Farm visits, brother in tow

As a mother of two young boys, I have been following the coverage of the 'petting farm' E. coli outbreak with particular interest. As of 22 September, 74 cases of infection with E. coli O157 have been linked to Godstone Farm in Surrey. Having visited two similar attractions this summer, I am now reflecting on…
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Seal the Deal! Hollywood joins the campaign to combat climate change

Climate change is here and threatens us all; say Hollywood actors, film directors, environmentalists and politicians in a new UN public service announcement series, launched this week, urging viewers to sign the Climate Petition on the Seal the Deal!
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Falling deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon

Things are looking up for the future of the Amazon. A number of positive news stories have appeared in the last month including decreased deforestation rates, regeneration of previously deforested land, new land reform legislation and progress with action on cattle ranching. Here’s a summary – follow the links for more information and sources. Falling…
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PlanetCall.org – Copenhagen Climate Council campaign to gather 1 million signatures from youths around the globe

Credit: PlanetCall.org A website endorsed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, PlanetCall.org, aims to collect 1 million signatures from youth in the final 100 days to COP15. Read on to find out how.
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Food Price Hikes – Crisis and Opportunity?

The drastic rises in prices of food during 2007-2008 had severe consequences, but could such rises present an opportunity? Antonio Martuscelli believes “High food prices in the short-run are very damaging for low-income groups of the population in developing countries. At the same time, high prices are an incentive for producers and extremely important for…
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A prickly encounter

We first noticed the prickly visitor to our garden one evening. It appeared on our patio, but quickly dashed under cover of the plants once spotted. Much to the delight of my eldest son, Mrs (or Mr?) Tiggy-Winkle was on the patio again early morning at breakfast – shouldn't a hedgehog be asleep by now…
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Brazilian soap operas and birth control – a strong link

A bit of CNN news on how Brazil's soap opera are linked to a dramatic drop in birth rates in Brazil, was brought to my attention by fellow ‘handpicked’ blogger Mark Palmer, as I’m the Brazilian blogger at CABI. Although the CNN news is reporting a new study result on the subject, this is actually…
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Trees on farms – area twice the size of the Amazon

Image: World Agroforestry Centre Almost half of the world's farmland has at least 10% tree cover, according to scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre, indicating that farmers, particularly in the developing world, are far less destructive to carbon-storing forests than previously believed. This is the first study to use detailed satellite imagery to quantify the…
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Lost Land of the Volcano

Last night on BBC television in the UK was the first of three programmes of the BBC’s jungle expedition, natural history discovery programmes “Lost Land of the ….” in this Volcano. This time the series, was filmed in the forests of the remote tropical island of New Guinea, primarily exploring the area around the giant…
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Parasite anyone?

European Congress of Tropical Diseases/1st Mediterranean Travel Medicine meeting Monday Sept 7 2009 We are in Verona, home of Juliet & Romeo & apparently Pinocchio, if the street sellers are any indication. My companion is tucking warily into her first swordfish meal, a confirmed meat eater up until now. She remarks that her uncle had…
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