The Priority Conservation Areas in the study are 10 of the 19 places that WWF has determined are priority places for conservation. They are parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and South America.

Rural areas retain the highest levels of fertility on the planet, but also suffer high rates of maternal and infant mortality, morbidity, a host of tropical illnesses, and malnutrition, and generally receive little or no access to health care. Women may want planned families, but there are no services to help them achieve it. Also, subsistence farming often involves child labor and thus parents want lots of kids.

The study reports that despite unprecedented rates of rural out-migration in recent years, the destruction of the world’s most biodiverse forests has continued unabated. While many local communities in remote areas of high biodiversity have been stewards of their environment for generations, population growth often places new pressure on natural ecosystems. As new areas for agriculture or subdivisions become developed land, greater pressure is placed on natural resources.

While the basic ideas in the study are not new, applying them specifically to the highest priority conservation areas is new. Now WWF and other NGO’s can identify which areas need social services the most, as part of their ongoing efforts to preserve biodiversity.

Celebrities are in a special position to help make a positive difference. Their fame and fortune can be put to good use when they have the heart and dedication to do humanitarian work. A shining example is Sean Penn, who was widely acclaimed as the Celebrity Humanitarian of the Year in 2010.

Just days after the earthquake Penn booked two planes with doctors and medical supplies and went to Haiti, reports PopEater.  Since then he has worked tirelessly, helping the people of Haiti. He runs the Petionville camp where an estimated 55,000 Haitians are living. As well, his team has treated 50,000 medical patients, delivered 100,000 pounds of medical supplies, and delivered 12,000 tents to homeless families across Haiti.

When Sean Penn is not in Haiti helping refugees, he can often be found in the United States lobbying on behalf of the Haitian people. He spoke in front of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and was recently raising awareness and funds for his organization. Penn plans to spend 2011 reminding people that the relief effort has only begun and still needs their help.

The referendum, as you may already know, comes on the heel of a two decade long civil war which finally ended in 2005. The referendum is about whether the southern region should remain a part of Sudan or become a new, independent country. Considering the recent civil war, and some of the humanitarian abuses that occurred during that time, it’s expected that the South will vote for separation.

If the people vote for separation, it’s uncertain what Sudan’s capital Khartoum’s reaction will be. So the satellite will watch for any unusual movements of troops and be ready to alert the UN and other forces if a humanitarian crisis is looming. As well, a map is being developed based on the pattern of burned villages, which may be an indicator of where Khartoum would start an attack.

The technology has been used before, in 2007 when Amnesty International’s “Eyes on Darfur” watched for and helped prevent further humanitarian abuses in the Darfur region of the Sudan.

If you want to get an idea of what a satellite view looks like, go to Google maps and click on satellite view. The visual map shows amazing details, which is similar to the view that will let the UN know what’s happening in the Sudan. The current Satellite Sentinel Project is a collaboration between Google, the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and celebrity-backed NGOs, reports Radio Free Europe.

Bruce came to this full realization when he was on a silent retreat, after reading The Universe is a Green Dragon, by Brian Swimme, Ph.D.,  that made him realize his fundamental unity with the universe. Bruce now knows that he lives inside a miracle and that after 5 billion years of evolution he was “the presence of the universe reflecting on itself in that moment of the experience”. That is, he’s not so much “out there” looking at the Earth, he’s fully a part of Earth and the Universe. As are we all. A biological and spiritual story unites us.

This unity is evolving towards increased compassion and diversity. The goal is not to escape the suffering of reality – our goal should be to inhabit it all more fully, Bruce pointed out. We become the presence of an ancient impulse that means we are born to realize our kinship with all that is, he continued.

Our lives have a deeper purpose of being in service. Jesus gave his life to preaching and enacting the kingdom of God. Kinship was a cornerstone. “It’s a realm of conscious unity with the divine, with Earth, and with all creation,” Bruce explained.

It gives us the power and capacity to be of service. One of our deepest desires is to be in service. We want to bring forth a better world.

Good for all of you who care about our planet and serve it in some way. Thank You.

If you want to read more, check out Bruce Sanguin’s book If Darwin Prayed, and his blog www.ifdarwinprayed.com.

Have a very happy and safe holiday season and if you celebrate it, Merry Christmas!

Part of an effort by the humanitarian group Engineers Without Borders, the students experienced an eye opening time that likely taught them as much as they were teaching. The article starts with a student wondering “What did I get myself into?” as they bounced along a dirt road under the hot African sun.

One of the students’ achievements was building a water pump so the local farmers could access clean water for their crops. Before the pump was built, the farmers had to spend up to half a day getting water. Now they have the chance to spend more time farming and even making a little more money.

Making bricks and designing an optimal stove proved to be more difficult than the students originally thought. The village’s current abilities and technology affected the results, and some things will take multiple visits to accomplish.

I keep hearing from travelers to poor countries that the people there seem to be happy. This article again confirms it. During the student’s stay, the villagers partied, showing themselves to be very community-driven. It’s something that too many people in North America have lost during their struggle to improve their economic well being. It’s a feature that makes humanitarian work magnetic.

What a great experience for the students, and program for the Mali villagers.

Gender equality’s role in overcoming poverty and social ills in our world is well known. Following the Beijing World Women conference in 1995, the World Bank developed an official gender mainstreaming strategy that was approved in 2001. The strategy aims to take into account gender-responsive actions in response to poverty and development needs. A Gender and Development Board was created and major reports to date indicate that gender-based division of labour leads to inequalities and inefficiencies in economics.

Although most regions in the world suffer from gender inequalities, (including OECD nations) disparities tend to be greater in poor countries. Education and health are areas in which progress has been made by the World Bank initiative according to a Bank Strategy paper. For instance the paper states that, “between 1995 and 2000 the Bank lent more than $3.4 billion for girls’ education programs, and was also the single largest lender in the world for health, nutrition and population projects, three-quarters of which contained gender-responsive actions.”

The business case for mainstreaming gender maintains that economies are more stable and grow at a steady rate when women and men are relatively equal. Let’s hope that the Bank continues its gender equality efforts and perhaps the world will become poverty and recession free.

According to a Fact Sheet by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response were created through the Sphere Project, an inter-agency initiative that aims to make humanitarian agencies more accountable.

The charter, based on the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is made up of eighteen articles which outline the minimum standards necessary in order to protect human beings in times of adversity. According to International Law the charter articles address issues from population displacement to medical attention for the wounded and sick. Article fifteen states that in situations of public emergency, humanitarian organizations shall be granted all necessary facilities to carry out their activities.

The charter is a sign that a new strategy is in the works that will change the way UN and humanitarian agencies deal with mega-crises that continue to plague the world.

Malnutrition is a preventable and treatable condition. More than just the result of too little food, malnutrition occurs when people lack a diet of high-quality protein, essential fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Altogether, such a diet supports children’s growth and general development.

Proper nutrition is especially essential for children during the formative years – that is, the first 2 years of age. Unfortunately, too many countries are supplying and financing nutritionally substandard programs which don’t meet the nutritional needs of the children.

MSF/Doctors Without Borders is trying to establish an international consensus that countries will supply only the most appropriate nutritional composition of foods in their aid to the world’s malnourished children. An international standard should be established and funding should support it, Marilyn added.

165 million children need the change so hopefully MSF/Doctors Without Borders will be successful.

As part of her major funding appeal for the ongoing Pakistan Flood crisis, Amos insisted that lessons must be learned from the large humanitarian disasters of recent years, ranging from the 2004 Asian tsunami to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, reports Google News.

Amos argues that the ‘business as usual’ strategy used to tackle these massive emergencies are no longer sufficient in a world that is facing increasingly larger mega-crises.  In Pakistan, aid agencies are struggling to cope with the scale of events as millions of people’s homes and farmland have been destroyed by the floods in a nation that is already home to the world’s largest refugee population (mainly from Afghanistan).

Yahoo News also reports that Amos will be conducting a review of how UN agencies and aid groups react to mega-crises.  New thinking is needed, and ways found to broaden funding and increase responses to large disasters.

Meanwhile, flood waters in Pakistan are moving from North to South, creating a ‘new’ disaster every few days and putting a strain on the humanitarian community.  The International Monetary Fund announced last Wednesday it would give Pakistan a $451 million emergency loan, while the European Union is also considering new ways to help.  By Friday, the sheer size of the Pakistan crisis had forced Amos to make a new monetary appeal, substantially higher than the original $460 million request.

The August 16th to 20th rally is expected to draw around 800 Indians representing many of Brazil’s 233 tribes.   As well, all candidates in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election have been invited.  

The Indians hope to raise awareness and protest their treatment and the critical situation it has led to for many indigenous people of the Amazon.  As well, they will protest the government’s plans to build a series of huge dams and roads in the Amazon. 

The Indians have lived sustainably in the rainforest for many generations, and have the human right to continue.  Now as Brazil undergoes development, threats to that rainforest increase.  For the role the Indians play in maintaining the rainforest, which are the lungs of our planet, theirs are important voices for all of us.