Green Futures Articles

Long-distance travellers Each spring, monarch butterflies migrate in their millions from their winter home, the Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico – and although those who depart will never return, their descendants arrive back eight months later, after a journey that takes them as far as eastern Canada. Their Mexican home was discovered in 1974, when researchers traced the butterflies’ flight path south to Michoacán, There, butterflies cling to oyamel trees in such numbers that branches break under the weight. The spectacle made the covers of National Geographic and Scientific American, inadvertently prompting a tourism boom in the small rural towns in the area.

Prince Charles’s estate in right royal eco-makeover

The days of humble serfs tilling their lord’s land may be long gone. But country estates are still key in keeping Britain’s rural communities alive and kicking. Especially if they combine innovation with tradition, says Forum for the Future in its new report, Rural estate sustainability: leading by example.

One place that’s pulling its finger out is Highgrove, the Prince of Wales’s Gloucestershire estate. Acting on advice from Forum, the royal household has introduced water- and energy-saving measures, including rainwater harvesting to flush toilets and irrigate land, a reedbed sewage system and eco-friendly insulation. They’ve even fitted double-glazing on the 18th-century windows.

Over at the 900-acre Home Farm, solar panels have been installed to heat water, and the Prince is also looking into producing and selling bio-diesel. It’ll make a change from Duchy lemon curd… - Hannah Bullock

Birmingham has got the noise issue in its sights. Its new noise maps, a first for a UK city, caught the eye at a special Action against Noise event at the National Exhibition Centre, where Environment Minister Michael Meacher enthused over the results of the two-year project.

The Sound Immission Contour Maps (SICMs) are colour-coded to show sources of road, rail and aircraft noise (‘Sound affects’, see Issue 19, p42). They will be an important tool in targeting noise reduction measures and highlighting which local residents are most in need of help against over-exposure.

At the national level, too, the government is promising action on noise pollution from transport and industry. The Birmingham initiative offers a blueprint for other cities and, in Meacher’s own words, "charts the way for producing a national noise map".

It could be a step on the road to a National Noise Strategy, as advocated by the clean air and noise campaign group National Society for Clean Air (NSCA). And listen out for a potential EU directive - noise maps might end up as a requirement for all urban centres with over 250,000 people.