Hunting migratory birds is illegal in the country, but a series of crises means enforcement is derisory and many birds are being shot ‘just for fun’
Shell casings litter a meadow on Mount Terbol in northern Lebanon. The valley below falls along one of the world’s busiest routes for migratory birds. The mountain peak, buffeted by harsh winds, creates a natural corridor that encourages birds fatigued from long journeys between Africa and Eurasia to fly at low altitudes.
Those low-flying birds are easy targets for poachers who live in the mountain communities, says Michel Sawan, director of the Lebanese Association of Migratory Birds (Lamb). “They say: ‘We inherited this culture from our grandfathers,’ and I keep saying: ‘Your grandfathers are and were wrong.’”
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/22/2024 - 01:00
07/22/2024 - 00:00
Botanical gardens lost 400 trees during 2022 drought, prompting research into potential loss in coming decades
More than half of the tree species at Kew’s Royal Botanical Gardens are at risk of death because of climate breakdown, a study by the public body has found.
Founded in 1840, Kew Gardens says it houses the largest botanical collection in the world. During the drought of 2022, the botanical gardens in south-west London lost 400 of its trees. Scientists at Kew decided they should map and chronicle the climate risk to the trees to see how many could feasibly be lost to the changing weather in the coming decades.
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07/21/2024 - 18:01
Five stores will offer to alter, clean or mend clothes in service marketed as a way to help prevent waste
John Lewis customers will be able to give their favourite leather jacket a new lease of life or have a cushion cover fixed, as part of a repairs partnership with Timpson Group, the business famed for offering ex-offenders a second chance.
The service, which will be trialled at five stores from Monday, is designed to encourage shoppers to pay to have items altered, repaired, cleaned or restored, rather than throwing them away and buying replacements.
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07/21/2024 - 18:01
Opposition in wealthier areas is likely and overcoming it is essential, says Resolution Foundation
The government will need to “take on net-zero nimbys” and ramp up public investment to decarbonise Britain’s homes, transport and electricity system, a leading thinktank has said.
With Keir Starmer promising a rapid transition to decarbonise the power system by 2030, a report by the Resolution Foundation said achieving the target would require more government spending and private investment.
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07/21/2024 - 10:00
NSW, Victoria and Queensland local governments have limited roles in approving developments but advocates say they’re best placed to keep communities on side
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Rural councils should be “deeply engaged” with the planning of renewable energy projects in their back yards to keep communities on side and streamline the energy transition, local government advocates have said.
But not all renewable projects require local government approval, meaning developers are left to deal directly with local residents – to mixed results.
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07/21/2024 - 08:00
AI-based system designed to help people assess immediate risk of getting ill from water polluted with bacteria
Real-time water quality monitors are being installed at wild swimming spots and beaches across southern England to help people assess their immediate risk of getting ill from polluted water.
Wessex Water is installing sensors at three freshwater sites in Dorset, Somerset and Hampshire, plus two coastal sites in Bournemouth, after a successful pilot study at Warleigh Weir near Bath. Here, the artificial intelligence-based system correctly predicted when bacteria in the water were high 87% of the time.
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07/21/2024 - 07:00
Sparrows were taken into captivity after numbers dwindled – and this week experts released 1,000th bird back into wild
Scientists in Florida are hailing the landmark release this week of a tiny bird only 5in tall as an oversized success in their fight to save a critically endangered species.
Numbers of the Florida grasshopper sparrow, seen only in prairies in central regions of the state, dwindled so severely by 2015, mostly through habitat loss, that authorities took the decision to remove remaining breeding pairs into captivity. Their wager was that a controlled repopulation program would be more successful than leaving the birds to their own devices.
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07/21/2024 - 00:00
Decline blamed on washout summer driving down population of insects, butterflies and moths they feed on
Conservation groups across England are seeing more malnourished bats, as wildlife experts warn the washout summer is driving down the insects, butterflies and moths they feed on.
Groups across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Worcestershire, Essex and South Lancashire said they are seeing an increase in the number of “starving” or “underweight” bats, often juveniles, who need to be rescued and cared for by volunteers. In some places, they are seeing fewer bats than they usually do in the summer.
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07/20/2024 - 11:37
Violence erupts after about 4,000 gather in La Rochelle amid heightened tensions over water resources
A police officer and five protesters were injured when violence erupted after about 4,000 people turned out for a demonstration in La Rochelle over the use of reservoirs to supply large-scale agriculture, local officials said.
Police fired teargas and brought in water cannon trucks and reinforcements to disperse the demonstrators after the unrest broke out on Saturday afternoon, with several shop fronts smashed and at least seven people arrested.
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07/20/2024 - 11:00
The energy secretary’s plans to install thousands of pylons in unspoiled rural areas is facing a huge backlash
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has been warned he faces battlegrounds across the country over plans to install thousands of pylons in unspoilt rural areas to deliver a “clean power” revolution.
Council leaders and communities oppose proposals for a vast new network of pylons across large parts of several counties, including Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
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