Horizons this week takes you from salmon in the River Mersey to a film about the Prestige
Mersey clean-up
Salmon can now be seen in the River Mersey, which was once the most polluted waterway in the north-west of England. Fish disappeared from the river in the 1870s due to pollution caused by heavy industry but it has been cleaned up over the past 20 years and now salmon, trout and lamprey have been seen there, as well as seals and dolphins.
Arctic caribou alert
The Bush administration is backing a plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas exploration, which threatens to disrupt the porcupine caribou herd that migrates across the pristine landscape. The aboriginal people, the Gwich'in, depend on the caribou for 75 per cent of their diet, use the animals for clothing and tools, and to make arts and crafts. They are worried that exploration work will divert the migration path of the 130,000 caribou away from the 15 Gwich'in villages. Controversy surrounds the amount of economically recoverable oil in the 19-million acre ANWR area; the US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates there is only enough to fuel the US for between three and nine months.
Field of dreams
Have you made a resolution to learn a new skill in 2003? The UK-based Field Studies Council, an environmental education charity which has been running courses for families and individuals for more than 60 years, has just launched its 2003 programme. It covers everything from birds, bats, butterflies, photography, wild flowers, crafts and traditional skills, to archaeology, watercolours and eco-adventure activities. For a brochure tel: 0044-1743852100 or see the
website: www.field-studies-council.org
Wildlife and wetlands events
If you want to learn more about our feathered friends, make a note of the following events at the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust in Castle Espie, Comber, Co Down. Learn how to identify birds in your garden at the big garden birdwatch, on January 25th and 26th; or learn how to make a traditional St Brigid's Cross, using rushes from local wetlands, on February 1st. To celebrate World Wetlands Day on February 2nd, there will be free admission and guided tours.
Tel: 0289-1874146.
Website: www.wwt.org.uk
Film tackles Prestige spill
Jean-Michel Cousteau and the Ocean Futures Society film team, are to make a documentary on the effects of the Prestige oil spill off the Spanish coast, to show the repercussions of governments failing to remove ageing tankers from the oceans. "The news media has initially focused on the immediate effects we see on television," says Cousteau. "We need to look at the breakdown of the symbiotic human and natural interaction, the loss of economic livelihood, the enormous stress on families and the unravelling fabric of their societies."