Comments

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  Kat Morgenstern October 23, 2010 at 8:31pm

  No we should not!!! Biofuels are a wonderful idea - in THEORY. In practice it means more land getting devoured for fuel needs, soaring food prices because suddenly fuel growing space competes with food growing space (fuel is more profitable, so guess who wins). In the worst case scenario rain forest is cut down in and replaced with oil palm plantations for biofuel. Orangutans are becoming threatened with extinction due to habitat loss as a result of oil palm plantations. It is NOT the way forward. The planet is too small and our energy needs too big to be satiated with biofuel, certainly the kind of biofuel that eats up millions of hectares of space. There has been one innovative project though that I thought was interesting, which made fuel using algae. The energy yield was much higher in terms of space/value efficiency. That might be interesting, but I doubt very much that it can satiate our huge hunger for energy.
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  Sam Scribe October 23, 2010 at 8:07pm

  Biofuels: Are you sure this is a great idea? Boeing moved its head office from Seattle to Chicago four or five years ago, but here on the West Coast we're still peppered with news about Big Bo. This morning Boeing is applauding a government initiative on biofuels, saying they're all for it. But should we be all for it?
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  Kat Morgenstern October 20, 2010 at 6:18pm

  I don't think their numbers would be any greater if they were more aggressive. People would just feel more justified to kill them. Just look at how many tigres are left in the wild. The reason their numbers are so small is simply greed - their habitat, the rain forest, is being converted to oil palm plantations, mostly. And what is really sick about it is that these plantations are often funded with 'reforestation' grants or money from CO2 off-setting programs. So cynical!
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  Ed Wetschler October 20, 2010 at 3:42pm

  A press release from Malaysia reports that there are now only 7,000 or so orangutans left in the wild, "despite [their] passive nature." I'm no expert on this species, so I'll ask you: Could it be that their numbers are smaller -- not despite their passive nature, but because of their passive nature?
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  Tripatini October 18, 2010 at 7:03pm

  This week on the Tripatini blog, Baroness Sheri de Borchgrave gives us a "heads up" on her visit to the Iban headhunters of the rain forest of Malaysian Borneo a first-rate eco-adventure! Click here to read.
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  West Africa Discovery October 16, 2010 at 7:55pm

  Roll up, roll up! Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, we have an offer that will blow your mind...
  
  We have just been informed of an amazing offer to spend 2 weeks for the price of 1 throughout November in one of the eco-lodges we have selected as part of our mission to create a database of sustainable and responsible tours, accommodations and volunteer projects based in an amazing yet little known region of the World: West Africa.
  
  

  

  
  Where is this eco-lodge you may ask? West Africa comprises 16 countries, and this country is nicknamed 'The Smiling Coast'. Have you guessed yet? ... It's the Gambia!
  
  

  

  
  So if you are interested in visiting this vibrant and colourful country, and have a keen eye for a bargain, why not take up on this offer? You definitely won't be dissapointed.
  
  

  

  
  For more information on this truly sustainable eco-lodge which prides itself with their local community development schemes and pioneering sustainable architecture, click here.
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  Kat Morgenstern October 13, 2010 at 11:19pm

  When will people understand that it is not an 'us or them' choice, but that the quality of life on earth for all species depends on balanced integrity. We need animals and functioning ecosystems for human survival as much as the animals or plants need it with whom we share it.The reason of course why we think that humans are the only ones who count is because we want to exploit and make money off the rest, essentially enslaving other species for our own comfort. Granted, in the Serengeti people are in dire need of 'the basics'. Perhaps they should try to figure out how to develop their region with sustainability as the key factor, cause otherwise sooner or later the region will be doomed. And then what?
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  Lise Tyrrell October 13, 2010 at 11:09pm

  Sam, I think he's crazy and I hope he finds lots of opposition!
  Lise
  http://www.eco-tropicalresorts.com
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  Sam Scribe October 13, 2010 at 10:31pm

  Edward Lowassa, a former p.m. of Tanzania who's running for re-election, seems to want a "showdown with environmental and conservation groups" over the proposed road through the Serengeti.
  
  According to eturbonews.com, "He vowed to team up with supporters of the road project to make sure the road was constructed irrespective of its impact on the migration patterns of the big wildebeest and zebra herds."
  
  Is he crazy, or are we environmentalists too quick to root for animals rather than humans?
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  Ed Wetschler October 7, 2010 at 6:43pm

  And now, some good news: With

  

  help from Ocean.org, Chile has created Sala y Gómez Marine Park, a no-take marine reserve of 150,000 square kilometers around Sala y Gómez Island. And the plan is to enlarge it, knock wood.