Campaign group calls for a consumer boycott of tropical prawns to stop environmental pollution and human rights abuse in Bangladesh
… prawn obsession 'devastating' local communities in Bangladesh Tom Levitt | 30th … - is having a devastating impact on local communities in Bangladesh, reveals a new investigation produced in conjunction with the Ecologist's film partner. …
As reform of the EU's agriculture policy gets underway, Miles King of the Grassland Trust tells Matilda Lee how intensive farming has all but destroyed England's 'rainforests' and why it's time we started asking for more from our farmers
… As reform of the EU's agriculture policy gets underway, Miles King of the Grassland Trust … fields and meadows teeming with an unseen army of fungi supporting soil health and fertility, …
From robins to red deer; the British Wildlife Photography Awards showcases the best of Britain’s biodiversity
… British Isles is home to a huge variety of fauna and flora, ranging from the majestic (red … look like, there’s space for them in the stunning images produced for the annual British … This year’s entries come from all over the country, with squirrels from Bedfordshire, owls …
With mountainous regions under threat from global warming, is the winter sports business doing enough to protect the delicate eco-system in its care?
… Natural World Wildlife holding.jpg With mountainous regions under threat from global warming, is the … even if they don’t actually make it to the mountains. Europe is home to thousands of ski …
A bold new initiative is designed to raise public awareness of the issue of biodiversity and the need to incorporate native species back within London
… fabric and fragmented to a level where their functionality becomes effectively untenable. A recent paper in the journal … has widely been hailed as a missed opportunity to reverse the trend of biodiversity …
Filling your garden with wildflowers helps honeybees and butterflies, and creates a relaxed mood. And, from the Easton Walled Garden to Sissinghurst, there's plenty of inspiration
… (such as honeybees and butterflies) have shrunk over the past few decades. So far, we … can you do to halt the decline in native fauna? For a start we can help by buying locally … hum of bees, the flutter of butterflies and bundles of colour. It’s a misconception that a …
From boosting biodiversity to gardens that are helping to tackle climate change, Chelsea Flower Show 2012 will be green in more ways than one. Rebecca Campbell went behind the scenes
… explains Dr Rebecca Slack from the University of Leeds , one of the exhibitors in … ‘Urban ecosystems such as gardens, parks, roundabouts and so on can offer lots of benefits … and carbon storage.’ Three themes that the university believe are important factors that …
Making the most of the UK’s bountiful flora, Union’s four fragrances are an olfactory celebration of the British countryside, says Ruth Styles
… Union: the British perfume that’s boosting biodiversity Ruth Styles | 1st June 2012 Ethical Living Perfume Beauty Health And Beauty UK Britain Ireland Union Selfridges Bluebells Biodiversity …
Tackling the population explosion is critical to avoiding environmental disaster
… pretty much since the time of the first UN Conference on Environment and Human … whose ostensible purpose is to secure the foundations of the natural world to ensure good … work of 22 brilliant scientists from all around the world, coordinated by a small group of …
Butterfly populations are an important gauge of the health of local habitats and wider climate change. Faye Dobson explains what population changes mean, and how you can get involved in helping monitor them.
… Butterfly Population Decline Big Butterfly Count Faye Dobson Butterflies Climate Change … per cent have decreased in the UK. Even the abundance of common garden butterflies, such as … 30 and 40 butterfly species that fly around in the tropical environment of exotic …
Ecologist writer Luke Dale-Harris questions the ability of Natura 2000 to work as an effective environmental regulator
… birds that migrate freely across Europe are unaware of the invisible borders that lie … on one side and the curve of the Carpathian Mountains on the other. But it is what they miss … at the mercy of human endeavour. Allowed to run its course, the open market will drain the …
As the UK government gives the go ahead for the country's first Biodiversity Offsetting (BO) scheme, Lorna Howarth explains why it will be a disaster for the nation's already declining wildlife
… declining population of Nightingales found there. As the UK government gives the go ahead for the country's first Biodiversity Offsetting (BO) … Director recently claimed that offsetting is unacceptable if it allows developers to push …
Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon is home to a record number of species. Now that the Yasuni-ITT Initiative has failed the future of those species hangs in the balance.....
… Threatened biodiversity of Yasuni The Ecologist | 10th September 2013 News … could be disastrous for the Jaguars of Yasuni. Image courtesy of www.shutterstock.com Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon is …
The UK Government plans to allow biodiversity destroyed by development to be recreated elsewhere. Hannah Mowat of FERN believes the idea is both wrong and dangerous. The official consultation ends on 7th November 2013.
… flawed on many levels. Not least because it fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between people and their natural surroundings. For example, the proposed …
Owen Paterson has done it again - offering up ancient woodland for development via 'biodiversity offsetting' - planting new trees elsewhere. Trouble is, says Austin Brady, ancient woods are centuries in the making.
… over the Christmas period he seems to have undertaken a complete U-turn on the proposed … 2013 which could pave the way for the launch of a national biodiversity offsetting … this debate. Our activity so far includes running an online campaign, publishing a series …
A 'microbat' that has remained unrecorded since 1890 has been discovered in Papua New Guinea. But with the country's forests under growing pressure from logging and for conversion to plantations, this and thousands of other biological treasures are at risk.
… after 120 years in the wilderness Luke Leung Julie Broken-Brow Catherine Hughes | 15th June 2014 Comment Natural World Forests PNG … ch-bat-cut.jpg A 'microbat' that has remained unrecorded since 1890 has been discovered in …
The EU's farming policy is being touted as 'greener than ever' - but it's no such thing, write Lynn Dicks & Tim Benton. The 'green reforms' pay farmers for actions (and often inactions) that do not benefit wildlife, and contain no real or effective measures to help.
… failure Lynn Dicks Tim Benton | 17th June 2014 Comment Farming Natural World … they neither encourage greater wildlife abundance nor provide adequate protection for … pro-environmental farm stewardship as a voluntary step. Land must produce more than just …
Already 56,000 people have pledged to support a global 'internet seed swap' initiative promoted by Avaaz, writes Julian Rose. Trouble is, the plans are deeply flawed, and have been developed without consultation with major seed saving groups worldwide.
… The Secretary of Jogimara community seed bank at work, Dhading, Nepal. … of Avaaz at this time. In a controversial communication to its supporters the internet … seeds to wherever they are needed, as a counteraction to monopolization of the seeds …
Recent decades have seen a hardening global clampdown on the rights of farmers to use, save, develop, share, swap and distribute the seeds that produce the food we all eat, writes Andrew Kimbrell - and which constitute an essential common heritage of mankind. Here's his plan to fight back against the seed monopolists ...
… relied on language contained in an online fundraiser for the project by Avaaz . That … appeared to have led Rose and others to misunderstand the true nature and scope of the … other regulations. These requirements are not uniform among nations or even jurisdictions …
A Pennsylvania seed library stands accused of 'agri-terrorism' over alleged breaches of the Seed Act 2004, reports a bemused Kevin Carson. Have USDA and state agriculture departments become the enforcement branch of the agribusiness crime syndicate?
… celebrated Earth Day this year by launching its own seed library project. This … Seed Act 2004 As the Shareable article recounts, "Back on April 26, the Joseph T. Simpson … Library in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, launched their own seed library as part of the …
A string of events earlier this year provided a sobering snapshot of a global climate system out of whack, writes Peter Fisher. Could it represent the end of a rare 10,000 year island of stability in global climate? If so, we had better get used to it. The Earth may never be so comfortable again ...
… climate is returning - and it won't be fun Peter Fisher | 16th August 2014 Comment … After the Ice : "People were thin on the ground and struggling with a deteriorating … Northern Europe and Asia. The planet was inundated by drought, sea level had fallen to …
We know that Australia's dry bush has co-evolved with fire, so that means regular planned burning is a good thing? Up to a point ... some increasingly rare species depend on 'old growth' bush up to 100 years old, and over-frequent burning is putting them under long-term threat.
… and over-frequent burning is putting them under long-term threat. The smell of smoke in … (the Mallee Fire and Biodiversity Team ) found that such policies can set in motion … for over 100 years . It was recently announced that this research is one of three …
Patented and 'indentured' seeds are fast taking over the world's food supply, write Jack Kloppenburg & Irwin Goldman, terminating farmers' and gardeners' ancient right to develop new varieties, and forcing them to buy seed anew for every crop. Enter the Open Source Seed Initiative ...
… - Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta - account for about half of all commercial seed … kicked off its outreach activities on the University of Wisconsin campus on April 17 … share seeds with each other and with the community. They then took a pledge to keep that …
Mussels, crabs, hornets and ... racoons? Future invasive species are not what you might expect, write Jodey Peyton & Helen Roy. In particular, we have to beware of 'ecosystem engineers' that can transform the environment they inhabit, creating ecological havoc for other species.
… havoc for other species. Britain, like many countries, has already witnessed the … 'ecosystem engineers' Some generate such profound effects on their new environment they are … ( Dreissena rostriformis bugensis ). It was unanimously awarded the highest score for the …