It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. So, the Tennyson saying goes. I am not sure if he was thinking of greenhouses when he wrote that line, but I can assure you it is true. Many years ago, I was somewhat spoilt by the possession of a
Category: Environmental and Animals Blog
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If you have the space and the time, you might want to consider raising your own animals. It doesn't have to be acres of land where you can keep a cow or two and a few sheep, it can be as manageable as a few chickens in a pen in your back garden. So why
Working animals have played a hugely important role in human society for millennia. Animals such as donkeys, oxen, camels and horses still provide substance from their work for around 600 million people in the world today! Even in industrialised countries where machinery covers labour heavy functions, service animals are still extensively used. From police dogs
The realm of wildlife conservation is fraught. Our wildlife is under direct threat from all sorts of, most of it can be directly attributed to human activity. Plastic pollution, poaching, pesticides, human development decreasing habitats and farming all contribute to ecological decline across the board. We are living in times where we are seeing mass
Aber falls (Rhaeadr Fawr) is a spectacular waterfall in Gwynedd, North Wales, near the village of Abergwyngregyn, by the coast. It lies between Bangor and Conwy. The waterfall is one of two, and part of a wider system of the Coedydd Aber National Nature Reserve (NNR). Rhaeadr Fawr drains the high Carneddau mountain plateau as
Between February and October 1996, I worked voluntarily with the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC), a conservation group of house and landowners with a collective interest in preventing any expansion of Gatwick Airport by building a second runway. Although GACC were opposed to the extension of a second runway, my position was one of impartiality
For my final year Ecology degree project, I chose the unlikely subject of using lichens as pollution monitors. Whilst the subject sounds as dry as an old ball of tumbleweed, I have to say it turned out to be a very interesting and worthwhile study. The first thing to realise is that lichens are not
I remember the first time I saw a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. I was in a beech woodland in Sussex during autumn time. The leaves had started to turn golden brown but the wood had enough canopy to instil a cathedral-like sense of calm, with the trees around me like majestic pillars. I was tidying up
This week the media has been buzzing with discussion of EU animal welfare standards. The story started when Caroline Lucas of the Green Party asked that the UK accept one of the provisions of the EU Lisbon Treaty into national law (that animals are sentient and laws about them should take that into account). Lucas’
I am lucky living in the NW of England, because I have many canals within easy reach. In many ways, I am spoiled for choice. So ingrained is the notion of having a canal nearby, that I raised an eyebrow this week reading an online forum where an American gentleman explaimed marvel at even the
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