Buglife was delighted that finally the Government and manufacturers of Cypermethrin sheep dip have today announced the withdrawal of all relevant product permissions.
Synthetic pyrethroids (Cypermethrin) were 1000 times more toxic to wildlife than the pesticides that farmers were previously using to dip sheep. When it was in use it was estimated that about 1.5 billion aquatic invertebrates in rivers, streams and ponds were being killed by Cypermethrin sheep dip every year. In addition 400 million litres of waste Cypermethrin was sprayed onto meadows and fields every year, causing untold destruction to butterflies and bees.
Following a campaign led by Buglife and fishing charities to ban sheep dipping with synthetic pyrethroids, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) suspended the license to sell synthetic pyrethroid for sheep dipping on environmental grounds on February 22 2006. It has taken a further four years to make the ban permanent.
Studies coordinated by the Environment Agency and Veterinary Medicines Directive then revealed that the chemical was even more deadly than had been feared. It was found that just a single sheep walking through a 9 cm deep stream two days after it had been dipped released so much Cypermethrin that it would cause a pollution event in that stream.
www.buglife.org.uk
Nature
detectives
Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) is asking people all over England to explore what lives in the country's ponds and lakes by taking part in the OPAL Water Survey this summer. The survey, which launches in May, uses commonly found animals to indicate the health of the habitat. Taking part in the survey will enable people to check whether their local water-body or garden pond is in good condition, and will help scientists working to protect freshwater wildlife.
Ponds and lakes are important havens for wildlife, but many are badly affected by pollution. The team who developed the survey are particularly interested in finding out more about small and urban ponds, many of which have not been investigated before.
The OPAL Water Survey can be carried out at any lake and pond in England. Anyone can take part with an identification guide and workbook that can be downloaded free from the OPAL website. The website will display uploaded results on an interactive map, along with those of other participants from around the country.
www.opalexplorenature.org
Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) is asking people all over England to explore what lives in the country's ponds and lakes by taking part in the OPAL Water Survey this summer. The survey, which launches in May, uses commonly found animals to indicate the health of the habitat. Taking part in the survey will enable people to check whether their local water-body or garden pond is in good condition, and will help scientists working to protect freshwater wildlife.
Ponds and lakes are important havens for wildlife, but many are badly affected by pollution. The team who developed the survey are particularly interested in finding out more about small and urban ponds, many of which have not been investigated before.
The OPAL Water Survey can be carried out at any lake and pond in England. Anyone can take part with an identification guide and workbook that can be downloaded free from the OPAL website. The website will display uploaded results on an interactive map, along with those of other participants from around the country.
www.opalexplorenature.org
Des-res for
rare dormice
Farmers and small landowners are under starter's orders as the race begins to find the most wildlife friendly farmer in England and Wales as conservation charity, the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) re-launches its 'Reconnecting the Countryside' competition for 2010. This year saw more than 17 miles of hedgerows and almost 1,000 acres of woodland planted by entrants in this annual competition to reward farmers and landowners for their active conservation of woodland and hedgerow habitats.
The competition aims to highlight the importance of woodlands, scrub and hedgerows as both habitats and wildlife corridors, whilst celebrating the efforts made by the farming and land-owning community to protect them for posterity. These iconic features of the British landscape support a huge variety of native wildlife, such as the threatened hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), and other vulnerable species, yet their decline is widespread.
For a 'Reconnecting the Countryside' entry pack, or for more details about the competition, please contact the People's Trust for Endangered Species on 020 7498 4533 or e-mail enquiries@ptes.org. Entry packs contain details of competition rules and guidelines, information about the hazel dormouse, plus booklets giving practical advice on hedgerow planting, cutting and management. More information can be found on the website
www.ptes.org
Farmers and small landowners are under starter's orders as the race begins to find the most wildlife friendly farmer in England and Wales as conservation charity, the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) re-launches its 'Reconnecting the Countryside' competition for 2010. This year saw more than 17 miles of hedgerows and almost 1,000 acres of woodland planted by entrants in this annual competition to reward farmers and landowners for their active conservation of woodland and hedgerow habitats.
The competition aims to highlight the importance of woodlands, scrub and hedgerows as both habitats and wildlife corridors, whilst celebrating the efforts made by the farming and land-owning community to protect them for posterity. These iconic features of the British landscape support a huge variety of native wildlife, such as the threatened hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), and other vulnerable species, yet their decline is widespread.
For a 'Reconnecting the Countryside' entry pack, or for more details about the competition, please contact the People's Trust for Endangered Species on 020 7498 4533 or e-mail enquiries@ptes.org. Entry packs contain details of competition rules and guidelines, information about the hazel dormouse, plus booklets giving practical advice on hedgerow planting, cutting and management. More information can be found on the website
www.ptes.org
Heathering the
nest
Restoring heather moorland in parts of the most remote English and Welsh uplands is key to their sustainable future, says The Moorland Association. The announcement comes as part The Moorland Association's Guide to Policy Formation presented at Westminster in February Heather moorland used to cover a third of the uplands of England and Wales but this has dwindled to just one fifth over the past 70 years despite it being rarer than rainforest. Britain is now responsible for 75% of what remains in the world.
The policy guidance document, supported by six other organisations with expertise in the uplands, points out where previous policy has been damaging and where things are going wrong now. It makes 21 recommendations to the next Government to safeguard and extend integrated grouse moor management.
www.moorlandassociation.org
Restoring heather moorland in parts of the most remote English and Welsh uplands is key to their sustainable future, says The Moorland Association. The announcement comes as part The Moorland Association's Guide to Policy Formation presented at Westminster in February Heather moorland used to cover a third of the uplands of England and Wales but this has dwindled to just one fifth over the past 70 years despite it being rarer than rainforest. Britain is now responsible for 75% of what remains in the world.
The policy guidance document, supported by six other organisations with expertise in the uplands, points out where previous policy has been damaging and where things are going wrong now. It makes 21 recommendations to the next Government to safeguard and extend integrated grouse moor management.
www.moorlandassociation.org
Pony
sighted
An abandoned blind Welsh pony has been given the gift of sight by vets at the Animal Health Trust (AHT).
Morris, a Welsh Section C, was rescued in 2008 by the Horse Rescue Fund after his owner stopped looking after him. On arrival at the Horse Rescue Fund's base in Suffolk, Morris was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes.
An appeal to raise funds to pay for Morris to have his cataracts removed was launched and, by the end of 2009, more than £5,000 had been donated enabling the pony to have his much needed surgery.
His first eye was operated on in November 2008. The cataract was removed and a synthetic lens placed inside the eye. A year later, members and supporters of the Horse Rescue Fund had raised almost enough money to enable Morris to have his second cataract removed.
www.horserescuefund.org.uk www.aht.org.uk
An abandoned blind Welsh pony has been given the gift of sight by vets at the Animal Health Trust (AHT).
Morris, a Welsh Section C, was rescued in 2008 by the Horse Rescue Fund after his owner stopped looking after him. On arrival at the Horse Rescue Fund's base in Suffolk, Morris was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes.
An appeal to raise funds to pay for Morris to have his cataracts removed was launched and, by the end of 2009, more than £5,000 had been donated enabling the pony to have his much needed surgery.
His first eye was operated on in November 2008. The cataract was removed and a synthetic lens placed inside the eye. A year later, members and supporters of the Horse Rescue Fund had raised almost enough money to enable Morris to have his second cataract removed.
www.horserescuefund.org.uk www.aht.org.uk
A new website is attempting to make the subject of meat reduction palatable to the meat-loving majority. Part-Time Carnivore asks people to commit to one of five meat-reducing options that are designed to suit different lifestyles: Meat-Free Mondays, Vegging-Out, Meat-On/Meat-Off, Meating-Out and Meaty Sundays (plus a hidden veggie option). Each option comes with estimated weekly savings of land and CO2 and the website keeps a running total for everyone who signs up. At the same time as cutting consumption, part-time carnivores are encouraged to swap intensively reared imported meat for the most natural and local meat they can afford.
parttimecarnivore.org
A replica of the iconic Trellick Tower block that is designed to provide a home for endangered solitary bees was unveiled, next to its much larger design classic, as part of the launch of this year's CSV Action Earth volunteering campaign. Grants are available for community projects that have an immediate and positive affect on the environment.
The Trellick Tower has been created by sculptor, Martha Macdonald, who was helped by volunteers at the urban biodiversity centre Roots and Shoots. based in Lambeth. It stands two metres tall, compared to its 98 metre bigger brother, but comprises 31 storeys of buzzing space. Mason, Wool Carder and Carpenter bees, among other endangered species of bees, are all expected to swarm to the tower to make it a 'hive of activity'. The plight of colony bees such as the honeybee and bumblebee has been widely reported, however it is a lesser-known fact that solitary bees are also in decline. Bees are crucial to the ecosystem; without them to spread seeds many plants would die out.
www.csv.org.uk/actionearth
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