Garden Mulch Helps Waterways if enough people use it. Much of the dirt in our waterways is due to storm water picking up chemicals and debris. Many of these items result in damage to rivers, streams,catchments and oceans. We sense that this causes pollution and depletes marine life, and we see it clearly in times of flood, but it only takes a shower.

Where water is concerned, most of us are only interested in quality of the water that we use. But we all have a role in keeping waterways clean.

We hope that somehow, the water that flows into our homes will take care of itself. But just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to care for water. Here are ten tips for keeping waterways clean. Read more →

Can frogs measure water health?  According to National Geographic the answer is Yes.

Frogs act as biosensors and help us in detecting polluted water

Frogs produce an unmistakable croaking sound that is associated with their mating behavior. There is a natural frog croaking sound that occurs when the environment, (water), is not affected by any toxins. However, scientists have discovered that this sound changes according to the level of pollution in the river. So clearly in their own way frogs measure water health.

How environmental factors impact the croaking of the frog

The condition of our lakes and rivers, especially close to population centers, is often impacted by a variety of factors. There is often industrial effluent  released into the river Added to this is a large amount of human waste that finds it’s into the water ecosystem. A lot of the substances in the water are going to affect the hormonal balance of animals. Not only humans using the ecosystem but also of the aquatic life such as frogs. In fact the effect is particularly pronounced on the smaller animals. Read more →

According to Wikipedia Hydrobiology is “The science of life, and life processes in Water”

Part of the broader studies of our Ecology, Hydrobiology looks at the the health of living , water based organisms in both flowing and still water, and includes studies in Economic Biology, morphology, taxonomy,Industrial Biology and others.

For us the significant feature is that all these studies focus on the health of the aquatic creatures, which in turn rely on the health of the water itself.  This study ties in closely with both sewerage management and water purification, as well as management of Rivers, Lakes water catchments etc Read more →

In the face of population pressure, urbanization and development have you ever asked yourself Why Protect Wetlands ? Surely those swamps would be better used to house people after all.

Unfortunately that has been a commonly held opinion for far too long. Now population pressure, and developer’s lobbyists are putting increasing pressure on precious wetlands.

This is partly because property developers challenge local authorities and also ask Why Protect Wetlands. But they have a different emphasis, and a lot of money behind them.

How do you convince a developer that the ecosystem of the wetland is more important than a multi-million dollar resort project? Read more →