House Sparrows Continue Precipitous Decline

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Conservation Director of the RSPB Dr Mark Avery, described the troubling plight of the House Sparrow Passer domesticus.

According to a recent study in the journal Animal Conservation by scientists from the RSPB, Natural England and De Montford University, house sparrows have declined by up to 68% of their 1970 population.

Commenting on the BBC website, Dr Peach of the RSPB, said:

"The trend towards paving of front gardens and laying decking in the back, and the popularity of ornamental plants from other parts of the world, has made many gardens no-go areas for once common British birds."

It has been proposed that an absence of aphids and other insects during summer - crucial for feeding chicks - may have a strong role to play.

Moreover, these insects inhabit vegetation frequently associated with a healthy front garden; honeysuckle wild roses and hawthorn. The current fashion of paving over front gardens in cities, particularly in large cities like London, is no doubt linked to their demise and should be cause for a serious re-think amongst policy-makers.

When questioned, Leader of North Herts District Council, Councillor John Smith, was reluctant to concede that the loss of brownfield sites could be a potential contributory factor, believing it to be a local phenomenon.

Environment Minister Micheal Meacher was "very worried, [given that] we may have lost nearly 15 million birds in the last thirty years." In the case of starlings, the Rt. Hon Meacher cited, that the loss of first year juveniles was known to be a contributory factor to their decline, possibly linked to diminishing autumn food supplies because of heavy pesticide use in intensive agriculture. A body of research highlights intensive agriculture as the cause of declines in farmland birds, and perhaps the combination of uber-urbanisation of town gardens is creating a 'double whammy' for the house sparrows.

Dr Avery and colleagues hopes to follow-up this report up with more detailed research in the near future, pending sufficient funding.

Hear the report on Radio4 here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/science_nature/sparrows.shtml

Urban Expansion Impedes Biodiversity Conservation

Often urban expansion occurs concomitantly with economic growth in developing countries, not to mention land use change including the conversion of forest to agricultural land. A new study in Landscape and Urban Planning suggests that expansion of Panama City and Colon, both of which are surrounded by richly biodiverse rainforests, could result in future biodiversity loss.

Increased urbanisation is anticipated in these cities after a planned expansion of the shipping canal, and it is likely that this will result in increased forest loss. This could be exacerbated by the rural population, 61 per cent of whom live below the poverty threshold, and presently have no alternative but to remove standing forest for agriculture and income purposes.

The researchers looked at potential socio-economic and biophysical correlates of biodiversity loss including population density and growth, road density and poverty levels, rainfall, forest age and land use. They found that population wealth was linked to conversion of land to urban areas, i.e. the more wealth the more conversion. The researchers also found that agriculture was expanding into mature forests.

The rainforests offer a wealth of ecosystem services including the provision of clean water, flood and landslide prevention through water capture not to mention the carbon storage and climate regulating influences. However if an ecosystem services approach is not applied to the forests appropriately, it is likely that, as affluence increases in the urban areas, the true value of the forests will be taken for granted. This could result in increased forest clearance for what is perceived as more valuable urban development projects.

The authors suggest that ecotourism and agroforestry could provide alternative less destructive economic opportunities. If alternatives are positively explored it could assist the rural population move above the poverty threshold without destroying the valuable forests which they, and we all depend upon.

Source: Rompré G, Robinson WD and Desrochers A (2008). Causes of habitat loss in a Neotropical landscape: The Panama Canal corridor. Landscape and Urban Planning. 87: 129-139.

Mayor of London Launches New 'Green' Strategy for the Capital

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has today launched a new strategy for the UK's Capital, aimed at better preparing the city and its people for the challenges of climate change. The strategy is claimed as a first for a world city.

Measures outlined in the strategy include measures to 'green' London; including the use and design of green spaces, green roofs and tree-planting to reduce water run-off and flooding, and greater preparedness for extreme weather events expected under climate change, specifically flooding, drought and heatwaves. There are plans to increase public awareness of flood risk in the capital, alongside a promotion, and compulsory introduction, of water metering to reduce water consumption.

Launching the strategy, the Mayor commented: "the range of weather conditions facing London...could seriously threaten our quality of life...and endanger our pre-eminence as one of the world's leading cities". The Mayor's manifesto included an ambitious target to cut London's carbon emissions by 60% by 2025.

Organisations are invited to comment on the first draft of the strategy. As a result of these comments, a second draft will be published for public consultation in 2009.

Access the Mayor's website with official press release and the draft strategy