Steve Cracknell

Vineyards or solar farms? A Mediterranean village faces the future

Climate change on the ground. My village faces an existential choice.

Spanish swine fever outbreak may be linked to food eaten by boar, say officials Hundreds of police, rangers and military personnel deployed to tackle virus threatening pork export industry

Army brought in to fight African Swine Fever in Spain. Potentially, this is a big shock for Catalan agriculture, with the outbreak located near Barcelona.

Since the outbreak is in the wild - a national park - and not in a piggery, it looks more like infected pork. Uncooked, I suppose.

UK to block imports of pork from Spain due to outbreak of swine fever Pork products are to be held at border control posts after Spain recorded cases of ASF in the Catalunya

Wild #boar threatened by African Swine Fever. 6 found dead near Barcelona. But nearest possible sources are Germany, Italy and N Africa. ASF was eliminated in Spain in 1994. Maybe that the disease survived undetected in the wild like brucellosis in Alpine ibex?
Expect ructions in the pig industry.

Looks good!

Wildcat bones found in Co Clare dated to 5,500 years ago The first directly dated wildcat bones found in Ireland have been identified, confirming that the species inhabited the island more than 5,500 years ago.

"This is the first time we can say with certainty that European wildcats lived in prehistoric Ireland"

A stunning discovery and more evidence that there's a lot left to discover about Ireland's ecology!

www.rte.ie/news/munster...

Wooden log with a bonnet, covered in a blanket, with a face drawn on the cut edge. Two branches represent feet. Catalan symbol.

and now is the time to start feeding the tió.

Thanks. I may come back to you later but I’m busy with writing about the local project at present. I just need to get my thoughts (and interviews) down on paper, well screen, really.

Yes, but we need to look to the future. There are no easy choices when production has plummeted 60% for four years running.

One of the other problems is loss of control. Currently most of the vineyards are locally owned and managed. The project would place power in the hands of big companies based elsewhere.

Here, in the Aude (Mediterranean France), solar panels are seen as both an opportunity and a threat to viticulture. My cooperative winery is planning to replace vines with solar panels and then move the vines to a wetter spot. But will we become a French Almeria, with vast areas messed up?

Intriguing idea that trees can help. Instead of merely sucking water out of vineyards, trees can be beneficial when faced with climate change.

Remparts de Provins au petit matin mis en valeur par des projecteurs aux teintes roses orangées. Une flaque d'eau longe les remparts et reflète leur image. Deux silhouettes se dessinent en haut de la première tour.

Bonjour de Provins !

Wolf pack The first wolf pack seen in the Pyrenees for a century.

#rewilding milestone. A #wolf pack has been seen in the Spanish #Pyrenees, the first in 100 years. I look at the influence of Félix Rogrígez de la Fuente, an early advocate of predators. www.wildingthepyrenees.com/wolf-pack/

📸 Huche
#panorama #mistymorning
#cloud #medievaltown #Pau
#Pyrénées-Atlantiques #PauCastle
#PyrenessMountainRange

Buenos días ☕️😘
Feliz viernes.

Ladrón de manzanas!

Certainly is stinky!

L'ours est plus qu'un simple animal...

Our last evening in the Canary Islands, in Arrecife Lanzarote.

#UnJourUnePhoto #Photographie #Photography #Photo

Le 9/11 : temps

Cadran solaire à Villefranche de Conflent dans les Pyrénées Orientales

Woman walking on a wet beach at sunset, with the sun behind her.

Sunset at the Caleta de Famara Lanzarote, this evening!

Female wolf and two of her cubs.

This means that the wolf is now officially « in danger of extinction » and will be especially protected. Previously the wolves were considered visitors and the species « extinct » (though still protected).

News today is that, for the first time in 100 years a #wolf pack has been detected in the Pyrenees. The two adults and three cubs, born this year, are living in Catalonia, at the Mediterranean end of the massif. A first lone male wolf arrived in 2000. His ancestors were Italian.

Two wolf cubs, born in the wild.

The first lone male wolf came back 25 years ago. Now, a pack has formed. Expect things to move fast from now on. @markavery.bsky.social

Detectada la primera llopada a Catalunya en 100 anys, amb tres cadells La Generalitat remarca que és un "fet històric" que arriba després de dècades de seguiment de l'espècie

Important #rewilding milestone. Officials have announced that a pack of wolves is under strict protection in the Pyrenees. The two adults and their three cubs, born this year, are being looked after by the Catalan government. It is 100 years since wolves disappeared. www.segre.com/ca/societat/...

Anyway, we need some joy, so here's the Egyptian foreign minister being given a Lego Pyramid by the Danish foreign minister.

Laurisilva forest path with a walker just for scale.

In the rainforest on la Gomera, Canaries yesterday. Feeling small, overwhelmed, but content to be here.

A great pleasure to participate in this podcast. Thanks for inviting me Julius.

Encounters are rare because the bears were only reintroduced in 1996 and the population remains small. More in my book...