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The manumea bird (Didunculus strigirostris), which is endemic to Samoa and its national bird, is feared near extinction after a 10-day survey of the Savai’i uplands by a group of scientists resulted in just one sighting. An ornithologist, Rebecca Stirnemann, says she was hoping the manumea, a close relative of the dodo, would be abundant there - with the largely untouched cloud forest acting as a last refuge for the endangered species. But she says the manumea population is much smaller than what was anticipated. She says because of a lack of research as to what could be causing the population’s rapid decline, it is hard to know what can be done. “The manumea, we still know very little about. In fact we don’t even know if the nests are on the ground or high up a tree. So we have no biological information on their breeding, which makes it quite difficult to say well what’s eating it, why are we not seeing any chicks, why are numbers declining? Is it because there’s no food, there’s been a lot of habitat loss, but then it could be invasive species.” Rebecca Stirnemann says they are now doing a survey to find out how many manumea are left in Samoa by targeting areas where local people have reported seeing them.

Since the first genetically modified crops in the U.S. were approved in the mid-’90s, millions of acres have been planted with these crops. Most of the harvest goes to animal feed and other uses, but it’s estimated that about 70 percent of processed foods in the U.S. contain GMO ingredients. 90% of corn grown in the U.S. in 2013 is genetically modified. Most corn grown in the U.S. is used for animal feed and non-food products like ethanol, but it is also used in processed foods for humans — most often as high-fructose corn syrup. (This is different from the genetically modified sweet corn introduced by Monsanto in 2011.) How it may show up on labels: corn syrup, corn meal, dextrin. 93%of soybeans grown in the U.S. in 2013 are genetically modified. Like corn, much of the nation’s soy crop is used for animal feed and energy. A number of the top brands of soy milk, tofu and other obvious foods are organic and GMO-free. How it may show up on labels: soy protein, soy flour, lethicin. 90%of cotton grown in the U.S. in 2013 is genetically modified. Cotton is mostly used for textiles, but cottonseed oil is used as a cheaper substitute for olive or canola oil in foods like salad dressing and potato chips. How it may show up on labels: cottonseed oil. 90%of canola grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. Canola oil is used in food, while the seed meal is used in livestock feed. How it may show up on labels: canola oil. 95%of sugar beets grown in the U.S. are genetically modified. Monsanto introduced herbicide-resistant sugar beets in 2008, and it has been considered the fastest adoption of any genetically engineered crop. Opponents sought to block the crop in court, and it continues to be contentious. In June, thousands of plants were destroyed by vandals in southwest Oregon. How it may show up on labels: sugar, sucrose. 88% of alfalfa grown in the U.S. is genetically modified. Humans don’t eat alfalfa, but it’s a main source of feed for animals like dairy cows. Critics worry about contamination with organic feed.

Today the Court of Dendermonde, Belgium, convicted 11 activists of organised crime in relation to their participation in a day of action against a GM potato field which took place in Wetteren on May 29th, 2011. The activists were convicted of criminal gang forming, criminal damage and resisting arrest, and were given suspended prison sentences of between 3 and 6 ,months, plus fines, damages and court costs totalling more than 25 thousand euros. There was some relief among the activists on hearing the verdict, but also concern that this verdict creates an extremely dangerous precedent for everyone who values the right of citizens to freedom of speech. This is the first time that environmental activists have been convicted of organised crime charges in Belgium. The activists plan to appeal against todays’ verdict. ”This conviction for organised crime is completely out of proportion with the ‘crime’ of uprooting a few potatoes from a controversial GM crop which was grown for mainly promotional reasons.” said Barbara Van Dyck, one of the defendants. ‘ The aim of the action was to trigger public debate about the introduction of GMOs into agriculture. The field trial itself was later found by a separate court to be unlawful because they did not have a valid permit for the crop.’

Angling and fishery organisations have welcomed an announcement from the UK's Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon that plans are being drawn up to remove products containing the dangerous insecticide Chlorpyrifos from domestic sale. Mr Benyon was responding to strong representations from the Angling Trust, the national representative body for anglers, and fishery owners along the Kennet Valley in Wiltshire and Berkshire following last month's devastating pollution of all invertebrate life along a 15 kms stretch of this famous chalk stream by a tiny amount of chlorpyrifos which entered the river via the combined sewerage system. In a recent letter to Mr Benyon Angling Trust campaign chief Martin Salter wrote: “Experience from other countries as well as the catalogue of environmental disasters caused by chlorpyrifos, of which the upper Kennet is but the latest, must surely tell us that the current controls are simply not fit for purpose." In fact the Angling Trust wants to know why a lethal chemical like chlorpyrifos is allowed to be used anywhere near a river or watercourse. Apparently the 15 kms wipeout of invertebrates between Marlborough and Hungerford may have been caused by as little as a couple of spoonfuls and was almost certainly the result of an irresponsible domestic disposal. "We hope you will agree that the the sooner we follow the lead of Singapore and America and ban the domestic use of chlorpyrifos the better off our rivers will be.”

Tibor Szabo, the OBA’s 1st vice president, told OurWindsor.ca that despite the Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s announcement Friday focusing on a tightening of rules in respect to the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, the plan as currently written is nowhere near sufficient. Some of the protective measures for corn and soybeans – which the PMRA hopes to have in place for the 2014 season - are set to include requiring the use of safer dust-reducing seed flow lubricants; requiring adherence to safer seed planting practices; requiring new pesticide and seed package labels with enhanced warnings; and, requiring updated value information be provided to support the continued need for neonicotinoid treatment on up to 100% of the corn seed and 50% of the soybean seed. “I’m concerned with the continuing emphasis focusing only on seeding dust as the cause of the pesticide bee kills. Has anyone ever actually traced all of the Neonic’s found on dead bees, stored pollen and water sources to the dust at planting time? Is there any real evidence to support this assumption?” said Szabo, adding that another relevant cause is water and soil contamination, which can be linked to pollen and nectar due to mobility dynamics. “Since 80 to 90% of active ingredients do not enter the target crop and that NNI’s are persistent and water soluble, it seems to me that this source is more likely at the core of a number of bee losses. And yet this isn’t addressed or queried anywhere in the release of intent notice,” he said.

“There’s been very little research on residential exposure to methyl bromide. Our study is the first to look at methyl bromide and birth outcomes,” said Kim Harley, study author and associate director of the Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health at the University of California, Berkeley. The soil fumigant, which is injected into the soil before planting, can volatize into the air, exposing nearby neighborhoods. Use of methyl bromide has been declining over the past decade under an international treaty that phases out chemicals that deplete the Earth’s protective ozone layer. Strawberries and a few other crops are exempt under the ban because they are deemed “critical uses.”

In this Communiqué, ETC Group identifies the major corporate players that control industrial farm inputs. Together with our companion poster, Who will feed us? The industrial food chain or the peasant food web?, ETC Group aims to de-construct the myths surrounding the effectiveness of the industrial food system. ETC Group has been monitoring the power and global reach of agro-industrial corporations for several decades – including the increasingly consolidated control of agricultural inputs for the industrial food chain: proprietary seeds and livestock genetics, chemical pesticides and fertilizers and animal pharmaceuticals. Collectively, these inputs are the chemical and biological engines that drive industrial agriculture. This update documents the continuing concentration (surprise, surprise), but it also brings us to three conclusions important to both peasant producers and policy makers. 1. Cartels are commonplace, 2. The “invisible hold” of the market is growing, and 3. Climate research shows that we don’t know (that) we don’t know our food system.