Farming is mainly to blame for the loss of our native plants and wildlife
Posted on March 14, 2010
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England was given an uncomfortable reminder last week of the impact of its swelling number of inhabitants. Over the past two millennia, hundreds of its native plants and animals have been rendered extinct because the human population has risen from about one million to more than 51 million. Victims have ranged from the great auk and the lynx to the humble blue stag beetle and Davall’s sedge. More to the point, 480 of the 492 species made extinct since Roman times have disappeared in the past two centuries. Rates of eradication are rising, a trend that bodes badly for the future of the countryside, a report states.
Produced by Natural England, the government agency responsible for the countryside, “Lost Life: England’s Lost and Threatened Species” focuses only on wildlife on English soil, although it has broad lessons for all of Britain. We live on “a fortress built by Nature for herself”, Shakespeare claimed. If so, she is now paying a heavy price for its construction, as the study makes clear.
According to the report, a total of 24% of butterfly species and 22% of amphibians have been wiped out in England, along with individual types of wildlife such as Mitten’s beardless moss; York groundsel, a weed only discovered in the 1970s; and Ivell’s sea anemone, which was last seen in a lagoon near Chichester. Add to this the wolf, the wildcat and other large mammals and the level of devastation of our wildlife becomes chillingly apparent.
Indeed, the situation is far worse than the one outlined in the study, its lead author Dr Tom Tew, chief scientist of Nature England, admitted last week. The agency was as conservative and careful as it could in compiling the report, he told the Observer. “We wanted to avoid accusations of being alarmist.” As a result, “Lost Life” underestimates, by a fair amount, the numbers of extinctions of animals and plants in England that have taken place in recent years.
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/14/threat-english-plants-species-wildlife
UN-backed global conference on trade in endangered species begins
Posted on March 14, 2010
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At least 42 proposals are on the agenda for discussion at the two-week gathering, with many reflecting international concern about the accelerated destruction of marine and forest ecosystems through overfishing and excessive logging, according to a press release issued by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which administers the secretariat of CITES. Other proposals include calls for urgent measures to tackle the illegal trade in tiger products, rhinoceroses and other species considered on the brink of extinction. Member States will decide on measures to conserve species by either consensus or a two-thirds majority vote.
Willem Wijnstekers, the Secretary-General of CITES, said increased political will is needed from member States to the Convention – which entered into force in 1975 – to deal with present-day challenges and problems. “We do not want to risk letting down the developing world in its struggle to ensure that trade in wild fauna and flora is conducted legally and sustainably,” he said.
The General Assembly declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity and Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of UNEP, said this year is a critical one for governments to take action to protect species.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34076&Cr=Biodiversity&Cr1=
‘STATE AID ENCOURAGES TEENAGE MUMS’
Posted on March 13, 2010
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MORE than two-thirds of Brits believe state handouts encourage teenage girls to get pregnant, a poll revealed yesterday. Half think stories of casual sex by celebrities on TV and film contribute to the problem. But almost 40% also blame ignorance about birth control. A third think sex education in schools is now out of touch. Others factors blamed for the epidemic in the Harris interactive survey include children “growing up too quickly” and abortion services being “too readily” available.
Britain has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in western Europe with 41,325 under-18s conceiving in 2008 alone. The children of teenage mums account for 7.1% of all births in England, compared with an average 3% on the Continent.
Norman Wells, of the pro-life Family Education Trust, claimed yesterday: “State support for teenage mothers is exacerbating the problem and making uncommitted teenage parenthood an attractive option for some. “The problem is not that girls in their late teens are becoming mothers but that most of them are unmarried and the majority are left to bring up their child without the commitment and support of the father.” He added: “The Government’s teenage pregnancy strategy is addressing the problem in completely the wrong way when it tells young people how to use contraception and where they can obtain it without their parents knowing.”
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families claimed the poll had been based on misunderstandings. He said: “We want kids to delay sex and parenthood as long as possible. “The fact is that, since 1998, there has been a reduction of almost 25% in births to under-18s, to the lowest level for over 20 years.”
Source: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/126170/-State-aid-encourages-teenage-mums-/
