A killer whale surfaces in the Ross Sea. Photo courtesy of: David Ainley. The Ross Sea is considered by marine biologists to be the last great marine waters untouched by…
Korporasi besar, bukan petani skala kecil, saat ini merupakan pendorong utama di belakang perusakan hutan tropis dunia. Dari Amazon ke Madagaskar, aktivis telah mengarahkan aksi mereka pada perusahaan-perusahaan ini -…
Most of the US's large ecosystems are but shadows of their former selves. The old-growth deciduous forests that once covered nearly all of the east and mid-west continental US are…
An unidentified species of dragonfly in Borneo. Photo by Janie Dubman. PASIR PANJANG, Borneo – A forest is nothing if not a treasure trove. At no time is this as…
Manado Tua volcano off northern Sulawesi. Photo taken from Bunaken Island in May 2010 by Rhett A. Butler. More photos from this trip are coming next week.
Parlemen Eropa hari ini memilih dengan sangat untuk menghalangi kayu yang ditebang secara ilegal dari pasar UE. Peraturan ini, yang lolos 644-25, akan mensyaratkan semua perusahaan yang menjual produk kayu…
Wawancara dengan Faith Doherty. Parlemen Eropa melakukan tindakan historis hari ini dengan memilih dengan sangat untuk melarang kayu ilegal dari pasarnya. Untuk aktivis di dunia, pelarangan pada kayu ilegal di…
An amendment to undermine protections in Brazil's 1965 forestry code has passed it first legislative barrier, reports the World Wide Fund for Nature-Brasil (WWF). Yesterday the amendment passed a special…
It sounds like something out of a fairy-tale: the big bad predator lures its gullible prey by mimicking a loved one: 'why grandma, what big teeth you have!' But in…
A boy in Laos heads out with goggles and spear to go spearfishing. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler, 2009. To see more photos of people in Laos: Laos people.
Tourists, conservationists, individuals, and tour companies have launched an international outcry against the Tanzanian authorities in response to the announcement of the planned construction of the trans-Serengeti Highway highway. There…
Timber Investigators: Operation Jurupari and illegal logging in the Amazon After two years of investigations, the Brazilian Federal Police arrested some of the most important politicians and authorities for illegal…
Continued from Top officials busted in Amazon logging raids, but political patronage may set them free Operation Jurupari followed on several previous Brazilian Federal Police investigations into SEMA, including: Operation…
AS telah menjanjikan $ 136.000.000 untuk lingkungan hidup dan prakarsa perubahan iklim di Indonesia selama tiga tahun ke depan lapor Reuters. Pada awal tahun, Norwegia menjanjikan jumlah sebesar tujuh kali…
Brazilian soy farmers have extended their moratorium on Amazon deforestation for another year, reports Greenpeace. The moratorium was established in July 2006 in response to concerns among big soy buyers…
Walaupun sejumlah penelitian ilmiah menunjukkan bahwa cula badak tidak bersifat menyembuhkan, supermodel, pengusaha, dan saat ini adalah pembawa acara Britain's Next Top Model, Elle MacPherson, berkata bahwa dia mengonsumsi bubuk…
Walmart memprotes pernyataan Greenpeace yang menyebut perusahaan retail ini terlibat penghancuran hutan di Indonesia. Walmart memasarkan produk Asia Pulp and Paper, anak perusahaan Sinar Mas Group yang bertanggung jawab atas…
Menghentikan penggundulan hutan di Amazon dapat mendorong keuntungan dari sektor agrikultur Brazil sebesaar USD 145-306 milyar, menurut perkiraan analisa baru yang dikeluarkan oleh Avoided Deforestation Partners, sebuah kelompok yang mendorong…
Oil disaster could cripple the Gulf's ecosystem services. According to a new analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI), the many ecosystem services provided by the Gulf of Mexico will…
Walmart on Wednesday fired back at Greenpeace after the activist group linked the retail giant to destruction of Indonesia's rainforests through its purchases from Sinar Mas Group's Asia Pulp &…
Deforestation threatens uncontacted natives in Paraguay. The man had set up camp and was preparing to cook live turtles for a meal when he was seen by people he did…
Deforestation threatens uncontacted natives in Paraguay. The man had set up camp and was preparing to cook live turtles for a meal when he was seen by people he did…
A bumble bee ponders in Kenya. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Research over the last few years has overturned the idea that insects are instinctual automatons. Instead researchers are uncovering…
An interview with Faith Doherty. The European parliament made a historical move today when it voted overwhelmingly to ban illegal timber from its markets. For activists worldwide the ban on…
The European Parliament today voted overwhelming to bar illegally logged timber from E.U. markets. The legislation, which passed 644-25, will require all companies selling timber products in the E.U. to…
如果有人拯救了你的生命,你可以通过一个手势、一声谢谢或者以某种方式来回报你的感谢。但是当你的生命应归功于数千里之外种植的植物时,这项任务就变得比较困难。 作为一名护士,我多年前就知道许多拯救生命的药物来之地球上发现的植物和动物。当时我从没想过某一天我会依靠一种非常罕见的树皮而活。 九年前,我被确诊为阑尾癌,并且告诉我只有几个月的生命了。在那时,作为2个年幼的孩子的妈妈,我不能接受这种预后。幸运的是,我遇到了一位愿意帮助我斗争的医生。我曾经历过大的腹部手术和几个月的化疗。 如今,我的癌症已经解除了,这在很大程度上这要归功于‘irinotecan’。这是一种药物,它能够帮助阻止癌细胞的生长,它是从一种形状类似香蕉的豆荚树种提取出来的,目前只在中国发现了,因此也被形象的称为“中国幸福树”。但是,这种树以及在将来能用在治疗上的其他许多潜在来源都面临着灭绝的威胁,并且可能很快就永远消失了。 在我预期寿命之后我已经生活了许多年。而且如今有无数人能健康的生活都是因为其它的药物——部分有助于降低胆固醇,部分能用于防治疟疾——这些都是从自然资源中提取的。 不过在全球范围内,仍然有许多我们尚未涉足的野生区域,而那里的植物和动物也许在将来可作为许多新药物的来源,但是它们现在正在快速的消失。被夷为平地的森林表明看起来像是在世界的偏远角落,但是它能够影响生活在美国的居民的生或者死。 植物不能移动以逃避伤害,所以它们使用复杂的化学武器来保护它们远离昆虫、疾病以及其它的威胁。而且,许多这种化合物的潜力应该不仅能保护植物,同样也可以保护我们。事实上,在过去25年里开发的许多新药物中,有70%的用于治疗癌症的药物是从自然中提取的。 在马达加斯加生长的玫瑰色的长春花。拍摄:Rhett A. Butler,2009年。 为了创造治疗艾滋病的新药物——prostratin,科学家从西萨摩亚发现的热带植物中提取了化学成分。药品长春碱和长春新碱用于治疗白血病和淋巴瘤,它们都是从玫瑰色的长春花中提取的,原产于马达加斯加,这里还有上百种这样的例子。 同样,有的药物是从许多动物身上获取的,而这些动物有部分处于灭绝的边缘。举个例子,例如治疗糖尿病的药物——exenatide(比较普遍的商标名是“Byetta”),是由一种毒蜥的唾液中发现的化学物合成的,这种原产于墨西哥的蜥蜴现在也面临灭绝的危险。心脏移植生还者常使用isinopril,这种药物来自于巴西蝮蛇的毒液。 然而在40年内,这些动植物的栖息地可能会消失。我们每年失去的森林面积达3200万英亩——这个面积几乎是路易斯安娜州的大小。科学家估计,在本世纪末有所有物种的2/3都可能濒临灭绝。目前研究者有机会测试的富含对人类健康有益有机化合物的雨林植物只有1%。如果我们不立即采取行动,能够治疗癌症、关节炎、艾滋病、糖尿病、心脏病以及众多其他的疾病的自然资源将永远不再属于我们。 地球上的大多数物种生活在世界上最贫穷的国家,而这就是我为什么要去旅行,上个月同全国各地的其他癌症生还者一起去华盛顿支持国会的一项新举措,旨在加强我国的国际保护工作。在这个春天早期提出的全球保护法案将建立一项国家战略,这将有助于我们的政府援助那些过于贫穷的发展中国家保护他们的自然区域。 我非常感谢挽救了我生命的中国幸福树,使我能够看着我的两个女儿长大。对自然以及所有来自自然的药物治疗我只能以我的方式说声“谢谢你”。 Carolyn Langlie-Lesnik 是一名注册护士,在患有阑尾癌的状况下已生活了9年了,而且是" The Appendix Cancer Connection 杂志的编辑。她生活在印第安纳州的Crown Park,她同癌症生还者一起致力于推动国际保护和疾病死亡治疗之间的联系。
Perusahaan besar asal Amerika Serikat berandil besar terhadap kerusakan hutan tropis di Indonesia melalui pengadaan kertas dari Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), anak perusahaan Sinar Mas. Demikian laporan Greenpeace seperti…
Researchers have questioned 2009 findings by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) that found that India's forests were, unlike many tropical Asian nations', on the rebound. According to the FSI,…
Everyone knows the tiger, the panda, the blue whale, but what about the other five to thirty million species estimated to inhabit our Earth? Many of these marvelous, stunning, and…
A last look at the now extinct Selmunett lizard (Podarcis filfolensis ssp. Kieselbachi). Photo by: Arnold Sciberras. Arnold Sciberras, a Maltese herpetologist, says the Selmunett lizard is gone. Native to…