Medicinal Plants on Verge of Extinction

• by Rob Edwards
  10 January 2009 
• New Scientist Magazine

The health of millions could be at risk because medicinal plants used to make traditional remedies, including drugs to combat cancer and malaria, are being overexploited. "The loss of medicinal plant diversity is a quiet disaster," says Sara Oldfield, secretary general of the NGO Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

Most people worldwide, including 80 per cent of all Africans, rely on herbal medicines obtained mostly from wild plants. But some 15,000 of 50,000 medicinal species are under threat of extinction, according to a report this week from international conservation group Plantlife. Shortages have been reported in China, India, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda.

It's official: Men really are the weaker sex

We encourage your attention to this groundbreaking report partly because of its obvious implications for organic farming since pesticides are a major contributor to these alarming changes. But also because of its consequences for human behavior since testosterone, the most endangered hormone here, is also the key molecule for creative individuality and the righteous fearless citizenship that upholds democracy as well. Please read and meditate upon the original study, Males Under Threat, available here . - Ed.

The male gender is in danger, with incalculable consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling scientific research from around the world reveals.

The research – to be detailed tomorrow in the most comprehensive report yet published – shows that a host of common chemicals is feminising males of every class of vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including people.

Backed by some of the world's leading scientists, who say that it "waves a red flag" for humanity and shows that evolution itself is being disrupted.

Excellent conference wrap-up of sentiments from the October meeting of La Via Campesina (Africa's International Peasant Movement) - and a worthy warning and model for rural India. - Ed.

Open Letter from Maputo:
Food sovereignty now!

La Via Campesina (2008-10-29)

The entire world is in crisis, a crisis with multiple dimensions. There is a food crisis, an energy crisis, a climate crisis and a financial crisis. The solutions put forth by Power – more free trade, more GMOs, etc. – purposefully ignore the fact that the crisis is a product of the capitalist system and of neoliberalism, and they will only worsen its impacts. To find real solutions, La Via Campesina in this open letter argues we need to look toward Food Sovereignty.

HOW DID WE GET TO THIS STATE OF CRISIS?
In recent decades we have witnessed the advance of finance capital and transnational corporations (TNCs) across all aspects of agriculture and the global food system. From the privatization of seeds and the sale of pesticides, to buying the harvests, processing the food, transporting and distributing it, all the way to retail sale to consumers, everything is controlled by a handful of corporations. Food has gone from being a right of all people, to being just another commodity. Our diets are being homogenized, with food that is bad for you, is priced out of the reach of most people, and makes us lose the culinary traditions of our peoples.

Family Farms Pulled US Out
of the Great Depression

Rich Countries Launch Great Land
Grab to Safeguard Food Supply

Navadanya Report
October 15, 2008

Water has become the most commercial products of the century. This may sound bizarre, but true. In fact, what water is to the 21st century, oil was to the 20th century. The stress on the multiple water resources is a result of a multitude of factors. On the one hand, the rapidly rising population and changing lifestyles have increased the need for fresh water. On the other hand, intense competitions among users in agriculture, industry and domestic sector is pushing the ground water table deeper.

To get bucket of drinking water is a struggle for most women in the country. The virtually dry and dead water resources have lead to acute water scarcity, affecting the socio-economic condition of the society.

by Anthony Mirhaydari
MSN Money
July 14 2008

Soft-drink companies are bracing for a slowdown in what has been a surefire moneymaker: Selling filtered tap water, straight up or with flavor and nutrients as "enhanced water" beverages. But the companies still offer opportunity for investors.

Not only are people shying away from water costing the equivalent of $12 a gallon when gasoline is over $4 a gallon, but environmental sensitivity to those ugly, non-biodegradable plastic bottles is on the rise as well. A recent survey by venerable Morgan Stanley beverage analyst William Pecoriello found 16% of consumers are reducing bottled water consumption due to environmental concerns. This is up from just 5% last year. Of these, 34% are reusing their plastic water bottles more often while 23% are just going with tap water instead.

It's no wonder this trend is emerging: A recent report by the Swiss Gas and Water Association finds that bottled water has 100 times the environmental impact of tap water. The Sierra Club notes that bottled water produces 1.5 million tons of plastic waste each year -- the vast majority of which ends up in our landfills and oceans.

Traditional practices increase yield by 128 percent in east Africa, says UN.

by: Daniel Howden, The Independent UK

New evidence suggests that organic practices - derided by some as a Western lifestyle fad - are delivering sharp increases in yields, improvements in the soil and a boost in the income of Africa's small farmers

    Nairobi - Organic farming offers Africa the best chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition it has been locked in for decades, according to a major study from the United Nations to be presented today.

    New evidence suggests that organic practices - derided by some as a Western lifestyle fad - are delivering sharp increases in yields, improvements in the soil and a boost in the income of Africa's small farmers who remain among the poorest people on earth. The head of the UN's Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, said the report "indicates that the potential contribution of organic farming to feeding the world maybe far higher than many had supposed".

    The "green revolution" in agriculture in the 1960s - when the production of food caught and surpassed the needs of the global population for the first time - largely bypassed Africa. Whereas each person today has 25 percent more food on average than they did in 1960, in Africa they have 10 percent less.

    A combination of increasing population, decreasing rainfall and soil fertility and a surge in food prices has left Africa uniquely vulnerable to famine. Climate change is expected to make a bad situation worse by increasing the frequency of droughts and floods.

 Inspired animation/explanation/alarm re the global warming tipping point(s). Pass along to friends who just don't get it yet, and pray several billion others do so, too.

September 23 is Earth Overshoot Day

What is Earth Overshoot Day? What is Overshoot? Why is Earth Overshoot Day Earlier Than Last Year? How is Earth Overshoot Day Calculated?

Earth Overshoot Day Media Backgrounder Radio Clips: Mathis Wackernagel on Earth Overshoot Day   What is the Footprint?   Global Footprints and World Trends  About Global Footprint Network Our Partners     Contribute to Ending Overshoot!

What is Earth Overshoot Day? September 23 this year marks an unfortunate milestone: the day humanity will have used all the resources nature will generate this year, according to Global Footprint Network data. Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when humanity beings living beyond its ecological means. Beyond that day, we move into the ecological equivalent of deficit spending, utilizing resources at a rate faster than what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year. Globally, we now now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. But of course, we only have one Earth. The result is that our supply of natural resources -- like trees and fish -- continues to shrink, while our waste, primarily carbon dioxide, accumulates.