-
Early spring sightings show colourful insect is a resident species for first time in decades, says conservation charity
The large tortoiseshell – an elusive and enigmatic butterfly that became extinct in Britain in the last century – is a UK resident species once again, with a flurry of early spring sightings.
Britain’s list of native butterflies has increased to 60 with the return of the insect after individuals emerged from hibernation in woodlands in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, Cornwall and the Isle of Wight.
Continue reading...
-
Jessika Roswall cites Poland and Finland, which have made border areas near Russia or its allies ‘more hostile’ to cross
Countries should look to rewild their land borders as a deterrence to invasion and build up other geographical defences to attack, Europe’s environment chief has said.
Jessika Roswall, the EU’s commissioner for the environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy, said nature should be used to improve national security. “Investing in nature and using nature as a natural border control is necessary, and actually increases biodiversity. It’s a win-win,” she said.
Continue reading...
-
A Guardian investigation with DeSmog reveals thousands of tonnes of fish are illegally turned into fishmeal and oil off the coast of Guinea-Bissau
The only ice factory on Bubaque, an island in west Africa’s Guinea-Bissau, is out of service. Local fishers, such as Pedro Luis Pereira, are forced to source ice from factories on the mainland, about 70km away – a six-hour round trip by boat.
“The machines have been broken for months,” Pereira says, as he pulls in his nets on the shore of the island inside the protected Bijagós archipelago. “We’ve alerted the ministry of fisheries, but so far, no one has come to fix them.”
Foreign industrial vessels anchored near the port of Bissau. Photograph: Davide Mancini
Continue reading...
-
Lower Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne: Under boardwalks, in concrete, on window ledges, seeds borne by water and carried on feet survive
The Ouseburn slides glassily, reflecting clouds, as it moves towards the Tyne. These lower reaches are tidal, once used for loading coal barges, here in the industrial heart of Newcastle. From glassworks, bottleworks, potteries and flax mills, the area is now transformed into waterside cafes, bars and housing. The burn flows through a variety of habitats: a wooded dene beneath a soaring viaduct, past stables, a farm and converted factories, exposed mud and ivied ruins, an evolving cityscape, its plants often overlooked.
We study the ground while joggers and prams go past and progress is slow; there’s so much life here in the footpath margins. James Common has researched the city’s plants for six years and his book Urban Flora of Newcastle and North Tyneside is published on Monday. He found the Lower Ouseburn to be the fifth most diverse 1km square of the 188 he covered, the others being nature reserves and the Victorian park of Jesmond Dene. This vibrancy is the result of movement, of people and industry, animals and ships’ ballast, seeds borne by the river or carried on feet.
Continue reading...
-
Private equity group EQT to take 42% stake as supplier faces scrutiny over environmental record and CEO’s pay
A leading European investor will pump fresh funding into Yorkshire Water including helping to cover a £600m loan, despite recent heavy sewage fines and a scandal over executive pay at the utility firm.
EQT, a Swedish private equity group, said on Monday it would take a 42% stake in Kelda Holdings, the Jersey-registered parent company of Yorkshire Water, which has 5.7 million customers across Yorkshire and parts of the East Midlands and Lincolnshire.
Continue reading...
-
Self-styled ‘punk’ beer company bought land in 2020, pledging to plant Scotland’s ‘biggest ever forest’
The self-styled “punk” beer company BrewDog sold its Highland estate for a knockdown price after abandoning its efforts to plant Scotland’s “biggest ever forest” there.
BrewDog’s co-founder James Watt claimed its Lost Forest project at Kinrara in the Cairngorms national park would cover a “staggering area” and capture tens of millions of tonnes of CO2 during its lifetime.
Continue reading...
-
Once abundant in California, the white abalone had all but vanished. Now, thanks to an innovative breeding program, it’s staged a remarkable comeback
On a sunny January afternoon in Bodega Bay, some 70 miles north of San Francisco, the White Abalone Culture Lab is humming with activity.
It’s spawning day. Alyssa Frederick, the lab’s program director, invites me into an industrial room full of troughs and tubs of bubbling seawater. The abalone program is tucked away in the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, a research facility devoted to studying ocean and coastal health. The goal is to bring the endangered sea snails, known for their iridescent shells and delicate meat, back from the brink.
Continue reading...
-
zack mennell made a costume out of nappies and waded into filthy waterways saying: ‘I’m going to be the parasite.’ The performance artist’s project became more literal than originally intended
On the Deptford foreshore, a ghoulish figure is sinking into the Thames. Performance artist zack mennell (who writes their name in lower case) wades to their belly button as a crowd watches on. As they dip down further, their mutant costume – sewn together from 24 adult nappies – swells with water … and waste.
mennell’s work smears the personal and political across their body. The Thames performance is the finale of a project called (para)site, made in response to revelations of sewage discharge in our waterways and a reaction to the way benefit claimants are labelled as a drain on society. “OK,” mennell thought, “I’m going to be the parasite.” Their taking on of pollution was more literal than they intended; they contracted Weil’s disease from rat urine in the water.
Continue reading...
-
Developers argue that eco-tourism helps ‘underfunded’ parks but former Greens leader Bob Brown says the idea of wilderness lodges is an ‘oxymoron’
When the Gardens of Stone in the Blue Mountains was declared a state conservation area in 2022, it should have been cause of great celebration for Keith Muir. Instead, the plans put forward by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) for the nature reserve make him weep.
“The geology is spectacular,” he says of the nature reserve. “The pagoda landforms are sculptured natural artworks, that is the only way to describe them. They are symphonies in stone.”
Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads
Continue reading...
-
Many Australians are choosing oat, almond and soy over cow’s milk – but which choice is the most sustainable?
Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com
Oat cap, skinny flat white, almond chai, soy matcha. Everyone has a different milk preference: cow, skim, lactose-free, oat, almond, soy, goat or camel.
Milk choices may be due to environmental reasons, dietary concerns or just taste preferences.
Continue reading...
