increase font size
Photo: Vivian Grisogono
But there are alternatives....
Donations can be made in euros, pounds sterling, US and Australian dollars and Swiss francs. All donations, however small, are very welcome. We acknowledge donations by email if we have the donor's address. Please let us know if you require a formal paper receipt.
The site contains articles and information on topics related to health, the environment and animal welfare.
While the focus is on Hvar Island in Dalmatia, much of the information is relevant to the rest of Croatia, and some to Europe, the United States and the rest of the world.
The main language of the site is English, but articles in Croatian are being added as quickly as possible. Some of the Croatian articles are translations, some original. Book reviews are in the language of the publication being reviewed.
To see all the articles archived in each category, click on the category name which is given below the title of each article (Environment, Highlights, Notices etc).
For further relevant news items and bits of interesting information, please refer to our Facebook page.
Thames at Ham designated as one of 13 new swimming areas across England to be monitored for water quality
The first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London will welcome swimmers for the official start of the bathing season on Friday as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across England.
The Thames at Ham, in south-west London, has been designated as a new river bathing water area after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year.
Canvey Island foreshore, Essex
East Beach at West Bay, Bridport, Dorset
Falcon Meadow, Bungay, Suffolk
Granville Parade Beach, Sandgate, Kent
Little Shore, Amble, Northumberland
New Brighton Beach (east), Merseyside
Newton and Noss Creeks, Devon
Pangbourne Meadow, Berkshire
Queen Elizabeth Gardens, Salisbury, Wiltshire
River Dee at Sandy Lane, Chester, Cheshire
River Fowey in Lostwithiel, Cornwall
River Swale in Richmond, Yorkshire
River Thames at Ham and Kingston, Greater London
Butterfly Conservation poll is open until 7 June with choice of 60 species from small tortoiseshells to purple emperors
Will it be the rapidly disappearing former garden favourite, the small tortoiseshell? Or the poet John Masefield’s “oakwood haunting thing”, the charismatic purple emperor? Or perhaps the brimstone, the ultimate harbinger of spring?
The question of which is Britain’s favourite butterfly is being put to a popular vote for the first time. The charity Butterfly Conservation is running the poll, which runs until 7 June, giving people the chance to choose their favourite from the 60 species that fly around Britain every summer.
Continue reading...
In this week’s newsletter: The public stranding of a young humpback exposes tensions between animal rights activism and other choices around biodiversity
• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here
Timmy the whale is lost at sea, presumed dead.
In normal circumstances, the loss of a young humpback whale would be a sad yet unremarkable part of the circle of life. Dead whales help sustain thousands of marine species – and are part of the global carbon cycle.
Smuggled in syringes: how Nairobi became a nexus for the black market in giant harvester ants
Labour must fulfil promise to introduce clean air act, charities urge
Continue reading...
Glenn Murcutt pioneered architecture that was sensitive to its environment, and accomodating to changing temperatures and wildlife
The house teaches you things, Lynne Eastaway says. Today, a choir of cicadas fill the scrub with a rhythm that rises and falls. On other days, there may be visits from birds, goannas, echidnas, wombats, wallabies and kangaroos.
“The bush ends, and the house begins,” she says. “You’re not the centre; you’re just part of it. That’s the thing you learn.
Continue reading...
Murlough Nature Reserve, Dundrum, County Down: Its arrival signals the start of summer, and another cycle of its extraordinary breeding method
Sheltered from the Irish Sea by the towering white foredunes of Murlough beach, I follow a trail through the heather and scrub. In the distance, the Mourne mountains slip in and out of view, already charred by this year’s wildfires. My attention turns to the season’s happier signs: sand martins chittering overhead; the scratchy cries of a whitethroat deep in the gorse; a meadow pipit stuttering into song flight. And now, the chant that clinches summer’s arrival.
I follow the cuckoo’s call and find him perched in a stunted sycamore. Through binoculars, I meet his orange eye. As he leans into his song, his jaunty tail and drooping wings make a fin for the long torpedo of his body – the ideal form for a life lived on the move.
Continue reading...
This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
Continue reading...
When the birds started nesting on her land at Useless Bay, Chile, Cecilia Durán Gafo decided she would protect them from people and predators
Five pairs of rubbery feet carry velvet-sheathed black-and-white bodies towards the rope line separating the king penguins from the dozen or so visitors, who look on in awe. As these emissaries shuffle over, a hundred of their cohorts parade on a nearby bank, splashing around in the water and regurgitating food into their chicks’ open beaks.
The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus)makes its home almost exclusively on islands in the Southern Ocean. But it has been coming to this wind-battered bay in southern Chile’s Tierra del Fuego region for hundreds of years, probably because its shallow shores offer protection from marine predators and humans.
Continue reading...
The GoSun Sport-E elevates solar ovens to genuinely useful cooking appliances with a unique hybrid design
Baking Steel v Ooni v Gozney: I tested the three best pizza makers for home in the US
Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things
The term “solar energy” may immediately conjure images of solar panels, but you don’t need to convert sunlight to electricity to harness its power. As a self-professed solar nerd, I’ve played around with a few different alternatives, including a large parabolic mirror that could instantly set paper on fire – and cook a meal. No gas, electricity or even a wood fire needed.
When everything lined up, it almost felt magical. It’s hard to beat the sound and smell of fried potatoes sizzling on a blistering hot cast-iron pan, and I loved putting that bright Arizona sun to good use. But it also revealed some challenges. It was awkward to carry and set up, slight misalignment caused uneven cooking, wind sapped the heat, and a passing cloud could lead to a half-cooked meal.
Continue reading...
Study of samples from seven winters suggests neurotoxic metal coming from wood itself rather than old paint
Wood heating is reintroducing lead into the air of local communities and homes, a systematic investigation by academics has found.
Overwhelming evidence of lead’s neurotoxicity meant the metal was banned as an additive in petrol more than 25 years ago. The research by academics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst began by analysing samples of particle pollution from five suburban and rural towns in the north-east US. They looked for tiny particles of potassium that are given off when wood is burned and also particles containing lead.
Continue reading...
Ever fancied creating your own enormous effigy? One Cornish art collective has reinvigorated the practice – and now they want to draw on the public’s skills, too
This New Year’s Eve, environmentalist and author Lisa Schneidau did something she had never done before. She welcomed in 2026 with giants. “At a certain time of the evening, they started appearing from all over the town. Then everyone flooded out of their houses and congregated into a massive procession of giants and lights and drums and music. It was absolutely extraordinary.”
Schneidau’s fairytale experience happened in Lostwithiel, the Cornish home town of the art collective The Lost Giants (TLG), a group of craftspeople and artists reviving the British tradition of making giants and beasties and goliaths. The giants she celebrated with were made of wooden frames and cloth, papier-mache and card, but were full of life.
To apply for a giant, go to The Lost Giants website
Continue reading...Government his its interim target of 65% of patients in England being treated within 18 weeks.
Action on Salt & Sugar said people should not be exposed to a "hidden health risk every time they buy lunch".
A report by a cross-party group of MPs has found the majority of skin cancer cases are preventable.
The UK, US and EU are asking all citizens returning home from the virus-hit MV Hondius to self-isolate for about six weeks.
Authorities urged patients to get tested due to "poor infection control practices" at the Australian clinic.
The tablet - orforglipron - is available in the US and could soon launch in the UK.
Passengers potentially exposed to hantavirus are being repatriated, so what is the risk to the wider public?
Experts say the “modest reduction” is “not cause for complacency”, with calls to redouble efforts to slash deaths further.
Five passengers of the MV Hondius will be quarantined in Paris "until further notice", France's prime minister says.
The Andes strain of the virus, which can rarely be passed from person to person, has been found among passengers of a cruise ship.
Deep in the mountains of Palawan, Conservation International scientists are capturing what few people ever see: the secret lives of the Philippines’ rarest species.
At Maido — the Lima restaurant recently crowned the best in the world — one of the star dishes is paiche, a giant prehistoric river fish.Its journey to the table begins on a small family farm deep in Peru’s Amazon.
“Jane Goodall forever changed how people think about, interact with and care for the natural world,” said Daniela Raik, interim CEO of Conservation International.
Conservation International’s Neil Vora was selected for TIME’s Next 100 list — alongside other rising leaders reshaping culture, science and society.
Climate change is happening. And it’s placing the world’s reefs in peril. What can be done?
After decades of negotiation, the high seas treaty is finally reality. The historic agreement will pave the way to protect international waters which face numerous threats.
The Amazon rainforest, known for lush green canopies and an abundance of freshwater, is drying out — and deforestation is largely to blame.
The ocean is engine of all life on Earth, but human-driven climate change is pushing it past its limits. Here are five ways the ocean keeps our climate in check — and what can be done to help.
In a grueling and delicate dance, a team led by Conservation International removes a massive undersea killer.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. These pictures might be worth even more. An initiative featuring the work of some of the world’s best nature photographers raises money for environmental conservation.
