UNESCO Courier articles from May 2000

UNESCO Courier archives from May 2000

THE SOUL OF OLD CAIRO.
May 1, 2000... Samir Gharib [*] A traveller weaves his way through streets and alleys crowded with memories I was a child when I first discovered Cairo, one morning when I had travelled from my native Upper Egypt on the famous midnight train. I...

FROM VIET NAM TO RWANDA: WAR'S CHAIN REACTION.
May 1, 2000... Fred Pearce [*] From destroyed vegetation to health hazards, the environment has been a systematic casualty of recent wars and pays the price long after peace returns I Concern about the environmental impact of warfare began in...

THE POLLUTION OF THE BALKANS.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Nevena Popovska and Jasmina Sopova [*] Air, soil and water were severely polluted by NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia last spring, raising fears of long-term effects on health The Atlantic Alliance officially recognized on March 21, 2000...

SCIENCE TEACHING'S QUANTUM LEAP.
May 1, 2000... Asbel Lopez [*] Teachers must prepare not only future scientists, but also citizens who will confront unprecedented technological and ethical challenges in their lifetime I When Mexican teacher Jose Antonio Lopez Tercero was a student,...

Biodiversity: a friend for life.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Since the time of Aristotle, we have been trying to inventory the world's plant and animal species. Yet in the year 2000, this colossal task is nowhere near being achieved. It probably never will be, despite the efforts of taxonomists and...

A necessary partnership with nature.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Catherine Larrere [*] The giant panda and the blue whale are symbols of a wildlife whose richness and diversity we want to preserve, for the protection of threatened species is one of the oldest ways of protecting nature itself. But...

The lair of the batfish.
May 1, 2000... Timothy B. Werner [*] Dive into the turbid waters of Brazil's Abrolhos Bank to explore the mysteries of its marine biodiversity with a team of leading scientists Day 1: Nova Vicosa Aboard two fishing boats, we're chugging through...

Uncharted territory.
May 1, 2000... Paradoxically, scientists know more about the stars in our galaxy than about the number of species living on Earth Coined by American researchers in the mid1980s, the term biodiversity has been in the media spotlight ever since. It is a...

Too valuable for price-tags.
May 1, 2000... Sophie Boukhari [*] Why should biological diversity be protected? Scientists are putting forth many new answers: some to convince the public and decision-makers and others they consider scientifically valid Every week it seems,...

Ecosystems, our unknown protectors.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Jose Sarukhan [*] How ecosystems work and what part they play in biodiversity remain a mystery. But we do know that they perform a host of invaluable services for the human species In my view, biodiversity's fundamental value is...

Genetic diversity and food security.
May 1, 2000... Geoffrey C. Hawtin [*] Maintaining a diversity of crops and varieties is a key to survival for millions of farmers living on impoverished land For thousands of years, farmers have used the genetic variation in wild and cultivated...

Out of the forest and into the bottle.
May 1, 2000... Cecile Guerin [*] Pharmaceutical companies are taking an increasing interest in plants, insects and bacteria. But from nature to clinical trials, the road is a long one In Madagascar's Isalo mountain range, the guide stops. At his...

Borneo: reaping the fruits of ecotourism.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Robert Basiuk [*] The Iban people are highly dependent on the riches of the forest for their survival, and tourism has become an added incentive to protect this wealth Since they settled in the Malaysian state of Sarawak over 400 years...

Ecoprotection: an international go-slow.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... Sophie Boukhari [*] Protected areas are the key to conservation policies. But how should they be run? For Seydina Issa Sylla, lack of international co-operation is the biggest problem The 1992 Rio Convention on Biological Diversity...

Kew turns over a new leaf.
May 1, 2000... David Dickson [*] At the hub of the British Empire, Kew Gardens once scoured the world for plants. Now its Millennium Seed Bank puts it in the vanguard of international conservation efforts For thousands of Londoners, the Royal Botanic...

Towards a world conservation ethics.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... M. S. Swaminathan [*] The Rio convention marked the first major international step towards the sharing of biodiversity based on the principle of social fairness It has become commonplace to say that the Convention on Biological...

THE BATTLE FOR AN ETHICAL BUCK.
May 1, 2000... Lucia Iglesias Kuntz [*] Ethical banks that include socially responsible investments in their bottom line are winning support from people who share their ideals The jobs and wages of millions of people throughout the world depend...

TIMELESS ANGKOR.
May 1, 2000... Fabienne Luco [*] A fragile thread of continuity connects life around the ancient capital of the kingdom of Cambodia to the distant past It is a phantasmagoric world. When European travelers discovered Angkor in the 19th century, they...

ASIA'S ALTERNATIVE TELEVISION.
May 1, 2000... Ethirajan Anbarasan and K J M Varma [*] An Asian broadcasting network run by young professionals focuses on social and environmental issues To a first-time visitor it might look like a journalism school or a college Campus. Walking...

OCIMAR VERSOLATO'S HYBRID CREATIONS.(Interview)
May 1, 2000... Though too pricey for the average consumer, Brazilian couturier Ocimar Versolato interweaves multiculturalism and sensuality to create designs that match women's dreams Paris has Japanese, South Korean, Malian and Moroccan designers, but...

Doomed to early demise.
May 1, 2000... Edward O. Wilson [*] Many biologists believe we are in the midst of one of the great extinction spasms of geological history. This time however, human activity, not nature, is the culprit In the Amazon Basin the greatest violence can...

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH.(http://www.unesco.org/ virtual-library)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2000... http://www.unesco.org/ virtual-library A selection of UNESCO books are now entirely 11 available online and free of charge. This virtual library is part of the Organization's new efforts to make books available to the widest possible...