Along its 169 miles, from Greece through Albania to the Adriatic Sea, the Vjosa runs through forests, valleys, and canyons, free from artificial barriers. About 119 miles of the river and its tributaries in Albania will now remain so – crucial for the health of some 1,000 species that call the Vjosa home. Although Albania…
In an excellent article on December 22, 2022, The Christian Science Monitor highlighted some of the values that guided actions in the world during the year – ingenuity, responsibility, dignity, equality, cooperation. You can read the entire article here. We highlight here the first two, ingenuity and responsibility. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Points-of-Progress/2022/1222/The-values-that-led-humanity-forward-this-year Ingenuity Much of 2022’s progress was…
A lucky Frenchman has decided to dedicate most of his record-breaking $217 million lottery jackpot to a nature foundation he created, he told Le Parisien in an exclusive interview published Wednesday. The winner, nicknamed “Guy” by French lottery group Françaises des Jeux (FDJ), won the sum in December 2020. At the time, the jackpot was…
UNESCO has designated a 4,876-square-mile area around the Mura, Drava, and Danube rivers the first biosphere reserve to span five countries. Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovenia have been campaigning for recognition of a biosphere reserve – dubbed the “Amazon of Europe” – for years. Europe has degraded up to 90% of its flood plains,…
By Jaime Velázquez • Updated: 19/07/2021 To combat climate change and pollution, Madrid is building a green wall around the city. A 75-kilometre urban forest with nearly half a million new trees. “What we want to do is to improve the air quality in the whole city,” says Mariano Fuentes, Madrid’s councillor for the environment and urban development. “To…
A Blessing For the Challenges of Climate Change All round the world, populations are leaving their ancestral lands due to climate change, for instance various populations in the highlands of Nepal. Innovative new measures and policies are urgently needed to face what could with time become huge challenges for hundreds of millions. I bless the…
Beehive deliveries keep New Yorkers buzzing on rooftops, backyards Bustling New York City may not seem a bee-friendly place, but its high-rise rooftops and tiny gardens are buzzing with honeymakers threatened by pesticides in rural areas. About 2.4 million Italian honeybees waited in a white van to be taken to their new homes on a…
Christine Valters Paintner describes the ancient and accessible contemplative practice of walking or moving slowly through the natural world as a way of connecting with God. This is clearly the “road not taken” by too many of us in the modern world, even though it shaped and sustained the faith of our ancestors for millennia.…
So many people feel totally overwhelmed by the problem, and this at all levels. The ordinary citizen sees himself as a tiny pawn without any significant influence on a chessboard with 7.9 billion players. The director of a large multinational company immediately sees the constraints of a system that would oblige him/her above all (supposedly)…
Governments from Australia to Rwanda, from Sweden to Brazil, and from Kenya to Belarus have devised policy solutions to bolster the health, well-being, and basic functioning of their societies, sometimes at the urging of grassroots organizers. And while no country is a utopia, even nations with long histories of inequality and violence carry lessons for…
A surveillance system made from repurposed cellphones is helping deter illegal logging in the Amazon. From 2001 to 2018, Brazil lost more than 100 million acres of tree cover. Instead of relying on park rangers to wander the forest and pick out sounds of logging among the natural clamor, the nonprofit Rainforest Connection is using old…
Researchers say the world’s largest reforestation project – the 2011 Bonn Challenge – has beaten its 2020 target. Launched nearly a decade ago by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Germany, the challenge aimed to have 371 million acres of degraded forest under restoration by the end of 2020. According to a recent…
In a world immersed in urgency, with alarm bells ringing left and right and dire predictions for our future, how dare I come up with a banner marked, “Yes, so many good things are happening”? Simply because how we look upon the world is a purely subjective vision emanating from our view of existence, our…
“…may I trust Divine Love sufficiently to know that ultimately all is very, very well in the unfolding of the incredible divine Plan already written into the destiny of the universe for me and all.”365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World To say the world is going through some challenges is the understatement of…
Governments around the world are looking to the Indian state of Sikkim to see if going organic is viable. So far, all signs are pointing to yes. The state banned the import of all pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers and GMOs in 2003, becoming the world’s first fully certified organic state in 2016. At first farmers…
Chicago Sun-Times Editor’s note: A supposed “open letter from Bill Gates,” the tech billionaire and philanthropist, has been bouncing all over the internet since at least March 23. The letter — titled “What is the Corona/Covid-19 virus really teaching us?” — is a fake. Gates did not write it. But there’s a reason it has…
By Pierre Pradervand Finally, humanity is just beginning to perceive that our planet is a living being which has been infinitely patient with the abuse we have wrought upon it. We bless Mother Earth in its infinite abundance and stunning beauty, the wealth of its fauna and flora, the infinite subtlety of its growth and…
By Chloé Gurdjian, February 18th, 2020, Shared from https://www.7sky.life/ Would whales be much more efficient than trees at absorbing CO2? The result of this study may come as a surprise, and yet it is all the more serious. Whales would be powerful allies in the fight against global warming. As the fight against global warming…
Danish telethon raises cash to plant a million trees Danes donated around 2.4 million euro (£2.6 million) for the planting of trees, in a Telethon event on September 14 described as the world’s first to focus on the climate. For every donation of 20 Danish kroner (about $3 or 2.7 euros), one tree will be…
New hero of the eco-lovers and black beast of the traders, Jeremy Grantham, a Wall Street star, has decided to dedicate 98% of his fortune to the ecological cause. Jeremy Grantham is a financial legend. The Englishman, who has been living in the United States for some 40 years, is known for his flair. He…
Elias Marat Canada will no longer allow whales, dolphins and porpoises to be bred and held in captivity for the purpose of entertainment. In a big win for animal rights advocates, Canada will no longer allow whales, dolphins and porpoises to be bred and held in captivity for the purpose of entertainment. The Ending the…
As of the beginning of this year, 2019, Sweden has completed its energy transition while France and a good number of countries are struggling to achieve theirs. Since 2015 Sweden has been part of the UN Transforming Our World project and their reforms have allowed the development of energy sources capable of making the country…
A Blessing for Bees (Excerpts) Many of us are aware that bees are facing possibly the most critical period of their existence on earth. Some years ago, in one region in China, the excessive use of pesticides had totally eliminated the bees and trees were pollinated by hand. Yet more than 80% of plants –…
from The Independent – May 10, 2018 “…we bless the human race in its ability to exercise wise stewardship in all areas of the environment.” Excerpt from https://pierrepradervand.com/365-blessings-to-heal-myself-and-the-world/ Costa Rica’s new president has announced a plan to ban fossil fuels and become the first fully decarbonized country in the world. Carlos Alvarado, a 38-year-old former…
“I bless the scientists and others working to cleanse the oceans, lakes and rivers in their creativity that they may devise ever more efficient ways of protecting this God-given resource.” Pierre Pradervand, from 365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World Now available from the publisher, o-books.com in bookstores and other outlets. Elizabeth Macpherson, Erin O’donnell…
For years, Italian coffee giant illy has earned the reputation of a company that prioritizes people over profits. And while it sources its coffee from 25 countries around the globe, Columbia is the place where that philosophy is making a real difference. Ask Fernando, an ex-commander of the FARC paramilitary revolutionary movement that spent 50…
March 7, 2017, National Geographic http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/felix-finkbeiner-plant-for-the-planet Children are not often invited to speak to the United Nations General Assembly. But there stood Felix Finkbeiner … with a somber question about climate change. “We children know adults know the challenges and they know the solutions,” he said. “We don’t know why there is so little action.…
When Stefano Boeri imagines the future of urban China he sees green, and lots of it. Office blocks, homes and hotels decked from top to toe in a verdant blaze of shrubbery and plant life; a breath of fresh air for metropolises that are of fumes and dust. Last week, the Italian architect, famed for…
Sita Shrestha, 19, took part in a two-day training on leadership organized by the UN Women-supported women’s group SAATHI, in Nepal, following which she helped construct a tap and organize villagers to turn a natural water source into a public space they could share. Sustainable Development Goal 6 seeks to ensure universal and equitable access…
We bless ourselves in our ability to express the light we truly are at the heart of our being, and thus to become willing tools to uphold, heal and sustain our beautiful planet. Pierre Pradervand, from his Global Oneness Day 2016 blessing. On October 28, 2016 24 nations and the European Union agreed to create…
By Paul Lenda, Guest Writer for Wake Up World, May 25, 2016 Excerpted from from the full article. There is a growing awareness and understanding within the human race of the unity that humanity has with the environment within which it exists. This sense of unity with nature is not something new and indeed has…
In a country where the privileged social status of boys is compelling, it is nice to know that some small villages are bucking the patriarchal tradition. In north east India, in the state of Rajahstan, female infanticide is a tradition. However, a community of 8000 inhabitants, the village of Piplantri, celebrates the birth of each…
… producing honey, protecting trees AND providing income to small farmers!A win-win project wherever acacia trees grow! I bless us in our ability to develop a relationship of deep caring, unconditional love and authentic reverence towards our sisters the bees and all creation. Pierre Pradervand, from his forthcoming book ‘365 Blessings to Heal Myself and…
Great Spirit, give us hearts to understand; Never to take from creation’s beauty more than we give; Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed; Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth’s beauty; Never to take from her what we cannot use. Big Thunder Algonquin prayer Following a decade…
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela. Education is a challenging undertaking even under the best circumstances. It is especially problematic in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo which has gone through years of political upheaval and violence, where schools were raided by paramilitary…
You whose voice is heard in the breeze, Thou whose breath gives life to the world, we need your strength and your wisdom. Grant that we may walk in your beauty, That our eyes never tire of contemplating the golds and purples of sunset. Help us read messages you have hidden in the leaves and…
All round the world, innovative new measures and policies are urgently needed to face what could, with time, become huge challenges for tens of millions. A relevant blessing from Pierre Pradervand I bless the peoples all round the world who are facing the more challenging aspects of climate change…I bless them in the vision and…
from an article by Jenny Zhang, syndicated from mymodernmet.com, Apr 27, 2015 Looking at the lush, green, tree-filled stretch of land north of the Yeli Village in Sunzhuang Township, Jingxing County, Hebei, China, it’s hard to imagine that just 12 years ago, those plains were filled with nothing but rocks and weeds. This miraculous transformation…
“We bless Mother Earth in its infinite abundance and stunning beauty, the wealth of its fauna and flora, the infinite subtlety of its growth and survival mechanisms and its mission of supporting the human race.We bless it in its ability to protect itself against the chemical and physical abuses of which it is a victim.…
based on an article by Cat Johnson, syndicated from shareable.net, May 03, 2015 “I bless this day for the food which blesses my table three times a day … And I say yes, yes, yes for the innumerable opportunities to bless, knowing that each sincere blessing returns to bless me too.” Pierre Pradervand Adam Smith…
