The Environment Chronicle

Soil of the Year 2012 is the Lowland Peat Soil.

Insect of the Year 2012 is the European stag beetle (Lucanus Cervus).

The Meulenwald in Hetzerath (Municipaliy Bernkastel-Wittlich) was chosen as Forest of the Year 2012 by the Union of German Foresters (Bund Deutscher Forstleute BDF). It documents the exemplary fulfillment of all requirements of society and nature in a forest as well as the efforts of the foresters. The Forest of the Year will be announced on an annual basis.

Lichen of the year 2012 is the Lobaria pulmonaria.

Moss of the Year 2012 is the Buxbaumia viridis.

Orchid of the Year 2012 is the Orchis pallens.

The Common toad or European toad ( bufo bufo) was nominated to the Amphibian of the Year 2012 by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde e.V. (DGHT).

Fluvial Topography of the Year 2012 and 2013 is the Helme, a river in central Germany that is about 65 kilometres (40 mi) long and which forms a left-hand, western tributary of the Unstrut in the states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt.

German Mollusc of the Year 2012 is the Oxyloma elegans.

Spider of the Year 2012 is the large cave spider (Meta menardi). The large cave spider is one of 955 species of long-jawed spider known throughout the world. In Europe we have 29 species, in central Europe 19. The large cave spider Meta menardi is geographically widely distributed. In central Europe it is usually found in upland regions, and is particularly common in karst areas such as the Frankish or Swabian Alps. The spider lives in subterranean caves, cellars, mineshafts and within stone runs with a medium level of humidity and a constant temperature above 7°C. The body length of the large cave spider Meta menardi is 11 to 13 mm in males and 14 to 17 mm in females.

Butterfly of the Year 2012 is the Small Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia).

Endangered livestock breed of the year 2012 is the Deutscher Sperber.

Water plant of the Year 2012 is the White water-crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis).

Cave Animal of the Year 2012 is the large cave spider (Meta menardi).

Every year since 2004, the Global Nature Fund, announces the Threatened Lake of the Year on February 2nd. Lake Titicaca is the Threatened Lake of the Year 2012. Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America and the highest, commercially navigable body of water in the world. In the barren plateau of the Andes, the Altiplano in Peru and Bolivia, Lake Titicaca was and continues to be of existential importance to the surrounding population due to its role as a source of drinking water and, thanks to its abundance of fish, of food. Around 2 million people live in Lake Titicaca’s catchment area today. This has put high demands on all of the resources of the lake, the shore areas and the adjoining land. In past decades, the self-cleaning capacity of the lake was relied upon, causing the clarification of waste water in the catchment area to be carried out inadequately. The grave consequences of these failings can be seen in many places today. Together with the massive overuse of the lake, they account for the highly endangered status of the lake and threaten the future provision of livelihoods for many people and animals.

Acanthamoeba is the protozoa of the year 2012.

Animal of the Year 2012 is the Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra.

Perennial Herb of the Year 2012 is the Knotweed.

Poisonous Plant of the Year 2012 is the Common laburnum (Laburnum anagyroides).

Citrullus colocynthis, commonly known as the colocynth, bitter apple, bitter cucumber, egusi, or vine of Sodom named 2012 Medicinal Herb of the Year by the NHV Theophrastus.

Dragonfly of the Year 2011 is the Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea).

On 28 March 2011 the Indian government released new tiger population numbers for the first time since 2007, indicating that numbers have increased in the country that has half of the world’s remaining wild tigers. The government estimated current tiger numbers in India at 1,706, up from 1,411 during the last count in 2007. However, the 1,706 figure includes an additional tiger reserve in the count, the Sundarbans, that contained 70 tigers. This area was not counted in 2007. Therefore, when comparing the previous survey with the current one, the official estimate stands at 1,636 when leaving out the Sundarbans, or an increase of 225.

The Global Nature Fund takes the World Water Day (22nd March) as an opportunity to choose a "Living Lake" in Germany each year. This action is designed to attract the attention to our lakes as precious ecosystems and unique natural treasures. This initiative is based on long, successful experience in the international action „Threatened Lake of the Year" and is meant to contribute to the solution of pressing problems at lakes and wetlands.

Cactus of the year 2011 is the Epicactus.

Water plant of the year 2011 is the water chestnut (Trapa natans).

Bird of the Year 2011 is the Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus).

Insect of the Year 2011 is the narrow-headed ant (Formica exsecta).

Poisonous Plant of the Year 2011 is the common yew, or European yew (Taxus baccata).

Reptile of the year 2011 ist the Common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis).

Perennial Herb of the Year 2010 is the Sedum.

Fish of the Year 2011 is the Grayling (Thymallus thymallus).

Orchid of the Year 2011 is the Platanthera bifolia, commonly known as the Lesser Butterfly-orchid.

Eighty years ago, Lake Fúquene was the largest lake in Colombia and an important habitat for indigenous species. Today, only 3,000 hectares of the once 10,000 hectares are left. The shallow water body has been dried up or filled in with land, to gain more farmland for agriculture and livestock breeding. At the same time, invasive plants are suffocating the lake. Since 2004, on the Worlds Wetlands Day (2nd February) GNF nominates the “Threatened Lake of the Year” to call attention to a threatened lake and help solving environmental problems. Laguna de Fúquene is located at 2,540 meters on the Bogotá plateau and is the last bigger fresh water body of the Cordillera Oriental, the Eastern range of the Andes Mountains. The lake belongs to a water landscape of the Ubaté Valley which connects various rivers, wetlands and small lakes and has a total surface of 1,974 square kilometers.

German Mollusc of the Year 2011 is the Anisus vorticulus.

Vegetable of the Year 2010 / 2012 is the parsnips (Pastinaca).

The Chequers Tree (Sorbus torminalis) is the tree of the year 2011.

Soil of the Year 2011: Brauner Auenboden

Butterfly of the Year 2011 is the Purple emperor (Apatura iris).

Animal of the Year 2011 is the lynx (Lynx lynx).

Avenue of the Year 2011 is a maple-ash avenue in Brandenburg (Kremmen).