So as we enter the first day of the South of England show at Ardingly, Eurolink and International Farmlink is situated at one of the corners of the show ground. It gives us the opportunity to talk about, well alright type about, the current agricultural and rural affairs.
A recent article in the New Scientist (2nd of June 2012) states that traces ofradioactive caesium, from the leak in Fukushima Daiichi plant, has been found in Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) in low enough doses so that it won't harm humans. But it is thought by Daniel Madigan of Stanford University in California that the levels of the caesium may aid the tracking of other marine life such as Salmon Sharks, turtles and seabirds.
A post that I found on the twitter feed of Eurolink (@eurolinkseas) also described the decline of farmbirds. Richard D. Gregory reports for the New Scientist on the 6th of June 2012 that the losses of some "European bird populations are in precipitous decline"..."with a downward trend of 36 specialist farmland birds for the last 30 years equates to an estimated loss of 297 million farmbirds in Europe during that period".
Gregory continues to state that "European agricultural policy needs substantial reform so that it delivers measures to help birds and other wildlife across the continent's farmed landscape...nesting habitats and food in the summer and winter...policies must also support low-intensity farming systems that deliver a range of ecosystem benefits in addition to wonderful biodiversity".
More information can be found here as well as the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme and TEEB.org
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