The Guardian last week published an article by George Monbiot and Guillaume Chapron, a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, calling for readers to nominate key actions which can make a significant difference to halting biodiversity loss worldwide. The authors are seeking actions which ‘make a major contribution to protecting a particular species or ecosystem and that are ’strongly and widely supported by scientific evidence published in academic journals; but that are politically costly or opposed by special interest groups.’

Submit ideas to the Biodiversity100 campaign or see what others have suggested at the Guardian website. Readers have been given one month to submit their ideas, before the final list of 100 tasks, for presentation to G20 governments, is decided.

2010 has been designated the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations. To celebrate the Society of Biology has launched a major photography competition. Entrants are free to interpret how they capture photographically images that celebrate, explore, comment on or reveal aspects of biodiversity from around the world. The winning photograph will be used as the cover image for the Society’s leading Journal Biologist, and the winner will receive £1,000! There are four award categories; Land, Air, Water and Close Up and the Society is giving away lots of prizes to the winners and runners up in each category. Full details are available on the Society’s website or by emailing photocomp@societyofbiology.org.

Applications are invited for a new, six month, part time (25-30%), policy placement secondment opportunity, to work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on its Atmosphere and Local Environment Programme (ALE) in London.

This secondment is offered as part of NERC’s policy placement fellowship scheme which allows researchers and other staff involved in environmental science research to work closely with policy-makers within government and other public and third sector organisations in the UK.

The purpose of this policy placement is to lead a strategic review of the Atmosphere and Local Environment Programme’s portfolio of recent and current research on the impacts of air pollution on ecosystems. This will ensure that future evidence needs for national and international policy development are met as well as strengthening science to policy processes between Defra and NERC.

Further details.

Please see “fellowship placement current opportunities” PDF.

The closing date for applications is Tuesday 31st August 2010.

From 18th August Local Authorities across the UK will have the restrictions on generating and selling renewable energy removed, following an announcement by the Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne this week.

The potential for Local Authorities to lead the way in clean energy generation has been highlighted due to the size of many Local Authority owned estates, combined with a new ability to benefit from the new Feed in Tariff payments. This potential sharply contrasts with existing Local Authorities’ efforts, which have been restricted by 1980s regulations put in place during the privatisation of utilities. This has resulted in Local Authorities generating just 0.01% of renewable electricity nationally.

DECC hope this decision will stimulate action to tie in to their wider climate change mitigation strategy to increase the percentage of energy generated from renewable sources, and reduce carbon emissions. The decision also mirrors the new Coalition Government’s local democracy agenda, by giving Local Authorities an active role in the low carbon transition and the freedom to lead by example. To read Huhne’s letter to Local Authorities, which includes more information on the rationale behind his decision, click here.

A new campaign by the Guardian newspaper seeks to challenge ‘ill-conceived’ developments on nationally and internationally important habitats, by highlighting local campaigns against them from around the country.

By collating a catalogue of developments, from large national projects to small garden-grabs, the newspaper hopes to highlight the threat developments present to our national biodiversity, which, it is argued, is being eroded piece by piece. By seeking to expose what it deems to be an iniquitous planning system which permits developments despite various levels of protection, the newspaper aims to raise awareness of the changes occurring to Britain’s landscape and the consequence for our natural environment.

Beginning with featured articles from the current and former Environment Secretaries, Caroline Spelman and Hilary Benn, both of whom have expressed support for the Guardian’s initiative, the campaign starts from firm footings, already attracting a number of submissions from local groups concerned about planned local developments.

To read more about the project, see the Piece by Piece webpages, here.