Source: ‘A critical time’: how Covid-19 piled the pressure on conservation efforts
The latest news related to nature conservation from around the world. If there is
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Climate change: Alaskan wilderness opens up for oil exploration
BBC News
The Trump administration is pushing ahead with the first ever sale of oil leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The giant Alaskan wilderness is home to many important species, including polar bears, caribou and wolves. But after decades of dispute, the rights to drill for oil on about 5% of the refuge will go ahead…
Quebec meets UN Convention’s Terrestrial Protected Area Target of 17%
IUCN
On December 17, 2020, the Premier of Quebec François Legault and the Environment and Climate Change Minister Benoît Charette announced that the province will now protect an area of 257,000 sq km. The total area protected is larger than the UK…
Province should do more to protect dwindling caribou populations, urges Nature Québec
CBC
Quebec is expected to release a strategy for caribou conservation this spring, but some environmental groups are advocating for more ambitious measures before it’s too late. In the Val D’Or region, there are fewer than 10 caribou remaining…
For Sumatran elephant conservation, involvement of local people is key
Mongabay
For critically endangered Sumatran elephants, a long-term conservation strategy must include community involvement in mitigating human-elephant conflict, in addition to securing viable habitats. Any successful conflict mitigation should raise the awareness and acceptance from the local community…
South African game reserves forced to cull animals as Covid halts tourism
The Guardian
Tourist lodges run out of cash to feed and care for the animals on their land and thousands of villagers lose their jobs. Impala run through the thorn bush, ibis fly above the lake and lightning forks over the horizon as a storm rolls in from the Drakensberg mountains…
Industrial agriculture threatens a wetland oasis in Bolivia
Mongabay
An oasis within dry Chiquitano forest in eastern Bolivia, Concepción Lake and its surrounding wetland provide valuable habitat for 253 bird, 48 mammal and 54 fish species. However, despite being officially listed as a protected area, cultivation of commodity crops is expanding and supplanting habitat…
Colombia’s sustainable forestry drive boosts biodiversity and business
Mongabay
Despite the high costs and long registration times, sustainable timber harvesting has the potential to bring more value to rural Colombians while also acting as an effective and important conservation tool…
Sustainable financing is pivotal for marine conservation beyond 2030 pledges
Mongabay
In this commentary, Simon Cripps, the Executive Director for the Global Marine Program at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), argues that one of the biggest challenges in getting political will for protecting 30 percent of the oceans in MPAs by 2030 and maintaining it thereafter is financial…
Dredging up fish dinners does lasting damage to the sea floor
Nature
Commercial fishing fleets worldwide practise bottom trawling, in which heavy gear and massive nets are dragged along the seafloor to maximize catch. To study the method’s impact, Sarah Paradis at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, and her colleagues analysed sediments…
Caribbean could lose coral reefs by end of century, UN environment agency warns
Jamaica Observer
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that the Caribbean, among other places, could lose its coral reefs by the end of the century unless there are drastic reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions…
LETTER: A big year for nature conservation
The Telegram
Urgent and immediate crises have a way of laying bare the true values and character of individuals and societies. Basic needs become priority needs. We draw closer to what we love and blow off the dust of frivolity. In a world that was suddenly slowed and silenced, many of us were drawn closer to nature…
‘A critical time’: how Covid-19 piled the pressure on conservation efforts
The Guardian
From the Nepalese Himalayas where tigers patrol the snowy peaks to the lush forest homes of mountain gorillas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, national parks emptied as Covid-19 spread around the world in 2020. Billions of pounds of ecotourism revenue – crucial to the livelihoods of many communities that live alongside biodiverse areas – dried up as people were locked down…
Losing Ground: Climate Change Is Altering the Rules of Ecosystem Hierarchy
Scientific American Content
Sea-level rise is letting a tiny crab drastically alter marsh landscapes. A once inconspicuous burrowing crab is suddenly wiping out swaths of marsh cordgrass, a plant that holds much of the South’s coastal marshland in place and protects vulnerable species…
Specieswatch: Monarch butterfly needs urgent protection
The Guardian
Western monarchs, which over winter in California, have all but gone. In 2020, less than 2,000 were counted. Despite this collapse, the US government has concluded that the monarch is unworthy of special protection under the Endangered Species Act…
Study of Growth Rings in Tundra Shrubs Reveals Spread of Arctic `Browning’
Yale Environment 360
As Arctic sea ice steadily disappears and temperatures rise across the region, the tundra has generally been greening, with shrubs and small trees growing more robustly. But a new study of growth rings in Arctic shrubs reveals a countervailing trend — the withering of plants in some areas because summer conditions have grown too hot and dry…
The hopeful return of polar whales
The Conversation
The bleak history of whaling pushed many species to the brink of extinction, even in the remote waters of the north and south poles. But nearly 40 years after commercial whaling ended, we’re finally seeing signs that some of the most heavily-targeted species are recovering…
WBCSD Report Helps Business Accelerate Consistent and Credible Actions for Climate and Nature
Report Alert
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launched a new report on nature-based solutions to help companies accelerate consistent and credible actions that are positive for both climate and nature, titled: “Mapping nature-based solutions and natural climate solutions”…
Recent notifications from the Convention on Biological Diversity
Informal sessions of SBSTTA 24 and SBI 3
Further to notification 2020-065 issued on 24 August 2020, I am pleased to update you on the arrangements for the twenty-fourth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 24) and the third meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 3).
Stakeholder Open Webinars on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
A series of “Stakeholder Open Webinars” on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework are being organized by the Co-Chairs of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework with the support of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
