Green Options » economic development

Coral Reef Fish Experience Middle Class Crunch

Bryan Nelson — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:59:19 +0000

The economic downturn is making it tough to be a member of the middle class, now there’s evidence that ‘middle class’ coral reef fish are hurting too.

According to a new Wildlife Conservation Society study, reef fish levels along middle class coastal communities in Eastern Africa tend to be significantly lower– up to 4 times lower– than along areas bordering wealthy or poor communities.

Reasons for the disparity are numerous, and they involve a complicated interplay between traditional customs, economic development and population dynamics. But middle class apathy could also be to blame.

Shrinking Communities in Scotland Vote on Creating National Park to Boost Economy

Levi Novey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:18:36 +0000

Is creating a national park for the chief purpose of economic development a good idea? Or does it ultimately diminish the conservation value of other national parks?

That is what I asked myself after reading this article from the BBC, about how a western region of Scotland known as “Harris Island” is voting on whether or not to attempt to make the area a national park (Harris is not actually an island).

The area’s population has decreased by 25% over the last twenty years, prompting residents to search for methods to develop Harris’ economy and halt its declining population trend. Other than that, the BBC has provided little additional information.

World Water Week in Stockholm Focuses on Sanitation and Hygiene

Nayelli Gonzalez — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:07:13 +0000

A fleet of scientists, business leaders, and policy makers have convened at the 2008 World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden for the past week to exchange views on the world water crisis and promote initiatives to build a clean and healthy world.

Organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute, the conference this year focuses on sanitation and hygiene issues related to water, which compliments the United Nations’ 2008 International Year of Sanitation theme.

“Sanitation is one of the biggest scandals of all times,” Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who heads the UN Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, was quoted in an article by news agency Agence France-Presse. “It’s something that we have to put on our radar screen. Some 7,500 people die every day due to this lack of sanitation,” he added.

According to the UN, 2.6 billion people around the world lack access to adequate sanitation, while half the world’s population lacks access to clean water. Consequently, citizens in underdeveloped countries experience premature deaths, illness, a degradation of living quarters and damage to the environment and local economies at alarming rates. Combined with the effects of global warming and the world water crisis, this creates cause for alarm.

A goal of World Water Week is to encourage the 2,500 international conference attendees to strategize ways to advance best practices, scientiﬁc understanding, and policy making processes related to water, health, poverty, and the environment.

Using preventive medicine, building sustainable cities, changing human behaviors, and comprehending sanitation’s link to global warming are other items highlighted during the week.

Another honorable mention for WWW is its commitment to arranging an environmentally responsible conference; using less bottled water, promoting carbon off-setting, recycling, providing organic and fair trade food, and supporting eco-hotels are all part of the conference’s plan to bring the issues home.

More information on conference topics:
WWW press releases

Photo: Stockholm International Water Institute

Water is Child’s Play, But You Gotta Spin!

Sam Aola Ooko — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:19:33 +0000

Water in Africa is precious, like life itself. Women and children, in most rural and poor urban communities all over the continent, trek tens of miles daily or pay dearly for a gallon. But an innovative pump is giving children in South Africa a more definitive role in bringing clean, sustainable water to their communities.

Powered by play, the PlayPump water system is a children’s merry-go-round attached to a water pump and storage tank. It provides easy access to clean drinking water, brings joy to children, and leads to improvements in health, education, gender equality, and economic development.

Hailed by the World Bank as “one of the world’s most innovative designs capable of providing self sustainable free clean water to poor communities, as well as being an effective delivery system for social messages”, the PlayPump system is a merry go round that pumps water from a ground source as children spin, and they like working hard at it. Talk of ingenuity! What’s more, it is a wonderful social media project: adverts are placed strategically on the equipment to warn on dangers of disease, including HIV/ Aids.