World environment day: a late contribution.
On the evening we spent in the Himlayan Homestay houses the four of us in our house had a long discussion with our hosts and translator/guide from the Snow Leopard Conservancy. Somewhat unexpectedly we found ourselves discussing global environmental problems and climate change. The Ladakhi people in rural areas live on the whole in very small villages, largely dependent on their livestock for wool, dairy products and fuel, plus the small amount of barley and potatoes that they cultivate during the short summer, apples, apricots and a few other goods traditionally traded for but now mostly bought in Leh town. They remain self-sufficient to an impressive level, and an unusual one in this globalised era, which I suppose is an essential survival technique if you live in a place cut off by snow for 6 months of the year.
Or at least it was. Now, in Ulley village at least, the roads open a full 2 months earlier than previously. Good on the one front, as it allows them better access to town and the facilities therein, but bad - very bad in fact - in that it represents a much smaller annual snowfall. The snow is their only source of water; as it melts it irrigates their fields and feeds the grass that feeds their livestock. The glacier above the village, a fail-safe source of water for time immemorial, is visibly shrinking. Our guide, Jigmet, was seriously concerned.
Do I have to spell out why the glacier is melting? Do I have to point out that it has very little to do with the way of life of the people to whom it represents their entire livelihood? Do I have to add that it has everything to do with our lifestyle? Do I have to remind us that there is no emergency exit on this particular spacecraft and that sooner or later this is going to catch up with us when we find we can no longer buy our way out of trouble?
I acknowledge my part in this problem. Our summer holiday involves a trans-continental flight from which our share of carbon emissions are over 6 tonnes. For our trip to Portugal, I have checked out ferries and trains as an alternative to flying: they are so much more expensive that I cannot justify the extra expense. It was the same last summer. Please, I would like an alternative.
Labels: environment, holidays, worries
Land of contrasts
As I believe I have mentioned, I have just spent 10 days in India, my first visit to that most dazzling and description-defying land of contrasts in 12 years. I was lucky enough to have been invited on an exchange visit courtesy of the African Safari Lodge Foundation, a South African organisation working to secure benefits for local communities from tourism. Our hosts were Equations, an Indian research and advocacy group with much the same aims. An interesting two-day workshop in hot and hectic Delhi was followed by a trip up into the high and chilly Himalayas, around Leh town, where the highlight for all of us was a night in a local home, participating in a homestay project facilitated by the Snow Leopard Conservancy Trust. (I'm giving you all these names because I really feel they deserve a plug!)
The SLC have been doing great work to protect the endangered snow leopard - and other rare wildlife - through working with local communities to develop alternative livelihood options like the homestays and ways of protecting their livestock from predator attacks. They have been so successful that livestock losses have been reduced to near zero, and retaliatory attacks on snow leopards have ceased completely. Once-resented predators are now described as the "ornaments of our mountains". And their homestays, with an amazing cultural richness and true warmth and hospitality, put mine to shame!
Rather than waffle on any longer, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
First it was all a bit:
But then off we flew and it was all...
Once we arrived it started looking like this:
We visited some beautiful and spiritual places...
...and met some interesting people.
But there was still time for some sight-seeing at the end.
And last but not least, if you are ever in Delhi, I highly recommend the absolutely awesome Cocoberry frozen yoghurt place in Defence Colony market. Without a doubt the best way to beat the heat! (Headline during our stay: "Summer Cool: storm drops Delhi temperatures to 39C".)
Labels: environment, waxing lyrical, working mum
Seafood/soulfood
Although Paulo has been in Maputo for nearly two weeks and as a result I have been trying to coordinate dropping and picking up the boys at two different schools at two different times, all household and staff issues, shopping, car maintenance, carpenter supervision, thatch ordering, and DIY veterinary treatment for one of the dogs who has been fighting and has a huge hole in his neck, as well as putting in the occasional appearance at work, I shouldn’t really complain.
At the week-end, taking advantage of a bank holiday, the boys and I hitched a ride in a stylish fishing boat (no sarcasm, this is a serious game fishing boat not a local dhow) to Sito, a simple yet lovely beach lodge about 30km up the coast, where we were spoiled rotten by our hosts Craig and Tessa. Alongside the swimming and snorkeling, delicious food and generous sun-downer cocktails, we were treated to not one but three dolphin sightings, much to the boys’ (and my) delight. The last of these was on an otherwise unsuccessful fishing trip, when a large pod of spinner dolphins (small and fast) came to the boat and swam with us for about 5 minutes, weaving in and out of the bow-wave, hopping over wavelets, passing bits of sea-weed from flipper to tail to flipper, seeming to check us out as intently as we – hanging over the bow about one metre above them – were them.
It was magical, and the three days away from Pemba were a life-saver for me, as my fuse was burning dangerously low.
“I think we should stay for years and years,” said Joaquim. I have to say, it was very tempting.
That was written two weeks ago, since when our interment connection has been so bad I haven’t been able to post anything at all. Paulo is back from Maputo, and we’ve been back to Sito, where at about 7.30 on Saturday morning we were doing this:
If it’s not immediately obvious to you what this is, look carefully under Paulo’s elbow: you will see the liquid eye of an enormous green turtle.
It had been caught in a fishing net; on purpose or by accident is unclear, but what is quite clear is that it was heading for the pot had we not arrived on the scene.
I won’t go through it blow by blow, but it was an utterly thrilling experience, both for Paulo and me who were actually disentangling the poor creature, and for the boys (including Joauqim's best friend Milan), who were astonished at the sheer size of it, and must have imagined that sea turtles were something like land tortoises: “it’s giant! It’s huge!” And it was: the shell alone was at least a metre long, the head almost the size of a rugby ball. An informed diver friend who saw the photos estimated it to be about 200 years old.
Sadly, many turtles are still being hunted and consumed in the waters around Pemba and inside the Park. All the fishermen are aware that it is illegal, but enforcement is weak (especially outside the park). Of course it’s difficult for people who have hunted these animals for generations to understand that – through no fault of their own – turtle populations have reached such a critically low mass that every individual counts. It is unfair that while long-liners and drift netters account for thousands of turtle deaths each year and are not penalized for it, local fishermen who are principally aiming to feed their (hungry) families are bearing the brunt of conservation initiatives. But looking into that animal’s dark eye, feeling the tug as it freed its last flipper from the net and armed with the knowledge that for every 1000 turtle hatchlings only one reaches adulthood, I can only hope that our efforts to protect these amazing animals to the best of our abilities are as successful as they could possibly be.
PS: Our dog is much better, thanks.
Labels: environment, Pemba life, working mum
Could do better
Did you catch last week’s two extremely depressing simultaneous publications? Those of you wishing to remain cheerful, look away now.
Firstly, IUCN’s red data list, which looks at the state of the world’s biodiversity at regular intervals. Without fail, every animal, plant or other living organism in the world is at least as badly off, if not considerably worse off, than before. I lie. There is one bird that has been moved down one level of endangeredness. Certain corals, gorillas, orang-utangs, tigers, and lots of birds lead the list of most likely to be extinct within a few decades. Why? Overwhelmingly, because of human activity.
Secondly, the IISS’s report on international security, which shows Al Quaeda stronger than ever, Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organisation growing by leaps and bounds, and young men signing up by the dozens across the globe for martyrdom in the fight against the morally bankrupt West. Another 9/11 is perfectly possible they say.
What a wonderful contribution we as a species are making to – as far as we know – the only living planet in the known universe.
Labels: environment, terrorism
World Oceans Day
I’m feeling a bit restless today, with a strange feeling of nervous excitement, as if I had something big planned for later today or the week-end. The truth is I have nothing planned for either. I’m beginning to suspect that my coffee this morning was particularly strong and that this is just a caffeine buzz. It’s making it difficult for me to concentrate on work (hence this post) but has put me in a strangely elated mood.
We are coming to the end of the World Environment Week. Today is World Oceans Day (unofficial, in that it is not recognised as such by the UN, but has been celebrated by various organisations and institutes around the world as such for 12 years). So here are some ocean-related thoughts.
Hundreds of thousands of plastic bags are floating around the world’s oceans. Not only are they ugly and extremely unpleasant when they wrap themselves around you whilst out swimming (you, not them), they also look a fair bit like jellyfish, with the unfortunate consequence that they a) give you a bit of a scare and b) get eaten by sea turtles, who love nothing more than a bit of jellyfish sushi. This obviously kills the turtle. Turtles are amongst the world’s most endangered wildlife and have enough to worry about, what with long-liners, drift-nets and turtle shell nick-knacks, without adding plastic bags into the equation. Another good reason to make an effort to replace them (plastic bags, not turtles) with baskets, string bags, re-usable shopping bags of whatever variety, pockets, rucksacks, saddlebags or whatever fashion statement you choose. Go on, it’s easy and it makes you feel virtuous. I’m feeling evangelical, as I have recently made an effort to stop accepting the many plastic bags proffered to me on a daily basis. I have bought two large baskets and two large re-usable plastic bags and am making good progress. Plastic bags here are particularly flimsy and often don’t even last until I get home, so there is no excuse. The Mozambicans think I’m slightly odd, but I’ve got used to that, as so did the Portuguese and the Ugandans before them.
Coral reefs are not only perhaps the most diverse ecosystems in the world, they also are an extremely effective defence for coastlines around the world. One of the most important factors that determined which places were wiped out by the SE Asian tsunami and which weren’t was the condition of their coral reefs. Coral is killed by global warming. Do your bit: change your light bulbs, experiment with not using your car when possible, insulate your loft, double-glaze your windows, consider food miles when shopping, turn down your heating 1 degree or do whatever else you find easy and cost-effective and actually meaningful.
Cod is delicious. It’s also going extinct. Choose another white fish instead. (One for me there, as I confess to occasionally eating bacalhau, Portuguese salt cod, wonderful stuff.)
OK, enough environmental proselytising for one post. I think I may celebrate today by sloping off a bit early and taking Joaquim and Sebastian to the beach to build sandcastles, eat ice-cream and appreciate the incredible good fortune we have to be living on the shores of the fantastically beautiful, warm, bio-diverse Mozambican Indian Ocean. Go on, hug a wave. Or a fish.
Labels: environment, Joaquim, Ocean, Sebastian
