Half of China's water polluted and undrinkable: study

Reuters via Environmental News Network reports on China's polluted water supplies where more than half is undrinkable and one quarter unsuitable for industrial use.

Inspectors from China's Ministry of Environmental Protection tested water samples from the country's major rivers and lakes in the first half of the year and declared just 49.3 percent to be safe for drinking, up from 48 percent last year, the ministry said in a notice posted on its website (www.mep.gov.cn).

Despite tougher regulations over the last decade, the ministry has struggled to rein in the thousands of small paper mills, cement factories and chemical plants discharging industrial waste directly into the country's waterways, and the overuse of fertilizers has also left large sections of China's lakes and rivers choking with algae.

Read the full story: Pollution makes quarter of China water unusable

Photo from My Health Beijing

Global eco-friendly beaches

Mother Nature Network has a slide show of eight eco-friendly beaches around the world.

Among the beaches are:

Whitehaven Beach, Whitsundays Island, Australia (picture): won the award for "Cleanest beach in Queensland."

Koh Libong, Trang Province, Thailand

Las Islas Cies, Galicia, Spain

See the slide show: 8 of the greatest eco-friendly beaches in the world

Photo from Tourism Whitsundays

Hiking among Indonesia's volcanoes

The New York Times' Edward Wong reports on his hiking trip among Java's volcanoes.

Flirting with the fury of a volcano may not sound like the usual tourist fare, but in recent years, these imperious volcanoes have become an increasingly popular draw that is away from the crowded resorts of Bali, which lies just east of Java. Last year, more than 93,000 people visited Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park, Indonesia’s most famous volcano preserve, up 78 percent from the previous year, according to the park’s main ranger station.

We were also pleased to see Mr. Wong refer to his faithful hiking partner Tini, finally, as his wife, previously she was always just referred to as his "friend."

Read the full story: In Java, risking the wrath of a volcano

Photo by Edward Wong / The New York Times

Russia expands conservation areas

Environmental News Network reports that Russia will expand their wildlife protected areas 3 percent by 2020.

The new conservation space will be almost the size of the country of Switzerland.

The Russian government's decision establishes 9 new nature reserves and 13 national parks covering a total area of over 3.8 million [hectares] by 2020. Russia is also introducing marine buffer zones of over 1 million ha.

An existing 9 reserves and 1 national park will see their areas increased by 500 thousand ha.

The decision was based on an analysis of WWF in cooperation with The Nature Coservancy and MAVA Foundation, carried out between 2006-2008, and is aimed at fulfilling Russia's commitment under the Convention on Biodiversity to establish effective protected area systems that safeguard biodiversity.

Read the full story: Russia to create national parks and reserves nearly size of Switzerland

Photo from ENN

Climb Himalayas in Indian Kashmir

USA Today reports that foreigners are now allowed to climb the Himalayas from the India side of Kashmir because violence from insurgents has declined.

Before the start of the insurgency by separatists in 1989, hundreds of thousands of tourists flocked to the region — known as the Switzerland of the east — to enjoy the glacier-fed streams flowing through the forests and grasslands or lounge on houseboats floating on Srinagar's Dal Lake.

The government in the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir declared 2010 a "visit Kashmir year" following an improvement in the security situation, said [Farooq Ahmed Shah, a state tourism official].

"The decision has been taken at the highest level and nearly 100 peaks in Ladakh region are open for trekking and mountaineering," he said.

These peaks are situated at an altitude ranging from 9,840 feet (3,000 meters) to nearly 26,246 feet (8,000 meters).

Read the full story: India opens Himalayan peaks to foreigners

Photo from environmentandpeople.org

Ride subway, exit in "Asia"

The Washington Post reports on the New York City subway ride that will let you out in "Asia."

Brain Yarvin takes you on the plane-less journey to Flushing, Queens, only $2.25 and about a 45 minute subway ride from Midtown Manhattan.

Most out-of-towners will head toward Flushing for Citi Field or its neighbor, Arthur Ashe Stadium, and if they're not in the loop, they'll take in a baseball game or a tennis match and leave. The rest of us know better. Here's a neighborhood that really seems to be part of China, only with New York City street signs. When I step off the train at Main Street, get my first whiff of scallion pancakes, make my first sighting of a new menu or find some ingredient that exists nowhere else in the Eastern United States, I know that I've come to the right place.

Read the full story: Flushing, Queens: Taking the 7 train from Times Square to Asia

Asian countries come together to save tigers

Treehugger reports on 13 Asian countries who met to try to save the dwindling tiger population.

The global tiger population has dipped below 3,200 individuals, making it one of the most critically endangered animals on the planet. Facing threats from habitat destruction, climate change, and poaching—encouraged by the animal's value in illegal wildlife trade—the outlook for the tiger is not good.

In response, representatives from 13 Asian nations have gathered for the first Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation. The goal of the meeting is to convince members to invest more time and money toward protecting tigers and to establish targets for increasing their numbers.

Read the full story: 13 countries meet to save endangered tigers

Picture from flickr

Swim near a nuclear power plant in Taiwan

Global Post reports on the Taiwanese nuclear power plant looming over a popular beach.

To date, Taiwan has a near spotless nuclear safety record. That means few here fear having their beach time ruined by a meltdown. "Maybe we've just been lucky," [A 52-year-old parking lot attendant] added with a laugh.

But he said the beach has changed dramatically since he was a child. Then, coral covered the shallow sea floor. "Now, they're all dead," he said. "I don't know if it's because of global warming or the nuclear plant."

Read the full story: Welcome to Taiwan's nuclear beach

Photo by Pichi Chuang/Reuters

Biking in Europe and Taiwan

Today's post is about bike trips because we've noticed that biking has become more popular and more people are writing about it.

Associated Press writer William Foreman writes about his experience with his bike in one of Taiwan's love hotels. (picture right)

We were guys staying at the same hotel with our mistresses.

He looked like a Taiwanese gangster, with permed hair, black suit and pointy knockoff Italian loafers. It was 5:30 a.m. and he was renting a room for a few hours with a woman in a leather mini skirt, fishnet stockings and the longest false eyelashes I've ever seen. They had no luggage.

My mistress was my $4,000 carbon-fiber bicycle

Leah Larkin writes about her and husband Bob's bike trip through France's wine country for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Bicycle Bob, my cycling husband, is not like most of us on a bicycle. He loves hills, the steeper the better.

On a trip last autumn in the Vaucluse region of Provence in southern France, he found a winner — a "mini Mont Ventoux" (the famous Tour de France mountain). That’s what a local called it.

And Sue Halpern writes for Conde Nast Traveler about biking in the flat country of Denmark.

Please note: Ecotravel News will be away and but resume posting in early August

Rhinos driven to extinction by poaching: report

Reuters reports that rhino horn poachers are leading the species to extinction.

Several nature protection groups claim in a report that rampant poaching of once thriving rhino populations in Africa and Asia could lead the species to extinction.

While between 2000 and 2005 a relatively low total of three rhinos were estimated to have been illegally killed each month in Africa out of a total population of some 18,000, 12 were now being slaughtered monthly in [South Africa and Zimbabwe] alone.

Rhinoceros spotting is a highlight of many who go on a safari in Africa.

The horn is thought to have medicinal qualities and is used in folk cures in many Asian countries.

Read the full story: Poachers pushing rhinos to extinction: nature groups

Smallest primate under threat

Reuters reports on the threat to the world's smallest monkey, the tarsier. The habitat of this tiny primate, the size of a human fist, in Indonesia's Sulawesi forest is being destroyed by logging. There are an estimated 1,000 left in the world.

Watch the report below:

Thai zoo panda gives birth

Ecotravel News was pleased to hear that the female panda from the Chiang Mai Zoo in Thailand gave birth.

The Huffington Post reports on the new female cub (picture right). The birth was a surprise but the mother is taking care of her cub well. The Thai panda program had been trying to breed the two pandas on loan from China unsuccessfully for years. At one point they even tried showing the animals videos of other pandas breeding to get them in the mood. This cub was born via artificial insemination.

Ecotravel News' "about me" picture is at this panda exhibit and one of the pandas is eating bamboo in the background. We also did a video about how they make paper souvenirs out of the pandas dung.

Read the full story: Surprise panda cub welcomed in Thailand

Climate change awareness atop Mt. Everest

The Salt Lake Tribune reports on the 19th successful ascent of resident Apa Sherpa to the top of Mount Everest, but this time under the agenda of climate change.

Apa Sherpa reached the top of the infamous mountain where he laid a sacred vase called a Bhumpa and unfurled a banner with the words: "Stop Climate Change, Let the Himalayas Live!"

"With the Bhumpa at the top of Mount Everest, Mother Goddess of the World, we will once again enhance her protective powers over mankind. The same powers that were diminished by man's selfish and greedy actions," said Dawa Steven Sherpa, who organized the Eco Everest Expedition and asked Apa to become a member for the past two climbing seasons.

Apa Sherpa, 49, has been a resident of Salt Lake since 2006; his hometown is the Sherpa village of Thame. He has summited Everest 19 times in the past 20 years.

Read the full story: Utahn Apa Sherpa tops Everest for 19th time

Commiting to protect Asia-Pacific coral reefs

Reuters reports on the coral reef protection commitment made by six Asia-Pacific nations at the World Ocean Conference last week.

Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands border a stretch of reef known as the Coral Triangle, which contains 76 percent of all known coral species and is a vital tuna spawning ground.

The pact signed during the World Ocean Conference in Manado, Sulawesi, last week includes a commitment to crack down on illegal fishing and pollution, and enforcing new tuna fishing regulations to protect spawning grounds.

Read the full story: Asia coral protection pact seen as important step

Malaysian island's World Heritage status in jeopardy

USA Today reports on the planned high-rise hotel development on Malaysian Island Penang which threatens its UNESCO World Heritage label.

The capital Georgetown is a protected World Heritage site; a status that does not permit the town to build buildings over a certain height.

The city approved four new high-rise hotels violating the height limit and putting the protected status in jeopardy.

Read the full story: Development at Malaysian World Heritage site raises concerns

DMZ: where the wild things flourish

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the wildlife haven in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.

This swath of land, 390 square miles worth, was created after the 1953 Korean War cease-fire agreement. Virtually untouched for 55 years, this area houses rare and endangered animals and birds.

But the wildlife haven now faces problems as the two Koreas rekindle peace relations and tourism development pressures:

"Increased industrial activity, as well as extensive deforestation on both sides of the border (up to two-thirds of North Korea) have meant worse air and water pollution within the sensitive zone. What has so fortuitously been saved could be recklessly lost, says Hall Healy, president of the DMZ Forum, a US-based NGO working to preserve the area."

Read the full story: Korean demilitarized zone now a wildlife haven

Port-a-eco-potty Everest climbers

Reuters reports on a Nepali mountain climber who advocates for more eco-friendly climbing, starting with portable toilets.

There are no toilet facilities at the Everest Base Camp, where hundreds of climbers visit every year; the usual modus operandi is to squat behind a rock.

"Dawa Steven Sherpa, who led an eco-Everest expedition in May to collect trash dumped by previous climbers, said his team used a plastic bucket as well as a gas-impervious bag designed to safely contain and neutralize human waste and keep in odor.

'It is portable and very secure,' Sherpa, 25, told Reuters.

'I want to promote anything that manages human waste on the mountain.'

'To date, no other container designed for human waste exists in this size, weight or strength,' Sherpa said of the U.S.-designed bucket, which is 11 inches tall and weighs 2.4 pounds, and has an opening that is eight inches in diameter."

Read the full story: Climber plumps for portable toilets for Everest

Enjoy greenery in the midst of Tokyo

Stars and Stripes reports on the not-so-hidden green spaces of Tokyo.

One of these highlighted parks is Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

"Nestled alongside Shinjuku’s soaring office buildings is a 144-acre park that used to be the private residence of local Lord Kiyonari Naito. Naito governed the area more than 400 years ago.

The estate served as the imperial family’s garden beginning in 1906. After World War II, it was turned into a national park."

Read the full story: Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden a touch of peace in Tokyo

Asia bird-watching is some of the best in the world

The Wall Street Journal weekend's Steve Mollman reports from Southeast Asia on the growing popularity of bird-watching in that part of the world.

His first-hand account starts off bad; he woke up late for the beginning of his Bali, Indonesia birding tour and runs to meet his group - (probably making a big ruckus and actually scaring the birds the group wants to see).

Most of the people who go on bird-watching tours in Asia are westerners, but the sport is slowly catching on with Asians:

"In fact, birders are spoiled for choice in Asia, with great sites from Malaysia to China to Taiwan. Indonesia's Sulawesi island 'is becoming increasingly popular,' thanks in part to better roads and more inter-island flights, says James Eaton, a 26-year-old British birding enthusiast who runs U.K.-based Birdtour Asia.

And then there is India. 'Everywhere you go, there's birds,' says Mr. Eaton. Even in Delhi's city center, he says he finds species ranging from eagles to wild green parakeets."

Read the full story: Flight time: bird-watching takes off in Asia

Mollman mentions the bird-watching tours in Cambodia run by the Sam Veasna Center, where Ecotravel News traveled to last year. For more on this click here to read my print report and click here to watch my video report.

Large numbers of endangered Cambodian monkey

U.S. News and World Report reports that large numbers of two endangered monkeys in Cambodia have been recorded.

There were 42,000 black-shanked douc langurs (pic right) and 2,500 yellow-cheeked crested gibbons tallied in Cambodia by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS); some of the largest numbers of these threatened species.

"'Despite this good news in Cambodia, the [Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area] still remains at risk from conversion to agro-industrial plantations for crops, including biofuels, and commercial mining,' said Tom Clements, lead author of the WCS report."

Read the full story: Threatened monkey populations surprisingly large