World’s Largest Wine Corporation Threatens Sacred Pomo Redwood Forest

World’s Largest Wine Corporation Threatens Sacred Pomo Redwood Forest

 

Posted 30 August 2011, by Ahni, Intercontinental Cry, intercontinentalcry.org

 

The world’s largest wine corporation, Spain’s Grupo Codorniu, is trying to get permission from the state of California to clear-cut more than 1,900 acres of redwood forest in Sonoma County for that most decadent of alcohols: red wine.

Pomo Canyon redwoods, by t-dawg on Flickr

As noted in a new online petition, the proposed “land conversion” would erase the complex forest ecosystem; reduce local water quality; threaten the continued survival of the endangered coho salmon; and, like other large vineyards around the world, it would raise the region’s temperature.

Among other environmental concerns, the conversion would severely impact the cultural and spiritual well-being of the Kashia Pomo, who regard the redwood forest as a sacred place that must be preserved.

Take Action Now! Sign the petition opposing the redwood forest destruction: http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-wineries-from-demolishing-ca-redwoods-native-americans

For updates and more information, visit www.gualalariver.org

In the article below, Violet Parrish Chappell and Vivian Parrish Wilder, two Kashia Pomo elders and scholars, describe the importance of the redwood forest and what it means to their people.

Article cross-posted from www.ncriverwatch.org

Pomo elders speak out about vineyards

Article cross-posted from www.ncriverwatch.org

Where we used to live, no one can see anything now. It is time we open our mouths. Those vineyard people are interfering with our ancestors’ area.

Wherever our villages were, wherever we picked our food, those places are blessed places. When we had to live in two worlds, we had to get along with people we did not know. We had to live with white men who took the land away. We coped with it.

Mom taught us good things, how to get along with different races of people. She taught us how to get along in the world. She told us, “You are going to go out and educate others about us.” We don’t think that others will ever completely learn about the spiritual part of an Indian. That is deep. But we want to explain why it is important to Kashia Pomo.

That patch over there — Artesa land in Annapolis — that is a blessed place for us. We went there as kids. We picked berries there with our mother. We picked berries for necklaces. There is another place over there where there is a lot of Manzanita, and that was really important to us. We made spoons from that and also awls to make baskets. These are the things we grew up with. We dedicated our trees not to be cut. The trees in the forest are blessed. The Redwoods give us good medicine from the sap that hardens. It was used for anemia. The young shoots are used for colds. Bark dolls are made from Redwood.

Everything out there is used for something.

The reason we are against the disturbance in Annapolis is that place is alive. It is a dedicated area. It is a special area. If they do something wrong there, things are not going to go right. Who will believe us? We are speaking from the viewpoint of Kashia. We have to talk from the viewpoint of our spiritual leader, what we were taught. The non-Indian may not understand — there are things that we Indians can’t touch but can see. Good teachings are spiritual.

We are disturbed by all the things that are happening around us. We can’t go to some beaches to harvest food, we can’t pick huckleberries any place we want. We can’t find good sedge to make baskets because the best place was ruined by Lake Sonoma. We know that there is sedge on that place over there. Baskets were our cooking pans and used to store things like acorns. That is important for kids to learn. It would be a good place to teach the kids how to make baskets.

Religion was all our life. We’ll tell you why. There were no man made conveniences here. Everything was from the creation. That is why we take care of it. That is what the leader did, she taught us to take care of the food, the water. We took care of the trees. They will disturb the places where we prayed. The spirits are still there. We say, gee, now they are going to disturb Indian land, dig up the guts of people. They are coming into our religious life.

The idea that these sacred places could be fenced off is not good. We don’t go for that. You don’t have to dig it up. We know that whole area is a village site. All these places were occupied and used by our people. The whole place is one.

It was not so bad when the land was used for sheep grazing, but here they are going to flatten the land — land which would be better used for education, where our children and neighbors can learn about our ancestors and their way of life.

It is a blessing to pick food. It is a blessing to roam around. The creator wants us to take care of this place.

Violet Parrish Chappell and Vivian Parrish Wilder are elders and scholars of the Pomo Kashia band. They are daughters of Essie Parrish, the renowned healer, basket maker and Kashia Pomo leader.

Profile: The Pomo

Learn more about the Pomo and other Indigenous Peoples around the world

More on Endangered Sacred Sites

• Calling all Defenders: Mobilize for the San Francisco Peaks!Aug 22, 2011
• Altai Gas Pipeline Threatens UNESCO World Heritage Site, Telengit Sacred LandsAug 5, 2011
• Comments Open for Official USDA Draft Sacred Sites ReportAug 2, 2011
• Doo’ko’oosliid: What the San Francisco Peaks Means to the Dine’Jul 29, 2011

Petitions

• Sign the #petition: Stop Wineries From Demolishing Ca Redwoods & Native Americans http://t.co/Mj7nVzn
• Don’t abandon Aboriginal homelands – Amnesty International Australia
• Create a Protective “Buffer Zone” surrounding Bear Butte, a Sacred Site and Historical Landmark
• Protest WWF’s Shrimp Standards

(Please visit the original site for more content associated with this article.)

http://intercontinentalcry.org/worlds-largest-wine-corporation-threatens-sacred-pomo-redwood-forest/

An Animal Area in the Human Brain

 

Part of our brain is dedicated to reacting to animals.

 

Posted 29 August 2011, by Edyta Zielinska, The Scientist, the-scientist.com

 

Researchers showed that only the right-brain side of the amygdala is involved in processing images of animals—in terms or fear, aversion, or affection—highlighting the importance animals throughout our evolutionary history in a study published online yesterday in Nature Neuroscience.  The amygdala is the part of the brain involved in processing fear and other emotions, and has a lobe in both the right hemisphere as well as the left.

Researchers recorded from nearly 500 individual neurons in the brains of patients who were being monitored for epilepsy, while displaying a range of photos of people, animals, landmarks, and objects.  Only neurons in the right amygdala responded consistently to photos of animals—signaling in response to both those that were “cute” and those that might elicit fear or disgust.

 

http://the-scientist.com/2011/08/29/an-animal-area-in-the-human-brain/

How a human being can “disappear”

How a human being can “disappear”

 

Posted 30 August 2011, by Jim McDonald, Amnesty International, Posted by Email – associated website: www.amnesty.org/

 

These people haven’t really “disappeared” – their governments know exactly what happened to them.

When authorities in Sri Lanka realized they couldn’t erase the published stories that criticized their government, they decided to erase the journalist who created them – Prageeth Eknaligoda – instead.

Today, on the International Day of the Disappeared, we stand with the families and loved ones of those, like Prageeth, who have been erased — taken — disappeared.

So how does one “disappear” a human being?

Some governments – like in Chad, China, Nepal, North Korea and Sri Lanka – seem to have it down to a science. Home abductions. False arrests. Secret prisons. But the common thread that binds all enforced disappearances – denying everything.

Because when authorities deny that a person is being held or can conceal their whereabouts, then no law can touch them — no family can find them.

But we’ve discovered a powerful way to fight back against this injustice. We never forget a face.

We’ve seen their pictures. We’ve spoken to their friends, spouses, and children. We’ve heard about the full and meaningful lives they led before. And now we’re pressing their governments to answer one simple question: Where are they now?

Demand that these governments disclose the fate of their disappeared.

These people may have been disappeared, but as long as Amnesty is on watch, they will never be forgotten.

Today, we ask that you honor the International Day of the Disappeared by calling for answers, demanding justice and helping to bring families some much-needed peace.

Thank You,

Jim McDonald
Country Specialist, Sri Lanka
Amnesty International USA

Posyed by Email, Associated website www.amnesty.org/

Ancient America: Tiwanaku

 

 

Posted 28 August 2011, by Ojibwa for Native American Netroots, Daily Kos, dailykos.com

While the Inka are the best-known pre-Columbian civilization in South America, there were other earlier and longer-lasting highly developed civilizations. Tiwanaku (also spelled Tiahuanaco and Tiahuanacu) is generally recognized by archaeologists as an important precursor of the Inka Empire. Tiwanaku, located on the southeastern shore of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, was a major city-state that controlled parts of the Andean highlands for about five centuries.

Tiwanaku is at an elevation of 3,850 meters (2.4 miles) which makes it one of the highest imperial cities in the world.

About 1500 BCE, Tiwanaku was a small, agricultural village. By about 300 BCE, the village appears to have grown into a religious site which attracted pilgrims from the surrounding area. The religious or cosmological power of Tiwanaku seems to have provided the basis for its later development into a powerful city-state.

Agriculture:

While Tiwanaku is located in an area which has abundant wild resources—fish, birds, wild plants—its rise to power, like that of other city-states, was based on agriculture. The Titicaca Basin has predictable and abundant rainfall. The people of Tiwanaku developed an agricultural system which utilized this rainfall. The people of the Titicaca Basin developed a farming technique which used a flooded-raised field type of agriculture.

The agricultural fields were created by cutting deep canals in the soils next to the lake. Then soils were thrown up to form long, low mounds which improved the drainage of the fields. The canals supply moisture for growing crops, and in addition they also absorb heat from solar radiation during the day. Nights in the Titicaca Basin can be bitterly cold, often producing frost. At night, the heat that had been absorbed in the shallow canals is emitted which provides thermal insulation for the crops.

The canals also had another use: they were used to farm edible fish. Then the resulting canal sludge was dredged up and used for fertilizer.

The fields were used for growing potatoes and quinoa.

This type of agriculture, known as suka kollus, is very labor intensive, but it produces good yields. Traditional agricultural methods in this region can produce 2.4 metric tons of potatoes per hectare, and modern agriculture—which uses artificial fertilizers and pesticides—produces about 14.5 metric tons. On the other hand, the ancient suka kollus agriculture can produce 21 tons per hectare.

Social Stratification:

The productive agricultural system of Tiwanaku contributed to and supported population growth. The population consequently became more complex, with specialized jobs for each member of the society. At the top of the social hierarchy were the elite who lived separated from the commoners by walls which were surrounded by a moat. Some archaeologists have suggested that the moat created the image of a sacred island on which the elite lived. Commoners may have been allowed to enter the elite complex only for ceremonial purposes.

The Empire:

About 300 CE, Tiwanaku was making the transition from a regionally dominant culture force, to an actual empire. It expanded its culture, its way of life, and its religion into other areas of modern-day Peru, Bolivia, and Chile.

Like empires throughout the world, Tiwanku grew through a combination of political, economic, religious, and military power. It used politics to negotiate trade agreements which made other cultures dependent upon them. It reinforced this dependence through religion, as Tiwanaku was always seen as a religious center. Some of the religious statues from these other cultures were taken back to Tiwanaku where they were placed in a subordinate position to the gods of Tiwanaku. In this way, they displayed their religious superiority over these cultures.

The primary Tiwanaku diety, which is shown on reliefs and in statues, is represented as a male figure with a rayed headdress and two staves. This figure seems to have been derived from the Staff God of the earlier Chavin culture.

Control over the empire often involved colonization and migration. Small groups of colonists from Tiwanaku would settle in key resource areas and thus provide Tiwanaku with access to these resources. In addition, people from the outlying areas were resettled closer to the city. The result was a series of multiethnic communities.

Violence may have reinforced the religious and cultural superiority of Tiwanaku. The archaeological evidence suggests that on top of a building known as the Akipana people were disemboweled and torn apart shortly after death. The disarticulated remains appear to have been laid out for all to see. Some archaeologists have suggested that this was a ritual offering to the gods. The person who was sacrificed was not native to the Titicaca Basin.

The hallucinogenic snuff complex also served to help integrate the empire. This complex involved the use of hallucinogenics in religious ceremonies and manifest themselves in the archaeological record in the form of snuff trays, bone tube inhalers, and decorated mortars and pestles which were used for processing the snuff.

 

A stone snuff tray is shown at right:

By about 600 CE, Tiwanaku could be considered an urban center. At this time, the city covered about 6.5 square kilometers and had a population estimated between 15,000 and 30,000 inhabitants. The three primary valleys dominated by Tiwanaku had an estimated population of 285,000 to 1,482,000.

Trade:

One of the important features in holding the wide-spread empire together was the control of the llama herds. These herds were essential for carrying goods between the urban center of the empire and its periphery. Large caravans of llamas travelled the Tiwanaku road system. The animals may have also served as a symbol of the social and economic distance between the commoners and the elites.

The most important luxury trade item was textiles. Throughout the empire, the people wore characteristic Tiwanku textiles which helped unify the empire, at least during ceremonies. The large herds of alpaca provided the weavers at Tiwanaku with an important raw material. The alpaca and the llama herds were one of the major sources of wealth in the empire.

Architecture:

Between 600 and 700 CE, as Tiwanaku grew as a city, there was a significant increase in monumental architecture. The urban center contains a ceremonial core with several huge temples, a pyramid, and a number of palace structures decorated with cut stone lintels. The palace structures are also decorated with large statues which have been carved in a distinctive style.

Tiwanaku monumental architecture is characterized by its use of large stones. Tiwanaku stone architecture used rectangular blocks which were laid out in regular courses. One of the characteristic features is the use of elaborate drainage systems. Drainage systems are sometimes made of red limestone conduits which are held together by bronze architectural cramps.

In some cases I-shaped architectural cramps were made by cold hammering. In other cases, the cramps were created by pouring molten metal into I-shaped sockets which had been carved into the stone.

Some of the stone blocks were decorated with carved images and designs. There are also carved doorways and large stone monoliths.

The feature known as the Gateway to the Sun is shown above.

The stone blocks used at Tiwanaku were quarried some distance from the site. The red sandstone used at the site came from a quarry about 10 kilometers (6 miles) away. The largest of these stones weighs 131 metric tons and transporting them without wheeled vehicles or draft animals was a challenge.

The elaborate carvings and monoliths at Tiwanaku were created from green andesite stone that originated on the Copacabana peninsula, located across the lake from the city. The large andesite stones, some of which weighed over 40 tons, were probably transported across Lake Titicaca by means of reed boats. This is a distance of about 90 kilometers (55 miles). They were then dragged another 10 kilometers to the city itself.

 

Buildings:

Among the buildings which have been excavated by archaeologists and which are visible to modern visitors are the stepped platforms known as the Akapana, Akapana East, and Pumapunku; the enclosures known as the Kalasasaya and Putuni; and the Semi-Subterranean Temple.

The Akapana is a cross-shaped pyramid which stands nearly 17 meters in height. At its center there appears to have been a sunken court (this has been almost entirely destroyed by looters). There is a staircase with sculptures on the western side. The entire structure is an artificial earthen mound that was faced with a combination of large and small stone blocks. The dirt for the structure appears to have come from the moat which surrounds the site.

The feature designated as Akapana East marks the boundary for the ceremonial center and urban area. It was made from a floor of sand and clay that supported a group of buildings.

The platform mound designated as the Pumapunku was built on an east-west axis like the Akapana. It is a rectangular, terraced earthen mound which was faced with megalithic blocks. While it is only five meters tall, it measures 167 meters by 117 meters. One of the prominent features of the Pumapunka is a stone terrace which was paved with large stone blocks. One of these blocks is estimated to weigh 131 metric tons.

The Kalasasaya is a large courtyard which is outlined by a high gateway. It is located to the north of the Akapana. Near this courtyard is the Semi-Subterrean Temple—a square, sunken courtyard that was constructed on a north-south axis rather than an east-west axis. The walls are covered with tenon heads of many different styles.

 

Decline:

About 950 CE, there was a climatic change: the amount of precipitation in the Titicaca Basin dropped significantly. As the rain decreased, the political and religious power of Tiwanaku and its elites also declined. As food became more scarce, the power of the elite waned. Fifty years later Tiwanaku was abandoned.

The city of Tiwanaku and its empire left no written history. What we know about Tiwanaku comes from later historical accounts and from archaeology.

 

(Ed Note: Please visit the original site for more content associated with this article.)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/28/1011375/-Ancient-America:-Tiwanaku-

Semper Fi: Always Faithful– Documenting a Fight for Environmental Justice

Posted 26 August 2011, by Marcia G. Yerman, cultureID, cultureid.com

“There are over 130 contaminated military sites in the United states. This makes the Department of Defense the nation’s largest polluter.” These words stand as the most salient message of the documentary “Semper Fi: Always Faithful,” a film that encompasses the worlds of environmental justice, the military, politics and science.

The protagonist of the narrative is Ret. Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger—a formidable presence. When framed against the backdrop of the United States Capitol, his physical demeanor telegraphs that he is a man to be reckoned with. For Ensminger, the narrative begins with his daughter, Janey, who died at the age of 9 from a rare form of childhood leukemia. Trying to understand the reason behind her illness is the subtext of Ensminger’s quest, as well as the connective tissue for the ensuing narrative about water contamination at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Ensminger’s relentless search for truth is driven by the need to get answers not only for himself, but also for the nearly one million people who were unknowingly exposed to toxic chemicals at the base.

The backstory gets set in motion in 1941, when a fuel depot in operation at Camp Lejeune had leaks that were seeping into the ground—1500 feet from a drinking water supply well. The estimated start date of the water contamination was 1957, when other improperly disposed of solvents additionally entered the mix. In 1975, Ensminger was living at Camp Lejeune.  His wife was pregnant with Janey. In 1983, his daughter received her diagnosis. Ironically, unbeknownst to Ensminger, between 1980-1984, the water was being tested at the base with results consistently finding contaminants and “health concerns.”

In 1985, the Commanding General at Camp Lejeune notified residents to conserve water because of well closures, but neglected to mention that eleven wells were closed due to contamination—referencing only “minute [traces] of several organic chemicals” present in the water. In actuality, the chemical levels were 20 to 280 times the safety standards of today. The last contaminated well was closed in 1987, without notification to any of the residents of Camp Lejeune, either past or present.

It wasn’t until 1997 that Ensminger had a clue about the situation. He heard a report on the local news about a “proposed health study on adults and babies” exposed to carcinogens in the water supply at Camp Lejeune. Then it all started to click.

When Ensminger found out that the Marines were not taking care of their own, he felt totally betrayed. Yet his close to twenty-five years of military service as a drill sergeant had comprehensively prepared him to become a forceful opponent to the Department of Defense (DOD). He applied the Marine mindset—“Don’t give up ground; No person left behind”—to the task at hand. It gave him the tenacity and grit to take his case all the way to the halls of Congress. The juxtaposition between hardnosed non-com and grieving parent presents Ensminger as a multidimensional anchor for the action around him. The film captures Ensminger’s righteous anger in a sequence when he visits a cemetery near Camp Lejeune, pointing out a series of headstones marking the graves of babies. Later, while detailing the pain his daughter endured from her illness, it comes as no surprise when he states emotionally, “You understand my resolve.”

Ensminger came to realize that he was dealing with a cover-up, and that the government regulations “were a burden that was unwelcome” by the DOD. An interaction between those who have been harmed and Marine Corps representatives is telling. “A very difficult and laborious task” is how the Marines qualify notifying those who have been impacted, adding feebly, “We could try.” One of the key characters fighting cancer, former Marine Denita McCall, is overwhelmed by frustration. She states, “If I die tomorrow, my family gets nothing.”

The movie, which began shooting in mid-2007 and wrapped at the end of 2010, is able to encapsulate Ensminger’s journey through the political maze. He graduates from consistently unreturned phone calls to finding support from Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC), Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), and Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC). Miller has reintroduced the Janey Ensminger Act, which would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide health care to veterans and their families who have been impacted from their exposure to toxic water at Camp Lejeune. Burr has sponsored a bill in the Senate, the Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act of 2011.

With approximately one in ten Americans living within ten miles of a contaminated military site, Ensminger comments, “Camp Lejeune is just the tip of the iceberg.” His verbal asides lend color and a down to earth voice amidst the technical jargon of science, military, and law material.  A meeting at the National Academy of Sciences to review the classification of the chemical PCE, has Ensminger weighing in on the testifying suits.  “These people come flying in on jets…Why is the benefit of the doubt going to the chemicals?…It’s all about money.”

“Semper Fi: Always Faithful” had its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, and is rolling out in theaters on August 26. At a time when the Environmental Protection Agency is coming under attack for “over-regulation,” the film stands as a testimony to what happens when the public’s health is neither protected nor considered.

I spoke with Rachel Libert (who co-directed the film with Tony Hardmon), to discuss the political ramifications of the documentary, and her commitment to creating films that “raise awareness and effect social change.” Libert characterized the information they encountered as similar to “layers of an onion peeling away.” She never expected to learn how “broken” the public health and environment regulatory systems were. Libert expanded on the enforcement issues the EPA was having with the DOD, clarifying that as a government agency—the DOD has been able to circumvent standards that would be strictly applied to private companies.

As Libert explained it, Ensminger ‘s search for the truth rippled out into an examination beyond water contamination and illness. It entered the spheres of the clout of special interests and how to determine guidelines on regulating toxic chemicals. She said, “When you make a film like this, it doesn’t just exist in the entertainment world. Our first question was, ‘What can we do?’ Film is a very powerful tool to reach people you wouldn’t normally reach. It has the ability to do that. It’s a pathway to action.”

To that end, the film’s website has a “Take Action” link which encourages the public to write their representatives in support of the pending legislation. Community screenings have been set up across the country, and partnerships have been forged with environmental groups.

For Libert, the fact that the film could push forward an agenda was a “dream” for her as a filmmaker. It also left her with a new sense of optimism. Despite the fact she knew that Ensminger was a man of “relentless determination,” she was cynical about how much he could actually accomplish.

Liebert pointed to the ultimately “hopeful message”—Individuals can make a difference through the power of one.

http://www.cultureid.com/content/semper-fi-always-faithful-documenting-fight-for-en

Nature Reserve In Jordan Is Growing Organic

 

Jordan is championing water-efficiency and chemical-free farming at the stunning Mujib nature reserve

Posted 28 August 2011, by Arwa Aburawa, Green Prophet, greenprophet.com

 

Following Qatar’s plans to build 1,400 organic farms, comes the announcement that a Jordanian nature reserve will be growing organic crops and medicinal herbs. The farm at the Mujib Biosphere Reserve is spread over 10 dunums and is designed to demonstrate the advantages of growing food using less water and chemicals to the local farmers. Conservationists suggested the organic farm following a decline in the quality and quantity of water in the nature reserve, which is home to over 90 rare plant species and numerous migratory birds.

Project coordinator, Ehab Eid told the Jordan Times that the water resources in the reserve face numerous challenges such as the heavy use of chemical pesticides and water extraction by local farmers. A decline in water is problematic as it negatively impacts species and threatens the nature reserve’s biodiversity.

Eid explained that the organic farm will hopefully raise awareness amongst farmers of the possibility of growing food using environment-friendly methods which don’t risk contaminating the Mujib reserve’s water supplies or depleting it unnecessarily. Conservationists have warned that the diversion of rivers into dams is driving away birds and threatening the future survival of unique fish species in the Mujib.

The Mujib Reserve, which is named after the valley which runs through it, is home to high-altitude summits and waterfalls. It also hosts various seasonal and permanent rivers which enable it to support the diverse flora and fauna (and attract migratory birds) within the 220 square kilometre biosphere nature reserve.

UNESCO declared the Mujib Nature Reserve a biosphere reserve earlier this year in July in recognition of the reserve’s effort to integrate nature conservation and community development. The UN states that biosphere reserves are sites for experimenting with and learning about sustainable development.

The organic farm recently established is no doubt an example of such efforts to promote sustainability by taking the lead and showing that organic farming not only works but that it is also economically sound. The organic farm at Mujib was setup by the Integrated Management of Water Sources in Mujib Nature Reserve Project which is implemented by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature.

:: Jordan Times

: Image via Giam/Flickr.

For more on food sustainability in the Middle East see:

Qatar To Invest In 1,4000 New Local Farms

Organic Farming On The Rise in Emirates

Global Land Grabs And The Middle East

Egypt To Grab Sudanese Land To Meet Its Wheat Needs

 

http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/08/nature-reserve-growing-organic/

KZN coast mining fears

KZN coast mining fears

 

Posted 29 August 2011, by Tony Carnie, The Mercury (Independent OnLine (Independent Newspapers Ltd.)), iol.co.za/mercury

 

THE FUTURE of the marine ecology of the entire northern KwaZulu-Natal coast could be placed in jeopardy by plans to scour the sea for heavy minerals and gemstones, say critics of the proposed venture.

The latest Zululand application for mine prospecting, for the mouth of the Tugela River, has triggered alarm bells about the safety of a rich fish and prawn nursery ground.

The application has raised fears that the discovery of mineral deposits could lead to huge undersea trenches and opencast mining operations, disrupting a unique, complex sea food chain linked to the marine ecology of the entire northern KZN coast.

The application to prospect in a block almost 50km long and 22km wide has been lodged by Fast Pace Trade and Invest 58 (Pty) Ltd.

According to geologist Ian Basson from the Western Cape, he and University of KwaZulu-Natal geology lecturer Ron Uken, Durban geologist Damian Smith and black empowerment mining services group Siyakhula Sonke Corporation are shareholders, with 25 percent each.

Siyakhula’s chief executive is former Anglo Platinum transformation head Fred Arendse and the business development director is Champ Tekiso, a former assistant manager at PwC. Siyakhula also has interests in Redpath Mining and Sekgwa Mining Services.

Apart from gems such as garnet, the company is looking for heavy minerals such as rutile, ilmenite, zircon and iron ore, which are also mined nearby by Richards Bay Minerals and Exxaro.

If mining went ahead, it would be the first underwater mining venture for heavy minerals off the South African coast, although similar mining is done off the Australian and South American coasts.

The company does not have any record or experience in offshore mining, although some of its members have done extensive geological research and prospecting work for companies such as Richards Bay Minerals. They have also been involved in exploration or research at the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia, and gold and diamond mining in Tanzania and Botswana.

The application is restricted to prospecting rather than mining, but if large quantities of heavy minerals or gemstones were found, this could trigger a major controversy about the short-term benefits of mining as opposed to the long-term health and productivity of a nationally important marine environment.

Rudy van der Elst, director of the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban, said the prospect of undersea mining on the Tugela Banks was of “major concern”.

“It’s not just the valuable prawn and fish nursery. If mining went ahead, it could affect the marine ecology of the entire North Coast.”

Environmental consultants acting for Fast Pace advertised the application two weeks ago and want written feedback before Thursday.

Van der Elst said the institute had asked for the company’s environmental management plan, but had not seen it yet.

“We have indicated that the notice period is too short. You can’t have such a tight schedule, particularly when we have not been provided with adequate information to comment properly.”

Van der Elst said he was unaware of similar ventures off South Africa.

Depending on the methods, mining could stir up clouds of sand and sediments that could have serious effects on the marine environment.

Bianca McKelvey, conservation manager of the Wildlife and Environment Society, noted that the Tugela was among the country’s biggest rivers and deposited vast quantities of sand, sediment and food nutrients into the sea.

The muddy environment was an ideal nursery for prawns and other creatures.

“Research shows that it is also a nursery for a larger group of species which go all the way up to Mozambique and beyond.

“In a worst-case scenario you could end up with trenches and an opencast mine underwater… the removal of large volumes of sand could… wipe out prawn fishing.”

Basson, also principal director of Tect Geological Consulting in Somerset West, said these fears were “premature and alarmist”.

He said only 3 percent of prospected areas were eventually mined globally.

Prospecting would involve desktop studies and the collection of sediment samples and low-energy seismic tests. Mining would be “largely benign”.

“It is pretty much what RBM and Exxaro are doing on shore. It is not as if there are coral reefs. It is basically an underwater dune field.

Asked if Fast Pace was acting or planning to act for a large mining company, Basson said: “We have not really thought that far ahead.”

A Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission data search suggests that Basson and Smith are the only two directors of the company.

http://www.iol.co.za/mercury/kzn-coast-mining-fears-1.1127163

Indigenous activists gain momentum in Bolivia

Indigenous activists gain momentum in Bolivia

A 526km march brings attention to Evo Morales’ hypocritical stance on the environment and indigenous sovereignty.

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Indigenous Bolivians are marching over 500 km to La Paz to protest against the construction of a highway [AFP

Posted 29 August 2011, by Stanislaw Czaplicki Cabezas, Al Jazeera, english.aljazeera.net

“We can’t understand that an indigenous government is violating our indigenous rights,” said Fernando Vargas, pulling together the complexity – and perplexity – of the government-supported construction of a new highway through an indigenous area and national park in Bolivia.

Vargas is the current leader of the TIPNIS indigenous territory, through which the planned highway will be built, to the dismay of hundreds of indigenous people who are leading a 526km march as a show of opposition.

The march represents a sense of political despair among indigenous communities in Bolivia, and it is considered their final attempt at rejecting the construction of a highway between Trinidad and Cochabamba, to be built through the Isiboro Secure National Park (TIPNIS). Starting with 600 people on August 15, the march has already grown to 1,400, including 125 children.

The issue stands out for the country, where Evo Morales emerged as a social movement leader and became the country’s first indigenous president in 2006, an especially notable achievement given that Bolivia has a higher per capita indigenous population than any country in mainland Latin America.

In some ways, history repeats itself paradoxically.

In 1990, the indigenous “March for Territory and Dignity” sparked the possibility of bringing indigenous politics into Bolivian society. That march birthed the flame that led Morales to electoral victory.

But on a national level, major tensions have grown between social movements and the national government. The march in defense of TIPNIS has materialised into a very tangible and organised show of discontent from social movements, which are the government’s major electoral base, with the government’s poor management of social and environmental policy.

Dismissing constitutional guarantees

Only a few days before construction is planned to start on the highway stretch through TIPNIS, the major issue is the absence of “previous and informed consultation” by the government to the indigenous peoples from the area. This consultation is required by the Bolivian Constitution, which was implemented after a referendum in 2009, and by an amendment to Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organisation.

The issue has been exacerbated by Morales’ recent declarations, in which he has has said that the highway will be built “whether it is wanted or not”. Also, Carlos Romero, the minister of presidency, said he is open to dialogue, but before the start of the march he affirmed that “the Constitution doesn’t recognise consultation as binding”. The dialogue could be interpreted as the “previous and informed consultation”, which is the last legal requirement needed to begin construction of the highway.

It might be possible for dialogue to start at a ministerial level. But with no need to arrive at consensus or satisfactory agreement with indigenous communities from TIPNIS, the “dialogue” could render null the potential to affect policy.

“Morales isn’t a defender of Mother Earth. His rhetoric is empty,” said Rafael Quispe, leader of CONAMAQ, the main indigenous organisation in Bolivia’s highlands.

The conflict has also exposed some other controversies, which directly show ideological contradictions within the government.

‘The enslavement of our lands’

Isiboro Secure National Park has been recognised since 1965 and has been considered an indigenous territory since the 1990 March for Dignity. In 2009, of the 1,215,585 hectares which make up the park, 124,000 have been officially given to settlers, 137,783 to ranchers and the rest to indigenous groups.

The settlers in this case are also cocaleros (coca farmers) affiliated with the union in which Morales emerged as a leader. On two occasions, in 2006 and 2009, the government effectively displaced cocaleros who had crept onto indigenous territory.

Given this background and more recent encroachments on indigenous land, a statement by Adolfo Chavez, the president of CIDOB (the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia), sums up concerns with the new highway: “The governmnent doesn’t think about the interests of indigenous people, and it has not done so for a long time. It wants to open another highway that will allow the enslavement of our lands and the planting of hectares of coca.”

A claim like that, coming from an indigenous leader, raises questions over Morales’ dedication to Pachamama (the Andean indigenous word for a highly spiritualised Mother Earth).

For its part, the government has declared, through its minister Walter Delgadillo, that the highway is a “major project of national and inter-regional interest”. Besides connecting two cities, the government says it will improve the regional economy in the area of Beni, which remains relatively isolated. The government has gained support from financial sectors in Beni, which is one of the regions that TIPNIS lies in.

But what stands out among everything is support for the highway construction by representatives of the agriculture, livestock, and transport industries, and by local authorities.

In addition, it should be considered that, according to Delgadillo, “The pathways [construction] allow a state presence in the region” that notably helps the governability of these areas. This position should be viewed critically in the context of the new and popularly supported Bolivian Constitution, which guarantees autonomous rights to local and indigenous communities.

The position from CIDOB is not an opposition to the highway per se, but against the way that the highway is planned to run through TIPNIS.

Adolfo Moye, one of the TIPNIS leaders, explained, “We’re only asking that the highway doesn’t go through this region – that they make it wherever they want to, but not in this area”.

So, why run the highway through TIPNIS and not use another route?

Fixed route

With costs totaling $436m, more than 75 per cent of which is being provided by a loan from the Brazilian government as part of its “regional integration”, changing the route could be difficult. However, there are further arguments, the most recent of which is the presence of hydrocarbons (natural gases), which could encourage further energy exploration in the area.

On the other hand, getting an environmental license to build the highway has cost the government its vice-minister of the environment, Juan Pablo Ramos, who was sacked after refusing to support the highway.

Bolivian law has given rights to Pachamama since the fall of 2010, but it seems that the idea has only been used to show off for progressive media in climate change negotiations, as in Cancun’s 2010 Climate Summit.

It is hard to believe that this highway-building plan is supported by an internationally known advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples, for Mother Earth, and against capitalism and the “interests of empire”, but Evo Morales recently stated, “It is false that a paved road can never pass through a forest reserve. In Europe [and] the United States, there are roads passing through forest reserves.” Given his earlier rhetoric, it is unclear why Morales uses those geographical examples to justify environmental public policy in Bolivia.

The amount of societal support gained by the march to defend TIPNIS is notable. CONAMAQ supports and has sent representatives to participate in the march, originally organised by CIDOB. Two of the major social organisations from the country have called for either the suspension of the highway or to have it built around TIPNIS.

In the coming days, important sectors of society will join the march. Miners, teachers, university students, and even another major indigenous sector, known as the Ponchos Rojos, who have been loyal to the government until now, will join.

Accusations by the president that non-governmental organisations and the US embassy are manipulating the march have radicalised the marchers’ positions, increasing their demands beyond the TIPNIS conflict. These twelve new demands relate to other major government-supported projects in indigenous territories and to social and environmental policy at the national level. The demands point out Evo Morales’ hypocritical honouring of indigenous peoples, cultures, and respect for Pachamama.

Stanislaw Czaplicki Cabezas is the cofounder of Reaccion Climatica, an organisation focused on climate change activism in Bolivia. He is also the national coordinator of 350.org in Bolivia, which is a global movement for promoting solutions for climate change.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

Unity College Announces $10 Million Gift

 

 

Posted 23 August 2011, by Staff, Unity College, unity.edu

 

Unity, ME – August 23, 2011 – Unity College announced a gift of $10 million for unrestricted endowment from an anonymous donor today.  The gift is unprecedented in the small college’s 45-year history and will more than triple its existing endowment.

Endowment gifts are really investments in the college’s future noted new president Dr. Stephen Mulkey who announced the gift as part of his first State of the College address on August 23.  This gift will create $500,000 in additional annual operating revenue, currently about 4% of the college’s overall budget.  It is especially important at small colleges like Unity that rely so heavily on tuition each year.

“The donor’s intent to provide unrestricted support comes with great responsibility,” noted Mulkey.  “Climate change is one of the gravest challenges we’ve faced and we have an ethical imperative to provide a 21^st century approach to sustainability science and to include this in our curriculum.”

While endowment gifts may not be as tangible as gifts for new buildings or other capital projects, they create unique opportunities for colleges like Unity that have the potential to implement change quickly. Unity’s small size, dedicated faculty, and relative youth make it a nimble and potentially leading-edge institution in this regard.  “A gift like this allows us to adapt to the latest developments in sustainability science and sustainability studies, and to continually hone our curriculum,” said Mulkey.  “The annual draw from this gift will allow us to move forward strategically to prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities brought on by climate change and resource depletion.”

Mulkey also noted that this gift is a tremendous vote of confidence in the college.  “A gift of this magnitude and purpose speaks highly to the work of everyone at Unity College.  It is a clear signal of the value of their efforts and the importance of the education Unity College provides.”   The college has also received significant support recently from The Kendeda Fund to construct the first Passive House standard student residence in the U.S. and from the Unity Foundation for capacity building.

Unity College is a small private college in mid-coast Maine that provides dedicated, engaged students with a liberal arts education that emphasizes the environment and natural resources. Unity College graduates are prepared to be environmental stewards, effective leaders, and responsible citizens through active learning experiences within a supportive community.

 

http://www.unity.edu/NewsEvents/News/Donation811.aspx