Focus on Arts and Ecology

Author

1. Fredros Okumu

   Director of Science, Ifakara Health Institute

 August 29, 2021

It has been said that malaria breeds poverty, and poverty breeds malaria. This is the reality in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where after decades of control initiatives there were still some 384,000 deaths and 188 million malaria cases in 2019.

Malaria prevention in African countries heavily depends on using insecticide treated bed nets and house spraying. These efforts, together with effective treatment, have greatly reduced the malaria burden across the continent. But progress stagnated around 2015. Lately, some countries have been reporting increases in cases.

One reason is resistance to insecticides. This is the result of long-term use of chemicals in public health and agriculture. New insecticides are being developed but they too might become ineffective – and they are expensive.

Malaria control must, therefore, move away from relying too much on insecticides to more sustainable options.

In 2016, a World Health Organisation (WHO) panel concluded that even with the best use of current approaches, there would still be 11 million malaria cases in 2050. What’s needed are longer-term integrated strategies to complement current methods. These may include large-scale environmental management to reduce Anopheles breeding, mosquito-proof homes, stronger health systems and public education focusing on disease prevention.

Fortunately, new technologies are also being developed which could complement these strategies at lower cost and less effort.

One particularly exciting example is the release of genetically programmed mosquitoes, which we call “protector mosquitoes”. Upon mating with wild mosquitoes they produce offspring that are either incapable of any further reproduction or unable to transmit malaria parasites.

Research teams such as Target Malaria – a non-profit consortium co-led by African scientists in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Uganda – are working to ensure that this technology can eventually undergo field evaluation in Africa, once necessary risk assessments and regulatory processes are complete.

Our research group at Ifakara Health Institute is also investigating opinions of different stakeholders on the merits of the technology.

Genetically programmed mosquitoes

In nature, there’s a phenomenon called gene drive which operates in the process of reproduction. This is when a genetic element is able to increase the chance that it will be inherited by offspring.

Researchers are adapting similar approaches to create revolutionary methods for controlling insect borne diseases. They are using gene-editing tools to modify what certain mosquitoes are capable of, and make sure these capabilities are passed on to the next generation. This is already proven to work in experimental settings.

Unlike traditional genetic modification, gene drives enable extremely rapid spread of the desired characteristics. The genetically programmed mosquitoes could take over wild populations of disease-carrying mosquitoes in just a few generations, even in remote locations.

Work by our research team has shown that there is support for the technologies from multiple stakeholder groups. But there’s also some scepticism. This means more education and risk assessments are needed to inform further development of the technology.

Weighing risks and benefits

As with many other technologies, this one has perceived risks along with potential benefits. These must be examined before a final decision is made.

A common concern is changes in biodiversity. People often ask what will happen if we eliminate or modify the genetic sequences in mosquitoes. In places where insecticide treatment of nets and spraying of houses has greatly reduced mosquitoes, no adverse environmental effects have been found and malaria cases have been significantly reduced.

There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes. Only 50-70 can transmit malaria to humans. Often, there are only two or three of these species that dominate malaria transmission in any country. Effective malaria control can, therefore, be achieved by simply identifying, understanding and then targeting one or two dominant species instead of trying to kill all mosquitoes.

The gene drive approach would target only the selected mosquito species without affecting any non-target organisms. This is why it’s one of the most biodiversity-friendly methods for mosquito control.

Research has also shown that most creatures that prey on Anopheles mosquitoes also eat other insect species. So it’s unlikely that losing the few dangerous Anopheles species would endanger the overall mosquito populations or their natural predators.

Next steps

In the words of the late Calestous Juma, an eminent Kenyan scientist, who chaired the Africa Union High Level Panel on Emerging Technologies, “innovation has its enemies”. Genetically programmed mosquitoes will likely face similar challenges. An important question is whether the risks associated with the few bad Anopheles mosquitoes warrant safe deployment of properly tested and regulated “protector” mosquitoes.

About 1,000 people die of malaria every day. This will continue until there is a lasting solution.

African countries must evaluate the technology and make informed decisions on how safely it can be used to stop the millions of cases and thousands of deaths. An army of protector mosquitoes could transform the fight against malaria in Africa.

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(Sources: The Conversation)

August 29, 2021 

Crawley MP Henry Smith, a member of the Conservative Environment Network, said the Environment Bill going through Parliament does not set a legal deadline for halting wildlife declines.

He also pointed out the natural environment supports nearly 750,000 jobs and more than £27 billion of the country’s economic output.

Mr Smith said strong action is urgently needed to protect nature in the UK, with nearly half of our species, including hedgehogs and water voles, in decline as well as birds such as the turtle dove.

He said: “The shocking truth is that Britain’s wildlife has been in sharp decline for decades, and this lost heritage threatens our economic prosperity and security.

“Thankfully, the Government has committed to halt the decline of nature by the end of this decade.

“This has the potential to turn the ecological catastrophe around. But only if this target is written explicitly into law as the Environment Bill currently progresses through Parliament.

“A failure to act on these warnings will hit the Treasury’s coffers, and our pockets, hard.

“But putting nature into recovery can create jobs and save us money we would otherwise have to spend in the future, such as on flood defences.”

The Conservative Environment Network, which is backed by 104 Tory MPs, campaigns for greener policies.

Support for a legal commitment to halt nature’s decline in the UK is strong.

Last month, the Wildlife and Countryside Link handed in a petition to Environment Secretary George Eustice signed by 208,000 people demanding a legal pledge to stop wildlife declines.

A central part of the Daily Express’s Green Britain Needs You crusade is a call to make more space for nature.

As part of this, the Express is fundraising to help the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds buy a nature reserve in the New Forest.

Kit Stoner, the chief executive of the Bat Conservation Trust, stressed how important protecting nature is in the UK.

She said: “In this country, 41 percent of species are in decline and 15 percent are at risk of disappearing from our shores.

“Eleven of the 47 native mammals are classified as being at imminent risk of extinction, including species like the water vole, dormouse and grey long-eared bat.

“We need to get a legal handle on this right now, so surely it’s time for a State of Nature target?”

RSPB chief executive Beccy Speight said: “The Government has repeatedly promised to halt the decline of nature by 2030. So far, though, they have failed to put those promises into law.”

Our natural environment supports almost three quarters of a million jobs and over £27 billion of economic output

Henry Smith

A Defra spokesman said the Environment Bill’s species abundance target for 2030 will be legally binding and will help halt the decline of nature.

A spokesman said: “Our Environment Bill will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth and drive forward action to protect nature and improve biodiversity.

“We are leading the way internationally with our 2030 species target, which will help to demonstrate our commitment to ambitious domestic action. This is alongside our £640 million investment in the Nature For Climate Fund.”

How you can help secure this haven for nature

You can help secure a part of the historic New Forest for wildlife as part of the Daily Express Make More Space for Nature campaign.

The RSPB wants to restore this 91-acre plot dominated by commercial forestry plantations to its natural state of heathland, mixed woodland and marshes – much as it was when William the Conqueror hunted there nearly 1,000 years ago.

This will make it a haven for birds such as the endangered lesser spotted woodpecker and willow tit, as well as toads and newts, marsh orchids and butterflies such as the silver-studded blue.

It will also safeguard ancient oaks which support more life than any other native UK tree species, from badgers to jays, stag beetles to deer, bats to woodpeckers.

And it could help create a new home for Britain’s most spectacular songbird, the nightingale which is on the UK’s red list.

Comment by Henry Smith

There are many things to treasure about the British summer, not least the numerous wild creatures — like swifts, swallows and sand martins — that bring life and dynamism to our communities at this time of year.

But the shocking truth is that Britain’s wildlife has been in sharp decline for decades, and this lost heritage threatens our economic prosperity and security.

Thankfully, the government has committed to halt the decline of nature by the end of this decade. This has the potential to turn the ecological catastrophe around – but only if this target is written explicitly into law as the Environment Bill currently progresses through Parliament.

In the UK, our natural environment supports almost three quarters of a million jobs and over £27 billion of economic output. Indeed, more than half of the world’s GDP depends on nature.

So it is not surprising that a recent report into the economics of biodiversity, commissioned by Treasury ministers, warned that nature’s decline puts the future prosperity of families across Britain at risk.

Just one example is the risk to food supply caused by a lack of pollinators, fungi and earthworms which make our crops productive, and the resulting pressure this would put on prices in the supermarket.

A separate government review estimated that biodiversity loss across the globe could cost an eye-watering $10 trillion between 2011 and 2050.

So this is not just about protecting our iconic species — though that is important — but also hard-nosed pragmatism.

A failure to act on these warnings will hit the Treasury’s coffers, and our pockets, hard. But putting nature into recovery can create jobs and save us money we would otherwise have to spend in the future, such as on flood defences.

This is recognised by the public, with protecting the environment second only to health and social care as the most popular priority for investment post-Covid.

The government has made a good start with the £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund, which funds conservation charities to carry out improvements to habitats, supporting over 2,500 jobs in the process.

There is potential to go further: one recent report found that improving woods, peat bogs and city parks could create over 16,000 jobs across the areas experiencing the worst unemployment.

These projects could benefit us in many other ways, like protecting our homes from flooding. And levelling up access to nature could save us a whopping £2.1 billion in health costs each year because of the boost to our physical and mental wellbeing.

That is why I was delighted that the Government, to much fanfare, responded to the call from members of the public and parliament, including many of my colleagues in the Conservative Environment Network, to set a legally binding target in the Environment Bill to try to halt nature’s decline.

The Government wants this to be the nature-equivalent to our ‘net zero emissions’ target, only for the number of British species rather than polluting gases.

And we have seen with the net-zero target how writing an ambition into law can galvanise the public and private sector into action.

But to deliver this welcome ambition, and provide certainty to businesses across a whole range of sectors, we need a firm and unequivocal target that meets our objective to halt nature’s decline, in the same way that our net zero emissions target will deliver on our ambition to end the UK’s contribution to climate change.

The government’s current proposal is for a target which takes us part of the way there. A simple one-word change, so that the target must actually be to halt nature’s decline by 2030, would put this target on a par with our net-zero climate target.

And in the same way our emissions targets have spurred investment in clean technologies, it would unlock investment from business in our natural environment and accelerate crucial efforts to save threatened British wildlife like the hedgehog.

This awful pandemic has taught us that nothing stands in the way of our great British innovators when there is a job at hand.

Britain would lead the world too, becoming the first country to set an ambitious legally-binding target for nature’s recovery, and UK ministers would have the backing they need to secure a global deal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 at the UN biodiversity convention due to take place later this year.

Our economy relies on nature – whether it is our food, energy, medicine or leisure. To protect jobs and livelihoods, and restore our beautiful British countryside for generations to come, we must act now to put nature on the path to recovery.

This article by John Ingham was first published by The Express on 19 August 2021. Lead Image: Danger… The dormouse is at imminent risk of extinction (Image: Getty). Henry Smith is a Conservative PM for Crawley.

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August 30, 2021

Two juvenile ospreys were taken from their nest on a light pole at a park in Calvert County, Md., and euthanized, causing a stir among local wildlife enthusiasts and birders.

County officials said they followed all protocols and federal laws protecting birds in removing the young ospreys from the pole to replace a light fixture on it at Cove Point Park in Lusby, but that is little comfort to local wildlife rehabilitation experts and birders.

Supporters of the ospreys said officials should have consulted a wildlife sanctuary to take the birds or relocate them rather than kill them. Birders said the animals were about to fledge from their nest and appeared to be perfectly healthy, but a federal wildlife official said the ospreys weren’t close to fledging.

Ospreys, like bald eagles and falcons, were nearly wiped out because of pesticide use more than 40 years ago, but they have made a comeback — including in the D.C. region, experts said — as part of widespread conservation efforts. Federal wildlife officials said there are about 2,000 nesting pairs of ospreys in the Chesapeake Bay area. They often nest on top of lights or utility poles, experts said. At the Calvert park, they had made a nest in the pole that overlooked a ballfield.

Robert Kyle, who lives in the Huntingtown area in Calvert County, said he was “outraged” when he learned from online reports and wildlife social media groups that the ospreys had been removed from the Calvert County park and euthanized. He said he “couldn’t believe that something like this could happen.”

“There was a way to save them,” Kyle said, noting that several area rehabilitation groups probably could have helped or taken the birds.

Donna Cole, who rescues birds of prey and runs a website called Annapolis Creative, was among the first to report on the ospreys’ removal in late July at Cove Point Park. She said that the juvenile ospreys were “perfectly healthy” and that the county’s “way of dealing with this was by killing wildlife.”

Officials in Calvert County disagreed, saying they had the necessary approval and permit from federal authorities to deal with the osprey nest.

In a July 28 statement, the Board of County Commissioners said that “because the nest was located in an area adjacent to a ball field, the nest posed a risk to the safety of the public.” It went on to say that the light pole at the park is “not equipped to accommodate the presence of ospreys.” The commissioners said “falling sticks or other nesting material” could fall from the nest and endanger visitors.

County officials said they had a “cooperative services agreement” with the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to have the ospreys and their nest removed. The commissioners said they were “not consulted or informed as to why or how the decision was made to euthanize the juveniles in the nest rather than relocate.”

Sarah Ehman, a county spokeswoman, said in an email that similar maintenance has been done at other spots in the area and in “those cases, the raptors were placed in proper care.” She added that “we had no reason to believe that would not be the case in this instance” at Cove Point.

The commissioners said going forward they plan to “work to ensure that any ospreys removed from county property will be relocated.”

Even though ospreys are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can issue special permits to allow for removing protected migratory birds in some instances.

In an email, Tanya C. Espinosa, a spokeswoman for APHIS, said the birds were removed from the nest at the request of Calvert County parks officials “due to human health and safety and property maintenance concerns.”

Once they were removed, Espinosa said, they were euthanized. She said the birds were about a month old and “not close to fledging.” Birders in the area and other wildlife experts have disagreed, saying they were slightly older and were close to fledging.

The peregrine falcon mostly disappeared. A lone chick took flight at Harpers Ferry for the first time in 70 years.

Espinosa said the Wildlife Service division’s work to do a “lethal removal is done with consideration for the population of the species as a whole.” She wouldn’t say whether officials had considered contacting a rehabilitation center or moving the birds to another nesting spot.

David Eisenhauer, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s North Atlantic-Appalachian region, said in an email that depredation permits are sometimes issued for the “capture or killing of birds to help reduce damage to agricultural crops/livestock, private property, human health and safety, and protected wildlife.”

He said birds are sometimes relocated or sent to a federally permitted rehab center. They’re “not always euthanized, and every case is different,” depending on the specifics outlined in a permit, Eisenhauer said.

Kyle and other wildlife supporters said they still weren’t pleased.

On Facebook, many supporters of the ospreys shared their concerns.

Rosedale K. Yannayon wrote: “Why didn’t they have respect for these helpless ospreys and turn them over to a rehabilitator…at least give them a chance at life!!! Shame on those involved in making this choice to terminate the lives and just dispose of these young ospreys!!”

Sue Novotny wrote that she attends ballgames at the field that is “closest to the osprey nest.”

“It was a joy to watch the birds,” Novotny said. “How they posed a threat to anyone is impossible to justify.”

A loon came to rest in a suburban Virginia pond. The ‘loonarazzi’ is following its every move.

Kyle said it typically takes ospreys months to build their nests, starting in the spring once they arrive in the Chesapeake Bay area. They usually have offspring in the early fall and then head back to warmer climates in Florida and Central and South America for the winter.

Kathleen Woods, who is president of the Maryland Wildlife Rehabilitators Association just outside Towson, said birds are euthanized more than the public realizes, but people seem to be taking more notice of wildlife as they’re spending more time outdoors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re all post-pandemic and freaked out about life,” Woods said. “People just want to see good things happen in life.”

This article by Dana Hedgpeth was first published  by The Washington Post on 20 August 2021. Lead Image: Workers hold up a baby osprey that was taken from its nest at Cove Point Park in Lusby, Md. The bird and another were later euthanized, according to local birders who are upset about the situation. (Chris Hoffman).

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