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Coronavirus: What we still don't know about Covid-19
Fruit and veg ‘will run out’ unless Britain charters planes to fly in farm workers from eastern Europe
UK urgently needs to fill 90,000 positions to pick crops that will otherwise die in the fields, warns charity
Charter flights to bring in agricultural workers from eastern Europe are needed as a matter of urgency, otherwise fruit and vegetables will be left unpicked in Britain’s fields, the government is being warned.
Some large farms have already been chartering planes to bring in labour from eastern Europe. But farming organisations and recruitment agencies say that, in the face of massive disruption to the agricultural sector caused by the spread of the coronavirus, the government needs to step in and help organise more flights.
Continue reading...More than 100,000 badgers slaughtered in discredited cull policy
Badger Trust condemns ‘largest destruction of a protected species in living memory’ as government admits failings and focuses on vaccination
More than 35,000 badgers were killed during last year’s cull, according to long overdue figures slipped out by the government on Friday at the height of the coronavirus crisis.
The total has dismayed animal rights campaigners, who claim that for the first time since the cull was introduced in 2013, more badgers were shot last year than cattle were slaughtered because they have bovine-TB.
Continue reading...Coronavirus: OneWeb blames pandemic for collapse
Wildlife rescue centres struggle to treat endangered species in coronavirus outbreak
Shortages in funds, medicines and masks threaten charity work around the world
Last Thursday morning Louisa Baillie drove down the five-kilometre dirt track that connects her jungle home in the Amazon rainforest to the main road. At the junction, she parked, hiking the rest of the way into Mera, a town of about 8,000 people.
After filling her backpack with fruit and vegetables from local sellers, she grabbed some leaves and set about plucking termites off trees along the roadside, stuffing them into a bucket containing small fragments of the insects’ nests. Baillie works as a veterinarian at Merazonia, a wildlife rescue centre in Ecuador. The termites were dinner for Andy the anteater, a baby recently confiscated at a police checkpoint.
Continue reading...Heirloom plants: Saving the nation's seeds from extinction
CP Daily: Friday March 27, 2020
Speculators’ CCA position craters after liquidation while compliance holdings rise, data shows
US EPA extends RFS compliance deadline for small refiners, citing coronavirus
The week in wildlife – in pictures
The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including oryx, a slow loris, bears – and a puma on the streets of Santiago, Chile
Continue reading...The Guardian view on empty supermarket shelves: panic is not the problem
The coronavirus pandemic is beginning to expose the fragility of our food system. But will we choose long-term solutions or short-term fixes?
Until a couple of weeks ago, the idea of waiting in an Ocado queue of 73,735 shoppers, or of supermarkets rationing milk and baked beans, would have sounded like satire. For too many people in the UK, food scarcity is the norm, with mothers and fathers going hungry to ensure their children are fed. But others have grown used to an absurd abundance: strawberries and peaches in midwinter, or 20 types of mustard alongside three score of pasta. When such bounty overflows, it seems self-evident that supplies are both plentiful and reliable – until suddenly they aren’t.
In fact, warns Tim Lang in his new book, Feeding Britain, our food system is “stretched, open to disruption and far from resilient”. It is easy to castigate panic buyers for empty shelves. But while shopping responsibly will help others to get the food they need, only a few people are squirrelling away vast stocks. Research firm Kantar says the average spend per supermarket trip has risen by 16% to £22.13 month on month – not surprising when households realised they were likely to need lunches at home, including for children no longer in school, and could have to self-isolate for a fortnight.
Continue reading...California grid experiencing shift in electricity demand amid COVID-19 outbreak
Coronavirus: Lockdowns continue to suppress European pollution
Trump administration allows companies to break pollution laws during coronavirus pandemic
Extraordinary move signals to US companies that they will not face any sanctions for polluting the air or water
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended its enforcement of environmental laws during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, signaling to companies they will not face any sanction for polluting the air or water of Americans.
In an extraordinary move that has stunned former EPA officials, the Trump administration said it will not expect compliance with the routine monitoring and reporting of pollution and won’t pursue penalties for breaking these rules.
Continue reading...Manitoba suspends provincial CO2 tax plan due to coronavirus pandemic
EU Midday Market Briefing
Plastic: How to predict threats to animals in oceans and rivers
Climate change: 'Gob-smacking' vision for future UK transport
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending Mar. 27, 2020
Wildlife charity plans to buy UK land to give it back to nature
Heal Rewilding will find lower-grade land and let it recover naturally, rather than planting
A new national wildlife charity called Heal Rewilding is planning to buy ecologically depleted land across Britain and give it back to nature.
The charity, which launches on Monday, is crowdfunding and will seek former farms, green belt or lower-grade land where wildlife can recover. The sites will be within easy reach of large towns and cities to benefit more people.
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