World's rarest turtles caught illegally in Madagascar

(The Guardian) - Up to 16,000 of the world's rarest turtles are being caught every year by villages in just one part of Madagascar, a year-long survey has revealed.

The study is the first direct assessment of the level of exploitation of turtles in Madagascar. Until now, measuring information on the small-scale turtle catches in the most remote areas has been tough, because of difficulties accessing these regions.

"Because turtles are an endangered species, it's important for us to know what's going on in the region so we can work with the local community to find a sustainable way forward," said Annette Broderick of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter, who led the latest survey. The harvesting of turtles is illegal in the region, but the ban is not enforced for various cultural and practical reasons.

"When we contextualise our data with those of previous studies elsewhere in the region, we conservatively estimate that the annual turtle catch in the southwestern province of Madagascar is between 10,000 and 16,000," wrote Broderick in a paper published in the journal Animal Conservation.

Read the full article here.

Floods and droughts: the paradox of the Amazon Basin

The paradoxical situation of the Amazon Basin, where people do not have enough water to drink, is told here by photographer Rodrigo Baleia.

The River Amazon, the world's largest river and one of the cleanest sources of water, has been facing frequent droughts and massive floods in the recent years - creating serious problems for the populations that live on its shore and the habitat.

Here is a blogpost from the Greenpeace website:

"What scares me is the proximity of the events [in the Amazon Basin]: in a period of one year, we've had the biggest flood and now the worst drought. Some scientists who accompanied me during these trips said they were expecting that these extremes would only happen every 50 years.

"The fact that these extreme events are so close may indicate changes in the climate. And not only here in the region - the Amazon influences the rains not just here, but also in the South of Brazil. Deforestation, therefore, affects this entire system. In the last decade, I photographed extreme events – such as tornadoes and desertification – in Brazil’s south and northeastern regions. Brazil has not experienced extreme events like these in the past. But they are now happening, with increasing strength and frequency.

"This drought directly affects the lives of people who live along the rivers. These people depend on the river for transportation, meals, and end up isolated because of the drought. I went to areas where, in the middle of the Amazon basin, people had no water to drink."

(Rodrigo Baleia - Greenpeace photographer)

Next oil spill may be in the Arctic sea

(The Guardian) - The next big offshore oil disaster could take place in the remote Arctic seas where hurricane-force winds, 30ft seas, sub-zero temperatures and winter darkness would overwhelm any clean-up attempts, a new report warns.

With the ban on offshore drilling lifted in the Gulf of Mexico, big oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell are pressing hard for the Obama administration to grant final approval to Arctic drilling. Shell has invested more than $2bn to drill off Alaska's north coast, and is campaigning to begin next summer.

(Susan Goldenberg, US environment correspondent - read the full piece here)

Le rovine crollano sotto il peso dell'incuria

"Il crollo avvenuto a Pompei, un luogo che appartiene al Patrimonio all’Umanità, dimostra che chi ha sottovalutato la situazione è un irresponsabile. Leggete il nostro articolo pubblicato all’inizio del 2009, e potrete verificare che l’ex sovrintendente poneva una questione molto semplice: i fondi. Servivano, per mettere le strutture in sicurezza, per fare i necessari lavori, 270 milioni di euro. Soldi mai arrivati."

(dal blog di Guglielmo Pepe, direttore di National Geographic Italia)

Sopra: la domus gladoria crollata

Pic of the day

One of the coolest animals (literally) on the planet, the wood frog has the ability to go into complete hibernation (including complete heart stoppage) during the winter season. The heart, lungs, and brain completely freeze. In spring, the frog thaws out and comes "back to life". Spotted at Potato Creek State Park, Indiana.

Photograph: Kevin Chodzinski

Save the forests - petition

Today, I signed a 38degrees petition against a government plan to sell almost a third of the publicly owned woodland.

The petition text reads: "Save our forests - don't sell them off to the highest bidder"

. Don't let private companies chop down our woodland.
. Protect trees for the conservation of wildlife and the enjoyment of the public.

 

So far, more than 62,000 people have signed already. 

Do you want to see century-old trees taken off to give way to a brand new golf field? Sign the petition here.

 

Quando crollano le rovine

(Da Il Fatto Quotidiano) La Domus Gladiatoria, una delle rovine più importanti degli scavi di Pompei, si è sbriciolata. Il crollo, secondo primi accertamenti, è avvenuto all’alba, poco prima delle 6. Sono stati i custodi appena arrivati al lavoro verso le ore 7.30 ad accorgersene.

Tra le cause del crollo della “Schola Armaturarum Juventutis Pompeianae” (così chiamata perché ospitava gli allenamenti dei gladiatori e conservava le loro armature), si considerano le infiltrazioni d’acqua dovute alle piogge di questi giorni, la posizione della Domus accanto a un terrapieno, o ancora il rifacimento in materiali troppo pesanti del tetto, che fu distrutto dai bombardamenti della seconda guerra mondiali.

Da anni gli esperti lanciano l’allarme sullo stato di conservazione delle rovine. Anche il sindaco di Pompei, Claudio D’Alessio, ha detto che la domus era da anni “in attesa di essere ristrutturata”. Il cedimento dell’edificio è un crollo annunciato: “succede quando non c’è la dovuta attenzione e cura” per un patrimonio secolare che andrebbe “preservato da ogni tipo di sollecitazione, anche atmosferica. C’è il dispiacere tipico di una comunità – ha sottolineato all’agenzia di stampa Adnkronos D’Alessio – di un territorio su cui vi è il museo all’aperto più grande del mondo e che purtroppo viene trascurato”. “In passato -ha rilevato – sono stati persi molti fondi, che non venivano utilizzati, e non sono state avviate le procedure per il restauro”. Il sito archeologico, ha spiegato il primo cittadino, oltre ad avere un’importanza “culturale” dà anche “ricchezza a questo territorio” con il turismo. “Scontiamo la mancanza di un coinvolgimento in questo tipo di iniziative – ha concluso – ci limitiamo a fare appelli sensibili e solerti nel sollecitare l’attenzione che il sito necessita”.