The Assembly has voted to ban hare coursing in Northern Ireland. A motion to outlaw the use of greyhounds to chase and kill Irish hares was passed by 23 to 18 this week and has been incorporated into the Wildlife and Natural Environment (NI) Bill.

It is expected to come into force after the summer.

It follows a series of temporary bans by successive Environment Ministers on taking hares.

Assembly Members will also be considering a Private Members Bill introduced by the Green Party aimed at banning fox hunting. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where hunting foxes with dogs remains legal.

Amendments were tabled and debated on Tuesday as the Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill had its first reading.

The Bill introduces jail sentences for persistent wildlife criminals as well as larger fines. Added investigation and enforcement powers have been given to the police to tackle wildlife crime.

Public bodies will now have a new duty to ‘conserve biodiversity’ so that all work done by public bodies will need to take the effects on wildlife into account.

New offences have been introduced for reckless damage or disturbance to protected birds, animals and their habitats, including those in Areas of Special Scientific Interest.

It’s already illegal to cut hedges during the breeding season but this new rule will mean there is no need to prove that damage was intentional, just reckless. The Bill also gives new protection to the nests of certain birds whose nests are used year after year, including birds of prey such as red kite, barn owl and peregrine as well as the golden eagle, osprey and white-tailed eagle. The RSPB welcomed the new measures, but said it was disappointed that more bird species can now be kept in captivity to be shown at competitions. It promised to work with the Department of the Environment to make sure this does not lead to illegal trapping of birds to supply the trade.

“All in all it has been a good result for nature,” RSPB conservation manager Anne-Marie McDevitt said.

“We campaigned hard to ensure these changes took place, including petitioning for stronger protection for birds of prey.”

The Bill is expected to go through its second reading in the autumn.

Compiled by EVOLVE! Campaigns – http:/www.evolvecampaigns.org.uk

Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk:80/news/local-national/northern-ireland-bans-hare-coursing-and-fox-hunting-could-be-next-14852888.html

IFAW Canada: 2010 Seal Hunt Ends!

260,000 Seal Pups Saved

The commercial slaughter of harp seal pups for 2010 officially closed at 8 pm on June 14.

Only 66,509 harp seal pups have been reported to be killed this year, much lower than the total allowable catch of 330,000 harp seals set by Fisheries Minister Gail Shea. This is the second year in a row that the number of seals killed has been drastically below the allowable catch. Last year, some 72,000 seals were killed

The continued lack of consumer desire to purchase products made from Canada’s dead seals means that over 260,000 seal pups have been spared a cruel and unnecessary death this year. Unfortunately, due to the absence of ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence breeding grounds, hundreds of thousands of pups may have perished – even with the reduced commercial hunt.

There is no better time for the Canadian government to bring an end to this unnecessary slaughter and begin helping sealers transition into other industries. Results of a new poll conducted by Environics Research Group for IFAW indicates that 79% of Canadians would approve of the use of tax dollars being used to phase out the seal hunt and transition sealers into other industries.

Yesterday in the Canadian Senate, Senator Mac Harb criticized the Canadian government for failing Canadians by continuing to support the commercial seal hunt rather than work to provide alternatives. Canada is not the only country where sealing is in decline. Recent media from Norway reports that despite increased subsidies to the industry, only one sealing vessel took part in the hunt this year, and that this boat now also intends to stop sealing.

Earlier in the spring, fines were issued and a sealing boat’s licence was revoked as a result of a shocking report made by an inspector onboard a Norwegian sealing vessel during the 2009 hunt, revealing gross incompetency, cruel killing practices and horrific suffering. – Sheryl Fink – IFAW For more information on IFAW’s efforts around the world please visit www.ifaw.org.

SOURCE

— Male duck nurtures five abandoned kittens.

Football for some, soccer for others – with the support of puma.peace, Peace One Day is using the power of the beautiful game to spread the message of Peace Day with One Day One Goal.

The idea of One Day One Goal is simple: to see football matches played on 21 September in every one of the 192 member states of the United Nations and beyond. These matches unite people from different communities and different cultures who would never normally play together. And all you need to participate is a ball and a patch of land

REGISTER HERE!

PUMA POD Football

The PUMA POD Football collection includes a specificly designed Peace One Day football. The incentive behind the collection is to promote Peace One Day’s ‘One Day One Goal’ initiative, which is supported by PUMA. ‘One Day One Goal’ aims to manifest football matches all over the world on Peace Day, 21 September.

The PUMA Peace One Day football collection consists of two different editions.

All footballs are PVC free and size 5

The first edition football shows both the PUMA logo and Peace One Day logo, inside a circular design, in blue and green on a white background.

Football £15.00 plus:
Delivery to the UK: £3.00
Delivery outside the UK: £7.00

CLICK TO BUY:
http://shop.peaceoneday.org/

Jamie Rappaport Clark
Executive Vice President
Defenders of Wildlife

Huge Victory for Polar Bears!

Around noon Eastern Time, President Obama announced a moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling in the Chukchi Sea – offering these majestic Arctic hunters a much-needed reprieve from Shell Oil’s dangerous drilling scheme in key polar bear habitat

Over the last few weeks, caring Defenders supporters sent more than 118,000 messages to President Obama, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (who oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service).

Today, the hard work paid off, as President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar acknowledged the very serious threat that drilling activities pose to the sensitive ecosystems that sustain the Chukchi’s polar bears, bowhead whales and other wildlife.

Defenders’ senior marine policy advisor Richard Charter put it best in a statement to the press earlier today:

“President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar should be commended for suspending Shell’s plans to drill in the Arctic Ocean this summer. The Arctic environment absolutely could not stand an oil spill like the one we’re now seeing in the Gulf of Mexico — any spill, in fact, would have devastating effects on Arctic wildlife, and it’s clear that we couldn’t clean it up

WASHINGTON (May 27, 2010) – The following is a statement from Defenders of Wildlife executive vice president Jamie Rappaport Clark:

“Safeguarding the Arctic Ocean for another year from dirty, damaging oil drilling is absolutely the right thing to do. We thank President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar for their leadership and for taking this important step

“Much more remains to be done, however. In particular, the practice of categorically excluding offshore oil and gas activities from meaningful environmental review must be ended. The tragedy unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico is a reminder that offshore oil drilling is never safe for the environment or for the communities along our coasts. Oil in the water is dangerous for fisheries, wildlife and ecosystems no matter the depth of the water. It’s good news that President Obama is extending a moratorium on new deepwater permits for six months. Hopefully, his review of the Gulf oil disaster will lead to a permanent moratorium on new offshore drilling anywhere along our coasts. America’s coastal communities, human and natural, are far too precious to risk the devastation we’re now seeing as a result of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Moreover, as the President recognized in his remarks in California yesterday, the disaster in the Gulf is a wake-up call to the nation that it is time to move away from continued reliance on dirty, polluting fossil fuels and to move toward responsible development of clean, renewable energy.

“We remain convinced that a renewed presidential moratorium on new offshore drilling, including the Arctic and all other sensitive American waters, is the right next step. And in light of recent revelations about MMS and the short shrift that agency has given to environmental reviews and the potential for catastrophic accidents, clearly all existing leases should undergo a comprehensive review in light of these changed circumstances to insure that accidents like the Deepwater Horizon, and the heartbreaking impacts we’re seeing in the Gulf, never happen again

Defenders of Wildlife will continue to push for a broader, more permanent ban on dangerous offshore drilling activities that threaten wildlife

Read the statement and learn more about this important victory for polar bears.

— Created to accompany “Remember the Whisper” at www.LoveSpeakes.com

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change…

“man in the mirror ~ Michael jackson ~”

art © e11en ♥ vaman

www.facebook.com/pages/elleN-LOVe-vAmAn-ARt

“When the moon is in the 7th house,
And Jupiter aligns with Mars.
When peace will guide the planets,
And love will steer the stars…
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius!”

For many people, the song “Aquarius” was an introduction to the idea that something special was coming: a new age of peace, love and compassion. This transformation would be announced by old systems breaking down and humanity waking up to a sense of expanded consciousness and spiritual awareness.

Erick Rankin, Author of  ‘ The Aquarians’  has felt aligned with the coming of this new era for many years, even though he wasn’t sure when it would arrive or what exactly it would look like. Whether you study the cryptic writings of the ancient Maya or modern commentary regarding the human experience, what you will be faced with is the idea that we are at the end of an approximately 5,000-year timeline and the beginning of a whole new reality.

This is such an exciting moment to be alive says Erick. Know we all have something to contribute to this “shift” into a higher level of consciousness. His novel “The Aquarians” represents a small part of the process. Written as an adventure/love story with a message of hope for the year 2012 and beyond, the book has been a top seller on Amazon.com

According to the ancient Mayan Calendar, time as we know it will stop on December 21st, 2012.  But what does this actually mean?

Rebecca Larson, senior dolphin behavorist at SeaWorld, San Diego has a theory. She believes that the cooperative way dolphins live is the very reason they have thrived on earth for millions of years.  What’s more, she sees the end of the Mayan calendar as a moment when humans may truly begin to integrate these same peaceful behaviors.

Dr. Troy Wallace, a pioneer in the study of dolphin echolocation, is convinced that he is on the verge of an incredible scientific breakthrough.  Recent research suggests that dolphins may send three-dimensional sonograms to each other, and Dr. Wallace hopes to be the first to decode and view these images.

As handsome as he is shallow, Southern California television celebrity Ryan Ericson finds himself on a path that intersects with the lives of Dr. Wallace and Rebecca.  Together, they are thrust into a mystery of coincidence and discovery connecting the Mayan Calandar end-date, dolphins and the very fate of humanity

SOURCE

TheAquarianAge.com

Good News from Greenpeace

Victory for the Orang-utans!

Over 23,000 Australians recently contacted global food and beverage giant, Nestlé, asking them to stop using palm oil linked to rainforest destruction.

Today, we have fantastic news. Nestlé announced it would stop using all products that come from rainforest destruction.

The move follows a two-month Greenpeace campaign that exposed Nestlé’s use of palm oil in products like KitKat. The expansion of palm oil and pulp plantations is driving the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests and peatlands, and pushing orang-utans to the brink of extinction.

Thousands of Australians joined people around the world in asking Nestlé to stop buying palm oil from suppliers that destroy rainforests

SOURCE