Do You like snow??? Thanks Fred.

Folks

Nice clear blue sky day for a good shot this morning from NASA’s Terra satellite (attachment 1). Good snow cover over the island, so we are in “black and white” mode compared to the summer greens. Not much ice in the Bras d’Or except in Whycocomagh Bay, St Patrick’s channel and Denys basin. Lots of pack ice along the western shore and swinging around the northern tip of the island. Our mid-winter monitoring run around the Cabot Trail today got hung up in the snow belt over the North Mountain section of the Cabot Trail (attachment 2)…. No wonder the lights at the bottom of the Aspy were flashing “road closed”!!!! So I couldn’t make it all the way around to the Dancing Goat….bummer!

Fred B.

#GouritzClusterBiosphereReserve in #SouthAfrica is the only place in the world where three recognized biodiversity hotspots converge. It has an amazing amount of endemic plant species, particularly #succulents. This so-called #CapeFloralKingdom, the smallest but the richest floral kingdom in the world, is also home to gorgeous animals, such as the Cape Mountain #Zebra and #leopard.

This year will represent a big global push to protect #biodiversity around the world, with major events and discussions. In the following weeks, we will take you on a journey through the wonderful #animals and #plants in biosphere reserves. Stay tuned!

#succulove #spekkies #spekboom @ Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve

This week, the #UNESCO headquarters is hosting the 26th Meeting of the International Advisory Committee for Biosphere Reserves.

It provides scientific and technical advice to the Director-General of UNESCO and the MAB-ICC regarding the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) on issues such as scientific and technical matters concerning the nomination of new Biosphere Reserves; changes and periodic reviews of sites already included in the WNBR, and the development, operation and monitoring of the WNBR.