Natural Resource Management

This August, up to 50 vessels will cross the Great Pacific Garbage patch in parallel, in what will be the largest ocean research expedition in history

The Ocean Cleanup, founded by the Dutchman Boyan Slat (1994) who invented a method aimed at cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, today announced its next major project: the Mega Expedition, in which up to 50 vessels will collect more plastic measurements in three weeks than have been collected in the past 40 years combined.

Bio-Logic Aqua Research has proposed a new model for fresh water conservation and recycling based on water research by company founder and CEO Sharon Kleyne over a 30-year period. Kleyne has concluded that the “Earth Model” approach suggests that not all presently used conservation measures are wise and that the Earth can tell us which to pursue and which to avoid.

Since 1970, average rainfall in the south-west of Western Australia has decreased by nearly a fifth, and the sciencesuggests that this is linked to human-caused climate change.

Across Australia, CSIRO predicts rainfall will probably decrease in southern Australia, and the predictions for the south-west are especially grave where the recent drying has left empty dams and greater reliance on groundwater.

So, what can south west Western Australia tell us about managing water – particularly groundwater – in a drying climate?

In the Nile Delta province of Qalubiya, lifelong residents remember the days when lush farmland stretched as far as the eye could see.

Today, their view is marred by unfinished brick tenement buildings with metal rods jutting into the sky - signs of the growing problem of illegal construction in Egypt's agricultural heartland.  

The unlicensed building is more than an eyesore - it threatens plans by the world's top wheat importer to cut its costly imports bill by growing more locally.

Authorities in northern India have ordered the closure of a Coca-Cola bottling plant at the centre of protests that it is extracting too much groundwater, an official said Wednesday.

An anti-pollution official said the Mehdiganj plant in Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh had breached the conditions of its operating licence, prompting the order closure earler this month.

"The plant is closed following our orders," Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board member secretary J.S. Yadav told AFP.

The World Bank has approved a $700,615 technical assistance grant that will provide data on the current state of the Philippines’ natural resources. CalledWealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystems (Phil-WAVES), the project will also promote the integration of principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs.

Ensuring sustainable use of natural resources could improve the lives of the poor as they are usually highly dependent on natural resources for their livelihood.