Joanna Alfaro Shigueto

Associated Researcher - Pro Delphinus (Peruvian NGO)

Today’s Date: 15 March 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

coastal and marine landscapes

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

beach

Now? beach and forests

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

don't have a favourite animal

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

global warming

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

to provide education or educate

Capt. R. Arthur Anslyn, MBE

Nevis Historical and Conservation Society (NHCS)

Today’s Date: March 15, 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

The "Silent World"

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

The marine environment

Now? Same

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

Dog; pet and security

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

Pollution. Clean-up

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Protect what we have (left) for future generations to enjoy

Rosalinda Lidh

professional in socially and environmentally responsible media

Today’s Date: 12 March 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

First walk in a virgin forest - amazed by how distinctly different it was from the forest logged 70 years before just a hundred yards below.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

El Yunque, Puerto Rico

Now? Everglades

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

Turtle, b/c I helped complete the National Turtle Survey several years in a row

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

Resource depletion forcing us to go deeper into undeveloped lands

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Start small; make a habit of environmentally conscious behavior; it’ll add up when millions of us are taking regular action.

Poonam Jain

Times of India

Today’s Date: 27 Feb 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

It has made me realise that we are so wrapped up in our small worlds when there is so much that is going on and so much beauty around us.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

Yes, the park in front of my house.

Now? Any forest

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

Fresh Water Otters, Indian Elephants

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

Lack of space for animals, and lack of tolerance and respect for nature. So the greatest challenge is population explosion.

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Respect all, small and big.

Stacie Freeland

Graduate Student - Institute of Global Education

Today’s Date: 02-24-08

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

Several: Baby octopus got attached to my cheek at the age of 7 and initiated me into the underwater world of wonder; interacted in the Atlantic Ocean for a week with wild bottlenose dolphins and it blew all my senses and made me have a transcendental experience and a physical healing; swam with large wild turtles at Buck Island in the U.S.V.I.; went to school in the ruins of a cotton plantation at an experimental school called Tamarind, in the rainforest, waterfall instead of swimming pool, conch shell in place of a bell, vines to swing on instead of metal swing sets. My formative years were spent growing up wild - literally.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

The Baths in Virgin Gorda, B.V.I. and Fredericksted's local park with the large collection of Banyan trees that we could play in.

Now? Mesa Verde in Colorado, the Cliff face steps and paths and the large Gorge of Taos N.M.

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

I have four; hummingbirds because they are a phenomena; dolphins due to their habitat and playful lifestyle; large cats because they are fiercely independent and the Praying Mantis (even though these are insects) as they are regal and they fascinate me.

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

The sustainability of fresh water, clean breathable air, uncontaminated soil and the denial/lethargy that so many still suffer from - And in the future, the Sun's role in Earth's rise in temperature coupled with a slow response from decision makers in positions of power as to the need for immediate action in the areas we CAN make a difference in.

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Wake up, natural resources don't replenish themselves so do the research and BE the change.

David S. Lee

The Tortoise Reserve

Today’s Date: 24 Feb 08

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

Traveling to islands (WI, Mariana Is, Bermuda) and seeing how well intended government policy can screw up places rather quickly.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

Yes, outdoor sites in Maryland where most of the natural areas are now otherwise, and the state has not had good stewardship of its natural resource. Species I found a child later became listed as state endangered in the 70's, and with 3 decades of state stewardship many are now lost, and none are better off.

Now? Good question, at 65 all the places I knew are degraded and all the new ones I visit I can see indications as to their future.

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

Some cornerstone species like gopher tortoise. It's presence a good index of specific communities and their burrows and mounds provide homes for many interesting animals. They are long lived, and are in direct and constant competition for man for real estate.

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

Too God Damn many people. Too God Damn many more people. Consumptive societies.

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

As nations or individuals don't exploit the world for personal gains. Don't assume our government will do what is right.

Vinzenz Schmack

Owner - Laguna del Lagarto Lodge (www.lagarto-lodge-costa-rica.com)

Today’s Date: February 19, 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

I grew-up at farm and surrounded by woods and had many encounters with wild animals

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

Yes the woods behind the farm of my parents

Now? The rainforest behind my Lodge

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

Tapir, because it still lives in the wild in the area of our Lodge

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

How to preserve the tropical rainforests and the tendencies to build mire and more luxuries hotels. Simplicity is no longer in demand. You have to be luxuries in order to attract attention.

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Buy a part of a rainforest, www.protect-rainforests.org


Eco-Tourism Myth and Reality

“Eco” is a fashionable label and everybody uses it whenever possible and of course it is used most widely in Tourism. Who does not want to call his Hotel or Travel Agency “Eco-tourism”? It sounds so much better and people are so much more attracted by such a fashionable word.

However, reality shows that people prefer or are dragged by the Travel Agencies to the same old overcrowded mass tourist resorts equipped with state of the art bars, discos and other entertainment, which, of course, must be big, luxurious and expensive.

The true “Off the Beaten Track”, isolated lodges have a hard time to make ends meet. Travel Agencies do not want to expose their clients to a bad road or even risk being bitten by a mosquito or other possible inconveniences nature might surprise you. And, no doubt, they make a better deal by bringing people to more expensive luxury hotels than to the modestly priced Eco-Lodges.

Advertising Costa Rica, the official Tourist Board, came out with the nice slogan “without artificial ingredients”. However in their official annual MAGAZIN “NATURALLY COSTA RICA”, only the large chain luxury hotels can afford to advertise and are they not full of artificial ingredients? For the puff luxury decoration, radio, TV, VHS, Mini-Bar and so on., the price has to be $ 150.- plus.

The many ecological institutions who operate in Costa Rica contribute to this trend and channel the student groups to overcrowded places like Monteverde, Tortuguero, and Manuel Antonio and prefer places with paved trails through the Rain Forest like in “La Selva”, which is not the concept of ecotourism.

The big companies offer their employees Incentive Tours, but would not dream of choosing a true Ecolodge. Instead they send them to 5 star luxury Hotel with swimming pool, jaccussi, golf course and health spa, where they spend a lot of money and come back just as tired as when left the office. They still have not come up to the idea that sometimes the employees would rather prefer a quiet, unspoiled and natural retreat where they would regain time to gather strength and peace to their bodies and minds.

We believe that the true meaning of Eco-Tourism is to go back to nature, accept simplicity, and be content with a clean, simple, but comfortable room and facilities and accept for a while the inconveniences of a dirt road, a muddy trail through the lush Rain Forest and (why not?) some rain, too. As a reward you are overwhelmed by the beauty and exuberance of nature, instead of the noisy and overcrowded places one finds in every big cities. Something has to be done to re-orient tourists to the true eco-lodges to enjoy the wonders of nature and if the so-called Eco-Travel Agencies stick to their Logo, they should also include in their programs true eco-lodges in isolated areas.

We, owners of small Eco-lodges, do not want to deny the “eco-tourists” the right to spend their vacation in one of the many luxury hotels according to their means. But, if they really want to practice Eco-tourism, our suggestion is that they should at least spend a couple of nights in a true Eco-lodge in an isolated area and pay respect to Mother Nature.

Vinzenz Schmack
Owner of “La Laguna del Lagarto Lodge”
E-mail: lagarto@racsa.co.cr
Web-site: www.lagarto-lodge-costa-rica.com

Jane Anne Jeffries

Wetlands Action Network

Today’s Date: February 19, 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

My father was a boat builder, so frequently the family would go deep sea fishing. We would leave the harbor very early in the morning, bound for Catalina or San Clemente Island where the fishing would be excellent. As we traveled west toward the islands, the sun would rise in the east [the earth was turning, of course] and I would see night become day on a huge dome, much like being in the planetarium at the observatory.

I have a golden retriever and a husky. My interaction with them daily is through mental telepathy. They can read my mind.

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

Any and every place outdoors was my favorite. I much preferred being outside. When I was in college at The Principia, I studied in wind caves on the bluffs of the Mississippi.

Now? I love La Ballona Wetlands. I also love my backyard with its orange and avocado trees.

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

My favorite animal is the Arabian horse, though my experience with horses has been limited because I have allergies.

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

I'm teaching third graders. The children I teach are not outside the way I was when I was their age. At recess, they eat and drink sugary drinks instead of playing sports. Instead of using nature in their play, they prefer electronic devices. They don't know nature is our source as well as being 'them!' They are disconnected from their source and themselves.

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Learn to live in nature as nature. Study the lives of indigenous peoples.

Charles E. Schumer

United States Senator (D-NY)

Today's Date: 14 Feb 2008

Dear Mr. Taylor:

Thank you for your letter regarding actions that Congress should be taking to curtail global climate change. I share your concern for the health of our environment, especially the fragile balance of ecosystems that may be destroyed by the climatic changes that we are now experiencing. As Senator, I have pushed legislation that would address some of the causes of climate change, in particular by trying to reduce carbon emissions.

The recent passage in the Senate of H.R. 6, the Clean Energy Act of 2007, provided an important first step toward improving the ways our nation uses energy. This bill includes substantial increases in fuel economy standards for cars, including a 35mpg standard by 2020 and closing the SUV and flex-fuel-vehicle loopholes. The Senate’s success in this area will reduce our consumption of foreign oil by 10.7 gallons annually by 2020. I believe that H.R. 6 makes important steps towards curbing climate change. For the first time in decades, the Senate has produced a bill that does not give tax breaks to big oil, but instead gives incentives to companies to use renewable fuel sources, makes significant improvements in cars’ fuel economy, and requires improved energy efficiency in government actions.

However, there is still more to be done. I introduced four amendments to the energy bill which would improve energy efficiency in practical, cost-effective ways. The first would require power utilities to gradually reduce their fuel consumption by improving their efficiency to reach a final target of 10% less fuel use by 2020. The second amendment required states to make their building codes 30% more efficient. The third and fourth amendments would improve energy efficiency in appliances like washing machines, commercial boilers, and air conditioners. All told, these four amendments would have saved the same energy as would taking more than 150 million cars off the road. Unfortunately, none of these amendments were included in the final bill, but I will continue to push for these, and other, energy efficiency ideas.

I also support several other bills aimed at helping to slow this crisis. I am a co-sponsor of S. 590, Securing America's Energy Independence Act of 2007, which extends and improves tax credits for individuals and companies to invest in solar technology. I also co-sponsored the Clean Air Planning Act, S. 1177, a multi-pollutant bill that will require fossil-fuel-fired power plants to cut their emissions of four dangerous compounds, including carbon dioxide. This bill will halt the increase in CO2 emissions in 2012 and will implement a 57% cut from today’s levels by 2050. I was also an original co-sponsor of S. 339, the DRIVE Act, which will reduce our oil use through a range of actions, from improving fuel economies to encouraging development along existing transit corridors, rather than into new areas. It was passed by the Senate as part H.R. 6.

Climate change matters to all of us and we need smart, pragmatic policies now if we are to address this crisis. We cannot afford to delay action in the hope that a “silver bullet” will save us: there will be no perfect new technology to produce infinite energy, no special sponge to take carbon out of the air, no global air-conditioning system. It takes lots of smart changes in the ways that we make and use energy to fix this problem, and we need to approach this complex problem from every angle possible.

Thank you for taking the time to contact me on this important topic. I always appreciate constituents’ input and hope that you will continue to share your thoughts with me in the future.


Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator


This is a message I got via email, either as a result of submitting my survey to Senator Schumer or as a result of one of the various “contact your Senator” actions I have taken through the various groups I am a member of. I am sure it is a prepared statement, and not written specifically for me, but I thought it was still worth sharing. - Jeremy

Karma Lekshe Tsomo

President – Sakyadhita (International Association of Buddhist Women)
Director – Jamyang Foundation
Associate Professor – University of San Diego, Theology & Religious Studies

Today’s Date: Feb. 1, 2008

1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?

1. My close friendship with my collie dog from age 8-12
2. Getting bitten by a viper in India and almost dying from it

2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?

The woods in Malibu, CA

Now? The mountains overlooking the sea on Oahu, HI

3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?

I love all animals equally, but have a special place in my heart for large furry dogs

4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?

1. Environmental pollution
2. Water

5. If you could give one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?

Simplify your life for the benefit of all living beings. Learn to be happy with less and help save the planet.


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