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	Working with Nature can protect us from Floods by Jim Robbins, David Suzuki David Suzuki Foundation, Rabble.ca & agencies   July 2013   Trees: our life savers are dying, by Jim Robbins.   Several years ago a few trees on my few acres of pine forest in Montana turned from green to a rusty brown, killed by swarms of bark beetles. Four years later virtually all of my centuries-old forest was dead. It wasn"t just the beetles that did in my trees, but much warmer winters here in the Rocky mountains that no longer killed the bugs, allowing them to expand exponentially.   Since then, as a science journalist for the New York Times, I have written many stories about the dying of the trees – and the news is not good. Many forests across the length and breadth of the Rockies have died in the last decade. Most of the mature forests of British Columbia are gone, from a combination of climate and insects.   The bristlecone pines of the US – the most ancient trees in the world, with some more than 4,000 years old – will die in the coming years because of a combination of bark beetles and a fungal disease, enabled by a warmer climate. Tree-ring studies on the bristlecone show that the last 50 years are the warmest half century in the last 3,700 years.   All this is to say that the fungus killing ash trees in Britain is unlikely to be a one-off. Trees across the world are dying. It"s not only the changes brought by a warmer world. We''''ve treated the world"s trees poorly for centuries, without regard to ecological principles. We"ve fragmented forests into tiny slivers, and selected out the best genetics again and again with no regard to the fitness of those that remain. Air pollution and soil abuse has taken a toll. And scientists admit trees and forests are poorly studied. "Its embarrassing how little we know," a leading redwood expert told me.   Yet the little that is known indicates trees are essential. They are the planet"s heat shield, cooling temperatures beneath them by 10C and blocking cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. They are robust filters of our air and water, and soak up climate-warming carbon dioxide. Forests slow the runoff of rainfall. Many of the world"s damaging floods are really caused by deforestation.   These functions are well known. But trees play many other critical roles that we know little about. Katsuhiko Matsunaga, a marine chemist at Hokkaido University in Japan, discovered that as the leaves from trees decompose, humic acid leaches into the ocean and helps fertilise plankton, critical food for many other forms of sea life. Japanese fisherman began an award-winning campaign called Forests Are the Lovers of the Sea, and planted trees along the coasts and rivers that rejuvenated fish and oyster stocks.   Also in Japan, researchers have long studied what they call "forest bathing". Hiking through the forest has been shown to reduce stress chemicals in the body and to increase NK or natural killer cells in the immune system, that fight tumours and viruses. Elsewhere researchers have demonstrated that anxiety, depression and even crime are lower in neighbourhoods with trees in the picture.   Hundreds of different kinds of chemicals are emitted by trees and forests, many beneficial. Taxane from the Pacific yew tree is a powerful anti-cancer drug. Many other tree compounds are proven to be antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and even to prevent cancer. The active ingredient of aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid, for example, comes from willows. Recommended by doctors to prevent a range of cancers, as well as heart attack and stroke, some believe this chemical in the wild has a medicinal impact on the health of all creatures as it is aerosolised into the air and water, and breathed in and drunk. Yet, it hasn"t been researched.   Trees are greatly underused as an eco-technology – "working trees" – to make natural systems, as well as the world"s cities and rural areas, more resilient. They are used here in the US to prevent soil erosion and shade crops. In a neat bit of alchemy, trees can be used to clean up the most toxic of wastes, including explosives, solvents and organic wastes, because of a dense community of microbes as thick as a finger around the tree"s roots, a process known as phytoremediation.   5 July 2013   Brazil data indicate increase in Amazon deforestation. (Reuters)   Brazilian government figures released on Friday indicated further rise in deforestation in the Amazon, a trend that could soon amount to a full year''s reversal from recent progress in the battle against destruction of the world''s largest rainforest.   Satellite data compiled by Brazil''s space agency showed 465 sq km (180 sq mi) of deforestation during the month of May, nearly a five-fold increase compared with destruction detected in May 2012.   Since August, the month when Brazil''s annual measurement of cleared rainforest starts, a total of 2,338 square kilometers (903 sq mi) have been detected - a 35 percent increase from figures compiled a year ago. The area, roughly three times the size of New York City, is already more than the total of 2,051 square kilometers (792 sq mi) detected by the same system for the 12 months of measurement ended in July 2012.   The figures are small compared to the worst days of Amazon deforestation, when loggers, farmers and developers in recent decades fueled rapid destruction that caught the world''s attention and helped spawn the global environmental movement.   More complete figures and on-the-ground research will be needed to confirm the full extent and type of the clearing. Some of it, for instance, will be the result of wild fires and other natural degradation.   Still, the data so far uphold fears by scientists and environmentalists that hard-won gains against deforestation in Brazil are undergoing a reversal. Government infrastructure projects, changes to long-standing environmental policy and a run-up in prices for soybeans and other Brazilian farm exports, which encourage ranchers to clear woodland, are factors believed to be driving the increases.   July 2013   Working with Nature can protect us from Floods, by David Suzuki.   News of the devastating floods in Alberta hit Canadians hard. We’ve all been moved by extraordinary stories of first responders and neighbours stepping in to help and give selflessly at a time of great need. As people begin to pick up their lives, and talk turns to what Calgary and other communities can do to rebuild, safeguarding our irreplaceable, most precious flood-protection assets should be given top priority.   The severe floods in Alberta used to be referred to as “once in a generation” or “once in a century”. As recent floods in Europe and India are added to the list, that’s scaled up to “once in a decade”. Scientists and insurance executives alike predict extreme weather events will increase in intensity and frequency. Climate change is already having a dramatic impact on our planet. Communities around the world, like those in Alberta, are rallying to prepare. While calls are mounting for the need to rebuild and strengthen infrastructure such as dikes, storm-water management systems and stream-channel diversion projects, we’ve overlooked one of our best climate change–fighting tools: nature. By protecting nature, we protect ourselves, our communities and our families.   The business case for maintaining and restoring nature’s ecosystems is stronger than ever. Wetlands, forests, flood plains and other natural systems absorb and store water and reduce the risk of floods and storms, usually more efficiently and cost-effectively than built infrastructure. Wetlands help control floods by storing large amounts of water during heavy rains – something paved city surfaces just don’t do.   A study of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Basins showed wetland restoration would have provided enough flood water storage to accommodate excess river flows associated with flooding in the U.S. Midwest in 1993. Research done for the City of Calgary more than 30 years ago made similar suggestions about the value of protecting flood plains from overdevelopment. When wetlands are destroyed, the probability of a heavy rainfall causing flooding increases significantly. Yet we’re losing wetlands around the world at a rate estimated at between one and three per cent a year.   By failing to work with nature in building our cities, we’ve disrupted hydrological cycles and the valuable services they provide. The readily available benefits of intact ecosystems must be replaced by man-made infrastructure that can fail and is costly to build, maintain and replace.   Protecting and restoring rich forests, flood plains and wetlands near our urban areas is critical to reduce carbon emissions and protect against the effects of climate change. Nature effectively sequesters and stores carbon, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It also regulates water. Forested basins, for example, have greater capacity to absorb water than clear-cut areas where higher peak stream flows, flooding, erosion and landslides are common.   How can we protect ecosystems rather than seeing conservation as an impediment to economic growth? The answer is to recognize their real value. The David Suzuki Foundation has evaluated some of Canada’s natural assets. This approach calculates the economic contribution of natural services, such as flood protection and climate regulation, and adds that to our balance sheets. Because traditional economic calculations ignore these benefits and services, decisions often lead to the destruction of the very ecosystems upon which we rely. Unfortunately, we often appreciate the value of an ecosystem only when it’s not there to do its job.   Cities around North America are discovering that maintaining ecosystems can save money, protect the environment and create healthier communities. A study of the Bowker Creek watershed on southern Vancouver Island showed that by incorporating rain gardens, green roofs and other green infrastructure, peak flows projected for 2080 from increased precipitation due to climate change could be reduced by 95 per cent. Opting to protect and restore watersheds in the 1990s rather than building costly filtration systems has saved New York City billions of dollars.   Intact ecosystems are vital in facing the climate change challenges ahead. They also give us health and quality-of-life benefits. Responsible decision-making needs to consider incentives for protecting and restoring nature, and disincentives for degrading it.   As Alberta rebuilds and people begin to heal from the flood’s devastation, it’s time to have a discussion about adding natural capital to the equation. Visit the related web page
	Rights Experts call on all sides in Egypt to act with maximum restraint by UN News, The Nation & agencies   16 August 2013   A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today called for restraint and an immediate end to violent confrontations that have seen hundreds killed and thousands injured in the Egyptian capital in recent days.   “Egypt is facing an escalating and deeply worrying human rights crisis,” they stressed in a news release, while urging all parties to take immediate steps towards political reconciliation.   “We condemn any excessive use of force by the security forces and urge a full investigation into their actions,” said Chaloka Beyani, who currently heads the Coordination Committee of international experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council.   “Peaceful demonstrations must not be met with violence, and those responsible for ordering and perpetrating arbitrary killings and other human rights violations are accountable for their actions under national and international law.”   The experts underlined that the imposition of the state of emergency that was announced this week could not justify the suspension of non-derogable human rights, and that no circumstances whatsoever could justify summary executions, torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions.   “We also condemn any violence perpetrated by protesters and urge them to remain peaceful and reject violence and retaliation,” Mr. Beyani said. “Political, religious and community leaders on all sides must not incite further violence and should take urgent steps to defuse tensions and the current extremely dangerous situation.”   The experts voiced their alarm at the violence and dismay at the death toll, which includes women, young people and members of the media, and which may have exceeded 600 following violence on Wednesday as the security forces took action to break up protest camps in central Cairo. “These serious violations of international human rights law must not remain unpunished,” they underscored.   “In the current highly volatile climate, we call upon the Egyptian security forces not to respond forcibly to new protests that are likely in the wake of Wednesday’s violence, the high death toll and calls for such protests,” they said. “We appeal to all parties to fully respect international human rights standards and exercise restraint.”   The experts called for calm and immediate steps towards political reconciliation, and appealed for tolerance, including religious tolerance following assaults on places of worship. They also expressed the need to put a stop to the high levels of sexual violence that have been reported.   “A period of dialogue, reconciliation and inclusive political transition must begin that recognizes the concerns of all in society and has the objective of ensuring a stable, democratic and united Egypt,” they stressed.   27 July 2013   UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the deadly upsurge of violence in Egypt. Protests on Friday and Saturday have left scores of people dead and hundreds others injured.   “The Secretary-General appeals to all the people of Egypt to address their differences through dialogue and again renews his calls to all parties to engage in an inclusive and meaningful reconciliation process”.   Mr. Ban underlined that violence is not a substitute for a political solution and, therefore, “calls on all Egyptian leaders to put the interest of Egypt above all individual, group and political interests.”   Egyptian security forces and civilian supporters attacked Islamist protesters early Saturday, leading to the death of at least 72 people and injuring hundreds more in the second major incident in three weeks. Authorities claimed to be responding to security threats.   The attack provided further evidence that Egypt’s security establishment was reasserting its dominance after President Mohamed Morsi’s ouster three weeks ago, and widening its crackdown on his Islamist allies in the Muslim Brotherhood. The tactics suggested that Egypt’s security services felt no need to show any restraint.   The deaths occurred a day after hundreds of thousands of Egyptians marched in support of the military, responding to a call by its commander for a “mandate” to fight terrorism.   As the deaths have mounted, hopes have faded for a political solution to the standoff between the military and the Brotherhood.   In a televised news conference hours after the clash, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim absolved his men of any responsibility and made no mention of the high death toll.   He blamed Mr. Morsi’s supporters for the violence. “We had to stop them,” Mr. Ibrahim said. The protesters threw rocks and fired weapons, he said, and a number of officers were wounded, including two who were shot in the head.   Mr. Ibrahim also suggested that further repression was imminent as the authorities prepared to break up sit-ins that thousands of Mr. Morsi’s supporters have held for weeks.   Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate condemned the “excessive use of force”.   July 5, 2013   Sharif Abdel Kouddous, an independent journalist based in Cairo offers his view from the street. He is a Democracy Now correspondent and a fellow at the Nation Institute.   That a popular revolt facilitated Morsi’s ouster is undeniable. But it has also solidified the military’s role as the final arbiter of power in Egypt.   Just over one year ago, on June 29, Mohammed Morsi chose Tahrir Square to deliver his first address as president-elect of Egypt.   “There is no power above people power,” he declared. “Today you are the source of this power. You give this power to whomever you want and you withhold it from whomever you want.” But twelve months later, Morsi would be unable to set foot in Tahrir, his words coming back to haunt him as millions took to the streets calling for his ouster in the largest protest in Egypt’s history.   The mass mobilization on June 30 eclipsed even the 2011 demonstrations against Hosni Mubarak; a few days later, on July 3, the army forced Morsi out of office, in what amounted to a military coup. His year-long tenure ended with a televised address by the head of SCAF, Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, himself appointed by Morsi less than a year earlier.   Tens of thousands gathered in Tahrir, jubilant at the news. The incessant drone of vuvuzelas mixed with a cacophony of drums, whistles and cheering, as the sky lit up with fireworks and green lasers. “Morsi’s gone and we are finally taking a step forward,” said a man named Shady, 38, who lives across the city but came to join the celebrations. “I don’t see this as a military coup,” he added. “The army is not trying to take control. The people are the source of all legitimacy and they took the power away from the president.”   That a popular revolt facilitated Morsi’s ouster is undeniable. But it has also solidified the military’s role as the final arbiter of power in Egypt. Following the June 30 protests, SCAF leaders gave Morsi a forty-eight-hour window to resolve the mounting political crisis. It came and went; as rival protests escalated and clashes broke out across the country, the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood were burned and looted and at least forty-eight people were killed and hundreds more wounded.   On the night of July 2, Morsi delivered a defiant speech that would be his final address as president. He warned that the country may descend into an endless spiral of violence if his “legitimate” right to rule as elected president was challenged. He repeated the word “legitimacy” dozens of times, at one point going so far as to say that he was willing to die if his claim to power was not honored.   The next day, the army deployed troops and armor at key locations across the country, tightening its grip on major thoroughfares and surrounding two large rallies that had formed in support of Morsi. Just after 9 pm, Sissi delivered his highly anticipated statement. “The Egyptian Armed Forces, over the past months since November 2012, have spared no effort directly and indirectly to contain the domestic situation and conduct national reconciliation among all political powers, including the presidency,” he said. He announced that a call for national dialogue had been “positively responded to by all national political powers but declined in the last minute by the presidency.”   Sissi, who never mentioned Morsi by name, declared that the chief of Egypt’s constitutional court would assume the presidency on an interim basis. A cabinet of technocrats would be formed to manage the country’s day-to-day affairs, he said, until new elections are scheduled. The country’s new constitution was suspended. In effect, Egypt had gone back to square one. Sissi’s eight-minute address erased two and a half years of a turbulent transition, marked by half a dozen cycles of elections and referenda.   Tens of thousands of Morsi’s supporters who had gathered at a the Rabaa al-Adeweya mosque in the Nasr City neighborhood, erupted in anger at the announcement, with chants of “Down with military rule” filling the air. Surrounded on several sides by soldiers and military vehicles, the crowd showed a mixture of shock, dejection and outrage. Many sat on the ground in silence, others wept openly. Closer to main stage, the frustration was more palpable. A speaker blasted the military and vowed to extend the sit-in “from six days to six years” to reclaim the president’s legitimacy. Many left the square in angry silence, only to be confronted with scenes of jubilation by those celebrating Morsi’s ouster in the streets.   “I am very depressed, but I am confident it won’t end like this,” said Mosaab Atteya, a 28-year-old engineer who had spent several days camped out in a tent to support Morsi. “I didn’t wait hours to vote in elections for it all to come to nothing, for those who cried over Mubarak’s ouster to remove our legitimately elected president.” As he spoke, a helicopter passing overhead was greeted with sneers of derision from the crowd. “There was this myth that Morsi ended military rule, but we are still living under military rule. I am ready for anything to return what we’ve lost.”   * * *   Since the beginning of the revolution, Egyptians have repeatedly taken to the streets to demand change. With every mass mobilization, political elites have jockeyed for power, seeking to ride waves of popular anger in an effort to maneuver themselves into positions of authority. The result has been successive regimes—from Mubarak to the SCAF to the Brotherhood—whose leaders have engaged in power-sharing deals that preserve the status quo and leave the structure of the authoritarian state intact.   In the street, initial optimism gives way to disillusionment and eventually mass mobilization as revolutionary demands for political and economic agency are ignored.   The Brotherhood’s rise and fall is a case in point. Morsi’s election last year with a slim 51 percent majority was celebrated in Tahrir as a victory over a return to Mubarak’s regime, embodied in rival candidate Ahmed Shafik, a retired Air Force general. Yet, within twelve months, millions of Egyptians lost faith in Morsi’s ability to lead the country and the role the Muslim Brotherhood played at the helm of power.   The Brotherhood faced serious obstacles to governing the country from the beginning. These included an intransigent state bureaucracy, a politicized judiciary and a media landscape full of former regime sympathizers who helped whip up anti-Morsi sentiment through shrill, and often erroneous, coverage.   The economy has been in a steady downward spiral, with inflation and unemployment on the rise. The Morsi government offered no clear plan for recovery other than a reliance on sporadic injections of cash from regional allies, Qatar chief among them. What’s more, the Brotherhood kept intact most institutions of the Mubarak regime, including the notorious security apparatus, which continued to torture and kill protesters with the same impunity it always enjoyed.   The Morsi administration and the Brotherhood governed in a unilateral fashion, employing a winner-take-all majoritarian view of their electoral gains that alienated parties from across the political spectrum—including erstwhile allies in the ultraconservative Salafi Nour Party—and prevented them from building trust among Egyptians outside of their traditional constituency. They opted not to engage in any meaningful consultations on state policy between the government and NGOs, civil society, activists and other stakeholders.   All the while, the Brotherhood practiced varying degrees of identity politics for political goals, relying on divisive religious rhetoric against the Coptic minority and even sectarian incitement against Shia Muslims.   Egypt’s political fabric first began to come apart at the seams following Morsi’s November 2012 constitutional declaration that granted him far-reaching powers and placed his decisions above judicial reach. This sparked the first mass protests against his rule, leading to clashes between his opponents and supporters. The Brotherhood then rammed through a constitution drafted by an assembly that had seen a walkout of all of its non-Islamist members, a move that polarized the political arena beyond repair. The Brotherhood’s reluctance to engage in any kind inclusive or consensual process left it politically isolated when dissenters began to coalesce against it.   Morsi’s overthrow was precipitated by a campaign launched on May 1, Labor Day, by a group of young activists who called their grassroots movement “Tamarod,” Arabic for “rebel.” They set about collecting signatures on a petition that demanded Morsi step down and which called for a mass protest on June 30 to mark the first anniversary of his inauguration. The simplicity of the idea struck a nerve: organizers quickly gained millions of signatures.   The unprecedented turnout on June 30 reflected how deeply unpopular Morsi and the Brotherhood had become throughout virtually all segments of Egyptian society. It also spoke to the rejection of the political class as a whole, with a non-Islamist opposition that had often acted in a opportunistic way over the course of the transition. Lacking any meaningful political channels to express their grievances, millions took to the street to call for change.   “[Morsi] failed to honor every one of the promises he made in order to be elected,” said Ahdaf Soueif, a well-known novelist and commentator. “He basically behaved as though he had somehow legitimately inherited the old Mubarak regime with a veneer of piety.”   * * *   The Egyptian military has been the backbone of autocracy in Egypt for six decades, and it’s history with the Brotherhood bears remembering. It was former president Gamal Abdel Nasser who first banned the Brotherhood in 1954 and jailed and killed many of its leaders, driving the movement underground.   Yet the two sides were on relatively comfortable terms following the 2011 revolution, after forming a political pact that allowed generals to return to their comfortable economic and political autonomy after they finished managing the post-Mubarak transition.   Soon after his inauguration, Morsi was applauded by many for retiring the two most powerful members of the SCAF, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, and army Chief of Staff Sami Annan. Yet he provided the generals with a safe exit, opting not to hold them accountable for crimes committed during the transition. Rather than call for accountability, Morsi showered senior military leaders with promotions.   When an uprising against military rule in November 2011 brought the country to a standstill, the Brotherhood opted not to take part, instead focussing on winning seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections.. http://www.thenation.com/article/175128/what-led-morsis-fall-and-what-comes-next#   June 2013   Egypt"s gathering economic gloom leaves millions facing food shortages, by Louisa Loveluck in Cairo. (Guardian News)   The queues get longer every day. The rising cost of food in Egypt is sending more people to the thousands of government-subsidised bakeries across the country offering a lifeline to a population struggling to cope.   As they wait for bread, customers in Cairo"s Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood say they are feeling the pinch acutely. "Rice and beans suddenly seem so expensive," says one mother of four. "And the price of tomatoes is rising so fast you"d think there were none in the country."   As she joins the queue, another customer says she is having to avoid meat entirely now. "I have three children and I know they"re lacking in protein. When I look at them, I see they"re not growing properly," she says.   Levels of food insecurity in Egypt have risen significantly over the past three years, according to a report by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Egypt"s official statistical agency, Capmas. In 2011, about 13.7 million Egyptians – 17% of the population – experienced food insecurity, compared with 14% in 2009.   Although findings are based on 2011 statistics, the report"s authors say the picture is increasingly desperate for the most vulnerable households, many of which spend more than half of their income on food.   "As the economic situation grows gloomier and more people have been forced into poverty, we can only imagine that this number has grown," says Abeer Etefa, a spokeswoman for the WFP"s Middle East and north Africa office.   Inflated food prices are not a new phenomenon in a country where population growth has long outstripped production. However, as Egypt faces its worst economic crisis since the 1930s, the rate of inflation has risen sharply, with serious implications for consumers.   The price of many items has doubled since last autumn. Vegetables, along with bread and cereals, are subject to the highest increases, rising by 3.4% and 2.3% respectively between February and March, driven by a 5.5% increase in the price of wheat flour and 4.3% rise in the cost of rice.   Volume of produce is not the problem. In many markets, stalls are packed with vegetables, and food remains plentiful for those who can afford it. "It"s not a matter of availability," says Etefa. "It"s a question of access. Many families no longer have the economic means to put food on the table for their families."   The WFP found that more than half of children under the age of five were anaemic, based on research in nine of the 27 governorates. Nationwide, about 31% of children under five experienced stunted growth in 2011. As well as its physical effect, stunting harms brain development. "The first 1,000 days of a child"s life are crucial. Give them the right food at the time and they will reap the benefits later in life. But if they miss out, they will never replenish that lost growth, no matter how much they eat in the years that follow," says Etefa.   Although Egypt"s economy has foundered since the 2011 revolution, experts say the growing nutrition crisis has deeper roots. "This increase in food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty rates has not happened overnight, during this year or even during the past year," says WFP Egypt director Gian Pietro Bordignon. "People"s inability to have adequate and nutritious food is largely attributed to rising poverty rates and a succession of crises from 2005."   Throughout these periods, government-funded food subsidies shielded poor people from the most immediate effects of price rises. Today, many see access to bread as a right, and more than 68 million Egyptians receive monthly food rations, costing the government roughly £3bn a year.   But the ration card system has limited targeting. At least 19% of the country"s most vulnerable households do not have access to rations, in many cases because they are not formally registered with the state.
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