Mysterious sightings of an extremely rare butterfly have set the hearts of enthusiasts fluttering.

The species, previously described as extinct in Britain for nearly 100 years, has suddenly appeared in countryside on the edge of London.

Small numbers of black-veined whites have been spotted flying in fields and hedgerows in south-east London.

To the non-expert, they could easily be mistaken for the common or garden cabbage white butterflies seen in Britain every summer.

But there’s nothing common about the black-veined white on this side of the Channel.

First listed as a British species during the reign of King Charles II, they officially became extinct in Britain in 1925.

This month they have mysteriously appeared among their favourite habitat: hawthorn and blackthorn trees on the edge of London, where I and other naturalists watched them flitting between hedgerows.

As their name suggests, they are a medium-sized white butterfly with distinctive black vein markings on their wings.

The charity Butterfly Conservation, which monitors butterfly numbers in Britain, told the BBC the insects will have been released, but they don’t know by who or why.

They added that while it’s lovely for people to be able to see them, it probably does not signify a spontaneous recovery of an extinct species.

Egypt’s $10-billion wind energy project announced last year moved one step closer to its execution after the consortium responsible for the renewable project signed a deal on June 6 to secure the required land.

Led by the UAE government-owned renewable energy company Masdar, the consortium signed an agreement with Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority to secure a site for the construction of the 10-gigawatts capacity onshore wind farms in the country.

The consortium also includes Infinity Power, which is Africa’s largest renewable energy developer, and Egypt’s Hassan Allam Utilities, an investment platform for power, renewables and water-related opportunities.

The deal will help Egypt move toward achieving its annual goal of slashing carbon emissions by 9 percent as the onshore wind farms will produce 47,790 GWh of clean energy per year while displacing 23.8 million tons of carbon dioxide.

The North African country has set a goal of sourcing 42 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030. That said, the new plant is estimated to save Egypt an estimated $5 billion in natural gas costs on a yearly basis.

Masdar said the deal cements its commitment toward supporting African nations such as Egypt to meet their ambitious renewable energy objectives. 

From Egypt’s side, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker Al-Markabi stressed that renewable energy in the country has the potential to attract direct foreign investments.

During COP27 last year, Masdar, Infinity Power and Hassan Allam Utilities also signed agreements with several Egyptian state-backed organizations to develop green hydrogen and derivatives’ production facilities.

Saudi Arabia’s futuristic city NEOM has entered into an agreement with international luxury yachting solution provider IGY Marinas to develop and operate a harbor at the giga-project’s luxury island destination Sindalah. 

The island which will be the closest superyacht marina to Europe and the Mediterranean is projected to become an iconic destination for the world’s yachting community.  

With as many as 86 berths for yachts up to 50 meters, the facility will also provide additional serviced offshore buoys for superyachts up to 180 meters as Sindalah

Once completed, the marina will join IGY’s international superyacht network of 23 marinas across 12 countries. 

Furthermore, the marina will also have IGY’s exclusive superyacht membership program, IGY Trident. 

Last month, Sindalah received a SR3 billion ($800 million) boost thanks to a partnership with Riyad Bank.   

The Saudi bank which announced the funding deal in a tweet said the money will help in achieving the goal of having $1 trillion invested in the Kingdom’s tourism industry as it eyes 100 million tourists annually by 2030. 

Following it resolve to protect the environment from further degradation, the Imo state government through it ministry for environment has embarked on  intensive symposium to educate the populace on the need to take proper care of their environment.

The honorable commissioner Hon Major Emenike, top officials and staff of the ministry in collaboration with Zordic consultancy services Nigeria trained hundreds of participants on the prompting of the state governor Senator Hope Uzodimma who represented by his deputy professor Placid Njoku.

Also speaking the facilitator Comrade Peter Itubochi opined that the focus is to proffer lasting solution to plastics pollution being the theme for 2023 world environmental day.

He gave insight to what it takes to have a recycling plant in the state and the benefit therefor .

Key among participants at the symposium includes students from schools, environmental officers, business owners among the rest, it was unanimous agreed that plastics waste be give a proper management other than trashing them indiscriminate.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday proposed, in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart, creating an international commission to probe the destruction of a major dam in southern Ukraine, his office reported.

Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for the destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which was ripped open early Tuesday after a reported blast.

“President Erdogan said that a commission could be established with the participation of experts from the warring parties, the United Nations and the international community, including Turkiye, for a detailed investigation into the explosion at Kakhovka dam,” his office said after the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Kakhovka dam sits on the Dnipro River, which feeds a reservoir providing cooling water for the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe’s largest, some 150 kilometers (90 miles) upstream.

The destruction of the dam caused torrents of water to pour into the Dnipro, pushing thousands of civilians to flee the flooded areas while raising fears of an ecological disaster.

NATO member Turkiye, which has good ties with Moscow and Kyiv.

Zakouma National Park is a national park, which is considered to be one of the most important protected areas on the African continent, and it is located in the south of the Republic of Chad.

Created in 1963 as Chad’s first national park, it has an area of about 3,000 square km (1,200 square mi), and it is completely surrounded by the Bahr Salamat Faunal Reserve, which is a conservation area.

Nowadays the Zakouma National Park has become a beacon in the protection of the wildlife, including the Kordofan giraffes and elephants, where the elephants due to the rampant poaching experienced a loss of 95%.

At the beginning, Colonel Michel Anna who was Chad’s hunting inspector during the 1950s, in order to ensure the protection of the highly poached giraffe population, proposed the classification of Zakouma as a fauna reserve.

As soon as the establishment, anti-poaching patrols began patrolling using nomad guards, and within few years, the density of the wildlife reached numbers never before seen in Chad’s history.

Also, the National Park was neglected during the period of civil conflict, nevertheless, a restoration program that was supported by the EU began in 1989.

Even though there are improvements in the enforcement and the laws which are backed with certain EU help, the remaining herds of elephants are still under threat mainly bu Sudanese poachers.

Due to the huge area it has, between 2003 and 2010  Zakouma National Park experienced a catastrophic loss of over 4,000 elephants due to the poachers who were attracted by the ivory tusks.

When the African Parks took over the management of the park in 2010, with the effective law enforcement measures and community networks, the poaching has been almost eliminated, and the herd is slowly stabilizing.

Also, as the complete wildlife concentration in the park is growing with the years, in the park the black rhino is being reintroduced once again, whereas the bird-life is astonishing and amazing experience for the bird watchers, since there are tons of specials which will rapidly expand everyone’s list.

That is the reason why new tourist accommodations are being opened, the newly opened in 2003. Still, in total there are around 44 species of large mammals, and many varieties of birds, which is the reason why the Chadian Government nominated Zakouma National Park to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

A a fine example of fighting against poachers and conserving the different species, it definitely is an area that deserves to be inscribed on the UNESCO’s List and its story to be told all around the world.