New Zealand crowdfunding campaign 'saves' remote beach

Yahoo – AFP, 26 February 2016

Awaroa inlet is an 800-metre stretch of golden sand adjoining the Abel Tasman

National Park at the top of New Zealand's South Island (AFP Photo)

Wellington (AFP) - A New Zealand man behind an ambitious crowdfunding campaign that raised millions of dollars to buy a privately-owned South Island beach said on Friday he was stunned at its success.

Duane Major's push to take Awaroa beach out of private hands and make it a national park quickly went viral, attracting 40,000 donations to raise a total of NZ$2.3 million (US$1.6 million).

Major, a pastor who describes himself as "an ordinary bloke", called the response to his givealittle.co.nz page as heartwarming.

"I always thought we could do it but I didn't anticipate what a crazy, heartwarming ride it would be," he told AFP.

"It's really tapped into a community spirit among New Zealanders. I've been getting poems from schoolkids talking about our beach. It gives me goosebumps."

Awaroa inlet is an 800-metre (2,600-foot) stretch of golden sand adjoining the Abel Tasman National Park at the top of South Island.

Accessible only by boat or helicopter, it came on the market late last year, with real estate agents marketing it as "the best beach on the planet".

Major decided after discussions with relatives over the Christmas period that a crowdfunding page was "certainly worth a shot".

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders agreed, and Givealittle said it had become the country's largest ever crowdfunding effort, raising more than NZ$1.0 million in a single day.

Accessible only by boat or helicopter, New Zealand's Awaroa inlet came on the 

market late last year, with real estate agents marketing it as 'the best beach on

the planet' (AFP Photo)

"It's the largest campaign we've facilitated by a long way," a spokeswoman told AFP.

Major said donations ranged from children giving a dollar to corporations pledging tens of thousands.

The government chipped in NZ$350,000 earlier this week to get the campaign over the line and the tender offer was formally accepted on Wednesday.

Major said he was overjoyed at preserving "a slice of paradise" for future generations and was already considering more crowdfunding conservation campaigns.

"We were celebrating last night and I was yakking (talking) to a guy with a big beard called Mike and he said 'wouldn't it be good to do it again?'," he said.

"I told him I'm just trying to catch my breath now, but I could feel the energy coming back."

Record 6,250 manatees spotted in Florida waters

Yahoo – AFP, 26 February 2016

Manatee are seen in a zoo in Beauval, France (AFP Photo/Guillaume Souvant)

Miami (AFP) - The number of manatees in the waters around Florida have reached a new peak of at least 6,250, conservationists said Thursday, a record reflecting years of efforts to protect the marine mammals.

The count is up slightly from the 6,063 spotted last year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement, citing results from surveys conducted by 11 organizations.

Last month, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed downgrading the manatee's status from endangered, a designation given to species on the brink of extinction, to threatened.

Manatees, which are also known as sea cows, have been on the endangered list for more than 40 years due to threats posed by urbanization, water contamination and collisions with boats.

During winter months, manatees head for warmer waters. Their return in the spring affords researchers an ideal opportunity to take stock of their health and their numbers.

The survey is conducted by air and the count represents the minimum number of manatees in the area.

The Florida manatees are part of the estimated

13,000 that also includes those living in the Caribbean and along the coasts of Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil.

Manatees live in shallow waters and must come to the surface to breathe about every 15 minutes. The herbivores can reach four meters (13 feet) long, weigh up to 600 kilos (1,300 pounds) and live about 40 years.

Belated win for coastal protection in Spain

Environmentalists have won a decade-long battle to halt construction of a mega-hotel in one of Spain's largest coastal protected areas. However, the conflict between tourism and conservation is far from over.

Deutsche Welle, 24 February 2016

El Algarrobico has been for a decade one of the most controversial buildings in Spain

It was a clear win for environmentalists when Spain's highest court ruled the construction of a mega-hotel 'illegal'.

Just 14 meters away from El Algarrobico, a pristine beach of Cabo de Gata in southern Spain, the hotel - with its 21 floors and 411 bedrooms - stands vacant.

Its construction in the province of Almeria was dubbed one of Spain's biggest environmental scandals.

The Spanish Supreme Court recently declared the area environmentally protected and has banned construction. Environmentalists have hailed the decision a great success. But, the victory may have come a bit late.

A decade of confusion

"The countdown for the demolition of the Algarrobico's hotel has finally started," said Andalusian environment minister José Fiscal.

His triumphant announcement comes after years of backtracking and legal ambiguity with many locals holding the regional government responsible for the whole fiasco.

It all began in the 1980s, when construction of the hotel was first licensed. Then, the coastal area was not protected. But by the time construction began in 2003, that had changed and building was prohibited.

The hotel is located in a protected area within the natural park, Cabo de Gata

It wasn’t until 2006 that a local court first ordered an immediate halt to building. But the national environment ministry and the regional government of Andalusia failed to react to the ruling.

Then in 2012, the high court of Andalusia declared the hotel illegal and called for its demolition. But two years later, the court reversed its decision. The hotel was legal and building free to restart.

Now, 10 years after works were halted, Spain's Supreme Court has finally given the green light for its demolition.

The price of the victory

Tearing down the huge edifice will cost an estimated 7 million euros. The national and local government are to split the bill.

There is also the outstanding question of compensation for the hotel’s owners – who are demanding around 70 million euros.

Locals feel they too have lost out financially.

While environmental groups have long fought the hotel, it has always had majority support in the area – mainly for economic reasons.

"Once it was already constructed, it would have been best to make use of it," said Salvador Hernández, mayor of the nearby village of Carboneras.

Hernández argues the hotel would have brought much needed jobs to the village. "Instead, the people – through taxes – will pay for its demolition, and the consequences," he told DW.

Hernández believes the local community has emerged the biggest loser from a debacle that put Carboneras on the map for all the wrong reasons.

"Our village may be outstanding for many reasons, but our image has been destroyed by this scandal," he lamented.

The natural park Cabo de Gata is the largest coastal protected area in Andalusia

An uncertain future

And the construction that has loomed over Algarrobico for more than a decade will not disappear overnight.

The demolition is expected to produce around 60,000 cubic meters of waste, of which at least 40,000 cubic meters must removed and dumped. The remainder is to be used in the area’s recovery

Greenpeace at least sees an upside to this logistical challenge.

"The demolition work would bring around 400 new jobs," said Pilar Marcos, head of Greenpeace Spain’s coastal campaign.

"98% of the materials could be recycled. Moreover, it represents a new opportunity for sustainable tourism."

What the beach will look like once the process is over remains an open question. Whether it will be restored to its natural state – or become the site for new tourism services has yet to be decided.

Massive tourism is visible all along the Spanish coast

Tourism threatens conservation

According to WWF, tourism is one of the main causes for biodiversity loss in the Mediterranean region. Sea beds, coastal landscapes and marine dynamics are all at risk.

Spain is one of the world’s best-loved tourist destinations. In 2014, it was ranked third in the world for numbers of foreign tourists by the United Nations Tourism Organization.

But threats to environment from tourism are a problem the world over, with Mexico, China, Ecuador, Indonesia and Nepal just a few of countries where vacationers put the landscapes they come to enjoy at risk.

Australia warns Beijing over threat of conflict in South China Sea

Yahoo – AFP, 19 February 2016

Alleged on-going reclamation by China on Mischief Reef in the Spratly group of islands
of the disputed South China Sea is shown in May 2015 (AFP Photo/Ritchie B. Tongo)

Australia urged China on Friday to refrain from the "militarisation of islands" to avoid walking into a conflict, a day after the United States slammed Beijing for deploying missiles in the disputed South China Sea.

China said Thursday it had weapons on one of the islands in the strategically important region, which US Secretary of State John Kerry said was evidence of an "increase of militarisation" and a "serious concern".

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was critical for the region's prosperity that China and the US used international law to resolve their disputes.

"We urge all claimants in the South China Sea to refrain from any building of islands, any militarisation of islands, any land reclamation," Turnbull said in a joint press conference with his New Zealand counterpart John Key in Sydney.

Turnbull said both Australia and New Zealand wanted to see a lowering of tensions as he urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to resolve all disputes in the seas -- through which one-third of the world's oil passes -- through legal means.

"President Xi of China has said that one of China's biggest challenges is falling into what he calls the Thucydides Trap, which essentially is where a rising power creates anxiety among other powers such that conflict occurs," he said.

"If China wants to avoid falling into the Thucydides Trap, as President Xi describes it, then resolving disputes in the South China Sea should be done through international law, through all of those mechanisms that are available to us."

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the two nations' economic relationships with China, an important trading partner, would allow them to make their case against escalating tensions publicly and privately.

Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea. It has insisted that its island building aims to provide services such as search and rescue facilities, but also maintains it has the right to deploy necessary "self-defence" measures there.

Other nations surrounding the sea -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam -- lay claim to parts of it.

The US and Australia have carried out several so-called "Freedom of Navigation" overflights and sail-bys in the region, which China has described as "provocations".

Australia warns Beijing over threat of conflict in South China Sea https://t.co/huurqSoiH9 pic.twitter.com/saSq1C3nOI

— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 19, 2016

Related Articles:

Obama calls for 'tangible steps' to lower South China Sea tensions

Vietnam protests China's missile deployment in South China Sea

Australian hospital refuses to return asylum baby to Nauru

Yahoo – AFP, Glenda Kwek, 14 February 2016

Greenpeace holds a #LetThemStay banner on Sydney's harbour calling for the 

asylum-seekers, who are set to be deported after being brought to Australia 

for medical treatment, to be allowed to stay (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

An Australian hospital has refused to return an asylum-seeker baby to detention in Nauru, as momentum built across the country on Sunday against offshore Pacific camps for processing refugees.

Under the government's tough immigration policy, asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are sent to detention camps in the Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

They are blocked from being resettled in Australia even if found to be refugees.

The hospital's move came as state governments, churches and activists stepped up their efforts to stop the return of some 267 refugees to Nauru following a High Court ruling.

On Sunday, campaigners from ActionAid, Amnesty International, GetUp! and Greenpeace unfurled a #LetThemStay banner on Sydney's iconic harbour calling for the asylum-seekers, who are set to be deported after being brought to Australia for medical treatment, to be allowed to stay.

People hold placards at a protest outside an immigration office in Sydney on February 4, 

2016, as Australian church leaders say they would offer sanctuary to asylum-seekers set to be

deported to Nauru to defy the government's harsh immigration policy (AFP Photo/William West)

The #LetThemStay campaign, which has been trending on Twitter, has also seen hundreds of people maintain a vigil -- now in its third day -- outside the Brisbane hospital where the baby is being cared for.

The 12-month-old infant, who is called Asha and the child of Nepalese asylum-seekers, was brought to the eastern city of Brisbane for treatment in late January after being scalded with hot water at the remote Nauru facility.

Following the High Court's ruling earlier this month in favour of the government's policies, Asha and 36 other babies born in Australia are among the asylum-seekers facing removal.

But a spokesman for Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children's Hospital said Asha "will only be discharged once a suitable home environment is identified".

Growing political, community support

Their stance was supported by Queensland state's Health Minister Cameron Dick, who said in a statement Sunday that he "strongly support(s) doctors in our hospitals to make the right clinical decisions".

"Doctors must expect to advocate for their patients," Doctors For Refugees co-founder Richard Kidd, who has joined the vigil outside the hospital, told AFP.

People protest outside an immigration office in Sydney on February 4, 2016, as 

Australian church leaders say they would offer sanctuary to asylum-seekers set to

 be deported to Nauru, to defy the government's harsh immigration policy (AFP 

Photo/William West)

"We have... overwhelming evidence over many years now that detention does terrible harm to babies and children, particularly their mental health but also physical health."

Australian church leaders in early February vowed to defy the federal government, offering sanctuary to the asylum-seekers.

Several state government premiers have said they would help settle in their communities those facing deportation if they were allowed to stay.

There have also been numerous community-led protests. Thirty-seven cots -- one for each of the Australia-born babies -- were set up on Sydney's Bondi Beach, while two campaigners abseiled from a Melbourne bridge with a "Let Them Stay" banner.

"I think the case of the 267 people has just really spoken to the hearts of the people across Australia," GetUp! organiser Sally Rugg told AFP.

"It's people from all walks of life. We are seeing churches and hospitals and teachers and premiers, it's a whole movement."

Canberra has long defended its policy, saying it has prevented the deaths of asylum-seekers at sea and secured its borders.

But rights groups have criticised the measures and detention conditions, while the government-funded Human Rights Commission has found that children who lived in the Nauru centre had high levels of mental illness.

"This offshore detention policy is being operated by the Australian government in secrecy and there's a severe lack of transparency and that's obviously not how people of Australia want their taxpayers' money being spent," Amnesty's Ming Yu Hah told AFP.

Australia doctors demand children be freed from #immigration detention http://t.co/oSHkZyvn5V pic.twitter.com/s9yLBKHA2Z

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 12, 2015

Related Articles:

Australia doctors demand children be freed from immigration detention

Nauru opens gates at refugee detention center



Migrant crisis will make Germany stronger: refugee coordinator
EU states agree relocation of 120,000 refugees 'by large majority' 
UN Security Council approves EU anti-trafficking mission


"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Ai Weiwei plans Berlin memorial to drowned refugees

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is planning a work to commemorate the refugees who drowned on their way to Europe.The memorial will be made out of 14,000 life jackets left by migrants on the beach.

Deutsche Welle, 3 February 2016

For this memorial project, Ai Weiwei will use 14,000 discarded life jackets he obtained from the Greek island of Lesbos according to a statement from the office of the island's mayor Spiros Galinos on Tuesday (02.02.2016).

"This work aims to mobilize the global community regarding the crime carried out daily in the Aegean by ruthless people smugglers," the statement added.

Although smugglers sell these life jackets at a high price, they are usually poorly made and are useless in case of an accident at sea.

Currently a guest professor at Berlin's University of Arts, Ai Weiwei has developed a strong interest in the refugees' plight. He has established a studio on the island of Lesbos, a landing point for many migrants crossing over to Europe over the Aegean Sea.

Ai Weiwei posing as Aylan Kurdi

Earlier this week, the Chinese artist already made headlines through a photo of himself posing as Aylan Kurdi on a Lesbos beach for the magazine "India Today." The pictures of the Syrian toddler whose body was found last September have become an iconic symbol of the Syrian refugee crisis.

Despite the world's growing awareness, people fleeing war-torn countries are still perishing every week while trying to reach Europe. According to the latest numbers provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in January alone, 360 people have drowned during this perilous journey, and in the last five months 330 children have died on the Mediterranean.

eg/kbm (AFP, dpa)

Soul-searching: heart-rending photo of drowned toddler shows cost of Europe's migrant crisis http://t.co/z4jFW5aF3v pic.twitter.com/vkle4cbLU8

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 3, 2015

Related Articles:

China's Ai Weiwei shuts show to protest Danish migrant law

EU strikes deal on 3 billion euro migration fund for Turkey - New