'A spectacular presentation of pristine wilderness, human folly, consequences and alternatives, Tarnished Earth is a photo exhibition of devastating power'.

Extracting oil from tar sands is more than twice as damaging as deep-sea drilling. It involves stripping the trees that cover it, herding away the cattle that graze the land, ushering out the bugs and beasties that inhabit the area, driving the bitumen to purification plants - it's too thick to send down a pipeline, pumping fresh water and chemicals through the sands to purify the oil, and washing the toxic waste back into the downstream rivers, where fish swim and the indigenous First Nation Cree people live.

Tarnished Earth tells the story of Canada's tar sands in a graphic photo gallery, with images of Alberta's Boreal forests taken by Jiri Rezac - See a preview at - http://tarnishedearth.co.uk/see


Currently exhibiting in Brighton, the gallery tours the UK this summer: Brighton Promenade - from May 1, Plymouth, Cornwall Street - from June,  Cardiff, High Street - from July 1, Northampton, Abington Street - from Aug 1, Edinburgh, Botanic Gardens - from Sept 1


As part of Tarnished Earth, The Co-operative, WWF-UK and Greenpeace are asking people to join our 'Say YES to clean energy' petition to the UK Government - sign up using the photo booth at the exhibition or online at http://tarnishedearth.co.uk/yes

The Co-operative presents Tarnished Earth, working together with WWF-UK and Greenpeace - http://tarnishedearth.co.uk/


This article was also published with Responsible Travel News

Virtual Arctic Installation in London

United Visual Artists has teamed up with London’s National Maritime Museum to create High Arctic - a gigantic exhibition that will give visitors a taste of what it’s like to travel to the Arctic.

Inspired by a trip to Svalbard, research for the installation involved sailing on the Noorderlicht, a 100-year-old Dutch schooner, with climate scientists, artists poets and musicians

Wired.co.uk say: “the aim is to inspire a cultural response to the climate challenge and engage artists as catalysts to provoke cultural shift toward a more sustainable society”.

Exhibiting in London’s National Maritime Museum, 3,000 white pillars will echo the shapes of the glaciers of the Arctic, with columns of “ice” made out of MDF or a specially coated polystyrene.

The piece is set in 2111, reflecting on the fate of lost glaciers, and is accompanied by a narrative poem, which contemplates the history and future of the landscape.

High Arctic will be on display at the National Maritime Museum in London this summer.

You can take a closer look in Wired UK’s High Arctic image gallery.
Read full article at wired.co.uk

Chinese Tourists Put off Visiting the UK

This week, BBC program ‘Fast Track’ raised concerns over the UK’s lack of tourists, and suggests why we’re falling behind our European neighbours.

Highlighting China as a key source of overseas visitors, last August, David Cameron expressed his disappointment that, whilst England was China’s 22^nd favourite country to visit, Germany was close to breaking into their top ten, “why can’t we do that?” he asked.  

Today, Germany receives six times the number of Chinese tourists than the UK does, and France welcomes even more. So why, when English is the second language of the Chinese, and they express a clear interest in our culture and landmarks, aren’t they visiting the UK?

Fast Track suggests that the reason is visas and stringent immigration laws. Chinese nationals are required to fill in their UK visa applications in English – no mean feat, when their native Mandarin is communicated in a series of intricate symbols. With forms filled in, a long process of fingerprinting and eye scanning can ensue, deterring many applicants.

And it’s not just the Chinese that are being put off. With over 100 countries requiring visas to visit the UK, it’s estimated by the ETOA that one in four applicants give up before attempting to process their visas, complaining of the long, arduous and expensive application system.

But why do we need more tourists? Our tourism industry is already worth over $1050bn, and creates around two million jobs in the UK. Sounds impressive, but being easily trumped by Germany, France and the USA, there’s work to be done.

Tourism is big business, and is an industry our economy relies on heavily. Visit Britain estimates that tourists spend more than £90bn a year in the UK and that one in twelve UK jobs directly or indirectly depend on tourism to some extent.

Patricia Yeates, of Visit Britain, expressed her frustration that Britain’s tourism is being driven away from this country and towards our rivals. She suggests that we need to be attracting more overseas tourists than ever, particularly with this year’s Royal Wedding hype and the lead up to the 2012 Olympics; ‘This is our moment to showcase Britain’, she urges.

To watch the documentary, see BBC Fast Track

This article was also published on Responsible Travel News

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