As Gaza blockade nears 1,000-day milestone, UN official warns situation is worsening

The situation in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly dire as the Israeli blockade approaches its 1,000th day, allowing an illegal economy to flourish, the new head of the United Nations agency tasked with assisting millions of Palestinian refugees said today.

Ban urges Member States to rally behind Chilean quake relief efforts

United Nations Member States must play their part to help Chile rebuild after last month’s deadly earthquake and tsunami, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he announced he has tasked senior UN officials with ensuring coordinated support for the emergency and recovery phases in the wake of the disaster.

UN health agency funds urgent medical supplies in landslide-hit Uganda

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) is sending $50,000 in emergency funding to Uganda where deadly mudslides and flooding have left hundreds of thousands of people in need of shelter, food, safe water and proper sanitation, and at an increased risk of water-borne diseases.

UN aid officials warn of fears of water-borne diseases in flooded Kenya

The recently flooded regions of Kenya could fall victim to water-borne diseases if public hygiene campaigns are not organized, the United Nations humanitarian wing warned today.

UNESCO chief reaffirms commitment to protect Haiti’s cultural heritage

Kicking off a visit to Haiti today, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today reiterated the agency’s support to help the nation protect its cultural heritage - including works of art and libraries - in the wake of January’s catastrophic earthquake.

African leaders support agribusiness plan at UN-backed conference

High-level representatives from 44 African countries wrapped up a United Nations-backed conference in Nigeria today with the approval of an ambitious plan to generate employment, income and food security across the continent through agribusiness.

Ban speaks out against Israeli plans to expand settlements

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has repeatedly called for Israel’s settlement construction to come to a halt, has condemned its announcement that it is building 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem.

African leaders support agribusiness development plan at UN-backed conference

High-level representatives from 44 African countries wrapped up a United Nations-backed conference in Nigeria today with the approval of an ambitious plan to generate employment, income and food security across the continent through agribusiness.

Today on New Scientist: 10 March 2010

All today’s stories from newscientist.com at a glance, including: the (accidental) origin of species, why food kills but flab protects, and why women with good genes might get more sex

Alien v predator: moth out to kill Japanese knotweed

Chosen insect feeds on invasive species but not other closely related plants and crops

The Guardian, Tuesday 9 March 2010

Biological warfare is to be declared on an alien invader, Japanese knotweed, that swamps gardens and rivers, with the release of an insect to eat the virulent weed.
The decision by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the first allowing one non-native species, a flying insect resembling a miniature moth, to control the seemingly unstoppable spread of an alien plant.

Huw Irranca-Davies on introducing an insect predator to attack Japanese knotweed Link to this audio
However, it is likely to cause concern among wildlife lovers because of a long history of human interventions in the natural world ending in failure, and sometimes causing worse problems than the original, as with the cane toad in Australia.
In a public consultation by Defra last year about 20 responses opposed the scheme, though 42 were in favour.
The wildlife minister, Huw Irranca-Davies, said the fast-growing Japanese knotweed was estimated to cost £150m a year to control, and was able to grow through buildings and roads.
Fallopia japonica has also been blamed for flooding, by causing erosion to river banks and clogging up streams with dead plants.
“This project is not only ground-breaking, it offers real hope that we can redress the balance,” said Irranca-Davies.
Experts estimated in 2003 that it would cost £1.5bn to fund a physical clearance campaign for Japanese knotweed.
Laboratory tests were started on pests from Japan which control the knotweed by feeding on sap from its stems, causing the plant to die back.
The tests showed the chosen Aphalara itadori did not eat any other species, including closely related British plants and important crops.
The psyllids – or plant-jumping lice, which grows to only 2-2.5mm – will be released at two sites initially, under close supervision.
If these outdoor trials are a success the trials will be extended to another six sites, none of which Defra will disclose.
The concept is similar to biological pest control practised by some farmers, using predator insects to control crop pests. The non-native predatory beetle Rhizophagus grandis was also released in Britain under licence in the mid-1980s to tackle the invasive alien spruce bark beetle (Dendroctonus micans).
On conservation and wildlife internet forums, opponents of the idea said they feared the impact on other native wildlife, for example species that might start feeding on the psyllids. One blogger compared the risk to the traditional nursery rhyme “I know an old lady who swallowed a fly” in reference to the long pursuit of one animal to destroy another – ending in the lady swallowing a horse: “She’s dead of course.” The Global Invasive Species Programme said that despite a few well-known failures, a third of biological control programmes to tackle pests and weeds were judged successes, and the system was often considered more “permanent, efficient, environmentally sustainable and relatively cheap” than using chemicals or mechanical removal.
“While there are some risks, which still may be considered by some to be unacceptable, biological control is increasingly viewed as being the preferred management strategy for invasive species, wherever possible, and in the case of biological weed control specifically, it has an enviable safety record,” said Sarah Simons, Gisp’s executive director.
Japanese knotweed, which is native to Japan, Taiwan and China, was introduced by botanists into Britain in the 19th century as an ornamental plant. It grows at up to a metre a month, and a fragment of just 0.8 grams can grow into a new plant. Invasive predators have become a global problem and are among the top causes of global species threats and extinctions according to conservation experts.
The Royal Horticultural Society suggests gardeners destroy knotweed using glyphosate-based weed-killers or by digging out the roots and cutting back regrowth, however it warns that the process can take several seasons. Experts stress that uprooted plants must be destroyed carefully to avoid spreading. “Eradication requires steely determination,” says the RHS.