The new vice president of the Ecuadorian Football FederationCarlos Galarza, described this Tuesday as “fruitful” the first meeting, held virtually, that the newly promoted president of the entity, Jaime Estrada, with the selector Jordi Cruyff.“The president has already spoken. I know he had ua very fruitful conversationthen hopefully in those next days we continued talking“Galarza, who defended the dismissal of Francisco Egas as president of the FEF.“I have no problem with him Professor Cruyff, neither with the sports director, (the Spanish) Antonio Cordón. My discomfort is with Francisco Egas for the procedure he followed without consulting and when making the things unilaterally“Galarza said, referring to the money invested in hiring the current coach and his team. He also alluded to Coach Cruyff’s Travels to Spain and Italy. “We did not know because the Mr. Egas did not let us know that the technician traveled in concordance only with him, but we within the Board of Directors were not informed “, he specified.Galarza he claimed that Estrada’s dialogue with the Spanish-Dutch coach was for give you peace of mind, just like recently with cord, and also to try to reach an agreement in the reduction of your salary before the economic crisis derived from the spread of COVID-19 contagion. Hours before Estrada told Cordón that he regretted that he and Cruyff were amidst the controversy which ended with the departure of Egas.The controversiala was unleashed by Egas’s decision to exceed two million dollars hiring a technical staff for the national team commanded by Cruyff, despite the fact that the Board of Directors had only approved a maximum amount of four million dollars. read more

Article published by Xavier Bartaburu Agriculture, Amazon Agriculture, Amazon Conservation, Amazon Destruction, Amazon Rainforest, Biodiversity, Clean Energy, Commodity Roundtables, Conservation, Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Ethanol, Forests, Global Trade, International Trade, Sugar, Trade Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed a decree revoking a zoning regulation for the sugarcane industry, effectively allowing for cultivation of the crop in the Amazon and other areas of primary forest.The measure is controversial because it wasn’t requested by the industry, which, under the previous regulation, was permitted to expand onto degraded land and cattle pasture covering six times the area currently planted with sugarcane.The government has justified the move as necessary to boost the ethanol industry in Amazonian states, but experts warn the end of the zoning restriction could present an obstacle to ethanol exports to the European Union, damaging the biofuel sector.To date, the sugarcane industry has remained dissociated from the deforestation linked to the cattle and soy industries. Environmentalists say this new decree could end that exception, while also sending the message that the government sees no value in protecting standing forests. A decree issued by President Jair Bolsonaro that would allow the cultivation of sugarcane in the Amazon — where it currently isn’t allowed —  has surprised even the local sugarcane industry, which has previously rejected the notion as unfeasible, unnecessary, and a minefield of reputational risk.The decree was published in the government’s official gazette on Nov. 5. Since then, no representatives from UNICA, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, have commented on the change. In its only statement on the matter, published on its website, UNICA described the zoning regulation repealed by Bolsonaro’s decree as an “instrument of the past.” But it also emphasized that under the RenovaBio bioethanol initiative, Brazil’s national biofuels policy that comes into force in 2020, that the industry had “decided that it would be [committed to a] zero … deforestation policy.”The industries most closely associated with deforestation in the Amazon are cattle ranching and soy cultivation. The sugarcane industry, which has made Brazil the world’s No. 2 producer of bioethanol fuel after the United States, has avoided that association for several reasons. The first is that the crop is simply unsuited for that particular environment; heat or drought stress causes the plant to stop growing.The industry has also seen no justification for expanding into protected areas when available land is plentiful elsewhere. The newly repealed Sugarcane Agroecological Zoning regulation provided for the possibility of planting sugarcane on approximately 60 million hectares (150 million acres) outside forest areas, in degraded or pasture areas, without having to expand into the Amazon, Pantanal or other biomes with primary forest. Even restricted, the permissible land bank is six times greater than the total planted sugarcane area in Brazil at present.There’s also the reputational risk of being associated with deforestation in the Amazon. That was the main message from the National Sugar-Alcohol Forum, of which UNICA is a member, when it met in March last year. The forum advocated the rejection of a bill in the National Senate that would authorize the inclusion of the Amazon in sugarcane zoning plans.“Besides these technical justifications, permission [for planting in the Amazon] can generate a totally unnecessary conflict with environmentalist arguments, outside the theses of conservation and environmental preservation… with which the sugar-energy sector is in solidarity,” the Forum wrote in a letter to the Senate.Sugarcane harvest in Alagoas state. Image by Cícero R.C. Omena via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).“The agroecological zoning was a factor of tranquility to Brazil’s sugar and alcohol sector, which managed to completely dissociate itself from the deforestation agenda,” said Fernando Guedes Pinto, public policy manager at the Institute for Forestry and Agricultural Certification and Management (Imaflora). “Unlike meat and soy, they didn’t need to explain to customers. Now their safeguard has fallen.”Pinto emphasized that it is especially important for the bioethanol industry to not be linked to the destruction of environmentally sensitive areas. Ethanol made from sugarcane, and used as a replacement for gasoline, is considered a renewable energy source and a way to reduce greenhouse emissions, especially for export markets in the European Union and Japan. In the U.S., bioethanol is made from corn, and the production process emits more carbon than it absorbs. Compared to gasoline, sugarcane ethanol produces 89 percent less greenhouse gas emissions, while corn ethanol produces 38 percent less than the fossil fuel.“This means that Brazil has an important [environmental] competitive advantage over its competitors, as long as it can ensure that sugarcane does not generate deforestation,” explained Raoni Rajão, a researcher at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). “Maintaining the zoning is a condition for the European Union to maintain its quota of 850 million liters [224.5 million gallons] of ethanol from Mercosur,” the South American trade bloc of which Brazil is a part.In fact, a study published this year by the European Commission concludes that if the ban on sugarcane planting in the Amazon is maintained, production expansion impacts on native vegetation both in the Amazon and in the Cerrado savanna biome would be less than 2 percent. “It is a transition opportunity for the Brazilian sugar industry to meet the growing demand for ethanol and sugar while meeting the country’s sectoral mitigation targets and compliance with EU environmental criteria,” the authors write.Cid Caldas, the agroenergy coordinator at the Ministry of Agriculture, said the revocation of the Sugarcane Agroecological Zoning was a result of pressure from the governments of Amazonian states, which have ethanol-processing mills within their borders, but no local sugarcane plantations to provide the feedstock. “What was the technical justification [of Bolsonaro’s decision]? None,” he said, adding that there had been significant demand to change the rules.Mongabay sent questions to the Ministry of Economy requesting the market studies that supported the new measure. There was no response as of the time this article was published.Sugarcane is unlikely to thrive in the Amazon due to the high heat and moisture of its climate; also the industry has until now avoided associating itself with Amazon deforestation. Image by Cícero R.C. Omena via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).Government mixed messagesCaldas noted that the now annulled zoning regulation “didn’t [actually] prohibit planting anywhere,” including in the Amazon. However, what it did do was prohibit the use of funding from state financial institutions for sugarcane crops grown outside the zoned areas. Companies could still get funding from elsewhere to do so, even in the Amazon, though that was unlikely due to the lack of government financial support. This changes under the new decree.Caldas noted, however, that other restrictions would still apply to Amazon sugarcane startups: “For the businessman to set up a production unit to process sugarcane, he will be under all the restrictions of the Forest Code,” he explained. Brazil’s Forest Code authorizes land clearing on up to 20 percent of privately held Amazonian lands put into sugarcane production — the rest must be conserved.An even more stringent standard is set by Brazil’s National Biofuels Policy, RenovaBio. It provides incentives for biofuel production, and while it doesn’t tolerate deforestation — companies found clearing primary forest are excluded and lose any benefit provided by law to agroindustry — it is a voluntary membership program.“If deforestation and sugarcane planting are worth the risk, they will be done,” UFMG’s Rajão said. However, “This could compromise the entire [supply] chain, which becomes contaminated with deforestation in the Amazon.” That reputational contamination could result in the environmentally sensitive EU rejecting Brazilian produced sugarcane exports.There’s one key difference now, Rajão said: Companies operating in areas previously ineligible for low-interest public financing now no longer need to worry about higher market interest rates.As most of Brazil’s sugarcane plantations and processing mills are located in the country’s midwest, where there’s still plenty of fertile land and a favorable climate for expansion, it appears unlikely that sugarcane cultivation will immediately flare up in the Amazon. But environmentalists say the forest is still at risk.“The message that the [Bolsonaro] government gives when changing public policy is that the standing forest has no value,” Imaflora’s Pinto said. “It puts more fuel on the fire because it is another sign that the Amazon can be occupied. It accentuates conflicts and exacerbates existing problems. This is one thing Brazil doesn’t need.”Mauro Armelin, executive director of Amigos da Terra Amazônia Brasileira, an NGO, said the new decree raises concerns because it stimulates land speculation in a region already rife with numerous counterfeit land titles and massive illegal land grabs. He linked the new measure to a bid to permit land purchases in the Amazon by foreign entities, as contained in a congressional bill that was unarchived last February.“What will happen is that even if no sugarcane is planted in the next five years in the Amazon, or no new [processing] plant is installed, the real estate speculation industry, which works in the long term, will win,” Armelin said. “There will be land appreciation, leading the agricultural frontier deeper into the forest, where the land grabbers are, because the border areas are being bought for sugarcane, replacing pastures, which will be taken farther north.”Banner image: A sugarcane plantation near Capixaba, Acre state. Image by Lou Gold via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0.This story was first reported by Mongabay’s Brazil team and published in Portuguese here on our Brazil site on Nov. 11, 2019.FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page. Popular in the CommunitySponsoredSponsoredOrangutan found tortured and decapitated prompts Indonesia probeEMGIES17 Jan, 2018We will never know the full extent of what this poor Orangutan went through before he died, the same must be done to this evil perpetrator(s) they don’t deserve the air that they breathe this has truly upset me and I wonder for the future for these wonderful creatures. So called ‘Mankind’ has a lot to answer for we are the only ones ruining this world I prefer animals to humans any day of the week.What makes community ecotourism succeed? In Madagascar, location, location, locationScissors1dOther countries should also learn and try to incorporateWhy you should care about the current wave of mass extinctions (commentary)Processor1 DecAfter all, there is no infinite anything in the whole galaxy!Infinite stupidity, right here on earth.The wildlife trade threatens people and animals alike (commentary)Anchor3dUnfortunately I feel The Chinese have no compassion for any living animal. They are a cruel country that as we knowneatbeverything that moves and do not humanily kill these poor animals and insects. They have no health and safety on their markets and they then contract these diseases. Maybe its karma maybe they should look at the way they live and stop using animals for all there so called remedies. DisgustingConservationists welcome China’s wildlife trade banThobolo27 JanChina has consistently been the worlds worst, “ Face of Evil “ in regards our planets flora and fauna survival. In some ways, this is nature trying to fight back. This ban is great, but the rest of the world just cannot allow it to be temporary, because history has demonstrated that once this coronavirus passes, they will in all likelihood, simply revert to been the planets worst Ecco Terrorists. Let’s simply not allow this to happen! How and why they have been able to degrade this planets iconic species, rape the planets rivers, oceans and forests, with apparent impunity, is just mind boggling! Please no more.Probing rural poachers in Africa: Why do they poach?Carrot3dOne day I feel like animals will be more scarce, and I agree with one of my friends, they said that poaching will take over the world, but I also hope notUpset about Amazon fires last year? Focus on deforestation this year (commentary)Bullhorn4dLies and more leisSponsoredSponsoredCoke is again the biggest culprit behind plastic waste in the PhilippinesGrapes7 NovOnce again the article blames companies for the actions of individuals. It is individuals that buy these products, it is individuals that dispose of them improperly. If we want to change it, we have to change, not just create bad guys to blame.Brazilian response to Bolsonaro policies and Amazon fires growsCar4 SepThank you for this excellent report. I feel overwhelmed by the ecocidal intent of the Bolsonaro government in the name of ‘developing’ their ‘God-given’ resources.U.S. allocates first of $30M in grants for forest conservation in SumatraPlanet4dcarrot hella thick ;)Melting Arctic sea ice may be altering winds, weather at equator: studyleftylarry30 JanThe Arctic sea ice seems to be recovering this winter as per the last 10-12 years, good news.Malaysia has the world’s highest deforestation rate, reveals Google forest mapBone27 Sep, 2018Who you’re trying to fool with selective data revelation?You can’t hide the truth if you show historical deforestation for all countries, especially in Europe from 1800s to this day. WorldBank has a good wholesome data on this.Mass tree planting along India’s Cauvery River has scientists worriedSurendra Nekkanti23 JanHi Mongabay. Good effort trying to be objective in this article. I would like to give a constructive feedback which could help in clearing things up.1. It is mentioned that planting trees in village common lands will have negative affects socially and ecologically. There is no need to even have to agree or disagree with it, because, you also mentioned the fact that Cauvery Calling aims to plant trees only in the private lands of the farmers. So, plantation in the common lands doesn’t come into the picture.2.I don’t see that the ecologists are totally against this project, but just they they have some concerns, mainly in terms of what species of trees will be planted. And because there was no direct communication between the ecologists and Isha Foundation, it was not possible for them to address the concerns. As you seem to have spoken with an Isha spokesperson, if you could connect the concerned parties, it would be great, because I see that the ecologists are genuinely interested in making sure things are done the right way.May we all come together and make things happen.Rare Amazon bush dogs caught on camera in BoliviaCarrot1 Feba very good iniciative to be fallowed by the ranchers all overSponsored read more

Residents of the island of Kabaena in Indonesia registered their home as a “tourism village” seven years ago in a bid to ward off a planned nickel mine.They say they fear that mining activity will disrupt their water sources and despoil the forests that they hold sacred.Mining activities have proliferated in other districts in the province, driven by a boom for the nickel used in rechargeable batteries and stainless steel.While the notion of being a tourism village has meant mining can’t proceed here, the villagers say they’re not getting the full support they expected to boost their economy this way. TANGKENO, Indonesia — Teenagers pound cowhide drums to dancers weaving their feet between bamboo stalks on this stage beneath the stars. It’s the island of Kabaena’s annual indigenous culture festival, and its residents are afraid that if the tradition comes to an end, the island will be relinquished to mining companies.The soil beneath the stage is a crimson, nickel-rich red. The mountains behind it stretch to the kilometer-high peak littered with garnierite, a bluish-green rock and indicator of high nickel content.For seven years on Kabaena, this weeklong festival has warded off miners looking to shave off the island’s cap for an almost Manhattan-sized fount of nickel. The conflict has set off a community initiative to create local wealth against a national initiative to spur business development.“Even though you can’t see them, the mountains channel our water. The forest are the dams, and the water flows through them,” says Abdul Madjid Ege, the head of Tangkeno village. The stage lights up his village each year like a lighthouse at the top of this island in Southeast Sulawesi province, where mines have spread across coastlines.The plaza built for Tangkeno’s annual festival sits in the shadow of one of Kabaena’s peaks. Image by Ian Morse for Mongabay.Registered as a tourism village, Tangkeno receives district government support to maintain its natural landscape, including the springs that flow across the island. A mining company has already been given an operating permit over the area, but starting to dig would set government offices against each other. Indeed, that was the intention.“The island’s water source was under threat, so friends planned to set up a tourism [initiative] to counter it, and because of the potential for tourism,” Nur Hidayati, the executive director of Walhi, an Indonesian environmental NGO, said of the decision taken in 2013.Shortly before it received operating permits, while NGOs were devising plans to set up a tourism hotspot, PT Bakti Bumi Sulawesi (BBS) cookie-cut Tangkeno out of its land concession. Shaved off the mining area was a rectangle of 1.1 square kilometers (0.4 square miles), its borders pressed up against homes and splitting farms and indigenous land.Left within the concession area are lands claimed vital for indigenous life, as well as more than 35 square kilometers (14 square miles), 73 percent of the area, that is classified as protected forest, which prohibits mining, according to data from the nation’s anti-corruption agency.But PT BBS holds all the legal licenses to begin digging around the “Land in the Clouds,” as the village’s entrance reads. A spokesperson for its parent company, Shanghai-based Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia, told Mongabay there weren’t yet plans to mine.As Indonesia looks to spur investment in its nickel industry to grasp at a volatile market growing with the rising demand in the battery and steel markets, it has diverted licensing powers from the district to the provincial level, further from local sources and leaving district governments in the dark. With the tourism village — the only one of its kind in Bombana district, where Tangkeno is located — locals make sure their voice is heard.“Those who made the map [of the mining concession] didn’t come here and see the landscape for themselves. They only saw a map of the area and drew lines all over it,” Madjid said. Although locals’ homes have been removed from the concession, the town’s customary area, mapped in 2012 by local NGOs, stretches far across valleys and mountains.“Whether or not the resistance will be recognized by the government, we’re still going to defend it,” Madjid said.Abdul Madjid Ege stands outside his home in Tangkeno. Behind him lies one of the island’s peaks, which is included in the mining concession. Image by Ian Morse for Mongabay.Since Kabaena’s first mining permits were issued in 2006, the island has seen more than half of its 906 square kilometers (350 square miles) licensed out to mining companies. Twenty of the 28 operational mining areas are registered for nickel on this island of 41,000 people. At least 13 of the 28 have begun digging.When PT BBS was allowed to begin exploring in 2010, during a spurt of national nickel growth, workers seeking soil samples began showing up in Madjid’s village.“Once I heard they were coming in, I demanded they come see me,” Madjid said from his home office in Tangkeno. He asked them why they were “sneaking around” his village, then made them dump their soil samples on his front lawn.“I told them, ‘You don’t need to know the quality of nickel here, because if you know the quality, I know the company will be rich enough to buy it all, and the indigenous people here will be cornered.’”Environmental activists, teaming up with the district government, registered Tangkeno as a tourism village, putting it at the center of development plans in Kabaena.“This island really has been under threat of mining. Downhill already has operating mines, and at the top is the island’s water supply,” said Nur, the Walhi director.Tangkeno has long been the cultural center of Kabaena, an island with a distinct language and intricate, mythical stories that stretch across the Indonesian archipelago and finish in the forests of Kabaena. One spring, famed to bring good luck to those who swim in it, had showered former governor Nur Alam before he won an election victory. He’s now serving a 15-year prison sentence for abusing his power to license a mining company from which he received money on Kabaena’s southern coastline.Four water springs lie within PT BBS’s concession, and for as long as Madjid knows, they have been protected by indigenous custom. The springs flow to every corner of Kabaena, he says, meaning potential water scarcity across the island if they are disturbed, or filled with sediment as often happens when land is cleared.“This mountain, if we destroy it, will trigger a catastrophe, so we made the forest there opali, meaning we aren’t allowed to cut it down and exploit it for ourselves,” Madjid said.The sign outside Tangkeno identifies it as a “tourism village.” Image by Ian Morse for Mongabay.Whether Tangkeno’s residential area remains in the concession area is irrelevant to Madjid. In 2012, environmentalists and indigenous rights activists mapped out Tangkeno’s borders as locals knew them. The borders follow the ridges of mountains and the curves of rivers. The residential area cut out from the PT BBS concession is only a small portion.Nur and the island’s activists saw the area’s potential for tourism, but Madjid was unsure. Still, he allowed the district government to repair roads, fund renovations, and build a plaza for the annual festival that has since attracted thousands of local tourists and hundreds of international ones.Visitors come to see seven ancient forts built long before the Dutch colonialists’ arrival, as well as the almost 360-degree view from the top of the mountains. If visitors are lucky enough to get a conversation with Madjid, he’ll tell of the island’s stories of genies and magic, some of them conjured up to sway residents from digging up protected areas like the water springs.Ade Sukma Alrianto, Madjid’s son, stands by a spring in Kabaena’s mountains. Image by Ian Morse for Mongabay.“The district head [Tafdil] said in his opening statement at the first Tangkeno Festival that the festival meant mining businesses were no longer allowed to try to mine this area, because it would strip the village of its meaning,” Madjid remembers.In 2014, however, new laws redirected mining licensing to the provincial government, leaving Tafdil and the district government in the dark. When the province grants a permit or changes a concession area, his district government is not involved. Tafdil says that as a result he knows very little about the mining in his district.“All power over mining has been pulled back to the province. They have no requirement to tell me anything,” he said from his home in Bombana. “Who’s at fault? The central government is” for changing the policies, he added.Tafdil’s government had approved the mining operating permit in 2012, and the next year, he set up the tourism village stretching across its borders, but when asked, he said he would support the local community if it came into conflict with the mine.“We will try to make sure our people are safe, safe from conflict. If conflict arises, that’s our jurisdiction and we will lend a hand,” he said.The province now retains authority to issue permits, but provincial head of minerals licensing Nining Rahmatia said the province doesn’t have the authority over permits issued by the districts before 2014. Tafdil and Nining are unclear who is authorized to revoke the permit or ensure it doesn’t affect water springs or protected forests.“We can protect the tourism village, but we can’t protect the area around it,” Tafdil said.Elsewhere in this province, district heads have historically favored businesses at the expense of locals. In North Konawe, the last 10 years have also seen mines spread across coastlines. The district head during that period, Aswad Sulaiman, is now in the midst of a corruption investigation.Beginning next year, the Indonesian government will forbid the export of any raw nickel ore, likely forcing the closure of many mines without the capital to build a smelting facility. Huadi already runs a smelter nearby in South Sulawesi, and a spokesperson said the Kabaena mine would only start working to fill the smelter’s quota if needed.Like most of the investment in nickel mining in Indonesia, PT BBS is Chinese. The 49-square-kilometer (19-square-mile) operational mining concession that stretches from the peaks of Kabaena to its southern coastline is owned by two Chinese companies, Shanghai Huadi Industrial and Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia, and a third Indonesian-registered company, PT Duta Nikel Sulawesi. Because it’s a foreign company, the central government has the authority to regulate it, according to Nining. A Sulawesi local, Jos Yanto, appears as a director for PT BBS and a few other companies, but could not be contacted.Kabaena and the nearby island of Wawonii are classified under Indonesian law as “small islands,” where government must prioritize conservation, tourism and local livelihoods, among other things, according to a 2007 law. The national ombudsman’s office, which investigates citizen complaints, has said it would investigate the legality of mining on both islands. In March, when protests erupted around mining development in Wawonii, the deputy head of the anti-corruption agency indicated mining on the islands may conflict with the small-islands law, and the National Commission on Human Rights began investigating whether locals had been criminalized.A student in Tangkeno gives a storytelling performance in the local language. Image by Ian Morse for Mongabay.Tangkeno has been made into a village whose existence deters mining; but when mining first came to Kabaena, Madjid said, residents of the island only thought about the purported opportunity to enrich themselves.“Now that Kabaena is full of mining areas, people have started to worry. Their island is being pummeled by mines, and in the end we may become like Gebe,” Madjid said, referring to an island in North Maluku province where decades of nickel mining have resulted in severed water sources and community conflict, according to the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), an environmental NGO. Before information about Gebe was shared widely, Tangkeno residents didn’t have an example of what could happen to Kabaena, Madjid said.Indigenous groups around Indonesia have begun to develop villages into tourist destinations as an alternative to industrial-scale projects.However, Sahrul Gelo, a local leader who helped set up the tourism village, says it hasn’t met the expectations that drove its founding. Various organizations helped establish the village, he says, but haven’t followed through on supporting it and developing a “creative economy,” for example, that could entice travelers to spend more money on trinkets while they stay in Tangkeno.“It’s not necessarily a failure, though, because we’ve already proved to the local people that the tourism potential is possible, and other villages have started to think about their tourism potential,” he said from his home in Kabaena.The festival’s seven years have brought some changes to Tangkeno, but not the kind mining companies have promised Madjid if the village were to be relocated. Madjid jokes that his village’s opposition to mining that has prevented island-wide disaster deserves some compensation itself.“We’re fighting off the mine, so we’re defending our poverty,” he says with a laugh. “I’m happier living simply than living in luxury but on top of the ruins of others.”Follow Ian Morse on Twitter: @ianjmorseFEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page. Article published by mongabayauthor Popular in the CommunitySponsoredSponsoredOrangutan found tortured and decapitated prompts Indonesia probeEMGIES17 Jan, 2018We will never know the full extent of what this poor Orangutan went through before he died, the same must be done to this evil perpetrator(s) they don’t deserve the air that they breathe this has truly upset me and I wonder for the future for these wonderful creatures. So called ‘Mankind’ has a lot to answer for we are the only ones ruining this world I prefer animals to humans any day of the week.What makes community ecotourism succeed? In Madagascar, location, location, locationScissors1dOther countries should also learn and try to incorporateWhy you should care about the current wave of mass extinctions (commentary)Processor1 DecAfter all, there is no infinite anything in the whole galaxy!Infinite stupidity, right here on earth.The wildlife trade threatens people and animals alike (commentary)Anchor3dUnfortunately I feel The Chinese have no compassion for any living animal. They are a cruel country that as we knowneatbeverything that moves and do not humanily kill these poor animals and insects. They have no health and safety on their markets and they then contract these diseases. Maybe its karma maybe they should look at the way they live and stop using animals for all there so called remedies. DisgustingConservationists welcome China’s wildlife trade banThobolo27 JanChina has consistently been the worlds worst, “ Face of Evil “ in regards our planets flora and fauna survival. In some ways, this is nature trying to fight back. This ban is great, but the rest of the world just cannot allow it to be temporary, because history has demonstrated that once this coronavirus passes, they will in all likelihood, simply revert to been the planets worst Ecco Terrorists. Let’s simply not allow this to happen! How and why they have been able to degrade this planets iconic species, rape the planets rivers, oceans and forests, with apparent impunity, is just mind boggling! Please no more.Probing rural poachers in Africa: Why do they poach?Carrot3dOne day I feel like animals will be more scarce, and I agree with one of my friends, they said that poaching will take over the world, but I also hope notUpset about Amazon fires last year? Focus on deforestation this year (commentary)Bullhorn4dLies and more leisSponsoredSponsoredCoke is again the biggest culprit behind plastic waste in the PhilippinesGrapes7 NovOnce again the article blames companies for the actions of individuals. It is individuals that buy these products, it is individuals that dispose of them improperly. If we want to change it, we have to change, not just create bad guys to blame.Brazilian response to Bolsonaro policies and Amazon fires growsCar4 SepThank you for this excellent report. I feel overwhelmed by the ecocidal intent of the Bolsonaro government in the name of ‘developing’ their ‘God-given’ resources.U.S. allocates first of $30M in grants for forest conservation in SumatraPlanet4dcarrot hella thick ;)Melting Arctic sea ice may be altering winds, weather at equator: studyleftylarry30 JanThe Arctic sea ice seems to be recovering this winter as per the last 10-12 years, good news.Malaysia has the world’s highest deforestation rate, reveals Google forest mapBone27 Sep, 2018Who you’re trying to fool with selective data revelation?You can’t hide the truth if you show historical deforestation for all countries, especially in Europe from 1800s to this day. WorldBank has a good wholesome data on this.Mass tree planting along India’s Cauvery River has scientists worriedSurendra Nekkanti23 JanHi Mongabay. Good effort trying to be objective in this article. I would like to give a constructive feedback which could help in clearing things up.1. It is mentioned that planting trees in village common lands will have negative affects socially and ecologically. There is no need to even have to agree or disagree with it, because, you also mentioned the fact that Cauvery Calling aims to plant trees only in the private lands of the farmers. So, plantation in the common lands doesn’t come into the picture.2.I don’t see that the ecologists are totally against this project, but just they they have some concerns, mainly in terms of what species of trees will be planted. And because there was no direct communication between the ecologists and Isha Foundation, it was not possible for them to address the concerns. As you seem to have spoken with an Isha spokesperson, if you could connect the concerned parties, it would be great, because I see that the ecologists are genuinely interested in making sure things are done the right way.May we all come together and make things happen.Rare Amazon bush dogs caught on camera in BoliviaCarrot1 Feba very good iniciative to be fallowed by the ranchers all overSponsored Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecotourism, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Islands, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Mining, Oceans, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tourism, Tropical Forests, Water read more

agribusiness, Amazon Destruction, Amazon Mining, Amazon Rainforest, Commentary, Deforestation, Disasters, Editorials, Environment, Environmental Politics, Mining, Politics, Rainforest Mining, Researcher Perspective Series Brazil has faced several environmental and political issues in recent years. For instance, three mining disasters caused the death of more than 250 people and major damage to biodiversity. Also, the unrestricted expansion of agribusiness has led to high rates of deforestation, a pattern that is only expected to increase in the near future.In this commentary, the authors look at the political aspects of the environmental crises in Brazil and argue that scientists have an important role to play in transforming the country.The authors propose ten actions that can help Brazilian scientists participate more effectively in political matters.This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay. Brazil is the most biologically diverse country in the world, harboring 10 to 18% of the world’s total biota. This biodiversity, however, is rapidly declining due to habitat degradation, overexploitation, pollution, and ineffective conservation policies. In June 2019 alone, 920.4 square kilometers (355.4 square miles) of Amazon forest was deforested, representing an increase of 88% compared with the same period in 2018.Despite seemingly effective conservation strategies being in place, politics and low engagement from the public are inhibiting those strategies’ effectiveness. Further, the last years in Brazil were marked by political and economic turmoil, as well as constant corruption scandals scattered throughout all levels of the country’s administration. This scenario has led to several negative consequences for Brazilian people and nature, including three recent mining disasters and increasing rates of deforestation.As such, scientists have an important role to play in transforming the country and should have a more active voice in political matters. We use two of the major environmental problems in Brazil, the mining industry and the expansion of agribusiness, to make the argument for greater participation in politics by scientists. We also propose ten ways in which scientists could foster change in the Brazilian political-environment crisis.Political-environmental crises in BrazilIn November 2015, the “Fundão” mining dam (Samarco S.A.), located in the municipality of Mariana, Minas Gerais state, collapsed, causing the death of 19 people and leaving entire communities homeless. As much as 62 million cubic meters of iron ore tailings destroyed the districts of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu Baixo, and the toxic mud polluted at least three rivers, affecting soil, riparian forest, and marine ecosystems.One might hope that this tragedy would lead to efforts to prevent similar environmental disasters in the future. However, in February 2018, an overflow of a bauxite dam in the state of Pará caused water contamination, affecting thousands of people in the Barcarena city region, with levels of iron, arsenic and aluminum two to 10 times above the safe concentrations set by the National Environment Council. Then, in January 2019, the ruptured tailings dam of the mine “Córrego do Feijão” (Vale S.A.) hit the municipality of Brumadinho, causing the death of more than 200 people. Around 12 million cubic meters (nearly 424 million cubic feet) of mud poured into the Paraopeba River, dislocating at least 933,263 people that lived in the region. The extent of the Brumadinho disaster’s environmental impact is still being evaluated, but recent data using geoprocessing tools estimate that the tailing mud covered 297.28 hectares (about 735 acres) of land and streams.In addition to environmental issues involving the mining industry, the unrestrained expansion of the agroindustry is a major concern in Brazil. Despite it being well known that Amazonian deforestation is highly associated with agribusiness, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president elected in October 2018, has made clear his support for the agribusiness agenda. Accordingly, Bolsonaro named Ricardo Salles, a defender of mining and economic development in the Amazon forest, as his Minister of Environment, and Tereza Cristina, the leader of the agribusiness lobby in the Congress in the past years, as his Minister of Agriculture.Cattle ranching in the Amazon rainforest. Photo by Ananda Pereira Martins.During Salles’ first 11 months as Minister, at least two environmental crises hit the country: the increased number of fires in the Amazon forest from June to August, most likely as a result of political permissiveness, and the oil spill from August to November in the Brazilian Northeastern Coast. In addition, during Cristina’s first 200 days as Minister, 290 pesticides were allowed in Brazil. The use of such pesticides may have serious effects not only on human health and biodiversity, as they are highly toxic and cause soil and food contamination, but also on Brazil’s economy, since around 30% of them are banned from the European Union, Brazil’s second-largest trading partner.Along with the pressing environmental issues, Brazil experienced one of the most heated presidential elections of its democratic history in 2018. With the election of far-right-wing Jair Bolsonaro alongside hundreds of conservative congressmen, the power of the agribusiness lobby in the Brazilian Congress has severely increased. For instance, proposals to make it simpler for entrepreneurs to convert native forest into pastures and croplands, as well as loosening of legal approval processes for mining dam installations, are underway. The disempowerment of environmental regulatory agencies seems to also be a trend in the current government, as evidenced by Bolsonaro’s unsubstantiated claims through social media that the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) has suspicious procedures, and the firing of the director of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Dr. Ricardo Galvão, after the institute released data demonstrating the severe increase in Amazon’s deforestation rate.The role of the scientific community in societyIn a Democracy, citizens elect their representatives and can apply pressures to seek better environmental regulations. An open dialogue within society seems necessary in Brazil and, as part of this dialogue, we propose that scientists must act as mediators among different stakeholders regarding environmental issues. Specifically, we propose ten actions for scientists to take in order to be more participative in the Brazilian political scenario:1. Engage in political organizations, such as political parties, regional councils, NGOs, and other forms of social representation, so that the historic lack of scientist engagement in environmental politics may be rectified;2. Create a Science Community to encourage and support scientists to occupy political positions by selecting candidates with scientific background and no history of corruption to run for public offices;3. Contribute to the development of environmental policies defended by the Science Community;4. Create and maintain an independent, publicly accessible and robust methodology to measure the effectiveness and success of environmental policies in Brazil;5. Monitor how members of Congress supported by the Science Community vote on environmental policy proposals. This could be done by analyzing the importance, feasibility, and scientific reliability of such proposals;6. Monitor compliance with environmental policies by companies at both regional and national levels;7. Create online platforms that actively integrate public and legislators supported by the Science Community;8. Support the inclusion of courses focused on political sciences, environmental legislation, and sociology in biological and physical sciences curriculum at Brazilian universities;9. Create spaces in which scientists from different areas can discuss current political issues and present evidence-based solutions. Researchers from prestigious national institutions of science could greatly contribute to these debates and stimulate scientific participation on political decisions;10. Connect with the general public. This last point is especially important, as most scientists agree that outreach science is a worthwhile endeavor, but overall participation rates remain low. Yet, it is the role of scientists to provide rationales for how science affects society by better communicating with the non-scientific public, which might lead to an informed society more likely to exercise its power of political pressure against those disrespecting environmental policies. The use of science communication through social media might be a useful alternative to achieve this goal, as well as collaborations with public and private schools to develop scientific projects with teachers, students, and parents.Today, Brazilian scientists have the opportunity to make a significant difference by participating more effectively in political matters, whether it is running for political office, informing the population, or ensuring that the current laws are respected by the executive branch. Indeed, the engagement of Brazilian scientists could foster environmental protection and avoid or mitigate environmental disasters. In this sense, a respectful dialogue among the national scientific community, society, and decisionmakers might be the best path to secure the future of Brazil’s environment.CITATIONS• Araújo, E., Barreto, P., Baima, S. & Gomes, M. (2016). Quais os planos para proteger as Unidades de Conservação vulneráveis da Amazônia? (p. 36). Belém: Imazon.• Boyd, I. L. (2019). Scientists and politics? Science, 366, 281-281. doi:10.1126/science.aaz7996• Fernandes, G. W., Goulart, F. F., Ranieri, B. D., Coelho, M. S., Dales K., Boesche, N., Bustamante, M., Carvalho, F. A., Carvalho, D. C., Dirzo, R., Fernandes, S., Galetti, P. M., Millan, V. E. G., Mielke, C., Ramirez, J. L., Neves, A., Rogass, C., Ribeiro, S. P., Scariot, A. & Soares-Filho, B. (2016). Deep into the mud: ecological and socio-economic impacts of the dam breach in Mariana, Brazil. Natureza & Conservação, 14, 35-45. doi:10.1016/j.ncon.2016.10.003• Ferrante, L. & Fearnside, P. M. (2019). Brazil’s new president and ‘ruralists’ threaten Amazonia’s environment, traditional peoples and the global climate. Environmental Conservation, 46, 261-263. doi:10.1017/S0376892919000213• Fogel, B. (2019). Brazil: Corruption as a Mode of Rule. NACLA Report on the Americas, 51:2, 153-158. doi:10.1080/10714839.2019.1617476• Kehoe, L., Reis, T., Virah-Sawmy, M., Balmford, A., Kuemmerle, T. & 604 signatories (2019). Make EU trade with Brazil sustainable. Science, 364, 341. doi:10.1126/science.aaw8276• Lewinsohn, T. M., & Prado, P. I. (2005). How many species are there in Brazil? Conservation Biology, 19, 619-624. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00680.x• Pereira, L. F., Cruz, G. de B., & Guimarães, R. M. F. (2019). Impacts from the tailings dam rupture of Brumadinho, Brazil: an analysis based on land cover changes. Journal of Environmental Analysis and Progress, 4, 122-129.• Varner, J. (2014). Scientific Outreach: Toward Effective Public Engagement with Biological Science. BioScience, 64, 333-340. doi:10.1093/biosci/biu021Ananda R. Pereira Martins is a Brazilian PhD candidate at McGill University (Canada) and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama). She develops research focusing on the evolution of butterfly wing color variation in the Amazon forest and post updates about this project through social media (Instagram and Twitter @followingbates). Ananda has developed research projects in the Brazilian Amazon since 2007 and has a background in Evolution, Ecology and Systematics of Lepidoptera.Lucas Pereira Martins is a Brazilian ecologist currently doing his PhD at the University of Canterbury (Aotearoa New Zealand), where he works with the effects of environmental changes on ecological networks and species traits. Lucas’ background includes community ecology and macroecology.Leila Figueiredo’s background is on seabird ecology and ethnobiology. She became interested in environmental politics and sustainability during her master’s research on a marine protected area and is currently a PhD Student at Lincoln University (Aotearoa New Zealand), where she works with the role of companies in environmental politics.FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page. Article published by Mike Gaworecki Popular in the CommunitySponsoredSponsoredOrangutan found tortured and decapitated prompts Indonesia probeEMGIES17 Jan, 2018We will never know the full extent of what this poor Orangutan went through before he died, the same must be done to this evil perpetrator(s) they don’t deserve the air that they breathe this has truly upset me and I wonder for the future for these wonderful creatures. So called ‘Mankind’ has a lot to answer for we are the only ones ruining this world I prefer animals to humans any day of the week.What makes community ecotourism succeed? In Madagascar, location, location, locationScissors1dOther countries should also learn and try to incorporateWhy you should care about the current wave of mass extinctions (commentary)Processor1 DecAfter all, there is no infinite anything in the whole galaxy!Infinite stupidity, right here on earth.The wildlife trade threatens people and animals alike (commentary)Anchor3dUnfortunately I feel The Chinese have no compassion for any living animal. They are a cruel country that as we knowneatbeverything that moves and do not humanily kill these poor animals and insects. They have no health and safety on their markets and they then contract these diseases. Maybe its karma maybe they should look at the way they live and stop using animals for all there so called remedies. DisgustingConservationists welcome China’s wildlife trade banThobolo27 JanChina has consistently been the worlds worst, “ Face of Evil “ in regards our planets flora and fauna survival. In some ways, this is nature trying to fight back. This ban is great, but the rest of the world just cannot allow it to be temporary, because history has demonstrated that once this coronavirus passes, they will in all likelihood, simply revert to been the planets worst Ecco Terrorists. Let’s simply not allow this to happen! How and why they have been able to degrade this planets iconic species, rape the planets rivers, oceans and forests, with apparent impunity, is just mind boggling! Please no more.Probing rural poachers in Africa: Why do they poach?Carrot3dOne day I feel like animals will be more scarce, and I agree with one of my friends, they said that poaching will take over the world, but I also hope notUpset about Amazon fires last year? Focus on deforestation this year (commentary)Bullhorn4dLies and more leisSponsoredSponsoredCoke is again the biggest culprit behind plastic waste in the PhilippinesGrapes7 NovOnce again the article blames companies for the actions of individuals. It is individuals that buy these products, it is individuals that dispose of them improperly. If we want to change it, we have to change, not just create bad guys to blame.Brazilian response to Bolsonaro policies and Amazon fires growsCar4 SepThank you for this excellent report. I feel overwhelmed by the ecocidal intent of the Bolsonaro government in the name of ‘developing’ their ‘God-given’ resources.U.S. allocates first of $30M in grants for forest conservation in SumatraPlanet4dcarrot hella thick ;)Melting Arctic sea ice may be altering winds, weather at equator: studyleftylarry30 JanThe Arctic sea ice seems to be recovering this winter as per the last 10-12 years, good news.Malaysia has the world’s highest deforestation rate, reveals Google forest mapBone27 Sep, 2018Who you’re trying to fool with selective data revelation?You can’t hide the truth if you show historical deforestation for all countries, especially in Europe from 1800s to this day. WorldBank has a good wholesome data on this.Mass tree planting along India’s Cauvery River has scientists worriedSurendra Nekkanti23 JanHi Mongabay. Good effort trying to be objective in this article. I would like to give a constructive feedback which could help in clearing things up.1. It is mentioned that planting trees in village common lands will have negative affects socially and ecologically. There is no need to even have to agree or disagree with it, because, you also mentioned the fact that Cauvery Calling aims to plant trees only in the private lands of the farmers. So, plantation in the common lands doesn’t come into the picture.2.I don’t see that the ecologists are totally against this project, but just they they have some concerns, mainly in terms of what species of trees will be planted. And because there was no direct communication between the ecologists and Isha Foundation, it was not possible for them to address the concerns. As you seem to have spoken with an Isha spokesperson, if you could connect the concerned parties, it would be great, because I see that the ecologists are genuinely interested in making sure things are done the right way.May we all come together and make things happen.Rare Amazon bush dogs caught on camera in BoliviaCarrot1 Feba very good iniciative to be fallowed by the ranchers all overSponsored read more

Alors, que vaut donc le champion d’Estonie?Le F91 a gagné le droit d’affronter l’équipe qui a éliminé… Shkëndiha lors du 1er tour de Ligue des champions. A priori, cela équilibre les chances. En vrai, tout le monde en Macédoine débine allègrement ces Estoniens qui n’ont pas voulu jouer au football il y a deux semaines. Un peu le genre du Valletta FC, le club maltais qui lui était parvenu à sortir Dudelange de la C1 avec un football minimaliste.Nomme Kalju a tout de même pris la bagatelle de sept buts contre le champion d’Écosse, le Celtic Glasgow (5-0, 0-2). Que faire de cette information? Pas grand-chose. Si ce n’est que cela fait belle lurette qu’un club luxembourgeois n’a plus pris aussi cher dans un match de Coupe d’Europe. Et c’est peut-être une indication du niveau. Partager Pour cet acte II, le groupe dudelangeois est différent de celui qui s’est rendu à Skopje il y a une semaine. Le technicien belge du F91 a abandonné le 4-4-2 du match aller pour un 3-4-3 avec sur le front de l’attaque la triplette Bettaieb-Sinani-Bernier. Exit Bougrine et Bertino. Des choix judicieux puisque au bout des 90 minutes de jeu, ce sont une nouvelle fois des scènes de liesse populaire, de joie collective que l’on a vues sur le terrain. Dominik Stolz et ses coéquipiers peuvent avoir l’agréable sensation du devoir accompli.Mais Sinani devrait partirLes locaux ont pourtant eu du boulot face à des Macédoniens animés des meilleures intentions à l’image de leur duo Besart et Agim Ibraimi. Les deux joueurs ont rapidement montré les crocs pour plonger à plusieurs reprises la défense du F91 dans l’embarras. Il aura même fallu un brin de réussite (comme à l’aller) au champion national pour s’en tirer à bon compte.Mais côté macédonien (comme à l’aller, encore), il a manqué à chaque fois l’essentiel pour passer des intentions à la concrétisation au tableau d’affichage.Les hommes d’Emilio Ferreira doivent également une fière chandelle à leur gardien auteur de plusieurs arrêts de grande classe (tout bon pour Tim Kips de remettre les pendules à l’heure, du haut de ses 18 ans) comme sur ce missile de B. Ibraimi à la 52e minute qui prenait tout droit le chemin de la lucarne.Toutefois, passé ces temps forts, les Dudelangeois ont su reprendre leurs esprits et auraient également très bien pu ouvrir le score à plusieurs reprises. Sans se découvrir (preuve que cette jeune équipe apprend vite et bien), ils ont même géré la fin de match en vieux briscards, sachant frapper au bon moment.Le sursaut d’orgueil des visiteurs dans les arrêts de jeu masque finalement mal leur agacement de sortir dans de telles conditions : trois expulsions en fin de rencontre, voilà qui en dit long sur leur état d’esprit.À noter toutefois que le F91 ira défier les Estoniens de Nomme Kalju potentiellement sans son international Danel Sinani. Mardi, en marge de la rencontre, les dirigeants dudelangeois ont semblé accréditer l’hypothèse d’un départ sans dire franchement qu’ils l’avaient acceptée. Il semblerait que l’attaquant ait un peu forcé la sortie vers la Jupiler Pro League. Une bonne nouvelle pour lui, sans doute, un souci pour poursuivre l’aventure européenne, certainement…De notre correspondant Gilles Tarral (avec J. M.)/LQLa fiche technique :Stade Josy-Barthel. Pelouse en bon état. Arbitrage de M. Griffith (Pdg). 1 022 spectateurs payants.Évolution du score : 1-0 Delgado (78e), 1-1 A. Ibraimi (90+1).Cartons jaunes : Bettaieb (37e), Bouchouari (85e) au F91. Mici (66e), Musliu (79e), Osmani (entraîneur) (90+3) à Shkëndija.Carton jaune/rouge : Musliu (85e) à Shkëndija.Cartons rouges : Nafiu (90+4), B. Ibraimi (90+5) à Shkëndija.F91 : Kips – Bouchouari, Schnell, Delgado – Morren, Pokar (90e Garos), Kirch, Stolz – Bettaieb (61e Pomponi), Sinani, Bernier (83e Natami).SHKËNDIJA : Zahov – Murati (82e Cheshmedjiev), Bejtulai, Musliu, Mici – Husmani, Alimi – A. Ibraimi, Felipe (65e Nafiu), B. Ibraimi (76e Imeri) – Radeski.Le film du match : deux poteaux à un pour le F9110e Sur un corner parfaitement tiré au centre de la défense dudelangeoise, B. Ibraimi récupère le ballon et en pivot trouve la transversale.14e Après un bon travail de B. Ibraimi côté gauche, le centre arrive dans les pieds d’A. Ibraimi qui manque d’un rien le cadre.18e Quelle occasion pour les locaux! Stolz lancé côté gauche se présente seul devant Zahov qui remporte son duel avec le n° 10 dudelangeois.22e Au milieu de deux défenseurs, Bernier frappe au but et oblige Zahov à se détendre pour éviter au ballon de finir sa course au fond.35e Delgado est tout près de battre son gardien en dégageant un ballon chaud de la tête. Il faut un sauvetage sur sa ligne de Kips pour éviter l’ouverture du score.42e Sur un contre rondement mené, A. Ibraimi se trouve en position idéale. Sa frappe effleure le poteau.43e Shkëndija pousse avant la mi-temps. Il faut un sauvetage sur sa ligne de Delgado pour éviter le pire aux locaux.47e Au retour des vestiaires, Bettaieb pense donner l’avantage au F91, mais sa tête s’écrase sur le poteau.52e B. Ibraimi, intenable, oblige Kips à sortir le grand jeu sur une frappe sous la barre.65e Le F91 bénéficie d’un coup franc à l’entrée de la surface. Pokar enroule et trouve la transversale.78e Sur un corner tiré par Sinani, Delgado saute plus haut que tout le monde et ouvre le score. 1-090e+1 Des 30 mètres, A. Ibraimi ajuste Kips d’une frappe rasante et réduit le score. 1-1 Le F91 est toujours là, debout. Il a éliminé Shkëndija dans la douleur mardi soir pour se qualifier pour le 3e tour de l’Europa League et a arraché le droit de rêver tout haut à un barrage pour accéder à la phase de poules.Dans un stade Josy-Barthel forcément plus creux que lors du passage du Milan AC, de l’Olympiakos et du Betis Séville, Dudelange avait rendez-vous, mardi en fin d’après-midi (17h55), avec Shkëndija pour s’offrir les moyens de rêver aux barrages, dernière étape avant un éventuel retour en phase de poules.Quelques mois après sa formidable campagne, le champion du Luxembourg hume de nouveau l’atmosphère des rencontres d’Europa League dans le stade national et tous les souvenirs qui l’accompagnent. Forcément, cela lui donne des petites démangeaisons. Surtout que vainqueurs à l’aller (1-2) de ce 2e tour préliminaire, les hommes d’Emilio Ferrera ont l’occasion d’écrire une nouvelle page de l’histoire du club, tout en préparant l’avenir. read more

Partager [BGL Ligue] Le technicien français donnera sa réponse «d’ici deux ou trois jours» au club de la capitale. Mais l’on sent bien que cela le tente de dire oui à Karine Reuter…Régis Brouard devait travailler dimanche soir. Il était attendu sur le plateau de L’Équipe du soir, l’émission phare de la chaîne L’Équipe 21, sur laquelle il intervient très régulièrement depuis plusieurs années en tant que consultant, aux côtés de spécialistes comme Johan Micoud, Guy Roux ou Raymond Domenech. Cette semaine, il a annulé. Et pour cause : il n’aurait pas pu revenir à temps du stade Achille-Hammerel où il a assisté à RFCU – Progrès (1-1) aux côtés de la présidente du Racing, Karine Reuter.Forcément, sa présence ne pouvait passer inaperçue. Et la raison de sa présence encore moins. Le RFCU aurait donc fini par mettre la main sur l’homme qu’il désirait depuis bientôt deux mois pour remplacer Frank Defays, qui a laissé tout un club le bec dans l’eau en acceptant la proposition subite du Sporting Charleroi? Pas encore tout à fait. «Franchement, je ne suis pas insensible à la proposition qui m’a été faite et Karine Reuter le sait», avoue Brouard, que nous avons contacté lundi. «Nous avons passé beaucoup de temps ensemble. J’ai découvert en elle, en sa famille mais aussi en Patrick (Grettnich), le directeur sportif, des gens passionnés par leur club. Ils l’aiment. On les sent remplis d’envie et de détermination.»L’aspect concret des choses : les deux partis se sont laissé deux ou trois jours pour se recontacter et décider s’ils se lient pour un projet à long terme de structuration et de professionnalisation du club. «C’est un club en pleine progression et la présidente a envie d’avancer», détaille Brouard, qui a forcément le sens du timing : après s’être déplacé à Hostert et avoir reçu le F91, le RFCU sera confronté, comme tout le monde, à une trêve internationale de quinze jours qui constitue un moment de prise en main idéal.«C’est une décision importante à prendre»Et à l’heure actuelle, il suffit d’écouter parler l’ancien coach de Quevilly (une demie et une finale de Coupe de France avec ce club amateur, mais aussi plusieurs saisons en National et Ligue 2 avec Nîmes, Clermont, Niort, le Red Star) pour se rendre compte que la seule chose qui peut l’empêcher de dire oui, c’est, aussi, la perspective de trouver un autre challenge en France : «Le foot luxembourgeois se met en place. Les clubs commencent à se structurer avec des coaches qui ont un certain passé. C’est un détail important parce que cela prouve qu’il y a plein de choses à faire. Et les entraîneurs aiment contribuer à ce genre de projets. Après, voilà, même si le RFCU commence à se professionnaliser, cela n’est pas de la Ligue 2 et c’est une décision importante à prendre. Je ne dis pas que ce serait reculer, attention : c’est un club de Division 1. Mais l’on arrive au moment où cela peut encore bouger dans les effectifs professionnels.» Le calendrier du Racing, en effet, cadre avec la dernière opportunité de certains clubs pros pour ajuster leur staff.La direction du RFCU, échaudée par «l’affaire» Defays, ne peut pas être insensible d’ailleurs au côté risqué de son choix. Brouard est en effet un technicien qui a pignon sur rue de par sa présence sur la chaîne L’Équipe, à laquelle il ne compte pas forcément renoncer. Cette casquette le met en avant, le rappelle au bon souvenir de pas mal de dirigeants de l’Hexagone qui connaissent forcément son travail.«On en a discuté, Karine Reuter et moi. Elle est très intelligente, elle en a conscience.» Reste donc simplement à espérer que rien de plus attrayant que de construire sur le long terme un club d’une capitale européenne soucieux de jouer régulièrement les Coupes d’Europe ne se présente d’ici à jeudi…J. M. read more

“Neymar a vécu des choses qui l’ont fait mûrir comme personne, et comme joueur. J’espère que ça va être une très bonne saison pour lui comme pour nous”, a confié Marquinhos, vice-capitaine du PSG, avant le choc européen mardi contre le Real Madrid.Après son transfert raté au FC Barcelone cet été, ses soucis extra-sportifs, et sa récente blessure, dans quel état d’esprit se sent la superstar brésilienne pour sa troisième saison à Paris? “Neymar a toujours été à fond. C’est quelqu’un qui ne fait pas les choses à moitié, cela se voit sur le terrain, quand il prend la balle il veut être déterminant”, a expliqué son compatriote Marquinhos. “Une fois qu’il est sur le terrain, même après tout ce qu’il s’est passé au mercato et les autres histoires, il rentre sur le terrain pour gagner, marquer, être décisif. Il ne se cache pas. C’est comme ça qu’il prouve qu’il est à fond avec nous”, ajoute-t-il.Privé de printemps européen à deux reprises en raison d’une grave blessure au pied droit, Neymar va-t-il enfin justifier les 222 millions d’euros déboursés en 2017 par le PSG? “Je l’espère surtout! Il a toujours envie de montrer, de gagner. C’est un vrai compétiteur, et pas que dans le foot d’ailleurs. Dans tout ce qu’il fait, il veut être le meilleur, il a ça dans la tête. S’il ne l’a pas été ces dernières années, c’est sûr que cette saison il va vouloir l’être.” Reste à montrer qu’il fait tout, notamment en dehors des terrains, pour réussir. Son entraîneur Thomas Tuchel a par exemple peu apprécié son voyage express à Madrid pour assister à un match de Coupe Davis la semaine dernière, alors qu’il revenait de blessure. “Il y a d’autres choses aussi à dire. Il a bien travaillé pendant la semaine, il a fait tout ce qu’il fallait, défend Marquinhos. Je pense qu’on peut mettre en valeur davantage les bonnes choses qu’il fait que celles qu’il n’a pas faites.” “Si tu mets tout ça dans la balance, les bonnes choses qu’il fait (sont supérieures) mais il y a toujours les mauvaises qui vont faire plus parler car c’est Neymar ! Quand tu parles de Neymar, ça résonne dans le monde entier, souligne le vice-capitaine du PSG. Comme ami, il fait toujours de bonnes choses mais on ne le dit pas”.LQ / AFP Partager read more

The Guyana Animation Network (GAN) was officially launched locally on Saturday.Members of the Guyana Animination Network (GAN) at the launching on SaturdayGAN is a network established to use it resources to create and provide access to opportunities for persons within Guyana’s artistic, creative and technological communities; to develop the requisite skills, with their talents and to service the Caribbean Animation Industry.Deputy Programme Manager of Culture Caricom, Riane de Haas-Bledoeg, addressing the gathering at the inaugural ceremony disclosed that animation networks are on the top of Caricom’s agenda. She said the initiative will bring about social cohesion since Guyana cannot work in isolation. She added animation networks exits within three other Caribbean countries which are Jamaica – Jamaican Animation Network (JAN), Suriname – Suriname Animation Network (SAN) and Trinidad – Trinidad Animation Network (TAN).The aim of GAN is to create and support platforms that connect local animators, artists, developers and other persons servicing the animation, information communication technologies (ICT) and creative industries in Guyana with jobs, training, capacity building and other resources available through Caribbean and international networks.The GAN is a non-governmental and not-for-profit start-up corporation.Founder and President of GAN, Jubilante’ Cutting, related that the vision of GAN was birthed after she was a part Caricom’s ‘Girls for ICT day’ in 2013. “It is trusted that our fellow Guyanese, particularly our policymakers, those in Government and the Private Sector see the importance of investing and building this billion-dollar industry in Guyana for a better, more creative and financially sustainable development path for GAN and animation in Guyana,” added Cutting.Cutting further added that Guyana is bursting with talent in the animation industry and if it was not for networking, GAN would not have been materialised today.GAN is established to actively support the animation, ICT, new media and creative industries through networking, training, capacity building, advocacy, business, educational and other opportunities locally, regionally and internationally. read more

– family cries foul play; alleges fisherman was kidnapped, taken to seaThe body of a Corentyne, Berbice fisherman was brought to shore on Friday by his colleagues who claimed that he drowned after jumping overboard into the Atlantic Ocean.The dead man has been identified as Radish Narine, also called “Bunga”, 43, of Miss Phoebe, Port Mourant, Corentyne.Based on information received, Narine was collected on Tuesday last from Alness Village where a brother lives. The now dead man’s brother, Jaidary Narine, related that members of the fishing crew came in search of his brother, but they wereDead: Radish Narine, also called “Bunga”advised that he was no longer interested in going out to sea.He explained that for several months “Bunga” had resorted to catching hassa with nets inland. Nevertheless, the man was collected and taken to sea.“Dem hold am by he shirt and walk the man and carry am go Adventure,” he said.According to the distressed brother, he received a telephone call informing him that “Bunga” had suffered a seizure and jumped overboard. Two of his other siblings received a similar telephone call, but they were told different stories of what transpired.“If a man catch fits and jump overboard in that water, you can’t find that man,” the brother stated.One report stated that the now dead man jumped overboard and swam under the boat to the other side, but when the crew members attempted to pull him up, he reversed. Shortly after, he reportedly disappeared in the murky water.Information reaching the dead man’s relatives revealed that one of the crew members reportedly tied a rope to himself and jumped into the water in search of the man and later came up with his lifeless body.Villagers who have ventured out to sea told Guyana Times that it was impossible to swim under a boat out at sea because of the strong current.The man’s brother who spoke with this publication is also a fisherman, and he related that when at sea if any crew member behaved strangely, he would be restrained and tied at a safe section of the boat.He recalled being told that when “Bunga” jumped overboard, he was rescued shortly after, but he was contending that this was not the case and someone was not telling the truth.“The man was already dead,” he said.“Bunga” had worked for several years at sea and was also the captain for a fishing vessel in Suriname. According to the brother, in March of this year, he made his last trip and despite several offers, he refused to go back to the sea.The two men who brought the body to shore were asked to report to the WhimRelatives of the dead man at the foreshore on FridayPolice Station, but up to late Sunday evening, the men did not show up. Meanwhile, one of the dead man’s nephews claims that members of the fishing crew had threatened to kill “Bunga” and as such, relatives believe that foul play was involved in the man’s demise. Yoganand Tamsar said he spent a few days with the crew and after a fight broke out, he demanded to be taken back to shore, it was then that “Bunga” was collected. Tamsar gave the aliases of some of the crew members as: “Twisie”, “Bow” and “Plugga”. He said “Plugga” was the captain of the vessel. The name of the other crew member he could not remember but he referred to him as “Lall’s son”.The family is calling for a thorough investigation into the man’s death. Narine leaves to mourn four children and seven siblings. read more

A Donegal teenager disappointed he never completed his Leaving Certificate has taken solace from the fact he is on FIFA 15 to dilute the disappointment of his academic achievements.Talented goalkeeper Michael Lynch 19, is from St. Johnston and plays for Institute FC. Advertisement He recently helped Derry City U19’s win the Foyle Cup and had regularly featured on the bench for Peter Hutton’s first-team squad before leaving the club a fortnight ago.However, unlike his schoolmates Lynch won’t be able to revel in the delirium associated with getting good grades on the important state examination.Social media outlet Facebook was awash with users expressing their delight at their results.Lynch was unable to share in the joy and relief of getting good grades, but took comfort than NONE of them are on FIFA 15. Advertisement Lynch posted images of him playing for Derry City in real life and image of him playing on the FIFA 15 computer game on his Facebook timeline accompanied with the following caption!‘F**k your Leaving Cert, I’m on FIFA.’You can’t argue with that. 🙂  DONEGAL TEENAGER SAYS WHO NEEDS THE LEAVING CERT, I’M ON FIFA! was last modified: August 12th, 2015 by Mark ForkerShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Tags:newsSport read more