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An ambitious ‘refaunation’ project is bringing the much-loved birds and other lost species back to the city’s national park
Images of the iconic blue-and-yellow macaw can be spotted all over Rio de Janeiro. Yet the real thing has been seen so rarely in the Brazilian city that some wondered if it ever really existed there at all.
The French explorer Jean de Léry first described an abundance of the giant, colourful parrots around Indigenous tribes in the 16th century, and the Austrian naturalist Johann Natterer sighted theAra araraunain the city in 1818.
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Tim Friede put his ‘ass on the line’ to help stop snakebite deaths – whose numbers appear to be rising amid the climate crisis
As we overheat and degrade our planet, more people are likely to come into contact, sometimes fatally, with venomous snakes. One man hopes to provide an unusual solution to this, after subjecting himself to 200 intentional snakebites to his body.
For nearly 20 years, Tim Friede, 58, allowed some of the most lethal snakes in the world to bite him so he could build up an immunity that could one day be developed into a universal antivenom.
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Senior climate figures warn North Sea drilling would encourage fossil fuel exploitation by developing countries
Opening new oil and gas fields in the North Sea would “send a shock wave around the world”, imperilling international climate targets, undermining the UK’s climate leadership and encouraging developing countries to exploit their own fossil fuel reserves, experts have warned.
The UK government is under stiff pressure from the oil industry, the Conservatives, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, some trade unions and parts of the Treasury to give the green light to new oil and gas fields, despite clear evidence that doing so would not cut prices and would have almost no effect on imports.
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Use of glyphosate has risen 10-fold in 30 years, raising fears for public health
It was Scottish farmers in the 1980s who pioneered the practice of spraying glyphosate on their wheat just before harvest. Struggling in the damp glens to get their crop to dry evenly, they came up with the idea of accelerating the process by killing it a week or two before harvesting.
Glyphosate, then a revolutionary herbicide that killed everything plant-based but spared animal life, seemed perfect for the job. Soon the practice spread to wetter, colder agricultural regions around the world.
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Cardiff: Robin then blue tit, siskin then goldfinch … I love this ritual, but I’m persuaded that it deserves careful thought
I’ve been away from my bird feeder for months and, on my return, one of my priorities is to restock it. This has become a ritual, and I feel great joy in observing the strict order in which the birds arrive.
I sit down and wait for the local population to remember my table and spread the word. It’s not long before they come in sequence, no less predictable than court etiquette. The first to venture for sunflower seeds is the robin. The blue tit, in a whirr of wings, comes a close second. These two act as food tasters. Other species, out of sight, watch intently to see if the daring survive. They do, so dunnocks arrive, then a pair of chaffinches, picking up spilt seeds from the ground.
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Sandra Laville has been reporting on England’s sewage crisis for years. She answered your questions on the water privatisation scandal.
Guardian environment correspondent Sandra Laville’s reporting on the sewage crisis in English water has helped to expose a scandal of privatisation that has created a swell of fury across the political divide.
Sandra has now finished answering your questions. Read the Q&A below.
The government has put the cost of renationalising water at £100bn. But this is a disputed figure. Academics working with the People’s Commission on the Water Sector say this figure is ‘serious scaremongering created on biased evidence’ which was paid for by water companies. It is based on the Regulatory Capital Value of companies as determined by Ofwat, not the” true and fair value in law”, which reflects losses from market failures, like the cost of pollution or the monopoly profits taken by shareholders and banks.
The route to renationalisation could come via the system set up legally when the companies were privatised. Under the law companies can be put into special administration if they are unable to pay debts, if they breach licence obligations, such as on sewage pollution, or failing to supply water, and if it is considered in the public interest to do so. Special administration is a form of temporary renationalisation.
This is the million dollar question! While tackling separation across the whole network at once is considered too disruptive and costly, particularly in urban environments, the chartered institute of water and environmental management says moving towards separated systems is their key focus to address urban pollution and storm water sewage releases. New developments, for example, are now mandated to have separate pipes for foul wastewater and surface water run off.
They also want to see the increased use of sustainable drainage systems like water butts, and storage basins for existing properties, to reduce the amount of runoff into the system. Keeping gardens rather than paving them over, and creating so called sponge cities is also key to tackling pollution.
The UK was described as the dirty man of Europe back in the 70s and 80s, due to levels of pollution. For example in coastal towns there were no water treatment plants to treat sewage, raw sewage was just pumped and dumped into the sea. It was only when the EU directives came in that the clean up began. Chief amongst these was the Urban Wastewater directive, the Water Framework directive, and the Bathing Water directive.
Since leaving the EU there have been fears that these pieces of legislation could be watered down. James Bevan, as CEO of the Environment Agency, talked about changing the Water Framework Directive, essentially to make it easier for rivers to pass tests for chemical and biological health. Currently no river is rated as in good overall health under the WFD where rivers have to pass both chemical and biological health tests.
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Like so many flying insects, these essential pollinators are suffering because of habitat loss and the overuse of chemicals. Here’s how to give them a healthier, happier home
We know about honeybees and bumblebees, but most of the UK’s bees are neither: they’re solitary bees, loners who come in a dizzying range of sizes, colours and varieties – more than 240 species. Have you heard, for instance, of the hairy-footed flower bee? “They’re one of the first bees to emerge each year,” says Laura Larkin, the chief conservation officer at Buglife. “The males have got fantastic little fluffy bits on their feet.”
How about leaf-cutter bees, which chomp “a perfectly circular hole” out of leaves to build their nests? Or bright-orange tawny mining bees, wool-carder bees, ivy bees? “There are so many of them and I’m still learning,” says Kate Bradbury, a wildlife gardener, writer, bee lover and the author of One Garden Against the World. “They’re just great – there’s a solitary bee for every occasion.”
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Guardian Australia tours problematic Malabar wastewater plant where some accumulated fats, oils and grease can’t be accessed – let alone cleared
“This,” says Fiona Copeman, the hub manager of the Malabar wastewater treatment plant, “is what you would call our four-bus area.”
Copeland is gesturing to a model of the plant on a table inside the facility itself. She’s referring to a 300 cubic metre underground chamber that houses, as Guardian Australia revealed in January, a “fatberg the size of four buses that likely birthed poo balls that closed Sydney beaches”.
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Housing corporations are adopting rainwater storage in garden fences, reducing pressure during downpours and preserving water for times of drought
Good fences make good neighbours – but rain fences could make even better ones.
That is the hope of housing corporations in the Netherlands, which are adopting rainwater storage in their garden fences.
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The birds – not native to the South Australian island – have covered a school in faeces, torn up infrastructure and damaged crops
Thousands of little corellas that have been terrorising the inhabitants of Kangaroo Island have been culled but it won’t be enough to fix the problem, authorities say.
The birds, which are not native to the island, have covered a local school in faeces, torn up infrastructure, damaged crops and caused mental distress to residents with their screeching.
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