Beleid en debat

Prairie bird populations are falling in many Midwestern states, from ring-necked pheasants to horned larks to sparrows. Scientists now say insecticides are a primary culprit. Minnesota birds are hardest hit with 12 species in decline, followed by Wisconsin with 11, and Illinois, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska and New York with nine affected species each. The recent study looked at a range of possible causes of the population declines, including habitat loss which has long been considered a key driver of the problem. Bird conservationists are “still concerned” about range management, urban development and loss of habitat, but are now focusing additional attention on the harmful impacts of pesticides.

Das Bienensterben bedroht weltweit die Landwirtschaft. Mitverantwortlich dafür sind mutmasslich Pestizide aus der Gruppe der Neonicotinoide. Diese generieren weltweit Milliarden-Umsätze für die Industrie, und sie sind auch im Sortiment des Basler Agrarchemie-Konzerns Syngenta zu finden. Das Produkt von Syngenta heisst Thiamethoxam. Vor einem Jahr kündigte Syngenta die Publikation einer umfassende Studie an: «Wir haben Langzeitstudien gemacht im Mais und im Raps, und damit konnten wir zeigen, dass es bei der Anwendung, wie wir sie empfehlen, zu keinen Bienenschäden kommt», sagte Georg Diriwächter, Leiter Registrierung Pflanzenschutzmittel bei Syngenta.

Last year, the barn owl (Tyto alba) suffered its worst breeding season in over 30 years, and now the charity fears that numbers in Northern Ireland may have plummeted.The barn owl was once a common sight in our countryside, but now there are thought to be less than 30 breeding pairs left here. Extreme weather, loss of suitable feeding and nesting habitat, combined with the build up of toxins from consuming poisoned prey are the main reasons for the bird’s decline. Through its ‘Be there for Barn owls’ project, supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, Ulster Wildlife wants to give this iconic bird a fighting chance for survival, by working with farmers and landowners to ensure there is enough rough grassland for barn owls to hunt and breed, as well space for it to nest. “We are urging everyone in to give our barns owls a helping hand by contacting us with sightings of this beautiful bird or signs of their presence, such as nesting sites or pellets,” said Catherine Fegan, Ulster Wildlife’s Barn Owl Officer.

When a creature becomes extinct, we are left with whatever essence of its existence can be conveyed through science, art and the written word. In the case of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), a prolific and gregarious migratory bird of North America’s eastern and central forests, we’ve been trying to preserve it in memory for a century now. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passenger pigeon’s extinction. The species’ four-decade decline from billions upon billions to none concluded when a captive bird named Martha died in her cage at the Cincinnati Zoo on Sept. 1, 1914. Martha’s remains were packed in a 300-pound block of ice and shipped to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where she was stuffed and mounted. Last week, the Smithsonian opened an exhibit on the passenger pigeon and other extinct North American birds and put Martha on display for the first time since 1999.

Babies whose moms lived within a mile of crops treated with widely used pesticides were more likely to develop autism, according to new research. The study of 970 children, born in farm-rich areas of Northern California, is part of the largest project to date that is exploring links between autism and environmental exposures. The University of California, Davis research – which used women’s addresses to determine their proximity to insecticide-treated fields – is the third project to link prenatal pesticide exposures to autism and related disorders. “The weight of evidence is beginning to suggest that mothers’ exposures during pregnancy may play a role in the development of autism spectrum disorders,” said Kim Harley, an environmental health researcher at the University of California, Berkeley who was not involved in the new study. One in every 68 U.S. children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder—a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by difficulties with social interactions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.