Petition: Nationalise water companies to make water a non profit publicly owned asset To make water a non profit making national asset that ensures we have a secure water infrastructure that ensures our water security for future generations.

There's now a UK parliament petition to sign too...

#DirtyWater #DirtyBusiness

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/75...

Dirty Business: mother of girl killed by E. coli infection demands water reform We were joined from Worcestershire by Julie Maughan, whose daughter's story formed the inspiration for some of Dirty Business.

Dirty Business: mother of girl killed by E. coli infection demands water reform

Those who most loudly assert their patriotism are always the first to sell us down the river. Both Johnson and Nigel Farage were in active discussions with Bannon, for whom Brexit was a major prize. Bannon was feeding intelligence back to Epstein, who also wanted the UK out of the European Union.

The Secret Society of Eels- with marine scientist Molly Fowkes Spotify video

Really proud of PhD researcher @mollylouisefowkes.bsky.social for this podcast on her research. Molly is studying the social behaviour of European eels using telemetry and network analysis.

Have a listen:

open.spotify.com/episode/6RxA...

#PhD @lancasteruni.bsky.social #ecology #fish #research

Across the Irish countryside, hedgerows are constantly being annihilated.

So often, these are the last wildlife refuges in a landscape denuded of habitat.

Just where is nature supposed to go?

our FT story from June 2023 showed:

Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s $77m townhouse in Manhattan in June 2009 while the financier was in prison for soliciting prostitution from minor

in 2010 and 2011 Epstein noted that “Petie” was with him in Paris, where the financier owned a sumptuous apartment

Nature's 'engine is grinding to a halt' as climate change gains pace, says study Many ecologists hypothesize that, as global warming accelerates, change in nature must speed up. They assume that as temperatures rise and climatic zones shift, species will face local extinction and colonize new habitats at an ever-increasing rate, leading to a rapid reshuffling of ecological communities.

Analysis of global biodiversity surveys indicates that species turnover rates have slowed significantly since the 1970s, suggesting that ecosystem dynamics are losing momentum amid environmental degradation. doi.org/hbn3qk

Left: Nigel Farage calls for an end to working from home

Right: Nigel Farage's Reform UK advertising a job which is working form home

Keir Starmer apologises to victims of Jeffrey Epstein UK prime minister faces criticism from Labour MPs but insists he is not about to quit

EXC:

I can reveal the contents of a memo by Labour peer Lord Maurice Glasman in January 2025 warning Number 10 it was making a mistake to hire Mandelson - sent to Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.

www.ft.com/content/584a...

icymi here’s the story from last Sunday of how FT revealed the money trail from Epstein to Mandelson’s husband and then to the former ambassador himself

I'm totally pinching myself announcing this, but a film about my life journey rewilding a West Cork farm, An Irish Atlantic Rainforest, will get its first screening at the Dublin International Film Festival on Saturday the 28th of this month.

Tickets are available here:
www.diff.ie/programme/an...

Jealous of that beautiful blue sky. Grey skies with me

Mandelson’s Fifth Column The British government’s business department exists to undermine democracy.

1. In 2009 I wrote this. I argued that Peter Mandelson's department “functions as a fifth column within government, working for corporations to undermine democracy and the public interest.”
This thread explains what I saw, and reaches a startling conclusion.🧵
www.monbiot.com/2009/05/04/m...

Recent algal blooms on Lough Neagh have highlighted the urgent need for tools to better identify the sources and movement of #pollution across the lake and the rivers that are linked to it.

Read more about the new UKCEH-led CLEAR-Neagh project: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 💧🧪

In the Irish language, the goldfinch is known as 'lasair choille' (pronounced 'lasser-quilla'), which means...

The Flame of the Forest! 🔥

wall sections made with bundled hemp stalks on the right and wood (left) with hempcrete infill showing great difference in global warimng potential, both negative = good.

Ok Ok 🍿, bundled #hemp stalks as load bearing elements in #hempcrete walls compared to timber (hempcrete needs additional structure). It seems as if academia has finally woken up. Good work guys. Now onto replacing the lime, please. #rapidlyrenewablematerials #bicrs
www.instagram.com/p/DTx7EKcjEE...

Rare butterflies bounce back after landowners in Wales cut back on flailing hedges More than 300 brown hairstreak butterfly eggs were recorded in hedgerows near Llandeilo this winter after decade of decline

Good news www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Signs of spring.
Bluebells.

Traces of cancer-linked pesticide found in tests at UK playgrounds Pressure mounting for use of glyphosate, listed by WHO since 2015 as probable carcinogen, to be heavily restricted

My Bill would ban pesticide use in public spaces.

This is more evidence of children being exposed to unnecessary and dangerous chemicals when playing in spaces that should be safe.

Alternative methods exist, and every council should be using them!
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Absolutely - unfortunately, this is far from the only instance where principles of "proprietary information" make it very difficult to protect human health, as @bcarneyalmroth.bsky.social outlines here:

share.google/OeUVEBQcaKfO...

Map of parts of the UK with potential for fracking exploration (British Geological Survey). There's a current pause on fracking in the UK & the government is considering making it illegal. Reform, however, have pledged to license fracking if elected.

nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/51...

The chemist is kind when I venture, bleary-eyed and smelling of regurgitated fruit syrup, to our local pharmacy, but stresses paracetamol suppositories are expensive. They don’t carry many of them, he tells me, since people in the UK don’t really go for anal medicine. “They love it in France,” he tells me, with a vigour that suggests the good people of France would take their dinners up their arses if the option were available. On seeing the bill, however, I can’t help thinking that even Gérard Depardieu, unbuckling his belt at the hint of a headache, would blanch at the thought of spending £3 per pellet. I, on the other hand, march back home happy to be £30 lighter.

On arse drugs.

Let 👏 robots 👏 make 👏 movies about 👏 her 👏 cattle 👏 farm 👏 in 👏 peace

Social Democrats ‘hugely concerned’ by nitrates derogation extension The extension of the nitrates derogation must be used to draw up plans for its phase out, says Jennifer Whitmore of Social Democrats.

“This will be our sixth nitrates derogation since 2006. Every time the derogation is extended, we hear the same commitments that water quality will improve.

It has yet to happen. In fact, our waterways are continuing to deteriorate."

Well said, Jennifer Whitmore 👏
www.agriland.ie/farming-news...

Covid fraud under the Tories cost the taxpayer £10.9 billion The counter-fraud and error measures during the pandemic under the Conservative Government were accused of being 'so lax they may as well have left the door wide open'

Covid fraud under the Tories cost the taxpayer £10.9 billion

The counter-fraud and error measures during the pandemic under the Conservative Government were accused of being 'so lax they may as well have left the door wide open'

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

a horned mountain goat, sat on top of a house chimney. I get the urge to put on a robe and chant BAPHOMET, while Rex and the Duke de Richleau drive past in an old car.

'Adult male Alpine Ibex (Steinbock or mountain goat) on a chimney at Merlet Park, Les Houches, France'
Unknown photographer

Ireland's lax approach to inspecting farms and enforcing rules The EU Nitrates Committee meets tomorrow and may extend Ireland's nitrates derogation by up to three years. At the same time we need to protect or restore water quality on a national scale writes ecol...

My attempt to cut through some of the misinformation around farming and water quality as we approach decision time on Ireland’s nitrates derogation

www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ou...

"Sit ye near some old Cavern's Mouth and brood,
Until ye start, as if the sea nymphs quired!"

Checked out our shiny new website yet?
bsbi.org
New to @bsbibotany.bsky.social or #WildFlowerID?
We think you'll find it easier than ever to access resources, hear about events & learn more about wild plants in your area.
Seasoned botanist?
All your fave pages are still there + lots of new stuff!

Only 2 years since the ban on neonics, France's population of insect-eating birds has risen 2-3% - from banning a single type of insecticide. Demonstrating just how much harm we cause birds when pesticides kill off the insects they need for food.
@paneurope.bsky.social