Rice means life and survival for billions of people. Relying on a narrow range of rice strains grown in monocultures has led to increased pest problems and erosion of rice biodiversity. Anitha Reddy shares a story of a farmer from India, Ghani Khan, who has successfully eschewed modern hybrid rice seeds to return to traditional varieties of rice [...]
By Bhavani Prakash “It is the people who must save the environment. It is the people who must make their leaders change. And we cannot be intimidated. So we must stand up for what we believe in.” -Wangari Maathai (April 1 1940 – 25 September 2011) It was with immense sadness that we heard of [...]
By Bhavani Prakash Prof. Philip H. Howard, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University has created an interesting infograph on the Structure of the Seed Industry from 1996 to 2008. Not surprisingly, it shows an oligopolistic industry with a small number of large players such as Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta, Limagrain-Vilmorin, Land-O’Lakes, KWS and Bayer. As an [...]
With over 50,000 bikes available to rent, Hangzhou in China is aiming to reduce pollution, cut congestion, and keep its people healthy – all while making a profit! By Jeremy Torr If you thought Paris had a lot of city rental bikes at 20,000, think again. The city of Hangzhou in China beats that hands [...]
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups native to a land or region. Usually they have a close relation to the land and live in consonance with nature. They believe that land and people are inseparable and interdependent. It is this aspect of their lifestyle-the intertwining of their lives with their natural surrounding that are a subject of fascination to modern man. Today at a time [...]
Brendon Sing grew up in South Africa, became the youngest dive instructor in Asia at 18, and an instructor trainer at 25. Apart from being passionate about diving, he lives and breathes saving sharks, and is single-handedly funding his own Shark Guardian education and awareness programme. He talks to Mallika Naguran in Koh Lanta, Thailand. [...]
by James H. Wandersee and Renee M. Clary It is considered admirable when people pick-up litter and discard their own trash. Clean cities and homes are considered progressive and inviting. We are frequently admonished to “dispose of our trash properly.” Society uses the word trash to include things that are broken, empty, soiled, redundant, outdated, [...]
By Bhavani Prakash Today sees an important report being released by Greenpeace Australia against GM wheat trials in the country. These trials are clearly, as the report alleges, a result of government-industry nexus, rather than for the interests of consumers or farmers. Featured here are the various GM campaigns in Australia and the people behind [...]
Lim Li Ching, who is co-author of the book “GMO Free” works with the biosafety and sustainable agriculture programs at Third World Network (TWN), an international NGO based in Malaysia. TWN covers developmental issues, policy advocacy work, climate change, WTO, Biosafety issues, to advance social justice with a pro-poor agenda. She is also a Senior [...]
By Bhavani Prakash Pavan Sukhdev, unlike most economists, has a strong passion to make Nature count. He’s on an important mission to enable governments, businesses and communities incorporate a sense of the true worth of nature’s services which historically has been taken for free. Pavan Sukhdev is Special Adviser to UNEP’s green economy initiative and [...]
