Category / Biodiversity, Environmental Change & Green Economy

Environmental Change & Biodiversity Research Theme seminar on Thursday!

The Environmental Change & Biodiversity Research Theme is holding its second seminar of the term on Thursday 22 November. The seminar will be held in TAG01 (Tolpuddle Annex) at 1200. Tea and coffee and biscuits will be provided.

The seminar will be quite informal and will be used as an opportunity to discuss ideas that are in development as well as presenting completed results.

The next Environmental Change & Biodiversity seminar will be held on 13 December in Christchurch House CG13 at 1200. Richard Stillman is the theme leader, so please let him know if you would like to present at one of the upcoming seminars.

Environmental Change & Biodiversity Research Theme seminar on Thursday!

The Environmental Change & Biodiversity Research Theme is holding its first seminar of the academic year on Thursday 1 November. The seminar will be held in Kimmeridge House KG03 at 1200. Tea and coffee and biscuits will be provided.

The seminar will be quite informal and will be used as an opportunity to discuss ideas that are in development as well as presenting completed results. Additionally, this will be an opportunity for new PhD students in the theme to give a brief (about 5 min) overview of their PhD, and meet staff with overlapping interests. So far the following people have offered: Farah Al-Shorbaji, Adrian Blake, Katharine Bowgen, Danny Sheath and Ann Thornton. Their PhDs cover a range of subjects including the genetics, behaviour and ecology of fish, the effect of eutrophication of coastal habitats, and the effect of environmental change on birds.

The next Environmental Change & Biodiversity seminars will be held on 22 November in Stevenson Lecture Theatre at 1200 and on 13 December in Christchurch House CG13 at 1200. Richard Stillman is the theme leader, so please let him know if you would like to present at one of the upcoming seminars.

Carbon Reduction Event 2012 – Get Involved!

BU has accepted an invitation to be the specialist educational sponsor at a Govtoday-hosted Carbon Reduction event in November. Adrian Newton (ApSci) is the lead academic on this and we have been working closely with Govtoday to gather as much information about the event as possible (i.e. more about the event, who will be attending, how will BU benefit, etc.).  The attached document provides an overview of all the information gathered. You can also visit the event’s website for more detail: http://www.carbon-reduction.co.uk.

We want to ensure we capture all available expertise/research in the field of carbon reduction, so we’re casting a wide net. Could you please get in touch if you would like to get involved? There are several ways you can get involved, to include:

  • Would you like to attend the event on 27 November? This will provide an opportunity to present your research to public sector decision makers. We can send up to four delegates. Please let me know if you’d like to attend.
  • If you do not wish to attend, but would like to see your work featured in the presentation to be given on behalf of BU, then please send relevant PowerPoint slides to me for inclusion.
  • Would you like to provide materials for the exhibition space? If so, please provide details of your research that you would like to feature.

This is a fantastic opportunity for BU to show off our strengths and experience in research and knowledge exchange, particularly CPD and training!

How Web 2.0 might revolutionise our research

Many of you will be familiar with the revolution that the internet is undergoing, with its growth of social networking, web applications, blogs and wikis. What I had not appreciated, until very recently, is what the full implications are for how we go about our research. I am sure that colleagues in DEC and the MediaSchoolare well ahead of the curve on this, but for the rest of us, the penny is perhaps only just beginning to drop. I recently attended a fascinating conference hosted by the European Social Simulation Association in Salzburg. This is a group of researchers united by a common interest in using computer programs to simulate human behaviour, and its implications for human society. This was very much a new arena for me; I was really attending to learn something about the agent-based modelling approaches that are the flavour of the month in these circles. But what most impressed me was the way researchers are now using web technologies to access data to explore in their models. For example, although I’d heard of “crowdsourcing” before, I’d never really seen it in practice, and what it can deliver. I was most impressed by groups using tools such as Twitter, together with mapping applications such as Google maps, to produce highly informative maps showing the movements and wellbeing of large numbers of people. A great example is what the LSE is doing to map happiness – yes, really – http://www.mappiness.org.uk/. Another example, from the University of Leeds, has been using Twitter to map the movements of commuters in and out of the city. What is perhaps most astonishing is that large numbers of people seem keen to participate in these research projects. Potentially useful tools being used by this research community include open source mapping initiatives such as Open Street Map http://www.openstreetmap.org/ and Maptube http://www.maptube.org/, as well as Survey mapper http://www.surveymapper.com/current.aspx. You might find this reference useful if you’re interested in learning more – http://ssc.sagepub.com/content/27/4/524

UK Environment White Paper update

The following link provides a useful update on the UK Government’s Environment White Paper, including a summary of current activities relating to its implementation. This includes a number of initatives relating both to the green economy and biodiversity conservation.

Link: http://sd.defra.gov.uk/2012/07/natural-environment-white-paper-one-year-on/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gov%2Fsdscene+%28SD+Scene%29

UK government’s new publication on the green economy

This might be a useful source for those wishing to learn more about the UK Government’s plans for the green economy

‘Enabling the Transition to a Green Economy: government and business working together’ is a new publication which sets out what the transition to a green economy means for businesses.

It is the government’s response to requests from the private sector for greater clarity on what government means by a “green economy”, the policies being put in place to achieve this and how they come together.

Link: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1096705244&type=ONEOFFPAGE&furlname=greeneconomy&furlparam=greeneconomy&ref=&domain=www.businesslink.gov.uk

 

New Articles in PloS Biology on sustainability science

New Articles in PloS Biology on sustainability science

Enjoy the reading,

Elena

The Limits to Sustainability Science: Ecological Constraints or Endless Innovation?
Georgina M. Mace

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001343

 

The Macroecology of Sustainability
Joseph R. Burger, Craig D. Allen, James H. Brown, William R. Burnside, Ana D. Davidson, Trevor S. Fristoe, Marcus J. Hamilton, Norman Mercado-Silva, Jeffrey C. Nekola, Jordan G. Okie, Wenyun Zuo

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001345

 

The Shifting Boundaries of Sustainability Science: Are We Doomed Yet?
John H. Matthews, Frederick Boltz

http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001344

 

World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities (WSSD-U-2012) – post conference reflections

Last week I attended the World Symposium on Sustainable Development at Universities (WSSD-U-2012) which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 5-6 June 2012, as an official ‘parallel’ event to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio+20.  I was chairing the second day’s plenary sessions and presenting two papers (one on Leadership for SD in HE and a co-authored paper, The impact of University policies for sustainable development on students: a comparison of students from two institutions, one in the UK and one in Portugal . Both papers have been accepted for publication.

 

Further details on the event can be seen at:

http://www.haw-hamburg.de/en/ftz-als/veranstaltungen/world-symposium-on-sustainable-development-at-universities-wssd-u-2012.html

 

A summary of the event and its follow-up activities is available:

 

http://www.haw-hamburg.de/en/ftz-als/veranstaltungen/world-symposium-on-sustainable-development-at-universities-wssd-u-2012/program-wssd01.html

 

  Over 120 participants representing universities from 26 countries -from all geographical regions attended the conference which was organised by the Research and Transfer Centre “Applications of Life Sciences” of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and London Metropolitan University.

 

Reflections

 

The conference was great and a good networking opportunity from which further work will follow.

 

 Disappointed that you are not participating at Rio+ 20? – don’t be.

 

When the dates were put back (something to do with Heads of State availability and the Jubilee), I was a little disappointed that our event became more ‘antipasti’ than ‘contorno’ but I am now really glad to have been there early.  It will be chaotic! 

 

Having returned to Rio (after living there 25 years ago) I can say these things:  the hotel prices are ridiculous at any time of year and they are planning a huge uplift for Rio+20 – the hotel experience (and quality) is also more inconsistent than any city I have ever visited.  Attendees will be overcharged, are more likely to get ripped off in all that they do (still very much part of the culture to exploit ‘estrangeiros’) and will certainly find Rio challenging. There are still hotels which look legit but are actually ‘sex motels;’ some areas are still not safe.

 

Until yesterday I thought the Summit would take place in Centro and then read that it is at Riocentro.  Many attendees will not realise just how far out that is from Centro and Copacabana. If you were to take a bus, it is a gruelling 45 min trip to Barra de Tijuca. But then I guess this will not be an issue for Heads of State, or anyone whose budget extends to private transport!

 

25 years ago crime was very visible (everyone drove through red lights at night) – it has now been reduced by stronger policing. There was a visible police/military presence on exercise for Rio+20 while I was there; naval vessels were patrolling the beaches. Fortunately they were doing a helicopter patrol, just as some Chinese visitors were attacked with knives on the beach (in daylight). They managed to stop the attackers and return stolen goods.  Rio is much safer than it was but you still need caution. A driver commented to me, Summit ‘attendees offer rich-pickings’.

 

The strangest observation for me is that the people generally seemed less happy (than when I lived there), despite a huge increase in the middle classes and more disposable income – guess there is something in the Happiness research which intimates a link. The favellas are as big as ever and you can now do ‘favella tourism’ which also seems strange. I guess it’s not very different to when people used to pay to see the ‘bearded lady’.

 

Returning to the Summit, it is going to be more about review than commitment to exciting actions. Some are already calling it ‘Rio minus 10’. I would not hold out big hopes that much will change.

 

 

 

Would you like to travel? Categories for the latest round of Winston Churchill Fellowships have been announced and there is something for everyone

Funding opportunities, PG research

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust is looking for people who:

  • Would benefit from experience overseas so that their effectiveness in their career or field of interest was enhanced
  • Are in a position to disseminate their new knowledge and examples of best practice for the benefit of their communities and the UK

In the past the School of Tourism has been particularly successful in obtaining these fellowships with 4 members of staff (and 2 spouses) gaining awards. The funding is good, and being a fellow opens you up to a range of networks and opportunities that are often not normally easily accessible.

The categories for this year are listed below, and seem to cover most areas of interest in the University.  It is important to pitch you application correctly, and there are qualifications as to who may apply (you need to be a British Citizen), so please feel free to come and have a chat.  Closing date is 2 October 2012. 

Science, Engineering & Technology: Applications are welcome from right across this wide field, especially with respect to the popularisation of science, reverse innovation and smart growth. 

Environment, Food & Rural Affairs: Those involved in the countryside, food production, environment and conservation, including those interested in the natural environment and biodiversity and waste management. 

Education: Applications are sought from those working to improve the achievement of students aged 5-19, with particular emphasis on English, Maths, Science and Technology. We are also seeking applications from Deputy Head Teachers who are future Head Teachers, in a joint project with the Farmington Trust. 

Business, Industry & Commerce: We are especially interested in those running Social Enterprises who wish to learn from models overseas, particularly in emerging markets. We’re also keen to receive applications for projects focussed on making Corporate Social Responsibility more effective.  

Medical and Health: Applications are welcome from across this wide spectrum, especially from those with an interest in alcohol-related health issues and continuity of care, both medical and management.  

Communities that Work: This category is for those working in all areas of developing stronger and more effective communities. (This is the second year of a joint project with The Rank Foundation). 

The Creative Industries: Applications are welcome from anyone in this wide field wishing to research new and innovative ideas from overseas.  

The Arts and Older People: Those providing opportunities for older people in all aspects of music, dance, drama and the fine arts. (This is the second year of a joint 3 year project with The Baring Foundation). 

Prison & Penal Reform: Those involved in prison and penal reform and related sentencing issues, who are interested in projects that reduce re-offending and contribute to a just, humane and effective penal system. (A joint project with The Prison Reform Trust and supported by the ICPS) 

Open: Anyone with an appropriate project not covered by other categories, including Exploration (expedition leaders only), and Music Education (a joint project with The Finzi Trust), should apply here.

Further details at: http://www.wcmt.org.uk/

 

 

 

ECOSAL-Atlantis: An ecotourism project

Bournemouth University (BU) hosted a visit from the national co-ordinators of ECOSAL-Atlantis last week; an EU ecotourism project recording and promoting the heritage of salt production around the Atlantic Coasts of the UK, France, Spain and Portugal.

The ECOSAL-Atlantis project goal is to create a traditional salt-working route to highlight the fascinating archaeological and ecologically characteristics of these historic landscapes, thereby encouraging economic success of small-scale salt production and tourism development.

BU is the sole UK partner in this project, providing invaluable archaeological and ecological expertise. Researchers are also helping to develop ‘Traditional Salt-working: The Atlantic Route’ and are working with heritage consultants A&A Fielding Ltd to encourage other organisations and sites to join in the creation of the Route.

Other partners have been busy completing the heritage inventory of salt working sites, as well as collecting environmental data from coastal lagoons. This last aspect includes work on the eco-system of these fragile landscapes, producing guidelines that will protect them.

UK national co-ordinator Mark Brisbane, Professor in the School of Applied Sciences at BU said: “This is a highly innovative and original project that brings together archaeology and heritage, ecology and biodiversity, tourism and economic development and forces them to work together in a novel way for the long-term good of these fragile and precious landscapes”.

During their stay the ECOSAL team visited Poole Museums and Poole Harbour, including Brownsea Island, where they witnessed work taking place in the lagoon, recorded bird species and analyzed factors encouraging breeding and length of stay.

Poole Harbour has been an area of salt production from the late Iron Age period (if not before) carrying on into the Roman period, with sites making salt excavated at Ower and Hamworthy. Salt production must have continued into the medieval period around the harbour area but by the 18th century the salt-works were at Lilliput, where they used peat-fired boiling houses crystallising salt from seawater drawn from ponds in what is now known as the Blue Lagoon.

The ECOSAL team also visited the salt marshes in the Lymington-Keyhaven nature reserve, where Hampshire County Council and St Barbe Museum are creating the Lymington Salt Walk.

Now a tranquil wildlife haven, 200 years ago this area was the centre of the second most important site for salt production after Liverpool. The land would have been covered by salt pans where brine was concentrated, windmills would have pumped it into storage tanks and boiling houses which then used coal to bring the brine to a low boil in large iron or copper pans, producing salt as the water boiled away. There was also a network of inlets with docks for boats to deliver the coal and collect the salt. The success of this industry directly contributed to the wealth of the town of Lymington and helped to build many of its important 18th and early 19th century buildings.

There are 13 organizations involved in the ECOSAL project, from four countries (Spain, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom) as follows: Diputación Foral de Alava, Spain (project leader), Ecomuseé du Marais Salant, France, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, Communauté de comunes Océan – Marais de Monts, France, Communauté de comunes de l’ile d’Oléron, France, Cap Atlantique, France, Asociación Cultural Amigos de las Salinas de Interior, Spain, Fundación Espacios Naturales Protegidos de Andalucía (Andanatura), Spain, , Bournemouth University, UK, University of Aveiro, Portugal, Aveiro Municipality, Portugal, Rio Maior Municipality, Portugal and Municipality of Figueira da Foz, Portugal.

More information can be found on the Bournemouth University website.

Exercising the precautionary principle

Another really interesting study which serves to remind of the importance of critically thinking through, what on the face of it might seem like a really good green iniative. This example relates to recycling of old spectacles by sending them out to countries where people may not have the luxury of an optician on every high street and designer glasses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/24/health/research/donating-used-eyeglasses-is-a-poor-use-of-resources.html

I guess the question that needs to be asked is ‘If it no longer works for me why should anyone else want it?’ Most people who wear specs will have a drawer which has several old pairs – just in case. So how should we recycle them? And what about that drawer of old chargers, computer cables and leads, from items which you can no longer remember what appliances they originated from! Yes, we need to acquire less ‘stuff’ in the first place but we also need to develop creative solutions to repurpose all the stuff we already have filling drawers.

Portugal & Spain EcoSal Research Trip 24th–31st March 2012

The last week in March, Dr Roger Herbert and Prof Richard Stillman led a research team to collect samples of mud and benthic invertebrates from salinas (saltworking sites) along the Atlantic coast of Portugal and Spain. The BU team comprised five Applied Sciences undergraduates – Caitriona Shannon, Jemma Fowler, Karen Saunders, David Hartnell, and Rebecca Brown – plus research assistant Chris Moody and PhD student Kathryn Ross. The team assisted with mud sampling, sieving, data logging and recording.

The trip was organised as part of the EcoSal Atlantis project – a European Interreg IVb project which is gathering information about the heritage and biodiversity of saltworking sites along the Atlantic Coast of Europe, to inform and promote sustainable management of the sites (http://ecosal-atlantis.ua.pt). The project has partners in Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. Prof. Mark Brisbane at Bournemouth University is the UK national co-ordinator.
(http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/applied-sciences/research/ecosal-atlantis/uk-project.html)

The sites we visited varied from small-scale commercial enterprises to those more focused on tourism and biodiversity conservation, but all sites provided some interesting insights into how management can improve the quality of a site for certain bird species.

The purpose of our trip was to collect information on the diversity and abundance of benthic invertebrate fauna in salinas. At each salina, 3 mud cores were taken from 5 sites within the reservoirs and evaporation ponds to examine the invertebrates and a further core was taken to determine the sediment composition. Samples for benthic invertebrates were sieved on-site and preserved, and further processing and species identification will be done at Bournemouth University. At each site the depth, temperature and salinity were recorded to determine the effect of these factors on invertebrate distributions. Results from the analysis combined with data obtained from other sites sampled in north Portugal, France and in the UK, will help to characterise the benthic fauna of lagoons and salinas and contribute to understanding of the ecological value of the sites.

    

Below is a short summary of the trip, including photographs from each of the sites visited and a list of bird species observed.

We arrived at Lisbon at 19.00 on Saturday 24th, and were greeted at the airport by the EcoSal national coordinator for Portugal, Renato Neves, who accompanied us to our first study site, Salinas dos Samaouco (http://www.salinasdosamouco.pt/), on the Tagus estuary, where we stayed the night at the field centre. Within the first few minutes of waking up in the morning we got spectacular views of black-winged stilts, avocets and an osprey. Butterflies such as the swallowtail were abundant at the site. A flock of juvenile flamingos were feeding in one of the reservoirs.

From Sunday 25th – Tuesday 27th we stayed at the Arocha Trust field centre ‘Cruzhina’, (http://www.arocha.org/pt-en/index.html), where we were warmly welcomed by the Felgueiras family and other staff . Arocha is an international environmental charity that does a lot of bird ringing and other field survey work in the Algarve.

While based at Arocha, we sampled the nearby abandoned Salinas at Odiáxere, where we found Kentish plovers displaying at a potential nesting sites. Black-winged stilts and redshank were also present at the site. Crested lark and corn bunting were also observed close by.

The Salinas at Castro Marim, close to the Portuguese/Spanish border were particularly good for bird life. We observed spoonbills, black-winged stilts, avocets, little stints, dunlin, common and spotted redshank and common sandpiper feeding in the Salinas. Birds of prey were very common and we were treated to some great views of marsh harrier, Bonelli’s eagle and short-toed eagle.

For the remainder of the trip, we stayed at the Los Gallos Hotel in Cadiz. Unfortunately the Spanish weather was not quite as obliging as the Portuguese weather had been, and we spent much of the next few days making sure the wind did not blow away our equipment or the smaller members of the team.

Our first Spanish Salina, San Vicente, in Cadiz http://www.salinasanvicente.es/, was probably the most active site we visited, with mountains of salt and machinery dotted around the site. Slender-billed gulls were common at the site. The site was also a good example of how diversification is important for making Salinas commercially successful – the main building housed a function room that is used for wedding receptions, and a restaurant where the various mixtures of flavoured salt are showcased in the recipes. The premium product, ‘Flor de Sal’ is sold internationally, with Harrods in the UK being a major customer. 

 

It was furiously windy when we did our sampling, but the site manager’s father still assisted us in gathering some samples of Artemia, the small saltwater crustacean that forms an important part of many birds, and is responsible for the pink colour of flamingos.

That same windy afternoon, we were offered a tour of a very different type of salina from Dr. Alejandro Pérez Hurtado  from Cadiz University. La Esperanza Grande salina is partly owned and managed by Cadiz University, and is intensely managed for the benefit of the birds and rigourously monitored to determine the effects of various factors such as water levels, vegetation density, and height of the walls of the ponds, on the birds foraging behaviour and breeding success. From this year it will also be involved with various community projects to tackle the issue of high youth unemployment in Cadiz.

The final site we surveyed, Salina de Chiclana http://www.salinasdechiclana.com/, was also predominantly focussed on education and conservation. There was a marvellous visitor’s centre explaining the process of saltmaking with a lot of information on birds. Like the previous site, Chiclana puts much effort into managing the site for birds. We were lucky enough to have some bee-eaters fly past us as we took our final mud samples for the trip – a perfect end to a memorable week.

Bird list for the trip.

While the Salinas provided us with some excellent views of various waders, wildfowl and gulls, we also took advantage of the time between fieldwork to explore some of the other local avifauna. A few of the species observed on the trip, such as the great and little bustards were ‘life ticks’, even for Richard and Roger, so it was an exciting and educational experience for all of us. The entire list of species observed on the trip is detailed below.

Acknowledgements

Renato Neves , Portugal National co-ordinator;

Márcia Pinto and staff at Samouco Salinas Foundation, Lisbon;

Marcial Felgueiras, Arocha Portugal;

Anabela Resende and Filipe Moniz at Castro Marim;

Manuel Ruiz and staff at Salinas de San Vicente, Cadiz;

Dr. Alejandro Pérez Hurtado from Cadiz University;

Inmaculada Saludo at Salinas de Chiclana, Cadiz;

Lola Alcon Mestre, Fundacion Andanatura, Seville.

 

 Table 1. Bird list for Eco Sal Portugal/Spain trip March 24-31st, 2012.

Common name Latin name Group
Bee-eater Merops Apiaster Bee-eater
Black-winged kite Elanus caeruleus Birds of prey
Bonelli’s Eagle Aquila fasciata Birds of prey
Kestrel Falco tinnunculus Birds of prey
Lesser kestrel Falco naumanni Birds of prey
Marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus Birds of prey
Montagu’s harrier Circus pygargus Birds of prey
Osprey Pandion haliaetus Birds of prey
Red kite Milvus milvus Birds of prey
Short-toed eagle Circaetus gallicus Birds of prey
Corn bunting Emberiza calandra Buntings
Great bustard Otis tarda Bustards
Little bustard Tetrax tetrax Bustards
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Cormorants
Azure-winged magpie Cyanopica cyanus Crows
Carrion crow Corvus corone Crows
Magpie Pica pica Crows
Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis Finches
Greenfinch Chloris chloris Finches
Linnet Carduelis cannabina Finches
Serin Serinus serinus Finches
Black-headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus Gulls
Great black-backed gull Larus marinus Gulls
Slender-billed gull Chroicocephalus genei Gulls
Yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis Gulls
Cattle egret Bubulcus ibis Herons, storks, flamingos, spoonbills
Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus Herons, storks, flamingos, spoonbills
Grey heron Ardea cinerea Herons, storks, flamingos, spoonbills
Little egret Egretta garzetta Herons, storks, flamingos, spoonbills
Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia Herons, storks, flamingos, spoonbills
White stork Ciconia ciconia Herons, storks, flamingos, spoonbills
Hoopoe Upupa epops Hoopoe
Common waxbill Estrilda astrild Introduced & escapees
Rose-ringed parakeet Psitticula krameri Introduced & escapees
Crested lark Galerida cristata Larks
Short-toed lark Calandrella brachydactyla Larks
Thekla lark Galerida theklae Larks
Barn owl Tyto alba Owls
Pheasant Phasianus colchicus Partridges & Pheasants
Quail* Cotumix coturnix Partridges & Pheasants
Red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa Partridges & Pheasants
Feral pigeon Columba livia Pigeons & Doves
Stock dove Columba oenas Pigeons & Doves
Wood pigeon Columba polumbus Pigeons & Doves
Coot Fulica atra Rails & Crakes
Moorhen Gallinula chloropus Rails & Crakes
House sparrow Passer domesticus Sparrows
Spotless starling Sturnus unicolor Starlings
Starling Sturnus vulgaris Starlings
Barn swallow Hirundo rustica Swallows and martins
House martin Delichon urbicum Swallows and martins
Swift Apus apus Swifts
Sandwich tern Sterna sandvicensis Terns
Blackbird Turdus merula Thrushes
Stonechat Saxicola torquatus Thrushes
Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe Thrushes
Great tit Parus major Tits
Avocet (pied) Recurvirostra avocetta Waders
Black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa Waders
Black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus Waders
Common sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos Waders
Dunlin Calidris alpina Waders
Greenshank Tringa nebularia Waders
Grey plover Pluvialis squatorola Waders
Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus Waders
Little ringed plover Charadrius dubius Waders
Little stint Calidris minuta Waders
Redshank Tringa totanus Waders
Ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula Waders
Spotted redshank Tringa erythropus Waders
Turnstone Arenaria interpres Waders
White (pied) wagtail Motacilla alba Wagtails
Yellow wagtail Motacilla flava Wagtails
Cetti’s warbler* Cettia cetti Warblers
Fan-tailed warbler Cisticola juncidis Warblers
Sardinian warbler Sylvia melanocephala Warblers
Gadwall Anas strepera Wildfowl
Garganey Anas querquedula Wildfowl
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos Wildfowl
Shoveler Anas clypeata Wildfowl
Wren Troglodytes troglodytes Wren

*heard only

This repoirt was written by BU PhD student Kathryn Ross. All photos are courtesy of Kathryn Ross and Chris Moody.

Planet under Pressure produces a policy brief on Green Economy to inform Rio+20

Planet under Pressure (http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/) a major international conference focusing on solutions to the global sustainability challenge has recently taken place in London (March 26-29). I have followed it on-line and found the plenary sessions extremely interesting. The conference must have been really extraordinary. While I would recommend to those interested in global sustainability to browse the website (I’m sure some might have already), having just finished my first year of teaching in Green Economy, I would like to say a few words on the policy brief on Green Economy.

The policy brief is downloadable from the website and while I would encourage everybody to read it, I have found these points particularly interesting:

1. A simple answer to why the green economy is important is that ‘the well-being of a nation is irrelevant if Earth’s environment is degraded to the point where human existence is threatened’.

2. However, continuing to use the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita to measure progress will lead the green economy path to fail.

3. Therefore, we should evaluate the country progress using a new set of measures which take into account the natural, social, human and produced capitals, and not just economic performance.

4. We should conduct in depth studies on the extent to which we are depleting the Earth’s natural capital before we transgress planetary boundaries of no return.

I will be happy to hear your favourite points for this policy brief. Feel free to email me.

Elena Cantarello

One of the three pillars – Social Sustainability: hardest to implement, easy to neglect

Interesting and insightful blogpost on the three dimensions (pillars) of sustainability, challenging the simplicity of the model and highlighting how little attention is given to social sustianability. Makes a lot of sense: the ‘economy’ is after all a social construction which benefits humankind; the environment is made better or worse for/by human beings.  And yet the ‘social’ is so often given little attention in the discourse.

http://ssppjournal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/recovering-social-is-sustainability.html?goback=.gde_1917135_member_104059828

 

BU is world number one for fish biology research

Research emerging from the Centre for Conservation Ecology and Environmental Sciences at Bournemouth University (BU) is rated the best in the world for the study of fish biology.

Head of the Centre, ProfessorRudy Gozlan, said: “Fish are carried by a vascular network of rivers and are the blood of millions of people that rely on healthy inland fisheries for food, business and sport fishing. We are delighted that our research contributes to that knowledge and comes in support of human communities all around the world.”

The statistic is from the bibliographic database ‘Scopus’, which calculates institutional strengths, based on article clusters. 

Institutions are ranked according to three measures:

  • Publication leadership, calculated through the proportion of articles from BU in the fish biology cluster
  • Reference leadership, calculated through the proportion of citations in the fish biology cluster that cite BU articles
  • State-of-the-art leadership, outlining how recent BU’s fish biology references are.

The accolade comes as BU researchers enter discussions with the Environment Agency regarding the testing of wild fish populations for the deadly parasite Sphaerothecum destruens.

More commonly known as the Rosette Agent, the parasite killed 90% of UK salmon in lab tests and has been blamed for the rapid demise of Leucaspius delineatus, or the sunbleak species, in parts of Europe.

Professor Gozlan said: “Since the first discovery of the Rosette Agent in wild populations five years ago we have carried out a set of tests and all species were highly susceptible to infection. We have carried out further tests in semi-natural conditions and found the same results. We looked at one wild fish population and found the disease present. In California our colleagues did the same in a population of returning salmon and found the parasite in around 40% of the fish. The Environment Agency will not determine the impact of the Rosette Agent unless they start specific health checks.”

More information on the Centre for Conservation Ecology and Environmental Sciences can be found on the centre’s webpages.

21 Issues for the 21st century- UNEP asserts that Skills and Education are Critical

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recently completed their Foresight Process,

led by 22 distinguished members of the scientific community and involving more than

400 leading scientists and experts from around the world with the aim of  identifying and ranking the most pressing emerging environmental issues

for the 21st Century. The highest ranking priority was to overhaul global environmental governance to meet 21st Century challenges.

The Second was:

Transforming Human Capabilities for the 21 Century – upskilling the global workforce for a Green Economy.

Good news for those working in the area of SD and Green Economy .

Number 4  ‘social tipping points’  poses the question that for me is fundamental – how do we catalyse human behaviour change?

 

the report is available at

http://www.unep.org/publications/ebooks/foresightreport/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

st

 

 

 

 

 

Century: Meeting Global Environmental Challenges and

 

Moving Towards a Green Economy

 

re-tooling

the global work force for a Green Economy

 

 

 

– and this from a list of over 90 issues.

As Bill Scott said in his blog

 

 

1

:

 

 

“…good news for social scientists everywhere that governance, human

 

capability, the green economy, etc, feature so prominently.”

 

Find the Foresight Report at:

 

 

http://www.unep.org/publications/ebooks/foresightreport