Cameroon Wildlife - Ten "must know" features - and Women's World Day of Prayer

Women’s World Day of Prayer

Ten "must know" features about Cameroon Wildlife
Why Cameroon is a Biodiversity Hotspot?

This year The Women’s World Day of Prayer is on Friday 5th March.

This day happens every year and is celebrated in countries throughout the world. Denominations join together for this. This year the Women of Cameroon have written the service. The theme is: Let Everything that has Breath Praise God

Look out for a service held near you wherever you live in the world. In Settle our service will be held at the Settle Christian Fellowship Church on Duke Street at 7.30pm. – 

I have seen this year’s service: The text of the songs and prayers is mostly very happy and upbeat (as are so many West African people themselves) and I thoroughly recommend you go an enjoy it, joining with women (and men) around the world for this service.

One paragraph of the service says: 

“We praise God for the beauty of our countries. In Cameroon ..we praise God for the mines, for the forest, for the Dja, Limbe and Campo nature reserves, for the rich wildlife, and for the variety of landscapes. "

I would like to tell you more about the wildlife and conservation importance of Cameroon and say a little about these three reserves…

1. So that when we sing the songs about “Creation’s voice declares it” we can think of some of the wonderful wild plants and animals that live there, as well as the domesticated ones mentioned in the text.
   
2. So that you might be moved to support financially some conservation project in Cameroon and I list some that I have found at the end.
   
3. So that we can pray for the people working for conservation in Cameroon (see end) – the government officials , the politicians, the wildlife rangers, the poachers, the farmers, the locals, the local rulers, – that they think not just of short term gains but of long term  sustainable and biodiverse future
   

Here I present some facts I have found by searching the Internet, and from my own visit there in 1987. I visited  Korup, a Nature Reserve in Cameroon  ( – lowland tropical rainforest on very poor soil on the border with Nigeria, and  Mount Oku/Kupe (montane forest).  I stayed with a botanist friend who worked collecting plants and who (as I later found out) discovered a new species  has potential in the quest for a cure for HIV/AIDs. I also visited Mt Cameroon which is an active volcano, and at 4095 m high, the highest mountain in West and Central Africa.


so, blog style, here are

Ten "must know" features about Cameroon Wildlife 

1. Cameroon’s size and position means it has a range of habitats

from Tropical Rainforest in the south, just north of the Equator  to  hot dry savannah grasslands (almost desert) in the north.. From the marine life (such as the bay rich in prawns which led the Portuguese in the 15th century to give Cameroon the name Rio dos Camaröes – River of Prawns) to the highest Mountain in West Africa, Mount Cameroon at 4095m.  Each has its own animal and plant species and different threats.

Cameroon is on the boundary between West Africa and Central Africa. It covers 47,544 square miles -  twice the area of the UK.  The commerce language is English (or pidgin English) in the South West, and French in the rest of Cameroon. Cameroon also has a wide diversity of people – with  240 different tribal groups and over 25 main languages. Some of the oldest tribes include  the Baka Pygmy people of the forests in the south.

2. Some rainforests are 60 million years old

The Rainforests are very special because they are very old – In most of West Africa the forests retreated and were replaced by grassland as climate conditions changed, and then the forests expanded again., but pockets of forest stayed there all the time and could have been growing for 60 million years. (Pretty impressive when you think that just 20,000 years ago we in the North of England lost all our vegetation as out land was covered by ice).

3. Individual mountains have their own species

 In the highland forest some individual mountains have acted as islands with species evolving separately on separate mountains. These species are much newer in Evolutionary terms. These mountains have become taller due to volcanic activity..
You can read about Biodiversity hotspots here: http://bit.ly/avxPnm

The forest in the west of Cameroon is part of the area classified as "Guniean Forest of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot"  http://bit.ly/ceghWO which stretches from the Sanaga river in Cameroon, eastwards to Sierra Leone and Guinea


4. Plants

Here are some interesting facts about plants in Cameroon

About two percent of the plant species which grow in Cameroon only grow in Cameroon - i.e. they are endemic to Cameroon. There were 8260 species of higher plant in Cameroon (in 2004) of which 334 arre threatened, and 156 endemic. (This compares with 1,623 in UK of which 13 are threatened) There must be many undiscovered plant species still in Cameroon.
There are 600 native tree species of which 50 are critically endangered, 27 endangered and 106 vulnerable

Oil Palm - Oil Palm trees evolved in this part of Africa, and have since been taken and cultivated in other parts of the world. (Palm Oil palm is used for soap, cosmetics, and is in about 10% of the food products we buy in the supermarket or 50% of our packaged food. Vast quantities of forest in Indonesia and other countries are being cut down and replaced with Oil  Palm monocultures for vegetable oil and for biofuel). In Cameroon the Oil Palm is mostly used for local consumption as cooking oil.

Strophanthus is a creeper that can be used as arrow poison -While in Korup I took a good photo See  http://rainforest/save.blogspot.com/2008/09/strophanthus.html

A species of wild coffee found on Mount Oku is said to be of more value than the robusta aned arabica species common in Cameroon http://bit.ly/c6sXyD

When I first went to West Africa - ALL the plants looked different to those I knew in the UK. the only plants I recognised were Maize and Poincettia. Near the top of mount Cameroon I recognised European families such as St John's-wort.

Allanblackia - a good news story on 24 Feb 2010! this wild tree has nuts that can be used instead of Palm Oil. IUCN reports a new project which is successful in Ghana, and which will be spread to neighbouring countries including Cameroon: In Ghana alone, there are about 4,000 Allanblackia collectors. It is expected that by 2012, 20,000 individuals will be supplying Allanblackia oil in five countries generating a potential total rural income of US$ 2 million. This translates into an average small-scale farmer earning an additional US$ 100 per year. On the biodiversity front, each tree provides an ‘anchor’, helping to restore forest landscapes.

5. Mammals

Cameroon has 322 different species of wild mammal. Of these 15 do not live outside Cameroon. 42 of them (i.e. one eighth of them) are under threat of extinction. http://bit.ly/9QFDud

Species most under threat include:

Black Rhino 

Three species of shrew.

Oh, a web page written in 12 July 2006 states: West African Black Rhino Extinct: "The West African black rhino is now feared extinct," the Switzerland-based environmental group IUCN said, and Africa's northern white rhino could soon follow. Extensive surveys in northern Cameroon, the animals' last known refuge, found no trace of the rhino subspecies. Poachers have hunted the animals for decades for their horns to supply markets in Yemen and Asia

Followed by

Gorilla African Elephant Oku Mountain Shrew

Then

Chimpanzee - Although not quite under threat of world extinction yet, Chimpanzee numbers have been vastly reduced, the largest remaining populations occur in central Africa, mainly Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Cameroon.  Chimpanzees once inhabited 25 African countries. Now, they are extinct in 3 or 4 and nearing extinction in many others. Deforestation and commercial hunting for bushmeat are taking a terrible toll on most populations.

http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2009/WWFPrescongobushmeat.html

6. Threats to Cameroon wildlife: 

Deforestation, desertification, overgrazing, poaching, and overfishing are all problems. The population of Cameroon is now estimated to be c.20,000,000 and has doubled since I was there in 1987 when it was 10.000,000 - so pressure on land is increasing.  The median age is 18.6 years, and the average number of children per woman is 4.6

Cameroon has one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa, losing some 220,000 hectares of forest per year (i.e. 2,200 sq km), mostly to logging and agriculture. Between 1990 and 2005 Cameroon
lost 13.4% of its Forest Cover, or around 33,000 sq km


Cameroon has some 1661 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles according to the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these 7.2% are endemic.

Another threat to biodiversity is overfishing:   Overfishing in the sea by foreign trawlers with nets with tiny gaps that catch even the small fish  - Hence fishing stocks are plummeting, local fishermen can no longer catch fish, local people miss out on protein in their diet.

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What is special about the Dja, Limbe and Campo Reserves, that these should be singled out by the Women of Cameroon who wrote the service? Perhaps it is because they are all in the south of the country.

7. The Dja reserve

The Dja lies in the south east, almost completely surrounded by the river Dja which forms a natural boundary. It has a wide range of primates and 107 mammal speicies, five of which are threatened. A paper by Jean Lagarde Betti  states that it is the home of forest elephants, chimpanzees and gorillas. . The major ethnic groups, the Bantus and Baka Pygmies, live side by side inside and outside the reserve. (The Baka have been here since the Neolithic, before other tribes came) The reserve itself has not yet been subject to forest logging, but there are eight forest logging Companies working around the reserve. This is a serious problem as it reduces the wild fruits for local people and large mammals. Animals are being hunted in the reserve for sale in towns. More than 70% of the plant species logged in the Dja region are scattered mostly by animals.


8. The Limbe Reserve
The Limbe Reserve is beside the sea in the South west (and a fine beach there is there too!)  There is a Botanical Garden here started in 1892  
The Limbe Wildlife Centre, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation project started in 1993 –animals rescued from Cameroon’s bushmeat trade. This gives an opportunity to see animals. Sadly there are few places in the wild where it is safe to release them. Only 120,000 chimpanzees remain in the wild in central Africa and every day 100s more are shot.

9. The Campo Ma’an Reserve
The Campo ma'an reserve is in the extreme south west, beside the sea and Equatorial Guinea.  It is tropical forest with gorillas, mandrills, chimpanzees and other primates. It is the home of the Bagyeli Pygmy people


10. How you can help:-
A.
Here are some charities and conservation organisations involved in  conservation work in Cameroon.

It is important that the local people are involved with the management of the forests and other nature reserves, and that they benefit from its conservation.. It is important to find solution to the problems of  poaching and commercial shooting of bushmeat, of overgrazing by goats, of logging and clearence of forest  for agriculture or moncultures of Eucalyptus trees, and of accepting bribes and turning a blind eye to some of these problems. It is important to find sustainable uses of the forest

www.panda.org  World Wildlife Fund
Birdlife International and Cameroon Biodiversity Conservation Society
IUCN - the International Union for Conservation of Nature


B
We can pray for the people working for conservation in Cameroon
– the government officials , the politicians, the wildlife rangers, the poachers, the farmers, the local rulers, – that they think not just of short term gains but of long term rewards. We can pray that  – that the species will still be here in another 20 years time, that more trees can be planted to stop soil erosion, that goats can be kept under control,  that wild species of tree can be kept (and their associated wildlife)  rather than replaced with monoculture of fast growing Eucalyptus that do not give homes to wildlife. We can pray that people in Britain will use timber that has the FSC label - Forest Stewardship Council.  The forest is worth far more standing than it is cut down.
We can pray that children can be educated to appreciate their wildlife.

Suggestions and Feedback Welcome

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What a Biodiversity Action Support Group would invovle

As I said in my previous posting "Ten Top Tips" on 23 Jan, a friend asked "What changes to our lives do we need to make to avoid to contributing to species extinction?" and "What would this mean for action on a group environmental action programme and assessment of that action?"

Just "not harming species on an individual level" whilst "living in a society whose growth is causing biodiversity loss" does not seem right. (And remember a good definition of Biodiversity is "The variety of genes, species and ecosystems on the planet")

I would like to propose a CEL "Biodiversity Action Self  Help Group", or a "Biodiversity Support Group". I propose that the group has 6 – 12 people, and we run it for a year and a quarter, starting from February – (i.e. a year but with a bit at the beginning to get going and a bit at the end to “Measure” what we have achieved.).     

Each person could commit to 6 hours a fortnight.
That might mean getting up half an hour earlier each day- or have a blitz one long evening a fortnight. (It may be that people are doing several of the things below already:       
The members of the group could have the tick list below and once a
fortnight check that they had done everything: Being part of the group would be an encouragement to get everything done.

1.      1 hour of prayer/ meditation/thought (even if that is included in going out for a walk in nature)    

2.      1 hour of communicating with the group – this could be by phone conference (we could do it by Skype and then it would be free, or we could arrange some tele-conferences, and it could be by a private Ning group or a private Google group)

3.      1 hour preparing for communicating (e.g. making coffee, deciding what we want to say, filling in tick list, showing what we have done this fortnight)

4.      1 hour “doing natural history”(Number 7 in "Ten Top Tips  post")

5.      2 hours campaigning (Number 3 in "Ten Top Tips  post")

By filling in the tick list, after a few weeks this list will be our "Assessment of Action"

People who are members of the group would not have to commit to all of points 1-10 in ten top tips, but  I would hope that they would be committed towards working towards these goals to some extent, and be able to contribute to, and give and gain encouragement from the group.

Once we've "met" we might discuss and decide to alter our commitments slightly.  We might find that we have very varying interests. But by forming a group we would get encouragement.



If anyone is interested do contact me.

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Ten Top Tips for Saving Biodiversity in the Next Ten Years

Are you concerned about wildlife loss?-

1.  Species are becoming extinct at a rate 1000 to 10,000 times the “natural rate” leaflet
2. At current rate of forest loss in Borneo and Sumatra, orang-utans will be extinct in  the wild within 10 years. (FOE Report from 3 years ago).
3. 1/4 world mammals and 1/8th of the birds and higher plants are under threat of extinction by 2050..

A friend coordinating writing a Group Environmental Action Programme -"Ecocell"asked me

     “What changes to our lives do we need to make  to avoid  contributing to species extinction?”

     “What would this mean for action on a group environmental action programme, and assessment of that action?”

That got me thinking..
 I write this blog post and at the end give suggestions for a support group:

Good definition: -
Biodiversity -:  the variety of genes, species and ecosystems on the planet



Ten Top tips for reducing our “Biodiversity Bootprint” (Or bulldozerprint?)

Here are ten things we can do in our own personal lives that will reduce the rate of species loss.

1.      Pray about it. (Even if you have entirely secular views, time spent meditating / thinking about some species/wildlife problem will lead somewhere)  (even if only up the garden path ...to feed the birds...)

2.      Join a wildlife organisation – or better, several. Why not subscribe life membership each year to a new organisation – Yes that is £500 a time, but that still works out as £10-00 a week or 4 pints of beer a week. Most of us will have 50 to 90 years to do something useful with our lives – so each year counts. What will you do with this year?     

3.      Set aside two hours a week to campaign on some wildlife issue.  Organisations such as WWF are only too happy to ask you to send emails/write leters on important issues      

4.      Become “more organic vegan”.  The Amazon is being cut down to grow Soya to export to feed out cattle, and thus produce our  milk… If we become “organic vegan” ourselves, it will have a knock on effect on other people.

5.      Buy “Rainforest Certified” and “Fair Trade” products and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) timber, and make an issue of choosing these products.

6.      If you have savings in stocks and shares type ISAs make sure they are not being invested in industries that are destroying habitats. 

7.      Enjoy nature and take part in some sort of natural history survey work. If a specialist then send in your results to a national survey – If a beginner then attend an event run by a local wildlife group, or record birds in your garden.    

If we don’t appreciate our own wildlife, (however mundane) how can we expect people who live near rare animals and plants to have a respect for their wildlife?

8.      Lobby your MP and MEP on wildlife issues (See 3 above)

9.      Raise money and have awareness raising events in aid of projects in 3 above. See this guidance for journalists writing about biodiversity

10.     Join a support group to support each other in carrying out items 1-9 above.

I would like to have a biodiversity support group. I propose that the group has 8 – 12 people, and we run it for a year and a quarter, starting from January - We will meet up once a fortnight, having an hour's telephone conference call - If necessary, using skype, and by having a private googlegoup to support each other. We may have different key wildlife concerns, but we can support each other in our enthusiasm for getting things done. More about this in my next blog entry.   Do contact me if you are interested.

Grasses: Monthly tips for becoming an ace at identifying grasses

Grass of the Month

   In this, the International Year of Biodiversity, this blog will feature a different British grass each month - Follow these pages and you will be come an expert in grasses too!

(This material will be partly based on an article I wrote for the North Craven Heritage Trust last year, partly linked to the articles I am writing each month for North Ribblesdale Parish Magazine this year, and also used for the CEL website. But mostly I am writing it because I hope people will then enjoy looking more closely at grasses)

   The major civilizations evolved about 10 thousand (or so) years ago- only in places where species of grass with large seeds had evolved - In South America the Incas had maize. In China people had rice. And in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean they had wheat (and barley).

   Remember Joseph and Pharaoh's Dreams?

   The seven cows- cows need grass to eat. (Genesis 41 v 3 - The cows grazed on the reeds.)

   Seven good ears of corn:  Corn - wheat- is a cereal and a type of grass.

    Thus human civilization depended on grasses

   And going back a stage - the herbivores - such as cattle and sheep, which we eat,  need grass, and they only evolved as grasses evolved.


   No grasses - No herbivores .. No humans.


   So hey - Grasses are important!

Reed Canary-grass

January's grass is going to be Reed Canary-grass - Phalaris arundinacea - because it is the only grass near where I live tall enough to stick out above the snow. (Picture below taken on 6 Jan 2010)

   It grows beside rivers.   The stems can reach 2m in height.

  Have you ever used a blade of grass for a whistle - by putting the blade between your thumbs and blowing? It works realy well with Phalaris.

  Underground shoots called rhizomes enable it to grow in big patches.

   Sometime variegated forms of this grass are grown in gardens. - wide leaves with longditudinal white stripes

   Could Pharaoh's cows have been eating Reed Canary-grass?

   Well, the Global Invasive species Data base of IUCN base says it is an invasive species in Egypt now and it may or may not be native - and that it is native in Iraq near by. So let's assume they did. It produces nutritious, palatable, succulent herbage for pasture, silage, and hay.

   So if you see a tall grass beside a river, sticking out of the snow it has a good chance of being Reed Canary-grass.
 
   Easy!





   Of course, when looking for "the largest grass beside a river or marsh" you just might just come across one of two other much much less common plants, but which fit the description "big" and "grass-like"



1.) The Common Reed (another type of grass) - see right
   As most people who have studied grasses will tell you, you can distinguish Reed Canary-grass from the Reed by looking at the ligule - the little membrane that sticks up at the blade sheath junction. In the Canary-grass (left) it IS a membrane. In the reed (Right) it is a row of hairs.
     

2.) The Reed-mace (wrongly called Bulrush) (which is not a grass at all.)

   I would have to walk 7 km east or 4 km north respectively to find these plants - which I am not going to do - not in this snow anyway. So maybe I'll talk about these in January 2011 (or if the snow is still covering the smaller grasses I may be forced to in February this year.!)

   Put on your wellies or hiking boots and go for a walk beside a river near you and see if you can see some Reed Canary-grass

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New Year Night UFOs

On New Year's Eve, just before midnight, I walked along the black road, bordered by snow white fields filled with.. snow.  A thin sprinkling of sparkling new snow covered the parked car, the wall tops and all the old snow. Suddnely fireworks went off in the distance towards Settle. Some birds flew up.

At 00.15am  on Friday 1st 2010  I looked up the valley and in the sky saw a procession of lights  approaching. Three ..four.. eventually about seven. they were too low down to be aeroplanes on their way from America. I could tell they were low because of their relative speed, the size and brightness of the lights. Yet I could hear no sound.

The picture, with the camera placed on the wall and set on self timer shows three of them. They feature as lines rather than oval lights because of the show shutter - but this shows the direction they were each taking.

If they were planes, why no sound? Is it something to do with the very cold air in the valley which somehow reflects the sound back up?

Here are three more scenic pictures taken by the light of the full moon.

  My first pictures in 2010!

I wish you a Happy New Year

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Calendars for 2010

I have been selling calendars in aid of the rainforest fund, as well as greetings cards and Christmas Cards. the calendars cost £2-00 - They can also be used as greetings cards.

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Xmas

Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2010!

Above: Settle Town Hall

Pictures of Settle Vigil for Copenhagen on 12 Dec

Twenty people came to the vigil on 12th December, that I publicised in the blog below on 11 December. You can see the pictures at the AVAAZ Flickr website at  http://bit.ly/7jUtIZ

 

What makes Settle's Candlelit Vigil for Copenhagen special?

We are having a vigil for Copenhagen on Saturday 12th December from 5pm to 6pm on Settle Market Square.

What makes it special and why should you come to it?

1. All the 220 vigils taking place in the UK are special as are the over 2000 vigils taking place world wide - 
2. Vigils show we have concern for the idea that there should be a Fair Deal at Copenhagen.
3. They give us chance to show solidarity with the people working at Copenhagen and world wide to secure this
4. The vigils give us chance to meet with each other and to interact with our own community.
5. And what a community and place Settle is. This vigil is being organised by "Settle Eco-Nite" a loose network of people who meet on the first Wednesday evening of each month and the vigil is for everyone.
   
6. Settle has a pledge plant: - It stands on the cobbles in the Market Square.
   . -- A Topic tree,
     -- with a commitment crown
     -- of leaves loaded with  uplifting lists of promises, priorities and practical actions.

Come to Settle, in the Craven Dales of North Yorkshire,  get a leaf from the shop next door (Practically Everything) or cut out your own leaf and put it on the tree. (We hope it will stay up from now until the New Year)

Come to the Vigil at 5-6pm on Saturday.  Bring warm clothes and a candle.
 We'll share stories, silence and maybe even songs.

Here is a  poster (in pdf) about the event

See you.

Wave Climate Service at London 5 December Press Release

I have just been sent the churches' joint press release about this morning's  service Climate Service at Westminster Methodist Central Hall, London,  with leaders from the major UK denominations speaking.

I have put the press release on Christian Ecology Link's  website plus two of the press pictures they sent: It really is worth reading there is a lot of detail.

- The Hall looks packed from the pictures. It must have been good to have been there.  Many of my friends from Christian Ecology Link would be there (maybe more than 20 or 30 of them, including  several going down with Bradford and Lancaster organised trips) amongst the other more than  3000 people at the service.

(Official press photo of the Wave Service at Westminster Central Hall. Everyone had to wear blue gloves to wave!)

I know a lot of people who were taking part - so it is nice to think of them attending the Rally now as I write this.
 .............................................

I spent this morning at Langcliffe (my village) Christmas Craft  Event selling my Greetings Cards and
Calendars in Aid of the "Rainforest Fund run by a group at Settle Methodist Church". I only sold £40-00 worth - but £40-00 (apparently) is enough to buy/protect half an acre. Half an acre!!.

Now I shall go down to my local church - with a print out of the Press Release and ask them in the intercession prayer request notebook to consider using  the Day of Prayer Climate Change prayer
tomorrow morning, or something similar..

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Malham Tarn Environment Research Seminar November 2009

I have just had a great weekend.

I used to work at Malham Tarn Field Centre in the limestone area of the Yorkshire Dales  and I still live seven miles away from it. On alternate years they have a Seminar in November for people who have done research there or are interested in research.

On Saturday there were about 15 talks on topics: about caving and cave conservation; about diatoms in the tarn and sediments in the tarn; about dolines (pre-glacial solution hollows), the biggest ones being highest up. On "The Yellow Sedge" a plant which only grows in three places in England, including at  Malham Tarn; about management of the Malham Tarn Estate; about the native white crayfish and efforts to conserve it as the American Signal Crayfish and the Crayfish Plague (brought in with the signal crayfish) have resulted in its disappeaing from most of our streams; about a national Banded Snail Survey that the Field Centre does with the sixth formers that go for courses there - and then the students can repeat the same project at home. http://www.evolutionmegalab.org/en_GB/

A talk was given about some records made in the 1350s of costs and receipts running a monastic sheep farm near Malham. He showed aerial photos of the monastic a sheep(milking) house on Malham Moor and
showed it was part of a bigger complex.  The records had been copied by hand in Latin in in the 1540s.  It showed the importance of records.

A lecturer from Bradford showed the results of pollen analysis made in a peat section on the bog next to the Tarn which tells us about the past 8000 years or so.

A fresh water ecologist showed me the graphs of how species increase and decrease in cycles in the Tarn of about 10 years.
   He was concerned that records that had been made for a long period in the past about water nutrient content were no longer being made. We need long runs of data to monitor changes. For example there is more nitrogen chemicals in the water now due to pollution from the air

A lady from the National Trust chaired it very well, keeping people to time.

We had good food, including beef that (they thought) came from Darnbrook, a local farm.

On Sunday, those people that had stayed on had planned to go for short walks the morning. It was foul wet rainy weather with some sleet. One group went to see "The Yellow Sedge". One group went to Ha Mire to look for certain features of a bog area.

I wanted to do the OPAL lichen survey at Malham Tarn and the two tutors there were keen to try it out. So we downloaded and laminated the lichen picture key/chart (lamination valuable in the wet weather we were having). http://www.opalexplorenature.org/?q=AirSurvey
People have used lichens for over 40 years for looking at sulphur dioxide air pollution - The big bearded lichens only grow where there is pure air, and in very polluted areas you only get a green alga called Diplomacies (used to be Pleura). However sulphur dioxide pollution is much lower now since we closed many of the coal fired power stations, used methods of taking the SO2 out,  nd exported our heavy industry to China and other countries, and closed down the textile industries which kept The Lancashire and Yorkshire Cotton Mill towns going 20 miles to the Se and SW So some of the sensitive lichens are coming back.

However this lichen survey looks at air pollution due to nitrogen oxides and possibly ammonia due to car exhausts and farm fertilizers. Some lichens will only grow where there is a very low concentration of these chemicals, other species will grow where there is a high concentration.

Anyway we went out, well wrapped up against the cold and wet and came back in and by the time we had entered our results in the national survey online we felt proud of ourselves.

In the afternoon I went for a walk (eventually by myself) following the Tarn Outflow Stream to see how far it was flowing beyond the normal sink hole. It was flowing about 1/4 mile to the next major sink hole, but not as far as the "dry waterfall" at Watlowes valley.. which was still dry in spite of the continuous heavy rain.

Do have a look at the OPAL website - It is very easy to do the Sycamore Tar Spot survey (now on leaves on the ground). The lichen survey is a little more detailed but very interesting and worth while trying. http://www.opalexplorenature.org/?q=AirSurvey
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Settle Hydro - almost ready

On the morning of Wednesday 18th, we had solid rain and I looked at the river Ribble outside my house which was as high as I had seen it all year. I looked on the internet but (then) no BBC news of floods. I was surprised the river was so high. (It was the next day in Cumbria that the floods really took off!)

Later that day when the water had gone down (or a day near then, I think,) I stopped at the Settle Hydro and asked how long it would be till it was finished and had the floods damaged everything.

No the floods had not damaged anything - but it had been really useful to test the system under flood conditions!!. The screw had been tested that day working for the first time and they were going to do more tests. Much of the work left just involved tidying up and landscaping the surface .. So it might be ready mid December!!

Well, Here is to the 1st of January.

Settle Hydro - The Archimedean Screw Arrives

They have been digging and preparing the site at Settle weir since summer. Settle hydro is a community project in Settle. Today - 28 Oct - The crane and the Archimedean screw arrived.

I was driving into Settle to attend Craven Conservation Group Fungus Foray - I saw the commotion and thought - "This is too important to miss."





Here is where the screw was placed initially.


This has four blades. (Larger screws would only have three.)
They are starting to lift it now

Up and over

.. have to remove some blocks from the lintel above the door
There it's in now. Attach some bolts..


See Mark Dale's excellent pictures at photobucket.com

More details about the project


In the background of the pictures above is Lords Wood and some pasture on the hill beyond. This is where I did eventually catch up with the fungus foray - examining a fairy ring of Clouded of Agarics (Clitocybe nebularis)

They had a good day.(Interested? See www.craven-conservation-group.org.uk and Mid Yorkshire Ffungus Group www.myfg.org.uk)

And quite a few of us went back to see the Settle Hydro.

Archbishop of Canterbury's lecture on 13 Oct 2009

The Climate Crisis: Fashioning a Christian Response

Due to a meeting I was in London on 13 October and so was able to go to hear Dr Rowan Williams. Over 1000 people had filled Southwark Cathedral to hear the Archbishop. You can read the text of his speech on his website. I was pleased I had gone early enough to get a seat beside the central aisle and spent time leaning out into the central aisle trying to take a picture without flash... grateful in the knowledge that if I did not catch everything he said, the text would be put up on line afterwards (Read it here)

In question time he said things that I found a bit more concrete: .. these answers do not appear to be online but this is what I remember as the gist of what he said:

That perhaps we (the audience) could be the Wilberforces and the Martin Luther Kings of the Green movement.

That God had created the world and "saw that it was good". that he had created us in his image .. so we should see that it is good too, and so look after it.

On rereading his speech I see he does not mention anything about the evidence that CO2 is the main driver of global warming -(allowing people to play it both ways). It is an academic lecture after all. And his lecture will stand in three years or thirty years time whichever way it turns out. He said

"Mike Hulme, in a provocative and original new book, Why We Disagree About Climate Change, argues that the anxieties around global warming and related matters are actually a welcome opportunity for us to look hard at fundamental issues concerning our social and ethical situation. He quotes (p.354) the somewhat startling remarks of a former Canadian government minister who said that even if the science around climate change was mistaken, the focus on the question had provided the best possible impetus towards more equality and justice in the world."

At the bottom of the post I will put some useful quotes from his written text. But I would like to tell you about the three great points about the day for me -

1. To be privileged to hear the leader of the C of E give a talk about care of the environment in this ancient Cathedral
   
2. To walk from Westminster, then along the shingle beach of the south bank of the Thames, waves lapping on the flint pebbles of the shore, two fishermen fishing from a jetty, with St Pauls, opposite, the Gherkin and bridges lit by the setting sun . History. (And how high would the Thames rise?) and (sadly) how high will buildings rise around St Pauls?
3. Asking my neighbours in the congregation "Who are you?" (well a bit more politely than that) - each answer delighted me.. It was like opening those little pictures on an advent calendar. I remet a man I had met 12 years ago - now ordained; - I met Ben Brangwyn of the Transition Towns Movement - I met Thaddeus Dell who is the the Carbon reduction Policy Officer of the Methodist Church; I met a lady who had come all the way from Sheffield specially for the talk.

Here are some quotes from his speech:

"To act so as to protect the future of the non-human world is both to accept a God-given responsibility and appropriately to honour the special dignity given to humanity itself."

“Each of us can bring pressure to bear on institutions we are connected with to conduct a rigorous carbon audit; for those involved in the Church of England, the website of the Shrinking the Footprint initiative offers help with such projects.”

“There are the various specific choices we can make about our refuse, our travel, our domestic energy use”

“But I'd want also to underline the need for us to change our habits enough to make us more aware of the diversity of life around us. I once suggested that one necessary contribution to a better awareness of these issues was to make sure we went out of doors in the wet from time to time (a suitable lesson from Noah...), and – if we haven't got gardens of our own – make sure we took opportunities of watching the changing of the seasons on the earth's surface.”

I liked this last one best – we have plenty of opportunity to get wet in Ribblesdale.

... So I returned to Settle the next day (220 miles by train - carbon footprint - 21kg CO2 = 84kWh

(And for it to be a fair world we should aim to just produce 6kg CO2 per day or 24kWh. )

Settle Climate Change Day of Prayer

Well, we held the event and it went well. Now I can relax ..

We had a meaningful, varied and worthwhile day, with contributions from people of different denominations - people from 9 different churches were present (Not bad for a small town). I counted 40 people during the day.

• Our town of Settle has 4798 people (made up of Settle 3044 and Giggleswick 1407 separated by the River Ribble, and Langcliffe up the road with 307) - or twice that when including surrounding villages. So that means we had a turnout of 1 in 100 or 1in 200.
  

Do you want to hear the variety of different things we did?

1. David Briggs, the minister at St John's Methodist Church opened with the Day of Prayer Introductory Prayer and prayers of his own. Then I played the first seven of the CD prayers with 1-2 minutes intervals between each.

2. Lunch:
- an opportunity for talking to and meeting people.
- an opportunity to fill in the two petitions
- 1. in support of the Prince's Rainforest project,
- 2. to Ed Miliband and Gordon Brown about Copenhagen.
- an opportunity to look at the children's prayers sent in by Giggleswick Primary School and Giggleswick Junior School. The people really appreciated these prayers.
Two pans of vegetable soup (Thanks Elizabeth Towers) and 36 rolls (Thanks Althea) sustained us. Plus a few baked potatoes. served by three valiant members of our church.

3. The DVD "Stations of the Forest" went down well. It is very moving. The video is only 15 minutes but it would be good to have a 1 1/2 hour session to discuss it - useful discussion notes. Maggie McSherry gave an informative introduction.
I now have a copy of the DVD if people would like to borrow it.

4. Huge paper footprints for America and tiny ones for Kerala in India were placed on the green carpet at the front of the church.

"Footprints in the Cosmos" - a short service led by Alistair Helm of Giggleswick Parish Church and Neil Kendra. England's footprints were very big too - It would take three worlds to provide resources if everyone in the world consumed as much as we do in Britain. (Just out of interest, we had a gentleman from Kerala at our church this morning, with his grandchild - visiting his daughter (who works at the nursing home in Settle) and son in law.)

4. Interval -
"Shake yourselves!" I said, "Shake hands with someone you don't know!"..
"And let's have a photoshot of everyone. Please." I ushered as many as would oblige to pose in front of the climate signs on the front door. ... "Thank you group!!!"

Actually that's three separate points - 4. It's good to get the blood circulating - 5. It's good to get to know people. and 6. maybe the photo will come in useful in publicising the issue of climate change..

7. Once inside again Maggie told us about the transport being arranged to the demonstration "The Wave" on the 5th December - both from Leeds+ Bradford and from Lancaster. Then she realised she would have to explain what "The Wave" is, and how Rowan Williams would be speaking at the church service beforehand.

8. Rodney Hooper reminded me to remind everyone about the Showing of "Age of Stupid" on Tuesday night. 6 Oct. Alison said there would be refreshments afterwards.

9. At some point - may be now - I showed people the book "Hope in God's Future" and explained how a friend is walking from Huddersfield to London in time for the wave, staying with Methodist's en route to publicise to Methodists about this report.

10. Alison Tyas gave us readings from the "A Quaker response to climate change", with some personal comments on some of them and time for reflection between others. She described how she had seen melting glaciers in Austria 40 years ago.. Scientist were beginning to record global warming then. Why had it taken us so long to act?

11. Now it was time for our "Settle Prayer Walk". Blessed with sunny weather, the participants set off in groups of 4 to 6 in different directions to visit one or two sites on the Settle Prayer Walk.
I was so glad it was fine. Being outside and experiencing the wonder of nature is half of what it's all about to me!.

12. Music and songs session.
I had been up late the previous evening printing out some copies of "Environment Praise 1" and "Environment Praise 2" - collections of songs and hymns about care of the environment that I have made -- but the printer kept jamming when I tried it back to back - and I wondered if the sound of my printer chugging away at midnight would go through the wall to my neighbour...

"You'll just have to get them to share copies" a friend said - "It's more intimate".

Some came back from the walk early keen to do the songs. I accompanied them one finger on the piano or to my piano accordion- and was really grateful that one lady could sing (sight reading) well and keep everyone else going. We sang five songs and read a couple of others.

13. Tea; chat; look at children's hymns. Look at the box of books for loan from the Eco-nite group and three people borrowed books. Most people left then.

14. The remnant, a dozen of us met for a short period of open prayer and silence.

As we started tidying away I played the next prayer on the cd.- The prayer of St Teresa of Avila (mp3)

We had a good day. thanks to everyone for coming. Perhaps we should have spent more time in prayer and in silence .. but why not listen now: Audio of prayers and readings


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Preparation for Settle Day of Prayer on Climate Change and the Environment

Tomorrow is the Day of Prayer

I have spent quite a bit of effort in trying to get publicity for the Day of Prayer Nationally and regionally as well as locally.

The Craven Herald Had a tiny piece this week in a side column - but I met a lady this afternoon in Settle Museum who had read it - We locals read it pretty thoroughly, so well done Craven Herald!

I picked up "Newsround" - the Bradford Diocese Newspaper which only came out this week so most people will not have read it yet.. but it has a section about the event nationally.

I emailed some of my friends and contacts about it this morning.

Well now I am almost ready for tomorrow:

I went into the choir vestry and cleaned the window, in case we use this room. And I arranged some chairs and tables slightly in the Foyer where we make coffee, and where tomorrow we will serve soup.

We have had Prayer contributions form Giggleswick Primary School and Giggleswick Junior School, and I have planned where to pin these up. We will read some of them at 4pm.

I was delighted yesterday to find that Alistair Helm and Neil Kendra the two Anglican priests have prepared something for their "Anglican slot" - "Footprints in the Cosmos".

I had received at last the DVD "Stations of the Forest" and equally delighted that Maggie McSherry is going to use that - She had only been able to get the slide pack so was please to have the DVD -

Alsion Tyas is set to Read some from the "A Quaker Response to climate change".


I will print the programme at the bottom of this post.

So what is the Methodist Response?

I noted in the report from Synod on Settle Circuit's brand new website that there is a Methodist report on Climate Change.








CHURCHES TOGETHER IN SETTLE AND DISTRICT DAY OF PRAYER ON CLIMATE CHANGE
AND ENVIRONMENT. 4 OCT 2009

You are all very welcome to this whether of any religion or none.

You can read the programme in more detail at www.ctisad.org.uk
or download the poster www.christian-ecology.org.uk/dop-ctisad.doc
Here is a summary:
This 'Day of Prayer' is being encouraged across the country this Sunday, October 4th in the run-up to the climate change talks in Copenhagen this December, where bold and science-based agreements must be reached for the continuation of abundant life on earth.

At Settle's event, running parallel to the prayers, will be extra activities:
12.00 Intro prayers and climate prayers - Introduced by David Briggs
12.30 Low carbon footprint lunch - Soup and rolls. Free. Donations welcome
1.00 New Catholic DVD: 'Stations of the forest' - Presentation by Maggie McSherry
1.30 Anglican presentation /session: "Footprints in the Cosmos" - led by Alistair Helm and Neil Kendra
2.00 Quaker contribution "A Quaker Response to Climate Change" - Introduced by Alison Tyas
2.30-3.30 Part of Churches Together Prayer Walk - or stay in church
3.30-3.30 Green Songs / Hymns - Selection form Judith's collection: "Environment Praise"
New words to favourite tunes. Plus old and new green songs you may not have heard before.
If you have a portable musical instrument do bring it! (I can email you some of the music if you want to practise - or just come)
4.00 Reading of Children's Prayers - Poems and Prayers from Giggleswick Primary School and
Giggleswick Junior School will be on display and a selection read
4.30 Light refreshments - If you would like to bring contributions to this, they will be
welcome.... especially if you can work out if they are low carbon footprint.(e.g. local vegetables) otherwise go for LOAF i.e.
one of
L - local
O - organic
A - animal friendly
F - Fairly traded

5-00 Local Prayers; Short talk on how to become an EcoCongregation.
5.30 Prayers and Conclusion
6.00 Finish.

With such a variety of activities, I hope something appeals!


Best wishes
Judith Allinson

The future of the rainforest is our future too | Please sign up at www.rainforestSOS.org





Here

Day of Prayer on Climate Change and Environment

Churches Together in Settle and District are going to have a
Day of Prayer on Climate Change and the Environment on Sunday 4th October. See our programme

Churches all over the country are invited to hold a Climate Change Day of Prayer - see the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland Website.
A friend in Bradford has designed a user friendly EXCELLENT USEFUL triptych leaflet with the quotes made by important church leaders about the importance of prayer and the Copenhagen talks.

I recommend printing it and showing it to people at your church.

Do let me know if you are having a Climate Change Day of Prayer at your church...
or even better like us extending it to all the environment so we can pur more emphasis on saving rainforests and rare habitats and species under threat.
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Algae and Lichens Walk

We held the Algae and Lichens Walk on Wednesday 26 August.
Five people came plus Allan and I which made for a nice group. Yes it did rain a bit.
We spent more than half an hour in the National Park Car Park., there was so much there to see.
We sheltered in Janet's Foss Wood. Allan later emailed me to say the blue-green in roadside puddle: Oscillatoria brevis - not one of the commoner species.
filaments on stone in beck: Ulothrix zonata
green stuff on fence post : Klebsormidium crenulatum
So there - I'll put the pictures up later.

Algae (and Lichens) for Beginners - Malham Walk

This was written in 2009.         Click for Other Posts about Lichens on this blog

Note added on 8 Sept 2012: Today On 8 Sept 2012 I am leading a walk along the same track - meeting at 10.30am in Malham Yorkshire Dales National Park Car Park. - - I have added some notes in red today to this blog post which was otherwise written in 2009. 

Today's walk is run for Plantlife members and for everyone else local or visitors who would like to come. Now back to my preparations in 2009..

We haven't got Rainforest in Yorkshire - so lets look at Nature at a small scale - algae, bluegreen bacteria and lichens.



On Wednesday 26 August 2009 I am helping Allan Pentecost in "An Algae and Lichens Walk" - Let's be honest - I have organised the walk and put the posters up .. and now hope to learn as much as I can from him!! - Thanks Allan. This Monday evening after it had stopped raining I went to Malhamdale to take some photos. The views just before I dropped down to Malham village were great! You are looking towards Gordale above.

Focusing on the wall top we see Verrucaria nigrescens and on top of the cap stone is a yellower lichen, seen closeup below.




On the other side of the road I looked across a stone along the road - You can see Malham Cove in the distance. On the stone there is a white lichen Aspicilia calcarea  and an orange one Caloplaca flavescens. Here below is the same rock and lichens but closer up.

Once in the village, I park in the National Park Car Park. the sun is shining on the trunks of the two small ash trees. Near the base of the trunk is Xanthoria parietina and next to it a species of Physcia. Let's go for Physcia tenella

The tape has mm on one side and 1/8 ths of an inch on the other. The pictures below have ended up sideways.


This is of Lecanora chlarotera.


This lichen has black fruiting bodies.



On a Mountain Ash trunk near by is some Usnea subfloridana  (Sadly by 2011 it had disappeared)





this tree has Ramalina farinosa

and Parmelia sulcata

The border of the door for both Ladies and Gents toilets is sandstone. This lichen grows on it.It is Lecanora campestris




Outside the chapel the wall tops are also sandstone and have large patches of a whitish lichen



and also one with black fruiting bodies




On the fence post over the road is this green. Is it alga or is it lichen?.. I think it will turn out to be the filamentous alga Klebsormidium crenulatum


I set off. at the footbridge on the back wall of the Blacksmith's is some Caloplaca flavescens.


by now the batteries in the camera and the spare batteries are flat. . I have only gone 100 yards. Time to go home!.


Click for Other Posts about Lichens on this blog