O orçamento de Estado que prevê o corte de subsídios de natal e férias para muitos portugueses é o mesmo que contempla mais três milhões de euros para estudos e pareceres. Em 2012, Passos Coelho prevê gastar mais de 100 milhões de euros nesta rubrica. São quase mais 4 milhões de euros que José Socrates reservou em 2011. O Ministério da Economia e Emprego leva a fatia maior, cerca de 23 milhões e 500 mil euros. Segue-se o Ministério da Agricultura e o das Finanças. Fonte do Governo disse à SIC que grande parte da verba prevista para estudos e pareceres destina-se a consultoras internacionais por causa dos processos de privatização.

Na verdade há alguma Verdade quando dizem que todos somos culpados. Todos não, mas a grande maioria dos cidadãos.

A maioria dos que votam sempre nos mesmos, que os enganam vezes sem conta e sem nenhuma vergonha ou arrependimento, que permitem maiorias não representativas e anti-democráticas. Culpa da maioria que não se dá ao trabalho sequer de votar. Se os governantes e seus acólitos nos tem roubado indecentemente, se pretendem continuar a roubar-nos e só fazem marcha a trás — sempre temporária, evidentemente — porque o escandâlo prepassa para as parangonas dos jornais e se torna visivelmente inaceitável, e se nos levam à miséria absoluta de mão estendida; aos cidadãos que engrossam a enorme maioria silenciosa se deve.

E este nem sequer é um problema só dos portugueses, mas sim um de civilização e que premeia toda a Democracia. E de resto…

NO COMMENTS!

Os mais ricos do Mundo Democrático estão a demonizar os políticos e as políticas que os mesmos fomentaram e mantiveram durante as duas últimas décadas; e ao mesmo tempo permitem que o sistema que os enriqueceu para lá do razoável se mantenha sem mudanças substanciais. Só os mais desatentos é que acham QUE é por pena do Povo, por qualquer razão súbita de ética ou consciência, ou por se sentirem indignados por serem os mais privilegiados por todas as políticas fiscais imaginadas. Hienas, disfarçadas de borregos, é o que são estes capitalistas selvagens.

E eu acredito no capitalismo ligado à produção efectiva de bens; com ética e sem ganância, e acima de tudo regulado e fiscalizado. Os socialismos de facto não passam de capitalismos encapotados e medíocres.

Uma leitura interessante sobre o tema é também o artigo The usury crisis and Catholic social teaching, por Michael Liccione e que exemplifica bem a problemática do controle da usura e o combate à ganância especulativa nos países de raiz cristã, especialmente os católicos.

I really hope one day we charge all companies for their real impacts; which means of course to charge private citizen users, the ones who ultimately pay; as long as it is not socially unsustainable. Putting a value on nature and not regulating finance will result in higher inflation and higher prices. Ideally the value of biodiversity and ecosystems should be subtracted from product profit margins and not simply added to the cost consumer pays.

Of course, that would mean a civilizational shift towards paying what has a “real” value, that is, a value aligned with the real planet substance and limits (eventually adding some nearby planets we may colonize).

And what are the planet substance and limits made of? Basically, mass and energy. These are the real things or dimensions where we move (at least until we die).

We have equations that relate these two existence pillar dimensions, mass and energy (E=mc2), but maybe our big problem is that we did not integrate yet on the equation the third most important variable that makes the world keep moving: Money!

Since Middle Ages, when money was allowed to “grow” and be accumulated without any association to a real wealth or object (by usury), money became more and more a virtual thing, more and more disconnected from the fluxes of mass and energy that flow around the world and keep its balance – or not.

«The most hated sort, and with the greatest reason, is usury, which makes a gain out of money itself, and not from the natural object of it. For money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest.» – Aristotle – Politics, Book I, Part X, 4th Century BCE

Instead of focusing on “the natural object of it” we have based our society systems more and more on finance reference and fluxes, a virtual though powerful reality.

Money has been a variable not very logically related to any thing, or at least not following a mathematical model that reasonably connects to the other 2 items, so its quite normal that such “schizophrenia” leads to a planet crisis.

I believe that when we effectively attribute a money value to nature, in a long run that will turn back and a real nature value will be “attributed” to money, just as it happens in an equation. Ex: a person buys 3 houses, which represents a lot of materials and therefore impacts on nature (in Neolithic times each person used less than 10kg of materials/day and now uses more that 100kg/day for a normal living = unsustainable); so if that is appropriately charged, less people will prefer to do such an impact with their money.

Would such a shift be possible? Not sure. Maybe we will perish because we did not manage to organize ourselves collectively, as a species we did not manage to design or run a long term strategy.

O governo fala de empreendedorismo e da sua necessidade, mas também das medidas tomadas para que a criação de empresas seja célere; as associações empresariais reclamam a redução das barreiras formais à criação de empresas, mais apoio e financiamentos para as fases de seed e early stage; criam-se mecanismos de financiamento e incentivos a business angels; multiplicam-se as iniciativas co-financiadas por fundos comunitários para sensibilizar e formar empreendedores; fazem-se concursos nacionais, regionais e locais de empreendedorismo e programas de televisão que os promovem; introduzem-se disciplinas de criação de negócios nas universidades nos cursos de engenharia; financiam-se incubadoras e parques de ciência e tecnologia; introduz-se o tema nas escolas, formam-se professores, criam-se municípios empreendedores e promove-se como nunca o empreendedorismo feminino.

E tudo isto é preciso.

Segundo dados da COTEC, a taxa de actividade empreendedora “early stage” em Portugal passou de 4% em 2004 para 8,8% em 2007 (antes da crise financeira mundial), um aumento que coloca Portugal acima da média da União Europeia, com 5,4%. Tudo isto é necessário para que os milhares de jovens que todos os anos saem das universidades e os menos jovens que já trabalharam e não têm emprego – mas sobretudo os que têm emprego, capacidade, competências e vontade – possam desenvolver as suas próprias iniciativas empresariais.

Dos que o fazem há uma grande percentagem que não tem sucesso. Arrisca, cria emprego, paga impostos, gera riqueza, até que um dia, por causa da crise, das circunstâncias ou da sua incapacidade de as contornar, a empresa fecha.

Com ou sem dívidas para pagar, pesa-lhe a tristeza de um sonho perdido, o estigma e a pressão social de não ter conseguido, mas também a ausência de qualquer apoio social no desemprego em que se agora se encontra. Como muitos outros trabalhadores nestas circunstâncias arrisca agora passar por situações dramáticas.

E há quem ache isto normal!

O apoio no desemprego a pequenos empresários em caso de encerramento involuntário da empresa faz parte das medidas urgentes a implementar para criar um contexto mais favorável ao empreendedorismo em Portugal. Depois de anos de discussões, tudo indicava para que no primeiro trimestre de 2009 esta fosse prevista no novo código contributivo para Segurança Social – este também então em discussão. Em Novembro de 2009, a Senhora Ministra do Trabalho disse poder vir a considerar a hipótese de discutir a medida com os parceiros sociais. A CGTP manifestou-se contra de imediato.  A discussão não parece colocar-se em torno do pagamento de uma contribuição superior à que é actualmente paga para a Segurança Social, a que dificilmente os empresários se oporiam, mas sim em relação à natureza das prestações de desemprego – cuja lógica assenta na existência de trabalho subordinado que cessa sem possibilidade de intervenção do trabalhador.

Não admite a intersindical que uma empresa possa encerrar sem que o seu administrador ou gerente seja capaz de fazer face às dificuldades, mesmo as provocadas por uma situação de crise internacional prolongada como a que vivemos.

E há quem ache isto normal!

O  que a mim me parece normal é que um pequeno ou médio empresário contribua para a segurança social e beneficie das prestações de desemprego como qualquer trabalhador quando e se necessário.

Parece-me um raciocínio simples e normal que assim seja!

Num momento em que se anunciam medidas de austeridade que se querem acompanhadas de medidas de estímulo à economia é importante dar um sinal aos empreendedores, mostrando que o país conta com eles para criarem emprego e riqueza, da mesma forma que podem contar com o país se a sua empresa não conseguir atravessar com sucesso o duro caminho que vão ter pela frente.

artigo de Pedro M. Das Neves publicado no Facebook

Metade da vida política vive de tráfico de influências; metade já para ser simpático. E muitas das vezes aconteceu-me, enquanto vereador da Câmara do Porto, ter reuniões com membros do Governo em que a primeira parte da reunião eram tentativas de influẽncia sobre o vereador do urbanismo da Câmara Municipal do Porto, portanto eu, no sentido de os favorecer no negócio A ou B, negócios de urbanismo que tinham na cidade do Porto.

Paulo Teixeira de Morais, ex-vereador da Câmara Municpal do Porto, pelouro de urbanismo, actual membro da Direcção da TI – Transparência e Integridade, Associação Cívica..

Lêr também a excelente análise de Pedro Bingre do Amaral, entregue na Direcção-Geral de Ordenamento do Território, no âmbito da discussão da nova Lei dos Solos..

E o resto é somente acessório e poeira para enganar parolos.

The most imperiled marine habitat on Earth is not coral reefs or mangrove forests. Its indeed shellfish reefs. Oyster reefs are considered as functionally extinct in many places of the world. But of course it does not mean they will be out of our plates; as most we eat are farmed, but its quite different than having them at their natural habitat.

People do not value so much what they have near by, except if their survival depends directly on a certain resource. Maybe thats why the massive disappearance of the oysters mostly during the 60′s in Tagus estuary, bathing Lisbon (Portugal) seemed not to be such a dramatic event, despite the enormous breakdown in the profitable exportation business provided by the oysters. A business which was owned by the State, operating at a large oyster cleansing station also owned by the State, now transformed in a event venue center, private-owned, after some years of sad abandonment. The very same State that allowed domestic and heavy industrial pollution to impact dramatically the estuarine waters of the Tagus for so many decades.

The oyster collectors, people of rural communities living by the margins of the estuary since Pre-history, did not feel after all the impact, as they also were shifting their way of life – so to say their real “habitat” – to new jobs in the industrial factories implanted in the region. Nobody seemed to loose, except the environment and the oysters. The concept of biodiversity and ecosystem services was unknown at the time.

While putting the oysters back on the map again may not seem a priority, at least one could calculate how much it would be worth having them back as well as the biodiversity and ecosystem services they provide. In the case of Tagus, the new waste water treatment plants – still under construction – give us some hope that in near future the oysters can be back on service.

Read more at Nature Conservancy‘s website.

Johnny Selman is an artist that found a new and interesting way to motivate readers to catch what’s happening worldwide. In his own words:

My goal with this project is to bridge the knowledge gap between global current events and the American public. I will do this by creating a more visually interesting vehicle for the news, use a credible news source (BBC), and promote, market, and network. I will design a poster a day for 365 days in reaction to a headline on the BBC news website and update this website everyday with the poster and the accompanying news story. By creating posters based on the news stories I hope to compel my audience to look into the article and eventually stir a larger interest in world news with the American public.

An interesting example of his work is the news about overfishing that you can see at the BBC x 365 website, but there are a lot more to review.

Foi ontem aprovado em Conselho de Ministros um Decreto-Lei, na sequência da aprovação da Iniciativa para a Competitividade e o Emprego, que alarga a «via rápida» criada para os Projectos PIN, de modo a abranger projectos de forte vocação exportadora.

Assim, passam a poder ser reconhecidos como Projectos de Potencial Interesse Nacional (PIN) os projectos que representem um investimento global superior a 10 milhões de euros, quando até aqui essa classificação estava reservada aos projectos de valor superior a 25 milhões de euros.

Por outro lado, admite-se agora, excepcionalmente, a classificação como PIN de projectos que, representando um investimento inferior a 10 milhões de euros, possuam uma forte vocação exportadora ou permitam a substituição de importações, bem como nos casos de forte componente de investigação e desenvolvimento (I&D), inovação aplicada ou interesse ambiental.

Introduzem-se, também, para todos os projectos PIN acima de 25 milhões de euros, mecanismos adicionais de simplificação e agilização dos procedimentos necessários à execução do projecto, de modo a permitir um tratamento mais rápido dos processos.

artigo no Ambiente Online. Ler também o artigo no Jornal de Negócios

Porreiro, pá!

In the aftermath of the Cancun COP on climate change, and for those who love cartoons, I leave hereby some links and my modest contribution. It seems that, after all, some other kids didn’t  play so fair as well…

Ainda no rescaldo da COP em Cancún, e para quem gosta de cartoons, sugiro a visita aos sites seguintes e deixo aqui a minha modesta contribuição.
Parece que afinal houve mais meninos a portarem-se mal…

Other cartoons / Outros cartoons: Climate Change Conference, Cancun Style! (cartoon), Cancun by Steve Nease, Cancun Climate Summit, Cancun, Finding climate common ground in Cancun , South Of The Border…, Game on (finally)… and many other.

Bruxelas – De 16 a 17 de Novembro, mais de 200 participantes de 43 países estiveram reunidos no encontro “Visões Positivas para a Biodiversidade” promovido pela Presidência Belga da União Europeia, com o apoio do EPBRS (Plataforma Europeia de Estratégia em Investigação de Biodiversidade). Pessoas de formações e sectores de actividades muito variados, bem como especialistas como Pavan Suckdev, o líder do estudo internacional “A Economia dos Ecossistemas e Biodiversidade”, estiveram presentes enquanto participantes. A Quercus também esteve presente.

Visões Positivas para a Biodiversidade
Um exercício democrático e interactivo
O encontro foi facilitado pelo Global Voices, uma organização sem fins lucrativos, usando o seu modelo 21st Century Summit, que recorre a equipamento de votação electrónica com feed-back imediato que permite a priorização de ideias. Durante o curso de dois dias, os participantes desenvolveram assim um “quadro de visão”, definindo primeiro grandes temas para a visão, nomeadamente relacionados com governação, gestão do território, população humana, tecnologia, energias renováveis, produção de alimentos, produção e consumo sustentáveis, mudança do paradigma económico, valores e comportamentos harmoniosos e a integração da biodiversidade nos vários aspectos da vida.

Concurso de Cartoon promovido pela organização: Julie Buttier (1º lugar)

Mudanças que é preciso fazer
Para cada tema definido os participantes elaboraram propostas para mudanças significativas a atingir, que foram numa segunda fase priorizados por uma votação que seleccionou 20 consideradas mais importantes, de onde referimos algumas:

• Para a mudança do paradigma económico, terá de haver uma total internalização total de custos sociais e ambientais nos serviços e produtos, incluindo alimentos.
• Deverá criar-se espaço para diferentes paradigmas económicos, não apenas focados no crescimento, exploração e acumulação.
• Os custos sociais e ambientais deverão ser sempre contabilizados na produção e uso de energia.
• Deverá atingir-se 100% de energia renovável em 2050 pelo menos na UE.
• Um grande enfoque deve ser dado na educação das gerações mais jovens, mais baseada na descoberta e experimentação e que inspire e prepare os alunos para compreender a biodiversidade e torná-la parte da sua vida.
• Os serviços dos ecossistemas devem ser integrados no planeamento de áreas urbanas e peri-urbanas, para um melhor bem estar das pessoas.
• Cada concelho e cidade deverá dotar-se a curto prazo de um centro de recursos em biodiversidade, com um plano de acção e educação.
• Toda a agricultura e aquacultura deverá torna-se sustentável durante os próximos 20 anos.
• Deverão ser criados corredores entre áreas protegidas para uma melhor adaptação às alterações climáticas.
• Deverá legislar-se de modo a permitir à comunidades locais um benefício directo da conservação da natureza.
• Deverá desenvolver-se mais tecnologia sustentável inspirada na natureza.

O seguimento deste encontro e o papel da investigação
Cada participante assumiu no final do encontro compromissos muito concretos, como por exemplo a redução de consumo a nível pessoal, a alteração de hábitos alimentares, passar as mensagens em redes sociais ou até de tornar-se embaixador destas Visões Positivas para a Biodiversidade. Os resultados do encontro foram debatidos logo nos dias seguintes num evento complementar pelo EPBRS, no sentido de procurar integrar os resultados em novas orientações de investigação na UE.

Visões Positivas e a meta não atingida de 2010
A discussão realizada nos dois primeiros dias permitiu colocar em evidência que existe já uma consciência clara de que o paradigma económico actual não é sustentável. De facto, de acordo com o último Relatório Global Biodiversity Out-look*, um dos três objectivos globalmente não atingidos pelas Partes Signatárias da Convenção da Diversidade Biológica, para atingir a meta de Travar a Perda de Biodiversidade em 2010 foi: “Reduzir o Consumo Insustentável de recursos biológicos ou que têm impactes sobre a biodiversidade”. Esse terá de ser um dos grandes desafios a assumir já durante a próxima década, até 2020.

Mais informações e Relatórios Preliminares no site oficial.
Fotografias na página do Facebook.

* Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2010) Global Bodiversity, Outlook 3 – Executive Summary. Montréal, 12 pages

A China Power International (CPI) poderá entrar no capital da EDP com uma posição entre 2 e 5%, avançou um administrador da eléctrica.

"In democracy it’s your vote that counts; In feudalism it’s your count that votes." - Mogens Jallberg

Actualmente se alguém não concorda com um sistema em que está inserido, seja uma colectividade, um partido político ou outra unidade organizacional de indivíduos, é comum não reagir e deixar andar, para não ferir susceptibilidades, para não haver chatices e por lealdade pessoal a alguém. Que me contradigam os sociólogos que este é um modus operandi típico das brandas gentes lusitanas.

Para mim, o pior inimigo da verdadeira democracia é a cultura de um povo. Pode instalar-se um sistema político ou estatal de raíz, transparente, ético, plural, democrático, justo, enfim limpo. Mas se a cultura de um povo estiver recheada de “amigismos”, lealdades e respeitos pessoais, “tribalismos” e nepotismos, não restará qualquer esperança à dita democracia, que mais ou menos rapidamente se tornará uma criatura em vias de extinção, ou pior numa caricatura da democracia.

Na verdade seremos talvez ainda feudais. O feudalismo, que teve certamente uma função estruturante das sociedades num longo período da história, baseia-se na lealdade a um senhor. E a lealdade é uma coisa bela em si. Mas não a lealdade cega, não necessáriamente a lealdade a uma pessoa, vá ela por onde vá. Vá ela por maus caminhos.

A lealdade no feudalismo pressupõe um sistema de atribuição de favores – que infelizmente cada vez é menos uma coisa do passado! Ao contrário, a democracia pressupõe um sistema de justa distribuição de direitos, incluindo o de participação nas decisões. É por isso que acho que a lealdade não deverá ser o mais importante na democracia.

Para mim a lealdade é um valor que, admito, nunca teve muita importância. A Honestidade, a Liberdade, a Justiça, sim. A lealdade a uma pessoa, a um sistema, pode comprometer o amor ao Bem Comum, a um bem muito maior e muito mais duradouro, que vale a pena construir.

Se continuarmos neste feudalismo, nepotismo e protecção tribalista, seja ela de que tipo for, então Portugal não muda!

Foi criada em Lisboa, no passado dia 17 de Setembro, a TI – Transparência e Integridade, Associação Cívica. A TIAC é o ponto de contacto da Transparency Internacional em Portugal.

Tendo como missão contribuir para o fortalecimento da cidadania e a qualidade da governança, pública e privada, em Portugal, através da promoção da transparência, da integridade e da responsabilidade, a TIAC procura uma mudança positiva de valores na sociedade.

There are many pleasant ways to get people approach nature and biodiversity; fieldsketching is one of them. Fieldsketching activities can be promoted as environmental education by NGOs, or local councils. In Portugal that is not a common practice, but some municipalities have started to promote either free courses and workshops on nature drawing and fieldsketching next to the inhabitants of their region.

Basically fieldsketching focuses on making sketches of the landscape or some elements of it. Its not supposed to be a very elaborated of finished drawing or painting, but notes that can be used – or not – for further elaborated work at the studio.  Several materials can be used, graphite and water coloring the most used.

Such courses can of course be ministered by different teachers with several backgrounds. But I believe that choosing a scientific illustrator for the job, specially with a background in Biology, means the approach can be more focused on the basics of drawing, the appropriate materials and techniques and more concentrated on individual species and their features, which is a good way for people to pay better attention to the surrounding biodiversity.

Bons-dias, an invasive species

This is in fact the approach at the ongoing Course on Fieldskeching in Saturday mornings, promoted by the Municipality of Moita, after a proposal of mine as environment officer. Our teacher, biologist Telma Costa, scientific illustrator ( http://telmacosta-scientificillustration.blogspot.com), though leading us in that direction, gives us the right amount of freedom to draw whatever we get more inspiration from, being the light passing by through the leaves of the trees, the traditional wooden boats resting on the Tagus mudflats at the low tide, or the attractive flowers of the invasive species Ipomoea acuminata (Vahl) also called “Bons-dias”, which in English means “Good morning”.

This year, Facebook has undergone a number of problems related to privacy of its users. Faced with this, four American students devised a social network of open format, allowing its users and managers to have more control over this aspect: the Diaspora — which is in fact an interesting choice for a name.

After raising more than $ 200,000.00 — from supporters ranging from ordinary users to companies and executives, including Facebook — their creators have announced a release date for the Diaspora: September 15. The code will be open, meaning that programmers around the world can examine, modify and even lead to change. More on the initial idea on the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Neverthless, don’t you even think that having it will turn yourself into the next zillionaire. This already happened more than once before; for instance with Digg hype people went crazy and you have at least three successful FLOSS clones: Meneame, Pligg and Drigg; just to mention only one of those efforts. Portuguese know for sure the DoMelhor (which is based on Meneame) and others may know about Free Software Daily (which is based on Drupal’s based distro Drigg).

And, besides Facebook, there are already several big contenders like MySpace and Netlog.

What makes Facebook so difficult to surpass is the same thing that makes Google search engine difficult to overrun: their massive infrastruture. That’s where the big bucks are invested and not in software development.

Another sad conclusion for us, non-Americans (inc. Canada, etc) that strive to push some FLOSS projects forward is that it is almost impossible to raise any money to invest in FLOSS outside USA and Canada — and I already experienced that in first hand with Care3G and Care2x — especially in such a crazy idea as a “Facebook” clone. And if that was not enough, without any Business Plan or other financial jiberish.

Há quem diga que são aprovadas pelos autarcas para assim poderem encher os cofres da edilidade com taxas de urbanização. Ora, essa é uma lenda urbana extraordinariamente contra-producente que tem sido veiculada pelos ambientalistas, mas que é falsa e tem servido de autêntico álibi para os loteadores.

É errado julgar que as câmaras lucram com os loteamentos. Foi provado à saciedade, em estudos feitos pelas nossas melhores universidades, que as taxas de urbanização são mais do que insuficientes para cobrir os encargos inerentes que os municípios têm de suportar a posteriori para ligar as novas urbanizações às redes de saneamento, às redes viárias, às redes eléctricas, etc. Quanto mais alvarás de loteamento uma câmara municipal concede, mais se endivida, porque as taxas de urbanização não conseguem fazer face às despesas.

Podem ler o resto do interessante artigo em “O Milagre da Multiplicação”

So many species inhabited our lands, rivers and seas in the past. Biodiversity can be “mainstreamed” into local history awareness actions and vice-versa, as indeed natural and historical heritage are both building blocks of local identity. Despite the disappearing of so much biodiversity, it remained until our days in the names of streets, squares, in local tales and so on. When we speak about biodiversity, we can go back a few years, some decades or even centuries, to explain its importance. For instances, the Portuguese oyster, which disappeared from the Tagus estuary in the 60s due to pollution, was in fact important not only for the economy during many decades, but was a major item found among the evidences of the neolithic diet, found locally at Moita Municipality.

Hence, the idea of using a real person from the past to tell us how things were those days.

A British crusader that lived in the XII century and was at Lisbon in 1147, wrote a lively description of the conquest of Lisbon by the first king of Portugal with the help of crusaders from several parts of Europe. In his letter he refers that the Tagus estuary was so rich, that two thirds were water and one third was fish (The original document is a unique Manuscript in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge).

Departing from this, he “was asked” to come back and tell some real stories about Tagus and its biodiversity, since pre-history to the present times. The Sturgeon, the Portuguese Oyster and other missing or threatened species are some of the issues he talks about with the children. In the end, children are invited to do a “fishery” of colored paper fishes, where the smallest must be left behind so they can grow. Finally, if children really want to protect the Tagus, they may become knights.

I prepared this idea and a script for the crusader for the World Environment Day celebrations promoted by the Municipality of Moita. A total of aprox. 350 children participated.

This activity was promoted by the Municipality of Moita, Portugal, last April, with the support of Fenacoop (National Federation of Consumer Cooperatives), a member of Eurocoop, and the cooperative Pluricoop. It was inspired on the “Supermarket Tours” developed in Australia by the Ethical Consumer Group and was integrated in the project “Bio-Local – Diversity of Local Actions for Biodiversity”.

Issues such as biodiversity loss, energy and CO₂ emissions, waste, ethics, animal welfare, economic and social sustainability, local production and consumption were covered in a practical way, relating them to our consumption choices. The tour consisted on a “check-in” (lecture); an “indoor tour” (inside a supermarket) and an “outdoor tour” (to a local farm).

The “check-in” lecture was presented with the help of a slide-show (at top above). Near the end, the participants were invited to choose specific themes and form small teams (see list of themes on the slide-show). They were then given written forms to be filled at specific sectors at the supermarket.

The indoor tour, inside the supermarket, enabled participants to do an oriented search of products on the shelves and become aware of the information displayed on the product packages such as certifications, or the existence – or not – of other relevant information. In the end they gathered together in an informal meeting, to share impressions and opinions.

The last part – the outdoor tour – looked more as a normal tourism tour. We left on a bus and went to the rural area, to know a local farm production of strawberries and other vegetables. The farmer, a young woman engineer, applies practices of “integrated production” which is not organic farming (unfortunately there are not yet organic farms at Moita) but nevertheless is more sustainable than conventional farming, namely because of the reduction of pesticides use. Besides this farmer sells directly to the local consumer, with personalized baskets of products delivered every week. The local products are distributed to local people, therefore keeping their freshness, reducing carbon footprint and avoiding refrigeration. The tour ended with a strawberries tasting moment.

In the end the participants evaluated the activity with very high scores, remarking it had been very pleasant and interesting.

About the Project “Bio-Local – Diversity of local action for biodiversity”

It is a project I developed at the Municipality of Moita, basically an aggregation of several awareness raising initiatives on biodiversity, at local level. The international goal “To halt biodiversity loss”, to which Portugal formally adhered, requires in fact a set of measures and urgent actions at various levels. What we eat, what we do and the way we live has direct or indirect impacts on nature and biodiversity, either on the wild or cultivated species, and along with them, impacts on the services provided by nature to humanity.

This project, developed at local level and involving civil society partners, gathers awareness actions on three themes:

1. Local and regional biodiversity
2. Agricultural biodiversity
3. Biodiversity and consumption

Local and regional biodiversity

Consists mainly of a set of guided tours for school children in the municipality of Moita and surrounding region, so they learn more about the existing habitats and species and their relation with local history and development.

Agricultural biodiversity

Aims to create in schools a living arc for preservation of regional varieties and flavors in danger of disappearance, transforming the school gardens on custodians of agricultural biodiversity. Schools get practical training workshops directed for teachers and students. They get support to plant kitchen gardens and when collecting the crops, they keep part of the seeds for further plantation in next year.

Biodiversity and consumption

Includes awareness raising actions directed towards local consumers, promoting a better understanding about the sources and processing of products and its relation to nature and biodiversity. A Tour of the Ecological Consumer was developed, inspired on the “Supermarket Tours” developed in Australia by the Ethical Consumer Group.

In Portugal, at least until the generation of our grand parents, it was usual that when people were eating and by accident droped a piece of bread to the floor, they had to kiss it and eat it after. That kiss meant full respect for the bread, as primordial food, as a source of livelihood, as something almost sacred.

There is a documentary film I saw long time ago on TV, about a tribe – can’t remember where they lived – that followed animist rituals. If they had to prepare a goat for a meal, they killed it, but not without making a ritual prayer before, thanking to the animal for its sacrifice.

When I was in Bonn, for the COP9 events, at a certain lunch I joined a table with japanese people. A japanese girl I had met before was there dressed with a traditional garment. I told her that many christians usually have a short pray to thank God for the food they are about to eat and I asked if japanese had some similar prayer. She answered that japanese have many prayers to thank nature, like thanking a tree for everything it gives us.

All these examples make me think how much people got disconnected themselves from nature and from the natural resources that provide our day-to-day living. In fact, we forget to have a thankfull attitude most of the time. The industralization process and the highly intensive consumption culture made us turn as automats, buying, consuming and discharging the garbage.

But in fact, everyday an enourmous flux of natural resources flows from distant fields, rivers or oceans into our cities, such artificial islands were most of the european population lives. Cities were we get the final produts from soil, water, forests, fully transformed or under extreme make-overs and hidden under fashionable atractive packagings.

Therefore, one thing must be done: to get connected with the real thing, with the real sources, with the real world. To some extent that’s what the film The Matrix^tm tried to tell us, I believe. We are living in a virtual world, with virtual lives, consuming pleasant things, but disconnected with the real physical world, its carrying capacity, its problems. “Wake up, no matter if what you will see is not pleasant, and do something” it seems to tell us.

That’s what happens with the biodiversity crisis. It is affecting directly the poor at local level, as Mr. Pavan Suckdev keeps warning us, but that is still invisible in the cities, as long as we get supplied with a big nice array of products. If a fish gests extinct in some river or sea, no problem, in our shelves there will be another similar fish, noone will remark it. We have a Global Market that provides.

We rely on the matrix to feed us.
Or not.

It was at Gabala, Azerbaijan, that this idea crossed my mind; though probably it has already crossed the minds of many other people.

It just came out during an NGO discussion. We divided in 3 groups; our group was meant to prepare the NGO message to the Roundtable III – Post 2010 biodiversity targets and the Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity: Priorities for the Pan-European region.

Our working group, designated the Bears (in fact we held our discussion in a nice small room opened laterally in one side, reminding somehow a cave) had a hot , vivid discussion, even a bit chaotic in some moments. At a certain point someone insisted the problem is that CBD is not be really binding and there should be effective sanctions for non compliance, therefore we should demand for that on the document. That’s when I interrupted and said that is the problem of most international law. Who binds and punishes, at UN level? I fiercely defended that was not a thing reasonable to ask for, would be seen as a naive claim because it would involve the changing of the whole system, unless…

The real binding decisions of the UN, subject to real sanctions, seem to be the ones UN takes at the level of the Council of Security. If we consider that wars and conflicts can arise because of water scarcity in some points of the globe — and that is quite identified already — the same potential problems may arise if we have ecosystem degradation up to a point that can compromise livelihood and trigger conflict risks. I gave the example of the sharp contrast of Haiti vs Dominican Republic, as the following picture shows:

In the end, the text of our message headline was:

“To make the slogan for Nagoya, “Life in Harmony, into the future”, a reality, immediate changes in the development paradigm are necessary. We must begin to tackle the underlying causes of biodiversity loss in Pan-Europe and globally. Humanity depends on biodiversity for our continued survival, making biodiversity conservation and climate stability matters of global security.”

This and other two message documents were proposed to be inserted in the final Gabala Declaration. The draft version of Gabala Declaration was later discussed during the plenary and an NGO representative argued some key messages were missing; I also added that the concept of “biodiversity as a matter of security” was missing and explained the intentions behind it were not just to do a nice phrasing with using a common sense concept, as referred by the Chair, but to prepare the path for biodiversity (together with climate change) to be considered in future, at UN level, as a matter of security; basically to mainstream biodiversity in Security.

Well, at the end of the day, the officials decided not to insert it in the final Gabala Declaration.

Maybe they thought it was a visionary thing, or maybe they did not feel they had the mandate to say such a thing in a Pan-European context or simply they did not want to risk such an approach before further reflection and discussion on it.

I feel responsible for such an idea, I did not have time to explain what could be meant by mainstream biodiversity into security matters and their discussion/decision fora, and to be honest I myself did not exactly know how. But the idea was basically and first of all to “upgrade” the speech on Biodiversity in a new important sector. Biodiversity is being progressively “upgraded” into the world of Economics for instances by the study on TEEB – The Economics of the Ecosystems and Biodiversity, not to mention other practical approaches.

If we start looking to biodiversity loss as an indirect driver for water scarcity and resulting conflict problems, or as as connected to desertification and related conflicts, or as a driver for food scarcity and resulting conflicts, it could reinforce the recognition of the value (not necessarily monetary) of biodiversity at the political level. It is a fact that, unfortunately, only when things become perceived as a risk (or a threat to security of any kind) for humans, they become really important items on the political agendas.

Meanwhile I found out that there is already a program involving UNEP, on Environmental Security. Below are some links to this and other articles.

In the NATO website you could also read:

Environmental Security

Based on a broad definition of security that recognizes the importance of political, economic, social and environmental factors, NATO is addressing security challenges emanating from the environment. This includes extreme weather conditions, depletion of natural resources, pollution and so on – factors that can ultimately lead to disasters, regional tensions and violence.

In ENVSEC priorities and future challenges you could read:

The Southern Caucasus, composed of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, has long been a focal point for change and a bridge between Asia and Europe. The region is in the midst of a tumultuous transition and has seen multiple inter-state and ethnic conflicts in its recent past, some of them escalating to full-scale warfare. In this context, the lack of regional cooperation threatens to exacerbate environmental issues, themselves a source of potential conflict in the region. Among the environmental concerns identified by ENVSEC in the Southern Caucasus are the management of shared natural resources (not least in the Kura-Araks river basin which covers a large part of the region), pollution from ageing industries and irrigation networks, and uncontrolled growth of capital cities. On the positive side there are quite a few opportunities to foster cooperation between the countries in the environmental field.

Some other sources of reading:

Water and security – An European Perspective (issued March 2010)
Saving Haiti’s environment, preventing instability and conflict
Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Food Security
Food security through biodiversity
A FAO article related to agrobiodiversity and food security

As a Portuguese, I never had much interest on inland seas, such as the Black Sea, the Aral Sea, or Caspian Sea. But now, visiting Azerbaijan, a republic of the Caucasus region and having walked by the maritime water front at Baku, the capital city of the country, I wanted to know more. I only have heard about the existence of the Sturgeon, that fantastic mega-fish which has vanished along time ago from many EU rivers.

During my stay at the country I saw an article on the Caspian in a magazine I came across on business and development. It mentioned a rather low number of species, but also that it got closed around 5 million years ago, a unique salty lake, with a shallow morphology in the north and much deeper in the south. It is fed by several rivers, but there is no outflow to other oceans; it is isolated and the balance is kept by evaporation.

That made me think that even the Caspian might be quite polluted, there must be or at least have been a lot of endemic species. 5 million years is enough time for species to evolute into new ones.

I found the following data in World Lakes:

The Caspian Sea may be home to as many as 54 endemic fish species (out of 133 total), 190 endemic zoobenthos species (out of 380) and 64 endemic zooplankton species (out of 315 species).

Species in the Caspian listed in the Red Book as endangered include 63 birds, 41 mammals, and 27 fish.

125 thousand square km of the coast around the Caspian Sea is severely degraded. Parts of the Caspian coast are experiencing desertification due to overexploitation and poor management. Overgrazing and deforestation in the watershed have led to increased erosion.

Severe overfishing has decimated fish species and caused sharp declines in catches. Between 1920 and 1940, the most common commercial species were the Caspian lamprey, Volga shad, Caspian trout, and Caspian inconnu. The total catch of these species was about 80 thousand tons. All these species are now included in the Red Books of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, and other Caspian states.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran over-fishing of Caspian trout, bream, and zander, along with the damage of their habitats and spawning grounds, has resulted in an almost complete loss of these species. The Caspian zander disappeared due to massive catches in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

During the last twenty years, the sturgeon catch has declined by 88 percent.

90% of the Beluga spawning grounds are gone due to dams. Poaching may take up about 12 times the volume of the official catch.

More research is needed on the impact of invasive species on the Caspian. The comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi has recently been discovered.

More on the biodiversity of the Caspian Sea and an interesting article on environmental change.

Propus, mais os meus sócios da altura — isto há mais de doze anos — a um grupo de investidores, um projecto igual a este para Portugal; mas com a possibilidade de expansão ao mercado lusófono a médio prazo.

Na altura as máquinas de POD eram muito caras e em Portugal só havia uma editora que tinha uma para fazer pequenas quantidades de manuais escolares. O investimento total inicial orçava a menos de 80.000 contos — hoje em Euros seria algo como 16.038.560.000, se as máquinas não fossem muito melhores e não custassem quase metade — mas dado que a média de exemplares publicados em Portugal seria sempre menor do que 2.000, os ganhos com  a redução de perdas e armazenamento seriam imensamente vantajosos. Tudo o que fosse produção muito acima deste valor mantinha-se o método antigo.

Acharam loucura. “Visionários”, “desnecessário”, “muito caro”, “retorno imprevisto” – respostas dadas pelos consultores nacionais dos investidores nacionais. Gente de “canudo” em várias áreas, está bem de ver.

Propus novamente esta ideia há alguns anos, mais coisa menos coisa, em moldes idênticos mas ainda com maior incidência no uso da internet — antes ainda de ter aparecido a Lulu.com. Inútil dizer  o tipo de não respostas que obtive novamente.

É triste que este projecto “português” acabe por ser, afinal, espanhol.
É realmente triste ser-se empreendedor nesta lusa terra.

E este não é um lamento exclusivamente meu. Apesar do trabalho do Francisco Banha, e da nova legislação que apoia os Business Angels, a realidade continua a ser triste e a capacidade de arriscar verdadeiramente no que parece por vezes uma loucura ainda é uma miragem. Até de empreendedores com projectos bem mais simples se ouve o mesmo lamento… excepção feita à continuada amoralidade das so-called Spin-Off universitárias.

At least two flights separate Portugal from Azerbaijan, a country on the Caucasus region, facing the Caspian Sea, which once belonged to the Soviet Union, and got its independence since about two decades. During the flight from Frankfurt to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, I had the opportunity to see a great movie in the plane, Alice in Wonderland, by Tim Burton, staring Jonhny Depp, a fantastic actor.

I just could not imagine that to some extent I’d feel like Alice in Wonderland in this journey into a brand new country for me. In fact, many things simply don’t work under the same logic as I’m used to, but it is still a wonderful country with fine, warm, welcoming people.

1^st impression:
ALIYEV, ALIYEV

Azerbaijan is an independent Republic since the early 90′s, when it detached from the Soviet Union. Coming from a western democratic country, Portugal, whose frontiers were set in XII century, I had never felt, never have had close contact with such an expressive and visible “cult of the leader”. Messages and photos of former President Aliyev everywhere! Starting by the airport it self, which is named after Pres. Heydar Alyiev, and passing by numerous outdoors on the roads into the inner mountains of Azerbaijan. Rachad, the Azeri man I spoke more with, referred to the President very naturally as “our leader”. To be honest, in a way I wish I could feel like that in Portugal. Other people to whom I spoke seemed to feel the same. I was also told the first lady of Azerbaijan, the elegant Maridan, is beloved by the people and called “mother of all orphans”.

2^nd impression:
MEN & WOMEN

Something that becomes obvious – at least in the interior Azerbaijan villages, such as Gabala, where I was the most part of the time – is the abundance, the prevalence, the concentration of men. Men, men, men everywhere. Few women on the streets, few women doing things, at least outside, very few in hotel jobs. The relations between men and women in Azerbaijan, are very strange for westerns. A married woman is something the man values and protects as much as he can. If someone insults your wife, you may kill that person and that can be quite acceptable, Rachad said. Though many women are mostly doctors and school teachers, in general they do not work and the  man is supposed to work and provide for his home and family. Men control their wives and keep them safe. Women are in fact supposed to act low profile. Men dance, clap, express themselves. Women, in a concert, keep quiet while lads stand up clapping and dancing. For me, as a Portuguese that was quite odd and I could not hold myself for much time without starting clapping and waving enthusiasticaly. For the rest, I was extremely well cared, as well as the other women I was with in the same hotel, by a team of Azeri men from the environment Ministry.

3^rd impression:
NATIONALISM

Its incredible how almost all musics I heard in two live concerts, either sang by men, women or children, mentioned so many times the name of their country, Azerbaijan. It looks people are still living the joy of being an independent country, rid of the Soviet Union, and stressing such statement in their cultural expressions.

At the end of the concert, like a hammer, the word “Azerbaiçan, Azerbaiçan” was definitively nailed into my mind for the next day. In Portugal I only experienced such a national widespread feeling during the European Championship in 2004.

4^th impression:
ROOM SERVICE

At the capital Baku, hotels seem to work at equivalent patterns of most western ones,but at a four star hotel in the interior of the country don’t expect room service such as changing towels, adding toilet paper when its finished, cleaning the full garbage bin, or getting your bed done. Probably its because there is not yet the desired level of professional training at the hotel industry in all Azerbaijan, or maybe its because of too many men doing things that normally women are more used to do? Perhaps this is an extremely sexist judgement, but women are home managers worldwide. Anyway I’ve heard it was no worse than in some other countries of the region. But I believe that Azerbaijan’s fierce will of development and the wish to present the best to visitors will certainly make things get better in future.

5^th impression:
NO COFFEE! Samovar instead.

This is something Portuguese, Italian and probably other Europeans miss for sure in Azerbaijan. The morning coffee is a must for us. The “cafézinho” (little coffee) gives us a second soul breath to start our day. No. Don’t expect it; it wont be there in your breakfast table.

But, instead, there will be for sure an elegant Samovar, with tea and hot water to add. Wonderful! I brought a big pack of “made in Azerbaijan” tea to Portugal. Unlike most teas it seems not to get bitter. I saw people doing morning pic-nics in the forests with their Samovars spreading white vapour into the air.

6^th impression:
ISLAM

Azerbaijan seems to want fiercely to be a modern country. I felt it for several times, in several details. It seems the government and the official structures want to get the pace and “catch the train” of the outside world. Azerbaijan is assumed to be a “moderate Islamic” country. One of the first things I asked Rachad, our Azeri guide, was how should I dress. Short trousers? Could I ware t-shirts without sleeves? Azerbaijan is a modern country, he answered!

Any way, Islam fascinates me. One of the first things I asked my guide Farida to do, was entering a Mosk at Baku. In Gabala I had heard the call for prayers from a minaret (or a virtual one?) as it was in fact a recorded call, echoing in the streets.

So, once in Baku we headed into the Mosk entrance. But two men standing at the door did not alow us in and indicated another way. To be honest I was expecting women could enter, considering the so-called “moderate Islam”.

The other way led in fact into a much smaller, much less decorated division, the women’s mosk. Inside only a girl, probably the most beautiful I saw during my stay in Azerbaijan, confirming what I red before in the informative site www.azerb.com “Azeri women are astonishingly beautiful”. She welcomed us and let us try the typical head covers women use to pray. when I said I was catholic, she enthusiastically replied we all must pray to God. Fierce about her religion, she regretted the loss of some traditions, including women’s traditional wear. She let us take photos with her and said she as an English teacher. We said good-bye wishing her the best for her upcoming marriage.

Later in the evening I had the opportunity to attend — and I could almost say — to participate in an Islamic Shiite ritual. Shiites, unlike Sunnis, believe in the holiness of some families and individuals belonging to descendant generations of Mohamed, the Prophet. So, I visited the house of an holy man, where people go respectfully (women must cover them selves) to make their prayers, to express their wishes or to thank for any favour received. People leave there money and after the pray, take candy and sugar pieces which they are supposed to eat after.

Outside the house, a pleasant atrium with a fountain pouring “holy water”. On a corner, a clean place with two columns to sacrifice animals in some festivities, and surrounding all the atrium a stone bench where people – mainly women – sat i n silence, like in praying, or talking in low voice, such as me and my guide. A young girl, in a modern pink dress and high hills, sat near the fountain, crying most of the time as much discretely as she could under her fashion dark sun glasses. A small female cat stood peacefully on the floor at the feet of a fat lady; I was told it is a cat of the house, her kitties always get a owner very quickly, as people believe the holiness and the good luck pass to the house pet and her puppies.

7^th impression:
A SAFE, LIVING CITY

When coming to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, I had no idea of how it would be. I had been worried if I could be safely walking alone in the city or not. My worries vanished, when my colleague Farida kindly offered to a guided tour. I had the opportunity to see the pleasure of the walking zones of the city. So many women and children, families walking by, relaxed and simply enjoying the city. So many water games and fresh gardens, and by night so many people walking by the long water front of the calm Caspian Sea. I had the opportunity to attend to a concert of the Russian speakers community at a local theatre. I felt the beat of a city that moves and breaths collectively, where people truly enjoy their own city.

I wish I can go back one day and stay longer in Baku and if possible visit some of the natural Protected Areas Azerbaijan has created and doubled last years.

Esta crise está a ser muito proveitosa para alguns. Enquanto que os lucros da banca e outras grandes multinacionais se mantém em níveis aceitáveis — quando não aumentam — prosseguem os prémios e ordenados escandalosos de gestores de topo e gestores semi-públicos e os bailouts à custa do dinheiro dos contribuintes não mostram sinais de estarem a ser recuperados — antes pelo contrário — enquanto os impostos e a inflação real aumentam.

Agora vem o patronato português mais uma vez à carga — desta feita a reboque dos exemplos que lhe convém — “sugerindo”, novamente e com renovado vigor, que as contratações e despedimentos deviam ser liberalizados, que os ordenados deviam ser reduzidos e que as indemnizações por despedimento deviam também ser reduzidas de trinta para vinte dias.

E porque não recuarmos ao início da Revolução Industrial?
Ou até aos tempos medievos da servidão?

Qualquer dia pedem-nos que aceitemos a escravatura pura e dura!
A verdadeira, que a nossa situação já é quase semelhante à da fotografia acima em que os escravos eram libertos mas na verdade não gozavam essa Liberdade.

Esta crise foi criada pela ganância e pela cobiça e não se vêm medidas nenhumas para acabar com as mesmas. Nada mudou nas mentalidades reinantes.

Um homem acusado de ter asfixiado uma ex-freira saiu ontem em liberdade do Tribunal de Vila Nova de Gaia, após a leitura do acórdão que o absolveu dos crimes de homicídio qualificado, dano qualificado e tentativa de furto, condenando-o somente ao pagamento de uma indemnização de 3500 euros por danos não patrimoniais a uma familiar da vítima.

in Público

Este Estado cada vez menos Democrático e cada vez mais imoral, corrupto e sem ética, vergonha ou respeito pelo cidadãos, está a promover com as suas Leis iníquas uma revolta latente e a sensação de que só teremos Justiça se a fizermos com as nossas próprias mãos.

É isto que desejam, senhores Deputados da Nação?

Na sequência da Ceia Medieval realizada a 8 de Maio em Alhos Vedros, e da palestra “Mouros e Cristãos no Tempo de D. Afonso Henriques” por José Manuel Vargas realizada a 15 de Maio também em Alhos Vedros, pela associação Alius Vetus, preparei a apresentação “Culinária na Idade Média”, como contributo de divulgação dos resultados experimentais que obtive neste meu hobby de pesquisa sobre usos e costumes sobre alimentação na história. Bom apetite!

Foi «intolerável com a corrupção, os cobardes e os oportunistas» além de que morreu como sempre viveu: «um homem livre». in Sol

Professor universitário, jurisconsulto e fiscalista, Saldanha Sanches morreu na sexta-feira no Hospital de Santa Maria, em Lisboa, aos 66 anos, vítima de cancro.

Menos uma voz na luta contra a iniquidade, a corrupção e a favor da verdadeira Democracia; a transparente, honesta e solidária.

Almada e a Justiça em Portugal

Para que servirá recorrer-se à Justiça em Portugal? Os processos duram anos e quando acontecem casos como o mencionado acima nem as providências cautelares emitidas pelos próprios Tribunais são levadas em linha de conta pelas Forças da Autoridade nem pelos representantes do Estado.

Depois do terreno vedado entrarão quanto antes — num terreno agrícola em exploração e que nunca deveria ser impermeabilizado — os buldozzers e os camiões carregados de inertes. Mesmo que outra providência cautelar faça as obras pararem de que servirá isso depois de terem sido destruídos milhares de Euros em infraestruturas de rega? De que servirá isso depois das culturas terem sido destruídas com prejuízo irreversível para o agricultor? Depois de bons terrenos agrícolas terem sido tornados absolutamente improdutivos pela deposição de aterros, muitas vezes de contaminantes, que demorarão anos a ser retirados… isto se a Justiça fizer o seu papel, o que seriamente duvidamos.

É com estas continuadas machadadas que a Democracia se vai esboroando em toda esta velha Europa e, particularmente, neste velho rincão à beira mar plantado.