A new initiative from the Kew Millennium Seed Bank will supply commercial seed companies with large amounts of high quality wildflower seed, to help in the restoration of flower-rich meadows. Only 2% of this habitat now remains in England and Wales, with 98% lost since the Second World War. The UK Native Seed Hub project will draw on the large collection of wildflower seed held by the Seed Bank.

Speaking to the BBC, Stephanie Miles, in charge of the project, explained that “commercial growers lack a good, reliable source of UK single species seed”. At present, commercial companies are often unable to provide seed which is genetically adapted to the site of restoration. Stephanie Miles commented that this project would result in the “bulking up” of seed available to support restoration projects in the UK. Plants will initially be grown in temporary seed production beds before being moved to large, permanent seed beds from where seed can be harvested.

The project is being funded by a £750,000 grant from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. The first restoration project to benefit from the seed will be in West Sussex, as a collaborative project between Kew and the High Weald Landscape Trust. Following the focus on meadows, the Millennium Seed Bank will expand the project to encompass 40 other habitat types, including lowland heathland and chalk grassland.

Read more in the Guardian, on the BBC News website and listen to a feature on this story on the Today Programme.

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.

This week, as part of the Radio 4 series ‘Costing the Earth’, presenter Tom Heap interviewed various people who are interested in the idea of putting a price on nature.

Ian Bateman from the National Ecosystem Assessment explained how this project aims to use scientific assessment to put monetary value on the natural environment. This is important because decision makers need quantified information to be able to properly consider the trade offs of different decisions. Steven Trotter from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust gave the example of the planned development of a high speed rail link between Birmingham and London which will cut through an area of ancient woodland: the woodland is under threat because nature is not considered on an equal basis with the business case for development.

Pavan Sukhdev explained how The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study organises research into the valuation of global ecosystems so that policy-makers can use this in practice to assess the value of an area of land. Andrew Simms, Policy Director of the New Economics Foundation appreciated the importance of valuing ecosystems but warned of the dangers relating to the fact that pricing works on a short timescale whereas impacts on natural environments can work on a much longer timescale. In order to avoid degradation of ecosystems just because someone can afford to do it, it will be essential to create science based boundaries to cap the use of resources. Andy Atkins from Friends of the Earth expressed his concerns that focussing on the value of nature will detract from dealing with the root causes of destruction.

Tom Heap concluded by saying that it may be hard for people to accept that the implementation of a valuation approach to natural habitats will increase the cost of living, but this would be better than the current situation where these costs are being picked up by future generations and poor countries through destroying habitats for agriculture and importing food.

Legislation regulating the hunting of polar bears is to be reviewed at an international summit in Norway tomorrow. A reduction in hunting quotas is thought to be vital for the continued existence of the species as an increasing number of individuals begin to suffer from starvation.

Polar bears feast in spring, using sea ice as a hunting platform to hunt seals. However, the rising temperatures and earlier spring melts caused by climate change is reducing the bears prey availability and hunting success. Consequently, an increasing number of individuals are undernourished and suffer from starvation because they do not have enough fat reserves to see them through the winter months. Considering the effect climate change is having on the species, the scale of hunting by sportsmen and native Inuit people is no longer seen as sustainable.

Hunting is currently permitted in four out of the five states inhabited by polar bears: Canada, Greenland, Alaska in the US, and Russia. Norway is the only state where stalking is banned. Hunting is responsible for as many as 700 polar bear deaths every year, 3 per cent of the entire population.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) will present a ‘Species Action Plan’ for the polar bear at the summit. Geoff York, polar bear conservation co-ordinator for WWF’s Arctic Programme said:

“Climate change impacts are not formally taken into account with any of the polar bear populations which are harvested. We’re asking the parties who manage polar bears to incorporate climate change science into their management regimes… If we don’t do something meaningful soon, it will be very difficult for them to survive in the long run.”

Read more about this issue at the Independent News Website and the New Scientist Website

Researchers at the Zoological Society of London last night warned that over half of all frogs, toads and newts in Europe could be driven to extinction within the next 40 years, through a combination of climate change, disease and habitat destruction.

Those species most at risk are found in Mediterranean regions, predicted to become warmer and drier as the climate changes. These island species are unable to move to cooler areas as they are cut off by sea or by mountain ranges. In England too, the common toad, natterjack toad and crested newt are threatened. One study shows that as global warming alters the climate in Europe, almost every amphibian habitat would be affected.

Habitat loss, caused the the encroachment of towns and cities into rural areas is chiefly to blame, but climate change also seems to be exacerbating the threat of disease and infection to many amphibian species. In one national park in Spain for example, the amphibian population has declined sharply: as the area has become warmer, the deadly chytrid fungus has thrived and spread amongst the animals’ populations.

As the number of amphibians declines, the populations of their insect prey are expected to increase, with consequences for disease amongst humans. The chief predators of the amphibians; snakes, fish and birds, are already showing declines.

Conservationists have urged zoos to set up captive breeding programmes to save the most threatened amphibian species.

Original article: Over half of Europe’s amphibians face extinction by 2050. Guardian, 26 September 2008: