Bee keeping qualification
Honey bees impact the life of everyone in the UK and make an important contribution to agriculture, biosecurity and the environment. Whether as a hobby or a career, those interested in working with honey bees can soon benefit from taking the Level 1 Award in Introduction to Beekeeping, the UK's very first regulated beekeeping qualification.
Created by Lantra Awards in partnership with the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), the Level 1 Award in Introduction to Beekeeping Qualification will provide a sound industry foundation to learners who are entering the industry or seeking to formalise existing experience. This Qualification will give learners the skills and knowledge they need to make the craft of beekeeping a sustainable activity and improve the quality of beekeeping.
lantra-awards.co.uk
New parklands opened
Hundreds of people came to celebrate the exciting opening of London's newest park at a special community event in July.
After a year of physical enhancement works and many years of planning, the Beam Parklands in Dagenham officially opened to the public, the first park to be created in London since 2000.
To celebrate the opening, a Community Fun Day was staged with a variety of free family entertainment. Free activities include bat box making, kite making, and guided nature walks to face painting, a bouncy castle and a climbing wall. Pictured is Sami Rahman-Fiseris and Josh Hellon from the Environment Agency who enjoyed a spot of pond dipping.
Help find vanishing birds
Two formerly widespread British nesting birds have now become so scarce that a special panel of experts charting the UK's rarest breeding birds will now monitor their numbers.
The populations of both lesser spotted woodpecker and willow tit are only a fraction of the levels recorded in the 1970s, when they were widespread. The numbers of both species have plummeted in Britain over the last three decades, and they are now only patchily recorded across their former ranges. The Rare Breeding Birds Panel, which has been collating records of our rarest nesting birds since 1973, has announced it will now be collating records of lesser spotted woodpecker and willow tit nesting in Britain.
The Rare Breeding Birds Panel will also be considering three other species for the first time: long-eared owl and short-eared owl and the Arctic skua, a type of seabird confined in the UK to Scotland. These bring the list of regularly or occasional UK nesting species considered by the panel to 103.
Between 1970 and 2008 the willow tit and lesser spotted woodpecker have declined by 91 and 76 per cent respectively. Every year, since 1970, the British population of willow tit has declined by over six per cent per year, and over the same period, the lesser spotted woodpecker has declined by three per cent per year.
For further information on the work of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel, please visit:
http://www.rbbp.org.uk/
SnareWatching
Animal welfare charity OneKind has launched SnareWatch, a new web-based initiative designed to collect information about the use of animal snares in the UK, and the welfare problems caused by these traps. The site also offers people advice on what to do if they find an illegal snare. SnareWatch will provide the first detailed and ongoing record of the number of animal snares being used across the UK.
Snares are wire nooses intended to catch foxes and rabbits but also catch other wild animals including protected species such as badgers, otters and wildcats, farmed animals and even people's beloved pet cats and dogs. Although designed to immobilise their targets, snares can inflict horrendous injury and in many cases cause an agonising death. In 2005, the report of the UK Independent Working Group on Snaring (IWGS) set the proportion of non_target captures between 21% and 69% in the UK.
Anyone wishing to report a snaring incident or requiring further information about snaring should visit:
www.snarewatch.org
Red tape removal
As the government turned its "Red Tape Challenge" focus to the environment, the Ramblers warned that attempts to sweep away entire acts dedicated to protecting the environment would not only make "greenest government" claims a farce but will also be heavily resisted.
The "Red Tape Challenge" has been put forward by the government as a way of reducing what it describes as "burdensome regulations". However, Britain's walking charity is particularly concerned that entire acts which protect the environment, and people's ability to access and enjoy it, are included in the list of so-called "burdensome regulations".
The Ramblers would welcome a review of legislation aimed at ensuring the environment is fully protected and can be enjoyed by all more easily, and have already made suggestions to government as to how this could be achieved. However, the idea that these laws could be cut away like red tape with no consequences now or for future generations shows a short-sighted lack of understanding of the importance of measures which protect our environment for all.
ramblers.org.uk
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