Von 610 Biosphere Reserves in 117 Ländern der Welt sind sechzehn in Canada und eins davon ist nun der Bras d`Or Lake, auf dem wir die Basis für unserem 12-Meter Katamaran planen.
Mehr Infos zum UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Bras d`Or Lake hier.....

Dienstag, 20. September 2011

Fracking - der Fluch der Kanadier über die Rohstoffförderung


hier haben Öl- und Gasfirmen schon Agreementsmit den Provinzregierungen

Fracking - das kein schönes Thema. Es hat mich sehr betroffen gemacht, in diesem Sommer öfter die Sorge der Menschen miterleben zu müssen darüber, ihr Land bzw. den Boden darunter den Gas-Multies überlassen zu müssen, die dort mit Druck (im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes, nämlich mit Wasserdruck zuzüglich div. Chemikalien) in den Boden pumpen und damit das Gas zwingen, zu entweichen. Slickwater hydraulic fracturing ist ein kompliziertes Verfahren, das angeblich unschädlich ist, aber die Stimmen häufen sich von Eigentümern, deren Brunnen und Land nicht mehr brauchbar sind. Betroffen ist auch Nova Scotia (siehe die dunklen Gebiete links: auf Cape Breton insbesondere der Nordwesten, also Inverness und Mabou. Die Fördergenehmigung hierzu steht noch aus). Die Medien sind voll davon, bei Google sprechen 73000 Einträge für sich. Wir haben einen guten Artikel dazu gescannt aus Saltscapes, einem Journal über das Leben in den kanadischen Maritimes. Ein kostenloses Heft (statt sonst 5,95 CAD) mit dem Download-Artikel darin gibt es gerade auch hier zu bestellen.
Wichtiger aber: es gibt Initiativen, die Petitionen gegen diese Unternehmen einreichen, wo schon konkret abgebaut wird. Macht mit, bevor es bei Euch in der Nachbarschaft weitergeht.

No Means No: Shale Gas Petition

Deadline Extended until Nov. 21

We've launched a petition to ban shale gas exploration and production in New Brunswick. No regulations can control the inherent risks of this industry and the risks are too high for our water, air, landscape and human health.
Download a copy of the petition to distribute in your community.

Mittwoch, 24. August 2011

Der Bras d’Or Lake auf Cape Breton Island ist von der UNESCO zum 16. kanadischen Biosphere Reserve Gebiet ernannt worden

Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s Announcement
Quelle: http://blbra.ca/news/canadian-commission-for-unescos-announcement/

(Official Press release - Ottawa, June 30, 2011)
Canada welcomes its 16thBiosphere Reserve, as Bras d’Or Lake, Nova Scotia, is designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
Biosphere Reserves are living laboratories of sustainable development, where local communities choose to take the challenge to protect biodiversity while fostering economic and social development. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves now numbers 580 sites in 114 countries.
This new Biosphere Reserve includes the complete watershed of Bras d’Or Lake, a salt-water estuary that constitutes a true inland sea. This estuary has unique oceanographic and biological characteristics as it contains both species typical of Arctic waters and of warm subtropical oceans, living within a few hundred meters of one another.
UNESCO’s designation of this site is the result of a highly collaborative process that started in 2005, involving First Nation representatives, provincial and federal government agencies, academics, and the nearly 14 000 citizens of the region. This process led to the development of a comprehensive management plan for the lake, to the creation of new jobs and encouraging business opportunities, while respecting the principles of sustainable development
What Is A Biosphere reserve?
Celebrate Canada’s 16th Biosphere Reserve!

August 1st, 2011 (Posted by Jim Foulds)
The Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere Association is planning a weekend of celebrations, September 17th and 18th, 2011, to mark the UNESCO designation of the Bras d’Or lake
A “Biosphere Reserve” is an international designation of recognition from UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) for an area in the world which is deemed to demonstrate a “balanced relationship between humans and the biosphere.”
By this is meant that Biospshere reserves are places around the world that have special natural features and where people are committed to their stewardship through sustainable development practices. They are places where collaborative efforts among people in the designated area serve to promote the sustainability of local economies and communities, as well as the conservation of the terrestrial or coastal ecosystems they are in.
Each biosphere reserve conserves examples of characteristic ecosystems of one of the world’s natural regions, managed for their protection and study.
1.    It is a land and/or coastal/marine area in which people are an integral component, and which is managed for objectives ranging from complete protection to intensive yet sustainable development.
2.    It is a regional centre for monitoring, research, education and training on natural and managed ecosystems.
3.    It is a place where government decision makers, scientists, managers and local people cooperate in developing a model programme for managing land and water to meet human needs while conserving natural processes and biological resources.
4.    Finally, each biosphere reserve is a symbol of voluntary cooperation to conserve and use resources for the well being of people everywhere.

Photo-gallery: http://blbra.ca/photo-gallery/