“This concept should not be adopted. The ones who would benefit are big traders not small ones, and certainly not endangered wildlife,” shot Surapol Duangkhae, former secretary general of Wildlife Fund Thailand.
Last week Traffic, a wildlife trade monitor, and World Wildlife Fund International issued a report called “Trading Nature: the contribution of wildlife trade management to sustainable livelihoods and the Millennium development goals”.
It said a managed trade on wildlife and wildlife products can offer opportunities to poor people and communities.
The report recommended governments explore “semi-intensive production methods”, experiment with management regimes, develop “pro-poor” approaches to standards and certification schemes, and consider co-ordinated approaches to different components of wildlife trade. Read the rest of this entry »
Bangkok accepted Sydney mayor’s invitation to join the Earth Hour activity which twenty four cities worldwide will turn off lights for one hour to raise awareness about global warming.
The “Earth Hour” initiative started in Sydney last year when 2.2 million people flicked the switch.
Bangkok is one of the eight latest cities to join “Earth Hour” campaign apart from Atlanta, San Francisco and Phoenix in the US; Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland.
Mrs. Bansopit Mekwichai, Deputy Bangkok Governor, met with 43 delegates from the WWF, Metropolitan Electricity Authority, Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand, Education Ministry, department stores and the owners of high-rise buildings last month to discuss the issue.
Street lights will be turned off on March 29, from 8-9 pm at the Central World Plaza.
Normally, Bangkok will consume five million kilowatts per hour of electricity on Saturday.
About one million kilowatts per hour or 25% of electricity consumption will be reduced during the Earth Hour, which means up to two million baht per hour of power cost will be cut.
New Phetchburi, Rajadamri, Silom, Yaowaraj, Ratchada and Kao Sarn Road are included in the Earth Hour campaign.