De discussie over het nieuwe Europese landbouwbeleid is volop losgebarsten. De uitkomst zal doorslaggevend zijn voor de toekomst van de natuur in Europa, zeker in Nederland waar landbouw en natuur nauw met elkaar zijn verbonden. Op zaterdagmiddag 23 september organiseert de Heimans en Thijsse Stichting een symposium over de toekomst van het Nederlandse platteland en het nieuwe landbouwbeleid.
Eine der größten Tierwanderungen könnte womöglich bereits in wenigen Jahren für immer vorbei sein: US-Wissenschafter stellten fest, dass die Population des westlichen Monarchfalters in Amerika dramatisch geschrumpft ist. Setzt sich der Trend fort, könnte es diese Schmetterlingsart zumindest an der Westküste der USA nicht mehr lange geben. Jedes Jahr wandern mehrere Millionen Monarchfalter vom Osten der Vereinigten Staaten in ihr Winterquartier im mexikanischen Hochland.
The monarch butterfly populations in western North America have declined dramatically and face a greater risk of extinction, a new study shows. Scientists at Washington State University found that the decline in western monarch butterfly populations was significantly more than previously believed and greater than eastern monarchs. “Western monarchs are faring worse than their eastern counterparts,” Cheryl Schultz, an associate professor at Washington State University Vancouver, said in a press release. “In the 1980s, 10 million monarchs spent the winter in coastal California.
High exposure to pesticides as a result of living near farmers’ fields appears to increase the risk of giving birth to a baby with “abnormalities” by about 9 per cent, according to new research. Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, compared 500,000 birth records for people born in the San Joaquin Valley between 1997 and 2011 and levels of pesticides used in the area. The average use of pesticides over that period was about 975kg for each 2.6sq km area per year.
Zwangere vrouwen die in de buurt wonen van landbouwgrond waar erg veel pesticiden worden gespoten hebben 9 procent meer kans op een kind met een geboorte-afwijking. En 8 procent meer kans op een te vroeg geboren kind. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek in de San Joaquin vallei in Californië. Dat is een gebied met intensieve landbouw, ongeveer 500 bij 100 kilometer groot. De toename van geboorte-afwijkingen kwam voor bij pesticidehoeveelheden die ook in de Nederlandse bloembollen- en fruitteelt worden gebruikt.
Analysis of Geneva Lake’s zooplankton populations shows that the numbers of the little animals that populate the bottom of the lake’s food chain are continuing to disappear in disturbing numbers. In a written report to the Geneva Lake Environmental Agency board of directors on Thursday, Ted Peters, GLEA director, said that in an email the analyst doing the zooplankton count for the GLEA has indicated that other species of zooplankton are now also starting to disappear.
The widespread contamination of a significant proportion of the planet’s land and water with pesticides is undeniable. While this takes place, innumerable species of animals associated with agricultural landscapes are declining at rates that may put them on the brink to extinction in the span of a lifetime. It is evident, therefore, that our current risk assessment of agrochemicals has failed to protect the environment.
More than 180 pesticides and their by-products were detected in small streams throughout 11 Midwestern states, some at concentrations likely to harm aquatic insects, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. The mixtures of pesticides are more complex than previously reported by the USGS—94 pesticides and 89 pesticide byproducts were detected. On average, 52 pesticide compounds were identified in each stream.
Iowa’s state tree is under stress. Visible damage to oak trees in recent years may be caused by farm chemicals, forestry experts say. Nearly a thousand Iowans have contacted the Iowa Department of Natural Resources this spring after noticing the leaves on their oaks appear to be eaten by insects nearly down to the veins, a problem exacerbated this year because of weather fluctuations. The good news: the trouble isn't with insects. The bad news: There's not much you can do about it, unless herbicide applied to corn and soybean fields is stopped, according to a DNR district forester.
Die Lage für Vögel, Insekten, Pflanzen und ganze Lebensräume in Agrarlandschaften verschlechtert sich einem Bericht des Bundesamts für Naturschutz zufolge dramatisch. „Praktisch alle Tier- und Pflanzengruppen in der Agrarlandschaft sind von einem eklatanten Schwund betroffen”, teilte die Präsidentin des Bundesamts, Beate Jessel, in Berlin mit. Die Entwicklung sei „alarmierend”, es brauche dringend eine Kehrtwende in der Agrarpolitik.