Conservation News
British succulent society chair quits over row about taking specimens from wild
Group banned plants ‘removed from habitat’ from its shows – causing uproar from enthusiasts
A furious row has blown up in the UK’s leading succulent society over the practice of taking desirable specimens from the wild, with the chair resigning in protest over the behaviour of his fellow enthusiasts.
Succulents have risen in popularity in recent years: they are attractive and hardy.
Continue reading...Labour says UK nature under threat and pledges to halt decline
Shadow minister Steve Reed vows to uphold targets on biodiversity loss and protecting land and sea
Labour has pledged to halt the decline of British species and protect at least 30% of the land and sea by 2030 if it is elected.
Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, also vowed to set a new land use framework that would prioritise the protection of nature, and to deliver on targets to improve the UK’s environment.
Continue reading...That sinking feeling: why long-suffering Venice is quite right to make tourists pay | Simon Jenkins
The overcrowded city is leading the way with a tax on day trippers. Surely other great European destinations should follow suit
Venice has had enough. It is sinking beneath the twin assaults of tourism and the sea and believes the answer lies in fending off visitors by charging them to enter. It is not alone. Tourism is under attack. Seville is charging for entry to the central Plaza de España. In Paris, the Mona Lisa is so besieged by flashing phones she is about to be banished to a basement. Barcelona graffiti shout, “Tourists go home, refugees welcome.” Amsterdam wants no more coach parties, nor does Rome.
The Venice payment will be complicated. It will apply at specific entry points only to day trippers to the city centre, not hotel guests. It will be a mere five euros and confined to peak times of day over the summer. This will hardly cover the cost of running it. It is a political gesture that is unlikely to stem the tourist flow round the Rialto and St Mark’s Square, let alone leave more room for Venetians to enjoy their city undisturbed by mobs.
Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist
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Continue reading...Sewage pollutes our waterways, species face extinction. We must act fast to halt the decline – and we will
- Steve Reed is shadow environment secretary
We must not be the last generation to have the opportunity to marvel at nature.
When I was growing up, I took for granted the excitement of climbing trees in the local woods at the end of our road, sleeping under the stars at Scout camp, and exploring the micro-worlds of seaside rockpools on holiday in Cornwall. Our children and grandchildren deserve to be astounded by the magnificence of our landscapes and coastlines, mesmerised by the beauty of a robin’s song, and to splash about in the local river.
Steve Reed is the MP for Croydon North, and shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs
Continue reading...Nature destruction will cause bigger economic slump in UK than 2008 crisis, experts warn
Green Finance Institute report said further pollution could cut 12% off GDP by 2030s
The destruction of nature over the rest of the decade could trigger a bigger economic slump in Britain than those caused by the 2008 global financial crisis and the Covid pandemic, experts have warned.
Sounding the alarm over the rising financial cost from pollution, damage to water systems, soil erosion, and threats from disease, the report by the Green Finance Institute warned that further breakdown in the UK’s natural environment could lead to a 12% loss of gross domestic product (GDP) by the 2030s.
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