Blogs & Ecology

Human nature’s versatility is evident in their ability to survive in some of the most hospitable and remote places on Earth. What’s more is that humans don’t just survive but often flourish in these settlements, so it’s no wonder that vast, sprawling cities and bustling trading villages can be found in the world’s highest peaks and valleys.

We present seven of the highest cities on the planet, some of which have become capitals of their country, some long abandoned and left to the elements.

Juan Montalvo of Ecuador Sin Censura [es] criticizes the public spending of the Rafael Correa government and cites financial figures comparing previous administrations.

Ecuador is in mourning after learning about the recent death of former president León Febres Cordero (LFC). He was president of Ecuador from 1984 to 1988 and died at age of 77. Upon hearing the news, people gathered outside Guayaquil Clinic to accompany his remains to Guayaquil's Cathedral, where many others had gathered to pray and will also take part in the burial services at the La Paz Park cemetery.

It's been two years since Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa personally met with Richard Stallman [es], free software activist. Rafael Bonifaz reflects back on the meeting and what has happened since.

I've just returned from spending two weeks traveling through some of the most fragile, intricately weaved ecosystems in existence—the Galapagos Islands. Many took issue with my being there at all. Some believe such habitats should be hermetically sealed off in some sort of giant bubble and tended to only by scientists. Some think we should be free to visit the earth's wonders if we did so responsibly. Most were unsure about how tourism and conservation should intersect, exactly. Count me among the last group.

photo: 1-800-Flowers

After I learned the eco-issues behind the cut flower industry I was never able to look at a dozen roses the same again. No longer was it a symbol of a sweet loving gesture, but rather, the sign of often pesticide laden blooms and an enlarged carbon footprint. However, 1-800-Flowers has introduced Fair Trade flower bouquets. A step in the right direction? You be the judge.

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All photos by Pete Oxford

It seems that we only hear about environmental plans and initiatives being made at legislative, university, and corporate levels—and we can forget that there are still folks like progressive secondary school teachers making bold moves in environmental education around the country. They just never get any press.

Café de Chucho [es] recently enjoyed an Open Software conference at the National University of Loja in Ecuador and was pleased to learn about ELASTIX, an open sourced IP communications program created by a local company.

Photo by participating teacher Sue Cullumber

Photo by Pete Oxford

Every year, Toyota sends a crop of hand-picked teachers to the Galapagos on an environmental study tour. It's a costly program, it doesn't get much press, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the auto industry.

Photo by Pete Oxford

Only a few days ago, top secondary school teachers from the US and Galapagos were working together to create environmental education plans. Incorporating ideas from their disparate locales, they'd forged some progressive, globally applicable projects and concepts for curriculum. It was, as I reported earlier, pretty fascinating to watch.

Photo courtesy of Lind Xu

Why are environmentalists shooting goats? Why have they undertaken an elaborate plan to systematically kill hundreds of thousands of goats by means of aerial and ground hunting operations? Why to preserve life, of course.

Project Isabela: Eradicating Goats in the Name of Biodiversity

Photo by Lena Tashjian

Lonesome George slovenly lumbers out of the brush in his compound, painstakingly climbs the minor incline up to his pool, and collapses. The famed giant tortoise seems exhausted and lethargic, even by tortoise standards. And I can't blame him—if I were 100 years old, the very last male of my species left in existence, and had little hope of fathering children, I'd probably have trouble getting out of bed in the morning too....

Photo by Pete Oxford

From a die-hard ecologist's standpoint, the unequivocal answer is simple:

No.

An endangered Waved Albatross chick, photo by Brian Merchant