Extinction is not just for exotic species in Africa or Asia, writes Louise Ramsay. Right here in the UK we have almost allowed our very own Scottish wildcat to disappear through persecution and mismanagement - despite its being a protected species under EU and Scottish law. Now it will take swift and effective action to bring it back from the brink.
… landowners' desires for grouse or pheasant conservation for hunts, meant that by 1914 … anybody's pet. Last ditch effort for wildcat conservation With pressure mounting from conservation groups and to meet international …
Bullfighting may cause suffering to animals, but that does not mean the EU should ban it or withdraw farm subsidies, writes Robin Irvine. Traditional bull-breeding estates are valuable reservoirs of biodiversity in intensively farmed landscapes, and without the bulls there would be nothing to sustain them.
The Paris Agreement is facing its first big test in Queensland, Australia, writes Justine Bell. After a long process beset by legal challenges, the massive Carmichael coal mine is inching closer to approval - which would open up the entire 250,000 sq.km Galilee basin and its 28 billion tonnes of coal to exploitation. Both state and federal governments have the power to ban it. But will they?
… the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, issued by the federal … This approval was challenged by the Mackay Conservation Group in the Federal Court. The … Hunt had failed to consider the relevant conservation advice for the yakka skink and …
New regulations that will allow fracking under national parks, water sources and nature sites won the approval of MPs today in a Commons vote, write Kyla Mandel & Oliver Tickell, even though four Tory MP's rebelled against the party whip. But the new rules won't apply in Wales and Scotland.
… 2015 News Fracking Fossil Fuels Politics Law Conservation UK derwent-valley-cut.jpg New …
Investigative reporters working for Greenpeace UK's Energydesk have uncovered a nexus of senior academics willing to accept large sums of money from fossil fuel companies to write reports and newspaper articles published under their own names and university affiliations, without declaring the funding. Lawrence Carter & Maeve McClenaghan spill the beans ...
Climate 'academics for hire' conceal fossil fuel funding Lawrence Carter Maeve McClenaghan Greenpeace Energydesk | 9th December 2015 News Fossil Fuels Climate Change Science UK US ted-cruz-cut.jpg …
The apparent conspiracy by the UK government and its agencies to conceal the real cause of death of 7-year old Zane Gbangbola may go right up to Prime Minister David Cameron, writes Paul Mobbs. He was chair of the COBRA emergency committee at the time when it appears to have held back the truth that he was killed by cyanide from the toxic landfill site his home was built over.
Zane: did Cameron order cover-up on landfill cyanide death of 7-year old? Paul Mobbs | 14th December 2015 News Toxics Waste Pollution Cities Politics Law UK selly-oak-landfill-cut.jpg The apparent …
There is a simple formula for restoring life to over-exploited coastal fisheries, write Jane Lubchenco & Steven Gaines, and it has been proven to work from the Philippines and Indonesia to Mexico and Belize: to create local marine reserves for the exclusive use of local fishing communities.
… small-scale fisheries and promote marine conservation at the same time. The … Fish Forever, a partnership between the conservation group Rare, the Environmental …
Wild bee decline is closely associated with the advance of intensive farming and habitat loss, a new study shows. It follows an earlier paper that linked 'delayed action' decline of wild bees to exposure to pesticides including fungicides - previously considered 'bee-safe'.
… in farmland, and the importance of conservation programs that provide flowering … in farmland, and the importance of conservation programs that provide flowering …
As COP21 reaches its endgame, there are plans to build 2,440 coal-fired power plants around the world, write Mowdud Rahman & Greig Aitken. Their completion would send global temperatures, and sea levels, soaring. Yet Bangladesh, the world's most 'climate vulnerable' large country, has plans for a 1.3GW coal power plant on the fringes of its World Heritage coastal wetlands.
… Change Energy Fossil Fuels Coal Biodiversity Conservation Bangladesh …
Earthship Brighton, an award-winning off-grid community centre set in an organic farm within the South Downs National Park, has hosted hundreds of events and inspired tens of thousands of visitors over the last decade, writes Phil Moore, demonstrating green technologies and energy-efficient living. But now it's in need of a refit.
… they capture free heat and electricity. Water conservation and energy efficiency are at the …
Protestors who closed down the coal mine on climate change denier Matt Ridley's estate faced a claim of £100,000 in losses, writes Brendan Montague. But a judge cut that down by over 90% while declaring the eight defendants of 'impeccable character'.
Matt Ridley coal mine hit with £100,000 climate protest bill Brendan Montague DeSmog.uk | 20th December 2015 News Coal Protest Climate Change UK Law end-coal-fluor-cut.jpg Protestors who closed down …
Humanity is continuing to drive species into extinction at a terrifying rate, writes Robert J. Burrowes - not just nameless beetles and midges, but mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and trees. The biggest causes are habitat destruction, pollution and hunting ... and unless we stop soon, we too will be among the victims of our ecocidal attack on Earth.
… threatened'. See 'Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 …
The Philippines were meant to be the US's sandbox for GMO development and penetration into southeast Asia, but that has all changed with a Supreme Court decision to ban GMO crop trials pending the development of new biosafety protocols.
Philippines Supreme Court bans GMO crop trials GMWatch | 13th December 2015 News GMOs Farming Philippines Law USA baliuag_hinukay_plants_fields_palazan_pampangafvf_25-cut.jpg The Philippines were …
Forget pear trees. Today's partridges are unlikely to have seen much beyond the barren confines of their cages until they are released to be shot, writes Toni Shephard. A new investigation by the League Against Cruel Sports reveals that thousands of partridges will spend Christmas, like every other day, imprisoned on the farms that supply shooting estates.
… via the British Association of Shooting & Conservation once pushed for a ban on breeding …
Overtaken by massive regional trade agreements like TPP, TTIP, CETA and TINA, the World Trade Organisation has slipped into the background, writes Polly Jones. But this week it's back with a vengeance, with its first big meeting in two years. The US's plan is to globalise the investment protection regime set out in the TTP, and open a new era of corporate rule and the eradication of democracy.
WTO is back. And this time, no more Mr Nice Guy Polly Jones Global Justice Now | 13th December 2015 News Trade Finance Politics UK USA wto-demo-cancun-cut.jpg Overtaken by massive regional trade …
It's not just Indonesia's forests and peatlands that are burning - the Amazon is suffering almost as badly, with over 18,000 fires last month in Brazil alone, write Jos Barlow & Erika Berenguer. The future is looking hot and fiery.
… fiery future. Jos Barlow is Professor of Conservation Science, Lancaster University. …
Rising levels of carbon dioxide don't just cause global warming, writes Jason Hall-Spencer. Another consequence is acidifying oceans - which promises to disrupt marine ecology around the world, killing off oysters and corals, while boosting 'nuisance species' like stinging jellyfish.
… of benefits. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature Blue Carbon initiative, …
How can Green parties acquire real political power? A new book by Per Gahrton, founder of the Swedish Green Party, is much more than a useful reference text on the history of Green Parties around the world, write Bennet Francis and Rupert Read. It's also a valuable manual in realpolitik that resonates here and now in the UK.
Green Parties, Green Future: lessons from history for Green politics Rupert Read Bennet Francis | 8th December 2015 Reviews Politics EU UK Ecology green-parties-cut.jpg How can Green parties acquire …
Yann Arthus-Bertrand's latest book, 'Human', revisits the territory of 'Earth from Above', but with a harder edge, writes Martin Spray. Yes, the photographs are lovely, even inspirational, but often mix uneasily with the testimonies of suffering and desperate demands for change they illustrate.
… an editor and writer for Ecos - A review of conservation . The book: ' HUMAN. A portrait …
Almost all our food is grown in soil, writes Peter Melchett. Yet we are treating it like dirt: spraying it with toxic chemicals, depleting vital nutrients, and releasing its carbon to add to climate change. With World Soils Day coming up tomorrow, let's change our ways - and renew our commitment to organic food and farming.
… He has been President or Chair of several conservation ngos, including the Ramblers and …
The UK's insistence on opening up the UK to fracking is symptomatic of a deeper malaise, writes Paul Mobbs. Of course we need a change of government, but more than that, we need a deeper, enduring change of the nation's governance if we are ever to effect the transition to sustainable policies on energy and environment. It's time for the UK to become truly democratic.
Fracking plans are driving an even more damaging ideological agenda Paul Mobbs | 21st December 2015 News UK Politics Energy Fracking Regulation Farming Natural World not-for-shale-cut.jpg The UK's …
Yellowstone Park is home to America's last pure-bred wild bison, writes George Wuerthner. Yet the Park's management is planning to kill around a thousand of these precious animals this winter. Ostensibly it's to protect cattle on public lands near the park from brucellosis. But bison have never been known to transmit the disease to them. The real reason is to keep all the pasture for livestock.
Bloodbath in Yellowstone: the park's plan to slaughter 1,000 wild bison George Wuerthner | 14th December 2015 Activism USA Natural World Mammals Farming Biodiversity Ecology yellowstone-bison-cut.jpg …