GreenWatch

B. McPherson The EU has taken steps to slow the decline of the honeybees by banning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. The ban will last for two years. The vote for the ending use of neonicotinoids was split, so the time will be used to investigate their effect on the honeybees which have had catastrophic declines. Delegates from the UK voted against the ban, citing lack of good scientific evidence. The ban will not affect this year’s planting, but start in December.  Ontario farmers are being urged to work with bee keepers in that province to mitigate bee deaths. Corn seed is routinely coated in the pesticide. The whole plant then carries the poison. Some speculate that the dust from the pesticide becomes airborne and poisons the bees. European researchers found that a high percentage of dead bees contained traces of the pesticide. Honeybees are important pollinators of crops. Their work is worth billions of dollars in increased food production. While there...

B. McPherson Let's make sure future generations have a chance to witness this. For many N. Americans the return of the monarch butterflies is a sure sign that summer is here. These special butterflies with their cheery black and orange coloring are unique in their migratory habits. Because the monarchs are vulnerable to cold, they fly south in the autumn to winter in Mexico and California. They gather in the thousands in trees and enter a state of reduced metabolic activity, living on their fat reserves. The epic journey of the monarchs is under siege.   In both the eastern and western populations, butterfly counts have plummeted in California and Mexico. The November 1997 count in California was 1,250,000 per site. In 2009 there was an average of 1250 at each site. In There are several factors that are thought to have affected the numbers. Lack of Food Monarch butterflies’ life cycle includes a caterpillar stage. The caterpillar must feed on milkweed plants or d...

B. McPherson Gap brand clothing has been linked to the use of toxic chemicals in the manufacture of its clothing lines. This also includes their other lines Banana Republic and Old Navy. An Indonesian supplier PT Gistex has been found to be dumping toxic chemicals directly into the local drinking water supply. Despite being outed for its association with polluting manufacturers in China and Mexico, Gap Inc. has not signed on to the Detox campaign that Greenpeace has spearheaded. Clothing lines that have joined the Detox campaign are Zara, Uniglo, Levi’s and Mango. “Investigations into Gap branded clothing also revealed that 78% of the items tested contained traces of nonylphenol ethoxylate – a hazardous chemical that breaks down to form an even more toxic and hormone-disrupting substance when released into rivers, lakes and seas.” Greenpeace The toxic substance nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE), found in much of the Gap Inc. clothes is extremely toxic to aquatic life....

B. McPherson Miami is being slimed by giant snails. It will do no good to call on GhostBusters. This job is too big for them. Giant African land snails have invaded the tropical state and are wreaking havoc on the vegetation. Miami is making a concerted effort to corral these molluscs before they can do more harm. They feast on at least 500 plant species; their slime trails and feces are unsightly; and they can even munch through stucco to get the calcium they need for their shells. Over 1000 are caught and destroyed in Miami each week. More than 100 000 have been gathered since the fall of 2011. It may be like trying to bail out a boat with a teaspoon. The double sex   snails can produce 1200 eggs four and five times a year. The hermaphrodites are both male and female so both of the mating pair produces offspring. Some people look at them and see cute, mobile lawn ornaments but they are sadly mistaken. These invaders can be killers. They play host to the rat lun...

B. McPherson The explosion of palm oil plantations in the tropics has pushed people and nature out of the way as corporations seek to cash in. Indonesia has been hard hit with destruction of its wetland jungles. In the process species found nowhere else have been pushed to the teetering edge of extinction. Included in the sacking of the jungles are our close relatives, the orangutans. International Animal Rescue (IAR) was recently involved in saving a female orangutan and her baby along with a pregnant ape who were slowly starving to death. They were clinging to the one remaining tree left when land clearing was done to start another palm oil plantation. An unusual twist in this story is the people responsible for clearing the land contacted the rescue organization. The more usual course of action has been to simply kill the marooned wildlife. The badly starved animals have been removed to a rescue centre where they are being cared for. Coincidentally, a group of ...