Best Blogs of 2014

So, as the sun sets on the last day of the year, here is my list of some of the best blogs of 2014. 

Blogs are typically short and punchy and express an opinion. The ones that I have chosen here are also brave, produced by experts and often touch on things we might not otherwise know.  I am undoubtedly biased in terms of topic and author but that is probably not entirely unique in end-of-year-type reviews.

Firstly, here is Birdlife's Luca Bonaccorsi on Europe's new attitude to nature (this is going to be a big issue in the coming year):

'... we keep destroying habitats and endangering the “festival of life”, through careless neglect and culpable plunder. It is us, human beings, that are impoverishing and degrading our living planet. We cover our fields with biocides, concrete and tarmac. We consume resources and dump our waste which poisons the water of rivers and seas. We chop down and burn trees way faster than they can possibly regrow. And we’re altering our climate, setting the stage for unpredictable and possibly catastrophic consequences.'  Full article HERE


Next, here is a short piece that for me reflects on one of the great achievements of 2015, when an international convention (a UN body no less) embraced culture within its lexicon of conservation and this time it is Whale and Dolphin Conservation's Philippa Brakes speaking on the New Scientist website:  

''The new resolution recognises both positive and negative consequences of non-human culture. Individuals passing on knowledge may increase population viability by allowing the rapid spread of innovations amid environmental challenges, which could mean more-resilient social groups. On the other hand, the effects of human-induced threats may be amplified by the presence of non-human culture...'. Full article HERE


In this next piece published in the Ecologist is a prelude to the last meeting of the International Whaling Commission and in it the Environmental Investigation Agency's Clare Perry focuses on Iceland:: 

"Iceland claims its whaling is sustainable when the best available scientific evidence reveals that its fin whale quota is more than three times greater than the level considered sustainable." Full article HERE. 


Leaving the whales, here now is Mark Jones (now with the Borne Free Foundation) looking at the contentious badger cull in the UK on the Huffington Post::

"After two years, the government's own results clearly show the pilot culls have failed to deliver on either effectiveness or humaneness. Its apparent determination to carry on regardless reflects the political motivation behind the policy, which has little or nothing to do with science-led disease control". In full HERE.

Chris Butler Stroud looks at foreign policy and whaling here in a rare analysis of the behavior of the USA in this matter:

"Some would argue that despite decades of the development of international law, some nation states still seek to avoid the ramifications of upholding this growing area of law, relying on historical soft and hard power to influence future policy. The ramifications of such a world-view are that such countries can therefore fail to hold other states to account for their failures under international law. But what has this to do with US foreign policy?" Find out HERE: 

Here Wayne Parcelle reviews the sixty year history of the Humane Society which was celebrated this year:

"In the post-World War II era, their first campaigns helped pass a federal humane slaughter law and restrict the seizure of pets from shelters for use in animal experiments. They realized that we would not be able to rescue our way out of the problems -- but needed to prevent cruelty by raising awareness, professionalizing our entire field of work, and driving sound public policies and corporate reforms."  Full blog HERE.

And, finally, amazing footage of  those (in my experience) very illusive and amazing Welsh Risso's dolphins leaping from the water off Bardsey Island taken last summer and  c/o Vicki James HERE

I started to blog on the Huffington Post this year and you can judge my seven offerings HERE. 

Happy New Year!