PLANET IN PERIL

+SumOfUs The European Commission is poised to propose a game-changing law to protect bees and other pollinators. The new ban on bee-killing pesticides would go far beyond current protections, banning three deadly neonics from fields all across Europe. PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION. PinP photo.

CBCnews Heat from fires so intense, crews having trouble approaching flames. Details here.

The UN News Centre With hundreds of millions of people around the globe directly affected by desertification – the degradation of land ecosystems due to unsustainable farming or mining practices, or climate change – United Nations agencies have called for better management of land so that it can provide a place where individuals and communities “can build a future.” Story here.

EurekAlert Strategies include moving less, and favouring safer areas when near roads. Story here. Elk in Jasper Nat'l. Park, Canada.  PinP photo.

UN News Centre United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres paid a recent visit the Aral Sea – once the world's fourth largest inland sea, that has now shrunk to about a quarter of its original size due to human mismanagement  Story here.

(Brandon Sun,13 June) It's a funny thing how industries that are in trouble invariably take out full-page ads in the newspapers to proclaim their virtue in search of public approval. Such is the case with Saturday's ad by the Manitoba Pork Council featuring chairman George Mathison. Chairman Mathison, referring to the "red tape reductions" proposed by the province, emphatically proclaims that "None of the proposed changes will lower environmental standards." Come now, George - that really is a bit of a stretch.