The National Trust: You Tube Channel

This is cool. Thanks to twitter, I found out that The National Trust has a You Tube channel: The National Trust charity's Channel The latest video: Learn how to make a seasonal fruit crumble with the National Trust's chef Richard. You can follow The National Trust on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nationaltrust And here's another interesting tidbit of news about The National Trust: New Monopoly set gives everyone the chance to own a stately pile The National Trust has launched its very own Monopoly set – becoming the first ever charity version of the game to be created - on sale from Thursday 1 October.

Prince of Wales: YouTube video about saving rainforests

Prince Charles, Harrison Ford and Dalai Lama save rainforests on YouTube The video, which is aimed at boosting awareness of the plight of the rainforests, is a compendium of as many celebrities as it is possible to cram into one 90-second clip. As well as the Prince himself, and the Princes William and Harry, there are cameo appearances by Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Pele and the Dalai Lama. (link via timesonline.co.uk) The Prince's Rainforests Project

Plan to save London sparrows: turn parks into meadows

Parks plan to boost London's house sparrows Conservationists have launched a scheme to turn parts of London's parks into meadows in an attempt to reverse the decline of the once-common house sparrow. (link via independent.co.uk) Seeds and bugs experiement to save London's sparrows (link via the RSPB) House sparrow Red status - Red is the highest conservation priority, with species needing urgent action.

Swan Upping: Time for the traditional count of swans on the River Thames

There are fears that the high water levels on the River Thames are stopping swans from breeding successfully. The concerns were raised by David Barber, the Queen's Swan Marker, as the ancient ritual of swan counting on the river was set to start on Monday. (link via BBC News) Swan Upping, the annual census of the swan population on certain stretches of the River Thames, takes place during the third week of July each year. The historic ceremony dates from the 12th century.