WAV Comment ; How the Australian people elect and put up with such a dick PM is beyond belief. Koalas, live export; what planet is this blob from to allow all this to continue ?

 

 

Koalas face extinction in New South Wales by 2050, report finds

• 30 June 2020

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-53231348

 

Koalas will be extinct in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) by 2050 unless there is urgent action, an inquiry has found.

The once-thriving marsupial has been ravaged by habitat loss, disease and climatic events in recent years.

About 5,000 koalas are thought to have died in devastating recent bushfires, the report to state parliament said.

It urged lawmakers to ensure that remaining populations did not perish in rapidly diminishing habitats.

The inquiry, by a cross-party committee, found pre-bushfire estimates that koalas numbered 36,000 in NSW were now outdated.

In the past year, blazes which scorched more than five million hectares statewide had affected 24% of koala habitats, it said.

• A visual guide to Australia’s bushfire crisis
• Which animals fare best and worst in fires?

 

The logging and fracturing of other koala areas has also been detrimental to their survival, according to the year-long investigation.

The committee said climate change posed an ongoing threat by exacerbating bushfires and drought, and by reducing the quality of the animal’s eucalyptus leaf diet.

 

Basically, I could not give a shit – coal anytime !

 

“At every turn we were handed evidence that showed our current laws are inadequate and facilitating the clearing of core koala habitat,” said chairwoman Cate Faehrmann.

“The strategies and policies currently in place to protect the koala aren’t working.”

The committee made 42 recommendations, including establishing new national parks in identified areas and reducing land clearing.

The state government welcomed the report but did not immediately confirm which recommendations it would adopt.

“Koalas are an iconic Australian animal recognised the world over and a national treasure which we will do everything we can to protect for future generations,” state Environment Minster Matt Kean.

Koalas are also found in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory but their numbers are on the decline nationally, according to conservation groups.

Last year, the Australian Koala Foundation estimated there were “no more than 80,000” left in Australia – though others say it is difficult to know for sure.

Their principal threats – habitat loss, diseases such as chlamydia, and the impacts of climate change – are a concern nationwide.

 

La Ligue des Animaux

https://www.facebook.com/LaLigueDesAnimaux/

Hi all;

Today 1/7/20, we were contacted by an activist in France regarding a picture posted in an article recently by Venus.

Here is the photo.

 

 

They were very moved by the picture and the activist has written a beautiful poem as a result.

We publish it here; as we know she will not mind.

 

Regards Mark and Venus.

 

Here is the message and poem.  She kindly says:

 

Thank you very much for your information. You’re right, this photo is terrible. We sometimes write poems/speeches when we face certain kind of pic. This one is one of them.

 

It inspired me, this one I wrote  :

 

Do not look away, here is the real horror face of captivity.

There is no drop of blood, no cry of pain but my heart is torn apart by the distress of this little abandoned being.

Tight throat, shortness of breath, my tears flow for this innocent victim of merciless torturers.

I cry for this stolen life, broken, torn from the heat of the arms of his home, subdued by the chain.

I cry because head lowered, curled up, terrorized, clenched fist, he is waiting , trembling,  for the next humiliations without ever being able to refuse.

Is he hungry? Is he thirsty?  You know the answer…

Reduced as an object in the service of humans, how can we mistreat a being endowed with such sensitivity?

To all these jailers, thieves of freedom: you are nothing but miserable less than nothing without any dignity.

Your feeling of omnipotence towards your animal captives is none other than a reflection of your insignificance within society.

Wherever you are, my adorable prisoner friend, your image of suffering will never be able to leave me.

Each of my tears of rage will strengthen our relentless fight against captivity in whatever form!

 

I could never forget you. I could never forgive them.

 

Thanks for all your hard work and fight for those you can’t speak up.

With my best Regards,

An Activist – France.

 

La Ligue des Animaux

https://www.facebook.com/LaLigueDesAnimaux/

Regards;

Mark.

 

 

 

Hi Mark,

With the coronavirus, we’ve learned how fast a new organism can spread. Imagine genetically engineered mosquitoes designed to inherit their genes at a very fast pace, jeopardise the food chain, and wipe out their natural siblings by making them infertile. [1]

According to scientists, there is a risk the so-called “gene drive” could even spread from mosquitoes to butterflies, killing pollinators en masse, risking crops, plants and entire ecosystems. [2]

Nobody pushing this new technology has a solution that would successfully mitigate these risks, but even so, plans are proceeding to make gene drives a reality. 

Most of the funding to make this happen is being provided by the US military and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [3]

With your help, we can start the process to put a moratorium on it. Next week, experts and government officials will come together to discuss this new and risky technology. Our partners have secured two seats at this private online meeting and will represent our voices.

If thousands of us sign the petition calling for a moratorium, what our partners say will count much more. Add your name to ensure we don’t release any genetically engineered organism without properly assessing its severe risks.

Sign the petition at: https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/gene-drive-moratorium-uk?action=sign&utm_source=civimail-31162&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200629_EN

The billionaire Bill Gates is excited about the potential of this new technology. [4] He hopes to get rid of mosquitos that pass on diseases, but until now no scientist has been able to assess the risk. [5] We don’t want to solve one problem only to create another bigger one. [6]

Imagine we eradicate one species of mosquitoes, but what happens to frogs, birds and fish feeding on mosquitoes and their eggs? How will the behaviour of other animals change when mosquitoes disappear? Deer may not hide in the mountains to protect themselves against their bites, instead staying in valleys and feeding differently.

The biggest imaginable risk is the collapse of whole ecosystems happening with the release of even a handful of gene drive mosquitoes. With what we know about gene drives now, their effects cannot be predicted, stopped, or reversed. We want to support the great system that is nature and understand it before we mess with it. A moratorium will give us the time to work out what we need to do next to protect nature and life.

The upcoming meeting of experts is to inform EU and global decision makers about the risks. This is the moment we need to be heard. Unfortunately, we don’t know yet who will participate and we cannot address them directly, but only two of us will join the meeting – and we need them to be powerful.

 

Sign the petition at:

https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/gene-drive-moratorium-uk?action=sign&utm_source=civimail-31162&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200629_EN

Our signatures show people power from all over Europe. We have shown time and time again how, starting with a simple petition, we can achieve big wins: just a few weeks ago we shared how together we stopped barley, brewing, and ultimately all beer production from being patented. It started with a simple petition.

If we act now, we can have a moratorium before it’s too late.

David, Jörg (Lübeck), and the entire WeMove Europe team

 

PS: Before we release a new technology, we need to make sure we don’t risk destroying entire ecosystems by making the world an experimental laboratory. Please sign and share widely to put a moratorium on gene drives.

 

References:
[1] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191219142646.htm
[2] There is evidence from insects that a bacterium called Wolbachia can transfer genes between different insect species. So, it is theoretically possible that Wolbachia genetic transfer could take place between mosquitoes and pollinating insects. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4882834/
[3] “Total funding for gene drive development is currently estimated to exceed a quarter of a billion US dollars. The largest single government funder of gene drive research is the U.S. military (DARPA).” https://www.etcgroup.org/content/gene-drive-files
[4] https://www.geekwire.com/2020/bill-gates-thinks-gene-editing-artificial-intelligence-save-world/
[5] The first disease the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to tackle is malaria. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/25/gm-mosquitoes-released-burkina-faso-malaria-gene-drive Malaria was once widespread in Europe as well and was eradicated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria
[6] https://www.stop-genedrives.eu/en/gene-drives/

 

WeMove Europe is an independent and values-based organisation that seeks to build people power to transform Europe in the name of our community, future generations and the planet. To unsubscribe from WeMove Europe, please click here. To unsubscribe from WeMove Europe, please click here.

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It’s no secret that elephants have been dying in northern Botswana during the last few months and that samples taken from carcasses by government officials have yet to shed light on the cause of death.

 

Rather than add to the speculation already out there about the cause/s of death and why the sample results are not yet available, we contacted various trusted sources to compile this list of known details/observations

 

 

THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW:

 

• The first reported elephant deaths were in March 2020, with higher volumes reported from May onwards;
• The death toll has now risen to approximately 400 elephants of both sexes and all ages;
• Most carcasses are in the NG11 area, near the village of Seronga on the northern fringes of the Okavango Delta. Read this account of the impacts of elephants on people living in the area: Life with Elephants;
• 30% of deaths occurred in the last two weeks and 70% about one month or more ago;
• Tusks have not been removed from the dead elephants and carcasses show no sign of having been chopped to extract the ivory;
• Some elephants died in an upright position, suggesting a sudden death;
• 70% of the carcasses were seen near waterholes/pans;
• There have been no reports of similar deaths in Namibia – a short distance north of NG11;
• Live elephants near water sources were observed to be lethargic and disoriented, and some appeared to have little control over their legs. One was seen wandering in circles;
• A dead horse was seen in one waterhole/pan;
• No other species carcasses have been seen in the area, and vultures feasting on the elephant carcasses appear unaffected.

 

 

https://africageographic.com/stories/botswana-elephant-graveyard-mystery-death-toll-rises-to-400/?fbclid=IwAR2Wdqt8_vUR5Qo2pkTNYZXikUkuMGxg_csUSF0MH7EuqR-leKMx6oleEDg