· October, 2011

Stories about Environment from October, 2011

Macedonia: Lead Smelting Factory Problem in Veles

  31 October 2011

Jovan Petrov provides an overview of the problem with the lead and zync smelting factory in Veles, after the court rejected a suit against the state from the municipality and local NGOs, demanding cleaning of pollution which will affect “10 generations to come” in this impoverished community.

Pakistan: Say No To Plastic Bags

  31 October 2011

95% people use plastic bags in Pakistan and only 15% of these bags are properly disposed off, informs Rai Muhammad Azlan Shahid, while advocating for banning them.

Nigeria: Waste, Wealth and the Burden of a City

  30 October 2011

Bella Naija's photo story titled “BN Photo Stories: Waste, Wealth and the Burden of a City”: “With an estimated population of 15 million, and growing at an annual rate of 6%, Lagos, Nigeria, is set to topple Cairo soon as Africa’s largest city…With increased, largely unchecked, informal economic activities, emerge...

Brazil: Belo Monte Dam Construction Site is Occupied

  27 October 2011

Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) reports [pt] that 600 people have occupied Belo Monte Dam construction site in Altamira, brazilian state of Pará. Journalist Beth Begonha (@BethBegonha) said [pt] that Kayapó people from the village of Gurupira will join the protest shortly. This action was decided yesterday, with news that the...

Cuba: Watching Hurricane Rina

  25 October 2011

Circles Robinson, writing at Havana Times, says that “Cuban weather forecasters…envision Rina making a landing as a major hurricane (over 110 mph) sometime Thursday night or Friday.”

Cambodia: Worst Flooding in a Decade

  24 October 2011

Cambodia is experiencing the worst flooding in a decade. The government reports that almost a half a million hectares of rice paddies were destroyed by the floods, which could affect food security in the region. Here are more reports about the disaster.

Bolivia: President Says Road Will Not Go Through TIPNIS

  21 October 2011

Dario Kenner reports form La Paz: “In a press conference this morning President Evo Morales said the road project his government has been determined to build will not go through the TIPNIS national park and indigenous territory. This is a dramatic change in policy. It comes after a two month...

Brazil: Belo Monte Dam Case Comes to Court

  21 October 2011

The Brazilian justice system has provided new fuel to the protesting voices against the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant, after its construction begun in June 2011. A lawsuit filed in 2006 by the state of Pará was brought to court on October 17.

Haiti: Cholera, One Year Later

  20 October 2011

Dying in Haiti marks the one year anniversary of Haiti's cholera outbreak, saying: “Conservative numbers say that cholera has infected 500,000 Haitians and killed 6,500 of them. This is more than any place in the world.”

Thailand: Flood Maps and Disaster Monitoring Tools

  18 October 2011

In an earlier post, Global Voices featured some of the online maps which were created to monitor the floods in Thailand. The flood disaster is already the worst that ever hit the country. Here are other useful online maps, twitter reports, and disaster monitoring tools that provide information about the floods

Russia: Photoblogger Launches New Citizen Media Agency

RuNet Echo  18 October 2011

Ilya Varlamov, popular photoblogger, officially launches [ru] Ridus.ru, news agency dedicated to the citizen media in Russia. Its ‘special projects’ section [ru] tells about new and already existing civil society movements that deal with environmental issues, traffic violations, illegal development in the historic parts of the cities, freedom of photography...

Brazil: Violence Against Indigenous Fulni-o Tapuya

  18 October 2011

Brazilian blogger Danielle Pereira, on Diário Liberdade, denounces [pt] (with photos and videos) abuses and violence committed by the police of Brasilia against members of the indigenous community Fulni-o Tapuya. The people are claiming land that historically belongs to them, but that was delivered to a private company by the...

U.S. Virgin Islands: No News is Good News

  13 October 2011

News of St. John says that there's an upside to the island being quiet: “There are still 49 days left in H!^&*($#@ season [hurricane season] and so far St. John's doing OK. A close call, a few brush-back pitches – but nothing bad.”