FOE turned a concrete area in front of the National Theatre, London, into a 150 square meter wildflower meadow to demonstrate the importance of bee-friendly habitats and how easy they are to recreate in an urban setting.

Studies said that 75 percent of the world’s honey bees have already disappeared. Britain in context has lost over half the honey bees kept in managed hives and wild honey bees are nearly extinct. Solitary bees are declining in more than half the areas they’ve been studied and some species of bumblebees have been lost altogether.

Further development along those lines would cost the UK £1.8 billion annually to hand-pollinate crops if bees are to completely vanish from the British landscape, a study by the FOE said.

The University of Reading likened the figure to the equivalent of the annual wages of 60,000 teachers.

One example of costly hand-pollination is demonstrated in the Chinese Hanyuan county where pear trees undergo the whole process through human hands rather than being pollinated by bees, as the native bee populations have been wiped out by a combination of loss of natural habitat and intensive farming.

The environmental charity is urging David Cameron to help these important pollinators that will see the nation save billions by committing to a British bee action plan, which outlines strategies on town planning and the way people farm and use pesticides – one of the biggest aggressors to the bee population decline, as the substance affects the bees’ immune system.

“Unless we halt the decline in British bees, our farmers will have to rely on hand-pollination, sending food prices rocketing,” said Friends of the Earth Nature Campaigner, Paul de Zylva.

“David Cameron must make the changes needed now to give our bees a fighting chance and save Britain billions of pounds.”

The Hollywood heartthrob and his foundation are launching the “Let’s Get Dirty” campaign this month, mobilizing tens of thousands to the cleanup of California.

Let's Get Dirty on 21 April 2012 – The Ian Somerhalder Foundation

On 21 April 2012, 80,000 people and more than 2,000 schools are expected to be participating in the campaign. Somerhalder took inspiration from the “Let’s Do it” campaign in Estonia back in 2007, that saw the cleanup of 10,000 tons of trash in a single day by the community. It was estimated that the one-day event would have otherwise cost the government €22mln (US$28.8mln) and 3 years to finish.

But the upcoming initiative does not stop with just cleaning up the streets, “an intimate evening event aimed at connecting like-minded and passionate leaders to network and brainstorm” is also on the cards.

We caught up with Ian Somerhalder to find out more about the Let’s Get Dirty campaign and what we can do to help the environment.

Q: What is the Ian Somerhalder Foundation and how did it start?

Ian: I started the Ian Somerhalder Foundation after the oil spill in the Gulf. I saw the outpouring support by liked-minded passionate people and their desire to get involved. I knew I wanted to create a place for people to be able to do that. The foundation is a way for people young and old, from all across the globe, to unite together on projects that positively impact our planet and its creatures.

Q: Have you always been passionate about the environment?

Ian: I have! Growing up in Louisiana along the Gulf Coast, I saw how delicate the world’s ecosystems can be. The planet, humans and animals are all connected. So if we pollute the ecosystem in one area, it can affect people and animals across the globe. Education and passion are key to creating a positive change and even the smallest amounts of effort can make a real change.

Q: You were inspired by the 2007 “Let’s Do It” initiative in Estonia, what was the driving force for you to do a similar project, “Let’s Get Dirty”, in California?

Ian: If you look at the basic facts of “Let’s Do It” in Estonia, you can’t help but get inspired. Having volunteers come in for one day and clean up the amount of trash it would take the government years to clean up, at a small fraction of the cost is just amazing.  When you look at California, a place where I spend a good portion of time, it is hard to ignore that which is right in front of you. Countless articles tell the tale of a state who has increasing pollution, especially air and water. If we can do it in California, there is no reason other states won’t be able to follow suit.

Q: It is expected that your “Let’s Get Dirty” campaign will attract 80,000 volunteers and 2,100 schools to participate. Have you ever imagined it would receive such a great number of participants? And what do these numbers tell you?

Ian: The response for this clean up campaign, and the foundation in general, is just mind blowing. Sometimes I just have to sit back and take it all in because it is just the most inspiring thing. These numbers are proof that there are people out there who care and want to get involved. It means that we are taking a step, a leap in the right direction for creating positive change in our world.

Q: Can you run us through how the cleanup is organised? And will you be there in person?

Ian: Of course I will be there “getting dirty” right alongside everyone else. Every helping hand matters! The clean up allows children as young as five, with parental permission, to participate. Essentially, people, groups, schools and businesses can and have been registering on the website. They can choose their own location or we can place them as part of another group. They are given tools such as gloves and garbage bags and will spend a couple hours picking up trash in their designated areas. It is a really great initiative that we have been working on for several months to make it as simple as possible for those who want to participate. Volunteers will have everything they need at their fingertips.

Q: What else can we look forward to in the future from the ISF? Any other projects in the making?

Ian: ISF always has amazing things up its sleeves. We are continuously looking at new partnerships and engaging new volunteers who either contribute to new articles every month or designs for our shop on Café Press. We recently launched our hug-o-matic app through Apple and are working on a round of updates for that as well.

Q: Any message you want to share with your fans?

Ian: Wow! I think the thing I always want to say is a huge thank you, because it can’t be said enough. The outpouring of love and support that I and the foundation have seen is just unbelievable. I also want to remind people of how the little things like turning off lights and faucets make a huge difference and to keep those in mind when going about your lives day to day. It all adds up and there are things that everyone, no matter whom they are, can do.

Want to know how you can help? Visit the ISF website to find out more.

Pitt gave Degeneres a tour in the Lower 9th Ward of Louisiana where he and his team committed themselves to help build sustainable housing.

75 homes have so far been reconstructed and with their acquired expertise they now can finish a home in three months time.

During the tour he told Ellen: “I’m getting far too much credit for this. This took a lot of very smart people coming in and attacking the situation. It took the families determination to come back and their resilience, and they are defining what this thing was going to be. I get far too much credit for bringing some really smart people together.”

The homes are designed to withstand another natural disaster with the same destructive force like Hurricane Katrina. The houses have been elevated several feet above ground in case of future flooding.

Eco-friendly materials are used for all the reconstructed homes.

Based in Yerevan and Massachusetts, the NGO has successfully seen to the reforestation of the Caucasian region through tree planting, environmental education and sustainable development.

Founded in 1994, the ATP saw light after a visiting trip to Armenia back in 1992 by Armenian-American philanthropist Carolyn Mugar.

“Ms. Mugar saw that thousands of trees were being cut for fuel where families are desperate to heat their homes, who even resorted to burning their own furniture,” ATP’s Managing Director, Tom Garabedian, said. “This was a time when the Armenian economy was transitioning from Soviet control, which was still struggling to overcome the devastating effects of an earthquake in 1988, and was blockaded by several neighbouring countries.

“Ms. Mugar decided to commit towards preventing further deforestation and facilitating poverty reduction.”

“One of the primary objectives of our partnership with the Norwegian goverment is to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” explained Vardan Melikyan, ATP’s SEEDS Program Manager. “We plan to do this through raising awareness about conservation issues, planting trees to promote sustainable development in Armenia, and fostering a sense of personal commitment about the importance of environmental stewardship.”

Launched in 2011, SEEDS stands for “Social, Economic, and Environmental Development for Sustainability”, a programme that puts the emphasis on community development while investing in social capital in areas where the ATP are replanting trees.

Last year alone, SEEDS has planted over 185,000 tree seedlings in Fioletovo, Jrashen, Katnajur, Spitak and Tsakhbar.

“Over the past 17 years, ATP has been quite successful at getting things done on the ground in Armenia, and this was made possible through the support of the Diaspora,” Melikyan said in a press release. “We believe this grant from Norway demonstrates an investment in our track record and commitment to excellence, and we hope it will inspire others to join in support of our mission.”

GSTV: How was ATP nominated for the grant?

Garabedian: ATP has a reputation as a solid, serious non-governmental environmental organization in Armenia and in the region. We’ve had our share of successes and challenges, and the global economic downturn began to have an impact on our development efforts. The Norwegian grant came at this time in order to help us meet this challenge and put ATP on a more sustainable footing, both in terms of programmes and funding.

Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has awarded this grant to a limited number of organizations in Armenia, and we are grateful to be selected. We plan to deliver high quality results and to keep Norway and the public well informed about our progress with these programmes.

GSTV: What exactly is this amount of money going to do for ATP?

Garabedian: This is a very large grant for our organization and we have a range of programmes planned for the implementation period through 2014. One of the key elements of the grant is to use trees to mitigate the impacts of climate change. In addition to planting hundreds of thousands of trees every year, the Norwegian funds will allow us to foster a sense of personal commitment about environmental stewardship among the general population and especially the youth.

The funds will also allow ATP to implement a sustainable forest management pilot programme in a model community which we will roll out in other regions in 2013 and 2014. Therefore, the Norwegian grant is allowing us to develop programmes that address the root causes of deforestation such as unsustainable tree cutting and livestock grazing. If we can satisfy the needs of the local and regional stakeholders, we will get ahead of the deforestation problem and introduce better forest management practices.

In the recent Boris Berezovsky vs. Roman Abramovich case, legal representatives have moved to exclude the use of paper during the trial, which can signal the end of the long process of filing documents.

The system behind this new type of technology is nothing new but with the approval of the High Court in London to adapt to the fast-changing environment of laptops, tablets and cloud computing, lawyers will be able to use these devices and save documents – reducing their use of paper which will ease their impact on the environment.

Becoming mobile will make life much more convenient for lawyers  who won’t be dragged down with folders filled with papers.

Magnum-Cloud, developed by London-based Opus 2 International, holds the archive of every court documents with research and case laws, which are transcripted and huperlinked for legal practitioners to quickly access.

Mrs. Justice Gloster, the judge present at the paperless court case, was said to be surprised on the fluency of the trial as reported in the London Evening Standard. “As the trial went on we realised it was a fantastic system which made life far easier and its cost was nothing compared with the cost of copying bundles,” she said.

“It’s a cost saving for the client and life saving for the world,” said Grahma Smith-Bernal, Founder of Opus 2.

The first of its kind, located in Linköping, the Greenhouse will be the primary food source for growing city populations with the development of offices and businesses around the iconic design and monument of architecture.

“I am immensely proud that Linköping is the chosen site for the first vertical greenhouse. We will be the first city in the world to test the new technology and the systems involved to develop sustainable agricultural solutions for future cities,” said Paul Lindvall, Mayor of Linköping.

The vertical garden will only take around 12-16 months to complete, faster when compared to the Eden Project, which took over two years. It is expected that this will be a continuing vision for vertical farming and the future of urban cities. The Plantagon Greenhouse will be developed together with Sweco and will continue to expand their knowledge when it comes to solutions for energy, excess, heat, waste, CO2 and water.

The Plantagon Greenhouse will develop vegetables and as a result eliminate transportation costs for delivery, which will be a more convenient resource for inner cities. This makes Plantagon Greenhouse the first ever company to take social responsibility and transparency in to their line of work as well as a food solution for future urban cities. InLinköping itself the people working in the greenhouse will be employed by Plantagon, but this model will of course vary depending on the city and the structure of the greenhouse itself. Plantagon’s long-term goal is to establish a Center of Excellence for Urban Agriculture in Linköping and start a new revolution.

The United Nation Development Program (UNDP) estimates that urban agriculture can deliver up to one fifth of the food produced today. By developing a new way to deliver that food, the Plantagon Greenhouse will act as that solution as well as a source of nutrients, water, CO2 and energy. Plantagon spoke with Greenstream TV and it understood that they are already in discussion with other cities to action similar projects, such as Singapore and Shanghai. European cities that have expressed an interest in building a greenhouse are still in talks with Stuttgart, Germany, and also Barcelona as potential cities willing to adopt this innovative approach to farming. Of course, this concept is still relatively new and developments are expected, but if all goes well then this will be a significant break-through in urban regeneration.

“With this greenhouse we’re developing and fine-tuning the technical systems required for vertical farming in urban areas, together with several well-known Swedish partner companies. We want to gather expertise in the field, and our long-term objective is to create an international Center of Excellence for Urban Agriculture here in Linköping,” said Hans Hassle, CEO of Plantagon.

The event was held at Oxford University where scholars agreed on the regional resilience amongst African forest trees as species endured a series of “climatic catastrophes over the past 4,000 years”, the BBC reported.

Yadvinder Malhi, Professor of Ecosystems at the university told BBC News: “In some senses, African forests have gone through a number of catastrophes in the past 4,000 to 2,000 years.” Because of these past catastrophes, the current biodiversity is already much lower with the elimination of weaker species. As such, scientists believe that the remaining ecosystem has a make-up that is more resilient towards changing climate pressure.

Another reason as to why African forests have greater survival ratio could be attributed to their greater biomass, Dr. Simon Lewis from Leeds University told BBC News. He also adds: “This is partly because the trees are longer lived so they are becoming bigger over time, and partly because the whole forests are more productive.

“But we are not entirely sure why the African forests are more productive than those in the Amazon.”

Another element to bear in mind is although the African rainforests have a smaller tree species diversity than the Amazon forest, the mammal biodiversity is just as rich.

“There are many species of monkeys, and you then have things like pigmy hippos and forest giraffes.

“In terms of its animal diversity, it really is a remarkable place. And the majestic stature of the trees, it is again remarkable.” Dr. Lewis said.