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I was interested in the story from Conservation International on scientists in Borneo discovering a teeny tiny new species of frog – the Microhyla nepenthicola is about the size of a pea and lives in pitcher plants which hold pools of water.

When I saw the photo, I thought surely this must be the smallest frog in the world?

Au contraire – it’s only the smallest species discovered in the OLD world .

They’ve found even… Continue reading

I went for a lovely lunch with a Peruvian hotel group called Inkaterra today, at a restaurant called Bumpkin in South Kensington.

Inkaterra has some of the most exciting, sustainable hotels in Peru. It all started in the 1970s with Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica right in the Amazon jungle. Next were La Casona in Cusco, part of the super-luxury Relais & Chateaux collection, and Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel right by Machu Picchu. Inkaterra has now launched another sister brand… Continue reading

[This article first appeared in TTG]

Despite a thorough explanation from instructor Derek on how to hold my paddle and how to slow down and change direction, I was still concerned about losing control and smashing up my kayak on the rocks. But Derek assured me the kayaks were practically indestructible. “You might hit into each other, though – the kayaks have got magnets in them,” he warned us.

I’d have thought magnets would make the… Continue reading

I enjoyed this piece on Mother Nature Network which listed 10 animals that are bad for the environment…

I knew about the impact elephants can have, tearing down vegetation.

I’ve read about the impact of cattle and invasive species like cane toads and crown-of-thorns starfish too.

But it was news to me that the common carp is also a bad guy! Apparently they uproot vegetation and can majorly affect their environment. They… Continue reading

Our Date With Nature in Regent’s Park was pretty successful yesterday – no famous singers or authors this time unfortunately but the three heron chicks were the stars of the show.

There were adults in four or five of the nests but we only spotted chicks in one. I couldn’t get over how big they are, at just 3-4 weeks old. How mum, dad and the chicks will all fit in the nest for another… Continue reading

My feature for Australia and New Zealand magazine on eco-volunteering in the Antipodes is in stores now….

Thanks to Biosphere Expeditions, Conservation Volunteers, Reef Check Australia and everyone else who helped out!

Click here to read it as a PDF

I’ve finally submitted my results online for last weekend’s Big Garden Birdwatch.
I decided to borrow a friend’s garden in the end, as I’ve never seen a single bird in our courtyard. She also supplied me with tea and chocolate digestives which was nice.

I made a little spread of seeds and over-ripe fruit out on her wall but the birds didn’t exactly flock to it. They need more than 20 minutes notice that the food is out, I… Continue reading

Yesterday I was volunteering for the RSPB at one of their Date With Nature events on Hampstead Heath.

Down on Pond 10, we mostly kept the telescopes trained on a heron, and four cormorants sitting one on each corner of a jetty in the middle of the pond. There were also heaps of coots which spent most of the day having wing-flapping fights and trying to drown each other – hilarious to watch.

Over the course of the weekend, all the species… Continue reading

I was pleased to hear that Cancun has devised an underwater museum as a new tourist attraction. Not because I thought the world necessarily needed an underwater museum (more on that later) but because this is good news for the threatened coral reefs in the Cancun area.

The massive expansion of tourism over the last 40 years has led to the rapid decline in the quality of the… Continue reading

I love this week’s story about the Scottish pensioner who’s taking on property magnate Donald Trump to contest his golf course development in Menie, Aberdeenshire.

85-year-old Molly Forbes, who lives on the Menie Estate, says the development will threaten her home. She’s launched a legal challenge against the plans, claiming that environmental assessment regulations were not met, and that the impact of the complex on nearby conservation… Continue reading