Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category
204 Trees Planted for World Record Attempt
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
On Saturday Richard Brooks and Malcolm Brooks planted 204 trees for the Tree O’Clock BBC tree planting world record attempt. The result of the attempt is not in yet but K International was happy to be involved and hope to plant another 100 trees very soon.
The process of planting trees is not easy; it takes care and a lot of hard graft to get the job done. Firstly, they prepared the ground by digging a trench 75 yards in length, 12 inches deep and 8 inches across. Whilst doing this they dug up all sort of interesting items.
“This was fun because there was lots of old stuff in there, under the ground, bit like being on Time Team.” Richard Brooks commented.
Next the baby tree had to be checked and trimmed. A protective wire/plastic was then placed around the small tree to keep it safe from animals. It is imperative that the trees are protected to survive. Then the tree was planted in the trench.
Everyone at K International is eagerly waiting to find out if the Tree O’Clock world record attempt has been a success. All contributions must be logged on the BBC Breathing Places website by Friday 11th December to count towards the world record.
People in Northern Ireland have already set a world record - the most trees planted by 100 people. This world record is for trees planted by hand, by no more than 100 people, at a single site, within a single hour.
Tree O’Clock teams at three sites set out to break the existing record of 18,124. Guinness World Records have verified that each of them achieved this.
So if you planted a tree get onto the BBC Breathing Places website, follow the instructions and be a part of this amazing tree planting world record attempt.
Tags: BBC, BBC Breathing Places, Environment, Guinness World Records, K International, Tree O'Clock, Tree Planting, trees, World Record
Posted in Charity, Environment, K International, Television, trees | No Comments »
National Tree Week
Friday, November 27th, 2009
25th November – 6th December
National tree week started back in 1975 and is the UKs largest tree celebration.
It is a great opportunity for communities to do something positive for their local treescape. Lots of events will be going on around the country, with more than a quarter of a million people getting their hands dirty helping to plant trees in their local area.
On Saturday 5th December the BBC are attempting a world record for the most trees planted in a day. The tree planting world record currently stands at just over 650,000 trees planted in one day. In aid of Tree O’clock two of the guys here Malcolm and Richard Brooks will be planting 302 trees. The trees planted will be a mixture of native species. If they can plant 200 in one hour they will receive a commemorative plaque from the BBC.
For those who are new to the log blog, K International are a language translation company based in Milton Keynes. We care about the environment and we are doing our bit to make our company carbon neutral. In 2008 we pledged to plant 50,000 trees over the next 5 years, this year we have planted 6,250 on a 2.5 hectare site and are on track to hit target with many more trees going in next year.
This week is about appreciating the humble tree and recognising what they do for us. So grab your wellies and a spade and muck in on 5th December from 11am – 12 noon.
Have a look at the BBC Breathing Places website and check out Tree O’clock.
Maybe you could pledge to plant a tree yourself in your garden or somewhere in your local community. On the website there is a list of hardware stores and garden centres that are giving away free trees for details see the BBC Breathing Places website.
Tags: BBC, Community Event, K International, Nature, trees, World Record
Posted in Environment, Television | No Comments »
The UK’s Beaches Contaminated by Raw Sewage
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
According to results released by Defra last week 30% of UK beaches failed to meet guideline standards which were set 30 years ago.
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) an environment campaign organisation in the UK claim that this confirms their fears that our bathing waters and beautiful surfing spots are being contaminated by raw sewage discharging from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs).
Despite many warnings that this is happening and video evidence from the SAS the UK’s water companies don’t believe they have done anything wrong. Although they are appealing against the Environment Agencies attempts to regulate the 4000 unlicensed CSOs around the UK’s coastline.
The SAS have set up a new campaign to warn beach users of the impact of CSOs and the danger they are unwittingly exposing themselves to.
Evidence of the overuse of CSOs was exposed by the SAS on BBC 1 programme Panorama, entitled ‘Britain’s Dirty Beaches’ which aired this summer. Comments of disbelief and disgust flooded in from the general public according to SAS. They also reveal on their website that a number of water companies have launched an action to ensure that thousands of their CSOs escape environmental regulations. The companies in question are named and shamed on the SAS website.
Campaign Manager Andy Cummings is quoted on the SAS website as saying, “Once again the UK had failed to meet minimum standards set over 30 years ago for bathing water quality. SAS has been warning of poor results due to the UK’s over use of CSOs. The problem has gone on too long and SAS are calling on supporters to take action and adopt a CSO. If water companies are going to put water quality and public health at risk SAS will ensure the public are warned!”
Did you go to a UK beach this summer? Have you had any health problems from bathing in UK waters? We’d love to hear your stories good or bad.
Tags: Bathing, Beaches, Combined Sewer Overflows, CSOs, Environment, Environment Agency, Rubbish, SAS, Sewage, Surfers Against Sewage, Surfing, water, Water Companies
Posted in Charity, Environment, Television | No Comments »
BBC HD Brings Nature into Your Living Room
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Life, the latest wildlife programme from the BBC is capturing the imagination of viewers. The programme is being shown on both BBC1 and BBC HD. The clarity of the images on BBC HD makes this wondrous television series fantastic.
Episodes
- Challenges of Life
- Reptiles and Amphibians
- Mammals
- Fish
- Birds
- Insects
- Hunters and Hunted
- Creatures of the Deep
- Plants
- Primates
The BBC is renowned for their nature documentaries and this one doesn’t disappoint. After each episode there is a short film on how they filmed the scenes. These shorts give the viewer a great insight into the difficulties of filming with these magnificent animals.
Once again the BBC has teamed up with the Open University who is providing support material to go with the series. All of the online material and information on how to order your free tree of life poster can be found here.
Tags: animals, BBC, Life, Nature, Television, TV, wildlife
Posted in Environment, Television, wildlife | No Comments »
Grasshopper Attempts to Enter the UK
Monday, October 26th, 2009
A painted grasshopper from India arrived at Stanstead Airport last week
The painted grasshopper or Poeklocerus Pictus is known in India as a crop munching pest.
It is 6cm long with bright blue and yellow stripes on its body which are designed to scare potential predators.
The insect was identified at the quarantine area at Stanstead Airport by the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera).
The BBC quotes Chris Malumphy, a Fera entomologist as saying ‘The visitor has a voracious appetite and rapidly ate its way through a whole cabbage plant whilst in the quarantine lab.
The insect is an economic pest in India but the expert’s state that it was found alone and so couldn’t breed, plus it wouldn’t get on very well with the British winter weather. So the grasshopper is not a threat to nature in the UK at this time. Beautiful insect though.
Tags: Airport, India, Painted Grasshopper, Stanstead
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Sydney Begins Massive Clean Up After Storm
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Australia has begun the huge clean up operation needed after its worst dust storm in seven decades.
Sydney’s residents are spending time today cleaning their streets, homes and cars.
Yesterday a dust storm dumped millions of tonnes of dust over New South Wales before heading north to Queensland. Today the skies are clean but the cost of the storm is still being calculated. Wasted working hours, loss of agricultural soil and flight delays are just some of the costly things the storm has affected.
The storm began in the drought stricken centre of the country where tonnes of top soil was sucked up by powerful winds and then blown eastwards.
The haze could actually be seen from space appearing as a huge brown smudge in satellite photographs of Australia.
People there described waking up to a red glow in their houses, looking out of their windows they described the scene as being like the end of the world. Small children and the elderly were advised to stay at home. Some residents made it to work despite the traffic mayhem and difficulties with public transport.
The BBC quoted Andrew Hawkins, who lives in Northmead, about 20km from the centre of Sydney, as saying, “To see a city of such beauty shrouded in red, was a sight which cannot be described - even pictures fail to capture the eerie nature of the scene which surrounded us this morning,”
By Wednesday evening the dust had settled and the skies had returned to a beautiful blue, but everything was covered in dust. The clean up operation began today and all effected areas are being painstakingly cleaned of the red dust which cloaked the area.
Tags: Australia, Dust, Dust Storm, Red, Storm, Sydney
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UK Rivers Fail New EU Standard
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
The Environment Agency has reported that three quarters of the rivers in England and Wales fall below a new European environment standard.
On a positive note water standards have improved across the UK for the 19th year in a row and wildlife is returning to a vast majority of the rivers.
6,000 rivers were surveyed and only 5 were classified as ‘pristine’. Environment groups are asking for tougher action to be taken to improve Britain’s water ways.
Improvements have been made over the last 20 years but the Environment Agency knows that things could be better.
The improvements in water quality have led to the return of some species which were at one point thought to be in terminal decline along some stretches of Britain’s rivers.
Otters, eels and Salmon have all returned to the Thames, Mersey and Tyne.
Despite these improvements the new European Water Framework Directive which became law in the UK in 2003 sets a much higher quality standard. It uses a much wider and more sophisticated range of tests to determine the water quality.
Under the new directive only 5 rivers satisfy the highest standards and they are situated in remote areas of Northumberland and Wales. 117 rivers have been newly classified as ‘bad’ these include stretches of the rivers Trent and Stour.
The Environment Agency has accepted that they need to act now to protect our waterways for future generations. They have announced the introduction of new measures which aim to improve more rivers by 2015.
The River Basin Management Plans include tackling discharge from sewage works, limiting the removal of water from rivers and preventing pollution from farmland and built up areas leaking into our watercourses.
It is important that we do something about the state of the UK’s rivers now rather than just hoping it will sort itself out. It is time we thought about future generations and made more of an effort to protect our planet.
Tags: Environment, Environment Agency, EU, EU standards, pollution, rivers, water, waterways
Posted in Environment | 2 Comments »
Giant Rat Found in Papua New Guinea
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea a BBC expedition team have discovered a new species of giant rat.
The rat which has no fear of humans measures a massive 82cm long and weighs in at around 1.5kg. There are bigger rats in the world but few can match the new species. This is a true rat, a genus Rattus so comes from the same family as the urban brown and black rats.
It was discovered by an expedition team who are in the jungle filming the BBC programme ‘Lost Land of the Volcano’. The rat is just one of the exotic animals found by the expedition team. As with the other exotic species it is believed that the rat lives within the Mount Bosavi crater and nowhere else.
The expedition team first captured the creature foraging around on the jungle floor when they were filming with an infrared camera which had been set up to watch for wildlife by BBC wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan. The expedition team who are from the BBC Natural History Unit were awed by the creature’s size. They later went on to catch a live specimen which had no fear of the humans around and in fact behaved and is about the same size as your average to small common cat.
The rat has a silver-brown coat of thick long fur, which the scientists who examined it believe may help it survive the wet and cold conditions that can occur within the high volcano crater.
It has provisionally been called the Bosavi woolly rat, while its scientific name has yet to be agreed.
Mount Bosavi, where the new rat was found, is an extinct volcano that lies deep in the remote Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.
The island which includes Papua New Guinea and New Guinea is famous for the number and diversity of the rats and mice that live there.
Over 57 species of true “Murid” rats and mice can be found on the island. The larger rats are often caught by hunters and eaten.
According to the BBC website The Lost Land of the Volcano series will begin on BBC One on Tuesday 8 September at 2100 BST. The discovery of the Bosavi woolly rat is broadcast as part of the series on BBC One on Tuesday 22 September.
Tags: BBC, Giant Rat, New Species, Papua New Guinea, Rat
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American Chestnut is Making a Comeback
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
The American chestnut was a magnificent tree which mainly resided on the east coast of America, dominating forests from Maine to Georgia. It grew to over 100ft and most had a diameter of up to 5ft. These trees were massive and incredibly popular.
They were strong, growing with a straight grain and were rot resistant. This meant they were perfect for making almost anything from railway sleepers to furniture. The American chestnut also provided an excellent food source for both humans and wildlife, producing a yearly crop of lovely brown chestnuts.
In the late 1800’s Americans introduced a new species of chestnut tree, the Asian chestnut. This was a big mistake as these trees carried a disease called Cryphonectria parasitica or chestnut blight, which would soon almost wipe out the good old American chestnut.
Unfortunately the American chestnut has been hit hard by blight in the past 100 years and is almost extinct. Blight spreads easily and very quickly, simply on the wind or by small animals. Also Oak trees, which are not affected by the disease, can act as carriers. The disease gets into the natural cracks in the American chestnut and spreads around the tree, the tree then dies from there up.
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), which was set up in 1983 is now working hard to bring the tree back. They are hoping to breed a blight resistant strain which will have the same attributes as the original American chestnut. The goal of the breeding program is to combine the blight resistance of the Asian chestnut with the desirable characteristics of the American chestnut.
Hopefully the cross pollination breeding program will work and American chestnut trees will once again dominate the East coast of America.
Tags: American chestnut, Asian chestnut, Blight, extinct, Forest
Posted in Environment, trees | No Comments »
Trees are Getting Bigger and Better
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
According to Greenpeace rainforest trees are getting bigger, which is excellent in the battle against climate change.
A group of scientists who are reporting on a 40 year study of African tropical forests have found that over the past few decades each hectare of intact African forest has trapped an extra 0.6 tonnes of carbon per year.
Dr Simon Lewis, a Royal Society research fellow at the University of Leeds, and the lead author of the paper says that “we are receiving a free subsidy from nature,” because “tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18 per cent of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change”.
This study has been based on 3 major forests, the Amazon in South America, the Paradise Forests in south east Asia, and the forests of the Congo Basin in central Africa. Each one an essential part of the worlds eco system, slowly helping to remove some of the carbon monoxide we produce daily.
Dr Lee White, co-author on the study and Gabon’s chief climate change scientist, said: “To get an idea of the value of the sink, the removal of nearly 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by intact tropical forests, based on realistic prices for a tonne of carbon, should be valued at around £13 billion per year. This is a compelling argument for conserving tropical forests.”
Rainforests are amazing they actually suck the carbon monoxide from the air, expelling oxygen. These rainforest are slowly being destroyed basically for human pleasure.
Unfortunately, at the moment we are not valuing these ancient forests for what they provide. Worldwide, rainforests are still being cut down and degraded at a staggering rate. They urgently need protecting. Charities like Greenpeace are doing all they can to highlight this issue to people in position of power so that something will be done.
Funding and education are essential to the cause so that the people living in these forests can understand their importance and see value in keeping the forests how they are rather than cutting them down.
We all know the world is changing perhaps this study will finally highlight the importance of trees. Forests have been destroyed all over the world and each hectare which disappears takes away some of our protection from Co2 and climate change.
It is estimated that 13 million hectares of the worlds forests are destroyed each year, 6 million of these have been largely untouched and undisturbed by man.
The result of this major deforestation is a loss of habitat for wildlife and also a reduction or complete removal of the ecosystem services provided by these forests.
Its time to stop, look and listen… we can not afford to keep destroying the planet in this way, no matter how much economic value is in the land and trees themselves.
Tags: Climate Change, Forest, global warming, Greenpeace, rainforest, science, trees, wildlife
Posted in Environment, trees | No Comments »