Environment | The Guardian

Brown bears, grey seals and an errant crocodile are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world Continue reading...

In a bid to safeguard knowledge the Matsés in Peru have been planting “medicinal agroforestry” plots and written a 1,044-page two-volume book.The seven indigenous Matsés elders were slowly meandering through the forest. They were explaining how different trees and plants are used for medicinal purposes, exchanging stories about how they had acquired their extraordinary knowledge and put it to good use. There were memories of an encounter with a jaguar and someone’s father struck by some kind of pain in the eye - “not conjunctivitis!” - while claims were made for successfully treating women haemorrhaging, snake-bite, a swollen leg and constipation.The forest we were in was actually more of a garden - or “healing forest” or “medicinal agroforestry” plot - planted late last year by six young Matsés men under the expert guidance of elder Arturo Tumi Nëcca Potsad. “There are all types [of trees and plants] here,” Arturo told the Guardian, holding a spear made of peach palm and looking about him. “About 100 types, 3,000 plants.” Continue reading...

The shopping frenzy will see 82,000 diesel delivery vans on UK streets, with plastic toys and electronic goods among the most popular purchasesThe online shopping frenzy of the Black Friday weekend will see 82,000 diesel vans and trucks on UK roads, raising concerns of air pollution spikes on residential streets as more than £7bn of purchases are delivered.In the UK online shoppers are expected to spend up to £1.35bn today alone, according to analysts at IMRG, the UK’s online retail association. Plastic toys, games and electronic goods are among the most sought after items in the biggest weekend of shopping in Britain and the US, with environmentalists and health experts warning that it will add to the mountain of plastic waste and increase air pollution. Continue reading...

It can be dangerous – we get close to moving supertankers. Then there’s the worry about how private security will reactMy first political epiphany concerned the world trade protests in 1999. I was 17 and had a feeling globalisation was a good thing – until I realised it was about money and economics, not people and culture; so in the early 2000s I joined some anti-globalisation protests in Quebec.Several years later, I heard about kayaktivism. I’d kayaked before, and been an activist, but never married the two. My first kayak protest was in Quebec’s Saint Lawrence estuary in 2014. TransCanada wanted to build a supertanker port in a beluga whale nursery. Our mission was to kayak to a boat doing seismic testing, unfurl a banner and take a picture. It wasn’t about stopping the boat, but drawing attention to what was happening. Continue reading...

The new service by Great Western Railway has reduced bike space, a troublesome booking system and fails to meet the needs of disabled, elderly or less mobile cyclistsGreat Western Railway’s (GWR) new high-speed Intercity Express trains made headlines last month with their gaffe-filled launch that saw new trains temporarily taken out of service after several on-board malfunctions, on a service that arrived 41 minutes late, with the transport secretary on board.There could be more bad news down the line for those travelling with cycles, with the prospect that bike space on the new trains is reduced to zero at times, and those who have not booked a bike ticket told they won’t be able to board at all, whether there is free bike space or not. Continue reading...

With the country poised for Sunday’s elections, the murder of environmentalists in Honduras is being directly linked with water and food shortages, violence and migration. Photographer Sean Hawkey visited what has become a frontline of climate change conflict Continue reading...

Cavenham Heath, Suffolk The woodland reveals beetles both common and rare, and a surprising pile of ladybird wingsBlue sky, still air and the winter sun have lifted the heavy overnight frost. Cavenham Heath contains one of the largest blocks of heathland and acid grassland in the south-west Breckland, but the path from the car park starts in a predominantly birch woodland. Tearing a weathered birch polypore (Fomitopsis betulina) from a standing trunk, I fumble through its white flesh. It is shot through with burrows and in places under the pale leathery skin it is dry and powdery, while elsewhere the fungus retains a tough marshmallow consistency. Continue reading...

Native vegetation was home to several threatened species and was in a Great Barrier Reef catchmentQueensland farmers are suspected of having defied rare federal government intervention and cleared a large swath of land without commonwealth approval, according to conservationists.The native vegetation was in a reef catchment, meaning the clearing could worsen pollution on the Great Barrier Reef. Government-commissioned studies show it provided habitat to several threatened species. Continue reading...

Instead of imagining the kind of world we want to live in and the role Australia could play in it, the foreign policy paper paints a bleak picture for our future

Rosemary Mason notices a decline in insects in south Wales; Kate Phillips says there is a major shift in insect and bird life in Buckinghamshire; and Eyke Shannon questions the role played by the Forestry Commission and the RSPB in SuffolkWith regard to David Marjot’s letter about lost insects in Surrey (18 November), we too have noticed a sharp decline in insects over the last 10 years in south Wales, but there are no neonicotinoids used in the area. In fact, as he noted in Surrey, spiders were the first to disappear. However, Dakar Pro, a commercial preparation of RoundUp, is sprayed on city pavements to eradicate weeds. Have any other readers had similar experiences?

Cumbria MP says government is dragging its feet, as torrential rain causes flooding in area hit by Storm Desmond in 2015Torrential rain has forced dozens of families from their homes and caused disruption across the north-west of England, prompting a local MP to accuse the government of dragging its feet over £25m of flood defences promised two years ago.Lancaster and the nearby village of Galgate were the worst-affected areas, with 70 people rescued by firefighters and 27 people evacuated from their homes as rivers burst their banks and drains overflowed. Emergency services said they received 500 flood-related calls and attended 100 incidents in Lancashire overnight. Continue reading...

Understanding what happened to the ice sheet will be key to knowing what the future holds for global sea levelsThere are a lot of scientific eyes on west Antarctica right now, for some pretty obvious reasons.The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) holds a lot of water – enough to push up sea levels around the world by 3m or so. Continue reading...

Official figures show a 9% decline between 2010-15 in birds living and breeding on the UK’s farmlandBirds living and breeding on the UK’s farmland have seen numbers decline by almost a tenth in five years, official figures show.Farmland bird populations have declined by 56% since 1970, largely due to agricultural changes including the loss of mixed farming, a switch to autumn sowing of crops, a reduction in hay meadows and the stripping out of hedgerows. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan says capital will not be included in the chancellor’s £220m clean air fund despite having 40% of the most polluting roads in England and WalesLondon cannot bid for a £220m clean air fund announced in the budget – despite being home to 40% of the most polluting roads in England and Wales, Sadiq Khan revealed on Thursday.Giving evidence to the Commons joint inquiry into air quality, the mayor of London revealed he was lobbying the government to support a £515m London-based two-year diesel scrappage scheme. Continue reading...

Government accused of ‘turning their back on renewables’ after saying there will be no more money for new low-carbon leviesCompanies hoping to build new windfarms, solar plants and tidal lagoons, have been dealt a blow after the government said there would be no new subsidies for clean power projects until 2025 at the earliest.The Treasury said it had taken the decision to “protect” consumers, because households and businesses were facing an annual cost of about £9bn on their energy bills to pay for wind, solar and nuclear subsidies to which it had already committed. Continue reading...

UK high court extends wide-ranging injunction sought by Ineos which prohibits campaigners from interfering unlawfully with their operationsA multinational firm has secured a long-term, sweeping injunction against anti-fracking protesters despite critics calling it “draconian and anti-democratic”.On Thursday, a high court judge extended the wide-ranging injunction sought by petrochemicals giant Ineos, which covers all anti-fracking campaigners. Continue reading...

The 2016 book by photojournalist Ashley Cooper documented the effects of climate change over 13 years and in more than 30 countries. Earlier this month, Cooper won the Green Apple award for environmental best practice at a ceremony at the UK House of Commons.Cooper is planning to set up a website, I Commit, which aims to get citizens of the world to lower their carbon footprint and upload their own images of climate impacts. Here are his images of how extreme weather has affected the UK in recent years Continue reading...

Jay Weatherill says South Australia opposed to policy in current form and ACT ‘very concerned’ before energy meetingLabor states appear likely to back further investigation of the Turnbull government’s national energy guarantee when energy ministers meet on Friday.

Greenpeace alleges 12 companies continued to trade with Madeireira Cedroarana after its founder was accused of ordering torture and murderMore than a dozen US and European companies have been importing timber from a Brazilian logging firm whose owner is implicated in one of the most brutal Amazonian massacres in recent memory, according to a Greenpeace Brazil investigation.The first-world buyers allegedly continued trading with Madeireira Cedroarana after police accused its founder, Valdelir João de Souza, of ordering the torture and murder of nine people in Colniza, Mato Grosso, on 19 April, claims the report by the NGO. Continue reading...

Sandy, Bedfordshire The migration of these winter thrushes may be less of a trickle and more of a flood than our ears tell usA flock of redwings were playing sky rounders in the park, flying from tree to tree, first base to second, second to third, not landing but pressing on, as if going for a home run. They came near enough that I heard their calls. But only two or three called out of a flock of 50 or more.These winter thrushes seep into our consciousness all through the autumn. However, their migration may be less of a trickle and more of a flood than our senses tell us. My mind flashed back to windless evenings over the previous few weeks, punctuated by the “seep” of a redwing, a voice from above that was so high, so clear and so bright that it might have been a star crying out. An answering note would ping out from another bird, a link between travellers in the blackness. And then, perhaps, another. It was thrilling to think that these few sounds in the dark were contact calls for a whole mute squadron. Continue reading...

Coalmine controversy continues to haunt Labor in Queensland as One Nation creates potential post-election headache for LNPAlmost three weeks after the decision to veto the Adani rail line loan overtook Labor’s election campaign, Annastacia Palaszczuk hesitantly agreed not to fund any infrastructure for the mine on Wednesday.Labor is seeking to strike a balance between opposition to the mine from voters in the state’s south-east and support for it in regional Queensland, which sees it as a much-needed economic boost. Continue reading...

Foreign policy paper says climate-related conflict and migration could put Australia’s economic interests under pressureClimate change is creating a disaster on Australia’s doorstep, with environmental degradation and the demand for sustainable sources of food undermining stability in some countries, especially “fragile states”, according to the Australian government’s first foreign policy white paper in more than a decade.

Funds set aside for national charging network and tech research, but lack of scrappage scheme disappointsElectric cars have received a funding boost with the government earmarking £340m for a national charging network and subsidies for vehicle purchases.However, further budget backing for greener vehicles was limited to a small rise in vehicle excise duty for new diesel cars that fail to meet rigorous emissions standards – disappointing campaigners who had hoped for a rise in fuel duty or a diesel scrappage scheme. Continue reading...

Some of Melbourne’s most recognisable sights will be powered by a new 39-turbine windfarm after 14 organisations agree to buy half its power outputThree Melbourne councils, two universities, Zoos Victoria, and half a dozen corporations have banded together to underwrite a windfarm in western Victoria that will power some of the city’s most recognisable buildings.The group of 14 organisations, led by the City of Melbourne, has agreed to purchase half the power produced by a new 39-turbine, 80MW windfarm near Ararat, about 200km west of Melbourne. Continue reading...

Conservationists believe global warming could be partly responsible for the influx of species such as the scarlet darter that have been seen this yearRecord numbers of rare migrant dragonflies have been spotted in the UK this year, according to an analysis by volunteers from the Migrant Dragonfly Project.

UN report warns crimes such as logging and poaching are putting ‘high pressure’ on ecosystems in 15 countries in the Danube-Carpathian region

Innogy Renewables chief claims future reactors will not be competitive as offshore windfarms become even cheaperNew nuclear power stations in the UK can no longer compete with windfarms on price, according to the boss of a German energy company’s green power arm.Hans Bunting, the chief operating officer of renewables at Innogy SE, part of the company that owns the UK energy supplier npower, said offshore windfarms had become mainstream and were destined to become even cheaper because of new, bigger turbines. Continue reading...

The Picture It competition organised by the Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc) asked budding photographers to explore how they interacted with or were inspired by the environment in everyday life.

More than a thousand rangers have been killed in the line of duty over the last decade – and a corrupted legal market, operating for a few wealthy clients, exacerbates that riskThe announcement that the Trump administration is considering overturning the US ban on elephant trophy imports from Zambia and Zimbabwe is one that directly threatens the lives of African park rangers who are tasked with protecting elephants and their ecosystems.Over the last 10 years, more than 1,000 rangers – who are employed by governments, NGOs and private companies – have lost their lives in the line of duty. Sadly, between July 2016 and July 2017, we know of 105 park rangers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Continue reading...

Some blame rogue engineers for continuing to use practice dismissed as witchcraft to find leaksWater firms have hastily distanced themselves from their own admissions that they use divining rods to detect leaks amid widespread alarm at publicly listed companies using witchcraft.Ten of the 12 water companies in the UK told the science blogger Sally Le Page, via Twitter, that they use the practice of water dowsing despite the lack of scientific evidence for its effectiveness. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Frontier Economics’ modelling commissioned by government says 6,000MW of renewable capacity entering market will reduce prices in 2018-20Modelling commissioned by the Turnbull government as part of its efforts to back in the national energy guarantee says renewables will drive the first wave of price reductions under the policy. It also floats substantial regulatory intervention to stop the electricity market becoming even more concentrated.

Despite a national hunting ban, the attitude to bears has become increasingly hostile, with some remote villagers taking matters into their own handsHigh up in the Carpathian mountains, a forest guard named Csaba Demeter was leaving the woods one evening early this summer when a brown bear attacked him from behind. It pinned him to the ground, sunk its teeth into his limbs and tore deep lacerations into his back with its claws. Demeter pulled his coat over his head and played dead, holding his breath and stiffening his limbs as the bear dug into his flesh. It was five minutes before the animal gave up and moved slowly back into the forest, leaving Demeter barely alive on the mountainside.

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire It couldn’t be the power-station chimney, it was in the wrong place. And it was too late in the year to be a stack of hayAs the match-flare of a November afternoon dimmed in the trees, I caught a glimpse of a tower. Peering through hazel branches I could make out a tall structure that looked like the power-station chimney – except that was north and this was west. It could have been a stack of hay bales, but harvest was over long ago.Curious to discover what I had seen, I wandered down the wooded bank, losing the long view, crossed the road and went through the gate on to a green lane, now used only by dog-walkers, sheep and an occasional tractor, but once the thoroughfare over the Edge to a hamlet on common land below. Continue reading...

Bill Shorten gives emu a leg up, Malcolm Turnbull takes flight and Scott Ludlam offers shock support for ibis• Vote now for your favourite Australian birdForget Bennelong or New England, the battle for Australia’s favourite bird is on.As the inaugural bird of the year poll launched on Monday, the nation’s celebrities, political leaders and media outlets immediately began their campaigns. Continue reading...

Since environmentalists support renewable energy, conservatives must oppose it. But they are delaying the inevitable

Coal industry insiders reportedly told by Adani director that company had secured Chinese financing for the projectAdani is reportedly close to securing the loans it requires to build its railway from Abbot Point to the Galilee basin, allowing coal from the proposed Carmichael coalmine to be exported through the Great Barrier Reef, according to the ABC.The news comes as preparations for construction of the railway pick up pace and protesters step up last-ditch efforts to stop it from proceeding. Continue reading...

Water comes from a deep ocean current off the coast of Hawaii and is desalinated using reverse osmosisEvian and Volvic owner Danone has put money into a Hawaiian bottled water from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, showing the depths multinationals will now go to in the quest for more revenue.The investment in Kona Deep, for an undisclosed sum, is the fifth in a year for Danone Manifesto Ventures, a fund the French food giant set up last year to invest in entrepreneurial companies, which are eating away at the dominance of big brands. Continue reading...

Calls for regulator to stop companies passing cost of using discredited medieval practice on to customers

Google Earth reveals a property on which hundreds of hectares of previously untouched forest have been clearedThe tree-clearing explosion occurring in Queensland, usually reported in seemingly impossibly large numbers of hectares or square kilometres, is now being documented using publicly available satellite and aerial photography, revealing the graphic disfigurement of the remaining untouched bushland there.

Figures show more than 2.5m cups were purchased in the past five years despite pledges by the environment secretary to tackle growing plastic wasteMore than 2.5m disposable cups have been purchased by the UK’s environment department for use in its restaurants and cafes over the past five years – equivalent to nearly 1,400 a day.The Liberal Democrats’ environment spokesman, Tim Farron, said the revelation, obtained through a freedom of information request, showed Michael Gove “needs to get his own house in order” in light of his public pledges to tackle the growing scourge of plastic pollution. Continue reading...

Greenpeace calls for investigation after levels of ruthenium-106 in atmosphere near Urals site found to be 986 times norm

Naomi Klein showed in The Shock Doctrine how disasters are often exploited by business at the expense of local communities. It doesn’t have to be that way

Poland is given two weeks to end its destruction of the Unesco-protected forest in a landmark ruling by the European court of justicePoland has been given two weeks to stop illegal deforestation in the Unesco-protected Białowieża forest or face fines of at least €100,000 a day.In a precedent-setting ruling that will echo across the EU, the European court of justice ordered Poland to show it was acting lawfully in the ancient woodland, or face a €36.5m (£32m) annual penalty. Continue reading...

This government must heed the warnings – leaving the treaty on nuclear energy, safety and research is complicated and the potential consequences disastrousCabinet resignations, a government with no majority in the Commons, a make-or break-budget for the chancellor and a fast-approaching Brexit negotiating deadline means it is easy for issues to slip out of the public consciousness. Against this backdrop, Euratom and the UK’s future nuclear safeguarding regime risk being forgotten.As the nuclear safeguards bill - one of the “Brexit bills” announced in the Queen’s speech – makes its way through the parliamentary process, nuclear experts were called to present evidence to MPs. The message from experts is unequivocal – there is no upside to the UK leaving the Euratom treaty.

Humpback dolphins in Western Australia have been observed gifting sea sponges to potential mates in a courtship behaviour that researchers say is very rare. 'It highlights that there's another species out there that's quite socially complex, more than we previously recognised,' says Dr Simon Allen, lead researcher from the University of Western Australia. 'They are thinking animals' Continue reading...

Holme, Norfolk Myths and misconceptions surround this diminutive bird, which can hide in plain sight despite its dazzling plumageIt’s funny how kingfishers, the boldest-coloured birds in Britain, have inspired so much confusion. The commonest example concerns their size. Many people seeing one for the first time are flabbergasted at its smallness.A recent encounter reminded me just how sparrow-like they are. For 20 minutes, I’d sat before a pool scanning the middle distance for harriers and winter geese, before noticing a kingfisher had been perched there all the time. It was only when it made its silvery piping notes that I fixed its location on a reed mace head. Continue reading...

Uncontrolled construction in Greek capital has led to many streams being concreted over, leaving rivers no outlet to the seaChaotic urban planning and illegal construction in Athens played a central role in the deadly flash floods that killed 20 people last week, experts in Greece have claimed as authorities pledged emergency funding for victimsmade homeless by the disaster.About 1,000 owners of homes and businesses are eligible for the assistance, according to government engineers dispatched to inspect the buildings. Continue reading...

Electric lorries | Mickey Rooney as Mr Yunioshi | Uber benchmark | Pre-latte days | Mispronouncing Italian | Theresa May’s church visitsDespite what Elon Musk says (Keep on trucking: a swipe at rail as Tesla unveils electric lorry, 18 November), there is still a crucial role for rail freight in transporting long-distance consumer and bulk traffic in a safer low-carbon way that reduces road congestion and road damage. Also, 136 lorry platoons already exist and are called freight trains. So, during road safety week (20-26 November) we should remember that last year heavy goods vehicles were almost seven times more likely than cars to be involved in fatal crashes on local roads.

Pipeline plan clears last major regulatory hurdle after vote in Nebraska, but legal challenges and protest likely to followA panel of Nebraska regulators have voted narrowly in favor of allowing the Keystone XL pipeline to follow a path through the state, removing the last major regulatory hurdle for the controversial project.The Nebraska public service commission voted 3-2 to approve a permit for the pipeline, which will stretch for 1,200 miles and carry up to 830,000 barrels of oil a day. The vote saw one of the four Republicans on the commission, Mary Ridder, join with the Democrat, Crystal Rhoades, in opposing the permit. Rhoades said she was concerned about the impact upon landowners and that there was “no evidence” the pipeline would create jobs in Nebraska. Continue reading...