CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

Belo Horizonte - the first Latin America city to implement TRACE energy saving tool

Belo Horizonte image by Vera Barbosa.

The Tool for Rapid Assessment of City Energy (TRACE), developed by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), has already been implemented in various cities around the world, but Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, was the first city in Latin America to implement the World Bank energy tool. Minas Gerais is the second most populous state in Brazil and has emerged as one of the largest economic forces in the country in recent years; therefore it is not surprising that the state’s capital is determined to be known for its commitment to sustainability, especially when considering a big plus side of adopting energy saving measures, i.e. the resulting saving on costs in the long run, which many governments don’t seem to realise.

Tiger tourism: to ban or not to ban?

 Both as a wildlife enthusiast and a writer on tourism, I've been following with interest over the last month or so the ongoing debate in India over whether tourism should be banned from core areas of the country's tiger reserves. On Tuesday 24 July, India's Supreme Court temporarily banned any form of tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves to aid conservation efforts.

"We make it clear that till final directions are issued by this court, the core zones or core areas in the tiger reserves will not be used for tourism," justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla said in their order.

The ban, a response to a petition by tiger activist Ajay Dubey of the nongovernmental organization Prayatna, was originally put in place until 22 August. Since its introduction, there has been much lobbying against the ban by tourist guides and companies, some wildlife organisations, and now state and central governments in India.

Will the Sweet Potato be giving Usain Bolt a run for his money at the next Olympics?

First blog from our guest blogger, Hollie Gibson, who is studying Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, UK.

As the London Olympics came to an end on the 12^th of August 2012, plans for the next Olympics which will be held in Rio, 2016 are already in full swing. This time however it is not the athletes that are making the headlines, instead it’s the one and only Sweet Potato.

Are the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games the most sustainable ever?

Photo taken by Vera Barbosa

A report has just been published to update the 2005 BioRegional, WWF and London 2012 framework report on producing the most sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games ever. The 2005 report, Towards a One Planet Olympics, became part of London’s bid and then part of London’s promise to the world. Towards a One Planet Olympics started from the premise that we only have one planet and the Games in London would need to respect its ecological limits and create a legacy for sport, the environment and people.

On the eve of the Games in London, BioRegional and WWF evaluated the original report/vision and produced a shorter report entitled: Towards a One Planet Olympics revisited: How well will the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games live up to the sustainability promises made in the bid? This new report tried to answer questions such as: how far is London 2012 toward delivering a One Planet Olympics? How many of the promises made in Towards a One Planet Olympics have been met or appear to be on track?