One of the major causes of rainforest destruction and biodiversity loss in tropical zones is the illegal logging of hardwoods. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label, broadly speaking, exists to address this by promoting environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests.
Another animal’s gone extinct. But this time it’s one of our most beloved creatures – a dolphin. Malcolm Tait reports on a species loss that is more than just another statistic
The world fervour for biofuels continues to grow at an alarming pace. In this comprehensive special report, the Ecologist examines the facts, fictions and fabrications behind this ballooning industry. The results are worrying...
In his final State of the Union address, George Bush announced his support for the adoption of biofuels on a massive scale. But is the plan such a good idea? By Pat Thomas
The world’s forests are natural carbon ‘sinks’ that remove and store atmospheric CO2. So why, in the name of saving the earth, asks Renton Righelato, are we cutting down these precious resources to make way for fuel crops?
Plant fuels can never meet our current and growing energy needs and, as Robin Maynard reports, adopting a ‘carbohydrate economy’ may prove disastrous for our farmers, our food supply and our future
The preservation of dwindling tuna fish stocks is set to receive a boost as the EU prepares to introduce cuts in the allowed size of catches, web-based environmental news service ENN reports.
At dead of night, unseen, a slithering stowaway disembarks from a newly docked ship… down a rope, across the quay and into concealing undergrowth. Is that what happened? Or did the snake hitch a ride on a military aircraft from Indonesia, maybe, to take up residence here on the American island of Guam in the Pacific?
What remains of the once mighty Caledonian Forest is fast being eroded by an ever-increasing population of deer. Without reintroducing their natural predator, the wolf, to the wilds of Scotland, the forest and its ecosystem is in danger of disappearing forever. By Jeremy Smith
An open-air performance of La bohème in a Surrey park. Mimi is dying, her lover is distraught, the audience can hardly breathe for emotion. Puccini’s opera reaches its unbearably poignant climax…
If you go down to Barnes today you're in for a big surprise. The sterile concrete of a former reservoir has been turned into a world renowned haven for birds and wildlife. Bridget Nicholls wises a happy fifth birthday to the London Wetland Centre
Lek lives in Thialand. She saves Thai elephants. Now, thanks to a clumsy campaign launched by animal rights activists in American all her work is at risk
If you split post-operative patients into two groups, giving one a view of trees and the other a view of a brick wall, the group that was exposed to the trees will need fewer painkillers, develop fewer complications and will
check themselves out of hospital more quickly than the group with the urban view. Isn't it time to accept that some of the distress we currently feel is tied to the world beyond the consulting room, to this planet of ours that's
become so stripped and bare?
Imagine a garden pond filled with white and pink
water lilies and purple irises and humming with a chorus of frogs and birds. Now imagine swimming in it. Alice Klein and Hannah Hislop take a dip in the world of natural swimming pools
Scientists mapping the effects of deforestation in the Amazon are increasingly concerned that we are reaching a tipping point – when the forest will start to die back of its own accord and rain, currently generated by the Amazon forests, will stop falling, not just in neighbouring countries but as far afield as the United States and South Africa.
