An Array of Utopian Flowers
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Cinematic Cultural Change in West Africa with Idrissa Ouédraogo
Posted on June 3, 2018 | No Comments -
Mild Satire, Outrage and Hostility, with Philip Roth
Posted on June 2, 2018 | No Comments -
Big Noise from Big Band Drummer Gene Krupa
Posted on April 10, 2018 | No Comments -
Loose Nuts: Edison Reveals Huge Gap in Safety at San Onofre
Posted on April 9, 2018 | No Comments -
The US Shame of My Lai in Vietnam
Posted on March 17, 2018 | No Comments
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Upcoming Events
biodiversity Archive
Wolves Howl in 21 Different Tongues, So to Speak
Posted on March 24, 2017 | 1 CommentAs US Republicans take aim at wolves in Alaska, research into their vocalizations found multiple identifiable "dialects" that establish differences between species.
Ecuadorean Amazon Under Oil Assault to Service Chinese Debt
Posted on July 5, 2016 | No CommentsEcuadorean state capitalism has sacrificed significant tracts of one of the planet's most important biosphere reserves, Yasuni National Park in the Amazonian region, to a massive new oil drilling project. It threatens multiple indigenous territories and the area's biodiversity and ecosystem integrity.
Wild Cuba: Accidental Eden, Endangered
Posted on November 30, 2015 | No CommentsCuba may have been restricted politically and economically for the past 50 years, but its borders have remained open to wildlife for which Cuba’s undeveloped islands are an irresistible draw.
Mass Species Extinction and Wilding the Wilderness
Posted on November 14, 2015 | 1 CommentChristopher Ketcham writes on our continuing anthropogenic (human-caused) extinction, and the ineffectual and often misguided attempts at appeasement for the destroyers of wilderness and consumers of the Earth's bounty. E.O. Wilson's push for parks and wilderness connected by corridors: half for us, half for them, might just be the answer.
China’s Latest Earth Assault: Trans-Amazonian Railway
Posted on May 23, 2015 | No CommentsEnvironmentalists push back against more Chinese-financed plans to construct 5,300km (3,300-mile) route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to cut transport costs
Coffee and Climate Change: Morning Java Won’t Survive
Posted on February 11, 2015 | No CommentsClimate change affects coffee crops throughout the world, with extreme weather and virulent pests causing damage to yields and ruining the industry. Thus, kicking our addiction to oil will benefit coffee farmers as well as consumers.
An Orangutan’s Journey Though Palm Oil Killing Fields
Posted on December 8, 2014 | No CommentsThe film "Green" documents deforestation and orangutan extinction in the Indonesian rainforest. It is a silent film (without narration) presenting the treasures of rainforest biodiversity and the devastating impacts of logging and land clearing for palm oil plantations.
Nicaragua: Scientists Advise Scrapping Destructive Gran Canal
Posted on October 29, 2014 | 3 CommentsThe Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) — the world's largest association of tropical biologists and conservationists — warns about the impact on water security and indigenous people from Nicaragua's Gran Canal.
Living With Wolves: Science Must Inform Politics
Posted on July 22, 2014 | No CommentsReviled by ranchers and hunters, managed through "harvesting" by state wildlife agencies, with ardent conservationists its last hope, the gray wolf has cut a controversial wake in the North American landscape ever since it was reintroduced from Canada in 1995. Watch the film on Earth Focus.
Protect Greater Yosemite Ecosystem from Salvage Logging
Posted on July 13, 2014 | No CommentsThe US Forest Service salvage logging plan threatens to damage the health of the Greater Yosemite Ecosystem far more than last year's massive Rim Fire. Chad Hanson from the John Muir Project of the Earth Island Institute explains how wildfires can promote ecological health and survival of many plant and wildlife communities, despite the intense heat and scale of the blazes.
Peru: lllegal Gold Mining versus Biodiversity and Ecotourism
Posted on April 9, 2014 | 2 CommentsA gold rush that accelerated with the onset of the 2008 global recession compounds the woes of the Amazon basin, laying waste to Peruvian rain forest and spilling tons of toxic mercury into the air and water.
Honduras: Narcotrafficking Leads to Native Dispossession, Deforestation
Posted on February 7, 2014 | 3 CommentsIn the isolated region of La Mosquitia, Honduras, narco-traffickers act as shock troops in the assault on native Miskitu, Tawahka, and Pech homelands, ruthlessly dispossessing residents and rapaciously converting forest commons to private pasture primed for sale to multinational corporations.
Permaculture: Sustainable Antidote to Agribusiness and Consumer Culture
Posted on October 13, 2013 | 2 CommentsBill Mollison (born 1928 in Tasmania, Australia) is a researcher, author, scientist, teacher and naturalist, and one of the foremost advocates for permaculture, or permanent agriculture. Following is a documentary on Mollison and his ideas.
Vandana Shiva: Monsanto Impoverishes Ecosystems, Farmers and Consumers
Posted on September 10, 2013 | No CommentsCorporate seed monopolies reduce ecosystem health, impoverish farmers, and cheat consumers health and nutrition, writes biodiversity campaigner Vandana Shiva. Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser found out the extent that Monsanto would go to maintain their monopoly in the anti-GMO documentary "David Versus Monsanto."
“Sustainable” Palm Oil Conference Condones Honduran Land Conflicts
Posted on August 7, 2013 | 1 CommentInternational environmental and human rights campaigners condemn the 4th Latin American Palm Oil Conference to be held by the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Honduras on 6th-8th August. The site of deadly conflicts over land rights with alarming impacts to ecosystems and communities, sustainably produced palm oil in this Central American country is impossible. The World Wildlife Fund among other sponsors, are charged with greenwashing and condoning human rights abuses.
Baja California: An “Earthly Paradise” in the Desert
Posted on July 10, 2013 | 5 CommentsBaja California, despite proximity to the US and recent rampant growth, remains a wild and untamed coastal desert. Behind the charming pueblitos and peaceful resorts lies a varied history where conquest and development have moved both slow and fast. Following a recent trip to the Gulf of California town of Loreto, this first in a series of articles attempts to define what makes the place special, as well as what the future holds for this (mostly) hidden resort region.
Urban Farming: Nature, Art, and Society Converge
Posted on June 30, 2013 | 5 CommentsUrban farmers and gardeners around the world transform abandoned lots into edible landscapes, improving human and ecological health as well as creating beautiful places. Richard Ingersoll surveys a myriad of concepts and projects from around Europe and the United States.
Vandana Shiva: Maintaining Biodiversity and the Seeds of Freedom
Posted on May 11, 2013 | 2 CommentsHistorically, farmers have stored, traded and shared choice seed from one season to the next. According to Dr. Vandana Shiva, this practice ended with the introduction of patented genetically engineered seeds. Saving seeds now exposes the farmer to costly fines and lawsuits for patent infringement and has resulted in many farmer suicides.
BioMilano: Italian Eco-Vision Grows 26-Storey Vertical Forest
Posted on January 15, 2013 | 2 CommentsBosco Verticale or Vertical Forest, the first phase of BioMilano, a re-envisioning of Milan, Italy, with an eye toward ecological urbanism, integrating tree and skyscraper, city and wild.
Santa Ana Mountains: Vestige of Wild Coastal Southern California
Posted on May 5, 2012 | No CommentsFollowing the footsteps of Willis E. Pequegnat, a biologist from the 1930s who explored the wild Santa Ana Mountains in Orange, Riverside, and San Diego Counties, this video field journal logs the wonders and threats to this thriving resource.
Sustainable Biofuels? From Agro-Fueled Land Conflicts to Algae
Posted on April 28, 2012 | 4 CommentsCan scientists engineer a biofuel that will replace the environmental and climate destroying and evermore expensive fossil fuels central to the functioning of our urbanized civilization? The answer is no and yes.
Bolivia: Indigenous Protesters March Against Amazon Superhighway
Posted on August 28, 2011 | 5 CommentsA highway to facilitate traffic from Brazil through Bolivia is to bisect an enormous tropical national park, severely impacting self-governed indigenous communities. No regulations exist for consulting these communities where initiatives affect their territories. They are marching for 35 days from the Amazon jungle to La Paz, the capital, in protest.
Destructive Progress: Brazil-Peru Transoceanic Highway
Posted on November 3, 2010 | 4 CommentsWith completion of the 3,400-mile Transoceanic Highway, the Amazonian state of Acre in Brazil now connects with the southern Pacific Coast of Peru, unleashing numerous impacts to the environment and indigenous people.
