Beijing - A new WWF study finds that many Yangtze River Basin lakes are shrinking dramatically and could dry up completely if measures aren’t taken to stem the impacts of climate change, increased industrialization, and urbanization along China’s longest river.

The Yangtze Conservation and Development Report 2011 (YCDR 2011) shows that lower water levels, rapid urbanization and large water infrastructure projects across the Yangtze Basin are impacting the overall health of many lakes along the 6,300km river, which supports the livelihoods of nearly one-third of China’s population.

“Lake ecosystems in the Yangtze River Basin are showing tell-tale signs of degradation, and problems like water eutrophication from industrial runoff are on the rise. We are also seeing a decline in flood retention capacity and insufficient water supply. These changes are putting increased pressure on many of the species found in the Yangtze, including the finless porpoise and Chinese carps,” says Yang Guishan, President of the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Climate change in the Upper Yangtze
While water resources will increase over the short term, the YCDR 2011 predicts that the long-term impacts of climate change will result in massive water shortages in headwater regions.

“Over the short term, increased glacial melt in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau means more water. But after the glaciers are gone – and with them the source of the Yangtze River - available water resources will decline. The lack of water could cause lakes that depend on glacial melt to shrink or dry up completely,” says Yang Guishan.

Pollution, population and land reclamation
From 1950-2010, the central and lower reaches of the Yangtze lost approximately two thirds of its lakes due to increased land reclamation for agriculture and industrial development. This has resulted in a water storage capacity loss roughly equivalent to 20 million Olympic-sized swimming pools – and means that smaller floods now have the potential to inflict much more damage.

Meanwhile, population growth and rapid economic development - particularly in the central and lower Yangtze - as well as excessive fish farming has resulted in more serious water pollution issues and increased instances of eutrophication, a process where excessive nutrients diminish water quality in lakes or other bodies of water.

Water quality monitoring data from 2007-2010 in the central and lower Yangtze shows that 77 per cent of the 77 lakes with an area of 10 km2 or more could not provide safe drinking water, while over 88 per cent were in various stages of eutrophication. Meanwhile, in 2009 alone, over 33 billion tonnes of sewage was discharged into the Yangtze River Basin, nearly a 22 per cent rise from 2003.

Solutions
Similar to the diagnosis offered in the previous two editions of the YCDR, the 2011 update points out that more work still needs to be done to ensure the future health of the Yangtze River:

“The Yangtze Conservation and Development Report 2011 shows that a comprehensive action plan is an absolute necessity to ensure the future of this irreplaceable resource,” said Jim Grandoville, CEO of WWF China. “WWF will be working with partners and seek solutions towards the protection and sustainable usage of the lakes along the Yangtze.”

The report also emphasizes the importance of mitigating the accumulative impacts of large infrastructure projects such as the Three Gorges Dam and South to North Water Transfer Project on the Yangtze River, especially downstream.

Known as the “Yangtze health check”, this is the third edition of the Yangtze Conservation and Development Report. It is jointly developed by WWF, the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Development Bank.

Despite having forced racing’s regulator to twice dilute the new whipping rules introduced on 10 October 2011, jockeys’ representatives meet tomorrow (Friday, 20 January) with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) in what appears to be an...

THE ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY WATERWAYS GROUP COMMUNIQUE ON THE FUTURE OF THE INLAND WATERWAYS

The All Party Parliamentary Waterways Group held a hearing on 8 December to provide the Waterways Minister, Richard Benyon MP, with the opportunity to respond to the Group’s Memorandum – “The Future of the Waterways”.

This was published and submitted to the Government in July, . . . → Read More: Parliamentary Waterways Group on Future Of The Inland Waterways

Conflict in the countryside was foreshadowed yesterday when the Government announced the two areas which have been selected to pilot the controversial cull of badgers, as part of the effort to combat TB in cattle.

Conflict in the countryside was foreshadowed yesterday when the Government announced the two areas which have been selected to pilot the controversial cull of badgers, as part of the effort to combat TB in cattle.

Britain's River Thames poses potential security hazards as Olympics loom Washington Post Some recent terror attacks like the Mumbai shooting spree in 2008 were launched from virtually unpatrolled waterways. Terrorists in the Indian metropolis arrived on small high-speed boats prior to their deadly attack that killed 166 people. British ... and more »

Native birds at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge are in unprecedented trouble, according to a new article.

The bottom of a glacier is not the most hospitable place on Earth, but at least two types of bacteria happily live there, according to researchers.

A new study shows a hybrid plant species may experience rapid genome evolution in predictable patterns, meaning evolution repeats itself in populations of independent origin.

Government announce solar 'plan b'

After decades battling to keep creationism out of classrooms, science education supporters are preparing to face a new foe: climate change sceptics

John James Audubon's The Birds of America: the world's most expensive book.

Wood Wharf deal provides long term income for the waterways

18 January 2012

British Waterways has sold its shares in the Wood Wharf Limited Partnership to Canary Wharf Group plc. The deal will provide the waterways with a capital payment of £52.4 million over the next four years together with an increased ground rent for . . . → Read More: BW Sells shares in Woodwharf for £52 million.

Beginner's guide to keeping bees

Friends of the Earth was something I could commit to

As Britain prepares for London 2012, the RSPB is preparing for its own Olympic event in the form of its annual Big Garden Birdwatch (28-29 January).

Two areas in Gloucestershire and Somerset will pilot a badger cull in the autumn in a bid to tackle tuberculosis in cattle

Two areas in Gloucestershire and Somerset have been selected to pilot a badger cull in the autumn, the government announced on Thursday.

During the six-week trials in the two areas, chosen from a shortlist proposed by the farming industry, selected farmers and landowners will be allowed to shoot badgers.

The first site is mainly in the district of west Somerset and partly in Taunton Deane; the second is mainly within the Forest of Dean and Tewkesbury, and partly in the districts of Wychavon, Malvern Hills and west Gloucestershire.

The measures are part of efforts to tackle tuberculosis (TB) in cattle, which minsters claim will cost taxpayers around £1bn over the next 10 years if not dealt with effectively.

The pilot, which will be paid for by farmers, will test how safe, humane and effective the "controlled shooting" of badgers is, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said, and if successful could lead to a wider cull of badgers.

Farmers and the government believe a cull is necessary to tackle the disease but proposals to kill badgers - which are a protected species - face strong opposition from animal welfare and wildlife groups.

Agriculture minister, Jim Paice, said: "Bovine TB is a chronic and devastating disease. It causes the slaughter of tens of thousands of cattle each year, and is taking a terrible toll on our farmers and rural communities.

"Nobody wants to cull badgers. But no country in the world where wildlife carries TB has eradicated the disease in cattle without tackling it in wildlife too.

"These two pilots are just part of a wide range of activity on bovine TB. We already have robust measures to control its spread amongst cattle, which we plan to strengthen further, and are continuing to work hard on the development of practical and usable vaccines."

The announcement was immediately criticised by Labour and welfare groups.

Mary Creagh, the shadow environment secretary, said: "For a cull to work it has to be cost-effective, humane and reduce bovine TB.

"The government's plans will achieve none of those things. This big society badger cull will cost farmers more than it saves them, put a huge strain on police, and will spread bovine TB in the short term as badgers move out of cull areas."

The animal welfare group Humane Society warned there was a risk that local badger clans could be completely eradicated in the chosen areas by "farmers with guns and a grudge".

Mark Jones, the group's executive director, said: "Now that we know the likely location of the pilot culls, Defra's persecution plan for badgers is becoming alarmingly real.

"Without knowing how many badgers there are to start with, there is a high risk that badgers in these areas could be wiped out completely. Some of these badger clans have existed for centuries, but farmers with guns and a grudge could very well shoot them out of existence."

The group pointed out there would be no pilot cull in Devon "despite it being a major bovine TB hotspot". It said: "The culls will begin in the late summer, after the London Olympics. HSI UK believes this scheduling is because the government is anxious to avoid a PR disaster and to ensure sufficient police will be available to deal with any protests trying to prevent the shooting."

In the Commons, Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy said there was "widespread opposition in the south west to badger culls taking place within local communities".

She asked the agriculture minister, Jim Paice: "Now that the two pilot areas have been announced, what steps will the minister be taking to consult with local people?"

Paice said that when farmers applied for a licence to shoot badgers, Natural England would consult with local people before granting permission.

David Bowles, director of communications at the RSPCA, said the animal welfare charity was "devastated". He said: "This cull will be of little help in reducing the disease and could actually make things worse in some areas. It will wipe out huge numbers of this much-loved species, virtually eliminating badgers from these areas, including many animals which are healthy."

He called for the government to focus its attention on being able to deliver a vaccination strategy rather than culling badgers.

Farmers and landowners in the pilot areas in west Gloucestershire and west Somerset will be able to apply for licences to Natural England, with their application judged against a series of "strict criteria" before the licence is granted.

The criteria include:

• The individuals taking part must be able to demonstrate a high level of competence in marksmanship, and then successfully complete a government approved training course.

• All participating farmers must comply with all the government's TB cattle controls.

• Biosecurity measures to minimise the spread of bovine TB between cattle, and minimise badgers interacting with cattle, must be implemented by participating farmers.

• There must be a high incidence of TB already present in cattle and the area must be at least 150 km sq with access to at least 70% of it.

• Participants must take reasonable measures to mitigate the risk of badgers with TB relocating or spreading bovine TB to areas surrounding the culled area. These could include natural barriers that help stop the movement of badgers – such as coastline, rivers and major roads – or vaccination of badgers in the surrounding areas before the pilots begin.

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• Badgers
• Wildlife
• Conservation
• Rural affairs
• Farming

Steven Morris
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Get close to a blue tit or maybe come face-to-face with a woodpecker during a weekend of bird ringing at Saltholme.

In the wake of a 6-day trip by China's Premier Win Jiabao to Saudi Arabia, China and Saudi Arabia have forged an alliance on developing nuclear power. Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with China for assistance in the development of nuclear power, using the last of its oil wealth to invest in the most controversial form of a low carbon energy future for its energy hungry nation. In 2010, the Kingdom established the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) to develop low carbon sources of energy, prompting us to ask: Who's Going Nuclear in the Middle East?

Halifax Evening Courier

Could you help a boat to navigate Britain's deepest canal lock? Halifax Evening Courier The Canal and River Trust, which takes over responsibility for the sites from British Waterways in April, is on the lookout for people who can help boat crews through locks, give visitors a friendly welcome and help with general maintenance. ...

In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists are reporting that the indoor air in offices is an important source of worker exposure to potentially toxic substances released by carpeting, furniture, paint and other items. Their report, which documents a link between levels of these so-called polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in office air and in the blood of workers, appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology.

The Obama administration on Wednesday rejected the Keystone crude oil pipeline project, a decision welcomed by environmental groups but blasted by the domestic energy industry. U.S. President Barack Obama said TransCanada's application for the 1,700-mile (2,740-km) pipeline was denied because the State Department did not have enough time to complete the review process. "This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people," Obama said in a statement.

Badger kill zones revealed

Corporations have a leading role to play to make sure 'mankind doesn't spread willy nilly over every square yard of the globe', says naturalist

Sir David Attenborough has called on big businesses to protect the natural world from the rapidly expanding human population.

The broadcaster and naturalist said the population increase is unstoppable and that action must be taken to stop the natural world from being concreted over.

Distancing himself from conservationists who regard big businesses as the enemy, he said companies and corporations, as the holders of much of the world's wealth, have a vital and leading role to play.

"It's not a mystery. Wealth empowers," he said. "And businesses have by no means been slow in helping. We've [conservationists] gone to multinationals over and over again."

He said there were exceptions, but that for the most part businesses that defiled the natural world in the 19th and to an extent the 20th century, such as by dumping waste in the sea, usually did so out of ignorance. "They didn't know any better," he said.

But he warned: "We've got to such a situation and dense population that we can no longer make these mistakes. The warning is clear and the job of people in the media like me is to make sure the warning is understood."

The human population is calculated to have reached 7 billion last year, a decade after it reached 6 billion, and is forecast to continue to grow throughout the 21st century. By 2050, it is expected to have passed 9 billion.

Rising population puts additional pressure on resources, especially food production, and the increased demand has contributed to higher prices.

Attenborough, speaking at an event in London hosted by law firm Charles Russell for the World Land Trust, a charity for which he is patron, said the UK has already used up all its land and must make effective use of what it has got, such as by redeveloping brownfield sites.

In other parts of the world, however, he believes there are large tracts of the natural world that can still be protected from development, such as tropical forests, mangrove swamps, bogs and high mountains.

He said: "Without the natural world, mankind is doomed. We are dependent on the natural world for the very air we breathe and every particle of food we eat. Many people, including me, would say we are dependent on it for our very sanity.

"We can accommodate that by looking after the natural world and making sure mankind doesn't spread willy nilly over every square yard of the globe."

To save many of these areas from development that would destroy the natural ecosystem and wipe out many species of animals and plants, he called on businesses to help buy the land.

To avoid criticisms of "neo-colonialism", he called on them to hand the land over to local organisations that will protect it while providing jobs for people living in the area.

Attenborough told an audience of lawyers, city investors and business people: "Since I became involved in conservation the population of the world has tripled. Nothing we can do will stop that increase. We may be able to slow it, but stop it in our lifetimes we cannot."

He added that in the past the attitude has been simply to move on when a resource is used up: "We've been grossly extravagant. We've been brought up in the time when if one bit of land is ruined we get another.

"I think it's about time we dealt with this in a sensible way and we don't waste land."

• Get the Guardian's environment news on your iPhone with our new app. You can also join us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+

• Overconsumption
• Conservation
• David Attenborough
• Population

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Millionaire poised to give up on 'world's greatest golf course', blaming offshore windfarm application

Donald Trump is on the brink of abandoning his plans for the "world's greatest golf course" near Aberdeen after claiming his £750m project is being threatened by an offshore windfarm.

The billionaire property developer has disclosed he has frozen plans to build the second 18-hole golf course, the five-star hotel, the luxury villas and houses and the timeshare apartments that make up the planned resort until a final decision is made on the small wind-power project.

Instead, the scheme will feature only the first golf course, which is now due to open slightly earlier than expected, in June, and a small, temporary clubhouse. That building would, Trump said, eventually be replaced by a large, "super-luxury" clubhouse, for which Aberdeenshire council has just granted planning permission.

But Trump's threats are fuelling suspicions that he is using the windfarm, known as the European offshore wind deployment centre, as a reason to abandon the golf resort rather than admit the project is no longer viable or affordable.

His criticisms of the scheme have intensified significantly over recent months, and included a direct appeal to Alex Salmond, the first minister. Initially an enthusiastic supporter of Trump, Salmond has refused to intervene over the windfarm, which has already been substantially reduced in scale.

In a statement issued from his New York headquarters, Trump said: "All further plans for future development, including the hotel, are now on hold until the Scottish government makes a decision on the application for the European offshore wind deployment centre submitted by Vattenfall and Areg [Aberdeen renewable energy group].

"If the north-east of Scotland is serious about tourism and creating a global golf destination it cannot allow the coastline to be ruined by an ugly industrial park (11 64-storey test turbines) directly off the shoreline."

Trump admitted in June that the global recession had forced him to delay construction of the five-star hotel, apartments and large luxury housing estate, which were at the centre of the resort plans. He said "the world has crashed" since he bought the Menie estate, in Aberdeenshire, and its vast area of dunes in 2005. Trump is now linking the delay to the windfarm, a position he did not take in June.

David Milne, an immediate neighbour and a critic of Trump, who has resisted pressure to sell his home to the developer, said: "I firmly believe he is just trying to sell. The planning permission he gained [for the clubhouse] was the final piece to increase the sale value of the golf course."That is the only reason they bothered going for it.

Suspicions about Trump's tactics have intensified because there have been clear signals that the windfarm project is extremely likely to be approved, as it is central to the Scottish government's strategy of making the country a global leader in windfarm technologies.

Backed by the European commission, it will be a testbed for some of the most advanced offshore wind turbine designs. The £200m project, which will be 2.5km (1.5 miles)south-east of the Menie estate coastline, is also being championed by many of Trump's prominent supporters in Aberdeenshire. The consortium behind it includes Aberdeenshire council, which backs Trump's resort.

Trump's director of international development, George Sorial, denied Trump was using the windfarm as an excuse to abandon the project. It was "absolutely ridiculous and there is not a shred of evidence" to support such a claim, he said.

Sorial said local opposition to the wind farm was sharply increasing, and he predicted it would be rejected. Trump's threat was designed to underline his determination to resist the wind farm, he said.

Sorial added: "We have spent now approximately £100m and we have built the greatest golf course in the world. We are not abandoning anything. We will fight and defeat the wind farm

"We are not going anywhere."

• Donald Trump
• Scotland
• Golf
• Wind power
• Recession
• United States
• Renewable energy
• Conservation
• Endangered habitats

Severin Carrell
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News story on the effect of a mild winter on yields of fruit and subsequent rise in prices

Boating Business

CRT - there may have to be a recounting of chickens Boating Business INLAND WATERWAYS: For the second year running inland waterway politics have been dominated by the transfer of the function and control of the British Waterways (BW) network to a charitable body, writes Harry Arnold. Originally called the New Waterway ...

Protesters have released a video showing their clash with Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, in which three people were purportedly injured.

Landowners and farmers from two carefully-selected areas are now able to apply for licences to pilot new measures designed to tackle the devastating impact of bovine TB, Agriculture Minister Jim Paice has confirmed.

The disease forced the slaughter of 25,000 cattle in 2010 alone and will cost taxpayers around £1 billion over the next ten years if not effectively dealt with.

Two areas in West Gloucestershire and West Somerset have been selected, from a shortlist proposed by the farming industry, as the most suitable to pilot controlled shooting of badgers. This forms part of a science-led and closely monitored policy to bring bovine TB under control.

Jim Paice said:

“Bovine TB is a chronic and devastating disease. It causes the slaughter of tens of thousands of cattle each year, and is taking a terrible toll on our farmers and rural communities.

“Nobody wants to cull badgers. But no country in the world where wildlife carries TB has eradicated the disease in cattle without tackling it in wildlife too.

“These two pilots are just part of a wide range of activity on bovine TB. We already have robust measures to control its spread amongst cattle, which we plan to strengthen further, and are continuing to work hard on the development of practical and usable vaccines.

“Natural England will now assess applications against a set of strict criteria. If these are not met, licences will not be granted.”

The pilots will allow the careful examination of how safe, humane and effective controlled shooting is and were announced, after public consultation on better tackling bovine TB, in December last year.

Farmers and landowners in these areas are now able to apply to Natural England as a group for a licence to take part. Their applications will then be assessed against strict criteria before a decision is taken on whether to issue a licence.

The criteria include:

• The individuals taking part must be able to demonstrate a high level of competence in marksmanship, and then successfully complete a Government approved training course;
• All participating farmers must comply with all the Government’s TB cattle controls;
• Biosecurity measures to minimise the spread of bovine TB between cattle, and minimise badgers interacting with cattle, must be implemented by participating farmers;
• There must be a high incidence of TB already present in cattle and the area must be at least 150km2 with access to at least 70% of it; and
• Participants must take reasonable measures to mitigate the risk of badgers with TB relocating or spreading bovine TB to areas surrounding the culled area. These could include natural barriers that help stop the movement of badgers – like coastline, rivers and major roads – or vaccination of badgers in the surrounding areas before the pilots begin.

Jim Paice also stated that the Chair of the independent panel of experts will be Professor Christopher Wathes, who will have the important role of overseeing the monitoring and evaluation of the pilot areas. Professor Wathes is a Professor of Animal Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College and the current chair of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC). Other panel members will be appointed shortly.

Professor Wathes said:

“Badger culling is a very sensitive issue which is why this group will be completely independent in the work they conduct. I will be joined by a selection of experts from a range of disciplines and our job will be to carefully consider the design and conduct of the pilots to enable a thorough examination of the humaneness, safety and effectiveness of the culling method being used.”

Notes

Pilots will take place over a period of 6 weeks and are expected to begin in early Autumn. The independent panel of experts will oversee and advise on the monitoring of the safety, humaneness and effectiveness of controlled shooting. The group will then report back to Government.

Professor Christopher Wathes, holds the Chair of Animal Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London. He is a research scientist with interests in the environmental biology and management of farm and other animals. Further biography may be found on [www.rvc.ac.uk] .

Licences will be issued by Natural England under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. Further information on the application process can be found on Natural England’s website at [www.naturalengland.org.uk] .  

Following public consultation, in July 2011 we announced the Government’s Bovine TB Eradication Programme for England. On 14 December 2011 we confirmed two pilots would be held, details at [www.defra.gov.uk] .

The package of measures already in place to control and eradicate bovine TB includes:

• Routine testing and surveillance of all cattle based on risk. We have already significantly expanded the areas on more frequent testing;
• Pre-movement testing of cattle from high risk areas;
• Movement restrictions on animals from herds that have or are suspected of having bovine TB;
• The slaughter of all cattle that have tested positive for bovine TB;
• DNA tagging of cattle that have proved positive, before they are slaughtered, to prevent fraud;
• Advice and support for farmers that have had cases of bovine TB in their herds on biosecurity and reducing the risk of bovine TB; and
• Research into how bovine TB is spread, and the continuing development of oral badger and cattle vaccines.

Animal disease control is a devolved matter, and this announcement relates to bovine TB disease control in England only.

The Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) took place between 1998 and 2007, and showed that badger control done on a sufficient scale in a co-ordinated and efficient way and over a sustained period of time reduces the incidence of bovine TB in cattle in high incidence areas.

At a meeting between Defra’s Chief Scientist and scientific experts, participants concluded that if culling is conducted in line with the strict criteria identified from the RBCT, we would expect it to reduce TB in cattle over a 150 km2 area, plus a 2km surrounding ring, by an average of 16 per cent over nine years. This is an estimate based on the RBCT and what is actually seen will be affected by things such as the size of the area, the amount of disease in cattle and badgers and how many badgers are removed. [archive.defra.gov.uk] .

The RBCT provided evidence that culling causes changes to badger social organisation and behaviour, called perturbation. The “perturbation effect” is the rise in TB in cattle in a 2km ring outside the culled area, hypothesised to be the result of increased contact with perturbed infectious badgers. In the RBCT, this effect disappeared 12-18 months after culling stopped. The benefit seen in the culled area, taken together with the initial rise in TB cases observed on unculled adjacent land (the so-called ‘perturbation effect’), resulted in a significant net reduction in the overall number of new TB cases.

The Government remains committed to research into a cattle vaccine and an oral badger vaccine, with the goal of having these vaccines licensed, available and widely used in the field. We are investing in further research, which will also be used to press the case in Europe for changes to EU legislation to enable cattle vaccination.

Currently the injectable badger vaccine developed by the Government is the only vaccine available. It is costly and can only be administered by vets or trained lay vaccinators but could still have a valuable part to play as part of a package of measures to tackle TB. Defra, the National Trust, Wildlife Trusts, Badger Trust and National Farmers Union are all engaged in small-scale vaccination projects. Details of the Defra funding which will be made available to support and encourage badger vaccination can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/a-z/bovine-tb/vaccination/.

Following the badger culling pilots, if we decide to proceed with this approach, a maximum of ten culling licences will be granted to start each year.

Numbers of TB cases nationally can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/foodfarm/landuselivestock/cattletb/national with cases broken down by region at www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/foodfarm/landuselivestock/cattletb/regional

British Waterways will act on crossings Kidderminster Shuttle By William Tomaney » A REVIEW set up by British Waterways into lock crossings after the death of a boy who drowned at the Stourport basins has identified 26 tail bridges across the UK with similar problems. The company reviewed similar “low parapet ...

A BRITISH Waterways spokesman has confirmed that the money from the sale of Wood Wharf will not go towards maintenance of the waterways as we were originally led to believe, but will be reinvested.

The secret of a barn owl's ability to fly and hunt noiselessly is in the shape and structure of its wings, a study reveals.

Since the first plastic bottle was recycled in 1977, the United States has steadily grown local access to recycling programs. To make it easier to recycle the maximum amount of plastics, in 1988 the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) classified the different types into seven numbered groups. The code numbers tell you which are readily recyclable in your area and what they will be recycled into.

Currently, 80% of American households have access to recycling programs, but most are unaware of which plastics their localities recycle. Three-quarters of the programs accept type #1 and #2 plastics, which account for 96% of all plastics recycled. Types 3 through 7 are not regularly accepted. You can find out which are recycled in your area by searching the Earth911 database. {readmorelink}Read on…{/readmorelink}

What does any of this have to do with the environment? Perhaps nothing. Perhaps everything.

A few years ago, I had a long conversation with a friend of African-American descent who was arguing that the core of the environmental message was lost on the black community because, he felt, eco-friendliness was intertwined with economic welfare. His point was that poverty limited one’s choices and made making green decisions that much harder. {readmorelink}Read on…{/readmorelink}

The resort company's move, coming just ahead of the Chinese new year festivities, is a huge boost to the campaign to protect decimated shark stocks by banning the dish

The campaign to reduce the demand for shark fins achieved its greatest victory to date on Wednesday when the Shangri-la hotel group announced that it would no longer serve the dish, which is decimating populations of the ocean predator.

The resort company, which operates 72 hotels, took the step just days before the Chinese spring festival, the main season for shark fin soup consumption at banquets in Hong Kong and the mainland.

It is estimated that between 26 million and 73 million sharks are killed each year to supply this billion-dollar industry. Almost a third are consumed during Chinese new year.

But conservationists' efforts to reduce demand have gained pace and prominence in the past year, particularly since WildAid international ambassador and basketball star Yao Ming spoke out against shark fin soup.

In November, the Peninsula hotel became the first traditional hotel in Hong Kong – the centre of the trade – to remove the dish from its restaurants. It was followed by 112 companies who signed up to a "Say No" initiative to remove shark fin from corporate banquets.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has now gone a step further by unveiling a "sustainable seafood policy" that also includes a commitment to phase out the use of other endangered marine species, including Bluefin tuna and Chilean sea bass.

The company had previously taken shark fin off its restaurant menus, but offered the dish on demand.

The move was welcomed by conservationists as a sign that some major corporations are starting to take sustainability more seriously.

"This is very significant. Two leading hotel groups have now sent a very strong message to the food and beverage industry and the wedding industry. I don't see why others don't follow suit," said Bertha Lo of the Hong Kong Shark Foundation.

However, there is still a long way to go. The foundation's recent survey of 64 leading Hong Kong hotels found that 98% served at least one endangered marine species. Almost all included shark fin, which is particularly popular at wedding banquets. Very few had policies for sustainable seafood sourcing.

Conservationists said corporate social responsibility programmes had improved in recent years to include energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions, but still usually neglected impacts on wildlife.

"We are seeing announcements one by one, but it is not enough just to stop serving shark fin," said Stanley Shea of Bloom Association, a Hong Kong-based NGO. "Hotels also need to put in place public policies on sustainable seafood sourcing."

The government in Hong Kong has yet to act, although surveys by the Bloom foundation suggest that 88% of consumers want the authorities to prevent sales of products that involve killing threatened species.

It is believed the mainland could move faster than the territory – as it has done with air pollution. But most hotels in Chinese cities will continue to serve shark fin as a traditional part of the festivities to usher in the year of the dragon on 23 January.

Among them is the Grand Hyatt in Beijing, which was offering a new year special spring festival banquet of 888 yuan (£91.50) per person, including shark fin soup. Outside of the holiday season, it offers the soup alone from 468 yuan (£48) to over a thousand yuan. "It depends on the type of shark. We have all types," a restaurant employee said.

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• Conservation
• Animals
• Hotels
• Food & drink industry
• China
• Hong Kong
• Asia Pacific
• Fishing

Jonathan Watts
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Ballymore €45m sale takings for Nama Irish Times Canary Wharf Group has agreed to buy out the interests of both Ballymore Properties and British Waterways in the Wood Wharf Partnership, which controls a site earmarked for a 4.8 million sq ft office, residential and retail development. ... Canary Wharf diversifies with 90 mln stg buyReuters Canary Wharf Group Plc takes over Wood WharfOut-Law.com Canary Wharf Group takes ownership of neighbouring Wood WharfThe Construction Index Telegraph.co.uk -The Independent -London24 all 33 news articles »

Two new species a day last year were found at The Lodge, bringing the total to over 4,000 species

In the wild, animal numbers naturally fluctuate. The marsh fritillary butterfly, for example, can virtually vanish from some of its colonies in certain years, only to be present two or three years later in numbers that are overwhelming (this is caused by cycles of parasite infestation, and something similar happens with red grouse).

As any fair-weather cyclist will tell you, freezing temperatures and short days mean many bikes sit idle for much of December and January, but getting back on the road doesn't have to mean an expensive trip to the bike shop.

Sir David Attenborough has called on big businesses to help protect the natural world from the rapidly expanding human population.