| National Nature Reserves
celebrate Golden anniversary |
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2002 marks the 50th anniversary of
National Nature Reserves (NNRs) in England. The latest addition
to the best wildlife sites is Sherwood Forest NNR declared today,
12 November 2002 in the presence of His Royal Highness The Duke
of Gloucester. In the very heart of Nottinghamshire lies the
ancient forest of Birklands, an extensive area of old pasture-woodland
and heath on the dry nutrient-poor soils of the Sherwood sandstone.
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More information -
English Nature
Independent
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| EC experts cave in
over total ban on cod fishing |
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Up to 20,000 fishermen were given
a reprieve from almost certain redundancy last night after European
scientific experts advocated severe cod fishing restrictions
in the North Sea rather than an outright ban. The fisheries
committee advising the European Commission endorsed last month's
report from the International Council for the Exploration of
the Seas, which called for a total ban on fishing for cod, whiting
and haddock in the North Sea, Irish Sea and off the west coast
of Scotland. But under pressure from Franz Fischler, the fisheries
commissioner, the committee said severely reducing cod fishing
and clamping down on illegal fishing might be enough to stave
off a collapse of white fish stocks in Europe. |
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More information -
Telegraph
Times
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| The Environment in
your Pocket 2002 |
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Key trends and other statistics on
the environment over recent years are presented for easy accessibility
in the latest edition of the booklet, The Environment in your
Pocket 2002, published today the by the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs. The Environment in your Pocket includes
more than 50 key data series covering: the global atmosphere,
air quality, inland water quality and use, coastal and marine
waters, radioactivity, noise, waste and recycling, land use
and land cover, and wildlife. Also contained are some general
background series including analyses of linkages between indicators
on the economy, transport, energy use, and emissions of pollutants.
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More information - DEFRA
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| UN official says GM
foods pose potential risk to human health |
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Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
could endanger human health and would not solve the problem
of world hunger, the United Nations' special rapporteur for
the right to food said. "Genetically modified organisms could
pose a danger to the human organism and public health in the
medium and long term", Jean Ziegler, who writes UN reports on
food rights, said in a statement issued in Geneva. "The argument
that GMOs are indispensible for overcoming malnutrition and
hunger is not convincing," said Ziegler, a sociologist and former
member of the Swiss parliament. |
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More information - arabia.com
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| Advisers brand Blair's
GM debate a sham |
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Tony Blair's strategy on genetically-modified
foods is in crisis after a series of extraordinary attacks by
Whitehall's own communications arm and a panel of independent
advisers. The Prime Minister had hoped a national debate on
GM crops would soothe widespread anxieties over their safety,
paving the way for their commercialisation in the UK. But The
Observer has learnt that this process is on the brink of collapse,
making it almost impossible for the Government to allay public
suspicion about the technology. Documents reveal the government
body charged with promoting the project, the Central Office
of Information, has warned that Ministers have failed to stump
up sufficient funds for the debate. |
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More information - Observer
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| Sun's rays to roast
Earth as poles flip |
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Earth's magnetic field - the force
that protects us from deadly radiation bursts from outer space
- is weakening dramatically. Scientists have discovered that
its strength has dropped precipitously over the past two centuries
and could disappear over the next 1,000 years. The effects could
be catastrophic. Powerful radiation bursts, which normally never
touch the atmosphere, would heat up its upper layers, triggering
climatic disruption. Navigation and communication satellites,
Earth's eyes and ears, would be destroyed and migrating animals
left unable to navigate. 'Earth's magnetic field has disappeared
many times before - as a prelude to our magnetic poles flipping
over, when north becomes south and vice versa,' said Dr Alan
Thomson of the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh. |
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More information - Observer
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| Biofuels for fuel cells |
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Could the world's waste - peanut
shells from Georgia, coconut shells from the Philippines, pig-farm
waste from China, or even left-over gas from Japanese-beer kegs
- be the answer to the next energy crisis? Probably not, but
a number of companies and individuals are touting the benefits
in a variety of ways. Talk abounds about fuel cells and the
"hydrogen economy," spurred by recent announcements that cars
running on fuel cells will soon reach the market. "The first
fuel-cell cars will be out in the road in six months," says
Kelvin Hecht, a consultant for United Technologies Co. (UTC)
Fuel Cells in South Windsor, Conn., and chair of the national
and international committees for writing safety standards for
fuel cells. |
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More information - The
Scientist
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/pp /ss /ww /ee /aa /bb /nn /cc
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| Dotterel decline adds
mystery to sex role reversed bird |
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The number of breeding Dotterel -
a bird famous because the female leaves the male sitting on
her eggs while she finds other mates - has declined in Scotland,
according to a new national survey by Scottish Natural Heritage
(SNH), with financial assistance from the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The results, which are published
this week in the journal Bird Study, show that the shorebird,
a specialist of mountain areas, now only has 630 males, a decline
of 23 per cent since the last survey in 1987/88. Males are surveyed
as they alone mainly care for eggs and chicks. The survey was
carried out throughout Britain's potential Dotterel breeding
sites in mountain areas. The results show that lower populations
were estimated during 1999 in all but two of the eight regions. |
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More information - Scottish
Natural Heritage
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| The great pheasant
turkey shoot |
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A beautiful autumn morning in the
Scottish countryside and the pheasants are dying. Carcasses
thump to the ground with monotonous regularity as guns blaze
away at the flying targets flushed from the protective undergrowth.
By the end of the day, the six marksmen will pay more than £700
each for killing 165 birds in the fields of the Mountquhannie
estate, in north-west Fife. Brian, a Yorkshire businessman resplendent
in his tweed suit, has a glint in his eye. "We come here because
the shooting is good," he said, "and the birds are in their
full pomp." |
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More information - Scotland
on Sunday
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| Report reveals pressures
on Scotland's mountains |
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Tourism is one of the most important
economic activities in the Scottish Highlands, but also poses
considerable challenges for their management according to a
report launched this week at an international mountains conference
in Pitlochry. The report, Scotland's Mountains: Key Issues for
Their Future Management, has been published by Scottish Natural
Heritage (SNH), in association with the Centre for Mountain
Studies and the International Year of Mountains. The study included
a survey of landowners, members of the public, members of the
John Muir Trust (JMT) and the Mountaineering Council of Scotland
(MCofS). The highest number of landowner respondents cited recreation
as a primary function of their mountainous land. |
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More information - Scottish
Natural Heritage
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| Appeal for unit to
look after seals |
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A wildlife rescue team is appealing
to residents in the North-east to help find suitable premises
for a new rehabilitation unit for sick and injured seals. The
British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) has been awarded a
£5,000 grant from the International Fund for Animal Welfare
to build a unit because there is a lack of facilities in the
North-east to for the area's seal population. The group has
launched a major 'Save Our Seals' campaign following the outbreak
of a virus which has killed nearly 3,000 seals in the UK this
year. |
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More information - this
is north scotland
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| Plan to save Pendle
'wildlife haven' |
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THE Edge End area of Pendle is one
step nearer becoming a conservation area after members of the
Nelson Committee recommended the proposal to the executive.
Its designation would acknowledge the area's special architectural
and historic interest as the council considers an application
to develop Edge End Farm. Members approved the conservation
area proposal, which will now go to the executive on November
21, and asked for a meeting with residents at the earliest opportunity.
One local, Ian Wells, of Edge End Lane, told the meeting that
the area, which includes Edge End Farm, Edge End House, Edge
End Hall and associated land, was once part of a 14th century
estate and the buildings were listed as important architectural
buildings. |
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More information - This
is Lancashire
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| Big cat alert after
sheep die |
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Idwal Miles had the shock of his
life when he got up close to what he thought was a black sheep
and its lamb in the field near his Mathry home. The lamb hissed
at him. And as the mother sat up, he realised it was a large
black cat - as big as an alsatian, but with a longer body and
tail. The sighting - a week ago on Saturday - has confirmed
other reports that there is a large cat on the loose in the
area. But the fact that it was accompanied by a cub has come
as a huge surprise. Mr Miles, of Penygroes Villas, said: "It
was a lovely sunny morning and these two figures were lying
in the field. I thought at first it was a black sheep and lamb.
But as I got closer I realised it wasn't. I went back to fetch
my wife Rita and we both walked over slowly." |
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More information - This
is Pembrokeshire
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| Rare newts may put
paid to Selby homes plan |
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A colony of tiny amphibians look
set to stand in the way of a proposed housing development near
Selby. Villagers want to protect a "substantial number" of great
crested newts living in Parson's Pond, off Church Street, in
Church Fenton. Almost 100 letters of objection to a four-building
development on the site of their home, which is also known as
Vicar's Pond, have been received by council officers. Residents
claim the development would change water levels in the pond,
as well as the drainage of nearby land. Wildlife experts believe
the development would "damage or destroy" the habitat of the
protected species by reducing available food and shelter. |
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More information - This
is York
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