BanTheBulb.Org energy-efficiency campaign launched!

Earth-Info.Net has just launched it's first online campaign at BanTheBulb.Org!

This campaign aims: (1.) to increase the use of energy-efficient light bulbs, (2.) to encourage the taxing and phasing out of incandescent light bulbs, (3.) to propose a time limit for the replacement of light fittings requiring the use of incandescent light bulbs and for altering the shopping habits of consumers and (4.) to include environmental costs in the prices consumers pay for their light bulbs and to reward those who switch to using less polluting light bulbs.

In 2001, lighting accounted for 101 billion kWh (8.8%) of U.S. household electricity use. Incandescent lamps, which are commonly found in households, are highly inefficient sources of light because about 90% of the energy used is lost as heat. For that reason, lighting has been one focus of efforts to increase the efficiency of household electricity consumption. Energy-efficient light bulbs use up to 67% less energy that traditional light bulbs, with no loss in light. They also last 8 to 10 times longer, delivering up to seven years of light.

This campaign has been established in order to illustrate that it is possible to tackle our energy and climate problems by using technological solutions which already exist, work well + save money.

However, in order to kick-start this change we must begin to turn fine words and good intentions into action. Hinting at possible solutions, but not being prepared to introduce the new laws and taxes or the binding targets necessary to guarantee the delivery of far greater energy-efficiency, has not worked.

On the bright side, switching to energy-efficient light bulbs is something that we could all do quickly and simply, without any serious loss in our quality of life. We would also save ourselves approximately £7 per bulb per year!

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has recommended that the UK should aim to reduce it's greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2050. For this to be achieved we will need to make cuts wherever and whenever they are possible.

Please support this campaign if you agree with it's goals.

Obituary: Prof. Sir Richard "Dick" Southwood

Earth Info is very sad to have learnt that Prof. Sir Richard "Dick" Southwood died on Wednesday 26 October, 2005.

Prof. Southwood was the one of the fathers of modern ecology and an important mentor to many ecologists.

Prof. Southwood founded and chaired the Division of Life Sciences at Imperial College London. At Imperial's Silwood Park field station he was responsible for fostering a golden period in British ecology and entomology, and this led to him moving to Oxford University in 1979.

In addition to fulfilling the requirements of their thesis examiners, many of Prof. Southwood's PhD students were encouraged to become an expert in their own order of insects. This helped his students to widen their scientific horizons, and to ensure that the world benefitted from a new generation of top-class entomologists.

A former Vice-President of the Royal Society from 1982-1984 and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Prof. Southwood was responsible for attracting both Lord Robert May and Bill Hamilton to Oxford University's Zoology Department.

Prof. Southwood was also the person the government turned to for emergency scientific advice, in the form of the Southwood Working Party, at the outbreak of Mad Cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in the UK. His Working Party was horrified to discover that heavily infected cows were still going into the human food chain. As a result, they immediately recommended that all diseased cattle carcasses should be burnt, and that cattle feed containing ruminants (thought to be the source of infection) should be banned.

In addition to producing his own important work on insects and ecological methods, Prof. Southwood encouraged the scientists under him to become more inter-disciplinary. This led to an excellent atmosphere for both academic research and co-operation. It also resulted in Richard Dawkins popularising Bill Hamilton's work on kin selection, and to the physicist Lord Robert May refining his own ideas on chaos theory in relation to biological systems.

Very kindly, Prof. Southwood once told me in the lift at work (where he talked to almost everybody) that he considered me to be his academic grandson, as two of my Phd supervisors had completed their PhDs under him. Today, I feel that all ecologists have lost the equivalent of a wise and supportive grandfather.

Correction: Many thanks to Prof. Paul Harvey for correcting two factual errors in my original posting. The detailed obituary he co-authored with Prof. John Krebs for the Times newspaper can be read here.

Beavers, Reindeer + Lynx to make a come back in the UK?

The Wilderness Foundation has proposed that 800,000 hectares of Britain should be managed as wilderness reserves.

Such a scheme could help to revitalise rural communities, where farming is likely to become uneconomic over the next 20 years, and allow the re-introduction of species that used to live in Britain, such as beaver, reindeer, lynx, auroch + elk, but which have been eliminated by a combination of hunting, land clearance and intensive agriculture.

This idea has already been supported by major wildlife groups such as the WWF and the RSPCA, and major land owners such as the National Trust and the Forestry Commission.

Proposals have also been presented to the UK Treasury and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

So far, locations which might be suitable for "re-wilding" have been identified in Snowdonia, the Scottish Highlands and the Fens of East Anglia. A further 10 islands, moors and mountain areas have also been be identified as being suitable for native herbivores. Although the possibility of introducing more controversial large predators such as wolves and brown bears seems to have been sidelined, at least for the time being.

The existing proposals build on experiences in South Africa, where people have been encouraged to co-habit with wildlife using a variety of buffer zones, and in Holland, where reclaimed land at Oostvandersplassen has been set aside for re-introduced wildlife.

As the economic case for change gets stronger, the loss of European agricultural subsidies accelerates and the improvements in the quality of national life associated with habitat restoration become clearer perhaps this is an idea who's day has finally come.

... in a separate development six European beavers have just been released on 500 acre estate in the English county of Gloucestershire.

Carbon Rations and Domestic Tradeable Quotas

Green MEP, Caroline Lucas, has called for the introduction of domestic carbon emission rations.

Sometimes called Domestic Tradeable Quotas, personal carbon rations have the potential to assist the process of contraction and convergence in global greenhouse gas emissions.

They would do this by allowing every citizen to emit their fair share of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and forcing those who wish to emit more to pay for the privilege.

Within a limited market, carbon rations would initially be shared out equally. Unused rations would then be sold to others via an open market. Such a system of rationing should help to guarantee minimum living standards and be fairer than leaving access to carbon emissions to those who can afford escalating fossil fuel prices. It should also help to redistribute wealth, especially to those in the developed and developing world who have not contributed to the emission of the greenhouse gases and/or who have cut their historic emissions.

Most of the technology needed to establish and administer a carbon ration scheme is already be available. An electronic carbon credit card could keep track of purchases for fuel, air travel and consumer electronics. Whilst a personal identity card, linked to contact/billing details, could assist with the sending of targetted advice related to the reduction of personal emissions.

Earth Info is due to attend a UKERC-sponsored workshop on DTQs in November and will keep you posted with developments related to this issue.

Bird flu panic ignores and exaggerates risks

BirdLife International have warned that hasty responses to Avian Influenza based on incomplete or unsound data could do great damage to birds and other biodiversity, while actually raising the risk to people and to the economically important poultry industry.

BirdLife International’s Partners throughout Europe, such as the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK ), are working or preparing to work with their governments to monitor migratory wild bird populations and to provide scientific data and expert guidance.

Recent outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza in Europe have occurred along migratory flyways (including the Danube delta, a great gathering place for migratory waterbird) during the autumn migration. There is no concrete evidence that migratory birds have helped transmit the disease between countries or regions, but the possibility cannot be ruled out.

The spread of H5N1 within and beyond South-east Asia appears attributable to movements of infected poultry. The patterns of spread are not consistent with the timing and direction of movements of wild birds. It is likely that H5N1 originated in domestic poultry through mutation of low pathogenic sub-types and was subsequently passed from poultry to wild birds.

Transmission is promoted in domestic flocks due to the density of birds and the consequent close contact with faecal and other secretions through which the virus can be transmitted. Husbandry methods in SE Asia where domestic flocks are often allowed to mix freely with wild birds, especially waterfowl will have facilitated the transmission to migratory waterbirds, leading to several reported instances of die-offs.

There is no evidence that H5N1 infection in humans have been acquired from wild birds. Human infections have occurred in people who have been closely associated with poultry. The risk to human health from wild birds is extremely low and can be minimised by avoiding contact with sick or dead birds. However, there is a possibility that this virus could develop into one that might be transmitted from human to human. If this happens, then it is most likely to happen in SE Asia, from where it could then spread rapidly around the world.

BirdLife International strongly opposes any suggestion that wild birds should be culled as a way of controlling the spread of the disease, on grounds of practicality and effectiveness, as well as conservation. Any such attempts could spread the virus more widely, as survivors disperse to new places, and healthy birds become stressed and more prone to infection. The World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation and OIE (the World Organisation for Animal Health) agree that control of avian influenza in wild birds by culling is not feasible, and should not be attempted.

Similarly, attempts to drain wetlands, to keep waterbirds away are also likely to be counterproductive as well as disastrous for the environment, the conservation of threatened species, and for vital ecosystem services such as flood control and water cleansing. Birds will seek alternative staging places and waterbirds forced to fly further and endure more crowded conditions along their migration route will be more prone to infection. Some Asian and Middle Eastern governments are reported to be already formulating proposals for draining wetlands.

The most efficient control techniques involve improved biosecurity, to reduce contact between poultry and wild birds or infected water sources. Further measures include stricter controls or even bans on movements of domestic poultry, and on wild bird markets. Countries should also ban imports of wild-caught birds from infected areas. Such measures should be introduced worldwide.

BirdLife International therefore welcomes the recommendations by the European Commission that surveillance and biosecurity measures at poultry farms in the European Union should be strengthened, and that the Member States and experts have been advised to increase resources and efforts to monitor migratory bird species.

“We would like to offer our expertise in the Member States through our Partners and invite the EU state administrations to contact our Partners in country for help especially with the wild bird monitoring programmes,” said Dr Clairie Papazoglou, BirdLife International’s Head of EU Policy,.

BirdLife International’s Director of Science, Dr Leon Bennun, stressed the importance of informed and balanced judgement in responses to the threat of avian influenza, and in the public dissemination of information about it.

“It is important that discussions of the issues relating to avian influenza should differentiate between the real problems caused by the spread of the disease within bird populations, especially within the poultry industry, and the theoretical risks of a human pandemic.”

For additional information see the following update pages from:

Birdlife International e.g. There are 144 varieties of Avian Flu, most of which are benign to humans.

World Health Organisation

Food + Agriculture Organisation

Campaigners call for a Climate Change Bill

A coalition of British NGOs and MPs have called for a new law to ensure that the UK reduces its emissions of greenhouse gases. Despite Tony Blair’s concerns about climate change, UK emissions are continuing to rise, and are now higher than they were in 1997 when Labour came to power.

MPs and NGOs launched the details of the proposed new law in Parliament on Wednesday 13 July 2005. They argued that without a legal framework, the UK would fail to make the essential year-on-year cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases.

The importance of tackling climate change was highlighted at the recent G8 summit in Edinburgh, where US opposition blocked any tangible agreement for an international plan of action to tackle the problem.

The Climate Change Bill is supported by:

• Former Environment Ministers from both Labour (Michael Meacher MP) and the Conservatives (John Gummer MP) and the current LibDem environment spokesman (Norman Baker MP).

• 200 MPs who have declared their support for the bill.

• Ten NGOs who have formed a coalition to work for a new climate law. The coalition includes Transport 2000, Friends of the Earth, Help the Aged, the Association for the Conservation of Energy, Christian Aid and WWF-UK.

The new law would:

• Set a legally binding target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3% every year.

• Compel the Prime Minister to report annually to Parliament on progress towards meeting the target.

• Introduce a series of measures to get emission cuts back on track if they do not meet the 3% target report. This would include: requirements on ministers to introduce new policies; greater powers for Select Committees; and ultimately symbolic pay cuts for the Ministers failing to cut emissions.

At the recent general election, all three major parties supported long-term cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, all promising a 60% cut by 2050. Yet emissions have risen in recent years, making it ever harder to meet such a target. As carbon dioxide persists in the atmosphere for many years, the real limit is not simply the level of emissions in 2050, but cumulative emissions between now and then. Without this law, high emissions for the next ten years will mean far bigger annual cuts would be needed by 2050.

Transport 2000 Executive Director Stephen Joseph said: “The UK certainly leads the world in rhetoric on climate change but if our words are to be taken seriously then we must get our own house in order and this means making the connection between climate change and transport choices. We must tackle our increasing car use and the rapid growth in aviation.”

Friends of the Earth's Executive Director, Tony Juniper, said: “Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity. We have a window of opportunity to prevent catastrophic climate change but that gap is narrowing. It is critical that we set ourselves on a pathway to achieve the necessary carbon dioxide reductions. This bill will set us on a sensible and achievable glide path towards the necessary long-term targets.”

Mervyn Kohler of Help the Aged, said: ”Older people are a vulnerable group. For both environmental and behavioural reasons, they are at risk in hot weather and in cold weather. Air pollution is a further health hazard. To manage these risks better, as well as passing on a decent world to future generations, Help the Aged strongly supports this initiative.”

Association for the Conservation of Energy's Director Andrew Warren, said: “The energy efficiency industry needs the reassurance this bill gives that the Government is serious about its long term carbon dioxide reduction targets. We can then ensure the long-term investment necessary to produce new, cutting-edge carbon-saving technologies.”

World Development Movement’s Head of Campaigns and Communications, Benedict Southworth, said: “The impact of climate change will hit the world's poorest harder. Justice for the world's poor requires developed countries to take responsibility for the problems they have caused. By setting out clear emission reduction target the Climate Change Bill will ensure that the UK doesn’t pass the buck to the world’s poorest countries.”

Christian Aid’s senior policy officer, Andrew Pendleton, said: ”Poor people in the developing world are on the frontline of climate change, where increasingly severe weather is making lives and livelihoods more difficult year on year. And yet they have done little themselves to trigger climate change, which is why rich countries must make firm, legally-binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

ACT’s Ron Bailey said: ”Climate change is the greatest threat facing us. Citizens want government to act. The targets in this bill and the mechanisms to hold government and MPs to account are crucial for sustainability and democracy.”

Matthew Davis, WWF-UK`s Climate Change Campaign Director, said: “Targets that can be missed with impunity take us backwards on climate change. They provide an illusion of progress, while covering up the lack of real action to reduce emissions. This bill will make targets meaningful, ensuring that Ministers are individually responsible for staying on track, and spelling out the consequences should they fail. As well as the devastating impact on people, this could mean up to one-third of land-based species facing extinction by the middle of this century while many marine species could also be lost."


For further reading see the following documents:

The Energy Review (UK) - Feb 2002 - Cabinent Office, Policy + Innovation Unit

UK Energy White Paper - Our Energy future - Creating a Low Carbon Economy - Feb 2003

UK Carbon Abatement Technology Strategy document 2005

UK Energy Projections May 2004

G8 Gleneagles Communique

US inspired Asia Pacific Climate Control Pact... BBC analysis

BBC Governors: Dealing with Scientific Uncertainty

The BBC are asking for questions which can be put to their Board of Governors...

I have sent in the following question:

"Will the BBC consider producing new editorial guidelines for the reporting and coverage of scientific uncertainty?

I feel it is wrong for the BBC to continue giving a minority of climate change sceptics, who are mostly funded by the fossil fuel industry, equivalence to the peer-reviewed science and the overwhelming majority of credible scientists.

If you are interested in this topic, I recommend that you read the joint statement produced, in the run up to the G8 meeting in Gleneagles, by the national academies of science from all of the G8 nations (plus China, India and Brazil)."

What I want from the G8

I would like to ask the G8's leaders to show leadership, and to stop making excuses for their failure to end global poverty.

In recent years, the rhetoric in relation to international development has become increasingly warm and positive. However, there remains depressingly little evidence that the majority of the world's richest nations are prepared to commit, even a tiny proportion of their wealth, to lifting hundreds of millions of people out of abject poverty.

In 1997, the UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) amounted to 0.26% of national income. Despite Gordon Brown's commendable efforts, the UK's overseas aid will only reach 0.47% of national income in 2007-2008 (approximately £6.5bn by 2008), and will take until 2012 to reach the 0.7% level.

I urge all of the leaders of the G8 to increase + accelerate their efforts to relieve the world's most impoverished nations of their debt, to make trade fairer and to commit the funds needed to meet agreed development goals.

It is now 35 years since members of UN set themselves the goal of 0.7% (recommended by the 1969 Pearson Commission report "Partners in Development"), and 5 years since almost 190 nations pledged themselves to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The time for talk and reports is over.

It is time to provide the necesssary funds, to implement action and to co-operate for the sake of humanity's disadvantaged majority.


For further information visit the following websites:

Make Poverty History

G8 Gleneagles 2005

G8 Alternatives

Live 8

One World (Canada) : Aid

Invasive carp - trapped by their own behaviour

A weir keeper,Alan Williams, has invented a trap which could help to capture a large proportion of the carp which have invaded the Murray-Darling River Basin in New South Wales, Australia.

Native fish species do not jump, but carp do.

Alan's ingenious trap, developed in collaboration with Ivor Stuart from Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment, takes advantage of this difference in behaviour.

On entering the trap, carp jump into a second cage and trap themselves - ready for later collection. By contrast, native fish swim straight through the trap, without jumping, and leave unharmed.

In trials, this trap has removed up to 90% of the carp in a stretch of river!

Carp were deliberately introduced to Australia in the 1850s, and have also become serious pests in New Zealand, North America and Europe.

As bottom feeders, carp eat aquatic plants and stir up sediments. The muddy water they produce not only has lower light penetration, less plant growth and reduced oxygen concentrations, but is also less suitable for most native fish.

Prior to this invention carp were very difficult to catch. Fortunately, Alan and Ivor have decided not to patent their invention and to make the trap as widely available as possible.

In 2004, Alan and Ivor won a well-deserved A$10,000 Eureka prize from the Australian Museum.

Australia's Balancing Act...

Australia's CSIRO and the University of Sydney have recently published a report entitled Balancing Act A triple bottom line analysis of the Australian economy.

This report provides an overview of the Australian economy using a set of ten environmental, social, and financial indicators.

The environmental indicators are water use, land disturbance, greenhouse emissions and energy use; the social indicators are employment, government revenue and income; and the financial indicators are operating surplus (or profits), exports and imports.

All effects are referred back to a consumption dollar – roughly the dollar spent by a consumer in everyday life. It also shows that each consumption dollar is quite different – some dollars are positive and create employment, or suck in imports or generate government revenue. Other consumption dollars are less positive through their high use of water or production of greenhouse gas emissions.

It is hoped that this relatively simple presentation of highly complex issues will become a powerful tool for people in industry, government and the community who are interested in sustainability and enable them to make decisions based on a contribution to society, environment, AND the economy.

The report can be downloaded in four very large .pdf files: Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Businesses call for long-term climate change targets

The heads of twelve of the UK's biggest companies, including BP, Shell, HSBC Bank, BAA, John Lewis, Scottish Power have signed a joint letter asking the British government to make firm and consistent commitments to long-term action on climate change.

Between them these firms employ 10,000s of people and have a turnover of £452bn.

To date, few of the encouraging statements made about climate change by the UK government have been backed up by long-term, binding commitments.

The classic example of this short-coming is the Energy White Paper. This policy document committed the government to ensuring that 10% of the UK's energy came from renewable sources by 2010.

Unfortunately, the white paper included only non-binding aspirations for 20% of energy to come from renewables by 2020 and for greenhouse gas emissions to be cut by 60% by 2050.

Businesses, such as those in the energy sector, which plan and invest many years ahead have so far refused to spend money on expensive new technologies and infrastructure until they know for certain that future governments will continue to support their investments.

However, the International Energy Agency has estimated that in order to meeting growing demand the world will spend $16,000,000,000 on energy infrastructure over the next 25 years... and there is clearly money to be made by companies which position their businesses in the right way, and do as much as possible to reduce their exposure to risk.

The authors of this letter therefore offer to work with the government to produce the long-term policies needed for British businesses to shift to low carbon technologies and develop the new industries necessary to meet the government's target of reducing CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050.

At present the government doesn't want to make long-term spending commitments or to become unpopular with voters, by increasing energy bills (if only slightly), and businesses aren't prepared to take unnecessary or unprofitable actions, even when they know it's in everyone's long-term interests to minimise the effects of human-induced climate change...

It is to be hoped that this Catch 22 deadlock can be broken, and Earth Info welcomes this letter is a positive step in the right direction.

An introduction to the photographs below...

A long time ago I promised that I would post some stories on my ecological research and travels in Australia... Below are five photographic stories which attempt to fulfill this promise.

These pictures illustrate the ants I was so fascinated by, the Acacia plants whose pollination ecology I studied, the effects of introduced animals on Australia's ecology, the impacts of roads on Australia's plants and animals and how intensive farming has permanently altered vast swathes of Australia's unique and little-studied ecology.

Unfortunately, although the farmers I met were all very kind and hard-working, they had not yet accepted that the climate and soils of Australia were totally unsuited to the long-term farming of European wheat, sheep and cattle.

In my view, Australia's outback is far better suited to the development of high value and unique crops, based on native flora and fauna. Native Australian species differ in that they have evolved to cope with local conditions, and do not consider every year to be a drought year!

Their limited distributions also mean that they are much less susceptible to fluctuations in global prices, or the weather, and offer many of the best tools for tackling Australia's rampant dryland salinity problem.

Human induced, dryland salinity - the result of excessive land clearance pulling up water tables and ancient sea salts - has already desertified millions of acres of the country's best farmland. It now threatens to make Perth and Adelaide's drinking water undrinkable.

I loved my time in Australia, and even became a citizen while I was out there, but cannot hide that I was very disturbed by the lack of awareness, and concern, about the extent and severity of the environmental problems building up in Australia. Which are mostly out of sight and out of mind! The sooner, and more comprehensively, these problems are tackled, the better it will be for everyone who lives in the countryside or who cares about the state of the environment.

P.S. All of the pictures on this site are protected by copyright and may not be copied without permission.

Meat Ants guarding Lycaenid caterpillars from Bull Ant attack

(1.) An Australian Bull Ant viewed under a microscope


(2.) A Bull Ant foraging on Acacia mearnsii


(3.) A Bull Ant returning to its nest with a Lycaenid caterpillar as prey


(4.) Lycaenid caterpillars at different stages of development


(5.) Meat ants tending and guarding a mature Lycaenid caterpillar.

Meat Ants guard Lycaenid caterpillars against predators such as Bull Ants and birds, and parasites such as wasps and flies. In return for being guarded, the caterpillars offer the Meat Ants nutritious secretions from special organs located at the rear, and along the length, of their bodies. The Meat Ants also appear to direct the caterpillar towards fresh foliage and to herd them around the tree.

The Ecology of Australian Acacia

(1.) The foliage of most Australian Acacia species is bipinnate in juveniles, but phyllodinous in adults. A phyllode, is made from thickened leaf midrib, and more resistant to water loss than normal leaf tissue.


(2.) In Africa and America all the flowers within an Acacia flower head open simultaneously over 1-3 days. In Australia, the flowers within Acacia flower heads often opened in a staggered fashion, over several days.


(3.) The long-lasting flower heads of Acacia melanoxylon change colour as they age. This change in the colour is thought to allow all the flower heads on a plant to attract pollinators from a distance, and then to guide pollinating insects to the flower heads bearing the most pollen once they are close enough to discriminate between different flower heads.


(4.) My PhD research found that hoverflies were more frequent and reliable flower visitors to Acacia flower heads than native bees. It is possible that hoverflies flies, and some beetles, are important pollinators to some Australian Acacia. Unfortunately, large scale land-clearance and pesticide use in Australia have resulted in many pollinators being lost. If the pollinators of more native plants are not discovered, and protected, it will be impossible to conserve threatened species or to revegetate Australia using native plants adapted to local conditions.


(5.) An Acacia pycnantha flower head bearing large numbers of seed pods. It is possible that introduced honey bees, which collect large amounts of pollen from single flower heads and plants, were responsible for the unusually large numbers of seeds being produced on this species. It remains to be discovered whether honey bees are affecting the quality of the Acacia seed bank, due to their collecting and moving pollen between plants in new ways.

Animals that have been introduced to Australia

(1.) An Australian farm dog.


(2.) A feral kitten left in a hollow tree by its mother.


(3.) An anti-fruit fly sign on the border between South and Western Australia.


(4.) Camel grazing on farmland near Nimbin, New South Wales.


(5.) A roadsign indicating that camels are a road hazard over vast areas of Australia. During the 1880s, camels were introduced to Australia in order to transport goods across the dry expanses of Australia. When steam railways made camels uneconomic as a mode of transport the predominantly-Afghan camel herders released their animals into the wild. With no natural predators and plenty of suitable food there are now thought to be up to 500,000 camels roaming around Australia. These numbers can result in heavy grazing and place a strain on water resources which are already scarce.

The impacts of roads on Australia's environment

(1.) Cows crossing in front of two roadtrains. The skid marks on the road suggest road accidents involving animals are common.


(2.) A sculpture inviting drivers to avoid livestock on the road.


(3.) A dead kangaroo found on a road in South Australia. Roadtrains hit so many wild animals that they are usually fitted with roo bars made from huge iron girders. Drivers don't always stop for injured animals, and many dead animals are left on the road.


(4.) A highly endangered Acacia cochlocarpa plant can be seen growing on this roadside verge. South-western Australia has been heavily cleared for farming. Despite the high level of land clearance this region is still one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Unfortunately, this rare plant is at risk of being bulldozed in order to protect drivers from animals which sometimes stand on the side of the road. With approximately 100 individuals remaining in existence this plant really needs physical protection. This could involve diverting the road or the erection of a fence.


(5.) Travellers often transfer fruit, and the insects living on them, between states. States with large citrus and wine industries can suffer major losses when introduced agricultural pests, such as fruit flies, are moved between states.

The impacts of farming on Australia's flora and fauna

(1.) Land being cleared in southern Australia, with a tree burning in the foreground.


(2.) A forest being cleared for cattle farming in southern Australia.


(3.) Cleared land used for wheat farming in Western Australia.


(4.) Cleared land suffering from dieback as a result of salinity and/or phythoptera (a fungal disease which causes root rot).


(5.) Natural cycles of fire have been disrupted by farming and land clearance. Some plant species struggle to re-establish with more frequent or erratic fires. The seed banks of species which require hot fires to germinate or long periods between fires cannot be replenished if fires are too frequent and/or mild.

A expedition in aid of MSF's work in Darfur

A team of intrepid adventurers are about to set off on a race to the magnetic north pole, in aid of Medicins Sans Frontieres' work in Darfur, Sudan.

This expedition will be a massive test of endurance - with teams dragging 90kg sleds in temperatures down to -50 degrees for 4 weeks!

Before setting off on this awareness and fund-raising adventure the expedition team have had to learn how defend themselves against polar bears, how to dry off should they ever fall through the ice (by rolling naked in the snow!) and how to pull such heavy sleds for hours on end...

Team member Caroline Baugh, a doctor who spent two years volunteering for MSF in Sudan in 2003 and 2004, said "The idea behind entering this race came in May 2004, on a rather hot evening in the desert in Sudan, at 50 degrees crowded round an air conditioner unit, when someone suggested a polar expedition might be a good idea!"

Unfortunately, there has been little media coverage of events in Sudan and understanding of the crisis in Darfur remains poor. However, the scale of the disaster was, and still is, huge...

Darfur is the size of France and millions of people are affected. The people of Darfur have endured a vicious campaign of violence + terror which has led to huge numbers of deaths and forced more than 1,000,000 people to flee from their destroyed villages.

If you would like to sponsor this team, why not have look at their webpage and let your friends know!

Survey of invasive Harlequin Ladybirds launched

An alien species called the Harlequin Ladybird has invaded the United Kingdom and is out-competing, even eating, native ladybird species which share aphids as their food.



In an effort to monitor the effects of this invasive species the University of Cambridge, invertebrate charity Buglife, the Centre for Ecology + Hydrology and Anglia Polytechnic University have launched a survey which will allow the public to record sightings of this unwelcome invader.

The Harlequin Ladybird website offers detailed descriptions of the Harlequin Ladybird as well as various, smaller and less spotty, native species. It can be tricky to tell the two types apart so people are being asked to take, and submit, digital photographs which will allow reported sightings to be confirmed by experts.

It is thought the harlequin ladybird was introduced to the UK on imported house-plants, and that there is now little chance they will ever be eliminated. Researchers are trying to develop species-specific pheromone traps which will lure the invaders to their doom, but this could take years of development work.

A separate Ladybird Survey site has also been launched in order for people to report sightings of the country's 46 native ladybirds species. If you wish to do this, you might find the following pictures of use...

Harlequin varieties


Native species

Snare Wire Art weblog

Earth Info is pleased to announce that it has launched a weblog for the Painted Dog Conservation project in Zimbabwe.

The Painted Dog conservation project was set up 15 years ago by Greg Rasmussen. Over this time Greg has persuaded many farmers to stop shooting dogs, and also invented a special collar which can cut through wire snares and help drivers to see dogs on the road. Sadly, despite these valiant efforts, Painted Dogs, which used to roam across much of Africa, remain three times rarer than the Giant Panda, and critically endangered.


Greg employs over 50 people and, as part of their work, the project's team of rangers have so far collected over 10,000 wire snares. Poachers use these snares to catch bush meat and illegally, indiscriminately and painfully kill 1000s of animals each year.

Recently, local artists have started converting this wire in beautiful works of art, such as those in the picture below. Last year some of these sculptures where sold in a celebrity auction at Christie's in London and raised £13,000 for the project.


In addition to the project's core conservation efforts, Greg has recently established a fantastic bush camp for local children and a new bush trail.

This is all the more impressive when you know that Greg recently survived a terrible plane crash, which resulted in him shattering both of his legs.

Protecting the rights of the Sami people in Finland

Dave Walsh, the editor of the Forest Rescue Station weblog in Finland has been in touch to let this site know about the state forestry company's efforts to take over reindeer grazing areas used by the Sami people.

The Sámi Reindeer Forests of Arctic Finland are amongst the few remaining areas of ancient forest left in Europe.

The Reindeer Forest is under siege by the Finnish government's own logging company, Metsähallitus. Sámi reindeer herding co-operatives have identified areas of forest vital for the free grazing of reindeer - areas that continue to be logged by Metsähallitus. Up to 70% of the timber logged by Metsähallitus in Sámi areas goes into the production of pulp + paper - ending up as magazine and copy paper throughout Europe.



The sami people have their own language, traditional clothing, handicraft, and music, and are distinctively different from other ethnic groups in Scandinavia. Although the sami have full citizenship in Norway, Sweden + Finland they are denied the rights guaranteed to indigenous people in the UN Declaration of Human Rights in Sweden and Finland. In these two countries the sami are considered an ethnic minority, and not a separate people.

Only Norway provides the protections enshrined in the UN's declaration, and logging interests are now asserting themselves in sami areas that have traditionally been used for hunting, fishing + reindeer herding.

Visit the Forest Rescue Station weblog to find out more...

P.S. You might be interested to learn that one sami word, tundra, is widely used in the english speaking world, and that the word lapp is a derogatory term of abuse which refers to patchy and worn clothes.

Donna the Stork electrocuted by powerlines

Birdlife International: Press release

Six years after she was satellite-tagged as a chick, Donna the White Stork has been killed by power lines. Hatched in Belgium, the much-travelled Donna had left her wintering grounds in southern Spain, and died as she reached her breeding site in the Calvados region of France.



Wim Van den Bossche, leader of the Storks Without Borders project, followed Donna's progress for the 2,033 days of her life after she started her first autumn migration. Wim says Donna was the world-record holder in the young science of satellite-tracking birds. "No other bird has been tracked on a daily basis for such a long period. Donna provided us with a mass of unique scientific data."

Donna left Seville in Southern Spain on the 11 February, stopped off near Madrid for ten days, and reached Calvados on the 4 March. The next day local stork specialist Alain Chartier found her dead under power lines near the estuary of the river Seine. Alain says she was in prime breeding condition.

"Electrocution and collision with power lines are the main known causes of death among White Storks," Wim reports. "Along migration routes, up to 59% of dead storks and 90% of wounded storks examined by researchers have hit wires." Storks can live up to 30 years.

Wim says that "bird-friendly" alterations to power lines can reduce stork mortality. Plastic caps and tubes can be fitted quickly and cheaply to existing pylons, poles and cables, and guidelines are available to ensure that new power lines present the minimum risk to birds.

Visit the Storks Without Borders website to find out more.

Tsunami Info, Relief Efforts + News

On December 26th, 2004 the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded occurred off the coast of Aceh in north-western Indonesia. The associated movement of the Eurasian and Australian continental plates caused a series of massive tsunami (waves) to hit coastal areas of Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka + Somalia over the next four hours.

Initial estimates of the fatalities + casualities caused by these waves were low, and tended to focus on the numbers of tourists affected. However, it is now apparent that over 150,000 people have been killed, 500,000 injured + 5,000,000 made homeless.

It is also clear that billions of dollars of emergency aid + debt relief will be needed in order to deal with the immediate consequences of this global catastrophe and to permit long-term reconstruction in the affected regions.

Below is a summary of some of the news organisations who are reporting on the tsunami and its consequences, and the relief organisations who are tackling different aspects of this unprecedented emergency and could benefit from any donation you might feel able to make...

News
Reuters Alertnet "NGO Latest"
Relief Web
BBC "Asia Quake Special"
Google News "Tsunami"
United Nations News Service
ABC (Australia) Tsunami Indepth
Guardian Unlimited Tsunami Special Report

Government Sites
Sri Lankan Centre for National Operations

Emergency Aid
Disasters Emergency Committee > Donate
InterAction > Disaster Response
U.S. AID > Donation : NGO list
International Committee for the Red Cross > Donate
British Red Cross > Donate
American Red Cross > Donate

Child Welfare + Education
UNICEF > News > Donate
Save the Children > Donate
FamilyLinks.ICRC.Org
SOS Children's Charity > Tsunami orphans > Sponsor a child

Health + Medicine
Medicins Sans Frontieres > News > Donate
Merlin > Donate
World Health Organisation > News > Donate

Clean Water + Sanitation
Oxfam (UK) > News > Donate
Oxfam America > News > Donate
Action Aid > Donate
Water Aid

Food + Shelter
World Food Programme > Donate

Refugees
UNHCR > News > Donate

Reconstruction
Intermediate Technology Development Group
Global Giving Local projects in need of support - listed by region

Environment
Conservation International > Donate
WWF > News Update 1, Update 2 > Donate
Friends of the Earth: Indonesia / WALHI > News > Donate

Briefing Material
UN USG Jan Egeland: Press Briefings: Dec 27th, Dec 29th, Jan 1st, Jan 2nd, Jan 3rd, Jan 4th, Jan 5th, Jan 6th, Jan 7th
Wikipedia: 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
Wikipedia: Aceh, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar Malaysia, Singapore, Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Mauritius, Somalia, Tanzania
Indonesia: The War in Aceh (2001): Human Rights Watch
Solar Energy for Disaster Relief Alternative Energy Blog
Make Poverty History Campaign
The Big Project/Tsunami (useful links)
World Changing Blog
Tsunami-Info.Org Blog
Tsunami Help Blog
Tsunami Symposium (1999)

Recent news...

Jan 17th
Oxfam warns of tsunami cash delay
BBC News Online
Tsunami toll tops 175,000
Reuters
Tsunami-hit S.Lankans defy ban, rebuild on coast
Reuters Alertnet

Jan 15th
Tsunami families in 'legal limbo'
BBC News Online
Jakarta calls for Aceh truce
BBC News Online
US to expand tsunami warning system
The Boston Globe
US seeks tsunami withdrawal
BBC News Online
Aid worry for cut-off Aceh towns
BBC News Online
Tsunami disaster spurs video blogs
BBC News Online

Jan 14th
Tsnuami to plunge 2 million into poverty
Rediff.Com
Tsunami-hit nations look to save mangroves
Reuters Alertnet

Jan 13th
Aceh ceasefire talks edge closer
BBC News Online
DEC ends tsunami aid advertising
BBC News Online

Jan 12th
Tsunami early warning 'next year'
BBC News Online

Jan 11th
Indonesia restricts Aceh aid work
BBC News Online
"Green reconstruction" vital in the aftermath of the tsunami
WWF

Jan 10th
Asian tsunami lends urgency to new UNEP report
Jamaica Observer
Divisions surface over handling of Aceh security
The Financial Times
U.S. chopper crash, security warnings, aftershocks...
CBC News (Canada)
440 Britons feared dead as toll doubles
The Financial Times
UNICEF launch Tsunami Water and Sanitation Fund
UNICEF

Jan 8th
Scientists Weigh Damage to Coral Reefs (audio)
NPR : All Things Considered

Jan 7th
Maps + satellite images of areas affected by tsunami
BBC News Online
UK victims of Asian tsunami (list + brief biographies)
BBC News Online
Move to freeze debt for tsunami countries
The Financial Times
PM: they will never forget us
The Australian
Tsunami emergency: Indonesia, Somalia + Sri Lanka latest
ReliefWeb: UNHCR
Major earthquake in Indian Ocean was predicted in 1997
SciDev.Net
World Bank President addresses ASEAN leaders
The World Bank

Jan 6th:
Tsunami computer simulation
University of California Santa Cruz
Tsunami's salt water may leave islands uninhabitable
NewScientist.com
Tsunami's salt threat to islands
BBC News Online
Brown demands new deal for poorest countries
The Independent
Summit approves tsunami warning
BBC News Online
Poverty fight neglects technology
BBC News Online
'Beware tsunamis and climate': UN
BBC News Online
Key points: Blair news conference
BBC News Online

Jan 5th:
UN warns 150,000 could die without urgent care
UN News
Tsunami aid pledges top $3bn
BBC News Online
Andaman coral 'hit by tsunami'
BBC News Online
World press views "tsunami diplomacy"
BBC News Online

Jan 4th:
UK to seek debt relief for tsunami nations
Reuters
China premier to attend ASEAN tsunami summit
Reuters Alertnet
Special ASEAN meeting on Jan 6 to coordinate tsunami response
Channel News Asia
OPEC fund gives US$1.2m to Asian quake victims
Channel News Asia

Jan 3rd:
Indonesia plans wave alert system
BBC News Online

Jan 2nd:
Japan raises aid to $500 million
CNN.com

Jan 1st:
U.S. boosts tsunami aid to $350 million
San Francisco Chronicle
Deserted Aceh in ruins
BBC News Online

Dec 30th:
Sharp increase in Indonesian toll
BBC News Online

Dec 29th:
Indonesian coast 'devastated'
BBC News Online

Dec 28th:
Indonesia toll surpasses 27,000
BBC News Online

Dec 26th:
Indonesia braced as deaths mount
BBC News Online