LANTANA FURNITURE

Lantana camara is a highly invasive plant just like parthenium. After being brought into India from South America as an ornamental and hedge plant about 2 centuries ago, now it has become so widespread as to threaten most of our wildlife habitat and making our forests inhospitable for native flora and fauna. This weed besides being inedible for the herbivores, also grows so thick and dense that the herbivores do not prefer to live in areas dominated by lantana. As such our already dwindling forest cover is further reduced by this pugnacious weed. Despite many efforts to eradicate, this weed still persists and pervades.

In this scenario, some tribal communities have started making furnitures from lantana. These furnitures resemble cane furniture in design and performance but only cost almost half the price. By making furnitures from lantana, these tribals besides making a livelihood for them, clear our forests of lantana. Another benefit is felling of other trees for furniture is prevented.

One such tribal community from Chembakolly village near Gudalur has formed an Eco Development Committee to make furnitures from lantana collected from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. Around 16 families are now dependent on this venture. However, they are facing difficulty marketing their products at present and requested our help in this regard. Mohanraj and Thenmurugakani visited Chembakolly village and had a first hand experience of the way the lantana is made into furniture by these tribals.

We hope to place a trial order shortly and display these furnitures in this month’s EnviroMeet.

In this regard, we welcome your ideas in helping these tribals market their lantana furniture.

Together, we can effect change.
Photos : http://picasaweb.google.com/pasumaiosai10/LantanaFurnitureMudumalai#slideshow/5446847390798237906

Web : www.greenosai.org

a real eco help by innocent so called illiterate tribals an attempt the educated lot never have thought only books and press conference but they have done in practical well bring the product out get it inaugurated by any millionaire we have many they are paying for Polythenen sure they can promote it too on their mobile hoardings(players) shirts !
they have done a job but side by side they must plant more trees and be careful lantana bug is harmful for milk producing mammals and it could lead to biomagnification

good life/full life/smart life/(in bengali) bhalo thako/(in hindi) aachhe raho/live well/good./feel good.

what’s the fix?

What do the large majority of Poles think?

the principle of non harming. Would you care to share how do you earn your living?

I teach

But why has the Palestinians refugee problem has persisted for so long, when compared to other, far worse refugee problems (like after WWII, when there were tens of millions of refugees) that were solved in shorter time periods? Here are a few things that make the Palestinian refugee problem more unique:
-The very definition of "refugee" is different for Palestinians from every other group. A non-Palestinian refugee is described as someone who (1) leaves their country out of "well founded fear of being persecuted," (2) is "outside the country of his nationality," and (3) "is unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country." However, the criteria for a Palestinian to be a refugee is someone (1) "whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948," (2) "who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (regardless of the reason)," and (3) who is a descendent of someone who meets the first two criteria (Palestinians are the only group of people who can inherit refugee status, which means that it is the only group of people in which the number of refugees grows over time rather than decreases). So after reviewing those facts, it appears that refugee status is far easier to attain for Palestinians than any other group. Even if someone’s grandfather lived in what became Israel from April 1948 until the Arab-Israeli War (1 month), and left when they were told to by other invading Arab countries, that person has refugee status. This is unique in refugee situations, and inflates the number of refugees tremendously.
-Unwillingness of similar cultures to absorb the refugees- Refugee situations are usually solved by having a country absorb those refugees. The Palestinian refugee problem could have been solved anytime Jordan controlled the West Bank. The "Palestinian culture"and language is identical to the Jordanian culture because "Palestinians," as they were designated by the British in 1921, were for the most part migrants from what was then called TransJordan. However, the unwillingness of Jordan, as well as any of the other 21 Arab countries, to absorb ANY Palestinian refugees has exacerbated the problem.
-The mission of UN agencies serving refugees is different for Palestinians than anyone else. First of all, the Palestinians are the only group that has an entire agency devoted to their cause (UNRWA), every other group of refugees is cared for by a single agency (UNHCR). The mission of the UNHCR is to find permanent homes for refugees. The mission of the UNRWA is to maintain the refugees within the refugee camps they set up, rather than finding an actual solution to the problem.

So why do Palestinians have more rights that people from the Sudan, or the Congo, or Somalia, or Iraq, or Columbia, or Darfur or Rwanda? What makes them more special than any of these other refugee groups?
SECULAR HUMANIST- "Palestine" is not, and never was a country. It was the name of a geographic region named by the Romans following their victory over the Jewish kingdom of Judea in about the year 70. They named the area "Palaestina" after the Philistines of the Bible. The region included Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, all of Jordan, and some of Syria. Palestine was never a country.

Their god Allah (Satan) has duped the rest of the world into thinking they are the victims when in reality they are aggressors who are unwilling to stop trying to exterminate Israel. Someday they’ll get their come-uppin’s!

But why has the Palestinians refugee problem has persisted for so long, when compared to other, far worse refugee problems (like after WWII, when there were tens of millions of refugees) that were solved in shorter time periods? Here are a few things that make the Palestinian refugee problem more unique:
-The very definition of "refugee" is different for Palestinians from every other group. A non-Palestinian refugee is described as someone who (1) leaves their country out of "well founded fear of being persecuted," (2) is "outside the country of his nationality," and (3) "is unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country." However, the criteria for a Palestinian to be a refugee is someone (1) "whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948," (2) "who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War (regardless of the reason)," and (3) who is a descendent of someone who meets the first two criteria (Palestinians are the only group of people who can inherit refugee status, which means that it is the only group of people in which the number of refugees grows over time rather than decreases). So after reviewing those facts, it appears that refugee status is far easier to attain for Palestinians than any other group. Even if someone’s grandfather lived in what became Israel from April 1948 until the Arab-Israeli War (1 month), and left when they were told to by other invading Arab countries, that person has refugee status. This is unique in refugee situations, and inflates the number of refugees tremendously.
-Unwillingness of similar cultures to absorb the refugees- Refugee situations are usually solved by having a country absorb those refugees. The Palestinian refugee problem could have been solved anytime Jordan controlled the West Bank. The "Palestinian culture"and language is identical to the Jordanian culture because "Palestinians," as they were designated by the British in 1921, were for the most part migrants from what was then called TransJordan. However, the unwillingness of Jordan, as well as any of the other 21 Arab countries, to absorb ANY Palestinian refugees has exacerbated the problem.
-The mission of UN agencies serving refugees is different for Palestinians than anyone else. First of all, the Palestinians are the only group that has an entire agency devoted to their cause (UNRWA), every other group of refugees is cared for by a single agency (UNHCR). The mission of the UNHCR is to find permanent homes for refugees. The mission of the UNRWA is to maintain the refugees within the refugee camps they set up, rather than finding an actual solution to the problem.

So why do Palestinians have more rights that people from the Sudan, or the Congo, or Somalia, or Iraq, or Columbia, or Darfur or Rwanda? What makes them more special than any of these other refugee groups?
MICHAEL X- Do your research, and read what I have written. In 1948, the UNRWA documented 860,000 Palestinian refugees. Because Palestinians inherit refugee status, that number has grown to over 4.7 million. Israel has not exiled over 4 million people, as you claim. Really, if they were treated as every other group, there would be hardly any Palestinian refugees left.

Special rghts? Yes it must be a great privelege to live in a refugee camp, staring at the farm the Israeli army invaded and evicted you from 60 years ago, watching someone else pretending they owned it all along.