For Mayan communities, good living (Buen Vivir) means safeguarding natural resources. The forest, its wildlife, its trees, and its rivers have a sacred value for the Mayan K’iché inhabitants of Totonicapán, a department located in Guatemala’s western highlands.Timber logging in a 2-kilometer (3-mile) radius from water sources is strictly forbidden. If a family needs to…
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The African world view and its beliefs encouraging the sacredness of the universe and of all created beings should be considered if contemporary Africa wants to preserve the environment. African religious heritage, linking Africa with nature and God, should be the starting point in preserving the environment.Africans view themselves as part of the environment. Man…
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Widespread poverty has provided an easy ground for the increasing illegal exploitation of protected areas of Madagascar. The island boasts a unique fauna and flora, including the famous lemurs and no less than seven different kinds of baobab trees (as against one in the entire African continent). Today, this treasure is under threat. Over…
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In 1992, the World celebrated the first Earth Summit. That meeting decided on a series of actions to fight climate change and support biodiversity, as well as commitments on poverty eradication and social justice. Yet, in the past 20 years, global emissions have risen by 48%, 300m hectares of forest have been cleared and the…
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UNESCO director Irina Bokova received in March “worrying information” concerning the resumption of oil exploration in the Virunga National Park by Soco International. Similar concern was expressed on March 28 by the Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders during his meeting with President Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa. José Endundo, the Congolese Minister of Environment who…
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We are in Pikine, a Dakar suburb, Senegal. Father Armel Duteil, is the one telling the story. He is an 80-year-old Spiritan missionary. French by…
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Once there lived a hard-working farmer in a small village who had a water-buffalo. Every day, with his plough on his shoulder, he led his water-buffalo…
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For over nine years, violence and displacement have devastated opportunities for youth across the country. Here are nine of the most pressing challenges facing young people…
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