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November 25, 2002
Jools Holland Rocks For Cliffe
The old growth Forests of Goolengook were one of the first areas subject to logging following the signing of the East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement (RFA). This was met with a high profile and long running forest rescue protest. The East Gippsland RFA has been publicly denounced by all environment groups who were involved in the process. The spearhead of the campaign is GECO, an independent grassroots environment organisation based in East Gippsland and dedicated to protecting the remaining old growth forests of the region The East Gippsland RFA has only succeeded in escalating forest conflict in the region.
GECO has asked PROACT to assist by publicising the issue and to urge others to show international concern and support by writing or mailing to the Labour Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks. The latter has just been re-elected with a landslide victory; although votes for the Green Party have risen dramatically. From the respected Melbourne daily The Age:
"Despite the Greens' lack of seats, the ALP knows they are the ideological force to be reckoned with. And the electorate knows they were the only party on Saturday offering integrity, honesty and a vision for the future - not beholden to the corporate agendas of the big end of town"
You too can help by supporting GECO and registering your protest with Premier Bracks at
http://www.proactnow.org/ppsi/id21.html
David Conlin
Proact International
Posted by Surfbirds at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 24, 2002
Jools Holland Rocks For Cliffe
Musician Jools Holland will this week head an army of rock legends fighting "monstrous" plans to build an airport on marshland in Kent. He has recruited veteran eco-warrior Sting, Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour, Joe Strummer of the Clash, Chrisse Hynde of the Pretenders and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin to his crusade as well as Mick Hucknall and Kate Moss. Comedians Dawn French, Robbie Coltrane and Vic Reeves have also signed a letter to Transport Secretary Alistair Darling urging him to spare the remote Cliffe wetlands from destruction. In the letter Jools writes: " We urge you to drop these monstrous proposals. If this magical area protected by law and international agreement, is not safe from threat of development, we fear no corner of England is safe" Jools has a home near by but insists he is not motivated by a desire to protect his property because he is lucky enough to own other homes. He said: " This is a place I have known since a child. It is one of the few places left in England, especially near London, which has such large open spaces that are wide and desolate." The royal Society for the Protection of Birds welcomed Jools's support. Campaign coordinator Perry Haines said: "The RSPB is delighted to have such eminent figures alongside us."
Posted by Surfbirds at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 23, 2002
THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF CIVIL AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT
In a Special Report launched today, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution expresses deep concern about the global impacts of the rapid growth in air travel. Air transport operates globally and its impacts on the atmosphere, particularly those that could result in climate change, could have worldwide consequences.
The Chairman, Sir Tom Blundell said: "Emissions from aircraft are likely to be a major contributor to global warming if the present increase in air traffic continues unabated. The government shows little sign of having recognised that action to reduce the impacts of air transport is just as important as action in other sectors contributing to climate change. The problems are challenging but it is imperative that environmental priorities are not simply sidelined as being too difficult. If no limiting action is taken, the rapid growth in air transport will proceed in fundamental contradiction to the government's stated goal of sustainable development.
Short-haul passenger flights, such as UK domestic and European journeys, make a disproportionately large contribution to the global environmental impacts of air transport and these impacts are very much larger than those from rail transport over the same point-to-point journey.
A shift away from the use of air transport over such distances could reap considerable environmental benefits as well as relieving pressure on major airports. Rail transport is demonstrably more sustainable than air transport. The fact that rail transport cannot compete at present, at least in the UK, is a consequence of several factors, but these certainly include a failure to invest in a rail infrastructure and a failure to reflect environmental externalities in the cost of air transport.
Instead of encouraging airport expansion and proliferation, it is essential that the government should divert resources into encouraging and facilitating a modal shift from air to high-speed rail for internal UK travel and some intra European journeys."
The Royal Commission notes the ambitious targets for technological improvement - such as new airframe and engine designs and alternative fuels - and considers the potential for such developments to mitigate environmental effects. However, the Report concludes that the projected increase in demand will easily outstrip any such technological developments for several decades.
The Royal Commission expresses disappointment that international aviation emissions were left out of the Kyoto Protocol and recommends they are included in the emissions trading scheme envisaged as one of the Kyoto Protocol's implementing mechanisms. In the meantime a charge on aircraft movements to reflect environmental impacts would send an important signal to travellers about the environmental implications of flying, and the revenue generated should be used to develop more environmentally benign transport modes.
The continued growth in air freight is also a major concern. It is so much more environmentally damaging than other freight transport modes that it must be reserved for very high value, and usually perishable, goods. The Royal Commission argues that any proposal to expand air freight movements must be examined with particular care.
The Chairman said in summing up:
"With respect to the expansion of airports across the country, the government has said that 'doing nothing is not an option'. This may be so, but it does not mean that the only option is airport expansion. Emphasis should shift towards providing reliable, efficient and more sustainable alternatives to air flight.
We urge the government to seize the opportunity presented by its forthcoming White Paper to implement our recommendations at the domestic level, and to argue for their adoption by the EU, and globally, where necessary and appropriate."
The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has prepared its own response to the consultation on air transport policy. In it, the SDC argues for a much wider-ranging public debate on the objectives of a sustainable policy for aviation and airport development. SDC member Charles Secrett presented the response at the same press conference as the Royal Commission's Report.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution is an independent body, appointed by the Queen and funded by the government, which publishes in-depth reports on what it identifies as the crucial environmental issues facing the UK and the world.
The Royal Commission's full reports are presented to Parliament. This Special Study has been carried out over a much shorter timescale than full reports, but it is based heavily on reports that the Royal Commission has published in the past, together with some new material. It is intended to inform the policy process behind the forthcoming White Paper on the future of aviation.
The Report is published alongside the Royal Commission's response to the government's regional consultation on The Future Development of Air Transport in the UK.
PREVIOUS ROYAL COMMISSION REPORTS RELATED TO AVIATION
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has had a longstanding interest in the environmental effects of transport, including aviation, since its First Report in 1970. Its Eighteenth Report, Transport and the Environment, published in 1994, covered transport issues in depth and included a chapter dedicated to aviation. A further report on transport (the Twentieth Report, Transport and the Environment - Developments since 1994) was published in 1997. Neither of these Reports has yet received an official response. Both Reports favoured the idea of an integrated transport policy to encourage the least environmentally damaging form of transport for each leg of any journey.
Since these Reports were published, the case for action to limit climate change has become even more compelling. The Commission's Twenty-second Report, Energy - The Changing Climate, was published in 2000. It called for the UK to take a lead role in international negotiations to combat climate change and to set an example by aiming to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050. In this context, the Commission replied to the government's first round of consultation on the future of air transport, and asserted that 'aviation's impacts on the global environment, and climate change in particular... represent an overarching constraint on the future growth of air transport'.[2] The Commission considered that the government's consultation documents failed to recognise the magnitude of the threat posed by climate change and aviation's contribution to that threat.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF CIVIL AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 1999 an authoritative study, Aviation and the Global Atmosphere. This study clearly set out the effects of aviation on climate change. Research performed since that which provided the basis for the IPCC report in general supports their estimates of the total climatic impact of this mid-range scenario. The Commission has shown that the 1999 study, which assumed a substantial level of technological development, based its main findings on a mid-range growth scenario for air transport that has already been exceeded. Therefore, the environmental impacts of air transport are likely to be greater than the IPCC's predictions.
The IPCC report predicts that about 5% of the total global radiative forcing (a measurement roughly proportional to an estimate of global warming) by 2050 will come from aviation. If the stabilisation of greenhouse gases proposed in the Commission's Twenty-second Report is achieved through other sectors alone, that same growth in emissions from aviation would amount to 6% of the global radiative forcing at that time. Present indications are that this is more likely to be an under- rather than an over-estimate and there is a danger that the actual number could be closer to the 14% given by the higher aviation growth. Despite this, the emissions from international aviation have been excluded from the Kyoto Protocol and the industry remains exempted from fuel duty under the Chicago Convention of 1944.
In an analysis of the possible technological measures to reduce the environmental effects of air transport, the Commission concluded that, unusually, there was little scope for significant improvements in the medium-term. The incremental improvements that could be seen in existing engines and fuels are likely to be far outweighed by the growth in the sector. The Commission supports proposals for new airframe designs that would have greater fuel efficiency and lower cruise altitudes. However, it will be some decades before such aircraft form a significant proportion of the world fleet and would in any case only affect the impacts of long-distance flights.
Alternative aviation fuels, most notably hydrogen, were felt to be unlikely to prove practicable and could even have the potential to be more damaging than kerosene. The Commission also concluded that any future development of a fleet of supersonic aircraft would be particularly damaging.
The Commission proposes that some form of demand management must be implemented in order to avoid serious long-term damage to the environment.
The Commission sees this being achieved principally through two lines of approach; moderating demand by raising the cost of air travel and limiting the capacity for further growth, while encouraging modal shift away from air transport to the less environmentally damaging rail.
The Commission is also concerned about the rapid growth in air freight, which is currently growing faster than passenger travel. Carbon dioxide and fuel use per tonne-kilometre for rail or marine freight transport is dramatically lower than it is for air transport. Air freight must be reserved only for high value, and usually perishable, goods. The proposals to allow the development of 'express parcel hubs' send a disappointing message, and that any developments to expand the capacity for air freight movements must be examined with particular care.
The exemption of aviation from taxation amounts to an unfair subsidy for the industry but the international nature of the industry could make renegotiation of this exemption unfeasible. The Commission recommends that the government press instead for EU action to secure an emissions charge on take-off and landing, which would be large enough, when passed down to the consumer, to make an appreciable difference to ticket prices. This increase and the reason behind such a charge should be displayed on the ticket.
Limiting airport capacity would also moderate demand. At current projections for unconstrained growth, UK airports would be serving over a billion passengers a year by 2050. By restricting slot availability these numbers would be much reduced and the increased competition for slots would mean that short-haul routes would tend to be abandoned in favour of the more profitable longer-haul routes, which have lower emissions per passenger-kilometre.
Encouraging modal shift would also help diminish the number of highly damaging short-haul flights, in particular the domestic routes. The Royal Commission recommends that the government develop rail networks around 'hub' airports for passenger transport, rather than allowing a proliferation of regional feeder airports. An efficient, high speed, electric rail service would allow better use of the existing airport capacity and provide a less environmentally damaging alternative to both domestic and some European flights.
Posted by Surfbirds at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF CIVIL AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT
By Alan Parker
November 17th again saw RSPB staff and volunteers out in force on the North Kent Marshes, counting birds as part of the Wetland and Estuary Birds Scheme [WEBS}, and in support of the No Airport at Cliffe Campaign.
The weather was kind, and we avoided both the torrential rain which almost halted the previous weekends low tide counts, and the thick fog which made filming with "Countryfile" the following day such hard work.
With the winter continuing mild, large numbers of wildfowl would not be expected, but both Wigeon and Teal made it into four figures, with highest counts of 778 Wigeon on Cliffe Marshes, and 486 on the Thames off St Marys Bay, while Teal counts included around 280 at Stoke Fleet and both Cliffe Pools and Northward Hill RSPB reserves. It was also good to see the humble Mallard topping the thousand mark thanks to an impressive count of 581 at Stoke Fleet. Gadwall were also present in good numbers, with an impressive 163 at Stoke fleet[about 1% 0f the UK total], and 63 at Shorne Marshes RSPB reserve, between Cliffe Pools and Gravesend.
Most other ducks were found at Cliffe Pools, always favoured by diving species including 366 Tufted Ducks and 102 Pochards, with 8 Goldeneye a reminder that it was winter despite the mild weather.
Other wildfowl included no less than 251 Little Grebes scattered around Cliffe Pools; the Thames and the Swale estuaries are the top two sites in the UK for these, and as Cliffe holds the bulk of the Thames birds, it must be pretty much the country's number one place for them! Cliffe also held 35 Great Crested Grebes, and a single Slavonian Grebe was one of the best birds of the day.
As for waders, Cliffe Pools was one of the best sites, with 3500 Dunlin roosting, together with good counts of 1150 Lapwing, 250 Redshank and 140 Grey Plover. Some scarce waders were also found here: 2 Little Stints were late, while a single Common Sandpiper, normally a summer visitor to this country, was presumably intending to winter. A single Ruff was seen on Cliffe Marshes, and a Jack Snipe in Stoke Fleet.
Mention should also be made of the skulking Water Rail, the day total of 17 is quite a good score by national standards and included 10 at Stoke Fleet and 3 at Northward Hill[ where there are certainly more than this in the dense reedbeds].
WEBS counts provide an opportunity for lengthy birdwatching walks and as usual a good variety of other species were recorded. Single Hen Harriers and Short Eared Owls were on Cliffe Marshes- the latter is being seen regularly, but in nothing like the impressive numbers recorded on Sheppey. 3 Little Egrets were at Cliffe and 2 in St Marys Bay, but interest was also provided by smaller birds. There was a good count of 13 Bearded Tits in the reeds at Northward Hill, with 2 more on Cliffe Marshes, reflecting a good breeding season at the former; 2 pairs rearing at least 13 young at Northward Hill
Buntings were good value, with an impressive 70 Corn Buntings on the wires outside the RSPB office at Bromhey Farm, and also a Yellowhammer passing over, as are most of the current records of this formerly common farmland bird. I was unable to find a Lapland Bunting in the Egypt Bay area[ one next day though] , but a fine Snow Bunting on the seawall near St Marys Bay was an addition to my Cliffe Airport footprint list, which I have been keeping since the Sept 28th "big sit".
This now stands at 119 species, recent additions including Cettis Warbler[3rd Northward Hill record], Bewicks Swan and Tree Sparrow; up to 10 of these are seen most days near Bromhey Farm
Posted by Surfbirds at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
Bird corpses, bits of birds and ornithological research
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS UNION RECORDS COMMITTEE
Corpses of birds, and bits of birds, have a usefulness that is often insufficiently appreciated by those who find them. Specimens that survive can continue to provide new information for tens, or hundreds, of years (e.g. British Birds 93: 61-73, 2001).
Although the finders of some rarities are keen to retain them in their possession, the plumage may fade very quickly (due to light exposure) lessening their scientific value. Such specimens are also prone to damage or total destruction by insect pests such as moths or beetles, or they may rot away as the fat in the skin decomposes. In any case, personally held specimens are not accessible to other researchers. Characteristically, few such specimens survive longer than a couple of decades and ultimately they are lost to science. During the most recent review of Grey-cheeked Thrushes Catharus minimus in the British Isles, it was discovered that only 4 of the 9 dead birds were traceable (British Birds 89: 1-9, 1996).
Fresh corpses should preferably be passed to a museum where the specimen will be preserved. Research use is likely to go beyond identification. Depending on circumstances, other material may also be preserved, e.g. whole or part carcass, tissue or blood samples, external and internal parasites, stomach contents and skeleton. It is usually possible to salvage parts with valid research potential even if the specimen is fragmentary perhaps only a wing or a few feathers - or is partially decayed. In some cases, single feathers may be significant.
The BOURC strongly encourages finders of rare bird corpses, and also of birds in less well-known plumages or with plumage aberrations, to deposit them with a collection where they will be preserved and made available for research. Skin collections at national museums are generally recognised as the most suitable depositories for rarities. In the UK these are at Tring, Herts (The Natural History Museum), Edinburgh (National Museums of Scotland), Liverpool (National Museums Galleries on Merseyside), Cardiff (National Museums Galleries of Wales) and Belfast (Ulster Museum). Contact details are given below. Some museums, both national and local, are also keen to receive good specimens of commoner birds, but this should always be checked with them before supplying specimens.
The relevant museum should be contacted for specific instructions and advice for the transmission of specimens. For interim storage, fresh corpses should be wrapped in absorbent paper (e.g. kitchen roll), labelled with date and locality of collection (and fresh weight if possible), packed in a polythene bag and frozen. Some institutions will reimburse postal charges.
If you have a specimen at the moment and no longer need it, please consider passing it on to a museum now. Alternatively, if there is a chance that someone else may have to deal with it in due course, please add a large label to it now, with full data (if it doesn't have it already) and the following text:
DO NOT DESTROY
This is an important specimen.
Please contact [address/details of museum].
Ringers handling rare birds are encouraged to preserve feathers that may come loose (making sure they DO come from the bird concerned not just stray debris from the bottom of the bird bag!). Feathers are best placed in a small envelope and labelled with the ringing details, and then passed to one of the museums listed below.
The Natural History Museum
Bird Group, Akeman Street, Tring, Hertfordshire, HP23 6AP.
Tel: 020 7942 6158; E-mail bird-enquiries@nhm.ac.uk
National Museums of Scotland
Department of Geology
Zoology, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF.
Tel 0131 247 4262 (Bird Section), 0131 247 4231 (Taxidermy); E-mail b.mcgowan@nms.ac.uk
National Museums
Galleries on Merseyside
William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EN.
Tel 0151 207 0001; E-mail clem.fisher@nmgm.org
National Museum
Gallery Cardiff
Peter Howlett, Dept. of BioSyB, Cathys Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NP.
Tel 029 2057 3233; E-mail peter.howlett@nmgw.ac.uk
Ulster Museum
Botanic Garden, Belfast, BT9 5AB.
Tel 028 903 8300; E-mail angela.ross@um.nics.gov.uk
Bob McGowan and Steve Dudley
On behalf of the British Ornithologists Union Records Committee
For further information, you can contact
Bob McGowan, National Museums of Scotland
Tel 0131 247 4262 E-mail b.mcgowan@nms.ac.uk
Steve Dudley, BOU Administrator
Tel 01 733 844 820 E-mail steve.dudley@bou.org.uk
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS UNION
The Natural History Museum, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 6AP, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1 442 890 080 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7942 6150 Email: bou@bou.org.uk
www.bou.org.uk / www.ibis.ac.uk
Posted by Surfbirds at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2002
New rehabilitation centre for Prestige Disaster
PONTEVEDRA, Spain,
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW www.ifaw.org) and Xunta, the regional wildlife authority for north west Spain, have today opened a new rehabilitation centre to help save the wildlife that is suffering following the oil slick from the sunken tanker Prestige.
The temporary centre has already taken in its first 50 sea birds and by tomorrow another 100 are expected to arrive. The birds are being transferred from two other rehabilitation facilities that have acted as collection points.
"This new centre is vital if we are to save the birds that have already been rescued and those that are now coming ashore," said Jay Holcomb, leader of IFAW's Emergency Relief Team that is working at the oil spill. "Our other great concern is that there is a vast slick just off the coast at present and if that comes ashore we are going to have a large number of oiled birds needing to be rescued and rehabilitated."
"It is critical that the birds are given the right treatment if they are to survive. Many are extremely weak and this new facility will provide their best chance of making it. They are suffering from hypothermia, and dehydration when they arrive. Our experienced rehabilitators, which include veterinarians, can now provide the care they need."
The rehab centre has been established in a building provided by the forestry department in Pontevedra, close to the 100 km of coastline that has been affected by the spill. It includes a dedicated kitchen with freezers to prepare food for the birds, a stabilization room with holding pens where they are tubed with fluids, facilities for blood tests, a wash and rinse area, and recovery pools.
IFAW's Holcomb added: "The birds are firstly stabilized by getting their temperatures back up to acceptable levels and by being tubed fluids. They are then fed fluids and food until blood tests, which check for infection and anemia, show they are strong enough to be washed. Next they need to recover their waterproofing and recondition in tanks prior to their being released back into the wild. This process depends on the state of each bird, but can take anything from several days to a few weeks.
"Finding somewhere to release the birds will be difficult with so much of this coast affected by the spill. We will take the advice of the local wildlife experts to determine where best to do this."
Since the Prestige sank more than 160 birds have been rescued, including gannets, razorbills, cormorants, guillemot, kittiwake, and gulls. The seas around the coastal islands close to Pontevedra is a national maritime park and one of the country's most important areas for migratory birds and other marine wildlife.
Karen Benzel
PR/Media Relations
International Bird Rescue Research Center
831-622-7588 phone
www.ibrrc.org
Posted by Surfbirds at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
November 17, 2002
The November WEBS count on the Hoo Peninsula
By Alan Parker
November 17th again saw RSPB staff and volunteers out in force on the North Kent Marshes, counting birds as part of the Wetland and Estuary Birds Scheme [WEBS}, and in support of the No Airport at Cliffe Campaign.
The weather was kind, and we avoided both the torrential rain which almost halted the previous weekends low tide counts, and the thick fog which made filming with "Countryfile" the following day such hard work.
With the winter continuing mild, large numbers of wildfowl would not be expected, but both Wigeon and Teal made it into four figures, with highest counts of 778 Wigeon on Cliffe Marshes, and 486 on the Thames off St Marys Bay, while Teal counts included around 280 at Stoke Fleet and both Cliffe Pools and Northward Hill RSPB reserves. It was also good to see the humble Mallard topping the thousand mark thanks to an impressive count of 581 at Stoke Fleet. Gadwall were also present in good numbers, with an impressive 163 at Stoke fleet[about 1% 0f the UK total], and 63 at Shorne Marshes RSPB reserve, between Cliffe Pools and Gravesend.
Most other ducks were found at Cliffe Pools, always favoured by diving species including 366 Tufted Ducks and 102 Pochards, with 8 Goldeneye a reminder that it was winter despite the mild weather.
Other wildfowl included no less than 251 Little Grebes scattered around Cliffe Pools; the Thames and the Swale estuaries are the top two sites in the UK for these, and as Cliffe holds the bulk of the Thames birds, it must be pretty much the country's number one place for them! Cliffe also held 35 Great Crested Grebes, and a single Slavonian Grebe was one of the best birds of the day.
As for waders, Cliffe Pools was one of the best sites, with 3500 Dunlin roosting, together with good counts of 1150 Lapwing, 250 Redshank and 140 Grey Plover. Some scarce waders were also found here: 2 Little Stints were late, while a single Common Sandpiper, normally a summer visitor to this country, was presumably intending to winter. A single Ruff was seen on Cliffe Marshes, and a Jack Snipe in Stoke Fleet.
Mention should also be made of the skulking Water Rail, the day total of 17 is quite a good score by national standards and included 10 at Stoke Fleet and 3 at Northward Hill[ where there are certainly more than this in the dense reedbeds].
WEBS counts provide an opportunity for lengthy birdwatching walks and as usual a good variety of other species were recorded. Single Hen Harriers and Short Eared Owls were on Cliffe Marshes- the latter is being seen regularly, but in nothing like the impressive numbers recorded on Sheppey. 3 Little Egrets were at Cliffe and 2 in St Marys Bay, but interest was also provided by smaller birds. There was a good count of 13 Bearded Tits in the reeds at Northward Hill, with 2 more on Cliffe Marshes, reflecting a good breeding season at the former; 2 pairs rearing at least 13 young at Northward Hill.
Buntings were good value, with an impressive 70 Corn Buntings on the wires outside the RSPB office at Bromhey Farm, and also a Yellowhammer passing over, as are most of the current records of this formerly common farmland bird. I was unable to find a Lapland Bunting in the Egypt Bay area [one next day though] , but a fine Snow Bunting on the seawall near St Marys Bay was an addition to my Cliffe Airport footprint list, which I have been keeping since the Sept 28th "big sit".
This now stands at 119 species, recent additions including Cettis Warbler[3rd Northward Hill record], Bewicks Swan and Tree Sparrow; up to 10 of these are seen most days near Bromhey Farm.
Posted by Surfbirds at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)