August 5, 2007
By Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
The cabinet on Sunday approved a second five-year term for Israel Nature and Parks Authority Chairman Eli Amitay, despite criticism of his management.
]]> Extension of Amitay's tenure by five years came under broad opposition from environmental organizations as well as many scientists.Various groups have chargde that during his first term, Amitay encouraged commercial development in nature reserves, ignored the opinions of professions and agreed to compromises that involved conceding protected lands.
Anonymous sources have also made claims of mismanagement at the INPA, allegations that Environment Minister Gideon Ezra (Kadima) rejected as unfounded during the meeting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/890087.html
]]>August 4, 2007
SCIENCE FILE
The chemicals used in cleanup efforts harm reefs more than the oil itself does, researchers say.
By Alison Williams
Times Staff Writer
Chemicals frequently used to clean up oil spills in marine environments turn out to be more toxic to coral reefs than the oil itself, researchers said this week.
]]> Previous research indicated serious effects of these oil dispersants on coral larvae. In this study, published in the current issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology, researchers in Israel used a new technique to test the effect on adult corals and found devastating results."When applied next to a reef, dispersants are hurting coral and maybe other creatures too," said lead researcher and marine biologist Shai Shafir of the National Institute of Oceanography in Haifa and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Oil dispersants work by breaking oil into very small drops that can be dissolved in water.
In the study, more than 10,000 tiny fragments of two common species of coral — each far smaller than a square centimeter — were harvested without harm to the mother coral and transported to a lab.
Shafir and his colleagues tested the toxicity of both oil and oil dispersants in different concentrations.
They found that oil itself had no effect, but the six dispersants at manufacturer-recommended concentrations killed all of the coral. With all but one dispersant, concentrations as weak as 25% of the recommended level also resulted in 100% mortality.
The team recommended using dispersants near coral reefs only in emergencies.
"Dispersant is a good method in open sea, far away from corals," Shafir said.
He added that other clean-up techniques could be used near reefs, such as collecting oil, burning it or sucking it out of the water.
alison.williams@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-coral4aug04,1,6448138.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=3&cset=true
]]>DEMOCRACY
By Karin Kloosterman August 03, 2007
Doctor Livingstone, Columbus, and Neil Armstrong had at least one thing in common: all three were keen on chartering new territory. Today it isn't so easy for adventurers to set their sails towards land never before encountered. Instead, the adventurous are turning to other realms of discovery - bridging the distance between cultures.
]]> Some westerners pack their rucksacks and head off to Africa, South America or India and lend a hand in helping the sick, in building villages or by creating clean water supplies. Others, like the 16 Israelis recently recruited by Tevel B'tzedek (The Earth - In Justice) program, have their sights set on giving in a different framework: learning and teaching environmental and social justice in Nepal.The world is a global village we now know, and for four months these backpackers took part in a program that helped them acquire the tools to help guide Nepalese through the challenges posed by globalization; program organizers hope that in return participants will transplant the basic ideas of sustainability - a catch phrase used by environmentalists today - back home in Israel.
Tom Noah, 24, studied law and cognitive sciences at the Hebrew University and heard about Tevel b'Tzedek from a friend, "The decision to participate was more emotional then rational," says Noah. "It simply sounded like the right thing to do."
Since being accepted to volunteer in Nepal, from where he writes, Noah has studied Nepalese history, Buddhism and the Nepalese language and culture. He comments: "I think that the attitude towards women here - especially towards widows is outrageous, and I wish I could do something in order to change it."
Tevel B'tzedek was founded by Micha Odenheimer, 48, a writer, journalist and rabbi. With a passion for social justice, he also previously founded the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. Born and raised in Berkeley California, Odenheimer grew up in LA, studied at Yale and came to Israel 19 years ago.
"As a journalist I traveled to countries in Africa and Asia and became fascinated with the 'developing world' - its richness in human terms and what is happening to it in this time of globalization," wrote Odenheimer by email to ISRAEL21c from Nepal.
"As a rabbi, I have always known that identifying with the struggles of the poor is part of the core of the Jewish tradition, as is the desire for a world transformed," yet, laments Odenheimer, who has encountered many Israeli travelers on his journey, some "have lost touch with their traditional roots. Even as the economy of the world has grown more and more interconnected - just one small example, about 10,000 Nepalese are now in Israel caring for our sick and aged as foreign workers."
Odenheimer suddenly recognized that the Israeli post-army trip to Asia, Africa or South America could be a "tremendous educational opportunity."
"All these things got me to thinking, and the idea of doing an educational volunteer program for Israelis and other Jews to create a new Jewish language of social and environmental justice in the age of globalization was born."
Recruited from the region, and given free accommodation and necessities, the volunteers were stationed in Kathmandu from mid-April until late July.
So far, reports Odenheimer, the Nepalese have been encouraging. "Many people in Nepal remember Israel's training programs in agriculture and other fields, but recently have experienced Israelis only as youth tourists... the response of Nepali organizations and people when we introduce our plan to bring volunteers, has been one of great warmth, appreciation, and desire to partner with us."
One reason perhaps is that Israel and the Israeli mentality lies somewhere between the East and the West, suggests Odenheimer. "We have technical knowledge and skills like Westerners, but we are not exactly from the West. And Israeli society and the army experience has given Israelis... innovational and improvisational skills beyond that of most Westerners. I think we can be a bridge between West and East."
He goes on to explain that the Nepalese can also help Israelis. "Their social activists have been working on envisioning a new kind of world for a long time. They have gifts of wisdom and patience and experience that I think could also help transform Israeli society."
In the first weeks the volunteers underwent intensive Nepali language instruction; after this they studied issues of globalization and sustainable development taught by a representative from the Heschel Center, an Israeli environment education group.
The volunteers will also meet with Nepali personalities to help them understand the country's complex micro and macro issues. Hands-on volunteering will take place in village schools with urban street children, in orphanages, and with women's empowerment groups.
The group will learn about organic farming and will be encouraged to teach sustainable methods of living.
The idea, writes David Pearlman-Paran of Israel's Heschel Center, is to take advantage of the large numbers of young Israelis, "many with good intentions and minds who are open to learning and developing while there.
"The assumption is that on their return, when many of them are seeking new directions in which to develop themselves, they will choose to find ways to work for a sustainable Israel."
One of the volunteer teachers recently flown to Nepal is Eran Ben Yeminy, who leads the environment fellows program at the Heschel Center. "I will teach backpackers about the social and environmental issue of globalization," he tells ISRAEL21c. "The aim is not just to volunteer and help. It is more to open the minds of Israelis who go and travel to learn about problems of the world. Volunteering in an orphanage can help them fill in the bigger picture."
They will also work with farmers in Nepal, says Ben Yeminy, who reports that economic globalization has caused tremendous problems not only in Nepal but also Israel.
For example, says Ben Yeminy, the agriculture industry is becoming "bigger and bigger but smaller and smaller in terms of the stakeholders". Today, he says, you need a bigger scale to compete. The whole 'commons management' is changing. This is causing other problems in the environment and ecology.
"We have similar problems in Israel. That's why we bring Thai people to work over here and smaller businesses collapse," he explains.
Aya Navon, 26, studied psychology at the Hebrew University in Israel and recently helped Tevel b'Tzedek recruit participants. She was surprised to see a range of ages and backgrounds interested in volunteering. Those chosen include a nurse, a lawyer, a social worker, a photographer and a puppeteer.
"I was in the Israeli delegation to Sri Lanka after the Tsunami and it opened me to volunteering and international aid," says Navon.
As for her attraction to working with backpackers in Nepal, she says: "There is something humble in Tevel b'Tzedek - not to teach the backpackers how to do everything right in Nepal, but to learn from them how to build a full picture of our place in the world through Nepal."
With the first session of the pilot internship having ended successfully, the organizers are currently looking for new recruits in the 20 plus age range for the next session beginning in October. Those interested can email
Tevel B'tzedek.
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enScript=PrintVersion.jsp&enDispWho=Articles^l1729
]]>By Karin Kloosterman August 03, 2007
Doctor Livingstone, Columbus, and Neil Armstrong had at least one thing in common: all three were keen on chartering new territory. Today it isn't so easy for adventurers to set their sails towards land never before encountered. Instead, the adventurous are turning to other realms of discovery - bridging the distance between cultures.
]]> Some westerners pack their rucksacks and head off to Africa, South America or India and lend a hand in helping the sick, in building villages or by creating clean water supplies. Others, like the 16 Israelis recently recruited by Tevel B'tzedek (The Earth - In Justice) program, have their sights set on giving in a different framework: learning and teaching environmental and social justice in Nepal.The world is a global village we now know, and for four months these backpackers took part in a program that helped them acquire the tools to help guide Nepalese through the challenges posed by globalization; program organizers hope that in return participants will transplant the basic ideas of sustainability - a catch phrase used by environmentalists today - back home in Israel.
Tom Noah, 24, studied law and cognitive sciences at the Hebrew University and heard about Tevel b'Tzedek from a friend, "The decision to participate was more emotional then rational," says Noah. "It simply sounded like the right thing to do."
Since being accepted to volunteer in Nepal, from where he writes, Noah has studied Nepalese history, Buddhism and the Nepalese language and culture. He comments: "I think that the attitude towards women here - especially towards widows is outrageous, and I wish I could do something in order to change it."
Tevel B'tzedek was founded by Micha Odenheimer, 48, a writer, journalist and rabbi. With a passion for social justice, he also previously founded the Israel Association for Ethiopian Jews. Born and raised in Berkeley California, Odenheimer grew up in LA, studied at Yale and came to Israel 19 years ago.
"As a journalist I traveled to countries in Africa and Asia and became fascinated with the 'developing world' - its richness in human terms and what is happening to it in this time of globalization," wrote Odenheimer by email to ISRAEL21c from Nepal.
"As a rabbi, I have always known that identifying with the struggles of the poor is part of the core of the Jewish tradition, as is the desire for a world transformed," yet, laments Odenheimer, who has encountered many Israeli travelers on his journey, some "have lost touch with their traditional roots. Even as the economy of the world has grown more and more interconnected - just one small example, about 10,000 Nepalese are now in Israel caring for our sick and aged as foreign workers."
Odenheimer suddenly recognized that the Israeli post-army trip to Asia, Africa or South America could be a "tremendous educational opportunity."
"All these things got me to thinking, and the idea of doing an educational volunteer program for Israelis and other Jews to create a new Jewish language of social and environmental justice in the age of globalization was born."
Recruited from the region, and given free accommodation and necessities, the volunteers were stationed in Kathmandu from mid-April until late July.
So far, reports Odenheimer, the Nepalese have been encouraging. "Many people in Nepal remember Israel's training programs in agriculture and other fields, but recently have experienced Israelis only as youth tourists... the response of Nepali organizations and people when we introduce our plan to bring volunteers, has been one of great warmth, appreciation, and desire to partner with us."
One reason perhaps is that Israel and the Israeli mentality lies somewhere between the East and the West, suggests Odenheimer. "We have technical knowledge and skills like Westerners, but we are not exactly from the West. And Israeli society and the army experience has given Israelis... innovational and improvisational skills beyond that of most Westerners. I think we can be a bridge between West and East."
He goes on to explain that the Nepalese can also help Israelis. "Their social activists have been working on envisioning a new kind of world for a long time. They have gifts of wisdom and patience and experience that I think could also help transform Israeli society."
In the first weeks the volunteers underwent intensive Nepali language instruction; after this they studied issues of globalization and sustainable development taught by a representative from the Heschel Center, an Israeli environment education group.
The volunteers will also meet with Nepali personalities to help them understand the country's complex micro and macro issues. Hands-on volunteering will take place in village schools with urban street children, in orphanages, and with women's empowerment groups.
The group will learn about organic farming and will be encouraged to teach sustainable methods of living.
The idea, writes David Pearlman-Paran of Israel's Heschel Center, is to take advantage of the large numbers of young Israelis, "many with good intentions and minds who are open to learning and developing while there.
"The assumption is that on their return, when many of them are seeking new directions in which to develop themselves, they will choose to find ways to work for a sustainable Israel."
One of the volunteer teachers recently flown to Nepal is Eran Ben Yeminy, who leads the environment fellows program at the Heschel Center. "I will teach backpackers about the social and environmental issue of globalization," he tells ISRAEL21c. "The aim is not just to volunteer and help. It is more to open the minds of Israelis who go and travel to learn about problems of the world. Volunteering in an orphanage can help them fill in the bigger picture."
They will also work with farmers in Nepal, says Ben Yeminy, who reports that economic globalization has caused tremendous problems not only in Nepal but also Israel.
For example, says Ben Yeminy, the agriculture industry is becoming "bigger and bigger but smaller and smaller in terms of the stakeholders". Today, he says, you need a bigger scale to compete. The whole 'commons management' is changing. This is causing other problems in the environment and ecology.
"We have similar problems in Israel. That's why we bring Thai people to work over here and smaller businesses collapse," he explains.
Aya Navon, 26, studied psychology at the Hebrew University in Israel and recently helped Tevel b'Tzedek recruit participants. She was surprised to see a range of ages and backgrounds interested in volunteering. Those chosen include a nurse, a lawyer, a social worker, a photographer and a puppeteer.
"I was in the Israeli delegation to Sri Lanka after the Tsunami and it opened me to volunteering and international aid," says Navon.
As for her attraction to working with backpackers in Nepal, she says: "There is something humble in Tevel b'Tzedek - not to teach the backpackers how to do everything right in Nepal, but to learn from them how to build a full picture of our place in the world through Nepal."
With the first session of the pilot internship having ended successfully, the organizers are currently looking for new recruits in the 20 plus age range for the next session beginning in October. Those interested can email
Tevel B'tzedek.
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enScript=PrintVersion.jsp&enDispWho=Articles^l1729
]]>Aug. 5, 2007
Shmuley Boteach
Every year my family and I take a summer RV trip out into nature. This year we are in Alaska, where I am filming a family TV show. The beauties of this wondrous land are difficult to describe but are perhaps best captured in the words of a secular Jewish lawyer friend of mine who said that seeing Alaska was like seeing the face of God.
]]> From the vast barrenness of the frozen, berry-covered tundra to the soaring 20,000-foot-plus peak of Mt. McKinley, to the more than three million rivers and lakes in this fertile land, to the icy blue of thousands of glaciers, the beauty of Alaska is truly awe-inspiring.But it doesn't take a trip to Alaska to find natural beauty. It can be found in your local community park, in the woods just outside your town, in the desert that meets your city limits.
Something happens to us when we go out into nature. A truer, more authentic self emerges. In the stillness of a freshwater lake we see our innermost reflection. In the untouched dampness of a pristine rainforest our gentlest nature is manifest.
Everything that humans create is designed to elicit some kind of emotional response, and in that sense it is somewhat manipulative. Upon visiting Rome, we are dumbstruck by the glories of the Coliseum and the Pantheon, just as the Caesars intended. They desired to impress upon the visitor the might and glory of Rome. Upon traveling to Disneyworld we marvel at the creativity and ingenuity, all of which is designed to have us open our wallets to take part of the Magic Kingdom home with us.
But nature is not designed. It is not manufactured. It just is. As such, it allows us just to be. Nature is not contrived, and it therefore elicits not artifice but genuineness, not reflexiveness but spontaneity, not reactiveness but realness.
Which explains why it is only in nature that we can truly relax.
I DETECT in modern men and women a loss of appreciation of nature, which in turn signals a loss of human authenticity. Children, especially today, would much rather spend a Sunday at the multiplex than at a park, at the mall rather than on a hike.
A month ago Time magazine reported that the crowds of American teens at the mall in summertime had hit such alarming proportions that mall operators were organizing to give them a curfew or only allow them in under adult supervision. "Some 46 of the 1,200 enclosed malls in the US have adopted parental-escort policies, and others are likely to join them soon, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers," said the report.
Perhaps the most telling example of our lost appreciation of nature is how the environmental movement is more about frightening than inspiring. Environmentalism is not based on motivating people to appreciate nature but on scaring people about the consequences of a superheated earth.
The essential message is that if you don't learn to appreciate the environment soon - stop cutting down the trees and stop all those carbon emissions - we are all toast as the earth becomes one giant barbecue.
Just the other day Al Gore said that the humankind was in a race for its very existence. Now I love nature as much as the next guy. But does it really take the specter of an environmental holocaust to motivate people to appreciate the wonders that surround them?
THERE ARE serious consequences for a world that does not sufficiently appreciate nature, and they come primarily in how we are all less natural as a result. We see this in nearly every stage of life.
As teenagers, our individuality and uniqueness is slowly compromised as we give way to conformity and peer pressure. As singles we date with artifice rather than genuineness and have cheap sex as a substitute for real emotional intimacy. At work we do our best to fit into a corporate structure and accept the dehumanizing process of becoming machines born to produce.
Even in our marriages we slowly lose our individuality as responsibility and routine replace romance. Somewhere, underneath all that pretense is a real person yearning to be free. Nature can provide that freedom - if only families would embrace its pleasures.
Sadly, in the Jewish community especially there seems to be a real aversion to being out in nature. I have been taken aback by the number of my religious Jewish friends who think that my wife and I are barmy for taking our kids on long camping trips. They maintain, only half jokingly, that Jewish vacations are about hotels with lobbies and catered menus.
Indeed, with rare exceptions, like the Orthodox Jewish family we bumped into here in Alaska who are also moving around in an RV, we have almost never met an observant Jewish family that goes camping on a regular basis.
AND IT'S not true that you can't be observant while you camp. An RV provides us with a travelling kosher kitchen. My children and I study the Torah portion of the week almost daily. And yes, it would be great if we had a minyan (prayer quorum) follow us around, but we are able to check into local Jewish communities to be part of their synagogue services when and if available. (Two years ago I tried to set up a group called "Wandering Jews" who camp together and bring a Torah scroll so that we could have a minyan. Sadly, it failed.)
What is not acceptable is this belief that being Orthodox is so limiting that it essentially means living in a stifling urban environment, in decaying neighborhoods without fresh air. My family and I will be Israel for Sukkot, God willing, and I will make a point, as I have on previous occasions, of visiting the beautiful and heroic communities of Judea and Samaria, just as I used to love visiting Gush Katif, in order to witness the wonders and beauties of the natural landscape within which so many Orthodox Jewish communities flourish.
When I was a young yeshiva student they told us that the Jewish mystical movement, spearheaded by the master Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria, was based in Safed because the mystics believed that being surrounded by the beauties of nature was itself an act of communing with God.
It is something we Orthodox Jews ought to remember if we are to be not only religious, but also deeply spiritual.
The writer's latest book is Shalom in the Home. His show being filmed in Alaska is called Shalom on the Road.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186066387092&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Aug. 2, 2007
meredith price
Every night before Ron Shani's father dropped him off at the children's house in
Kibbutz Amiad, he would ask whether he wanted to hear a story about an inventive
patent or world news. "It didn't matter which one I picked, he always told me a
story about water," says Shani, 39, an engineer. "This is where my knowledge of
water originated. I grew up learning about water filters and solutions from my
father."
After completing his army service, Shani spent three years in the US traveling
and doing odd jobs, including giving guided tours to other Israelis. In 1996,
he returned and started working in the hi-tech industry, where he stayed for 10
years as a marketing consultant and business developer.
After the hi-tech bubble burst in 2000, Shani started looking for the next big
thing. "In the process of trying to decide what I wanted to do next, I
understood that a humanitarian water solution was lacking in the industry, and
I knew that the World Health Organization was starting to invest financially in
the global problem," he says. "I decided to see if I could design a better
product than what exists on the market today." After months of research, Shani
realized that most personal water purification systems were extremely expensive
and difficult to use.
With these problems in mind, he created the prototype for the Sulis Personal
Purification System. The name originates with the Celtic goddess Sulis, known
for her healing powers and the protector of the hot springs in Aquae Sulis, the
site of modern Bath in England.
According to Yossi Sandak, the CEO of Watersheer (the company Shani founded in
2005 to produce water filtration systems), 1.6 billion people in the world
today don't have access to clean drinking water and 2.5 million children under
the age of five die every year due to polluted water.
"In many African and Indian villages, especially around the Ganges River, the
adults become immune to the bacteria in their water sources, but many of the
children die from drinking the same water," Sandak says.
SMALL ENOUGH to fit in the palm of your hand, the Sulis filter weighs 10 grams,
fits easily onto the top of almost any water bottle and filters three types of
pollutants: biological (bacteria, viruses, parasites), organic (silt, algae,
dirt) and chemical (detergents, pesticides).
"The innovative thing about Sulis is that it's small, reusable and extremely
inexpensive," says Shani. "Our target population is the humanitarian sector,
such as the WHO, so we had to make something affordable."
But the Sulis filter also has implications for international travelers, military
personnel and natural disaster victims, like those stranded without water in
Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina created terrible pollution.
"We adhered to the 'KIS' standard of design, which means keep it simple," Sandak
says. "It's easy to make something expensive and complicated, but making
something that even a child or an elderly person can use that works well was
very challenging."
To use the Sulis filter, a chlorine capsule that kills bacteria is first dropped
into the bottled water. After six minutes, the filter can be affixed to the top
of the bottle. A small net traps the bacteria that chlorine cannot kill, such
as giardia. Then, a carbon and silver ion filter traps any remaining chemical
pollutants and gives the water a better taste.
To meet larger-scale needs in densely populated areas during times of crisis,
Shani designed a second product called the Sokol, which can purify 100 liters
of water in 30 minutes. In this process, the pollutants are separated using a
special chlorine tablet that enlarges some of the pollutants, making them
heavier, forcing them to the bottom of the tank. The lighter pollutants
naturally float to the top, and the middle section of the water is then removed
and filtered with the Sulis.
"One of the other challenges with these filtration systems is that you never
know the source of the water, so it has to meet high standards of purity,"
Shani says. "At around $24 for a Sulis that cleans 1,000 liters of water, ours
is by far the least expensive and the most affordable one for humanitarian
aid."
In November, at the annual Water Technologies and Environmental Control
conference, Watersheer will officially begin selling the Sulis filtration
system to the public and humanitarian organizations. Joined by dozens of other
innovative Israeli companies that are providing better solutions for wastewater
management, irrigation, and desalination, Watersheer is hoping to stand out with
Sulis.
"We designed Sulis to meet the growing needs for clean water around the world,"
says Shani. "I hope that with Sulis, places like Shanghai will no longer suffer
from the black market in mineral water that is charging exorbitant prices,
something like $6 for a liter of clean water. Everyone should have access to
clean drinking water, and our product is going to save lives by providing it."
www.watersheer.com
]]>August 4, 2007
By The Associated Press
Israel is reviving plans for a nuclear power plant in the Negev Desert, Army Radio quoted Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) as saying on Friday.
]]> Ben-Eliezer said he has the support of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and that the Prime Minister's Office and the Infrastructure Ministry have formed a joint team to look into the matter.David Baker, an official in Olmert's office, declined comment.
Ben-Eliezer spoke Friday to a gathering of engineers in the town of Herzliya, according to Army Radio.
"The government of Israel is to make a historic decision concerning the building of a nuclear power plant... in the Negev," Ben-Eliezer was quoted as saying.
He said the project would be presented to the government for approval in coming months.
If approved, the power plant would take about eight years to complete, the radio said.
The construction of a nuclear power plant could draw renewed attention to what is widely believed to be Israel's nuclear weapons program. Following a policy that it calls nuclear ambiguity, Israel has never acknowledged or denied having a nuclear weapons program.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/889647.html
]]>August 5, 2007
By Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
The cabinet on Sunday approved a second five-year term for Israel Nature and Parks Authority Chairman Eli Amitay, despite criticism of his management.
]]> Extension of Amitay's tenure by five years came under broad opposition from environmental organizations as well as many scientists.Various groups have chargde that during his first term, Amitay encouraged commercial development in nature reserves, ignored the opinions of professions and agreed to compromises that involved conceding protected lands.
Anonymous sources have also made claims of mismanagement at the INPA, allegations that Environment Minister Gideon Ezra (Kadima) rejected as unfounded during the meeting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/890087.html
]]>Aug. 1, 2007
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
A group of Israeli bee experts has gone to the US to study the reasons for the mysterious reduction in that country's bee population, which threaten to affect Israeli bees as well.
]]> Yoram Paz, director of an Emek Hefer beehive company, said there were already worrying signs that the problem had begun to reduce honey and fruit production here.A drop of between 70 percent and 90% in the bee population has been reported in parts of the US, Brazil, Central America, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Portugal in the past few years.
In Israel, too, there has been a decline in honey production, although it is not as severe as abroad.
Bees are also needed for pollination of avocado, almond, cherry, apricot, plum, apple, pear and mango trees; without bees to transfer pollen from one flower to another, the production of fruit would be severely hampered, Paz said.
Experts have already given an official name to the phenomenon, in which whole colonies of bees have disappeared - "Colony Collapse Disorder" - but there is no agreement on exactly what factors cause it. Among the theories are that electromagnetic radiation from cellphone systems, global warming, unknown viruses or changes in the bees' diet have done them in.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1185893693043&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
]]>By Hana Namrouqa
AMMAN -- The Ministry of Environment has instructed 16 farms in the Ghor to
relocate to areas removed from residential neighbourhoods after repeated
complaints of foul odours being emitted from their premises, a ministry
official said on Saturday.
With the expansion of urban construction, the farms, located in Dleil, 16
kilometres from Zarqa, are close to residential areas, Shboul added.
These farm owners should have removed the animal waste or sold it to farmers for
agricultural purposes, the official explained.
The farms were given a month to relocate, Shboul said, adding that their owners
were cooperative and showed willingness to respond to the ministry's
directives.
The ministry has also issued 11 tickets to other farms in the region for
breaching environmental regulations, including an absence of health safety
standards.
The farms were given a month to rectify the situation and the ministry's field
inspection teams will follow up on the situations and issue warnings if they do
not comply.
Last month, the ministry shut down a fertiliser plant in South Shuneh after it
failed to secure the minimum environmental, health and public safety standards.
The ministry's technical teams are implementing an integrated programme to
intensify monitoring on industries and stone factories, Shboul said.
The ministry is also conducting field inspection campaigns across the country,
in cooperation with the Environmental Police Department (EPD), to ensure that
all facilities, including industries and quarries, are abiding by environmental
regulations.
These measures are part of the ministry's procedures seeking to curb
environmental infringements, the spokesperson said, urging the public to
contact the ministry or the EPD to report instances of pollution or violations
of public health safety.
August 3, 2007
By Hana Namrouqa
AMMAN -- The Cabinet last week approved awarding a tender for the sale of carbon
dioxide generated from the Rihab electricity generating plant in Mafraq to a US
company.
"Selling the carbon dioxide is part of the ministry's clean development
mechanism seeking to protect the environment while funding the environment
sector to undertake future environment-friendly projects," Minister of
Environment Khalid Irani said.
Following Jordan's signing of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 and the conclusion of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the
Kingdom benefited from the protocol's clean development mechanism, which allows
industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in
emission-reducing projects in developing countries.
The UNFCCC seeks to come up with plans to reduce global warming and to cope with
whatever temperature increases are inevitable.
Previous projects targeting reduction of greenhouse gases include the Greater
Amman Municipality's biogas project at the Ruseifeh landfill, the Aqaba Thermal
Station and the Samra Electric Power Generating Company, which generates up to
24 per cent of the country's electricity needs by using heat produced from
electricity-generation machines.
Irani said the national committee for the clean development mechanism is drawing
up plans for future projects in the same field.
He added that a total of 15 per cent of revenues generated from sales of carbon
dioxide will be allocated to the environment protection fund, which will help
the ministry set up environment-friendly projects and improve the country's
environment.
Aug. 5, 2007
Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN -- The emergence of 11 diarrhoea cases over the weekend in the Rihab District of Mafraq does not constitute another water pollution crisis in the governorate, a district official said on Saturday.
]]> Only five cases were registered at the Rihab Health Centre yesterday from the district's 33 villages, which have a total population of 25,000 inhabitants, Rihab District Governor Adnan Otoom told The Jordan Times on Saturday.The new cases did not have the same symptoms as citizens of the nearby Mansheyet Bani Hassan, Mafraq acting Health Director Mohammad Shawaqfeh stressed, adding that unclean water provided by some tankers could be the culprit.
"All cases registered at the Rihab Health Centre had diarrhoea, but no high fever," Shawaqfeh said.
More than 1,000 cases of diarrhoea and high fever, which were registered in the village and surrounding areas last month, were attributed to a nonfatal parasite.
According to the official, health teams responded immediately after the emergence of these cases by testing samples from the town's water sources, which were found to be uncontaminated.
"As a precautionary measure, we provided Rihab Health Centre with an additional laboratory technician to work the nightshift," he added.
Water authorities on Saturday made an exception in the water distribution schedule and resumed pumping water to the area, which was suffering from an acute shortage, according to Otoom.
Over the past three days, a total of 35 water tankers from the Jordan Armed Forces, in addition to five sent by Jordan Telecom Group, provided residents of 12 villages in the province with their water needs, he said.
"Prices per water tanker topped JD50 before the Army started providing citizens with water, the reason why some citizens started looking for other sources such as blue tankers," Rihab Health Centre Director Amer Ayasrah told The Jordan Times.
Water authorities had suspended pumping water to the area since the water pollution crisis on July 15, which compelled citizens to seek other sources, he said.
He added that it was possible that the new cases were caused by unclean water supplied for agriculture and construction purposes.
Meanwhile, health teams yesterday started distributing leaflets containing instructions on water use, Ayasrah said.
"We also started holding seminars in order to raise awareness among citizens, besides explaining the difference between green and blue water tankers," he added.
Green tankers are entitled to carry potable water to citizens while blue tankers supply water for agriculture and construction purposes.
Ministry of Water and Irrigation Spokesperson Adnan Zu'bi said water authorities provide potable water tankers with documents stating the time and date they were filled, and urged citizens to ask for them.
He added that water distribution to all areas in the northeastern parts of the Kingdom would be back to normal by the end of the week.
]]>Daily Star staff
BEIRUT: USAID inaugurated five water-treatments plants in Haytoura, Ayshiyyeh, Ghobbatieh/Benwati, Wadi Jezzine and Snayyah in Jezzine District, South Lebanon, according to a USAID statement. The inauguration was attended by mission director Raouf Youssef, Haytoura Mayor Elias Rashed, Ayshiyyeh Municipality vice president Youssef Fares, Wadi Jezzine Mayor Robert Abu Suleiman, Benwati Mayor Mounir Rbeih and Snayyah Mayor Joseph Nawfal
]]> The plants, the result of close cooperation between USAID and the communities, serve almost 6,000 people in the area.With funds from the American people, USAID provided over $500,000 to build the plants and train municipal staff to operate and maintain them.
The municipalities supplied the land and installed many of the sewage networks. The YMCA, a nonprofit organization, worked with USAID to carry out the projects.
The plants are among nine being built to bring clean water and sewage systems to 27,000 people in South Lebanon and the Bekaa.
The statement said that in partnership with the YMCA and the municipalities, USAID is working to protect the health and environment of those living in rural communities. - The Daily Star
Copyright (c) 2007 The Daily Star
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=1&article_ID=84320&categ_id=3#
]]>MEDIA RELEASE
WORLD BANK TO HOLD FIRST SET OF PUBLIC HEARINGS ON "RED DEAD" CANAL PROJECT
On Sunday, August 12th, the World Bank will hold its first public hearing on the
Terms of Reference of the Feasibility Study for the "Red Dead Conduit" project.
According to the World Bank only one solution is "on the table" for saving the
Dead Sea, namely the "Red Dead Canal" project that would bring water from the
Red Sea, via the Arava Valley to the Dead Sea. The project concept is highly
controversial because of the risk it poses to three unique ecosystems; the Gulf
of Aqaba/Eilat, the Arava Valley and the Dead Sea itself.
Friends of the Earth Middle East has been advocating the need to study other
alternatives for 'Saving the Dead Sea'; especially the natural alternative of
bringing water back to the Jordan River, a request so far refused by the World
Bank and our governments.
"Moments before the ToR for the feasibility study will be closed, the public has
a last chance to make its voice heard and influence the flawed World Bank study"
says Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of Friends of the Earth Middle East. "Our
concern is that despite our efforts the Bank is simply refusing to listen,
holding the hearing simply to mark it off their check list."
FoEME will be bringing residents from the affected areas, Dead Sea, Arava and
Jordan River Valley to let the World Bank hear that the public demands that the
building of a project of this size requires the most comprehensive of studies -
INCLUDING the Jordan River alternative.
FoEME is organizing transportation to the hearing for residents which
journalists could join:
From the Jerusalem area: for details, please call Gundi Shachal at 052-2887184
From the Tel Aviv area: for details, please call Chava Haber at 054-7932459
(Please identify yourselves as media)
By Michael J. Caduto
News from the Middle East usually describes conflicts and their root causes in
politics, religious fundamentalism and the struggle between Israelis and
Palestinians for a homeland. Threats to peace and security are indeed a
backdrop for daily existence, but that is only part of the story.
After I met with the Palestine Wildlife Society in the West Bank, INNPPA staff
led a tour of Israeli sites that embody key environmental issues. I discovered
a magnificent landscape rich in biological diversity, because it lies at the
convergence of Europe, Asia and Africa. From snow-capped mountains and vast
deserts to expansive lakes and marine ecosystems, few places on Earth possess
this startling array of habitats and species in such a small geographic area.
Nature's grandeur is juxtaposed with vivid reminders of human impacts. En route
to the Gamla Nature Reserve in the Golan Heights, we drove through grassy
swells denuded of forests centuries ago. Pastoral hills were fenced and marked
with signs warning of mine fields never cleared, a vestige of past wars.
Along the dizzying cliffs in Gamla, griffon vultures rose on thermals so close
we could almost touch these ancient birds, whose wingspan can exceed 2.5
meters. This, the largest breeding colony of vultures in Israel, is in rapid
decline. Many eggs are infertile and numerous hatchlings die due to a
calcium-poor diet and lack of food (dead animal carcasses) in the wild. Adult
vultures can't obtain enough calcium from small pieces of dead animal bones, so
they feed instead on the metal fragments of old ammunition and shrapnel that
litter the countryside. Vultures die by electrocution when they perch on power
lines, by purposeful shootings and by inadvertent killings when birds feed on
the remains of cattle poisoned by farmers locked in a territorial dispute.
Later, at the Hai-Bar Carmel Nature Reserve, a lanky, bearded naturalist named
Yigal Miller proudly told of how he had established the first successful
captive breeding and release program for griffon vultures.
We drove south past Bedouin riding donkeys while grazing sheep and camels at the
edge of the Judean Desert. Well below sea level, we stood in the abandoned
dining room of the old Jordan Hotel, framed by mortar-riddled walls, and looked
across a vast plain that dipped toward the distant shoreline of the Dead Sea.
Before the hotel was abandoned during the 1967 war, waves still lapped at the
feet of guests who stood on this veranda. Dead Sea water is now being
drastically drawn down and desalinated to quench the thirst of this densely
populated region.
As peace efforts continue, the viability of ecosystems and resources also stands
at a crossroads that will determine environmental health and the survival of
many species. The demise of the Dead Sea would devastate Jordanians, Israelis
and Palestinians alike. Invasive plants out-compete native species that provide
nest sites for birds plus food and shelter for animals. Many plants and animals
are collected, hunted and poached toward extinction. On most days in the hills
of the Carmel coast, polluted air hangs so thick it is impossible to see the
Mediterranean Sea a few kilometers away. Water pollution, depletion of precious
water supplies and degradation of habitat for migratory birds are serious
problems.
In the Middle East, environmental issues pose the greatest long-term threat to
the health and well-being of humans and the natural world. Private
organizations and governmental agencies are conducting environmental research
and conservation programs. They teach of the necessity for changes in policy
and practice to preserve habitats and natural resources that meet the survival
needs of all. The environment is the one tie that irrevocably binds the peoples
of the Middle East, regardless of differences in politics, faith or culture.
The writer presents programs on the environment (www.p-e-a-c-e.net) and is
author of "Everyday Herbs in Spiritual Life: A Guide to Many Practices" and
"Abraham's Bind and other Bible Tales of Trickery, Folly, Mercy and Love."