Sustainable Development

Parliament’s New Chainsaw – Petition to fight the Infrastructure Bill

28.10.2014
Thumbnail image for Parliament’s New Chainsaw – Petition to fight the Infrastructure Bill

Hands Off Our Forest and SoW have been asked by many, many people to create a petition to help fight the worrying Infrastructure bill. So here it is! Please do have a read, sign and share. Thank you!  Save Our Forests and Public Land, Amend or Scrap the Infrastructure Bill! ‘PARLIAMENT’S NEW CHAINSAW: The Infrastructure Bill poses […]

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Why Biodiversity Offsetting is a Flawed Concept

13.06.2014

by Hen, SoW Nature not for Sale counter forum, Regents Park Hub, June 2nd 2014 The forum was well attended and each of the eight speakers had fascinating perspectives of biodiversity offsetting and it’s potential impacts on our ecological and cultural communities. I’m going to write about each of the presentations on SoW to give you an insight […]

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NGO concern as UK Government releases its consultation on biodiversity offsetting

05.09.2013

Today, the UK Government published a long-awaited green paper on its proposed plans to implement biodiversity offsetting.

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Biodiversity Off-setting and Invertebrate Conservation

02.09.2013

Biodiversity off-setting represents a denial of any distinctive ecological value as the underlying assumption is that one group of organisms (an ecosystem) can simply be replaced by another.

At a more specific level, there are several reasons why off-setting from the perspective of invertebrate conservation is doomed to fail.

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Biodiversity offsetting permits previously rejected housing development

23.05.2013

Tyneside wildlife areas threatened by new development – biodiversity offsetting undermining local communities?

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Biodiversity offsetting in the UK one year on… it’s not looking good…

07.05.2013

UK’s Biodiversity Offset Pilot has nothing much to show for it. Not one of the six counties involved has made a single offset. This is disappointing for organisations such as the Environment Bank, for whom these pilots are core business, but for much of civil society, the failure is just a reminder that biodiversity offsetting is not the right approach to conserving our remaining natural spaces.

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Trading Places – biodiversity offsetting.

22.04.2013

With good design biodiversity could be increased on a development site. Biodiversity offsetting prevents this, it is selling your landscape, your place and you can’t say or do anything about it.

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Middle Ground not No Mans Land

05.02.2013

There is opportunity offered in the government response and now policy to do so. It is up to the independent campaigners, including ourselves to keep these doors open.

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Save Farm Terrace Allotments!

09.01.2013

..as with public forests, allotments are ‘green spaces’ that are proven to work for both public well being and biodiversity. We must protect our cultural landscape heritage and protect what few allotments we have…

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Biomass for Biofuel – A Black Hole for British Biodiversity

26.07.2012

On the 25th July the UK government announced continued subsidies for electricity production from biomass, which according to the UK government will help meet its renewable energy targets. The same day, Drax confirmed it would be converting a North Yorkshire power plant for using ‘mainly biomass’.

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SoW Response to Independent Forestry Panel Report

04.07.2012

“I am convinced that without a living discussion, based on facts about our forests, we will be less able to meet all contrasting goals. I am also convinced that we will never come to a final answer. This is not necessarily a problem since it is the discussion itself that is important.”

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Stakeholder or Shareholder; the great ‘greenwash’ party that is Rio+20

19.06.2012

“..we are all in this respect indigenous people fighting to protect our cultural heritage. We all have a right to our landscapes”.

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Blue Planet – Environmental and Development Challenges: The imperative to act

23.02.2012

A group of the world’s leading scientists and experts in sustainable development today called for urgent changes to policies and institutions to enable humanity to tackle environmental crises and improve human wellbeing.

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The SuDS Consultation – further delay in sustainable development.

03.01.2012

Gov’t is consulting on proposed changes to SuDS (sustainable drainage systems) legislation.

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Why is the Government drawing battle lines over the NPPF?

05.09.2011

Greg Clark, the minister responsible for the draft NPPF, has drafted in George Osbourne & Eric Pickles to try & quash the campaign that exists to clarify points within the proposed new framework.

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