Biodiversity, Conservation & Management 2005

Echoes of Worldwatch?

2006-11-23T02:38:00.000Z

a little caricature here to lighten the mood on the development paradigm....

http://www.survival-international.org/thereyougoenter.php

Positive proof of global warming

2006-10-29T13:36:00.000Z

I thought this is quite a sight.

media tidbits

2006-08-27T10:18:00.000+01:00

Heard lately:

On NPR's On Point, an interview with E. O. Wilson on his latest book, "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth." Also joining the discussion: a friendly Southern Baptist minister, and listeners calling in to the show-- some fawning, a few irate. Do people care about biodiversity, why should they, if they don't how can we make them, and what's the role of religion in environmental evangelism? A thoughtful and encouraging conversation.

Renewable energy with a Texas touch: Deep-Fried Fuel: a Biodiesel Kitchen Vision
Yet another profile of a spunky biodiesel entrepreneur, but a particularly entertaining one, with a perspective on the culture of biodiesel-devotee truckers.

Climate change awareness v. local ecology. In San Mateo, CA, there's talk of replacing the local ecology museum with a climate change study center. I'm all for educating the public about global warming, but I'm also one of those kids who grew up with field trips to Coyote Point museum, who volunteered at the wildlife center, and whose family "adopted" a California Mountain Kingsnake. Nostalgia aside, it's important that while everyone and his dog talks about climate change, we don't forget to expose kids to the wonders of their local ecosystems. Well, at least it's a choice between two good causes-- there are worse problems?

Grizzly Cam

2006-08-02T12:11:00.000+01:00

For those of you who have seen Grizzly Man, you can now undertake a virutal safari and join Spirit and Mr Chocolate and their friends up in Alaska.

See if you can spot the stolen baseball cap!

Spiiiriiiiit!!!!

http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/wildcamgrizzlies/index.html

No more wasting your time

2006-07-31T12:11:00.000+01:00

Now from the authors of Cradle-to-Cradle, the book everyone should read - C2C greeting cards. They are made from environmentally friendly plastic, and come with a return postage paid (USA) envelope so when the recipeint gets the card, they can send it back and the card will be turned into carpeting. Cool! Everyone in North America should do this - how do we feel about sending cards across the ocean to get recycled? Seems a bit optimistic, since it would cost more in jet fuel than the recycling would save. However, stay tuned to the website for new products and ideas from the Cradle-to-Cradle folks.

More Ivory-billed woodpecker...

2006-07-23T00:19:00.000+01:00

The Times
July 22, 2006
Woody flies back from extinction to peck hole in £172m irrigation projectBy Jacqui Goddard in Miami
FOR 62 years the ivory-billed woodpecker has kept such a low profile that it was considered extinct. But that hasn’t prevented the “great chieftain of the woodpecker tribe” putting a hole in a £172 million construction scheme.
A federal judge in Arkansas has ordered the US Army Corps of Engineers to halt work on the Grand Prairie Irrigation Project because it could upset the bird — which may or may not exist.
NI_MPU('middle');
“When an endangered species is allegedly jeopardised, the balance of hardships and public interest tip in favour of the protected species,” wrote US District Judge Bill Wilson.
The legal ruling has ruffled feathers within the corps and among local farmers, who say that their future prosperity will depend on the scheme pumping 158 million gallons of water annually to their crops.
But environmentalists are agog with excitement. They say that the judge’s declaration adds weight to their claims that the ivory-billed woodpecker is alive and well and living, albeit reclusively, among the ageing cypress trees of southeastern Arkansas.
“Judge Wilson has told the corps that they cannot leap before they look when imperilled wildlife is involved,” said Randy Sargent, of the National Wildlife Federation. “We need to look twice before destroying the home of this critically endangered bird.”
Ivory-bills used to inhabit swaths of forests in the southeastern US states, including Florida and Texas, but numbers began to decline in the late 19th century because of logging. Known to ornithologists as Campephilus principalis, the bird had been thought to have died out in the 1940s despite attempts to save the last of its habitat by advocates such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The last confirmed sighting in the United States was in 1944.
Admittedly there have been several purported glimpses, but none has been officially confirmed. In 2004 a lone canoeist spotted a “huge and unusual” woodpecker in the region, spurring an influx of twitchers from around the world. Enthusiasts clad in camouflage gear paddled around the backwaters in the hope of conclusively recording the bird’s presence on film.
The birdwatchers claimed another seven sightings and declared that the ivory-billed woodpecker had made an astonishing comeback — although experts continue to debate its existence.
When the corps began a project to build a pumping station 14 miles from the scene of the 1944 encounter, environmentalists instituted legal action, accusing them of being “reckless and irresponsible” and complaining that the noise would cause stress to the woodpecker and kill the trees it lives in.
The corps, which has spent £80 million on the project, has been ordered not to proceed further until it has more thoroughly quantified the potential risk to a bird that may — or may not — be looking down on them as they work.
Judge Wilson wrote: “The public interest . . . will be better served by determining whether the Grand Prairie Project will jeopardise the ivory-billed woodpecker, before further commitment of time and money are made to a project that may be doomed by unanticipated discoveries.”

(Secondary) School Summit on Climate Change

2006-07-13T17:01:00.000+01:00

I stumbled into this, albeit a few days late. Its interesting because of how the summit is organized and geared toward teens or young people. I saw Ian Pearson (Climate Change and Environment Officer, DEFRA) speak today. It was very basic, didn't get at (m)any of the tough questions. But he did talk about innovative things the UK is doing, and targets they're setting. The participants have handsets, and every once in a while the talk was interrupted by this MC who sounds like one of the radio jockeys - and the attendees hit a button on their handset which sends their vote to some question to the master computer up front. Very interactive and i wonder why we don't have more of this kind of thing? How can we have super cool tricked out technology for a meeting, when the UN can't even make websites (like this , this, and this) that are friendly to look at and actually work? Anyway, it was inspiring to see that maybe young generations will grow up hearing about climate change and living life in a different way - just like many of us did when we first started hearing about recycling and Earth Day back in the USA.

Check out the UK government's flashy cool site on what they're doing about climate change, and read about the Climate Champions who will be raising awareness in their regions with support from DEFRA.

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too! Cna yuo raed tihs?

2006-06-29T15:47:00.000+01:00

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.

New Mouse Lemurs discovered

2006-06-28T14:14:00.000+01:00

Microcebus mittermeieri is one of three newly announced mouse lemur species found on Madagascar. The name has a slight CI-sponsored name to it.....

Invasive Species blog

2006-06-16T00:57:00.000+01:00

Check out this guy's blog titled Invasive Species blog: http://invasivespecies.blogspot.com/2004_01_04_invasivespecies_archive.html
Caroline would find it quite useful.

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-05-10T11:12:00.000+01:00

This trailer is for the forthcoming film about the risks of climate chaos, disaster, catastrophe etc... And guess what?! On the website under the science link you see an interesting "fact"

More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.

I wonder where they got that figure from..........

Blue Marble

2006-05-10T10:50:00.000+01:00

After reading a slightly surreal paper yesterday on the CBD that made repeated references to Martians and how NASA should spend it's money on monitoring our largely unknown Earth rather than looking for a few fossilised cells on Mars I thought i'd post a mosaic image of the Blue Marble that NASA has just completed. The full images of both hemispheres are about 300 megapixels each!

Ditch Monkey

2006-05-01T20:04:00.000+01:00

Check out this guy's blog! He has been sleeping in the woods near Oxford nearly every night for 10 months and getting the bus into London every morning to go to work. I can't believe he made it the whole way through that long winter! And I thought my room was cold...
Anyway, its great procrastination, and he's raising money for the Woodland Trust!

food and biodiversity unite

2006-04-17T00:18:00.000+01:00

Perhaps I have been spending an unreasonable amount of energy recently on cuisine. It is not a waste, however; foodies can do a lot for conservation, too. Check out the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, home of the Ark of Taste. Something for the gourmet, the conservationist, the taxonomist, the farmer, the cultural anthropologist... help preserve diversity in the things we eat!

IFPRI online communications courses

2006-04-15T17:15:00.000+01:00

The International Food Policy Research Institute is offering what seem to be free courses on technical writing and presentations. If you take a course, post a review here, or comments? Thanks.

The Cloud Appreciation Society

2006-04-09T16:11:00.000+01:00

Seeing as April showers are very much here and we have some really cool clouds at the moment - take a peek at The Cloud Appreciation Society to marvel at.......Clouds!

Spot the Stonefish!

2006-03-17T21:19:00.000Z

A Stonefish is called partly because it looks like a stone. The other reason that it literally gets your "stoned" by its venom. Rubber booties with thick soles are usually worn on field trips at Singapore shores. Though there are very few things that can get through these, stingrays and stonefish are the exceptions. The Reef Stonefish is one most venomous fish in the world.

Which of the below pictures shows a stone fish?

If you have guessed the first or the third one, it's WRONG! The middle one is correct. Apparently, it's not easy to spot a stonefish, which is why one should never step on anything that looks stony, in case you get stoned!

David Attenborough Interview

2006-02-20T22:53:00.000Z

Hi Everyone,

Just to point you towards an interview with David Attenborough today from the Guardian. It illustrates his view of presenting and communicating the natural world and conservation from a reverant and detached stance. It also gives any non-brits amongst us a peek at our most distinguished natural history personality.

Seafood Watch

2006-02-16T17:32:00.000Z

Just a reminder about those delicious good and bad fishes upon which we should and shouldn't feast.

Be a climate change researcher!

2006-02-15T19:45:00.000Z

Its easy! Its fun! It takes advantage of your computer while you're not using it! Its...climateprediction.net! Check it out, and make your computing power work towards understanding climate change.

A Unique Valentine Gift that Lasts Forever

2006-02-14T00:58:00.000Z

Looking for an Alternative to Flowers and Chocolate?

If you are looking for a Valentine gift that:
is truly unique...
can be pErSoNaliSeD...
is affordable...
is ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY...

...Save a Piece of Unique Wilderness!!!

Instead of flowers that will soon wilt away, why not buy one acre of lush, tropical rainforest instead, as a unique, green Valentine gift that will help save endangered tropical flowers forever. Or, if you prefer, you could protect an acre of coastal steppe in Patagonia or elephant habitat in India instead. - You can choose which project to support.
Give Your Valentine an Acre of Rainforest
How to donate
One acre of rainforest or other threatened wilderness costs just £25 (approximately US$45). You can donate securely online or over the telephone, by post or by fax.
DONATE NOW!
Make a Valentine Gift Donation
Special UK only Valentines offer 2006: For £30 your Valentine will receive one Fair Trade chocolate bar with their acre and certificate, sent by Special Delivery to arrive on Valentine's Day morning.

(Courtesy of http://www.worldlandtrust.org/supporting/valentine.htm)

"Eden" on Earth

2006-02-07T23:45:00.000Z

'Lost world' of untouched species found in New Guinea

New species of birds and mammals found in Indonesia governed New Guinea. Implications for conservation efforts? ALso this is by Conservation International which we just learnt a few days ago!
Ahori!:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/192049/1/.html

Also reported in CI website: http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB

The best thing since sliced bread

2006-02-02T09:12:00.000Z

In a contest of "the best idea since sliced bread", sponsored by the enormous service industry union SEIU in the US, the winning idea (from over 22,000 entries) was a resource tax. This is essentially ecosystem service valuation, using a tax to get it going. Just in case you needed proof that this is a good idea...

Paul Jepson

2006-01-25T14:59:00.000Z

Paul seems to have another day job he's not telling us about!

It was then that it was decided to put it down for its own welfare, said ZSL's veterinary pathologist Dr Paul Jepson, who carried out the post-mortem tests.

"While I was drawing the lethal injection, she died," he said.

"The last few days have been an unforgettable and ultimately sad experience for us all, and we are now determined that the whale did not die in vain.

"The incident has demonstrated a clear message of the nation's passion for these animals and their conservation."

Dr Jepson dismissed speculation that the whale's death was caused by anti-submarine sonar from Navy vessels.

Aviary

2006-01-23T11:25:00.000Z

Gold star for the person who gives the full name of this beauty. Hint: It's not a strawberry bird as was claimed by one of the other visitors yesterday.

Waddesdon Manor

2006-01-22T23:38:00.000Z

From (http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/2005/)
Hi, just thought of posting this post-visit recapitulation of why the Waddesdon Manor was set up. Notice that the purpose of setting up the apiary was not mentioned.

Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, creator of Waddesdon, loved France and French art. With his French architect Destailleur and his landscape gardener Lainé, he built this Renaissance-style château in a dramatic setting. Waddesdon has one of the best collections of French 18th century decorative arts in the world, paintings, furniture, carpets and curiosities, lovingly assembled over 35 years by Ferdinand to please his weekend guests. Outside, his creation includes an aviary, flamboyant bedding, winding walks, colourful trees and panoramic views. Ferdinand's legacy was a splendid foundation on which subsequent generations of the family could build. His sister, Miss Alice, then James and Dorothy de Rothschild and now the present Lord Rothschild have all set their stamp on Waddesdon, whether through developing the Garden or adding to the Collection. It is this continuing care and involvement which helps to make Waddesdon the vibrant place it is today.

HISTORY
The Rothschild banking dynasty was immensely powerful in 19th century Europe. From roots in the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt, Mayer Amschel's five sons set up a banking network in the then five major financial centres of Europe - London, Frankfurt, Paris, Naples and Vienna. The Five Arrows, as they became known, created vast wealth and established themselves at the very peak of European society. Waddesdon Manor was built (1874-1889) by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild to display his outstanding collection of art treasures and to entertain the fashionable world. Fascinated by the history and culture of France, he commissioned a French architect, Gabriel Hippolyte Destailleur, to build him a Renaissance-style chateau, based on those in the Loire Valley, and employed a French garden designer, Elie Lainé to lay out the grounds. Like other members of his family he wanted a retreat outside London and chose Buckinghamshire because several of his cousins already had houses there (it was known as "Rothschildshire" in the late 19th century). The Manor was only used for weekends in the summer months, for Ferdinand's famous house parties, and was the last word in luxury with electric lights, lifts and under-floor heating. Single or unaccompanied male friends stayed in the Bachelors' Wing, complete with Billiard and Smoking Rooms. Couples stayed in one of the 9 suites in the Main house. After Ferdinand's death in 1898, the pace of entertaining slackened, but his sister and heir, Miss Alice, maintained the house, collection and grounds to impeccable standards. James and Dorothy de Rothschild, who inherited in 1922, did not add to the collection until the death of James' father Baron Edmond, at which point a third of the Barons collection arrived, including over 2000 18th century drawings. James' main interest was horse racing and he built the stud at Waddesdon. The war years brought a different emphasis to the Manor, and following James' death in 1957, it was bequeathed to the National Trust and opened to the public, with Dorothy in charge of management. Now, the Manor is run by a family charitable trust chaired by the present Lord Rothschild. The Collection continues to grow, new features and displays are added to both House and Gardens and we offer a varied programme of events and activities. Almost 300,000 visitors were welcomed to Waddesdon last year.

Hilary timetable

2006-01-14T23:50:00.000Z

Hey folks - here's the timetable. Options in yellow, core in blue. The Global Food option changed to Mondays. There is also a Law option that i haven't listed on here. Also Latin American Environments is not listed; it starts in Week 3. Hope it helps. - njy

Happy New Year Everyone

2006-01-02T12:12:00.000Z

Hey all, Happy New Year! Looking forward to seeing you all back in town with some good tales to tell.

Night out on the town!!!!

2005-12-13T19:15:00.000Z

It's taken me awhile, but here are some pics from the glorious pub crawl ...

Tranquil Sunday Afternoons

2005-12-12T17:39:00.000Z

Where horses gallop and geese gaggle

Enthusiasm for the lesser squared pink pineapple goose!!!!

2005-12-12T17:33:00.000Z

A fascinating find for the two eager bird watching enthusiasts! Asked how they felt about their recent discovery Sandra replied 'it was the most exhilerating thing i have ever experienced, even more exciting than crashing Jessica's bike into a tree trunk, whilst descending Rainbow Bridge!'

2005-12-11T22:29:00.000Z

The Thinker(s)...

New Mammal!

2005-12-07T19:12:00.000Z

Did you see this story about a new mammal discovered in Borneo?
BBC Story
Also did anyone see the 'Conservation Communication' by someone from WWF on Channel 4 news last night attempting to exploit this story to get people interested in saving the forests. Don't think is was very effective, the presenter didn't even understand what he was trying to say! Any comments?
Susie (procrastinating) x

Rainforest Rights Talk/ dissertations?

2005-12-07T18:32:00.000Z

I went to the Rainforest Rights talk on Monday at LSE with speakers from the Rainforest Foundation. Very interesting organisation. They work to to help indigenous people living in forests to assert their rights. The main threats come from logging companies and conservation organisations (think armed 'ecoguards').
They showed a great deforestation map from Brazil where indigenous people have successfuly claimed their land rights; areas under their control are virtually untouched. So clearing people out of an area using ecoguards maybe not a great long term strategy. (But might be effective in the short term- important for NGO accountability? last resort to save black rhino and gorillas?)
They are also teaching people to use GPS to map their territory which is raising all sorts of questions about the nature of land ownership (e.g. instead of having boundaries they might use points of interest which may overlap with neighbours. Plus the fact that this is community rather than individual ownership)
Lots of food for thought.
Anyway, networking. Spoke to the director and he sounded interested in people doing 1 month dissertations; they will be able to put people in touch with the local NGOs. He said that they have never done any social surveys but probably should so he sounded interested in that kind of project. He also sounded keen on biodiversity projects and policy stuff. Get in touch with me if you want his email. There were also speakers from Congo and Peru; directors of NGOs who work with the Rainforest foundation. I have contact details for the Peru one, he also sounded interested in projects. Didn't speak to the Congo guy but I think Mike did.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday. Susie x

Fascinating!

2005-12-05T00:17:00.000Z

www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2005/2005-12-01-01.asp

Check it out, natures miracles, i hope they tag this little nipper and we can watch it grow up into an adult, fascinating!!

BBC Conservation communication

2005-12-01T10:00:00.000Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4486848.stm

As we've been talking about recently...interesting.

By special request: happy hour photos

2005-11-27T10:48:00.000Z

BCM Happy hour at the Turf. From left to right: Jessica (sorry about the pole), Sam, Wei, Susie, Ellie, Antonia, Caroline. Notice we're OUTSIDE - we're hard core, green to the bone.

2005-11-27T10:47:00.000Z

BCM Happy hour at the Turf! From left to right: Tara, Sam, Nick H, Sandra, Ellie, Nuria.

Buy Nothing Day

2005-11-25T11:31:00.000Z

The Thanksgiving holiday in the US is always the last thursday of November. The friday following Thanksgiving has become the single most important day of the year in retail shopping: the first day of the Christmas shopping season. As incentive, retailers now all have major sales starting on friday of Thanksgiving weekend. What better day, then, for those of us that don't "buy-in" (groan) to this consumers-gone-wild frenzy, to BUY NOTHING? Thats what Adbusters thought, and several years ago launched today as Buy Nothing Day. In the UK and Europe BND will be tomorrow, Saturday, Nov 26th. If nothing else, its a useful tool to get you to think about what you consume in a day. Check out this part of the website to see what's going on in the London area, and for ideas on how you can get the message out there.

Hong Kong

2005-11-24T00:21:00.000Z

it's nth abt biodiversity/nature....
just some radom piks of HK, as some of u mentioned...

Coral Bleaching Hits Tobago

2005-11-22T14:20:00.000Z

Hi Folks, I'm off to Tobago on Thursday but I thought you might be interested in this email I got from Owen at the Buccoo Reef Trust:

"You may be interested to know that we are currently experiencing the worst mass coral bleaching event in living memorydue to elevated sea temperatures (16 degree-weeks in November). The entire eastern Caribbean has been very badly affected by bleaching. Coral Cay Conservation sent out a team of experienced divers to assist with the surveys. They left last Thursday, and from Phase 1 (extent and severity ofbleaching) the data shows that reefs are about 80% bleached at all sites (except some at Speyside and Sisters). Phase 2 is looking at related mortality, and we are still monitoring sites. Does not look good. Have some dramatic video footage if you want to show some at the meeting on the 30th for some illustrations of global warming in action." (see http://www.buccooreef.org/)

Owen's always interested in Masters projects so come and see me when I get back if you want to spend the summer diving!

Cheers Rich

Get published!

2005-11-18T15:28:00.000Z

Ok, so I may have given those of you who are fine-tuning your next submission for Nature a little false hope - I'm not talking about academic publishing. However, if any of you are interested in writing any other kind of article, my friend Doug Bell is editor of a student magazine and website called Fat Controller. He's after some new writing on any topics ranging from travel, art, politics, environmental issues - anything you're passionate about. if you've got any ideas then email him at: editor@fat-controller.com

The magazine has a readership of about 80,000 UK students and would be a good place to test out some less conventional ideas you may have as he's quite open to unusual articles.

Tangkoko Forest National Park, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

2005-11-18T14:28:00.000Z

This deliciously wiggly giant fascinated me and then fascinated me more when i realised that the fruits falling all around me and on my head actually grow straight out of the trees trunk - fascinating!!!!

2005-11-18T11:14:00.000Z

More critical mass - good show!

Lets have a drink and a chat!

2005-11-18T10:10:00.000Z

Hey folks,
Lets meet today for drinks at the Turf tavern. Today around 5. See you there? Good!

Mittens greatly appreciated

2005-11-17T22:39:00.000Z

Shot from the Critical Mass bike ride round Oxford on Thursday lunchtime. T'was a little chilly. Note Laura trying to cut up some unsuspecting guy in a yellow dayglow jacket - definitely not cricket.

climate change photo gallery

2005-11-17T16:26:00.000Z

Based on the powerful images Naomi presented, what if we collected photos that depict climate change in a visual sense? We could make a "Climate Change Photo Gallery." I know that we have some amazing photographers among us and could collaborate on different themes each month. Some interesting themes could be deforestation, extinction, urban growth etc... I know some interested galleries and we could set up some shows, if it's our own work. Otherwise, it could be a useful data base for creating posters or simply sharing our art with one another. Thanks Sam for starting this space for us...

2005-11-17T11:52:00.000Z

Katrina again

2005-11-17T11:51:00.000Z

Photos of Hurricane Katrina from Mississippi

Piments d'Espelette

2005-11-15T16:32:00.000Z

Piments d'Espelette
Originally uploaded by myblackboxrocks.

Organic image testing

Welcome

2005-11-15T16:04:00.000Z

Hi all,

Welcome to the blog, once I've invited you and you've set up an account (I know...yet another web account to remember...) still then you'll be able to post to the blog. Which in principle should be good.

Sam