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peter hayes
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Happy Christmas Day! Here are today's Conserv@tion stories....
Spain says France in path of oil
The holidays have brought little festive cheer to communities on the coast of south-west Europe, where it is feared that high winds will drive a massive oil slick onto land. The worst environmental disaster in Spanish history is now threatening France as oil covering an area the size of New York City moves north. The oil has been leaking from the tanker Prestige since it sank off Spain's north west coast on November 17.
More information -
CNN.com
Reuters
Fears of conflict if Spanish invade Irish waters
An armada of 200 Spanish trawlers will invade Irish fishing waters on January 1 unless Marine Minister Dermot Ahern works out a compromise deal, a fishermen’s leader warned last night. Irish fishermen will not take this threat to their livelihoods lying down and there could be serious confrontation on the high seas, Irish South and West Fishermen's Organisation manager Jason Whooley warned. "The high seas are dangerous enough without having conflict out there. I am not convinced we can convince our fishermen to stay out of conflict," Mr Whooley said. Irish fishermen are angry about the EU fishing deal struck in Brussels last week which limits their quotas by 5% next year and also the number of days the fishermen can go to sea.
More information -
Irish Examiner
Irish Newspapers
Planet Ark
Call for closer watch on industrial trawlers
The sacrifices made by Scottish fishermen, whose fishing quotas have been drastically reduced, will be in vain unless more is done to regulate against industrial trawlers, it was claimed yesterday. Industrial trawlers operated by Denmark remove around one million tons of fish, mainly sand eels and Norwegian pout, from the North Sea every year, depleting vital food stocks. Their vessels, using a mesh as small as 8mm, also sweep up thousands of tons of immature fish from the sea bed as a by-catch.
More information - Herald
Hawkish criminals pose threat to endangered birds
The conviction of wildlife criminal Leonard O’Connor, of St Anne’s Road, Huyton, Liverpool, for illegally taking rare birds of prey from the wild proves that wildlife criminals pose a serious threat to the UK’s most endangered birds, says the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Leonard O’Connor admitted at Huyton Magistrates Court, Merseyside, that he took two goshawks from their nest in the Derbyshire Peak District, in May 2000. Although goshawks are widely kept by falconers, the total population of wild birds in the UK is thought to be around 450 pairs.
More information - NFU Countryside
Alarm as GM pig vaccine taints US crops
US authorities, shaken by a case in which food crops were contaminated with an experimental pig vaccine, are preparing to impose stringent guidelines on a new generation of experimental GM crops. The department of agriculture and the environmental protection agency are encountering growing disquiet from a coalition of farmers and food manufacturers about the potential dangers of the next phase of GM products - "biopharming", or the implanting of genes in food crops to grow drugs and industrial chemicals. The idea of tightening regulations on GM products represents something of a revolution in thinking in the US, where about 70% of the processed food on supermarket shelves contains genetically engineered ingredients.
More information - Guardian
British biofuel needs kick-start
UK bioethanol could be as big as it is elsewhere in Europe, if only the Government could put more support behind it, according to green fuel expert Dr Michael Bennett. Twice as much UK-grown sugar beet and 20% more wheat could be the outcome of European environmental targets for transport fuels. But further tax breaks are needed to get the industry off the ground, Dr Bennett told sugar beet growers at a recent Broom's Barn winter meeting, entitled 'Bio-ethanol from sugar'. Over half a million hectares of land will be needed to meet potential demand for bioethanol, "the equivalent of the current area of set-aside in the UK", he said.
More information - FWi
Euro-spiders invade as temperature creeps up
Britain’s spiders, wasps and other insects are crawling, hopping and flying north at unprecedented rates, according to biologists. Insects in the North of England are invading Scotland; those in the South of the country have arrived in the North; and European spiders are increasingly invading Britain. Global warming is being held responsible for the great invertebrate trek north. As summers are longer and warmer, it is easier for insects to survive in the previously harsh northern climates.
More information - Times
Puma on the prowl perplexes police
It is not the natural hunting ground of any big cat. But the beast of Ardrossan stalked its prey in the early hours of yesterday morning, its squeals raising heckles in residents of a quiet suburban terrace. Police officers, called to investigate, were met with the glower of a big cat, its yellow eyes illuminated in the torchlight. But the stretch of undergrowth which straddles the main Ardrossan to Glasgow railway line provided ample cover for the 3ft tall, dark-coloured animal to disappear back into the night. Yesterday, as police warned the public to be vigilant and steer clear of the animal, an expert from the Scottish Big Cat Society, went on the hunt for the overgrown pussycat.
More information -
Scotsman
Herald
dailyrecord
BBC
Friendly farming could halt Orkney hen harrier decline
Loss of preferred hunting habitat has been identified as the most likely cause of decline in Orkney’s hen harrier population, according to recent research. Speaking at the British Ecological Society’s Winter Meeting, being held at the University of York on 18–20 December 2002, Dr Arjun Amar of the Game Conservancy Trust will say: “Despite the fact that there is no human persecution of this population, hen harriers on the Orkney Islands have declined by over 70% in the last 25 years.” According to Dr Amar: “Recent research has shown that there is a shortage of food for birds on Orkney and that this decline is most likely due to changes in land use causing a reduction in the amount of rough grassland, which is their preferred hunting habitat.”
More information - Game Conservancy Trust
Cold, dark and hungry
Garden birds need help at this time of year; natural foods are scarce, the nights are cold and there is little daylight in which to find food. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is urging people to make a commitment to the birds using their gardens, by putting out suitable food and clean, ice-free water. The BTO are also asking people to make a longer-term commitment by taking part in the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch, a year-round survey that monitors the changing fortunes of garden birds. The shortened amount of daylight at this time of year can cause problems for birds by reducing the amount of time available for feeding. It is also a time of year when temperatures fall and birds find it more difficult to keep warm.
More information - The British Trust for Ornithology
Steps taken to save county wildlife
Almost 20 threatened species could be saved by a radical wildlife plan in Northamptonshire. The strategy has been drawn up by the county council and several conservation groups. It identifies plants, mammals, birds and insects under threat, and details steps to be taken to ensure their survival. Celebrity birdwatcher Bill Oddie praised the plan's launch and was joined at Hunsbury Hill Centre Barn by seven-year-old owl Ollie - one of the birds the document is designed to protect. Mr Oddie said: "I have to say that the plan launched here is the most impressive, the most thorough and the most readable I have ever seen." One of its main objectives is to increase the population of barn owls by 20% by 2010.
More information - BBC
TV stars urge Essex to cover up its bare bits
Skylarks, turtle doves and song thrushes all enjoy wooded areas to play, eat, sleep and sing. Tragically, these birds of a feather have few places to spread their wings in Essex – as only a mere six per cent of the county is covered in trees. Old and ancient woods that once cloaked almost the entire region have been eaten up by intensive farming and housing pressure. But thanks to a campaign spearheaded by the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, and TV celebrities, Ross Kemp and Lesley Joseph, this worrying trend should be reversed. Over 200 hectares (500 acres) of bare farmland at Fordham, near Colchester, will be covered up with trees, grasses and wetland, to the delight of birds, insects and animals.
More information - The Woodland Trust
Spain says France in path of oil
The holidays have brought little festive cheer to communities on the coast of south-west Europe, where it is feared that high winds will drive a massive oil slick onto land. The worst environmental disaster in Spanish history is now threatening France as oil covering an area the size of New York City moves north. The oil has been leaking from the tanker Prestige since it sank off Spain's north west coast on November 17.
More information -
CNN.com
Reuters
Fears of conflict if Spanish invade Irish waters
An armada of 200 Spanish trawlers will invade Irish fishing waters on January 1 unless Marine Minister Dermot Ahern works out a compromise deal, a fishermen’s leader warned last night. Irish fishermen will not take this threat to their livelihoods lying down and there could be serious confrontation on the high seas, Irish South and West Fishermen's Organisation manager Jason Whooley warned. "The high seas are dangerous enough without having conflict out there. I am not convinced we can convince our fishermen to stay out of conflict," Mr Whooley said. Irish fishermen are angry about the EU fishing deal struck in Brussels last week which limits their quotas by 5% next year and also the number of days the fishermen can go to sea.
More information -
Irish Examiner
Irish Newspapers
Planet Ark
Call for closer watch on industrial trawlers
The sacrifices made by Scottish fishermen, whose fishing quotas have been drastically reduced, will be in vain unless more is done to regulate against industrial trawlers, it was claimed yesterday. Industrial trawlers operated by Denmark remove around one million tons of fish, mainly sand eels and Norwegian pout, from the North Sea every year, depleting vital food stocks. Their vessels, using a mesh as small as 8mm, also sweep up thousands of tons of immature fish from the sea bed as a by-catch.
More information - Herald
Hawkish criminals pose threat to endangered birds
The conviction of wildlife criminal Leonard O’Connor, of St Anne’s Road, Huyton, Liverpool, for illegally taking rare birds of prey from the wild proves that wildlife criminals pose a serious threat to the UK’s most endangered birds, says the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Leonard O’Connor admitted at Huyton Magistrates Court, Merseyside, that he took two goshawks from their nest in the Derbyshire Peak District, in May 2000. Although goshawks are widely kept by falconers, the total population of wild birds in the UK is thought to be around 450 pairs.
More information - NFU Countryside
Alarm as GM pig vaccine taints US crops
US authorities, shaken by a case in which food crops were contaminated with an experimental pig vaccine, are preparing to impose stringent guidelines on a new generation of experimental GM crops. The department of agriculture and the environmental protection agency are encountering growing disquiet from a coalition of farmers and food manufacturers about the potential dangers of the next phase of GM products - "biopharming", or the implanting of genes in food crops to grow drugs and industrial chemicals. The idea of tightening regulations on GM products represents something of a revolution in thinking in the US, where about 70% of the processed food on supermarket shelves contains genetically engineered ingredients.
More information - Guardian
British biofuel needs kick-start
UK bioethanol could be as big as it is elsewhere in Europe, if only the Government could put more support behind it, according to green fuel expert Dr Michael Bennett. Twice as much UK-grown sugar beet and 20% more wheat could be the outcome of European environmental targets for transport fuels. But further tax breaks are needed to get the industry off the ground, Dr Bennett told sugar beet growers at a recent Broom's Barn winter meeting, entitled 'Bio-ethanol from sugar'. Over half a million hectares of land will be needed to meet potential demand for bioethanol, "the equivalent of the current area of set-aside in the UK", he said.
More information - FWi
Euro-spiders invade as temperature creeps up
Britain’s spiders, wasps and other insects are crawling, hopping and flying north at unprecedented rates, according to biologists. Insects in the North of England are invading Scotland; those in the South of the country have arrived in the North; and European spiders are increasingly invading Britain. Global warming is being held responsible for the great invertebrate trek north. As summers are longer and warmer, it is easier for insects to survive in the previously harsh northern climates.
More information - Times
Puma on the prowl perplexes police
It is not the natural hunting ground of any big cat. But the beast of Ardrossan stalked its prey in the early hours of yesterday morning, its squeals raising heckles in residents of a quiet suburban terrace. Police officers, called to investigate, were met with the glower of a big cat, its yellow eyes illuminated in the torchlight. But the stretch of undergrowth which straddles the main Ardrossan to Glasgow railway line provided ample cover for the 3ft tall, dark-coloured animal to disappear back into the night. Yesterday, as police warned the public to be vigilant and steer clear of the animal, an expert from the Scottish Big Cat Society, went on the hunt for the overgrown pussycat.
More information -
Scotsman
Herald
dailyrecord
BBC
Friendly farming could halt Orkney hen harrier decline
Loss of preferred hunting habitat has been identified as the most likely cause of decline in Orkney’s hen harrier population, according to recent research. Speaking at the British Ecological Society’s Winter Meeting, being held at the University of York on 18–20 December 2002, Dr Arjun Amar of the Game Conservancy Trust will say: “Despite the fact that there is no human persecution of this population, hen harriers on the Orkney Islands have declined by over 70% in the last 25 years.” According to Dr Amar: “Recent research has shown that there is a shortage of food for birds on Orkney and that this decline is most likely due to changes in land use causing a reduction in the amount of rough grassland, which is their preferred hunting habitat.”
More information - Game Conservancy Trust
Cold, dark and hungry
Garden birds need help at this time of year; natural foods are scarce, the nights are cold and there is little daylight in which to find food. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is urging people to make a commitment to the birds using their gardens, by putting out suitable food and clean, ice-free water. The BTO are also asking people to make a longer-term commitment by taking part in the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch, a year-round survey that monitors the changing fortunes of garden birds. The shortened amount of daylight at this time of year can cause problems for birds by reducing the amount of time available for feeding. It is also a time of year when temperatures fall and birds find it more difficult to keep warm.
More information - The British Trust for Ornithology
Steps taken to save county wildlife
Almost 20 threatened species could be saved by a radical wildlife plan in Northamptonshire. The strategy has been drawn up by the county council and several conservation groups. It identifies plants, mammals, birds and insects under threat, and details steps to be taken to ensure their survival. Celebrity birdwatcher Bill Oddie praised the plan's launch and was joined at Hunsbury Hill Centre Barn by seven-year-old owl Ollie - one of the birds the document is designed to protect. Mr Oddie said: "I have to say that the plan launched here is the most impressive, the most thorough and the most readable I have ever seen." One of its main objectives is to increase the population of barn owls by 20% by 2010.
More information - BBC
TV stars urge Essex to cover up its bare bits
Skylarks, turtle doves and song thrushes all enjoy wooded areas to play, eat, sleep and sing. Tragically, these birds of a feather have few places to spread their wings in Essex – as only a mere six per cent of the county is covered in trees. Old and ancient woods that once cloaked almost the entire region have been eaten up by intensive farming and housing pressure. But thanks to a campaign spearheaded by the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, and TV celebrities, Ross Kemp and Lesley Joseph, this worrying trend should be reversed. Over 200 hectares (500 acres) of bare farmland at Fordham, near Colchester, will be covered up with trees, grasses and wetland, to the delight of birds, insects and animals.
More information - The Woodland Trust
