Archive for March 21st, 2007
Iraq’s Environmental Nightmare
IRAQ: Environmental Nightmare Drags On
“We inherited a terrible situation when it comes to the environment,” Narmin Othman, Iraq’s environment minister.
By Stephen Leahy
Mar 21 (Tierramérica) – Four years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and despite 22 billion dollars spent on recovery and reconstruction, Iraq’s environment remains in disastrous shape.
“The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are essentially open sewers,” Azzam Alwash, head of Nature Iraq, a conservation group based in Baghdad, told Tierramérica.
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Pacific Islanders Preyed on by Bio-Pirates
By Stephen Leahy
Mar 20 (IPS) – The Pacific region has long been a favourite target of gene hunters, unethical bio-researchers and “patent bottom trawlers” looking to profit from its unique flora, fauna — and human beings.
Pacific Islanders have had their genes patented against their will. T-cells from the Hagahai tribe in Papua New Guinea can be purchased today on the internet for 216 dollars.
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