Category:

1. Apathy kills, action inspires

   Posted on 8:00am Wednesday 31st Oct 2018

   It’s very motivating to browse the internet and come across something which really strikes into your heart. The sort of thing I’m thinking of spurs you to take action – not just to want to take action, but to actually do it. How often do we come away having read something, thinking," That’s terrible," and then go on as if we had read nothing or not been affected at all? The key to successful wildlife conservation is to moving people literally to take action, to do something, in whatever way we all can, to do something to save this wildlife on this planet and most particularly, to save and protect their habitats.  Number of actions for wildlife... ___________________________________________________________ 0              1             2              3              4              5              6              7                                          1 action                 is better than                 no action at all The good thing about taking one action is that we tend to feel good about doing it.  And often we may think, "That was easy!  What else can I do?"  Sometimes it’s just the getting started and doing something however little time it takes. The one thing wildlife cannot afford at all is for us all to sit at the zero action position.  We need a total army of people who will move from the zero point to doing stuff.  And if each of us already do stuff, we need to do more. E.O.Wilson is a scientist.  In his book Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life , (which inspires us to set aside half of the earth’s surface for nature), Mr Wilson writes: “To those who are steering the growth of reserves worldwide, let me make an earnest request:  don’t stop, just aim a lot higher.” We all need to act for the sake of wildlife and this beautiful planet of ours. Please take an action to help wildlife today.  One way is to support those already working to grow and protect reserves around the world or protecting the wildlife already there.

    

2. T-shirts to help plant trees

   Posted on 9:00pm Wednesday 8th Aug 2018

   I've got to say, I just love Ecosia.   They're a search engine and I use it a lot to have a good rummage around the internet. It's a simple formula - you search, they plant trees and it doesn't cost you a penny :-) Ecosia uses 100% of its profits to plant trees where they're needed most.  So far over 34 million trees have been planted and Ecosia are aiming to plant one BILLION.   It's a journey I'm really to help with, and it's so good to see that many people are joining in as well.  So I was really pleased to discover that Ecosia now have an online shop and you can buy things like t-shirts, tops, jumpers and hoodies.  Their products are made from organic cotton and they're printed in the UK in a renewable energy powered factory.   And best of all - All profits from their organic apparel go directly towards one of Ecosia’s reforestation projects.   I've ordered one of their t-shirts - this one below - for 21.50 euros, plus postage and packaging.  Ecosia have a range of them.   Click on the t-shirt below to see their online shop!    Buying and wearing one of their t-shirts or other clothing items will be a great way to pass the message of the importance of trees on and give people an immediate and very easy way to help :-)

    

3. Who says levying 5p on plastic bags doesn’t make a difference? It does!

   Posted on 9:00am Tuesday 24th Apr 2018

   I was reading through the excellent magazine Natur from the North Wales Wildlife Trust this morning. One piece of news particularly caught my eye and just shows how levying the 5p on carrier bags can help wildlife. The support of Tesco’s customers through this levy has enabled the North Wales Wildlife Trust to manage the Riwledyn Nature Reserve.  This is a 12 acre reserve close to the sea.  They’ve been able to maintain areas of limestone grassland and protect local wildlife. In 2017, the Trust: Purchased new hand-tools, 2 new brush-cutters, personal protective equipment and fencing materials to facilitate grassland and grazing management.   Three volunteers were trained in the art of using a brush-cutter. A group walk in July spotted a dark-red helleborine – the first time this orchid has been spotted at the reserve – plus spiked speedwell, white horehound and a loud chattering of chough Local volunteers and youth groups (Conwy Healthy Image Group and Itaca Youth Group) helped to install 2 new oak benches along a busy section of the Wales Coast Path – and they’re proving very popular for people to use after climbing up and over the Little Orme! ©Lin Cummins Visit the North Wales Wildlife Trust and find out how you can make a difference. You can find your local branch here.

4. A quarter of UK dinners have no meat or fish

   Posted on 8:00pm Wednesday 7th Feb 2018

   Research shows that over 25% of all evening meals in the UK are either vegan or vegetarian.  Kantar Worldpanel's research shows that in the 12 weeks to January's end, 29% of them had no meat or fish.  Trends such as Veganuary - that's going vegan for January - and a continual interest in meat free diets are affecting people's habits.   Quorn Foods saw its global sales rise by 16% last year. The research was collected from a consumer panel of 30,000 households.  It shows a year on year move to more vegetarian meals.  In 2014, 26.9 of evening meals were vegetarian and this rose to 27.8 in 2016.   During January, 10% of shoppers bought a meat-free ready meal - so sales had risen by 15% compared with the previous year. Vegetables such as spinach and aubergine were up 43% and 23% respectively, compared to the last 12 months. Vegetarian books from Foyles Visit the Vegetarian Society Vsit the Vegan Society Compassion in World Farming

    

5. South Korea to scrap coal and nuclear power

   Posted on 10:00pm Thursday 6th Jul 2017

   Greenpeace's EnergyDesk reports that the new President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, has commited South Koare to phasing out all coal and nuclear power stations.

   This suggests a major change in the country's energy policy and a new internatinoal commitment to move away from coal since Trump pulled America out of the Paris climate agreement. 

   Moon made a speech at a ceremony which shut down the country's oldest coal station, in which he promised to:

   • scrap existing plans for new nuclear plants
   • not extend the life of existing ones,
   • shut down 10 old coal power plants and
   • cancel new coal projects.

   Moon noted that so far the country's energy policy has focused on low prices and efficiency but that this should change, the priority now being on public safety and the environment. 

   South Korea is one of the top producers of nuclear power in the world and was looking to export its expertise and technology.

   But air pollution has recently risen up the political agenda, as South Korean was at risk of becoming one of the more polluted countries in the world. 

   Back in January 2017, a study from researchers at Harvard University and Greenpeace International said approximately 50,000 lives a year could be saved by 2030 if no new coal-fired power plants are built in Southeast Asia, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

   At a recent meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Moon recently  suggested a 20% renewable energy target by 2030 and says South Korean will actively share their experience in building renewable energy sources and environmentally friendly energy towns with other AIIB countries