Feature Story

On the island of Barbados there is an organic movement to reduce the use of agrochemicals for food production (synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and growth hormones) which impact negatively on the groundwater supply and nearshore marine environment. Customer surveys have shown that there is a high demand for organic produce among the tourists and local population in Barbados. However, the production of organic produce falls well below the demand for it. Organic food production makes up less than 10 percent of national food production.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic, persistent, mobile and thus a global issue. POPs may include pesticides, industrial chemicals, or unwanted by-products of industrial processes or combustion. Organisms at the top of the food chain, including humans, usually accumulate the highest concentration of POPs over their lifetime. The evidence of detrimental effects of some POPs on living organisms, often on entire populations, demonstrates the threat to biodiversity and the potential for disruption at the ecosystem level.

Petit Verger Prison is a medium-security prison facility in Pointe aux Sables in Mauritius. The prison has both pre-release and post-release schemes for prisoners, in order to facilitate their rehabilitation within society. The University of Mauritius carried out a waste assessment study at the prison. The results of the study indicated that 52 percent of the total waste generated was yard waste, 38 percent was organic waste, and the rest were paper, plastics and metals. All of the waste primarily ended up in landfills.

In Nepal, a total of 274 hospitals generate 10,520 tonnes of non-hazardous healthcare waste per year and 3,094 tonnes of hazardous medical waste (Government of Nepal, 2014). The waste was disposed of as regular city garbage, which presented a problem for municipal waste collectors. It was also burnt in incinerators which released persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dioxin to the environment. Both of these practices are a threat to human health.

The Kingdom of Bhutan is experiencing a high rate of urban population growth and rural to urban internal migration. Waste and pollution are major environmental concerns in Bhutan, caused in part by rapid urbanization, inadequate infrastructure, low public awareness and education on waste management issues, and rapid economic development activities such as construction. Increased waste generation threatens human health and Bhutan’s pristine natural environment.

Skopje is the capital of and largest city in Republic of Macedonia, and is home to around 618,000 citizens. The city has a well-organized waste collection system but the waste is not segregated and the collected waste is dumped in landfills or burned. The NGO Training for Sustainable Development, known locally as ORT, noticed the problem of littering in the city streets, with particular concern for the numerous plastic bottles left unrecycled.

The population in Techiman municipality relies on agriculture and approximately half of the households are involved in some form of agricultural activity. Pests and disease are a severe problem for agriculture in Ghana, and it is estimated that 45 percent of annual crops get destroyed because of this (National Development Planning Commission, 2010). Consequently, pesticides and herbicides are heavily used to control and eradicate crop pests.

The management of plastic waste is an unsolved problem in Armenia as there is no state regulation for the sorting and recycling of waste. This problem is compounded by the fragmented administrative division system of Armenia, despite the small size of the country. There are over 900 communities, more than 90 percent of which have a population of less than 5,000 people. The budget revenue generated locally is often too small to support municipal waste management services. As a consequence, municipal waste management is not provided in the majority of Armenian communities.

The Kostanai region of Kazakhstan, also known as the Kostanai oblast, is home to Naurzum State Nature Reserve, a part of the UNESCO heritage site Saryarka in Northern Kazakhstan. The reserve protects 3,077 km2 of steppe, semi-desert, and forest ecosystems distributed in three main areas connected by protected eco-corridors. During the Soviet period between 1920 and 1991, the oblast saw chemical and technological intensification as a result of wheat production.

The annual Chelsea Flower Show in London draws thousands of flower lovers from around the world who stroll through showy displays and arbors reveling in the orderly exuberance of the English country garden.

This century-old tradition would seem an unlikely stage for the innovative conservation and use of South African biodiversity. Yet this is precisely what attendees of the show walking the grounds of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, encountered in the spring of 2011.