11 Oct 2017

Guardian, Mathew Taylor   Sewage plants are contributing to plastic pollution of the ocean with millions of tiny beads spilling into the seas around the UK, according to a new report. Dozens of UK wastewater treatment plants use tiny plastic pellets, known as Bio-Beads, to filter chemical and organic contaminants from sewage, according to a study from […]

11 Oct 2017

Please see this selection of case studies from the current Facilitation Funded Groups. Since the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund started in 2015 there have been two national rounds plus a special round focussed on the Northern area of England impacted by the Winter storms of 2015/2016. Now, sixty-one groups with over 1400 farmer/land manager members […]

11 Oct 2017

Extreme weather and other possible scenarios that lead to environmental decline could have a significant impact on UK jobs and the economy if left unchecked, and must be factored into governmental and business decisions, according to a new WWF report that uses new risk mapping techniques to look at the cost of inaction by 2050. […]

11 Oct 2017

I missed this in March and so this is just for completeness. CMS https://www.cmscoms.com/?p=9202 from Steve Hull described the new guidance and the more recent ‘publication’ (in June I think) did not actually change anything – just a formality of some kind. New Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations. Jan Brooke: ‘In […]

11 Oct 2017

Environment Agency: A PhD student at Bangor University, co-funded by the Environment Agency, has taken us closer to using DNA analysis for routine monitoring of freshwater macroinvertebrates (animals a few millimetres long such as insect larvae). The project successfully used new techniques to analyse environmental DNA (eDNA) released by organisms into water, for example in […]

10 Oct 2017

In an interview to the Times Michael Gove has set out various points about fisheries (see below). ‘The source told the Times: “You have to take everything they say with scepticism because this is a negotiation.’ Meanwhile the NFFO are looking elsewhere for ideas from Norway, Australia and a group of international scientists. We MUST […]

10 Oct 2017

The Our Oceans Conference in Malta has covered a very wide range of themes looking at the protection of the marine environment and it more effective management. Three main links: Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey is at the Our Ocean conference in Malta. Commitments on plastics & MPAs, Blue Belt. Defra ‘UK takes world stage in fight […]