“It should be up to the government, acting on behalf of all of us, to protect the maerl beds of Loch Torridon. They are in a stronger position to stand up to the rich and powerful and all the marketing and muddying of the water that money can buy.”
environment
The Road to the Isles littered with phone masts?
“The map of applications to build masts in ‘Not Spots’ – the financially-exciting areas for the phone companies under this contract – is almost exactly the same as the map of areas designated as wild land – go figure! Clearly, the UK government didn’t.”
Northern Ireland environmental catastrophe
Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is an “ecological disaster” – thanks to agricultural pollution and poor enforcement of regulations inter alia
Alarming death toll in the Scottish wilds
“Scotland could lead the way in pioneering legislation that protects all animals, domestic and free-living. This legislation should begin with the recognition of sentience and enshrine in law the value and dignity of wild animals such that their right to live unmolested is respected.”
Look this way: the glass is half full
“Around 70% of Scotland is covered with farmland and agricultural funding has made its mark on the landscape. Scotland, for all its apparently wild beauty, is like the rest of the UK “one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth….”
Europe must unite to stop deep-sea resource grab
“There is no legal or moral ground for allowing a few multinational corporations to profit from the vast array of minerals under the sea. European countries must give this issue much higher priority.”
A splash of sunshine
“Perhaps it would be nice to be a degree or two warmer than today’s 16C. But every day brings news of the burning reality of climate change in blistering heatwaves reaching 50C in many places across the world.”
Bracken: a Highland wedge issue
“The bracken is part of an ecosystem. There are shrews and voles and moles in there as well as millions of spiders at every level of the bracken. There is funghi under the canopy. The rhizome root system is linked to the trees and the other plants. The ground is not compacted under bracken as it can be in bare fields. The organic matter that falls on it enriches the soil and the top soil is thin here so that matters. We believe in working with the ecosystem – not trying to poison it.”
Glasgow’s LEZ kills off Sylvia
Glasgow, with low car ownership, has inaugurated its low emission zone so how have drivers and pedestrians for that matter reacted? Surprisingly positively finds Jackie Kemp.
One snort for hello?
“It doesn’t have to be like this, as David Attenborough has reminded us at the end of every episode of his most urgently powerful and poignant series: Green Planet, and with force in the final fifth, Human Worlds. Solutions are tantalisingly within reach. At no risk to ourselves we can make our own surrounds much greener – and a lot more pleasant.”