Environmental Catastrophe

Demand rainforest protection in climate deal

barroyo — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:17:49 +0000

Deforestation critically impacts on climate change. According to Greenpeace deforestation accounts for about one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than that emitted from all the cars, planes, and trains in the world.
In short rainforests help keep the climate stable over time by storing carbon emissions. Cutting trees down and burning forests means that stored carbon is released into the atmosphere. Deforestation therefore is one of the causes of global warming and climate change.

If we want to keep global warming at the level recommended by the United Nations as safe, a global temperature rise of less than 2°C, we must act to ensure that a deal to stop climate change also provides for the protection of forests.

It is therefore important that we support the work of NGOs that are campaigning to ensure that the Copenhagen summit results in a legally binding treaty.

You can sign petitions with the following organisations:
Greenpeace
TckTckTck (see also sidebar banner)
WWF

As a matter of fact you could sign up with any of the over 100 organisations that form the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition.

Shop green this Christmas

barroyo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:42:21 +0000

Make sure that you give environmentally friendly Christmas presents this year. There are a lot of places were you can get original gifts ideas. I have come accross some places that I found interesting:

Cool Earth: this organisation advertises a range of “cool gifts”. The handcrafted jewellery comes in three catagories (simple, crafted and sophisticated) and each necklace helps protect a 1/4 of an acre of rainforest.

WWF green gifts: T-shirts, teddy bears, books. You can refine your search by product ethics (recycled, fair trade etc) and by price.

Guardian Eco Store: a wide range of environmentally-friendly products (categprised under fashion, books and music among others). Gift guides are also available.

Suggestions for green shopping are welcome!

Sponsor a rainforest tree

barroyo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:06:13 +0000

Cool Earth works to protect forests at risk of depletion. You can now sponsor specific trees in the Ashaninka region of the Amazon (Peru). Sponsorships start at £1. The Ashaninka region of Peru is experiencing rapid deforestation as illegal loggers are cutting down trees to cherry pick the most valuable trees.
The website allows you to view information of the unique qualities of each tree and find out how it plays a vital role in the planet’s survival. When you sponsor a tree you’ll receive a certificate and can view its location in your Cool Earth account.

Cool Earth is a registered charity working with local communities to secure forests at risk of being destroyed within the next 18 months. Only 10% of donations are spent on admin and governance, making sure every penny possible goes on safeguarding our climate.

Prince’s Rainforests Project- Free interactive book

barroyo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:08:45 +0000

If you would like to learn more about the rainforests and their importance to our planet, have a look at this great interactive book entitled Rainforests- The burning issue. The book is an initiative of the Prince’s Rainforests Project and is available free of charge online.

It includes facts and figures, explanatory diagrams, videos as well as incredible pictures of the tropical rainforests.

An email tool alows you to send the book to friends who have an interest on the issue.

Speak up for rainforests

barroyo — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:54:53 +0000

The Prince’s Rainforests Project calls for urgent action to fight climate change by addressing rainforest destruction. Through its website you can now add your voice to those who want to protect the rainforests. You can upload your picture or a video with your message to the Prince’s Rainforests Project.

You can also invite your friends to sign up to the Prince’s Rainforests Project and learn more about deforestation. Please advertise this campaign as widely as possible!

Watch wildlife in its natural habitat

barroyo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:58:55 +0000

I have just come accross this great idea from Wildilfe Focus. It is called Webcam in the Forest and it shows live wildlife footage from the tropical forests.
There are currently two webcams, one of the of Fundación Jocotoco’s Buenaventura Reserve, Ecuador where the webcam is situated in a prime position to film the different variety of birds that come to visit strategically placed feeders in the reserve.

There is also a high-quality webcam streaming live from the Southern Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil’s Parana State which was installed by Luciano Breves, World Land Trust friend and wildlife filmmaker and conservationist working to protect the forests of Brazil. According to the website, you are likely so see include the Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Black Jacobin, Blue-winged Parrotlet and the Plain Parakeet.

Read more about the Webcam in the Forest.

Greenpeace: ‘Ending deforestation is one of the fastest ways to save the climate’

barroyo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:08:17 +0000

In fact deforestation accounts for approximately one fifth of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
According to Greenpeace, this is more than all of the cars, planes, and trains in the world put together. When trees are cut down or burnt, the carbon dioxide that they had previously absorbed is released into the atmosphere and also, the number of trees that absorb carbon dioxide is reduced.

Greenpeace activists are currently in the Indonesian rainforest in the Climate Defenders Camp in order to bring attention to the role that deforestation plays in climate change.

Please visit Greenpeace’s website for more information on the Greenpeace campaign.
You can also sign a petition to ensure that the new climate change treaty that results from Copenhagen includes a fund to save forests and for opportunities to support Greenpeace campaigns.

Short break…

barroyo — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:39:07 +0000

Hi all,

I am sitting exams at university from Monday so I am probably not going to be updating my blog for a couple of weeks. I wish there were more hours in the day to allow me to work on it!

Once I finish, I will catch up with any developments that have occurred in these weeks.

Please feel free to give me feedback on my blog, it will help me improve it. Also, if there is a particular issue related to rainforest depletion that I have not yet mentioned and you think is important, please let me know and I will look into it.

Thank you very much for reading my blog!

The rainforest is an “infinite sea of possibilities”

barroyo — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:34:06 +0000

This is the way Mateus Paciencia, a botanist from São Paulo, describes the rainforest. He spoke to Tom Phillips from the Guardian in an article that highlights the importance of research of the medicinal properties of plants of the rainforest.

Paciencia, along with Drauzio Varella (an Oncologist) and Osmar Ferreira Barbosa, a former chainsaw operator who now works as a forest guide went deep into the Brazilian rainforest to find natural medicines that can provide a cure for cancer and provide economic alternatives to those who once destroyed the rainforest.

Every plant in the rainforests has potential medical uses and since the project first started in 1995, Varella and his team have collected more than 2000 extracts for analysis. The results are telling: over 70 extracts have demonstrated some impact on tumour cells while over 50 have shown results against bacterial infections.

By depleting the rainforests and driving its species to extinction, we are also destrying a goldmine of medicinal agents that are, as yet, unexplored.

Read the full article at the Guardian.co.uk.

Books that are good for the rainforests

barroyo — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:58:58 +0000

Thomas Marent- Rainforest- a Photographic Journey

The book Rainforest- a photographic journey by Thomas Marent assembles over 500 photographs he has taken over 16 years of travel.

Dorling Kindersley Publishers works in association with the Rainforest Foundation who receives a donation for every copy sold.

You can order the book through Amazon by visiting the Rainforest Foundation website or Amazon.

The organisation also recommends books on the rainforest with consumer information and on plants and animals of the rainforest. Check out these books on their website.