United by images of nature's beauty

The opening of the photo exhibit turned out to be a grand gathering of environmental fighters from all fronts -- academe, religious, students, artists, non-governmental organizations, government officials and even the very people living at the upland villages of the city that now host huge banana and pineapple plantations.

The gathering became a testament that the call for environmental protection is all the more gaining ground, sinking into the consciousness of the public who are as generous as the Earth -- willing not only to surrender their time but also their presence if only to respond against destruction of the environment and the apathy of those who are gaining from these destructions. Read more

Pacific Whale decline...

Over fishing or is it something else? "The Whale starving, their fat has just gone, and there's not a lot of breeding going on," Dr Megill related. "They seem to spend their time looking around for food when they should be breeding"

The cause of this change is not clear. A link with climatic conditions makes sense; warmer waters hold less oxygen, they become less productive, resulting in less of the tiny crustaceans which are the grey whales' favoured food. Source: BBC:: Pacific whale decline 'a mystery'

Water Harvesting in Davao City

Water Shortages

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warn it will be hard for societies to adapt to all the likely climate impacts.

The report is set to say that a temperature rise above 1.5C from 1990 levels would put about one-third of species at risk of extinction.

More than one billion people would be at greater risk of water shortages, primarily because of the melting of mountain glaciers and ice fields which act as natural reservoirs.

The scientific work reviewed by IPCC scientists includes more than 29,000 pieces of data on observed changes in physical and biological aspects of the natural world.

Eighty-five percent of these, it believes, are consistent with a warming world.

Read full article on BBC

Small Pacific Islands and Climate Change

"The IPCC report embodies an extraordinary scientific consensus that climate change is already upon us, and that human activities are the cause. It is a clarion call to governments to act urgently to slash emissions." - James P. Leape, Director General of WWF International

The poor farmers and fishersmen on small pacific islands are feeling the impacts.

Tropical hide away, Davao, Mindanao

1. No Vandalism 2. No standing on the seat, so they don’t get dirty.

Community outlining downing basic rules to protect their most valuable resources. But upstream population pressure forces the removal of trees for agriculture, there is, as yet, little financial return from pursuits such as ecotourism across much of Mindanao.

 

Redemption Lands

Culture is defined by the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.

The Murrumbidgee River in NSW Australia means "for ever life flowing," in the Wiradjuri language, the local Aboriginal language. Their society interwove with the flow of the river, unfortunately modern society across the globe are not so in tune.

Changing Landscapes and Mindscapes

The potential for economic gain brought these Ozzie lands into agriculture. But when trees started dying people started ask why? Irrigation raised the water tables, bring salt into the roots zone was the cause. Now the economics’ of the environment are being factored to recover the ecosystems, but at a huge cost. The challenge is to help share these long term economic lessons with developing countries so they don’t have to make the same mistakes along the road prosperity.