Aside from the breathtaking technological innovation that contributes to a better world, it seems a big step to effective conservation programs is being made. Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe presented plans to come to the largest wildlife park ever. The grand total surface area will roughly correspond to the size of Sweden. A whole range of existing wildlife parks - such as Victoria Falls - are set to be linked together to form this Goliath among wildlife parks. In order to protect Rhino and Elephant migration routes. The local inhabitants that fall within these plans agreed to be a part of this by helping conservation and in return, generating income by tourism.

Of course this looks a promising step toward better protection and more viable nature conservation. The real question is, why do we need to confine these animals to parks. We claim more space everywhere. We, humans, are addicted to it, soil, building plots, expansion. We tend to claim land, sea, air and expect everything else to abide by our law. We put animals away in cages and borders, draw up lines on a map to decide where the natural world can still exist. It is in my view a good start to try and change people's outlook on the animal kingdom. Not merely as a set of ivory tusks up for grabs. Sadly, in a obsessively capitalist world, the chains of commerce spare no one, thus generating steady incomes for the people living with these animals and in these landscapes is important. Doing it while preserving this very landscape and wildlife is crucial.

Much of the poaching in the world is purely due to big bucks being made from it. Quick and easy money, it is an industry which provides a future for some, where there is little else. This is why i applaude this wildlife park. Not because of the need to confine these animals, but because it is a first step in changing the future and outlook of these people, while doing as little damage as possible to the natural environment they live with and view it as worth something to them, call it co-ownership in an informal way. It becomes their income, their interest to protect and conserve the park and everything in it.

It is a small glimmer of hope, I for one, embrace such initiatives and hope to see many more. In a world where wildlife is under threat, any development towards tying our fate and consciousness of this fate to theirs is positive one, following the logic that we do not want ourselves to perish and fail. It ties in with a broad movement that is needed to make an actual difference. Realizing that their (flora and fauna) interests, are our interests. We can not live on a planet with only one species.

As a closer, the scientific validity of these claims of course, can be called biased. True, I am biased for I want a good life for my kids, grandchildren and on, and this means only one thing, it is necessary to take good care of our planet. Of course as an aspiring Social science (more precisely public administration) Alumnus, I shiver at the lack of source material used, but this serves more as a personal trail of thought, thus needs no extensive sources and research. I tap into the source that is my memory. Naturally, it is free to judge whether this holds any truth.

As for now, I will end with a quote that, I think, justifies this. From Plato, the father of all Philosophy who said : Thinking is the talking of the soul with itself.

 I will start off by saying this is a little bit different from what is normally written in this blog.

Yesterday I had the fortune of attending a lecture held by Joe Gomme on the sustainability of water and sanitation schemes in developing countries. Water seems to be a topic that crops up a lot in the blog I have noticed so I am sorry to be talking about it yet again! 

Some startling statistics that were pointed out by Joe include: 

• 900 million people lack water
  
• 2.7 million people lack sanitation

This was a staggering amount of people in my opinion, he then went on to tell us about some surprising problems. We are all well aware of those water aid adverts and the one toilet rolls sold in supermarkets; many organisations  and individuals are taking CSR and philanthropy role seriously which is enabling charities to go into developing countries and help where help is needed.

Unfortunately a lot of the time the water and sanitation schemes do not work! This could be due to a number of various reasons which I will get to later on. Joe gave an example of a village in Tanzania he had visited which had 3 different organisations come to it in order to instal proper sanitary facilities and water pumps. Sadly the scheme just was not sustainable in this area.  

Joe pointed out that for these schemes to be sustainable in developing countries a blend of economical, environmental and socio-cultural aspects were needed. 

Therefore to get lasting benefits these 4 things are needed:

1.  Appropriate, high quality technology must be used which is culturally sensitive, inexpensive and easy for locals to use,
2. External support is needed so governments have to be on board with the schemes and foreign charity is needed to fund them,
3. Local knowledge and skills harnessed to ensure that if anything does go wrong with the facilities installed they are able to sort the problems out themselves and
4. High demand and ownership shown by the community. 
   

Generally i took from the lecture that in order for these sort of schemes to work and be sustainable it is imperative to include the local community. By informing them of what is happening and involving them in every step of the scheme it is more likely to work and last for a longer period of time.


For more information about this visit: www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/en/

I know I have not written in this blogs for months, but I do have a good reason for it. The last blog entry was just before I went to Singapore; when I came back from Singapore I had exams and right after my exams I shot off to Australia (where I still currently am). So to the few people that Google analytics says do read my blog I am truly truly sorry and please do bear with me. I will try and write more often in this blog from now on.

Anyway the reason why I decided to write a post was because I have been looking into eco-friendly cosmetics some more after that entry about Body Shop’s Body lovers range. I came across a video about the topic that really got me thinking. Unfortunately it is an American video so I think some of the things that the lady addresses may not be correct in the UK but broadly speaking we do have the same issues. 

I am getting older and want to look after my skin and body in the best way that I can so I can live a long and healthy life and sadly it would seem that the products I am using to keep the biggest organ I have healthy could be poisoning me. I am in the process of looking for affordable yet ‘good-for-you’ products and when I find some that I am using and loving/hating I will write about them for everyone.

In the meantime please watch the video below and have a think about what you are putting on your gorgeous body. 

O jeez it is Earth Day! I know I should probably have written a blog post a few days ago about this topic but it really has not been on my mind! Anyway i am writing something about it today. 

The Google Doodle for today is extra cute and makes the whole world aware that it is Earth Day which is fantastic as everyone can do something to keep our natural environment looking and feeling its best. In a way Earth Day has been taken over by the media and pop culture which can be seen as a problem for those hippy environmentalists; but in my opinion it is fantastic that so many media outlets are taking an active interest in Earth Day. 

The only way some people learn about things or do things nowadays is if some celebrity has endorsed it or if there has been media coverage about the topic which is a sad truth we must all live with in this day and age. At the end of the day Earth Day may be in the minds of many thousands of people today but what exactly is it?

Earth Day surprisingly was founded by a US Wisconsin Senator named Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1970. On this first Earth Day 41 years ago 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in coast-to-coast rallies. I think that Earth Day has become even more relevant today, and everybody should do something today in honour of our natural environment. Anything large or small can make a difference to our environment. The Earth Day website has some Earth Day pledges which help secure the future of our Earth. In all honesty i would like to retire in the future in a world of beauty and would hope my children and generations after me will also be able to benefit from the wonders of our magnificent Planet. 

I have been super busy and out of the UK for a week as I went on a mandatory trip to Singapore for some fieldwork. It was a lovely lovely lovely week away but has made my carbon footprint ridiculously huge. I am now looking for some ways to lower it as I am off to Australia in June.