Fisheries MSY

Love this blog post that critiques the maximum sustainable yield concept in fisheries.

“Taking a big step up in scale, later work by Elinor Ostrom and more fisheries specific by Bonnie McKay and James Wilson question the assumption of tragedy of the commons. They documented real-life communities that despite incentives to participate in the race to fish, managed to self-organize to manage their commons in a sustainable manner for hundreds if not thousands of years.”

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Women and the Environment

Women are certainly a force to be reckoned with these days. I’m a little buoyed up with the election of Allison Redford as the new premier of Alberta (our first premier in decades to have an education beyond high school), and am looking around at how women seem to be breaking the glass ceiling more and more.  However, in the developing world the vast potential latent in 50% of the population is often held back – the women and girls are not educated, not valued, and are often not even considered in development planning.  The roles of women can often be integral to the working of society – they are the farmers, the water collectors and the family organizers, and mobilizing them can lead to fast and effective social progress (today’s post is inspired by an article in The Guardian). Women can become powerful forces for environmental protection – for example, the women of the Chipko Movement in India were the original tree huggers.

 

 

Addendum: News is that the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has gone to three female activists – the first time aside form Wangari Maathai in 2004.

 

 

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Damming

About a week ago the builders of the highly controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brazil were ordered to halt construction.  I have some joy in my heart now, as I was devastated about a year ago when I heard the dam was given the go-ahead. Dams, often seen as a clean and green source of energy as compared to fossil fuels, are incredibly destructive  – not only do they flood vast landscapes, they displace people as well.  More often than not, it is indigenous people that are displaced, and more often than not they are told to move without any consultation.  To add insult to injury, the dams often do not even provide secure economic benefits.

The Old Man River Dam, in Southern Alberta

I am familiar with a handful of damming projects – in Alberta, where I’m from, the biggest and most controversial dam was the Old Man River Dam, which did get built despite recommendations from the Environmental Assessment Panel of the Federal Environmental Assessment Review Office that the dam should be decommissioned.  This recommendation was not just based off of concerns for natural conservation, or social justice for the Peigan Indian Band – an economic assessment showed that the dam would provide no net benefit to the region, and energy and irrigation needs could be met though other less harmful means.  The fact that the dam was built anyways in the early 90’s lead some to believe there were ulterior motives – namely an interbasin water transfer scheme that would direct water from Alberta to the USA (a prohibited activity). I am not sure about current conditions of the dam or the Peigan people.

The Chico River, with the terraced fields of the indigenous Igorot people

The other damming project I have some knowledge of is the Chico Dam project in the Philippines – (most of my opinions originate from this article in ecologist magazine) which is often seen as a successful resistance to inappropriate political and corporate interests. The dam was proposed as a means to aid in Philippines energy independence, but investigation showed that improved energy efficiency processes would be a more effective way of meeting needs.  Injustice and inequity were problems inherent to the planning of the dam – as benefits of the dam would certainly not go to the indigenous people (the Igorots), or even the local Philippine economy.  The electricity and irrigation generated by the dam were slated to go to transnational industrial corporations that had sugar cane plantations in the Philippines, and thus money would be leaving the country at the expense of the Philippine people and environment.  Now, violence ensued, as many of the indigenous groups were warrior peoples, but an upwelling of community support and alliances saw their goal out: the Chico Dam Project has been suspended indefinitely.

The Three Gorges Dam - the largest dam in the world

The Three Gorges Dam in China (the largest dam in the world – the filling of which caused the Earth to tremble on its axis) is an extreme example of how wrong it can go – this past summer the dam was not even able to operate at optimal capacity due to a drought. A heart wrenching failure, especially since the sacrifice was millions of people tearing down their own homes to relocate.  It has become clear that the estimate for efficiency of the Belo Monte would be similarly bleak – the dam would only be operating 4 months per year. So, in conclusion, I rejoiced the halting of a dam being built on the fragile Xingu river in Brazil, because in my mind the results are not only regrettable, they are irreversible.  Perhaps one day we will come to realize that a river is worth far more than just the water that is flowing between its banks.

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Disparity

In the news right now is the America-wide  “Occupy Wall Street” Campaigns, in which protesters are appealing to their government to separate democratic politics from private corporate interests.  It is not hard to see where these people are coming from, and in light of other social revolutions such as the Arab Spring it seems that the world may be on the cusp of some major changes. Social justice is intimately linked to environmental justice – it is the same forces at work that cause the depletion of both. I would argue that the centralization of power is the main force that suppresses justice in the name of other “more important” causes, such as economic growth – even though the economy is estimated to be in decline once again despite drastic efforts, and it is difficult to explain just why that is (though it is easy to simplify and say that big corporations take all the assets, leaving very little to “trickle down” – and perhaps that is not a far deviation from the truth).  The assumption that an improved economy will provide a better quality of life for the average person does not seem to be standing up to scrutiny – especially when the scope is widened to a global scale.  True, the exploitation of resources increases direct income to some people (keyword being “some”), but the forces of development can leave a country ravaged.  For some it might be easy to dismiss the concerns of these people protesting, but even if someone does not agree it is important to take the perspective of someone suffering and understand them – then consider solutions.

So, what is the way forward if the current situation is failing so many?  Shutting down big business? Allowing lassiez-faire to operate without interference from government?  Applying a mandatory percentage of capital “trickle down” to corporations?  Localizing power – giving decision-making back to the common person?   I don’t have enough knowledge to say.

(Funny – I started writing this post before Community Co-Management class, then the topic of the protests came up for discussion!  Add your two cents, classmates who are reading 🙂 )

But!  I do love this talk by Majora Carter, who mobilizes the poorest neighbourhood in New York to make some amazing changes that will hopefully better their lives and their environment:

 

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Whales and boats

Sharing the Bay of Fundy with whales is a challenge, but the design of marine area use is helping to protect Atlantic Right Whales from being killed by boats.  Nice article, I’m always happy to hear good news.

I just love whales.  Not only are they beautiful creatures that deserve freedom and protection in their own right, they’re incredibly valuable for eco-tourism.  I’m certainly a case in point – this is a video I shot off the Great Barrier Reef when swimming with Dwarf Minke Whales.

 

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Visibility

Just getting through some readings about community empowerment and remembered a great TED talk by an artist who, in his work, looked to empower communities and make them more visible.  Beautiful.

 

 

 

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Sharks

I love sharks. A lot. I am one of those people who was transformed by Rob Stewart’s Sharkwater (you can watch the whole film in parts heeeeeere) – and in good time, too, since at the time I was freaking out a little bit about my decision to go scuba diving with sharks in the Galapagos.  It was pretty much the best time of my life, and the sharks were breath-taking. Since then I’ve gone diving with sharks a handful of times and am always amazed by them. As is becoming common knowledge, shark numbers around the world are declining at astonishing rates – similarly to large fish like tuna, populations are down by as much as 90% since 1950.  This is in large part due to the practice of shark finning that responds to the demand for shark fin soup.

 

Black Tip Reef Shark I dove with in Hawaii

 

I follow international news on sharks fairly closely and was interested when two different articles showed up on my radar today.  The first article, shared by my friend Jimmy (a fellow Galapagos diver), speaks to the changes that are happening in China, where the vast majority of demand for shark fin soup originates from.  It also gives the perspective of people dependant on the business of shark fins for their livelihood – the human element of the problem must not be forgotten.  Though I have some problems with the journalist’s style of writing (referring to “environmentalists” as if they are a cohesive group), I thought the piece was fair and certainly interesting.

The second article I found through Project AWARE, and it simply explains that there is a new shark sanctuary – now the largest in the world – in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific. This follows the lead of Palau and the Bahamas.  I like to think this move toward protection will snowball and fulfill the dreams of my heroine, Sylvia Earle, who calls for a global network of marine protected areas to preserve our fragile ocean ecosystems. Here is an inspiring video of Sylvia making her TED prize wish:

 

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Fair Miles

Just read this short article in the Guardian about not how it might be more “green” to obsess less about eating strictly local food.  Don’t get me wrong – I love the farmers market and like to support local food systems, but helping out developing economies who use less energy and chemical inputs for their agriculture sounds fair enough. My concern is that these countries might be risking their own food security by growing “cash crops” for export, rather than developing their own local food systems.  Speaking of food, I love this video that celebrates the diversity of food culture around the world.

 

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China

Today my friend Yue posted a link to WWF Canada’s blog that showcased the film Waking the Green Tiger.

 

 

I am reminded of another film that just last year was nominated for an Academy Award – The Warriors of Qiugang.

 

 

I haven’t yet seen Waking the Green Tiger, but I did watch The Warriors of Qiugang, which is only 40 mins long.  Yale’s Environment 360 page states that they will post the full film this month, and it’s really worth a watch if you have 40 minutes to spare. I am quite heartened by the rising environmental movement in China – with over 1.3 billion people China has the capacity to make or break this world.

My favourite photographer, Edward Burtynsky, created a series on industrial development that included China’s industrial landscape.  His work is jaw dropping, and he also made a film, Manufactured Landscapes, which takes you around the world to the most incredible places where humans have changed the face of the earth.

 

 

China's coal mountains, as shot by Edward Burtynsky

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Potato Park

I came across reference to Parque de la Papa (the Potato Park) in last weeks readings for Community Based Co-Management, and had to check it out!  Potatoes originate from the highly diverse ecology of the South American Andes, with thousands of varieties growing.  I am pretty excited about the cultural connection that is being preserved and built upon – it would be such a shame to lose the diversity of both the potatoes and the people in this unique region of the world.

 

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