Green Pencil Award – Going, going, gone: Scotland’s wildlife in danger?

Our successful environmentally themed creative writing competition, open to all P4-P7 aged children in Edinburgh and, once again, to young people in S1-3, is running again this year.

A lot of attention has been given recently to climate change and its effects on the natural environment, so this year our theme is, ‘Going, Going, Gone -Scottish Wildlife in Danger?’ Continue reading Green Pencil Award – Going, going, gone: Scotland’s wildlife in danger?

Go outdoors and join the Big Butterfly Count

Chris Packham is urging wildlife lovers to take part in the world’s largest insect citizen science survey to help reveal if the UK is experiencing a once in a decade butterfly phenomenon.

Unusually high numbers of Painted Lady butterflies have been reported across Europe over the spring and early summer with large numbers now spotted crossing over into the UK. Continue reading Go outdoors and join the Big Butterfly Count

Letter: What a wonderful world?

Dear Editor

Great dangers exist for all life on this planet, caused in the main by human activity. This activity is increasingly being moer understood worldwide.

All species of life depend on each other for survival, but it would appear that some authorities – like those in Botswana, Namibia, Zambua and Zimbabwe – have a different view, stating that they intend to allow the shooting of elephants.

Why is such a dreadful thing thought about, let alone acted on? They are also lifting the ban on sales of ivory: it takes very little skill to add two and two together!

These backward steps must be opposed and stopped. NOW!

A. Delahoy

Silverknowes Gardens

 

Survey water voles to help save Scotland’s riverside residents

In 2015, wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) launched the first ever National Water Vole Monitoring Programme (NWVMP) to help save water voles – the UK’s fastest declining mammal. Now, four years on, PTES is calling for volunteers to take part in its annual survey of these riverside residents, in order to find out where water voles are living and where they are most in need of conservation action. Continue reading Survey water voles to help save Scotland’s riverside residents

Give hedgehogs a home

Survey results reveal the secrets to creating a hedgehog’s perfect home ….

School’s still out for the summer, and for those now at home what better way to spend a sunny afternoon than by creating your own hedgehog house, to help the nation’s favourite mammal from further decline, especially during the current heatwave. Continue reading Give hedgehogs a home

Rodents no more: South Georgia declared rodent-free

World’s largest rodent eradication project a success

  • The UK Overseas Territory of South Georgia is officially declared free of rodents for the first time since humans arrived on the island over 200 years ago
  • Scottish-based charity the South Georgia Heritage Trust and its USA counterpart the Friends of South Georgia Island raised £10 million to finance the Habitat Restoration Project to eradicate invasive rodents
  • Covering 108,723 hectares (1087 km2), the Habitat Restoration Project is more than eight times larger than any other rodent eradication area ever tackled anywhere in the world
  • Three rodent detection dogs covered a total of 2420km, with their two female dog handlers walking 1608km, searching for signs of rats and mice as part of a comprehensive monitoring survey

Continue reading Rodents no more: South Georgia declared rodent-free