DOHA, Qatar (AP) ― Hassan al-Kubaisi considers it a gift from above that drivers in oil- and gas-rich Qatar only have to pay $1 per gallon at the pump. “Thank God that our country is an oil producer and the price of gasoline is one of the lowest,” al-Kubaisi said, filling up his Toyota Land Cruiser at a gas station in Doha. “God has given us a blessing.” To those looking for a global response to climate change, it’s more like a curse. Qatar ― the host of U.N. climate talks that entered their fin

Every winter, millions of migratory birds visit Korea, offering a treat to birdwatchers and wildlife photographers. The winged guests mostly come from Northeast Asia, Russia and Siberia, on their way to remote places in Australia and New Zealand. Although we know surprisingly little about their arduous journey and the troubles they run into along the flyway, one thing is becoming increasingly clear here ― the population of migratory birds is shrinking. Yubudo, a tiny island off Seocheon, Chungch

Ecotourism is booming in Korea, with over 200 towns, cities and provinces promoting themselves as nature-lovers’ paradises. Many, however, lack strategies to succeed in the intensifying competition, experts say, offering run-of-the-mill programs that focus on walking trails and local food. “Almost all provincial governments in Korea have jumped on the ecotourism bandwagon,” the state-run Korea Environment Institute said in a recent report. “Of them, perhaps 20 to 30 percent have the potential fo

Forcebel offers solutions to urban waste problems through landfill mining

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) ― The unique bird and reptile species that make the Galapagos Islands a treasure for scientists and tourists must be preserved, Ecuadorean authorities say ― and that means the rats must die, hundreds of millions of them. A helicopter is to begin dropping nearly 22 tons of specially designed poison bait on an island Thursday, launching the second phase of a campaign to clear out by 2020 non-native rodents from the archipelago that helped inspire Charles Darwin’s theory of evol

KC Rivertech, a local pioneer in waterway restoration, looks beyond domestic market

Shen-Tech aims to duplicate local success in Russia, Southeast Asia

MEXICO CITY (AP) ― Mexico is putting up wind power turbines at a breakneck pace and the expansion is pitting energy companies against the Indians who live in one of the windiest spots in the world.The country is posting one of the world’s highest growth rates in wind energy, and almost all of it is concentrated in the narrow waist of Mexico known as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where winds from the Pacific meet winds from the Gulf of Mexico, spawning places so wind-blown that one town’s formal na

A pair of red foxes was released into the wild Wednesday, as part of efforts to restore a healthy population of the species, thought almost extinct in Korea. The foxes, born and raised in Seoul Zoo, were set free on Sobaeksan in North Gyeongsang Province, after two months of training designed to help them adapt to life in the wild, the Environmental Ministry said. “It is the first such reintroduction of red foxes since we started efforts to restore them,” it said in a press statement. The minist

Six cities in race to host Green Climate Fund; decision expected on FridayKorean officials are making a final pitch to host a U.N.-operated fund which will be the single largest source of financing for global efforts to fight climate change. Songdo, a newly developed international business district in Incheon, is vying with five other cities to host the secretariat of the Green Climate Fund. A decision is expected during a meeting of the fund’s board members in Songdo on Friday. The other five c

The urban agriculture movement has long thrived in big cities in the West to meet growing desires for health, repose and a sense of community. Around the world, over 800 million urban dwellers grow vegetables, fruits or flowers in their backyards, on rooftops or even in a few pots on a balcony, according to the Rural Development Administration. “Urban farming is a 21st-century trend among world cities, as people have begun to seek out new values in city life, such as environment and community bu

City planners in many countries are pushing urban farming to turn their cities into more pleasant and livable places. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is one ardent advocate. In June, he declared the year 2012 as the beginning of an urban farming era, unveiling a plan to secure enough farming space in the highly congested capital for each household in the city to have a 3.3 square-meter veggie patch. “I believe that urban farming can successfully take root in Seoul, all the more because it is such a de