The land of the Somali people, much of it arid and inhospitable, has been close to civilization and international trade for thousands of years.

Situated on the Horn of Africa, jutting out into the India Ocean, Somalia’s harbors are natural ports of call for traders sailing to and from India. Somalia’s coastline is frequented by many foreigners, in particular Arabs and Persians. But, in Somalia’s interior, the Somali are on their own.

Most urban households use charcoal for everyday cooking. It has been estimated that some families use a full sack of charcoal every four days due to their large family size. And, with this exacerbated charcoal use comes a significant amount of environmental fallout.

Because of an insufficient and cheaper alternative to charcoal and a large former refugee population, tree felling and a great dependence on charcoal in the self-declared republic of Somaliland are adversely affecting the environment. A 2007 study by the Academy for Peace and Development reports that greater than 2.5 million trees are felled each year and burned for charcoal in Somaliland. The report further stated that each household in Somaliland consumes an average of 10 trees a month.

Considering this extensive use of trees, the serious affects of deforestation should be noted. Deforestation not only exacerbates soil erosion, it also reduces rainfall availability. In addition, trees are a vital component in carbon fixing, which is the natural process of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Interestingly, the demand for charcoal remains very high, despite charcoal prices going up since 1991 with the resettlement of former refugees. Roughly 10 years ago, one sack of charcoal cost Somalis only about 5,000 Somaliland shillings, or 0.76 US dollars, but now the price is about 30,000 Somaliland shillings, or 5 US dollars. And, this price is only aggravated by rainfall, because when it rains, the trees become wet and the charcoal becomes more expensive.

It is not difficult to see that the ever rising gas prices have helped to encourage charcoal use. In past years, gas was actually cheaper than charcoal, but the price has increased dramatically. Now, one liter of gas costs approximately 4,000 Somaliland shillings or 0.61 US dollars, which is up from 1,500 Somaliland shillings or 0.23 US dollars.

Nowadays, charcoal is even the preferred fuel in hotels, which obviously consume even larger quantities of this valuable and environmentally important commodity. It has been estimated that some hotel chefs even use a full sack of charcoal for a single day’s cooking.

It is no wonder that researchers have determined that one of the main driving forces of African deforestation is the need for fuel.

It is also estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, only 7.5 percent of the rural population has access to electricity. A 2009 report on the state of the world’s forests reports that “as household incomes and investment in appropriate alternatives remain low, wood is likely to remain an important energy source in Africa in the coming decades.”

Going back as far as forecasts made in 2001, it was suggested that there will be a 34 percent increase in wood fuel consumption from 2000 to 2020. However, as the price for fuel continues to rise, this increase is likely to be even greater. In other words, the share of wood fuel in the total energy supply is likely to decline, while the number of people dependent on wood for fuel and energy is likely to grow.

The report goes on to say that “the forest situation in Africa presents enormous challenges, reflecting the larger constraints of low income, weak policies and inadequately developed institutions.”

With this ever-increasing demand for fuel, many environmentalists are concerned that the trade in charcoal will eventually wipe out some species of trees. For example, one species of trees used for charcoal production is the Acacia bussei tree, which can produce between eight to 10 sacks of charcoal per tree. Researches are worried because the Acacia is the most preferred tree specie for charcoal production, timber and fencing, and its extensive use could force it to the brink of extinction in the Somaliland territories.

Efforts are being made, however, to stop or slow down the felling of Somaliland trees. On April 30, 2009, concerned with the impact of charcoal burning on the environment, Maroodi Jeeh, regional governor of Hargeisa (a city in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia), banned trade in charcoal as well as the burning of trees. Other attempts at protecting the environment have included the introduction of gas stoves and solar cookers in the main urban centers of Burou, Las-anod, Gabiley, Wajalea and Borama.

Since January, Somgas Company has been supplying gas to residents. A typical household uses an 11-kilogram cylinder for approximately six weeks. Although initial gas and cylinder prices remain high, an 11-kilogram gas cylinder plus gas costs $44.50 and is recharged at just $19.
This is certainly not expensive compared with the monthly charcoal consumption of about $15 for three 20-kilogram sacks of charcoal per household. (The gas cylinders range from two to 22 kilograms.)

According to Somaliland’s Ministry of Pastoral Development and Environment, there is still great cause for concern, even though charcoal consumption fell in 2008 compared with 2007.

Mohamoud Ibrahim Mohamoud currently heads the forestry section in the ministry. He says he is concerned about environmental degradation caused by the charcoal trade, and is working with several organizations to search for alternatives to charcoal energy. The problem that seems to drive the tree felling and forest burning for charcoal is the poverty throughout the countryside and the high demand for charcoal energy in the urban areas.

Overall, the demand for charcoal appears to be increasing daily and the burning of trees is also increasing. But, many leaders and environmentalists are now trying to encourage awareness and education among the people of Somalia and give them other sources of income, such as helping young people become involved in alternative activities such as bee-keeping.

It is obvious that other sources of income and further education and research are needed if the problem of deforestation and charcoal burning will be successfully addressed and redirected in Somalia.

Like so many African cities, Brazzaville’s history is one of imperialism and being dominated by European culture. The Portugese controlled the area as part of the slave trade until the late nineteenth century. The area then came under the influence of the French, who made it a protectorate and renamed it Middle Congo. Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza negotiated a treaty with King Teke on behalf of the French and the village of Nkuna was re-named in Brazza’s honour. It became the capital and the central city in French Equatorial Africa.

In 1944, as French influence in the region ebbed and Free French forces defeated the forces from France, Charles DeGaulle agreed to a meeting between leaders of French colonies in Africa, Free French political leaders, and French colonialists. The meeting, known as the Brazzaville Conference, resulted in the Brazzaville Declaration.

That declaration granted unprecedented rights to Africans living in French Equatorial Africa, including a statement that the French Empire would remain united; semi-autonomous assemblies, a form of self-government, would represent each colony; citizens colonies would have the same rights as French citizens. And be allowed to vote in French parliamentary elections; and the native population would be eligible for employment in the French colonial public service. The Brazzaville Declaration also began the establishment of economic reforms to reduce the worst effects of the exploitative system that had developed along with French colonialism.

While the results of the Brazzaville Declaration are not as positive as the declaration makes them sound, and western paternalism continues in the region to this day, they marked a major turning point in both French imperialism in Africa and African history.

In 1946, DeGaulle granted full French citizenship to the members of all colonies in French Equatorial Africa as recognition of the important role the area had played during World War Two. In 1959 Congo became fully autonomous and in 1960 it gained full independence. Three years later a period of unrest centred around the labour movement removed the president. A civilian government was then instituted and lasted until 1968.

In 1968 a military coup overthrew the government and over two decades of one-party rule, leaning heavily to Marxist-Leninist policy followed. The Soviet Union played heavily in the politics of the region until its collapse.

In the early 1990′s multi-party rule was established, but the 1993 elections were marked by violence and the 1997 elections brought a four month civil conflict that destroyed much of the capital of Brazzaville. In 1998, unrest broke out again and the Brazzaville-Pointe Noire railroad, which was economically crucial to the country and especially to the capital of Brazzaville. Many civilians were killed during the unrest and refugees from the fighting reached crisis levels. In 1999 the Congolese government began meeting with several rebel groups that had formed.

In the early 2000′s, former president Lissouba and ex-Prime Minister Kolelas were tried for treason in absentia. In 2002 the people of Congo ratified a new constitution and the country began repairing itself. In 2003, southern rebel groups agreed to a final peace accord.

Brazzaville, and the rest of the Republic of Congo, has been relatively peaceful since the ratification of the constitution, but the peace is tenuous at best. The problem of un-repatriated refugees represents a humanitarian crisis and is the source of some unrest.

In 2003, a survey found Brazzaville the worst city in the world in which to live. It finished 215 out of 215 candidate cities, below Baghdad which placed 213. Nearby Pointe Noire finished 212 in the survey which, according to the BBC, “was based on an evaluation of 39 quality of life criteria for each city including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport and other public services.”

Parasol in Pointe Noire. Photo credit: FredR

A related survey done around the same time found Brazzaville to be the sixth most dangerous city, which is not surprising since it is the capital of a country that has an estimated 40,000 weapons in the hands of civilians. The population of the country is under 4 million and half of that population is under 15 years of age, making that amount of weaponry in the hands of civilians a major threat to stability.

AIDS is a major killer in Africa, and the Republic of Congo is no exception. The pandemic has had devastating effects on young adults, reducing the median age of the population to 16 years old. Because it affects the immune system, those suffering from AIDS are more likely to contract and be unable to fight off other diseases. Malaria and tuberculosis are rampant in and around Brazzaville.

A lack of proper infrastructure for sewage and trash removal has left Brazzaville with some serious health issues. Water borne diseases are common in children and among adults. Diarrheal disease are common and fresh drinking water is often unavailable, which further spreads the illness.

AIDS and other illness has lead to a shortage of people of working age. In a major city like Brazzaville, that leaves infrastructure crumbling, schools and hospitals short-staffed. It has greatly increased the stresses on systems that were already struggling from years of internal strife. Children are often orphaned and in the poorest sections of the city, it is not unusual to see children as young as eight trying to raise their younger siblings or look after their sick parents.

Nor is the AIDs pandemic the only major issue facing the population of Brazzaville. The Republic of Congo depends heavily on oil money to keep its economy rolling. It took out massive loans in the past, using oil production as collateral, to back the loans. While the current high oil prices are providing somewhat of an economic boom, Congolese oil fields are beginning to run out. When the oil ceases to flow the economy will be cut by more than half.

Next to oil, logging is the second largest portion on the economy. That is threatened both by global warming which, combined with wood used for cooking fuel, and tracts of land being cleared for agriculture, is causing desertification. The excess heat now related to climate change by many experts has caused a seasonal shift that has changed the timing and amount of rains, making agriculture difficult. The agricultural subsidy regimes of the US and European Union have also made it uneconomical for farmers to grow food crops while pushing the price of food up for those living in cities such as Brazzaville.

The poverty, disease and hunger, combined with the easy availability of weapons, a history soaked in the blood of colonialism and unrest in neighbouring countries, could easily lead to further political instability. That would drag the Republic of Congo and the city of Brazzaville back into the cycle of violence that it has tried for so long to escape.

Pukatawagan is an Indian reservation in northern Manitoba. There is no permanent road, although the presence of a railroad does make it more accessible than many communities in northern Canada. In the winter there is an ice road, although in 2006 warm weather shortened its usefulness severely. When the road is open, the drive from Winnipeg, Manitoba’s largest city, to Pukatawagan is 835 kilometres (518 miles). The first and longest portion of that is paved, but road conditions in the winter can be questionable depending on the weather. Once a traveller reaches the ice roads, speeds slow to a crawl and the final quarter of the journey often takes as long or longer than the first three quarters.

To understand Pukatawagan and communities like it, you must first understand at least the basics of the history of Canada.

The Voyageurs opened up trade to the central and northern reaches of Canada, transporting furs back to Montreal on the lakes and rivers using large birchbark canoes. The process was expensive, with investors in each expedition having to wait 18 to 24 months for a return on their investment.

Two French explorers, Radisson and Grossielliers, came up with the idea of sailing into Hudson’s Bay and having the natives bring furs to a series of semi-permanent trading posts. They approached the French government who were not interested, so Radisson and Grossielliers took their idea to the English. The Hudson’s Bay Company was formed and the British king gave it monopoly rights over Rupertsland, a huge area encompassing much of central Canada and reaching down into what is now Minnesota, the Dakotas, and eastern Montana.

The Hudson’s Bay Company set up trading posts and began trade. Although the monopoly granted to the Hudson’s Bay Company was unenforceable and the Voyageurs continued trading in the area for some time, they could not compete in the long run because of the high overhead required for their canoe trips from Montreal. Meanwhile, the Hudson’s Bay Company sailed leased ships from England directly to their trading posts then back to England.

The Mathias Colomb Indian band which makes up most of Pukatawagan’s population was established in 1910 on the Prayer Indian Reserve. Additional lands were granted in the 1920′s, but the band still has land claims with the Canadian government that have not been settled. Before 1910 the Mathias Colomb band was bounced among several other bands that are part of Treaty Number 6 and was attached to several bands that were far away from them.

The imperialism of the fur trade and the paternalism of the Canadian government lead, predictably, to the morass of social problems so prevalent in societies with such histories. Substance abuse, crime and violence are rampant. A lack of industry and the remoteness of Pukatawagan cause widespread unemployment. Living conditions, while improving, are still more closely comparable to the third world than the first world conditions prevalent in the rest of Canada.

The northern location of communities like Pukatawagan make for many challenges. The weather can be extreme, with blizzards blowing in and winter temperatures often dipping dangerously low. The area can sometimes be cut off from the outside world for days at time, with air travel not possible and the winter roads closed. Supplies cannot get in and people cannot get out under such conditions.

A lack of cold weather can present similar problems. Warm winters like the one that Manitoba has had this year can delay the opening of the winter roads. When the roads are closed, the residents of Pukatawagan can’t get to larger centres to shop. The price of shipping in staples also rises considerably because they have to be flown in. When the ice road closes, the price of 4 litres (about 1 gallon) of milk can easily reach $9.00.

While prices rise with the temperature, the price that trappers get for furs sinks. Warm weather causes animals to produce lower quality furs. In a fur market already depressed by both changes in fashion and increasing concern for the humane treatment of animals, a warm winter pushes the prices down even further. Meanwhile, the cost of trapping increases because gasoline, needed for the snowmobiles used to get out on the trap lines, can double as it becomes more scarce. Trapping wild forest animals for their warm, furry goodness is one of the few sources of hard currency available to many people in remote communities.

Climate change is not the only problem facing Pukatawagan and other northern communities. Education has been sorely lacking. According to the 2001 Canadian Census, almost half of twenty-five year olds had not completed high school. Those who wish to take post-secondary education must move to a major city to do so. The culture shock of moving to a modern city from a remote northern community is a major obstacle for many, and many of those who do complete post-secondary education must remain in the south if they wish to work, discouraging a culture of education from developing.

As in so many northern communities, there is a housing shortage. The houses that are there are often substandard. Poorly insulated, often with types of insulation known to be carcinogenic, over-crowding can be extreme, sometimes with as many as 20 people living in 900 square foot house.

A diesel fuel spill dating back to the 1950′s has contaminated the ground and the water, causing ongoing health problems. In 1987, the contamination of the school grounds and water supply caused the evacuation of children to surrounding communities. Drug and alcohol abuse and teen suicide spiked upwards as the children tried to cope with being removed from their families. Gangs began both to recruit and prey on the community’s young people.

While community leaders and band elders have been working consistently to improve things in Canada’s northern communities, and the last Canadian government had signed the Kelowna agreement with First Nations leaders to attempt to address the problems Canada’s aboriginal people face, even the recent progress that had been made in addressing the many issues is now in question. Canada has recently elected the Conservative Party as its national government. This party has a poor record on issues like land claims, having voted against them while in opposition. Senior party members have stated that the Kelowna Agreement was, “written on the back of a napkin,” and have said that they will change it.

While it is not clear what changes the new government will seek to make, their less than stellar record on dealing with northern communities and aboriginal issues in the past does not bode well for those seeking to bring better living conditions, more education, and better employment opportunities to Pukatawagan and hundreds of other remote Canadian communities.

The settling of New England by immigrating Europeans took place mostly in the eighteenth century. As people began making their way to America, the Colonial government gave large pieces of land to groups of people known as ‘proprietors’. Often made up of 6-10 families (sometimes more), these groups had a select number of years to develop the land. “Developing” meant clearing the forest to create open spaces for crops and livestock, and cutting down trees for houses, fences, and businesses.

The peak of the deforestation occurred between 1830 and 1880. It is estimated that, with the exception of northern Maine and the more mountainous regions, nearly 80% of forested regions in New England had been cleared during this time.

Consequently, New England saw a shift in wildlife as well. Where wolves, turkeys, beavers, moose, and cougars once roamed, there was an influx of open-land species like skunks, meadowlarks, rabbits, and foxes.

As settlers moved farther west, many of the New England farms were abandoned, allowing the forests time to re-populate. The tree most common in the first phase of re-population was the white pine, which dominated most of the re-growth in New England. As the white pine stands began to mature, the opening of the Panama Canal and establishing of the railroad created a simultaneous demand for solid shipping containers. Portable sawmills depleted what little re-growth had occurred, and the 1938 hurricane depleted it even further.

In 1897, a group of men formed the Massachusetts Forests and Parks Association, intending to address some of New England’s environmental concerns. Though its primary focus was wildlife conservation, one member – Harry Reynolds – was mainly concerned about New England’s forests. He communicated with several government officials, both state and federal, pushing for measures to protect the land. Responding to a need for forest management, Mr. Reynolds and some of his colleagues formed the New England Forestry Foundation in 1944.

The NEFF set clear guidelines on tree harvesting, and began working with both landowners and lumber companies to enforce the guidelines. Though they met with some resistance in the beginning, by 1946 the Foundation was working with 20 properties that each averaged about 150 acres. By June of 2005, the NEFF managed over 20,000 acres of New England’s forests.

The NEFF’s forest management is multi-faceted. They start by analyzing the current condition of a stand or plot of land. Often, the previous manager has begun a “treatment”, or forest management system, of his own. NEFF’s forest manager must determine whether it is best to continue with the current treatment, or start fresh. The first step is usually one of three harvesting methods: Intermediate Thinning, Regeneration, and Allowable Harvests. After that, the forest is monitored and maintained, which is far more complex than it sounds!

In 1907, just a few years before Mr. Reynolds began making his pleas for forest conservation, a Harvard professor by the name of Richard T Fisher founded Harvard Forest. As its founder and first Director, he began working with his students to develop a comprehensive reforestation plan. What made Mr. Fisher’s plan different was that it took into consideration things like land-use history, human activity, and natural disturbances like hurricanes and thunderstorms. He initiated a series of studies, out of which came the concept of “ecological forestry”. It has revolutionized New England forest management. In the process, he also developed a set of world-renowned dioramas depicting the New England landscape and all its dramatic changes.

Efforts like these have paid off. Between 1885 and 1925, forest cover more than doubled, and exceeded 70% by 1952. It has steadily increased ever since. Over time, New England has learned how to effectively combine natural and managed re-growth to create forests that are much more diverse and ecologically sound.

While most people celebrate the return of the forests, some consider the loss of grassland and agricultural habitats tragic. They believe the “natural” forests in New England are less natural than the ones that were converted to farmland when the area was first settled, and to some extent, they’re right. The forests are not left to grow as they would naturally.

Instead, they are carefully managed by people who have spent considerable time learning the about the history, and the ecological impact, of New England’s changing landscape. By doing so, they are able to build heartier, more robust forests. Trees are still harvested, but they are harvested carefully. With consideration for how each tree, and its absence, will affect the ecology. New England’s forests may not be 100% natural, but they are being built to last.

Sources: “Legacies of the agricultural past..”, Jesse Bellemare, Glenn Motzkin and David R. Foster; D. R. Foster. Thoreau’s Country: Journey Through a Transformed Landscape. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999; New England Forestry Foundation; Harvard Forest

Experts from the park and Western Kentucky University conducted the research, which was intended to measure the amount of the poisonous metal in park wildlife, including bats that inhabit Mammoth Cave.

Their work is now also shedding light on how pollutants, such as mercury, become concentrated in and saturate our natural environment.


During the park study, teams of researchers spent two summers using nets to capture hundreds of the estimated 6,000 to 8,000 inhabiting bats for evaluation. The teams strategically placed the nets at locations the bats were expected to fly during the evening hours, such as at the mouth of caves.

Once researchers caught the bats, locks of hair were trimmed from the animals, placed in sterile bags and sent to a Western Kentucky University laboratory for evaluation. As is the case with human beings, the level of mercury found in the bats’ hair has been revealed to correlate with the amount of mercury in their small, fury bodies.

This correlation is called “biomagnification.” Biomagnification is the process where concentrations of a specified pollutant, in this case mercury, increase at each link in the food chain. Prior to this groundbreaking research, mercury studies typically focused on humans and other animals that consume mercury-tainted fish, which are just one step higher on the food chain than the lowly insects. As it turns out, the recent research on bats verses mercury pollution is quite revolutionary because it is revealing that biomagnification even takes place in animals that feed on tiny insects.

In the case of bats, toxic mercury, derived primarily from power plants, falls to the ground and accumulates in a multitude of microscopic plants. These plants are then eaten by minuscule animals, which are then eaten by insects, which are finally devoured by our only truly-flying mammal, bats. Through each of these eating cycles, the quantity of mercury increases until it reaches the bat. In other words, the bat accumulates more mercury than the insect, the insect has more than the minuscule animal, and the minuscule animal has more than the microscopic plant. And so it goes.

Environmental groups and park authorities are placing the blame for the increased mercury contamination primarily on the emissions from Kentucky’s many coal-fired power plants. Utility companies, however, say they are reducing mercury emissions as a result of recent legislation. They point out that some mercury in the atmosphere comes from certain natural events, such as forest fires and volcanoes.

Additionally, Kentucky’s coal-fired power plants are likely not the only mercury contributor as bats do migrate and can acquire the lethal mercury during their travels to neighboring states. Mercury, like bats, is also able to travel long distances before settling in bodies of water or being soaked up by tiny plants.

While Kentucky’s power plants are not the lone mercury bandit, many environmentalists call Kentucky a mercury “hot spot” due to the sheer number of coal-fired plants. In fact, state officials have had to issue mercury warnings cautioning people against eating fish taken out of rivers, creeks, lakes and ponds located in all 120 Kentucky counties.

Although it is yet to be determined whether or not the amount of mercury found in these bats is actually causing serious harm, such as damage to the central nervous and reproductive systems, researchers have already found mercury in the bats’ hair at nearly 10 parts per million.

10 parts per million is an extremely elevated level, a concentration beyond which detrimental health effects are detected in humans and a variety of rodents. In fact, the United States Environmental Protection Agency reports that human mercury exposure should be limited to 1 part per million. This is a whopping 10 times lower than the level found in bats during the Mammoth Cave National Park study.

It is now understood that bats are especially susceptible to the toxic metal due to their high metabolic rate, which requires the bats to consume an excessive amount of insects every night. In fact, bats are better than your average bug zapper light as many can easily eat close to their body weight in insects in just one night. That’s a lot of bugs.

Because of the sheer number of insects bats must eat to survive, it is believed that mercury has the obvious potential to seriously affect a bat’s ability to reproduce, thus hindering their capability of keeping their species alive. Mercury contamination can also alter the way the baby bats’ brains develop as well as impair the adult bats’ ability to care for their new babies.

For the furry-faced Indiana bat, which is found throughout the eastern states, the future is uncertain as they are still facing the threat of extinction. At one time, this tiny flying mammal, only weighing as much as three pennies, is estimated to have numbered up into the tens of millions in and around Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park.

Urban development, increased farming and deadly tree diseases depleted and, in fact, removed a significant amount of these tiny bats’ maternity habitat and food supply. Prior to 1941, when Mammoth Cave was designated as a national park, much of its 52,000-plus acres were used as cattle grazing-ground, farmland as well as a prime location to harvest a great deal of timber.

Dutch elm disease also eliminated 90 percent of the nation’s American elm trees; a member of the elm tree family that the Indiana bats used to raise their young. Currently the Dutch elm tree has made a comeback, however the current woodlands are still too young to support the needs of the many roosting females. This serious decline in suitable roosting trees presents quite a challenge for mammals that only produce one offspring each year.

Scientists have estimated that, at one point in history, as many as ten million bats wintered in Mammoth Cave. That number has been reduced to zero. When the Indiana bat was added to the Federal Endangered Species List in 1967, their numbers had declined drastically; by greater than 60 percent. It is now estimated that the current national population of this bat is only roughly 330,000.

The Mammoth Cave National Park research findings, which are still being scrutinized, will most likely turn into a conflict between environmentalists, Kentucky power plants and, of course, government environmental authorities over the effects that toxic mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants has on the environment, including the bats who reside at the park.

In 2005, Environmental Protection Agency authorities imposed a seemingly significant limit on mercury emissions from power plants. These new regulations should reduce mercury emissions by approximately 70 percent over the next 13 years.

Many environmentalists, however, are still not convinced that these new mercury pollution regulations will be enough to protect the environment. Some groups have even challenged the new policy in court saying it is still too weak and will take too long to make a significant environmental difference.

While some may not give the future of creatures that often provoke fear because of their Halloween-like, spooky reputation of sucking human blood and attacking unsuspecting people, the importance of bats should not be underestimated.

Insect control, particularly of the dreaded mosquito, is just one of the benefits offered to the world by the bat. Consider the little brown bat that can swallow approximately 600 mosquitoes an hour.

The mosquito is just one insect different varieties of bats love to devour. The big brown bat can devour about 18 million rootworms every year, while the long-eared pallid bat can actually hear its prey – various walking insects, such as scorpions, centipedes and grasshoppers.

Not all bats eat insects, but they still provide other benefits to humans and our environment. Some bats, like the lesser long-nosed bat, drink nectar. Just like bees and hummingbirds, they carry pollen from one flower to another, thus aiding in the pollination of plants.

Photo:Doug Bowman

Some bats, like the short-tailed fruit bat, eat delicious fruit and scatter the seeds as they fly. Some 60,000 seeds can be distributed in one night by a single short-tailed fruit bat living in South and Central American rain forests.

Finally, take a minute to think of the mysterious vampire bat of Central and South America. While these bats do suck the blood of certain larger mammals, they pose no threat to humans. In fact, vampire bats have actually helped the medical profession.

Photo:bubblemonkey

Vampire bat saliva is unique and is made up of three ingredients that keep their preys’ blood freely flowing. An anticoagulant is the primarily component and works to keep the blood from clotting. A relatively new drug, Draculin, has been developed as a result of research and testing on the anticoagulant element of vampire bat saliva. This drug is now used to the benefit of human patients with heart ailments.

It should be obvious that there really is much to be lost if the diverse environments of the many bat species are not protected.

High Resolution Images from this article

The McCormick and Baxter Creosoting Company Superfund Site is an incredible example of derelict urban space. It is a postapocalyptic wasteland of the highest order. It is an abandoned indistrial zone of more than 50 acres that has been declared a Superfund clean-up site because of creosote and heavy metal pollution.


If you’ve never visited, and you live in Portland, you really should. There is no security, and people are often wandering around. It’s great for urban mountain biking or just exploring.

Be careful though!

The soil and water are still toxic, so don’t take your dogs. Not to mention the fact that it’s just illegal to be there. But no one seems to care.



Information about the McCormick & Baxter Creosote Superfund Site from the EPA:

The McCormick & Baxter site is located on the northeast shore of the Willamette River in north Portland. The legal address is 6900 North Edgewater Ave., Portland, Oregon 97203, and DEQ’s Environmental Cleanup Site Information (ECSI) number for this site is 74. The site includes about 43 acres of land and about 15 acres of sediments beneath the Willamette River.

McCormick & Baxter Creosoting Company operated between 1944 and 1991, treating wood products with creosote, pentachloro-phenol, and inorganic (arsenic, copper, chromium, and zinc) preservative solutions. Historically, process wastewaters were discharged directly to the Willamette River, and other process wastes were dumped in several areas of the site. Significant concentrations of wood-treating chemicals have been found polluting soil and groundwater at the site, and in river sediments adjacent to the site.

From 1942 to 1990, McCormick & Baxter treated utility poles and railroad ties with creosote, pentachlorophenol (PCP), and arsenic compounds. Waste oils generated from the wood-treatment processes were disposed of in unlined ponds and concrete tanks on-site. Surface water runoff from the site was discharged to the slough until 1978, when it began to collect in two storm water collection ponds.

In 1983 and 1984, a consultant to McCormick & Baxter found that soils throughout the site were contaminated with arsenic, chromium, copper, PCP, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are constituents of creosote. Soil contamination extends to depths of 40 feet below ground surface (bgs) in some areas. The consultant’s sampling in 1984-88 indicates that the shallow aquifer beneath the site is contaminated with many of the same substances to a depth of 175 feet bgs. Beneath the site, the shallow aquifer is interconnected with the deep aquifer. The deep aquifer within 4 miles of the site provides drinking water to approximately 97,000 people.

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British Columbia, Québec and New Brunswick are the 3 major lumber producers of Canada. This year, the Québec government had to impose a 20% reduction in wood cut because the resource is simply not there anymore.

For centuries lumber was synonymous with Canada and the mechanization of the industry in the late 20th century devastated forests for decades. The industry is actually lobbying to push the northern limit of legal lumber from the 50th to the 60th parallel. Trees take almost 100 years to reach maturity at this latitude.

These images show the Gaspésie region, eastern Québec. Notice the “beige” spots and, particularly, the biggest spot in the middle. Not much population here, the principal economic activity is lumber, then tourism, then fisheries (not much tough, stocks have depleted as in the Newfoundland banks). There was mining but the mines are now closed down.

As it is a peninsula at the end of the St-Lawrence corridor right under the North American jet stream, it is a windy region. It could be the home of the biggest wind-powered generators park north of California but the right wing government and lobbies are trying to kill the project.

Above: a major clear-cut area, almost 150 square kilometers. Clear-cut the old fashioned way between 1990 and 2004. The desolation of the land is
evident. Here’s an overview by the Global Environment Outlook from the
United Nation Environment Programme.

This image shows what the forest ministry call an “evolution”: eco-friendly cuts (sic). That cute little green patch in the middle is supposed to seed the whole cutted area. Ten years later, we are still waiting for trees to grow. The soil has been compacted so much by the lumber equipment that only weeds can grow. It could take another 20 years before a well-aerated hummus coat regenerates, allowing trees to grow roots.

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A little update on windpower production, Québec’s Environment Minister Thomas Mulcair announced that he refuse to nationalise the windpower production in the province. Thus putting a little more stress on the lumber industry, windgenerator conception/production was seen as a sustainable industry for the workers of the declining lumber opportunity. People are going to fight to keep their job, and lumber is all they got.

Electric power production (thermal and hydro) is a state monopoly in Québec and the announcement is seen a breach in the government policy. There are concerns about the ownership of the land where the wind generators will be placed (mostly crown land), if it will be leased or sold to private interests and if royalties will be paid to local communities (Gaspésie has one the highest unemployment rate in North-America). People also worry about the lack of local impact on local economies since wind generators are actually not conceived locally. Actually the government loans money to contractors so they can run and install generators produced by General Electric in southern Québec, Ontario and the great lakes region whilst technology/knowledge and industries are capable of doing it in Gaspésie. Nationalisation was seen as a mean to force investment in the region, wich desperatly needs durable jobs.

On another hand, local farmers see the possibility of leasing some of their land to private contractors or install a wind generator themselves for their own consumption or to sell power back to the gridlock. Although such projects represent a minor part of the windpower capacity of the peninsula since the best wind fields are located on crown land and that large windgenerators are too expensive for small investors like farmers. Economic impact is also low when generators are not produced locally and run by corporations from outside of the region, profits being spent abroad instead of locally.

You can see the NPR press release in French on page 2 of this .pdf. I haven’t been able to find the Canadian Press release (in both French and English) for free on the internet, I’ll post when I’ll find it.

http://www.metronews.ca/uploadedFiles/Metro_Montreal_1213_2005.pdf