GABORONE, Nov 19 (IPS) - Groundwater -- water located beneath the ground in soil or rock formations -- is a secure source of water that if properly managed can last for centuries. The challenge is how to locate it and monitor the effects of its use.

BRUSSELS, Nov 18 (IPS) - Public confidence in Belgian banks has eroded considerably over the past few months. A series of multi-billion euro rescue plans, reports of lavish executive bonuses and investigations into whether shareholders were misled about solvency levels have fuelled fears that the savings of the hard-pressed ordinary citizen are anything but safe.

BANGKOK, Nov 17 (IPS) - On top of 60 years of military occupation, the Karen people of Burma are now facing severe impairment of their environmental and cultural foundations, say activists.

BANGKOK, Nov 16 (IPS) - In what looked like a blitzkrieg rally, about a dozen hand-held 'No Dams' signs appeared out of nowhere in the packed conference hall at a public forum here on the construction of dams in the Mekong region.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Nov 14 (IPS) - Is your old TV poisoning a child in China? Or your old computer contaminating a river in Nigeria?

LIMA, Nov 14 (Tierramérica) - In the past two decades Latin America has made advances in signing international and national instruments that recognise and protect the rights of indigenous peoples. The problem is that these laws are not always heeded by governments, and the lack of enforcement has fuelled protests.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Nov 13 (Tierramérica) - The worst natural disaster that Haiti has suffered requires far-reaching solutions in order to reduce this Caribbean country's environmental fragility, say officials and humanitarian workers.

KARACHI, Nov 13 (IPS) - As the first batches of Haj pilgrims from Pakistan arrived at Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah airport for the current pilgrimage season they were, regardless of age, administered oral polio vaccine (OPV).

HAVANA, Nov 12 (IPS) - Three hurricanes have caused a total of 10 billion dollars in damages in Cuba in less than three months, according to the latest official estimates, while highlighting the vulnerability of Cuban housing to storms.

BOSTON, Nov 12 (Tierramérica) - The Antarctic holds the world’s largest amount of fresh water in its icy grip, and it is most certainly warming as a result of greenhouse gases, say new scientific studies.

MELBOURNE, Nov 12 (IPS) - With large parts of southern and eastern Australia enduring an ongoing drought, the regional centre of Orange -- some 260 km west of the nation’s largest city, Sydney -- is developing Australia’s first scheme to harvest stormwater in order to service the town’s requirements.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Nov 11 (IPS) - A thousand points of light are being shone into the dark ocean depths as scientists from 82 countries work to complete the decade-long global research effort called the Census of Marine Life.

PHNOM PENH, Nov 11 (IPS) - Cambodia’s fishing industry may still be viewed as a male bastion, but as household fish catches decline, putting pressure on food security, women are rising to the challenge and becoming involved in growing numbers.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Nov 10 (IPS) - Salmon aquaculture is devastating the world's oceans and an international coalition of scientists, Canadian First Nations and tourism operators have called for a global moratorium.

SAN JOSÉ, Nov 8 (Tierramérica) - The Crucitas open-pit gold mining project in northern Costa Rica could become an environmental cross to bear for the government of Óscar Arias.

MOURA, Portugal, Nov 3 (IPS) - This small municipality in the south of Portugal is becoming increasingly well-known for its alternative energy initiatives. The latest is the Sunflower project, which also involves communities in seven other European Union countries.

MIGORI (Kenya), Nov 3 (IPS) - Kenyan small-scale farmers have moved across the border into Tanzania to cultivate marijuana or ‘‘bhang’’, as the cannabis sativa plant is locally called. One of them is 25-year-old Steve Odhiambo. He believes that the international and local campaign against bhang harms only the small growers while the true profiteers get away.

HANOI, Nov 3 (IPS) - As the expendable income of households in Hanoi increases, so does the amount of refuse generated. This is taking a toll on the city’s predominantly female force of garbage collectors, as well as the environment.

LIMA, Nov 1 (Tierramérica) - Legislative decree 1090, which modifies Peru's forest policy, is worrying U.S. trade authorities because it contravenes environmental clauses of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that is to enter force between the two countries in January 2009.

PORT LOUIS, Nov 1 (IPS) - ‘‘The cost of production is high in Mauritius as we are far away from our main markets. Our island is so small that at times our clients do forget us. We no longer benefit from any trade preferences. We don’t have any natural resources but we have plenty of sunshine and wind and we have decided to use these resources.’’