Karin Kloosterman

Holiday on Samui’s Rocky Shores at Baan Hin Sai

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Travel & Nature »

baan hin sai

Think Wem Wenders meets Knots Landing at this natural cliff top resort on Koh Samui, Thailand. 

As I get older and find myself with the itch to get away, I am turning more and more to all inclusive holidays, especially the last minute deal sites to help me find a cheap, and simple holidays not far from home. But once and a while I like to journey a little longer, a little farther. To take my laptop and family on the road and travel for a month or more to laid back destinations – places where it’s not hard to find the sun, good food, and affordable and ecological minded hotels. While eco is definitely on my mind, it’s not the defining factor in where I stay. But when I travel to places like Thailand, I like a little bit of pampering. Because Thailand is the place to go to get knee deep in nature, and get spoiled at the same time on a reasonable budget. This past February I travelled to Koh Samui, an island in Thailand.

About halfway through our journey we found the Baan Hin Sai Resort and Spa. Easy to reach from one of the east island’s beaches, Chewang and Lamai, this place is a sea and nature lover’s dream.

Continue reading: “Holiday on Samui’s Rocky Shores at Baan Hin Sai” »

Linda Pappagallo

EcoReef Antlers For Coral Reef Restoration

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Travel & Nature »

eco reef ecoreef ceramic reefsInstalled already in Qatar, reef recovery time can be increased from 50 to 100 years to 7 to 15 with these ceramic antler-like artificial reefs. 

One of the great dilemmas for marine protected areas is ensuring marine ecosystems overcome issues related to “shifting baselines”: the extent to which marine areas have been driven from their “natural baseline state” due to anthropogenic activity and natural changes. Unfortunately, conservation plans often select baselines that already represent a disturbed state. The result is a continuous decline in ecosystem integrity, as next generations of managers resets their baseline to even lower marine ecological states. A partial solution to this is restoration – an active form of conservation. However coral reef restoration (either as coral reef art or ugly electric cages) been no easy task given the lengthy period of time it takes for corals to grow – between 0.06 to 3.9 cm a year.

Thankfully, a new product called EcoReef has been on the market and it is showing to be an effective coral reef restorer that could work for the Middle East reefs in the Gulf and the Red Sea. 

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Tafline Laylin

Simple Wave House is a Minimalist Summer Home for Turkey

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Architecture & Urban »

minimalism, daylighting, Turkey, architecture, prefab construction, modular designTurkish designer Gunes Peksen doesn’t say much about this concept for a minimalist summer retreat, but it is definitely reminiscent of the Prefab LoftCube in Lebanon that received so much attention earlier this year. Although we tend to favor earth architecture, like Nader Khalili’s wonderful earth bag homes fit for space, or Hassan Fathy’s mud structures in Egypt, Peksen caters to modern urbanites who seek contemporary design solutions to dwindling material and spatial resources.

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Tafline Laylin

Ancient River Valley Reclaimed: Saudi’s Sweet Success Story

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Architecture & Urban »

wetlands, Saudi, Wadi Hanifah, bio-remediation, river rehabilitation, waterFor hundreds of years, Saudi’s Wadi Hanifah River carved out a scenic valley extending from sand dunes and agricultural land pocked with date plantations into the heart of Riyadh before it seeped underground. But the city’s expansion into a thumping metropolis of 7 million people brought the 4500 sq km catchment area close to extinction as sewage and construction waste was dumped in the river.

As a result, the Arriyadh Development Authority commissioned the Canadian architecture and planning firm Moriyama & Teshima and Buro Happold – a UK engineering firm – to submit a Master Plan and Restoration Program to restore the area’s ecological health. One decade later and the Wadi is once again a thriving desert oasis.

Continue reading: “Ancient River Valley Reclaimed: Saudi’s Sweet Success Story” »

Laurie Balbo

Textually Transmitted Conservation of Water

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Cleantech, Science & Technology »

happy man mobile phone

Jordan’s mobile phone users will soon receive SMS tips on smart water use.

It’s part of a public awareness campaign to alert Jordanians to the vital need to protect against pollution and reduce water consumption. (Well, at least alert Jordanians with cell phones, or more accurately, those with cell phones and contracts with the Zain Group). Mobile users will get regular tips on how to conserve water.  The Ministry of Water and Irrigation, in cooperation with telecommunications company Zain, is aiming for radical transformation in national behavior. Here’s the plan:

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Laurie Balbo

Hijab Ban Lifted for Women in Sport – Hats off to Prince Ali of Jordan

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Lifestyle & Culture »

muslim athlete woman

Prince Ali of Jordan believes that Muslim women shouldn’t be disqualified from world-class sports because they wear the hijab, the traditional Islamic head covering. This youngest vice-president of the world football’s governing body Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is a vocal supporter in the campaign against the hijab ban. In 2007, FIFA, banned players from wearing hijab, citing safety concerns.

“This is not an issue of religious symbolism. It’s simply a case of cultural modesty. And I’m tackling this because it is a big issue for many, many women all across the world. It’s not an issue which will go away,” said the prince in a statement to Yahoo Sports recently. The Prince’s pitch to grant everyone equal rights to play soccer has United Nations backing. Sports are good for heart health and we’d be thrilled to see more religious Muslim keeping fit through Sport. The ban is an obstacle to Muslim women athletes. 

Continue reading: “Hijab Ban Lifted for Women in Sport – Hats off to Prince Ali of Jordan” »

Brian Nitz

Better Place Electric Car Network Begins in Israel

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Cars & Transportation »

better place revs up its enginesBetter Place revs up its charge spots in Israel

Shai Agassi hopes Israel is ready to embrace the efficiency and economics of electric cars.  His company Better Place rolled out four electric car charging stations in northern Israel.  He plans to quickly grow this network so that every place in Israel with be within range of one of their network stations.  This is intended to eliminate, the “range anxiety” which frightens some consumers out of considering electric cars.  Better Place contracted with French automaker Renault to produce a customized version of their Fluence electric car.

Continue reading: “Better Place Electric Car Network Begins in Israel” »

Tafline Laylin

Why Solar Cookers Should Spread Like Satellites in Morocco

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Cleantech, Science & Technology »

solar power, solar cooking, desertification, clean tech, renewable energy, clean energy, MoroccoWomen in rural Morocco are often responsible for the grueling task of trekking miles to collect fuel for cooking, which requires not only energy but also time that might have been used developing or applying other skills. Lacking access to natural gas, these villagers have had no choice but to burn biomass to produce the family’s meals –  a situation that also has grave environmental consequences.

But a new initiative brought to our attention by Hicham Semlali has already profoundly improved the quality of life for residents of Ouffi Ait – a small, sunny village southeast of Marrakech. The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECI) introduced 150 new solar-cookers, which allow women to spend time on cottage industries and give the surrounding forests a much-needed break.

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Arwa Aburawa

What Can Rio+20 Do For The Arab World?

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Climate »

rio brazil sculptureWe speak to Mohamed Abdel Raouf, a green researcher who will be attending the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) about what it could do for the Arab world

According to the latest reporting, the preparatory talks ahead of the Rio+20 summit have been inconclusive and raised real concerns that the conference will be a complete failure. Many delegates are frustrated at the lack of progress made around the global plan of action, entitled The Future We Want, which they hope world leaders will sign up to in Brazil in June. But Mohamed Abdel Raouf, remains hopeful that some progress will be made and also wants to encourage the Arab world to take a stronger position in favour of a Green Economy.

An independent environmental researcher, Abdel Raouf insists that “even if there is just tiny progress at Rio+20, it will be better than nothing” and it’s only through small steps that big progress can be achieved. The Rio+20 summit will be a follow-up to the landmark 1992 Earth summit in Brazil, at which international treaties to tackle climate change and conserve the Earth’s diversity of plants, animals, and other life forms were agreed.

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Tafline Laylin

Israeli Military Uses Biomimicry to Design Butterfly Drone

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Cleantech, Science & Technology »

cleantech, science, biomimicry, military, Israel, butterfly drone

Biomimicry is one of the smartest contemporary approaches to design, so it was inevitable that Israeli researchers would apply this science to their military designs. Like the Iranian home that mimics a snail’s form in order to stay cool and a bottle inspired by the Namib desert beetle that can harvest water in one of the driest places on earth, Israel Aerospace Industries’ (AIA) latest insect drone, their smallest to date at only 20 grams, takes its intelligence, form and other properties from one of nature’s finest creatures: the butterfly.

Continue reading: “Israeli Military Uses Biomimicry to Design Butterfly Drone” »

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