In The News

Mapuche Indians in Chile Struggle to Take Back Forests

Larry Rohter August 11, 2004
Chile’s native Mapuche people have struggled against the government since the arrival of the Spaniards. In those colonial days, the Mapuches were pushed south of Chile’s Bío-Bío river, where they retained formally recognized autonomy. After Chilean independence, however, they were forcibly incorporated into the state and, decades later, pushed onto reservations so as to make room for European...

Tourism Make-Over for Pariah State

Marasri Boonroj August 4, 2004
Thai and Burmese travel officials are working together to promote Burma as a travel destination, despite its being considered a pariah state due to Rangoon’s military government and human rights abuses. Before the Burmese tourist industry can thrive, however, tourism experts say the country will have to develop its infrastructure, eliminate its two-tier exchange rate, and develop a two-part...

Ban Sale of Ramin: Lobby Group

Evelyn Shih July 15, 2004
The logging of Indonesian ramin wood, a material used in such products as pool cues and picture frames, has largely been made illegal by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) because it contributes to the destruction of endangered rainforests and the orangutans that call them home. To ensure proper management of the forests, the Indonesian government has approved a...

Strategy for an Energy-Starved World: Go Coal!

David Dapice July 15, 2004
Gas prices are soaring, as anyone with a car well knows. But, though $40 a barrel prices are hurting wallets, economist David Dapice argues that the situation has the beneficial effect of encouraging countries to look at alternative energy sources with greater urgency. China, for example, recently signed an agreement with a South African energy and chemicals firm to build two coal-to-liquid fuel...

Beyond Kyoto

John Browne July 8, 2004
Seven years after representatives from more than 180 nations gathered in Kyoto, Japan, the goals that were set up seem out of reach. America withdrew from the resultant agreement, and Canada, Japan, and the European Union have all fallen behind pollution reduction commitments. However, Lord Browne, Group Chief Executive of BP, optimistically re-evaluates the breakdown of the Kyoto Protocol as a...

Death at Sandheads

Ashis K. Biswas June 17, 2004
Mysteriously, merchant ships have sunk continuously at the Sandheads in India's Bay of Bengal, leading many to question why. More mysterious, however, is the fact that ships continue coming here and sinking. Official estimates indicate that at least 81 ships have gone down in this area in the past 30 years, including eight since 1997. Innumerable crewmen have lost their lives in these...

Fresh Water Talks

Gamal Nkrumah June 11, 2004
In parts of North Africa, fresh water is a scarce commodity. Although the region's main pipeline – the mighty Nile River – is perhaps most often associated with Egypt, it actually runs through a host of countries further upstream. In order to map out use rights in an equitable fashion, the ten-country Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) hopes to bring all parties to the negotiation table. But the...