Destruction of the mangrove in the Bombay Estuary

The destruction of the mangrove in the Bombay estuary, of which 90% has been lost since it has become the chosen settling ground of some of the 300 families a day that migrate in to Mumbai from rural areas every week. It is the worlds most densely populated city, I can vouch for that as I went there in 2006, the poverty gap is huge, the 4 star newly built hotel we were staying in fronted directly on to shanty towns, and when stacking up your plate at the buffet you could see people walking down the street with no shoes and torn clothes the whole thing is very uncomfortable.

The blame is placed with these vagrant community for the destruction of the the mangrove, but there is a sinister governmental under tone, these settlements built out of very basic single story huts are often cleared as "illegal settlements" the clear spaces are then sold for development, for BIG money the blame for the clearance falls on the poor but is the rich which force them off to clear a fresh patch of mangrove. Very unjust.

Environmental Consultants
Environmental Permitting
Desktop Study

Stopping Amazon Smash and Grab . . . not so Simple.

Stopping Amazon Smash and Grab . . . not so Simple.

I have been watching Amazon with Bruce Parry, a series on the BBC has shown a very good representation of the people living along the Amazon. In the lower reaches of the river, the logging industry, gold mining (a Brazilian can earn £70 a week mining gold) and cattle ranchers have a massive destructive effect of the rain forest, all involve clear felling vast areas, and exposing the poor soils to leaching from the heavy rain. I wonder as to what effort we can make to stop this process that ties up so many people in employment. These people rely on stripping these natural resources for there lively hood, and it will take some strong economic factors to alter this pattern. Even if logging were to become.

illegal it is hard to imagine a complete stop to felling as it is impossible to police such a large area, in one episode it was shown how three officers had to patrol an area the size of Wales. Impossible. How can we change this entrenched system on to the path of right? Is tourism the answer? Can anything be done under international law, or perhaps international trade? If we prevented the import of Brazilian meat in to this country would that halt the spread of the ranches, or would it push more people in to logging? The minimum wage in Brazil is 200RS a month (£60) a gold miner can earn over 4 times this amount? Change has to occur and occur quickly but how?

Environmental Consultants
Environmental Permitting
Desktop Study