Spread of Norovirus through Pesticide Spraying

As Dr.Mercola mentioned in his article “Pesticide Spraying may Spread Norovirus” norovirus is the leading cause of food-borne outbreaks in the US, with fresh produce, especially leafy vegetables and fruits) among the most common culprits.

Reality is that contaminated water is a potential introduction source of norovirus to fresh produce. This has centered on water used to irrigate crops. Several researches were done to determine if irrigating water could be a source of norovirus spread and the results showed that it could. Environment Health Perspectives reported that in seven of the eight pesticides tested, norovirus persisted even two hours later.

“Farmers mix pesticides with water from sources including wells, irrigation ditches, rivers and lakes. All these water sources have been known to harbor norovirus. Until recently, no one had tested whether norovirus in contaminated water remains infectious after pesticides are added.”

Researches showed the virus is able to stay in contaminated water and be active when it’s sprayed onto crops.

So pesticides “may not only be a chemical hazard, but also a microbiological hazard for public health. The inclusion of antiviral substances in reconstituted pesticides may be appropriate to reduce the virologic health risk posted by the application of pesticides.”

Researches came with recommendations to add antiviral substances to water, a much simpler and healthier.

Buy organic as much as possible, since this eliminates the use of chemical pesticides.

Norovirus

Norovirus is a genus of genetically diverse single-stranded RNA, non-enveloped viruses in Caliciviridae family. The viruses are transmitted by fecally contaminated food or water, by person-to-person contact, and via aerosolization of the virus and subsequent contamination of surfaces.

Norovirus can survive for long periods outside a human host depending on the surface and temperature conditions: can stay for weeks on hard surfaces and up to 12 days on contaminated fabrics, and it can survive for months, maybe even years in contaminated still water. The virus survives 7 days after contamination on several surfaces used for food preparation.

Noroviruses have a big impact on people’s health. Noroviruses are responsible for more than half of all food-borne disease outbreaks each year. They are the most common cause of diarrhea in adults and the second most common cause in children.

Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause inflammation of the stomach and large intestine lining; they are the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the U.S. . They are originally called the Norwalk virus.

Noroviruses are sometimes called food poisoning, because they can be transmitted through food that’s been contaminated with the virus. They aren’t always the result of food contamination. Noroviruses are also called the stomach flu, although they aren’t the influenza virus.

People become infected with noroviruses when they eat food and drink liquids that have been contaminated, raw or undercooked oysters and raw fruits and vegetables have been implicated in some outbreaks. You can also get infected if you touch an object or surface that has been infected with the virus and then touch an object or surface that has been infected with the virus and then touch your nose, mouth, or eyes.

Noroviruses can survive temperature extremes in water and on surfaces.

Once someone is infected from contaminated food, the virus can quickly pass from person to person through shared food or utensils, by shaking hands or through other close contact. People who have weekend immune system are particularly susceptible to catching noroviruses.

If you come down with a norovirus infection, you will probably go from being completely healthy to feeling absolutely miserable within a day or two after being exposed to the virus. 

Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea and stomach cramps. Other norovirus symptoms include: low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, fatigue.

Most of these symptoms aren’t serious, but diarrhea and vomiting can deplete your body of the fluid it needs and you can become dehydrated. Children and the elderly are most susceptible to dehydration, as well as malnutrition from not getting enough nutrients.

You have to take stool test to confirm that you have the illness. 

A small percentage of people who are infected with noroviruses never have any symptoms, which suggests they might have some natural protection from the virus.

Noroviruses, like other viruses, don’t respond to antibiotics, which are designed to kill bacteria. No antiviral drug can treat noroviruses, but in healthy people the illness go away on its own within a couple of days. Most people don’t have any long-term problems from the virus.

To prevent dehydration, drink plenty of liquids, especially water and juices. Drink an oral rehydration solution to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. Avoid sugary drinks, which can make diarrhea worse, as well as alcohol and caffeinated beverages, which can dehydrate you further.

Symptoms of dehydration include dizziness when standing, dry mouth and decrease in urination. Severe dehydration is sometimes treated with intravenous (IV) fluids. 

Good hygiene is the key to prevent an infection with norovirus, especially when you are in close surroundings with people. So wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 15 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially after going to the bathroom and before you prepare or eat food. Carefully dispose contaminated items. Wash raw fruits and vegetables thoroughly. Cook oysters and other shellfish before eating them. Clean and disinfect surfaces with the mixture of detergent and chlorine bleach after someone is sick. If you have norovirus, don’t prepare food for at least two to three days after you feel better. Try not to eat food that has been prepared by someone else who is sick.

Trust and Nature

Never trust anyone who wants what you've got.

Never trust anyone who wants what you've got.

Unconditional

Unconditional love really exists in each of us, in nature. 
It is part of our deep inner human being. 

Mercury and Its Effects

Mercury pollution can be a serious health threat, especially for children and pregnant women.

Mercury is emitted to the air by power plants, cement plants, certain chemical manufacturers and other industrial facilities. In addition, over the years, many companies have used mercury to manufacture a range of products including thermometers, thermostats and automotive light switches. These products can release mercury, particularly at the end of their useful life during waste handling and disposal. Mercury pollution released into the environment becomes a serious threat when it settles into oceans and waterways, where it builds up in fish that we eat. Children and women of childbearing age are most at risk.

Mercury in Fish

Once mercury enters a waterway, naturally occurring bacteria absorb it and convert it to a form called methyl mercury. 

This transition is particularly significant for humans, who absorb methyl mercury easily and are especially vulnerable to its effects.

Mercury then works its way up the food chain as large fish consume contaminated smaller fish. Instead of dissolving or breaking down, mercury accumulates at ever-increasing levels. Predatory fish such as large tuna, swordfish, shark and mackerel can have mercury concentrations in their bodies that are 10,000 times higher than those of their surrounding habitat.

Mercury and Human Health

Humans risk ingesting dangerous levels of mercury when they eat contaminated fish. Since mercury is odorless, invisible and accumulates in the meat of the fish, it is not easy to detect and can't be avoided by trimming off the skin or other parts.

Once in the human body, mercury acts as a neurotoxin, interfering with the brain and nervous system.

Exposure to mercury can be particularly hazardous for pregnant women and small children. During the first several years of life, a child's brain is still developing and rapidly absorbing nutrients. Even in low doses, mercury may affect a child's development, delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span and causing learning disabilities. Less frequent, high dose prenatal and infant exposures to mercury can cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness.

In adults, mercury poisoning can adversely affect fertility and blood pressure regulation and can cause memory loss, tremors, vision loss and numbness of the fingers and toes. A growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to mercury may also lead to heart disease.

Mercury and a High-Fish Diet

A 2009 study of federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data concluded that roughly one in 40 women of childbearing age have mercury in their blood above 5.8 micrograms per liter of blood - a level that could pose a risk to a developing fetus. This is a significant improvement from data ten years ago, which showed that one out of 15 women had mercury in their blood at this level. Newer science indicates, however, that mercury actually concentrates in the umbilical cord blood that goes to the fetus, so mercury levels as low as 3.4 micrograms per liter of a mother’s blood are now a concern. Nearly one in 13 women of reproductive age in the United States has mercury in her blood at or above this level, according to the latest data.

Dr. Jane Hightower, a doctor of internal medicine at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco also linked fish consumption to elevated mercury levels when she tested her own patients. Her 2003 study found that 89 percent of the participating patients - chosen because of their fish-heavy diets - had elevated mercury levels. Many had levels as much as four times that which the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.

The good news is that Dr. Hightower and other health professionals conclude that high mercury levels are reversible: cutting consumption of mercury-contaminated fish causes blood mercury to drop, though it can take six months or more.

Poisoned by Mercury

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80.

Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water and soil. A highly toxic form (methyl-mercury) builds up in fish, shellfish and animals that eat fish. Fish and shellfish are the main sources of methyl-mercury exposure to humans.

Mercury exposure at high levels can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system. High levels of methyl-mercury in the bloodstream of unborn babies and young children may harm the developing nervous system, making the child less able to think and learn.

Symptoms of methyl-mercury poisoning may include impairment of peripheral vision; disturbances in sensations ("pins and needles" feelings); lack of coordination; impairment of speech, hearing, walking; and muscle weakness.

Elemental (metallic) mercury primarily causes health effects when it is breathed as a vapor where it can be absorbed through the lungs. Symptoms include tremors, emotional changes, insomnia, weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching, headaches, disturbances in sensations, changes in nerve responses, and performance deficits on tests of cognitive function. Higher exposures may result in kidney effects, respiratory failure and death.

Consult your doctor if you believe you have been exposed to mercury.

Recycling of mercury-containing products is one of the best ways to help prevent mercury releases to the environment by keeping these products out of landfills and incinerators.

Mercury poisoning facts by John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

Honor the Children Globally

June 1 - the first day of summer. 

June 1 – International Day for Protection of Children. 

"We were all Children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our Children, which has always been and will continue to be the most Universally cherished aspiration of Humankind." 

The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland, proclaimed June 1 to be International Children's Day in 1925. It is usually marked with speeches on Children's rights and well-being, and other events involving or dedicated to Children.

Armenia ratified the Convention on Children’s Rights in 1992, after which in 1996 the Law of the Republic of Armenia “Children’s Rights” was adopted. Armenia organizes and holds different events dedicated to the Children Protection Day.

In Armenia June is made a real festivity for Children by the cultural and entertainment organizations. Different events are held in Armenia.

Another Diversification of Laughter

Laughter also can be divided into following groups:

Basic Laughter

Normally they are performed every day and all the other laughter’s are based on this i.e. mixing up of one or two laughter to create another one. 

Warm up Laughter

HO HO HA HAA HA – Chant in the beginning with claps to assemble all who are walking or enjoying some other activity on and around venue.

HO HO HA HO HO – Anchor person say 1, 2 and 3 looking at three different direction giving starts, so all members on oneness throws their hands in front at shoulder height and chants HO HO repeatedly looking at members standing opposite to them.

HA HA HA HAAA HI HI HI HA – All laughter members are need to throw their hands twice up chanting HAA HAA and bring their hands down chanting twice HI HI , this are done repeatedly and then increase the speed of chanting with hands movement gradually and then at the end every one break down with family laughter and looking at each other banging hands with each other.

Spontaneous Laughter

In this mouth will be wide open raising both the hands with maximum sound, all the members look at each other to have eye contacts and bang hands with each other so as to have close look for person so that will act as stimulant to increase the length of the laughter to around 30 seconds or more according to practice. We will feel something is jogging inside and biochemical reaction taking place producing positive hormones.

Jokers Laughter

It is the same as Spontaneous laughter only difference is no sound only facial expression indicating happiness on the face. When we perform this we will have effect of producing positive hormones. 

Etiquette Laughter

In this we have not to show teeth and to make humming bees’ sound or pigeon sound, rest of the things remain same as spontaneous and jokers laughter’s. We can have variation by blowing our chicks. When we perform this again we will have effect of producing positive hormones.

Baby Crying Laughter

A partly nervous kind of laughter that we have all been guilty of at some time in our lives when we have said the wrong thing. Laughter like this is a distressing display to watch because it mimics a baby crying rather than an adult laughing. The mouth is pulled down at the edges in an expression of sadness and the laugh emerges in staccato gulps of the type a baby makes when it needs feeding. The unhappy-sounding giggling keeps on coming out of the mouth in a bid to drown out the mistake.

Suppressed Exploding Laughter

Suppressed exploding laughter occurs when someone tries to smother their laughter, creating a pressure cooker effect – leaking out small, seemingly helpless explosions. This kind of laughter is prompted by guilt that produces feelings of naughtiness, which in turn intensifies the laughter need.

Types of Laughter: from Belly to Cruel

Laughter is a social structure, something that connects humans with one another in a profound way. People usually are 30 percent more likely to laugh in a social setting that warrants it than when alone with humor-inducing media. That means that you're more likely to laugh with friends while watching a comedy together than when you're watching the same show or movie by yourself.

There are many ways to laugh, from giggles to guffaws and from chuckles to cackles. Humans laugh for many reasons, some of them odd. About 90 percent of our laughter is related to jokes or humor.

There are some of the different types and reasons for all the laughter.

Belly Laughter

Belly laughter is considered the most honest type of laughter. It may also be the hardest type to experience, because we have to find something truly hilarious before we'll let go with the kind of laughter that has us clutching our bellies and gasping for air. Of course, that's not the only description for true belly laughter; as you might guess, we all laugh differently. Researchers found that men are more likely to grunt or snort at something they find funny, while women let loose with giggles and chuckles. 

It's good to take note of what tickles your funny bone, however, because it just might save your life. The laughter can be used to fight near incurable illness. Ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and can give at least two hours of pain-free sleep. 

Etiquette Laughter

At the end of a long day, you and your colleague together in the elevator. Instead of talking up your latest accomplishments, though, you find yourself laughing at everything you are talking about. You sounded like a fool and you did just fine. People rely on laughter to get along with others, so whether we're with our colleagues or friends, we tend to laugh at things that just aren't funny.

In a study of laughter episodes, is found that people tend to laugh at perfectly bland statements like "Can I join you?" or "See you later". Laughter could have developed in our ancestors before full speech, so the sound is merely a way to communicate and show agreement.

We tend to laugh with anyone who can help us out, which is why a group of undergraduate students may guffaw at a professor's bad joke, while a job applicant's attempts at humor may fall flat with those who are already gainfully employed.

Contagious Laughter

You're out for dinner with a group of friends. Someone tells a joke and gets one person laughing, which gets a second person laughing, and so on. Catching laughter is like catching a cold. It's very likely. In research experiment is found that nearly half of his 128 undergraduate students giggled on first response to a simulated laugh. And they did this despite knowing the source to be an artificial laugh-simulator. 

Contagious laughter raises the possibility that humans have laugh detectors. In other words, people are made to respond with laughter on hearing laughter itself, much like the mystery of spreading a yawn. Contagious laughter isn't necessarily a laughing matter. Laughter among the group can spread to the much wider community. And it suspected to be a case of mass hysteria.

Nervous Laughter

There are times when we need to project dignity and control, like during presentations to the CEO or during a funeral. Unfortunately, these are the times when uncontrollable nervous laughter is likely to strike. 

During times of anxiety, we often laugh in a subconscious attempt to reduce stress and calm down. However, nervous laughter usually just heightens the awkwardness of the situation.

Nervous laughter is often considered fake laughter. Researchers advised women to stop this kind of laughter immediately. Researches recommended spanking young girls who were developing such a bad habit, told women that once they broke themselves of nervous laughter, they would wonder how people even stood their company before.

Silent Laughter

Those of us who work in cubicles may think that silent laughter is a skill we've perfected. Mindfully practicing silent laughter, though, can have real benefits because it involves the same type of deep breathing that comes with belly laughter.

Teaching sick kids the art of silent laughter enabled them to go back to sleep after waking up from a bad dream. The children got the calming benefits of the rhythmic exhalations without waking up any roommates.

This type of laughter is also practiced in laughter yoga and laughter therapy, where it's often called joker's laughter. To try it on your own, freeze your face into a smile, and then let your belly do the work of pushing air in and out as if you were laughing out loud.

Stress-relieving Laughter

Laughter is a skill we've perfected. Let's face it, life can be tough sometimes. The end of a workday doesn't mean everything's peachy keen. Muscles are still tight. It's a sign you're still carrying the stress of the day. Stress is one of the most important reasons to find something humorous. Laughter is a sure cure for stress. Stress builds tension in the human body, and that tension has to go somewhere. Usually it's the muscles. So what to do? Yes, you could get a massage, but have you ever considered a good laugh? Stress-relieving laughter can encompass many forms, but it's usually found in an outburst, much like belly laughing.

Pigeon Laughter

Say you're out for a walk with a friend when something falls from the sky: pigeon droppings. You're splattered, but your friend is untouched. This event is anything but funny to you, yet your friend can't stop laughing. This is not pigeon laughter. Pigeon laughter, which is often practiced in laughter therapy or laughter yoga, involves laughing without opening your mouth. By keeping your lips sealed, the laughter produces a humming sound, much like the noises a pigeon makes. It's also been compared to the humming of bees, so if you're still angry at those darn pigeons for dropping poop on you, feel free to call it bees' laughter.

Snorting Laughter

When you aren't actively trying to practice the art of silent laughter, odds are some kind of sound will occur when something strikes your funny bone. Most laughter is, after all, a string of vocal ha-has or ho-hos. But what if you're one of the roughly 25 percent of women or 33 percent of men who laugh through the nose? Then you'd be a snorter. 

We all knew the kid in elementary school, the one who blew milk out his nose when the class clown cracked jokes in the cafeteria. You can guess his kind of laughter.

If this is your kind of laughter, you're either blowing air out or sucking it in through the nose when you laugh. There's nothing wrong with this - but you may want to drink in sips for those times when your friends try to catch you off guard with a new joke.

Canned Laughter

Canned laughter is another term for what's commonly referred to as the "laugh track." Canned laughter is real laughter - it just happens to be laughter taken completely out of one context and placed in another. 

Because of laughter's social connection, television producers understand that placing canned laughter over the soundtrack to programming increases the chance of an audience finding humor in the material - or at least laughing in response to it. Of course, the laughter has to "sound" genuine to the audience; humans can quickly tell the difference between genuine and fake laughter.

Cruel Laughter

You've probably heard some motherly person say, "It isn't polite to laugh at others' expense." That probably hasn't always stopped you, either. Let's face it: Whether you were a bully in school or the kid getting picked on, you've found yourself breaking this rule at some point. We may think of cruel laughter as insensitive and out of touch today, but it's been around for a long time.

Add to that derisive laughter's place in ancient texts. Cruel laughter isn't just a thing of the ancient past. In cultures like the Inuit of Greenland, contests of derision and ridicule were their only judicial procedure, even for serious cases.

I Love My Family - International Day of Families

I love my family. Today is special.

Today is the International Day of Families, May 15. It is celebrated at the United Nations headquarters and around the world. The family is a microcosm of the global community and the most intimate social unit, the school of love. Let us strive to strengthen these small but critical units found in every society so that we may advance as one human family toward greater progress.

Use of Water

After breathing, the most important thing we need to do is to drink water.
Water has many crucial duties in our body. The most important are:
-We need water to detoxify our cells from accumulated waste. Without this function, our cells will slow down and stop producing energy. Water is the garbage collector, going through cells to exchange waste for minerals.
-We need water, as electrolyte, to receive and deliver chemical messages in our body.
-We need water to thin our blood and lymphatic fluid and lubricate our eyes.
-We need water to flush out waste from our Digestive system and help the Kidneys to filter and detoxify our blood.
-Without water we would not have saliva, blood, lymphatic fluid, mucosal membrane and our joints would dry out.
-Without water we could not sweat and clean our detoxifying organs.
Without adequate quality and quantity of water, we will slow down, get sick and age early.
You may know that filtering drinking water is a smart thing to do, but do you know that the more you filter your water you will take out not only the “bad things” but all the active ingredients as well. Filtered water, without re-added minerals is “dead” or empty water! Empty water cannot communicate with your body and ends up over diluting your extracellular fluid, causing fluid retention and metabolic slowdown.
There is much confusing and false information about drinking water. Here are some that are not only confusing, but nor right:
Drink as much you can, as soon as you get up, is false.
You should drink not more than a glass of water upon arising otherwise you will dilute your digestive acid and wash most of it down to your small intestine, causing inflammation and reduce the effectiveness of alkaline pancreatic enzymes to break down carbohydrates. Furthermore, by emptying the stomach of gastric juices you will incapacitate the stomach to break down protein, the most desired food for Breakfast. Doing so, you will set yourself up for the development of digestive disorders and will end up with less energy.
Do not drink when you eat, is half true.
One should not drink a large amount of any liquid when you eat, but should sip on up to 150 ml of room temperature water, tea, etc. to help lubricate dry food and increase the quantity of gastric juices. If you eat other than soup or some liquid based food, than you will be better off sipping on some water or other liquid.
Sip at least 2 L of water, every day, is not true.
It depends on the size of your body, your metabolic speed, kidney function, activities and microenvironment as to how much you should drink per day. The best practice is to drink gulp a glass of water every 2 hours to systematically help your kidneys to filter your blood. Only when you are doing moderate to heavy exercise, should you sip water – to help your muscles, introduce sweat and lubricate your body.
Swimming in the ocean and or having regular baths is a blessing for a body, giving it the chance to self-regulate it’s fluids. Having regular foot-spas when you can’t swim or bathe is the next best thing to do, especially when you indulge yourself with few tablesp

oons of Magnesium-oil or chloride crystals.
Most people’s bodies are acidic, so drinking alkaline water and bathing with magnesium could help balance your pH (acid/alkaline). Cancer can develop faster in an acid environment.

Aquatic Biodiversity

  Marine, coastal and inland areas support a rich assortment of aquatic biological diversity that contributes to the economic, cultural, nutritional, social, recreational and spiritual betterment of human populations. Life originated in the world’s oceans and over the millennia has spread inland and evolved into the diverse forms used today by a variety of stakeholders, including commercial and artisan fishers, fish farmers, developers and tourists.

Maintaining aquatic biodiversity in capture fisheries is fundamental to guaranteeing the productivity of the world’s fish stocks, their resilience and their adaptability to environmental change, including climate change. The world’s capture fisheries harvested an estimated 1 938 aquatic species or species groups in 2011. The majority of this diversity was fin fishes (1 402 species), followed by crustaceans (194 species), mollusks (150 species) and other species. As such, capture fisheries use a greater variety of biological diversity than any other food production sector.

Genetic biodiversity in aquaculture provides the raw ingredients that allow breeders to improve the production, efficiency and marketability of species of aquatic plants and animals. Over 360 species of fish, invertebrates and plants are farmed around the world. This represents a wealth of genetic diversity both within and among species that helps make aquaculture one of the fastest growing food production sectors. Humans began to domesticate terrestrial plants and animals about 12 000 years ago, however more than 90 percent of all cultured aquatic species have only been domesticated since the beginning of the twentieth century.

Although aquatic biodiversity plays a vital role in livelihoods, it is being threatened by factors within the fisheries sector, such as overfishing, destructive fishing practices and introduction of alien species, as well as by external factors such as habitat loss and degradation mainly caused by land-based activities. It will be essential to reduce these threats to continue providing high quality nutrients and economic opportunities to the millions of people that depend on aquatic biodiversity.

The FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department is responsible for maintaining information on capture fisheries and aquaculture production, and the development of knowledge, policy and intergovernmental instruments devoted to the promotion of sustainable fisheries and aquaculture practices. In 2007, the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department published the Technical Guidelines on Genetic Resource Management. These Technical Guidelines were developed to support sections of the FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries on aspects of genetic resource management in aquaculture. The effective management of aquatic biodiversity can help promote responsible aquaculture by increasing production output and efficiency and help minimize adverse impacts on the environment.

Forests Biodiversity

Forests are among the most important repositories of terrestrial biological diversity. Together, tropical, temperate and boreal forests offer very diverse habitats for plants, animals and micro-organisms.
Biological diversity is the basis for a wide array of goods and services provided by forests. The variety of forest trees and shrubs play a vital role in the daily life of rural communities in many areas, as sources of wood and non-wood products, as contributors to soil and water conservation, and as repositories of aesthetic, ethical, cultural and religious values. Forest animals are a vital source of nutrition and income to many people, and have vital roles in forest ecology, such as pollination, seed predation, dispersal and germination, and predation on potential pest species.
Forest biological diversity is one of the seven thematic elements of the concept of Sustainable Forest Management approved by the General Assembly of the UN in 2007, together with the Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests.
Forests provide more than 10% of the GDP in many of the poorest countries. It is estimated that the forestry sector provides formal employment for 10 million people and informal employment for additional 30 to 50 million people in developing countries. Notwithstanding such a relevant role in world economy, progress towards sustainable forest management is still limited, and there is continuing loss and degradation of forests in many developing countries. Losing forest diversity means missing opportunities for medicines, food, raw materials and employment opportunities, in one word: welfare.

The FAO Forestry Programme focuses on how to maximize the potential of forests, trees and related resources to improve people’s economic, social and environmental conditions while ensuring that the resource is conserved to meet the needs of future generations.

FAO works to improve the knowledge on sustainable forest and wildlife management, and supports the development and implementation of appropriate policies and practices to ensure forest and wildlife protection in order to maintain or improve their capacity to produce wood and non-wood products, sustain wildlife populations, conserve biodiversity, safeguard wildlife habitat, mitigate climate change, and protect soils and watersheds.

Plants Biodiversity

About 7,000 species of plants have been cultivated for consumption in human history. The great diversity of varieties resulting from human and ecosystem interaction guaranteed food for the survival and development of human populations throughout the world in spite of pests, diseases, climate fluctuations, droughts and other unexpected environmental events.
Presently, only about 30 crops provide 95% of human food energy needs, four of which (rice, wheat, maize and potato) are responsible for more than 60% of our energy intake. Due to the dependency on this relatively small number of crops for global food security, it will be crucial to maintain a high genetic diversity within these crops to deal with increasing environmental stress and to provide farmers and researchers with opportunities to breed for crops that can be cultivated under unfavorable conditions, such as drought, salinity, flooding, poor soils and extreme temperatures.
Plant genetic resources are the basis of food security and consist of diversity of seeds and planting material of traditional varieties and modern cultivars, crop wild relatives and other wild plant species. These resources are used as food, feed for domesticated animals, fibber, clothing, shelter and energy. The conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA is necessary to ensure crop production and meet growing environmental challenges and climate change. The loss of these resources or a lack of adequate linkages between conservation and their use poses a severe threat to the world’s food security in the long term. The potential of plant genetic resources for food security, sustainable livelihoods, adequate nutrition and adaptation to climate change is enormous, if managed in a sustainable manner. 

FAO is dedicated to improve knowledge and conservation of plant genetic resources to ensure the sustainable provision of food in the long term, and contributing to make full use of the genetic resources available, including wild relatives of main crops currently used.

The most obvious reason for maintaining plant diversity is because we rely on plants for food, and a blight that targets a major crop could have serious implications. Unfortunately, the world's major staple crops have been greatly homogenized over the years, and that's not a good thing. Many countries have lost agro-biodiversity (or the diversity of their agricultural crops), which puts the cultures and livelihoods of the poorest populations at even greater risk.

Innovative new medicines are another reason to maintain biodiversity among plants. It's a dangerous world out there and plants, being for the most part immobile, have had to evolve some particularly fiendish and unique defenses that scientists can use for medicinal purposes. Even animals, mobile creatures that they are, have had to develop some pretty potent defenses that can help scientists cook up new medicines. But in the most basic sense, the reason we need plants - along with organisms like algae and cyano-bacteria - is because they're essential for a properly functioning planet. We wouldn't even have the oxygen that we're so fond of breathing, for example, without photosynthesis.

Fortunately, conservationists had the insight to begin conserving plants in the 1950s. Some plants are maintained in their original habitats and others are held in gene banks, cell cultures and at various zoos and botanical gardens [source: FAO]. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations lists 20 major plant gene banks around the world. These banks house various types of seeds but also back up one another in the event of natural and manmade disasters. 

Botanists use two methods to preserve and store a plant's genetic material. Drying and freezing seeds mimics the natural process of winter. Seeds stored by this method survive for decades. But frozen seeds must be thawed and planted to produce seeds that will grow crops. Cryonic freezing is more expensive, but it keeps stored genes "fresh" much longer than conventional drying and freezing. At cryonic temperatures, molecular action stops. Think of it as suspended animation. The frozen seed stays in the same condition, not changing or aging. The genetic seed banks around the world use these methods to store genetic and seed samples from hundreds of plants.

Victory - 9 May, 22th Anniversary

May 9, the 22th Anniversary of SHOUSHI’s Liberation, due to which Nagorno Karabakh Stopped being an enclave in 1992.
God Knows what would have Happened to this Land, and who would be Populating it Now if on May 9 of 1992 the Armenian Forces of Self-Defense did not start the Shoushi Operation. 
On May 9 Armenians Gained Total Control over the Shoushi Fortress. 

This is the Legacy of the Liberation Movement. The Struggle to Determine Own Destiny, to Protect Own Homeland and to Ensure that Armenian Nation will Persevere.

Sanctions vs. Russia May Seriously Affect European Economy

Imposing economic sanctions against Russia may seriously hurt the European economy, according to Siim Kallas, interim European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs.
At a news conference devoted to the spring statistics forecast of the European Commission, Kallas said that they were thoroughly analyzing the possible consequences of imposing (trade and economic) sanctions on Russia. He noted that there were three possible scenarios, the worst of which envisioned serious losses to the European economy.
Nevertheless, the commissioner outlined that in case such sanctions against Russia are adopted, their impact on the economies of European countries would be unequal: some countries like Finland or Cyprus would be more exposed to negative effects, the others - to a lesser extent.