Italy has been a busy bee trying to save the bees on their land. News is that the government has banned several pesticides that are believed to have caused the deaths of millions of honeybees. Neonicotinoid pesticides like clothianidin and imidacloprid are used in sunflowers and sweet corn but not anymore. These chemicals attack the nervous system of insects and can also get to the pollen and nectar, thereby damaging beneficial insects like bees.
Italy is not the only nation to be taking such stringent steps. Germany and Slovenia had introduced a similar ban early this year while France had done its bit way back in 1999. Clothianidin and imidacloprid are produced by the famous German company Bayer CropScience that has made profits to the range of 800 million in 2007. And now the German Coalition are after Bayer to stop marketing harmful pesticides after thousands of hives were lost due to poisoning.
Via enn

Man learns the best possible stuff in the lap of nature and it is there that he finds true peace with himself and the world around him. For centuries now nature has inspired man to achieve, to imagine, to explore and to fall in love with its effervescent splendor. Its million shades never seem to repeat themselves with each sunset bringing a new hue and its beautiful tunes inspire emotions that seem long lost in modern mayhem. Nature has a way of heeling, touching and inspiring which has been felt from men like Newton to romantics like Wordsworth. In simple terms, it has something for everyone and you only need to look with the right eye.

Built around 1100AD, the Devil’s Bridge is also known as the Ponte della Maddalena, named after a statue of Mary Magdalene that once stood at the foot of the bridge; the figurine is now housed in the local parish. (Mary Magdalene is another story altogether though). The bridge is located in a serene and tranquil location and its beauty is awe-inspiring indeed. Ne could just sit on it for hours and not know the time. But the tale behind the bridge is not very encouraging if you want to take a walk in the night on it.

A Tuscan legend has it that during the construction of the Ponte del Diavolo, near Borgo a Mozzano, the sole stonemason building it was having a terrible time. The builder made a deal with the Devil (apparently) that he would give the soul of the first person who crossed the bridge if he helped him in completing it. But the wise builder sent a pig across the bridge first to make sure no one lost their soul to the devil. The cheated devil apparently lies beneath this bridge till today!

Apart from being a great story for a movie and having a wonderful twist of how the Devil was cheated for a change, the bridge is an absolute beauty with surely many stories around it and we have not even got to Mary Magdalene yet! That is for a different day though…

Via EnvironmentalGraffiti

The WWF has submitted the map of natural areas of Italy most at risk of fire, gathered in the dossier Incendiometro WWF 2008. The arre most at risk are for the most part in southern Italy. The risk of fire depends on natural factors like climate, land use, the type of plants that grow there and their density, topography… factors weighted by a search of the Ministry of Environment and Society Botany Italian entitled “Fires and Complexity 2 ecosystem.” The WWF has drawn up a second map, Biodiversity Vision 3, which identified areas of high biodiversity, namely those of honour. Sovrapponendo the two maps can identify the woods that would be really a pity missed are found in 17 areas dell’incendiometro.

Now, let me remind you that the Forest estimated to have been arson, in 2007, 65.5% of the total. The climate and topography can only make things worse, but to trigger the fire and ‘almost always a voluntary act of someone who would benefit from them. In 2007 have been burned 650 million euros because of the nearly 10,000 fires that have affected various parts of Italy, most of them in Campania, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia. On average, only a common understanding on four was taken to prepare the land of fires, or to map and placed under protection areas go to fire.

With an amendment passed in the night between Friday and Saturday and signed by the League Mauritius Fugatti were zeroed summits dell’Authority for energy and gas, while the powers of ‘AEEG were extended to nuclear energy and oil. So after 30 days of the entry into force of the decree will lose their appointment Summits, namely the President Alessandro Ortis and Tullio Maria Fanelli, without prejudice to the possibility of a new appointment with members who will drop by 5 to 4. He reports Tuttoconsumatori:

According Cittadinanzattiva: The zeroing of the current leadership of the Authority for energy is a very serious act which undermines the root of the role and especially the independence of national regulatory authorities.” Just a few days ago, the outgoing President dell’AEEG, Ortis, had advanced concerns about the possibility that companies could transfer entirely on the weight tax rates resulting from Robin Tax, with serious repercussions for the pockets of citizens. Cittadinanzattiva expresses strong concern over a measure that could have repercussions on how to operate all the Authority of our country, “because there is no doubt that the message is indirectly aimed at all the summits of the various regulatory authorities in Italy.

Part the draft Off-shore wind in the Mediterranean and exactly in Sicily, in the Gulf of Gela to 3 miles from the coast. Compared to the news of which you informed piccolosocrate there have been a little ‘changes: it will install 115 generators large size thanks to joint-venture between Enel (57%) and Moncada Construction (43%) for a total power between 345 to 575 MW. Each tower will generate wind power between 3 and 5 megawatts.

The towers 100 metres high, will rotor diameter of about 110 metres and will be anchored at 30 metres deep. They are being studied systems preservation of marine ecosystems involved. The maximum investment is 500 million euros for a plant that scheme, will provide electricity to 1,150 million kilowatt hours, enough to cover the needs of 390,000 families, avoiding CO2 emissions into the atmosphere for about 815,000 tons per year.

The application of EIA (Environmental impact assessment) was delivered by Enel both the Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, both to Sicily.

Sensitivity and love for the environment are the main theme of eco-beaches born in 2003 thanks to some lifeguards and the Province of Rimini. And there are many initiatives proposed. Among these, until July 30, 2008, ecospiagge (here is the list of those who have joined) to give customers the energy saving kit consisting of:

3-saving light bulbs energetic
4 reducing flow (or rompigetto)
1 borsina completely biodegradable MaterBi

But this is not just welcome gifts. A beach to be called eco must meet certain standards that are powering with photovoltaic panels (see photo will see an example); collection; environmental education; saving water. Thanks to the contribution of the Province of Rimini, in the biennium 2003-2005 were carried out 20 water systems for the recovery of drinking water used by showers that after being filtered is reused in toilets and to irrigate.

As stated in the website:

This good practice ecologist has allowed us to save over 5,000 cubic metres of water, in other words a tower base 1 mt x 1 metres high 5,000 meters (5 km) of drinking water.

It ‘was inaugurated yesterday the first mini - a condominium zero emission type passive constructed Angels Rosora in the province of Ancona. The building has six apartments and condominiums that dwell there, employees of the group Loccioni, will become part of the project LEAF (Life Energy and Future), the community that will live using only the energy that comes from natural sources and solutions and technological domotiche highest level.

The idea was born at home Loccioni, a company that deals directly domotics which also took part Enel, Whirlpool and Cisco. The building was built with the direction south, but also has a storage system for hydrogen or appliances with very high efficiency. The walls are insulated to retain the heat in winter and cool in summer.

Salgono temperatures of the column of mercury and not just those in Naples: dates were burned 1,300 tonnes of waste accumulated in suburbs and even in the most central of the city partenopea. Already dust sprinkled disinfectants, the garbage accumulates in the streets, creating different problems: yesterday, Sunday, the site storage Ferrandelle has accumulated in addition to those previously stored, all waste collected in a single day throughout the region.

On Sundays we know, trains ecolog (those who carry the rubbish in Germany) are detentions and the problems of storage increase Ferrandelle, while in the rest of the region there were more than 30 interventions fire: Afragola, Casoria, Acerra , Boscoreale, Giugliano and other villages dell’hinterland Naples, mini-landfills were on fire, with the risk of releasing toxic substances in the air.

Small fires that have often required more than an hour each to be switched off: three months from emergency waste Campania still suffers the problem and despite the classic operations to be attached elections and promises of candidates, the situation is still dramatic. In addition to the social, becomes incalculable damage image for the entire region.