WAV Comment – we have checked this a bit more today; and have the following:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid

Although it is now off patent, the primary manufacturer of this chemical is Bayer CropScience (part of Bayer AG).28 Apr 2015

https://news.sky.com/story/baby-bumblebees-left-with-permanent-brain-damage-by-insecticide-11949117

Baby bumblebees left with permanent brain damage by insecticide

The chemical studied is banned from use on field crops in the EU but not in other parts of the world.

Certain pesticides cause permanent brain damage in baby bumblebees and may threaten the future success of colonies, researchers from Imperial College London have found.

The study scanned the brains of bees exposed to imidacloprid, one of the neonicotinoid group of pesticides.

They found the key region of the brain that facilitates learning showed reduced growth and residues of the insecticide in flowers and plants caused permanent brain damage.

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, involved exposing bumblebees to small amounts of imidacloprid during their development as larvae or very young adults.

The learning ability of the larvae was tested after three days and after 12 days once they emerged as adults.

Bees that were fed imidacloprid when they were developing as larvae showed “significantly impaired learning ability” compared to those that were not, the researchers said.

The team then scanned the brains of nearly 100 bees from the different colonies.

They found that baby bees exposed to imidacloprid during larval development had a smaller volume of the brain region associated with learning.

Dr Richard Gill, from the department of life sciences at Imperial and the lead researcher on the study, said: “Bee colonies act as superorganisms, so when any toxins enter the colony, these have the potential to cause problems with the development of the baby bees within it.

“Worryingly in this case, when young bees are fed on pesticide-contaminated food, this caused parts of the brain to grow less, leading to older adult bees possessing smaller and functionally impaired brains; an effect that appeared to be permanent and irreversible.

“These findings reveal how colonies can be impacted by pesticides weeks after exposure, as their young grow into adults that may not be able to forage for food properly.”

Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide that acts on the central nervous system of insects. The chemical works by interfering with the transmission of stimuli in the insect nervous system and was created to mimic the effects of nicotine, which is naturally found in many plants and is toxic to insects.

It is one of three neonicotinoids banned from all field crops in the EU because of its impact on pollinators, but is used elsewhere around the world.

Lead author of the new study Dr Dylan Smith, from the Imperial College said: “There has been growing evidence that pesticides can build up inside bee colonies.

“Our study reveals the risks to individuals being reared in such an environment, and that a colony’s future workforce can be affected weeks after they are first exposed.”

The latest information from ‘Turtle Island Restoration Network’

Check out their website for all the latest news and actions:

https://seaturtles.org/

February Newsletter

As we swim through Cupid’s month of love, we want to extend a little extra appreciation and gratitude to our devoted volunteers and members that help us protect our planet. Thanks to you, TIRN is thoughtfully and deliberately addressing some of the biggest challenges in the environmental crisis. From our ongoing litigation to halt unsustainable fisheries and challenge senseless policy to our upcoming program to protect nesting sea turtles, we promise to continue doing everything in our power to protect and heal the planet so that you and future generations can continue to love and enjoy nature for years to come.

Update: Crews Monitoring Entangled Whale

On Feb. 14 a whale watching company spotted a humpback whale tangled in a net, struggling as it swam up the California coast from San Diego. The whale was severely entangled in drift gillnet: a barbaric method of commercial fishing that should not exist. Unfortunately, crews who initially spotted the whale were unable to help the whale which was active at a frantic pace—it was too dangerous to get close to the animal. Now, the Coast Guard and the West Coast Whale Entanglement Response Program are closely tracking the whale to attempt to safely remove the netting. It was last spotted outside of Dana Point. Although the netting still has the right fluke entangled, if appears that whale has been able to discard some of the net. Please email your members of Congress, asking them to support the Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act.

In this Jan. 9, 2020, file photo provided by the Anti-Poaching Special Squad, police look at items seized from store suspected of trafficking wildlife in Guangde city in central China’s Anhui Province. (Anti-Poaching Special Squad via AP, File)

WAV Comment – the is always big talk from China; but look at the last paragraph here – ‘According to a price list that circulated on China’s internet, one of the merchants at the Wuhan market at the virus epicentre sold a vast menagerie of animals including civets, rats, snakes, giant salamanders and live wolf pups’. So this is what they call ‘controlling’ it, is it ?

We as an organisation have always joined with many other conservationist groups in saying:

‘The coronavirus epidemic had highlighted “the prominent problem of excessive consumption of wild animals, and the huge hidden dangers to public health and safety’

‘Conservationists say China is the single biggest country driving consumption of many threatened species, and that animals are routinely subjected to horrible conditions and cruel treatment’.

China has now spread this illness of death all over the planet; the animals are biting back ! – global trade; tourism and big bucks are now paying as a result.

Only when China wakes up to the real reality of what caused this; a non enforcement and controls that they have never adopted in the world of animal welfare; will it start to make progress. At the moment it is still a big animal ‘Karma’ – nature is biting back; and hard !

Wake up China; we want respect and protection in law for all animals. More to this, we want you to enforce the law and not do yukspeak only.

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Source – https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/sci-tech/china-bans-human-consumption-and-trade-of-wild-animals-1.4824540

China bans human consumption and trade of wild animals

BEIJING, CHINA — China on Monday declared an immediate and “comprehensive” ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed responsible for the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The country’s top legislative committee approved a proposal “prohibiting the illegal wildlife trade, abolishing the bad habit of overconsumption of wildlife, and effectively protecting the lives and health of the people,” state television reported.

Previous temporary bans have been put in place, including after the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in 2002-03 and was also traced to wild animal consumption.

That prohibition was short-lived, however, and conservationists have long accused China of tolerating a cruel trade in wild animals as exotic menu items or for use in traditional medicines whose efficacy is not confirmed by science.

The decision was made by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which oversees the country’s rubber-stamp legislature.

The coronavirus epidemic had highlighted “the prominent problem of excessive consumption of wild animals, and the huge hidden dangers to public health and safety,” said the report by China Central Television (CCTV).

Chinese health officials have said the virus likely emerged from a market in the central city of Wuhan that sold wild animals as food.

The coronavirus has killed 2,592 people in China, infected some 77,000 others and paralysed the country’s economy.

It has also infected people in at least two dozen other countries, killing nearly 30, and its rapid global spread has raised fears of a full-blown pandemic.

The committee also on Monday decided to postpone this year’s NPC session — scheduled to begin in early March — which will delay any legal revisions on wildlife trade.

As a result, the Standing Committee issued a full ban immediately until final legislation can be passed, CCTV said.

There already are laws in place against the wildlife trade, but conservationists say they are full of loopholes regarding many species, and that enforcement is episodic or just plain lax.

After the epidemic began exploding across the country, China late last month ordered a temporary ban “until the national epidemic situation is over”.

But conservationists and virologists said a temporary ban was not enough, calling for a permanent prohibition with tough enforcement.

Public health risk

Health experts warn that transporting, butchering and consuming wild species poses a significant and growing public health risk by exposing humans to dangerous animal-borne pathogens.

Conservationists say China is the single biggest country driving consumption of many threatened species, and that animals are routinely subjected to horrible conditions and cruel treatment.

The exact source of the coronavirus remains unconfirmed, with scientists variously speculating it originated in bats, pangolins, or some other mammal.

Scientists say SARS likely originated in bats, later reaching humans via civets.

According to a price list that circulated on China’s internet, one of the merchants at the Wuhan market at the virus epicentre sold a vast menagerie of animals including civets, rats, snakes, giant salamanders and live wolf pups.

From Mark (London) – For many years I have been a donative supporter of ‘Free Tibet’ (FT) which is based here in Ol’ London town.

Why ? – read on please:

The vision is a Free Tibet in which Tibetans are able to determine their own future and the human rights of all are respected. FT campaign for an end to China’s occupation of Tibet and for international recognition of Tibetans’ right to freedom. FT mobilise active support for the Tibetan cause, champion human rights and challenge those whose actions sustain the occupation.

FT are entirely funded by our supporters across the world. You can join us here.

“Tibet today is one of the most repressed and closed societies in the world.”

– Senator Robert Menendez, Chair of US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 2012

China invaded Tibet in 1950. Inside its borders and across the world, Tibetans have never stopped believing Tibet is a nation.

After more than 60 years of occupation, Tibetans still resist China’s rule and defy its oppression.

That’s is why they have my personal support.

If you believe in the rights of animals, as I do; then in some instances you believe in human rights also. A Free Tibet in which Tibetans are able to determine their own future and the human rights of all are respected is such just a case for me – I fully support the work and aims of FT.

Website – https://www.freetibet.org/

About – https://www.freetibet.org/about

News – https://www.freetibet.org/news

Please support and become a member;

Regards Mark.

Support Tibetans standing up for their environment

Petition Link – https://secure.freetibet.org/support-tibetans-standing-their-environment

The Tibetan Plateau, otherwise known as the Third Pole, is an extremely important region for global climate systems. This vast landscape is the birthplace of nine of Asia’s largest rivers, sustaining nearly two billion people. The plateau contains the largest amount of glacier ice outside of Antarctica and the North Pole and helps regulate climate systems across Asia.

However, Tibet’s unique environment is changing. Along with the Arctic and island nations, Tibet is on the frontline of global climate change and is warming three times faster than the rest of the world. Natural disasters such as droughts, landslides and floods are increasing in frequency. As glaciers and permafrost thaw, people in the mountains may be forced to migrate due to water shortages. Millions of people downstream may also feel the effects of this altered river flow. The health of Tibet’s environment will determine the health of climate systems across Asia and beyond.

“This blue planet is our only home and Tibet is its roof. The Tibetan plateau needs to be protected, not just for Tibetans, but for the environmental health and sustainability of the entire world.” – Dalai Lama

Free Tibet is calling for international recognition for Tibet at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in 2020.

Help us secure a place for Tibet at COP26. Sign our petition today and in the autumn we will take your signatures to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Environmental Affairs of participating countries.

Tibetans deserve representation and a say in their own environment.

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Text of petition:

We the undersigned request that your government ensures that there will be Tibetan representation at the upcoming COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow in November.

One of the key threats faced by Tibetans today is the eradication of their environment, and the most pressing and comprehensive threat to Tibet’s environment is that of climate change. The Tibetan Plateau contains the largest concentration of frozen freshwater outside of the Arctic and Antarctica. But, its glaciers are receding at three times the global average due to climate change, resulting in eight billion tonnes of ice being lost every year as glaciers disappear. Between 1970 and 2010, Tibet lost over 27 per cent of its glacier coverage.

The depletion of Tibet’s glaciers risks seriously disrupting the flow of Tibet’s rivers, posing a threat to rural Tibetans and people downriver who rely on this water. Tibet’s fragile ecosystem could also be seriously damaged. These negative effects could be greatly exacerbated by the current construction of dams across Tibet’s rivers.

These risks require decisive action. We urge your government to make a clear statement of support for Tibetans and recognising them as one of the frontline communities in the struggle against climate change.

Furthermore, we request that you invite a Tibetan to attend COP26, ideally as part of your country’s delegation, with a view to them addressing the conference. It is important that they can recount in their own words the threats to their land and livelihoods that Tibetans are being forced to confront.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Yours sincerely,

Above – the February 2020 magazine cover.

Today, the European Commission decided to register a European Citizens’ Initiative entitled ‘Stop Finning – Stop the Trade’ related to sharks and rays. The aim of the Initiative is to ‘end the trade of fins in the EU including the import, export and transit of fins other than if naturally attached to the animal’s body.’

The organisers state that ‘although the removal of fins on board of EU vessels and in EU waters is prohibited and sharks must be landed with their fins naturally attached, the EU is among the biggest exporters of fins and a major transit hub for the global fin trade’.

Prior to Regulation (EU) No 605/2013, the previous regulation from 2003 prohibited shark fins from being separated, but left a loophole that allows boats with a “special permit” to continue this practice. Around 200 such “special permits” were held annually by Spain and Portugal.

The Initiative specifically calls on the Commission ‘to extend REGULATION (EU) No 605/2013 also to the trade of fins and […] develop a new regulation, extending “fins naturally attached” to all trading of sharks and rays in the EU’.

Under the Treaties, the EU can take legal action in areas of common fisheries policy and common commercial policy. The Commission therefore considers the initiative legally admissible and decided to register it. The Commission has not analysed the substance of the initiative at this stage.

The registration of this initiative will take place on 2 January 2020, allowing the organizers to start, within next 6 months, a one-year process of collection of signatures of support.

Should the initiative receive one million statements of support within 1 year, from at least 7 different Member States, the Commission will have to react within 6 months. The Commission can decide either to follow the request or not, and in both instances would be required to explain its reasoning.

Background

The European Citizens’ Initiative was introduced with the Lisbon Treaty as an agenda-setting tool in the hands of citizens. It was launched in April 2012.

In 2017, the European Commission tabled reform proposals for the European Citizens’ Initiative to make it more citizen-friendly. In December 2018, the European Parliament and the Council agreed on the reform and the revised rules will start applying as of 1 January 2020. The revised rules, among others, will give the organisers more flexibility to choose the starting date of their campaign as well as revise the proposed initiative before the Commission’s registration decision.

In the meantime, the Commission has been raising awarenessof the European Citizens’ Initiative through a communication campaign and offered support to organisers via a collaborative platform. In total, the Commission has registered 71 Citizens’ Initiatives and refused 26, with only 6 refusals in the past 5 years.

Once formally registered, a European Citizens’ Initiative allows one million citizens from at least one quarter of EU Member States to invite the European Commission to propose a legal act in areas where the Commission has the power to do so.

The conditions for admissibility are that the proposed action does not manifestly fall outside the framework of the Commission’s powers to submit a proposal for a legal act, that it is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious and that it is not manifestly contrary to the values of the Union.

Please sign the Petition:  https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_19_6783

And I mean...does anyone remember the end the cage age EU citizens’ initiative?
It officially ended on September 11, 2019 with 1.5 million votes.
The commission has 6 months to decide, a position has to come in March at the latest. But we don’t know anything about it.

Apparently it doesn’t look good, because the German meat mafia is already baking its own “bread-rolls” with the extension of the animal torture in pig boxes, do you remember this article https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2020/02/14/germany-the-horror-of-the-pig-boxes-remains-for-the-time/ ?

Ignorance and corruption in EU circles should not be underestimated; that’s what i want to say.

Of course, we will and must all participate in this initiative, we will invest hope and energy again to save these animals and our oceans from criminals.

But at the next time we need a citizens’ initiative to abolish the EU itself; because on its current form the EU has failed in both human and animal welfare.

My best regards to all, Venus

Joaquin Phoenix, Amazon Watch & Extinction Rebellion: ‘Guardians of Life’

We partnered with Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix, and Extinction Rebellion for a short film urging action on the climate and ecological emergency!

Phoenix is joined in the film, entitled Guardians of Life, by an array of Hollywood stars including Rosario Dawson, Matthew Modine, Q’orianka Kilcher, Oona Chaplin, Adria Arjona, and Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes.

Right now, indigenous peoples and their lands are increasingly under threat from vast economic exploitation across the Amazon — a rainforest vital for the health of our planet. The Amazon removes about 5% of total emissions caused by human activity. Without the Amazon, the planet would be warming faster than scientists already observe.

But, the Amazon rainforest is at RISK.

Just last year, over 11.2 M hectares in the Brazilian and Bolivian Amazon burned. New analysis of extensive satellite imagery revealed that many of the fires were actually burning the remains of areas that were recently deforested.

In Brazil, the threats are escalating: Bolsonaro’s Administration recently announced plans to hand out indigenous lands to the very industries responsible for deforestation. In the Brazilian Amazon, those industries are land speculation, mining, and agribusiness, specifically soy and cattle. Companies in these industries are bankrolled by global financial institutions like BlackRock, JP Morgan Chase, HBSC, BNP Paribas and Vanguard. They too, are responsible for the Amazon’s destruction.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. According to scientific studies, indigenous lands are “currently the most important barrier to Amazon deforestation.” Indigenous peoples are the best protectors of the Amazon rainforest, so protecting indigenous rights is instrumental.

The Amazon Rainforest is known to be a home to millions of different species, from plants, to animals, to even some indigenous tribes. It’s been referred to as the Earth’s lungs, because it produces 20% of the oxygen in it’s atmosphere.

About half the size of the United States of America, the Amazon Rainforest has a huge impact on slowing down global warming, and the world as a whole.

 But recently, wildfires have gotten so out of control, cities have been completely blacked out, with smoke from the fires covering their skies. It seems as of now, the Brazilian government and president Bolsonaro isn’t stepping in to slow down the fires, and up until quite recently, news stations weren’t covering the story either.

In hopes of raising awareness about how important the Amazon Rainforest really is, we decided to answer the question: What If The Amazon Rainforest Burned Down?

Very easily: we`re killing ourselfes

My Comment: While the fire in Amazonas destroyed the lives of animals and humans, Bolsonaro specifically advised all presidents not to interfere in the internal affairs of his country.

“My country, my forest,” he said demonstratively against his critics.

It is by no means “his forest”, not even that of his corrupt party.
There are also many people in Brazil who are interested in the conservation of the rainforest.

It is the forest of the Brazilians and above all of the aborigines and animals that have protected areas there and whose livelihood is being illegally destroyed in favor of some private profit bandits.

But above all is the human forest, which is based on this “green lung” and thus ensures our survival.

There, animal and plant species are irrevocably eradicated. These are missing from now on and will never come back. Part of our common heritage is lost just because some powerful fascists want to enrich themselves.

The rainforest in the Amazon region has also been cleared in the past, but never to the same extent as under the fascist and traitor Bolsonaro.

Humanity has nothing more than adaptation anyway, and it is feared that we can no longer save anything from now on, it is simply too late.

We just have to try to live with the damage we have caused ourselves and that will make our lives and the lives of the next generations hell.

My best regards to all, Venus