If you know me, you know that I don’t get agitated or upset very easily, since there are only a few topics I really, really, really care about from the bottom of my heart. One of them is: the depiction of environmental matters in mass media.
Very often does it happen, that I see articles about reforestation, climate change, carbon sinks or Kyoto, that contain not only horrible mistakes, but also really bad wording. Today I came across this press release by the Nürnberg airport. The following wording appears:
“Die dafür erforderlichen detaillierten Kenntnisse des Bestandes wurden durch umfangreiche Untersuchungen bereits im Vorfeld ermittelt und von den zuständigen Fachleuten der Behörden gewichtet: Demnach werde sich das Erscheinungsbild des gewohnten Kiefernwaldes zwar zugunsten des Mischwaldes verändern, die ökologische und ökonomische Qualität, der Erlebniswert und die klimatische Stabilität aber verbessert. Geschäftsführer Krüger spricht von einer „nachhaltigen und zukunftsfähigen Maßnahme“.
I really do ask myself, whether the author of this release understood what s/he was actually writing about. Because, honestly, this is neither an information, nor German language. The solution could be K.I.S.S. “Keep it simple, stupid!”
How about:
“Fachleute und Behörden untersuchten den Wald und entwarfen einen Plan, der das Waldbild zukünftig nachhaltig ändern wird: Aus einem Kiefernforst wird nun über mehrere Jahrzehnte hinweg ein artenreicher Mischwald entstehen. So werde die Waldfläche nicht nur ökologisch aufgewertet, auch könne man durch das wertvollere Laubholz später bessere Preise beim Holzverkauf erzielen. Außerdem werde der Mischwald auch für den Waldbesucher attraktiver und könne extremen Witterungen, wie etwa Stürmen und Orkanen, besser Stand halten.”
Welches possierliche Tierchen hat sich in diesem Bild versteckt? (Zusatzfrage: Welche Fotografin hat in der Hektik auf den Autofokus zurück gegriffen?)
Filed under: Education, Environment, Fun | Tags: Asian lady beetle, environmental education, Germany, invasion, multicolored
Despite of the recent tightening of the German immigration act, there has been an uncontrolled – and quite impressive – invasion of the Asian lady bug in some parts of Northwest Germany. German authorities are stunned. Numerous facades of family homes and shopping malls have been covered with the little red black-dotted foreigner. In contrary to the endemic and well-known German lady beetle, the Asian beetle is endued with a changing amount of dots on its coat and the unique possibility to come in various colors, which is why one also refers to it as “multicolored Asian lady beetle”. Hence, a small number of Asian bugs may also appear black with red dots or just red with a few dots or red with many dots and so on and so forth.
Another distinctive feature is the black “W” on its collar. The German beetle usually wears a black collar with two white tips at the sides.
The Asian lady beetle was first introduced to Germany in the early 1920 to work for gardeners and farmers in the ongoing fight against rebelling aphids on German flowers and vegetables. Back at that time, work VISA for Asian beetles were controlled by the Ministry for the Environment, Agriculture and Forestry and not yet by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This, however, changed in the early 1950s and with the Iron Curtain, contacts to China were only maintained by the Eastgerman side. Yet, temporary swarms of Asian lady beetles could be observed in the Northwestern part of Germany close to the Dutch border. At that time the beetle was mostly employed by tulip farmers in the Netherlands to fight the ongoing battle against the amaranthine aphids. To honor its achievements it was awarded the Dutch name: veelkleurig aziatisch lieveheersbeestje. After the German unity in 1990 Asian lady bugs could be employed again by farmers and gardeners throughout the country.
However, they feel home the most nearby the Dutch border.
For late-breaking footage, please click here:
Filed under: Environment, Fun | Tags: Canada Wildlife Service, environmental education, wood spider
Today: the wood spider
Thanks to Daan.
Annas Weblog 