VULTURE SURVIVAL HOPE

There is new hope for the survival of the critically-endangered Oriental White-backed Vulture, according to the Hawk Conservancy Trust. Conservationists at Changa Manga in Pakistan have recorded successful breeding efforts by the species, whose numbers decreased more than 99% in the 1990s due to poisoning from the veterinary painkiller Diclofenac. Community awareness projects and a ban in Diclofenac will hopefully mark its recovery. A drop in the price of oil has led to delays in creating long-term energy solutions, just as the hike in prices led to primary forest being ripped up to plant oil palms. Why do we need plans? Because the problems we face are complex and so are the solutions, what may help solve one problem can banjax another unless things are looked at together. Take flooding as an example. Rather than build ever-higher walls to protect lowland property we need to slow the flow of water. To do this we need to enable highland to retain more water and let it flow out slower by recladding the hillsides with woodland or scrub. We must stop draining wetlands, but see them as sponges that can soak up excesses and