As we have already noted, the Royal Society of Biology [RSB] has launched a ‘what’s the nation’s favourite insect’ competition. You might have already voted for one of the 10 insects identified by the Society’s ecologists. Or, perhaps, you’re sceptical of the whole idea. Here’s one such view, taken from our President’s blog.
The Forest Education Network (FEN) was set up in 2012 as the successor to the Forest Education Initiative (FEI) in England. Hosted by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, the FEN seeks to engage more young people in forest and woodland environments by supporting education in forest and woodland settings, networking and sharing good…
Sir David Attenborough is calling on the public to help reverse butterfly declines by taking part in the world’s largest butterfly survey. The Big Butterfly Count encourages people to spot and record 18 species of common butterflies and two day-flying moths during three weeks of high summer. Have you recorded yet?
A recent map from NASA shows cloud cover over the earth. This shows an average of a satellite’s cloud observations between July 2002 and April 2015. You can just about make out the UK – under all that cloud. NASA says that typically 67% of Earth’s surface is covered by clouds, especially the case over the oceans, with less…
Mairi Kershaw, Chair of the South West Learning for Sustainability Coalition, contributes today’s blog post. “A person whose goal is self realisation is helping to change the world at its most fundamental level, such people are perhaps the ultimate revolutionaries” This quote dates back to 1996. In this century, however, social networking has facilitated an…
c/o The Guardian, here is a letter that “ten leading UK charities concerned with protection of the environment” sent to the Prime Minister late last month. The authors say they … “are writing to raise a major concern. On the basis of the decisions made by your ministers in the first period of this government, we have concluded that…
This is the second edition of Young Children and the Environment, which was first published in 2010. It is revised and updated, with 7 new chapters including a section exploring sustainability education in a variety of global contexts. Its authors now come from across the world, although over half of them are still based in…
Butterfly Conservation has over 30 Nature Reserves, all havens for butterflies, moths and other wildlife. Volunteers manage most of the reserves and everyone is welcome to join in with the events and work parties on these interesting sites. Most reserves are open to visitors at all times, and many are designated Open Countryside, or have…
As we note on our blog, the UN says that the total number of people will probably grow from 7.3 billion today, to 9.7 billion in 2050. Over 50% of global population growth between now and 2050 is expected to occur in Africa. Of the additional 2.4 billion people projected to be added to the global population…
The Economist reports on a UNDP report that sets out likely global population (by country) in 2050. You can choose to see the data by graph, map or in data files. The headline figures show that while Europe’s population will fall (from 2015 to 2050) by about 4%, that of Africa will rise by over…
Mark Cocker ends his review in The Spectator of Matthew Oates’ new book with this comment on a key argument that the book sets out: “Most impressive of all is his concluding chapter, aptly entitled ‘Towards Some Meaning’, where he diagnoses why conservation has so often failed to protect these quintessential inhabitants of ecological transience. He also seeks to answer his…
The RSPB has launched a campaign to encourage spend a night outside in a bid to ‘reconnect children with nature’. It is asking people to sleep outside this weekend to get closer to nature as part of its Big Wild Sleepout. RSPB thinks that children these days have too little contact with the natural world and wildlife, and…