News roundup. The crisis in full swing.

The last couple of months have seen a few momentous happenings, here in South America, and in other parts of the world. I have worked some of them into the presentations I've been giving here in Bolivia and thought I'd give a round up here:

First ever planned evacuation of an island community due to sea-level rise

Firstly, May saw the beginning of a truly momentous event. For the first time in the history of humanity, a whole community of people are being forced to leave their homes, livelihoods and history due to the lost battle against rising sea-levels. This is the start of what is likely to be the largest displacement of people in the history of humanity. As low-lying nations become smaller and smaller, deserts spread leaving land unproductive for crops and animals, glaciers melt and droughts become more frequent, more and more people will earn the title 'climate change refugee' and be forced to join the burgeoning masses of people with nowhere to go. Who will take them in? And, the majority of them will be the poorest people of the world; those who have done the least to cause the problem in the first place.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/first-climate-change-refugees-evacuate.php

Bolivia's highest glacier has gone

Another symbolic occurance has passed recently. Chacaltaya, not long ago the world's highest ski resort, has officially disappeared. It's predicted that most of the Andes Glaciers will have melted over the next 20 years, leaving tens of millions without water. Conflict is already on the rise between mountain communities, as vital water supplies dwindle, and communities positioned higher up attempt to divert water, leaving those below with reduced supplies.

http://solveclimate.com/blog/20090506/bolivias-chacaltaya-glacier-melts-nothing-6-years-early

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/24/andes-tribe-threat-bolivia-climate-change

Climate change responsible for 300,000 deaths per year
A compehensive study by Kofi Annan's Global Humanitarian Forum has looked at the human cost of climate change. This is the first time a study has saught to quantify climate change-related death rates and the number of those whose lives are being seriously affected.

http://www.ghf-geneva.org/index.cfm?uNewsID=157

Peru's indigenous fight for the their survival and for the survival of planet earth

The indigenous people living in Peru's Amazonian jungle have been mobilized for 7 weeks in response to the Peruvian governments attempts to drive them from their ancesterol homes and open the forest up to foreign corporations for logging and oil extraction. This is part of the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), the same trade agreement that initiated the Zapatista uprising in Mexico at the beginning of this century. When people are pushed and pushed until they face the potential elimination of their culture and way of life, they are often left with little choice but to resist and stand up for their rights. A wave of peaceful direct action such as road blockades and the occupation of foreign oil refineries was finaly met with government-backed violence just over a week ago, when helicopter gunships opened fire onto the thousands of unarmed indigenous people below, killing up to 50. The Peruvian Amazon is the largest swathe of Amazon rainforest outside of Peru and Garcia's goverment are intenet on opening up 70% of it to destructive resource extraction. Not only are these brave people fighting for their own survival, but they're unwittingly fighting for the survival of all of humanity at a time of climate crisis. If we loose the remaining rainforests of the world, we loose the battle against catastrophic climate change.

http://www.takepart.com/blog/2009/05/21/indigenous-peoples-fight-to-protect-peruvian-amazon-from-big-oil/

http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1843

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/13/forests-environment-oil-companies

Down with tha Cochabambinos

There's so much to like about Cochabamba. Firstly, despite being a city, it really doesn't seem like one. Everything we need is a few blocks walk away, and there's a nice sense of community. Then there's the climate - we have just entered autumn, and the leaves are falling, yet everyday the sun shines from start to finish, and it's warm enough to wear shorts and vest. The people are friendly and there is a strong presence of indigenous campesinos who have migrated here from the countryside, or who travel here daily to sell their wares. The city sits nestled in a valley surrounded by impressive green hills, with old Christy keeping watch above.

I began a placement with a local environmental education organisation called Gaia Pacha, and Colette has been working for an orphanage for mentally handicapped children. I have been working on two main projects; the creation of a package of environmental education activities and games for local school children, and the creation of a 'sensory' garden for the youth at a centre for blind children/youth. The latter has been the more challenging of the two. I've been teaching two sessions per week with my group of five students. Usually, I can get by with my combination of bad spanish and hand signals, but obviously in this case the hand signals don't go very far. It's been vey enjoyable though, and together we've managed to transform a corner of scrap land at the centre into a lovely garden, complete with lot's of touchy-feely plants, smelly herbs and flowers, and even a few veggies.

I've also been giving some presentations. Gaia Pacha invited me to give one about my experiences in environmental education. It was to be my first presentation in spanish, and quite frankly I was shitting myself. But in the end, it went well. I dedicated about half of it to the amazing Camp for Climate Action, and the audiance seemed pretty impressed by the organisation and determination of the growing movement of climate change activism. A few weeks later, I gave another at a climate change afternoon I organised at our house, this time focussing on recent developments in climate change and a more detailed look at climate camp, running through the whole process of last year's camp at Kingsnorth. At least three people came to ask me for contact details for the camps due to take place in their countries this year, which was pleasing. This has definately been a big step forward for my presentation giving confidence - as many of my friends know, giving presentations has always been a fear of mine. But I'll always remember the vital tip from that seminal text 'How to give successful presentations' - "Never wear an ostentatious belt buckle while giving a presentation, as this could be seen as a ploy to direct the audiences' attention away from your face". This is truly the key. (Thanks again for that one Pinsey!!!).

I've also been involved in the translation of script for the creation of English subtitles for a locally made film about climate change and it's affects on the people of Bolivia. This was both fascinating and sad, hearing first hand how poor, mountain communities are struggling to hold it together in the face of the climatic change which they have done the least to create.

Just by chance, my birthday fell on the first friday of the month, which meant that it was the Q'owa; a ritual that is part of the millennial Andean tradition of Bolivia. Today it is practiced in the valleys and in the eastern part of Bolivia. It involves the presentation of gifts to Pacha Mamma (mother nature in the native Quechua language) including the burning of coca leaves and the the consumption of Chicha - an alcoholic drink made from fermented corn. Small amounts of the drink are poured onto the ground for her to absorb. This offering is given with the purpose of receiving protection and blessing from the gods. It is a reciprocal process; the people nourish Pachamama and she protects them and helps with families, work, and business. On the first friday, the air of the city is full of smoke from people making offerings from the front door steps of their homes and shops, and there's a really nice vibe around the place. There was a bonfire, and a local band, but unfortunately we missed the 'burning of the llama feotus'. Shame.

The day after, we went to the annual Cochabamba fair. It was the strangest fair I've ever been to. It had all the usuals - candy floss, hot drinks, fair rides, but then it also seemed to double up as a huge commercial fair, with whole areas dedicated to the sale of new tractors and the latest in dentist chair design. In fact there werte two dentist chair strongholds, and we tried out some superb new models, which were slightly more exciting than the rides on offer.

Next week I should be doing another radio interview, and hopefully I'll also be going on a trip with 'Energetica', an organisation that fits solar panels for the small mountain communites not reached by the energy grid. So, we've been keeping busy here in Cochabamba, and have made many good friends and acquaintances along the way. It's nice to feel a part of the community again, and I'll be a little sad when we move on in a week or so. But then again, I am getting the itch again, and the promise of new adventure is beginning to bubble once more.

A love affair with Cochabamba

Well, it's been a while so I thought i'd better get on with it and write something about our last 8 weeks or so here in Bolivia. Well, after Potosi we headed to the city of Sucre for a few days. We didn't really fall in love with the place. The highlights were two museums we visited. The first was this dinosaur park positioned near a cement factory that had discovered a huge piece of prehistoric land covered in dinosaur footprints whilst digging. It was pretty cool, and I got to see the prints of all of my childhood favourites. There were also some huge, life-sized models which were both deliciously taccy and impressive.

The other museum was about Indegenous culture and was fascinating. One of the things that really made me want to spend time in Bolivia is the strong indigenous culture here. We learnt about the Pacha Mamma (mother nature) rituals, the traditional dress and music and dances of the various ethnic groups that live in the Bolivian Andes.

With little else to hold us in Sucre, we moved on to Cochabamba.

Cochabamba was a name I was aware of long before I'd had any inclination to travel to South America. As I was becoming more aware of global issues, and generally more upset about the injustices of the world, an old friend of mine had began to supply me with a steady trickle of anarchist 'zines' and activist videos. This was how I learnt about the 'water war' of 2000. The Bolivian goverment at the time had decided to sell the city's water to a subsidiary of the American corporation Bechtel. After privatisation, water bills rocketed, and left the poorest people with bills up to 50% more expensive for the resource that should be a given right to all life.Incensed at these unaffordable price hikes, the people of Cochabamba began to organise. They took to the streets in protests that resulted in the city being shut down on three seperate occasions by general strikes and road blockades. The president at the time responded with violence, sending in armed troups, leaving over 100 people wounded and one 17 year old boy dead. By April, the Bechtel officials finally gave up and scuttled back to the states, and the people had won back their water. The Cochabamba water revoult has since become a global legend.
The 10 hour journey to Cochabamba was an offroad affair, at one point we had to navigate around a pile of debris from what looked like a recent landslide. We arrived around 5am. Our first impressions were far from positive; we knew that Cochabamba was Bolivia's 3rd biggest city, yet as we approached through the generic grids of ramshackle suburbs it felt somehow hostile, a little intimidating. Maybe we were just tired. As the taxi took us to the cheapest option in the Lonely Planet, we had our first view of 'Cristo de la Concordia'; a 112.2 ft tall, pure white and illuminated statue of Christ perched up on the hillside, arms spread apart, looking down on the city below. Apparently he's the biggest in Latin America, beating his more famous doppleganger in Rio de janero.

For a few days, we moved from cheap hostal to cheap hostal, searching for a room in which we could get a decent night's sleep. We had spoken to someone at the organisation Sustainable Bolivia about volunteer opportunities, and had decided that we might stay for a month or so. After a few days in the city we'd decided that we liked it afterall. But, we just couldn't find anywhere to stay. In one place we were welcomed to our new room by a used condom slouched in the corner, in another the concrete balcony leading to our room was slanted at an alarming angle, with cracks that pointed to imminent disaster. And the paper-thin walls left nothing to the imagination. If our neighbour Pedro knew the things I knew about him...But then finally, we were lead to shining beacon of light - Bolivia house. For 180 US dollars per month between us, we have been staying in a gorgeous house, complete with bacony, huge kitchen and fantastic garden complete with mandarin tree and humming birds.

And, just to complete the picture, I found a cool little club called La Marka, whose owners almost ejaculated when i told them that I play drum & bass and a little dubstep. So we were set up. Amazing house, great volunteer projects and a place to DJ every weekend.

A speech by Paul Hawken

Today I was forwarded this amazing speech by Paul Hawken, an environmentalist whose written some books which have had a pretty big impact - I remember one corporation CEO, featured in the great film 'the corporation' http://www.thecorporation.com/, talking about how one of his books had left him completey enlightened and lead to a complete turn around of how he viewed life and ran his business. The book was 'The ecology of commerce' - I picked it up in Cairns, Australia on my last big trip, but never got round to reading it. This speech pretty much sums up my current thoughts about the world, our place in it, pessamism and hope, and quite franky it has brightened up my day!

The Unforgettable Commencement Address by Paul Hawken to the Class of 2009, University of Portland, May 3, 2009 :

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a
simple short talk that was "direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate,
lean, shivering, startling, and graceful." Boy, no pressure there.

But let's begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are
going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth
at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of
decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation... but not
one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute
that statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you
are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to
have misplaced them. Important rules like don't poison the water,
soil, or air, and don't let the earth get overcrowded, and don't touch
the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that
spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue
that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per
hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really
good food, but all that is changing.

There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will
receive, and in case you didn't bring lemon juice to decode it, I can
tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING.
The earth couldn't afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school.
It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and
that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And
here's the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not
possible in the time required. Don't be put off by people who know
what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it
was impossible only after you are done.

When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my
answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is
happening on earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand data.
But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and
the lives of the poor, and you aren't optimistic, you haven't got a
pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing
to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore
some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. The poet
Adrienne Rich wrote, "So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot
with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary
power, reconstitute the world." There could be no better description.
Humanity is coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action
is taking place in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses,
companies, refuge camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums.

You join a multitude of caring people. No one knows how many groups
and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day:
climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger,
conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement the
world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Rather
than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. Like
Mercy Corps, it works behind the scenes and gets the job done. Large
as it is, no one knows the true size of this movement. It provides
hope, support, and meaning to billions of people in the world. Its
clout resides in idea, not in force. It is made up of teachers,
children, peasants, businesspeople, rappers, organic farmers, nuns,
artists, government workers, fisherfolk, engineers, students,
incorrigible writers, weeping Muslims, concerned mothers, poets,
doctors without borders, grieving Christians, street musicians, the
President of the United States of America, and as the writer David
James Duncan would say, the Creator, the One who loves us all in such
a huge way.
There is a rabbinical teaching that says if the world is ending and
the Messiah arrives, first plant a tree, and then see if the story is
true. Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall
us; it resides in humanity's willingness to restore, redress, reform,
rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider. "One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept
shouting their bad advice," is Mary Oliver's description of moving
away from the profane toward a deep sense of connectedness to the
living world.

Millions of people are working on behalf of strangers, even if the
evening news is usually about the death of strangers. This kindness of
strangers has religious, even mythic origins, and very specific
eighteenth-century roots. Abolitionists were the first people to
create a national and global movement to defend the rights of those
they did not know. Until that time, no group had filed a grievance
except on behalf of itself. The founders of this movement were largely
unknown Granville Clark, Thomas Clarkson, Josiah Wedgwood and their
goal was ridiculous on the face of it: at that time three out of four
people in the world were enslaved. Enslaving each other was what human
beings had done for ages. And the abolitionist movement was greeted
with incredulity. Conservative spokesmen ridiculed the abolitionists
as liberals, progressives, do-gooders, meddlers, and activists. They
were told they would ruin the economy and drive England into poverty.
But for the first time in history a group of people organized
themselves to help people they would never know, from whom they would
never receive direct or indirect benefit.. And today tens of millions
of people do this every day. It is called the world of non-profits,
civil society, schools, social entrepreneurship, and non-governmental
organizations, of companies who place social and environmental justice
at the top of their strategic goals. The scope and scale of this
effort is unparalleled in history.

The living world is not "out there" somewhere, but in your heart. What
do we know about life? In the words of biologist Janine Benyus, life
creates the conditions that are conducive to life. I can think of no
better motto for a future economy. We have tens of thousands of
abandoned homes without people and tens of thousands of abandoned
people without homes. We have failed bankers advising failed
regulators on how to save failed assets. Think about this: we are the
only species on this planet without full employment. Brilliant. We
have an economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy earth in
real time than to renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money
to bail out a bank but you can't print life to bail out a planet. At present
we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross
domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on
healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the
future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the
other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people
and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get rich,
it is a way to be rich.

The first living cell came into being nearly 40 million centuries ago,
and its direct descendants are in all of our bloodstreams. Literally
you are breathing molecules this very second that were inhaled by
Moses, Mother Teresa, and Bono. We are vastly interconnected. Our
fates are inseparable. We are here because the dream of every cell is
to become two cells. In each of you are one quadrillion cells, 90
percent of which are not human cells. Your body is a community, and
without those other microorganisms you would perish in hours. Each
human cell has 400 billion molecules conducting millions of processes
between trillions of atoms. The total cellular activity in one human
body is staggering: one septillion actions at any one moment, a one
with twenty-four zeros after it. In a millisecond, our body has
undergone ten times more processes than there are stars in the
universe exactly what Charles Darwin foretold when he said science
would discover that each living creature was a "little universe formed
of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute
and as numerous as the stars of heaven."

So I have two questions for you all: First, can you feel your body?
Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going on
simultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignore
it, and wonder instead when this speech will end. Second question: who
is in charge of your body? Who is managing those molecules? Hopefully
not a political party. Life is creating the conditions that are
conducive to life inside you, just as in all of nature. What I want
you to imagine is that collectively humanity is evincing a deep innate
wisdom in coming together to heal the wounds and insults of the past.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came
out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of
course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be
ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the
stars come out every night, and we watch television.

This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other and
the multiple dangers that threaten civilization has never happened,
not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is as
complex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have done
great things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoring
creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, challenging,
stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations
before you failed. They didn't stay up all night. They got distracted
and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your
existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn't ask for
a better boss. The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic,
not the dreamer. Hopefulness only makes sense when it doesn't make
sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your
life depends on it.

Paul Hawken is a renowned entrepreneur, visionary environmental
activist, and author of many books, most recently Blessed Unrest: How
the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw
>It Coming. He was presented with an honorary doctorate of humane
letters by University president Father Bill Beauchamp, C.S.C., in May,
when he delivered this superb speech. Our thanks especially to Erica
Linson for her help making that moment possible.

A little something for vegetarian week

As Monday marked the first day of national vegetarian week, I thought I'd put up this interesting article from the guardian this week for all to browse:

Can vegetarians save the world?
A small town in Belgium has gone meat-free one day a week. A sign of things to come, says one food historian. By Tristram Stuart.

For decades, environmental arguments against eating meat have been largely the preserve of vegetarian websites and magazines. Just two years ago it seemed inconceivable that significant numbers of western Europeans would be ready to down their steak knives and graze on vegetation for the sake of the planet. The rapidity with which this situation has changed is astonishing.
The breakthrough came in 2006 when the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) published a study, Livestock's Long Shadow, showing that the livestock industry is responsible for a staggering 18% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This is only the beginning of the story. In 2008, Brazil announced that in the 12 months to July it had lost 12,000 sq km (3m acres) of the Amazon rainforest, mainly to cattle ranchers and soy producers supplying European markets with animal feed. There is water scarcity in large parts of the world, yet livestock-rearing can use up to 200 times more water a kilogram (2.2lbs) of meat produced than is used in growing wheat. Given the volatile global food prices, it seems foolhardy to divert 1.2bn tonnes of fodder – including cereals – to fuel global meat consumption, which has increased by more than two and half times since 1970.
Vegetarians have been around for a very long time – Pythagoreans forbade eating animals more than 2,500 years ago – but even as the environmental evidence mounted, they didn't appear to be winning the argument. Today in Britain just 2% of the population is vegetarian.
Thankfully, a more pragmatic alternative to total abstinence now seems to be emerging. In September 2008, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a vegetarian himself, called on people to take personal responsibility for the impacts of their consumption.
"Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there," he said. "In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity." This week the Belgian city of Ghent met his demands by declaring Thursday a meat-free day. Restaurants, canteens and schools will now opt to make vegetarianism the default for one day a week, and promote meat-free meals on other days as well.
This is not the first institutional backing for such a move. In Britain, the NHS now aims to reduce its impact on the environment partly by "increasing the use of sustainably sourced fish and reducing our reliance on eggs, meat and dairy". Last year, Camden council in London announced that it would be issuing a report calling for schools, care homes and canteens on council premises to cut meat from menus and encourage staff to become vegetarian. (In the end the initiative was shot down by Conservative councillors who insisted that people should not be deprived of choice.) While in Germany the federal environment agency in January called on Germans to follow a more Mediterranean diet by reserving meat only for special occasions.
These initiatives may sound novel, but in fact they reinstate what was for centuries an obligatory practice across Europe. The fasting laws of the Catholic church stipulated that on Fridays, fast days, and Lent, no one could eat meat or wine; on some days, dairy products and fish were also banned. Even after the Reformation Elizabeth I upheld the Lenten fast, insisting that while there was no religious basis for fasting, there were sound utilitarian motives: to ­protect the country's livestock from over-exploitation and to promote the fishing industry (which had the ancillary benefit of increasing the number of ships available for the navy).
Towards the end of the 18th century, two consecutive bad harvests in Europe created shortages. There was a huge public clamour for the wealthy to cut down on their meat consumption in order to leave more grain for the poor. The idea that meat was a cruel profligacy became current, and led Percy Bysshe Shelley to declare that the carnivorous rich literally monopolised land and food by taking more of it than they needed. "The use of animal flesh," he said, "directly militates with this equality of the rights of man."
In the wake of last year's food crisis and with mounting concern over global warming, we appear to have reached a similar crisis moment.
The vegetarian argument is complicated, however, by the fact that in terms of environmental impact, no two pieces of meat are the same. A hunk of beef raised on Scottish moorland has a very different ecological footprint from one created in an intensive feedlot using concentrated cereal feed, and a wild venison or rabbit casserole is arguably greener than a vegetable curry. Likewise, countries have very different animal husbandry methods. For example, in the US, for each calorie of meat or dairy food produced, farm animals consume on average more than 5 calories of feed. In India the rate is a less than 1.5 calories. In Kenya, where there isn't the luxury of feeding grains to animals, livestock yield more calories than they consume because they are fattened on grass and agricultural by-products inedible to humans.
In a paper published last month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, food ecologist Annika Carlsson-Kanyama showed that kilo for kilo, beef and pork could produce 30 times more CO² emissions than other protein rich foods such as beans. On the other hand, the paper also indicated that poultry and eggs had much lower ­emissions than cheese, which was among the highest polluters. So do meat-free days, and arguments for vegetarianism in general, take adequate consideration of these subtleties, or should we all be chucking out the cheese and going vegan?
"A vegetarian day is a simple message that people can understand," says Carlsson-Kanyama, "though probably what we ultimately need to do is eat less animal products overall."
Alex Evans, fellow at the Centre on International Cooperation at New York University, points out that more and more people – including Sir Nicholas Stern, the author of a 2006 review on the economics of global warming – accept that the only equitable way of achieving an international agreement on climate change is for rich and poor nations to converge on an equal per capita "fair share" of carbon emissions. "The same ought to apply to food," Evans says, "but currently there is no agreed method for calculating what is my 'fair share' of the world's food supply – in particular how much meat."
Based on the global food production figures published by the FAO, I did a few preliminary calculations. Global average consumption of meat and dairy products including milk was 152kg a person in 2003. Average EU and US consumption, by contrast, was over 400kg, while Uganda's was 45kg. In order to reach the equitable fair share of global production, rich western countries would have to cut their consumption by 2.7 times – and this doesn't include the fact that the butter will have to be spread even more thinly if the global population really does increase by another 2.3 billion by 2050.
However, still further reductions would be necessary because global meat production is already at unsustainable levels. The IPCC among other bodies, has called for an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Since high levels of meat and dairy ­consumption are luxuries, it seems reasonable to expect livestock production to take its share of the hit. For rich ­western countries this would mean decreasing meat and dairy consumption to significantly less than one tenth of current levels, the sooner the better.
It is all very well for 2% of the population to live in a monastic state of meatlessness while everyone else gorges their way towards environmental meltdown or the nearest heart clinic. Vegetarianism is good for the willing ­minority, but not much use as a campaign tool. Beginning as Ghent has done, with one meat-free day a week, is a historically-proven idea palatably re-fashioned for the age of eco-consciousness. It also appears to be gaining popular approval, even if McDonald's need not fear for the survival of its Big Mac, yet.

Stuck in the world's highest city: a dynamite & diahrrea conspiracy

Potosi was once a city of unbelievable wealth, the richest city in the world, a wealth that was generated by the plundering of the abundant silver present within the big, brown mountain 'Cerro Rico' whose moody presence looms over the city.

The Spaniards, using the slave force of millions of indigenous people and imported African slaves, managed to extract so much silver that it was said to have underwritten the spanish empire for 2 centuries. Up to 8 million people died under the hellish conditions of the mines, where miners are exposed to a variety of noxious chemicals and temperatures can range from between below freezing to 45 degrees celcious. The Spanish took almost all of it, and left Bolivia with nothing, as one of the poorest countries in Latin America.

Sadly, people still search for the few remaining slivers of silver. Thousands of people still work the mines, despite the life-shortening silicosis pneumonia which usually kills after 10 years of labour, and shockingly, up to 6000 children work there. They know that the majority of their quarry is long gone, and they barely make enough money to survive, yet they cling to the dream of one more big find.

We had the opportunity to visit the mine, and I almost went, but in the end the idea of scrambling around in a damp, crack 4km deep amongst exploding dynamite didn't quite draw me enough, and anyhow, we got to see a fascinating film called 'The devil's miners' that more than substituted. It followed the life of this poor 13 yr old who is working the mines with his 9 yr old brother as their dad died, so the need for family income left them with little choice in the matter.
Interestingly, the miners split their worship between their Catholic God, when they are above ground level, and El Tio, the devil, when they enter his domain. Each of the mines has its own devil, and the miners regularily visit him to adorn him with gifts to ask for safety and good fortune. They spend up to 24 hours at a time in the mines, hamster-like cheeks stuffed with coca leaves (which give energy and supress hunger) and may breath in a noxious mixture of gases whilst using basic pick-axes and gas headlamps.
We loved the city. Cerro Rico is so impressive, making an amazing unreal super-imposed backdrop, especially when it's colours morph from shade to shade as the sun make's it's daily descent. The worn splendour of the old streets and buildings tell of better times. One thing that took me a while to notice was the complete lack of chain supermarkets - probably the first city i've been to without them. As we don't use these over-packaging, producer-exploiting, 'corporate take-over of our foodchain' - attempting stores of discontent, we wouldn't usually notice their absence straight away. But as far as we could tell, Potosi was supermarket-free and small independent food stores are thriving. How refreshing. We met up with Chaz again, and decided to go and watch a local derby between Real Potosi and another team from the city. The game was pretty mediocre, and the atmosphere lackadaisical, but it's highlight was pretty amusing. The presence of the military police was explained after the linesman on our side made a dodgy decision, which the crowd didn't take to well. A deluge of fruit and empty plastic bottle flew towards him, and landed around his feet as the game continued. He tried his best to pretend he hadn't noticed, but as the bombardment continued, two military police moved between him and us and held their riot shields up to stop the rogue apple cores from interuppting his game!!!!

We found a great little restaurant called the Llama, which did a nice selection of veggie set meals, and a few llama dishes. Llamas are an animal of huge importance in the Andes, as a source of food and wool. After a bit of research about their rearing, we found they were free-range, and decided to treat ourselves with a rare meat meal. It was lovely, I devoured the pork-like meat like a wolf. The restaurant also doubles up as a book exchange, and I found a selection of speaches by Hugo Chavez, which is pretty interesting.

We had planned to leave, but decided to stay one more day to check out a museum. Little did we know that a 48 hour strike and blockade of the city had been planned. So, we awoke to find that no transport would be entering or leaving the city for the next two days, and that many businesses - including the museum which had been our reason for staying the extra day - were closed in solidarity. The miners had blockaded the main roads, whilst locals closed the inner city roads with plastic tape, banners, and loads of big rocks. And so it was, our first Bolivian blockade! It was actually quite nice - the blockades here are a regular occurance, and often have the vibe of a public holiday. People set up their stalls and children and adults alike played games in the middle of the car-free streets. It all felt a bit like a 'reclaim the streets' protest. I think they were calling for better roads, as the current roads are no more than rough dirt tracks. But then the miners seemed to be behind it, so we weren't quite sure what it was about (I later learned that historically the miners have taken a lead role in many political actions in Bolivia).

On the second day we'd heard that some taxis were taking people out and on to Sucre, if you paid them a bit more, so we decided to join a French and Swiss girl who were going to look for a taxi. As we approached the bus station there was a fair bit of commotion and and there were a big group of miners who seemed to be getting tad rowdy, it looked and sounded like they were brawling, but I couldn't be sure. There were a few massive bangs as they let off sticks of dynamite. It all seemed a bit tense, and a lady selling bus tickets for one of the bus companies was trying to tell us that it was impossible to leave until 7 pm, when the 48 hours was up. We decided to look for a taxi all the same, agreeing that as a bus ticket vendor, she'd obviously be inclined to tell us that. But, as we turned a corner, we realised that it would probably be best we waited after all. One taxi had found an unblocked street, and driven away, much to the annoyance of the miners, who proceeded to run over to block prevent further cars from doing the same. As more dynamite exploded, another car attempted the same route, only to be met by miners who surrounded the car and began letting the tires down and forcing the doors open!!! Other cars that had been heading for the same route began reversing speedily back up the hill, and we decided to follow suite! It was pretty exciting stuff! The people here certainly let thier voices be heard when they want something done. I can't imagine the people of a city in the UK coming together to blockade the city for 48 hours to make demands on the government (though sometimes I wish they bloody well would)!

So, we decided we'd let it run its course, and stay one more night. We bought tickets for early the next morning and checked into a hotel accross the road from the bus station. It was a grade A shit hole, but at least we wouldnt have to worry about getting to the bus station early the next day. Unfortunately, later that night, Colette woke up with a dodgy tummy, and was soon bursting from both ends. This went on throughout the night, and sure enough my stomach began too, and we were soon tag-teaming the loo. There was no way we'd be getting that early morning bus, so I asked if we could pay for half a day, to give us chance to recover before the evening bus. We took the day to recover, and felt well enough to travel on to Sucre in the evening.

Salar de Uyuni - the world's biggest salt lake

We set off in the morning and met up with the two others we'd be sharing the Jeep with for the 4 day tour, Arry from london and Lesley from the States.

We began our ascent and our first stop was a view over a deep gorge with a dry river bed at the centre, below tall, impressive red craggs. We continued up and up along a winding dirt track, sometimes with steep drops on either side.



After around 7 hours we stopped in a tiny settlement, San Antonio de Lipez at 4200m above sea level, with stunning views of a nearby snow-capped montain and a little church and stream. It was such a peaceful place. Choalitas rounded up a herd of Llamas and lead them across the stream as I sat and watched. Each llama had brightly coloured fabrics woven into their fleece's and around their ears, the traditonal practice of an indigenous festival, giving them the appearance of 'cyber-llamas' returning from some kind of llama rave. As soon as the sun disappeared behind the hills the temperature dropped off quicky, and we felt the harshness of this barren, desolate habitat. We found the bodyof a huge Condor - it was only a juvenile and was still massive, and had apparently died of natural causes.



Interestingly, each of the small mud houses has its own solar panel, supplied by the government, to provide what little electricity the people there use. Looks like even Bolivia is ahead of the UK in solar capacity. Later in the evening the stars shone brilliantly, and the milkyway spread across the sky like a sliver of pale mist. We had a lovely dinner prepared by our guide and his helper, and retired early to our beds to mummify ourselves in piles of thick blankets.


4am start. The air was so cold and thin and Mercury shone bright above the the horizon. After a hearty breakfast and a short drive we stopped at the ruins of an ancient town which had been abandoned. The sun hadn't yet materialised from behind the hills and we wondered around the eerily silent remains of a town which had been abandoned under mysterious circumstances. Apparently bad spirits had decided to move in and people had begun to die, one by one, so the people did a runner - spooky stuff.

We set off again and passed vicuñas (a bit like a deer), some animals that resembled chinchillas and loads of llamas. The sun rose and we enjoyed its warmth as landscape merged into desert.



We stopped at this amazing area of crazy rock formations formed by weathering, including the 'tree of rock'. Spent 30 min or so clambering around on the rocks - I love climbing around on stuff, i'm sure it's a hangover from our ape days. Might have to get involved in a bit of rock climbing when I get home.

There was so much breathtaking scenery we could hardly breath. Actually that was probably the altitude. We reached 4900 m above sea level at one point. The physical effects on your body include shortness of breath and a slight throbbing pressure like sensation on the old cerebrum, a little unpleasant times, but nothing too unbearable. We made like the locals and chewed mouth fulls of coca leaves which seemed to help.


Over the following three days we stopped at stunning glacial lakes with flocks of pink flamingos sifting through the turquoise water, snow capped volcanos and smooth, banded hills looking like scenes from Dali paintings. We stopped at a thermal pool for a dip in waters 30 C warm, checked out some geysers of bubbling mud and eggy sulphurus steam, and mirror-perfect lakes that reflected the surrounding mountains.



On the final morning we drove to the actual salt lakes before sunrise. Salar de Uyuni is the world's largets salt flats at 10,582 km² . About 40,000 years ago, the area was part of the massive prehistoric Lake Minchin. Eventually the lake evaporated, leaving behind Poopo Lake and Uru uru lake, and two major salt deserts including Uyuni. It's the most surreal thing I've ever experienced. It's incredibly vast, white, crispy salt, split into a consistent pattern of cells stretching as far as the eye can see. It felt like walking on hard snow. The sun began to rise. It was a gorgeous moment, ruined temporarily by the our driver blasting some ridiculous 80's classic from the Jeep (can't remember the track, it was a classic, but there's a time and a place - maybe a school disco or wedding, but surely not here). I don't know what he was thinking.
We then headed to the 'island' Lomo Pescado which is just bizzare - an island made of ancient coral reef covered in cacti up to 15 ft tall. I climbed to the top and got an idea of just how huge the flats are. It seemed like a real island in the middle of a calm, white ocean. I'll never forget it.
Met a nice chap called Chaz from Gloucestershire. We chatted about his home on a longboat, and once again it got me thinking about whether or not this could be an option for me one day. Certainly one way of keeping ahead when rising sea levels begin to reclaim the land.

After breakfast at the island, we continued on through the bright sea of salt, stopped to take a few photos, and watched the weekly 'crossing of the train' - the one train which crosses the flats to transport salt and minerals to Chile (whose distant mountains we could see).

It was a great 4 days, even though it was a long time to spend in a Jeep. It was amazing to see so many different landscapes over such a short period of time, and to get a glimpse of Bolivia's natural untainted beauty (well, i suppose it was slightly tainted by the presence of the many tour Jeeps bombing around, including our own). Definately one of the highlights of the trip. We arrived in the town of Uyuni, bought our bus tickets to Potosi for later that evening, ate some mexican food with Chaz, and got ready to move on once again.