Dear Friends and Colleagues, Part One of Toxic Trail has been shown on BBC World in the last few days. If you missed it, there is still a chance to catch the programme on Sunday 29th April; the broadcast time for Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi, and Phnom Penh is 14:30. Part Two is scheduled for next week. The local broadcast times for Tuesday 1st May are 15:30, 18:30 and 21:30. Finally, a reminder that the Toxic Trail web site has information which complements the documentary. The address is www.ToxicTrail.org. Please forward this information to anybody who might be interested. Cheers. ===================================== Andrew Bartlett Snr. IPM Programme Development Officer FAO Programme for Community IPM in Asia Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Voice: (6221) 719-7887 Fax: (6221) 719-7961 Web: WWW.CommunityIPM.org ===================================== TOXIC TRAIL What is going on? The pesticide industry is big business. Annual Sales are over 30 billion US dollars. Major manufacturers say they try very hard to encourage responsible use of the chemicals � they call it 'Product Stewardship'. Despite this, an estimated 25 million cases of pesticide poisoning occur each year. Nearly all the victims are in developing countries. Toxic Trail is a documentary broadcast in two parts on BBC World in April 2001 (see below for broadcast times). The documentary starts in Thailand and follows the flow of pesticides into Cambodia where they are posing a serious threat to human health and the environment. The documentary also looks at how farmers are learning about ecology and discovering how to produce crops with less pesticides, often eliminating these toxic chemicals altogether. In the second of our programmes we find out what the companies have to say and see how farmers are developing more eco-friendly solutions for themselves in Indonesia. Broadcast times Toxic Trail is being broadcast on BBC World as part of the 'Earth Report' series. Each Earth Report is shown 9 times throughout the week, starting on Mondays at 21.30 (GMT) and repeated at the following times: Tuesday at 05:30, 08:30, 11:30 14:30 Wednesday at 01:30 Saturday at 18:30 Sunday at 07:30 Monday at 03.30 Note that the above times are for London (GMT). Viewers in Asia will find it easiest to see the programme on Tuesday evenings, immediately after the World News (eg. in Bangkok, Jakarta and Hanoi at 6:30pm and 9:30 pm) =============================== Email Address for Toxic Trail webmaster [EMAIL PROTECTED] =============================== The Toxic Trail documentary examines a number of related issues. Fact-sheets in web site www.ToxicTrail.org have been prepared which summarise the seven issues listed below. The Pesticide Industry The pesticide business is worth more than $30 billion per year. A quarter of these sales are in Asia. This fact-sheet examines the type of chemicals which are being sold and how the industry has responded to questions about the hazards which are created by their products. Pesticides and Poisoning Millions of farmers are being poisoned by pesticides. This fact-sheet contains information about Methyl-parathion, an extremely hazardous chemical that is formulated in Thailand and commonly used by Cambodian farmers. Community IPM Integrated Pest Management (IPM) started as a response to the misuse of pesticides. In recent years, IPM has become a broader approach to ecological education and action in rural communities. This fact-sheet traces the development of Community IPM and describes how health initiatives have been included in these programmes. IPM in Cambodia Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia. The Community IPM Programme has helped Cambodian farmers to learn about natural and social ecology and consequently improve their livelihoods. This fact-sheet includes a brief description of innovative activities carried out with disadvantaged groups. Ecological Learning in Rural Schools It is not only adult farmers who can benefit from a greater understanding of ecology. School students in Thailand have been taking lessons in rice and vegetable fields. These activities, which were initiated by the Thai Education Foundation, have received enthusiastic support from the Government, and have attracted interest from other countries in Asia. Farmers' Action Research in Indonesia The Toxic Trail documentary takes a close look at IPM activities in two places in Indonesia: Pangalengan and Ciamis. This fact-sheet describes the action research and educational activities which are being organised in these communities - by farmers, for farmers. Farmers' Associations IPM activities like those in Pangalengan and Ciamis are happening in many other communities across Indonesia. This fact-sheet describes how IPM farmers have formed a National Association, and what this organisation is doing in the area of policy and advocacy. ---- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
