Whale Hunting Season

Thirty-six dead whales is the result of Iceland's whale hunting season, which ended in the first week of October, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Ecobreves – UNITED STATES: Greens Seek Commitment from Schwarzenegger

Ecologist groups say the environmental proposals of the governor-elect of the U.S. state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, are vague -- and they are going to demand concrete answers.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Protecting Wetlands and Aquatic Birds

An internationally backed project for the western Cuban province of Pinar del Río aims to protect the area's wetlands and waterfowl.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Cyber-Indians

Several groups of Brazilian Indians are beginning to use the Internet, thanks to the Peoples of the Forest Network, a project of the non-governmental Committee for the Democratization of Information Technologies (CDI)

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Battle Against Tree Trafficking

The environmental investigative office in Guatemala will launch a campaign at the end of October to fight the illegal trafficking in 'pinabete' branches, which Guatemalans traditionally use as Christmas decorations.

Ecobreves – COSTA RICA: Botanical Info for the Public

Central Americans will have access to information on the region's plants, as well as their uses, thanks to an agreement between the Network of Central American Herbalists, the Costa Rican National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) and the Norwegian Agency for Development.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Eco-Ovens Get a Boost

Pro-Leña, a Honduran non-governmental organization, has launched a campaign in Nicaragua to increase sales of the so-called eco-ovens, which reduce the consumption of firewood and air pollution from fires.

OPEN FIRE AND OPEN MARKETS: STRATEGY OF AN EMPIRE

Eruptions of armed aggression by the US should not distract us from the underlying logic of economic imperialism. America\'s \'\'war for freedom\'\' or \'\'war on terrorism\'\' is at one with its expansionary goals for the market: open invasion in some places, and open markets everywhere. In this article for IPS, the author writes that the plans for Iraq go beyond reconstruction. The intention is to create a dream economy -- completely privatised and foreign-owned. The war on Iraq was shadowed by a battle among American corporations to win reconstruction contracts. Resistance to the unilateral US strategy does not go over well. In March 2003, President Bush alluded to the possibility of reprisals if Mexico didn\'t vote America\'s way in the UN Security Council on the question of Iraq. In July 2003, the administration cut off military aid to 35 friendly countries in retaliation for their support of the International Criminal Court (ICC). And following the collapse of trade talks in Cancun, the US is threatening \'\'to take note\'\' of those countries that \'\'torpedoed\'\' the negotiations in Cancun. However, the US position as a solo superpower could be short-lived. Washington\'s desire to dominate affairs around the world has created a global resistance stoked by a combination of developing country resentments inflamed by US arrogance, a crippled economy, an expensive invasion and occupation of Iraq that has not gone well for the US, and reinvigorated civil society resistance to corporate driven globalisation.

'Sea Shepherds' to Cultivate Pearls

Pearl production could benefit 30,000 residents of La Guajira, including the Wayúu Indians, who see the ocean as an extensive pastureland.

THE POLITICAL SUICIDE OF ARIEL SHARON

The UN resolution recently approved condemning Israel\'s decision to remove Yasser Arafat is a clear demonstration of the world\'s moral and political incomprehension of Israel and of US policy towards the Middle East, writes Mario Soares, prime minister of Portugal between 1976-1978 and 1983-1985 and president between 1986-1996. In this analysis, Soares writes that the key to real stabilisation of the region is the resolution of the conflict between Palestine and Israel. For this reason the strategy of Sharon seems suicidal and a sure recipe for irreversible disaster. How is it legally possible to publicly advocate the assassination of an adversary, a man elected president of the Palestinian Authority and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate? Has there been no thought given to the repercussions this would have not only in the Middle East but the entire world? Israel\'s policy inflicts long-term and in cases irreversible damage to the moral and political prestige of Israel, whose people, persecuted throughout their history, are turning into persecutors, oppressors, and colonialists.

Franken Foods

Foods derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cause have caused concern among various groups and populations around the world. Most of the scientific community says there is no evidence that GMOs pose a threat to human health or the environment, but the campaigns against transgenics continue to proliferate.

DANGER

Power feeds on fear. Without the demons that create it, it would lose its source of justification, impunity, and fortune, writes Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan writer and journalist, author of \'\'The Open Veins of Latin America\'\' and \'\'Memories of Fire\'\'. Fear distracts and deflects attention. Were it not for the services it performs, the obvious would be plain for all to see: that power looks at itself in the mirror and incites fear by telling us what it sees, Galeano writes. Patriotism is a privilege of those in power. When practised by those who are ruled, is it reduced to mere terrorism? To take two examples, the suicide attacks by desperate Palestinians evicted from their country, or the national resistance to the foreign forces now occupying Iraq: are these terrorism and nothing more? Power disguised negates common sense. If it weren\'t thus, could there be any doubt that the current government of Israel is practising terrorism, state terrorism, and is spreading madness? The more land this country devours and the more humiliation it inflicts on the Palestinian people, the more criminal responses it will generate.

HELP FOR POOREST COUNTRIES LIES IN WTO REVITALISATION

If the promise embodied in the name of the Doha Development Round is to be fulfilled after the WTO failure at Cancun, these negotiations must be re-vitalised, writes Ian Goldin, Vice President, External Affairs and United Nations Affairs of the World Bank. In this article, the author writes that rich countries need to take the lead in re-starting the multilateral process by making more ambitious offers than were on the table in Cancun, and developing countries should follow by showing increased flexibility to open their own markets. This will ensure that the developing countries are able to take full advantage of the benefits from investments in research and extension and rural infrastructure to enhance their global integration and trade. The potential benefits for the developing world from global trade reform are estimated to be as high as USD 349 billion per year when dynamic impacts are taken into account. The goal of Cancun was that business as usual cannot continue and that a new equilibrium needs to emerge that will give Africa a chance to benefit from the powerful engine of growth and poverty reduction that trade has proven to be in other parts of the world.

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol has suffered a setback that threatens its very existence. Russian president Vladimir Putin stated Sep. 29 that his country is undecided as to whether it will ratify the international accord for curbing emissions of greenhouse gases.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Fique Plant for Medicinal Use

The fique plant (Furcraea macrophilla), utilized in Colombia in making crafts and packaging material, contains a high concentration of two substances in high demand by the pharmaceutical industry, according to a university study.

Ecobreves – PERU: Environmentalists Want to Monitor Camisea

Ecologists have asked the Peruvian government to give them a place on the Environmental Control Commission that will monitor operations at the gas liquefaction plant being built in Paracas Bay, a nature reserve on the Pacific coast.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Officials Join Wetlands Campaign

Local and national authorities in Argentina signed a commitment in late September to advance a petition for the country's wetlands corridor to be declared a Ramsar site, granting it international protections.

Ecobreves – NICARAGUA: Tilapia Threatens Other Fish

The Nicaraguan government's environmental attorney general warned of the risks of a tilapia fish farm project, saying it would aggravate ecological problems caused by the presence of this exotic fish in the country's waters.

UK STUDY FINDS NEW RISKS IN GENETICALLY-ENGINEERED CROPS

A major new study on the environmental impact of genetically- engineered (GE) crops adds yet another concern to the growing list of ecological risks associated with transgenic crops, writes Peter Rosset, biologist and co-director of the Institute for Food and Development Policy, also known as Food First, based in the USA. In this article, Rosset writes that the study found that there were very serious impacts on biodiversity. In two of the three crops studied, herbicide use drastically affected plant biodiversity and consequently also had very negative affects on birds, bees, and butterflies. This raises the spectre of widespread above-ground ecosystem disruption in areas with broad use of herbicide-tolerant crops. Each new study adds new risks to an already overflowing list. In many cases these are risks --like lower soil fertility, reduced natural population control of pests, and loss of local varieties-- that will effect poor farmers more severely than wealthy farmers and threaten their livelihoods. The question is, when will governments ban international trade and planting of these unnecessary and dangerous crop varieties? the author asks.

MEDIA FOR ALL BY 2015

Information and communication technologies offer us an historic opportunity to create a new world of mutual responsibility and human solidarity -- though only if and when the majority of the world has the chance of fair and equitable access to the means of communication, writes Anuradha Mittal, director of OneWorld International Foundation and author of numerous articles of issues of global justice. In this article, the author writes that the real communications revolution will only come when enough citizens have the option to become media producers: when they can talk with as well as listen to those of us who are media professionals playing the role of facilitator. The People\'s Media era will begin when the Information Society is replaced by a Communication Society. When the People\'s Media era dawns, we will have no excuses left for being ignorant about what is really going on in the world. We will have no more excuses for global apartheid.

BOLIVIA: THE COUNTRY THAT WANTS TO EXIST

A gigantic explosion of gas -- this was the popular uprising that shook all of Bolivia and culminated in the resignation of President Sanchez de Lozada, writes Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan writer and journalist, author of \'\'The Open Veins of Latin America\'\' and \'\'Memories of Fire.\'\' In this article, Galeano writes that the gas was to have been shipped to California, for a minuscule price in exchange for a few miserable gifts. Sanchez de Lozada called this false privatisation \'\'capitalization\'\', but the country, tired of living to fuel foreign progress, demanded that the gas be used for Bolivia. These fast-moving times are marked by astounding achievements in Bolivia. In 2000 an uprising deprivatised the nation\'s water. A few months ago another popular explosion forced the government to annul the payroll tax that the IMF had demanded be implemented. And popular disobedience derailed a juicy deal for Pacific LNG, comprised by Repsol, British Gas, and Panamerican Gas, known to be a partner of Enron. As for the fugitive Sanchez de Lozada, he lost the presidency but he won\'t be losing much sleep. Though he has the killing of over 80 demonstrators on his conscience, this champion of modernisation is not bothered by anything that can\'t turn a profit.