Mount Mabu the last untouched place in the world (Mozambique)

Mount Mabu rainforest teeming with new and unique species including pygmy chameleons and bronze-colour snakes

This pygmy chameleon is one of many such unique and new species discovered in the Mount Mabu forest of Mozambique. Photograph: Kew Gardens/Julian Bayliss

A remote rainforest in Mozambique discovered using Google Earth has so many new and unique species that it should be declared a protected area, scientists say.

Pygmy chameleons, a bronzed bush viper and butterflies with shimmering yellow wings are among the species in the forests covering Mount Mabu in northern Mozambique.

Papilio ophidicephalus - the Emperor swallowtail butterfly

Discovered in 2005 by scientists using satellite images, the forests, previously only known to local villagers, have proven to be a rich ecosystem teeming with new species of mammals, butterflies, reptiles,insects and plants. The mountain forests have been isolated from a much larger forest block for millennia, meaning there has been no migration between this site and the next mountain for tens of thousands of years, allowing unique species to evolve in isolation.

One such species is a golden-eyed bush viper with bronze-edged scales (Atheris mabuensis) which Julian Bayliss, a conservation scientist for Kew Gardens, found by stepping on during a survey. His team is also waiting to describe a further two species of snake. A new species of chameleon (Nadzikambia baylissi) has already been described from the site, and the researchers are also describing another. The size of a human palm, with a warm yellow chest, green eyes and a spiky crest along its back,Rhampholeon sp. are commonly known as pygmy chameleons.

the golden-eyed bush viper

From the Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/03/mozambique-forest-protect-found-google-earth-mount-mabu

A weird beatle found in Mount Mabu

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Campaigners attack proposals to allow destruction of ancient woodlands

Environment secretary Owen Paterson has suggested 100 new trees could be planted for each ancient one destroyed

Critics of the proposal warn that the proposals could result in the destruction of forests dating from around XVII century.

Green campaigners have urged the government not to "gamble" with England's natural heritage after the environment secretary defended plans to allow developers to destroy ancient woodland.

Owen Paterson sparked anger after defending the "biodiversity offsetting" scheme that he plans to introduce under which woodlands could be cut down to make way for new construction if developers agree to plant 100 trees for every one they destroy.

Paterson said that "biodiversity offsetting" could accelerate construction, providing jobs and easing the pressure on housing prices. But critics warn that the proposals could result in the destruction of forests dating from around 1600 - around a third of all woodland in England.

While destroying mature trees was a "tragic loss", replacing each with 100 new ones would "deliver a better environment over the long term", he said.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said any move to build on ancient woodland would be restricted to major projects and would only get planning permission in exceptional cases.

Paterson conceded that the present generation of UK residents would lose out and that replacement sites could be up to an hour away by car.

But he insisted the initiative – designed to ease the construction of homes, roads and major projects – would result in an "enormous increase" in trees.

"The point about offsetting is it will deliver a better environment over the long term," he told the Times.

From The Guardian

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India brick industry: Calls to improve working conditions

Campaigners are calling for more to be done about the appalling human cost of India's brick industry.

The brick kilns that supply the country's booming construction sector - used for buildings owned not only by Indian companies but also by British ones and multinationals - are a crucial part of India's growing economy.

There are more than 2 million brick workers in India.

Many kilns use bonded labourers working in conditions of near-slavery earning at best around £1.50 for a 12-hour day.

Many suffer ill health from the acrid smoke from the kilns and harsh working conditions leading campaigners to call the bricks they make "blood bricks" .

Humphrey Hawksley reports from the Indian city of Hyderabad.

From BBC News

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Why India's brick kiln workers 'live like slaves'

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

'Podcam' shows life of dolphins in BBC Spy in the Pod series

Film-makers have infiltrated the ocean with secret cameras to capture dolphin behaviour in the wild as it has never been seen before.

They enlisted a menagerie of creatures, such as a molluscs, sea turtle and squid, with hidden lenses to get up close and personal for a new BBC natural history programme.

From BBC Sci / Environment

 Watch the video and see them spinning out of water.

 Fantastic!

The acrobatic spinner dolphin is the most common small cetacean in many tropical open seas, where it can be seen spinning high in the air (hence its common name) or riding the bow waves of boats . The small and slender spinner dolphin varies geographically in colouration and size, but can be identified by its relatively long, slender beak and triangular dorsal fin . The most common colour pattern is three-part: dark grey on the back, lighter grey along the sides, and white or very light grey underneath. A darker grey stripe runs from the eye to the flipper, bordered above by a narrow, light line .

Spinner dolphins are well known for their acrobatics and aerial behaviours. A spinner dolphin comes out of the water, front first, and twists its body as it ascends in the air. After it reaches its maximum height, the dolphin descends back into the water, landing on its side. A dolphin can make two to 5.5 spins in one leap. The swimming and rotational speed of the dolphin spinning underwater affects the number of spins it can do while airborne. These spins may serve several functions. Dolphins may also make nose-outs, tail slaps, flips, head slaps, "salmon leaps", and side and back slaps.

Also known as

long-beaked dolphin, long-snouted dolphin.

French

Dauphin Longirostre.

Spanish

Delfín Tornillón, Estenela Giradora.

Size

Length: 129 – 235 cm 

Weight

23 – 78 kg