Wild squirrel that was taken in by Mark Longo seven years ago was confiscated after conservation officials received reports of ‘potentially unsafe housing of wildlife’
A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid that also yielded a raccoon named Fred.
Multiple anonymous complaints about Peanut – also spelled P’Nut or PNUT – brought at least six officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to Mark Longo’s home on Wednesday, Longo said.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/31/2024 - 19:24
Sydney’s jacaranda trees are in full bloom, blanketing the city in purple and attracting crowds of people trying to capture that perfect frame
Australia’s best photos of the month – October 2024
Five things to see at the 2025 Sydney festival
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10/31/2024 - 13:00
As wildfires become more frequent and intense due to the climate crisis, combining the First Nations practice with western techniques is ‘crucial’
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Indigenous cultural burning practices halved the shrub cover across south-east Australia thousands of years before colonisation, reducing the intensity of bushfires, new research suggests.
The study’s authors argue that “wide-scale re-integration” of cultural burning practices, in combination with western fire management techniques, is “crucial” at a time when wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense due to the climate crisis.
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10/31/2024 - 13:00
Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat is a backer of the controversial Willow oil drilling project
The administration of Alaska’s Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, awarded at least $1m in state funds to a group claiming to represent a consensus of Indigenous support for new Arctic oil drilling, new research shows.
The group, called Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat (VAI), had just months earlier communicated with the governor’s office on ways to counter other Alaska Native groups opposed to new drilling.
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10/31/2024 - 11:41
Recent rules that require all new building and road projects in England to address and offset their impact on nature are excellent in principle but flawed in their implementation, leading environmental economists argue. In a new study experts criticize the implementation of the Biodiversity Net Gain policy which forces the majority of off-setting to occur within or near development sites rather than where it might most benefit biodiversity. Targeting offsets to locations best for biodiversity was found to double the conservation gains.
10/31/2024 - 10:23
Campaigners say car park extension at Manningtree station inhibits access to Dedham Vale and threatens habitats
A commuter car park in Essex is to be one of the first test cases of whether the government will enforce new legislation aimed at protecting national parks and landscapes in England.
Dedham Vale is a designated “national landscape” on the border of Essex and Suffolk, home to increasingly rare species including hazel dormice and hedgehogs. Within it is Manningtree station, where the train operator Greater Anglia built an extension to the car park to cope with increased traffic.
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10/31/2024 - 10:09
African giant pouched rats trained to alert their handlers when they find illegally trafficked wildlife products
Rats could be the latest weapon deployed in the fight against endangered wildlife trafficking, according to a study of rodents trained to sniff out pangolin scales, rhino horns, elephant tusks and hardwood.
Researchers trained eight African giant pouched rats to sniff out the contraband, even when it was hidden among items commonly used to hide trafficked goods, including peanuts, leaves, wigs and washing powder.
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10/31/2024 - 08:26
Steve Reed’s letter to campaign groups ahead of demonstration met with anger from those who say he has ignored the key issue of privatisation
The environment secretary has caused a backlash among groups demanding an end to the pollution of rivers by water companies after a direct appeal ahead of a demonstration backfired. The intervention by Steve Reed, who wrote to activists saying they could trust him with forging change within the water industry, was met with anger by campaigners who said he was avoiding the key issue – that water privatisation has failed.
In his letter to members from the 130 groups taking part in the March for Clean Water on Sunday, who include Surfers Against Sewage, the GMB union, the Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB, Reed said he shared their anger about record levels of sewage pollution. He wished them a well-attended march and said he looked forward to working with them towards a shared ambition of cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas for good.
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10/31/2024 - 07:01
Levy that reduced usage by more than three-quarters in four years fell victim to rightwing culture wars, say critics
A tax that has reduced plastic bag consumption in Sweden by more than three-quarters in four years is being abolished on Friday, despite warnings that the move could lead to usage rising back towards previous levels.
Since the introduction of the 3 kroner (£0.21) tax in May 2020, plastic bag usage in the country has slumped. In 2019, before the levy was introduced, people in Sweden used an average of 74 plastic bags (15-50 micrometres thick) per person each year each. In 2023 that number had dropped to 17.
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10/31/2024 - 05:35
UK government offers undisclosed sum in compensation to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah for daughter’s untimely death
The mother of a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution cited on their death certificate will receive an undisclosed settlement from the government in compensation for her daughter’s untimely death.
Settling a legal case, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Transport and the Department of Health and Social Care issued a statement expressing sincere condolences to the family of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, from south-east London, who had a fatal asthma attack in 2013 after being exposed to excessive air pollution.
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