Both ENDS
Song Trangh 2 Dam in Quang Nam (Vietnam) is leaking. This poses a serious danger to local communities and their livelihood. There is little room for any public debate about the problems, despite the local populations' deep concerns. To try and find a solution, Both ENDS' partner organisation Vietnam Rivers Network (VRN) organised a workshop in cooperation with authorities and experts.
“5 million hectares in the Niger desert has been transformed into a lush landscape, where trees flourish, crops prosper and livestock thrives!” dr.Abasse Tougiane exclaims enthusiastically. “This is an area larger than the Netherlands!” We are present at the lecture about the successful initiative to regreen Niger, given by Abasse and his colleague Toudou Adam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The room is almost completely full; obviously not only officials of Foreign Affairs, but also scientists, delegates from NGO’s and representatives from the private sector are interested in the subject. The question on everyone’s mind is: ‘how can this be so successful where an initiative such as the Great Green Wall so sadly failed?
Ikal Angelei, founder of Friends of Lake Turkana in Kenya, a partner organisation of Both ENDS, received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize this week for her battle against the construction of the infamous Gibe 3 dam in Ethiopia. The construction of this dam would severely damage the ecosystem around Lake Turkana and have disastrous consequences for the indigenous people and their natural habitat.
For a moment it appeared that the European Investment Bank (EIB) decided to stop investments in coal fired power plants. The bank even seemed to have issued a press release on the matter. But, unfortunately, the message was not real. During the annual press conference of the bank the activists, who were the source of the fake press release, stroke again. In the name of ‘the citizens of Europe’, EIB president Werner Hoyer was awarded with the ‘World Coal Down Award’. Hoyer, who was confused for a second, did not accept the award. The EIB fiercely denied the rumors surrounding the investment stop on coal with the term 'pure nonsense'.
Participatory Land Use Planning (PLUP) is a rights-based approach ensuring inclusive and gender-responsive land governance, especially for those whose rights to land are not fully acknowledged.
