Nature in the News

20-12-2020 09:12AM

Joe Biden: How the president-elect plans to tackle climate change

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54858638?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bmicrosoft%5D-%5Blink%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D

Gives me a glimmer of hope....any thoughts?

Birdnuts · 20-12-2020 11:16PM

SnowyMuckish wrote: »

Joe Biden: How the president-elect plans to tackle climate change

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54858638?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bmicrosoft%5D-%5Blink%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D

Gives me a glimmer of hope....any thoughts?

I wouldn't be keen on the environmental and economic impacts of the likes of windfarms,electric cars, biofuels etc. which too many of the so-called "Green" campaigners have totally ignored. Somewhat ironically the US has reduced its CO2 emmissions faster than the EU by increasing NG production at the expense of coal while the likes of Germany still depend heavily on coal to back up their wall to wall wind farms:rolleyes:

magicbastarder · 21-12-2020 12:46AM

it is a bit disappointing to see the focus on electric cars which seems to have carried through from the previous FG government. an electric car brings your average car from about 5% efficiency to maybe 10% at best.

Mr Crispy · 21-12-2020 10:56PM

"Global Toxic Ship Fuel Scandal Revealed By Mauritius Oil Spill: A Special Report" - Forbes

Birdnuts · 21-12-2020 11:23PM

http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/news/red-list-2020-why-are-iconic-african-savannah-raptors-declining

Found this particulary sad as I had the pleasure of observing all 3 species on a trip to Kenya 10 years ago:(

auspicious · 24-12-2020 08:09PM

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55435940
Over 500 animals with no chance of escape in walled in farm massacred for sport.
16 small men and small women with rifles and a healthy dose of psychopathy.

edit: more detail
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.portugalresident.com/over-500-animals-slaughtered-as-portuguese-estate-makes-way-for-massive-solar-energy-park/&ved=2ahUKEwjpzf70ruftAhXTTxUIHfKFCiUQFjAFegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw100QU7V1fjP5FqViMVJURF

24-12-2020 08:26PM

auspicious wrote: »

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55435940
Over 500 animals with no chance of escape in walled in farm massacred for sport.
16 small men and small women with rifles and a healthy dose of psychopathy.

Dickless aszholes

Ulmus · 31-12-2020 11:26PM

Friendly fox story from Cork.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9101747/Animal-lover-adopts-fox-cub-befriended-pug-springer-spaniel.html

lolie · 08-01-2021 01:13PM

Never seen or heard of these before.
https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1347207371421048833

odyssey06 · 14-01-2021 01:06PM

Tough one

A RACING PIGEON which survived an extraordinary 12,800-kilometre Pacific Ocean crossing from the United States to Australia is a quarantine risk and could be killed, Australian authorities say. Kevin Celli-Bird said he discovered that the exhausted bird which arrived in his garden in Melbourne on December 26 had disappeared from a race in the US state of Oregon on October 29.

https://www.thejournal.ie/australia-to-kill-pigeon-from-us-5324558-Jan2021/

New Home · 14-01-2021 01:15PM

Ah FFS!!! Can't they just quarantine it?

magicbastarder · 14-01-2021 11:58PM

this is something that just slipped in without much fanfare, but my word.

Bord na Móna confirms it has ended peat harvesting for good

BORD na Móna’s iconic peat briquette is to disappear from fuel stores and fireplaces as the company announces it has stopped peat harvesting for good.

https://www.independent.ie/news/bord-na-mona-confirms-it-has-ended-peat-harvesting-for-good-39970397.html

Base price · 15-01-2021 06:55PM

magicbastarder wrote: »

this is something that just slipped in without much fanfare, but my word.

Bord na Móna confirms it has ended peat harvesting for good

https://www.independent.ie/news/bord-na-mona-confirms-it-has-ended-peat-harvesting-for-good-39970397.html

Considering that they have closed the peat powered stations it really isn't unexpected although the horticulture/domestic sector will have to find a alternative for a suitable seedling/growing compost.

Birdnuts · 16-01-2021 03:08AM

magicbastarder wrote: »

this is something that just slipped in without much fanfare, but my word.

Bord na Móna confirms it has ended peat harvesting for good

https://www.independent.ie/news/bord-na-mona-confirms-it-has-ended-peat-harvesting-for-good-39970397.html

All well and good but if most of these bogs are earmarked for giant windfarms(as appears to be the case) these bogs will not be "restored" in any real sense of the word. The link below highlights the growing concerns Ecologists and Conservationist have on that front regarding BNMs plans

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/bord-na-m%C3%B3na-s-big-shift-how-the-peat-giant-pivoted-to-bog-restoration-1.4438767?mode=amp&fbclid=IwAR0dn3x3PERlIm9Hyn4OmBo32DtMMbZLdGNgQM68aA8QS7LHxYhxiG7iEdE

New Home · 16-01-2021 10:08AM

And that, in the immortal words of the Internet, is why we can't have nice things.

:mad:

OpenYourEyes · 10-02-2021 01:40PM

Happy to say that there has been a significant increase in the Irish Whooper Swan population! See below for details on the results of the swan census that took place last year.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/whoopee-whooper-swan-population-highest-recorded-in-ireland-1.4480584

https://www.birdguides.com/news/irish-whooper-swan-population-at-all-time-high/

magicbastarder · 11-02-2021 12:31PM

https://twitter.com/shockproofbeats/status/1359636012050378752

Ulmus · 15-02-2021 08:15PM

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/sam-the-trinity-fox-finds-true-love-and-is-expecting-cubs-1.4484481
Sam and Prince - the vulpine Valentines.

Birdnuts · 17-02-2021 07:18PM

https://www.africanparks.org/government-zambia-boost-protection-kafue-national-park?fbclid=IwAR2ZB2WzSYjHApt5gI_K40jNXEhI74Uemqiy7ga4kiT6bXMUou505W-Flp0

I have had an interest in this area since my visits to Kenya and Zim about 10 years ago - this body has done astonishing work in that time saving failing National Parks across the continent and preventing the imminent extinction of many unique species and populations, from Chad to Zambia with more potential deals to come in place like Angola. Maybe we could do with a similar body over here to deal with the poor performance of this state in managing our National Parks and other so called protected areas!!

Yellow_Fern · 18-02-2021 12:42AM

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210211-rewilding-can-ireland-regrow-its-wilderness

Interesting article but I think it is a big mistake to focus so much on wolf reintroduction which is just not going to happen. Instead they should push sturgeon, osprey, goshawk or wild boar and the many many extinct insects.

kildare lad · 18-02-2021 10:44AM

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210211-rewilding-can-ireland-regrow-its-wilderness

Interesting article but I think it is a big mistake to focus so much on wolf reintroduction which is just not going to happen. Instead they should push sturgeon, osprey, goshawk or wild boar and the many many extinct insects.

Whoever thinks wolves could be reintroduced needs their heads examined. We don't have any wilderness for them to live successful as a wild animal . If you look at the size of national parks in America they're massive we just don't have anything that size in Ireland without farms or small towns . Wolves wouldn't long be getting shot by farmers or hunters . For a country like Ireland to have only 1% of native forestry is a disgrace. 72% of land is farmland does that not seem a lot for a country the size of Ireland ? Most fields out my way have no livestock on them most of the time

Yellow_Fern · 18-02-2021 01:08PM

kildare lad wrote: »

Whoever thinks wolves could be reintroduced needs their heads examined. We don't have any wilderness for them to live successful as a wild animal . If you look at the size of national parks in America they're massive we just don't have anything that size in Ireland without farms or small towns . Wolves wouldn't long be getting shot by farmers or hunters . For a country like Ireland to have only 1% of native forestry is a disgrace. 72% of land is farmland does that not seem a lot for a country the size of Ireland ? Most fields out my way have no livestock on them most of the time

Such wolf plans is just building walls between farmers and nature lovers. Germany has plenty of wolves however Germany is a land of tillage and in the east much forestry. Germans nearly never raise sheep so wolf populations there are gradually expanding and living off deer without much conflict. Same in Poland and elsewhere in Central Europe. What is better here is to plant more natural Irish woodland and do it in a connected way with existing fragments. There is a lot of support for rewilding in Ireland and a charismatic leader could fund raise a ton from the public and multi-national companies and get a lot planted. The only way to have wolves here is in a large fenced national park.

cameramonkey · 18-02-2021 02:04PM

kildare lad wrote: »

Whoever thinks wolves could be reintroduced needs their heads examined. We don't have any wilderness for them to live successful as a wild animal . If you look at the size of national parks in America they're massive we just don't have anything that size in Ireland without farms or small towns . Wolves wouldn't long be getting shot by farmers or hunters . For a country like Ireland to have only 1% of native forestry is a disgrace. 72% of land is farmland does that not seem a lot for a country the size of Ireland ? Most fields out my way have no livestock on them most of the time

I would have had the same thoughts as you until recently. The idea of Wolves in Ireland seemed absolutely outlandish. However when I see that wolves are not present in Holland, Belgium and Denmark the idea does not seem so outrageous. Ireland has huge areas of wilderness compared to those countries and European wolves need much smaller ranges that those in North America according to reports that I have read. In the shorter term something needs to be done about the deer populations in Wicklow.

Yellow_Fern · 18-02-2021 02:55PM

cameramonkey wrote: »

I would have had the same thoughts as you until recently. The idea of Wolves in Ireland seemed absolutely outlandish. However when I see that wolves are not present in Holland, Belgium and Denmark the idea does not seem so outrageous. Ireland has huge areas of wilderness compared to those countries and European wolves need much smaller ranges that those in North America according to reports that I have read. In the shorter term something needs to be done about the deer populations in Wicklow.

I dont know much about Holland, Belgium and Denmark but youd have to check if these countries have many sheep herds. They possibly may not. There is some attention to lynx. It seems a bit more viable but the evidence of lynx is a single early postglacial bone from a Waterford cave. It was directly radiocarbon dated so it seems to be secure but it would be good to find a few more bones to make absolutely sure that lynx were once here. Perhaps some intrepid PhD could do sediment DNA in caves and find some lynx DNA.

kildare lad · 18-02-2021 09:20PM

cameramonkey wrote: »

I would have had the same thoughts as you until recently. The idea of Wolves in Ireland seemed absolutely outlandish. However when I see that wolves are not present in Holland, Belgium and Denmark the idea does not seem so outrageous. Ireland has huge areas of wilderness compared to those countries and European wolves need much smaller ranges that those in North America according to reports that I have read. In the shorter term something needs to be done about the deer populations in Wicklow.

I still don't think it's a good idea. Them ones in europe travelled there themselves naturally and from reading online there's only a handful in each country. Sure foxes get lamped and blasted all the time by farmers and outside of putting wolves in wicklow were else could they go . You could hardly put them in killarney national park as it's the only remaining red deer herd in Ireland . Although letting wolves keep the sika deer numbers low is not a bad idea , I just don't think if fair on the wolves to reintroduce them here , we're only a small island at least in europe they can roam and breed with other wolves. If you put a wolf pack here are they just going to breed with each other which would be terrible or are you gonna keep bringing more wolves over so they don't interbreed , there's just too many cons involved imo. We can barely look after the little bit of wildlife we've here atm

magicbastarder · 18-02-2021 10:29PM

we could just clear everyone out of louth and release the wolves there?

Birdnuts · 19-02-2021 01:33AM

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210211-rewilding-can-ireland-regrow-its-wilderness

Interesting article but I think it is a big mistake to focus so much on wolf reintroduction which is just not going to happen. Instead they should push sturgeon, osprey, goshawk or wild boar and the many many extinct insects.

The other species you mention are viable, but the problem with Wild Boar is that their numbers quickly get out of control without their main predator(Wolf) present. So since wolves are not coming back in our lifetimes I don't think Wild Boar should be part of the current re-introduction conversation

Del.Monte · 19-02-2021 10:29AM

magicbastarder wrote: »

we could just clear everyone out of louth and release the wolves there?

Leitrim but then the locals would be released amongst us.

deadlybuzzman · 19-02-2021 01:01PM

Birdnuts wrote: »

The other species you mention are viable, but the problem with Wild Boar is that their numbers quickly get out of control without their main predator(Wolf) present. So since wolves are not coming back in our lifetimes I don't think Wild Boar should be part of the current re-introduction conversation

Theres recent trailcam footage from the north of the country showing a Boar and pregnant wandering around in the woods.
Wolves absolutely can control their numbers but humans have been an apex predator alongside wolves for millennia so wolves definitely arent required to control their numbers. Ireland being as small as it is, it would be much easier to keep their population under control than it would be with deer for example. This is from a study in england.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275986948_The_establishment_and_distribution_of_feral_wild_boar_Sus_Scrofa_L_in_England

Birdnuts · 19-02-2021 11:38PM

deadlybuzzman wrote: »

Theres recent trailcam footage from the north of the country showing a Boar and pregnant wandering around in the woods.
Wolves absolutely can control their numbers but humans have been an apex predator alongside wolves for millennia so wolves definitely arent required to control their numbers. Ireland being as small as it is, it would be much easier to keep their population under control than it would be with deer for example. This is from a study in england.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275986948_The_establishment_and_distribution_of_feral_wild_boar_Sus_Scrofa_L_in_England

Not sure - currently we don't seem to be doing a very good job controlling deer numbers and Wild Boar can multiply even faster!!

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