Environment and Development

SOUTH DEVON        

50 Outstanding Years: 1960-2010. 50th Anniversary celebration of the designation of South Devon as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty [AONB]. South Devon AONB works to manage the Countryside, Wildlife, Landscape and Heritage in an integrated plan. See the image gallery.        

• Totnes Development Trust ~ The Totnes Healthy Futures Project
• Trees for Health ~ Reconnecting People and Plants
• Dartington ~ Sustainability:

1. Schumacher College > “Transformative Learning for Sustainable Living”
2. The Landscope  Project > “the business of regenerating our landscape”. Property – Heritage & Buildings
3. Woodlands and Conservation > Grounds & Gardens
4. Love Carbon> A Sustainable Strategy for Dartington.

The Brown Hair Streak Butterfly – an elusive species that is becoming rarer in the UK. Better practices for hedgerow management are a major component towards rebuilding self-contained colonies that thrive amongst woodlands and hedgerows where blackthorn grows. Read the Butterfly Organisation’s conservation advice ‘Hedgerows for HairStreaks’ 

• Transition Town Totnes

  Recycling ?     

Haiti            

Emerging Issues: Fast-tracked Orphans. Unrest. Rescuing Survivors.            

AFRICA         

Nature Writing – Issues of Wildlife Conservation and the Impact of Man ~ The Storm Leopard.         

• GHANA

– Ghana @ 50  [March 6th, 2007]                                       

Ghana celebrates 50 years of Independence

 

 – African Cup of Nations  [Jan, 2008]                                      

Ghana hosts

 

 2010 – Angola Hosts Final between ‘senior team’ Egypt [the favourites] and ‘juniors’ Ghana. That’s a great follow up to their year as hosts.   

– Elephants and Umbrellas                                     

  ( Natural Reserves, National Parks)                                    

– ‘Yes, you can’ [July 10-11th, 2009]                                       

Obama visits Ghana

 

• RAINS  –  Regional Advisory and Information Network Systems

The remit of RAINS in northern Ghana extends out to central rural development issues of livelihood, security and also the environment. The mission of RAINS, to improve the quality of life for vulnerable groups, has been developed through advocacy work with development partners; yet to a greater degree RAINS have focused on Grassroots Institutional Capacity Building. This is achieved through the formation of Community Development Associations [CDAs] in Northern Ghana.              

•   Northern Region – Southern Horizons

RAINS partners with organisations such as The Gaia Foundation [London, UK] on environmental projects in Northern Ghana.                

1. Read about the land-grabbing campaign efforts : Biofuels document.

This is the story of how a Norwegian Biofuels company took advantage of Ghana’s traditional system of communal land ownership, and current climate and economic pressures, to claim and deforest large tracts of land in Kusawugu, Northern Ghana, with the intention of creating “the largest Jatropha plantation in the world.                

                 

2. Traditional Medicine            

Garden Herbs      

3.  Climate Change and Community Resilience was the theme for the African Biodiversity Network [ABN], West African workshop, held in August 2009 in Tamale with RAINS as hosts with the ABN.  A summary on Page 6 can be read by following the above link.            

 4. Sacred Spaces            

Upcoming events ….                   

EARTH HOUR – March 27th, 2010 from 8.30pm to 9.30pm, USA. Turning lights out for the WWF Earth Hour.                      

or, for a daily link… CLICK [free] to lend support The Rainforest Site and other causes.  Each daily click helps send 100% of Sponsor money to Charity… helping to protect rainforest, provide books or a cup of soup…                  

• 2010 – Year of the Tiger

The Year of the Tiger starts in the Chinese Lunar Calendar on February 14th, 2010.                                 

Year of the Tiger

 

 There are nine subspecies in total – Amur Tiger,  Bengal Tiger, Indo-Chinese Tiger, the Malayan Tiger, South China Tiger and the Sumatran Tiger.                       

Three tiger sub-species are already extinct and a fourth is on it’s way.                         

Yet the remaining are ALL endangered species and ‘at risk’ of extinction. In the wild, the World Wide Fund [WWF] says that as few as 3,200 may remain.                              

The greatest threat comes from pressure on land resources.                                 

Destructive human activities have led to the current rate of species extinction, which is at least 100–1,000 times higher than the expected natural rate. [WWF].                                

Help support awareness with the WWF’s Tiger facts by posting an e-card to friends and family. You can also help in a number ways by also going to the WWF website.                                   

There are over a quarter of the world’s species with a ‘high risk’ of extinction in the next 30 years.                                 

WWF works on conservation efforts for :                                

1. Flagship species:

iconic animals that provide a focus for raising awareness and stimulating action and funding for broader conservation efforts in our priority places, and,                           

2. Footprint impacted species:                           

whose populations are primarily threatened because of unsustainable hunting, logging or fishing.                           

                                 

2010 is declared by the United Nations as the Year of Biodiversity.                              

It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives. The world is invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity. 
                                 

The countdown has started already.                              

Is it written in the stars?                      

check out the 2010 forecast for Metal Tiger Year and/or your personal sign for the year ahead.