Save Eco Destinations

Hello there!

In this post, I’m going to share with you some special dates for the month of October as well as something we can all practice today, September 28. Show your compassion for the planet and your fellow beings!

Here’s a list of events and celebrations for the next few weeks:

September 28: Green Consumer Day – Of course, the best way to be a green consumer is … tun tun tun … not to be a consumer at all! But if you must succumb, consider purchasing something used or recycled instead of a shiny new (even if “green”) gadget/garment/whatever-you-need. Unless it’s food. You probably shouldn’t buy used food, whatever that would be.

October 1: World Vegetarian Day – This one is particularly special for me, as I’ve been a vegetarian for the past 14 years and an on-and-off vegan. October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, although I’ll admit I’m not sure what that means. Anyway, take it a step further and celebrate Meat-Free Monday too for a happier planet and a happier you! Plus, it’s cheaper if you stay away from fake meats.

October 1-7: World Wildlife Week – Help raise awareness about the importance of preserving wildlife by “adopting” a wild animal or species for cheap to keep wildlife in the wild (choose from 100 species! Note: this makes a sweet present for birthdays and holidays), signing petitions, educating others on boycotting exotic animals and animal parts, and whatever else you can think of.

October 3/4: World Animal Welfare Day – Look for an event in your area, as this event is celebrated worldwide! I, for one, will be attending an event in downtown Buenos Aires on Sunday. There will be vegetarian food and general super-awesomeness! Here’s some info on events going on in New York City, Venezuela y Argentina. Dates might vary by a day, so make sure you go on the right one!

October 4: World Habitat Day – Held annually on the first Monday of October, the United Nations says this is a day to ponder the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of everyone to adequate housing and to remember our collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

“The United Nations chose the theme Better City, Better Life to highlight our collective vision of a sustainable urban world that harnesses the potential and possibilities, mitigates inequalities and disparities, and provides a home for people of all cultures and ages, both rich and poor.”

Read more here.

More events coming up in the next post.

These days, many seafood species are in decline and numerous stocks have already been depleted by overfishing. Various types of tuna and the Fraser sockeye salmon stocks in British Columbia, Canada, are all species under severe threat.

Part of the problem is fraud – and when eco-certifications are awarded without due consideration, without being truly warranted, everyone suffers (that is, the fish and those of us who care for the planet).

The London-based Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) offers eco-certification to fisheries across the globe. It has never refused the certification to any fishery that has completed the certification process. Fishy, isn’t it? And we’re not the only ones who think so. But I’ll talk more about the MSC when I discuss the sockeye salmon stocks below.

Atlantic bluefin tuna

Tuna

I’ve already blogged about the plight of tuna – bigeye, bluefin, and others – and the efforts of environmental groups like Greenpeace as well as those of entire countries who have called for an international ban on the tuna trade, focusing on bluefin tuna in particular. This call, by the way, has been futile. Some blame Japan and say officials from that country threatened representatives of poor African and Asia-Pacific nations at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meeting in Qatar last March, which was a complete failure. Whatever the case, tuna thus remains without official protection.

Fraser sockeye salmon - photo from TreeHugger

Fraser sockeye salmon

This time I want to discuss the plight of the Fraser sockeye salmon stocks in British Columbia on Canada’s Pacific coast.

The MSC has just has just certified three Canadian salmon fisheries as sustainable. As consumer awareness about seafood sustainability is growing worldwide, lots of companies are coveting and applying for the MSC label, which makes their seafood gain popularity in the market. You, Save Eco Destinations reader, may be one of the people who makes efforts to purchase environmentally grown or harvested foods. And you should be aware that the MSC is trying to fool you.

Sockeye salmon fished from the Skeena and Nass Rivers and from Barkley sound on Canada’s Pacific coast will now be sold with MSC’s coveted eco-label worldwide. But Dr Craig Orr, executive director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, believes this is, to put it bluntly, crap. He thus vowed that his organization will be supervising the fisheries to make sure MSC standards are being followed.

“The MSC has just granted eco-certification to three fisheries that routinely overharvest threatened and endangered salmon stocks,” said Orr. “As disturbing as this is, the MSC has placed several conditions for improvement on these fisheries, and we will be watching closely to see if these conditions are enforced.”

Earlier this year, his organization plus two other conservation groups from BC – the David Suzuki Foundation and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust — filed a notice of objection to the MSC’s intent to give the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery eco-certification.

The certification was thus put temporarily on hold pending the verdict of an independent adjudicator, whose decision is expected by Saturday, July 10.

“We objected to the Fraser River certification because we believe it does not meet the MSC’s own minimum standards for certification, and that the management of the fishery is so dysfunctional that the conditions of certification are very unlikely to be met within reasonable timelines,” explained Greg Knox, executive director of SkeenaWild conservation trust. “Overfishing is a serious concern in the Skeena, Nass, and Barkley Sound fisheries, but the situation is not as dire there as it is on the Fraser,” he noted.

Under the MSC’s third-party certification process, firms hired by fishing industry “clients” decide if a fishery meets the MSC’s criteria for eco-certification. Again, I would like to note that no fishery has ever been refused certification after having finished the MSC assessment process and no objection to a certification has ever been upheld.

The three Canadian sockeye salmon fisheries were assessed by the independent organization Moody Marine Ltd, reported CBC News.

Some Fraser River sockeye stocks harvested in the fishery that is about to be MSC certified are classified as “endangered” by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, and “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, whose scientists consider overfishing a key threat.

A commission of inquiry by the Canadian Government recently targeted the Fraser fishery because of a major collapse of the fishery and prevalent concerns over mismanagement.

“Eco-certification can provide a powerful incentive for improvement in the way we manage our fisheries,” declared Aaron Hill of Ecologist Watershed Watch, “but it becomes meaningless when you set the bar too low, and certify unsustainable and mismanaged fisheries. It becomes fraud.”

The assessment for Fraser River began in 2009, when only 1.4 million sockeye salmon returned despite the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) forecast of up to 10.6 million, reported Vancouver Sun.

“It was a catastrophe,” said Sto: lo First Nation fisheries adviser Ernie Crey. “No one knows what happened to those ‘missing’ fish.”

MSC-certified seafood

Why the MSC’s certification means nothing

The MSC eco-label isn’t even good enough to meet the sustainability policies of some supermarket chains. Really. Retailer Waitrose refuses to carry MSC-certified hoki from New Zealand.

“The fact that the sustainability policy of one of the UK’s largest food retailers could not be met by fish carrying the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) eco-label proves the council’s ineffectuality,” Greenpeace said last year.

Supermarket chains in the U.S. and Europe have refused to carry New Zealand’s orange roughy, a species that is MSC-certified even though it is endangered. This fish is harvested by bottom trawling, which is bad news for seabed communities and is one of the most environmentally destructive fishing methods in existence.

“This shows that even MSC certification is no guarantee of sustainability,” said Greenpeace New Zealand’s oceans campaigner Karli Thomas.

Greenpeace also believes Friend of the Sea (FOS), another eco-certification scheme, is unreliable. FOS even offers eco-certification for farmed fish. Imagine that! I won’t even get into how wrong that is (in this post).

Greenpeace believes that no certification system for sustainable seafood currently exists that is 100% reliable.

Further, Professor Daniel Pauly at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia and the principal investigator of its Sea Around Us Project accused the MSC last year of acquiescing to pressure from the Walton Family Foundation and Wal-Mart and being complicit to a scam.

“At first, the MSC certified only small-scale fisheries, but lately, it has given its seal of approval to large, controversial companies. Indeed, it has begun to measure its success by the percentage of the world catch that it certifies. Encouraged by a Walton Foundation grant and Wal-Mart’s goal of selling only certified fish, the MSC is actually considering certifying reduction fisheries, with the consequence that Wal-Mart, for example, will be able to sell farmed salmon shining with the ersatz glow of sustainability. (Given the devastating pollution, diseases, and parasite infestations that have plagued salmon farms in Chile, Canada, and other countries, this ‘Wal-Mart strategy’ will, in the long term, make the MSC complicit to a giant scam),” he wrote.

FYI, here are other fisheries hit by the MSC

“The Atlanto Scandian herring fishery is PFA’s third fishery to achieve MSC certification: its North Sea herring and its North East Atlantic mackerel fisheries were certified in 2006 and in 2009.” – FIS reported on July 8.

Others include Alaska flatfish, Eastern Canada swordfish, Norwegian cod and haddock, North Pacific albacore tuna, and the Aker BioMarine krill (Euphausia superba) fishery has been in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean.

So what can you do?

Here are some neat recommendations (except for the MSC one).

Keep up the fight!

A map showing the extent of deforestation in Borneo.

Watch out for the lies you’ll get fed during paid tours in Borneo, ecotourists.

A deeply eco-minded friend of mine has been spending a few weeks in Borneo’s various regions – Kalimantan, Malaysia, Brunei, Sabah – and come away with many appalling stories to tell.

Palm oil harvesting

Palm oil harvesting dominates Sabah, surrounded by paved roads and not a single tree lining them. In fact, deforestation is rampant in Borneo precisely because palm oil harvesters want to make room for their plantations.

It seems there is just one hectare of trees – trees that take 300 years to grow! This one hectare of 300 just trees constitutes the government’s efforts to promote ecological responsibility. A pathetic spectacle.

Sounds like enough to make an ardent environmentalist cry, yet my friend said the tourists in his group didn’t find anything amiss with the situation, and busied themselves by photographing the pitiable hectare of trees.

Nature “reserves”

With 40,000 hectares, this reserve (alas, I do not know its name) is Borneo’s second-biggest. Malaysia has a total of 120,000 protected hectares – the planet’s biggest jungle after the Amazon.

I’d like to note that these reserves are two of the biggest CO2-suckers on the planet.

Also, that everything other than these “protected” spaces in Borneo is being cut down.

Orangutan at the Semenggok Forest Reserve in Sarawak.

Primates

Gibbons and orangutans inhabit a 50-meter-wide jungle. You read that right.

And behind that it’s all palm oil plantations reaching as far as the shore of the Kinabatangan River in Sandakan. As my friend checked out the jungle from the river, he was able to see artificial light streaming through from the other side of the trees.

The gibbons and orangutans have nowhere to hide from idiotic tourists blasting them with flashes from their cameras, terrifying them, and soon these primates won’t even have this pseudo-jungle to inhabit. The last simians of Borneo, it seems, will soon die out.

Apparently, this is a “protected” area. Numerous parts go under the name “natural sanctuary.” Simply harrowing.

A secondary forest

Moreover, this is a secondary forest. This means that the original trees burned or were cut down and the trees now in their place were planted there. It’s not a pure ecosystem.

More tourist pollution

At night, tourists can board a noisy truck with a huge reflector to take photographs of wildlife. You know, after said wildlife gets woken up by this atrocious intrusion, terrified. And this occurs every single night of the year, apparently.

And did I mention this is taking place within the reserve?

Right.

Also, toward Laha Datu you can spot elephants eating grass by the paved roads.

Stay tuned for more news from Borneo.

In keeping with my last post on illegal trading, I will continue discussing the conditions of some species on the verge of extinction. It helps to be aware of these so that you can report any suspicious activity to the proper authorities when you are in areas notorious for the illegal sale of animal parts – such as China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal, and various African regions. In my last post we looked at tigers, rhinos, and elephants.

I will now continue by discussing the depleted stocks of certain tuna species and Atlantic bluefin in particular. While this animal can still be legally traded, this will hopefully soon change.

Meanwhile, we can be aware of the types of tuna we consume and choose to purchase. Much tuna continues to be illegally caught and traded all over the globe and particularly in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)

Bluefin tuna

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) met in Doha, Qatar recently and discussed the state of numerous animal species across the globe. Very unfortunately, it actually decided to reject the proposal to ban the international tuna trade.

Last week, the European Commission (EC) warned,

“The failure of the United Nations (UN) wildlife trade body CITES to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna, a sushi mainstay, puts the species at risk.”

The situation is so dire for tuna and its management so pathetic, that Sue Lieberman, policy director for the Pew Environment Group in Washington, said

“The problem today is not there is serious mismanagement of trade in sharks, as for tuna, but that there is no management at all.”

I’ve discussed the perilous situation of certain tunas before. Many countries are still hoping for an international trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, which is in great danger of extinction yet continues to be fished relentlessly by countries such as Japan, which prizes bluefin tuna as a traditional dish in the form of sashimi. It is a very valuable and revered tradition in that region to eat this animal, which complicates its stance on the issue (still, many tuna dealers support the ban, as they realize that without it Atlantic bluefin tuna will soon be simply gone forever).

“If action is not taken, there is a very serious danger that the bluefin will no longer exist”- said the EU’s Environmental Commissioner Janez Potoznik in a statement.

Please boycott certain species of tuna

Please boycott Atlantic bluefin tuna anywhere you see it for sale and consider educating sellers and buyers about the plight of this fragile species.

Other tuna species in a precarious position are Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna, Pacific Ocean (eastern & western) bigeye tuna, and North Atlantic albacore tuna – which are all overfished, according to the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (a global, non-profit partnership between the tuna industry, scientists, and the World Wide Fund for Nature).

This year, Greenpeace International added the albacore, bigeye tuna, blackfin tuna, pacific bluefin tuna, northern bluefin tuna, southern bluefin tuna and the yellowfin tuna to its seafood red list (Wikipedia).

The Indonesian rainforest’s only problem isn’t just fires anymore.

Underground mining will soon be allowed in protected areas of the Indonesian rainforest, courtesy of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s new regulations. These will also permit the abuse of protected forests by power plants and toll roads (and the various forms of transportation that will use them.)

See, the government claims that the companies that will be penetrating the forests will have to meet strict criteria prior to beginning their underground mining.

“The regulation will only allow mining activities to operate under the forest areas. So this is not for open mining and hopefully will only bring a minimum impact to the ecosystem in protected forests,” said Zulkifli, adding that the regulation will be implemented soon.

But we all know that this is crap and the habitat of myriad species in the Indonesian rainforest is consequently now in great peril.

He said the regulation would oblige companies to provide lands in exchange for their mining areas and strictly prohibited them from damaging the forests above ground.

“Because of the lack of regulations, most of the areas were being exploited without considering reforestation,” he said. “In addition, they will be obliged to pay taxes for operating mines under the protected forest.”

But how can you “minimize damage to the environment” when the mere presence of humans in rainforests and other wildlife areas are known to cause high mortality rates in certain species of birds?

The species adversely affected by human infringement in their habitat – in the form of noise, light, hunting, and so forth – includes sea turtles, dolphins, dingoes, penguins, mountain gorillas, and polar bears, among numerous other species.

Facilitated access to the Indonesian rainforest will probably encourage poaching and illegal trade of animals and animal parts, a problem all too common in Southeast Asia.

If even ecotourism can have dire effects on natural ecosystems, how could the atrocious consequences of underground mining in the Indonesian rainforest ever be prevented?

When traveling in areas where poaching is widespread – such as China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal, and various African regions – it can be very helpful to conservation efforts to keep alert to suspicious activity so you can report it. You may spot souvenirs and medicines made from illegal materials such as rhino husks or tiger skin, even “exotic” dishes at restaurants, particularly in south-east Asian countries, where there is particular demand for tiger meat.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) met in Doha, Qatar recently and discussed the state of numerous animal species across the globe. They found that tigers, rhinos, elephants, and bears (among other species) are victims of organized crime rings that take part in the illegal trading of these animals’ body parts.

In fact, the illegal trade of wildlife is so lucrative – at some GBP 10 billion per year – that it is only topped by the trade of drugs and weapons.

Below I will summarize the conditions of some species on the verge of extinction: tigers, rhinos, and elephants.

Tigers

The illegal trade of big cats continues to escalate despite warnings from the UN that they will disappear unless the trade is stopped. Their population has been cut by about 50% in the last decade – there are fewer than 3,200 tigers left in the wild! Don’t even get me started on the atrocity that is zoos and tiger farms … And tiger farms, by the way, have been found by the World Bank (which leads the Global Tiger Initiative) to stimulate illegal trade of tiger body parts.

“Although the tiger has been prized throughout history, and is a symbol of incredible importance in many cultures and religions, it is now literally on the verge of extinction,” said CITES secretary-general Willem Wijnstekers.

Tiger bones, for example, are used to manufacture medicines. In China, the trend continues despite a ban on tiger bones and products imposed in 1993.

“It is almost four decades since the world realised that tiger numbers were falling alarmingly,” CITES said.

And I don’t know if this is real or a hoax, but apparently you can buy farmed tigers from India online.

Rhinos

A black rhino in Kenya

Ivory and rhino horns are in some places rumored to have the capacity to boost sexual prowess and even cure cancer. The black rhino, unfortunately, has already been classified as critically endangered.

“Last June, a group of five men drove into South Africa’s Addo National Park and held up the rangers’ station at gunpoint.

“They emerged with a small consignment of ivory and rhino horn worth an estimated 850,000 rand – about £75,000, or $114,000.

“… Last year, a Vietnamese diplomat was recalled to Hanoi after being filmed apparently buying rhino horn outside her embassy in Pretoria.

The Addo Park hold-up is perhaps the most striking event to date in what is, by all measures, an escalation in the illegal wildlife trade.”

Elephants

Ivory trading was banned internationally in 1989. Regardless, Zambia, Tanzania, and other countries that allegedly manage elephant populations efficiently through reliable systems for tracking tusks, have been allowed to trade three times since the ban’s implementation.

Because poaching has been increasing since 2004, Kenya, Mali, and other African countries have been pushing for a 20-year ban on legal ivory exports. These countries argue that even legal trade provokes poaching, and some studies support this claim. Meanwhile, China is currently the main market for the rampant trade of illegal ivory, despite its promises to combat smuggling gangs.

The main problem seems to be that, evidence found by conservation groups notwithstanding, police and customs authorities are not enforcing the law against poachers and traders. And if this doesn’t change – and soon – these species will simply disappear, at least in the wild.

The next post will feature other poached species on the brink of extinction.

Kanyakumari is located in the southernmost part of India, a place of dazzling wildlife and marvelous views of sunrises and sets. Now, the area’s district administration wants to entice the eco-minded with the tantalizing allure of ecotourism. In Kanyakumari, rugged ecotourists will soon be able to enjoy trekking, rock climbing, bungee jumping, and other adventurous activities.

“Along with the National Adventure Foundation and Friends of Nature, we plan to promote adventure and ecotourism here,” said District Collector Rajendra Ratnoo.

The mellower among us can venture to the beach and pretend to be lizards or enjoy bird watching activities and learn directly from ornithologists, who will be offering their services on a regular basis. The region is inhabited by 17 varieties of migratory birds, e.g. pelicans, flamingoes, spoonbills, and different types of ducks.

School students and corporate groups will be especially targeted: those interested in ecotourism in Kanyakumari will be able to benefit from special tourist packages. If the district administration partners with the state tourism department, there will be options available for the holiday season as well.

It seems that the government is serious about ecotourism. In Kanyakumari, April will signal the implementation of a ban on the use of plastics with less than 20 microns. This will not only help to improve the look of the place and prevent the tragic death of wildlife that confuse plastic with food, but also to raise awareness among local communities and thus potentially advance eco-friendly tendencies in the district.

Given India’s recent industrial boom and the resulting pollution explosion, this new inclination toward ecotourism in Kanyakumari comes as refreshing news. The spiritual and eco-conscious already make their way to India (Kanyakumari included) with zeal and enthusiasm, so offering them ecotourist options should prove a hit. Hopefully this development will soon begin popping up throughout the region and beyond.

If you think popping ecstasy has no influence on the environment, let me prove you wrong.

Background

The Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia are the largest pristine area of rainforest in Southeast Asia. They host about 100 endangered species of animals.

Poachers and illegal logging have recently been expanding in the region. As the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime used to roam it, people stayed away. But once the fighting stopped, new criminals moved in. New roads have also made the area more accessible.

“Ecstasy oil”

The prized ingredient is sassafras oil, which is extracted from the extremely rare Mreah Prew Phnom trees – which are several hundred years old – through a distillation process. The raw, pungent, golden oil is most profitable as the necessary, key ingredient used to manufacture the illegal recreational drug ecstasy, a.k.a. MDMA.

The sale of sassafras oil is illegal in Cambodia, so criminal networks set up secret factories and then smuggle the oil out of the country, usually to Thailand or Vietnam, so it can be turned into a chemical used to make ecstasy.

Additional problems for the ecosystem

The ecosystem must also deal with the logging of trees other than the Mreah Prew Phnom, as the distillation process requires huge quantities of fuel wood.

Tim Wood of Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and Cambodian rangers fly by helicopter to look for smoke and clearings – signs of secret factories– and later visit the sites by foot for days at a time.

The sites are built near streams because the distillation process requires water – and the toxic, carcinogenic by-products end up in the water. After the oil is extracted, the sites are abandoned.

Conservationists are worried that “empty forest syndrome” is taking over the Cardamom Mountains as poachers kill its wildlife for food during their “ecstasy oil” raids.

Set it on fire

Ironically, when sites are found, rangers destroy all equipment and set fire to it. This is considered a necessary evil to prevent the criminals from coming back to the site and reestablishing it once they return, if the site is found to be in use rather than abandoned.

What a mess.

“These factories are located close to streams and by-products from the distillation process causes significant pollution of the environment. In addition, the distillation process itself uses enormous quantities of fuel wood from other rainforest trees. Finally, the factory workers typically engage in poaching wildlife from the surrounding forests to supplement their basic diets,” according to FFI.

Watch a video about the phenomenon here.

Something to think about the next time you consider buying ecstasy, kids. Tell your friends.

The city of Dhaka and the Buriganga River that flows through it in Bangladesh used to be ecologically alive—it held oxygen, flowed freely, hosted ecosystems.

Now, people describe it as “a black gel.” Mmm. 

This is a royal catastrophe, as the river supplies 12 million people with drinking, cooking, and washing water, plus serves as a road for people to travel and a source of food—fish, now all dead. The Buriganga River has become so thick with unfiltered human and industrial waste, plus “burnt engine oil from launches, dyes from tanneries and textile mills, unauthorized practice of land filling, to name a few” that traveling on it is  burdensome–plus practically unbearable due to the stench.  In the dry season, oxygen levels can drop to zero.

“Much of the Buriganga is now gone, having fallen to ever insatiable land grabbers and industries dumping untreated effluents into the river,” said Ainun Nishat, a leading environmental expert. “The water of the Buriganga is now so polluted that all fish have died, and increasing filth and human waste have turned it like a black gel. Even rowing across the river is now difficult for it smells so badly.”

Even worse, I think, is that it’s not the only river in the region that is this obscenely polluted. There are about 230 in Bangladesh, and “many of them” are drying up with 1.5 million cubic meters of toxic sludge every day. And yet the pictures in this article show a man submerged in the river.

“Yet, in spite of all this nothing is being done. Buriganga is on the verge of extinction, pollution is choking its life blood and the very city …Today Buriganga has lost its biodiversity and marine life; in place of its once famous fresh water fish now dead animals float in the water that is as dark as pitch and as potently deadly as arsenic. The saddest part is that we the inhabitants of Dhaka who are heavily dependent on this river have so far been passive in the role of savior.” – The New Nation, “Bangladesh’s  independent news source”

Maybe once you’ve lived there all your life, you experience the frog effect and it doesn’t repel you as it would an outsider—you know, the experiment in which a frog was placed in a pot of water, and the water was slowly heated until it reached boiling the point. You guessed it: the frog died. It didn’t notice it was getting so hot because it happened gradually. But when a frog was tossed into boiling water, it jumped right out—which is what an outsider may do, someone who hasn’t seen the river gradually turn into sludge. That person would not be as desensitized. That person probably wouldn’t jump into the river. Eeeek.

There also may be no other place from which to get water or bathe.

“Water in the Buriganga and Turag rivers have literally turned into poison” – Dr. MA Taher Khandker, director general of Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board

Health Effects

Surprisingly, no one is talking about the health effects on the young man covered in black waste up to his neck, on the kids stepping into the river to “collect rubbish.” And if the man who is washing his clothes by the river is washing them in the river, his skin will become covered in bacteria, viruses, parasites, and toxic waste. Maybe authorities don’t want to cause panic and incite rebellion.

You can read about crops being watered and later washed with this river water, and the consequential consumption of toxins by humans.

Hope for the future

Reuters says environmentalists are hopeful that if companies stop bribing authorities and filter their waste before dumping it into the Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya Rivers, they could recover. The idea would be dredge the rivers and fill them with clean water from the upstream. Let’s hope it works and the water is kept potable.

Md Arifur Rahman, member-secretary of Bapa’s Programme Committee on Finance, Trade and Development, said the 2009-10 fiscal year budget, as well as policies,  should prioritize the cleaning up of these waterways. But will anyone take concrete action?

Also, the High Court came up with an order to stop encroachment, earth filling and illegal developments on the Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya Rivers—which is narrowing the flows and polluting them. The order was obtained thanks to a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB). Rock on, HRPB.

The High Court also addressed the federal government, challenging it to explain why the illegal structures aren’t being removed. There will be a hearing on June 1.

Note: Even I’m sick of discussing it, but I can’t help myself.

The swine flu/H1N1 rage is over or dwindling in many parts of the world (and yes, growing in some). 70 deaths in Mexico now. And millions due to the regular flu, by the way.

I just want to say, all the overreacting has caused me to postpone my vacation. First, it was just going to be a few weeks. Now, for reasons external to H1N1 but impacted by the postponed trip, it will be a few months. No good.

So I hope the rest of you have had better luck and suffered from no panic, or at least were able to control the media’s flu frenzy. It’s too bad that countries have been shutting people out and blocking people in due to this. And that masks, paranoia and general anxiety have been cutting us off from one another! You know, I was afraid people would give me dirty looks on the plane and at airports since I suffer from allergies and frequently blow my nose. But I am speaking even of those who do not.

And a big no-no to you, big pharma, for feeding it (and sponsoring it? Most likely!). Bad big pharma. Bad.

Oh, and if you wanted environment-related news regarding H1N1, the Huffington Post has posted a few links. (I just didn’t find them relevant enough to the usual topics to discuss here.) And let me repeat that I blame Big Pharma, not factory farms, for the virus. Although, factory farms are horrible. Go vegetarian! Ok, no pressure.