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Headlines from this Week |
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A round up of the top stories as chosen by the CJS Team.
Monday 4 April
Battlelines drawn over St Kilda's protection reported in
Scotland on Sunday. Scotland's leading conservation body is gearing up for a battle
over the future of remote St Kilda over fears the archipelago's
sensitive environment is under threat. The National Trust for Scotland, the islands' guardian, wants the
government to create a marine protection area (MPA) to safeguard the
World Heritage Site.
Green light for research into forest management effects on woodland birds
News from Forest Research Defra funding secured to investigate the effects of changes in woodland
structure on bird populations Forest Research, The University of Nottingham and the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds, are in a consortium led by the British Trust for
Ornithology, which has successfully secured Defra funding to investigate the
effects of changes in woodland structure on bird populations. The main question that this work will address is whether habitat quality
for woodland birds can be improved, and thus bird populations increased,
through adopting particular silvicultural practices, management treatments,
and/or by reducing deer browsing pressure.
Sir David Attenborough asks gardeners to help save the butterfly in The
Telegraph Sir David Attenborough has urged gardeners to plant butterfly-friendly
flowers to help turn around the fortunes of
Nectar points: a painted lady sits on a verbena Photo: PA
According to experts, five species of butterfly have already become
extinct in the UK and almost half the remaining 56 species are under threat
of extinction. The country's butterflies have been in decline for decades, with the
trend accelerating in recent years. Today more than 70 per cent of butterfly
species are declining, wildlife organisation Butterfly Conservation said.
Tuesday 5 April
Adam Henson tells 'grumpy' farmers to re-brand in The Telegraph Farmers have to get away from their image as “overworked
underpaid whingers” and present a more positive side of the
countryside, according to Adam Henson, the presenter of BBC’s
Countryfile. The presenter, who farms almost 1,000 acres in the Cotswolds,
said food scares like Mad Cow’s Disease and salmonella gave
agriculture a negative image. More recently he said celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall have presented intensive pig and poultry
farming in a negative light by “scaremongering a bit”. The presenter of Lambing Live, that kicks off this week, said the
public should be shown a more positive side to everyday farming. “We do need to improve our image. Farmers have often been viewed
as overworked underpaid whingers. Farming is always going to be
hard. We have to face those challenges but face them in a positive
way. To stand up and say what we do better.”
RSPB says:
South Downs National Park an opportunity for conservation
This iconic landscape, formed from open downland, ancient woodland,
heathland and river valleys, supports a great variety of trees, plants,
birds and other wildlife and is enjoyed by thousands of people. The RSPB has a long association with the South Downs. Its Pulborough
Brooks Nature Reserve in the Arun Valley sits on the doorstep and offers a
gateway to the new National Park. Steve Gilbert, RSPB conservation programme manager, said: “The creation
of the South Downs National Park is an exciting opportunity to care for and
improve this landscape, for the benefit of local people and visitors alike,
saving forever its natural beauty, inspiring views and unique wildlife.” The RSPB will be a key partner in ensuring the creation of the National
Park adds value and becomes a leading example of how to enrich wildlife and
the lives of people by connecting them to nature.
Wenesday 6 AprilThe Big Swab 2011 by ARG UK Toad task force Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are working with
400 volunteers recruited from the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK
(ARG-UK) to swab more than 6,000 amphibians for the presence of chytrid
fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis). Teams of volunteers will be heading out after dark between April and June
to swab amphibians in more than 200 ponds across the UK. The Defra-funded survey will include 100 more
sites than the last chytrid survey in 2008, with volunteers in action in
Northern Ireland for the first time. In addition to sampling common toads, natterjack toads and the UK's three
species of native newt, volunteers will also be swabbing non-native species
such as the alpine newt and marsh frog. ZSL scientists are targeting new
species and covering more locations in a bid to create a fuller picture of
the UK's chytrid infection.
Is shark or killer whale at large near Great Yarmouth? Reported in the
Eastern Daily Press Beachcombers found a dead porpoise with a savage bite mark washed up on
the shore only a few miles from where walkers found a similar gruesome
discovery the following day. The twin finds at Winterton and Horsey, near
Great Yarmouth, have led to speculation that sharks or a killer whale could
be feeding off the north Norfolk coast.
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dozens
of species in decline. 
A
Scottish nature reserve will be using pony power to help wildlife from this
week.
A
lack of woodland cover during one of our harshest winters on record has been
partly blamed for the massive population decline of the increasingly rare
black grouse in northern England, which hit an all time low of just 500
males in the winter of 2009/10.