[Please do no contact the news team of Inspir’Action! We’re not owners nor reseller of Brikawood. See contact details below.] … More
The Plastic Road project in the Netherlands gives new life to plastic waste, while, at the same time, avoiding millions … More
Good news, on the environment, is scarce. For the first time, a group of English and American scientists succeeded in … More
Good news, on the environment, is scarce. For the first time, a group of English and American scientists succeeded in … More
[Please do no contact the news team of Inspir’Action! We’re not owners nor reseller of Brikawood. See contact details below.] … More
The Plastic Road project in the Netherlands gives new life to plastic waste, while, at the same time, avoiding millions … More
Good news, on the environment, is scarce. For the first time, a group of English and American scientists succeeded in … More
[Please do no contact the news team of Inspir’Action! We’re not owners nor reseller of Brikawood. See contact details below.] … More
“The first time my friends saw me rummaging through a trash can, they thought I was going crazy, recalls Robert … More
In collaboration with Parley for the Oceans, an organization that brings together scientists, artists and citizens around projects to clean … More
Like necklaces, Church forests adorn the places of worship in Ethiopia. It is believed by the local communities that their … More
The Plastic Road project in the Netherlands gives new life to plastic waste, while, at the same time, avoiding millions … More
Nowadays, more and more alternative, sustainable and quasi-autonomous habitats are finding their place in urban landscapes. Since June 2015, for a three-year period, the Scholten family has had the chance to “test” one of these houses, thanks to a program initiated by the University of Rotterdam. Read more
The Republic of Guatemala, with an estimated population of about 15.8 million, is the most populous state in Central America. Having a rich biodiversity, however, it has been the prey of human atrocities and wants to rebuild a place in the sun.
They are sailing into the wind in France. These more sober and cleaner models of development are territories with positive energy for a green growth. It is an integral plan that oscillates around six axes with concrete projects for a smooth energy and ecological transition. Currently, 442 communities have been involved in this process. Read more
At the beginning of the previous century, around 1925, consumers were buying food at the grocery’s store or butcher’s with their own containers. We are currently witnessing a return to these practices with Montreal’s zero-waste grocery stores. (Article inspired from Le Devoir, published on November 7, 2016)
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Many persons hesitate to install a garden in their backyard in order to grow their own food at home. However, with the Smart Garden Plantui’s cultivation techniques, they no more have any excuses. This innovative project has been designed by Plantui Oy, a start-up based in Turku, Finland. Read more
A cooperative encourages rural development and poverty reduction in India through local initiatives whose goal is to empower women and youth living in rural areas. This broadly the objective of SEWA (Self Employed Women Association) based in the western state of Gujarat. Read more
You will not say that you are on the roof of a building. On the top of the Clinique Pasteur in Toulouse, we are surrounded by strawberries, salads and flowers. “The vegetable garden at the service of the enterprise.” That’s the idea that germinated with Macadam Gardens. Since then, the designers are having their heads in the clouds and grow vegetables on rooftops in France. Read more
Two weeks ago in the Galápagos, the presidents of Ecuador, Costa Rica and Colombia announced an agreement to enhance the protection of marine life by expanding their marine reserves around Galapagos, Malpelo, and Cocos.
Along with Panama’s Coiba National Park, the three protected areas make up the world’s densest cluster of UNESCO Marine World Heritage Sites. Currently, only 2,8% of the world ocean is protected, and less than 1% of it, is a marine reserve, which implies that activities such as fishing are prohibited.
The project, which aspires to meet United Nations target of protecting 10% of the world’s oceans by 2020, is a pivotal moment in the history of sustainable development and ocean management.
We are talking about some of the most biodiverse ocean waters, where “sharks, turtles, rays, whales, seabirds, tuna and billfish surge back and forth in response to seasonal changes in water temperature and food availability”, as Scott Henderson, vice president of Conservation International (CI)’s Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape program points out in an interview for Human Nature.
In the same interview, he further explains that these areas “have registered the highest density of sharks recorded anywhere on Earth and some of the highest fish biomass (total weight per unit area) ever recorded”.
But the triumphant agreement in Galápagos isn’t vital only for the corals, the turtles, the penguins, the sea lions, the dolphins and the whales of the area. It’s a strategic movement also for the region’s economic growth and the improvement of the livelihood of industrial fishermen, who can benefit from the abundant spillover on the reserve boundaries.
In practice, the agreement raises the marine reserves of the three nations to 83,600 square miles. As stated in National Geographic’s article by Jane Braxton Little, “Ecuador and Costa Rica also agreed to delineate the boundaries of their national waters, exchanging nautical charts in a step toward protecting the underwater ‘highways’ used by sharks, sea turtles, and other migrating marine life”.
Following National Geographic’s report, Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos pledged to double the size of one of the largest no-fishing zones in the region — the Malpelo Flora and Fauna Sanctuary, established 300 miles off the mainland.
In an effort to protect white-tip sharks, whale and hammerhead sharks, Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solís committed to expanding Cocos Island National Park by nearly 4,000 square miles — an action that will increase by four times the area where fishing is restricted. Last but not least, under the new boundary maps, Ecuador’s revised marine territory is now five times larger than its continental territory.
Beyond doubt the agreement among these three nations is an historic moment, as “it’s the first time that three presidents got together to expand protections in their neighboring waters” according to Enric Sala, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. Now that the path is set, we can only wish that other countries will follow the steps of these three leaders.
The “Keyhole Garden” is an innovative gardening technique being used to combat malnutrition in impoverished regions worldwide. It is proving to be particularly effective in arid areas such as Uganda, Lesotho or Guatemala.
The “Keyhole Garden” is a revolutionary concept of gardening initially created by charitable institutions to help poor families and especially those suffering from malnutrition.
The “Keyhole Garden” is a small vegetable garden simple and easy to build even in confined spaces. It has a raised circular shape surrounded by a wall made up of rocks and a pit in the center serving as a common compost and water dispenser.
Made of straws, branches or even used cans, the substrates ensure a slow and homogeneous diffusion of nutrients.
These vegetable gardens are built near houses, making them very accessible and sparing owners the need to travel great distances to take care of their plants and crops. The fact that they are built on an elevated level equally makes them less prone to be destroyed by heavy rains or floods.
The “Keyhole Garden” is a creative way to try to get families out of poverty using resources readily available but also on what we have always-waste.
With this type of garden, waste is given a new life. Peeling of fruits and vegetables or even waste water are deposited in the central pit. While disintegrating, they turn into compost and directly provide nutrients to the soil of the garden.
A great variety of plants, vegetables and fruit can spring from that little piece of land. Impoverished families have adequate and proper food handy while children, formerly malnourished, can grow up healthily with these new fresh products enriching their diet.
Besides, families having a surplus of food crops may sell them achieving revenue to pay for other expenses.
In Guatemala, the “Keyhole Garden” has become the backbone for many vulnerable families consisting of abandoned or widowed mothers having the huge responsibility of raising their children alone.
Charitable institutions, such as Food for the Hungry, is doing the extra mile by offering concerned families recipes and cooking classes as well.
This is a great concept to give the latter a platform to share their knowledge and know-how. As groups, the families having the “Keyhole Garden” support each other, putting what they learn into practice.
Agri-Ethics reflect the moral commitment of all stakeholders in a network. From the farmer to the consumer, through the miller, industrial, baker, everyone can participate in this civic action. The motivations behind are to give a central role to the local farmers, remunerate their production to its “fair value”, and prove that globalization of food commodities are not inevitable.. Read more
