wolfyvegan

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The report highlights the growing influence of the Animal Outlook Network, launched in 2024, which combines behavioural science with animal advocacy. Volunteers supported legal actions leading to criminal animal cruelty charges, aided farmers transitioning from animal to plant-based agriculture, and helped organise VegWeek events at universities.

Jenny Canham, director of outreach and engagement at Animal Outlook, emphasised the crucial role of volunteers: “Volunteers enable us to extend our reach and deepen our impact in ways that would otherwise be impossible.”

 

“Everyone does it.” That’s how the representative of a sawmill described the practice of selling fake documents to illegal timber from the Brazilian Amazon as legitimate, a fraud known as timber laundering.

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...at least on paper.

One unusual characteristic of Latin American nations is their proclivity to adopt new constitutions that reflect periodic swings in political philosophies. These documents are notable for their length and the proliferation of sections addressing specific issues. Pan Amazon nations have relatively recent constitutions, and all have at least one article that obligates the state to protect the environment. Guyana (1980) and Suriname (1987) still use the constitutions adopted following their independence, which provide a brief statement assigning the state the ‘duty’ to protect [or improve] the environment. Similarly, the now-defunct constitutions of Ecuador (1978) and Peru (1979), written following military rule, committed the state to protecting the environment; following the traditions of constitutional jurisprudence, however, these constitutional iterations left the details to the legislature.

Brazil’s 1988 constitution was radically different. It includes ten articles that address nature conservation or environmental management – a thematic focus that is surpassed only by provisions detailing the federal governance structure. More importantly, it was the first country in the Pan Amazon to include access to a healthy environment as a basic human right. The national charter of Colombia of 1991 is similarly detailed, with seventeen articles mentioning rights and responsibilities linked to natural resource management and environmental protection. Peru’s 1993 constitution is less specific, but it identifies environmental management as a core government function. The Colombian Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Indigenous authorities of Pirá Paraná in Vaupés in their legal action against the Redd+ Baka Rokarire project. Image courtesy of Mauricio Romero Mendoza.

Venezuela’s 1999 constitution is radically different from those of Peru, Colombia and Brazil, because it lays out the framework for a socialist state, but it is not substantially different on environmental issues.

The constitutions of Ecuador (2008) and Bolivia (2009) represent another radical change in constitutional law. Not only do they include a phenomenal number of provisions that are typically the domain of legislation (land, water, air, forests, and biodiversity), but they also legalize the relationship between culture and the environment. Ecuador’s is the most emphatic, stating that Mother Nature (Pachamama) has rights that must be honored by human society.

archived (Wayback Machine)

 

...at least on paper.

One unusual characteristic of Latin American nations is their proclivity to adopt new constitutions that reflect periodic swings in political philosophies. These documents are notable for their length and the proliferation of sections addressing specific issues. Pan Amazon nations have relatively recent constitutions, and all have at least one article that obligates the state to protect the environment. Guyana (1980) and Suriname (1987) still use the constitutions adopted following their independence, which provide a brief statement assigning the state the ‘duty’ to protect [or improve] the environment. Similarly, the now-defunct constitutions of Ecuador (1978) and Peru (1979), written following military rule, committed the state to protecting the environment; following the traditions of constitutional jurisprudence, however, these constitutional iterations left the details to the legislature.

Brazil’s 1988 constitution was radically different. It includes ten articles that address nature conservation or environmental management – a thematic focus that is surpassed only by provisions detailing the federal governance structure. More importantly, it was the first country in the Pan Amazon to include access to a healthy environment as a basic human right. The national charter of Colombia of 1991 is similarly detailed, with seventeen articles mentioning rights and responsibilities linked to natural resource management and environmental protection. Peru’s 1993 constitution is less specific, but it identifies environmental management as a core government function. The Colombian Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Indigenous authorities of Pirá Paraná in Vaupés in their legal action against the Redd+ Baka Rokarire project. Image courtesy of Mauricio Romero Mendoza.

Venezuela’s 1999 constitution is radically different from those of Peru, Colombia and Brazil, because it lays out the framework for a socialist state, but it is not substantially different on environmental issues.

The constitutions of Ecuador (2008) and Bolivia (2009) represent another radical change in constitutional law. Not only do they include a phenomenal number of provisions that are typically the domain of legislation (land, water, air, forests, and biodiversity), but they also legalize the relationship between culture and the environment. Ecuador’s is the most emphatic, stating that Mother Nature (Pachamama) has rights that must be honored by human society.

archived (Wayback Machine)

 

...at least on paper.

One unusual characteristic of Latin American nations is their proclivity to adopt new constitutions that reflect periodic swings in political philosophies. These documents are notable for their length and the proliferation of sections addressing specific issues. Pan Amazon nations have relatively recent constitutions, and all have at least one article that obligates the state to protect the environment. Guyana (1980) and Suriname (1987) still use the constitutions adopted following their independence, which provide a brief statement assigning the state the ‘duty’ to protect [or improve] the environment. Similarly, the now-defunct constitutions of Ecuador (1978) and Peru (1979), written following military rule, committed the state to protecting the environment; following the traditions of constitutional jurisprudence, however, these constitutional iterations left the details to the legislature.

Brazil’s 1988 constitution was radically different. It includes ten articles that address nature conservation or environmental management – a thematic focus that is surpassed only by provisions detailing the federal governance structure. More importantly, it was the first country in the Pan Amazon to include access to a healthy environment as a basic human right. The national charter of Colombia of 1991 is similarly detailed, with seventeen articles mentioning rights and responsibilities linked to natural resource management and environmental protection. Peru’s 1993 constitution is less specific, but it identifies environmental management as a core government function. The Colombian Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Indigenous authorities of Pirá Paraná in Vaupés in their legal action against the Redd+ Baka Rokarire project. Image courtesy of Mauricio Romero Mendoza.

Venezuela’s 1999 constitution is radically different from those of Peru, Colombia and Brazil, because it lays out the framework for a socialist state, but it is not substantially different on environmental issues.

The constitutions of Ecuador (2008) and Bolivia (2009) represent another radical change in constitutional law. Not only do they include a phenomenal number of provisions that are typically the domain of legislation (land, water, air, forests, and biodiversity), but they also legalize the relationship between culture and the environment. Ecuador’s is the most emphatic, stating that Mother Nature (Pachamama) has rights that must be honored by human society.

archived (Wayback Machine)

 

archived (Wayback Machine)

While this article is about climate disinformation from the fossil fuel industry, it is worth noting that there are other dangerous myths about climate change, such as that grazing animals can be "regenerative" or that the leading cause of climate change is purely related to fossil fuels.

 

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As trees choked by saltwater die along low-lying coasts, marshes may move in — for better or worse, scientists are learning

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As trees choked by saltwater die along low-lying coasts, marshes may move in — for better or worse, scientists are learning

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In 2024, Bolivia’s state-owned lithium company, signed contracts worth a combined $2 billion with Russian and Chinese companies to mine lithium from Salar de Uyuni in the country’s southwest.

Local communities already experiencing water shortages say they’re concerned the projects will divert large amounts of freshwater from agricultural lands.

Experts have pointed out inconsistencies with the contracts, including the lack of environmental impact assessments required under Bolivian law, and the lack of community consultation.

Bolivia holds an estimated 23 million metric tons of lithium reserves, or about a fifth of the global total, which is in growing demand for production of electric vehicle batteries.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

We need both, obviously. Ending animal agriculture is the most practical way to achieve it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Anyway all policy scenarios with any hope of staying below 2ºC, let alone 1.5ºC, include a lot of net reforestation. So we’ll have to turn this around, somewhere.

It seems like people are working on it in various places, especially in the Amazon:

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Did you sort this out?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Did you ever find an answer to this re: reforestation projects? Could be useful to relocate termites in order to introduce the microbes to grasslands.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (3 children)

You should have plenty of space if you can plant in the park! Public fruit trees are a great community service, and if you tell the park people that you want to plant native trees, they'd be foolish to say no. More fruit for you, more fruit for the birds, more fruit for anyone smart enough to harvest it, less grass and prickly stuff, more shade in the heat of summer. Everyone wins. Including the people at the persimmon nursery. :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Projects like this are in desperate need of serious people to help them scale up. If even a small fraction of the people who see articles like this (or videos, or whatever) were to contribute some of their time and energy to the projects themselves, then the odds wouldn't be so against them, and that little bit of progress would become reforestation of entire regions. The question isn't whether it's possible for a project like this to succeed; the question is whether there are enough people willing to make it happen.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

https://worldfloraonline.org/ is useful for verifying plant names and finding botanical descriptions.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (5 children)

There's never enough space! Have you looked into nearby lands where you could guerrilla plant some things? At least you got some pawpaws planted already. That's probably the most important thing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

This is an excellent idea, much needed and long overdue! If this takes off, then it'll be an important part of a sustainable future (along with the transportation technology to make the swaps possible, of course.)

It's not clear from looking at the site whether this is for exchanging seeds too. Seeds are much easier to transport, so it makes sense to also include listings for seeds. I recommend asking people to indicate what time year their seeds are available, as many seeds have a short viability.

Another important inclusion would be information about transporting seeds and plants long distances. That could include guides on how to prepare and pack them as well as information about seed-/plant-friendly transportation services in various parts of the world. I think that people who offer such a service (and can provide proof of it) should be allowed to make a listing for their service as well.

There's a lot of potential here! If you like these ideas, I'll gladly discuss further over DMs. :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

As others have said, this article is not very accurate. Annual crops produce over a short window, so one would need to have successive crops lined up in order to keep the space productive. Growing something to get only one harvest is a very poor return on investment. If one wants to survive without depending on "the system" at all, then trying to do so outside of the equatorial zone is living life on hard mode.

Near the equator, one could survive on only bananas for a while, and that would take a small fraction of a hectare, probably about as much space as this article talks about, but realistically, eating only banana long-term is not feasible, and growing more variety requires more space. There is also the feast-or-famine issue if the gaps between harvests are too long. Preservation of the harvest is time-consuming and requires infrastructure that not everyone has (e.g. refrigeration). Living in a neighbourhood where everyone is growing food in order to survive would allow for trade, and so each individual/household would not need to diversify their food production as much, and someone's excess that they cannot preserve could fill someone else's harvest gap, reducing the total amount of land that each requires. Ideally, that's the way to do it, and some people are trying. Tree fruits make the most sense as staple foods, since they become self-maintaining after a few years (other than pruning to control size), and in a sufficiently diverse food forest ecosystem, the trees won't deplete the soil or invite plagues, so they don't require externally-produced fertilisers and -icides. With enough different species and a fairly non-seasonal climate, it's possible to grow enough fruit year-round, with some high-calorie staple(s) always in season.

But lettuce and lima beans? Good luck with that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

For transporting grafted plants in luggage (in order to get them through customs), this video explains the process of removing soil, bracing graft union, and so on.

Transporting plant material internationally

or YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cyn9gDx2seU

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

I remember reading a few years back that about half of the total world production of palm oil goes to "livestock" feed, but I cannot find the source now.

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