· December, 2012

Stories about Environment from December, 2012

They Murder Trees in Egypt

Michael Hanna, an Egyptian blogger and pharmacist, mourns the murder of trees, as well as demolishing antique villas in Heliopolis suburb in Cairo. Find out what happened to what is perhaps the oldest palm tree in the area.

30 December 2012

Mexico: Federal Court Halts Controversial Wind Park

The largely indigenous opposition to wind farms in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec of Oaxaca, Mexico won a tremendous victory when a District Seven Federal Court judge granted an injunction temporarily halting the construction of a controversial wind park in San Dioniosio del Mar in the southern state of Oaxaca. While the indigenous Ikojts (Huave) peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec celebrated and called for government and industry to comply with the decision, their grassroots struggle continues.

27 December 2012

Promoting Recycling in Macedonia

Continuing the tradition that started last year (en, mk, nl, es), the Macedonian Twitter community has erected a new Christmas Tree made of plastic bottles (mk, mk, photos 1, 2,...

24 December 2012

China's Environment in 2012

From mass protests to trade wars, shale-gas drilling to hazardous cosmetics, chinadialogue has reviewed China's major environmental events in the past 12 months.

23 December 2012

Film Festival on Organic Farming in Japan

The international Film Festival on Organic Farming was held in Satta Hall at Hosei University in Tokyo, December 16, 2012. One participant ama_san [ja] commented on Twitter: Yesterday I went to the International...

20 December 2012

What is Web Mapping?

In this post we learn more about web mapping with MapBox's Ian Ward, as he explains some of the organization's recent projects and how these visualization tools are improving communication locally and globally.

11 December 2012

Deadly Storm in the Philippines: “Everything was flying. It was surreal.”

Father Joel Tabora summarizes the extent of damage left by Typhoon Pablo in Southern Philippines: "Entering the Municipality of Compostela was like entering a warzone, its hectares and hectares of banana and fruit trees flattened. People there have no food. No potable water. No signal. Electricity is expected to return after at least two months."

11 December 2012

China's Disempowered Urban Planners Build Support Through Weibo

China is experiencing major urban expansion, but urban planners have little freedom to do their work, as the government and developers are the main decision makers. Urban planners have now found a new way to make their voices heard: they use Weibo (China's twitter) to communicate with the public and criticize improper planning strategies forced upon them by the government.

11 December 2012

Ecuador Launches Oil Auction Amid Indigenous Protests

On Wednesday November 28, 2012, Ecuador began an international licensing round for 13 oil blocks - nearly ten million acres - of untouched south-central Amazonian territory as indigenous leaders took to the streets in Quito to protest petroleum concessions on their lands.

7 December 2012

Argentina's Impending ‘Monsanto Law’ is Not Welcome

A bill by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina regarding genetically modified seeds has generated much controversy in different sectors who argue that Argentina could lose its food sovereignty if the law moves forward. Social organizations called for an event to protest the law.

6 December 2012