|
THE ST ANDREWS PRIZE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
|
|
|
||
|
|||||
Elephant PumpToday, over one billion people worldwide are living without safe water, with one child under the age of five dying every 15 seconds as a result. Following the death of three of their pupils from contaminated drinking water, Zimbabwe-based teachers, Ian Thorpe, Tendai Mawunga and Amos Chitungo, developed the elephant pump design and founded the non-governmental organisation, “Pump Aid”, to provide reliable and sustainable water supplies for some of the poorest people in Africa. Based on ancient Chinese technology and adapted to operate using materials locally available in Zimbabwe, the Elephant Pump can lift water from wells from a depth of up to 50 metres. The Elephant Pump is ten times less expensive to install and operate than viable alternatives and ongoing maintenance costs are negligible. As well as providing water for drinking and irrigation, the Elephant Pump can be combined with low cost drilling technologies, hygiene education and cheap drip-irrigation systems to provide a sustainable integrated solution to one of the single biggest environmental issues in the world today.
|
 |
||||
Global Coral Reef AllianceWorldwide, coral reefs continue to deteriorate and vanish at an alarming rate and the decline of these fragile ecosystems threaten the food stocks, economies and shorelines of millions of people in poor nations in the tropics. Nicholas Sammons represents Global Coral Reef Alliance (GCRA), a non-profit organisation which has developed a solution called Biorock™ to help reefs survive and recover from diseases and from exposure to excessive nutrients, climate change and physical destruction. Artificial reefs have been built in Mexico, Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand and Papua New Guinea. A low voltage electrical current is applied to a submerged conductive structure causing dissolved mineral crystals in seawater to precipitate and stick to it. Within days, the structure gains in rigidity and strength, attracting a wide range of colonising marine life. Divers then transplant corals, which grow on the structure up to five times faster than normal, and the reef soon takes on the appearance and utility of a natural reef ecosystem. For over a decade, GCRA has helped communities round the world
deal with the effects of reef destruction. Biorock™ has been
used in over a dozen countries for applications including the creation
of coral nurseries, fish and lobster habitats and reefs to act
as wave barriers to prevent and reverse erosion of beaches.
|
 |
||||
Tree TalkUganda is green and fertile and was once heavily forested. Ninety-seven per cent of the population relies entirely on wood for their energy needs, and in 2001 Uganda began to consume more wood than it grew. With no national tree-growing programme, Catharine Watson and colleagues from the Ugandan non-governmental organisation Straight Talk Foundation (STF) along with a group of foresters launched Tree Talk. A simple four-page environmental newsletter, Tree Talk is sent to the remotest communities with sachets of tree seed and planting instructions to stimulate tree growing. Tree Talk is completely original and provides the only mass tree seed distribution in the country. As a result, over 8,000 new tree nurseries have been set up and the National Tree Seed Centre has been energised with demand for seed, including previously undervalued indigenous species. The Tree Talk initiative is a world wide best environmental practice
which is replicable in any country with a tree seed centre and
postal service.
|
 |
||||
NotesNow in its 7th year, the St Andrews Prize for the Environment has attracted entries on topics as diverse as sustainable development in the Amazon rainforest, urban re-generation, recycling, health and water issues and renewable energy. Submissions are assessed by a panel of Trustees (see below) representing science, industry and government, with the award going to the project the Trustees consider displays the best combination of good science, economic realism and political acceptability. The winner receives $30,000 and a medal, and the two runners-up each receive $5,000. Information about the St Andrews Prize is available on www.thestandrewsprize.com SponsorsUniversity of St Andrews The University of St Andrews was founded in 1413 and is the oldest
university in Scotland. By the middle of the sixteenth century
the University had three colleges - St Salvator's (1450), St Leonard's
(1511), and St Mary's (1538): the buildings of St Mary's College
and St Salvator's Chapel both date from this period.
|
|||||
|
|||||
