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topic: Conservation Finance
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Will a billionaire bankroll biodiversity? CBD Decision 15/9 as potential ‘goldmine’ (commentary)
- Decision 15/9 established a “multilateral mechanism for benefit-sharing from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources” during COP15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) last year.
- Hundreds of billions of dollars are needed to finance biodiversity conservation, especially in mega-diverse nations, and Decision 15/9 could be a goldmine, but for whom?
- “Decision 15/9 can be either a goldmine for the mega-diverse Parties to the CBD or for select stakeholders, but not for both. Fairness and efficiency require that economic rents be vetted,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
In largest ever study, Indigenous and local communities report the impacts of climate change
- Indigenous peoples and local communities are reporting a series of tangible and nuanced impacts of climate change, according to a new study.
- The study collected 1,661 firsthand reports of change in sites across all inhabited continents and aggregated the reports into 369 indicators of climate change impacts, including changes in precipitation, plant cultivation and marine ecosystems.
- Existing measures to track climate change impacts are barely able to relate to the diverse and complex ways in which local people experience and observe environmental changes, according to the authors. For instance, instrumental measurements might capture changes in rainfall patterns but miss crucial relationships between climate change awareness, sensitivity and vulnerability.
- This research constitutes the largest global effort by Indigenous peoples and local communities to compile and categorize local observations of climate change and its impacts.
New online tool is first to track funding to Indigenous, local and Afro-descendant communities
- The Path to Scale dashboard is the first online tool developed to track all funding for Indigenous peoples, local communities and Afro-descendant peoples’ forest stewardship and land tenure.
- It’s already highlighted several trends, including that disbursements globally have averaged $517 million per year between 2020 and 2023, up 36% from the preceding four years, but with no evidence of increased direct funding to community-led organizations.
- Although information gaps exist based on what’s publicly available, Indigenous leaders say the tool will be useful to track progress and setbacks on funding pledges, as well as hold donors and organizations accountable.
- According to developers, there’s an increased diversity of funding, but it’s still insufficient to meet the needs of communities.
How effective are giant funding pledges by major conservation donors?
- Big-name conservation philanthropy is having a moment, but does the news cycle adequately capture the nuances required when huge new pledges of funding by billionaires or foundations are announced?
- On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, two experts weigh in on what conservationists and environmental journalists should consider when evaluating climate change or biodiversity conservation pledges.
- Holly Jonas, global coordinator at the ICCA Consortium, and Michael Kavate, staff writer at the news outlet Inside Philanthropy, offer expert advice for conservationists, curious readers and journalists who want to know more about the topic.
- “I think what the public really needs is more critical and more in-depth coverage of the ideologies and the approaches behind their kinds of philanthropy, the billionaire pledges and so on, how they’re being rolled out in practice, where the funding’s actually going,” Jonas says.
Biological field stations deliver high return on investment for conservation, study finds
- Field stations provide many overlooked benefits and a significant return on investment for conservation, according to a new study authored by 173 conservation researchers.
- Areas near field stations lost about 18% less forest than similar spots without stations, especially in Africa; stations also provide habitat for more than 1,200 species at risk of extinction.
- Conservation benefits from field stations come at a median cost of around $637/km2 ($1,640/mi2), according to the study, far below the average budgets for protected areas globally.
- Field stations are described as underfunded and underappreciated, and although much of the information and research used to inform global environmental policy and goals come from field stations, few explicitly mention them.
To reverse deforestation and protect biodiversity, build a bioeconomy in the Amazon (commentary)
- Slowing and reversing deforestation and land degradation in the Amazon requires not only conservation efforts but also increasing the economic value of standing primary forests through a bioeconomy approach, argues Robert Muggah, co-founder of Instituto Igarapé.
- A bioeconomy involves regenerative agriculture, sustainable energy, and other activities that leverage the forest’s natural assets while ensuring economic benefits for local communities. However, the expansion of the bioeconomy faces challenges, including resistance from extractive sectors, investment risks, and the need for infrastructure, research, and support for local enterprises.
- Despite these hurdles, advancing the bioeconomy is essential for sustainable development and decarbonization in the Amazon and crucial for the world, says Muggah.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Mexico announces 20 new protected areas despite budget cuts
- Mexico recently announced 20 new protected areas covering roughly 2.3 million hectares (5.7 million acres) across the country.
- The protected areas, which include national parks, sanctuaries and flora and fauna protection areas, are located in the states of Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Chiapas and eight others, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of California.
- Mexico’s environmental agencies under the Obrador administration have been subjected to consistent cuts in funding since 2016, raising concerns among experts that the departments will not have the personnel or resources to protect the country’s 225 protected areas.
Direct funding of Indigenous peoples can protect global rainforests & the climate (commentary)
- Indigenous leaders attended the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Davos last week.
- Though communities like theirs have the potential to transform global rainforest conservation and climate efforts by delivering proven, scalable, community-based solutions, they require direct funding.
- Governments and donors must increase their direct, flexible, and less bureaucratic grant-making to those who have the profound knowledge and the means to make a real difference in preserving our planet’s future – Indigenous peoples, a new op-ed by Rainforest Foundation argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
The year in rainforests: 2023
- The following is Mongabay’s annual recap of major tropical rainforest storylines.
- While the data is still preliminary, it appears that deforestation declined across the tropics as a whole in 2023 due to developments in the Amazon, which has more than half the world’s remaining primary tropical forests.
- Some of the other big storylines for the year: Lula prioritizes the Amazon; droughts in the Amazon and Indonsia; Indonesia holds the line on deforestation despite el Niño; regulation on imports of forest-risk commodities; an eventful year in the forest carbon market; rainforests and Indigenous peoples; and rampant illegality.
2023’s top 10 Indigenous news stories (commentary)
- Indigenous experts from leading Indigenous organizations and the U.N. share their list of the top 10 Indigenous news stories from 2023.
- This year saw many emerging trends, including the creation of funding mechanisms led by Indigenous organizations, criticism of carbon markets, record-breaking heat, and Indigenous women’s growing role as leaders.
- While the presence and recognition of the role of Indigenous people in conservation continues to expand, experts say the recognition of their rights and inclusion continues to be a challenge.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
For forests, COP28 was better than expected, but worse than needed
- The COP28 climate summit in Dubai was a mixed bag for forest conservation as climate mitigation.
- The final text included the goals from the 2021 Glasgow Declaration, which calls for halting deforestation by the end of the decade.
- However, the summit failed to make progress on paying countries to keep forests standing to offset emissions elsewhere, which has run into trouble following carbon offset scandals.
- Observers say the COP30 summit in Brazil in 2025 will see a larger push for forest protection.
Mongabay’s top 10 podcast episodes of 2023
- It was a packed year on Mongabay’s podcast calendar, with a new season of “Mongabay Explores” taking a deep dive into the Congo Basin.
- At the same time, the Mongabay Newscast continued publishing conversations with leading researchers, authors and activists, and it introduced a new co-host, Rachel Donald.
- Our top 10 list includes examinations of the Congo Basin’s cobalt mining industry, a conversation with a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a botanist discussing the worrying decline of botany education, and a National Geographic photographer’s project highlighting the key role of traditional ecological knowledge for Indigenous communities and conservation.
COP28 cements goal to halt forest loss in 7 years, but where’s the money?
- While COP28 in Dubai included a goal to halt and reverse forest loss by the end of the decade, tropical forest nations say they are still not seeing the funding required to keep forests standing.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo says it has not seen any of the $500 million pledged to it two years ago to protect the Congo Basin rainforest, the second-largest in the world.
- As forest nations wait for funding, some are controversially turning to untapped fossil fuel reservoirs underneath the forests.
- While carbon credits have come under fire this year, many at COP28 still say they see carbon credits as one way to bring in much needed funding to keep carbon and wildlife-rich forests standing.
Amazon deforestation declines but fossil fuels remain contentious, COP28 shows
- COP28 celebrates the strong downward trend in deforestation in the Amazon over the last year, but also reveals a conflict between Amazonian nations over fossil fuels.
- Colombia has stopped all new oil exploration contracts in a bid to eliminate dependency on the fossil fuel economy. On the other hand, Brazil announced plans that could make it the world’s fourth-largest oil producer by the end of this decade.
- Indigenous groups who live and depend on the Amazon Rainforest lament that they haven’t been heard or involved in important decision-making during COP28 that would ultimately impact them.
- Experts say that international finance is “fundamental” for climate action, and while this theme has been on the table at COP28, there has been no tangible action that would meet the scale required to preserve the Amazon Rainforest.
Despite progress, small share of climate pledge went to Indigenous groups: report
- A report from funders of a $1.7 billion pledge to support Indigenous peoples and local communities’ land rights made at the 2021 U.N. climate conference found that 48% of the financing was distributed.
- The findings also show that only 2.1% of the funding went directly to Indigenous peoples and local communities, despite petitions to increase direct funding for their role in combating climate change and biodiversity loss.
- This is down from the 2.9% of direct funding that was disbursed in 2021.
- Both donors and representatives of Indigenous and community groups call for more direct funding to these organizations by reducing the obstacles they face, improving their capacity, and respecting traditional knowledge systems.
Indigenous land rights are key to conservation in Cambodia (commentary)
- Indigenous peoples are effective custodians of biodiversity, lands, and seas, while sustaining distinct cultural, social and economic values of their communities.
- Upholding the legal land rights of these communities is therefore increasingly at the center of international climate and biodiversity commitments and agreements.
- “Strengthening Indigenous custodianship by expanding, reinforcing, and fully implementing these legal recognitions is essential for the protection of Cambodia’s forests, and would create further confidence among donors and carbon markets that customary rights are being upheld, enabling greater access to finance,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
How Indigenous peoples and local communities can make the voluntary carbon market work for them (commentary)
- The voluntary carbon market has the potential to address $4.1 trillion in nature financing gap by 2050 and support Indigenous peoples and local communities — when done right, argue a cohort of Indigenous leaders in a new commentary.
- The voluntary carbon market can work for and support Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPs and LCs), and them for it, but these communities have not been adequately engaged or consulted to participate in this carbon market.
- The Indigenous leaders announce the new IPs and LCs Voluntary Carbon Market Engagement Forum that is taking shape and will try to address these IPs and LCs’ priorities. The Forum is now coordinating open calls for Governing Board members and Forum partners.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
As U.S. insurers stop covering prescribed burns, states and communities step up
- Prescribed fires are a positive land management method, but when the flames occasionally escape control, the resulting damage to land and private property also hurts this conservation tool’s reputation.
- U.S. insurance companies are thus charging increasingly unaffordable premiums for coverage of this activity or are dropping the service altogether in the wake of some particularly large recent accidents.
- As a result, many small conservation groups and private businesses are getting out of the habit of using fire to improve grassland health, boost wildlife habitat, and decrease likelihood of catastrophic wildfires.
- California is bridging this gap with a new state program that insures the activity, while prescribed fire associations, where residents and firefighters cooperate to carry out burns on private land, are increasingly popping up in communities.
Can carbon markets solve Africa’s climate finance woes?
- The African Carbon Markets Initiative, a consortium of Global North donors, corporate representatives, conservation groups and energy lobbyists, is pushing to expand carbon markets on the continent.
- The effort has gained the vocal support of Kenyan President William Ruto, along with a number of other African heads of state, who see carbon markets as a way to generate badly needed climate finance.
- But African environmental groups have sharply criticized carbon markets, saying they represent a “false solution” to the climate crisis and will mostly enrich bankers and traders based outside the continent.
- The drive to scale up carbon markets in Africa and elsewhere is set to be a major agenda item at this month’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai.
Myanmar’s primates and their guardians need more support, study says
- Myanmar is home to 20 species of primates, making it the seventh most primate-rich country in Asia. However, a new study shows that all species are suffering population declines, with 90% of them threatened with extinction.
- The conflict-torn country’s researchers and conservationists are working in challenging conditions and are in dire need of more support from the international community, the study says.
- Despite the bleak outlook, experts say the wealth of in-country expertise, young primatologists and local communities engaged in conservation action for primates in Myanmar is cause for hope.
- The study authors encourage conservation funders to not view Myanmar as a “no-go” zone due to the political situation, and propose recommendations to strengthen the field of primatology within the country.
Can blue bonds boost investment in ocean conservation? (commentary)
- Although they’re new vs. green bonds, the blue bond market is poised to take off as governments, companies, and investors begin to realize the importance of the blue economy and the relationship between climate change and the oceans.
- The Republic of Seychelles issued the first blue bond in 2018, with funds dedicated to expanding marine protected areas and improving fisheries governance. To date, only 25 other blue bonds have been issued.
- “The future of the blue bond market hinges on aligning financial incentives with environmental objectives, fostering innovation, and building a robust infrastructure that inspires trust and commitment from a diverse set of stakeholders,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Gorilla permit fraud dents community-led conservation efforts in Uganda
- Foreign tourists pay $600-$700 per person for gorilla-tracking permits issued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which allow them to track and spend an hour with human-habituated mountain gorilla families.
- A recent audit at the UWA showed that some corrupt officials were issuing fake permits, diverting revenue away from the agency and impacting its conservation work, including project funding for communities at the frontline of gorilla conservation.
- In response, the agency suspended 14 staff members suspected of fraud, initiated a thorough probe, and rolled out a new system for issuing permits and collecting revenue.
- Communities living near the gorilla parks, many of whom have faced restrictions on traditional rights to the forests as a result of their protected status, say they’re aware of the scandal and that it’s only the latest in their litany of grievances against the UWA.
Forest conservation ‘off-track’ to halt deforestation by 2030: New report
- The world lost 6.6 million hectares (16.3 million acres) of forest, an area larger than Sri Lanka, and deforestation rates increased by 4% in 2022, according to a report published Oct. 24 that tracks commitments to forest conservation.
- The Forest Declaration Assessment is an annual evaluation of deforestation rates against a 2018-2020 deforestation and forest degradation baseline compiled by civil society and research organizations.
- Much of the forest loss occurred in the tropics, and nearly two-thirds of it was in relatively undisturbed primary forests, while forest degradation, more than deforestation, remains a serious problem in temperate and boreal forests.
- Despite being far off the pace to achieve an end to deforestation by 2030, a goal that 145 countries pledged to pursue in 2021, more than 50 countries have cut their deforestation rates and are on track to end deforestation within their borders by the end of the century.
More capacity building funds needed for small nonprofit conservation groups (commentary)
- Research suggests that environmental nonprofits — which include land conservation, land trusts, and wildlife protection organizations — receive just 2% of all the types of charitable donations.
- Though small conservation groups are typically efficient about converting funds into effective, on-the-ground projects, most conservation funding goes to the largest, multi-national organizations.
- “The simplest and most immediate way concerned parties with some resources, whether an individual or institution, can help is to donate more to small wildlife conservation organizations and volunteer when and where it is logistically possible,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
African NGOs seek more funds, trust, and autonomy in global partnerships
- A recent report from conservation nonprofit Maliasili scrutinizes partnerships between big international NGOs and their smaller conservation-focused partners in Africa.
- The biggest pain points in these often lopsided relationships Africa appear to be money, trust, and autonomy, the report says.
- More than half of the local organizations surveyed in Maliasili’s “Rooting for Change” report cited a lack of trust as a challenge in partnerships.
- “We want a supporting relationship rather than a dictatorial partner,” John Kamanga, co-founder and director of the Southern Rift Association of Landowners (SORALO) in Kenya, told the report authors, and “a willingness to co-design and build from our ideas.”
World owes it to Tanzania to keep Eastern Arc forests standing, study shows
- Tanzania’s Eastern Arc’s evergreen forests provide carbon sequestration that the world benefits, yet it’s local communities alone who shoulder the costs of keeping the forests standing.
- The authors of a new study recommend that international investments in conservation within the Eastern Arc worth $2 billion need to be made over the next 20 years.
- Without this, the authors say, the mountains’ forests and their extraordinary levels of biodiversity will be lost or degraded as local communities convert them to agricultural land or harvest timber from them.
For the oceans, global community must fund Sustainable Development Goal 14 (commentary)
- Oceans sustain life by providing myriad ecosystem services and foods which over three billion people depend on for survival, so its conservation is covered in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.
- Though #14 is underfunded, leaders of the global community can take action during the 2023 SDG Summit taking place today and tomorrow, 18-19 September, in New York City.
- “We call on the President of the General Assembly and donor governments to increase investments in the ocean [as it is] vital to the success of each of the other sustainable development goals. We must ensure a vital ocean for the billions that depend upon its health,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Indigenous peoples undersupported on frontline of hotter, drier, fiery world
- It’s official: This has been the warmest June-July-August on record, and much attention has focused on the urgent need to achieve climate resilience in impacted urban areas. But how are rural Indigenous communities around the world living with these new extremes?
- Indigenous peoples — from Africa to the Arctic to Central America — report unprecedented heat waves, droughts, storms and wildfires, extremes that are impacting the wildlife they hunt, the plants they gather, crops they grow, livestock they raise, and their very survival.
- Given that many Indigenous peoples live close to the land and depend directly on local resources, they’re especially vulnerable to the massive changes now sweeping our planet.
- But while Indigenous peoples are considered by many researchers and activists to be Earth’s best land stewards, their communities aren’t receiving the funding or resources necessary to adapt to a hotter, drier, stormier, fiery world, often due to the lack of access to their traditional lands.
What’s next for the new Global Biodiversity Fund? (commentary)
- The 15th Convention on Biological Diversity meeting (COP15) established a new Global Biodiversity Framework for action through the year 2030.
- The Global Environment Facility then launched the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund to finance the execution of the new agreement.
- “The fund’s success will be measured by its impact on biodiversity conservation, making a strong focus on achieving measurable impacts crucial,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Peru signs $20-million debt-for-nature swap with focus on Amazon rainforest
- Peru struck a $20 million debt-for-nature swap agreement with the U.S. that transfers debt payments to conservation initiatives like improving protected areas and natural resource management.
- The deal also included four NGOs: Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund. The groups donated a combined $3 million in addition to the $15 million contributed by the U.S.
- This is the third debt-for-nature swap deal struck with Peru. The U.S. has now made 13 debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps in Latin America and 22 worldwide.
Global green growth stalled by climate finance shortfalls (commentary)
- There is growing consensus that green growth – economic growth that is environmentally sustainable – is both possible and desirable: the green economy is estimated to represent $1.3 trillion in annual sales in the U.S. alone.
- Calls for worldwide green growth in recent years have come from far and wide, from the United Nations to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and others, but commitments to fund this growth continually fall short.
- Ahead of the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals Summit in mid-September, a new op-ed argues that this event offers a chance for world leaders to make progress on climate finance and green growth, to boost sustainable growth while limiting losses due to multiplying environmental crises.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
What would it cost to protect the Congo Rainforest?
- The Congo Basin holds the world’s second-largest rainforest — the majority of which is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — playing a vital role in carbon storage and ecological services that millions of people and species rely upon.
- However, the DRC is a nation with the second-highest rate of tropical deforestation behind Brazil. Meanwhile, Gabon says it has acted to protect its forests but hasn’t reaped the promised rewards.
- International commitments to protect the Congo Rainforest are historically meager compared with what experts say is actually needed, and many of these commitments go unfulfilled.
- On this episode of Mongabay Explores the Congo Basin, we speak with experts about what’s needed to overcome hurdles to financing forest protection to benefit conservation, climate and communities: Paolo Cerutti, senior scientist and DRC unit head at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR-ICRAF); Chadrack Kafuti at Ghent University; Wahida Patwa Patwa-Shah, senior regional technical specialist, UNDP Climate Hub; and Lee White, minister of water, forests, the sea and environment in Gabon.
Big promises to Indigenous groups from new global nature fund — but will it deliver?
- On August 24, 2023, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) ratified and established the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund to help developing countries meet their targets set up as part of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
- The new fund promises to invest 20% of its resources to directly support initiatives led by Indigenous peoples and local communities to protect and conserve biodiversity.
- While Indigenous communities welcome the move and are hopeful the new allocation will help them achieve their targets, they are skeptical about the barriers to accessing the funds, including delays and lack of knowledge.
- Some Indigenous representatives urge the GEF to rethink documentation requirements, the need for capacity building in the communities, and respect the individual community’s differences while designing the modalities for the GBFF.
New global biodiversity fund to restore nature worldwide by 2030 officially launches
- Representatives of 185 countries officially agreed to launch a new fund to ramp up investment to nations in meeting goals outlined in the Global Biodiversity Framework.
- So far, Canada and the U.K. announced initial contributions to start the fund’s capitalization, contributing $146.8 million (CA$200 million) and $12.58 million (£10 million), respectively.
- Targets include about 20% of funds to support Indigenous and local action to protect and conserve biodiversity and at least 36% of the fund’s resources to support the most vulnerable people, small island developing states, and least developed countries.
- Some human rights and environmental activists are calling for more contributions needed to operationalize the fund and firm commitment to allocate funds to Indigenous groups.
To safeguard a rare Brazilian woodpecker, an NGO bought out its habitat
- Not seen by scientists since the first specimen was described nearly a century ago, Kaempfer’s woodpecker (Celeus obrieni) was “rediscovered” in the mid-2000s.
- Listed as a vulnerable species, this Brazil-endemic bird is threatened by the widespread agricultural conversion of the Cerrado savanna, its habitat, and by wildfires.
- In the Brazilian state of Tocantins, the Araguaia Institute, a conservation NGO, created the first protected area for the woodpecker after it managed to purchase the land — an increasingly popular strategy for preserving what remains of the Cerrado biome and its biodiversity.
XPRIZE Rainforest finalists named for top conservation technology award
- The California-based XPRIZE Foundation that organizes competitions incentivizing innovations in health, energy and other sectors, has announced the six finalists for its rainforest biodiversity competition.
- Aimed at developing novel technologies for biodiversity mapping, XPRIZE Rainforest comes with a $10 million prize.
- Mongabay staff writer Abhishyant Kidangoor attended the semifinals in Singapore last month and spoke with Peter Houlihan, executive vice president of biodiversity and conservation at XPRIZE, to learn more about why the competition was launched and how, as Houlihan says, it has become a movement.
Biological field stations: Indispensable but ‘invisible’
- Biological field stations are critical to conservation research and rewilding efforts, yet they’re often overlooked in discussions of global environmental policy.
- Beside their visibility problem, reduced funding is a major challenge for most research stations, yet their impact has been measurable in places such as southwestern Peru and in Costa Rica.
- Joining the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the importance of field research stations — and the conservation successes they’ve fostered in nations like Costa Rica — is wildlife ecologist and director of Osa Conservation, Andrew Whitworth.
- “With the climate and biodiversity crises, we need field stations more than ever, yet they’re often under threat of being closed,” Whitworth says in calling for greater philanthropic support for this global network of research hubs.
Does the Global Biodiversity Framework give due consideration to market mechanisms? (commentary)
- The recently approved “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” is meant to guide countries’ efforts to conserve biodiversity.
- It provides specific guidance on how its targets may be achieved, and in that sense, takes a regulatory approach.
- The authors of a new op-ed argue that market mechanisms must also be highly considered, given the ability of things like sustainably certified products to fetch higher prices while generating benefits for biodiversity, “payments for ecosystem services” programs that generate billions of dollars in annual transactions, and more.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Ecuador to boost protection of Galápagos in biggest debt-for-nature deal ever
- Ecuador has launched a debt-for-nature deal that will wipe out some $1 billion in interest payments in exchange for boosting its protection of the waters around the Galápagos Islands.
- Much of the funding will focus on managing the newly established Hermandad Marine Reserve, the existing Galápagos Marine Reserve, and sustainable fishing and climate resilience efforts.
- The deal would also finance an endowment to generate ongoing funding for marine conservation in the Galápagos Islands.
- This is the world’s largest debt-for-nature deal to date.
Funders commit $102.5 million to support tribal-led conservation efforts in the U.S.
- The Native Americans in Philanthropy and the Biodiversity Funders Group launched a funding pledge to support tribal-led restoration and conservation efforts in the United States.
- Fifteen funders have already committed $102.5 million to support the Tribal Nations Conservation Pledge goals since its launch in March.
- Projects to benefit will be selected by funders and could include natural resource and conservation projects, regrants and tribal-led conservation NGOs working in direct partnership with tribes, among several others.
- Erik Stegman, the Native Americans in Philanthropy’s chief executive officer, said the pledge ensures that Indigenous groups continue to lead the way in conservation efforts in the U.S. as well as meet the vision of conserving 30% of U.S. land and waters by 2030.
We need to show that planetary wins are possible, says Dax Dasilva
- In 2021 Canadian entrepreneur Dax Dasilva donated $40 million to launch “Age of Union,” which supports conservation projects working to address climate change and the extinction crisis.
- Dasilva aims to bring a startup mentality to conservation, supporting grassroots, locally-led, and Indigenous-led projects with resources and guidance on scaling impact.
- Age of Union places a strong emphasis on storytelling to demonstrate that conservation efforts can have an impact, and has supported short documentaries and social media videos: “One of the main things we want to do is to show people that things can be done,” said Dasilva. “The worst outcome would be for people to stop believing that we’re out of time and that there’s nothing left to do.”
- Dasilva spoke about his passions, his philosophy on conservation, and more during a March 2023 conversation with Mongabay Founder Rhett A. Butler.
Citizen-run conservation booms in South America, despite state neglect
- The number of privately protected areas in South America has exploded over the past two decades, and today cover some 2 million hectares (5 million acres). Most of these areas are collectively owned by campesino communities or smallholder families, and many operate independently, without being registered.
- A study published in February 2023 concluded that the legal frameworks and support mechanisms for this type of protection area are largely deficient across the continent, making it difficult for independent actors to protect and maintain conservation areas.
- Experts told Mongabay that nongovernmental protected areas are crucial for reaching the Global Biodiversity Framework’s target of protecting 30% of Earth for conservation by 2030. Privately protected areas are relatively small compared to national parks but play a crucial role in integrating society into global conservation efforts, in education programs and protecting biodiversity in strategic regions, experts told Mongabay.
- Threatened environmental defenders in privately protected areas in Peru lack adequate protection and are expected to independently collect proof of crimes, exposing them to even more risk and conflict with neighbors.
Mobilizing Amazon societies to reduce forest carbon emissions and unlock the carbon market (commentary)
- Brazil could generate $10 billion or more from the global voluntary carbon market over the next four years through the sale of credits from Amazon states’ jurisdictional REDD+ programs; some states are already finalizing long-term purchase agreements.
- This funding would flow to those who are protecting the forest – Indigenous peoples and traditional communities, farmers, businesses, and government agencies – and the prospect of this funding could mobilize collective action to reduce emissions from illegal deforestation and degradation.
- Rapid progress in reducing emissions from Amazon deforestation and forest degradation – which represent half of Brazil’s nation-wide emissions – would also position Brazil to capture significant international funding for its national decarbonization process through the regulated carbon market that is under development through the UN Paris Agreement.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Indigenous funding model is a win-win for ecosystems and local economies in Canada
- First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii of Canada, have successfully invested in conservation initiatives that have benefited ecosystems while also increasing communities’ well-being over the past 15 years, a recent report shows.
- Twenty-seven First Nations spent nearly C$109 million ($79 million) toward 439 environmental and economic development projects in their territories, including initiating research, habitat restoration, and guardian programs, that attracted returns worth C$296 million ($214 million).
- Funding has also set up 123 Indigenous-led business and was spent towards sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy projects.
- One of the world’s first project finance for permanence (PFP) models, this funding scheme is exemplary of how stable finance mechanisms can directly benefit Indigenous communities and the environment, say Indigenous leaders.
Blended finance can supercharge conservation (commentary)
- Bringing together donors, nations, UN agencies, foundations, NGOs, and private investors, ‘blended finance’ can align private investment with public monies to fund conservation.
- A new commentary by the founding chairman of the world’s largest such mechanism focused on ocean conservation — the Global Fund for Coral Reefs — argues that it can serve as a model for others working to reverse biodiversity loss.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Biodiversity credits: An opportunity to create a new financing framework (commentary)
- Biodiversity credits have the potential to accelerate funding for biodiversity conservation while benefiting local communities and biodiversity custodians.
- To make voluntary biodiversity credits work for nature and its custodians, we need to step out of the carbon credit framing for technical, social and practical reasons.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Study: Paying fishers to ease off sharks and rays is cost-effective conservation
- Paying fishers in Indonesia to not catch sharks and rays could be a cost-effective way of conserving these species, a new study suggests.
- Interviews with fishers at two sites shows that payments of $71,408-$235,927 per year could protect up to 18,500 hammerheads and 2,140 wedgefish at those sites.
- Researchers say this money could come from dive tourism levies, and they are already carrying out a pilot project that has seen fishers release more than 150 hammerheads and wedgefish in eight months.
- An independent expert cautions that there need to be safeguards to prevent a perverse incentive where fishers are deliberately catching these species just so they can release them and claim payment.
On climate & biodiversity, where are we, post-COP15? (commentary)
- There are many connections between climate change and biodiversity loss, and many of the actions needed to meet the 2030 action targets around biodiversity loss can also work toward climate change targets.
- One of the things that stood out about the COP27 climate treaty decision text, though, was that it did not reference the subsequent conference on biodiversity – COP15 – hence failing to ‘join up’ the conferences in a meaningful way, a new op-ed argues.
- If we hope to both reduce emissions by at least 45% and put biodiversity on a path to recovery, coherent approaches must be applied, writes Fauna & Flora International’s director of Climate & Nature Linkages.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Top 10 notable Indigenous stories of 2022
- This year was a historic one for many Indigenous communities around the world that marked many ‘firsts’ with successful land rights rulings, both on the global and national level.
- As Indigenous rights, roles and contributions in biodiversity conservation gain more attention, underreported and critical issues impacting Indigenous peoples were thrust into the spotlight this year.
- To end this impactful year, Mongabay rounds up its 10 most notable Indigenous news stories of 2022.
Nations adopt Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
- After multiple delays due to COVID-19, nearly 200 countries at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal sealed a landmark deal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
- The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), with four goals and 23 action-oriented targets, comes after two weeks of intense negotiations at COP15, in Montreal, Canada. This agreement replaces the Aichi Biodiversity Targets set in 2010.
- Among the 2030 goals, countries pledged to protect at least 30% of terrestrial and marine areas, while also recognizing Indigenous and traditional territories.
- Concerns have been raised about the ambitions of the framework, with many criticizing the agreement for its corporate influence, vague language and watered-down targets, many of which are not quantitative.
Mongabay’s Conservation Potential series investigates: Where do we need to protect biodiversity?
- Leaders and decision-makers are recognizing the urgency of protecting the world’s remaining biodiversity, but investing in conservation requires these actors have access to reliable and actionable information about ongoing conservation projects.
- Mongabay is launching a series of stories called “Conservation Potential,” in which we investigate conservation efforts in high-priority biodiversity areas in tropical forests across the globe.
- To introduce this series, we look at what some experts say about where to prioritize biodiversity conservation, what are some popular approaches to conservation, and what makes conservation projects successful.
- Approaches to conservation vary according to priorities, and there are even debates over what it means to protect biodiversity. This introduction is not meant to be an exhaustive review of the dozens of plans and schemes for preserving biodiversity, but it offers a conceptual starting point for our series.
Emmanuel Macron’s “Biodiversity Credits”: What are we talking about? (commentary)
- Carbon credits have long been a part of the climate change discourse and so the universe of different types of carbon credits is fairly well understood. What about biodiversity credits, at the heart of an initiative announced by Emmanuel Macron at COP27?
- Broadly speaking, two cases can be distinguished: on the one hand, regulatory or voluntary biodiversity offset systems with offsets, based on the “no net loss” principle associated with the avoid-reduce-compensate (ARC) sequence. On the other hand, credits not intended for offsetting, modeled on voluntary carbon credits, which are, above all, financing vehicles for actions in favor of biodiversity.
- Alain Karsenty, an economist at CIRAD, explores their interest and limits in relation to systems already in place or proposed elsewhere.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Indigenous peoples and communities drive climate finance reform
- At COP26, the United Nations climate conference in 2021, 22 philanthropies and governments pledged $1.7 billion to support Indigenous and community forest tenure as a way to address climate change, but a recent annual report released in 2022 reveals that only 7% of the funds disbursed in the pledge’s first year went directly to Indigenous and community organizations. (A subsequent analysis in 2023 revised this figure downward to 2.9%.)
- In response to an overall trend in which little climate-related aid goes directly to these organizations, they have banded together to develop funding mechanisms to which big donors can contribute. These organizations then control the distribution of money to smaller organizations, allowing more control over which priorities are funded.
- In support of these efforts, the U.S.-based Climate and Land Use Alliance, which is a collective of several private foundations, is working with a broader group of philanthropic climate donors to develop “a ‘plumbing’ system for this finance” through the Forests, People, Climate Collaborative.
- Indigenous leaders say more money overall is needed to protect forests and help to mitigate the effects of climate change, but the 2021 pledge has opened the door to finding ways to involve Indigenous and community organizations in how funds are spent.
Despite pledges, obstacles stifle community climate and conservation funding
- As science has increasingly shown the importance of conservation led by Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), donors have begun to steer funding toward supporting the work these groups do.
- In 2021, during last year’s COP26 U.N. climate conference, private and government donors committed $1.7 billion to secure the land rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
- But a recent assessment of the first year of the pledge shows that little of the funding goes directly to them, often going first through international NGOs, consultancies, development banks and other intermediaries.
- Most aid intended to support IPLC-led conservation work follows this path. Now, however, donors and IPLC leaders are looking for ways to ease the flow of funding and channel more of it to work that addresses climate change and the global loss of biodiversity.
Small share of land rights pledge went to Indigenous groups: Progress report
- A report from funders of a $1.7 billion pledge to support Indigenous and community forest tenure made at the 2021 U.N. climate conference found that 19% of the financing has been distributed.
- The findings from 2022 also show that only 7% of the funding went directly to Indigenous and community organizations, despite the protection they provide to forests and other ecosystems. (A subsequent analysis in 2023 revised this figure downward to 2.9%.)
- Both donors and representatives of Indigenous and community groups are calling for more direct funding to these organizations by reducing the barriers they face, improving communication and building capacity.
Forests & Finance: Sit-ins, seeds over seedlings, and fuel-saving cookstoves
- Liberian communities affected by logging have staged a sit-in protest in front of the country’s ministry of finance, demanding unpaid royalties.
- Cookstoves and woodlots are the first step in a plan to halt deforestation in southern Zimbabwe.
- And a reforestation initiative experiments with providing Zimbabwean farmers seeds from indigenous trees rather than seedlings.
- Forests & Finance is Mongabay’s bi-weekly bulletin of briefs about Africa’s forests.
Podcast: Top wildlife photography requires ethics, patience, and kindness
- More than 100 wildlife photographers have come together for the latest “Prints for Wildlife” campaign, a conservation funding effort that sells unique animal photos at a reduced rate.
- Their upcoming, third campaign builds on the $1.75 million that they already raised for the conservation NGO African Parks.
- Freelance photographer Marcus Westberg is part of the effort and joins the podcast to talk about the project, conservation philanthropy, photography, and the ethics behind the shots he captures.
Podcast: Blockchain for conservation? Maybe, but leave the crypto out
- The increasingly popular blockchain technology is being used for conservation finance purposes, but it comes with some significant downsides, both functional and environmental.
- The “mining” process for popular cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, is highly energy intensive, comparable to the annual electricity usage of entire nations.
- Journalist Judith Lewis Mernit and author Brett Scott join the Mongabay Newscast to discuss these environmental impacts, complications, and the relationship of our financial systems with our ecological ones.
Beyond bored apes: Blockchain polarizes wildlife conservation community
- Blockchain technology’s various applications, such as NFTs and smart contracts, are being explored for use in wildlife conservation.
- The technology’s potential might be immense, but downsides such as a massive carbon footprint and the imposition of Western technology to dictate resource management in the Global South raise logistical and ethical questions.
- Most proponents and critics agree on one thing: The technology is still in the early stages for its applications to be fully understood and implemented on the ground.
A conservation failure in Sumatra serves a cautionary tale for PES schemes
- A World Bank-funded conservation project in Indonesia led to higher rates of deforestation after the project ended, a new study shows, serving as a cautionary tale about the risks of failing to sustain such initiatives over a long enough time period.
- The payment for ecosystem services project was supposed to reward villages for halting deforestation and taking up sustainable livelihoods from 1996-2001.
- In the years after the project ended, however, participating villages that had received the payments lost up to 26% more forest cover from 2000-2016 than non-participating villages, the study shows.
Does citizen ownership of natural resources hold the key to realizing deforestation commitments? (commentary)
- The approaches to COP26’s global commitment to stop deforestation by 2030 may be inadequate, as they can only partly address the major drivers of deforestation.
- An additional approach based on transparent economic data disclosure and mobilization of public awareness could be a promising addition to that commitment.
- Such approaches that emphasize citizen ownership of natural resources, and which quantify net owner shares, losses, and the very large prospective societal returns, could work, a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Government inaction sees 98% of deforestation alerts go unpunished in Brazil
- A new study has found that Brazil’s environmental enforcement agencies under President Jair Bolsonaro failed to take action in response to nearly all of the deforestation alerts issued for the Amazon region since 2019.
- Nearly 98% of Amazon deforestation alerts weren’t investigated during this period, while fines paid by violators also dropped, raising fears among activists that environmental crimes are being encouraged under the current administration.
- Environmental agencies at the state level did better, but in the case of Mato Grosso state, Brazil’s breadbasket, still failed to take action in response to more than half of the deforestation that occurred.
- In an unexpected move, Bolsonaro on May 24 issued a decree raising the value of fines for falsifying documents to cover up illegal logging and infractions affecting conservation units or their buffer zones, among other measures.
Lessons from panda conservation could help Asia’s other, overlooked, bears
- Asia is home to five bear species: giant pandas, Asian black bears, sun bears, sloth bears and brown bears.
- Giant pandas garner far more attention than the four other species, and this has paid off for the former: Millions of dollars are spent on its conservation every year, leading to an improvement in its conservation status in 2016.
- By contrast, the other species receive little funding, and conservation and monitoring efforts are limited even as populations dwindle.
- Experts say successful panda conservation efforts indicate that the other Asian bear species could also rebound — but that being charismatic helps.
Sri Lanka’s environmentalists brace for economic meltdown’s toll on nature
- The deepening economic crisis in Sri Lanka is expected to hit the environment and biodiversity conservation hard, experts warn.
- Acute fuel shortages mean the Department of Wildlife Conservation having to ration out fuel, when it can get it, for its patrol vehicles, while its revenue from tourism receipts at national parks has evaporated.
- Experts warn that skyrocketing prices of food and other essentials could push a growing number of desperate Sri Lankans into environmental crimes such as illegal logging for firewood, poaching for meat, and sand mining.
- The crisis also threatens to undo hard-earned gains and undermine future commitments, such as programs on emissions reduction, ending deforestation, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
With record $5.3B in pledges, GEF aims for more flexible environmental funding
- Earlier this month, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) announced a record replenishment of $5.25 billion covering the next four years, a 30% rise over the previous fund.
- Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, GEF’s CEO and Chairperson, calls the development a “fabulous breakthrough” and says more money could be committed to the fund later this year.
- Rodriguez is pushing for more flexibility in the fund’s grant-making, including more opportunities for non-state actors to receive money without government approval. Such a shift could result in more Indigenous peoples and local communities receiving funds.
- “GEF resources are for countries, not just the governments of those countries,” Rodriguez told Mongabay. “Countries are more than governments: among the various stakeholders are the private sector, NGOs, and communities.”
Funding, titling project for Indigenous-led organizations launched
- One of the latest conservation funding mechanisms, the Community Land Rights and Conservation Finance Initiative (CLARIFI), plans to channel funds directly to Indigenous and locally-led organizations and title at least 400 million hectares (988 million acres) of land to reduce deforestation.
- According to organizers, this will avoid 1.1 to 7.4 GtCo2e (gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent) of emissions as 33% of the Earth’s tropical forest carbon is at risk without recognizing community rights to land.
- At least $10 billion is needed to boost legally recognized territories, but much is required to attain the other goals of the initiative, says Dr. Solange Bandiaky-Badji, coordinator of Rights and Resources Initiative.
- Organizers will be holding planning meetings in the Congo Basin and Latin America in May and June to deliver a total of $25 million to Indigenous-led initiatives and test its funding project.
Funding for women-led conservation remains tiny, but that’s changing fast
- Of all the philanthropic funding to tackle climate change, 90% goes to organizations led by white people, and 80% to organizations led by men; only 0.2% of all foundation funding focuses explicitly on women and the environment.
- Initiatives such as the Wild Elements Foundation, Women’s Earth Alliance, Daughters for Earth and WE Africa are supporting women-led efforts around the world to protect and restore the environment through providing funding and publicity, as well as technical, entrepreneurial, and leadership skills.
- The Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), which in 2021 received approximately $41 million for five years from the Dutch government, also provides flexible financial support to 24 funds, 30 NGOs and 400 grassroots groups and social movements from around the world.
How many orangutans does $1 billion save? Depends how you spend it, study finds
- A recent study evaluating spending on orangutan conservation, calculated to amount to more than $1 billion over the past 20 years, found wide variations in the cost-effectiveness of various conservation activities.
- The study found habitat protection to be by far the most effective measure, followed by patrolling.
- By contrast, habitat restoration; orangutan rescue, rehabilitation, and translocation; and public outreach were found to be less cost-effective.
- The study relied on building a model that correctly accommodated numerous factors, something both the researchers and outside experts highlight as a challenge.
NGOs alert U.N. to furtive 2-million-hectare carbon deal in Malaysian Borneo
- Civil society organizations have complained to the United Nations about an opaque “natural capital” agreement in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo.
- The agreement, signed behind closed doors in October 2021, involved representatives from the state government and Hoch Standard Pte. Ltd., a Singaporean firm. But it did not involve substantive input from the state’s numerous Indigenous communities, many of whom live in or near forests.
- The terms ostensibly give Hoch Standard the right to monetize carbon and other natural capital from Sabah’s forests for 100 years.
- Along with the recent letter to the U.N., the state’s attorney general has questioned whether the agreement is enforceable without changes to key provisions. An Indigenous leader is also suing the state over the agreement, and Hoch Standard may be investigated by the Singaporean government after rival political party leaders in Sabah reported the company to Singapore’s ambassador in Malaysia.
Study: Indonesia’s forest-clearing moratorium underdelivered — but so did donors
- The 86.9 million tons of emissions reductions that Indonesia achieved from keeping its forests standing between 2011 and 2018 represents just 4% of its reduction target under the Paris Agreement, a new study calculates.
- Even so, those carbon savings should have been worth $434.5 million under a deal with Norway, the study says, but the latter has to date agreed to pay just $56.2 million.
- The study authors say the findings make the case for both strengthening Indonesia’s forest-clearing moratorium, and finding a carbon pricing mechanism that more fairly reflects the global benefits of mitigating climate change from reducing deforestation.
‘No planet B’: Groups call for $60bn increase in annual biodiversity funding
- A group of international conservation and environmental organizations is calling on wealthy countries to provide an extra $60 billion in funding a year to protect the planet’s species.
- They argue that the amount compensates for the toll exacted on biodiversity by international trade, which largely benefits rich nations.
- At a March 1 press conference, representatives of the organizations said the inclusion of Indigenous communities, known to be “nature’s best stewards,” would be critical, and they advocated for the bulk of the financing to be in the form of grants to these communities and other “grassroots” organizations.
Moore Foundation pledges extra $300m to boost conservation of Amazon
- The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has allocated an additional $300 million toward the Andes-Amazon Initiative to continue biodiversity and forest conservation efforts in the region until 2031.
- To date, the initiative has been successful in conserving 400 million hectares (988 million acres) of land, about half the size of Brazil, since its establishment in 2003.
- New targets include ensuring 100 million hectares (247 million acres) of freshwater and forest ecosystems, as well as Indigenous and local communities’ lands, are effectively managed.
- To safeguard the resilience and health of the Andes-Amazon region’s ecosystems, at least 70% of its historic forest cover must remain intact, a threshold the initiative will exceed if it hits its new targets, says Avecita Chicchón, program director of the Andes-Amazon Initiative.
Indigenous-led report warns against ‘simplistic take on conservation’
- To deal with climate change and biodiversity loss effectively and equitably, conservation needs to adopt a human rights-based approach, according to a new report co-authored by Indigenous and community organizations across Asia.
- Unlike spatial conservation targets such as “30 by 30,” a rights-based approach would recognize the ways in which Indigenous people lead local conservation efforts, and prioritize their tenure rights in measuring conservation success.
- Without tenure rights, strict spatial conservation targets could lead to human rights abuses, widespread evictions of Indigenous communities across Asia, and high resettlement costs, the report warned.
- Also without tenure rights, the inflow of money into nature-based solutions such as carbon offsets and REDD+ projects could also result in massive land grabs instead of benefiting local communities.
Indigenous Comcáac turtle group saves sea turtles in Mexico’s Gulf of California
- The Grupo Tortuguero Comcáac, the Sea Turtle Group of the Comcáac people, in El Desemboque de los Seris is fighting to increase the population of sea turtles, a sacred animal, in the Gulf of California.
- In the past five years they have managed to release more than 8,000 olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) hatchlings along 14 kilometers (9 miles) of the Mancha Blanca and El Faro beach.
- State funding for the project is limited, however the turtle rescue group does not see this as a stumbling block, at times working 12 hour shifts to guard turtles, monitor the area and manage logistics.
‘Great Blue Wall’ aims to ward off looming threats to western Indian Ocean
- Ten nations in the western Indian Ocean committed this November to create a network of marine conservation areas to hasten progress toward the goal of protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030.
- Less than 10% of the marine expanse in this region currently enjoys protection, and a recent assessment highlighted the price of failure: all the coral reefs are at high risk of collapse in the next 50 years.
- The focus of these efforts won’t just be coral reefs, but also mangroves and seagrass meadows, a lesser-known underwater ecosystem critical for carbon sequestration and oceanic biodiversity.
- Even as overfishing and warming take a toll on marine health, threats from oil and gas extraction are intensifying in this corner of the Indian Ocean.
Could the Blockchain help save the Amazon? (commentary)
- The blockchain is a relatively new technology best known for its role as the backbone of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. So far there have been few clear applications of the technology in the daily lives of most people, but investors and entrepreneurs are only beginning to explore the potential applications of blockchain technology in other fields.
- Sophia Wood, a political scientist and investor turned conservation manager who works with Operation Wallacea, argues that blockchain technologies could be leveraged to help protect the Amazon rainforest.
- “The cause of deforestation in the Amazon is multi-faceted, but it comes down to a single issue: many governments, businesses, and stakeholders on the ground believe the Amazon Rainforest is currently considered to be worth more cut down than preserved and standing,” Wood writes. “However, new technologies like Web3 and the blockchain, which enables rapid and transparent sharing of information and funds across borders – with no government interference – may offer a breakthrough in backing financial incentives across the whole region that would encourage and enforce forest protection.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Lockdown underscores Uganda’s overreliance on tourism to fund conservation
- When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, Uganda quickly shut down parks like Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to protect the gorillas and chimpanzees from getting infected.
- Tourism provides up to 60% of the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s operating revenue and is also an important source of income for communities living around Bwindi.
- Poaching in Bwindi rose sharply during lockdown in 2020 as some villagers entered the park to hunt for food or an income.
- One NGO reinforced its programs supporting public health and livelihoods in an attempt to reduce this pressure.
Conservation projects in Mesoamerica make the case for Indigenous climate funding
- Research shows that national governments, investors and development organizations consider direct funding to Indigenous-led organizations as too risky, though a new report shows that Indigenous communities with good project management skills exist.
- The report from El Salvador-based nonprofit PRISMA showcases examples of how Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in Mesoamerica have successfully managed limited financial resources to conserve forests, revive traditional nature-based solutions and respond to rising sea levels.
- In light of growing recognition of the role of IPLCs in mitigating and adapting to climate change, a Mesoamerican Territorial Fund is providing a mechanism for climate funding to be directly received by Indigenous organizations and rapidly allocated to organizations on the ground.
Uganda’s ‘Dr. Gladys’ honored by U.N. for work linking conservation and health
- The United Nations on Dec. 7 recognized Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka as one of its “champions of the Earth” for promoting the One Health approach to conservation in Africa.
- The Ugandan conservationist, a trained wildlife veterinarian, established the NGO Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) in 2003 to ensure better health care access for communities living around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and to lower the risk of human pathogens jumping to mountain gorillas.
- UNEP selected Kalema-Zikusoka for its science and innovation category; the other awardees were Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Kyrgyz youth activist Maria Kolesnikova, and the nonprofit Sea Women of Melanesia.
- “If you make the community feel that you care about them, then there’s less need to fight them,” Kalema-Zikusoka said.
$1.5 billion Congo Basin pledge a good start but not enough, experts say
- At last month’s COP26 climate summit, a group of 12 international donors pledged at least $1.5 billion over the next four years to support protection and sustainable management of the Congo Basin forests.
- The pledge is part of a broader $12 billion commitment to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation worldwide by 2030.
- The 200 million hectares (500 million acres) of forests in the Congo Basin may be the last significant land-based tropical carbon sink in the world, making the forests vitally important in the global fight against climate change.
- So far, detail of the pledge remain limited, and reaction from regional experts has been mixed; but all agree that $1.5 billion is far from enough to resolve the region’s issues.
Allegations of displacement, violence beleaguer Kenyan conservancy NGO
- The California-based Oakland Institute published a report on Nov. 16 alleging that the Kenya-based nonprofit Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) keeps pastoralists and their herds off of their ancestral grazing areas.
- The institute’s research relied on petitions, court cases and in-person interviews with community members in northern Kenya, with report lead author Anuradha Mittal alleging that NRT’s model of “fortress conservation” exacerbates interethnic tensions and prioritizes the desires of wealthy tourists over the needs of the Indigenous population.
- Tom Lalampaa, NRT’s CEO, denies all allegations that the organization keeps communities from accessing rangeland or that it has played any role in violence in the region.
- Lalampaa said membership with NRT provides innumerable benefits to community-led conservancies, which retain their legal claim to the land and decide on how their rangelands are managed.
Questions over who gets the billions pledged to Indigenous causes at COP26
- Private, public and philanthropic donors pledged billions of dollars to strengthen Indigenous land tenure and forest management at COP26, notably donating $1.7 billion as part of efforts to reverse forest loss.
- Some Indigenous leaders are skeptical about how this will play out given that most previous financial support was not addressed to Indigenous organizations and communities, but to intermediate NGOs, government agencies and regional banks.
- Indigenous organizations say increasing direct funding to Indigenous-led initiatives and transparency in the flow of funds can increase effectiveness of the pledges and build trust.
- Funding for forest monitoring technology is increasingly having a role in how some Indigenous communities safeguard biodiversity and map out their territories.
Forest declarations are nice, but profitability determines land use in the Amazon (Book excerpt)
- Nearly 130 nations last week agreed to “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation” by 2030. Accompanying that declaration was a commitment to allocate $19.2 billion toward that goal. But how will these resources be deployed in the Amazon?
- Some of that money is expected to go toward reforming the production systems that drive deforestation. That money would likely matched by even larger amounts of private capital in search of so-called “green investments.” How that money is channeled and who benefits will determine whether Amazonian societies address the long-standing social inequality that is also a key driver of deforestation.
- In “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness”, Tim Killeen provides an overview of rural finance with a special focus on mechanisms designed to support smallholders. Killeen also takes a critical look at the emerging market for “green bonds”
- This post is an except from a book. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
New global partnership aims to remove barriers to Indigenous climate finance
- At COP26, a new international coalition of organizations and investors, the Peoples Forest Partnership, announced plans to mobilize US $20 billion per year by 2030 directly to Indigenous forest conservation projects.
- The partnership believes this initiative can reduce carbon emissions from deforestation by at least 2 billion tons per year while protecting 500 million hectares of threatened tropical forests and biodiversity.
- While the partnership aims to set a high standard for equitable, accessible and culturally appropriate mechanisms for IPLCs to engage with climate finance, a consultation period is open for interested stakeholders to offer input on criteria and principles.
Bornean communities locked into 2-million-hectare carbon deal they don’t know about
- Leaders in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, signed a nature conservation agreement on Oct. 28 with a group of foreign companies — apparently without the meaningful participation of Indigenous communities.
- The agreement, with the consultancy Tierra Australia and a private equity-backed funder from Singapore, calls for the marketing of carbon and other ecosystem services to companies looking, for example, to buy credits to offset their emissions.
- The deal involves more than 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of forest, which would be restored and protected from mining, logging and industrial agriculture for the next 100-200 years.
- But land rights experts have raised concerns about the lack of consultation with communities living in and around these forests in the negotiations to this point.
The ‘net zero’ bridge to saving the Amazon (commentary)
- Nature cleans up half of humanity’s carbon pollution each year; securing and expanding natural carbon stocks and sinks is a key piece in the effort to manage the climate crisis, right alongside emissions reductions.
- Well-designed natural climate solutions also enhance food security, alleviate poverty, secure freshwater supplies, and protect biodiversity. Companies’ “net-zero” commitments have the potential to provide critical finance for natural climate solutions while at the same time reducing harmful emissions.
- Amazon states have strategies in place to protect forests and support a transition to low-emission development; what they lack is financing. Support for these strategies would help to prevent an Amazon “tipping point” and the loss of one of the world’s most critical carbon sinks.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
$1.7 billion pledged in support of Indigenous and local communities’ land tenure
- Several governments and private funders have pledged US $1.7 billion in support of Indigenous and local communities’ tenure rights in recognition of their global contributions to climate change mitigation.
- Funds will be used to support activities that will aid Indigenous and local communities to improve capacity building and secure, strengthen, and protect their land and resource rights.
- COICA, a leading Amazonian Indigenous rights organization, remains skeptical of the fund’s promise to reach Indigenous territories and support communities but says it will monitor the actualization of these new commitments.
Donor agencies should ditch the club and embrace more locals (commentary)
- Aida Greenbury, the former Managing Director of Sustainability at APP Group and currently a board member and advisor to several organizations including Mongabay, argues that donors need to change their approaches if they want to be more effective.
- Greenbury wants to see more money go to locally-run initiatives and greater inclusivity when it comes to decision-making: Less Davos, more communities in recipient countries.
- “The real sustainable solutions to forest conservation will only be found when we embrace the local communities, treat them as equals, let them lead and own the programs and get their full buy-in,” she writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Conservation will only scale when non-conservationists see its value, says James Deutsch
- Last month, Rainforest Trust committed $500 million to a $5 billion pledge to conserve biodiversity.
- The scale of Rainforest Trust’s commitment was surprising to some in the conservation world: just a decade ago, the Virginia-based group had an annual budget in the low single-digits millions. Now the organization is aiming to raise $50 million a year over the next ten years — an incredible rate of expansion.
- Rainforest Trust is undertaking that ambitious target just 18 months after undergoing a major leadership transition: In April 2020, it appointed James Deutsch as CEO. Deutsch says the pledge will push Rainforest Trust to double down on its mission of creating and expanding protected and conserved areas through partnerships with other organizations. Rainforest Trust rallies the resources; partners lead the work on the ground.
- Deutsch spoke about the pledge and a range of other topics during a recent interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.
How can philanthropy be more effective in environmental grant making? (commentary)
- Byron Swift serves as Senior Advisor for wildlands at Re:wild; over his career he has headed Nature and Culture International, Rainforest Trust and IUCN-US, and worked as a private foundation officer.
- In this commentary, Swift shares his thoughts on how environmental grantmakers can more effectively support conservation organizations.
- “Many of the ideas expressed in this article are in line with the principles of ‘trust-based philanthropy,’ which advocates less emphasis on process and more on developing a relationship through evaluating the character, expertise and achievements of the donee organization,” he writes.
- The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
African Parks secures $100M for conservation in Africa
- African Parks has secured a $100M commitment from the Rob and Melani Walton Foundation to support protected areas in Africa.
- The money will be split between a $75 million endowment and near-term support for parks under African Parks’ management.
- The pledge is the largest-ever gift to African Parks’s endowment.
- African Parks is a South Africa-based conservation group that manages 19 protected areas covering 14.7 million hectares in several African nations.
Climate philanthropy’s opportunity for impact: Q&A with Bridgespan’s Sonali Patel
- Environmental causes have traditionally attracted only a small share of philanthropic support in the United States. But that may be changing as the impacts of climate change worsen and awareness of the links between a healthy planet and healthy society rises.
- Sonali Patel, a partner with The Bridgespan Group, which advises nonprofits and philanthropists on strategy, told Mongabay that philanthropy can be particularly impactful in the climate space by supporting innovative ideas that may be too risky for investors or governments and putting resources into areas that may not otherwise attract attention.
- “Currently only 1% of spend on climate change comes from philanthropy,” she told Mongabay during a recent interview. “Philanthropy can play a unique role in funding where either the risk is too great or there is a whitespace.”
- Patel said that her background in management consulting, helped prepare her for a role that involves working with organizational leaders to design, develop, and implement strategy. Having sound strategy in place can help position NGOs for what Patel could be the start of a trend that emerged during the pandemic: A rise in donors providing unrestricted funding to organizations they trust.
Convergence, community and justice: Key emerging conservation trends of the pandemic era (commentary)
- As a product of the profound impacts of climate-induced disasters, the pandemic, and rising awareness of social injustice, the conservation sector is in the midst of a period of rapid change.
- Fred Nelson, the CEO of Maliasili, which works to scale the impact of local conservation and natural resource organizations in Africa, identifies four key trends that are “significantly reshaping the conservation field” and what these mean for the sector.
- “Conservation organizations should anticipate greater support for locally-led or community-based organizations and initiatives, continued and increasing interest in the intersection of the environment and social justice, and more funding and policy support for the central role of healthy ecosystems in addressing climate change,” Nelson writes. “Ultimately these trends are all creating important opportunities for strengthening the conservation field in crucial ways—with more resources, deeper partnerships, greater diversity, and stronger local and grassroots leadership—during this critical period.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Gabon becomes first African country to get paid for protecting its forests
- Gabon recently received the first $17 million of a pledged $150 million from Norway for results-based emission reduction payments as part of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI).
- Gabon has 88% forest cover and has limited annual deforestation to less than 0.1% over the last 30 years, in large part possible due to oil revenues supporting the economy.
- With oil reserves running low, Gabon is looking to diversify and develop its economy without sacrificing its forests by building a sustainable forest economy supported by schemes such as CAFI.
‘Inspiring behavior change so people and nature thrive’: Q&A with Rare’s Brett Jenks
- Rare, a conservation group that has run programs in more than 60 countries since starting in the 1970s, puts behavior change at the center of its work, combining design thinking and social marketing to drive conservation outcomes.
- Brett Jenks has helmed Rare since 2000, helping greatly expand the organization and launching initiatives like the Center for Behavior & the Environment.
- Jenks says Rare’s approach sets it apart from other conservation groups: “Rare is decidedly different from other conservation organizations: We are highly focused on one thing — inspiring behavior change so people and nature thrive,” Rare president and CEO Brett Jenks told Mongabay during a recent interview.
- “We work directly with local leaders and communities, advocating for giving them rights to their resources, equipping them with data for decision-making, connecting them to the formal economy, and empowering them with knowledge and skills to sustain change,” Jenks said. “We are steadfast believers in the cumulative power of individual and collective action as a vital pathway to safeguarding and restoring our shared waters, lands and climate.”
An engaged society is key for the future of African conservation, says WWF Africa’s Alice Ruhweza
- Protecting Africa’s charismatic megafauna often come first to mind when Westerners think about conservation in Africa, but this is a narrow view that doesn’t capture the range of issues involved in conservation efforts across the continent.
- Alice Ruhweza, the regional director for Africa for WWF, says conservation in Africa is about about ecosystems and people: “As the home of humankind, Africa and its ecosystems have evolved together with people. When we talk about conservation in Africa we are really talking about people and nature.”
- Ruhweza says that growing recognition of this connection is driving “a shift to a more people-centered and rights-based conservation,” including within WWF.
- Ruhweza spoke about these issues and more during a recent interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler.
Behind the buzz of ESG investing, a focus on tech giants and no regulation
- Despite its exponential growth in the last few years, environment, social and governance (ESG) investment is still very unclear and controversial, which makes it hard to define what it means.
- According to a study by financial markets data provider Refinitiv, the largest and best-known ESG funds invest most of their clients’ money in big tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Facebook — companies with a small carbon footprint and high returns for shareholders.
- Some experts say this focus on carbon means the financial market often ignores other ESG issues like data security and labor rights, where big-tech companies have tended to fall short.
- There are some initiatives, mainly in Europe, to create rules and standards for ESG financial products, but for now, almost any company can be bundled into an ESG index and sold as sustainable.
Governments, companies pledge $1 billion for tropical forests
- The U.S., U.K. and Norwegian governments, working with private companies, have launched a carbon credit program that they say will pay double the going rate over existing schemes.
- Others involved in the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) coalition include Amazon, pharmaceutical giants GSK and Bayer, and consumer goods multinationals Nestlé and Unilever.
- The scheme is built on the REDD+ program, which has allowed companies to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions generated in their operations by paying tropical forest countries to keep an equivalent volume of carbon locked up in their forests.
- Its proponents say it improves on REDD+ by working with larger units of land, thus addressing the issues of leakage (deforestation being displaced to a nearby forest patch), and other methods are meant to ensure additionality (avoiding credits being issued from forests that would have been conserved anyway).
Nature is no longer “a nice to have,” it’s “a must-have”: Q&A with André Hoffmann
- André Hoffmann, from the family behind Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, has been pushing for environmental sustainability in business for a quarter of a century now.
- Throughout a career that has also seen him serve as vice president of WWF, Hoffmann says he’s been bothered by the business-as-usual principle of making money first and thinking about nature afterward.
- “If you destroy nature to make a profit then you are creating the problem that you then try to solve with philanthropy,” he says. “So, you need to be much better at sensibly making money rather than making money at all costs.”
- In an interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler, Hoffmann talks about the growing realization of nature’s importance, the responsibility of companies to society beyond shareholders, and the need to transform the current, fragile economic system.
Bipartisan group recommends how Joe Biden can help save the Amazon
- A bipartisan group of former U.S. officials have joined forces to propose a set of policy recommendations to help the Biden Administration deliver on its campaign pledge to put $20 billion toward the protection of the Amazon rainforest.
- The group, which calls itself the Climate Principals, today delivered its Amazon Protection Plan to the administration’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
- The Amazon Protection Plan has four main pillars: mobilizing funding for conservation from private and public sources, building forest-friendly policies into trade agreements, requiring companies disclose and manage deforestation risk in their supply chains and portfolio investments, and strengthening international diplomacy around forest conservation.
France contributes to protection of Amazon stronghold, Yasuní National Park
- France and Ecuador have announced a plan to curb deforestation in famed Amazonian national park, Yasuní, while promoting its improved administration.
- Peru, Colombia and Brazil are expected to see similar agreements with France as part of President Emmanuel Macron’s growing environmental initiatives in the region.
- The contentious EU-Mercosur trade agreement is still up for ratification, but EU members appear to be split over weak environmental regulation.
Transforming conservation in times of crisis and opportunity (Commentary)
- 2020 was envisioned as a potential turning point for global conservation efforts, but over the past nine months COVID-19 has created an unprecedented social, economic, and public health crisis on a global scale.
- Fred Nelson of Maliasili, Alasdair Harris of Blue Ventures, Leela Hazzah of Lion Guardians, and Lúcia G. Lohmann of the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) write that the extraordinary circumstances brought by the pandemic create new, unique opportunities for systemic change.
- “As societies respond and adapt, opportunities emerge for changing how conservation is conceptualized, practiced, and funded,” they write. “The conservation field now has a unique opportunity to accelerate efforts to build a stronger, more dynamic, more resilient field – one that can truly face up to the challenges of the present global ecological crisis.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
A good year for the Philippine eagle in 2020, but not for its supporters
- The country’s pandemic lockdown, among the longest and strictest in the world, curtailed field expeditions in the southern Mindanao region, impacting the conservation of the critically endangered Philippine eagles (Phitecopaga jefferyi).
- Despite the limitations, Philippine eagle conservationists and their partner agencies rescued seven eagles and sighted two new eagle families.
- Conservationists note that more eagles have been seen in the wild in Mindanao, among the last remaining bastions of the species, which means that conservation drives to educate communities are working.
- While 2020 was a productive year for eagle conservation, the pandemic crippled the steady stream of revenue coming from tourists visiting the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City.
Sustainable financing is pivotal for marine conservation beyond 2030 pledges (commentary)
- 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.
- Government currently funds marine conservation costs in developed countries, but developing countries with fewer resources rely more on development aid, philanthropic foundations, and NGOs to fill the financial gaps.
- The author argues that conservationists “must look to solving the economic questions in innovative new ways.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Top 10 environmental news stories of 2020
- 2020 is a year that many people would like to forget. Here’s a look at 10 of the biggest environmental storylines to remember.
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic transcended virtually everything in 2020, including the environment, from canceled summits on climate and biodiversity to a temporary dip in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, to greater awareness of the link between human health and planetary health.
- Conservation efforts in tropical countries were especially hard hit by the pandemic.
To fund biodiversity conservation, redirect subsidies from these three industries (commentary)
- Funding for conservation has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic, from sharp dips in ecotourism to decreases in charitable donations.
- Rather than pursuing new sources of biodiversity funding, countries should consider eliminating taxpayer-funded subsidies for agriculture, forestry and fishing, which are the top industries driving species extinctions.
- In 2019, subsidies for these economic activities exceeded the global total spend on biodiversity conservation by a factor of at least two.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
‘Nature is next’: Q&A with Finance for Biodiversity’s Simon Zadek
- The Finance for Biodiversity Initiative wants to get governments, companies and the financial sector to factor nature and biodiversity, and not just carbon emissions, into their decision-making.
- Simon Zadek, the group’s chair, says the COVID-19 pandemic may prove the tipping point toward that end, even if the unprecedented wave of stimulus programs being rolled out now doesn’t reflect that focus yet.
- Zadek says there are multiple routes to greener finance, including linking environmental outcomes to debt relief, but that it will take radical transparency in the financial sector to move in that direction.
- He also says the conservation community must move away from a narrow focus on fundraising and realize that the real challenge is not finance for conservation, but aligning global finance — with its $30 trillion a year in public finance spending — with conservation objectives.
Building a road to recovery for subtle racism in conservation (commentary)
- The following stories are based on firsthand experiences, personal observations, and eyewitness accounts related to race and privilege in the conservation space in Africa.
- More than 20 African women from nearly a dozen countries, each conservation leaders in their own right, contributed to these stories.
- They came together with a desire not to pulverize the conservation space, but rather to heal it. The goal is to offer a chance for self-reflection and open conversation in a world where too many things go unsaid.
- This article is a commentary, the views expressed are not necessarily those of Mongabay.
The post-COVID opportunity for the environment: An interview with the GEF’s Carlos Manuel Rodriguez
- The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is one of the largest and most influential environmental funders in the world. Since its inception in 1992, the GEF has provided more than $20 billion in grants for over 4,800 projects and 170 countries, engaging some 24,000 civil society and community groups.
- Over the summer, the GEF elected former Costa Rican Environment and Energy Minister Carlos Manuel Rodriguez as its CEO and Chairperson. Rodriguez served in key leadership roles when Costa Rica pioneered key conservation innovations, transformed itself into an ecotourism mecca, and assumed an international leadership role on environmental issues.
- Rodriguez joins the GEF at a pivotal moment for international efforts to combat a range of dire environmental issues. 2020 was originally intended to be a critical year for meetings that would chart the future of international collaboration around environmental issues, but the postponements and cancellations of summits has instead has come to reflect the past decade’s lack of progress on key high level environmental goals.
- Rodriguez sees the setbacks of 2020 as an opportunity to reset society’s relationship with the environment and shift business-as-usual approaches toward more sustainable models.
Madagascar reopens national parks shuttered by COVID-19
- On Sept. 5, Madagascar began reopening all its national parks. They’d been closed since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The pandemic has been devastating for local economies, which depend heavily on tourism.
- Madagascar authorities also announced further easing of restrictions throughout much of the island nation and the resumption of limited international flights.
Crisis in Venezuela: Non-governmental organizations adapt to survive
- Many non-governmental organizations in Venezuela — which many analysts now call a failed state — have decided to reduce their operations to stay alive.
- As Venezuelan inflation rates soar, environmental NGOs are learning to skillfully juggle currency exchange rates that complicate their international funding.
- Alliances between NGOs, volunteerism, along with the efficient use of small donations from businesses, are all helping keep environmental organizations going, as they prioritize which of their programs should survive and which must be cut or passed on to other groups.
Rangers protecting Philippine tamaraws go hungry as pandemic bites
- Rangers tasked to protect the critically endangered Philippine tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) are facing a different kind of threat: hunger, as budget cuts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic bite into their already meager salaries.
- The tamaraw, also known as the dwarf buffalo, is a critically endangered species found only on the island of Mindoro, with an estimated population of just 480.
- The tamaraw’s island stronghold is Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park, which is protected by 24 rangers and Indigenous volunteers.
- But the tamaraw program has been chronically underfunded, and diversion of funds to help fight the pandemic has left some of the rangers unemployed and the rest going hungry, even as they continue to do their jobs.
Effective conservation science must shift away from doomsday views and toward solutions: Study
- Too much of conservation research focuses on describing the state of nature, in particular declines in biodiversity, and not on developing sustainable solutions to conservation challenges, say the authors of a new study.
- Studies that “ring the alarm bell” tend to dominate because of the challenges of doing the kind of complex multidisciplinary research needed to develop workable solutions, and the fact that professional and financial incentives are lacking for the latter kind of work.
- The researchers highlighted three cases in which the accumulated body of research on a particular conservation challenge took a solution-oriented trajectory and met with success: South Asian vultures, whooping cranes, and seabird bycatch.
U.S. fund that supports Sumatran rhino research faces deep cuts under Trump
- Established in 1994, the U.S. Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation fund provides grants to support international conservation efforts.
- The fund, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supports organizations working to protect various tiger and rhino species, including the Sumatran rhino in Indonesia.
- While the law allows for spending of up to $10 million per year, the United States Congress has historically provided about $3.5 million annually. Now, the Trump administration is pushing to slash funding to just $1.575 million.
- Previous grants have supported anti-poaching patrols in Sumatran rhino habitat, and research into Sumatran rhino genetics.
As visitors vanish, Madagascar’s protected areas suffer a ‘devastating’ blow
- The country has lost half a billion dollars in much-needed tourism revenue since the start of 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis, according to official estimates.
- Tourism contributes toward funding conservation efforts in Madagascar’s network of protected areas; those protected areas that rely heavily on foreign visitors have been hit worst by the crisis.
- There are also fears that international funding, the primary support for conservation efforts in Madagascar, could be jeopardized as big donors face economic crises in their home countries.
- Greater impoverishment could hurt communities living near the protected areas and lead to even more unsustainable exploitation of forests and natural resources.
COVID-19 will hurt Madagascar’s conservation funding: Q&A with Minister Vahinala Raharinirina
- There is growing concern that the COVID-19 crisis will enfeeble conservation efforts across the globe, particularly in developing countries.
- The concern is acute for Madagascar, one of the poorest nations in the world, which relies heavily on foreign funds to implement conservation programs.
- The disappearance of tourism revenue in the short term and the possible drying up of international funding and deepening impoverishment in the coming months and years could grievously endanger Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, Madagascar’s environment minister told Mongabay.
As wildlife tourism grounds to a halt, who will pay for the conservation of nature?
- Johan Robinson, Chief of the Global Environment Facility Biodiversity and Land Degradation Unit at UN Environment, argues for the need for a system that provides adequate financial support to poorer countries for conserving the biodiversity that benefits us all.
- “Such a system is long overdue, for although the benefits of biodiversity and natural areas are universal, the costs of protection are high and disproportionally borne by the poor communities living with wildlife,” he writes.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.
Investing in Amazon Rainforest Conservation: A Foreigner’s Perspective (commentary)
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has been trending upward since 2012, with a sharp acceleration since January 2019.
- Jonah Wittkamper, President of the Global Governance Philanthropy Network and co-founder of NEXUS, reviews the current situation and provides a perspective on how it might be possible to slow or reverse deforestation by investing in Amazon rainforest conservation.
- Wittkamper wrote this report to help guide investors and philanthropists on their learning journeys on the issue.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.
Overworked, underpaid and lonely: Conservationists find a new community online
- Created by a 26-year-old Australian, a new online community called Lonely Conservationists is bringing together young and struggling conservationists.
- Members post about their experiences, including unpaid jobs, financial woes, mental health issues, and, of course, loneliness.
- The community has succeeded in creating a space for candid, sympathetic conversations about the difficulties of working in conservation.
Drones in the canopy: Project aims to save the Amazon with technology
- In seeking an alternative to the develop-or-conserve dichotomy that governs policymaking over the Amazon, Brazilian scientists have come up with the Amazonia Third Way, a plan to preserve the region’s biodiversity by supercharging sustainable forestry practices with technology.
- In the second half of this year, three communities in Pará state will receive the first creative laboratories — mobile units that will bring technologies such as blockchain and drones to the cocoa and cupuaçu production processes. Future laboratories will focus on Brazil nuts, acai berries, essential oils and other products.
- The project will also rely on the help of business accelerators and the Rainforest Business School to support so-called bioeconomy start-ups and offer training courses for forest communities under this new development paradigm.
Economists, conservationists, political leaders urge adoption of carbon tax to halt tropical deforestation
- A comment piece published in Nature yesterday urges tropical countries to adopt a tax on carbon emissions in order to halt global warming, species loss, and deforestation.
- The authors of the piece include Edward B. Barbier, a distinguished professor of economics at Colorado State University in the US; Ricardo Lozano, Colombia’s Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development; Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment and Energy; and Sebastian Troëng, executive vice-president of US-based NGO Conservation International.
- “Tropical deforestation and land-use change must be halted to safeguard the climate and global biodiversity,” the authors write in Nature. “The widespread adoption of a tropical carbon tax is a practical way forward.”
The role of sustainable finance in Forest Landscape Restoration (commentary)
- To finance the major investments in Forest Landscape Restoration, help from the private and financial sector is needed.
- To increase investors’ willingness to write checks, public- funded grants play a crucial role. To get institutional investors on board, sustainable finance must mature, providing proven track records so investors can better understand risk.
- If the ambitious goals of Initiative 20×20 or the Sustainable Development Goals are to be met, all capital must be engaged, whether it’s private, public, or philanthropic.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
A Philippine conservation park juggles funding needs with animal welfare
- The Mari-it Wildlife and Conservation Park on the island of Panay is home to at least 62 threatened animals that are endemic to the Philippines.
- Its funding dried up in 2014, and after struggling to get by on scant resources from the local government, the park decided in June this year to open its gates to tourists.
- Since then, however, it has had to deal with numerous instances of rowdy tourists taunting the animals, highlighting the need for better management mechanisms to protect the animals under its care while still finding a way to stay financially secure.
Madagascar: Is NGO-led conservation too conservative to conserve much?
- International environmental NGOs working in Madagascar assume a relatively narrow role of supporting local conservation and development in line with government strategy.
- The nature of the NGOs’ legal relationship with the Malagasy government, which has close ties to the extractive industries, and the restrictions that come with international funding make it difficult for them to take a broader role or push for systemic environmental reforms.
- The result, some critics say, is that international NGOs fail to address the country’s most serious conservation challenges.
- Homegrown civil society groups have more room to operate in Madagascar and do some of the most important conservation work.
Biodiversity ‘not just an environmental issue’: Q&A with IPBES ex-chair Robert Watson
- The World Bank and IMF meetings from Oct. 14-20 will include discussions on protecting biodiversity and the importance of investing in nature.
- A recent U.N. report found that more than 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.
- In a conversation with Mongabay, Robert Watson, who chaired the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services that produced the report, discusses the economic value of biodiversity.
Gabon could earn up to $150 million for forest conservation
- Home to 12 percent of the Congo Basin’s forests, the African nation has an established conservation and sustainable management practices track record.
- Since the early 2000s, Gabon has worked to create 13 national parks, while improving performance on timber resource management outside of the parks.
- Gabon’s rainforest has been largely preserved by these and other measures, a key reason why the Central African Rainforest Initiative is brokering a 10-year, $150 million agreement for results-based payments.
A lifeline for the last leopards (commentary)
- From being extinct in the wild, the Arabian oryx was reclassified in 1986 as “Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species after its reintroduction to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. In 2011, with its global numbers increased to thousands, the Arabian oryx was the first animal ever to revert to “Vulnerable” status after having previously been listed as extinct in the wild.
- Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) aims to replicate this miraculous turnaround for the Arabian leopard – a little-studied, desert-dwelling subspecies listed as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN’s Red List – and for leopard populations everywhere with a new $20 million commitment to the Global Alliance for Wild Cats.
- The Arabian Leopard Initiatives will support a holistic and urgent program to rigorously monitor the Arabian leopard’s population and distribution, as well as halt its decline through community conservation projects. The cornerstone will be a captive breeding program dedicated to shoring up Arabian leopard populations and reintroducing them into their former habitats.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Amazon REDD+ scheme side-steps land rights to reward small forest producers
- To safeguard the almost 90 percent of its land still covered with forest, the small Brazilian state of Acre implemented a carbon credit scheme that assigns monetary value to stored carbon in the standing trees and rewards local “ecosystem service providers” for their role protecting it.
- Acre’s System of Incentives for Environmental Services (SISA) rewards sustainable harvesting of rubber, nuts and other commodities from the forests. Crucially, it doesn’t make land tenure a prerequisite to qualify for incentives such as subsidies and agricultural supplies.
- But a new study criticizes the program for giving state officials the power to determine what counts as “green labor.” The program already promotes intensive agricultural practices and artificial fishponds, and experts warn more damaging practices may be permitted under the control of new state officials.
- There’s also no definitive evidence that the program works to conserve forests, with the rate of deforestation in Acre holding relatively steady since SISA came into effect.
First Nations have created a robust conservation economy in Great Bear Rainforest: Report
- Over the past decade, First Nations have created a robust conservation economy in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, one of the largest old-growth temperate rainforests left in the world, through investments in sustainable development and environmental stewardship projects that link the health of nature to the wellbeing of indigenous communities, according to a new report.
- The report was issued last week by Coast Funds, an Indigenous-led conservation finance organization created in the wake of historic land-use agreements signed by First Nations and the Canadian province of British Columbia in 2006.
- The nearly $82 million in funding Coast Funds approved for 353 projects between 2008 and 2018 attracted more than $286 million in additional investment in the region, the organization reports. First Nations’ sustainable development projects in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii have had substantial local economic impacts, leading to the creation of more than 1,000 permanent jobs and the founding or growth of 100 businesses, per the report.
Audio: Bronx Zoo director says zoos are more relevant to conservation than ever
- On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast we speak with Jim Breheny, director of the Bronx Zoo in New York City, about the contributions zoos make to the cause of global biodiversity conservation.
- Breheny is well aware that a large contingent of the population questions the relevance of zoos in the 21st century. But he says that, as mankind’s influence extends ever farther and habitat for wildlife continues to shrink, zoos are more relevant than ever, as they preserve for the future the diversity of species who share the planet with us today.
- On today’s episode of the Newscast, Breheny tells us about the evolution of zoos and aquariums that he’s witnessed over his 40-plus-year career; how zoos not only preserve species for the future but support field work to protect species in the wild, as well; and about his experience attempting to tell the story of zoos through the Animal Planet TV show ‘The Zoo.’
Chinese banks risk supporting soy-related deforestation, report finds
- Chinese financial institutions have little awareness about the risks of deforestation in the soy supply chain, according to a report released May 31 from the nonprofit disclosure platform CDP.
- China imports more than 60 percent of the world’s soy, meaning that the country could play a major role in halting deforestation and slowing climate change if companies and banks focus on stopping deforestation to grow the crop.
- Around 490 square kilometers (189 square miles) of land in Brazil was cleared for soy headed for China in 2017 — about 40 percent of all “converted” land in Brazil that year.
- As the trade war between the U.S. and China continues, China may increasingly look to Latin America for its soy, potentially increasing the chances that land will be cleared to make way for the crop.
Sage spending to save species (commentary)
- As we unite to celebrate the 49th Earth Day today, let us also unite to shift the conservation paradigm from intervention to prevention. If we can make the necessary investments to save species of “Least Concern” today, we’ll forego hiring armed guards to save the last of their kind in the future.
- The architecture of the current conservation funding structure is in need of an overhaul to allow greater distribution of resources across all species, regardless of their conservation status, in order to strategically and wisely allocate the life-saving dollars bestowed upon the environmental community.
- Procrastination has a hefty price tag, both in what we stand to lose financially and intrinsically for our planet. While species protection is costly, recovery of the survivors is exponentially greater.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
How digital technologies can transform nature conservation engagement (commentary)
- At this crucial time, a digital leap can provide an opportunity to drastically improve individuals’ engagement in nature conservation by addressing the gaps in the current customer experience preventing more people from getting involved.
- Our market research indicates that 82 percent of donors do not fully know where their money is going or whether is having an impact. Donors get frustrated by their inability to track the impact of their donation and select the specific location, project, or wildlife they would like to support. This limited user experience lags behind digital norms and makes it particularly challenging to compel more people to get involved.
- People should not have to sacrifice transparency and ease-of-use to reap the benefits of supporting nature conservation. With advanced consumer demands and technology trends, there is an opportunity for improved engagement models that address the current gaps.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Investors warn soy giants of backlash over deforestation in South America
- Investors have called on the world’s biggest soy companies to make firm commitments to end deforestation in wildlife-rich areas of South America such as the Cerrado and Gran Chaco.
- Those that fail to do so risk being exposed by environmental activists to consumer boycotts, legal action and falling profits, experts warn.
- Investors are leading the way as companies fail to appreciate the scale of the crisis, campaigners say.
Asian banks give billions to firms linked to deforestation, study finds
- According to a recent analysis and report, financial backing for palm oil, pulp and paper and other industries associated with forest loss in Southeast Asia is estimated to have topped $60 billion over the past five years.
- Many Asian banks, the biggest funders of palm oil and similarly damaging activities, have no standards that restrict the harm their clients cause.
- The Forests and Finance campaign may extend its scrutiny to include the soy sector, a significant factor in the loss of rainforest and grasslands in South America.
Audio: How the social sciences can help conservationists save species
- On this episode, we take a look at how the social sciences can boost conservation efforts.
- Our guest is Diogo Verissimo, a Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of Oxford in the UK and the Institute for Conservation Research at the US-based San Diego Zoo Global. Verissimo designs and evaluates programs that aim to change human behavior as a means of combating the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products.
- While we all come in contact with marketing campaigns nearly every single day of our lives, conservationists have been much slower to employ marketing principles in the interest of influencing human behaviors that are harmful to the planet. We discuss with Verissimo the intersection of social marketing and conservation science — in other words, how the social sciences can provide us with a better understanding of human motivation and behavior and help create a more sustainable world.
Forests and indigenous rights land $459M commitment
- A group of 17 philanthropic foundations has committed nearly half a billion dollars in support of land-based solutions to climate change and the recognition of indigenous peoples’ and traditional communities’ collective land rights and resource management.
- The announcement is notable because it brings together a range of philanthropies that have often taken a siloed approach to tackling the world’s social and environmental problems.
- The pledge, which includes both previous commitments and new money, raises the profile of two often overlooked opportunities in climate change mitigation: forests, which could help meet up to a third of global emissions targets by 2030, and indigenous and local communities, whose lands comprise nearly a sixth of global forest cover.
- The foundations signed an agreement stating five shared priorities, ranging from the rights of indigenous communities to transitioning toward more sustainable food systems.
‘Not all doom and gloom’: Q&A with conservation job market researchers
- Intense competition, a flood of unpaid internships, a prevalence of short-term work, high student-loan debt: young conservationists are reporting a tough, rough time in the job market.
- A recent study in Conservation Biology attempts to uncover some concrete data on the hard-to-quantify conservation job market in an effort to help students prepare themselves for the competitive hunt for paid employment.
- Mongabay interviewed study co-authors Jane Lucas, who is now doing a postdoc at the University of Idaho, and Evan Gora, who is now doing a postdoc at the University of Louisville, to hear what they learned.
- Their advice? Start researching the job market early, even before you’re actively looking for work. Reach out to people who have the career you want. And make sure you’re gaining diverse skills.
Private sector leaders seek to ramp up investment in sustainable landscapes with help of public partners
- At the Global Landscapes Forum’s third investment case symposium, held at the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, top investors, business leaders, and policymakers gathered to present their efforts and advice on how to build a critical mass of work that will lead to a stronger investment case for sustainable landscapes and restoration.
- Over 200 people attended the symposium to discuss ways to speed up the pace of financial investments aimed at creating more resilient, fair, profitable, and climate-friendly landscapes. Conversations, disagreements, and challenges arose over how to combine efforts that will lead to lasting change.
- Accounting for natural capital, putting a price on carbon, and processes to secure land tenure rights emerged as key issues.
Norwegian government report sharply critical of funding for tropical forest conservation
- A recent report by Norway’s Office of the Auditor General had some tough criticisms for the country’s International Forests and Climate Initiative (NICFI), one of the chief funders of REDD+ initiatives around the world.
- The Office of the Auditor General said that its investigation found “that progress and results are delayed, that current measures have uncertain feasibility and effect, and that the risk of fraud is not well-managed.”
- Responding to the report, Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment, Ola Elvestuen, said that it provided some useful insights and that its recommendations would be followed up on. However, Elvestuen said he disagreed with many of the report’s key conclusions.
New research examines spread of payments for ecosystem services around the globe
- There are currently more than 550 PES programs active around the world in developed and developing countries alike, and more than $36 billion in annual transactions have been made through these programs, according to a study published last month in the journal Nature Sustainability.
- Researchers found that PES programs designed to protect watersheds have seen the largest volume of global transactions and have spread the farthest worldwide, with $24.7 billion in transactions across 62 countries in 2015.
- Little research has focused on the question of whether or not any benefits of PES are sustained after payments cease, according to another study recently published in Nature Sustainability. But that research suggests that paying rural villagers to cut down fewer trees can not only boost conservation efforts while the payments are being made but even after they’re discontinued.
Local conservancies create new hope for wildlife in Kenya’s Maasai Mara (commentary)
- Naboisho and roughly a dozen neighboring conservancies in Kenya’s Maasai Mara are made up of hundreds of individual plots owned by local Maasai residents of the Mara, who converted their traditional communal lands in this part of Kenya to individual holdings.
- Tour operators with existing camps around the Mara have worked to pool together individual Maasai landowners who had subdivided their lands into larger groups that could then lease a large area of land to the tour operators.
- Each landowner is paid a monthly lease fee of around $235, amounting to over $900,000 of landowner income annually.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
U.S. National Park Service advisory panel disintegrates
- On Monday, 9 of 12 members of the advisory council resigned in a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, citing more than a year of waiting for meetings that are required by law.
- The board is responsible for National Parks stewardship, and they often interface with the public and scientific experts.
- Advisory councils generally for agencies and their board members are chosen or re-approved by the administration of the newly-elected leader.
Nigeria pledges to restore nearly 10 million acres of degraded land
- The government of Nigeria has announced its plans to restore four million hectares, or nearly 10 million acres, of degraded lands within its borders.
- The West African nation is now one of 26 countries across the continent that have committed to restoring more than 84 million hectares (over 200 million acres) of degraded lands as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), an effort that aims to bring 100 million hectares of land under restoration by 2030.
- The restoration of degraded forests and other landscapes was found to have the most climate mitigation potential of 20 natural climate strategies examined for a recent study.
$2 billion investment in forest restoration announced at COP23
- Last Thursday, at the UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany (known as COP23), the World Resources Institute (WRI) announced that $2.1 billion in private investment funds have been committed to efforts to restore degraded lands in the Caribbean and Latin America.
- The investments will be made through WRI’s Initiative 20×20, which has already put 10 million hectares (about 25 million acres) of land under restoration thanks to 19 private investors who are supporting more than 40 restoration projects.
- There’s a plethora of recent research showing that, while halting deforestation is of course critical, the restoration of degraded forests and other landscapes are a vital component to meeting the Paris Agreement’s target of keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius.
Leading US plywood firm linked to alleged destruction, rights violations in Malaysia
- An investigation has found that Liberty Woods, the top importer of plywood in the US, buys wood from a Malaysian company that has faced numerous allegations of environmentally unsustainable logging and indigenous rights violations.
- Environmental NGOs have accused the timber industry in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, of clearing too much forest too quickly, polluting streams and rivers and failing to obtain consent to log from local communities.
- Satellite imagery analysis in 2013 showed that, between 2000 and 2012, Malaysia had the world’s highest deforestation rate.
- In Sarawak, where logging company Shin Yang is based, only 5 percent of forests remain relatively untouched.
Cash for conservation: Do payments for ecosystem services work?
- What can we say about the effectiveness of payments for ecosystem services (PES) based on the available scientific literature? To find out, we examined 38 studies that represent the best evidence we could find.
- The vast majority of the evidence in those 38 studies was still very weak, however. In other words, most of the studies did not compare areas where PES had been implemented with non-PES control areas or some other kind of countervailing example.
- On average, the more rigorously designed studies showed very modest reductions in deforestation, generally of just a few percentage points. Meanwhile, the majority of the available evidence suggests that payments were often too low to cover the opportunity costs of agricultural development or other profitable activities that the land could have been used for.
- This is part of a special Mongabay series on “Conservation Effectiveness.”
$100 million dollar fund launched to secure indigenous land rights
- A new $100 million initiative will help indigenous peoples and local communities in rural areas secure rights to their traditional lands.
- The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility, formally launched launched week, was conceived by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)
- The Tenure Facility is a mechanism for scaling up recognition of rights to collective lands and forests.
- The tenure facility aims to secure at least 40 million hectares of forests and rural lands for local and indigenous communities.
A rich person’s profession? Young conservationists struggle to make it
- Mongabay interviewed young conservationists about their experiences launching their careers.
- Many of them related similar stories of having to reconsider their career choice as a result of the conservation sector’s tight job market, high educational and experience requirements, and often-temporary entry-level jobs.
- To meet prospective employers’ demands for experience, many graduates become stuck in full-time unpaid internships or long-term volunteering.
- As a result of these trends, the field of conservation may be hemorrhaging passionate, qualified, and innovative young people.
Warnings and protests mark Brazilian President Temer’s trip to Norway
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from 2015 to 2016 jumped 29 percent over the previous year, the highest rate of loss recorded since 2008.
- In a letter sent to Brazilian Minister of Environment Jose Sarney Filho, Norway’s Environment Minister, Vidar Helgesen, noted the “worrying upward trend” in deforestation since 2015 and warned that “Even a fairly modest further increase” in deforestation would mean that no further payments from Norway to Brazil would be forthcoming.
- A number of Norwegian environmental and rights-based organizations, including Greenpeace, Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian Solidarity Committee for Latin America, and Rainforest Foundation Norway, say they are planning a protest in front of the Prime Minister’s residence in Oslo on Friday.
Research suggests less affluent countries more dedicated to wildlife conservation than rich countries
- A team of researchers with Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and non-profit conservation organization Panthera looked at 152 countries and compiled what they call a Megafauna Conservation Index in order to evaluate each country’s contributions to the conservation of the world’s biodiversity.
- African countries Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, together with South Asian nation Bhutan, were the top five megafauna conservation performers, the researchers found.
- Norway came in at sixth, the top-ranked developed country, followed by Canada, which came in at eighth. The United States ranked nineteenth, lower than countries like Malawi and Mozambique that are among the least-developed in the world.
Successful Colombian rainforest project exposes problems with carbon emissions trading
- The Chocó-Darién Conservation Corridor, as the community’s REDD+ project is called, is the first REDD+ project to be certified in Colombia. In 2012 it was the first REDD+ project operating on community land in the world.
- COCOMASUR, an organization representing 2,600 Afro-Colombians, utilizes a team of forest rangers to monitor the tropical rainforest.
- Despite their success, now the community is struggling to get compensated due to a carbon trading market that has “bottomed out.”
Jurisdictional certification approach aims to strengthen protections against deforestation
- Jurisdictional certification brings together all stakeholders across all commodities within a district or state to ensure the entire region is deforestation-free.
- A few tropical forest regions have long used the jurisdictional approach; with proven success, more regions are now following suit.
- Pilot programs in Brazil and elsewhere exemplify the successes and challenges of the jurisdictional approach.
Successful forest protection in DRC hinges on community participation
- Forest covers at least 112 million hectares of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Studies from 2013 show that subsistence agriculture and the need for firewood threaten DRC’s forests, and new investments in the countries forests by industrial outfits could contribute to the problem.
- DRC’s leaders have signed on to international agreements and have begun to receive millions of dollars to finance projects aimed at keeping DRC’s forests standing, protecting global climate and reducing poverty.
Where the forest grants went
- With a view to providing a map of forest philanthropy, the Environmental Funders Network’s Forest Funders Group – an affinity group for foundations focused on forest conservation – has developed a methodology for describing forest grants by geography, focal issue, and approach.
- The mapping has been piloted on grants data submitted by five European-based foundations that made 652 grants between them in the study period (2011 to 2015), averaging £3.1m per year.
- Although this captures just a fraction of the forest grants made worldwide, it yields tantalising points for reflection.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Audio: An in-depth look at Mongabay’s collaboration with The Intercept Brasil
- Branford is a regular contributor to Mongabay who has been reporting from Brazil since 1979 when she was with the Financial Times and then the BBC.
- One of the articles in the series resulted in an official investigation by the Brazilian government before it was even published — and the investigators have already recommended possible reparations for an indigenous Amazonian tribe.
- We also round up the top news of the past two weeks.
Forest protection funds flow to DRC despite ‘illegal’ logging permits
- Since signing agreements with the government of Norway and the Central African Forests Initiative, Greenpeace says leaders in Congo have approved two concessions on 4,000 square kilometers of forest.
- DRC expects to receive tens of millions of dollars from CAFI and the Norwegian government for forest protection and sustainable development.
- Greenpeace and other watchdog groups have called for an investigation into how these concessions are awarded and an overhaul of donor funding.
Norway starts $400-million fund to halt deforestation, help farmers
- Norway contributed $100 million, and other donors are expected to contribute the balance of the $400-million commitment by 2020.
- The World Economic Forum figures that the financing will help protect 5 million hectares of peatland and forest.
- Small-scale farmers should receive support through the fund to increase their yields while avoiding further deforestation and degradation.
Study finds that carbon finance is not a one-size-fits-all solution to deforestation
- Ashwin Ravikumar, an environmental social scientist at The Field Museum in Chicago and the study’s lead author, led a team of researchers that looked at the the potential of eight landscapes in four countries around the world to generate carbon revenues.
- The results varied widely: Potential revenue from carbon storage or emissions reductions were significant in some landscapes, such as the peat forests of Kalimantan, Indonesia, but much less significant in other areas, like the low-carbon forests of Zanzibar and the interior of Tanzania.
- In other words, the team found that carbon-based payments for conservation, whether they’re delivered through markets or other mechanisms, are appropriate in some places but not in others — which calls into question the practicality of many conservation programs that rely on expectations of future revenue from carbon finance.
Private capital investments in conservation have taken off since 2013
- Conservation investing has undergone a period of dramatic growth over the past two years, the NGO Forest Trends found, as the total amount of private capital committed to conservation efforts since 2004 climbed 62 percent after 2013, from $5.1 billion to $8.2 billion.
- Investments in sustainable food and fiber account for the vast majority of total funds committed, some $6.5 billion. Meanwhile, $1.3 billion went to habitat conservation initiatives, and investments in efforts to improve water quality or quantity totaled another $400 million.
- Among for-profit investors, half expect returns of 10 percent or more, according to Forest Trends’ report, meaning that conservation investments are apparently performing well compared to traditional investment strategies.
Sudden sale may doom carbon-rich rainforest in Borneo
- Forest Management Unit 5 encompasses more than 101,000 hectares in central Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo.
- The area’s steep slopes and rich forests provide habitat for the Bornean orangutan and other endangered species and protect watersheds critical to downstream communities.
- Conservation groups had been working with the government and the concession holder to set up a concept conservation economy on FMU5, but in October, the rights were acquired by Priceworth, a wood product manufacturing company.
Nearly $1 billion in forest carbon finance committed in 2015
- Those funds will remove the equivalent of 87.9 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, roughly equal to the annual emissions of Chile, according to the Washington, D.C.-based NGO Forest Trends.
- Some $173 million in new forest finance flowed through the world’s carbon markets in 2015, a new Forest Trends report states, including $88 million on the international voluntary market as well as $10 million and $63 million brought in by the compliance markets in New Zealand and California, respectively.
- Governments and multilateral institutions committed another $126 million in non-market payments contingent on verifiable results through another approach known as “payments for performance” — but forest carbon finance is still falling short of what’s needed.
Hectare by hectare, an indigenous man reforested a jungle in Indonesia’s burned-out heartland
- In 1998, a Dayak Ngaju man named Januminro started buying up and reforesting degraded land not far from Palangkaraya, the capital of Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province.
- Today the forest spans 18 hectares and is home to orangutans, sun bears and other endangered species.
- Januminro uses funds from an adopt-a-tree program to operate a volunteer firefighting team. He has big plans to expand the forest.
Is REDD+ finance really put to work in the right places?
- In a recent article on Mongabay, Mike Gaworecki describes a recent report by the NGO Forest Trends, which suggests that the approximately $6 billion of REDD+ finance that has been pledged so far is being put to work in the right places.
- The report by Forest Trends analyzes information on REDD+ finance flows from 2009 to mid-2016 in combination with forest cover, deforestation, and emissions data covering 2001 to 2014 to show the “geography” of REDD funding and finds an overlap between forest loss and REDD+ funding levels across and within countries.
- The authors “believe that it is misleading to praise the effectiveness of REDD+ finance simply based on information of the geographical location of expenditure.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Innovative tax credit takes aim at deforestation in Peru
- The credit line aims at combating deforestation while supporting economic stability.
- Peru’s San Martin region is home to the largest producers of rice and coffee in Peru.
- Production of key agricultural resources and the general expansion of agriculture are closely linked to Peruvian deforestation
REDD+ funds are being put to work in the right places: report
- According to a new report by the NGO Forest Trends, donors and REDD+ country governments are successfully targeting forest conservation finance to reach the places most in need of assistance in tackling deforestation.
- REDD+ financing is generally being targeted to those countries and provinces that have demonstrated the political will to protect tropical forests and committed to reining in deforestation as part of their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) — nation-specific plans for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that were submitted to the UN ahead of the Paris climate talks.
- REDD+ finance at both the national and subnational level correlates closely to emissions and forest loss, although the precise details of those relationships vary across countries, Forest Trends found.
Countries with most biodiversity spend least on conservation: study
- Countries in the tropics have the greatest biodiversity, but spend relatively less amount of money per capita on conservation than temperate countries, a new study has found.
- These countries also share cultural traits that are often different from wealthier temperate countries.
- For conservation to succeed, cultural values of a country cannot be ignored, the study concludes.
Norway, U.S. pledge to coordinate forest protection efforts
- The governments of Norway and the United States on Wednesday pledged to strengthen efforts to protect and restore tropical forests.
- The agreement was signed at the Norwegian government’s Oslo REDD Exchange
- The agreement called for cooperation on a number of points, including both positive incentives for forest conservation, like mobilizing private sector investment for forest conservation, and punitive approaches like tougher law enforcement.
Can conservationists overcome their differences to save life on Earth?
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future.
- The series explores how the world’s biggest conservation groups have embraced a human-centric approach known as “new conservation” that has split the field over how best to save life on Earth.
- It also investigates the role of big money in pushing conservation agendas, and the field’s changing relationship with people living in areas targeted for conservation.
- Jeremy Hance reported the Conservation, Divided series over the course of eight months. Stories ran weekly in April and May, generating intense interest from readers.
Epilogue: Conservation still divided, looking for a way forward
- Ideas promoted under a new philosophy in conservation that focuses on nature’s service to humanity merit continued trial and a fair hearing, Hance writes, but they also require ongoing scrutiny.
- Likewise, Hance writes that the world’s biggest conservation groups, which have embraced the new philosophy, have made major achievements in recent years. But widespread dissatisfaction with their methods within the conservation community means they, too, deserve questioning.
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future. Hance completed the series over the course of eight months. Stories ran weekly between April 26 and May 17.
How big donors and corporations shape conservation goals
- In Part 2 of Conservation, Divided, veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance explores how major donors at foundations, governments, and corporations are pushing conservation groups to adopt a human-centric approach known as “new conservation” that some critics say leaves wildlife and wild lands out in the cold.
- Meanwhile, cozy relationships with environmentally destructive corporations have prompted long-running arguments that some of the world’s biggest conservation groups have lost sight of their environmental missions. Yet big conservation and corporations are closer than ever.
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future. Hance completed the series over the course of eight months. Stories are running weekly between April 26 and May 17.
International forest conservation finance is flowing to Africa
- The DRC contains more than half of the total area of Congo rainforest, so it’s no wonder that as the world has started to take climate change seriously, the DRC’s forests are receiving increased attention.
- Half of all deforestation in Ghana is due to agricultural expansion, particularly for growing cocoa, which is why REDD+ financing is focused on improving the sustainability of cocoa production in the country.
- REDD+ financing to Liberia began to rise exponentially in 2014 after Norway pledged to greatly increase its funding to support Liberia’s forest conservation efforts.
Conservation, Divided: in-depth series starts Tuesday
- Conservation, Divided is an in-depth four-part series investigating how the field of conservation has changed over the last 30 years — and the challenges it faces moving into an uncertain future.
- Veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance completed the series over the course of eight months.
- Conservation, Divided launches next Tuesday, April 26. Stories will run weekly through May 17.
Companies asked to pitch in to Indonesia’s peat restoration drive as early fires flare in Sumatra
- Twenty-two hotspots were spotted in Riau province on Thursday, with rain expected to quell them in mid-April.
- Central Kalimantan province, the worst-hit of last year’s fire and haze crisis, continues to suffer an urgent shortage of doctors, a local politician said.
- A prominent NGO official called on Jakarta to establish a dedicated agency to see through the all-important One Map initiative.
Two forest countries, two very different conservation finance outlooks
- Papua New Guinea and Tanzania are both REDD+ countries, meaning they’re participating in the UN program that aims to channel international finance to conservation activities that reduce carbon emissions associated with deforestation and forest degradation.
- About $45.3 million has been invested in PNG for REDD+ activities between 2009 and 2014, according to a report released by Forest Trends this week.
- Some $93.8 million in total funds have been committed or disbursed to Tanzania — but unlike financing for PNG, funds to Tanzania have all but dried up.
Perverse outcomes: Can conservation aid spur deforestation?
- Conservation aid may sometimes result in a short-term increase in deforestation, a new study finds – highlighting the incredibly complex network of factors that drive forest loss.
- The study, published in Environmental Research Letters, examined deforestation rates in the wake of nearly $3.4 billion in conservation aid distributed to 42 Sub Sahara Africa (SSA) countries through 1,795 projects between 1980 and 2008.
- The researchers found that in many cases, a 10% increase in conservation aid resulted in a “small but significant” short-term increase in country-wide deforestation.
Can privatization save parks?
- Governments are turning to the private sector to help fund management of protected areas in so-called “public-private partnerships” (PPPs).
- Proponents argue that PPPs not only offer much-needed funds to protected areas, but can improve management and conservation outcomes.
- However, critics contend that they can cede too much control to private interests and put sensitive tasks, such as security and anti-poaching efforts, on the line.
Researchers say you get what you pay for when it comes to payments for ecosystem services
- Researchers at Michigan State University wanted to determine whether or not programs that compensate local communities monetarily for their active participation in conservation efforts really works.
- Their study focuses on China’s National Forest Conservation Program, which aims to restore forests and habitat for the endangered giant panda, an important “umbrella species.”
- The MSU researchers say their results show the power of engaging forest communities in payments for ecosystem services schemes.
Can we save the Sumatran rhino? Indonesia holds out hope
Can a sanctuary in Indonesia keep the world’s most imperiled rhino from extinction? “One percent of the world’s population,” veterinarian Zulfi Arsan says as he nods towards Bina, a 714-kilogram (1,574-pound), 30-year-old female Sumatran rhinoceros leisurely crunching branches whole. A gentle and easygoing rhino, pink-hued Bina doesn’t seem to mind the two-legged hominids snapping pictures […]
Conservationists appeal to donors after mystery kills 134,252 saiga
Saiga perish by the thousands in the Betpak-Dala region of Kazakhstan. Photo by: Sergei Khomenko/FAO. The good news: conservationists believe that whatever killed off over a hundred thousand saiga in Kazakhstan in less than a month has abetted. The bad news: the final death tally is 134,252 saiga or around half the population of an […]
South African Airways bans all wildlife trophies from flights
Wildlife trophy room. Photo by: Fabio Venni/Creative Commons 2.0. Trophy hunters may need to find another flight home, as South African Airlines (SAA) has announced a new ban on any wildlife trophies from their flights. “Hunting of endangered species has become a major problem in Africa and elsewhere with the depletion to near extinction of […]
Expedition in the Congo rediscovers lost primate
Young primatologist takes first photo ever of Bouvier’s red colobus Detail from the world’s first photo of Bouvier’s red colobus (Piliocolobus bouvieri) taken early March 2015 in the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park in the Republic of Congo. The photo shows an adult female with offspring. Photo by: Lieven Devreese. The last time there was a sighting […]
New group hopes to raise global profile of the peace-loving bonobo
Bonobo at Lola Ya Bonobo sanctuary. Photo courtesy of Lola Ya Bonobo. Of the world’s six species of great ape (not including us), it’s safe to say that bonobos (Pan paniscus) are the least studied and least known publicly. But a new organization, the Bonobo Project, is hoping to change that. “The mission…is to elevate […]
Employing shame for environmental change
Shame’s power: new book explores how shame can challenge environmental transgressors Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) are caught by a Chilean purse seiner off of Peru. Overfishing has become a massive global environmental problem, yet to date both governments and corporations have done little to tackle it. Photo by: C. Ortiz Rojas. In 2010, Greenpeace […]
Protected areas receive 8 billion visits a year, but still underfunded
Cobalt-winged parakeets at a clay lick in Yasuni National Park, which the Ecuadorian government is increasingly opening up to oil drilling. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. The world loves its protected areas, according to a new study in the open access PLOS Biology. U.S. and UK researchers estimated that the world’s protected areas received eight billion […]
$7 million could save lemurs from extinction
Could a website save the world’s lemurs? Indri lemur (Indri indri). Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Last year, scientists released an emergency three-year plan that they argued could, quite literally, save the world’s lemurs from mass extinction. Costing just $7.6 million, the plan focused on setting up better protections and conservation programs in 30 lemur […]
Campaign asks consumers to directly support forest conservation
Brazilian rainforest. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Click to enlarge. A new campaign is calling on consumers to directly support forest conservation with their wallets. “Stand For Trees” is an initiative launched by Code REDD, a marketing platform for a group of organizations running REDD+ forest conservation projects. Code REDD partners distinguish themselves by adhering […]
New calendar celebrates primates and raises money for their survival
An interview with Corrin LaCombe, President of Primate Connections Cover of the 2015 Primate Connections Calendar. Humans, or Homo sapiens sapiens, are really just upright apes with big brains. We may have traded actual jungles for gleaming concrete and steel ones, but we are still primates, merely one member of an order consisting of sixteen […]
Peru has massive opportunity to avoid emissions from deforestation
Carnegie Airborne Observatory map showing carbon in along the main stem of the Amazon in Peru. All images courtesy of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory/Greg Asner Nearly a billion tons of carbon in Peru’s rainforests is at risk from logging, infrastructure projects, and oil and gas extraction, yet opportunities remain to conserve massive amounts of forest […]
The Search for Lost Frogs: one of conservation’s most exciting expeditions comes to life in new book
An interview with Robin Moore, author of the new book, In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians The Cuchumatan golden toad (Incilius aurarius) from the Cuchumatanes mountains of Guatemala, found during a search for lost salamanders. This species was only discovered as recently as 2012. It is so new […]
Leaders pledge to end deforestation by 2030
Cleared timber plantation and peat forest in Indonesia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Dozens of companies, non-profit organizations, and governments pledged to work together to halve forest loss by 2020 and end it altogether by 2030. If implemented, the commitment could reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 4.5-8.8 billion tons annually, equivalent to removing a […]
Saving the Atlantic Forest would cost less than ‘Titanic’
Brazil can protect and restore Mata Atlântica for 6.5 percent of what it spends on agricultural subsidies Want to save the world’s most imperiled biodiversity hotspot? You just need a down payment of $198 million. While that may sound like a lot, it’s actually less than it cost to make the film, Titanic. A new […]
Malaysian citizens want govt to spend more to save native rainforests
We’ll pay more: governments in developing countries spend far less on tropical forest conservation than their citizens would like Rainforest in Malaysian Borneo. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. As developing countries reach upper middle income (UMI) status, their populations are willing to pay increasing amounts toward tropical forest conservation, yet government spending on these programs […]
Broken promises no more? Signs Sabah may finally uphold commitment on wildlife corridors
Five years after landmark agreement in Sabah, government shows signs of moving forward on wildlife corridors The Kinabatangan River winds through rainforest and palm oil plantations in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo. Photo by: Axri Sawang/HUTAN. Five years ago an unlikely meeting was held in the Malaysian state of Sabah to discuss how […]
Next big idea in forest conservation? Learning from innovations to make REDD+ work
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Amy Duchelle Brazil nut producer in Pando, Bolivia. Photo by: Amy Duchelle. A scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Brazil, Dr. Amy Duchelle coordinates research on the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and co-benefits of REDD+ initiatives at the sub-national level in Latin America as […]
Four donors pledge $80 million for big cats
Four donors from around the world have pledged $80 million to cat conservation group, Panthera. The money will fund projects working to preserve tigers, lions, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, snow leopards, and cougars over ten years. “Today marks a turning point for global cat conservation,” said Panthera Founder and Chairman of the Board, Thomas Kaplan, who […]
U.S. govt puts financial muscle behind REDD+ forest carbon conservation projects
Rainforest in Sumatra. Photos by Rhett Butler The U.S. government will put financial support behind an initiative that offers finance for emissions-reducing forest conservation projects. In an announcement made during the Carbon Expo conference in Cologne, Germany, Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will lend up to $133.8 […]
Happy Amazon: $215 million raised for world’s largest protected area network
By all standards the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) program is gargantuan: the network includes over 90 parks, covers 51 million hectares, and comprises 15 percent of Brazil’s Amazon. Three times larger than all of the U.S.’s national parks combined, it’s the world’s largest protected area network. But protecting an area bigger than Spain isn’t […]
The real cost of conservation: cheap protection rarely succeeds
Conservation efforts in less-developed and politically unstable countries are full of risk, according to a study published in PLOS ONE. The study, which looks at how to best evaluate conservation priorities, argues that selecting priority countries based solely on economic factors may lead to failure in conservation projects and increase the likelihood of negative impacts […]
The lemur end-game: scientists propose ambitious plan to save the world’s most imperiled mammal family
Verreaux’s Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), listed as Vulnerable, in a heated chase. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Due to the wonderful idiosyncrasies of evolution, there is one country on Earth that houses 20 percent of the world’s primates. More astounding still, every single one of these primates—an entire distinct family in fact—are found no-where else. The […]
Shoot to conserve: Corey Knowlton’s rhino hunt escalates the debate over trophy hunting and environmentalism
Corey Knowlton posing with a bongo he killed. Photo from Corey Knowlton’s Facebook page. “After a long conversation with the FBI I have decided to temporarily suspend my activity on this page. I want to thank all of you who have commented [on] this important issue of Black Rhino Conservation.” – Corey Knowlton, Feb 3, […]
REDD+ could fail without near-term financial support
Deforestation in Riau Province, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. An ambitious plan to save the world’s tropical forests by valuing them for the carbon the store may fail to reduce deforestation unless governments and multilateral institutions significantly scale up financial commitments to the program, argues a new report published by the Global Canopy Programme, […]
German government gives tigers $27 million
At a summit in 2010, the world’s 13 tiger range states pledged to double the number of tigers (Panthera tigris) in the wild by 2020. Today, non-tiger state Germany announced its assistance toward that end. Through its KfW Development Bank, the German government has pledged around $27 million (20 million Euro) to a new program […]
Trophy hunters auction off life of Critically Endangered black rhino
The Dallas Safari Club has auctioned off a permit to shoot-and-kill a Critically Endangered black rhino in Namibia for $350,000. The club says the proceeds from the auction will aid rhino conservation, but the move has upset many wildlife organizations and attracted protestors outside the closed-door auction. In fact the issue has become so contentious […]
Microsoft founder funds Africa-wide elephant survey to measure ivory poachers’ toll
Beginning next year, light planes and helicopters will undertake the first ever continent-wide aerial survey of Africa’s vanishing elephant populations. The hugely ambitious initiative, which will count elephant herds in 13 countries, is being funded by Microsoft founder, Paul Allen, through his Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The new survey, which is estimated to cost […]
Celebrities aim to raise $1.6 million to keep orangutan forests from the the chopping block in Borneo
Sir David Attenborough, Bill Oddie and Chris Packham are supporting an effort to save the orangutan from extinction by raising £1m in just two weeks. Orangutans in their natural environment live in undisturbed ancient forests and for many years it was believed they shunned any other habitats. But researchers have discovered they can survive just […]
Clinton Global Initiative pledges $80 million to combat elephant poaching
Hillary and Chelsea Clinton on Thursday deployed their mother-daughter star power to help the effort to save African elephants, brokering an $80m effort to stop the ivory poaching which threatens the animals with extinction. The crackdown on 50 poaching hot spots in Africa involves several conservation groups and African governments. But conservation leaders, unveiling the […]
Biodiversity conservation funding can be better targeted, scientists find
Researchers identified the most underfunded countries globally for nature conservation in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this week. The 40 most severely underfunded countries contain a third of the world’s threatened mammals. The study provides an opportunity for a ‘rapid global triage’ in conservation: better coordination between […]
Obama to take on elephant and rhino poaching in Africa
Barack Obama launched a new initiative against wildlife trafficking on Monday, using his executive authority to take action against an illegal trade that is fueling rebel wars and now threatens the survival of elephants and rhinoceroses. The initiative, announced as the president visited Tanzania on the final stop of his African tour, was the second […]
Brazilian state to pay counties that cut Amazon deforestation
The Brazilian state of Pará has launched a new compensation scheme to incentivize further cuts in deforestation. Using a stipulation that allows Brazilian states to determine how a quarter of taxes on sales of goods and services are distributed, last week Pará established the Green Value Added Tax (ICMS). The system will provide payments to […]
Should zoos educate the public about climate change?
The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th—July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&As with presenters. For more interviews, please see our ZACC feed. Captive polar bear. Given the rising threat of climate […]
Indonesia’s first REDD project finally approved
Rimba Raya, the world’s largest REDD+ project, has finally been approved by the Indonesian government and verified under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), a leading certification standard for carbon credits. The 64,000-hectare forest carbon project in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan Province on the island of Borneo is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 119 million […]
Leonardo DiCaprio raises over $38 million for conservation
Film actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, raised a stunning $38.8 million for global conservation efforts Monday night through an all-star art auction at Christie’s in New York City. Commissioning 33 works of art, the A-list actor raised record funds for saving species from extinction and protecting natural habitats. “Our goal here tonight is very simple. The funds […]
Why responsible tourism is the key to saving the mountain gorilla
The sunlight poured through the canopy, casting dappled shade over Makara, a large silverback mountain gorilla, as he cast his eyes around the forest clearing, checking on the members of his harem. A female gorilla reclined on a bank of dense vegetation of the most brilliant green, clutching her three day old infant close to […]
Conservation without supervision: Peruvian community group creates and patrols its own protected area
“Rural dwellers are not passive respondents to external conservation agents but are active proponents and executers of their own conservation initiatives.”—Noga Shanee, Projects Director for Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC), in an interview with mongabay.com. When we think of conservation areas, many of us think of iconic National Parks overseen by uniformed government employees or wilderness […]
Progress in incentive-based protection of forests and other watersheds
There are two ways to look at Charting New Waters: State of Watershed Payments 2012 – the latest report released by Forest Trends on incentive-based water protection. One is that investments in watershed protection are fast approaching a tipping point – rising 25% from the previous year and with 25% of all recorded investments occurring […]
Forging zoos into global conservation centers, an interview with Cristian Samper, head of WCS
For the Wildlife Conservation Society’s new CEO, scientific principles and working partnerships are key to conservation. A Man of Science: Dr Cristian Samper, CEO of the WCS. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is one of the world’s leading environmental organizations. Founded in 1895 (originally as the New York Zoological Society), the WCS manages 200 million […]
The need to jump-start REDD to save forests
Mongabay.com is partnering with the Skoll Foundation ahead of the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship to bring a series of perspectives that aim to answer the question: how do we feed the world and still address the drivers of deforestation? HOW DO WE FEED THE WORLD AND STILL ADDRESS THE DRIVERS OF DEFORESTATION? Soy, […]
A promising initiative to address deforestation in Brazil at the local level
Mongabay.com is partnering with the Skoll Foundation ahead of the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship to bring a series of perspectives that aim to answer the question: how do we feed the world and still address the drivers of deforestation? HOW DO WE FEED THE WORLD AND STILL ADDRESS THE DRIVERS OF DEFORESTATION? Soy, […]
China’s forest privatization move threatens pandas
Giant Panda. China’s decision to open up collective forest for sale by individuals to outside interests will put 345,700 hectares or 15 percent of the giant panda’s remaining habitat at risk, warns a letter published in the journal Science. The letter, authored by a team of researchers including scientists from Conservation International and Chinese institutions, […]
Unique program to leave oil beneath Amazonian paradise raises $300 million
Black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) with fly near its eye in an ox-bow lake in Yasuni National Park. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. The Yasuni-ITT Initiative has been called many things: controversial, ecological blackmail, revolutionary, pioneering, and the best chance to keep oil companies out of Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park. But now, after a number of ups […]
Wealthy nations, excluding U.S., pledge to double funds for biodiversity
Biodiversity-rich rainforests make way for palm oil plantations in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Although negotiations came down to the wire, nations finally brokered a new deal at the 11th meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, India; at its heart is a pledge to double resources from wealthier countries […]
India pledges over $60 million for biodiversity, but experts say much more needed
A black buck in Mahavir Harini Vanasthali National Park near Hyderabad, India. The black buck is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List. Habitat loss and poaching remain threats even as the black buck recovers from historical lows in the 1970s. Photo by: Pranav Yaddanapudi. The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, pledged […]
Conflict and perseverance: rehabilitating a forgotten park in the Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s last herd of zebra run free in Upemba. Photo courtesy of the FZS. Zebra racing across the yellow-green savannah is an iconic image for Africa, but imagine you’re seeing this not in Kenya or South Africa, but in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Welcome to Upemba National Park: […]
New contest seeks for-profit efforts to save rainforests
Rainforest in the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Switzerland has kick-started a new contest to award innovative ideas devoted to protecting tropical forests. Focusing on for-profit enterprises, the Tropical Forest Challenge will reward the best idea, startup, and company as nominated by the public […]
Mangroves should be part of solution to climate change
Mangroves in Honduras Mangroves are under-appreciated assets in the effort to slow climate change, argues a new Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper which makes a argument for including the coastal ecosystems in carbon credit programs. The study, authored by researchers from Resources for the Future and University of California at Davis, estimated […]
Interview with the new CEO of The GEF, the world’s largest funder of environmental projects
For The GEF’s Naoko Ishii, Sustainability Must be a Core Global Value The Global Environment Facility or “GEF” unites 182 government members, in partnership with multiple international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector, with the goal of addressing global environmental issues. Established in 1991, the GEF has grown to become the world’s largest funder […]
96 percent of the world’s species remain unevaluated by the Red List
The IUCN Red List releases its 2012 update, adding 247 species to its threatened categories. The king cobra has been evaluated by the IUCN Red List for the first time and listed as Vulnerable. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Nearly 250 species have been added to the threatened categories—i.e. Vulnerable, Endangered, and Critically Endangered—in this […]
Exploring Asia’s lost world
Abandoned by conservationists and the global community, Virachey National Park in Cambodia remains a wildernesses of surprises. An interview with Greg McCann. Haling-Halang and the barrier mountains separating Cambodia and Laos as seen from the Veal Thom grasslands, a place few outsiders have ever seen. Could tigers, Javan rhinos, or saola live in these mountains? […]
Cinderella animals: endangered species that could be conservation stars
Somali wild ass and mother in nature. The African wild ass could be a conservation flagship species according to a new paper. Photo by: Bigstock. A cursory look at big conservation NGOs might convince the public that the only species in peril are tigers, elephants, and pandas when nothing could be further from the truth. […]
How a crippled rhino may save a species
An interview with John Payne Puntung, a female Sumatran rhino, is captured safely in a pit trap after years of monitoring and planning in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin/BORA. On December 18th, 2011, a female Sumatran rhino took a sudden plunge. Falling into a manmade pit trap, the rhino may have feared […]
Without data, fate of great apes unknown
Improving the evidence base for African great ape conservation: An interview with Sandra Tranquilli. Silverback gorilla in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Our closest nonhuman relatives, the great apes, are in mortal danger. Every one of the six great ape species is endangered, and without more effective conservation measures, they […]
Innovative conservation: wild silk, endangered species, and poverty in Madagascar
Moth larvae munching on a host plant. Photo by: Tom Corcoran. For anyone who works in conservation in Madagascar, confronting the complex difficulties of widespread poverty is a part of the job. But with the wealth of Madagascar’s wildlife rapidly diminishing— such as lemurs, miniature chameleons, and hedgehog-looking tenrecs found no-where else in the world—the […]
The camera trap revolution: how a simple device is shaping research and conservation worldwide
This article is available for a limited time on mongabay.com. It has also been published in a book by mongabay journalist, Jeremy Hance: Life is Good: Conservation in an Age of Mass Extinction. The book is also available in Europe. This is an expanded version of an article that ran on Yale e360 on December […]
10 rules for making REDD+ projects more equitable
The International Institute for Environment and Development has published a new report on benefit distribution under Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programs. The report includes a top ten list of recommendations to ensure REDD+ works for poor communities that live in and around forests. The list, as laid out in a blog […]
How much is the life of a whale worth?
Minke whale kabob served up at the Sea Baron restaurant in Reykjavik Harbour area, Iceland. Photo by:Thjurexoell. How do you end a decades-long conflict between culture and conservation? How do you stop a conflict where both sides are dug in? A new paper in Nature proposes a way to end the long and bitter battle […]
Ecuador makes $116 million to not drill for oil in Amazon
A possibly ground-breaking idea has been kept on life support after Ecuador revealed its Yasuni-ITT Initiative had raked in $116 million before the end of the year, breaking the $100 million mark that Ecuador said it needed to keep the program alive. Ecuador is proposing to not drill for an estimated 850 million barrels of […]
REDD advances—slowly—in Durban
A program proposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation made mixed progress during climate talks in Durban. Significant questions remain about financing and safeguards to protect against abuse, say forestry experts. REDD+ aims to reduce deforestation, forest degradation, and peatland destruction in tropical countries. Here, emissions from land use often exceed emissions […]
Tool to track U.S. REDD+ finance released
Rainforest in Peru. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. A new online tool allows anyone to check U.S. government financial pledges made toward reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) programs in developing countries. The US REDD Finance Database, established by the Tropical Forest Group, contains more than 800 “discrete instances” where U.S. government agencies […]
Yasuni ITT: the virtues and vices of environmental innovation
Collared puffbird (Bucco capensis) in Yasuni National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. As the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place in Durban, Ecuador has embarked on the development of a project presented as highly innovative. This project targets Yasuni […]
Jump-starting REDD finance: $3 billion Forest Finance Facility needed to halve deforestation within a decade
Amazon rainforest in Peru. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. How to finance a means to reduce deforestation, which contributes emissions equivalent to the entire transport sector combined, has had some encouragement at the UN Climate meeting in Durban this week. An à la carte approach, where no source is ruled out, is emerging, leaving the […]
New site is a match-maker for world’s endangered frogs
The golden toad (Bufo periglenes) is one of well-over a hundred frogs that are believed to have gone extinct over the past few decades. Photo by: US Fish and Wildlife Service. A new initiative by the conservation group, Amphibian Ark, hopes to match lonely, vanishing frogs with a prince/princess to to save them. Dubbed FrogMatchMaker.com […]
Forest carbon projects rake in $178 million in 2010
An aerial view of an Amazon tributary in Peru, one of the top countries for projects in the young forest carbon market. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Investors funneled $178 million into forest carbon projects intended to mitigate global climate change last year, according to a new report by Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace. By trading […]
Could blockbuster animated movies help save life on Earth?
Coquerel’s sifakas kissing. The Madagascar film series helped raise the profile of many of the island’s unique species, including lemurs. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Some scientists may scoff at the idea that animated anthropomorphized animals—from Bambi to Simba to Nemo—could have an important impact on conservation efforts to save real-world species, but a new […]
New US stamp seeks to raise money for endangered species
As of today, buying a stamp may help save some of the world’s most beloved and endangered species. The US Postal Service has released a new stamp that will raise money for the Multinational Species Conservation Funds (MSCF) which works to save tigers, rhinos, great apes, marine turtles, and elephants. The new stamp sports the […]
Conservationists renew push for ‘rainforest bonds’
The Amazon rainforest. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Conservationists are renewing a push for a special class of ‘rainforest bonds’ to fund efforts to conserve tropical forests. WWF, the Global Canopy Programme (GCP) and the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) will on Monday issue a report arguing that forest bonds could mobilize private-sector money to augment […]
Loving the tapir: pioneering conservation for South America’s biggest animal
- Compared to some of South America’s megafauna stand-out species – the jaguar, the anaconda, and the harpy eagle come to mind& – the tapir doesn’t get a lot of love.
- This is a shame. For one thing, they’re the largest terrestrial animal on the South American continent: pound-for-pound they beat both the jaguar and the llama.
- For another they play a very significant role in their ecosystem: they disperse seeds, modify habitats, and are periodic prey to big predators.
BBC plans to cancel fruitful Wildlife Conservation Fund
The announcement that the BBC plans to axe its 4-year-old Wildlife Conservation Fund, which has raised nearly $5 million (£3 million) for endangered species worldwide, has spurred an online campaign to save the program. The fund, which raises money largely from BBC viewers—especially those watching its renowned wildlife documentaries—has financed 87 programs around the world […]
Taking corporate sustainability seriously means changing business culture
Clare Raybould at the Auckland Zoo where she volunteers. Photo courtesy of Clare Raybould. As more and more people demand companies to become sustainable and environmentally conscious, many corporations are at a loss of how to begin making the changes necessary. If they attempt to make changes—but fall short or focus poorly—they risk their actions […]
Malaria may hurt conservation efforts, aid poachers
Map courtesy of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Scientists predict that malaria could spread further with climate change. In 2009, 781,000 people died of malaria worldwide and nearly a quarter billion people contracted the mosquito-bourne disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). While the impacts of malaria on people—among the […]
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