Monday Round up – August 28 to September 1

1.  A new book, The Living Forest: A Visual Journey into the Heart of the Woods, by Robert Llewellyn and Joan Maloof encourages readers to study forests and not just walk in them.  The Mother Nature Network [MNN] has a review of the book by Angela Nelson.  She begins:  “You might think that after 50 years of photographing plants and trees, photographer Robert Llewellyn has seen it all in the great outdoors.  But when he talks about nature and spending time in the forest for his latest book, he does so with a youthful exuberance and a sense of awe. …

2. You can catch up here with the latest sightings at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes, and this link provides some background to the reserve.

3. The US National Park Service turns 101 on August 25.  Over these years, the women and men of the National Park Service have served as national storytellers, caring for treasured places.  To commemorate all they do and the remarkable places they protect, the NPS has begun a series called Parks 101 to showcase the lesser-known stories of the National Park System.  The NPS blog has lots of stories and features.

4. Here’s a link to an article in The Independent on the caged hen industry.  It makes for grip reading (and viewing.  This link on change.org has a story about how some UK supermarkets were helped to change their policies by the involvement of young people.

5. Here’s the latest from New Zealand Geographic.  It includes features on unusual curling conditions, avalanches, possibly the largest volcanic region on earth under the ice of Antarctica, wild animals turning up dead in the Alaskan wilderness,and what’s done to discover what killed them, and a pine tree disease outbreak spreading from Taranaki, through Wairarapa and down to Wellington.

6. These are some of the recent features on the Environmental News network

• Frogs That Adapt to Pesticides Are More Vulnerable to Parasites
• University of Delaware looks at adding silicon to soil to strengthen plant defenses
• Climate change projected to significantly increase harmful algal blooms in U.S. freshwaters

7. A reminder from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust that applications for Fellowship grants close on 19 September.  Categories this year include Horticulture, Education, Environment, Conservation & Sustainable Living, and Health & Wellbeing.    The grants cover all travel, daily costs and insurance for overseas travel of between 3-8 weeks.  More information is here.  You can apply online before 5 pm on 19 September.

8. August 12th was World Elephant Day, and we wonder how many of these great animals were killed for their ivory on that day.  The World Conservation Society [WCS] had an ivory bash in New York earlier that month.  WCS said:

It’s a good day for elephants and a bad day for poachers. Today, we co-hosted the Ivory Crush in New York’s Central Park, making a statement to the world that the illegal ivory trade must end by crushing nearly two tons of confiscated ivory.  “The crushing sounds inside Central Park today equal justice for elephants,” said John Calvelli, Vice President of Public Affairs of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Director of the 96 Elephants Campaign.  “The crusher pulverized more than 2 tons of elephant ivory, ensuring that this ivory will never again bring profit to the criminals killing off the world’s elephants.”