Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/467065
VII This week maltatoday, Sunday, 22 February 2015 The gannet is not the kind of bird that will visit your garden, well not unless your garden abuts a lighthouse on the edge of a windswept Atlantic seacliff. You may wonder how so remote an image can reconcile with our docile sunny isles. The Northern Gannet (M: Sula) is indeed a scarce sight in Malta and the only sightings I know of here are those made by some of BirdLife's more intrepid birdwatchers who insanely brave the wintry weather and set up their spotting scopes on some rocky shore for a face-freezing 'seawatch' session. Through their scopes they peer at the heaving grey horizon and sometimes – among the gulls and shearwaters crossing their view – they spot this large 'white cross' of a bird quartering the waves on long stiff outstretched wings. That would be a gannet, a great 'tick' by local birding standards. In their breeding grounds you would see a thousand of these dagger-billed beauties diving like a fall of icicles to gorge on a fish shoal. But you don't see much of that in these parts, this bird's stronghold is the North Atlantic, and while gannets migrate southward for winter, not that many enter the Mediterranean – our sea is probably too poor in fish for them. So no wonder a birdwatcher will risk getting saltspray in his binoculars to spot that elusive 'white cross'. 442. NORTHERN GANNET Green Idea of the week 345: Show your Support – The farmers are now fighting for the right to their land. your contribution will give them a fair chance. - https://www.grrrowd.org/projects/stop-land-grab-and-deforestation-in-uganda/ Farmers in uganda evicted by oil palm plantations this week presented a lawsuit against a joint venture co-owned by the oil palm giant Wilmar International. They are claiming restitution for their grabbed land and fair compensation for damages. Friends of the earth International is backing the communities' land grab case, filed after three years of dialogue with the government and the company which has failed to bring them justice. Wilmar and the other palm oil companies are aware of the fact that communities have been displaced but have to date not resolved the problems. This project was sold to the residents with promises of employment and a brighter future. but they were not fairly compensated for the loss of their livelihoods, and now without access to land face a daily struggle to get by. The land grab occurred on the islands of Kalangala – situated in Lake Victoria, uganda – in 2011, leaving at least one hundred small-scale farmers landless. displaced smallholders received little compensation, if any. The flagship oil palm project received initial seed money from the World bank, which subsequently pulled out. Several governments also provide funding via the un International Fund for agricultural development (IFad). Wilmar International receives money from several european banks and financiers. Friends of the earth groups in europe and the uS have regularly brought the case to the attention of Wilmar International and their european and uS financiers. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). Text Victor Falzon Photo Aron Tanti Ugandan oil palm project taken to court over land-grab claims The Serbian Information and Culture Centre in Malta (SKIC) will be organising a screening of 'Michael Idvorski Pupin - the Path of Light', a documentary about the pioneering scientist, at the St Paul's Bay Local Coun- cil on February 28 at 18:00. The screening of the 30- minute documentary will be attended by its director, Sava Sajko. The partly-animated documentary will showcase the life and times of Serbian- American scientist, best known for his numerous patents, including a means of extending the range of long-distance telephone com- munication by placing loading coils (of wire) at predetermined intervals along the transmitting wire (known as "pupinization"). Pupin was a founding member of National Advisory Commit- tee for Aeronautics (NACA) on March 3, 1915, which later became NASA. Additionally, the director and distributor of the film – who will pay a brief visit to Malta as of next Friday – will offer the film to be freely shown in any school or educational institute that expresses interest in doing so. The event coincides with the setting up of a Serbian-language centre within the premises of the St Paul's Bay Local Council – an ini- tiative made possible by the SKIC, whose aim it is to bolster cultural ties between Serbia and Malta. Serbian documentary director offers free screening rights to schools Any organisation wishing to obtain this 30 minute-long animated documentary can contact SKIC on: sikcmalta@gmail.com www.facebook.com/SKIC.Malta Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin greeted by Albert Einstein