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'There is no oak left': are Britain's trees disappearing?
The first national ‘tree champion’ is charged with reversing the fortunes of the country’s woodlands and beleaguered urban trees
England is running out of oak. The last of the trees planted by the Victorians are now being harvested, and in the intervening century so few have been grown – and fewer still grown in the right conditions for making timber – that imports, mostly from the US and Europe, are the only answer.
“We are now using the oaks our ancestors planted, and there has been no oak coming up to replace it,” says Mike Tustin, chartered forester at John Clegg and Co, the woodland arm of estate agents Strutt and Parker. “There is no oak left in England. There just is no more.”
Continue reading...Senate launches inquiry into threatened species 'extinction crisis'
Inquiry initiated by Greens follows Guardian investigation exposing funding and management failings
The Senate has launched an inquiry into Australia’s threatened species crisis after an investigation of national threatened species management by Guardian Australia revealed problems including poor monitoring and a lack of funding.
The inquiry, initiated by Greens senator Janet Rice and supported by Labor and crossbenchers on Wednesday, will examine issues including the country’s alarming rate of species decline, the adequacy of Commonwealth laws that are supposed to protect threatened wildlife, and the effectiveness of funding for threatened species.
Farmers' groups withhold data from $9m Great Barrier Reef water quality program
The government-funded program was designed to reduce polluted run-off to the reef
Agriculture industry groups have refused to show the Queensland government the results of a government-funded program that aims to improve Great Barrier Reef water quality.
The Queensland Audit Office, in a report to parliament, said the farming industry groups had withheld data about the best management practices program due to “privacy concerns” and that its effectiveness might be “overstated”.
Continue reading...Country diary: take me to the river where Cambria looks like Cumbria
Dolgellau, Gwynedd: The similarity of this corner of Wales to the landscape of the southern Lake District is striking
The path by the Afon Wnion was liberally scattered with small branches and twigs still carrying tattered leaves, the debris of the storm the previous night. The wind had moderated slightly but the flag on St Mary’s church still stood out strongly from the pole on the tower. Beyond it, the severe northern flanks of Cadair Idris slid in and out of focus as clouds swept across the mountain, their speed reinforcing my doubts about taking a high-level route alone. Today, I decided, was one for the lowlands – a decision that, coincidentally, allowed time for a cooked breakfast.
Continue reading...Baker McKenzie acts on $A500 million Macarthur Wind Farm refinancing
Tandem virus cocktail kills pest rabbits more effectively
Japan's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft reaches cosmic 'diamond'
Could seaweed solve Indonesia's plastic crisis?
In a country of more than 17000 islands, seaweed might be the ideal raw material for a bio-plastics revolution.
Indonesia produces more marine plastic pollution than any other country except China. This is perhaps unsurprising: the world’s biggest archipelago is also its fourth most populous. Limited income and cash flow means that poorer communities rely on cheap single-use plastics like bags, water cups and shampoo sachets. Waste management systems are rudimentary and each year millions of tonnes of trash ends up in waterways and eventually the ocean.
Last year Indonesia pledged US$1 billion to cut its marine waste by 70% by 2025. The country will have to tackle the issue on multiple fronts if this ambitious target is to be met. Besides changing consumer habits and improving waste management infrastructure, industry needs to move away from single use plastics and quickly introduce and scale up biodegradable alternatives.
State government is keeping solar owners in the dark
Plastic coffee cup waste is being cut by a simple change
New coal doesn’t stack up – just look at Queensland’s renewable energy numbers
Dutch adventurer dispels EV range myths in 800-day drive to Darwin
Australia solar costs hit “extraordinary” new lows – $50s/MWh
Wärtsilä, Hyundai sign deal to use EV batteries for energy storage
Europe wants to make roads that recharge electric cars
How Australia will get to 33% renewable energy by 2020
Bumblebees thrive in towns more than countryside
Urban bumblebees have better access to food, allowing them to produce more offspring
Bumblebee colonies fare better in villages and cities than in fields, research has revealed.
Bumblebees are important pollinators, but face threats including habitat loss, climate change, pesticide and fungicide use and parasites. Now researchers say that bumblebee colonies in urban areas not only produce more offspring than those on agricultural land, but have more food stores, fewer invasions from parasitic “cuckoo” bumblebees, and survive for longer.
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