All posts by John

Conservation

Asian hornet – latest works

Asian Hornets – latest works

184811 snipped

Feltwell, J. 2016. Identification features of the Asian Hornet. BBKA News. The newsletter of The British Beekeepers’ Association. No:223 – March 2016. 81-83.

Feltwell, J. 2017. The arrival of the Asian hornet, Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 into the UK in 2016. Antenna 41 (2) 59-64.

Jersey Evening Post, 25 October 2017. Asian hornets: Praise for ‘model approach’.https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2017/10/25/asian-hornets-praise-for-model-approach/  about John Feltwell’s visit to Jersey

Book reviews, Solar

The Switch – A review

Chris Goodall, 2016. The Switch. Profile Books. 274pp.

With so much free solar energy the world is catching up fast in harnessing it day and night. The author, an expert on these matters, puts the case for the inevitability of the global switch and turning over to ever more efficient systems and storage in particular. The switch to a low carbon economy is convincingly told. We learn of the novel perovskites coatings on new PVs that my give an extra 20-25% boost in productivity. The book is a good read on the history of solar production which includes details of main players (and photos of them in black and white), how the ‘experience curve’ provides for cheaper materials, of Swanson’s and Moore’s laws, and all manner of alternative energy sources being trialled and honed. Altogether this is an essential guide to the subject. It has an appendix to figures and terms and an index. There are no references in the book, but reference is made to the authors website (www.carboncommentary.com) which is complete as can be, and offers updates (following publication of this book in 2016) and warns the reader to be wary of columnists in newspapers who get solar stats wrong.

The Switch

Conservation

The EIA 2017 Regulations

UKELA’s meeting (25 Sept) on adapting to the changes brought in by the New EIA Regulations was kindly hosted by Herbert Smith Freehills. The ‘2017 Regulations’ came into force on 16 May 2017 [1] and the evening event was a revealing and forthright résumé by experts in the field:  Josh Fothergill (Fothergill Training), Rufus Howard (Royal HaskoningDHV) and Harriet Peacock (Tower Hamlets).  What was made abundantly clear was that EIA in future should be scaled down from the excesses of paperwork that has escalated over the last ten years: the EIA for Hinckley ran to 35,000 pages. Less than 1% of the yearly 400,000 planning applications are EIAs and they vary enormously in quality.  The way ahead is cutting through traditional EIAs to deal with ‘likely significant effects’ (LSE) simplifying planning applications for LPAs who are restricted by resources and manpower.  Anything to assist LPAs deal with the paperwork is welcome, to speed the process through planning applications; a pragmatic approach is recommended, covering all relevant topics and LSE.  Getting back to lightening paperwork via FONSI  (Finding of No Significant Impacts) was promoted as a way to suggest alternative ways of dealing with ecological issues.  Scoping should deal with which schedules  to cover, and screening should screen subjects in or out.  There was more on following the ‘spirit’ of the law rather than the ‘letter’ of the law. The ‘2017 Regulations’ now have a definition (there was none in the 2011 regulations).  Project areas for consideration now  have been brought back to 0.5ha from 15ha (1.1(a)).  The ‘2017 Regulations’ still have passages which are open to interpretation such as ‘where appropriate’.  There was a call to have more SEAs in the UK (to fall in line other countries in Europe). There is a brand new section on Biodiversity in Schedule 4 combining other disciplines such as assessing significant effects on population, human health, biodiversity, land soil, water…landscape, a sort of ‘gold-plating’ cross-referencing with Regulation 26 exercise to cover all important issues that also includes objectivity and bias.  


[1] Statutory Instrument  2017 No.571. The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (the ‘2017 Regulations’) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/571/pdfs/uksi_20170571_en.pdf

 

 

 

Book reviews, Insects

Mulberry by S.J.Bowe, Review

S.J. Bowe 2015. Mulberry, the material culture of mulberry trees. Liverpool University Press. 124pp.

Mulberry Book

If ever there was an introduced tree that has such a fascinating historical record in the grand gardens of Britain it is the mulberry. The book looks at both the white and black mulberry species and how they are wound up in the silk industry and associated with people such as James 1 and Shakespeare as well as Morris, More and Milton. The unique part of the book is its approach to the use of mulberry in the Japanese sashimono furniture tradition, highly regarded and often used in the tea ceremony. It is beautifully illustrated in colour showing many artefacts such as whisk shapers, tea containers all made from mulberry. This is a serious, almost academic book though accessible for general readership – the author is Senior Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University – magnificently published and ideal for dendrologists, especially those keen on the historical perspective of the Morus genus, as well as antique dealers and enthusiasts of Japanese art. Each of the five chapters has exhaustive references and there is a good bibliography and useful list of 100 UK gardens where mulberries continue the tradition. 

Insects

Bumblebees of Kent, Review

Nikki Gammans and Geoff Allen, 2014. The Bumblebees of Kent. Kent Field Club. 164pp.

BB of Kent 2013

Kent has more bumblebee species than anywhere else in the UK, and it has Dungeness as an almost unique habitat that supports many. Drawing all the information together has been Nikki Gammans and Geoff Allen who have produced a key work on all the species, past, present, cuckoos and invaders. Each species has information on identification, distribution maps, autecology, and habitats together with colour photographs showing features. The book is strong on ecology, mimicry, classification and conservation with copious information on field work, and has references and glossary. It is for all field naturalists and published by The Kent Field Club from whose excellent stable other key works have been produced – a lesson for neighbouring Sussex. Dr Gammans leads the Recovery Programme for the Short-tailed Bumblebee – where national work on bumblebees is progressing well in Dungeness. Look out for all her work on bumblebee recovery.

 

 

Solar

Solar Independence Day 4 July 2017

A bright future for solars; solar installations in the UK increased year end to June 2017 to 897,135 units, representing 16% growth. There were ten weeks in summer 2016 when solars outstripped coal-fire generation. The share of generation for renewables expected to hit 50% by 2030 (STA). EBBSFLEET ARRAYS 01Arrays at sunset LORES

Conservation

RBG Kew Seed Collector

RBG Kew confirms that samples from more than 50% of the 214 seed and herbarium specimens collected by myself in the 1980s in the Old and New World virgin rainforests and deserts have been sent out to researchers around the world. The collection is now safely housed in the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) at Wakehurst Place, Sussex.

Acer montpellier maple with winged fruits.Seeds of Datura stramonium, the Thorn Apple, a poisonous plant.

 

 

Conservation

Climate Change

Rainforest book cover jpg

Here is Dr John Feltwell’s prescient assessment on global warming and climate change as published in his 2008 book on ‘Rainforests’ 646pp  (ISBN 978-0-907970-08-8).  Chapter 5 Global Warming. 22pp illustrated: