On 5 June 2018,His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gave the keynote address at the International Ecological Symposium "Toward a Greener Attica:Preserving the Planet and Protecting its People" at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.The Symposium runs from 5-8 June in The Saronic Islands of Greece.Participating in the discussions are theologians,scientists,political and business leaders,and journalists worldwide.The aim of the Symposium is to explore the pressing environmental problems of the region and its lands;and to examine the connections between the ecology and economy-especially in the context of critical social and environmental challenges that we face today.*
Among those participating are:
Gayle Woloschak,Northwestern University;Juliet Eilperin,The Washington Post;Raj Patel,author and activist;His Eminence Metropolitan John of Pergamon (Ecumenical Patriarchate),eminent theologian;Constantine Triantafillou,International Orthodox Christian Charities;John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaigekan,Roman Catholic Archbishop of Abuja,Nigeria;Rt.Rev. Marc Andrus,Episcopal Bishop,Diocese of California;Konstantina E. Botsiou,Associate Professor of Modern History and International Politics,University of the Pelopennese;Peter Bouteneff,St.Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary;Tamara Grdzelidze,Ambassador of the Republic of Georgia to the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta;Sister Nectaria McLees,editor of Road to Emmaus:A Journal of Orthodox Faith and Culture,Serbian Orthodox nun;Marlise Simons,The New York Times; and Olav Fyske Tveit,General Secretary,World Council of Churches.*
Sponsors of the Symposium,besides the Ecumenical Patriarchate,include:
Holy Vatopedi Monastery,Mt.Athos,Greece;TITAN Company (Greece) S.A.;Southern New Hampshire University;IMERYS Industrial Minerals Greece S.A.;and Kyvernitis Travel S.A.*
Here are some of Patriarch Bartholomew's thoughts from his address:
The ecological crisis has revealed that our world constitutes a seamless whole,that our problems are universally shared.This means that no initiative or institution,no nation or corporation,neither science nor technology,are in a place to respond to the ecological crisis alone,without working closely together.*
The destruction of the natural environment can only be reversed through a radical change of our perspective towards nature that results from a radical change of our self-understanding as human beings.*
For the Orthodox Church,creation care-the preservation of nature and the protection of all people-emanates from the essence of our faith.Any kind of alienation between human beings and nature is a distortion of Christian theology and anthropology. *
May this symposium be an opportunity for inspiration,conversation and transformation.Our aim is to advance a collaborative response to the ecological crisis while advocating for a sustainable planet and socuial justice for humanity as a sacred legacy for all people,especially our children
Showing posts with label ecology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ecology. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Ecology Today:New Policy Being Developed for Red Wolf Recovery
The US Fish and Wildlife Service,a part of the Department of the Interior,has issued a Proposed Rule and notice of intent to prepare a National Environmental Policy Act document.The agency intends to gather information to develop a Proposed Rule that will revise the existing Non-essential Experimental Population (NEP) designation of Red wolves in North Carolina,and prepare a draft environmental review of the Proposed Rule.*
The Red wolf (Canis rufus) is currently listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.Its demise was directly related to human activities,such as drainage of vast wetland areas for agricultural purposes;construction of dam projects that inundated prime habitat;and predator control efforts at the private,State and Federal levels,USFWS explains.The animal's range was from Texas and Louisiana to the Ohio Valley and up the Atlantic Coast to Northern Pennsylvania or even Southern New York-and possibly farther north than that.In 1975,it was decided that all remaining Red wolves in the wild must be captured and put in a captive breeding program to save the species.This was because of:
1.a critically low wild population;
2.poor health due to disease,as well as internal and external parasites;
3.the threat of an expanding coyote population and consequent inbreeding.
Forty adult Red wolves were captured for the captive breeding program.By 1986,it had grown to 80 wolves in seven facilities and public and private zoos nationwide.*
In 1986,Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge,North Carolina,was selected for Red wolf reintroduction.From 1987-92,officials released 42 Red wolves there to establish the NEP.In 1993,the range was expanded with reintroductions in Pocosin Lake NWR,NC.Today,however,the only wild population is in Alligator River NWR.The USFWS conducted an independent review of the NEP in 2014 and the entire Red wolf recovery programme in 2015.From these reviews,it was ascertained that the current direction and management of the NEP is unacceptable to the USFWS and all stakeholders,including private landowners and the North Carolina Resources Committee.Consequently,the USFWS is considering a potential revision of the 1995 NEP final rule,citing:
1.risks of continuing hybridisation;
2.human-related mortality;
3.continued loss of habitat to sea level rise;
4.continued population decline leading to poor prospects for the NEP.
Therefore,the USFWS is considering whether the NEP should be merged with the captive population as one meta-population whereby individuals could be moved,not only from captivity into the wild,but also from the wild into captivity.Doing so will increase the size of the population and introduce the natural selection occurring in the NEP back into the captive population.The USFWS is proposing to change the goal of the current NEP project from solely that of establishing a self-sustaining wild population to a goal of also supporting viability of the captive wolves of the Red wolf breeding programme (proposed action).
The Red wolf (Canis rufus) is currently listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.Its demise was directly related to human activities,such as drainage of vast wetland areas for agricultural purposes;construction of dam projects that inundated prime habitat;and predator control efforts at the private,State and Federal levels,USFWS explains.The animal's range was from Texas and Louisiana to the Ohio Valley and up the Atlantic Coast to Northern Pennsylvania or even Southern New York-and possibly farther north than that.In 1975,it was decided that all remaining Red wolves in the wild must be captured and put in a captive breeding program to save the species.This was because of:
1.a critically low wild population;
2.poor health due to disease,as well as internal and external parasites;
3.the threat of an expanding coyote population and consequent inbreeding.
Forty adult Red wolves were captured for the captive breeding program.By 1986,it had grown to 80 wolves in seven facilities and public and private zoos nationwide.*
In 1986,Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge,North Carolina,was selected for Red wolf reintroduction.From 1987-92,officials released 42 Red wolves there to establish the NEP.In 1993,the range was expanded with reintroductions in Pocosin Lake NWR,NC.Today,however,the only wild population is in Alligator River NWR.The USFWS conducted an independent review of the NEP in 2014 and the entire Red wolf recovery programme in 2015.From these reviews,it was ascertained that the current direction and management of the NEP is unacceptable to the USFWS and all stakeholders,including private landowners and the North Carolina Resources Committee.Consequently,the USFWS is considering a potential revision of the 1995 NEP final rule,citing:
1.risks of continuing hybridisation;
2.human-related mortality;
3.continued loss of habitat to sea level rise;
4.continued population decline leading to poor prospects for the NEP.
Therefore,the USFWS is considering whether the NEP should be merged with the captive population as one meta-population whereby individuals could be moved,not only from captivity into the wild,but also from the wild into captivity.Doing so will increase the size of the population and introduce the natural selection occurring in the NEP back into the captive population.The USFWS is proposing to change the goal of the current NEP project from solely that of establishing a self-sustaining wild population to a goal of also supporting viability of the captive wolves of the Red wolf breeding programme (proposed action).
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