EcoWarriorMe

Chinese Tiger Farm China is allowing people to ‘farm’ tigers in ‘battery hen’ like conditions and to trade their skins and body parts. I find this totally unacceptable and have signed the petition at www.bantigertrade.com which is part of the TigerTime campaign. www.tigertime.info .

Over the past month I've tweeted frequently and blogged on water and sanitation , conservation of rhinoceros and tigers and solar electricity feed-in-tariffs , all of which are important issues in themselves but perhaps more important are the links between them. China is now the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels as a direct result of our drive to reduce carbon emissions, for example by using subsidies such as the UK's feed-in-tariff system. This is part of the exponential growth in manufacturing in China and south east Asia to satisfy our demand for cheaply  manufactured products with off-shore carbon footprints. This growth has created many wealthy individuals, some of whom are using their newly found disposable income for the purchase of  traditional   medicines  such as rhino horn and tiger parts . Of course such remedies do not work, but that knowledge hasn't stemmed demand. Crossing the Indian Ocean to Africa and we find many people trapped...

I’ve just spent a few seconds signing up to a vital petition that will help save the last 3,200 wild tigers on earth. Will you help the cause by doing the same? When I first heard that there are only 3,200 wild tigers left, I was totally shocked. To put it in perspective, it means that all the wild tigers left on earth could all fit on just one soccer pitch. Added to this, we are losing them to poachers at a rate that means they will become extinct within a very few years. The TigerTime campaign team need your help to save them. The Chinese trade in tiger parts is one of the most serious threats to the wild tiger. The Chinese government says that it is committed to saving the wild tiger. However, it is continuing to allow the trade in tiger parts and skins from tigers bred in so called ‘tiger farms’. We think that the practice of ‘farming tigers’ is barbaric and should be stopped. Additionally, this trade is the perfect smokescreen for the continued poac...

WaterAid charity says global efforts to increase access to clean water ignore those most in need Sanitation leads to cleaner, healthier water, leads to less disease and pollution, leads to less medical aid and vibrant self-sustaining communities, leads to better quality of life and a more just society. We can't be having that can we? No. We need to give the aid to countries that can afford to improve their own sewerage systems. That way they can use their money to buy goods and services supplied by more developed countries such as those in Europe and the US, to help stimulate the economy. We will probably ask them to use the aid money to buy design and construction services from the donor country. And let's face it: we don't want to be sending our people into countries that don't even have running water, do we?

"@EcoWarriorMe Is it time to give up on tigers and pandas? http://t.co/QgrWaAx0 > I hope not." According to an article in this morning's Independent, " A majority of professional conservationists believe it is time to consider shifting efforts away from some of the world's most famous species, such as the panda, to concentrate on others which have a greater chance of success. "  Should we be more selective in our efforts? What animals should we choose? By what measure will we evaluate which lives and which dies out?

"Homeowners will have to spend more to qualify - http://t.co/VMFcsHrc - but we do need to prioritise." @EcoWarriorMe The recent announcement by the government to cut feed-in tariffs for solar electricity generated by householders has quite rightly faced heavy criticism. Installation of solar panels under the scheme has led to significant growth in the sector, creating employment as well as green electricity. Changing the goal posts at short notice jeopardises this genuinely sustainable economic growth but it also undermines confidence in any future initiatives. Another part of the changes to the feed-in tariff is to restrict the scheme to homes that are already energy efficient but this is not necessarily a bad thing. "Some 86% of the UK’s homes do not meet the ‘C’ energy rating standard that properties will need to qualify for the feed- in tariff"  The Guardian In homes with a poor energy rating, it is cheaper to implement energy saving measures than to overa...