17/06/2020

Archive

Desertification day

2020 Desertification and Drought Day will focus on links between consumption and land. Desertification and Drought , will in 2020 focus on changing public attitudes to the leading driver of desertification and land degradation: humanity’s relentless production and consumption. As populations become larger, wealthier and more urban, there is far greater demand for land to provide food, animal feed and fibre for clothing. Meanwhile, the health and productivity of existing arable land is declining, worsened by climate change. To have...

Colossal squid!

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa has an activity booklet all about the awesome colossal squid – Te ngu tigua. The Squid was found in the Ross Sea near Antarctica. The specimen at Te Papa is the only one on display in the world. What’s the difference between a squid and an octopus ? Squid – streamlined body ; 2 tentacles ; 2 fins Octopus – round, bulb-like body ; no tentacles ; no fins Video from Te Papa...

Insects populations are crashing!

Insects and lights – now there’s a combination that we have you ducking for cover or scratching as they invade your garden. However, National Geographic reports, insects numbers are crashing – and life on earth would not be the same…. “It’s said that we live in the Anthropocene—an epoch defined by human impacts on the planet. Still, by many measures, it’s bugs that dominate the world. At any given moment, it’s been estimated, there are 10 quintillion insects flying, crawling, hovering,...

Beloved gorilla killed

Rafiki, the well-known and beloved male gorilla, has been killed due to an increase in illegal activities during the lockdown, according to National Geographic Poachers have killed a well-known mountain gorilla, delivering a setback to decades-long conservation efforts to pull the subspecies back from the precipice of extinction. After the gorilla went missing and its mutilated body was found, rangers tracked a suspect to a nearby village, where he was allegedly found with bushmeat as well as snares, a spear, and bells to...

Marine pollution and Coronavirus

More masks than jellyfish : coronavirus waste ends up in ocean, reports The Guardian ‘Conservationists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could spark a surge in ocean pollution – adding to a glut of plastic waste that already threatens marine life – after finding disposable masks floating like jellyfish and waterlogged latex gloves scattered across seabeds. ‘ As a carer in a nursing home, I fully appreciate the essential need for what are called PPE – personal protective equipment. Masks...

More lockdown ideas

Whilst we slowly ‘come out of lockdown’ , we are still in transition mode. So, here’s a selection of websites / ideas…. Marie Claire is not my usual ‘refer to’ but this is a great list! Verve Magazine has a nice list including family board games and building a fort! Kidadl is a blog for families Plantlife Is all about enjoying and understanding our plants Kids of the wild is definitely worth a check – with blogs like ‘unusual gardening...

Museums and galleries online

In these strange times, many museums and galleries, have added to their online resources including virtual tours. Here are a selection United states of america Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History , United States of America – ‘The world’s most popular natural history museum is dedicated to understanding the natural world and our place in it. Delve into the fascitmnating story of our planet, from its fiery beginnings through billions of years of transformation, and explore life on Earth through...

Foxes new research

London Foxes Show Early Signs of Self-Domestication, according to Smithsonian The National Museums Scotland has a collection of about 1,500 fox skulls, diligently labeled with their original locations in London and the surrounding countryside. And when researchers compared rural fox skulls to those from in the city itself, they found some key differences. The results, published on June 3 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, show that while rural foxes remain adapted for speed and hunting small, scampering prey, urban...

Archaeology resources

Following the report of a newly-discovered city in Italy, here’s a list of archaeology societies and other online resources UNITED KINGDOM The British Archaeological Association was founded in 1843 by Charles Roach Smith, Thomas Wright and Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, to encourage the recording, preservation, and publication of archaeological discoveries, and to lobby for government assistance for the collection of British antiquities. All three men were Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London but felt the older body was too aristocratic,...

Ancient city discovered

Archaeologists discover ‘amazing’ details of Roman city, reports The Guardian Archaeologists have mapped a complete Roman city for the first time using ground-penetrating radar, revealing highly detailed images that they say could revolutionise our understanding of how such sites worked.  As well as a bath house, theatre, shops and several temples, the team from the universities of Cambridge and Ghent have discovered a large public monument of a kind never seen before, which may relate to the religious practices of...

Whale mother & calf

Brisbane underwater photographer Jasmine Carey has won the grand prize in the Hamdan International Photography award with her image of a humpback whale and its two-week old calf off the coast of Tonga. (Source : The Guardian ) Brisbane underwater photographer Jasmine Carey describes here how she captured the shot…. “I grabbed my 5D Mark IV camera, which is encased in waterproof housing and slipped off a small tour boat into the waters of the Vavaʻu Islands in Tonga. Small...

Shark finning

Following my post about shark groups, and world oceans day yesterday, here is what happens to many sharks…… What is shark finning? Wasteful and horrible practice, and totally unnecessary! It is the gruesome practice of cutting off a live shark’s fins and throwing the rest of the animal back into the sea, where it dies a slow and painful death. The fins are used in China and Hong Kong, and by Chinese communities elsewhere in the world, as the key...

Elephant charities

Following the tragic death of the Asian elephant in India – see my post here – its only fitting that a post be on elephant charities … Save the Elephants (STE) is a UK registered charity based in Kenya founded in September 1993 by Iain Douglas-Hamilton. It works to sustain elephant populations and preserve the habitats in which elephants are found, while at the same time fostering a heightened appreciation and visibility for elephants and their often fragile existence. Save the Elephants...

Amazing nature diary!

“Here is a book that’s different… It’s pertinent. It’s about enduring, its about passion, beauty and connection. It’s very, very special’” Naturalist chris packham, foreward Extent: 224pp | Format: Hardback | JUST published : 25 May 2020ISBN: 9781908213792 | Price: £16 – Available through the LearnFromNature Bookshop – contact me...

World Oceans day (2)

Here are more important charities undertaking vital work for and in our oceans ZSL – Zoological Society of London – has a number of projects including Project Ocean – In the next decade, our oceans could hold one kilogram of plastic for every three kilograms of fish. Project Ocean 2015 is setting out to raise awareness and drive change to reduce the amount of plastic entering our oceans. Oceania – save the oceans, feed the world IUCN World Commission on Protected...