Could new rubber plantations cause malaria re-emergence in northeastern Thailand?
If youâve been to Thailand recently you probably enjoyed a week or two in a stunningly beautiful country with great tropical weather and lots of interesting culture. Whatâs more you were probably relieved to be able to enjoy all this without the inconvenience of taking anti-malarial drugs every day unlike many other tropical destinations. However,…
Can ecotourism help save the tiger?
Last week, fellow hand-picked blogger Vicki Bonham posted an article about the problems facing tigers in the wild. Coincidentally, a few days after reading this a set of news alerts on tigers hit my inbox. At the end of January, a high-level meeting in Thailand for the first time laid the groundwork for joint action…
2010: Chinese Year of the Tiger
If, like me, you were born in Year of the Tiger, youâll be glad to know that tiger people are lively and brave, are well liked and always land on their feet. Unfortunately, for tigers in the wild the outlook for 2010 doesnât look too good⊠Tigers are under a severe and growing threat from…
Can Haiti’s struggling agro-economy recover?
The earthquake that hit Haiti may have killed as many as 200,000, and delivering food to survivors is proving very difficult. However, Haiti was already suffering from major problems in trying to feed itself well before the earthquake struck, as detailed in many papers on CAB Abstracts. Haiti has a notable problem of food security, write…
Come home to a real fire?
While much of the UK is today paralysed by heavy snowfall, I along with many others, have decided not to risk the journey to work and am sitting here writing this post at the dining room table looking out over a garden draped in winter wonderland finery. While driving home last night I listened to…
Copenhagen – a missed opportunity or a turning point?
Now the dust has settled after the "chaotic" COP-15 meeting in Copenhagen last week, the blame game is in full swing with British and Americans accusing China of vetoing an agreement on emissions, and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez deriding the West stating if climate was a bank "they would have saved it." But given that…
Motiviation to give up meat? (and save the planet, maybe)
My colleagues and I have blogged about how eating less meat could reduce one's carbon footprint. But how to motivate people to do this is a problem – people like meat. Here is a reason for men to consider giving up meat – I stumbled over it while searching on Nutrition and Food Sciences Database.…
The state of our planet told in âHard Rainâ a film released today to set the scene for the UN climate talks
Each time I check my work email inbox lately, I find itâs inundated with notifications, press releases and invitations to events during the COP15 Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen. One email, which caught my eye and prompted me to share it here, was a press release and invite to the launch of the filmâHard Rainâ…
Grow your own Christmas tree
Have you ever considered trying to grow your own Christmas tree? Or wondered what paper made of reindeer poo would be like…? How about combining the two – a little natural fertlizer perhaps? Well somebody has… The Exotic Paper Company, better known for its Ellie Poo and Rhino Poo papers (made from elephant and rhino…
Is local food environmentally costly?
Many consumers feel that they should be buying âlocal foodâ to help combat climate change â but could âlocal foodâ actually result in more carbon emissions than food distributed through conventional supply chains? David Oglethorpe raises this possibility along with some other surprising ideas in a paper in CAB Reviews. Oglethorpe, of the Newcastle…