Ami Bangla Jani Na (I don't know Bengali).. Yet!

I’ve recently returned to Australia after a brief visit to Bangladesh.  It was a time filled with meetings, lots of rice and curry, visiting field projects, catching planes, trains and dodging traffic. A 16 hour journey that started in Dhaka at 7am, a train and two cars later arriving in Cox’s Bazaar at 11pm was definitely one for the books. But upon reflection, most importantly it was a trip that left me inspired by humanity, while opening my eyes to delve deeper into serious development issues and challenges. 

Bangladesh is a Country facing many challenges including corruption, poverty and is also widely recognised as one of the country’s most vulnerable to climate change. It’s however stunning and very easy to take an interesting picture with all the colours, activity and mayhem. It has an enormous coastline and marsh and mangrove jungles which are home to the endangered Bengal tiger. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see one!

-For now, it's play time!-

The projects I help support vary in focus and objective, though to give you a brief idea they include working towards the development of a National CBR (Community Based Rehabilitation) Strategy, Flash Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, Disaster Risk Reduction and Promotion Of Human Rights for persons with disabilities which involves the formation and development of Self Help Groups for Women and People with Disabilities.

-Program staff Shahnawaz, Bari and myself during a Self Help Group meeting-

 

The rural communities I visited in both North and Southern Bangladesh have very little infrastructure with poor to no access to health and education services. So what usual story? Well add in poor access to fresh water, energy, fuel, transport, and lacking opportunity to generate income for men and women to provide for their families. These communities and homes are also flooded nearly every year by flash floods across the country. Most rural communities rely on agriculture and subsistence farming for their primary income eg rice, jute, tea.  For families, this is what mostly keeps them going.

In many cases though, people with disabilities (men, women, and children) face additional barriers because of impairment that may prevent them from accessing services, becoming independent, get an education, and develop a livelihood or form of income. Imagine if you were unable to walk, had no access to assistive devices (eg wheelchair), even if you had a wheelchair the roads and buildings are not wheelchair accessible, no health insurance or doctors, community and social barriers (stigma, cultural beliefs) associated with having a disability, no public transport or cars available for support are all added to the list of challenges faced. This hopefully creates a picture of why the most poor and vulnerable people in the world are often (not always) those with a disability.

 

                                             -A community tube well with accessible ramp -

These are just some of the issues these projects aim to address and in particular ways. One of the many inspirational outcomes I’ve seen from the implementation of these projects is the formation of Self Help Groups for Women and People with Disabilities. These Self Help Groups include members of the community who are either someone with an impairment or are a relative of someone with a disability. These group members have received training in human rights, the UN Convention of Rights of Persons with disabilities (UNCRPD), leadership, local advocacy and government systems and processes. This is to ensure that these members own and are responsible for their own development, which allow their communities and local governments to become aware of these rights and ultimately improve the current situation for women and people with disabilities. It also allows for members to generate their own savings and possibly develop their own livelihood projects.

 - A womens Self Helf Group meeting in a village near Cox's Bazaar-

 

There’s much more going on here, and a limit to what I can post on the blog, but wanted to provide a brief snapshot to what I saw and experienced. It was a privilege seeing first hand the changes made, and how something as simple as leadership and training in human rights have empowered these people to speak up not only for themselves but to act as voices for other vulnerable people in their communities. In the end its results like these that make it all worth it.

Happy reading!

Best wishes,

Luke Purcell   

Antarctic Ocean - Join the watch!

Surprisingly I found myself watching a few episodes of Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch last week. The show documents the lives of several teams of fishermen during King crab seasons in the Bering Sea Alaska. The stories are of ordinary men facing heroic levels of wind, water and hardship, a lifestyle perhaps influenced by family and local opportunity. A job that earns them a living to ensure they are able to provide for their families.

It’s a reminder that when tackling issues of marine conservation, these men and women involved in the fight to prevent fishing in areas of significance are not the evil representation that is often portrayed. I mention this initially to try and create some perspective to what is currently happening on the opposite end of the world.   

Recent news in efforts for the protection of marine areas in Antarctica involves the Antarctic Ocean Alliance. In 2011, the Antarctic Ocean Alliance which includes environmental and conservation organizations like Greenpeace, WWF, and are supported by celebrities such as Edward Norton and American oceanographer Sylvia Earle, proposed the creation of a network of marine protected areas and no-take marine reserves in 19 specific areas in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the body that regulates this marine environment, has set a target date of 2012 for establishing the initial areas in a network of Antarctic marine protected areas.

-Map of proposed MPA's, source AOA-

One of the critical areas that the Antarctic Ocean Alliance seeks protection for is the Ross Sea region, including the Balleny Islands, the Pacific seamounts and the Ross Sea embayment. This is the first in a series of “Antarctic Ocean Legacy” proposals from the Alliance. For the Ross Sea region, the proposal is to establish a fully protected marine reserve of approximately 3.6 million square kilometres. The proposal is justified based on the work of scientists, governments and non-government organisations (NGOs) over the past five years highlighting the environmental importance of the region. Over 500 scientists worldwide have supported the call "to protect vital Ross Sea habitats including the whole continental slope and shelf because of their environmental and scientific significance.

The Ross Sea supports some of the most well-known Antarctic Species which include:

38% of the world population of Adélie penguins

26% of the world population of emperor penguins

30% or more of the world population of Antarctic petrels

6% of the world population of Antarctic minke whales

45% of the Southern Paci"c population of Weddell seals

50% of the world’s Ross Sea killer whales (Type C)

-Emperor Penguins, National Geographic-

Many fisheries scientists argue that such reserves offer the best hope for restoring ecosystems stressed by overfishing, pollution and global warming. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, is planning to discuss proposals from the United States and New Zealand for the creation of some reserves when it meets in late October in Hobart, Tasmania. (Source, Antarctic Ocean Alliance)

To help support the efforts of the proposals and learn more about the importance of these marine protected areas please visit http://antarcticocean.org/whats-at-stake.php , watch the video and join the watch!!!

It’s a great little resource, so take time to look at the supporting publications and links to other related resources.

Many thanks and happy reading!

Luke Purcell

Let's Make A Deal...

A friend at work recently gave me the book ‘As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela’, written back in 2006 by UK Comedian and Activist Mark Thomas. I’ve only just started reading it (I’m about a quarter of the way through) but it’s drawn me in and I’m enthralled despite the issue it focuses on.  Mark writes about the global arms trade, exposing the lack of international regulation and how easy it is to sell firearms to the likes of Mugabe, circumventing official government ‘codes of conduct’. If you’re looking for an eye opening read I recommend getting yourself a copy, or borrow a copy to save a few trees. I’ll keep reading the book but decided I wanted to dig a little deeper and find out more about the current issue and what the international community is doing to resolve it.

Today, there are over 600 million items of small arms in circulation around the world. This may not seem significant, but according to Oxfam, around 500,000 individuals die in small arms-conflicts every year, approximately one death per minute. About 60% of human rights violations documented by Amnesty International have involved the use of small arms and light weapons. The US is the top supplier of weapons to other countries, accounting for around 30% of worldwide weapons sales, followed by Russia, Britain, Germany, France and China. The main buyers of arms are China, India, and the United Arab Emirates. (Source, The Economist).

- Child in Sri Lanka living near a landmine site (Oxfam Website) -

 It’s frightening to learn how the Western World can be indirectly responsible for facilitating war, conflict and providing weapons to groups and leaders who commit atrocities against human rights. These can range from kidnapping, rape, murder, execution, and recruiting child soldiers all which invariably lead to forced displacement and starvation. The vast majority of armed conflicts today are internal. Many internal conflicts have persisted for decades, despite significant international efforts to find solutions. These conflicts are often triggered by issues of identity, ethnicity, religion and competition for resources, particularly oil and mineral wealth. I’m sure we all remember Dia who gets kidnapped and recruited as a Child Soldier in the movie Blood Diamond? The movie depicts the Sierra Leone Civil War and portrays a perfect example of how demand by the Western World for a commodity such as diamonds pays to fuel an internal conflict and provide groups with Firearms. Yes Leo Dicaprio performs a heroic rescue but the reality is many of these children are killed, wounded, disabled or grow up to live a life of abhorrent crime.

- Somalia continues to suffer from conflict and food crises (Oxfam website)- 

I have a way to go in learning about it all, but it seems there needs to be more accountability on the arms trade within the international community.  Although international organisations such as the United Nations have advanced in their capacity to monitor and report on human rights in conflict situations, few perpetrators of mass abuses against civilians are held accountable for their actions.
On a positive note progress on regulation of global arms is slowly improving. Since the 1990s Amnesty International has been campaigning for a global treaty to set rules for the strict regulation of the international arms trade. Leading up to July 2012, all governments will negotiate the text of the treaty at the United Nations. Amnesty International believes it is crucial that the treaty includes:

• Strong rules that protect human rights, preventing arms from being sent to those who would most likely use them to seriously violate these rights;
• A control list that includes all types of weapons, munitions and other arms;
• Clear rules to apply and monitor the Treaty with reporting to ensure they are enforced.

The international trade in conventional arms is not the only arms control issue addressed by Amnesty International. They also research and address problems posed by inhumane weapons, ‘less lethal’ weapons and inhumane technologies used in policing and prisons. (Source, Amnesty International).

- Talks underaway at  the UN on a Global Arms Trade Treaty (UN Website) -

I’ve only skimmed the surface here, and the global arms trade is far more complex and layered, requiring a little more than a blog post to cover it all. Let’s hope that international organisations such as the United Nations, Oxfam and Amnesty International in collaboration with governments are able to progress in advocating for the significant intervention needed to help control the illegal arms trade.

Thanks for reading!

Best wishes,

 

Luke Purcell

Good Morning Vietnam!

In January this year I went on a monitoring visit to Vietnam. It was a work related trip but much of my travels have been for work and regardless of how busy it gets, it’s always re-energizing to see a new part of the world. Without fail my mates normally come up with a last minute quip to prep me up before flying out.  Before heading off to Vietnam it was ‘remember to look in the trees and watch out for Charlie’! Brilliant!

Although this wasn’t my first visit to South East Asia, Vietnam was still a wonderfully new experience for me. As soon as we landed in Ho Chi Minh City, I took in a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief, as if almost feeling at home. It could have also been realising the hard work over the last 6 months was paying off. It’s probably more than that though as I’m forever passionate about visiting developing countries and roads less travelled. Call it the adventurer in me but it always seems to be where I feel the most ‘alive’. A combination of new sights and experiences, increased knowledge and awareness about the world around us and forming relationships with inspirational characters are a few of the plus sides of working in the development sector.

-Tap Rua Monument on Hoam Kiem Lake, Hanoi-

I won’t delve into detail about the work involved, but as part of my work portfolio I help support Vietnam project monitoring efforts to help increase the capacity of hospitals particularly relating to eye health at district, provincial and national levels.

In 10 days my colleague and I travelled to 3 different provinces, 6 districts and 4 communes which meant we spent every second day travelling. We were lucky enough to travel with a team from our Regional Office who help manage the projects in-country, which meant ‘Xin Chiao’ and ‘Cam On’ was about as much Vietnamese I needed to know when it came to ordering food.  Little to say we were exhausted by the end of it all, it was still a pleasure meeting and working with some key players who are leading the efforts to increase Vietnam’s capacity to reach the poorest of the poor in accessing eye health. I was very nervous at the prospect of sitting in a hospital board room meeting with doctors, hospital directors and project managers discussing and providing input into how they are implementing their projects.  None the less a quick hello, shake of their hand and a big smile was all that was needed to help calm the nerves. I’m pretty sure it all went well.

-Students lining up for refractive error screening -

My favourite part of Vietnam was Son La Province. Son La is located about an hour flight from Hanoi to Dien Bien City, well known for the final battle with the French in 1954, it's then a 3 hour drive through the mountains until you reach Son La City. A rural and isolated part of the country Son La is one the poorest provinces in Vietnam, and its access to health and medical care is also very low.  The gorgeous scenery with rolling rice paddy hills, and cloud covered peaks, with lovely people who won’t stop inviting you in for tea. Even a few of the stray dogs are nice enough to pat, apart from one that nearly took my hand off! The food is also amazing and I was surprised to see how much the food changed from one province to another. I could easily turn into a vegetarian in Vietnam with all the delicious options and flavours.

-The hills of Son La and surroundings -

So to sum it all up, the trip to Vietnam was another remarkable journey to a different part of the world and hopefully there’s another chance to visit in the future. Maybe next time I’ll be able to go for a holiday!

Happy reading and best wishes,

Luke Purcell

Wildlife trade, still a threat to extinction?

As you know, human populations have grown exponentially, but so too has the demand for wildlife. People in developed countries have become used to a lifestyle which fuels demand for wildlife, including having access to a variety of sea foods, leather goods, timbers, medicine etc. People living in extreme poverty however regard wildlife as a means to meet their short-term needs and will likely trade it for whatever they can get. I’ve worked with people including ex-poachers, many of them who never wanted to see wildlife destroyed, trapped in a dangerous form of income generation, before being educated and trained in sustainable livelihood alternatives.

The Millennium Development Goals recognise the link between biodiversity and sustainable development. Sustainable trade in natural resources can actually contribute to local and national economies creating incentives to conserve species and their natural habitats. However unsustainable and illegal wildlife trade is still threatening many species around the world, driving them towards extinction and leading to loss in revenues at the national and international level (Source, www.traffic.org ) .

Captive baby Sumatran Orang-utan © TRAFFIC SE Asia/Chris R. Shepherd

Because the trade in wild animals and plants crosses borders between countries, the effort to regulate it requires international cooperation to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Today, it helps protect more than 30,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. (Source www.cites.org )

To try and put this into some perspective, I thought I'd mention a few points about the well documented decline in wild Tiger numbers. Today there are believed to be fewer than 2,500 breeding adult Tigers left in the wild, and despite their protection status their numbers are still declining. Tigers are currently listed as Endangered by the IUCN.

The Siberian Tiger P. t. altaica lives in the boreal forests of the Russian Far East © Kevin Schafer / WWF

Once found across Asia, from Turkey to eastern Russia, over the past century Tigers have disappeared from south-west and central Asia, from Java and Bali in Indonesia and from large parts of South-east and East Asia. Tigers have lost 93% of their historic range, and more than 40% of their range in the last decade. Much of the remaining habitat is becoming increasingly fragmented. Today, Tigers are found only in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Viet Nam, and possibly in North Korea.

In the early 1990s, trade in Tiger parts was banned worldwide, but Tigers remain in serious danger from illegal wildlife trade poaching mainly for their bones for use in traditional Asian medicines, and for their pelts and other body parts, such as teeth, skin and claws, as decorative items. (Source www.traffic.org )

The skin of a Tiger killed by poachers in Nepal © Jeff Foott / WWF-Canon

If you're interested in supporting work to curb illegal wildlife trade of tigers and other species, there are the well-known conservation groups, but there’s also a brilliant organisation dedicated to wildlife trade called ‘TRAFFIC’. Their Vision is a “world in which trade in wild plants and animals is managed at sustainable levels without damaging the integrity of ecological systems and in such a manner that it makes a significant contribution to human needs, supports local and national economies and helps to motivate commitments to the conservation of wild species and their habitats”. (Source www.traffic.org )

They’ve got a great website so if you’ve enjoyed the read, you’ll love having a look: www.traffic.org  

Happy Reading!

Best wishes,

Luke Purcell.

Sources/References - www.traffic.org , www.wwf.org , www.cites.org , United Nations Environment Programme.

A Fishy Story...

I would hope that most people are aware of the vast threats facing our world’s oceans, and it’s something that I’ve taken an interest in over recent years. If I was to ask you about sustainability of the sea, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it whales? Perhaps coral, sharks or global warming? Is there any chance that tuna was first on your list?

Fishing is a central livelihood and food security option to over 200 million people, especially for the developing world where one in five people across the globe depend on fish as their primary source of protein. But amid facts and figures about aquaculture's soaring worldwide production rates, other, more sobering, statistics reveal that global main marine fish stocks are in jeopardy, from increased overfishing and environmental degradation.

An example (there are many more) is the Southern Bluefin Tuna found in Southern Hemisphere open waters and listed as ‘critically endangered’ by the IUCN (World Conservation Union). Over ninety per cent of Southern Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) are caught near the Great Australian Bight, in South Australia, as juveniles. They are then farmed until they reach maturity, and sold to a dozen international markets, including Japan where the meat is prized for use as sashimi. Yes those sushi rolls many of us eat for lunch have actually played a key role in the decline of Southern Bluefin Tuna Species.  For more information on Southern Blue Fin Tuna and other marine information feel free to look at the Australian Marine Conservation Society site at http://www.amcs.org.au .

Southern Bluefin Tuna. Photo Courtesty of ABC Website

I recently watched a documentary that gives a great insight and perspective to the reality of overfishing on a global scale. I definitely recommend it to those passionate conservationists or even if you’re just curiously interested, it will grab you hook line and sinker!  The documentary is called End of The Line and you can view the trailer and access more information at www.endoftheline.com.

Here is some information courtesy of End of the Line Website. The film has three basic messages for consumers, citizens and companies to help with the situation:

·         Ask before you buy and only eat sustainable seafood.

·         Tell politicians and respect the science, cut the fishing fleet

·         Join campaigns for marine protected areas and responsible fishing

·         If you buy a fish in a shop or in restaurant, ask where it comes from; whether it is from a sustainable source, or is it an endangered or over-exploited species?

If you’re not sure there are useful guides to what fish you can buy with a (fairly) clear conscience. In UK one is produced by the Marine Conservation Society. You can find the guide on their website.

 

In the USA, the Monterey Bay Aquarium issues one. You can click through from here. www.SeafoodWatch.org

 And the Marine Stewardship Council runs a certification scheme for fish produced according to principles of sustainability, which you can find out about on the MSC website.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment and discuss!

Best wishes and thanks,

Luke Purcell

Sources: Marine Conservation Society Australia, UN Website, End of the Line Website, World Wildlife Fund, www.abc.com.au  

Kenya - A World Away...

Yesterday I woke up to get ready for work. I got out of my big queen size bed, had a hot shower, put on my ironed shirt, business clothes, and quickly ate some cereal with milk and fresh juice from the fridge before walking out the door and driving to the office for the day.

A year ago, a typical day for me in Shimoni, Kenya usually involved waking up on base in a remote village along the South Coast with 15 or so volunteers ready to start the day.

After a quick basic breakfast of weetabix I might have spent a few hours in the morning working in the office wearing board shorts and flip flops (t-shirt optional), organised base supplies for the week and then walked into the village to find one of our local suppliers to help get us fresh water (no drinking water taps in Shimoni).  The afternoon may have involved training some volunteers in different habitat types before driving our 18ft powerboat ‘squirrel’ across the channel to nearby Wasini Island to catch up with staff and interns. A wash in the ocean during high tide to watch one of the most incredible sunset views, dinner with the team and debrief, quickly followed by a drink under the stars. To be honest this is one of the more average days of living in Kenya!

Teaching at Mkwiro Secondary School

Wakling through Tsavo National Park - Mt Kili in the background

On the best days in Kenya, I might have been with our marine team researching coral reefs spotting dolphins and whales around Kisite Mpunguti Marine Park, walking through forest surveying Angolan Black and White Colobus, planting trees in the community with the guys from Friends of Shimoni Forest, or helping on a construction project in remote Tsavo West National Park. The people are really the best part of the whole experience though. It’s the people you meet, work and form lifelong friendships with that really create the memories, oh and I can’t forget all the photos! If you go to Africa take a good camera it’s worth every dollar!

Lucas, Tim, Dave, myself and Adam at Shimoni Reef

With all this said it really is only a small insight into the year I spent in Kenya.  Although I only left 8 months ago, the enormous contrast to life in Australia really does make it feel a lot longer. For those who have never been to Africa, thinking about going, or about to, be prepared for the reverse culture shock once you’re back in the developed world. It does take a while to readjust but I promise you, as time goes on you do eventually settle back in. A word of warning, if you venture to Africa, chances are you’ll want to go back again. I’m fortunate enough to have a job in Melbourne that involves travel to different countries and allows me to get back out into field work, which does help ease the itchy feet, but sometimes my time in Kenya does seem unsurpassable. However I do my best to remember to keep patient, plan ahead and sure enough the next great adventure is never far away!

Happy reading and best wishes,

Luke Purcell