In rural Argentina, an IDB project to restore and conserve the Qhapaq Ñan pre-Hispanic site is empowering local populations as custodians of their ancestral cultural heritage Twenty-one-year-old Daniel Arjona comes from the small Andean village of Santa Rosa de Tastil, in the Quebrada del Toro region of Argentina’s northwestern Salta province. Only 25 people live in the … [Read more...] about The Real Custodians of Heritage: Safeguarding Argentina’s Pre-Hispanic Culture
On Mangroves, People and Fishing in the Moskitia
For urban populations, mangroves are usually unwelcoming places, full of insects, reptiles and mud. However, after half a century of ecological research, we now know that mangrove forests offer great value through a variety of environmental services such as nurseries for fish, crustaceans and mollusks, supplying food and medicinal plants, protecting against natural disasters … [Read more...] about On Mangroves, People and Fishing in the Moskitia
The Tilapia Wars
At the tip of my running shoe, lying in the dirt, is an empty, crushed, shotgun shell; then another one; and there, in the shrubs, again. I register the fact, but it's too hot, in the sizzling late morning Caribbean sun, to think much about it, busy as I am taking notes, keeping out of trouble and looking for shade. I just wondered for a split second what kind of game people … [Read more...] about The Tilapia Wars
The Beef and Me
I remember back in the 80’s reading about an environmental assessment by a respected institution, the Union of Concerned Scientists. These were the early days of life-cycle analyses, and these Concerned Scientists were seeking the answer to the following question: Which behavior of the average US family had the most devastating environmental impacts, taking into account their … [Read more...] about The Beef and Me