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Nearly 1m birds were killed on British military base in Cyprus, says RSPB

The Guardian - Mon, 2015-03-09 16:01

Poachers took 15,000 birds every day for two months last autumn on Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area as conservationists warn killing is at unprecedented levels

Almost a million birds were illegally killed in just two months on a British military base in Cyprus last year, according to the RSPB.

Dr Tim Stowe, the RSPB’s international director, called on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to do more to stop local poachers, who reportedly took 15,000 birds every day during September and October from British Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area (SBA).

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Climate Change Adaption - relocation of a Solomon Islands township to increase community resilience

Newsletters QLD - Sun, 2015-03-08 17:50
Climate Change Adaption - relocation of a Solomon Islands township to increase community resilience
Categories: Newsletters QLD

Health costs of hormone disrupting chemicals over €150bn a year in Europe, says study

The Guardian - Fri, 2015-03-06 21:09

Lower IQ, adult obesity and 5% of autism cases are all linked to exposure to endocrine disruptors found in food containers, plastics, furniture, toys, carpeting and cosmetics, says new expert study

Europe is experiencing an explosion in health costs caused by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that is comparable to the cost of lead and mercury poisoning, according to the most comprehensive study of the subject yet published.

Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with the human hormone system, and can be found in food containers, plastics, furniture, toys, carpeting and cosmetics.

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Weasel-riding-woodpecker picture prompts weighty Twitter debate

The Guardian - Wed, 2015-03-04 04:59

#WeaselPecker trends on Twitter as Photoshop fans have fun with apparently genuine image of weasel flying on bird’s back through London park

It’s that age-old story: weasel meets bird, weasel falls in love with bird, weasel won’t let bird go – even when it flies off.

This extraordinary picture taken by amateur wildlife photographer Martin Le-May has caused some chin-scratching among ornithologists everywhere. Is it possible for a woodpecker to carry a weasel on its back?

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Report on the Threatened Species Commissioner’s first six months on the job now out

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2015-03-03 08:47
Read what’s been achieved and what’s left to do
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Lewis Pugh's Antarctic swim – in pictures

The Guardian - Tue, 2015-03-03 01:10

British endurance swimmer and United Nations Environment Programme patron of the oceans, completes most southerly swim in human history after swimming in the Bay of Whales, Ross Sea

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Coo roo-c'too-coo! Enter the captivating world of pigeon fanciers

The Guardian - Fri, 2015-02-27 23:30

Raising and showing selectively bred birds is a world away from pigeons’ unjust image of ‘rats with wings’ – and it’s a hobby that helps forge lifelong friendships

Don’t feed the pigeons – unless you want to travel the world, forge life-long friendships and fall in love. These are just a few of the many perks of the pigeon hobby touted by fanciers from around the globe.

“Some people make art with paint and clay, we make art with pigeons,” said Leon Stephens, president of the Los Angeles Pigeon Club. Stephens studied genetics in college before starting his career as a health inspector.

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Meeting of Environment Ministers Agreed Statement

Department of the Environment - Fri, 2015-02-27 16:17
Commonwealth, state and territory environment ministers met yesterday in Canberra to progress key environment issues of national significance.
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Working towards a National Clean Air Agreement – Discussion Paper

Department of the Environment - Fri, 2015-02-27 11:08
National Clean Air Agreement discussion paper now open for public comment. Submissions close 17 April 2015.
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The truth behind the story on the 'world's oldest tree' being cut down

The Guardian - Fri, 2015-02-27 10:00

‘Hoax’ article on the Amazon correctly identifies threats to Brazil-Peru border region

In December the World News Daily Report (WNDR) published an article claiming that the “world’s oldest tree” had been cut down along the Brazil-Peru border in the Amazon. It stated that a “giant Samauma tree that is thought to be over 5,800 years old” in the “Matsés Indigenous Reserve” had been “accidentally” felled by illegal loggers, and quoted “local tribesman leader Tahuactep of the Matsés tribe” saying it had “brought darkness upon not only our people, but the whole world.”

Some media responded by reporting it as fact, others by calling it a hoax. The Independent described it as “one of the 11 weirdest hoaxes of 2014”, while the Washington Post asserted that the WNDR is a “hoax-news site whose stories — we repeat! — are always fake” and “the world’s oldest tree is actually “somewhere in eastern California” and “only 5,062 years old.”

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Invitation to comment on the proposal to delist two plant species

Department of the Environment - Thu, 2015-02-26 10:19
The public consultation period will be open until 22 April 2015.
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Quokka deaths on Rottnest Island spark police investigation

The Guardian - Wed, 2015-02-25 14:57

Five quokkas that were found stuffed head-first into tree protectors and another lying nearby had ‘clearly been killed’, say authorities

Authorities in Western Australia are investigating the deaths of five quokkas that were found stuffed head-first into tree protectors on Rottnest Island on Monday.

The animals were found by Peter Basford, who told Seven News in Perth that he was visiting the island and found the animals near the camping ground.

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50th anniversary of 1965 ‘Freedom Ride’ Indigenous civil rights protest at Moree

Department of the Environment - Fri, 2015-02-20 14:40
Today, the Australian Heritage Council joins all Australians in commemorating the 50th anniversary of the momentous 1965 ‘Freedom Ride’ Indigenous civil rights protest at the Moree Baths and Swimming Pool.
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SENG National Newsletter - February2015

Newsletters National - Thu, 2015-02-19 18:25
SENG National Newsletter - February2015
Categories: Newsletters National

Canadian mounties' secret memo casts doubt on climate change threat

The Guardian - Thu, 2015-02-19 02:51

Intelligence report identifies anti-petroleum movement as a threat to Canadian security and suggests those concerned with climate consequences occupy political fringe

The US security establishment views climate change as real and a dangerous threat to national security. But Canada takes a very different view, according to a secret intelligence memo prepared by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The memo, stamped “Canadian eyes only”, repeatedly casts doubt on the causes of climate change – the burning of fossil fuels – and its potential threat.

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World's biggest offshore windfarm approved for Yorkshire coast

The Guardian - Wed, 2015-02-18 04:37

Dogger Bank Creyke Beck project will cover 430 sq miles and is expected to generate enough electricity to power nearly 2m homes, supporting 900 jobs

Plans for the world’s biggest offshore windfarm have been given the green light by the energy secretary, with planning permission for an array of up to 400 turbines 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast on the Dogger Bank.

The project, more than twice the size of the UK’s current biggest offshore windfarm, is expected to cost £6bn to £8bn and could fulfil 2.5% of the UK’s electricity needs.

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Privatisation of UK woodlands is happening by the backdoor | Mark Avery

The Guardian - Tue, 2015-02-17 23:03

Plans to build luxury holiday cabins, majority-owned by venture capitalists, in public forests put protected wildlife and their habitats at risk

Four years ago the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, told the House of Commons that she was ditching the coalition government’s plans to privatise the Forestry Commission (FC). “I’m sorry. We got this one wrong, but we have listened to people’s concerns,” she said.

But if you go down to the woods today, you may have a big surprise, because privatisation of our woodlands appears to be proceeding by the back door.

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Sea Urchin and Turban Shell Restricted Fishery

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2015-02-17 15:21
Agency application on ecological sustainability - call for public comments open from 19 February 2015 until 26 March 2015
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Seriolella brama (blue warehou) listed as conservation dependent

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2015-02-17 08:37
Seriolella brama (blue warehou) listed as conservation dependent under the EPBC Act, effective 14 February 2015
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Nasa climate study warns of unprecedented North American drought | Dana Nuccitelli

The Guardian - Tue, 2015-02-17 00:00

We need to cut carbon pollution to avoid North American mega-droughts

California is in the midst of its worst drought in over 1,200 years, exacerbated by record hot temperatures. A new study led by Benjamin Cook at Nasa GISS examines how drought intensity in North America will change in a hotter world, and finds that things will only get worse.

Global warming intensifies drought in several ways. In increases evaporation from soil and reservoirs. In increases water demand. It makes precipitation fall more as rain and less as snow, which is problematic for regions like California that rely on snowpack melt to refill reservoirs throughout the year. It also makes the snowpack melt earlier in the year. The record heat has intensified the current California drought by about 36%, and the planet will only continue to get hotter.

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