Birmingham Friends of the Earth have announced a walk-run marathon along six regional canals called the Birmingham Canal Canter.

The fund-raiser, co-ran by Heart of England Long Distance Walkers Association, hopes to raise £10,000 on September 18th with up to 250 walkers on the day, passing the Worcester Canal amongst others.

“This is not just another “race for climate change”", the official press release reads. “It’s the official non-nuclear one!!!”

The money raised from the event will be put towards the salaries of campaign support workers who volunteer with BFoE.

The entry fee is £8 but sponsorships over £100 will have their fee refunded.

John Hemming, who gained the seat five years ago from Labour candidate Estelle Morris, was re-elected as MP for the constituency with 16,162 votes and a 39.6% share of the votes.

Their majority over the second-placed Labour party, represented by Lynnette Kelly, rose to 3,002 from the 2,672 they won in 2005. The total voter turnout dropped to 56.5% which was down from the last election by 1.2%.

The Conservatives, British National Party, UK Independence Party and National Front all fielded candidates for the election. The Green Party did not, nor have they ever within the constituency. They did, however, have a representative in South Yardley for the local elections but came 6th out of seven candidates, beating only the National Front but failing to beat the BNP, UKIP, Labour, Tory and the Lib Dems.

Despite the absence of the Green Party, re-elected Hemming has a strong record for voting in favour of environmental bills such as the Climate Change Bill which was set up to create “a legally binding target for reducing UK carbon dioxide emission by at least 26 per cent by 2020 and at least 60 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.”

• The implications of the news that the high speed rail network is set to go through the new Birmingham City University campus and the university’s response.
• The results of Natalie’s how green is Broad Street survey, possible reasons for this and what the city centre clubs could do to improve their eco status.

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“Lost Life: England’s Lost and Threatened Species” claims that the Chalkhill blue butterfly is just one of a number of species extinct within the region.

Natural England. the national agency who compiled the “most complete” audit of hundreds of years of wildlife in the United Kingdom, also states that more species may die out if action is not taken as soon as possible.

The Birmingham Post, in reporting the news on their website, outlined the key reasons as to why the region had lost so many of its species:

While a few “big, hairy and scary” animals such as bears and wolves were hunted to extinction, most vanished species have gone because of land management changes including the industrialisation of farming, habitat loss, persecution and pollution.

And even where species have not become extinct at a national level, many have disappeared from some parts of the country, leaving populations fragmented and more at risk from threats including storms and a changing climat

Although many species have died out within the country, Lost Life has categorised many of them by regions where their presence has been eradicated. In the West Midlands, extinct species include the Twite Marsh, hister beetle, and bog orchid.

The report circulated throughout the evening via Twitter, with many giving their thoughts on the issue.

jpglavenvalley wrote:

i suppose this does happen but to [sic] quickly

And billygrammar added:

Sad to see hundreds of animal and plant species near extinction. More than two die out a year in England, Natural England says.

This Is Sutton Coldfield reported on the £954,240 grant awarded to the council which will be used to carry out a 10 year restoration and improvement scheme intended to return the park to the revered status that it had enjoyed in the past as one of Europe’s biggest urban parks.

The money, awarded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, allows the park to avoid the proposals drawn up in London which would see visitors to Richmond Park and Bushy Park charged up to £2 per hour which would be put towards maintaining the parking facilities at both parks, as well as the parks themselves.

Locals of both London parks have shown staunch opposition towards the plans, arguing that a charge will alienate regular visitors and subdue the overwhelming support that the parks have received. A public protest took place in late January at Richmond Park. Riversniffers, a blog based on the border of the Thames from Barnes to Sunbury, wrote:

About 1,000 people gathered in Richmond Park to protest against the plan by the Royal Parks commission to introduce parking charges in the parks’ car parks. In our borough, Richmond and Bushey Parks would be affected.

A full slate of local politicians from all parties attended. All condemned the plans as likely to hit the elderly and the less well-off particularly.

Richmond Park is the biggest urban park in the United Kingdom, spread out at 955 hectares of land in comparison to Sutton Park which, at 900.1 hectares, is the second-biggest in the country.

The issues raised in the Richmond Park debate could have an impact on the future of Sutton Park if the plans go through after the general election later this year.

David Pears of Sutton Park Advisory Committee told This Is Sutton Coldfield that they are hoping that the work carried out on the park will lead to future grants which will “help improve the visitor experience.”

However, it is not known where these grants would come from and it is possible that the council may look into other options to obtain funding.