Karim, thanx for sharing.
I commend the efforts to protect the rainforest in Brazil from plunder of
logging and industry. It may do more good for the charities to purchase land
where they live, for example in Britain, reclaim it, and set it on the right
course of sustainable growth. And encourage Brazilians by example, that that is
the way to go. I am a big fan of sustainable development but historical and
cultural considerations must be taken into account. The industrial revolution
was the wrong-headed program for developed nations. They must therefore
recognize that and begin anew. In their own backyards first. Then, by example,
the developing nations who blindly follow in the footsteps of earlier
industrialists, will wake up, some time. The development of new architecture,
processes, and weaning ourselves from fossil fuels is the way to go, I am convinced.
Each of us must clean up our corner of the world first, then convince others
by example that that is good.
There is a lot of hope in pockets of the world. I intend to do my part and
then encourage others to follow suit. I will be meeting with my friend and
industrialist extraordinaire Ray Anderson soon. The theme of our meeting will be
How to discourage the developing world from making the mistakes of the
developed world. I will share our observations with you later.
It is shameful that African Presidents, either because of ignorance, greed,
or mental imbalance, think that stretch limos, mansions, and hoarding money is
the way to go because the west did it and they envy the west. I am here to
let them know that the west is regretting their enormous mistakes and they are
turning the corner. They are not leaving any road signs though to warn the
idiots. So the Africans will come careening down the hill and shoot off the
cliff, not aware of the sudden turn.
Thank you again for sharing. Haroun Masoud. MQDT. Darbo. Al Mutawakkil.
In a message dated 10/14/2007 11:27:14 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Amazon tribe hits back at green 'colonialism'
Juliette Jowit, environment editor
The Observer
Sunday October 14 2007
It's one of the most fashionable ideas to save the planet from global
warming: buying up tropical rainforest to save it from destruction. Gordon Brown
has even appointed the millionaire founder of one such charity, Johan Eliasch,
as his special adviser on deforestation.
But like all big ideas it is controversial, and this week a leading
Amazonian campaigner will visit Britain to protest that this latest trend is linked
to a health and social crisis among indigenous people, including sickness,
depression, suicide, obesity and drug addiction.
Davi Kopenawa, a shaman of the Yanomami tribe, will help launch a report
that, says Survival International, the charity behind it, claims separation from
the land is directly linked to the 'physical and mental breakdown' of
indigenous communities, whose lifestyle and culture is already under threat from
mining, logging and resettlement away from traditional lands.
In a statement issued through the group, Kopenawa said: 'You napepe (whites)
talk about what you call development and tell us to become the same as you.
But we know that this brings only disease and death. Now you want to buy
pieces of rainforest, or to plant biofuels. These are useless. The forest cannot
be bought; it is our life and we have always protected it. Without the
forest, there is only sickness.'
Survival International, which announced Kopenawa's visit, said that
destruction of the rainforest had been blamed for the release of 18-25 per cent of
human carbon dioxide emissions, the biggest greenhouse gas blamed for climate
change.
Charities such as Cool Earth, the organisation set up by Eliasch and former
Labour minister Frank Field, could buy a tiny fraction of the rainforest, but
their popularity 'diverts attention' from the more urgent need to return
rainforest to indigenous people, claims Stephen Corry, Survival International's
director.
'It's like a bucket of water in the North Sea: the amount of land that's
being bought by outsiders is infinitesimally small, and if you look at [the land
bought by Cool Earth] there's 15,000 times more land protected because it's
under indigenous control in the Amazon,' said Corry. 'We're not saying it's
imperialistic, we're not even saying there's anything wrong with it: what's
wrong is the claims being put forward in its name, that this is a permanent
solution.'
Matthew Owen, Cool Earth's director, defended the charity against claims
that the benefits of buying rainforest were exaggerated. Cool Earth only bought
land which had rights for logging and was on the 'frontier' of the risk of
destruction, said Owen. The charity, which charges donors £70 an acre, has
bought 32,000 acres in Brazil and Ecuador. An estimated 50 million acres of
rainforest - an area the size of Britain - is cut down annually.
Cool Earth and other charities have previously been accused of 'green
colonialism' - a criticism they tried to counter by giving the freehold of land to
local organisations, along with funds and training to protect it, and
encouraging local people to carry on traditional trades such as rubber tapping and
gathering fruits and nuts. 'We give it to them with no strings attached except
it's kept standing,' added Owen.
The Survival International report, 'Progress can Kill', says land ownership
has the biggest impact on health of indigenous tribes because people
separated from their land are prone to imported western diseases, suffer mental
illnesses and high rates of suicide, said Corry.
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