UNEP Children's Painting Competition

Check this out!

UNEP Children's Painting Competition (61 photos)

Winners of the 22nd International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment

Sustainable values on a School Totem Pole- Canada

 

St-Laurent Academy science teacher, Michael Leveille created a Totem pole representing the sustainable values we wish to encourage.  The Eagle and the Lion represent strength and courage.   The front symbols represent self, communication, and learning.  The reverse side celebrates air, soil, water, and life.

"UNiting for Youth", kicking-off the celebration of this years International Youth Day!

Next Monday (August 5^th), it is all about ‪#‎Youth in the UN! Mark your calendars for the coming event: "UNiting for Youth", kicking-off the celebration of this years International Youth Day!

More than 700 youth connected from USA, Belgium, Brazil, India, Lebanon and Nigeria will discuss with Ban Ki-moon and Senior UN Officials‪ #‎YouthDevelopment and the UN initiatives for youth. Don’t miss the live broadcast of the event:  Webtv.un.org ‪#‎YouthDay. Follow the ‪#‎UNYouthEnvoy on Twitter: @AhmadAlhendawi. Follow the conversation using #YouthDay.

The event is scheduled for 10 am EDT on August 5^th – tune in through Webtv.un.org and get involved!

Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought

A new study has pinpointed some of the probable causes of bee deaths and the rather scary results show that averting beemageddon will be much more difficult than previously thought.

Scientists had struggled to find the trigger for so-called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) that has wiped out an estimated 10 million beehives, worth $2 billion, over the past six years. Suspects have included pesticides, disease-bearing parasites and poor nutrition. But in a first-of-its-kind study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, scientists at the University of Maryland and the US Department of Agriculture have identified a witch’s brew of pesticides and fungicides contaminating pollen that bees collect to feed their hives. The findings break new ground on why large numbers of bees are dying though they do not identify the specific cause of CCD, where an entire beehive dies at once.

Read more at http://qz.com/

Positive ways to move ahead on International Tiger Day

Monday, July 29 is International Tiger Day, and all over the world people will celebrate the great cat and all that it represents – environmental security, clean air, clean water and clean government.

International Tiger Day is a time to spread the word that saving the remaining wild tigers means saving ourselves – from climate disasters, from the scourges of corruption and organised crime, from a future void of the magnificence of nature.

EIA will be spending International Tiger Day participating in a tiger conservation workshop in China being hosted by the Government, with support from the Global Tiger Initiative and WWF.

It’s an opportunity for our tiger campaigners to engage directly with Chinese officers and decision-makers, to spur them into action against the criminal networks that control the trade. We know from our own investigations and insights into the who, where, what, why and how of the trade, that a lot more could be done to disrupt these networks by using targeted law enforcement. Where there is a will, there is a way. The question is, whether the Government of China will put its money and resources where they are needed.

Demand reduction is an equally important aspect of combating illegal trade, but in China policies which support a parallel legal market for the skins of captive-bred tigers are proving highly counterproductive. This failed experiment is in fact stimulating demand and thus driving the poaching of wild tigers and other Asian big cats.

With leadership, strong supportive policy and collaboration, however, demand reduction campaigns can be successful and this workshop provides an opportunity to focus on a positive way forward.

It would truly be an International Tiger Day worth celebrating if, in this 20th anniversary year of China’s domestic tiger bone trade ban, China extended that commitment to end all trade, in all tiger parts and products from all sources, wild and captive.

For more information about the workshop, click here. For live updates on EIA’s responses and inputs, follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@EIAinvestigator).

Action point: If you want to help make the changes the wild tiger needs, write to your Head of State and urge them to reach out to the new leadership of China, asking that every possible action is taken to end demand for tigers and other Asian big cats, including an unambiguous end to policies which promote trade and putting more investment into enforcement resources to disrupt the major criminal networks controlling international illegal trade.

Debbie Banks

Tiger Campaign Leader

RECENT IMAGES FROM MACOUN MARSH, CANADA

 Downy woodpeckers love dogwood berries!

 Gray's treefrog baby

Common whitetail skimmer

 Little brown bats have been common recently.  The bat above is not from the marsh but was caught by biologist Brian Hickey in the city. 

 Ambush bugs can take down insects much larger than themselves.

The beautiful jewelweed flower

Images by Mike Leveille

CREATING A SUSTAINABILTY TOTEM POLE- CANADA

 

St-Laurent Academy is creating a Totem pole representing the sustainable values we wish to encourage.  The Eagle and the Lion represent strength and courage.   The front symbols represent self, communication, and learning.  The reverse side celebrates air, soil, water, and life.  

 

 This is the reverse side of the Totem.

Water is life.  Artist: Michael Leveille

TOXIC TOYS IN MARKET- NEPAL

More than 50 percent of the toys sold in the market contained hazardous chemicals like lead, cadmium and mercury which could lead to neurological dysfunctions, brain damage and even lead to death, according to a monitoring report from the concerned government department. The concentrations of these chemicals were found to exceed the limits set by Centre for Disease Control, United States.

July 19

http://www.ekantipur.com/2013/07/19/top-story/toys-sold-in-market-highly-toxic-study/374993.html

PESTICIDE SEVERITY CONTINUES- NEPAL

In Nepal, there’s no monitoring of pesticide use. In the name of high productivity farmers of Kavre district are mostly suspected of using overdose of pesticides. Even banned pesticides like Chlordin, DDT, Aldrin, Dialdrin, Murex, BHC, Linden, etc are reported to be used in Nepal. Even after 20 years of the passage of the act against high pesticide use farmers continue to use it intensely.

July 20

http://annapost.com/editorial/news1444

TWIN LAKES UNDER NEGLIGENCE- INDIA

The two mythical freshwater lakes Surinsar in Jammu district and Mansar in Samba district have not received proper attention, in spite of the government’s pledge to develop the spots as tourist centre. Both the lakes have mythological connections – associated with Mahabharata and even considered sacred by Hindus.

July 15

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130716/j&k.htm

TEAK PLANTATION PREFERRED- BHUTAN

Most farmers of Phuntshothang village are attracted towards teak plantation as alternate cash crops since they found it to be easy to grow, free from depredation and profitable in the long-run. Teak is most sought-after hardwood and grows profusely in the southern side of Bhutan.

July 18

http://bhutanobserver.bt/7456-bo-news-about-farmers_prefer_teak_plantation_to_cash_crops.aspx

SNV Junior Professionals Programme- Netherlands

SNV is investing in the next generation of development professionals through its innovative Junior Professionals Programme.

Through the Junior Professionals Programme SNV will place 12 Junior Professionals in SNV sector programmes to work and learn alongside SNV seniors in our Agriculture, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Renewable Energy programmes.

50% of the pool will be Dutch with the other 50% drawn from the countries where we work.

Find more information on our Junior Professionals Programme by clicking on the SNV-JPP brochure (see right) or download it directly here.   

   

For further information, send an e-mail to snvjpp@snvworld.org

» Learn more about the SNV-JPP programme 

» Find the SNV-JPP vacancy advertisement

Get directions on how to apply