Eco-farming ditched as food prices soar

Soaring food prices are threatening to inflict widespread ecological damage on the countryside, as farmers abandon environmentally friendly schemes that have improved much of the landscape.

Government-backed environment schemes (ELS, or entry level stewardship) are having to compete with market pressures on farmers as crop values escalate. If farmers start to back out, much of the good work achieved since the schemes were introduced 21 years ago could be destroyed. The Observer can reveal that a survey by the National Farmers' Union shows that two-thirds of farmers who signed up to the schemes failed to renew them when contracts expired. They cited high commodity prices as well as 'disenchantment' with the way the schemes were now run.

At the most basic level, the schemes pay farmers £30 a hectare (2.49 acres) to replace cultivated areas with grassy margins, or to restore and manage hedgerows. At a higher level, larger payments are targeted at preserving rare and valuable features and species. The schemes have been hailed a huge success, improving farmland and wading bird numbers, restoring populations of rare stone curlews and cirl bunting, and protecting the traditional cornflower and small mammals such as the harvest mouse.

In addition, they have seen more than 11,000km (6,835 miles) of hedgerows being restored or newly planted, the building of 2,600km (1616 miles)of dry-stone walls and the opening up of more than 2,500 footpaths and bridleways to the public. In all £2.9bn has been earmarked for such schemes over the next seven years. But recent changes have upset farmers, who claim that rules introduced in 2005 to replace old classic schemes are not viable and would take more land out of production at a time when it did not make financial sense.

'Only one third of the classic scheme agreement holders are renewing into the new environmental stewardship schemes, and this is a serious concern both to Natural England and to the industry,' said Andrea Graham, the NFU's countryside adviser. Though crop prices were a factor, she said, other issues, such as adding one month to the period farmers are prevented from cutting hedges, had also 'touched a nerve'.

Sally and Robert Bendall embraced the environment scheme at their 140-acre mixed Hollow Trees Farm at Semer in Suffolk. They provide habitats for grey partridge, skylarks and barn owls, as well as two species of bat and great crested newts. Areas are planted with wild bird seed mix and pollen and nectar-rich plants, sloping fields have been reverted to grass and they have built a farm trail. They are in a 10-year ELS scheme, and planned to convert their remaining 50 acres of arable to grass. But current high prices mean they are now keeping it arable. 'That has been the only influence of the high prices,' said Sally, 46. 'We would never go backwards. We are committed to the scheme. But I can see the temptation for others because farmers have been through such a difficult time.'

The RSPB said it was crunch time. 'How many farmers are only in the schemes because they were pushed into them by bad bottom lines, encouraged into them by the economy?', said Sue Armstrong Brown, the charity's head of countryside conservation. 'That's changed now. It's boom time for farmers, and the schemes cannot be anti-competitive.'

Sir Martin Doughty, chairman of Natural England, the environmental advisory body in charge of implementing them, concedes high prices could present a real challenge to the projects credited with reviving endangered species as well as enriching biodiversity. He said: 'We don't expect farmers to leave schemes early, because they would have to pay back the money. But, yes, they might not renew. We don't know at this stage if prices will stay up - wheat is already coming down. We must make sure the schemes are value for money.'

The Council for the Protection of Rural England said the government must recognise that benefits lost now would prove expensive to recover in the future. 'The problem is that the mindset of farmers will switch back to production, and it will become increasingly difficult to persuade them of the value of enviromental intervention,' said Tom Oliver, head of rural policy.

Jonathan Shaw, undersecretary of state at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said a payment review would be carried out when prices were less volatile. 'We are determined to find a way through to ensure that we have another 21 years and beyond of positive agri-enviroment schemes.'

Special Thanks to The Guardian

Health and safety zealots tell youngster her 2ft paddling pool needs a lifeguard

For nearly a quarter of a century, Lourdes Maxwell has celebrated the arrival of summer by putting a paddling pool in the garden.

This year, however, her two grandchildren and the children of her neighbours may have to find another way to cool off in the heat.

Miss Maxwell's local council has decided that the pool - which is only 2ft deep - needs a lifeguard.

The 47-year-old divorced mother of three has also been told she must have insurance before she can inflate the toy outside her house in Portsmouth.

The health and safety edict came after she wrote to the city council asking for permission to put a bigger pool in the communal garden outside her home.


Not only was she told it was too dangerous, but the council told her to empty the existing pool.


After her MP intervened, the local authority softened its stance, saying Miss Maxwell could have a pool if she paid for insurance and ensured supervisors were on constant watch.


Residents near the communal gardens already have to obey a raft of rules governing their use.


They are even supposed to ask the council for permission before having a barbecue.

Miss Maxwell, who is a full-time carer to her son Aiden, said yesterday: "It is absolutely pathetic.

"I have had a paddling pool outside the front of my flat every summer for 24 years, ever since Aiden turned one year old.

"Neighbours' children would come and enjoy the pool and I would give them ice lollies. It was always a very social occasion."

She added: "Now suddenly I'm not allowed.

"I asked around for insurance and they just laughed at me. No one offers insurance for paddling pools.

"I'm always there to supervise but they're trying to tell me I need lifeguards for a kiddies' pool as well - it's crazy."


Nigel Selley, Portsmouth Council's neighbourhood manager, defended the ruling yesterday.

He said: "We did not have sufficient assurances that the risks associated with providing such a facility would be well-managed.

"We have since spoken to Ms Maxwell and she is aware of our concerns for child safety and the risks associated with drowning."


Steven Wylie, the councillor in charge of housing, added: "I want to encourage people to enjoy the communal gardens.

"We want to help where we can to ensure that it is a fun and safe place for everyone to use."

Special Thanks to Daily Mail

Careful Where You Put That Tree

Forget planting trees to negate your SUV's contribution to global warming -- according to Stanford University atmospheric scientist Ken Caldeira, forests in the wrong location can actually make the Earth hotter.

Plants absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, so scientists and policy makers have long assumed new forest growth helps combat global warming. At an American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco earlier this month, however, Caldeira rolled out a provocative new finding: Trees may be good at capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but their dark leaves are also very efficient at soaking up sunlight, which is later released as heat. At certain latitudes, the net effect of these two processes is warming, rather than cooling.

"Forests do store carbon, and as a result, the planet initially cools a little -- maybe tenths of degrees," Caldeira said. "But over the long term, trees' heat absorption warms things up more."

Caldeira and colleagues at California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory created a computer simulation showing that if most land areas in northern latitudes were covered with forests, the planet would be six degrees warmer than it is today. Forest growth in equatorial areas, on the other hand, reduced global temperatures in the simulation because the warmer air in these regions allows more moisture to evaporate from the leaves of trees. This produces substantial cooling that cancels out the effects of heat absorption.

These seemingly maverick ideas have met with serious interest among some climatologists. "Planting trees definitely sequesters carbon dioxide, which tends to lower temperatures," said Eric Adams, an ecologist in Massachusetts Institute of Technology's environmental engineering department. "But the trees also do absorb light that might otherwise be reflected, which causes warming."

"It's very interesting that changing land use -- whether that means growing trees or cutting them down -- can have an effect on climate," added David Erickson, director of the Climate and Carbon Research Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. "That effect is working in conjunction with the impact of greenhouse gases."

If future studies confirm Caldeira's findings, his work could have a substantial impact on environmental policy. Currently, programs like Carbonfund and the Chicago Climate Exchange support the planting of temperate forests in various regions of the United States in order to reduce global warming.

In the United Kingdom, for-profit Climate Care offers customers the chance to "cancel out" the carbon-dioxide emissions they produce by donating to a fund that supports reforestation efforts. Its Stratus package, which costs about $130, is billed as making one person "completely climate-neutral for the whole year."

Caldeira's research suggests efforts like these are off base. "Organizations should not be giving these kinds of credits," he said. "Planting forests in mid-latitudes should not be considered equivalent to using renewable resources."

Carbonfund spokesman Craig Coulter, however, urged caution. "If scientific consensus shows that this study is valid, then of course we'd have to take that into account," he said. "But there's always been tit-for-tat among academics about different methods for calculating the impact of reducing carbon, and I'd want to see more studies along these lines before making policy changes." He also pointed out that planting trees has a variety of environmental benefits unrelated to global warming, such as restoring threatened animal habitats and preventing the erosion of topsoil.

Caldeira stressed that lawmakers shouldn't advocate chopping down swaths of forest in hopes of reducing global temperatures a few degrees. He thinks investing in new sources of clean energy, like hydrogen and biofuel, is a better way to address the global-warming problem.

"Earth systems are very complicated -- you might be able to reduce warming by cutting down some trees, but that wouldn't be good for the environment overall," he said. "The less we interfere with the system, the more likely we are to have a healthy planet."

Special Thanks to Wired

Italian government adopts draft law to punish environmental crimes

The Italian government on Tuesday adopted a draft bill under which the perpetrators of "environmental catastrophes" would be punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The bill, which must be passed by parliament, "anticipates" a planned European Union directive on environmental crimes and puts Italy in line with "the largest European countries," a government statement said.

Polluters would be jailed for between one and five years and pay fines ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 euros (6,800 to 41,000 dollars), it said.

Those convicted of causing "environmental damage" face between two and six years in prison and fines of between 20,000 and 60,000 euros, or more if human lives or health are threatened.

"Environmental catastrophes" will be punishable by between three and 10 years in jail and fines of between 30,000 and 250,000 euros, and "alterations of natural heritage, flora and fauna" by one-to-three-year jail terms and fines of between 2,000 and 20,000 euros.

Illegal dumping, a frequent crime in the southern Naples area, will carry a prison term of between one and five years and a fine of between 10,000 and 30,000 euros, rising to between two and six years in jail and 20,000 to 50,000 euros when it involves dangerous waste.

The bill also covers trafficking in or dumping radioactive material, environmental fraud and damage to environmental resources.

Several EU states including Belgium, the Czech Republic and Denmark already have strict laws on environmental crimes.

The European Commission is drafting legislation that would enable European arrest warrants for environmental crimes.


Special Thanks to Briet Bart

'Hate incident' in city

One student has been suspended and more disciplinary action could follow a possible hate crime at Lewiston Middle School, Superintendent Leon Levesque said Wednesday.

On April 11, a white student placed a ham steak in a bag on a lunch table where Somali students were eating. Muslims consider pork unclean and offensive.

The act reminded students of a man who threw a pig's head into a Lewiston mosque last summer.

The school incident is being treated seriously as "a hate incident," Levesque said. Lewiston police are investigating, and the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence is working with the school to create a response plan.

"We've got some work to do to turn this around and bring the school community back together again," Levesque said.

Placing ham where Muslim students were eating was "an awful thing," said Stephen Wessler, executive director of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence. "It's extraordinarily hurtful and degrading" to Muslims, whose religion prohibits them from being around ham. It's important to respond swiftly, Wessler said.

"Incidents like this that involve degrading language or conduct are often said by the perpetrator as a joke. I know that conduct is never static," he said. "It's part of a process of escalation."

If people think insulting Muslims with ham is OK, "More degrading acts will follow, until at some point we'll end up having violence," Wessler said.

The incident does not reflect the moral values of the school staff and students, Levesque said. "We need to take a look at this and review how a careless act is degrading and causes hurt to other people. All our students should feel welcome and safe in our schools."

He said a letter would be sent home to parents explaining what happened and outlining the school's response. Wessler will meet with students to address the school's climate, and staff will talk about how to respond to and prevent future hate incidents

'I didn't feel safe'

A 14-year-old Somali boy, whose mother asked that his name not be published, said he was eating lunch with four other Somali students on April 11. He noticed many others in the cafeteria "standing up, looking at us."

One boy came near, began laughing and threw a bag on the table while other students laughed and said, 'Good job.'"

"We didn't know what was in this bag," the boy said. "One of my friends reached inside it. It was a big ham steak. There were five of us at the table, all Somali. It was intended for us."

The boy said he looked up at students he thought were his friends. "I felt angered, offended."

He suddenly felt like he was alone. "At the school the next day, I didn't feel safe. I felt like everybody was against me. Before I felt like I fit in, and everything was normal."

He began to think white students didn't like him, and the act was their way of letting him know.

On Thursday, several students came up to him and said, "Those guys who did it were jerks. I apologize for them, and I hope you feel better."

The boy said they did make him feel better. "But for the rest of my life when I remember middle school, this will pop up right away."

He spoke out because he wants the community to know what happened, "that there is something like this going on in our schools."

Wessler and Levesque said the act happened the day before April vacation began, which prevented educators from gathering information.

"This is not done," Wessler said.


Special Thanks to Sun Journal

Finally...

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