A brilliant list of events! We are matching our biodiversity programme in the Global South; recognise this flag flying in Cape Town, ZA?
Check out their calendar here, http://biodiversityweek.ie/whats-on/calendar/
A brilliant list of events! We are matching our biodiversity programme in the Global South; recognise this flag flying in Cape Town, ZA?
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I took this picture of the laughing elephant on a walking safari on the edge of Kruger National Park.
It is heartening to hear WeForest report today of "Bringing Life Back; Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most-populous nation, is experiencing the worst food crisis since the drought of the 1980s, according to Oxfam International. The strongest El Niño weather episode in the last several decades has caused repeated crop failure, decimating livestock herds and driving some 10.2 million people across Ethiopia into food insecurity. While the short term relief is urgent, WeForest is focusing on the long term: continued restoration of landscapes and the building of community resilience. This can only be done by addressing the root cause and breaking the vicious circle: deforestation and land degradation > soil instability and erosion > unpredictable rainfall > reduced crop yields > food insecurity and poverty > more land degradation > desertification... WeForest is developing projects in Northern and Central Ethiopia where very few trees remain today and land degradation is severe. By restoring the forests and planting trees, we bring life back." Well done to WeForest, we are proud to support you! It was such a TREEt to meet with Sarah back from South Sudan for a few days. The news is not altogether positive; I quote, "Everything is going wrong for those trees." Aoife, also at breakfast gave a recent lecture to her colleagues at work on her failures working in Uganda with the Foundation for Sustainable Development and how she turned them around. It gave me the idea of starting the "Catalogue of Disasters" book we talked about in school this week. The CV of failures in the news today springs to mind!
It's a long story. Very sadly, a death occurred in a house where one of the new trees had been planted which resulted in a suspicion that the tree may have been at fault. It is a shame as the trees which were to have been distributed fruit very quickly whereas mango takes a few years to bear fruit but these are the probable next variety choice. "It's a matter of changing direction, seeing what other seedlings are available and seeing what works". We had something similar in school this week. One little chap was very frightened, his classmate said he would "summon" a ghost. We had a long chat about this on the yard. Many of the children had a contribution to make. I asked that if this fellow was so good at summoning, could he summon a million euro for us to sponsor our trees? This got us thinking. What about summoning my dad on his big motorbike, said another? Or disappearing an ice-cream. After some thought, the helpful friend thought, no making an ice-cream APPEAR. Nobody was too worried about the ghost after that, when we will see all those nice things appear we could worry then! We will keep scary stories for lego games! The SymmeTREE project; what is it? WildAREness and SymmeTREE are the same project, one is a mirror of the other really.
We are so excited about our trip to the Department of Education next week to showcase our project! We are gathering up waste materials to make our display! This is the whole thing about our project. It's the "same same" , Global North and Global South as I heard people say in Vietnam. And in both places we need it done "Now now", as they say in Uganda and also as is written in the porch of our local Sea Scout den, where they get lots done very Safely, with Fun and lots of Learning. They have it over their noticeboard. It is such a good phrase, I am going to put it up at school. What does it mean? Well I was at an event in Uganda to support abandoned dogs; it happens all over the world that animals can be neglected and when we went out for a message, they asked us when we would be back and my Ugandan friend who was driving me said "Now now" which turned out to be 20 minutes. Or thereabouts. So let's plant trees. |
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January 2017
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