The title of this post says it all. China’s Environmental Protection Ministry has released a report of an official study conducted between 2005 and 2013, which showed that 16.1% of China’s soil and 19.4% of its arable land are contaminated, principally with excessive levels of cadmium, nickel and arsenic. It is well known that China’sContinueContinue reading “One Fifth of China’s Soil Contaminated”
Tag Archives: environment
Sheepwrecked – Environmentalists v Farmers
Over the last week I have been helping out on a farm in the Scottish Borders in the lambing shed (hello to you all at Overlangshaw!) and while I was there I began reading Alan Butler’s book ‘sheep’, a work that sets out an argument for sheep being some of the most important historical actors ofContinueContinue reading “Sheepwrecked – Environmentalists v Farmers”
Small is Beautiful – four aims for positive land management
I have recently been re-reading E.F. Schumacher’s classic work, first published in 1973, Small is Beautiful. It is a book that remains relevant for the Western world and, I would hasten to guess, will remain increasingly relevant as time marches on this century. Rather than carry out an elongated review or synthesis of ideas contained inContinueContinue reading “Small is Beautiful – four aims for positive land management”
Flooding continues on the Levels
The Somerset Levels have now been under water for weeks. In fact, it is difficult to remember a time when one did not turn on the UK news to be confronted with images of villagers traveling from place to place by boat, livestock stranded on the few ‘high’ areas of farms and, more than anything,ContinueContinue reading “Flooding continues on the Levels”
A focus on soil
A focus on soilhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03s645l BBC Farming Today this week focused last week on arguably our most precious resource: soil. Soil isn’t a single substance but a vastly complex combination of organisms which all need to be cared for properly. If a soil is too wet, too dry or too compact it will not function as wellContinueContinue reading “A focus on soil”
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