A Sea of Change

8th February 2024 


Georgie Styles dives into the state of our oceans’ biodiversity and discovers hope off the coast of Wales.

The Earth’s biodiversity is declining at the fastest rate since the dawn of human history.

Yet, despite 70% of the Earth’s surface being covered by the ocean, few people grasp the extent of biodiversity loss in our waters. Lithium extraction, overfishing, pollution, dredging and the recently discovered ocean impacts of wildfires, are amongst many sources of significant human and climate impact experts warn we need to address now. Rebuilding ocean-based biodiversity through restoration and regenerative sea-farming efforts is key to our future.

Heralded a ‘climate-boosting wonder plant’, seagrass is a flowering underwater plant that grows in dense meadows. It makes an essential contribution to diverse seascapes and provides valuable habitats for sea life to eat, mate and shelter.

Seagrass meadows can capture carbon up to 35 times faster than land-based forests and lock away blue carbon in sediments for millennia. But here in the UK, we have lost almost 92% of our native seagrass forests over the last 100 years. To begin the road to recovery, the Welsh government has now named seagrass protection and restoration a priority for Wales, as a part of their 2050 net zero goals, kickstarting the UK’s biggest seagrass restoration project off the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd and Anglesey in North Wales last year.

The project aims to plant five million seagrass seeds by the end of 2026, in the hope of creating 25 acres – equivalent to over ten rugby pitches – of seagrass meadow.

Seagrass Ocean Rescue

‘For the past 10 years we’ve been working to evidence the biodiversity value of existing healthy meadows in North Wales’, says Leanne Cullen-Unsworth, CEO of Project Seagrass, one of the collaborating organisations on Seagrass Ocean Rescue. ‘Porthdinllaen is the prime example of an absolutely mind-blowingly, amazingly stunning seagrass meadow. It’s just loaded with life’.

In August 2022, WWF began ‘Seagrass Ocean Rescue’ in partnership with Project Seagrass, North Wales Wildlife Trust, Pen Llyn a’r Sarnau SAC and Swansea University, when a team of workers and local volunteers started collecting seagrass seeds at Porthdinllaen.

‘There are more scattered around the whole of Wales, but because we’ve lost so much, there’s very clearly gaps that we could fill’, says Cullen-Unsworth.

The project aims to plant five million seagrass seeds by the end of 2026, in the hope of creating 25 acres – equivalent to over ten rugby pitches – of seagrass meadow. This could help improve water quality and harbour up to 80,000 fish and 100 million invertebrates.

Community is key


Seagrass Ocean Rescue has been co-designed with the local community, selecting sites based on community knowledge and ecological considerations, with an aim to reconnect people with their local coastlines and sea. In February 2023, 100,000 seeds were planted in Penychain and this summer, Seagrass Ocean Rescue collected approximately 1 million seagrass seeds at Porthdinllaen, all thanks to the help of local volunteers. ‘The community buy-in on this is huge’ she explains. ‘People wanted to get involved because they do actually remember snorkelling in a seagrass meadow in North Wales, and seeing a seahorse!’

Sadly this seagrass meadow sighting has become a thing of the past: ‘we’ve come across people thinking it’s invasive, that we’re trying to bring in something that was not there, but it should still be there in a healthy environment… All of the seeds for this project come from existing native meadows’ explains Cullen-Unsworth.

Rebuilding sea-based biodiversity goes beyond seagrass conservation projects. Seaweeds are also known as climate-boosting plants.

In an effort to restore what is rapidly becoming lost knowledge, Seagrass Ocean Rescue engages with hundreds of local volunteers across their sites in North Wales and works with partners such as schools and a local asylum seekers project.

Nature-Based Technology

There is very little knowledge available on our global seagrass meadows, particularly here in the UK. This is mainly due to the fact that seagrass mapping is extremely difficult, and Cullen-Unsworth adds that ongoing AI satellite imaging projects are working to address this challenge.

Project Seagrass have developed an application to try and help advance seagrass spotting. It has data points globally that are in constant development by people taking geo-referenced photographs of a patch of seagrass, which then get contributed to a map. ‘We’re trying to come up with algorithms that will pick out seagrass from a big map or even a drone image,’ she says. The app aims to advance global knowledge of existing seagrass, but also to map out where seagrass no longer exists, in order to understand the scale of the loss.

App technology like this turns seagrass restoration from a scientific study into citizen science, she explains: ‘anyone could go out with a phone and take a photo that is geo-referenced and contribute something real to that global database of sightings’.

Restoration for Community and Commerce

Seagrass restoration is not only about the planet, explains Cullen-Unsworth, ‘the whole point is to create new habitats that have got benefits for the planet but for people as well. You can fish sustainably in a seagrass meadow and you can do it without doing damage,’ she says.

Rebuilding sea-based biodiversity goes beyond seagrass conservation projects. Seaweeds are also known as climate-boosting plants.

A new 2023 study from Nature Sustainability says that ‘seaweed (macroalgae) naturally cycle[s] and remove[s] nutrients – particularly, nitrogen, phosphorous and carbon – from the ocean to fuel their own growth’. This has sparked an interest in the potential of seaweed aquaculture to absorb human-generated CO2. Seaweed-based businesses have been popping up around the UK over the last few years, bringing a positive effect on climate and biodiversity as well as money into the local economy, helping sustain local communities.

‘It’s a win-win really’ explains Tracey Gilbert-Falconer, Funding and Financing Manager at Câr Y Môr. Câr y Môr is the first regenerative seaweed and shellfish farm in Wales. Only one year into having their three hectare farm out in Ramsey sound, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Câr Y Môr employs fourteen full time members of staff. Which is a welcomed change from only seasonal job availability which has become the norm in coastal towns and villages.

Operating as a community benefit society, they are community-owned and have a growing membership of over 300 people. Their educational and community work also brings the benefits of seaweed into schools, widening knowledge of the benefits and many uses of seaweed.

The Ripple Effect

Câr Y Môr works with PEBL to monitor the impact their seaweed business is having on biodiversity, with the use of underwater cameras and microphones. ‘Going forward, we’re hoping to put more and more money into that research so that we can really start to quantify the positive impact that it’s having’, says Gilbert-Falconer. Despite licensing being the biggest barrier to this type of business, which varies between Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England, they hope that this biodiversity data will transcend borders and be helpful for other business start-ups like theirs across the UK.

Seagrass Ocean Rescue was started off the back of similar successful projects in Plymouth in England and south Wales, and now has its own ripple effect, inspiring projects in Cornwall. Councils, Wildlife Trusts and the Environment Agency are also among those now developing schemes to restore seagrass areas off the British coast.

The ripple effect has reached global communities too, with initiatives like Seagrass Watch, where local groups can take on a ‘home meadow’ and monitor it for health and biodiversity over extended periods to build up a long term database that can be used elsewhere.

Conservation Is Crucial

While restoration is key, it is also essential we protect what we already have. As Cullen-Unsworth explains, ‘it takes five to seven years to know if what you’ve planted will become a viable, self-sustaining meadow’.

Welsh Government policy could help ease barriers to access through lighter legislation, faster licensing, affordable regulations and access to substantial funds over a number of years.

At a time of climate crisis, it is essential we look towards a net gain in habitat, as our already thriving seagrass meadows harbour thousands of species. ‘Seagrasses provide a nursery ground for offshore fisheries, for commercially important species like cod, plaice and haddock’ she says.

Businesses like Câr Y Môr can also be crucial in conservation, working in collaboration with conservation and rewilding projects, ‘we’ve also got native oysters, which are not really popular for food, but they’re great for rewilding projects. So we’re actually harvesting those junior oysters and selling those to rewilding projects around the UK’ says Gilbert-Falconer.

A sea change, with challenges ahead

Leanne from Project Seagrass was keen to share their failures and challenges, explaining it took years of trial and error, moving sites, failed attempts and a huge amount of money and labour to make Seagrass Ocean Project a success. While she encourages others to follow their lead, she urges people to do it in the right way, ‘it needs to be supported by the background science. That’s going to give those seeds or those plants that you put in the absolute best chance of becoming a meadow that will deliver those ecosystem services benefits in time’.

To enable others wanting to start their own seagrass restoration project, particularly community groups, she argues Welsh Government policy could help ease barriers to access through lighter legislation, faster licensing, affordable regulations and access to substantial funds over a number of years. But the real elephant in the room is the poor state of our oceans’ water quality, which hinders seagrass germination and growth.

Tracey Gilbert-Falconer expresses a similar need for an easing in legislative barriers. Initially, Câr Y Môr was only granted a 5 year licence, too short to make their seaweed business viable due to the nature of seaweed production. After much negotiation, they managed to extend their licence to 20 years.

Despite these challenges, both Cullen-Unsworth and Gilbert-Falconer remain hopeful about the future: ‘I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t feel genuine hope that we can make change’ says Cullen-Unsworth.

All articles published on the welsh agenda are subject to IWA’s disclaimer. 

Georgie Styles is a food anthropologist and freelance multimedia journalist living in Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, Wales.

Gaza-Israel tensions rise for UK pupils who claim schools shut down topic

Schools are faced with strike demands for the war to be acknowledged not suppressed


Tariq Tahir
Lemma Shehadi
Feb 08, 2024

When the war in Ukraine broke out, 14-year-old Zino Masoud his north London school held an assembly about the conflict.

When the Israel-Gaza war started, he assumed that it would similarly be discussed. But not so.

“It’s weird because for Ukraine, it's OK to discuss the problem, but for this, you have to stay neutral,” he told The National during a 'school strike' when thousands of youngsters took part in demonstrations across the UK this week, which organisers said was an opportunity for young people, as well as adults, to voice their concern about the death toll from the fighting.

Zino's experience of what he believes is double standards highlights the tension that exists in schools in the UK as they wrestle with the sensitivities of how to handle the war, which has so far killed more than 27,700 Palestinians, with many more displaced from their homes.

READ MORE

Thousands of sick Palestinians in urgent need of evacuation from Gaza, ministry says

Former teacher Michael Davies told The National that requests for teaching material about the conflict had tripled since the war began following the October 7 Hamas attacks.

His organisation, Parallel Histories, has devised methods to teach the conflict sensitively, giving parallel accounts of events from both the Israeli and the Palestinian perspectives.

“We’ve had a 300 per cent increase in requests for material compared to the same time last year,” he said.

This included requests from schools across the UK and in other countries such as New Zealand and Australia, where uptake had been low in the past.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is taught as an optional module for GCSE in UK schools, but teachers are often hesitant to pick it up.

Teaching conflict is fraught with challenges, not least because of the backlash from pupils who may feel that one side has been given more credence than the other.

British-Palestinian Zino Masoud said he wants Gaza to be discussed in his school. Photo: The National

The most challenging part of teaching the conflict’s history, Mr Davies said, is that both sides want their grievances recognised.

“It all boils down to who is the victim. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

As long as this was acknowledged, then both sides were less likely to contest a narrative they did not agree with, he said.

“Even though Israel has been victorious since 1948, but particularly since 1967, they still have, as part of their national identity, clung on to the idea of victimhood,” he said, citing an Israeli historian.

Jewish schools and Muslim majority schools had previously come together to discuss the conflict in workshops organised by Parallel Histories, he said, although now this could be more challenging.

Some Jewish schools that Mr Davies had worked with in the past were hesitant to continue after the October 7 Hamas attack, in which 1,200 people in Israel – most of them civilians – were killed.

Instead, some had started teaching the Northern Ireland conflict, another hotly contested history from which parallels can be drawn, Mr Davies said.

In January, two independent Jewish schools and a grammar school in London met for a workshop about Ireland’s Great Famine, Ireland’s partition and the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, a divisive figure in British politics.

“Both have used history to justify their own political demands and infuse their followers with a sense of their own righteousness. With the sense that people who disagree with them are bad people,” he said.

Rosie Naz and her daughter Elfida, who took part in the school strikes on Wednesday. Photo: The National

Parents taking part in the school strike, organised by the Stop the War Coalition, one of the five groups behind the pro-Palestine marches in central London and other cities, also question why the issue of Gaza is not being discussed.

Rosie Naz, a mother of two, was with one of her daughters, Elfida, 10, who she says is “someone who loves writing poems and literature”.

“The teachers gave her homework which was to write a poem, and she wrote one about Palestine but they told her that’s irrelevant,” she told The National.

“I don’t blame the teacher because he’s probably trying not to cause problems but as the school itself, they should be all-inclusive.

“We’re supposed to be a diverse country and a diverse school but for some reason when it comes to Palestine, they just don’t talk about it.

“We’ve even told the kids to try not to talk about it at school because it’s seen as a political issue.”

She also contrasts how her children's school dealt with Ukraine when the country's flags were displayed in solidarity and fund-raisers held, to Gaza.

Zeina Saleh, with schoolchildren reading out messages of support of Palestinians in Parliament Square, central London. Photo: AP

“Our children should be allowed to express their emotions when it comes to things they see,” she said.

“They’ve seen the ruins and they’ve seen children crying. I do talk about it because they need to know. If they are taught about what’s happening in Ukraine, why shouldn’t they be taught about what’s happening in the Middle East?”

The strike saw schoolchildren read out messages in support of the Palestinians in London.

Children and their parents first gathered in Islington, then marched to the constituency office of local Labour MP Emily Thornberry, to voice their anger over her decision to oppose a call for a ceasefire in a vote in the UK Parliament.

Later, they gathered in Parliament Square, where children read out messages of support for Palestinians in Gaza.

“We demand a ceasefire in Gaza and the Palestinians have their rights. It makes me sad seeing all these children suffer and die,” said Ayra Nezam, eight.

Zeina Saleh, who helped organise the event, said she was doing it so her daughter could live in a country “where her Palestinian identity can be protected, that she can express herself as a Palestinian in a safe environment”.

British activists disrupt BAE systems presentation over F-35 parts used in Gaza by Israeli army

Youth Front For Palestine activists successfully disrupted a presentation by BAE Systems in Manchester, highlighting the company’s involvement in manufacturing parts for F-35 fighter jets used in bombings over Gaza. The activists’ bold message, ‘We know who you are, we know what you do—we’re coming for you!’ underscores a growing movement against companies profiting from or contributing to the Israeli military operations in Gaza.

February 8, 2024 

London Metal Exchange faces legal action over ‘enabling sale of dirty metals’


The Royal Courts of Justice in London (Ian West/PA)

By Rebecca Speare-Cole, PA sustainability reporter

The London Metal Exchange (LME) is facing legal action over allegations that it enables the global sale of “dirty metals” – those mined against a backdrop of environmental and human rights abuses.

The London Mining Network, a coalition of environment and human rights groups supporting communities harmed by London-based mining companies, filed a legal action on Thursday at the UK High Court against the LME, which is one of the main commodities markets in the world.

The group, which is supported by the Global Legal Action Network (Glan), argued that the Exchange is in breach of anti-money laundering and proceeds of crime legislation by enabling the global sale of “dirty metals”.

The case detailed the LME’s trading of metal from the Grasberg Mine in West Papua, Indonesia, which has been linked to violence and environmental destruction.

The team behind the legal action said the West Papua indigenous communities are suffering the effects of mining waste pollution from the mine, which is being dumped into water sources.

They claim more than 200,000 tonnes of toxic mining waste, known as “tailings”, are thrown into local rivers every day, causing rivers to disappear and widespread health problems in the community.

Currently, the Exchange has a policy on responsible sourcing which requires all of its listed brands to comply with a set of requirements.

These aim to ensure the brands’ supply chains respect human rights and do not contribute to conflict financing or corruption, while occupational health and safety risks as well as environmental risks are managed on their own sites.

If the case is successful, the Glan and London Mining Network said it could force the LME to revisit the rules under which it lists metal for trading on its exchange, and in turn force metal producers to adapt their mining practices if they want to maintain access to the marketplace.

This could also mean the Grasberg Mine’s American and Indonesian operators will have to ensure there are no exploitative mining practices which harm the environment and indigenous communities if they want their product to remain listed on the Exchange, they added.

The team argued that the copper derived from the mine is “criminal property” as it is produced in circumstances that would breach UK criminal law if they were to occur in the UK.

Failure by the LME to exclude these commodities triggers liability under the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002), they added.

The legal action could also have implications for other companies whose mining operations are linked to environmental crimes overseas in accessing the Exchange.

The team said the environmental harms in West Papua are symptomatic of a deeper systemic problem across the world, with similar patterns identified with mining corporations operating in Brazil, Peru, Guinea and the Russian Federation.

Adolfina Kuum, a West Papuan community leader, said, “This case is about our fight against those who profit from the destruction of our people’s rivers, our forests and way of life.

“Our communities are experiencing the life-threatening effects of mining, we have no choice but to take up this fight because if we remain silent who will speak for us?

“We call on all businesses, including banks and exchanges, such as the London Metal Exchange, to end their international complicity with these mining operations.”

Leanna Burnard, a Glan lawyer, said: “This is a groundbreaking legal action that, if successful, could reverberate through supply chains around the globe.

“The LME is the largest metals trading platform in the world. If the courts require the LME to prevent the trading on its platform of metals produced through environmental crime, it could trigger a global improvement in mining practices.

“This would have a profound impact on mining-affected communities around the world and see significant improvements to their livelihoods and the environment.”

Andrew Hickman, from the London Mining Network, said: “The Grasberg mine in West Papua, from which the copper traded on the London Metals Exchange is produced, is like a suppurating ulcer in the heart of the rainforests of New Guinea.

“It is time for those who benefit from the production and trade in these metals from West Papua to be held accountable for their crimes.”

LME said that, as of January 15, it plans to suspend or delist 10% of all listed brands due to them not yet submitting appropriate compliance information to meet its responsible sourcing policy.

PA has contacted the LME for comment.

 

UK ADMITS NINE ISRAELI MILITARY PLANES HAVE VISITED BRITAIN SINCE GAZA BOMBING BEGAN

After Declassified’s revelations, the Ministry of Defence reverses previous position claiming it could not comment on allies' movements within Britain.

MATT KENNARD
8 FEBRUARY 2024

“We want you to win": Rishi Sunak with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, 18 October 2023. (Photo: Simon Walker/10 Downing Street)

• UK also admits RAF has sent 48 military aircraft to Israel since it began bombing Gaza
• UK refuses to disclose number of surveillance flights, but Declassified finds 65 British spy missions over Gaza from UK base on Cyprus
• British ministers have received a written warning about their potential complicity in genocide

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted for the first time that nine Israeli Air Force plans have taken off and landed in the UK since the bombing of Gaza began.

The revelations come after Declassified revealed last week that at least six Israeli military jets had arrived in the UK since October 7.

When contacted by us for that article, the MoD said it could give no details of any Israeli military flights within the UK. 

“We cannot comment on or provide information relating to foreign nations’ military aircraft movements or operations,” a spokesperson said.

But defence minister James Heappey told parliament on Tuesday: “Nine Israeli Air Force operated planes have taken off and landed from British territory since 7 October.”

He added: “These figures are based on official requests for diplomatic flight clearance that have been submitted by the Israeli Embassy in London, subsequently cleared by Ministry of Defence.”

Heappey was responding to questions from Alba MP Kenny MacAskill who has been trying for months to access information about Britain’s largely opaque role in the Israeli assault on Gaza. 

Declassified independently discovered Israeli military aircraft have landed in Glasgow, Birmingham as well as RAF bases in Suffolk and Oxfordshire since 7 October. But the type of Israeli military aircraft used for most of these flights remains unknown. 

Complicity

It is unclear why the MoD reversed its position on Israeli flights, and the department still refuses to give any details about US flights on British territory related to Gaza.

The latest information about Israeli military assets using Britain during its campaign may further implicate UK ministers in crimes against humanity.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently said it was “plausible” Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and is investigating the case. Meanwhile, Nicaragua has written to Britain warning it that it is considering refering the country to the ICJ for complicity in genocide. 

Kenny MacAskill, the MP who asked the question in parliament, told Declassified: “These flights by the Israeli Air Force are not usual or regular. What are they carrying and to where? Along with surveillance flights, it seems the UK are getting closer than ever to Israel when much of the world is rightly shunning them for the genocide.”

MacAskill, a former Scottish justice secretary, added: “UK citizens are being denied information on what they’re government is up to and their media is refusing to investigate. It’s time people were told what was being done supposedly in their name. It’s a genocide and all and every government will be held to account.”

RAF flights to Israel

The MoD also admitted on Tuesday that it has flown close to 50 RAF operated aircraft to Israel since it began bombing Gaza.

The department told parliament: “As of 2 February 2024, a total of 48 RAF operated aircraft have flown to Israel since 7 October 2023.”

It added: “These flights included aircraft used to transport Ministers and senior officials conducting diplomatic engagements with Israel.”

Declassified could find no similar flights in the two months before the Gaza campaign began. 

The majority of these flights are vast C-17 and A400 military transport aircraft which have gone from RAF Akrotiri, the sprawling British air base on Cyprus, to Tel Aviv.

The UK government claims the dozens of flights have “provided no lethal or military equipment other than medical supplies to Israel”.

But it is possible the US and Israel are using bases in Britain to move weapons to Israel. 

Asked whether the US has used any RAF bases in the UK to transfer weapons to Israel since 7 October 2023, the MoD responded that it “does not comment on Allies’ operations”. 

It has the same policy of secrecy about the nature of Israeli military flights in Britain.

Spy missions

Another element of British support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is intelligence sharing. 

A week after the 7 October Hamas attack, the UK government announced military units would be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean “to support Israel, reinforce regional stability and prevent escalation”. 

The military package included P8 surveillance aircraft alongside other reconnaissance assets. The activities of these assets over the past four months remains shrouded in secrecy.

But the MoD then announced on 2 December that it would begin surveillance flights over Gaza “in support of the ongoing hostage rescue activity”. 

“The safety of British nationals is our utmost priority,” the department said. “Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages”. 

But asked how many spy missions the RAF has flown over Gaza, defence minister Heappey told parliament on Tuesday: “For operational security reasons, I cannot comment on the specifics of this activity.”

But Declassified has found that the UK military has flown 65 surveillance missions over Gaza since 3 December. 

The flights have taken off from the UK’s controversial air base on Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, and averaged around one a day since the beginning of December. 

The British plane used is the Shadow R1, which is known as an intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) aircraft.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Kennard is chief investigator at Declassified UK. He was a fellow and then director at the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London. Follow him on Twitter @kennardmatt

UK

Bus stop design competition honours Bristol bus boycott

By Bea Swallow and Alastair McKee

BBC News, Bristol

02/08/2024

The winning designs must follow the theme of the Bristol bus boycott

A design competition has been launched to mark the Bristol bus boycott.

The 1963 protest was sparked after bus operators introduced a new rule banning black and Asian people from driving.

To commemorate the pivotal event more than 60 years on, think tank Curiosity UnLtd has teamed up with Clear Channel UK to launch the 'Designs4Change' competition.

For one year, the three winning designs will will be displayed on 45 of Clear Channel's bus stops across the city.

To pay tribute to the pioneers who paved the way for racial equality, the Designs4Change competition is looking for unique artworks which illustrate Bristol's history of protest.

Bristol Evening post  A newspaper cutting shows students marching in Bristol in protest against a "colour bar" on the buses

The Bristol bus boycott began in August 1963, when the then Bristol Omnibus Company refused to hire black drivers, after Guy Bailey was barred from a job interview because of the colour of his skin.

At the time, this racist policy was openly practiced across housing, employment, health and education sectors.

It launched a four month, city-wide protest and ultimately sparked a series of equalities acts in the 1960s and 70s which outlawed racial discrimination.

Ms Morris-Wisdom says she took the day off school to attend the protest in 1963

Joyce Morris-Wisdom was one of the protestors on the front line in 1963, aged just 14.

She said: "Even though being young and things sometimes go over our head, I was mature enough to take on the challenge to help change the course of history.

"Because we don't like the way things are sometimes, we decided that we can have an impact.

"I felt like I did something really well, not just for our community, but we broke down barriers for other people," Ms Morris-Wisdom continued.

"The impossible became the possible. We changed it, we've done it."


Fellow protestor, Tina Johnson-Martin, said the boycott "paved the way for a lot of black people".

"As a youngster, wherever there was a march, we were there," she said.

Guy Bailey, one of the key people in the boycott, was a friend of Ms Johnson-Martin's husband

She continued: "Before the boycott, there was so much prejudice about that we black people couldn't get a proper job.

"I'm looking at a better Bristol today, because lot of black people have got different jobs and they are accepted in these roles.


"The boycott is one of the things that brought us into the limelight," Ms Johnson-Martin added.

The deadline for the bus stop design entries is 11 July, with the winners set to be announced on 28 August. The competition is open to anyone.

First Scotland-wide drugs and microplastics test of rivers launched

Environmental scientists at The James Hutton Institute have launched the first nation-wide drug and microplastics test on Scotland’s rivers to help shed light on the increasing mix of pharmaceuticals, chemicals and plastics entering our waters.

The study initially focused on the River Dee, pictured, and River Ugie, and will spread out across Scotland over two years. 

(Pic: The James Hutton Institute)

By Dawn Renton
Published 8th Feb 2024, 

The Scottish Government-funded study is testing for a cocktail of chemicals, from pesticides to antidepressants, to help reveal areas of concern, such as rivers or specific contaminants, that need closer monitoring.

The study is initially focussing on the Rivers Dee and Ugie in Aberdeenshire, taking in urban and rural settings respectively, before spreading out across Scotland’s wider river catchments over two years.

Research scientist Dr Jessica Gomez-Banderas said: “There is concern about the increasing mix of pharmaceuticals, household chemicals and microplastics going into our rivers and the impacts these could have, from impacting animal reproductive systems to spreading disease resistance in the environment.

“But we don’t know enough about how much of these contaminants are going into our rivers at a national and catchment scale.

"They come from a variety of sources, from us, through wastewater, farming and other activities, while climate change could exacerbate the effects they have.

“By creating a national baseline, we’ll have a valuable dataset helping point to the contaminants and rivers that might need more scrutiny and help predict the impact of things like climate or land use change.

"Ultimately, it could help to inform decisions around the medicines and chemicals we use to help limit environmental impacts.”

The project will test for 42 of the more common pharmaceuticals (usually drugs that passthrough humans into the sewage treatment process or from farm animals onto the land), 16 pesticides and six other common household chemicals known to disrupt hormones.

The project was informed by and complement’s the ongoing Chemical Investigation Programme Scotland as part of work aiming to help Scottish rivers achieve “good status” under the Water Framework Directive.