Many would be hard pressed to find Suriname on a world map. Surely, the estimated 12,000 working in illegal, wildcat gold mining in the isolated Amazonian rainforest of the northern South American nation would probably prefer to keep it that way. However, anonymity became more difficult last month. Researchers from Conservation International put the country […]
China announced plans to build a paved highway to Mount Everest to facilitate the journey of the Olympic torch to the top of the peak prior to the 2008 Bejiing Games. The current road to base camp–a rough path–will become “a blacktop highway fenced by undulating guardrails,” according to the Xinhua News Agency.The ambitious project […]
Saturday, May 26th, 2007, marked the tenth anniversary of National Sorry Day in Australia. However, those who have waited patiently for an official apology to Aboriginals from Prime Minister John Howard and the Commonwealth (federal) Government of Australia are still waiting. In Spring 1997, the damning conclusions of the “Bringing Them Home” report – which […]
The delicate balance of life on Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands-whose unique, isolated ecosystem helped inspire Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution-is at serious risk. Mass tourism, invasive species, and ineffective enforcement of environmental regulations are the major threats facing these iconic islands, according to a UNESCO fact-finding mission. Located 620 miles off the Pacific coast of Ecuador, […]
Hidden in the remote north Arctic are the Svalbard Islands, an archipelago that is part of the Kingdom of Norway, and which contains the northernmost permanently inhabited settlements in the world. Though not heavily visited, the islands receive some tourists to view reindeer, seal, walrus, polar bears and according to Wikitravel “to experience Arctic nature […]
On May 23rd, Sheri Liao, China’s best-known environmentalist and founder of Global Village Beijing, spoke to the World Affairs Council in San Francisco. Liao has long been at the forefront of the grassroots movement towards a greener China, serving as an environmental advisor for the Olympic Committee and spearheads many projects for Global Village, an […]
Kenya is home to some of the world’s most exotic wildlife and the country is reliant on its wildlife-based tourism. According to the Associated Press, “a million tourists a year spend more than $580 million” to see and photograph wildlife. Over the past year, delegates have debated the fate of Kenya ‘s wildlife, as many […]
Climate change is threatening the polar bears of western Hudson Bay and the tourism industry of Churchill, Manitoba (population: 923), which depends heavily on the furry, photogenic beasts. “Churchill is unique as a destination. It’s where the sea-ice of western Hudson Bay freezes first, and the bears aggregate each fall, waiting,” remarks John Gunter, Marketing […]
On March 28, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to prohibit non-biodegradable plastic bags in supermarkets and drug stores. The ban, which will come into full effect later this year, adds an important voice to the growing global movement toward cutting down plastic bag usage worldwide. Between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags […]
