram in Tamil Nadu. At the time of its establishment in 1968, the area was barren and deforested. Three decades later, the Auroville community has transformed a veritable desert into a lush green place. The Auroville township project has a population of about 60,000 people covering 13 villages. But in the designated Auroville area, there are only five villages with a population between 8,000 and 10,000. The Auroville community comprises only 1,500 people, 30 per cent of them are Indians. The Auroville township project started regenerating the environment 30 years ago. At that time, the entire landscape was barren. Now, there are around 300,000 trees. Local people as well as the members of the Auroville community are involved in the project. At present, the mission has employed some 5,000 local people in various sectors. But not all of them are members of Auroville because in order to be one, you have to subscribe to a few basic rules. For instance, there is no private ownership of property. Obviously, people who have been living there traditionally cannot be asked to give up their ownership of house and land. Geographically they are within the Auroville area and are part of the experiment, which aims to create unity not only among community members but also between members and the local people. The only way to avoid migration and shanty towns is to strictly adhere to the master plan of Auroville where the land use pattern is specified. There are different zones – international, cultural, residential and industrial zones. In the case of industries, the focus is on small-scale units. Many local people are employed in these units and are also trained. For instance, when villagers come to work with the handicraft units, they learn the techniques. Then they go back to their villages and start their own workshop. Now there are a large number of workshops, which manufacture incense sticks, toys and other goods..
Report Continued at http://ecoclub.com/news/26ecr16.html

SURINAME TO REHABILITATE HISTORICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
By our Suriname Correspondent, Jerry R. A-Kum

"Suriname will soon rehabilitate its main historic botanical garden in capital city Paramaribo. This so called "Palm Garden" was created in 1682, and comprises of more than 1000 palm trees that are currently in a bad condition. A private non governmental organization in the South American country has recently committed itself to a comprehensive plan which includes the rehabilitation of the Palm Garden. This project comes at a crucial time, since Paramaribo has been presented to Unesco for inclusion on the World Heritage List. The capital city is famous for its numerous wooden historic buildings that among other things, represent Dutch, French and Spanish architectural influences. Unesco will make a decision this year. The total costs for the rehabilitation of the Palm Garden are US$ 1.3 million. The Central Suriname Nature Reserve, of the biggest protected areas in the world, was the first Surinamese site to be added to the World Heritage List."

A THAI FLOATING MARKET
By our Thailand Correspondent, Kobkul Srivongcharoen

"The Tha Kha floating market is a traditional floating market held for more than 100 years. The reason of the floating market in the past was local people came to exchange goods. There were no roads, so all of them came by boats. The elderly said that "there were a lot of boats in the past, more than 100 boats and many times that boats got struck for an hour liked traffic jam." From time to time the boats are fewer and many people have used roads instead of canals. However some of them are still using boats for selling and buying goods, especially on the 2nd, 7th, and 12th of both the waxing and waning moon of Thai lunar month. This is a region's unique of this place. Local people will come only on these dates to sell and buy goods. So this is a good chance for tourists to see a way of local people 's lifestyle. Furthermore the village in where floating market is located is a very beautiful place. Not only the beauty of natural scenery but also villagers are nice and peaceful. This place is suitable for the person who loves the natural and easy lifestyle. Because of you can stay with the villagers in homestays to see their way of life. The way of how they produce coconut palm sugar is also interesting. They have to climb a high coconut tree to collect its sweet sap for making palm sugar. Tourists can enjoy staying with the villagers by offering food for monks every morning, touring along the canal network around the village, trying Thai spicy food, seeing firefly at night and shopping some goods and foods at floating market. There are now many houses ready for tourists. All of them are Thai style houses built more than 100 years and stood side of canal. I am a one of tourists who used to stay and visit this place and I would like the tourists who love a way conservative tourism and like in a way of simple and easy life to come and visit. Tha Kha floating market is not far from Bangkok, it takes only 1 hour to get there. Last but not least, if you can come to this village I hope you can feel happy and love this place and also villagers as I am."

Top

NATURE LODGE FOR SALE
Tarcol Lodge, on the south bank of Rio Tarcoles is an internationally famous nature lodge, principally for birdwatchers. Surrounding the Lodge are mangroves and the river. The Pacific Ocean lies 400 meters to the west. The Lodge is on two lots (about 1/2 acre) and has 7 bedrooms, 2 baths, a kitchen, a laundry and a living room.
More Details at the ECOCLUB Ecotourism Business Centre

Top

COSTA RICA DRILLS WORLD HERITAGE SITE
May 1 - The Ecologist 
Despite opposition from local indigenous people and the local municipal authorities,  the Costa Rican government has finally granted concessions for oil and gas development along its Caribbean Coast, in a region known as Talamanca; one of the country's most cherished and protected areas. Harken Energy, President Bush's one time employer, is now poised to drill for oil and gas in this UNESCO World Heritage site.

RARE BLACK RHINO KILLED FOR "RECREATION"
June 1 - The Mail & Guardian / WildNet Africa
A rare East African Black Ehino is about to be killed in a hunt near Johannesburg. The rhino cow was brought to South Africa 12 years ago as part of an endangered species breeding programme run by North West-based wildlife dealer John Brooker. Named Baixinha, the rhino cow is apparently very tame and often features in movies and commercials. However, a Norwegian hunter is reportedly prepared to pay more than $60,000 to shoot the black rhino cow as he believes she will make a unique trophy. According to Brooker, a hunting permit has been granted on the basis that "South African black rhinos are a different sub-species and hunting her will not have an impact on local populations". 

BORNEO COMMUNITY DEFEATS GOVERNMENT AND PAPER PULP COs
May 15 - WRM Bulletin 46 / Borneo Resources Institute / San Franscisco Chronicle
The High Court in Kuching, capital city Sarawak State, Malaysia found in favour of an Iban community in a civil suit which they filed against the Sarawak Government and two companies: Borneo Pulp & Paper Sdn. Bhd. & Borneo Pulp Plantations Sdn. Bhd. The Iban claimed that the land in dispute is their native customary rights land because it is within the communal native customary land boundary of their village / longhouse and since the time of their ancestors, they had used, occupied or collected forest produce from or hunted within the said land or fished the rivers therein. The ruling sets a precedent for two similar suits that have been filed in the Sibu High Court by more than twenty Iban communities whose claims are based on the same grounds and against the same defendants. The bad news: also in Sarawak, the $5 billion, 2,400-megawatt Bakun Dam project is slated to flood a rainforest area the size of Singapore. Some 10,000 of Borneo's 200,000 indigenous peoples have already been forced off their ancestral lands to make way for the dam. Sarawak originally contained 21 million acres of rainforest, less than 1.2 million acres now remain.

NATURE RESERVES ONLY ON PAPER
June 3 - Alpha Channel / ENS
Leading  journalist, Makis Triantafyllopoulos, shows film evidence on Live TV, that state-owned land within the Axios Delta, a  Ramsar Habitat close to Thessaloniki, home to the critically endangered Silver Pelican (Pelecanus Crispus) is being used as a dump for fertilizers, dangerous pesticides and is also used for rice cultivation for human consumption. Heads expected to roll, at last. On a separate development, ENS reports that half of the world's 17,000 major nature reserves, which are intended to protect wildlife from extinction, are being heavily used for agriculture. Extreme malnutrition and hunger are pervasive among people living in at least 16 of the world's 25 key biodiversity hotspots, where wildlife is most at risk.

LUFTHANSA BANS WILD ANIMAL CARGO
May 1 - ENS/Lycos
The German Airline announced it will no longer transport wild animals for commercial purposes. Hopefully others will follow.

PARK GROWS CORAL 
May 1 - National Parks & Conservation Association.-
To counter coral decay trend, the Florida Park Service has now created one of the first coral nurseries in a natural environment at the Biscayne N.P.  Researchers have been growing coral within laboratories for many years, but the Park Service expects the bay will accommodate a large- scale operation that cannot be created in an aquarium. The agency has set a goal of growing 2,000 colonies.

RECYCLED REEF 
May 15 - Richmond Times
The city of Hampton, Virginia  is collecting and crushing commodes, sinks and bathtubs as material for an oyster reef in the Back River. The porcelain drive removes broken plumbing fixtures from the waste stream and transforms them into habitat for oysters, which boost water quality by filtering out algae.  An invasion of disease-causing parasites, plus overharvest, whittled Virginia's oyster population to about 1 percent of historic levels and idled the state's oyster fleet.

BARRIER STRENGTHENS
May 24 - BBC Monitoring / Radio Australia
Tough new laws have been passed in Australia's Senate increasing penalties for environmental offences on the Great Barrier Reef. Fines will reach 1.1m dollars (570,000 US dollars), up from the current maximum of 110,000 dollars. Illegal fishing and prawning could also incur fines of up to 1.1m dollars.

DRUG TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE
May 2 - AP
Dutch authorities plan to open two drive-thru shops next year where so called drug-tourists can buy, well, drugs. In Venlo, a southern Dutch border town.

DINGOES MAUL TOURIST, RANGERS MAUL DINGOES
May 2 - AP
Rangers began shooting wild dogs at a popular tourist spot on Australia's Fraser Island on Wednesday, days after a 9-year-old boy was mauled to death by the animals. Local officials in Queensland province ordered the killing of dogs.. State Premier Peter Beattie told state legislators Wednesday a select number of wild dogs were to be killed, based on "whether they appeared to pose a threat" (Very scientific). Some 200 dingoes live on Fraser Island off the northeast coast

TAP WATER FOR ME PLEASE 
3 May  - WWF International 
According to a study commissioned by WWF, bottled water, the fastest growing drinks industry in the world and worth US $22 billion annually,  may be no safer, or healthier than tap water in many countries while selling for up to 1000 times the price. The study also finds that every year 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water. Toxic chemicals are released into the environment during the manufacture and disposal of the bottles. Emissions of the green house gas carbon dioxide, caused by transporting bottled water within and between countries, contribute to the global problem of climate change.

GERMANY RETURNS ANTIQUITIES TO EGYPT
May 3 - AP
A museum in Germany will return an ancient, golden coffin stolen from Egypt 70 years ago, the visiting prime minister of the German State of Bavaria said Thursday. Edmund Stoiber said the coffin, which dates back to King Tutankhamon's era 3,300 years ago, will be returned to the Egyptian Museum from where it "disappeared" in 1931.

WHO PAYS FOR THE TEQUILAS?
May 7 - ENN
Tequila consumption has increased 112 percent since 1985, making it the fastest-growing distilled spirit in USA. Conservation issues surrounding its production are surfacing. There are only five regions in Mexico where tequila is produced. Reduced A skyrocketing demand coupled with a 1997 fungus plague, have depleted blue agave plants commercial plantations. Tequila producers are reportedly invading Mexico's wild forested areas in search of the plant, where agave has been the livelihood of indigenous local peoples, providing fibers and other beverages as well as tequila. 

OFFSHORE IN A POSITIVE WAY
May 7 - AP  
Officials in Copenhagen, Denmark, helped to inaugurate the world's largest offshore windmill park. The park has a capacity of 40 megawatts of electricity -- four times more than the second-largest offshore windmill park in Sweden -- and will supply about 3 percent of the city's energy, powering the equivalent of 32,000 homes.

WHAUTO A WASTE 
May 7 - CNN 
The average American is spending 1 Day and a half a year in traffic, up from 11 hours in 1982, according to a study by Texas A&M University. Los Angeles, Seattle and Atlanta residents spend well over  2 days a year in traffic. 6.8 billion gallons of gasoline were wasted in traffic in 1999, enough to fill your car about a billion times.

MEXICAN COASTLINE GOES BAJA
May 5  - Washington Post
The Mexican Government plans to build "Nautical Steps", the country's biggest tourism development in 20 years in Baja California. More than 2,500 miles (two thousand five hundred miles) of coastline will be "developed", with the goal of attracting 1.6 million U.S. boat owners a year into a collection of new hotels and restaurants. Victor Lichtinger, Mexico's Environment Minister, says, "People say growth destroys the environment ; I believe what really destroys it is poverty" (not wealth or greed) Environmentalists say the development will threaten the Sea of Cortez, an area that was once (prophetically?) described by Jacques Cousteau as the "aquarium of the world." (Jacques Cousteau also to blame)

A MESSAGE FOR OUR GOLFING READERS
May 9 - ENN
Audubon International calculate that USA's 16,743 golf courses cover as much acreage as the states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. They estimate a golf course consumes as much water as a small town and generates more pollution from fertilizers and pesticides than a farm of similar size.

BOYCYOTT
May 9  - Various
Celebrities and environmental groups in the U.K. kicked off a boycott of oil giant ExxonMobil in protest of the company's policy to oppose the Kyoto treaty on climate change and stall action on climate change in the U.S. The boycott has already spread to France.

PLASTIC FANTASTIC
May 9 - ENS
Campaigners wage a pitched battle against proliferating plastics in India's tourist state of Goa. They must now deal with tons of plastic that no one wants. 

KYOTO AFFORDABLE 
May 9  - EU Commission. 
The European Union could cut its greenhouse gas emissions in line with Kyoto Protocol commitments at an annual cost of under 0.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product, says a study released by the European Commission. 

MOBILES AND GORILLAS
May 10 - WWF
Mobiles may or not be safe for your brain, however mining for Coltan in rebel-held eastern Congo is definitely driving eastern lowland gorillas closer to extinction and destroying outstanding national parks, the World Wide Fund for Nature said yesterday. Thousands of miners seeking the highly prized mineral colombo tantalite, known as coltan used in mobile phones and micro-chips, have invaded and severely damaged the forests in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in eastern Congo.

BRAVE WARRIORS ATTACKED BY ANTS
May - AP
Xi'an, home city to China's famed terra-cotta warriors found in the 2,200 year old tomb of Qin, China's first emperor, is under attack by ants that are gnawing their way through ancient landmarks and shops, a state newspaper said Thursday. Xi'an, has been plagued by white ants for centuries, but the problem has grown in recent years, Officials fear, due to a warming climate. Only when global warming threatens living warriors, some people will realise the error of their ways.

INDONESIA: TWO IN THREE CORAL REEFS IN SERIOUS TROUBLE
May 11 - Xinhua 
Some 70 percent of the coral reefs in Indonesia are badly damaged and difficult to rehabilitate, according to the report of a natural resources management team of the State Environment Ministry. Damage of coral reefs was caused mainly by deposits, erosion, exploitation, fishing with the use of explosives or toxic chemicals, and contamination by industrial waste. Other causes include the damage of mangrove forests in the country's coastal areas due to illegal felling and conversion of the land into fish ponds.

THREE DAYS OF THE REDFORD
May 12 - Msnbc.com
Robert Redford, declines invitation from U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton to attend a press event with her later this month to release a California condor into the wild. Redford told Norton he would rather use his time to draw attention to "the devastating environmental repercussions of the agenda you and President Bush embrace."

EIGHT NEW WETLANDS IN PAKISTAN
May 14 - ENS 
The government of Pakistan has designated eight new Wetlands of International Importance for protection under the intergovernmental treaty known as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

NEPAL NEEDS RECYCLING
May  - Clean Energy Nepal
Due to a lack of permanent garbage dump, more than 450 metric tones of garbage discharged by the capital's over 1 million people are currently dumped along the banks of sacred Bagmati River near Chovar, south of city. Studies have shown that more than 60 percent of Kathmandu's garbage is recyclable, which could be processed into organic manure or could be utilized to generate gas. 

FRANKENSTEIN SURPRISED
May 19 - Glasgow Herald
Aquabounty Farms of  Prince Edward Island, Canada is reported to have 15 million genetically engineered salmon eggs ready for sale - producing fish capable of growing two to four times faster than ordinary salmon grown under the same conditions. The firm has just applied for licences - the first to do so - from the US Food and Drugs Administration to start farming their GM salmon commercially, and are hopeful of success.  Scottish Quality Salmon, the major industry body in Scotland, said it and the International Salmon Farmers' Association had rejected GM salmon as an option. A spokeswoman said: "We are very proud of our reputation on fish health and welfare and environmental safeguards." Dr. Sutterlin of Aquabounty Farms said he had been surprised at the scale and ferocity of European opposition. "I am finished with Europe and the European media. Between you and Greenpeace you have damaged us very badly".

AMAZON DEFORESTATION INCREASES
May  - amazonia.org
The latest data about the deforestation of the Amazon forest in Brazil, researched annually by Inpe (Federal Space Research Institute) is available now at www.amazonia.org.br/ingles. The data recently announced covers the period until 1999 and has projections for 2000. The aggregate projection of deforestation for 1999/2000 is of a total area of 19,832 square kilometres, an increase of 14.9% in relation to the previous year.

$333 SAVES A COASTAL RAINFOREST ACRE.
May 18  - Reuters
General Motors, the world's largest automaker, chose to give 30,000 times that amount, to Nature Conservancy, to protect 30,000 acres of coastal rainforest in southern Brazil. The company may get pollution credits sometime in the future for preserving the forest and its ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. The land will be owned and managed by a Brazilian group.

TOBAGO BEACH SLAUGHTER
May 22  - ENS 
Conflicting laws in Trinidad and Tobago have apparently created a loophole that allows poachers to hunt giant turtles for their meat when they come up on island beaches to lay their eggs.

NEW PERU PARK 
May 24 - Reuters
Peru creates a new national park, Parque Nacional Cordillera Azul,  in the last big tract of pristine Andean Rainforest, 13,548 square kilometres, an area that loggers had hoped to open up soon. Scientists from Peru and the U.S. said they had already identified at least 28 previously undiscovered plants and animals in the park.

NO CABLE CAR TO MACHU PICCHU, FORTUNATELY
May 25 - WHNEWS (spotted by Member Elena Pappas) 
The Cable car project for the historic sanctuary of Machu Picchu has been suspended indefinitely by the Peruvian Minister of Industry, Tourism, Integration and International Trade (MITINCI). The cable car project has been under discussion since 1996 when the Peruvian government, observing increasing visitor numbers, decided to give out a concession for the study and eventual construction of a cable car as a means of access to the ruins of the Inca city at the heart of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. 

HARRIER KILLER CAUGHT ON FILM
May 26 - Daily Record / RSPB
A 33 year old gamekeeper was secretly filmed as he blasted a rare hawk to death. Unaware that bird protection officers had mounted a 24-hour surveillance operation over a female hen harrier, the gamekeeper calmly shot the bird out of its nest before removing all evidence of the crime - including the spent cartridge. The sickening scenes were shown in a landmark case at Elgin Sheriff Court where the perpetrator was fined pounds 2000. The hen harrier is one of Britain's rarest birds of prey, with only 570 pairs left. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) considers this prosecution is a vital milestone for the RSPB, as it "totally vindicates" their stance that the killing of birds of prey is widespread among the gamekeeping fraternity.

4 BY 4 BY BY
May 31 - WildNet Africa / The Cape Times
All vehicles are to be banned from South African beaches. Draft regulations, published in the Government Gazette, state that nobody will be allowed to drive any vehicle in the coastal zone without authorisation. "Coastal zone" refers to beaches, dunes, estuaries and their wetlands. 

TOURISM ECO-LABELLING MARGINAL
May 29 - European Environment Agency
The Environmental Signals 2001 report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) supports that Eco-labelling of tourist accommodation has increased significantly since 1990 but remains very marginal. Environmental signals 2001 also finds that "eco-efficiency" - the efficiency with which environmental resources are used to produce a unit of economic activity - has improved since 1990 in transport, energy supply and agriculture.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF WINS U.N. PRIZE ...
May 30 - AP
Mary Robinson, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, was chosen to receive U.N.E.S.C.O's prestigious Felix Houphouet-Boigny peace prize for work in Human Rights. This years' Human Rights prize winner was selected by a jury headed by Henry Kissinger. And that noise was George Orwell turning in his grave.

AND SOME OTHER WINNERS
May 29 - UNEP 
"A husband and wife team from Malaysia who have rescued over a quarter of a million turtle eggs, a Kenyan children's doctor who has almost singlehandedly transformed an old quarry into a much loved nature reserve, an American company specialising in eco-tourism and a Canadian teenager who began battling against pesticide misuse at the age of 10 are among this year's winners of the prestigious Global 500 Award. The awards are presented every year by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), on World Environment Day (5 June), to individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions to the protection of the environment. A total of 18 awards, in both the youth and adult categories, are being made this year at celebrations in Torino, Italy. 

POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENOL? NO, I HAVE HUST EATEN, THANKS 
May 31 - Solar Times
127 countries adopt a landmark UN treaty that outlaws or restricts hazardous chemicals. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, or POPs, was adopted by consensus ahead of a signing ceremony Wednesday and was hailed by environmental experts as an historic step towards making the planet safer and cleaner. The notorious criminals in alpabetical order: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs), hexachlorobenzen, dioxins and furans. Next time you see them on a label, please tell someone.

Top