COLOMBO — The mist-covered tea estates, forest patches and mountain valleys of Sri Lanka’s hill country support some of the country’s most important leopard populations outside protected areas. Yet the same landscapes have emerged as the deadliest places for the threatened big cats of Sri Lanka. A new study analyzing 17 years of leopard mortality records has found that nearly 40% of recorded leopard deaths occurred within a single district of Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands, the tea-growing Nuwara Eliya, which accounts for only 4.4% of the species’ estimated range. The study, published in Wildlife Letters, documented 164 human-caused leopard deaths between 2008 and 2024. Most of the victims were adult males, with adults accounting for 87.3% of deaths, out of which 68.4% males made up 68.4% of that adult population. With fewer than 1,000 mature leopards believed to remain in Sri Lanka, deaths of adult leopards are raising concerns for the species’ long-term survival, as deaths of breeding-age individuals, even modest increases in adult mortality, can have significant impacts, said Sanjaya Weerakkody, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden. The majority of recorded deaths were of males, also problematic as the males maintain large territories overlapping with multiple females, which could lead to destabilize local populations, Weerakkody told Mongabay. A rare image of a mating leopard pair captured by a camera trap in the tea fields of Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands highlights that the human-dominated hill country tea landscape is habitat for Sri…This article was originally published on Mongabay
La terraza o el jardín de una vivienda suele ser percibido como un terreno libre de injerencias, un espacio donde el dueño de la vivienda decide a su antojo sin rendir cuentas al resto de la comunidad. No obstante, esto no es así. Existen muchos casos en los que esta actividad puede acabar derivando en un conflicto que termine resolviéndose en los tribunales.
Lo más habitual es que, para salir de dudas, se recurra a la Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (LPH), pero esta normativa no recoge literalmente este tipo de prácticas, aunque lo que sí que hace es poseer los mecanismos suficientes para reconducir la situación cuando puede perjudicar al resto de vecinos de la comunidad.
Conviene aclarar algo muy importante en primera instancia. En un jardín de uso privativo, los estatutos comunitarios no pueden invadir la esfera doméstica del propietario. Eso significa que prohibir tajantemente cocinar al aire libre dentro de una parcela individual queda fuera de su alcance regulador. Algo muy diferente es lo que ocurre en zonas comunes, donde sí cabe imponer restricciones a través de un acuerdo establecido en junta.
El que cocina la barbacoa, el que sale beneficiado
Eso sí, el precepto que articula la respuesta jurídica al asunto es el artículo 7.2 LPH, que veda a propietarios y ocupantes desarrollar en su vivienda actividades molestas, insalubres, nocivas, peligrosas o ilícitas. Aunque pueda no parecer real, realizar una barbacoa puede llegar a encajar entre esta clase de actividades, ya que el humo y el olor puede instaurarse en las viviendas de los propietarios más cercanos quienes, sin desearlo, pasarán la tarde o la noche con un ambiente con ese aroma a carne. Por no hablar del peligro ante un posible incendio, aunque esto es algo menos habitual.
Pero, pese a estas consecuencias, mínimas en gran parte de las ocasiones, la jurisprudencia suele inclinarse del lado del propietario aficionado al asado. Los magistrados entienden que se trata de algo que está socialmente aceptado y que el inconveniente que pueda generar, al ser puntual y temporal, debe ser tolerado por los demás.
En caso de que estas comidas o cenas se repitan en más de una ocasión y se conviertan en una tradición más que habitual, la LPH mantiene un itinerario claro antes de llegar a la vía judicial. El presidente de la comunidad debe dirigir un requerimiento formal al propietario para que ponga fin a la conducta, o bien por iniciativa o bien por la queja de algún vecino.
En caso de que el protagonista de esta actividad no no tenga en cuenta las palabras del presidente, la junta puede autorizar el ejercicio de la acción de cesación ante el juzgado de primera instancia, llegando esto al supuesto de imponer una indemnización por daños y perjuicios, aunque esto es en los casos más extremos.
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka banned the purchase and use of single-use plastic water bottles in all government institutions effective May 31, under a new government circular that targets reduction of wasteful plastic consumption within the state sector. The move is the latest in a long line of attempts by the island nation to reduce plastic pollution — a crisis that clogs waterways, pollutes beaches, harms marine life, and overwhelms the country’s fragile waste management systems. But environmentalists say the real question is not whether Sri Lanka can announce another ban, but whether it can be enforced. The new directive applies to public institutions and is expected to reduce the routine use of disposable plastic water bottles during government meetings, events, offices and official functions. Authorities are encouraging reusable alternatives and better drinking water infrastructure within public institutions, says Kapila Rajapaksha, the director-general of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the state agency mandated to address plastic pollution. Sri Lanka’s plastic problem is growing exponentially. The National Plastic Waste Inventory (NPWI) published in 2024 has estimated the island’s municipal plastic waste generation to be approximately 250,000 metric tons per year. Sri Lanka recycles only about 27,000 metric tons of plastic waste annually, roughly 11% of total plastic waste generated. An estimated 68,000 metric tons, or 27% of plastic waste, remain uncollected and are often burned, buried or illegally dumped. Approximately 101,000 metric tons or 41% of the plastics go unaccounted from the waste management system during collection, transport, sorting and disposal. According…This article was originally published on Mongabay
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Enrique Martínez Chávez on Wednesday in Los Angeles, California, according to a statement the agency released Thursday on social media. The 32‑year‑old detainee is one of the military officers linked to the disappearance of 43 student teachers in the Mexican municipality of Iguala, Guerrero, in 2014. Martínez Chávez is wanted in Mexico for the alleged crime of enforced disappearance and has been a fugitive from justice for years. ICE says he will remain in its custody “until he can be sent home” to Mexico.
As offshore wind farms expand rapidly in the global renewable energy transition, scientists are studying how these large marine infrastructure projects affect ecosystems beneath the waves. Research from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands suggests that offshore wind may bring both risks and benefits for sharks and rays, known collectively as Elasmobranchii, which are highly sensitive to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). A six-year project called “Elasmopower” examined how EMFs from subsea power cables in offshore wind farms affect bottom-dwelling sharks and rays. These species depend on natural electric and magnetic fields for key behaviors such as navigation, prey detection, habitat use and long-distance movement, particularly in low-visibility environments. The studies conducted as part of the Elasmopower project have been published in four papers, with three additional papers currently undergoing peer review. Sharks and rays have specialized electroreceptors called ampullae of Lorenzini. The jelly-filled sensory canals around the head and snout can detect even extremely weak EMFs from prey and predators, water movement, and the Earth’s geomagnetic field, Erwin Winter, a scientist at Wageningen, told Mongabay. This system is central to hunting and orientation, making Elasmobranchii especially relevant for studying EMF exposure from offshore energy infrastructure, Winter added. Erwin Winter, a researcher with the Elasmopower project, presented findings on offshore wind, electromagnetic fields and bottom-dwelling sharks and rays at the Sharks International 2026 conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in May. Image by Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay. During a presentation on a summary of the Elasmopower research at the Sharks International 2026…This article was originally published on Mongabay
MANNAR, Sri Lanka — Each year, the arrival of greater flamingos transforms the lagoons of northern Sri Lanka into a mesmerizing spectacle of pale pink and white. Their synchronized movements across the shallow waters of Mannar attract birdwatchers, photographers, tourists and nature lovers from around the country and abroad. But behind this beauty lies a growing crisis. Recently, three flamingos were killed in Mannar after a collision with overhead power lines that crossed their flight path. Initial reports suggested electrocution, but according to Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) veterinary surgeon Balachandran Giritharan, who conducted the necropsies, the birds were not electrocuted. Instead, their long necks were slashed mid-flight when they struck the cables. The incident has renewed concerns among conservationists who have previously warned against energy infrastructure cutting across sensitive wetland habitats such as Vankalai Sanctuary, another Ramsar wetland in Mannar. Environmentalists had identified large waterbirds such as flamingos as being vulnerable to collisions. The latest flamingo deaths also add to the mounting environmental concerns surrounding development projects, particularly in Mannar, including proposed wind power projects. The issue drew international attention after the withdrawal of developer Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) from a disputed wind power project in Sri Lanka earlier this year. The Mannar region, with its strategic wind resources, has increasingly become a battleground between renewable energy expansion and biodiversity conservation. Flamingos are more vulnerable to collisions with power cables during dusk and early morning hours. Image courtesy of Indika Jayathissa. A global threat to flamingos Across the world,…This article was originally published on Mongabay
Assistimos hoje a uma redefinição dos modelos de trabalho e das culturas corporativas, elementos chave para que as organizações consigam assegurar os índices desejados de competitividade.
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