Archive for the ‘Environmental Issues’ Category

9 hydrometric machines installed in Logar

This week, an official from the eastern province of Logar told the media that nine hydrometric machines were installed in the province.  The equipment is very beneficial for agriculture.  It is used to determine the amount of underground water, and wind direction. This new technology will  help Afghans determine drought levels as well as provide information [...]

April 24, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues, Reconstruction and Development  Comments Closed

Afghanistan’s Mustafa Zahir Wins Major Environmental Leadership Award

Today, in Seoul, South Korea, Mustafa Zahir, who serves as the Director General of the National Environmental Protection Agency of Afghanistan, and 5 other individuals from around the world were given the 2010 Champions of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).  Mustafa Zahir is also the grandson of Afghanistan’s last king, [...]

April 22, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues  2 Comments

Restoration of Kabul University’s herbarium announced

Yesterday, in a press release, the American Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced the restoration of Kabul University’s herbarium, which is a collection of preserved plant specimens.  The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts.  The collection in Kabul contains nearly 25,000 preserved plant specimens, and was nearly destroyed during the Taliban rule, but was [...]

April 16, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues, Reconstruction and Development  Comments Closed

Project To Reduce Kabul Street Floods Started Today

Every year, during the rainy season, many of Kabul’s streets flood, thus causing hardship on residents and making transportation in the city difficult and dangerous. As a result of this, the United States is funding a project via its USAID program where a seven kilometer canal will be built to stop flooding in about 50 [...]

April 15, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues, Job Creation, Reconstruction and Development  Comments Closed

ADB invests in energy distribution company in order to increase access to safe and reliable energy in Afghanistan

The Philippines based Asian Development Bank (ADP) sent out a press release earlier this week that they will invest up to $8 million dollars and buy a 25% stake in Sungas LLC, a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distributor in Afghanistan.  As a result of this, Sungas will be able to further expand its distribution through [...]

April 1, 2010   Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Environmental Issues, Reconstruction and Development  Comments Closed

Project helps to improve environmental conditions in Paktika

Paktika, which is located in south-eastern Afghanistan, is a province that has unfortunately been heavily deforested through out the years, and as a result, it’s people have suffered from devastating floods in recent years. The province was once a very fertile and arable land. Recently, in an effort to restore the environmental conditions in the [...]

March 28, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues, Reconstruction and Development  One Comment

Afghanistan shows further commitment to major international environmental issues – joins the fight against harmful chemicals

In an effort to show Afghanistan’s commitment to major international environmental issues, senior Afghan officials met with officials from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Thailand today in order to sign an agreement to work together in the fight against the illegal trade in banned chemicals. Scientists say these chemicals harm the ozone layer and [...]

March 23, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues  Comments Closed

Major tree-planting drive in Afghanistan

In order to combat soil erosion, desertification, and help improve air quality in Afghanistan’s urban areas, a major tree-planting drive will implemented this year. The goal is to plant up to 25 million seedlings (young trees) – mostly in and around urban areas. An official from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Abdul Majid Qarar told the United [...]

March 1, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues, Reconstruction and Development  One Comment

More species come under protection

Back in June 2009, Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) officially released the country’s first ever list of protected species. The list, just like similar ones in the western world protects certain species of animals and plants that are endanger of becoming extinct from illegal hunting and harvesting. NEPA also puts together recovery plans for [...]

February 28, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues  Comments Closed

Afghans Rehabilitating The Kohsan Canal

Afghan laborers were busy today rehabilitating the Kohsan canal in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat.  More than 150 people from 18 different villages were helping to clean up the canal.  A total of 46 villages will benefit from the flow of water from the cleaned-up canal. The following photos were taken by Eric Kanalstein who works for [...]

February 16, 2010   Posted in: Afghanistan's Economy, Environmental Issues, Job Creation, Reconstruction and Development  Comments Closed

Little-Known Bird Found Breeding In Afghanistan

A little bird dubbed by scientists as “the world’s least-known bird species” was found breeding  in the remote, peaceful Wakhan Corridor in northeastern Afghanistan.  This area also supports a wide range of large mammal species, including the Marco Polo sheep (Ovis ammon polii), the Siberian ibex (Capra ibex sibericus), the lynx (Lynx lynx), and the snow [...]

January 30, 2010   Posted in: Environmental Issues  Comments Closed