"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, American anthropologist, 1901-1978
Care2.com have a petition about an enormous oil refinery on St Croix in the US Virgin Islands.
It has laid dormant for nearly years – it was forced to shut down after committing dangerous environmental breaches.
Donald Trump re-opened it in his last weeks of office - his full plan went into effect on 4 February 2021.
Three days later, Care2.com say the sky rained oil.
A vapour cloud released by the refinery went up into the air, glided to the community of Clifton Hill which is nearby, filled homes, gardens and toys – and then it burst, a mixture of petroleum and water covering cars, toys, and more with oil.
This was over two months ago.
Residents say the oil is still stuck to food sources such as avocado and fruit. It cannot be washed out.
The island is surrounded by marine life – coral reefs, sharks and whales. If the oil keeps going into the soil and water around the island, it could poison people and animals for years to come.
There is a huge human rights issue as well.
Care2.com say that most of the residents are black, descendants of Africans who were enslaved and brought to work on sugar and cotton plantations.
The Biden administration has already started an investigation and revoked a number of permits.
The Skagit Land Trust is a local non-profit conservation organisation located in the beautiful state of Washington. It is supported by over 1,600 people (indidivduals, families and businesses). It protects key natural land for future generations of people and wildlife and for the benefit of the community.
And great news!
The Skagit Land Trust has protected over 8,560 acres of land and 46 miles of marine and freshwater shoreline in Skagit County. It’s done this working with communities, landowners and partners.
And good news! They’ve purchased 50 more acres. These are at the entrance to Samish Island and the land will be managed as part of the Samish Island Conservation Area.
The Trust now protects 100 acres at the entrance to Samish Island and over half a mile of marine shoreline. It includes a beach, freshwater wetlands, a tidal marsh, a small creek and tidelands. And it means that the entrance will be natural open space forever!
The purchase was possible thanks to over 200 families, businesses and organisations who donated to help purchase the property, and the Washington State Department of Ecology who helped secure a grant of$875,000 from the National Coastal Weltands Conservation Grant Program.
The Trust is working to secure further grant funds and these will help repay loans taken out for the purchase and also to help restore the property.
But the 2021 hunt has opened, and IFAW are asking us all to sign a petition to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to get this event stopped once and for all.
IFAW says that the hunt is cruel and unnecessary. It’s time for the Canadian Government to stop funding the commercial hunt and invest in economic alternatives for those few fishermen who still take part in it.
They have a form you can use to send a message to Trudeau – there’s a personalised copy to make it more effective and you can actually personalise that. Though as they say, please be polite!
Its community forest programme there has gained momentum, as the Bamasobha community has been granted their community forest! This secures 29,142 hectares! Find out more about it here.
There are now over 100 community forests which are either established or applied for, in the world’s second largest rainforest. They total over 2 million acres!
Rainforest Foundation UK works in the two largest rainforests, the Congo Basin and the Amazon. The forests are spread over billions of acres but as we all know, they are threatened by illegal logging and mining. Destroy the forest habitats, and you also undermine the livelihoods of locals living there. You also destroy eco systems.
ForestLink fights illegal activities in the forest
So communities are important in the fight against illegal activities, and the Rainforest Foundation UK’s ForestLink monitoring system enables communities to send low-cost alerts about illegal logging. It’s been so effective that it’s been expanded to the Ivory Coast!
There was also a landmark conviction of eco-guards for human rights abuses which were committed in the Salonga National Park. It sends a strong message that abuses won’t be tolerated.
Rainforest Foundation UK says that much needs to be done to address the risks from a poorly designed UN plan to double protect areas within the next decade. It is working to “amplify the voices of those on the frontline of deforestation on the international stage” as the climate summit in Glasgow approaches.
Ade Adepitan looks at climate change and the impact it is having on the environment – however, he is also looking at some amazing people who are doing what they can to help stop the pace at which is progressing and/or help the species affected by it. He is looking for solutions to climate change around the world.
And he does touch on the fact he is flying around the world to bring this to us. But unless we all find out what is happening in various locations and how people and wildlife and nature are being affected by climate change, there won’t be a story to tell.
Solomon Islands
Ade starts off in the Solomon Islands and we see and hear first-hand from local people who are affected by rising sea levels.
Great Barrier Reef
Adi heads to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the wonders of the world – and a breeding spot for the green turtle. Because the world is getting warmer, so is the sand and that has meant that that nearly all the turtles being born are female. This presents a major problem because it means that there are very few males being born. Adi finds out about a project which is trying to cool the sand so that more male green turtles might be born.
One of the questions Adi asks is “how do we wean ourselves off fossil fuels?”
Rural Queensland
He visits rural Queensland, a heart breaking visit because of the draught, and the city of Sydney where an amazing woman from Sydney Wildlife is working hard to help all the bats which have been affected by the terrible wildfires.
Ozharvest
And he visits the incredible people involved in Ozharvest – they collect food which is due to be chucked from the supermarkets and take it to a market where people can get it for free, to save it being wasted. The young woman from Ozharvest says a simple thing we can all do is to plan what we need when we shop and buy just what we need. When you know that people are going hungry in the world, that fact is made worse by the amount of food being wasted elsewhere – and when you add how much that impacts on the environment and climate change, that makes things much worse.
Tasmania
Finally Adi heads to Tasmania where plants – giant kelp - are being planted under the water as they excel at sucking up CO2 and also they grow at an incredible rate. Their success is hampered by sea urchins so there is a project to try to encourage people to eat sea urchins so that we might gain control over them.
He also sees how wind power in Tasmania could be used to power some of Australia’s mainland cities/places through a cable under the sea.
We can turn things around
Finally, Adi meets one of Australia’s top thinkers on climate change, an ex-Greenpeace employee, Paul Gilding, who warns that the plant is on the verge of total collapse. He believes we can turn things around. The key, he says, is to eliminate all fossil fuels by 2030. Governments must have the strength to enforce it – and it is up to you and I, the people who vote them in, to put the pressure on and show them that they must get on with it.
Next week features Bangladesh and Bhutan – don’t miss it! BBC2 at 8pm, Sunday 18 April 2021.
