126
@RobGMacfarlane
“On their journeys, these dragonflies make a multigenerational migration of 18,000 kilometres in a year, with a single individual flying over 6,000 kilometres.”
@Yuvan_aves, brilliant as ever, on the mysteries & wonders of migratory dragonflies. sustain.round.glass/species/wander…
127
@RobGMacfarlane
Planning consent granted for the destruction of a tunnel of elms, at St Marks on the Isle of Man.
Elms are nationally scarce, elm tunnels drastically scarce across UK & Europe.
Does anyone know why this is happening, & whether anything can still be done? twitter.com/manxnature/sta…
128
@RobGMacfarlane
Johnson’s government’s sustained deplete-and-degrade approach to the teaching of the creative arts/music at secondary schools continues.
This time with the removal of a “ring-fenced” £270m fund.
NB decline in uptake of arts subjects at GCSE & A-level.
Via @PrivateEyeNews.
129
@RobGMacfarlane
I'm a signatory to this letter to the Times today, calling for the Lords to vote down the #PolicingBill on 17 Jan.
If you want to add your voice, you can:
* Email yr MP or a Lord abt Part 3 of PCSC Bill
* Sign Liberty's petition opposing Bill:
action.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/page/78339/pet…
Pls RT twitter.com/KishWidyaratna…
130
@RobGMacfarlane
The near-future of many of the world’s forests will be decided in the next 48 hrs by MEPs.
It’s utter madness to think of forest biomass burning as carbon-zero.
Forest biomass must be removed from the renewable energy directive.
👇👇👇
theguardian.com/world/commenti…
131
@RobGMacfarlane
I found everything about this essay deeply depressing, from the brutal ecological asset-stripping of Nauru by high-income countries, to the imminent, unregulated wrecking of the abyssal plains of the oceans.
Nevertheless, it needs reading.
theguardian.com/environment/20…
132
@RobGMacfarlane
“We're deep in ‘salt-water syndrome’: the things we’re using to cure our hunger & thirst are making us hungrier & thirstier."
Richard Powers––writer of The Overstory & so much more––is fascinating as ever in this new interview with @india_bourke.
newstatesman.com/encounter/2022…
133
@RobGMacfarlane
"In the English language alone, more than 7,000 names have been recorded for some 150 bird species in the British Isles."
Andy Gosler on how ethno-ornithology salvages & celebrates "the cherished, ancient relationships with nature that lie behind...names."
theconversation.com/there-are-over…
134
@RobGMacfarlane
New gov't policy is an #AttackOnNature, in an already acutely nature-depleted country.
@nationaltrust @WildlifeTrusts & @Natures_Voice (total membership 8m) are mobilising in resistance.
Pls share to show @ranil the no. of votes & depth of feeling at stake bbc.co.uk/news/science-e…
135
@RobGMacfarlane
"5 yrs later, the River Roding Trust has planted 100s of trees, removed 1000+ bags of rubbish & 75 shopping trolleys...the river's polluters are being exposed & challenged for the first time in decades."
This thread👇
So inspiring.
Real change on the ground, community-led.
YES! twitter.com/jm0ses/status/…
136
@RobGMacfarlane
"We often admire trees for their steady rootedness, but right now, around the world, forests are on the move."
Beautiful, thought-provoking multi-media essay by @ChelseaScudder & Jeremy Seifert abt the "great tree migration" from the Pleistocene-Present.
emergencemagazine.org/feature/they-c…
137
@RobGMacfarlane
This story...
The oldest drawing of a ghost discovered on a 3500yo Babylonian tablet.
A man bound & led by a mortal lover.
If you light it, "the figures leap out at you across time."
From an exorcist's guide to returning unwanted spirits to the underworld.
theguardian.com/culture/2021/o…
138
@RobGMacfarlane
“Let the world be as horrified and as generous as we have been for Ukraine, to stop Afghan children dying right now.”
@UNOCHA twitter.com/EleanorMonbiot…
139
@RobGMacfarlane
"Contrast the silence from politicians and the absence of editorials in the billionaire press about [the arson attack] suffered by Chris Packham with the furious response to the protests by Insulate Britain." theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
140
@RobGMacfarlane
"The most astonishing element of the Elwha restoration is how quickly ecosystem changes can be reversed. Everything is connected. And with connection comes life."
Such an essay about such a story: a watershed's return to wild, fabulous life once un-dammed.
orionmagazine.org/article/a-rive…
141
@RobGMacfarlane
Niche request: do any field-recordists/sound-recordists out there have good-quality recordings of the sound of moths' wings, or a moth's wings, fluttering?
Asking for a project.
(Told you it was niche).
142
@RobGMacfarlane
Teachers, parents, #edutwitter: a free 23pp "Summer Explorer's Guide" to The Lost Spells is out today, by @JohnEvajohn59.
Lesson plans, writing/art challenges,
outdoor learning, nature-literacy...
All with a glowing @jackiemorris Solstice daisy-sun!
Here: thelostwords.org/resources/
143
@RobGMacfarlane
The fight is gearing up against the Darwalls, the wealthy landowners who are, appallingly, trying to shut down the right to wild camp on Dartmoor.
The case goes to the Royal Courts of Justice on 12 Dec.
Come join the rally in support of @dartmoornpa & the right to wild camp.
⛺️ twitter.com/Right_2Roam/st…
144
@RobGMacfarlane
Calling walkers, ramblers, path-followers...!
The inspiring @SlowWaysUK project is looking for volunteers to help walk/grade the thousands of walking routes they're presently mapping.
Pls RT/find out more/volunteer in the thread below.
Help weave a webwork of walking ways! twitter.com/SlowWaysUK/sta…
145
@RobGMacfarlane
The great @billmckibben, clarifying as ever, with this epic @NewYorker essay re-framing the climate crisis with a rule to live by: in a world on fire, stop burning things.
newyorker.com/news/essay/in-…
146
@RobGMacfarlane
"I can tell ministers from experience that hope is being destroyed in the places they never deign to visit and there is desperation in the faces they never see."
@GordonBrown coldly furious & clear on the imminent, "indefensible" £20 universal credit cut.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
147
@RobGMacfarlane
Please make time to read/share this vital, brilliant piece by @OliverBullough abt the tragic, slow, dirty death of our rivers, after decades of improvement: what we know, why it’s happening, who’s fighting it, & why criminality is being so richly rewarded.
theguardian.com/environment/20…
148
@RobGMacfarlane
.@WildFishCons is legally challenging government’s new & woefully inadequate Storm Overflow Reduction Strategy, which will allow water companies to continue dumping raw sewage in rivers & seas for the next…28 years.
Pls follow & RT/support their challenge.
Cc @WildJustice_org twitter.com/WildFishCons/s…
149
@RobGMacfarlane
The amazing indy publishers @LittleToller & @Ofmooseandmen have just launched this initiative to help the displaced children of Ukraine.
They're sending 10,000 backpacks filled w/ books, torches, gloves, hats, games...
Pls spread the word, donate, support.
justgiving.com/crowdfunding/p… twitter.com/LittleToller/s…
150
@RobGMacfarlane
"Though we live in a world made of gifts, we find ourselves harnessed to institutions & an economy that relentlessly ask 'What more can we take from the Earth?'"
Robin Wall Kimmerer's great essay 'Returning the Gift', re-published by @humansandnature. Yes.
humansandnature.org/returning-the-…
@RobGMacfarlane
Books: Is A River Alive? (WIP) Underland, The Lost Words, The Old Ways, etc. | Films: River, Mountain, Upstream | Nature, climate, people | Prof @Cambridge_uni