ENVIRONMENT

France helps the bees

Without flowers, there will be no bees. Without pollination, there will be no pollination and no biodiversity. Confronting this problem head-on, the Sarkozy government has decided to release funding to support the planting of flowers along the sides of roads.

In Europe it has become clear that bee populations are under threat. Possible reasons include an over-reliance on pesticides, the indirect effects of global warming and the appearance of exotic insects such as the Asian hornet, which causes enormous damage to hives. There is another possible explanation for the drop in bee populations in our countries: the disappearance of flowers, which lose a little more ground everyday to the steady spread of concrete. To test the impact a roadside planting policy could have on the problem, the Sarkozy government has decided to allocate extra funds to bring flowers back to the verges of France. Initially, the experiment will cover 250 km of roads, but if it proves a success it could be extended to a more significant proportion of the French road network. When will we see a similar initiative implemented in Belgium?

http://developpement-durable.gouv.fr/article.php3?id_article=6655

NoiseTube identififes noise pollution using your mobile phone

Noise has become one of the most invasive forms of pollution. In urban areas with their ever-increasing sources of noise, but also in the countryside, where every day there are a few more reasons to block your ears...

In fighting noise pollution, the authorities have generally conducted campaigns to measure background noise levels. These campaigns typically involve fairly sophisticated equipment, which by its very nature cannot be installed wherever noise is a problem. To study noise from as close as possible a vantage point and produce noise pollution maps that are as accurate as possible, a researcher from the VUB has had the simple but brilliant idea of building up a citizens' network of background noise measurement. The only equipment the participants need is their mobile phone, which they activate in the place where the noise is experienced - in a shopping street, near a station, along a motorway etc. Thanks to the GPS function available on new-generation mobile phones, the phone owners can contribute to the programme to survey noise pollution. Ultimately, their help will make it possible to establish a fairly accurate noise map, and could help guide the authorities' actions against noise.

http://noisetube.net
http://soft.vub.ac.be/Publications/2009/vub-prog-tr-09-11.pdf