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Posts Tagged ‘patagonia’

Albania’s Last Wild River

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on April 19, 2023| 4 Comments »

Photo: Nick St Oegger/The Guardian.
The Vjosa River near Qesarat, southern Albania. The river and its three main tributaries in the country have been declared a national park. 

In the 1980s, when I was active in the Esperanto movement, I managed the New England group’s post office box. One day I took out a letter on flimsy paper with a Tirana postmark. Tirana is the capital of Albania. The Berlin Wall had yet to fall, and Albania was still firmly behind the Iron Curtain. I felt like I had received a message from the other side of the moon.

Nowadays Albania is not so different from the rest of Europe, and today’s story is about its participation in European efforts to save wild rivers.

Karen McVeigh  writes at the Guardian, “One of the last wild rivers in Europe, home to more than 1,000 animal and plant species, has been declared a national park by the Albanian government, making the Vjosa the first of its kind on the continent.

“The Vjosa River flows 168 miles (270kms) from the Pindus mountains in Greece through narrow canyons, plains and forests in Albania to the Adriatic coast. Free from dams or other artificial barriers, it is rich in aquatic species and supports myriad wildlife, including otters, the endangered Egyptian vulture and the critically endangered Balkan lynx, of which only 15 are estimated to remain in Albania.

“For years, the Vjosa’s fragile ecosystem has been under threat: at one point as many as 45 hydropower plants were planned across the region.

“But [in March], after an almost decade-long campaign by environmental NGOs, Vjosa was declared the first wild river national park in Europe. Environmentalists described it as a historic decision that has placed the tiny Balkan nation at the forefront of river protection.

“Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama … described the creation of the national park as a ‘truly historic moment’ for nature as well as social and economic development. ‘Today we protect once and for all the only wild river in Europe,’ he said. ‘This is about to change a mindset. Protecting an area does not mean that you enshrine it in isolation from the economy.’ …

Mirela Kumbaro Furxhi, Albania’s tourism and environment minister, said the creation of the park was part of the country’s evolution and continuing emancipation three decades on from communist rule. …

“She said, ‘Maybe Albania does not have the power to change the world, but it can create successful models of protecting biodiversity and natural assets, and we are proud to announce the creation of this first national park on one of the last wild rivers in Europe.’ …

“A collaboration between the Albanian government, international experts, NGOs from the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign to protect Balkan rivers, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company and environmental organization, the 12,727 hectare (31,500 acre) park aims to ensure the Vjosa and its unique ecosystems are safeguarded. It has been given IUCN category II park status, a high level of protection similar to that of a wilderness. The categorisation covers ‘large-scale ecological processes,’ species and ecosystems, crucial to ensuring dams and gravel extraction are banned. It is expected to be operational in 2024.

“Boris Erg, director of the European office at IUCN, paid tribute to the government of Albania for its leadership and ambition. ‘Today marks a milestone for the people and biodiversity of Albania,’ he said. ‘We invite other governments in the region and beyond to show similar ambition and help reach the vital goal of protecting 30% of the planet by 2030.‘ …

“The Albanian government is starting a joint process with the Greek authorities to create the Aoos-Vjosa transboundary park, aiming to protect the entire river across both countries, who agreed in January to sign a memorandum of understanding specifying the next actions.

“Europe has the most obstructed river landscape in the world, with barriers such as dams, weirs and fords, estimated to number more than a million, according to a 2020 EU study in 28 countries. Such fragmenting of rivers affects their ability to support life.

“Ulrich Eichelmann, a conservationist and founder of Riverwatch and part of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe campaign, said: ‘Most people in central Europe have never ever seen a wild, living river, free from the impacts of human interference, that isn’t diverted or dammed or built up with embankments and where biodiversity is low as a result. But here, you have a wild river, full of complexity and without interference.’ …

“Ryan Gellert, Patagonia’s CEO, said the collaboration proved the power of collective action. ‘We hope it will inspire others to come together to protect the wild places we have left, in a meaningful way,’ he said, adding that the park was proof that the ‘destruction of nature did not have to be the price of progress.’ “

Man, I love Patagonia. Did you know the company takes no Chinese cotton from Uighur slave labor? I bought the most luxurious cotton towels at Patagonia, guilt free.

More at the Guardian, here. No firewall.

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The Art of Recycling Everything

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on January 14, 2019| 3 Comments »

Photos: Sonia Narang for WHYY
Kamikatsu has become a hub for workshops on recycling. Employees from the Osaka branch of the Patagonia clothing store traveled here to learn waste-reduction techniques. Recyclables are sorted into 45 bins.

The other day I was reminiscing with my husband about the first time we took our recyclables to a voluntary recycling station outside Philadelphia. It stands out in my mind because John was a brand new baby in the car seat and the young man who assisted us said, “Oh, what a tiny baby,” and I was indignant because I thought John had gotten really big in his first three weeks!

Today most municipalities offer or demand curbside recycling, but if you think we are advanced in this department, consider Kamikatsu, Japan.

Sonia Narang reports at Philadelphia’s WHYY, “It’s not yet 8 a.m., and the recycling center in the town of Kamikatsu is already bustling. Locals arrive in a steady stream, unloading bags full of bottles, cans, and paper into dozens of clearly-labeled bins — all neatly lined up in rows.

“Kamikatsu is a rural town of about 2,000 people in the forested mountains of Japan’s Shikoku island.

“The town’s waste collection center runs a tight ship. Each resident gets a thick booklet of recycling guidelines.

“At the collection center, everything is carefully sorted and arranged with the help of staff. There are a whopping 45 different categories of recyclables, and the town recycles 80 percent of its trash.

“Akira Sakano heads up the town’s Zero Waste Academy, a non-profit organization that manages the recycling program. …

“ ‘We have newspapers, cardboard, scrap papers, shredded papers, paper containers, paper containers with aluminum packaging on back, paper cups, hard paper tubes, other papers,’ she says. …

“The town of Kamikatsu adopted a ‘zero waste’ policy in 2003. Before that, the town used to burn all its trash in incinerators. …

“When waste decomposes in landfills, it releases methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. A large amount of that methane leaks into the atmosphere, heating up the planet. …

“Zero waste has become a buzzword, and cities around the world are pledging to drastically reduce waste. But, in Japan — where land is scarce and there’s limited space for landfills — aggressive recycling has been a way of life for years.

“In addition to helping the environment, Sakano says recycling also has an economic benefit for the town. Incinerating trash can be expensive. …

“There’s no garbage truck service here. Almost everyone has to bring their trash into the waste collection center, and only about 20 percent ends up in the dumpster.

“For older residents who can’t drive themselves to the recycling center, the town does send a pick-up truck. Kazuyuki Kiyohara, who works for the town, also drives the truck around. He’s really concerned about using the earth’s resources wisely, and super enthusiastic in his personal life about recycling. He’s got 14 separate bins at home. …

“Everyone has to wash and dry all their food packaging. Many locals say that’s the most annoying part of the town’s trash policy.

“Back at the recycling center, I catch Daichi Hyakuno as he unloads bags of juice cans, plastics, and … dirty diapers. He moved here from Osaka a few years ago.

“ ‘At first, I was quite confused because the categorization was so detailed,’ he says. ‘It was easier in Osaka, since all I had to do was separate trash into burnables and non-burnables.’ … He’s not a big fan, but understands his social responsibilities. …

“Personally, I got better at recycling when it was practically mandatory. Fifteen years ago, when I lived in rural Japan, all the residents in my town had to write our names in big black letters on clear trash bags.

“It made me feel conscious about what I threw away: If I left even one bottle in there, the town wouldn’t pick up the trash, and everyone would see my bag left out there on the curb. …

“The town is small, but Kamikatsu is gaining international attention. Now outsiders are traveling here to take workshops at the academy.

“On the day I visit, folks from a Japanese branch of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia are here to learn.” More at WHYY, here.

Now who’s going to teach this town about composting so it can burn even less?

Hat tip: @morinotsuma, One More Voice, on twitter.

Once every two months, the town of Kamikatsu in Japan sends a truck to pick up bags of recyclables from elderly residents who are unable to drive to the recycling center.

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Sustainable Sheep Raising

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2013| 2 Comments »

The Nature Conservancy magazine had a story recently by Julian Smith on Patagonian sheep farmers who are learning to improve the grasslands where the sheep graze.

“One promising option, called holistic management,” writes Smith, “was first developed in the 1960s by Zimbabwean biologist Allan Savory. Healthy grasslands, like those formerly found in Patagonia, need herbivores, grasslands expert [Pablo] Borrelli says. The animals’ grazing and trampling encourage plant growth and help return nutrients to the soil. Sheep may have replaced wild horses and guanacos as the dominant grazers in Patagonia, but they can still play the role of the animals they replaced. This runs counter to the traditional practice of trying to help grasslands recover by simply grazing fewer and fewer animals.

“Under holistic management, stocking rates can actually increase. Periods of heavier grazing, with longer intervals in between for the land to recover, can mimic the movement of native herds in the past. The key is the timing of the grazing and the length of the rest periods.

“Getting that balance right isn’t easy, and finding it requires a few years of training with an accredited [Grassland Regeneration and Sustainability Standard] educator. Ranchers, Borrelli says, ‘need to learn how to see the land, to recognize the indicators of good and bad trends, to learn how to move their sheep.’

“To cover the up-front costs of implementing the standards, which run about 30 cents per acre for measures like new fencing, Patagonia and the Conservancy have donated more than $80,000. That kind of investment can quickly pay off. …

“ ‘They were impressive results,’ Borrelli says. ‘Things we hadn’t seen in 30 years.’ The prospect of being able to graze more sheep has brought new hope to struggling ranch owners, he adds. More than 30 ranches in Argentina and Chile are now trying holistic management in some form.”

More here, where you also can enjoy Nick Hall’s beautiful photos.

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