Category Archives: Conservation

Swedish hunters kill more than 150 brown bears in first days of annual cull

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Campaigners denounce ‘pure slaughter’, which could threaten survival of entire Scandinavian population

More than 150 brown bears have been killed in the opening days of Sweden’s annual bear hunt, as controversy mounts over what conservationists have called “pure slaughter”.

The Swedish government issued 486 licences to shoot bears in this year’s hunt, equivalent to about 20% of the remaining brown bear population. This follows a record-breaking cull of 722 bears last year. By Thursday afternoon – the second day of the hunt – 152 bears had already been shot, according to Sweden’s Environmental Protection Agency.

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Arms company drops plan to test bombs at Scottish world heritage site

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Firm says it had no idea proposed test site on Lib Dem peer’s land included part of Strathmore peatlands in Flow Country

A British arms company has abandoned plans to detonate fragmentation bombs in the middle of the Flow Country world heritage site, the Guardian can reveal.

The company, Overwatch, asked the Civil Aviation Authority this month for permission to carry out “live fire testing” of anti-personnel bombs dropped by drones on to land owned by the Liberal Democrat peer John Thurso.

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Could a £2-a-day basic income be the key to protecting rainforests?

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Pilot scheme in Amazon communities of central Peru aims to help people choose a more sustainable way of living

“At the beginning, there was a lot of fear and disbelief,” said Ketty Marcelo. “There was a perception from the communities that this was another scam, that it was only looking to steal information or our integrity.”

Indigenous communities in the Amazon have grown weary of people coming in from outside with plans that could mean them losing their land or way of life. When a team from Cool Earth, a climate action NGO, came to the Amazon communities of central Peru in October 2022, local people were hesitant. “These fears caused some families not to participate,” Marcelo said. “And we, as an organisation, were afraid this would be another project that would seek to impose activities without respecting the autonomy of the communities.”

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‘Ingrained in our heritage’: UK’s ancient oaks showcased in Tree of the Year contest

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Woodland Trust’s competition comes as charity campaigns for more robust legal protection for precious trees

An oak tree shaped like an elephant and the oak with the widest girth in the UK have been shortlisted for the annual Tree of the Year competition.

The Woodland Trust runs the annual competition to raise awareness of the UK’s ancient and at-risk trees.

Marton oak, Cheshire
Sessile oak (quercus petraea) / Approximate age: 1,200 years / Girth: 14.02 metres.

Bowthorpe oak, Lincolnshire
English oak (quercus robur) / Estimated age: 1000 years / Girth: 13.38 metres.

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Australia could save thousands of bats a year with simple tweak to wind turbines, study says

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Raising the wind speed at which turbines start spinning could prevent tens of thousands of bat deaths each year, researchers find

Australian windfarm operators are being urged to embrace a simple measure used overseas that scientists say could dramatically reduce the number of bats killed by turbines.

Curtailment – lifting the wind speed at which turbines start spinning – is used in some European countries and parts of the US and Canada, but rarely in Australia. A global study published in the journal BioScience found it was an effective way to limit bat deaths.

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Anti-whaling activist to stay in Greenland jail while extradition decided

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Paul Watson fighting efforts byJapan to have him stand trial there for 2010 confrontation with whalers

A Greenland court has ordered the anti-whaling activist Paul Watson to remain in custody until 5 September pending a decision on his possible extradition to Japan.

Watson, an American-Canadian who has been detained since his arrest in Nuuk in July, had appealed against the court’s decision, the statement on Thursday added.

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Wildfires in Brazil’s Pantanal wetland fuelled ‘by climate disruption’

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Devastation in Brazil wetlands was made at least four times more likely by fossil fuel use and deforestation, scientists say

The devastating wildfires that tore through the world’s biggest tropical wetland, Brazil’s Pantanal, in June were made at least four times more likely and 40% more intense by human-caused climate disruption, a study has found.

Charred corpses of monkeys, caimans and snakes have been left in the aftermath of the blaze, which burned 440,000 hectares (1.1m acres) and is thought to have killed millions of animals and countless more plants, insects and fungi.

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Australian government ‘deeply disappointed’ by Japan’s decision to expand commercial whaling target list

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Japanese government confirms it will allow whalers to catch and kill up to 59 fin whales, a species conservationists consider vulnerable

The Australian government is “deeply disappointed” by Japan’s decision to add the world’s second-largest whale species to the list of species its commercial whale hunters will target.

Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, attacked Japan’s decision to hunt fin whales – the world’s second-longest whale and considered vulnerable.

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Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson could face up to 15 years’ prison in Japan if convicted

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Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd and co-founder of Greenpeace, has been arrested on an international warrant and is facing charges including accomplice to assault and ship trespass

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson could face up to 15 years in prison in Japan, after the founder of US-based group Sea Shepherd was arrested on an international warrant in Greenland earlier this month.

According to the Japan Coast Guard, Watson, who is also a co-founder of Greenpeace, is facing charges including accomplice to assault and ship trespass, after he was arrested on an international warrant in Greenland.

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Goals to stop decline of nature in England ‘off track’, report warns

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Audit of Environmental Improvement Plan finds it inadequate as government announces overhaul of goals

Goals to stop the decline of nature and clean up the air and water in England are slipping out of reach, a new report has warned.

An audit of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), which is the mechanism by which the government’s legally binding targets for improving nature should be met, has found that plans for thriving plants and wildlife and clean air are deteriorating. This plan was supposed to replace the EU-derived environmental regulations the UK used until the Environment Act was passed in 2021 after Brexit.

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Wildlife enthusiasts called on to help record dolphins and whales on UK coast

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National Whale and Dolphin Watch organisers say data collected will help with research into marine mammals

Hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts are expected to gather along UK coastlines over the next 10 days to count and record whales and dolphins.

The National Whale and Dolphin Watch, taking place from 26 July to 4 August, is hosted by the Sea Watch Foundation and aims to get volunteers to observe and record sightings of the UK’s most impressive marine mammals.

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Brazilian rancher ordered to pay $50m for damage to Amazon

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Brazil court freezes assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay climate compensation for illegal deforestation

A Brazilian cattle rancher has been ordered to pay more than $50m (£39m) for destroying part of the Amazon rainforest and ordered to restore the precious carbon sink.

Last week, a federal court in Brazil froze the assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay compensation for the damage he had caused to the climate through illegal deforestation. The case was brought by Brazil’s attorney general’s office, representing the Brazilian institute of environment and renewable natural resources (Ibama). It is the largest civil case brought for climate crimes in Brazil to date and the start of a legal push to repair and deter damage to the rainforest.

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Crisis at Tres Fronteras: how criminal syndicates threaten Amazon’s future

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At the lawless triple border between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, drug trafficking, illegal logging and gangs jeopardise the ecological and social fabric of the rainforest

The area of the Amazon where Brazil, Colombia, and Peru meet – referred to as Tres Fronteras (triple frontier) – brims with wildlife and natural resources. It is also a hotbed of illicit activity. Criminal groups are clearing the forest to plant coca and erect laboratories to turn the crop into cocaine. In the process of making coca paste, these labs discharge chemical waste – including acetone, gasoline and sulphuric acid – into rivers and soil.

Increasingly, these outfits are branching into illegal logging, gold dredging and fishing, in part because these activities allow them to launder money made from drug trafficking. These activities compound the environmental harm the groups are inflicting.

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NSW government says state’s biodiversity ‘in crisis’ as it pledges first steps to reverse decline

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Government will also overhaul state laws after Guardian Australia uncovered serious problems with biodiversity offsets scheme

The New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.

The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying: “We cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis.”

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Introducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets;

Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme;

Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided;

Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment.

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Band’s gig postponed amid deportation call – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Weather update for Victoria and New South Wales: rain, floods, gusts and snow

Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology, spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier to provide an update on the rainfall across Victoria.

That has given us minor to moderate flood warnings including in parts of the Yarra River this morning, as all of the rain from last night and yesterday evening drains out through the river network and out towards the ocean.

Take actions to protect your life and property against potential hazards caused by flooding.

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Romania to step up cull of brown bears after hiker killed

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MPs approve cull of 481 bears this year, up from 220 last year, to control ‘overpopulation’ of protected species

Romania’s parliament has approved the culling of almost 500 bears this year in an effort to control the “overpopulation” of the protected species after a deadly attack on a hiker sparked nationwide outcry.

The country is home to 8,000 brown bears, according to the environment ministry, Europe’s largest brown bear population outside Russia.

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Wildlife rescue group Wires faces crunch vote amid volunteer discontent over funds raised after bushfires

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Donations grew dramatically after Australia’s black summer but animal carers say they didn’t receive enough

Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organisation faces a landmark vote on Sunday, as members unhappy with the distribution of donations after the black summer bushfires attempt to change its constitution.

The income of the Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (Wires), based in NSW, ballooned from $3m to more than $100m thanks to the success of its fundraising campaign after the catastrophic fires of 2019-20, which burned millions of hectares of land and reportedly killed or displaced 3 billion animals.

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Large pod of pilot whales almost wiped out after stranding on Orkney beach

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Rescuers including vets rush to save 12 survivors from 77-strong group lying on Sanday shore

Dozens of long-finned pilot whales have died after a 77-strong pod came ashore on an Orkney beach in what could be the biggest mass stranding in decades.

Twelve of the animals at Tresness beach, on the island of Sanday, were still alive, but according to rescuers from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), it was thought unlikely they could be saved.

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‘We are going to be left with nothing’: Indigenous communities battle deforestation in Honduras

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Miskito and other groups face a dire challenge as illegal deforestation threatens their ancestral lands and culture

Avilés Morphy pulled out his mobile phone and swiped through the photos until he reached a shot showing fallen trees in what looked like the aftermath of a hurricane. “That was a big forest and look how it is now: everything’s been destroyed,” he says. “And these are the coordinates.”

Then he played a video. The camera focused on a startled man wearing a red track-and-field shirt, resting his back against a post as he responded to questioning.

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Deforestation in Colombia falls to lowest level in 23 years

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Government reports 36% decrease, with most gains in Amazon forest where conservation efforts are focused

Deforestation in Colombia fell sharply in 2023 to its lowest level in 23 years, the country’s environment ministry has said.

The amount of forest loss fell from 1,235 sq km in 2022 to 792 sq km in 2023 – a 36% decrease, official figures revealed.

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