“Sustainable Aquaculture” – challenges for a growing industry
On 27 February at Aquaculture 2007, the Trienniel Meeting of the World Aquaculture Society, National Shellfisheris Society and American Fisheries Society – Fish Culture Section, the Plenary Lecture was given by Dr Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund. The theme was how the WWF is acting to promote sustainable food production, focusing on aquaculture.…
Rebuilding a Brazilian rainforest
The Brazilian Atlantic rainforest once spanned in excess of a million square kilometres. However, nowadays it barely covers 7% of that. The deforestation that has occurred has left farmers and wildlife with failing springs, receding groundwater and destroyed habitats. An ambitious project in Brazil’s most crowded state, São Paulo, aims to bring the rainforest and…
Thai rubber industry plans to bounce back from El Niño
El Niño, the ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that does so much to shape the course of the world’s weather, is now giving officials in Thailand particular cause for concern. The Meteorological Department in Bangkok has announced that the cool, dry season has lasted an unusually long time, beyond its normal November to January range. The worry is…
Last stand of the orangutan
A ‘state of emergency’ has been declared over the survival of Indonesia’s orangutans. According to an rapid response assessment by UNEP, the situation of both the Bornean orangutan (Pongo abelii) and Sumatran orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is far more critical than previously suggested. Their habitat is under constant attack from illegal logging, forest fires and mining……
Do you have room for a rhino?
The recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that it is very likely that human action is causing climate change; this in turn negatively impacts biodiversity. Species are being forced out of their natural ranges, shifting in response to temperature rise, but not quickly enough for all to survive. The move…
Water or biofuels? You choose.
A recent editorial written by Fred Pearce in Sugaronline.com points out the alarming possible repercussions of growing biofuels for the world’s water supply. As the policy makers seriously consider this option as an apparently climate change-friendly method of fueling the world, we have to consider what affect this might have on other, already stretched, natural…
Measuring out their lives in coffee spoons
Many of us sit down with a cup of coffee and surf the internet for news on the environment; however, our daily latte may be harbouring an environmental disaster all of its very own. It appears that illegally-grown coffee plantations have begun to encroach on the natural habitats of the Sumatran rhino, tiger and elephant.…
Tortilla crisis: how green fuel may be harming Mexico’s poor
In the face of global warming which is now acknowledged by almost all to be at least partly man-made, and of high oil prices and worries about dependence on imports from politically unstable regions, the idea of renewable energy from plants seems a very attractive one. Biofuels aren’t at risk from political upheaval or terrorism,…
Slick seabirds
Since the MSC Napoli ran into difficulties two weeks ago, it’s not only the coastguard and Swedish emigrants who are having to repair the damage done. One RSPCA centre had received more than 420 birds by Wednesday morning and up to 10,000 are expected. Rescued guillemots are being given specialist care although many have been…
Maryland at Risk of Losing Millions of Trees
The Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources are cutting down hundreds of ash trees (genus Fraxinus) in parks and forests this week in Prince George’s County, as a strategy to stop an outbreak of the invasive beetle, emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis, Fairmaire). Since being discovered in the US, in 2003, possibly arriving in…