Three
species thought to be extinct have been found again, to the delight of conservationists.
In the UK, the rare ghost orchid, declared extinct in this country just last year,
has been found in England, and a caddisfly – a small flying insect – last seen
more than a century ago has been discovered again in Scotland.
Birdwatch Ireland and the Heritage
Council have condemned the poisoning death of a 10-month old golden eagle chick,
Conall, who was one of the first wild golden eagles to be hatched on the island
for more than a century
A
special hotline has opened so that walkers, cyclists and anyone else who spends
time in the uplands of Northern England can report sightings of one of the country’s
rarest birds, the hen harrier.
One
of the first spring visitors is the little ringed plover. Several have already
been seen beside reservoirs and gravel pits. They are not so well known as their
slightly larger relative, the ringed plover, which is a familiar bird of the seashore.
John Bainbridge finds curlews and lapwings
illusive
As I write, the fields are
still snow-covered, with winter certainly outstaying its welcome. The lapwings
and curlews that often appear by the end of February have been illusive as yet.
According to usually reliable resources, the Minister of State
at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Tony Killeen, may be facing
challenges for the withdrawal of the conservation ban on commercial bass fishing.
River bank work improves Aberystwyth water
vole habitat
Conservationists and
a council have joined forces to try and save a dwindling population of water voles.
Ceredigion council, the Environment Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales
are working to improve habitats for the mammals in Aberystwyth.
Rivers could be harnessed to generate electricity for almost
a million homes with the building of up to 26,000 controversial hydropower turbines
around the country, a report will say tomorrow.
A tidal barrage across
the Mersey could destroy wildlife and bring floods. Yet, there is a chance that
one could be built on the Estuary within the next ten years, despite warnings
from conservationists.
A major step forward is expected to be taken this week in a contest
aimed at paving the way for the creation of thousands of jobs in the north-east
storing carbon under the sea.
Ancient woodland set for revival in the North York Moors
Many of North Yorkshire’s most vulnerable precious woods designated
as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) are on the road to recovery after
a major push to improve their condition.
Four Edinburgh shops have been raided as part of a worldwide
operation targeting the illegal trade in traditional medicines made using endangered
animals.
A project to restore an ancient
North York Moors wood which provides a key habitat for many animals to its historic
roots has secured £40,000 of funding.
Economic
value of nature 'still invisible', says UN
A
United Nations initiative is making massive calculations in an attempt to put
a price on nature services such as soil, forest or fresh water in a drive to convince
policymakers to implement the 'polluter pays' principle to protect nature, said
Pavan Sukhdev, who leads the initiative.
World's nature 'becoming extinct at fastest rate on record',
conservationists warn
The world’s
animals and plants are being killed off by humans faster than new ones can evolve,
for the first time since dinosaurs became extinct, experts have warned.
CITES can help save bluefin tuna and stem wildlife poaching crisis
Governments meeting on 13th March
for the largest wildlife trade convention will have a unique opportunity to preserve
the world’s oceans and simultaneously stem a worldwide poaching crisis.
Thresher shark fishing banned by
Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
The
Shark Alliance is applauding a historic ban on fishing for thresher sharks adopted
last week by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) at their annual meeting in
Korea.
Fight hard and long to save
environment, Wen tells nation
Premier
Wen Jiabao on Friday urged the nation to fight "a tough and prolonged battle"
against pollution to conserve energy and protect the environment in 2010, as time
to meet the five-year green targets is running out.
Salt is precious in poverty-stricken coastal West Africa, but
conservation experts say efforts to extract it are laying waste to mangrove swamps,
causing erosion and ravaging fish stocks.
"Eagle!" The shout goes up as a great shadow sweeps over our
boat. The white-tailed eagle makes its descent to one of the 24,000 islands that
make up Sweden's pine-covered, rocky Stockholm Archipelago.
The
United States and Britain are threatening to withhold support for a $3.75 billion
World Bank loan for a coal-fired plant in South Africa, expanding the battleground
in the global debate over who should pay for clean energy.
The
head of the International Monetary Fund has proposed a plan for the world's governments
to pool together to raise money needed to adapt to climate change, a rare step
for an organisation that normally does not develop environmental policies.
Carbon traders and green businesses are increasingly concerned
that Japan's planned emissions trading scheme could be watered down after the
government released a draft climate bill that provided few details of how the
proposed initiative would work.
Sarkozy seeks funding, training for nuclear energy
International development banks must finance civilian nuclear
projects to help emerging nations build energy plants, French President Nicolas
Sarkozy said on Monday, laying out ambitious plans to develop the industry.
Loopholes in the United Nations climate treaties could actually
amount to an increase in global climate-warming emissions and the chance to rein
in temperatures may be slipping away, a draft European Union report showed.
A major study for the UK government has cast doubt over claims
that rising temperatures are causing soil to pump greater amounts of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere, further fuelling global warming.
Europe's new foreign service could
provide an opportunity for more effectively addressing the challenges of climate
change
The Lisbon Treaty provides
new tools for the Europe Union to combat climate change. But Brussels will have
to figure out how to put its new foreign service to use in order to avoid another
failure of global environmental leadership like the one seen Copenhagen.
Climate deniers, global warming, and Darwin’s theory of evolution
Yes, the resurgence of the "climate-deniers" -- like weeds, or
zombies -- is discouraging. But this resistance to scientific knowledge has a
long history in the United States.
Fears over delay to feed-in tariff designed to kickstart domestic
energy revolution
The government will
come under fire tomorrow from a renewable energy sector increasingly concerned
about potential delays in the implementation of a "feed-in tariff" meant to kickstart
a domestic green power revolution.
