Green Marketing 2.0| SEO SEM Social Media Consulting - Lorna Li» Rainforest

Saving The Orangutans Of Borneo

lorna li — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:11:56 +0000

Borneo, located in Southeast Asia, is the world’s third largest island. Borneo is also divided into three different nations, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The island of Borneo is rich in biodiversity; Borneo’s rainforests are the home to world’s largest flower, the world’s largest carnivorous plants, the world’s largest orchid, and the world’s last orangutans. Not long ago, Borneo had an extensive rainforest that covered the majority of the island. However, the ever increasing demand for timber in the international markets, coupled with government corruption, has turned the green lungs of Asia into the world’s biggest exporter of tropical timber. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the rate of environmental destruction in Borneo is now faster than in the Amazon Basin.

In the early 1990s, a surge in the demand for palm oil as an ingredient in processed foods, as well as for biofuel production, was seen as an economic opportunity in the region. Oil palm became much more lucrative traditional crops, like bananas, and resulted in the decimation of 86% of Malaysia’s rainforests for the development of oil palm plantations. In fact, environmentalists have been alarmed at the rate in which oil palm plantations have been replacing tropical rainforests. But the numbers are hard to beat. Compared to soybeans and corn, which yield only 446 and 172 liters of crude oil per hectare, a hectare of oil palm may yield nearly 6,000 liters of crude oil.

While the palm oil devastation is far reaching, reforestation efforts by the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation are promising. Their Samboja Lestari Reforestation project demonstrated that it was indeed possible to transform a 2000 hectare wasteland into a thriving forest with 1800 native species of plants in only a few short years. The end result was the return of hundreds of species of wildlife, from butterflies and beetles to hornbills and gibbons. Furthermore, with its high concentration of fruiting trees, Samboja Lestari is a sanctuary for the rehabilitation of rescued orangutans.

BOS is currently looking after more than 1000 displaced young and adult orangutans, and are looking for ways to release them into safe forests.
The EcoPreservation Society is partnerring with BOS on land acquisition, for the purposes of reforestation and orangutan rehabilitation. Check out their Borneo Reforestation Project for more information.

What Is Sustainable Rainforest Management?

lorna li — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:17:26 +0000

Sustainable rainforest management is based on the principles of sustainable forestry, a practice where trees are harvested in a manner that minimizes damage to the surrounding ecosystem. Trees are selectively cut, rather than clearcut, and often felled close to the end of their natural life cycle. Sustainable rainforest management seeks to capitalize on the economic value of rainforests without depleting its natural resources. Reforestation combined with selective extraction can ensure that forest cover remains more or less the same.

Due to uncontrolled and illegal logging, rainforests all over the world, especially in the Amazon region, Indonesia and Malaysia, have been decimated and countless plant and animal species have been lost. In Indonesia and Malaysia an estimated 42% of tropical rainforest is lost to logging each year due to the absence of proper rainforest management and laxity on the part of rainforest officials.

The loss of rainforests across the world presents several environmental challenges, global warming being the most ominous. Rainforests are huge CO2 sinks – trees absorb CO2 and mitigate the buildup of greenhouse gases. Slash and burn agriculture in tropical areas releases CO2 into the atmosphere, in addition to eliminating the trees that would otherwise absorb it.

There is a direct relationship between deforestation and drought. Because trees also absorb and create precipitation, loss of forested land impacts rainfall, locally and globally. The Amazon alone creates 50-80 percent of its own rainfall through transpiration. Loss of rainforests has resulted in decreased rainfall in tropical regions, which has disastrous consequences on local agriculture. Deforestation can also have far reaching consequences. Loss of rainforests alters the reflectivity of the earth’s surface, which, in turn, impacts climate change due to shifting wind and ocean current patterns, which also affects rainfall distribution. As deforestation continues, expect extreme weather conditions to occur with greater frequency.

Deforestation brings other woes, such flooding and soil erosion. Tropical regions receive heavy rainfall; when the forests are dense and vegetation is lush, much of this water can be absorbed without much consequence. When the dense vegetation is removed, surface runoff is increased and catastrophic flooding can occur.

Approximately 80% of the soils in the humid tropics are acidic and infertile. Without trees to hold the soil in place, the soil becomes prone to erosion. Rainfall can then easily wash away remaining nutrients, so that what is left behind is impoverishment and a barren wasteland. Because the land can no longer be cultivated, inhabitants move on and clear more land, only to repeat the cycle of destruction.

Strict regulation and vigilance of logging activities, sustainable rainforest management and reforestation programs are urgently needed in order to slow the rate of rainforest and species loss across the globe. Several nations have passed stricter regulations on logging and have started reforestation programs. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, many reforestation programs today, however, are merely focused on planting new trees and not on actual reforestation.

Restoration of the native rainforest is what is needed to reverse the environmental consequences of deforestation. While raising a plantation of new trees on deforested land that become cattle pasture might relieve some of the pressure on forested areas, a crop of new trees is not the same as a new forest.

The Sustainably Managed Permanent Rainforest Habitat initiative approaches reforestation in a way that is distinct from most tree planting projects. Often, tree planting programs, while well meaning, are not particularly effective. Organizations may not have control of the lands where the trees are planted, and, in most cases the trees are planted in areas that have a history of deforestation. Many programs also take place on ranches and farmlands. Ask yourself: What do farmers do for a living? They plant things, they grow things, and they cut them down and sell them.

The Sustainably Managed Permanent Rainforest Habitat aims to use a mix of techniques to encourage complete reforestation, such as analog (sustainable) forestry, wildlife habitat enhancement, biomass carbon negative energy production, BioChar soil augmentation and edible forest gardens (Permaculture).

Visit Replanting the Rainforests to learn more about reforestation programs in rainforest regions around the world.

Powerful Images of the Amazon Rainforest by Photographer Daniel Beltrá

lorna li — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:36:24 +0000

Award winning photographer Daniel Beltrá takes powerful new images of the Amazon rainforest. Here you can see that some of the first images taken on The Prince’s Rainforest Project and Sony assignment show the rainforests’ glory and destruction.

Daniel Beltrá, this year’s winner of The Prince’s Rainforests Project (PRP) Award at the Sony World Photography Awards has released some initial photographs taken on the first leg of his prize - a fully-funded assignment to document the three major rainforest regions of the world.

The Spanish photographer, now based in Seattle, beat off stiff competition from some of the world’s finest environmental photographers to win the assignment on behalf of The Prince’s Rainforests Project and Sony Europe.

‘Travelling to the Amazon has been an incredible experience and I have been able to capture some powerful images that show the many different elements of the rainforest ‘ the beauty, the wildlife, the local people and also the destruction’, says Daniel. ‘It is has been an eye-opening journey so far and I’m looking forward to photographing the Central African and South East Asian rainforests on the next parts of my trip. I hope the photos I produce will make a strongly persuasive argument for emergency action to preserve the world’s tropical rainforests’.

The PRP, founded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, recognises that every year, destruction of the Earth’s rainforests releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than all the world’s cars, planes and ships put together and aims to achieve consensus about how the rate of deforestation might be slowed. The PRP is working with governments, businesses and non-profit organisations around the world to find solutions to deforestation – and to find them fast – with the ambition of ‘making the trees worth more alive than dead’. The project has also launched a global awareness campaign, asking people to sign up at www.rainforestSOS.org to put rainforests at the heart of the climate change debate.

Environmental responsibility has been a significant part of the Sony ethos for many years and the PRP partnership is just one of Sony’s many environmental initiatives. Sony Chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer recently filmed a video with the PRP animated frog in support of the partnership which can be seen on the PRP website.

Sony and the PRP are delivering a stunning interactive exhibition that will combine Daniel’s new photographs with Sony technology to allow people to experience the glory of the rainforests and understand their plight. The exhibition will open at Kew Gardens, London on October 3rd 2009.

About Daniel Beltrá

Beltrá is the winner of numerous awards. Last year, he won awards in the NPPA Best of Photojournalism and the International Photography/Lucie contests. He is a fellow of the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP). His Amazon work was awarded in the China International Press Photo contest in 2006 and the World Press Photo in 2006 and 2007. That same year, along with Sir David Attenborough, he received a Special Nomination from The International Forum on the Drought in Seville (Spain) for his dedication to the environment.

The Prince’s Rainforests Project

The Prince’s Rainforests Project (PRP) was established in October 2007 by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and aims to achieve consensus as to how the rate of deforestation might be slowed and stopped. The PRP intend to leverage the convening power of HRH The Prince of Wales and work alongside governments, international businesses, non-profit organisations and the rainforests nations themselves to find a solution to mass deforestation and degradation of the rainforests, and make the trees worth more alive than they are dead.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the PRP or to register your support to combat climate change through halting deforestation, please log-on to: www.princesrainforestsproject.org

About Sony

Sony manufactures audio, video, communications and information technology products for the global consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, game and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be one of the world’s leading digital entertainment brands. Sony recorded consolidated global annual sales of EUR 54.4billion (yen 7,730 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, based on an average market exchange rate for the same period of yen 142.0 to the EUR. It employs approximately 171,300 people worldwide. In Europe, the Sony Group recorded consolidated annual sales of EUR 14.0 billion (yen 1,987.7 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009.

For more information about Sony’s environmental initiatives go to www.sony.eu/eco

Saving the Jaguars of Belize

lorna li — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:35:42 +0000

Image Source: Prospero973

When one thinks of Belize, images of coral reefs, white sand beaches, and lush green jungles teeming with wildlife come to mind. Unfortunately, Belize’s tropical rainforests are under siege, as logging companies from China, Indonesia and Japan continue to clear cut vast swaths of forested land in order to supply valuable timber to international markets.

Even more rainforest territory is being destroyed to make way for cattle ranches and plantations. Many of these properties are then sold off to unsuspecting American and European retirees with the promise of huge returns. While ranch owners might initially reap rewards in the first couple years of ownership, eventually, many of these ranches and plantations fail, due to the poor soil quality upon which they were founded, thereby resulting in bankruptcies or huge losses for the owners.

Rainforest soil is ill suited to agriculture. The soil underneath the dense rainforest canopy is fragile and thin; without the protective cover of trees and the wide network of roots, the thin layer of soil erodes quickly with the rain and wind, which wash away what little nutrients there are. Because the soil is low in nutrition, it cannot support healthy pasture for cattle or intense agriculture for much more than two years. In the southwestern parts of Belize, especially in the mountainous Cayo district, which was once covered by dense rainforests and home to jaguars, most of these ranches are now up for sale. Owners that have experienced the sudden economic collapse of their ranches are now looking to sell of their properties for whatever price that they can get.

The desperation of ranch owners to sell to sell off their properties has resulted in plummeting real estate prices, making it an opportune time to purchase land for reforestation and jaguar conservation. Jaguars are the largest wild cats that currently roam in the jungles of Belize. Uncontrolled logging has severely reduced the size of the jaguars’ natural habitat and decreased their food supply. Due to increased scarcity of their natural prey, jaguars come into conflict with humans and prey on the cattle that now occupy their former habitat. In a bid to protect their property and cattle, ranchers attack and kill the jaguars. While nobody knows how many jaguars have been killed, some conservative estimates claim that more than 15000 jaguars have died due to their conflict with humans.

The Rainforest Trust and the Eco-Preservation Society are currently raising funds for to buy out bankrupt ranches for the purposes of reforestation. Cattle ranches are great locations to begin reforestation, as they already possess the basic infrastructure necessary for these kinds of projects. The houses provide good quality shelter for the volunteers, as well as for the local Mayan people participating in the conservation program. Furthermore, by acquiring these ranches, conservation dollars would be spent primarily on jaguar conservation and not on constructing houses for the volunteers.

You can help support jaguar conservation through your donation to Eco-Preservation Society’s Belize Reforestation Project.

Peruvian Police Cover Up Deaths of Indigenous Protestors

lorna li — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:12:18 +0000

Bagua, Peru (June 8, 2009) – In the aftermath of Friday’s bloody raid on a peaceful indigenous road blockade near Bagua in the Peruvian Amazon, numerous eyewitnesses are reporting that the Special Forces of the Peruvian Police have been disposing of the bodies of indigenous protesters who were killed.

“Today I spoke to many eyewitnesses in Bagua reporting that they saw police throw the bodies of the dead into the Marañon River from a helicopter in an apparent attempt by the Government to underreport the number of indigenous people killed by police,” said Gregor MacLennan, spokesperson for Amazon Watch.

“Hospital workers in Bagua Chica and Bagua Grande corroborated that the police took bodies of the dead from their premises to an undisclosed location. I spoke to several people who reported that there are bodies lying at the bottom of a deep crevasse up in the hills, about 2 kilometers from the incident site. When the Church and local leaders went to investigate, the police stopped them from approaching the area,” reported MacLennan.

Police and government officials have been consistently underreporting the number of indigenous people killed by police gunfire. Indigenous organizations place the number of protesters killed at least at 40, while Government officials claiming that only a handful of indigenous people were killed. Also the Garcia Government claims that 22 police officers were killed and several still missing.

“Witnesses say that it was the police who opened fire last Friday on the protesters from helicopters,” MacLennan said. “Now the government appears to be destroying the bodies of slain protesters and giving very low estimates of the casualty. Given that the demonstrators were unarmed or carrying only wooden spears and the police were firing automatic weapons, the actual number of indigenous people killed is likely to be much higher.”

“Another eyewitness reported seeing the bodies of five indigenous people that had been burned beyond identification at the morgue. I have listened to testimony of people in tears talking about witnessing the police burning bodies,” continued MacLennan.

At least 150 people from the demonstration on Friday are still being detained. Eye-witness reports also confirm that police forcibly removed some of the wounded indigenous protesters from hospitals, taking them to unknown destinations. Their families expressed concern for their well being while in detention. There are many people still reported missing and access to medical attention in the region is horribly inadequate.

The Organizing Committee for the Indigenous Peoples of Alto Amazonas Province issued this statement: “It is appalling that political powers have acted in such a cruel and inhuman manner against Amazonian Peoples, failing to recognize the fundamental rights and protections guaranteed to us by the Constitution. We express deep grief over the death of our indigenous brothers, of civilians and the officers of the National Police.”

The government expanded the State of Emergency and established a curfew on all traffic in the region from 3 pm to 6 am. Indigenous and international human rights organizations are worried about plans of another National Police raid on a blockade in Yurimaguas close to the town of Tarapoto where thousands are blocking a road.
President Alan Garcia is being widely criticized for fomenting a climate of fear mongering against indigenous peoples by drawing parallels to the brutal Shinning Path guerrilla movement of the 1980s and early 1990s, and by vaguely referring to external and anti-democratic threats to the country.

The Amazonian indigenous peoples’ mobilizations have been peaceful, locally coordinated, and extremely well organized for nearly two months. Yet Garcia insists on calling them terrorist acts and anti-democratic. Garcia has even gone so far as to describe the indigenous mobilizations as “savage and barbaric.” Garcia has made his discrimination explicit, saying directly that the Amazonian indigenous people are not first-class citizens.

“These people don’t have crowns,” Garcia said about the protesters. “These people aren’t first-class citizens who can say – 400,000 natives to 28 million Peruvians – ‘You don’t have the right to be here.’ No way. That is a huge error.”

Ironically, Peru was the country that introduced the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the floor of the General Assembly when it was adopted in September 2007.
A coalition of indigenous and human rights organizations will protest in front of the Peruvian Embassy in Washington D.C. on Monday, June 8 at 12:30 pm.

Indigenous peoples have vowed to continue protests until the Peruvian Congress revokes the “free trade” decrees issued by President Garcia under special powers granted by Congress in the context of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

Among the outpouring of statements condemning the violence in Peru were those from Peru’s Ombudsman’s office, the chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a coalition of 45 international human rights organizations, Indigenous organizations from throughout the Americas, and the Conference of Bishops of Peru. Also famous personalities including Q’orianka Kilcher, Benjamin Bratt, Peter Bratt, and Daryl Hannah and Bianca Jagger called on the Peruvian Government to cease the violence and seek peaceful resolution to the conflict.

AIDESEP, the national indigenous organization of Peru has called for a nationwide general strike starting June 11th.

Amazon Watch is continually updating photographs, audio testimony, and video footage from Bagua on www.amazonwatch.org.

I’m Back!

lorna li — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:37:52 +0000

I haven’t blogged for a long, long while,’coz life got real hectic for me at the start of the year. For one, I changed jobs. I have been hired by Salesforce.com to help them with search optimization of their content, social media marketing, building social networks, and scoping out new technologies for acquisition.

After that was all squared away, I took off to Honduras for a couple of weeks, where I spent one week doing a raw food, eco-yoga retreat in the rainforest just outside of La Ceiba. Every morning, I practiced Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga. In the afternoons, I went hiking. I did a lot of skinny dipping in waterfalls (not featured)

After a week of living a yogic lifestyle, eating only raw fruits and vegetables, I ended my retreat with a yummy meal of coconut shrimp & rice, apple pie, and an Irish coffee at the jungle eco-lodge up the road. Then it was off to Roatan for a week of scuba diving.Â There I balanced out my raw food regimen with the shrimp, king crab and lobster diet.

The highlight of my stay on Roatan island was a swim with a group of ocean-faring bottle-nose dolphins intent on out-swimming our dive boat, the Bad Boy.

Now I’m back in S.F., 5 shades darker, a lot more relaxed, ready to begin the rat race again!

No related posts.