Environment
The last remaining male northern white rhino has died after becoming ill
It is with great sadness that Ol Pejeta Conservancy and the Dvůr Králové Zoo announced that Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino, age 45, died at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya on March 19th, 2018. The last male northern white rhinoceros has died, leaving only two females with which conservationists hope to save the species from extinction. Sudan, the legendary male northern white Rhino who has died Sudan was being treated for age-related complications that led to degenerative...
Aid charity Shelterbox under fire for not reporting three incidents of sexual misconduct
Disaster relief charity Shelterbox has come under fire after failing to report three of its aid workers who were involved in allegations of sexual misconduct. The charity, which delivers boxes of emergency kit to disaster zones such as Haiti or Nepal following earthquakes and hurricanes, has admitted "three sexual misconduct incidents pre-2013, one of which is unproven". However, Shelterbox, which has bases in Truro and Helston in Cornwall and receives millions of pounds in donations each year, reportedly only made...
Climate change could displace over 140 million by 2050, says World Bank
A report released today by the World Bank has painted a troubling picture for the world, for the years ahead. The report claims that by 2050 143 million “climate migrants” will be forced to move due to rising sea levels, blighted crops and droughts. In sub-Saharan Africa, 86m are expected to be internally displaced over the period; in south Asia, about 40m; and in Latin America, 17m. Tens of millions of people would pour into already crowded slums within their...
Climate change ‘threatens world’s largest seagrass carbon stores’
A summer-long heatwave killed so many marine plants it released the equivalent greenhouse gasses produced by an astonishing 1.6 MILLION cars. A study shows the "unprecedented" heatwave raised sea temperatures 2 to 4 degrees Celsius above average for more than two months, which proved fatal for more than 1,100 square kilometres of seagrass. This mass extinction released up to nine million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere over the three years following the 2010 heatwave in Shark Bay, Australia....
Named: The household brands that are contributing to 1 football pitch of rainforest being lost every 25 seconds
Eight major household brands including PZ Cussons (makers of Carex soap), Johnson & Johnson (baby lotion) and Kellogg’s (Pop Tarts) have been named and shamed by Greenpeace for refusing to take steps towards eliminating palm oil from Indonesian forest destruction from their supply chains. As members of the powerful Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), the brands promised in 2010 to help protect forests and limit climate change by cleaning up global commodity supply chains by 2020. Yet with less than two...
New report links South African government to commercial lion body part trade
A new report has revealed shocking insights into the development of South Africa’s controversial captive lion breeding industry. Despite widespread international condemnation, South Africa’s controversial lion breeding industry has grown year-on-year and has links to wildlife trafficking, according to a new report Cash Before Conservation: An Overview of the Breeding of Lions for Hunting and Bone Trade, published today by international wildlife charity Born Free. Born Free’s President and Co-Founder, Will Travers OBE, said: “As many as 8,000 lions languish in...
Anger as beggars will be fined £100 in Dorset town
From April 16th beggars will be slapped with a £100 fine in the Dorset town of Poole, which has drawn criticism for being “cruel and pointless.” Under the rules, fines could also be given to those found sleeping in car parks and doorways. Labour MP David Lammy labelled the fines as “cruel and pointless.” He Tweeted: “Fining people who are homeless and sleeping on the street is one of the most cruel and pointless policies I have ever seen,” he...
Council polluted their own canal with oil that should have been biodegradable…but it wasn’t
A council polluted their own canal with gallons of deadly oil and then had to wait a week to clean it up - because the water was 'too dirty.' Eight swans were rescued from the filthy canal, because it could have killed them, but the clean-up crew had to wait a week - because the 'bio-degradable' hydraulic oil did not biodegrade. Shepway Council in Kent admitted 40 litres of fluid burst from its barge into the 28-mile Hythe Military Canal...
A London council has launched a crackdown on rubbish gardens – because two were so filled with stuff they blocked the front door
A council have launched a crackdown on homeowners that dump rubbish outside their homes - by threatening them with huge fines. Greenwich Council have released images of two households that let rubbish pile up so high in their front gardens the windows were blocked. Both houses which saw the small gardens overflowing with rubbish were in the same London borough. The rubbish was piled so high residents could barely see the windows of the ground floor. After receiving complaints from...