Watched 2 monarch butter flies this morning as I harvested tamarillos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly

When regular food supplies diminish, the tree tomato or tamarillo will provide much dietary value. Eating fresh from the shrub, when red, its delicious. Like a pineapple and a banana was one description of its taste.

 

 

 

 

The volunteers coming in to assist in bush fire follow up tell me how round-up is in use on some properties. Near creeks and drains.

Luxembourg has become the first European Union (EU) country to completely ban products containing glyphosate, the controversial herbicide at the center of high-profile lawsuits, and conflicting scientific studies and health claims. Glyphosate has already been banned in Vietnam and Thailand. Mexico has announced plans to do the same.

Luxembourg’s recently enacted ban will go into effect in three phases: authorization to market it will be withdrawn on February 1, 2020. Stocks will be allowed to be used up until June 30. Finally, the total ban on the use of herbicides containing glyphosate will go into effect on December 31, 2020. The measure was announced last month.

Glyphosate, which controls broadleaf weeds and grasses, has been registered as a pesticide in the U.S. since 1974 and has been reviewed and approved by the EPA in regular reassessments since then.

Its use in RoundUp, a popular weed killer used on farms as well as lawns, has led to multi-million-dollar jury awards to people who claim that exposure to the product caused their non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

The EPA and Monsanto – RoundUp’s manufacturer – claim the product is safe when used according to the directions on the label. The EPA says on its website that it “continues to find that there are no risks to public health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label and that glyphosate is not a carcinogen… Glyphosate products can be safely used by following label directions. There are no risks to children or adults from currently registered uses.”

Monsanto cites numerous studies it says demonstrates that there is no health risk from using RoundUp. However, a study by researchers at the University of Washington found that glyphosate raises the risk of non-Hodgkins lymphoma to those exposed to the substance by 41 percent. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans,” but regulatory agencies in Canada, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Japan have classified it as noncarcinogenic.

This site burnt 8 months ago. Now, covered in bracken, its my task to find the rain forest seedlings sprouting.

 

Deadly diseases from wildlife thrive when nature is destroyed, study finds

Rats and bats that host pandemic pathogens like Covid-19 increase in damaged ecosystems, analysis shows

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The BR163 highway in Moraes Almeida district in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil, September 2019. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP via Getty ImagesDamian Carrington Environment editor@dpcarringtonPublished onThu 6 Aug 2020 01.00 AEST

The human destruction of natural ecosystems increases the numbers of rats, bats and other animals that harbour diseases that can lead to pandemics such as Covid-19, a comprehensive analysis has found.

The research assessed nearly 7,000 animal communities on six continents and found that the conversion of wild places into farmland or settlements often wipes out larger species. It found that the damage benefits smaller, more adaptable creatures that also carry the most pathogens that can pass to humans.

The assessment found that the populations of animals hosting what are known as zoonotic diseases were up to 2.5 times bigger in degraded places, and that the proportion of species that carry these pathogens increased by up to 70% compared with in undamaged ecosystems.Advertisementhttps://282d6174f0201c57fdbf1cd1a11453c2.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Humans populations are being increasingly hit by diseases that originate in wild animals, such as HIV, Zika, Sars and Nipah virus. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, there have been a series of warnings from the UN and WHO that the world must tackle the cause of these outbreaks – the destruction of nature – and not just the health and economic symptoms.

In June, experts said the Covid-19 pandemic was an “SOS signal for the human enterprise”, while in April the world’s leading biodiversity experts said even more deadly disease outbreaks were likely unless nature was protected.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-04/bushfire-royal-commission-hears-former-fire-chiefs-2019-warning/12522382?WT.ac=localnews_northcoast

 

Toxic Glyphosate in NZ manuka honey

Weed-killer glyphosate have been found in New Zealand honey, prompting concern for the high-value mānuka industry.

Their first round of testing took place in 2015 and 2016 and saw 300 mostly raw and unprocessed samples gathered from all over the country. They later found 67 of them, or 22.3 per cent, contained small traces of glyphosate and 5 of those, or 1.7 per cent, were over our regulatory…

 

and with conspiracy theories amok here in our shire have a read of this from New Zealand.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300067665/coronavirus-massey-university-and-stuff-survey-shows-social-media-and-covid19-conspiracy-theory-links

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-27/gospers-mountain-mega-blaze-investigation/12472044?nw=0

https://www.smh.com.au/national/firefighting-tactics-should-change-as-climate-warms-say-fire-chiefs-20200729-p55gom.html

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Roundup class action

We have launched a class action against Monsanto on behalf of all people who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) by reason of using or being exposed to Roundup or Monsanto-branded products that contained glyphosate (Roundup Products).

We allege that Monsanto was negligent in selling Roundup Products which they knew (or ought to have known) could cause cancer. We also allege that the Roundup Products had a safety defect and were not of acceptable quality under consumer protection legislation.

On 1^st May 2020 the Federal Court determined that the class action run by Maurice Blackburn would be heard before any other class action about Roundup.

https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/class-actions/current-class-actions/roundup-class-action/

Today its raining and I haven’t been able to go to market. So I have found a fine old cotton sheet and will have to hand sew some elastic ear loops in.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-24/do-masks-cause-co2-poisoning-do-face-shields-work-safety/12476314