English

A FLY which has apparently never ventured beyond a tiny strip of an east Highland beach could be facing extinction, scientists warn. Fonseca's seed fly is on the nation's Biodiversity Action Plan but a paper by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) highlights just how limited the insect's world is thought to be. Experts believe the fly, Botanophila fonsecai, is restricted to a 328-feet long strip of land on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth. The population is small and is subject to environmental changes, while its beach habitat is frequently being trampled by humans taking part in recreational activities on the beach. "Consequently, B. fonsecai is particularly susceptible to extinction," SNH scientists say.

Researchers with Friends of the Earth US and the Pesticide Research Institute say that more than half of the nursery plants studied contained residues of “neonicotinoid” pesticides, a substance increasingly thought to be contributing to mass die-offs of global honey-bee populations. “At the levels observed in our report, the high percentage of contaminated plants and concentrations suggest this problem is widespread,” Lisa Archer, a co-author of the new report and director of Friends of the Earth US’s food and technology program, told Inter Press Service (IPS). “Unfortunately, too many home gardeners have likely become a source of exposure to pesticides that have been shown to harm, weaken and kill bees. It’s pretty shocking that consumers who may be purchasing these plants specifically to help bees could, in fact, be poisoning them.”

The finding raises questions about the adequacy of voluntary conservation measures proposed today for the rare grouse in a final rangewide conservation plan intended to preclude the need for Endangered Species Act protections. The study, by Western EcoSystems Technology Inc. of Laramie, Wyo., estimates the total population size at 17,616 individuals in 2013, more than a 50 percent drop from the 2012 estimate of 34,440 birds. The study also estimated there to be 2,036 occupied breeding areas (known as leks) in 2013 — a decline of more than 30 percent from the 2012 estimate of 2,930 leks. Lesser prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) have been on the waiting list for federal protection since 1998. The species was proposed for listing as a result of a 2011 settlement between conservation groups and the Fish and Wildlife Service to speed protections for hundreds of species around the country.

Responding to a 2001 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today denied Endangered Species Act protection to the Kittlitz’s murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris), an Alaskan seabird. “The Kittlitz’s murrelet is one of America’s most imperiled birds, but federal officials have decided not to save the species from extinction,” said Shaye Wolf, the Center’s climate science director. “It’s tragic that our government has denied protection to this clearly endangered seabird, despite overwhelming scientific evidence of drastic population declines.” The Kittlitz’s murrelet — also known as the “glacier murrelet” — forages in coastal waters near glacier outflows, where its fish and zooplankton food is abundant. The number of birds has declined by 80 percent to 90 percent in recent decades in core areas from Glacier Bay to Prince William Sound. In its listing analysis, the Service concluded that Kittlitz’s murrelets in Alaska experienced a large-scale decline of 30 percent per year between 1989 and 2000 and likely have continued to decline at a slower rate since 2000. The Center submitted a petition in 2001 to list the Kittlitz’s murrelet under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In 2004 the Service determined that the Kittlitz’s murrelet warranted protection but was “precluded” from listing, putting this species on a long waiting list for protection. In 2011 the Center and the Service reached a landmark agreement that ensures that all the species on the federal waiting list for protection as of 2010 get decisions within the next four years. Today’s decision resulted from this agreement.

Karen Hudes is a graduate of Yale Law School and she worked in the legal department of the World Bank for more than 20 years. In fact, when she was fired for blowing the whistle on corruption inside the World Bank, she held the position of Senior Counsel. She was in a unique position to see exactly how the global elite rule the world, and the information that she is now revealing to the public is absolutely stunning. According to Hudes, the elite use a very tight core of financial institutions and mega-corporations to dominate the planet. The goal is control. They want all of us enslaved to debt, they want all of our governments enslaved to debt, and they want all of our politicians addicted to the huge financial contributions that they funnel into their campaigns. Since the elite also own all of the big media companies, the mainstream media never lets us in on the secret that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way that our system works.

The plain-pouched hornbill, or Aceros Subruficollis, is one of dozens of species in the hornbill family. Hornbills are typically found in various tropical and subtropical forests in Africa and Asia, but they are an icon for this Southeast Asian nation of 29 million people. The plain-pouched hornbill, which is similar in size to a medium-sized eagle, plays a key role in the ecosystem by dispersing the seeds of various forest fruits. Their decline in the Belum-Temengor forest reserve is similar to their steep falloff in Myanmar. The bird was relatively common and abundant in Myanmar, but there have been no recent recorded sightings, and it appears to have undergone a rapid decline in at least one area in the country. The Malaysian Nature Society has been monitoring seasonal migration movements since 2004, logging a maximum count of 3,261 plain-pouched hornbills in Belum-Temengor. Subsequent counts have been much lower, numbering fewer than 1,000 birds.

The manumea bird (Didunculus strigirostris), which is endemic to Samoa and its national bird, is feared near extinction after a 10-day survey of the Savai’i uplands by a group of scientists resulted in just one sighting. An ornithologist, Rebecca Stirnemann, says she was hoping the manumea, a close relative of the dodo, would be abundant there - with the largely untouched cloud forest acting as a last refuge for the endangered species. But she says the manumea population is much smaller than what was anticipated. She says because of a lack of research as to what could be causing the population’s rapid decline, it is hard to know what can be done. “The manumea, we still know very little about. In fact we don’t even know if the nests are on the ground or high up a tree. So we have no biological information on their breeding, which makes it quite difficult to say well what’s eating it, why are we not seeing any chicks, why are numbers declining? Is it because there’s no food, there’s been a lot of habitat loss, but then it could be invasive species.” Rebecca Stirnemann says they are now doing a survey to find out how many manumea are left in Samoa by targeting areas where local people have reported seeing them.

Since the first genetically modified crops in the U.S. were approved in the mid-’90s, millions of acres have been planted with these crops. Most of the harvest goes to animal feed and other uses, but it’s estimated that about 70 percent of processed foods in the U.S. contain GMO ingredients. 90% of corn grown in the U.S. in 2013 is genetically modified. Most corn grown in the U.S. is used for animal feed and non-food products like ethanol, but it is also used in processed foods for humans — most often as high-fructose corn syrup. (This is different from the genetically modified sweet corn introduced by Monsanto in 2011.) How it may show up on labels: corn syrup, corn meal, dextrin. 93%of soybeans grown in the U.S. in 2013 are genetically modified. Like corn, much of the nation’s soy crop is used for animal feed and energy. A number of the top brands of soy milk, tofu and other obvious foods are organic and GMO-free. How it may show up on labels: soy protein, soy flour, lethicin. 90%of cotton grown in the U.S. in 2013 is genetically modified. Cotton is mostly used for textiles, but cottonseed oil is used as a cheaper substitute for olive or canola oil in foods like salad dressing and potato chips. How it may show up on labels: cottonseed oil. 90%of canola grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. Canola oil is used in food, while the seed meal is used in livestock feed. How it may show up on labels: canola oil. 95%of sugar beets grown in the U.S. are genetically modified. Monsanto introduced herbicide-resistant sugar beets in 2008, and it has been considered the fastest adoption of any genetically engineered crop. Opponents sought to block the crop in court, and it continues to be contentious. In June, thousands of plants were destroyed by vandals in southwest Oregon. How it may show up on labels: sugar, sucrose. 88% of alfalfa grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. Humans don’t eat alfalfa, but it’s a main source of feed for animals like dairy cows. Critics worry about contamination with organic feed.

Today the Court of Dendermonde, Belgium, convicted 11 activists of organised crime in relation to their participation in a day of action against a GM potato field which took place in Wetteren on May 29th, 2011. The activists were convicted of criminal gang forming, criminal damage and resisting arrest, and were given suspended prison sentences of between 3 and 6 ,months, plus fines, damages and court costs totalling more than 25 thousand euros. There was some relief among the activists on hearing the verdict, but also concern that this verdict creates an extremely dangerous precedent for everyone who values the right of citizens to freedom of speech. This is the first time that environmental activists have been convicted of organised crime charges in Belgium. The activists plan to appeal against todays’ verdict. ”This conviction for organised crime is completely out of proportion with the ‘crime’ of uprooting a few potatoes from a controversial GM crop which was grown for mainly promotional reasons.” said Barbara Van Dyck, one of the defendants. ‘ The aim of the action was to trigger public debate about the introduction of GMOs into agriculture. The field trial itself was later found by a separate court to be unlawful because they did not have a valid permit for the crop.’

Angling and fishery organisations have welcomed an announcement from the UK's Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon that plans are being drawn up to remove products containing the dangerous insecticide Chlorpyrifos from domestic sale. Mr Benyon was responding to strong representations from the Angling Trust, the national representative body for anglers, and fishery owners along the Kennet Valley in Wiltshire and Berkshire following last month's devastating pollution of all invertebrate life along a 15 kms stretch of this famous chalk stream by a tiny amount of chlorpyrifos which entered the river via the combined sewerage system. In a recent letter to Mr Benyon Angling Trust campaign chief Martin Salter wrote: “Experience from other countries as well as the catalogue of environmental disasters caused by chlorpyrifos, of which the upper Kennet is but the latest, must surely tell us that the current controls are simply not fit for purpose." In fact the Angling Trust wants to know why a lethal chemical like chlorpyrifos is allowed to be used anywhere near a river or watercourse. Apparently the 15 kms wipeout of invertebrates between Marlborough and Hungerford may have been caused by as little as a couple of spoonfuls and was almost certainly the result of an irresponsible domestic disposal. "We hope you will agree that the the sooner we follow the lead of Singapore and America and ban the domestic use of chlorpyrifos the better off our rivers will be.”