Progress? Whose good news counts?

Habitat and species loss continues, as reported in an article in the current issue of Science, Despite Progress, Biodiversity Declines. Of course this is a matter of grave importance and should serve as a clarion call to conservationists everywhere, especially in the lead up to the forthcoming CBD meeting in Japan, and god knows we do need examples and cases of progress. But Science might want to take time and ask a few of the expelled Chagos Islanders whether the fact that "in May, the United Kingdom designated the Chagos Archipelago as the largest marine reserve in the world, setting aside 544,000 square kilometers" is actually the good news it purports to be. I am sure a few will beg to differ on the fact they now have the world's largest marine reserve to go with the world's largest military base.

The Malthus Monsters

I am continually irked when I visit the Times online with its constant prompts for subscription on every news item clicked. This is nothing compared to the feelings I had about the grossly crass and unsavoury musings of Matthew Parris on rural dwellers in his article "If you want to save the planet stop breeding" in Saturday's edition of the Times. Unfortunately I can't link to the story itself because of the pay wall hassles but Robin Smith has taken him to task on his blog, Real Reform.

Healthy Parks, Healthy People

Following the successful inaugural Healthy Parks Healthy People (HPHP) congress in April hosted by Parks Victoria in Melbourne, Australia this initiative, focussed on the health benefits of contact with nature is continuing to expand. A new website, HPHP central, is to be launched in September and the HPHP Global team welcomes your contributions such as articles, research papers, case studies or tips on how to adopt the Healthy Parks Healthy People philosophy into your organisation. Please send contributions to contribute@hphpcentral.com. The Proceedings from the HPHP congress are now available. More than 70 videos from the conference have been posted on YouTube.