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Headlines from week beginning 8 January 2018 |
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A round up of the top countryside, conservation, wildlife and forestry stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Plans unveiled for 50 million tree new Northern Forest
– Woodland Trust
Map showing how the new Northern Forest will span the width of
the country, from Liverpool to Hull (Woodland Trust) The Woodland Trust and The Community Forest Trust plan to create an
exciting new Northern Forest that will comprise over 50 million trees
over 25 years and will stretch from Liverpool across to Hull with the
M62 as its spine, has received Government backing this morning. The project will embrace the major cities of Liverpool, Manchester,
Sheffield, Leeds, Chester and Hull as well as major towns across the
north. It will deliver major environmental, social and economic benefits
that complement the significant growth, investment and new
infrastructure that is planned for the north of England. The Northern Forest will both accelerate the creation of new woodland
and support sustainable management of existing woods right across the
area. Many more trees, woods and forests will deliver a better
environment for all by: improving air quality in our towns and cities;
mitigating flood risk in key catchments; supporting the rural economy
through tourism, recreation and timber production; connecting people
with nature; and helping to deliver improvements to health and wellbeing
through welcoming and accessible local green spaces. With a population in excess of 13m that is expected to rise by 9%
over the next 20 years and with woodland cover at just 7.6%, below the
UK average of 13%, and far below the EU average of 44%, the North of
England is ripe to reap the benefits of such a project. Tree planting rates are dramatically low with tree planting in 2016
being only 700 hectares against the Government’s target of 5000 hectares
a year; there is a need for drastic change. Response
Extend post Brexit incentives to existing woodlands
- Royal Forestry Society The Royal Forestry Society (RFS) has welcomed Environment Secretary
Michael Gove's plans post Brexit to incentivise farmers who enhance the
natural environment, including planting trees but warns incentives must
also include bringing existing woods back into management as well as to
planting new woods.
Safety fears cited as main reason why more children don’t travel
actively to school - Sustrans Fears over physical safety has been cited as the main barrier
preventing parents from allowing their children to travel actively to
school, new
Twenty nine percent of parents said a lack of
cycle routes was a barrier for their child travelling actively to school
each day (Sustrans) The findings come from the School Travel Survey for Parents, released
today by Sustrans Scotland and the Scottish Parent Teacher Council. It found that 42.4% of parents felts that unsafe walking and cycling
routes, a lack of or inadequate pavements, ineffective or lack of
crossings, unsafe school entrances and dangerous driving were all major
factors which prevented their children from walking, cycling or
scootering to school. Twenty nine percent of parents also said a lack of cycle routes was a
barrier for their child travelling actively to school each day. The survey, of 1,232 parents from across Scotland, also revealed that
convenience for parents was a key factor in influencing whether or not
their children travelled actively to school (32.0% of responses). A lack
of time (24.7%) was also the third highest barrier for parents when it
came to active travel for their children. Safety concerns were the common theme for parents in urban and rural
areas along with areas of high and low deprivation in Scotland. In rural
and deprived areas these concerns manifested themselves in higher levels
of driving and bus travel, along with more children being accompanied
to school by an adult in areas of high deprivation.
Boost for north Shropshire’s bees thanks to Shropshire Council’s new
countryside membership scheme – Shropshire
Council North Shropshire’s bees are set for a brighter future thanks to money
raised from Shropshire Council’s new countryside membership scheme.
Now, the money raised in the first year of the scheme is to be used
to improve and enhance the Bee Metropolis that sits alongside The Mere
at Ellesmere and provides a home to solitary bees and other
invertebrates. (see notes) The Bee Metropolis at The Mere in Ellesmere (Shropshire Council) The planned work includes enhanced wildflower beds and new
information boards showing types of British bees and the food plants
they require to survive. It will be carried out in early summer 2018, and the start of work
will be marked with a special bee-themed day of events and activities at
the site, including a bee safari run by the Bumblebee Conservation
Trust. Further details will be announced shortly. Meanwhile, the Shropshire’s Great Outdoors scheme has been developed
for its second year to appeal to a greater range of people, and the list
of member benefits has also been revised and improved.
World-leading microbeads ban takes effect -
Defra Today (Tuesday 9 Jan) the government's ban on microbeads in cosmetics
and personal care products comes takes effect. A ban on the manufacture of products containing microbeads has come
into force today – a landmark step in the introduction of one of the
world’s toughest bans on these harmful pieces of plastic. Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey has announced that manufacturers
of cosmetics and personal care products will no longer be able to add
tiny pieces of plastic known as ‘microbeads’ to rinse-off products such
as face scrubs, toothpastes and shower gels. These damaging beads can cause serious harm to marine life, but the
UK’s ban – praised by campaigners as one of the toughest in the world –
will help to stop billions of microbeads ending up in the ocean every
year. Alongside the success of the government’s 5p plastic bag charge –
which has taken nine billion bags out of circulation – the ban puts the
UK at the forefront of international efforts to crack down on plastic
pollution. Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: “The world’s seas and
oceans are some of our most valuable natural assets and I am determined
we act now to tackle the plastic that devastates our precious marine
life.”
Agricultural fungicide attracts honey bees, study finds
- University of Illinois When given the choice, honey bee foragers prefer to collect sugar
syrup laced with the fungicide chlorothalonil over sugar syrup alone,
Fungicides are among the top contaminants of honey bee hives and
can interfere with the bees’ ability to metabolize other pesticides.
Photo by L. Brian Stauffer The puzzling finding comes on the heels of other studies linking
fungicides to declines in honey bee and wild bee populations. One recent
study, for example, found parallels between the use of
chlorothalonil and the presence of Nosema bombi, a fungal
parasite, in bumble bees. Greater chlorothalonil use also was linked to
range contractions in four declining bumble bee species. Other research has shown that European honey bees have a very limited
repertoire of detoxifying enzymes and that exposure to one potentially
toxic compound – including fungicides – can interfere with their ability
to metabolize others. “People assume that fungicides affect only fungi,” said University of
Illinois entomology professor and department head May
Berenbaum, who led the new research with postdoctoral researcher
Ling-Hsiu Liao. “But fungi are much more closely related to animals than
they are to plants. And toxins that disrupt physiological processes in
fungi can also potentially affect them in animals, including insects.” The paper “Behavioral responses of
honey bees (Apis mellifera) to natural and synthetic
xenobiotics in food” is available online and
from the U. of I. News Bureau.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-15066-5
Study suggests exposure to trees, the sky and birdsong in cities
beneficial for mental wellbeing – Kings
College London Researchers at King’s College London, landscape architects J & L Gibbons and art foundation Nomad Projects have used smartphone-based technology to assess the relationship between nature in cities and momentary mental wellbeing in real time. They found that (i) being outdoors, seeing trees, hearing birdsong, seeing the sky, and feeling in contact with nature were associated with higher levels of mental wellbeing, and that (ii) the beneficial effects of nature were especially evident in those individuals with greater levels of impulsivity who are at greater risk of mental health issues
Their paper, ‘Urban Mind: Using Smartphone Technologies to
Investigate the impact of Nature on Mental Wellbeing in Real Time’ has
been published in BioScience today (Wednesday 10 January). The researchers developed a smartphone-based app, Urban Mind, to
examine how exposure to natural features in cities affects a person’s
mental wellbeing. The Urban Mind app monitored 108 individuals who collectively
completed 3,013 assessments over a one-week period. In each assessment, participants answered several questions about
their current environment and momentary mental wellbeing. GPS-based
geotagging was used to monitor their exact location throughout the
1-week trial. The results showed significant immediate and time lagged associations
with mental wellbeing for several natural features: trees, the sky and
birdsong. These associations were still evident several hours after
exposure to trees, the sky and birdsong had taken place, indicating
time-lasting benefits.
Ship noise affects ability of marine species to communicate
– The University of Auckland University of Auckland scientists have carried out the first-ever
large scale investigation into the effects of ship noise in the waters
of the Hauraki Gulf. The research shows a significant reduction in the amount of
“communication space” available for at least two key marine species.
Rosalyn Putland and colleague installing a
hydrophone in the Hauraki Gulf (The University of Auckland) Suspended 1m to 2m above the seafloor, the hydrophones recorded two
minutes of data every 20 minutes. The study focused on two species which use sound to communicate,
Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni) and the common reef fish, bigeye
(Pempheris adspersa). It found noise from cargo, container and tanker vessels overlapped
their vocalisations up to 20 percent of the time. Every time a vessel passed within 10km of a listening station, it
reduced communication space for bigeyes by up to 61.5 percent and by up
to 87.4 percent for Bryde’s whales. Research has shown bigeyes can
communicate over distances of up to 31 metres, so a passing ship will
reduce this to less than 12 metres. The concept of “communication space” can be likened to the hubbub of
a cocktail party where the ability to hear what is going on is reduced
the louder the party becomes, says study co-author Associate Professor
Craig Radford. “Communication space is the range at which two species
can hear each other and this study has found the range at which bigeyes
and Bryde’s whales can communicate is significantly reduced when a ship
comes past.” The reduction of communication space for marine species is becoming
an increasing concern for scientists worldwide as more is learned about
how sound is used among groups of species to ensure survival including
finding a mate, defending territory and warning of predators.
Blanket Bog Track Trial Success – The
Moorland Association For years land managers have faced the challenge of trying to protect
one of the UK’s most prized environmental landscapes as they work.
Image: The Moorland Association A study has been published that demonstrates that it is possible to
use some vehicles on blanket bog habitats while minimising damage. Blanket bog is internationally important for plants and animals and
has an impact on drinking water quality. Blanket bogs are an integral part of uplands in the UK and are
managed for sheep grazing, grouse shooting, and support other leisure
activities such as fell running, walking, bird watching and
orienteering. Vehicle access is primarily required for shepherding and grouse moor
management activities including predator control, vegetation management
and transporting shooting visitors to areas of moorland on shoot days.
They can also be used to access the moors for restoration work.
Government's vision for a greener future launched - Defra Today the government has published its 25 Year Environment Plan. A pledge to eliminate avoidable waste, introduce new safeguards for
wildlife and connect more children with nature are among the ambitious
plans for a greener future outlined by Prime Minister Theresa May and
Environment Secretary Michael Gove today. In a major speech today, the Prime Minister has launched the
government’s landmark 25 Year Environment Plan, setting out how we will
improve the environment over a generation by creating richer habitats
for wildlife, improving air and water quality and curbing the scourge of
plastic in the world’s oceans.
In a world-first, the 25 Year Environment Plan also sets out how we
will use a natural capital approach to help us see the additional
benefits – whether that is improved health and wellbeing, or national
prosperity – in every part our environment, helping improve and direct
decision making, and guiding new development. Response:
CPRE reaction to 25-year Environment Plan -
CPRE CPRE is delighted at the Government’s commitment to improving the
environment shown in the 25-year plan launched today. But it warned that to Government needs to follow up its vision with
actions to make sure we use resources better, from plastics to land, if
its vision is to be delivered. Belinda Gordon, Head of Government and Rural Affairs at the Campaign
to Protect Rural England said: “The introduction of a 25-year Environment Plan is a fantastic
commitment to long-term investment in the health, protection and
enhancement of our countryside. We are delighted to see the Government
taking measures to improve our National Parks, Green Belts and wider
landscapes. “However, despite the Government’s best intentions, we are concerned
that the plan does not adequately address the growing development
pressures on England’s countryside. England’s land is a finite resource
– it is vital that we ensure we have a planning system that ensure the
best use of land, while protecting our landscape and the wider natural
environment. We look forward to working with the Government to make sure
our planning system delivers what our communities and environment need.” Reaction:
Trusts chief Stephanie give cautious welcome to green plan
- Lancashire Wildlife Trust Prime Minister Theresa May has recognised the importance of the
environment and young people in her speech today but will her Government
be able to these follow these fine words with actions? Commenting on the speech on the environment and the publication of
the 25 Year Plan today, Stephanie Hilborne OBE, Chief Executive of The
Wildlife Trusts, said: “The PM’s speech shows that, at last, a
Government is seeing how much the environment means to people, not least
young people. "There are fantastic words and ambitions for land and sea that raise
the spirits - but the lack of legal underpinning is a fundamental flaw.
What is the point of gently urging the horticulture sector to phase out
the use of peat, when for decades it has been plundering the beautiful
moors and mosses of the UK and now of Eastern Europe? What hope can we
draw from a promise to return wildlife to our land when there could be a
change of mood in a few weeks, or months’ time? "There must be an ambitious Environment Act in the next Parliament or
all this is simply the Government saying what the voluntary sector has
been saying for a long time. It needs to act. “It's good to hear that this new plan is, in theory, meant to work
across Government departments. In practice though, there is no
commitment from the Ministry of Housing that planning permissions will
be granted only if there is high quality green infrastructure included,
or from the Department of Health to implement green prescribing across
the nation. A Nature Recovery Network is certainly essential but it must
be in law, and work across urban and rural areas. “Unless more Government leadership is shown, our wildlife will
continue to decline and with it our mental health as even more people
become isolated from the benefits of day to day contact with nature." Reaction Buglife welcomes the great intentions of the Government’s new 25 Year
Environment Plan, particularly in relation to restoring pollinator
populations, and urges the Government to bring forward the enabling
legislation before BREXIT. The 25-Year Environment Plan, launched today by the Prime Minister,
is a broad and considered agenda to address many of the key issues that
are currently causing environmental harm. The plan commits not only to stop environmental degradation but to
reverse it, recognising that we must value wildlife “for in its own
right” as well as its economic importance and acknowledging that a new
approach is needed “to agriculture, land use and fisheries which puts
the environment first.” For the bugs and bees the most significant commitment in the Plan is
to restore wildflower habitats and a ‘Nature Recovery Network’ involving
500,000 hectares of additional wildlife habitat. Such a programme
could help fill Britain’s B-Lines with wildflower meadows. Matt Shardlow, CEO of Buglife said: “The destruction of 97% of
wildflower meadows has left our countryside bereft; it is fantastic news
that there will be a serious national mission to restore meadows to the
countryside. It is essential for the survival of bees and other
insects that we rebuild a functioning network of wildflower corridors
across the UK”.
New guidelines call for homes for people and wildlife
- The Wildlife Trust Why and how to build nature-friendly housing developments New guidelines published by The Wildlife Trusts today show how new
housing developments can be built in a way that provides people with
greener, inspirational homes which help to reverse decades of wildlife
and habitat decline.
‘Homes for people and wildlife - how to build housing in a
nature-friendly way’ is published at a time when the Government has
recently committed to building a further 300,000 homes a year until
2022. This means that about 36 square miles will be given over to new
housing developments annually – that’s an area larger than Brighton &
Hove every year*. The Wildlife Trusts believe that the natural
environment must be put at the heart of planning in order to give the
government a chance of meeting its commitment to be the first generation
to leave the environment in a better state than we found it, and to
build new homes and communities that people enjoy living in. Rachel Hackett, Living Landscapes Development Manager for The
Wildlife Trusts says: “A huge challenge lies ahead – thousands of new houses are to be
built yet we need to restore the natural world. We’re calling on the
government and local authorities to build beautiful, nature-friendly
communities in the right places. Over the past century we have lost
natural habitats on an unprecedented scale. Yet nature has its own
innate value. It also makes us happy and we depend on the things that it
gives us. Our new guidelines show that it’s possible to have both, so
people can enjoy birdsong, reap the benefits of raingardens which soak
up floodwater, and plants that bees and other pollinators need to
survive. With good design the costs of doing this are a tiny proportion
of the overall cost of a housing development, but represent a big
investment for the future.” The Wildlife Trusts are calling for the current focus on numbers of
new homes to be replaced by a visionary approach to where and how we
build. Response:
LGA responds to new Wildlife Trusts guidelines
- Local Government Association
(image: LGA) Responding to new guidelines published by the Wildlife Trusts on
building nature-friendly housing, Cllr Martin Tett, the Local Government
Association’s Housing spokesman, said: “But they need the planning tools to make sure developers build good
quality homes in the right places. “Government should work with councils to establish a clear, robust
and transparent viability procedure which ensures the delivery of
affordable housing, infrastructure and other amenities that communities
need to back development and create great places to live.”
Tackling
marine litter - Scottish Government Proposal to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic cotton buds. Plans to introduce legislation to ban the manufacture and sale of
plastic stemmed cotton buds have been announced by Environment Secretary
Roseanna Cunningham. The proposals will be put to public consultation and would position
Scotland as the first country in the UK to legislate against these
environmentally damaging items. Plastic cotton buds are consistently listed in the top ten forms of
beach litter in surveys by the Marine Conservation Society and Scottish
environmental charity Fidra has been working with industry to promote
biodegradable alternatives. Announcing the Scottish Government’s latest move to tackle the main
sources of marine plastic pollution, Ms Cunningham said: “Banning plastic cotton buds would be a clear sign of our ambition to
address marine plastics and demonstrate further leadership on this
issue. Despite various campaigns, people are continuing to flush litter
down their toilets. This has to stop. “Scotland’s sewerage infrastructure collects and treats some 945
million litres of wastewater each day. These systems are not designed to
remove small plastic items such as plastic buds which can kill marine
animals and birds that swallow them. “These products are completely unnecessary as biodegradable
alternatives are readily available. The need for action is clear and I
would encourage everyone with an interest in safeguarding our natural
environment to take part in the consultation when it opens.”
New record for seal pups born at England’s largest colony
– National Trust
This year’s count of 2,700 seals at the National Trust’s Blakeney
Point National Nature Reserve, England’s largest seal colony, has broken
all previous records. The tally is a far cry from 2001 when just 25 pups
were born. The grey seal colony had grown every year since recordings began in
2001, up until 2014/15. Last year, the team recorded 2,366 pups. Each year, rangers from the conservation charity spend several months
monitoring the success rate of the breeding seals, which is crucial to
understanding how the population is faring. This year’s count, which
began on 23 October 2017, was also a record, as it was the earliest
recorded date for a grey seal birth on the Point. National Trust Ranger, Ajay Tegala, said: “Blakeney Point is the
perfect breeding site for grey seals, not least because of the absence
of predators and relative remoteness which keeps disturbances to a
minimum. “There’s also plenty of space to support the large numbers of seals
on the sandy beach, with sheltered sand dunes further inland providing
additional protection from bad weather. The east coast has escaped some
of the worst storms to hit the UK this winter, with reserves on the west
coast faring less well following Hurricane Ophelia in October.”
Avon Wildlife Trust Response to Bristol City Council’s Consultation on
Parks and Green Spaces Avon Wildlife Trust has today responded to Bristol City Council’s
public consultation on the future of funding for the city’s parks, and
voiced concerns that the proposed budget cuts could lead to habitats and
wildlife being harmed - including wildflower-rich hay meadows being lost
forever. AWT is encouraging others to respond to the consultation and
put forward their views on the planned cost-cutting. The consultation is underway as Bristol City Council seeks ways to
reduce annual spending on parks by £2.8 million by April 2019. One
approach the council is putting forward is to increase income from parks
including through allowing more commercial events, concessions and
advertising to take place within parks. In addition, the council is also
consulting (proposal 8 of the consultation) on a plan to decrease the
amount of money spent on maintaining the parks, and reduce or in some
cases stop grass cutting, pruning shrubs and hedges, collecting fallen
leaves, and cutting hay meadows. AWT understands the stark funding reality Bristol City Council faces
and the need to reduce costs for parks. We also recognise how much work
the council is doing to explore new and creative approaches to managing
these green spaces into the future and we’re keen to continue supporting
them to do this. However, AWT is concerned that reducing the current
level of maintenance work will result in less diverse habitats for
wildlife within our parks – spaces where currently otters, kingfishers,
slow worms, and a host of other birds, insects and mammals thrive. AWT is firmly against the proposal to reduce the number of meadow
sites having hay cuts, and fear this will lead to Bristol losing a rare
and valuable habitat for wildlife and a beautiful landscape for people
to enjoy. Wildflower-rich meadows are now a rare habitat -with the UK
having just 3% of the areas of meadow we had in the 1930s, and Bristol
City Council has a responsibility to look after and enhance the meadows
it owns.
New studies aim to boost social science methods in conservation research
– University of Exeter Scientists have produced a series of papers designed to improve
research on conservation and the environment. A group of researchers, led by the University of Exeter, have
contributed to a special feature of the
journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution to examine commonly used
social science techniques and provide a checklist for scientists to
follow. Traditional conservation biology has been dominated by quantitative
data (measured in numbers) but today it frequently relies on qualitative
methods such as interviews and focus group discussions. The aim of the special feature is to help researchers decide which
techniques are most appropriate for their study, and improve the
“methodological rigour” of these techniques. “Qualitative
techniques are an important part of the curriculum for most
undergraduate, graduate and doctoral studies in biodiversity
conservation and the environment,” said Dr Nibedita Mukherjee, of the
University of Exeter, who coordinated the special feature of the
journal. “Yet the application of these techniques is often flawed or
badly reported.” Dr Mukherjee, of the Centre
for Ecology and Conservation of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall,
added: “In putting together this special feature, we urge greater
collaboration across the disciplines within conservation, incorporating
rigorous use of qualitative methods. Scientific publications Nathan J. Kleist et al., "Chronic anthropogenic noise disrupts glucocorticoid signaling and has multiple effects on fitness in an avian community," PNAS (2017). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1709200115
Border, J. A., Atkinson, L. R., Henderson, I. G. and Hartley, I. R.,
Nest monitoring does not affect nesting success of Whinchats Saxicola
rubetra. Ibis. Accepted Author Manuscript.
doi:10.1111/ibi.12574
Alison M. Bell, Rebecca Trapp, Jason Keagy.
Parenting behaviour is highly heritable in male stickleback R. Soc.
open sci. 2018 5 171029; DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171029. Keng-Lou James Hung, Jennifer M. Kingston, Matthias Albrecht, David
A. Holway, Joshua R. Kohn.
The worldwide importance of honey bees as pollinators in natural
habitats
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CJS is not responsible for content of external sites. Details believed correct but given without prejudice. Disclaimer: the views expressed in these news pages do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of CJS. |
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research
has revealed.
The
‘Shropshire’s Great Outdoors’ scheme was launched in December 2016 with
all membership fees put towards the maintenance of Shropshire Council’s
countryside parks and sites.
researchers
report in the journal Scientific Reports.
Image:
Kings College London
PhD
candidate Rosalyn Putland and Associate Professor Craig Radford from the
Institute of Marine Science combined sound recordings from four
hydrophone “listening stations” over a nine month period with automatic
ship tracking data to track underwater noise contributed by shipping.
Now,
new research has provided a big boost to safeguarding fragile upland
blanket bogs along access routes.
The
final count is in and National Trust rangers have confirmed it’s a
record-breaking year for the number of seal pups born this winter.
