There's a WWF report published today that wildlife populations have fallen by more than two-thirds in less than 50 years.
Just think about that. And this has happened in just my lifetime.
But was this headline news? No. "Christmas in chaos" is the main theme for all the papers. I give up ... I really do.
As we try and cope with this terrible zoonotic disease, is the fact that we can't have more than 6 people for Christmas dinner really all we care about?
Is that curmudgeonly enough?
I'm off to look at my bees .... always cheers me up.
Bee x
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders Â
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
"On average, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and
reptiles plunged by 68% between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF and
Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s biennial Living Planet Report 2020. Two years ago, the figure stood at 60%."
So published before the estimated 3 billion animals were affected by last year's Australian wildfires and before the intensification of the Amazon Forest burning in Brazil and before the 2.5 million acres burned in California this year? Also since this report the USA has weakened its endangered species protection laws and environmental protections. I could go on but it's too depressing for words
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Apparently the other pressing problem was that people had to cancel children's birthday parties, cos they are soo important. My gripe is a perennial one wasps why do they have to fly into the kitchen the second I open the door, but then can't seem to be able to go out the way they come in?
I was thinking of starting a new thread, but this seems the right place. I was looking at my garden: loads of plants where they're happy; loads of plants I'm not particularly keen on but the bees and butterflies like them. Who knows what goes on at night but the moths probably like them too. But the garden looks a mess compared to the beautiful gardens on other threads. Is it the time of year or what? It seems so clinical to me to plan a garden but maybe that's what I should do. I would point out that my garden looks amazing -to me- in the spring.
By "looks a mess", do you mean "not neat and tidy", @B3? If so, keep doing what you're doing. Wildlife definitely prefers it not too manicured, and lots of people - me included - feel a bit uneasy in a garden where everything is restricted to its allotted space...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
I know what you mean @Liriodendron. My husband wanted to lay a neat, sterile brick path. I vetoed it. Some of my most interesting plants are growing out of the crazy paving. It's the time of year I suppose. The older you get, the shorter the seasons. Oh for the endless school holidays heralded by the smell of privet blossom.Â
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Just think about that. And this has happened in just my lifetime.
But was this headline news? No.
"Christmas in chaos" is the main theme for all the papers.
I give up ... I really do.
As we try and cope with this terrible zoonotic disease, is the fact that we can't have more than 6 people for Christmas dinner really all we care about?
Is that curmudgeonly enough?
I'm off to look at my bees .... always cheers me up.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
My gripe is a perennial one wasps why do they have to fly into the kitchen the second I open the door, but then can't seem to be able to go out the way they come in?
I was looking at my garden: loads of plants where they're happy; loads of plants I'm not particularly keen on but the bees and butterflies like them. Who knows what goes on at night but the moths probably like them too.
But the garden looks a mess compared to the beautiful gardens on other threads.Â
Is it the time of year or what? It seems so clinical to me to plan a garden but maybe that's what I should do.
I would point out that my garden looks amazing -to me- in the spring.
It's the time of year I suppose. The older you get, the shorter the seasons. Oh for the endless school holidays heralded by the smell of privet blossom.Â