Why Bees Need Trees

I’ve just returned home from a lovely long walk in the woods on the lower slopes of the Malvern Hills. I walk these woods as often as I can and always take my camera with me. I can pretty much guarantee - from March through till mid September - that the understory, clearings and edges will be ‘abuzz’ with numerous species of bumblebees, honeybees and (on sunny days) solitary bees as they enjoy the foraging and nesting opportunities afforded by this wonderful diverse habitat.

I'm absolutely fascinated by bees; from the different frequencies at which they buzz, their purpose in life and the challenges I face trying to identify them – to their life cycles, their behavioral traits and the myriad relationships they have built up over the millennia with flowering plants. I cannot imagine what the world would be like without bees. In fact a world without bees is, quite simply, unimaginable.

Bees as Pollinators

The unique relationship between pollinators and flowering plants has been evolving for over 100 million years and there are currently estimated to be around 200,000 different species of animal worldwide acting as pollinators. These include beetles, bats, flies, wasps, birds, butterflies, moths and some mammals; but it is without doubt the humble bee that does the lion’s share of the work. 



From a 'human-centric' point of view, bees are responsible for pollinating around a third of the food we eat (this includes meat from animals that graze on bee-pollinated clover and alfalfa) - as well as many of the crops we grow for drinks, medicines and textiles. However, bees are important for more reasons than the fact that they pollinate food for human consumption..........

Bees also pollinate over 80% of the world’s wild flowers and, interestingly, whilst great attention is always given to the bee’s role as our main crop pollinator, we would do well to note that they play an equally important role as ‘keystone species’ in the planet’s eco-systems. I’ll come back to this in a moment.

BEE DECLINE

There has been a great deal of coverage in the media over the last decade about the Decline of the Honeybee, whose value to the ‘economy’ has been estimated at many £££billions. 

But, apart from the fact that honeybees should be valued for more than just their economic worth, it is important to note that: 

a) it is not just honeybees that are in decline 

b) honeybees our not our only pollinators. In fact, of the 100 or so crops that feed and clothe the world, it is estimated that 15% are serviced by domestic honeybees - whilst over 80% are serviced by native wild bees and other wild pollinators. 

N.B  By no means am I suggesting that any one species of bee is more important than another. They all have different roles to play and are active at different times of the year/day. Without honeybees there would be very little pollinating going on early in the year and we would have no lemons, without bumblebees out tomato and blueberry crops would struggle and without solitary bees our apple trees would suffer. 

Here's a very interesting list of 'who pollinates what' - List of plants pollinated by bees

Setting aside, for a moment, their importance as pollinators of food, medicine and textile crops for humans, I‘d like to come back now to the fact that bees are ‘keystone’ species - playing absolutely crucial roles in sustaining many of the world’s eco-systems.

If you remove a keystone species from any given eco-system, you risk at the very least a great reduction in the biodiversity of that community - and at worst it’s complete collapse.

Eco-systems are incredibly complex; each made up of numerous, diverse, dynamic, interconnected communities. 

We cannot keep removing the building blocks that hold these systems together and expect them to survive. 

By compromising the earth’s eco-systems we compromise all life on Earth, including, ultimately, our own. Our lack of joined-up thinking and our blinkered human-centric behaviour are, ironically, leading us to neglect and destroy the very systems that nurture and sustain us. I cannot over emphasis the importance of the role bees and other pollinators play in supporting and maintaining the fragile balance that allows ‘life as we know it’ to exist on planet Earth.

There are over 25,000 species of bee in the world and around 250 of these species live in the British Isles. British species include the European Honeybee, 24 species of Bumblebee and over 230 different species of Solitary Bee. All are suffering from the effects of intensive agriculture, pesticides poisoning and urban sprawl, which, together, have led to the fragmentation, degradation, and loss of their once rich and diverse habitat. Add to these factors the effects of climate change (which has caused significant problems for bees this year) and a rise in disease and pests - and it’s no wonder our poor beleaguered bee population is on the brink.

(N.B. As well as the alarming decline in honeybee populations, 3 of our bumblebee species have disappeared over the last 50 years, many more bumblebees and solitary bees are severely threatened and there are currently 7 bumblebees and 10 solitary bees on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority list.)

To halt this decline we need to take action NOW. Talking, debating, spending millions of £££s on further research to tell us what is already glaringly obvious, writing reports and holding summits on the other side of the world are all very well, but without immediate ACTION these are a complete waste of time.

So what has all this got to do with trees and woodlands…..?

From the trees point of view, most are wind pollinated so they could survive without bees. There are exceptions however; including fruit bearing trees such as apple, pear, cherry and almond which all rely (some exclusively) on bees for pollination.

The importance of trees for bees is, however, is an entirely different matter. The fact that most trees are wind pollinated doesn’t preclude them from being incredibly rich food sources for bees and other pollinators – in fact certain species of trees provide an absolutely vital source of pollen and nectar for early spring foraging bees.

Honeybees store sufficient honey to feed the colony through the winter, but need to replenish their stocks by early spring. There is very little around in the way of flowering plants during the first few months of the year, so the early flowering willows, especially goat willow, provide them with a lifeline. Willow is also a vital food source for early rising bumblebee queens when they emerge from hibernation. Just walk along any riverbank on a sunny February/March day and you will easily locate the willows with your eyes closed by the sound of bees buzzing in the branches above your head.

Deforestation has been occurring in the British Isles since the arrival of Neolithic man and has reached the stage where, today, less than 12% of the UK is still wooded. Crucially, less than half this area is planted with native trees (the rest being planted with non-native conifers) - and only 2% of the land area in Britain is still covered in ancient woodlands. Given how little of our ancient woodland remains, it beggars belief that in the last 10 years 648 ancient woods have come under threat from unnecessary or insensitive development. 

Add these figures to the fact that we have also lost 98% of our wildflower meadows and grasslands since the 1940s... and it is no wonder our pollinators are in trouble. 

Habitat decline has impacted enormously upon our once diverse wildlife and we simply cannot afford further losses....of habitat or species. So many species of bees and other insects, not to mention small mammals, amphibians and birds, are now teetering on the brink - and what remains of our ancient and native woodlands provides an absolutely vital source of habitat and forage for many of these remaining species and populations.

Whilst the media and the 'powers that be' continue to bang on endlessly about the economy, time is gradually ticking away. For every single moment that their focus remains on the perceived importance of rebuilding the economy rather than addressing the very real importance of the imminent breakdown of our eco-systems, we are coming closer and closer to a sixth major extinction scenario. It really is quite bizzare that these seemingly intelligent people are so blind to this fact!

We need to address both issues of ‘habitat loss’ and ‘pesticides’ (which I haven't gone into in this article but have written about in detail here) urgently and simultaneously. 

What can we do to help?

Whoever you are and whatever your circumstances and skill sets will determine the part you have to play in helping to halt the decline of biodiversity. You may like to plant more trees, hedgerows and/or flowers; write to your MP about these issues; join a local wildlife group; support the amazing SAVE OUR WOODS campaign; stop using pesticides; ask your local garden centre to stop selling pesticides containing neonicotinoids or send a link to this article to a friend!

Anything you do is better than doing nothing. Doing nothing is not a good option.

N.B. Do please check out this site, packed with stunningly beautiful photographs, to find out more about the amazing world of  Woodland & Hedgerow Bees 

TREES FOR BEES

Willow (NP) Pear (P) Apple (NP) Cherry (NP), Crab Apple (NP) Medlar (NP) Quince (NP) Sweet Chestnut (NP), Acacia (NP), Field Maple (NP) Mountain Ash (NP), Alder (P) Blackthorn (NP), Horse chestnut (NP), Hawthorn (NP), Crab apple, Lime (N), Whitebeam (NP), Sycamore (NP) Hazel (P) Holly (NP) Bramble (NP)

* N = nectar; P= pollen

Excellent website for wildlife gardening 

Thank you for reading this.

Much love,

Brigit x

.

Mass Insect Extinction; the Elephant in the Room?

Life on planet earth has evolved over billions of years and has, to date, endured five major mass extinctions

Billions of species of flora and fauna have been and gone, but one class of species has proved extremely resilient (so far) to whatever changes have occurred on the planet and - apart from losing a few of their orders and suffering a reduction in diversity during the end-Permian period - has been the only class species to have survived all these extinctions.

I am speaking of course about the class 'Insecta' - Insects to you and me.

Insects are amazing - in every sense of the word. There are currently over 900,000 known species in the world, each performing different roles within our eco-systems. Not only do they form essential ecological links as predators and parasites, but they are also responsible for the vital roles of decomposition, soil processing and, of course, pollination. Insects have also contributed to the evolution of many other species; the most notable being the relationship they have formed with the flowering plants with which they have co-evolved over the last 100 million years.

Many insects are 'keystone species'. This means a number of other species depend upon them for their existence. If you were to remove a keystone species from any given eco-system it would upset the balance and that eco-system would collapse. Nature is all about balance. 

Given the fact that many of the planet's keystone species are insects, it's most fortunate that they have proved so resilient to change. So far.

Insects Facing Mass Extinction

Unfortunately, over a period of just 100 short years, things have changed so dramatically that this amazing class of species is now under threat. For the first time ever, insects are facing mass extinction

Let me ask you a question......

When did you last have to stop your car during a long journey to clean away dead insects from the windscreen? 

When I was a child (back in the 60s) we used to travel up the A1 to Yorkshire to see my grandmother and I remember my father having to make regular stops to wash the windscreen - which was splattered with so many dead insects that the wipers alone couldn't keep it clean.

I also remember seeing huge flocks of birds following the farmer's ploughs in the fields alongside the road; all of them feeding on an abundance of worms and other invertebrates or micro organisms living beneath the surface of the soil that had just been exposed by the farmer's plough.

These days there are so few insects that our windscreens remain clear from Land's End to John O'Groats. And there are no longer flocks of birds following the tractors, because in many fields there's little, or no life left in the soil.

How can this have happened in such a short period of time? Simple. It is down, unequivocally, to Man's chemical poisoning of the land, the oceans and the biosphere. That, and our obsessive desire to tame, manage, degrade, fragment, destroy and 'mow to within an inch of it's life' the once rich and diverse habitats that used to support insects and other biodiversity.

I say this because it needs to be said. Again.

We were warned of this scenario in the 1960's by Rachel Carson in her book 'Silent Spring'. We are being warned again by Henk Tennekes author of 'A Disaster in the Making' and by organisations such as Pesticides Action Network who campaign tirelessly to raise awareness of the dangers of pesticides and other toxic substances.

But why is this issue not being addressed as a matter of urgency in the media? Why do I not see any evidence that mass insect extinction is being taken seriously by the powers that be? And why are the NFU, who you'd have thought would be championing the insects that pollinate our crops, so hell bent on persuading the government to lift the moratorium on neonicotinoids?

Excuses, excuses, excuses.....

Having raised this issue myself on numerous occasions with people from all walks of life, I am tired of hearing the same old arguments from those who advocate that we 'need' these toxic substances to survive.

The arguments range from "We can't feed the world without the use of pesticides" to "What about all the jobs dependent on the pesticides industry…. people can't afford to lose their jobs" - and many more arguments besides.

These arguments are unbelievably short sighted. Without insects (not to mention unpolluted soil, water and atmosphere) man will not survive anyway. Very little will survive. We are destroying our tomorrow for the sake of our today. And the craziest thing of all is that it doesn't need to be like this because small scale, organic and sustainable farming can and will feed the world. 

Of course it's not just the agri-chemical and pharmaceutical industries doing the damage...insects need habitat to survive too. They need environments where they can forage, nest, breed and hibernate - and this is something we can all help to provide.

Do something about it....

It is time for us to face the facts, however uncomfortable they may be. We can only effect change if we know and understand that change needs to happen. Burying our heads in the sand isn't going to solve anything....it never has.

It's way past time for us to address our obsession with 'tidiness' and 'cheap food' - both from bottom up (you and me) and top down (governments and local authorities) we need a complete sea change.

Humans are amazing, resourceful beings. All we need to do is wake up to the reality of the damage we are causing, shift our mind sets a little and  do something about it!

Ways you can help:

Leave wild areas in your garden for insects (not just bees and butterflies) to forage, breed and hibernate.... and resist the temptation to 'tidy up' your gardens and allotments over winter. Also, wherever you can, please try to source food that has not been grown with the use of harmful chemicals.


Make your garden a haven for pollinators The Pollinator Garden

Join Buglife

Get involved with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Take part in surveys, such as the UK Ladybird Survey

Become a Bees, Wasps & Ants recorder

OR.... simply spend some time lying in the undergrowth getting to know your local insects. They are utterly mesmerising. Once you're hooked you'll wonder how you ever managed not to notice them before and you will be motivated to do everything you can to help them survive.

B x

What are Neonicotinoid Pesticides and How Are They Killing Bees?

So much has been written over the last few years about Neonicotinoid Pesticides and their devastating impact on the world's bee population, but it is only recently, since the publication of three new scientific reports, that the effect these pesticides are having upon bees is finally being talked about openly in the mainstream media.

Although neonicotinoids have already faced bans and/or restrictions in varying degrees in countries such as Italy, Germany France and Slovenia, the UK government have, so far, ignored the mountain of evidence, including this in depth report from the charity Buglife - published back in 2009 - which shows quite clearly that neonicotinoids are contributing to bee decline.


I will attempt to explain as clearly as I am able in this article what neonicotinoids are and why it is imperative, in my opinion, that they should be banned. This is an extremely complex issue so I have provided links throughout to give more in-depth information when/if required.

Before I begin I just want to say that pesticides are only one part of the problem and also that it's not just honeybees that are suffering. There are other reasons for the decline in bee numbers (and species) including: the exploitation and over farming of honeybees and bumblebees by some commercial beekeepers; pollution; climate change; and - of enormous significance - habitat degredation, fragmentation and loss caused by intensive agriculture and urban sprawl. There's no point in us addressing the pesticides issue if we don't simultaneously start treating bees with more respect, reducing atmospheric pollution and conserving/creating suitable habitat for bees and other pollinators.

So, what exactly ARE 'neonicotinoid' pesticides?

Neonicotinoids are a group of insecticides that include 'imidacloprid', 'clothianidin' and 'thiamethoxam'. They are neurotoxins (nerve poisons) that have been designed to attack the insect's central nervous system; causing paralysis and eventually death. Their target insects include vine weevils, aphids, whitefly, colorado potato beetle and termites.  As well as causing paralysis and death, neonicotinoids also produce other symptoms, (both in target and non target insects) such as interfering with the insect's navigation systems and, crucially, impairing their ability to groom themselves. (I'll come back to the grooming issue later)

Another insecticide, Fipronil, acts in the same systemic manner as the neonicotinoid group of insecticides.

Neonicotinoids were introduced in the early nineties and are now the world's most widely used group of pesticides.


N.B. Neonocotinoids are water soluble. Some, including the most widely used (Imidacloprid) remain in the soil for many years. Their high persistency in soil and water results in a sustained exposure to these pesticides, not only to bees, but to other non-target organisms and pollinators, including aquatic invertebrates, moths, butterflies and hoverflies and (indirectly) bats, amphibians and insect eating birds.  


"Neonicotinoid insecticides act by causing virtually irreversible blockage of postsynaptic nicotinergic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the central nervous system of insects. The damage is cumulative, and with every exposure more receptors are blocked. In fact, there may not be a safe level of exposure."  Dutch toxologist, Henk Tennekes

"Imidacloprid, Clothianidin and Fipronil exert sub-lethal effects, ranging from genotoxic and cytotoxic effects, and impaired immune function, to reduced growth and reproductive success, often at concentrations well below those associated with mortality. Use of imidacloprid and clothianidin as seed treatments on some crops poses risks to small birds, and ingestion of even a few treated seeds could cause mortality or reproductive impairment to sensitive bird species" Dr David Gibbons RSPB  

Which crops are treated with neonicotinoids?

Neonicotinoids are used as treatments on over 140 different crops including soy, corn, wheat, cotton, legumes, potatoes, sugar-beet, sunflowers, rapeseed and flax. Until 2011, they were used on the 740,000 acres of Californian Almond Trees. One third of all arable land in the UK now grows crops treated with neonicotinoids.

Less well known is the fact that 'Fipronil' (which works in the she way as the neonicotinoid insecticides) is used in flea treatments for dogs and cats.

How do neonicotinoids differ from other pesticides?

Until the introduction of insecticides such as neonicotinoids we were able to see pesticides with our own eyes as they were being sprayed as foliar applications onto our crops. Neonicotinoids, and some other groups of modern pesticides, work in a very different way. As well as being applied as foliar applications, they are also applied as seed dressings and soil treatments. These are less obvious than foliar applications, so many people, including some farmers, are unaware that they are even using them. Also, instead of being used reactively (i.e. after a problem has been identified) neonicotinoids are used 'prophylactically' which means crops are treated as a matter of course to safeguard them against the possibility of an attack by the pesticide's target insect. This is like human beings taking antibiotics all year round to protect us from the possibility of succumbing to a sore throat or flu.

The biggest difference between neonicotinoids and all other pesticides is that neonicotinoids work  'systemically'.  This means that once the seed (or the soil in which the seed has been planted) has been coated/treated with the insecticide, that insecticide is then taken up through the entire plant via it's vascular system.  So, it ends up in the plant's roots, stem, leaves, flowers, fruit, sap (guttation), pollen and nectar.....and it - does - not - wash - off.

We are told by DEFRA and by the agri-chem industry that this is ok. It is, apparently, 'safe' for bees and other pollinators to forage on crops whose seeds have been treated with neonicotinoids because they only ingest the pesticide in sub-lethal doses i.e. 'doses not large enough to cause death'. This might be ok if each bee only visited one plant and took one dose of 'sub-lethal' pollen in it's life time - but this, of course, is not the case.

How do neonicotinoids affect bees?

The introduction of neonicotinoids has coincided with honeybees dying in their billions and it has been known for at least 5 years, since Professor Joe Cummins wrote  this report  that they are likely to be one of the causes of CCD (colony collapse disorder). Unfortunately, despite there being a mountain of evidence stacking up against neonicotinoids, it is still an uphill struggle trying to persuade the 'powers that be' in the UK and in the USA to act on behalf of our beleaguered pollinators. In the mean time, the bee population continues to plummet.

Over a period of time, as it forages for pollen and nectar from neonicotinoid treated crops, each bee ingests a significant amount of 'sub-lethal' doses of neonicotinoids. Bees also take pollen and nectar from the treated crops back to the hive (honeybees) or nest (bumblebees and solitary bees) to provision their larvae.

A great many scientific reports have now been published showing evidence that a build-up of this pesticide over a period of time impairs the bee's nervous system (interfering with it's navigation system so it can't find it's way back to the hive after foraging) and it's immune system.

It is also known, but not as well reported, that neonicotinoids impairs the ability of bees to groom themselves. Indeed, Bayer CropScience boast about the effectiveness of their product  Premise 200SC  (active ingredient Imidocloprid) which interferes with a termite's natural ability to groom itself....therefore making it more susceptible to disease caused by microorganisms and fungi. If Imidacloprid interferes with a termite's ability to groom itself, it will also interfere with a bee's ability to groom itself....inevitably making it more susceptible to varroa mite. A double whammy for the poor honeybee.

To understand more about the grooming issue please listen to this excellent interview with Amanda Williams on the Barefoot Beekeeper website  

More effects reported in recent scientific reports

I mentioned earlier that new scientific reports have been published recently.

The first was written by Dr Jeffrey Pettis of the US Department of Agriculture. Dr Pettis showed that bees exposed to microscopic doses of neonicotinoids were much more vulnerable to disease. This report, bizzarely, was only published earlier this year.....a full two years after the research had been completed.

The second report, published at the beginning of April 2012, came from the University of Stirling's Professor David Goulson. It showed that "Growth of colonies of the common buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, slowed after the insects were exposed to field-relistic levels of imidacloprid, a common neonicotinoid insecticide. The production of queens, essential for colonies to continue, declined by a massive 85% in comparison with unexposed colonies used as controls.

"Given the scale of use of neonicotinoids, we suggest that they may be having a considerable negative impact of wild bumblebee populations across the developed world" the Stirling team said.

Do, please, watch this important short video of Prof Dave Goulson talking about the Stirling team's findings

Please also watch this short video about Bee deaths in France.

http://bit.ly/IZaPcx  

Can we do anything to help?

With such overwhelming evidence against neonicotinoid pesticides it beggars belief that they have not yet been banned by the UK government. I cannot understand how seemingly intelligent people can reach positions of such power - yet be so blind to the horrors of these chemicals. Those in power are, I suppose,  more concerned with short term profits and 'economic growth' than the long term health of our pollinators and struggling eco-systems. Very short sighted.

There was some hope, when Professor Bob Watson, Chief Scientific Advisor to DEFRA, announced (after the publication of the Stirling University report) that he would review the evidence and reassess Defra's current stance on neonicotinoids, but unfortunately this review ended up in with Government scientists advising that  neonicotinoid pesticides should not be banned despite four scientific studies strongly linking them to sharp declines in bees around the world.

Equally unfortunate, is the fact that even when/if a ban is imposed upon the entire family of neonicotinoid insecticides, we will still be left with a crazy, mixed up Pesticides Regulatory System....where the responsibility to prove pesticides safe seems to rest with the pesticides companies that manufacture them. 

So, in the mean time, whilst we wait for the 'powers that be' to wake up and come to their senses, we can help speed up the banning of this particular group of pesticides by doing the following.....

1. Email your MPs asking them to put pressure on the Secretary for the Environment, to vote for a ban on neonicotinoids as proposed by the European Commission. Excellent advice on who to contact and what to write here - http://bit.ly/X6MWZl

2. Here are some lists of products containing neonicotinoids so you can avoid using them in your home and garden - http://bit.ly/HhCF3b http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pollinators/documents/pesticide_list_final.pdf

3. The Soil Association have published a letter that you can use to write to retailers asking them to remove products containing neonicotinoids from their shelves - http://bit.ly/H7TL1a

4. Follow journalist Michael McCarthy's articles in the Independent. He deserves a medal for the reporting he has done on this issue!  - http://ind.pn/HWwQeN

5. Check the provenance of all your seeds and plants to make sure they have not bee produced from neonicotinoid coated seeds or in soil treated with neonicotinoids. Buying from a trusted organic source is the safest way to ensure this.

6. Sign Neal's Yard petition asking our government to ban the use of neoicotinoid pesticides http://on.fb.me/N3Ndnf



A few last thoughts on the subject....

I do hope I haven't over faced you with too much information. Or not given given sufficient. I've tried to make this as basic and easy to understand as possible but it's a tricky issue to get your head around. I must stress that I have written this article based on the conclusions I have reached myself, having read dozens of peer reviewed scientific papers, reports and articles that speak both for and against the use of neonicotinods.

I am well aware that if/when neonicotinoids are banned then new ways must be found to protect the world's mono crops from pests. Unfortunately, our reliance upon just a few crops to feed the world has put us in a very precarious position. Large scale, intensive monoculture farming relies on ever more toxic herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides to keep it going. Ironically, the end result is that the food we are eating probably contains more chemicals than nutrients.

Small scale, organic farming, with its more diverse range of crops, is the only sustainable way forward, but we need some stepping stones to take us from what we have created to where we need to go next...........

Thank you for reading this blog. If anyone has further information or useful links please do post them as comments. 

Brigit x

P.S. This blog was written back in 2012. Far more research has since been published which leaves me even more concerned about the effects these insecticides are having upon our wildlife. For up to date information please follow Professor Dave Goulson's Blog and Matt Shardlow's blog - both are far more qualified and informed than I am to write about Neonicotinoids.

There is also now an EU temporary, partial restriction on 3 of the neonicotinoid insecticides. This restriction is being contested in the EU courts by Bayer & Syngenta who produce the insecticides. 

Some interesting links......

Video showing 'guttation' from neonicotinoid treated maize killing bees - http://bit.ly/o7XKl4

'A Disaster in the Making': Hugely important research by Henk Tennekes - http://bit.ly/HumpNq

Neonicotinoid Pesticide Toxicity Profile - http://bit.ly/Ic89bG

Harvard University March 2012 report on Neonicotinoids and CCD http://bit.ly/HiCdV9

Buglife Report 2009 -  http://bit.ly/HALUbh

Pesticides Action Network UK - http://bit.ly/dxn9AG

The Problem With Biofuels

One of the biggest problems people have these days is dealing with all the confusing and conflicting advice about green issues in the media. No sooner have we adapted our lifestyles to incorporate the latest planet-saving solution, than we discover we might actually be doing more harm than good by doing so. Because of the hectic lives we lead, very few of us have the time to do the research we should do before we implement change; we rely instead on the media and the ‘powers that be’ to tell us what to do.

One of the areas where there has been great confusion and conflicting press has been the debate on ‘biofuels’. Less than a decade ago biofuels were being heralded, by some, as the alternative to fossil fuels, but now they are being blamed for all kinds of problems from rising food prices and deforestation to soil erosion and increased pollution.

Difference between Biofuels and Fossil Fuels

So what exactly are biofuels (or agrofuels as they are sometimes called), how do they differ from fossil fuels and why should we be wary of using them? 

The difference between the two fuels is quite basic; biofuels come from living things or the waste they produce, whereas ‘fossil fuels’ come from organic matter deposited in the earth or sea bed millions of years ago. It appears at first glance that biofuels might offer the perfect, clean, renewable and carbon neutral alternative to fossil fuels and could help significantly in the battle to halt climate change. However, the full picture is more complex because there are a number of different biofuels, each with different environmental impacts.

Although biofuels can be produced from animal waste and from wood, for the purpose of this article I’m going to concentrate on ‘plant based’ biofuels.

                                            Plant based fuels

Plants have a natural capacity to capture solar energy through the process of photosynthesis and there are a number of ways this energy can be converted into biofuel. The most common techniques used to convert the energy are as follows:

1. Growing crops such as corn, sugar and wheat. These crops can be fermented (using the same technique you would use to make wine or beer) to produce bio-ethanol. Bio-ethanol is an alcohol and is usually mixed with petrol before being used as fuel.

2. Growing crops such as palm, rapeseed or soyabean that produce oils. The oils produced by these crops are known as SVO’s (straight vegetable oils). They can be heated to reduce their viscosity and used as fuel for diesel engines. Alternatively, they can go through a chemical process (transesterification) to produce biodiesel.

The second of these two techniques can also be applied to WVO (waste vegetable oils)

So, what’s the problem?

Transport accounts for over 25% of our emissions in the UK and it is our apparent ‘need’ for personal transport that is one of the main drivers (no pun intended!) for the ever-increasing demand for fuel. We have, for many decades, relied on cheap and plentiful oil to fuel our cars, but with the need to reduce our CO2 emissions we are now looking for less polluting alternatives. In principal, biofuels, when compared with conventional transport fuels, could indeed reduce greenhouse gasses.

Crops grown for biofuels are able to absorb a similar amount of CO2 whilst they grow to that which they release when they burn, making them, in effect, carbon neutral, whereas the burning of fossil fuels releases gases into the atmosphere that have laid captured under the earth or sea bed for millions of years. However, as I mentioned earlier, the production of biofuels has many differing environmental impacts.

We have already witnessed the devastating effect that increasing monocultures (vast areas of land being used to grow one, single crop) are having on biodiversity. We have already lost too many of the habitats that plants and animals rely on for their existence; we can’t afford to loose more. 

The most obvious example of the impact this loss is having on a single species, is that of the orangutan, who’s rainforest habitat is being destroyed to grow palm trees. 

We already use vast amounts of palm oil for a multitude of products; clearing even more rainforest to grow palm oil for biofuel is tipping the balance dangerously in the wrong direction. Unless we halt deforestation immediately we face the irreversible extinction of hundreds of thousands of species.

From a polluting point of view, although crops grown for biofuels absorb the same amount of CO2 whilst they’re growing as they give off when they’re burned, it is important to take into consideration the fact that the energy used in the farming and processing of the crops can cause as much pollution as the fossil fuels they’re being grown to replace!

Biofuel crops create environmental impacts in many other ways including soil erosion and water usage, but the most worrying issue is the effect the biofuel industry is having on food prices. Crops such as wheat, soybean and corn that used to be grown for food are now being grown for fuel, so there is less food to go around and as a result food prices are increasing at an alarming rate. Sugar prices have doubled, and the price of wheat is now tracking the price of oil; durum wheat, used in Italy to make pasta, is in danger of becoming so expensive that even a staple food like spaghetti could become a luxury in the near future. 

Using the world’s food crops to satisfy our need for fuel just doesn’t make sense!

Making biodiesel from waste vegetable oil

Of course, some of us are fortunate enough to have the technical know-how, the equipment and an ongoing supply of waste oil to make our own biofuel. This is done using a process called 'transesterification'. 

My understanding of chemistry is far too poor for me to be able to explain this process properly, but here's a very basic explanation of what happens...

A catalyst (either potassium or sodium hydroxide) is mixed with alcohol and this mix is agitated till it reacts. 

After the reaction has taken place the waste oil is added to the catalyst/alcolcol mix and the resulting mix is kept in a sealed container for up to 8 hours at a constant temperature of around 160 °F

Once the reaction is complete you are left with two major products: glycerin and biodiesel. 

As glycerin is denser that biodiesel you can easily separate the two by drawing off the glycerin from the bottom of the container, leaving the biodiesel behind.

It's obviously a bit more complicated than this, but having attended a one day 'make your own biodiesel' workshop I can honestly say this process is easily manageable. If I had a decent sized garden shed to store the equipment I'd definitely do this myself.

'Reduce not Replace'

So, unless you have the capacity to make your own biodiesel, or until new and more efficient technologies can be found to minimise the detrimental impact they are having on the environment, biofuels are clearly not going to provide the solution many people had hoped for. Furthermore, it could be argued that they detract attention from the bigger priority; which is that we must try and reduce our overall energy use.

Instead of looking for alternatives, maybe the time has come for us to look at how we might change our mind-sets and our habits. I’m not suggesting we all rush out and sell our cars tomorrow (although that might not be a bad idea) but perhaps we could think twice before making unnecessary journeys, make a resolution to use public transport more often, offer a friend a lift, invest in a bicycle (or an electric bike if you live at the top of a hill) or dust off our old walking boots and get fit into the bargain! I have a friend who gave up her car last year; she’s in her late fifties, has never felt fitter and healthier and doesn’t have a single regret.

A few tips for car uses

1. Reduce your speed – you’ll be surprised how much less fuel you’ll use. (Borrow some story tapes for long journeys and don’t be in such a hurry to get from A to B).
2. Don’t keep your tank topped up. You’ll get a higher mpg if you’re carrying less weight in the fuel tank.
3. Take your roof rack off if you don’t use it every day.
4. Make sure your tyre pressures are correct for the weight you are carrying.
5. Get your engine tuned so you can maximise its efficiency.
6. Lift share!

Say No to Palm Oil: excellent information and advice http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/

Green': film about the last few hours in the life of a displaced orang-utan http://www.greenthefilm.com/

Useful site and very active forum for anyone wanting to reduce dependence on oil - http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/

Sumatran Orangutan Society - http://www.orangutans-sos.org/

B x

Unto thine own self be true.

I've been thinking a lot recently about the myriad views people have about what's wrong with the world - and all the differing opinions we have about what our priorities 'should be' when it comes to awareness raising and/or engaging in direct action to effect change.

There are so many pressing issues that I cannot begin to list them all. They include (in no particular order) deforestation, climate change & peak oil, bee decline, loss of biodiversity, social and economic injustice, animal welfare, the banking system, the power of the multinationals, soil degradation, GMOs, pesticides, pollution…..the list goes on.

Having run around like a headless chicken for many years trying to help raise awareness of most of the above, I decided a few years ago to try and focus on the issues I personally feel most passionate about. This doesn't mean I don't care about the others, or that I think they are less important or pressing than those that I choose to focus on.... it just means I believe I can be more effective with my time and energy if I follow my own heart rather than someone else's heart. I also believe I can be more effective if I work in my own way, with my own skills.

We have all been gifted different skills, personalities, abilities and world views, so it stands to reason that we are going to have different ways of doing things. This is just wonderful because it means that, collectively, we can appeal to a much wider range of people. However it means also we will not always agree with each other!

Some of us are politically minded, some are not. Some put their trust in science; others in spiritual or 'alternative' practices.  Some are only just waking up to the fact that there are problems to be dealt with whilst others have been campaigning for decades. There are those who choose to 'be the change' by quietly living low impact lives and there are activists who are prepared to face injury and even death for what they believe needs to change. In fact, we probably have as many different ways of 'thinking' and 'behaving' as there are issues to be dealt with. To my mind this is a positive thing.

However, I have noticed recently that some groups, organisations and individuals spend a great deal of valuable time and energy trying to persuade others that 'their' way is the 'best' way, or the 'only' way. Or... that their 'issue' is the most important issue.

Surely this is counter productive? I don't think there is a 'best' way, or an 'only' way, or a 'most important' issue. There are many ways to effect change and many important things that need to change - and they are all equally important.


We are all just tiny little cogs in a huge giant wheel and it has NEVER been more important for us to work alongside each other..... to co-operate, to communicate, to support, to respect and honour our differences and to stop picking holes in each others belief systems. It's time for us to drop both individual and organisational ego. This is not a competition and there is absolutely no place for ego if we are to make headway.

So, whoever you are, and however you choose to 'Be The Change', remember that you are a wonderfully unique and amazing being…..so please, keep on doing what you do in your own special way!

Thank you for all that you do

B xxx

Balancing/nurturing Spirit and Soul

I contemplate a great deal the difference between 'spirit' and 'soul'. I used to think these two words meant exactly the same thing - but have more recently come to see them as two quite different, albeit interconnected, aspects of 'being'.

As this is a conclusion I have only fully come to realise, recognise and understand through the experience of living in my own skin, I thought the easiest way to explain it would be to personalise it. Although what I write here is very personal, I'm hoping it might just resonate with others who are in a similar place to me....

Being Human/Human Being

For most of my life I have been aware that as well as having multi faceted personalities, human beings are also composed of, and operate on, a number of different energetic levels.  It's easy to recognise and understand the physical, mental and emotional aspects of being human - and I known how important it is to keep these aspects as balanced as possible. However, I have often struggled to understand why my inner self (soul, spirit, essence?) seems to be pulling me in so many different directions. This has never been more apparent to me than during the last ten years or so - a time during which I have made a commitment to dedicate my time and energy to help raise awareness of the important environmental, ethical and ecological issues facing planet Earth and its inhabitants at this moment in time.

I imagined, rather naively, that once I had made this commitment, the way forward would be obvious. But it hasn't been. In fact quite the opposite; I have found myself absolutely torn between...

'getting out there to learn and share as much as I can, with as many people as possible, about how they/we can all be the change'

and...

'staying quietly at home, living the lowest impact life I possibly can, and 'being the change' all by myself'.

As there is no reason why these two ways shouldn't be mutually inclusive I have attempted to follow both paths at the same time. But this has not made for an easy life. It has at best caused some degree of inner conflict (not to mention confusion) and at times has resulted in me feeling I am in danger of losing my sense of direction. Which is not good!

So what have I got wrong - and what's it all got to do with spirit and soul???

Being a Busy Bee

Until recently I have spent most of my waking hours traveling from A to B, meeting people, doing talks (mostly about bees!), campaigning, writing articles and blog posts, sharing information on social networks and generally buzzing with energy and the extraordinary life force that comes with knowing you are following your chosen path. This is all fine on one level, because I absolutely LOVE doing what I do, but it's not really sustainable. It leaves me little time for friends and family, even less time for myself, and is, ironically, pulling me away from the very path I write and talk about. I know that if I don't find a way to bring some balance back to my life I'm in serious danger of losing touch with all that I hold sacred.

Off-Grid Sundays

A few years ago, in an attempt to find a way to recharge my batteries and stay in touch with that which nurtures and sustains me, I came up with the idea of going 'Off-grid' on Sundays. I've written a few blog posts about this so won't go into any detail about it in this post, but basically it means that from Saturday evenings till Monday mornings I try to 'switch off' - both literally and figuratively.

The idea is that after spending 24 hours or so without using electricity, gas, car, mobile, computer, car money etc - and having used this time to immerse myself in nature, I'm ready to start afresh all over again on Monday morning. And it works!

Wake-up calls

It is typical of human beings that we don't always notice ourselves losing our balance. Our bodies give us warning signs (sleepless nights, headaches, lowered immune systems etc) but we have become past masters at ignoring and overriding these signals.

For the last five years or so I have been promising myself a little break, but I never actually get around to taking one.  As I've already mentioned, I absolutely love what I do so it doesn't feel like work, as such - BUT - I am extremely aware that I'm treading a very thin line and that if something new, difficult or unexpected is added to the pot, I could easily fall over.

So, bearing all this in mind, and given the fact that this is a great time of year for reflection and inner spring cleaning, I recently took some time out from 'doing' and spent it instead just 'being.' I had no preconceived idea what I would do with this time out and, as it happened, I spent most of it sleeping. But, with rest comes clarity and, for me, this clarification came in the form of an awareness of the difference between spirit and soul....

SPIRIT

My spirit is full of passion, joy, anger, rhythm, life, wonder... It is the spirit of an activist, a communicator, an explorer, an adventurer and a pioneer. It wants to be free, to be wild... to walk the hills, to dance on the moon, to swim amongst the stars, to play, to sing, to love, to laugh... and to stand, arms outstretched, on the highest mountain top in the world and ROOOAAAAAR for the Earth!

For reasons unknown to me, my spirit has lain dormant for most of my life... hiding in the shadows whilst life's ups and downs have formed my human self into what I am today. Since it has made itself known though, it will not be repressed and fills me with boundless energy so that I, in my human form, may fulfil its aims.

I can hear my spirit speak as I write this blog post. It says.....

 "Tell how I shine! Explain how I hold the key - AM the key - to some of the most amazing, vast, untapped source of energy in the universe and how - if you allow me - I will shine my light so brightly that darkness will be no more!"


SOUL


My soul is quieter than my spirit....much, much quieter. It yearns for peace, solitude, a sense of place and a deeper connection with the earth. It is my anchor; utterly steadfast and constant as it nurtures and sustains me whilst it, in turn, seeks to be nurtured and sustained by nature and by source. In line with what I recognise to be the most basic needs of my soul, I have been drawn to spend more and more time outside in nature. When I am at one with nature I quickly become lost in time, invisible to the world and completely absorbed in the moment. It feels like I have come 'home'.

Sensing, at last, that I have 'Come Home' is the most amazing feeling for me. Having spent my entire life moving from home to home, never living in the same place for longer than four years, and mostly for less than two -  I have never before had such a sense of 'place'. The problem recently though, has been that it feels so wonderful to have this newfound sense of place that I find it increasingly difficult to come back to the world of campaigning....


Honouring both

So, you see, I have been torn between my soul's deep, primal craving to just 'be' and my spirit's burning, driven desire to 'act'.  At times it has sometimes felt like I'm two different people living in the same body, but now that I understand - I have regained my inner peace once more and know exactly what I must do.

It's simple.... I must nurture my soul because it is the core of my very being - and - I must nurture my spirit because it is the essence of who I am.  Most importantly I must make enough time to honour the needs of both in equal measures.

So, as the future gallops towards us with all its magnificent unknowns, I know that by honouring and fulfilling the needs of both 'spirit' and 'soul' - in equal measures - I will reinforce my inner strength and be ready to take on whatever the universe has in mind for me!

I hope, whoever you are, that you also find your own peace and strength to sustain you through these incredibly challenging times - and that our souls/spirits/beings/selves all meet as one to rise to those challenges.

I just want to add that what I have written here is personal to me and my own world view. I know that many people believe there is no such thing as 'soul' or 'spirit' and I fully respect these views

With much love,
Brigit xxx


Update. Dec 2014, 3 years after I wrote this blog post:  Until earlier this year the Off-Grid Sunday routine worked beautifully for me on every level, but I needed a bit of a 're-think' for a number of practical reasons.

1.  I am increasingly getting bookings to deliver workshops on Sundays.

2.  I am fortunate enough to be in a wonderful, loving new relationship and am no longer living on my own. I don't feel it is right to ask someone else to live by my precepts when they have family who they need to see and communicate with on Sundays.

3. My father died earlier this year and I am now responsible for caring for my mother who is elderly and disabled. I don't live in the same house as my mother, so wouldn't want to switch my phone off in case she needed me.

However….. as Sundays are no longer completely my own, I find time during the week to switch off and connect with the wild world instead. I am also increasingly taking whole chunks of time out to refresh and revitalise. I still struggle to get the balance right. I guess that's because I'm human :)