Feed aggregator

Syrian seedbank wins award for continuing work despite civil war

The Guardian - Fri, 2015-03-20 00:14

Syrian scientists who risked their lives preserving the region’s ancient farming heritage with nearly 150,000 seed samples are presented Gregor Mendel award in Berlin

The fields around Aleppo have sustained humanity for tens of thousands of years. Blood-torn now, they were among the first to produce wheat, barley and the crops that made this area part of the “fertile crescent” that Western civilisation sprang from.

There may be little sign of that left today, amid Syria’s bloody civil war, but the few remaining strands of the region’s farming heritage have been pulled together by a small group of scientists, whose achievement has just been recognised.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Amazon's trees removed nearly a third less carbon in last decade – study

The Guardian - Thu, 2015-03-19 04:00

Fall in amount of carbon absored by rainforest means even greater cuts to manmade emissions are needed to combat climate change, warn scientists

The amount of carbon the Amazon’s remaining trees removed from the atmosphere fell by almost a third last decade, leading scientists to warn that manmade carbon emissions would need to be cut more deeply to tackle climate change.

Trees in untouched areas of the forest have been dying off across the basin at an increasing rate, found the study, published in Nature on Wednesday. Meanwhile the tree growth produced by higher CO2 levels in recent decades levelled off.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Condition setting under assessment bilateral agreements

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2015-03-17 13:52
The Australian Government has developed a draft Conditions Policy to improve the efficiency of assessment bilateral agreements. The draft Conditions Policy is now open for public comment. Comments close Friday 15 May 2015.
Categories: Around The Web

New threatened ecological community listings

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2015-03-17 13:22
The Minister has approved the inclusion of ecological communities, Cooks River/Castlereagh Ironbark Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion to the critically endangered category and Castlereagh Scribbly Gum and Agnes Banks Woodlands of the Sydney...
Categories: Around The Web

Chairs’ Update March 2015 | Commonwealth Marine Reserves Review

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2015-03-17 09:35
Find out the latest updates on the Commonwealth Marine Reserves Review.
Categories: Around The Web

Join the Guardian's climate change campaign

The Guardian - Mon, 2015-03-16 22:30

200 energy companies hold humanity’s future in their pockets. But where we put our money makes us all complicit. It’s time to invest in a better future. Join us

Join us in urging the world’s two biggest charitable funds to move their money out of fossil fuels

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Pangolins: the world's most illegally traded mammal – in pictures

The Guardian - Mon, 2015-03-16 21:09

The endangered pangolin is being eaten out of existence before many people have even heard of it. Photographer Paul Hilton followed poachers in Indonesia to raise awareness of this gentle animal’s plight

Audio slideshow: See more of Paul Hilton’s work on the impact of deforestation on Indonesia’s wildlife

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Don't feed the ducks bread, say conservationists

The Guardian - Mon, 2015-03-16 16:01

We feed six million loaves of bread a year to ducks in England and Wales causing damage to birds’ health and polluting waterways. Oats, corn and peas are safer for the birds

The seemingly innocent act of feeding ducks with bread is harming waterfowl and polluting waterways, conservationists warned on Monday as they urged people to use more benign alternatives.

A survey by the Canal and River Trust found nearly a quarter of English and Welsh people had together fed six million loaves of bread to ducks last year. Uneaten bread causes algal blooms, allows bacteria to breed and attracts rats and other vermin.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Why are organic farmers across Britain giving up?

The Guardian - Sat, 2015-03-14 18:30

Consumers still eat it up — but more and more farmers are deserting organic, complaining that it costs a fortune and rowing with the Soil Association. Susanna Rustin put on her wellies to find out why they’re down on the farm

Darren and Julia Quenault took their first delivery of non-organic cattle feed a few weeks ago. After nine years of organic dairy farming, they decided to convert back to conventional, and give up their organic status, at the end of last year.

The reason was simple. “Cattle feed costs were excruciatingly expensive and we just couldn’t absorb them,” says Julia. “We’re saving £1,800 a month. We couldn’t have continued, we would have had to put up prices significantly, and we didn’t feel we could burden consumers with an extra 12% on the price of milk.”

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Updated maps to help protect our native species

Department of the Environment - Fri, 2015-03-13 15:17
The Department of the Environment has released version 2 of the Species of National Environmental Significance maps and GIS data products including many updated distributions and maps for newly listed species.
Categories: Around The Web

Stricter domestic measure to regulate the import and export of African lion items

Department of the Environment - Fri, 2015-03-13 10:56
The Australian Government has introduced a measure to treat African lions as though they are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Categories: Around The Web

SENG Victoria News - March 2015

Newsletters VIC - Thu, 2015-03-12 13:50
SENG Victoria News - March 2015
Categories: Newsletters VIC

Interim report of the National Review of Environmental Regulation

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2015-03-12 07:20
The report outlines the current environmental regulatory reform effort across jurisdictions and lists issues for further investigation.
Categories: Around The Web

Nearly 1m birds were killed on British military base in Cyprus, says RSPB

The Guardian - Mon, 2015-03-09 16:01

Poachers took 15,000 birds every day for two months last autumn on Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area as conservationists warn killing is at unprecedented levels

Almost a million birds were illegally killed in just two months on a British military base in Cyprus last year, according to the RSPB.

Dr Tim Stowe, the RSPB’s international director, called on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to do more to stop local poachers, who reportedly took 15,000 birds every day during September and October from British Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area (SBA).

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Climate Change Adaption - relocation of a Solomon Islands township to increase community resilience

Newsletters QLD - Sun, 2015-03-08 17:50
Climate Change Adaption - relocation of a Solomon Islands township to increase community resilience
Categories: Newsletters QLD

Health costs of hormone disrupting chemicals over €150bn a year in Europe, says study

The Guardian - Fri, 2015-03-06 21:09

Lower IQ, adult obesity and 5% of autism cases are all linked to exposure to endocrine disruptors found in food containers, plastics, furniture, toys, carpeting and cosmetics, says new expert study

Europe is experiencing an explosion in health costs caused by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that is comparable to the cost of lead and mercury poisoning, according to the most comprehensive study of the subject yet published.

Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with the human hormone system, and can be found in food containers, plastics, furniture, toys, carpeting and cosmetics.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Weasel-riding-woodpecker picture prompts weighty Twitter debate

The Guardian - Wed, 2015-03-04 04:59

#WeaselPecker trends on Twitter as Photoshop fans have fun with apparently genuine image of weasel flying on bird’s back through London park

It’s that age-old story: weasel meets bird, weasel falls in love with bird, weasel won’t let bird go – even when it flies off.

This extraordinary picture taken by amateur wildlife photographer Martin Le-May has caused some chin-scratching among ornithologists everywhere. Is it possible for a woodpecker to carry a weasel on its back?

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Report on the Threatened Species Commissioner’s first six months on the job now out

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2015-03-03 08:47
Read what’s been achieved and what’s left to do
Categories: Around The Web

Lewis Pugh's Antarctic swim – in pictures

The Guardian - Tue, 2015-03-03 01:10

British endurance swimmer and United Nations Environment Programme patron of the oceans, completes most southerly swim in human history after swimming in the Bay of Whales, Ross Sea

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Coo roo-c'too-coo! Enter the captivating world of pigeon fanciers

The Guardian - Fri, 2015-02-27 23:30

Raising and showing selectively bred birds is a world away from pigeons’ unjust image of ‘rats with wings’ – and it’s a hobby that helps forge lifelong friendships

Don’t feed the pigeons – unless you want to travel the world, forge life-long friendships and fall in love. These are just a few of the many perks of the pigeon hobby touted by fanciers from around the globe.

“Some people make art with paint and clay, we make art with pigeons,” said Leon Stephens, president of the Los Angeles Pigeon Club. Stephens studied genetics in college before starting his career as a health inspector.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Pages

Subscribe to Sustainable Engineering Society aggregator