Denmark takes a stand against glysophates

Denmark Bans Glyphosates, The Active Ingredient In Roundup

Author: Anders Legarth Schmidt
Politiken . (Source)

Denmark has imposed widespread bans on the spraying of glyphosate in response to research showing that the sprays have been contaminating the countrys groundwater.

 

Denmark has imposed a ban on the spraying of glyphosates today following the release of data which found that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup herbicide (RR) has been contaminating the drinking water resources of the country.

The chemical has, against all expectations sieving down through the soil and polluting the ground water at a rate of five times more than the allowed level for drinking water, according to tests done by the Denmark and Greenland Geological Research Institution (DGGRI) as reported below.

"When we spray glyphosate on the fields by the rules it has been shown that it is washed down into the upper ground water with a concentration of 0.54 micrograms per litre. This is very surprising, because we had previously believed that bacteria in the soil broke down the glyphosate before it reached the ground water," says DGGRI.

Danish environment minister Hans Christian Schmidt has announced unprecedented restrictions on glyphosate, the country's and Europe's most widely used herbicide. The action follows publication of data showing the chemical's presence in groundwater, from which Denmark obtains most of its drinking water. Although concentrations in drinking water did not exceed permissible limits, it was 'worrying' that unacceptable quantities of glyphosate and its breakdown product AMPA might build up via drainage in the uppermost levels of groundwater, Mr Schmidt said. Danes should be able to put the coffee on in the morning without worrying about pesticides, he added.

From 15 September, autumn spraying of glyphosates will be banned on sites where leaching is extensive because of heavy rain. There are a number of exceptions to the new restrictions, which are subject to revision after an interim consultation period. In a joint response, Cheminova, Syngenta and Monsanto, which manufacture or sell glyphosate in Denmark, condemned the government's move as 'unacceptable' for the producers or Danish farmers. Glyphosate could only be identified as a threat by ignoring 'scientific findings and knowledge, they said.According to the firms, the restrictions appeared to be based on finding of glyphosate at one metre's depth in the soil. This can hardly - and only with the most narrow political intentions - be regarded as groundwater, and certainly not as drinking water, they complained.

 

Info and link to roses global climate action event for 350ppm

 

Hello Friends and family,

You may or may not have known that I had hosted one of the 7,000 events for a global climate action on the 10/10/10 to raise awareness of the seriousness of future climate changes that will affect our lives on such a huge scale in coming years.

 

Here is the link to my rained out event.  I had hoped for big numbers but was thankful and surprised with the 50 or so who came.

Xxxxx  Link to Utube below, hope you have sound it is quite magical, Bob Dillon had it pegged 40 years ago.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhXRPmMXuf4

 

50 or so 350ppm warriors battle seasonally abnormal weather in Byron Bay, Australia to make a statement.

In torrential rain at high tide on the most easterly point of Australia and on one of its most famous beaches a front moved in at the precise time, 10am on the 10^th of the 10^th when the action was due to take place.

A dedicated group of concerned citizens braving the conditions to show their support for climate action wanted to give a clear message to our policy makers that change is required now and FAST.  Many stayed away, surprisingly many still came.  The Bay attracts 1.7M tourists yearly who come to frolic in the sun and sand but the changing weather patterns has shown that climate change is happening RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.

 

 

Rose invites you to be part of a global climate action

 

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO :

 

A global climate action movement on the 10/10/10

On Main Beach in Byron Bay at 10 am for one hour

 

On that day 5479 other events in 183 countries will be happening around the world as part of the 350.org movement.

 

Be part of a historical photograph,

Bring a colorful umbrella, sarong or cover your surf board

to make a 350 sign on the beach at 10am on the 10/10/10

 

(350ppm is the number of "parts per million" of co2 in the atmosphere humanity needs to get below to avoid the worst effects of climate change)

 

If you have been paralyzed by the sheer size and horror of global warming, now is the time to start moving forward FAST

 

WE NEED TO MAKE ENOUGH NOISE

THAT WE CAN'T BE EASILY IGNORED

 

Circle that date - 10 am on the -  10/10/10

 

For more information call Rose on 0427 016451

 

 

This article was published in the Echo on the 21^st September.  It has been paid for by my agency, Red Rose Realty in an attempt to give something back to the community that supports me and the planet that my grand children and I treasure so much.

 

BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS 350.org

Rose Wanchap

Principal/Licensee

Red Rose Realty

P.O Box 466,

Byron Bay  NSW  2481

Ph: 02 6680 9505

Mob: 0427 016 451

 

BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS 350.org

 

Next Brunswick Heads Chemical Free Land Care 14th Aug

 

Dear Friends

Thank you for a wonderful working bee last Saturday we are achieving so much and also to the generous Rose and Charmaine for the delicious lunch - yum oh and Hillary's chocolate balls - awesome.

 

Discovering more native plants and wildlife is a particular joy and this method of bush regeneration demonstrates such care, thank you to Ellen for her generous time and guidance.  Thank you also to Hillary and Asa for their invaluable role in writing funding and managing the project.  The project is now full steam ahead.  If you require any assistance on the day please feel free to chat to bush regenerators Nadia and Jo (contact details below).

 

As the weather warms up snakes are now starting to surface, please wear protective clothing.  Research states that  snake bites are rare and our coastal snakes are endangered, but still we need to be careful and vigilant by wearing long pants and protective shoes.   Jeans will protect you in most cases, because the venomous fangs are set back in the jaw and designed for rodents.

 

If you do have loppers at home please bring them along this Saturday, just in case but Hillary is purchasing more.  If you are receiving this email and you would like to be taken off the list please let me know to amend immediately.

 

Looking forward to this Saturday 9am Sth of Brunswick Heads Surf club.

 

For the Land.

 

 

 

Byron Shire Chemical Free Landcare Group

All the wildlife, from the wallabies to the frogs and

insects, as well as the trees, grass and bushes, down

to the soil itself, are benefiting from you hand weeding the Bitou.

To help the environment, come along to the Byron Shire Chemical Free Group on Saturday to show that hand weeding the Bitou bush, can be done efficiently and effectively, without the use of herbicide.

Contact:  Jo 0435 022717 or Nadia 6684 4771

When:  Saturday every fortnight from 9am to 1.30pm

14 Aug

28 Aug

11 Sept

Where:  Brunswick Heads south of the Surf Club, follow the fire track.

Wear:  For Occupational Health and Safety please wear appropriate clothing, long sleeve shirt, long pants, hat, gloves and covered footwear.

Bring:  Water and morning tea, loppers and gloves (we do have some tools to share).

FOR THE LAND   

Supported by Mullumbimby Community Garden and Sponsored by Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority

chemical free workers

 

Next chemical free land care this Sat

 

 

 Dear Friends, 

Thank you for a fabulous day last Saturday your support is imperative to the success of this method of Land care.  

 

It was wonderful to reach the top of the sand dune and look back and see the awesome progress we have made in such a short time.  We discovered new native species in the hind dune area.  Incredible how hardy these plants are to survive in the harsh conditions of strong winds, sand drifts and salt spray.

 

Looking forwarding to seeing you again in aiding ecological restoration at Brunswick Heads this Saturday 31st July, 9am.  If you need help in attending please don't hesitate to contact.

Contacts:  Jo on 6684 5571/0435 022717 or Nadia on 6684 4771

 

It is important that appropriate clothing is worn at all times, such as long sleeve shirt, pants, hat, gloves and covered footwear.   This importantly protects you but is part of providing and demonstrating a safe working environment.  We do have extra gloves if you require, also Op shops have the best bush regen clothing, and I only choose to wear cotton to stay cool.

 

And finally a huge thank you to Rose for providing lunch, you are wonderful.

 

Lots of joy see you next Saturday.

 

 

Byron Shire Chemical Free Land Care Group

Date: 31 July,  14 August,  28 August

When: Fortnightly Saturday from 9am to 1.30pm.

Where:  Brunswick Heads south of the Surf Club follow the fire track.

Wear:  OHS clothing required, (long sleeve shirt, long pants, hat and covered footwear).

Bring:  Water, morning tea, Gloves, Loppers, (we do have some tools to share).  

 

Contact:  Jo 0435 022717 or Nadia 6684 4771

 

IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS PLEASE RETURN EMAIL WITH THE WORD "Unsubscribe" in the subject

SAVE THE BEES WORKING BEE

INVITATION TO -

WORKING BEE TO SAVE THE BEE'S

 

Weeding the chemical free way was very rewarding for a small but loyal band of workers who turned up to the working bee at Brunswick Heads on the 23^rd of May despite torrential conditions.  They managed to clear a huge area proving how simple it can be in comparison to mass aerial spraying with toxic chemicals that kill off everything and jeopardise the health and well being of the thousands of people who live in the path of the helicopters.

 

The Byron Shire Chemical Free Land care Group were successful in lobbying our local shire to halt all aerial spraying on land that is in council's care but unfortunately we have not yet tackled the bigger boys/girls in the State Government, Dept of Environment C.C. & Water who will be closing National Parks over the coming weeks to once again drop their the lethal dose of chemicals on all the innocent birds, bees, insects, fish etc. not to mention the humans who at least can take cover.

 

So be aware and be active with our group who are having a working bee in the Brunswick reserve, south of the Surf Club on Saturday, the 19th June starting at 9am and finishing at 1:30pm, with a half hour break in the middle. Come and join our group, and learn how to 'crown' the bitou from Ellen White, our super-bitou- weeder.  Get some exercise, meet a wonderful bunch of people, help restore the dunes and get some refreshments, plus an organic BBQ for those who want to stick around and chat.

 

It rained at our last working bee, and we still managed to weed a lot of bitou. We're planning on a sunny day this time, so get your boots and gloves and hats, grab your loppers and some water to drink, and come on over to Bruns, it sure beats the gym!! For info call Hilary on 02 6684 0508

 

The BSCLG has been sponsored by the Northern River Catchment Management Authority as part of their "ENc3" Engaging NSW Communities in Coastline Conservation project through the Australian Governments Caring for our Country program.

 

 

 

First chemical free bitou weeding at Brunswick Heads

Hello to all you volunteers that braved the foul weather last Sunday, and came out to help weed the bitou at Brunswick Heads. We actually got the equivalent of about '4 tennis courts' (according to Cl. Richard Staples) in size, weeded!! That's quite a bite out of the bitou that's there. So if we can keep this up, we'll be done in no time, and can then move onto the little piece of land at the Cavanbah (next to main beach in Byron Bay).

 

These 2 pieces of land are quite visible to the public, so it's a wonderful opportunity for us to show what can be done in a relatively short period of time. Once we get the main weeds out, then it will just be a question of monitoring every 2 months or so, to get any new weed seedlings, and work on the Glory Lily.

 

We're planning to have our next workday on Saturday, the 19th June, and the crew will start around 9am. If you can make that time, great, if not, come when you are able, any little bit helps. It will be the same site: south of Brunswick surf club. There won't be a tent with refreshments this time, as that was the 'premier' start to our Chemical free weeding group. Alas I won't be at that workday, but I will at the next one, and I might tempt you all with some of my homemade raw chocolate delights!!

 

I will send a reminder email closer to the date, so please think of coming, and bring family and friends too. This is a great way to get to know a little bit of the coastal dunes, get some good exercise (Ellen calls it 'a bitou yoga'!) and get to know a great group of people. And yes, all the little critters big and small in that area can breathe easy because we're not dousing them in glyphosate.

 

We have a great "blog" site with the history of the journey so far over the past twelve months for any one who would like to go there the address is http://www.byronbitou.blogspot.com/

 

Cheers,

Hilary Bain

 

 

Rose Wanchap

Principal/Licensee

Red Rose Realty

P.O Box 466,

Byron Bay  NSW  2481

Ph: 02 6680 9505

Mob: 0427 016 451

 

Bureaucratic bitou battle

 

BUREAUCRATIC BITOU BATTLE

By Hilary Bain : hb@hilarybain.com

 

Committed volunteers are needed to keep authorities from aerial spraying pesticides to eradicate the Bitou bush on our Coastline

 

The newly formed Byron Shire Chemical-free Landcare Group  has been allocated 2 prominent sites:  the Cavanbah [next to Byron Bay’s Main Beach] and Brunswick Heads [south of the Surf Club]. The Brunswick Heads site is about 4 hectares, the Cavanbah site is about 0.5  hectares, and they both have very different weeds.

 

WE ARE NOW FINALLY GOING TO START WEEDING THE BITOU BY HAND USING THE ‘CROWNING METHOD’, AT THE BRUNSWICK HEADS SITE (NEXT TO THE SURF CLUB IN BRUNS) ON SUNDAY THE 23^RD MAY at 9.30am.

 

If you can come to this very important day for the Byron Shire Coastline, and we hope you can, please contact me, Hilary at:  6684-0508 or email me at: hb@hilarybain.com, so that I can see how many people will be attending, and can plan for that.

 

Ever since we succeeded in getting Byron Shire Council to put a ‘stay’ on aerial pesticide spraying in South Golden Beach last June 2009, a result of the work and pressure that Rose Wanchap and all you ‘Bitou Blitzers’ put on Council, there has been a lot of work put in place to continue the momentum that Rose created.

 

My name is Hilary Bain, I’m a filmmaker, and like you, concerned about the amount of pesticide being put out there in the environment, along the coastline, in the name of controlling the bitou ‘weed’. My partner Asa and myself got involved with this struggle when we went to the South Golden Bitou Blitz last May 2009, to film Rose and all those who were there trying to help by showing that, with enough volunteers, this Bitou problem could be eradicated by hand weeding.

 

I believe it was from this event and subsequent publicity, plus a demonstration in Byron Bay, with more publicity, along with Rose’s advertisements in the Echo, that, the Byron Council put a ‘stay’ on spraying. Unfortunately, the Byron Council only has jurisdiction over the South Golden area. The rest of the coastline is under the control of D.E.C.C., a national body.

 

Since that time, we have gone to Council, to get some land allocated to us, so we could form a Dune care Group, and start to hand weed the Bitou, as well as other weeds, and so restore some of the land along the coast.

 

As you’re all probably aware,  the coastline along Byron Shire, as well as the rest of Eastern Australia, has had significant destabilisation due to sand mining. As a solution to that, Bitou bush was planted extensively to try to stabilise the dunes. And now, Bitou has become a “weed of national significance” (WONS), high on the priority list for eradication.

Using aerial spraying of glyphosate is the method of dealing with Bitou, along with the ‘cut and paste’ method used on-ground.

 

This is where we, the newly formed Byron Shire Chemical-free Landcare Group  come in.  We’ve been allocated 2 prominent sites:  the Cavanbah [next to Byron Bay’s Main Beach] and Brunswick Heads [south of the Surf Club]. The Brunswick Heads site is about 4 hectares, the Cavanbah site is about 0.5  hectares, and they both have very different weeds.

 

We applied for and are receiving a grant from NRCMA, to pay a professional regen worker to co-ordinate volunteers, also for a website to inform the public about our projects, as well as educate the public about glyphosate, and to buy some loppers and gloves.

 

What we need now are some committed volunteers, to go out to both sites, with the regen co-ordinator and start the actual work of weeding. Ellen White (see below), has generously offered a workshop to demonstrate her method of ‘crowning’ the Bitou, to stop its spread, and use the Bitou as a mulch to enable the natural plants to germinate, and so restore the natural dune flora and fauna.

 

We have a wonderful opportunity with these 2 sites, to show how easy, cheaper and better it is to work without chemicals, and create areas that will make it obvious that this is the better method. The website will inform the public, locally as well as nationally, and aims to get as many people as possible to support our group. We plan to invite the other Dunecare groups to the workshop to show them how successful this manual, chemical-free method is.

 

We aim to set this program up as a pilot project, that can then be expanded to the entire shire, and be an example to the rest of the nation. Cr. Richard Staples, a longtime Green party member, who has been waiting for a long time to see something like this happen, is onboard as a consultant and Regen worker/volunteer.

 

We’ve been very lucky and privileged to have Ellen White, who is a Botanist, and exceptional Dunecare Worker, as a consultant. She has restored almost 40 hectares of the Dirawong Reserve, down in Evans Head.   It is well worth a trip down there to experience what a restored coastal dune looks and feels like. It’s gorgeous!!

With some dedicated work on our sites, Byron Shire too can have a gorgeous chemical free coastline!!

 

WE ARE NOW FINALLY GOING TO START WEEDING THE BITOU BY HAND USING THE ‘CROWNING METHOD’, AT THE BRUNSWICK HEADS SITE (NEXT TO THE SURF CLUB IN BRUNS) ON SUNDAY THE 23^RD MAY.

 

Ellen White will be on hand to give a demonstration on this method of weeding the bitou at around 10am. We will then start weeding the bitou, with the assistance of 2 experienced regen workers.

 

This site is ‘clean’, that is, it has never been sprayed with chemicals, so people who have those kinds of concerns needn’t worry!

 

We will have refreshments available, but we do advise that you bring with you: sun protection gear, good boots, gloves, water to drink, and if you have a good pair of loppers and/or secateurs, bring those along. We will have some on hand, but may not have enough.

 

If you can come to this very important day for the Byron Shire Coastline, and we hope you can, please contact me, Hilary ASAP at:  6684-0508 or email me at: hb@hilarybain.com, so that I can see how many people will be attending, and can plan for that.

 

We’ll meet outside the Surf Club at Brunswick Heads at 9:30am on Sunday, 23^rd May

 

We’re hoping to bring out some of the Councilors, the press and even the mayor for this event/workday.

 

This has taken us a full year to implement, but we do now have a bona fide chemical free landcare group in the shire!!

 

Come and join us, and let’s show the skeptics that weeding without chemicals is not only possible, it’s safer, healthier, both for people and the environment, and cheaper in so many ways!!!