The Guardian
Composting success with Guardian wrap | Brief letters
I have just turned my “active” compost heap, which has received all the Guardian biodegradable bags since they were introduced last year. I am pleased to say the older bags are barely recognisable and are well on their way to forming nice new compost. By the time the “maturing” heap is emptied in the spring, I expect all the bags will have disappeared and will help grow the next crop of potatoes – a virtuous circle. Well done on your initiative.
Jonathan Hammonds
Shrewsbury, Shropshire
• Congratulations on your brave decision to stop taking money from companies that extract fossil fuels (Guardian drops ads from fossil fuel companies, 30 January). Greenpeace calls for others to follow suit, prompting this marmalade consumer (who merely adds the labels to his wife’s confection) to triple his admittedly tiny subscription to your inspiring newspaper.
David Yates
Eccles, Greater Manchester
Jim Smith obituary
Jim Smith, who has died aged 75, devoted his entire adult life to the River Ouse in Sussex. In his role as head bailiff for the Ouse Angling Preservation Society for 55 years and a trustee of the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust, he sold and checked fishing permits, policed the fishery, supervised the work of volunteers and helped monitor sewage and pollution.
With his battered tweed trilby and deep Sussex brogue, Jim was the archetypal river bailiff. I first met him some 20 years ago when I began fishing the Ouse for its elusive sea trout. In 2015 Jim was interviewed by the Guardian for a feature headlined The Old Man and the River, highlighting environmental problems facing the Ouse and other rivers throughout Britain.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
The pick of the world’s best flora and fauna photos, including a plea for a crocodile trapped in a tyre
Continue reading...Cropped-out climate activist Vanessa Nakate urges media to hear Africans
Ugandan activist says she hopes storm over Davos photo will help shift narrative
The Ugandan climate activist who was cropped out of a press photo in Davos has said many African activists experience the same erasure but feel unable to speak up.
The Associated Press apologised last week after it cropped Vanessa Nakate out of a photo she had posed for alongside fellow activists Greta Thunberg, Loukina Tille, Luisa Neubauer and Isabelle Axelsson.
Continue reading...Australia fires: timelapse shows huge smoke cloud rising near Canberra – video
Timelapse video shows a cloud of smoke rising behind houses in southern Tuggeranong, near the Australian capital, on Friday.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has declared a state of emergency as bushfires continue spreading in the south of Canberra, and the Orroral bushfire has grown to 8% of territory’s land mass
- Australia fires live: Canberra bushfires threaten suburbs as heatwave hits NSW and Victoria – latest updates
- Hot, sticky and stormy weather forecast for parts of Australia's south and south-east
They survived fire and toxic fumes. So what happened next to Notre Dame's bees?
Hives that survived catastrophic Paris cathedral blaze are healthier than ever, says beekeeper
It is a crisp winter morning and the area around Notre Dame is sealed off as it has been since the fire last April that devastated the cathedral.
Those in the know, however, especially those with the keenest of eyes, might spot some small movement high up to the south of the stricken and blackened structure.
Continue reading...Flood grants: hundreds of families to miss out due to ‘obscene postcode lottery’
Cash promised by Boris Johnson only for those flooded from 8-18 November and where at least 25 houses affected
Hundreds of flooded households will not receive a penny of the thousands of pounds in compensation announced by Boris Johnson because of an “obscene postcode lottery” being applied by the government.
As Tory leader, Johnson promised that grants of up to £5,000 would be made available for victims of flooding after visiting Fishlake in Yorkshire last November in the run-up to the general election. Another set of payouts of £500 for households and £2,500 for businesses were also announced.
Continue reading...RSPCA urges caution over buying puppies online after spate of deaths
Complaints over illegal puppy farms have increased dramatically over the past decade says charity, after concerns raised over Brighton breeder
Puppy Maggie had been with the family for less than 24 hours when she began to show signs of sickness. Grace Piper from Worthing, West Sussex, had picked up the eight-week-old from a breeder in Brighton that advertised its puppies on pets4homes.co.uk for £750 each in cash.
“She started being sick, she had diarrhoea, was lethargic, dehydrated and withdrawn,” Piper told the Guardian. “We called the vets [and] were told to feed her chicken and rice and hope for an improvement. All the time we were encouraging her to drink or eat something but all she wanted to do was sleep. We were increasingly worried.”
Continue reading...Make ban on Chinese wildlife markets permanent, says environment expert
Temporary ban to curb coronavirus is not enough, says environmental leader Jinfeng Zhou
A temporary ban on wildlife markets in China to curb the spread of coronavirus is “not enough” and should be made permanent, a prominent Chinese environmental leader has told the Guardian.
Echoing calls from experts worldwide who have denounced the trade for its damaging impact on biodiversity as well as the spread of disease, Jinfeng Zhou, secretary general of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), said the ban failed to address the root cause of the outbreak, which was poor regulation and high levels of illegal trade.
Continue reading...Defence force flies experts to Kosciuszko in corroboree frog rescue mission
Work has begun to preserve endangered southern corroboree frogs after protected areas were destroyed by bushfires
The Australian defence force flew threatened species experts into remote parts of Kosciuszko national park after bushfires burnt enclosures for the southern corroboree frog.
Three out of four enclosures that protect the critically endangered frogs from the deadly chytrid fungus were burnt in recent fires and the fourth is still threatened by an active fire.
Continue reading...Court orders logging to stop in parts of Victoria's central highlands after fires
Conservation group wins case against VicForests to protect threatened species habitat after unprecedented bushfires
VicForests has been forced to immediately stop logging in parts of Victoria’s central highlands after the supreme court granted an injunction to a citizen science group pushing for a stop to logging of unburnt areas in the wake of bushfires.
Wildlife of the Central Highlands (Wotch) has launched a fresh case against VicForests in a bid to stop logging of threatened species habitat after the country’s unprecedented fire season.
Continue reading...Plastic waste exports targeted in new environment bill
Binding targets on air, water quality and wildlife proposed to replace EU rules
Powers to prevent the export of plastic waste to developing countries, binding targets on air and water quality and the protection of wildlife will be enshrined in law under the environment bill due to be introduced in parliament on Thursday.
The commitments will replace the UK’s current obligations on environmental protection under EU law, and the UK will be able to diverge in future from new requirements in EU regulations.
Continue reading...Greta Thunberg files application to trademark her name
Climate activist also applied to register name of climate movement Fridays for Future
The climate activist Greta Thunberg has said she has applied to register her name and that of the Fridays For Future movement she founded in 2018, which has gone global and catapulted her to international fame.
The move would allow legal action against persons or companies trying to use her name which are not in line with her values or that of her movement, she said.
Continue reading...Huge rise in Scotland's deer cull needed to protect land, says report
Experts call for controversial measures to control numbers, estimated at up to 1 million
An expert report has called for hundreds of thousands of deer to be culled in Scotland to cope with an unsustainable surge in numbers.
The report estimates that up to 1 million wild deer could be roaming Scotland, nearly double some previous estimates, causing significant damage to the landscape and hampering calls to increase tree cover to tackle the climate crisis.
Continue reading...DDT and other banned chemicals pose threat to vulnerable dolphins on Great Barrier Reef
Scientists find increasing levels of harmful chemicals, causing health issues and links to mass mortality events
Harmful levels of long-banned chemicals, including the pesticide DDT, have been found in the tissues of two vulnerable dolphin species swimming in waters flowing into the Great Barrier Reef.
Scientists found levels of the chemicals in the tissues of snubfin dolphins and humpback dolphins had tripled and, in some cases, risen even higher between 2010 and 2015.
Continue reading...Climate breakdown 'is increasing violence against women'
Exclusive: attempts to tackle crisis fail because gender issues are not addressed, report finds
Climate breakdown and the global crisis of environmental degradation are increasing violence against women and girls, while gender-based exploitation is in turn hampering our ability to tackle the crises, a major report has concluded.
Attempts to repair environmental degradation and adapt to climate breakdown, particularly in poorer countries, are failing, and resources are being wasted because they do not take gender inequality and the effects on women and girls into account.
Continue reading...We fear sharks, but humans are the real predators – photo essay
Greenpeace investigator Sophie Cooke spent a month at sea observing the hidden practices behind many of the deaths of 100 million sharks every year
On the end of a hook is a shark much larger than me. Its white belly gleams clean and sleek against the rusty hull of the ship as it is hauled out of the ocean, thrashing about trying to escape. They kill it by severing its spine with a knife.
For a generation, the film Jaws was the source of an irrational fear of sharks, which has probably made it harder for many to connect to their plight. People see it almost as a kill or be killed response. On the high seas, however, it’s clear who the real predators are.
Continue reading...South Africa: wild animals at risk of 'genetic pollution'
Scientists say lions and rhinos among species at risk from breeding of trophy animals
Lions, rhinos and cheetahs are among the wild species at risk of irreversible “genetic pollution” from breeding experiments, scientists have warned.
South African game farmers have increasingly been breeding novel trophy animals, including some freakishly-coloured varieties such as the black impala, golden wildebeest or pure-white springboks.
Continue reading...Grow your own sponges – and other innovative ways to live more sustainably
Could your garden be the key to your zero-waste ambitions? Gardeners at the National Trust’s Knightshayes estate in Devon have grown luffa plants to produce their own sponges in an attempt to cut down on waste. They are as easy to cultivate as courgettes, according to the kitchen garden supervisor, Bev Todd. Just sow the seeds in April or May in a warm and sunny spot, and give the plant a support to scramble up. Once the fruit matures and withers, squeeze it to loosen, and peel off the skin. Wash and remove the seeds and flesh, hang to dry and voilà – your own sustainable sponge.
If you find that inspiring, Zoë Morrison, a blogger and the author of Eco Thrifty Living, has another green-fingered suggestion: “I like to regrow vegetables from their bottoms, so that they can be saved from the bin or the compost heap.” She has successfully regrown lettuce, celery and leeks this way.
Continue reading...More affordable housing 'should be built in national parks'
Carl Lis OBE, chair of National Parks England, warns young people being priced out of scenic areas
More affordable housing should be built in England’s national parks to help communities excluded by spiralling prices driven by second homes, the new chair for the authorities has said.
Carl Lis OBE, chair of National Parks England, has warned that young people and national parks staff are being forced out of some of the most scenic parts of the country by high prices, driven in part by exclusive holiday homes.
Continue reading...