India’s Tehri Dam: Stopping the Flow of Life?
One of many farmers in the region who has been impacted by the rains and landslides. (Photo: Nuno Belchior 2010) “There’s no means to live here anymore,” said Mooni Devi, a 42-year-old farmer in the village of Sau Upu in the Tehri Valley. “What is left here now? What do we eat? They have made us all into beggars. All the good farmland is gone. We just do our work, what else is there for us to do?” Sitting with Mooni Devi, we heard first-hand... Read More
Biodiversity conservation can reduce poverty, study finds
Shameless self-promotion: The knowledge review I had been working on for The Nature Conservancy has been published. Does Conserving Biodiversity Work to Reduce Poverty: A State of Knowledge Review can be downloaded from ConserveOnline. Read More
Assessing Environmental Recovery and Opportunity in Haiti
Denuded hillsides in rural Haiti (Photo: Scott MacKenzie) The long road to recovery is under way in Haiti, but it will be an arduous and difficult journey. Beyond the devastation wrought by the earthquake, the country will have to continue to deal with many of the ills that plagued it prior. It is well known by now that Haiti had (and continues to have) the highest poverty levels in the western hemisphere. The nation severely lacks even the most basic... Read More
Haiti Regeneration Initiative
A video from the Earth Institute discussing ecological restoration efforts in Haiti, and how the work has adjusted to new realities on the ground as a result of the January 12, 2010 earthquake. A Future for Haiti: Science and Solutions for a Beleaguered Nation from Earth Institute on Vimeo. Read More
Nicaragua’s Land, Trees, and People
Under a midday sun, I guided my horse up a steep, dusty slope, eventually emerging at the top of a ridge overlooking a brown valley, roads crisscrossing the landscape. Though it was the dry season on Nicaragua’s Pacific coast, this area seemed more void of life than normal. Above, a large hawk circled, riding thermals up and down the ridgelines, searching for small prey before settling in a large tree, one of the few still standing. We should have... Read More
