[IT] IS ALL WELL & DONE THAT ....

[Michael Grove]

   On Tuesday, the veteran broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, who was

   being interviewed by the Duke of Cambridge on the main stage at Davos,

   said...

   “This event is one of the most optimistic things I’ve seen in a while.”

   BUT NO THING that the attendees of any WEF EVENT ever held since 

   it's outset, has ever addressed in any sustainable way the issues raised

   so long ago by Colin Mason in his two books, or acknowledged in any  

   significant manner his two Axioms...

   Axiom 1 - Useful change is likely to come only if it can provide as, 

   equal, obvious and general a benefit as possible.

   Axiom 2 - If proposed solutions don't take the lowest common 

   denominators of human nature reallistically into account, they

   will not work.


   DESPITE the fact that Sir David Attenborough said that the environmental

   crisis that the world is facing was caused by mankind’s belief that it

   had to conquer the natural world and live in opposition to it. The truth, 

   he said, is the opposite. “Events like this show that fundamental, beautiful

   fact is being realised. [The World Economic Forum] arguably has more 

   power than any other gathering. They recognise that fundamental truth

   and can do something about it.”


  Some hope however, THAT THE WEF WILL EVER ACT

   on that fundamental truth and do anything about [IT]

  in THE TIME that ME•WE have left to in[DEED] DO SO.

.

[Michael Grove]

Insect pollinators provide a crucial ecosystem service, but are under threat. Urban areas could be important for pollinators, though their value relative to other habitats is poorly known.

City bees: allotments and gardens can help arrest decline – study - Research also identifies pollinators’ favourite flowers, including brambles, buttercups, dandelions, lavender and borage

Allotments, weedy corners and fancy gardens are all urban havens for bees and other pollinators, a study has found. The widespread decline of bees resulting from the loss of wild areas and pesticide use has caused great concern in recent years, but towns and cities have been suggested as potential sanctuaries.

The first research to examine all types of land use in cities has identified pollinators’ favourite places and flowers, many of which are often considered weeds. A team of more than 50 people spent two years examining pollinators and plants in Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds and Reading. The results enabled them to work out the best ways to support a rich mix of pollinator species that will be resilient to climate change and other challenges. The best strategy is increasing the number of allotments, the report says. Planting preferred flowers in gardens also helps, as does mowing grass in public parks less frequently, allowing flowers to bloom.

[Michael Grove]

The US Environmental Protection Agency is poised to allow the use of four of the most devastating chemicals to bees, butterflies, and other insects to continue in America for the next 15 years, despite moves by the European Union to ban the use of toxins that have been blamed for widespread insect declines.

The EPA is widely expected to confirm a proposed plan outlined last year that will extend the use of imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and dinotefuran on US farmland for the next 15 years, even though the agency has noted “ecological risks of concern, particularly to pollinators and aquatic invertebrates.”

These four insecticides are all types of neonicotinoids, a class of chemicals that is widely used on crops to treat them for pests but has been found to cause devastation among non-target insects, such as bees. The chemicals assault receptors in an insect’s nerve synapse, causing uncontrollable shaking, paralysis, and death.