It’s a mind-blowing statistic: the average person throws away three to four times their weight in food waste annually, with much of it going into landfill and contributing to the 16 – 18 million tonnes of leftovers buried each year. Now food waste into landfill could shortly be a thing of the past given the success of a commercial scale trial of anaerobic digestion in Ludlow, Shropshire.

The company behind the Ludlow initiative, Greenfinch, have developed the ability to process waste on a commercial scale without using slurry from farm waste: usually used to add moisture to the recycling process. This technology has opened the doors for anaerobic digesters to be introduced into urban areas.

Joan Ruddock MP, Minister for the Environment, toured the Ludlow site last week , saying: “anaerobic digestion is extremely attractive…It seems to me that a plant on this scale would fit into any industrial estate in the country…I am sure this is the way forward”.

The Ludlow digester should generate approximately 1400 megawatt hours of electricity from the biogas ( a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide) produced by the digestion process.

At present only four other anaerobic digesters are operational in the UK at a commercial level, with less than 12 at the farm-scale. This is compared to 4,000 in operation in Germany. The UK Government has announced £10 million in funding to encourage the consrtuction of digesters, with 60 currently under construction.

Access information on Capital Grants Funding for anaerobic digestion at WRAP [applications open in autumn 2008 - contact WRAP for more information]

The Guardian has today published an editorial piece by Stephen Hockman QC, calling for an international climate court to resolve disputes and ensure that burdens accompanying solutions to climate change problems are shared equitably.

In the piece, Mr Hockman suggests that an international court should “be compulsory and…include a convention on the right to a healthy environment…It would include a scientific body to assess technical issues.”

An international court could deliver those regulations and sanctions which would provide a greater incentive for individual countries to take action against climate change, whilst also offering benefits to the business community: “an enhanced body of law regarding environmental issues and consistency in judicial resolution of environmental disputes. He continues: “Such a court would also bring an increased focus on preventative measures, a set of global standards of care, and the facilitation and enforcement of environmental treaties”.

See original article (In Search of World Justice, Guardian, 19 August 2008)

A team of environmental economists have asked Bermuda’s residents to put a Total Economic Value on Bermuda’s reefs.

Household surveys of residents will be used to determine a mean TEV for the reefs, so that fines can be levied against any person or company, found to damage the reefs, whether by ship grounding, propellor scarring or anchor damage. The proposals aim to incorporate the coral reefs into future planning proposals too, so, for example if offshore wind farms are planned to be built over the reefs then their value can be included in any cost benefit analysis.

Project coordinator Dr. Sarkis spoke of the novelty and importance of the work:

“[This is] the first study which gives a voice to the environment, so when people are trying to make decisions and policies, we can bring the environment to the table on an equal footing.”

A draft version of a Marine Bill for England’s coast has been consulted on by relevant stakeholders and NGOs, including the BES. It is strongly hoped that the Government will take an ecosystem services approach to managing our marine wildlife, as is planned in Bermuda. The BES is actively engaged in work to ensure that British Government take an ecosystems services approach to all future developments proposals whether marine or land-based.

It is hoped that the coral reef valuation project, funded by the UK Overseas territory project, will be completed by mid-2009.

BES members and blog readers are invited to comment

Sir David Attenborough made a strong call to end Bird Extinctions globally, at the recent British Birdfair.

In a speech to ornithologists and bird enthusiasts at the event, Sir David said:

“We have no right to exterminate the species that evolved without us… …we have the responsibility to do everything we can to preserve their continued existence.”

Birdlife International have a specific species extinction prevention programme, whereby individuals can ‘champion’ a species of bird that is deemed to be critically endangered (see the Red List).

Sir David has decided to be the species champion for the Araripe Manakin Antilophia bokermanni, estimated to number fewer than 800 individuals and confined to a 28 square kilometre patch of moist forest in Brazil. The forest is under pressure from leisure home creation, and agricultural expansion resulting in habitat loss and degradation. The director of Aquasis, Alberto Campos, responsible for the species’ protection programme cites a lack of understanding from the million people that depend on the forest, of the ecosystem services that the forest provides, particularly the provision of freshwater. He also believes that sugarcane plantations for the production of biofuel could soon pose a considerable novel threat to the remaining forest.

Sir David will also be supporting a campaign to reach out to and support the local community, who ultimately, are the guardians of the remaining forest.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have concluded that recycling household waste is a complicated as completing a Sudoku puzzle. 

The annual ‘State of the UK’s Birds’ report, produced by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the RSPB, and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, along with the statutory conservation agencies for the four UK countries (Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England, Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage) reveals that climate change is having major impacts on the breeding success and timing of breeding of many well-known species of bird.

British Waterways has today released a list of the 12 non-native species most likely to damage the country’s canals, rivers and towpaths, harming native wildlife. The organisation is encouraging people to think about the impact on the environment before releasing these so-called “dirty dozen” into the environment.

British Waterways spends £1million each year controlling non-native invasive species across its infrastructure, monitoring the impact of these species with the help of its ecologists. Chris John, British Waterways’ National Ecologist said: “Whilst not all non-native species are harmful, many pose real problems to our native wildlife, to boaters and to our historic channels, locks and bridges. With no natural predators to control them they can overwhelm wildlife, channels, banks and towpaths…We are therefore asking people to help us by disposing of non-native plants safely and carefully, selecting alternative plants for gardens, ponds and aquariums.”

The twelve species are: Japanese Knotweed, Australian Swamp Stonecrop, Giant Hogweed, Himalayan Balsam, Water Fern, Floating Pennywort, Chinese Mitten Crab, Red-Eared Terrapin, Mink, Zander, American Signal Crayfish and Zebra Mussels.

Access British Waterways’ guidance for the public

Access the Inasive Non-Native Species Framework Strategy for Great Britain

Access POSTnote 303 by 2008 BES POST Fellow, Fay Collier, on Non-Native Invasive Species

A survey by the British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) has revealed that nearly one in three of the Uk’s 240,000 honeybee hives did not survive over the last winter and srping, putting at risk the pollination of fruits and vegetables.

One in five colonies were reported dead earlier in 2008 by a government survey of 10% of the UK’s hives. The losses reported in the BBKA survey are substantially higher. Defra has attributed high mortality to wet weather last summer and early in spring 2008, which confined bees to their hives. They were unable to forage for nectar and pollen and this provided the opportunity for pathogens to build up and spread through the colonies. The BBKA believe the causes are less clear.

The President of the BBKA, Tim Lovett, stated that: “Average winter bee losses due to poor weather and disease vary from betwen 5- 10%, so a 30% loss is deeply worrying.” The Honey Association warns that English honey will run out by Christmas, with shortages into next year.

The colony collapse is expected to cost the UK economy £50 million. Rowse Honey, the UK’s leading honey company, has pledged to provide extra support for honeybee research. The company has pledged to provide £25,000 to support research to find a “hardier bee”, which can better withstand disease. Defra currently spends £1.3 million on bee health each year, with an extra £200,000 for research. The BBKA has called for government to increase support to £8 million per annum.

Rowse’s clear English honey comes from the borage plant. However, less borage has been planted this year due to the increased demand for biofuels; making wheat more profitable to grow.

Other honey-producing nations have seen a decline in their bee populations. Argentina has seen a 27% drop in honey yield due to droughts and the planting of soya beans for biofuel.

• Read original article: Honeybee population collapse exceeds worse fears as one in three hives are lost, Guardian 13 August 2008
• Respond to Defra’s current consultation on honeybee health (Closing date 29 August 2008)
• Read comment and analysis by Richard Black, Environment Correspondent, BBC Website (14 August 2008)

Prince Charles has warned, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, that the adoption of genetic modification in farming risks “the biggest disaster environmentally of all time”. In an outspoken attack, the Prince accused “gigantic corporations” of conducting an “experiment with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong”. He believes that over-reliance on large argri-business and GM corporations will drive millions of smaller farmers from their land, threatening future food security.

The biotechnology industry believes that there is a role for GM technology in tackling potential future food shortages: contributing to disease resistance and higher yields of crop varieties. In a statement from Defra the Government stated that “there is an important debate to be had on the potential role of GM crops in the future” and “welcome[d] all voices to that debate.”

Read more on the BBC and Guardian Online

Milder UK winters are resulting in increased crop damage from aphids, research from the Rothamsted Institute has found.

Aphids are now appearing up to four weeks earlier than the long-term average; the findings indicate that for every 1 degree centigrade rise in January or February the aphids are emerging 8 days earlier than on average in the 42 years the research has been going on at Rothamsted. Of particular concern is the peach-potato aphid (Myzus persicae), which feeds on a variety of plants including fruits and vegetables, having been recorded as emerging two weeks earlier than the long-term average.

Dr Richard Harrington of the Rothamsted Insect Survey described how warmer winters lead to earlier emergence or advanced phenology:

“One of the most noticeable consequences of climate change in the UK is the frequency of mild winters. As a direct result of this, aphids… are appearing significantly earlier in the year and in significantly higher numbers… …after a warm winter, there are much larger numbers flying and they are hence detected much earlier. This means that there are more aphids flying in spring and early summer, when crops are particularly vulnerable to damage.”

Aphids are important vectors of a variety of diseases that affect fruit and vegetables including strawberries and tomatoes. They also inflict damage on crop plants directly by predation. Crops such as potatoes are particularly vulnerable to aphids whilst they are young – exactly the time when aphids are increasingly beginning to emerge in their greatest numbers.

Dr. Harrington envisages that if current trends continue, aphid numbers could increase 10-fold over the next fifty years.

Now that the BBSRC funded research has identified this problem, mitigation options can be considered for the future to prevent serious crop loss.

BES members and blog readers are invited to comment on this topic.