In this issue of Squirrel News we have a decades-long mission by the city of Yulin to turn Maowusu Desert into forest and greenland, ArtActivistBarbie taking on the white male dominated world of art, and stork chicks hatching in the UK for the first time in 600 years.
How a Chinese city transformed a desert into greenlands
After suffering from catastrophic sandstorms, the city of Yulin responded with decades of planting trees. Today over 92% of the Maowusu Desert is green.
ArtActivistBarbie – protesting the white male art world, one tweet at a time
In her free time, Barbie has been questioning the lack of female and minority representation in art galleries, and highlighting the pervasiveness of the white male gaze in cultural institutions.
For the first time in 600 years, stork chicks hatch in the UK
Due conservation efforts by the White Stork Project, there is great hope that a rise in stork population will bring wildlife engagement to more villages and towns across the UK.
China offers cash to exotic animal farmers to give up wildlife trade
For the first time ever, authorities in China have introduced a scheme to buy out wildlife breeders in a move hoping to reduce risk of another outbreak.
Houston set to run on 100% renewable energy from July
Partnering up with NRG Energy, the city of Houston has committed to at least seven years of solar energy as part of its Climate Action Plan toward carbon neutrality.
Next-generation smart sensors have been developed from the inspiration of peacock feathers
The research team have created flexible colour-changing photonic crystals that can be used in sensors for earthquakes, temperature changes and fingerprint technology.
Germany’s travelling butcher provides an alternative to his recently under-fire industry
By doing everything the opposite way round to the prevailing meat industry, the mobile butcher slaughters on site and keeps things as local as possible
New research shows moths are the unsung heroes of pollination
As the bees take their rest, new research shows the moths get up to much more than previously thought, providing valuable insight for conservation work moving forward.