The United Nations (UN) is planning to build a medical evacuation (MEDVAC) field hospital in Addis Ababa which will be used to treat COVID-19 patients.

The UN has secured a plot of land for the construction of the field hospital around Bole Bulbula area behind the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. A land clearing work has commenced on the plot of land.

A UN senior diplomat told The Reporter that the field hospital will be used to treat COVID-19 patients that would be airlifted. The hospital is for UN staff and their dependents, international organizations like the World Bank, IMF and AfDB staff and their dependents and international NGOs staff and their dependents, the diplomat said.

According to the UN diplomat, as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic the UN has considered to build six field hospitals globally. Locations in Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Panama and South East Asia have been considered. A final decision has not been made yet, he said.

However, The Reporter has confirmed that the UN has already secured a plot of land from the Addis Ababa City Administration and land preparation work has commenced. The contractor would be an Ethiopian construction firm that will build the hospital in Addis Ababa. It will be built with a pre-fabricated materials which will be imported from Norway, a source told The Reporter.

Dr. Liya Tadesse, the minister of health, confirmed that there is a plan by the UN to build a field hospital in Addis Ababa. There has been consultation with us. But the project is at an early stage, Dr. Liya told The Reporter.

Sources told The Reporter that the UN will be overseeing the overall operations but the hospital will be built by the WFP in collaboration with the WHO and other international NGOs. The hospital would primarily be used by the UN, international organizations and NGOs but in the long run it would be transferred to the Ethiopian government. The planned hospital would serve the east and North Africa region. The decision has to be made by the secretary general of the UN, Antnio Guterres, they said.

Boureima Sambo (PhD), country representative of the WHO, told The Reporter that the WHO will provide technical assistance if a decision is made to build the hospital. But the project is owned and run by the UN, Sambo said.

Sambo said that the WHO has been working with the Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute on major pillars in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. I think after South Africa and Senegal, Ethiopia is the third country in Africa to be able to test COVID-19 locally. Then we have been increasing surveillance, training and risk communication and community engagement. Since we have the first confirmed case in Ethiopia 13 of March we have increased all approaches infection prevention and control case management and tracing of contacts to rapidly identify cases and able to contain the pandemic. And we have seen the effort has paid off. We have cases so far we identified all contacts trace them and be able and test them and keep the pandemic under control so far, he said.

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UN to build MEDVAC field hospital in Addis - The Reporter Ethiopia

Groundbreaking research has identified a new subspecies of one of Australia's most iconic birds, which experts say is unique to inland Western Australia and has been "hidden in plain sight".

The red-tailed black cockatoo is found across Australia with populations in almost all states and territories.

But a large-scale genetic study by researchers from the Australian Museum, University of Sydney, CSIRO and the University of Edinburgh has revealed WA is home to a newly recognised subspecies of the bird.

The newly identified subspecies lives in the regions spanning the Wheatbelt, east of Perth, to the Pilbara in the state's north-west.

Researcher Kyle Ewart said while the population of red-tailed black cockatoos resembled those in other states, its genetic makeup was distinctly different.

"It was previously thought that this West Australian population was going to be genetically exactly the same as the other inland red-tailed black cockatoos," he said.

"We think they were characterised as one subspecies because they all looked the same.

"Evolution is not that simple some things look different but are genetically very similar and vice versa.

"We've found that the WA red-tailed black cockatoo is much more closely related to the forest red-tailed black cockatoo, based around Perth, than it is to the other inland populations."

Mr Ewart said the new subspecies had been named Calyptorhynchus banksii escondidus, as distinct from its previous classification, Calyptorynchus banksii samueli

"Escondidas is new it's the subspecies' name and it basically means 'hidden' because it's been hidden in plain sight," he said.

"We knew this population was there, but we didn't know it was a different subspecies."

The genetic study involved the collection of new and old samples from across the country, including fresh tissue samples from roadkill, as well as old taxidermied birds displayed in Australian museums.

The samples were then painstakingly processed and analysed to determine if the genetics matched previously recognised subspecies.

Mr Ewart said the discovery was an important step in the preservation and protection of the red-tailed black cockatoo.

"Now we have to treat this as a different subspecies so the conservation of this subspecies becomes a priority," he said.

"We just don't know enough about it it's hard to tell if its vulnerable, threatened, endangered [or] critically endangered.

"What needs to be done now is figure out the ecology of the new subspecies where it's eating and nesting and how many there are because it's vital to conserve this distinct piece of genetic diversity.

"Categorising it will hopefully turn the wheel to find out more about it and its conservation status."

Northern Agricultural Catchments Council bushcare officer Jarna Kendle, who helps organise an annual count of cockatoos, has a soft spot for the black cockatoos and describes them as "beautiful" birds with "vibrant personalities".

But their populations have plummeted.

She said the new research would help generate interest in the Great Cocky Count and other projects aimed at protecting the birds and boosting their numbers.

"Habitat loss is one of the biggest threats to black cockatoos, and urban development and land clearing contribute to that," Ms Kendle said.

There is also a threat from other species including corellas, which are "thriving", she said

"Black cockatoos require nesting hollows and the nesting hollows are also being used by pest species such as feral bees and corellas so that limits their capacity to breed," she said.

Ms Kendle, whose work covered the Mid West and part of the Wheatbelt in Western Australia, said the black cockies were an iconic bird in the state.

"They definitely deserve our recognition and they deserve us to do everything we can to preserve them for the future," she said.

"They are vibrant personalities and when you hear them fly over you can recognise them instantly by their call."

The rest is here:
Researchers discover new subspecies of red-tailed black cockatoo in WA - ABC Science Online

Highlights

Community-driven development (CDD) programs, which put people at the center of designing their own solutions, are a critical part of the World Banks response to the global COVID-19 crisis.

The Bank is supporting countries in Horn of Africa and in Solomon Islands through CDD programs that are delivering cash and basic services to the most vulnerable.

To tackle a crisis of this magnitude and scale, our countries need an equitable, whole-of-society approach, which lies at the heart of CDD programs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended lives across the world. The crisis continues to have devasting impacts on people, with a disproportionate impact on the poor and the vulnerable, who are faced with job and income loss, uncertain food supply, and disruptions in health and education programs.

The most vulnerable lack the essential services they need to prevent or manage an outbreak, including migrants, persons living with disability, women, the elderly, LGBTI, indigenous peoples, and other marginalized groups will struggle. For example, refugees living in camps and settlements already battling overcrowding, limited water and sanitation facilities, and shortages of medical supplies could face disastrous outcomes. Similarly, persons with disabilities will face constraints in accessing basic necessities or critical medical appointments due to reduction of public transportation services.

The World Bank Group recognizes the urgency of the issue and is taking broad, fast action to help developing countries respond to COVID-19. In a health, social, and economic crisis of this scale, no single intervention is enough, and countries need to use every available platform and tool. As part of the World Banks operational response to the pandemic, community-driven development (CDD) programs, which put people at the center of designing their own solutions, have been effective in providing quick, large scale responses to tackle this crisis, including in remote and conflict ridden areas. These programs often complement traditional safety net systems by delivering cash transfers and basic services to the poorest and most vulnerable, including sanitation, water, and food through urban and rural programs that involve hundreds of thousands of communities and local civic leaders. CDD programs also protect the most marginalized by targeting livelihood support for women, persons with disabilities, unemployed youth, refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and returned migrants.

During a crisis like this, trusted community leaders and local governments face enormous demands with limited administrative and financial capacity. In this context, CDD platforms are a critical part of the World Banks response by providing an opportunity to tap into productive partnerships between community groups, civil society, private sector and governments. These partnerships operate on the principles of transparency, participation, accountability, sustainability, and enhanced local capacity all of which are crucial to deliver essential services to people who need it most.

While this pandemic has the potential to fracture societies, it is the resilience, solidarity, strength, and ingenuity of communities at their best that will overcome this. Here are a few examples of World Bank operations are that using community-based approaches to get the vital resources to communities in the Horn of Africa and Solomon Islands.

Horn of Africa: Uganda, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia

As the Horn of Africa was just starting to grapple with the displacement crisis, the largest in recorded history, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In response to the mass and protracted displacement of over four million refugees, the World Bank began to support Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda with the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP) aimed at improving access to basic social services, expanding economic opportunities, and enhancing environmental management for communities hosting refugees.. The DRDIP is a 428 million regional operation that has reached more than 1.5 million beneficiaries, including host communities and refugees. Today, this community-led platform is being adapted to meet the social demands brought on by COVID-19.

For both refugees and their host communities, a common set of challenges have emerged. For one, the relationship between the two can often be fragile and complex. False or misleading information on COVID-19 has the potential to polarize, and further any stigmatization between the two groups. With government lockdowns come the need to effectively and accurately disseminate information related to the virus as many are forced to follow stay-at-home orders and, as a result, may not otherwise come across this important information.

The disruption of informal sector livelihoods, which are a mainstay for refugees and host communities, is also reportedly causing social tensions. Since the lockdown began in several countries, there has also been a marked increase in instances and reporting of gender-based violence (GBV) and violence against children. The pandemic threatens to unravel the important progress made in recent years to improve womens and girls accumulation of human capital, economic empowerment, voice and agency.

In response to the pandemic, the World Bank will scale up the DRDIP project to help mitigate its social and economic risks. The mapping of health and WASH facilities is underway and will inform post-COVID infrastructure investments. Under Ugandas DRDIP, social and water conservation and land clearing activities are being implemented in small groups of five people working in rotation and following new protocols of social distancing. Individual agriculture cultivation and livestock rearing continue. The operation in Uganda is also refocusing its efforts by helping community organizations share prevention and basic hygiene messages through radio, short message services (SMS), and other digital means. The focus has also shifted to providing support to health centers, Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) related investments, doubling beneficiary numbers that will participate in LIPW, and increasing funding to support enterprise-based livelihoods like produce and livestock trading, cage fish farming, and grinding mills for women and youth. Furthermore, the operation will also monitor information on GBV and violence against children and support rapid and adequate referral of cases that have increased following COVID outbreak. Approximately 3 million beneficiaries will be reached across the DRDIP countries.

Solomon Islands

Like many Pacific Island nations, the Solomon Islands are home to a strong community-based culture. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the existing CDD project has been adapted to tackle immediate needs, and is already showing signs of progress. The World Bank-financed Community Access and Urban Services Enhancement (CAUSE) project in the Solomon Islands aims to improve the delivery of basic infrastructure and services through the provision of skills training, short-term job opportunities, and income generation for vulnerable populations, including unemployed youth and women, who may not otherwise have any other opportunities for formal employment.

As in the Horn of Africa, social unrest and violence have plagued the Solomon Islands. From 1998 to 2003, the country underwent a period of conflict known as Tensions, with additional periodic violence in 2006 and more recently in April 2019, following the elections. To offset the risk of violence and social unrest, the World Bank is scaling up short-term employment and training activities for vulnerable groups, especially women, youth, the urban poor and the majority of workers in the informal sector who many have lost their main source of income. The World Bank is also supporting the Ministry of Health and Medical Services in their effort to increase prevention and awareness efforts through the sanitation of public areas, construction of public hand washing stations, and training workers and communities on key symptoms and prevention measures.

CDD programs are often chosen because of their ability to adapt swiftly in responding to emergencies and disseminating resources to aid recovery efforts. The agility of the CAUSE project illustrates this point. Amid the government-issued closure of schools and certain businesses, this project is supporting COVID-19 prevention efforts by reinstating critical roads and access for frontline works. It is also delivering additional strategic investments to help stimulate the local economy and protect the livelihoods and incomes of vulnerable groups. The World Bank is coordinating with a range of development partners from the private, public and civil society sectors on investments ranging from the promotion of tourism-enabling infrastructure and services to the construction of markets to help to promote economic activity and create employment.

These are early days in the World Banks response to COVID-19. The operations are drawing lessons from previous pandemics, including the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, which highlighted the importance of CDD programs in crisis management and recovery to complement medical efforts. In the case of COVID-19, partnerships between communities, healthcare systems, local governments, and the private sector can play a critical role in slowing the spread, mitigating impacts, enhancing ownership and sustainability, and supporting local recovery.

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Community Responses to COVID-19: From the Horn of Africa to the Solomon Islands - World - ReliefWeb

MEADOW GREEN, N.S.

If you are wise enough to find yourself wandering a river under old hardwoods over the coming days, look down.

Because while it is good to be wise, it is better to be lucky.

And if you are both, you will see a wide carpet of flowering blood root.

Out toward the fringe of the flowers, the dutchmans breeches may be swinging on their green line.

The nodding trillium, however, most likely wont be quite yet roused from its slumber to welcome the bees.

Give it another week.

Our man-made hybrids are just clumsy when compared to a wildflower, said Bruce Partridge on Tuesday.

Its like comparing a deer to a cow.

Small flowers are blooming now in our old forests.

It is a display of beauty made all the more precious for its being so fleeting.

A few more warm days and the blood root, which bleeds bright red when cut, and the dutchmans breeches, named by some forgotten soul who saw in their aspect a pair of shorts hung out to dry, will be done with flowering.

Because to be elegant is to be parsimonious in both form and presence.

They are just enough flower to attract the bumbling bees without exposing themselves unnecessarily to wind, rain and frost.

They are with us just long enough to get pollinated.

And their symmetrical beauty is enough to confoundthe arguments of Charles Darwins followers that survival is natures only polestar.

Next to bloom will be the nodding trilliums and the yellow violets, then the blue bead lily and the jack in the pulpits.

Then it will be June and the leaves of the elderly sugar maple and ash trees will be fully formed and stealing the sun.

Down where the East Pomquet River wends through Meadow Green, Antigonish County, the fiddleheads and sensitive ferns will unfurl themselves and grab whats left of the energy produced by a nuclear furnace 150 million kilometres away.

And the floor of this small copse of old forest will be shadowy and damp until winters return.

These are just the lowland flowers, said Partridge.

Theres also the flowers of the upland hardwoods, coniferous forest, the Guysborough bogs. Each has its own florae and each is just as amazing and just as complicated.

Partridge discovered this patch of wildflowers while out walking the Meadow Greens unpaved main three decades ago.

Trained as a botanist in Utah before lifes meandering path saw him building a homestead and raising children and plants in Antigonish County, he recognized the wildflower from a picture in a book.

When the first settlers came they were everywhere, said Partridge.

Theres only the tiniest fraction left after all our land clearing and cutting. Its not really fair to pin blame because hardly anyone pays attention to what their wheels drive over.

They arent just pretty flowers.

They are the now preciously rare signs of an untrammeled ecosystem.

These wildflowers spread primarily by their roots. This patch of blood root on this bend of the East Pomquet River could be a thousand years old.

So could the ferns whose root systems overlay and intertwine with that of the flowers and the towering hardwoods overhead.

Those like Partridge who make a life seeking to understand these places do not walk on the earth.

They walk between a living system for the gathering of water and nutrients and another for the inhaling of light and carbon dioxide.

He tried for years to breed these flowers from seed, failing season after season.

Then watching the ants carry the seeds, that have these fatty flaps to attract them, you realize its something they do or are involved in, said Partridge.

The find on that morning walk led to a rekindling of his fascination with these flowers.

It led him and his wife Mary to start Borealis Wildflowers a mail-order seed catalogue.

Though he survived a long battle with cancer, the company didnt.

And ever since beating the terminal prognosis of the disease, hes seen in these flowers a wisdom.

They are above the earth long enough to do what needs to be done.

They are beautiful while they are here.

And then they are gone.

They know where they stand, said Partridge, 72.

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Something beautiful is happening in Nova Scotias forests - TheChronicleHerald.ca

Photo by

Vsir/Icelandic Road Administration

All in all it took four days to break through a thick snowdrift which accumulated over the course of the winter on the road into Mjafjrur. The road is now open again after having been closed since around October.

Foreman at the Reyarfjrur service center of the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration Ari B. Gumundsson stated on the Administrations website, We started shoveling the snow away last Friday. We continued on Monday and a narrow path, complete with corners to pull over for oncoming cars, and were completed by the middle of the day on Wednesday.

After four days of hard work, the road into Mjafjrur has been opened, though it was not easy to clear through the thick snowdrift previously present there, Frttablai reports.

The road was first closed in October last year. It was cleared around the middle of the month for the emergency services, who had to move in equipment to place fiber-optic cables in Mjafjrur. It was cleared again at the end of November and beginning of December to transport the equipment back out of Mjafjrur. The road was left open just a little longer in order to allow the Minister of Transportation to inaugurate the cables and has been closed since shortly thereafter, until now.

About 14 people live in Mjafjrur all year around, and they have everything they need in Brekkuorp. In the winter the road is often closed, and the only way in or out is by boat, at which time the ferry Bjrgvin sails between Brekkuorp and Neskaupstaur twice a week.

According to locals there was an usually high quantity of snow this year. Work on the tunnel will continue over the next few days, but at first there will only be Jeeps on the road. Four-wheel drives should be able to get on the road by tomorrow, but smaller private cars are likely to pass only after the weekend.

According to Ari, weather conditions will greatly influence when the road in Mjafjrur is cleared. Sometimes when there is little snow, the road is only cleared a few times over the course of the winter. In worse years, the road has to continue to be cleared to allow vans to pass all the way into the fall.

He acknowledges that the population has increased in the last few years to complete the land route. Were a bit behind behind in clearing the road compared to last year, due to both the weather conditions and COVID-19.

These weather conditions differ starkly with the mild temperatures predicted by Vedur.is in much of the country today. Predicted high temperatures include 15C in Reykjavk, 11C in both Egilsstair in the far east and Patreksfjrur in the Westfjords, and 10C in Akureyri.

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, its become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevines journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

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From Iceland Four-Day Battle With a Five-Meter-Deep Snowdrift - Reykjavk Grapevine

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Political references aside, the unequivocal answer is 'no'. Inland and coastal swamps - wetlands - are ecosystems that support all life, including us. If rainforests are the lungs of the planet, wetlands are the kidneys. Trapping nutrients from runoff, they are immensely important filters of fresh and saltwater. This makes them extremely rich habitats, supporting fish, birds and other wildlife, which are integral to the food web. They are breeding grounds for fish and molluscs that are in turn, food for us. As human population climbs relentlessly towards 8 billion people and beyond, we cannot afford to undermine food production systems. Wetlands are also supremely good at capturing carbon dioxide. The remaining mangroves that currently cover 14-15 million hectares around the world, trap an estimated 31 to 34 billion kilograms of carbon every year. Researchers at Deakin University believe that this biosequestration is one of the single largest opportunities for reducing CO2 emissions in Australia. While wetlands cover only about 4 per cent of the earth's land surface, they are sequestering up to 33 per cent of the carbon in soils. In mangrove forests, tidal marshes and seagrass ecosystems, carbon is stored in the soil down to 3 metres. By clearing them, we remove the carbon sinks and also make coastlines vulnerable to storm damage. In inland waters, wetlands and healthy riparian zones also trap nutrients and preserve soil. Healthy rivers also store considerably more carbon than unhealthy ones. Concrete drains accelerate runoff, and the increased flow of nutrients exacerbates outbreaks of blue-green algae. These are examples of ecosystem services - work that nature does for us for free. Unfortunately, wetlands also occupy prime waterfront real estate where we like to build houses, hotels, marinas and dockyards. Humanity has an abysmal record of removing wetlands that once covered around 10 per cent of the earth's land surface. In only 50 years, half the world's mangrove forests have vanished. Our attitude to wetlands and other parts of the environment would be different if they were explicitly acknowledged as part of the economy, however, ecosystem services are completely ignored by GDP. In fact, their destruction ostensibly boosts GDP because of the economic activity involved in 'developing' them. Fortunately, many cities have programs to restore urban waterways, making them attractive places while improving the environment. They replace the hard, ugly concrete surfaces with places that are nice to visit. By replacing these, we create natural rainwater buffers, promoting places where amphibians, dragonflies and birds can thrive. The Fuzzy Logic Science Show is 11am Sundays on 2xx 98.3FM. Send your questions to AskFuzzy@Zoho.com Twitter @FuzzyLogicSci Podcast FuzzyLogicOn2xx.Podbean.com

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/Z4Q6sUEHdcmw72MBPYgZkU/2a2bc265-8742-4521-81c1-429a220b9306.JPG/r13_98_5484_3189_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

If rainforests are the lungs of the planet, wetlands are the kidneys. Picture: Supplied

Political references aside, the unequivocal answer is 'no'.

Inland and coastal swamps - wetlands - are ecosystems that support all life, including us. If rainforests are the lungs of the planet, wetlands are the kidneys. Trapping nutrients from runoff, they are immensely important filters of fresh and saltwater.

This makes them extremely rich habitats, supporting fish, birds and other wildlife, which are integral to the food web. They are breeding grounds for fish and molluscs that are in turn, food for us. As human population climbs relentlessly towards 8 billion people and beyond, we cannot afford to undermine food production systems.

Wetlands are also supremely good at capturing carbon dioxide. The remaining mangroves that currently cover 14-15 million hectares around the world, trap an estimated 31 to 34 billion kilograms of carbon every year.

Researchers at Deakin University believe that this biosequestration is one of the single largest opportunities for reducing CO2 emissions in Australia.

While wetlands cover only about 4 per cent of the earth's land surface, they are sequestering up to 33 per cent of the carbon in soils.

In mangrove forests, tidal marshes and seagrass ecosystems, carbon is stored in the soil down to 3 metres. By clearing them, we remove the carbon sinks and also make coastlines vulnerable to storm damage.

In inland waters, wetlands and healthy riparian zones also trap nutrients and preserve soil. Healthy rivers also store considerably more carbon than unhealthy ones. Concrete drains accelerate runoff, and the increased flow of nutrients exacerbates outbreaks of blue-green algae.

These are examples of ecosystem services - work that nature does for us for free.

Unfortunately, wetlands also occupy prime waterfront real estate where we like to build houses, hotels, marinas and dockyards.

Humanity has an abysmal record of removing wetlands that once covered around 10 per cent of the earth's land surface. In only 50 years, half the world's mangrove forests have vanished.

Our attitude to wetlands and other parts of the environment would be different if they were explicitly acknowledged as part of the economy, however, ecosystem services are completely ignored by GDP. In fact, their destruction ostensibly boosts GDP because of the economic activity involved in 'developing' them.

Fortunately, many cities have programs to restore urban waterways, making them attractive places while improving the environment. They replace the hard, ugly concrete surfaces with places that are nice to visit.

By replacing these, we create natural rainwater buffers, promoting places where amphibians, dragonflies and birds can thrive.

The Fuzzy Logic Science Show is 11am Sundays on 2xx 98.3FM.

Send your questions to AskFuzzy@Zoho.com Twitter @FuzzyLogicSci Podcast FuzzyLogicOn2xx.Podbean.com

View post:
Ask Fuzzy: Should we drain the swamp? - The Canberra Times

An urgent motion for a moratorium on land clearing on the NSW South Coast is before Shoalhaven City Council as a property developer prepares to raze a local forest.

Manyana residents have been protesting project developer Ozy Homes clearing the forest to make way for nearly 180 housing lots, given so much local bushland has recently burned.

The urgency motion mayor Amanda Findley put to council - which requires a report - was passed 12 votes to one.

If the report is supported at next Tuesday's council meeting urgent representations will be put before Planning Minister Rob Stokes.

Ms Findley says clearing of the forest must be halted because the trees offer a refuge for animals who lost other crucial habitats during the summer's unprecedented bushfires.

"There are animals living in there now that have nowhere else to go because the local forest is so badly burned," Ms Findley told AAP.

Bill Eger, 60, has lived in the area for 35 years and recently helped fight fires that blazed through Conjola National Park.

He said it was hard to think he risked his life alongside emergency services and other members from the local community to save land that would potentially be destroyed by a developer.

"After putting our lives on the line, to save these pockets of ground, to have it then taken out by Ozy Homes ... what's the point," Mr Eger told AAP.

"What are we doing here, why are risking our lives to save these endangered species and little critters, if they're going to be bulldozed a few months later."

Mr Eger is particularly worried about the greater glider possums which had their habitat decimated by the Currowan fire.

"It took 22 years for the gliders to come back to the Conjola National Park, they were making a comeback until the Currowan fire wiped out nearly everything in that park," he said.

Ozy Homes was forced to delay bulldozing about 20 hectares of the Manyana forest following the bushfires for three months and set up fauna boxes to re-home native animals.

"The attempts to try and transfer animals from homes in thriving bushland to burned-out bushland is a ludicrous proposition at this point in time," Ms Findley said.

The council is asking Mr Stokes to halt logging until there is a better understanding of the ecological impacts of the fires in the area.

Protesting residents continued to observe COVID-19 social distancing rules on Wednesday morning by running, cycling and doing yoga in case they needed to physically block workers from entering the site.

Manyana Matters spokeswoman Jorj Lowrey said she understood Ozy Homes was to start clearing land on Wednesday and was pleased those plans had been delayed.

Following yesterday's gathering of more than 100 people, Manyana Matters spokesman Peter Winkler said residents would remain on-site throughout the week.

"The local community will remain vigilant and will launch into action if required," Mr Winkler told AAP.

Comment was sought from Ozy Homes and Mr Stokes.

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Urgent call to halt land clearing in NSW - Yahoo News Australia

Demonstrators were forced to use exercise as a means of protest amid the COVID-19 pandemic on May 4, when New South Wales South Coast residents campaigned against the clearing of forest that had been spared from the catastrophic 2019-2020 bushfires.

Developer Ozy Homes planned to develop a 20-hectare area at Manyana after receiving approval for the project in 2008, according to reports.

However, locals were concerned that the development land had become a last refuge for local wildlife that had lost its habitat during the bushfires.

Social distancing regulations in place across New South Wales to stem the spread of coronavirus had effectively banned mass protests, forcing the demonstrators to use exercise such as yoga and walking as a reason to attend the site.

An estimated 312 homes were destroyed and 500,000 hectares were burnt in the surrounding area by the 74-day Currowan fire in late 2019 and early 2020. The blaze threatened homes and forced resident to evacuate to beaches in the area on New Years Eve.

Record bushfires gripped much of New South Wales in late 2019 and early 2020, with over 11,400 bush and grass fires burning 5.5 million hectares, the equivalent of 6.2 percent of the state of New South Wales. Fires burned across the state for 240 consecutive days between July 2019 and March 2020. Credit: Manyana Matters via Storyful

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Demonstrators Exercise in Protest Against Land Clearing on South Coast During COVID-19 Restrictions - Yahoo News UK

One of the most beneficial trees for wildlife is the oak tree. Oaks offer food, shelter, cover and nesting sites for a number of animals. The branches, nooks, crannies and hollow areas in oak trees afford protection from the elements, a place to rest, escape predators and nesting areas to raise the young.

Many animals feed on the small twigs, buds, shoots and leaves of oaks as well. Oak trees attract hundreds of insects and invertebrates that feed on their foliage. These insects attract insectivorous birds, reptiles, frogs and mammals, developing a very dynamic food web within the forest. Because oak trees attract such a wide variety of insects they are considered to be one of the most important trees for woodland inhabiting birds. Oak trees also produce acorns, which are a very important winter food for deer, fox, bear, squirrels, turkey, wood duck and many birds. Animal populations tend to increase or decrease based on yearly acorn production, a testament to the importance of oak trees. As oaks mature, they typically produce more acorns and develop a large hollow area, which further enhances their value for wildlife.

Oak trees tend to be longer lived, slower growing trees that develop best in full sunlight to moderate shade. Acorns may be able to germinate and develop a small tree in dense shade, but the oak tree will cease growing in shady conditions, waiting until it can exploit a gap in the canopy and continue its development. In this holding pattern, the small oak trees are vulnerable to deer browse or they may eventually succumb to lack of sunlight. Trees such as red maple, black gum, hickory, beech, sugar, maple, black birch and hemlock can develop much better in the shade, and they will overtake the young oaks underneath a dense canopy.

Many of the oak forests we now have are a result of former land clearing and logging practices that created conditions beneficial to oak germination and growth. In the past, large forest fires were also much more common throughout our region, giving rise to more oak regeneration. The thick bark oak tree is more resistant to forest fires and more likely to continue growing when the thinner barked maple, beech, birch or white pine tree may succumb following a forest fire. Oak and oak-pine forests are considered to be fire-dependent communities by ecologists.

Many of our present oak forests contain trees in their golden years, and the understory is full of shade-tolerant maple, birch, gum and beech trees. In ecological terms, an oak forest is considered to be intermediate, while a beech birch maple forest is considered to be a climax forest community. This means that in the absence of disturbances as the older oaks succumb to old age, the forest composition will change and the forest will contain more maple, birch, beech and gum, and less oaks. And, the prevailing trend seen throughout the east is that oak numbers are indeed declining. Along with changes brought about by forest succession, factors such as gypsy moth mortality, oak decline and other diseases, feeding activity of white tail deer, logging operations that remove oak and little else, forest fragmentation and invasive plants that overrun the forest thereby suppressing most native plants are all contributing to the decline of oak trees.

To understand how intricately nature interacts, it has been shown that a reduction in the amount of oak trees is impacting numerous forest interior bird species, including the wood thrush and wood pewee. Many of these species are displaying sustained population declines of 3 to 4 percent per year. Other factors contributing to this decline include loss of habitat from forest fragmentation, increased mortality, nest parasitism, overabundance of deer, cell towers, wind turbines and acid rain.

Recognizing that the gradual loss of oak canopy may impact future wildlife populations, plant diversity, and the forest products industry, many foresters, wildlife managers and forest ecologists, etc., are attempting to encourage the retention of oak forests or the establishment and development of oak tree regeneration where it is suitable.

In the fall of 2019, a prescribed burn was conducted at the Pine Swamp area on the Frederick City watershed. The purpose of this controlled burn was to encourage pitch pine, shortleaf pine and oak development by controlling the thin barked maple, beech and birch trees that had colonized the site while reducing fire danger by eliminating some of the downed fuels that were scattered around the site. The burn was deemed a success. Preliminary evidence suggests that numerous young pine and oak trees are developing in the area that was burned in 2017. Besides these silvicultural practices to encourage oak regeneration, landowners can plant oak seedlings and protect their oak trees from destructive insects like gypsy moth to help maintain this majestic tree on our landscape.

More:
Nature Notes: The importance of oak trees | Travel And Outdoors - Frederick News Post

Ever since COVID-19 lockdowns put a stop to tourism, wildlife has been thriving in the heart of the Maya Biosphere, Guatemala, a UNESCO recognised reserve.

The reserve covers a fifth of the country, with El Mirador National Park at its heart. With ancient Mayan cities, tropical forests and wildlife, this territory has been the centre of conservation efforts and initiatives to make sustainable tourism the countrys biggest source of income.

El Mirador has been under constant threat from land clearing projects for cattle ranches, as well as narcotrafficking and wildlife poaching. But major efforts have been made to protect the park through ecotourism, with job opportunities in hospitality for local residents who might otherwise have made a living through hunting or logging.

While the current travel restrictions mean a lack of tourism draws resources away from these projects, animals are being seen more frequently, including large mammals like cats, jaguars, and pumas.

"What the coronavirus leaves me with, is that we really do affect the animals. We do affect the forest," says Gabriel Urruela, photographer and park ranger at El Mirador National Park.

Original post:
Wildlife is roaming the Mayan forests | Living - Euronews