by Joshua Howat Berger Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — There are few places on Earth as isolated as Trindade island, a volcanic outcrop a three- to four-day boat trip off the coast of Brazil. So geologist Fernanda Avelar Santos was startled to find an unsettling sign of human impact on the otherwise untouched landscape: rocks formed from the glut of plastic pollution floating in the ocean. Santos first found the plastic rocks […]
Environment
Mountain forests disappearing at alarming rate: study
by Chris Lefkow Agence France Presse Washington, United States (AFP) — Logging, wildfires and farming are causing mountain forests, habitat to 85 percent of the world’s birds, mammals and amphibians, to vanish at an alarming rate, according to a study published on Friday. Mountain forests covered 1.1 billion hectares (2.71 billion acres) of the planet in 2000, the authors of the study published in the Cell Press journal One Earth said. But at least 78.1 […]
Millions of dead fish clog Australian river
Millions of dead and rotting fish have clogged a vast stretch of river near a remote town in the Australian outback as a searing heatwave sweeps through the region. Videos posted to social media showed boats ploughing through a blanket of dead fish smothering the water, with the surface barely visible underneath. The New South Wales government said on Friday that “millions” of fish had died in the Darling River near the small town […]
The battle to save Cambodia’s river dolphins from extinction
by Suy SE Agence France Presse Kratié, Cambodia (AFP) — Bulging grey heads break the turbid waters of the Mekong River in Cambodia as a pod of rare Irrawaddy dolphins surfaces to breathe, drawing excited murmurs from tourists watching from nearby boats. The thrilling sight may soon be no more than a memory, as numbers of the endangered mammals dwindle despite efforts to preserve them. Cambodia has announced tough new restrictions on fishing in the […]
Albania’s ‘wild river’ granted national park status
Tepelenë, Albania (AFP) — Environmental campaigners scored a rare victory in Albania on Wednesday after authorities announced the creation of a national park to protect the Vjosa River, one of Europe’s largest undammed waterways. For years, activists lobbied to save what they call Europe’s last major “wild river” — one whose course is unaltered by industry or dams — recruiting A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio to their cause. Spanning more than 400 kilometres (248 miles), the […]
Steam cuisine: cooking in Japan’s hot springs
BEPPU, Japan (AFP) — Using geothermal resources to generate electricity is a divisive prospect in Japan, but there is little disagreement about another use for it: natural steam for cooking. The geothermal sources that make Japan a haven for hot springs or onsen are also used to produce a range of delicacies. There’s the “onsen tamago” — eggs cooked in geothermally heated water at around 65 degrees (149 degrees Fahrenheit) to produce a relatively firm […]
Indonesians seeking climate justice take aim at Swiss concrete giant
by Dessy SAGITA Agence France Presse Pari Island, Indonesia (AFP) Sitting near a wall of stacked rocks, fisherman Mustagfirin looks out to sea from the tiny Indonesian island of Pari, wondering whether his home will exist for much longer. His battered wooden boat is anchored just offshore, where trees and statues that were once on the beach now sit partially submerged about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of the capital Jakarta. “I am very saddened […]
Hot spring baths block Japan’s geothermal potential
by Etienne Balmer and Harumi Ozawa Agence France Presse Tsuchiyu-onsenmachi, Japan (AFP) With over 100 active volcanos, Japan has the world’s third largest geothermal resources, but also a powerful industry that has steadfastly opposed developing the sector: hot springs. Geothermal is a renewable resource that harnesses heat from deep below the Earth’s crust — a seemingly attractive option for energy resource-poor Japan. But the hot springs or onsens that dot Japan are a major business, […]
Shetland sanctuary fights to save seals as pollution takes toll
by Stuart GRAHAM Agence France Presse Shetland, United Kingdom (AFP) — Pollution is taking its toll on seal populations on the Shetland archipelago, known for its rugged coastlines, dramatic cliffs and diverse wildlife. On the edge of a coastal pool on one of Scotland’s Shetland Islands, Pixie, a plump grey seal grunts and rolls towards the water to retrieve a fish that’s been left for its lunch. Pixie is one of hundreds of rescued seals, […]
Indonesian farmers fight for their land in nickel mining boom
by Marchio GORBIANO Agence France-Presse WAWONII, Indonesia (AFP) — Three women with machetes stood guard at their farm hilltop on Indonesia’s Wawonii Island, directing their blades towards the nickel miners working in the forest clearing below. “I pointed the machete at their faces. I told them: ‘If you scratch this land, heads will fly, we will defend this land to the death’,” said 42-year-old villager Royani, recounting a recent encounter with some of the miners. […]
Rare West African lion cubs caught on camera in Senegal
Dakar, Senegal (AFP) — At three months old, even future kings of the savannah like to play. In Senegal, a video of three cubs that would have hardly been imaginable a few years ago, has given hope that the revered West African lion, which has been decimated over time, will be revived. The US-based wild cat conservation organisation Panthera has released never-before-seen images of a lioness and three cubs spotted in February by remote cameras […]
White tiger cub found dumped on Greek street: animal park
Athens, Greece (AFP) — Greece’s leading animal park on Wednesday said it had recovered a rare white tiger cub found abandoned on a nearby street earlier this week. Attica Zoological Park outside Athens said the four-month-old female cub, which was found beneath a garbage bin near the premises, was paralysed from the waist down. “No one knows where it came from or how it got here,” park founder Jean Jacques Lesueur told Proto Thema daily, […]
