"8" - Google News
June 29, 2021 at 12:19PM
https://ift.tt/35XAW5l
The silver linings for Mississippi State in its 8-2 Game 1 loss against Vanderbilt - NCAA.com
"8" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2z1PBPz
https://ift.tt/3c1rzCJ
KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A growing global push to safeguard nature by pledging to protect about a third of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030 will fall short unless biodiversity-rich Southeast Asian nations get behind the ambitious proposal, environmentalists have warned.
Leaders of the G7 wealthy nations this month backed a coalition of about 60 countries that have already promised to conserve at least 30% of their land and oceans by 2030 (30x30) to curb climate change and the loss of plant and animal species.
Cambodia is the only Southeast Asian nation to have signed up to the goal so far, although it has been endorsed by countries in other parts of Asia-Pacific, including Japan, Pakistan and the Maldives.
Brian O’Donnell, director of the U.S.-based Campaign for Nature, which is calling on world leaders to back the pledge, said it was “very important” to get governments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on board.
“Given the incredible biodiversity in the region, much of which is facing pressure, ASEAN countries are a key voice to support 30x30,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Southeast Asian countries cover just 3% of the Earth’s surface but are home to three of the world’s 17 “megadiverse” countries - Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, according to the Campaign for Nature.
These “megadiverse” nations have been identified by conservationists as being the richest in species, in a bid to raise awareness and spur protection efforts.
Southeast Asia’s land and ocean contain 35% of mangrove forests and 30% of coral reefs, while more than 2,000 animal and plant species have been discovered there over the past two decades.
The region is also home to about 18% of the world’s endangered species, according to the Campaign for Nature.
In Indonesia, for example, the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve is a high-priority conservation area and critical wildlife habitat, dubbed the “orangutan capital of the world”, while the endangered pygmy elephants live in the rainforests of Borneo.
But several ASEAN countries are experiencing high deforestation rates, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia among the top countries for primary forest loss, according to monitoring service Global Forest Watch.
NEW GLOBAL ACCORD
The 30x30 goal is included in the draft text of a new global treaty to protect the planet’s plants, animals and ecosystems, due to be agreed at an Oct. 11-24 summit in China, according to officials at the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
But much of Southeast Asia is currently battling to contain a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, with new restrictions, business closures and attempts to rapidly scale up vaccinations.
The crisis has rightly become a higher priority for policymakers than nature conservation, said Ravi Sharma, a former CBD director, adding regional talks had also been disrupted.
But research shows that maintaining intact ecosystems can help avert future infectious disease outbreaks, he added.
Investing in nature and adopting policies for a green COVID-19 recovery could generate 395 million jobs and about $10 trillion in business opportunities by 2030, according to the World Economic Forum.
But the economic benefits of biodiversity conservation are not yet clear to all of Southeast Asia’s political leaders, many of whom are relying on natural resources to lift their people out of poverty, green groups say.
Malaysia and Indonesia are the top two producers of palm oil, the world’s most widely used edible oil, which environmentalists blame for forest destruction.
“ASEAN countries are conscious that the actions needed for 30x30 would have economic implications as well as costs for implementation,” said Tony La Viña, a prominent Philippine environmental lawyer and activist.
“These fears have a basis but can be overcome once they realise the long-term economic and development benefits of the goal, as well as identify the opportunities (it) would open up in terms of conservation and sustainable livelihoods,” he said.
A delay in Southeast Asian nations backing the 30x30 target could be a tactic to secure more funding from richer countries to invest in nature, conservationists said.
A key part of the pledge will be to respect the rights of indigenous groups and communities living in protected areas, many of whom play a vital role in conservation, said O’Donnell.
Southeast Asian countries have developed innovative nature projects involving local communities and by joining the 30x30 group, they could lead that work, he added.
The best incentive for them would be if the proposal included payments to local communities and indigenous peoples for looking after their natural environment, La Viña said.
GREEN GRABBING
Biodiversity loss is directly linked to how rich nations have benefited economically from exploiting nature – and so they bear a greater responsibility for fixing the problem, said Arie Rompas, a forest campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia.
But even ASEAN governments have often overlooked indigenous communities when pursuing economic growth, and have not done enough to guarantee their land tenure and other rights, he said.
The 30x30 goal appears to have been developed without adequate consultation of indigenous and other local communities, he noted.
International conservation efforts have a history of failing to recognise or address problems such as “green grabbing”, where land used by local people is set aside and may become off limits to them, said Amber Huff, a research fellow at the UK-based Institute of Development Studies.
The global biodiversity and climate crises require action, but proposed solutions must tackle the root causes and accept that people can and do live sustainably alongside nature while making use of it for their livelihoods and wellbeing, she said.
“Plans like the blanket 30x30 initiative will rob indigenous peoples and rural farmers, foragers and fishing communities around the world of their lands and livelihoods in the name of environmental ‘restoration’,” she warned.
Reporting by Michael Taylor @MickSTaylor; Editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit news.trust.org
asianpostmedia.blogspot.com Ryan ‘O’ Niel via Unsplash
New Jersey Blood Services, a division of New York Blood Center, will be hosting a blood drive event at Montclair Women’s Club, located at 82 Union St., on Thursday, July 8 from 1 to 7 p.m.
This blood drive will be in honor of Morgan Como, a 12-year-old who was recently diagnoses with Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a rare disorder where the bone marrow does not produce enough health blood cells.
“Morgan is a patient being treated at one of the hospitals we serve — she’s only 12 years old, receiving several units of blood while we are searching for a bone marrow donor to help her,” Rosana Tabakci, New Jersey Blood Services’ account manager, said.
Appointments are recommended but walk-ins will be available if capacity permits. To make an appointment, go to nycb.org/newjerseydrive and use sponsor code 71133, or text 917-699-9073. Interested donor must bring a photo ID.
To become a bone marrow donor, one must be between the ages of 18 to 44, be in general good health and be committed to donate to anyone in need.
Interested donors who have positive COVID-19 diagnoses or who have experienced symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 14 days, and are currently on self-quarantine, are unable to donate blood.
"8" - Google News
June 28, 2021 at 08:15PM
https://ift.tt/3y4Vrc4
Montclair Women's Club hosts blood drive July 8 in honor of Morgan Como - Montclair Local
"8" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2z1PBPz
https://ift.tt/3c1rzCJ
Pinchas Zukerman was criticized for invoking ugly stereotypes about Asians during a master class at Juilliard, which called his remarks offensive.
A master class by the renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman was supposed to be the highlight of a recent virtual symposium hosted by the Juilliard School.
Instead, Zukerman angered many of the roughly 100 students and teachers in the class on Friday when he invoked racist stereotypes about Asians, leading Juilliard to decide not to share a video of his master class afterward with participants, as it had initially intended.
At one point, Zukerman told a pair of students of Asian descent that their playing was too perfect and that they needed to add soy sauce, according to two participants in the class. At another point, in trying to encourage the students to play more lyrically, he said he understood that people in Korea and Japan do not sing, participants said. His comments were reported earlier by Violinist.com, a music site.
Zukerman’s remarks were widely denounced by musicians and teachers, with many saying they reinforced ugly stereotypes facing artists of Asian descent in the music industry.
Juilliard tried to distance itself from the matter, describing Zukerman as a guest instructor and saying his “insensitive and offensive cultural stereotypes” did not represent the school’s values. Zukerman apologized Monday for what he called his “culturally insensitive” comments.
“In Friday’s master class, I was trying to communicate something to these two incredibly talented young musicians, but the words I used were culturally insensitive,” he said in a statement. “I’m writing to the students personally to apologize. I am sorry that I made anyone uncomfortable. I cannot undo that, but I offer a sincere apology. I learned something valuable from this, and I will do better in the future.”
Asian and Asian American performers have long dealt with racist tropes that their playing is too technical or unemotional. A wave of anti-Asian hate in the United States in recent months has heightened concerns about the treatment of Asian performers.
Zukerman is a celebrated violinist and conductor whose career has spanned five decades. He was the biggest name at the Juilliard event, known as the Starling-DeLay Violin Symposium, which is focused on violin teaching and attracts promising young musicians, many of them teenagers, to take part in master classes.
He made the remarks on Friday while offering feedback to a pair of sisters of Japanese descent.
After the sisters played a duet, Zukerman told them they should try bringing more of a singing quality to their playing, according to participants in the class. When he said that he knew Koreans did not sing, one of the sisters interrupted to say that they were not Korean, adding that they were partly of Japanese descent. Zukerman replied by saying that people in Japan did not sing either, according to participants.
His remarks prompted an outcry among Asian and Asian American musicians, with some sharing stories on social media about their experiences dealing with stereotypes and bias.
Hyeyung Yoon, a violinist who last year founded Asian Musical Voices of America, an alliance of artists, said Zukerman’s remarks represented a type of thinking that “dehumanizes a group of people without actually getting to know who they are.”
“It’s so prevalent in classical music, but also prevalent in the larger society,” she said in an interview.
Keiko Tokunaga, a violinist, said she and many other Asian musicians had heard comments similar to Zukerman’s.
“We are often described as emotionless or we just have no feelings and we are just technical machines,” she said in an interview. “And that is very offensive, because we are as human as anyone else on the planet.”
