-
Environmental charity Fidra says 168 of 195 SSSIs it surveyed are contaminated with tiny pellets
Plastic nurdles have been found in 84% of important nature sites surveyed in the UK.
Nurdles are tiny pellets that the plastics industry uses to make larger products. They were found in 168 of 195 sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), so named because of the rare wildlife they harbour. They are given extra protections in an effort to protect them from pollution.
Continue reading...
-
The Mohana of Pakistan’s Sindh province once thrived on the lake but pollution and drought have caused the fragile ecosystem to collapse, along with their way of life
At the mouth of Lake Manchar, gentle lapping disturbs the silence. A small boat cuts through the water, propelled by a bamboo pole scraping the muddy bottom of the canal.
Bashir Ahmed manoeuvres his frail craft with agility. His slender boat is more than just a means of transport. It is the legacy of a people who live to the rhythm of water: the Mohana. They have lived for generations on the waters of Lake Manchar in Sindh province, a vast freshwater mirror covering nearly 250 sq km. The lake, once the largest in Pakistan, was long an oasis of life. Now, it is dying.
Bashir Ahmed in his boat on the lake, next to simple huts built on top of the right bank outfall drain
Continue reading...
-
Emotions ran high at the UN climate summit in Brazil, which was hit by its first major protest in four years
It was a tense moment. A group of about 50 people from the Munduruku, an Indigenous people in the Amazon basin, had blocked the entrance to the Cop30 venue in protest, causing long lines of delegates to snake down access roads, simmering in the morning heat.
The Munduruku, unhappy about the ruination of their forest and rivers by industry and their lack of voice at Cop30, demanded to speak to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president. Instead, they got André Corrêa do Lago, the president of the talks.
Continue reading...
-
Strategy paper released with budget allows new oil and gas projects to move ahead if they are linked to existing fields
The government has ruled out new North Sea oil and gas exploration or lower taxes for fossil fuel companies as it struggles to protect workers from the industry’s collapse.
In a strategy paper, Ed Miliband confirmed the crackdown on new North Sea exploration – although the energy secretary will still allow new offshore fossil fuel projects to move ahead as long as they are linked to existing fields.
Continue reading...
-
As the government, Marineland of Canada and activists remain at loggerheads over whales’ fate, health and freedom of beloved animals hangs in balance
Jelly Bean’s son Bertie Botts is an adorable little “ham sandwich”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a large but fiercely protective friend. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and wiggles like a worm. Lillooet is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a heart of gold.
Thirty captive beluga whales in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a tussle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and animal rights activists.
Continue reading...
-
Environmental body says modest investment and changes can help preserve long list of animals, fungi and lichen
Almost 3,000 species ranging from glorious birds to tiny lichen are in peril in Wales because they are clinging on in a handful of locations or even fewer, a groundbreaking report has revealed.
The report from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) highlights that, since the millennium, 11 species have already been lost to Cymru, including the turtle dove and belted beauty moth. It warns that 2,955 other terrestrial or freshwater species are at serious risk because they are confined to five locations or fewer.
Continue reading...
-
Wellington, Somerset: The five years we’ve spent transforming this patch has been recognised with an RHS award. We’re proud, but we’re not done yet
Volunteers from Transition Town Wellington (TTW) are out in the rain on Fox’s Field this morning – there’s always work to be done, whatever the weather. Five years back, this 8.5-acre field was just rough grass and nettles; today, it’s a thriving forest garden encircled by a food hedge, or “fedge”. Saplings we’d planted as knee‑high muddy twigs now spread their branches above us. There are winding woodchip pathways, a riot of herbs, seven‑foot high cardoons holding their fat black seedheads up to the lowering sky.
We’re clearing the grass and old hay from on top of the black plastic clearance mulch, heaving it into wheelbarrows and piling it up into new heaps to make compost for next year’s mulch.
Continue reading...
-
For op shops, setting prices is a delicate balance. Too high and they risk pricing out customers, too low and it becomes difficult to cover costs
I was at a tip shop looking for a whisk, expecting to find one for $1, maybe $2, when a small pair of tongs caught my eye. The price, written on the metal with permanent marker, was $10.
I snapped a photo and sent it to a group of op-shopping friends. “Tip shop pricing!” I wrote. “Tell ’em they’re dreamin’,” one quipped. After all, a pair on Kmart’s website that looked the same – but cleaner – cost $1.75.
Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning
Continue reading...
-
As I watched the news about Australia’s devastating bushfires in 2020 I felt compelled to help. It was the start of a new relationship with nature, and a reminder of my childhood joie de vivre
As hookup sites go, it was in another league. I was looking for a different kind of soulmate and I was spoilt for choice. Would it be Floyd, “a stylish poser and a winner of hearts”? Or Bobby, “who loves cuddling and is a bit of a showoff”? Or could it be the “beautiful and incredibly sweet Morris with a gentle nature”? One stood out. Not only was he “very affectionate” but he was also “a bit of a troublemaker – always exploring and often found sitting on the rocks”. Just what I was looking for; I swiped right. That’s how I met Jarrah. My koala.
A month before, in 2020, I’d seen a newsflash about the bushfires in Australia. The effect on the continent’s wildlife was devastating. An estimated 61,000 koalas had been killed or injured among 143 million other native mammals. There were two things I felt I could do from the UK: one was to make koala mittens to protect their burnt paws (following a pattern I found online); and two, I could adopt a koala and send monthly donations to protect them in the wild. So I joined the Australian Koala Foundation, which is dedicated to the marsupials’ survival.
Continue reading...
-
Scientists excited by progress in bold project to see if native species can train themselves to survive alongside cats
In the middle of the Australian outback’s arid deserts, many of the country’s distinctive small marsupials – the bilbies, bandicoots and quolls – have been missing for a century or more, wiped out by land clearing and the hunting prowess of feral cats. Felis catus – introduced by European invaders and settlers – was too fast and too agile for the native mammals that had not evolved with this voracious and adaptable new predator.
While efforts to rid the landscape of cats have so far failed, a group of scientists have entered into a bold project to see if small marsupials can train themselves to survive alongside the cats that drove their species almost to extinction.
Continue reading...
