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topic: Ecosystem Services
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Paying to prevent deforestation is positive, not ‘nothing’ (commentary)
- Should the world pay people to refrain from their destroying forests, a new commentary asks?
- There is something inherently uncomfortable about paying someone to do ‘nothing’ like not cut down their rainforest, but in reality, the value of these places’ ecosystem services and climate regulation is not much different from dividends shareholders earn by owning stocks.
- “By compensating landholders for the services their forests provide, we recognize their true value and offer a pragmatic response to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change,” the author argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Colombia’s women clam collectors protect Pacific mangroves and mollusks
- Along Colombia’s Pacific coast, women belonging to the Afro-Colombian community who harvest piangüa mollusks have united in efforts to conserve these small, black-shelled clams.
- For generations, piangüa collecting has been their livelihood, a nutrient-rich food source and important symbol of cultural heritage.
- But piangüa populations have diminished in recent years, due to commercialization and overharvesting as well as exports to Ecuador.
- The women piangüeras monitor the local mangroves, crucial to piangüa conservation, and when they observe signs of human disturbance or logging, they encourage people to leave the area alone during “rest periods” so the mangroves can recover.
In Ecuador, a mountain shrub could hold the key to restoring a precious ecosystem
- The spread of agriculture, including the use of fires to clear native vegetation, have devastated Ecuador’s páramo, a high-altitude ecosystem that represents a critical source of drinking water for local communities.
- Reforestation of frailejones, a rare shrub species that helps trap humidity from the air and filter water to the ground, may prove key to restoring the ecosystem.
- A privately financed initiative in Ecuador is researching how to grow the shrub at scale in a nursery for mass replanting, but faces teething challenges in this first-of-its-kind initiative for the country.
Scientists are tracking global wildlife’s contributions to humanity
- New research assesses in detail the contributions of wildlife to people.
- Humanity relies on an array of ecosystem services for well-being and survival, but the provision of these services rely not just on vegetation but also the wild animals that inhabit the same ecosystems.
- They found that vertebrate wildlife on land and in freshwater and marine environments support 12 of the 18 categories of nature’s contributions to people set forth by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
- The authors say that accounting for wildlife along with measures of ecosystems such as vegetation cover will provide a more complete picture of their health and help guide decision-making aiming to ensure that those ecosystems continue to provide critical services to people.
Combined effects of human activities increase risk to ecosystem services
- A global analysis finds that exposure to multiple human-caused stressors is reducing the ability of ecosystems to provide ecosystem services. However, precisely how these myriad human-induced environmental changes interact to disrupt ecosystems and alter these vital services is poorly understood.
- Researchers analyzed more than 1,000 experiments that measured the response of ecosystems to one, two or three human-caused environmental stressors. The scientists found that the ability of ecosystems to maintain their current function declines as the number of stressors they are exposed to increases.
- The scientists also analyzed data from a long-term experiment on the effect of four simultaneous environmental stressors on plant productivity. This single study showed that ecosystem services’ resistance to change gradually declines with long-term exposure to multiple environmental stressors.
- The new study sheds light on a crucial unanswered environmental science question: How do interactions between multiple planetary boundary transgressions accelerate the collapse of key Earth system processes that keep the planet habitable?
The Amazon is ablaze again. What it means for us (commentary)
- The Amazon rainforest, devastated by over 70,000 wildfires in 2019, is once again ablaze, threatening even greater destruction of wildlife, human health, and ecosystems.
- Climate change is now a tangible global threat, with rising sea levels and extreme heat affecting entire regions, while indigenous communities, like the Kogi in Colombia, have long warned of these environmental dangers, argues Mark J. Plotkin, an ethnobotanist who co-founded the Amazon Conservation Team.
- The Amazon, which stores one-fifth of the world’s terrestrial carbon, plays a crucial role in regulating global climate, but continued deforestation risks releasing this carbon and disrupting weather patterns far beyond the region.
- This text is a commentary and does not necessarily represent the views of Mongabay.
‘Senseless’ U.S. trinket trade threatens distinctive Asian bat, study shows
- A new study reveals that small bats from Asia are increasingly being taken from the wild and killed to supply a burgeoning trade in bat-themed ornaments, a significant portion of which is driven by sellers and buyers in the U.S.
- At particular risk is a striking orange-and-black species called the painted woolly bat, which accounted for more than one-quarter of the online trade listings.
- Small bats have been shown to provide crucial pest-control, pollination and nutrient-cycling services in the forest ecosystems in which they live.
- The researchers urge government agencies in painted woolly bat range countries as well as major consumer markets, such as the U.S., to better control the trade by stepping up legal protections.
Conservation pays and everyone’s benefitting from it (commentary)
- In this commentary, Diego Vincenzi, current chief of staff for the Minister of Environment and Energy in Costa Rica, highlights how Costa Rica halted deforestation, achieved 57% forest cover after reaching a low of 21% in the 1980s, and protected 25% of its land while becoming the top per capita agricultural exporter in Latin America..
- Costa Rica’s success stems from a shift in the 1990s towards greener environmental legislation, introducing the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme funded by a fossil fuel tax, which compensates landowners for forest conservation and now includes untitled lands, benefiting native populations.
- FONAFIFO, the institution managing PES, is expanding the program to cover 182,000 hectares annually and introducing biodiversity certificates for estates, aiming to broaden conservation efforts to include mangrove ecosystems, linking land and water for a more sustainable environment.
- This is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.
To conserve large landscapes like the Florida Wildlife Corridor, payments for ecosystem services could be key (commentary)
- Florida has among the fastest-growing state populations of any U.S. state, averaging 1,000 new residents daily which drives the development of natural ecosystems, timberlands, farms, and ranches, reducing habitats for wildlife and open spaces for people to enjoy.
- The Florida Wildlife Corridor aims to protect a continuous, 18-million-acre tract of land spanning the length of the state–from Alabama to the Everglades–to keep 50% of the state undeveloped and provide a much needed corridor for wildlife to move north, south, east or west.
- Because there may not be enough public money to acquire or put easements on all remaining unprotected land within the corridor, payments for ecosystem services agreements–which allow public or private interests to pay landowners for clearly defined ecosystem services like wildlife habitat or water catchment–may become an important component of financing the project, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
As Wall Street assigns a dollar value to nature, Indigenous economics charts different path
- Last year, the New York Stock Exchange proposed a new nature-based asset class which put a price tag on global nature of 5,000 trillion U.S. dollars.
- Though the proposal was withdrawn in January to the relief of many, Indigenous economist Rebecca Adamson argues that an attempt to financialize nature like this — which doesn’t account for the full intrinsic value of ecosystems, and further incentivizes destruction of nature for profit — will likely be revived in the future.
- On this episode of Mongabay's podcast, Adamson speaks with co-host Rachel Donald about Indigenous economic principles based on sustainable usage and respect for nature, rather than unmitigated exploitation of it for profit.
- "The most simple thing would be to fit your economy into a living, breathing, natural physics law framework. And if you look at Indigenous economies, they really talk about balance and harmony, and those aren't quaint customs. Those are design principles," she says.
Where sea otters play, salt marshes stay, new study shows
- A new study has found that sea otters are helping to slow down salt marsh erosion in Elkhorn Slough in California by eating burrowing crabs.
- Drawing on a range of data sources, which included surveys and field experiments, the authors found that in places where sea otters were abundant, the erosion of the salt marsh slowed by as much as 80-90% over the course of the study.
- Salt marshes worldwide are disappearing due to climate change-driven factors such as rising sea levels and other human pressures.
Thailand tries nature-based water management to adapt to climate change
- With an economy largely underpinned by irrigated crops like rice, water is a crucial resource in Thailand. But as climate change exacerbates floods and droughts in the country, sustainable water management is an increasing challenge.
- Nature-based solutions that incorporate the natural processes of the country’s abundant rivers, floodplains and watershed forests are beginning to be trialed via various projects at large and small scales.
- A new report assesses the efficacy of two nature-based approaches to water management in Thailand, which represent a step away from the country’s typically top-down, hard-engineering approach and present several benefits to the environment and communities.
- However, environmental and societal tradeoffs, complex policy frameworks, and the need for greater understanding and expertise around the concept, design and implementation of nature-based approaches are barriers to their widespread implementation.
Carbon credit certifier Verra updates accounting method amid growing criticism
- The world’s largest carbon credit certifier, Verra, has overhauled its methods for calculating the climate impacts of REDD projects that aim to reduce deforestation.
- REDD stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
- The emissions reductions from these projects can be sold on the voluntary carbon market to individuals and companies, which proponents say provides a vital stream of funding for forest conservation.
- The update changes the process for calculating deforestation baselines, which help determine how effective a project has been at reducing forest loss and keeping the carbon those trees contain out of the atmosphere.
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.
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.”
NASA satellites reveal restoration power of beavers
- A new partnership between NASA and researchers is measuring the impact of beavers reintroduced to landscapes in Idaho.
- Beavers are one of the world’s most powerful ecosystem engineers, building new habitats by slowing water flow and reducing flooding, while also boosting biodiversity.
- Beavers are all the more important in an age of rapid climate change, as they produce wetter and more resilient habitats, even in the face of wildfires.
- “NASA is interested in how satellite Earth observations can be used for natural resource management,” a member of the space agency’s Ecological Conservation Program tells Mongabay.
‘Mud, muck and death’: Cambodia’s plan to obstruct trawlers and revive local fishing
- On Cambodia’s coast, a local NGO is building concrete underwater structures in an effort to deter destructive illegal trawlers that kill most everything in the habitat.
- The structures also serve as artificial reefs that provide small nurseries for fish, sponges, grasses and other species.
- An ambitious government plan will erect the structures near 25 fishing communities along the country’s coastline in a bid to revive Cambodia’s nearshore marine fisheries, besieged by years of destructive illegal fishing and increasing development.
- If successful, the plan could bring an influx of funding to fishing communities hit hard by the destruction of marine habitats and loss of income that have forced many to leave in search of other work.
Why should funding Amazon forest sustainability be the world’s top priority? (commentary)
- In this opinion piece, Jonah Wittkamper, Mariana Senna, and Ricardo Politi argue that donors should urgently scale up support for the development of an Amazon bioeconomy based around protecting the world’s largest rainforest.
- Without such intervention, there is a risk of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem collapsing, a development that would destabilize regional rainfall, unleash massive carbon emissions, and drive large-scale species extinction.
- “Jumpstarting the region’s bioeconomy could create a permanent solution by shifting local financial incentives away from deforestation,” they write. “Philanthropy for Amazon bioeconomy development could only be necessary for several years. Catalytic funding could enable the economies of forest protection and regeneration to outcompete the economies of deforestation,” the op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
For Central America, climate bill could top hundreds of billions annually
- Climate change impacts on Central America’s forests could cost the region between $51 billion and $314 billion per year by 2100, according to a new study.
- For some of the countries in region, the loss of ecosystem services provided by forests could lead to losses equivalent to more than three times their GDP.
- This is the first time ecological and economic measurements have been assessed together for climate change impacts in Central America and could help to inform conservation activities like defining protected areas, establishing biological corridors and restoring degraded landscapes.
- While the impacts of climate change are being felt by communities in the region, breakthroughs in computing power as well as collaborations between European universities and Central American research institutions and companies is promoting increased innovation in ecosystem restoration.
Saving forests to protect coastal ecosystems: Japan sets historic example
- For hundreds of years, the island nation of Japan has seen various examples of efforts to conserve its coastal ecosystems, vital to its fisheries.
- An 1897 law created protection forests to conserve a variety of ecosystem services. “Fish forests,” one type of protection forest, conserve watershed woodlands and offer benefits to coastal fisheries, including shade, soil erosion reduction, and the provision of nutrients.
- Beginning in the late 1980s, fishers across Japan started planting trees in coastal watersheds that feed into their fishing grounds, helping launch the nation’s environmental movement. Although the fishers felt from experience that healthy forests contribute to healthy seas, science for many years offered little evidence.
- New research using environmental DNA metabarcoding analysis confirms that greater forest cover in Japan’s watersheds contributes to a greater number of vulnerable coastal fish species. Lessons learned via Japan’s protection and fish forests could benefit nations the world over as the environmental crisis deepens.
Do tiger-dense habitats also help save carbon stock? It’s complicated
- A new study centered on Nepal’s Chitwan National Park attempts to identify whether there’s a relationship between successful tiger conservation and habitats with high levels of carbon locked away in the vegetation.
- It found that within protected areas, high-density mixed forests had the most carbon stock sequestered in vegetation; however, tiger density was highest in riverine forests.
- This represents a trade-off that conservation planners need to tackle between tiger and carbon conservation.
- Researchers have cautioned against generalizing the findings, saying that more studies and data are needed to better understand the issue.
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.
Biodiversity conservation needs a more ecological context and transformational concept (commentary)
- Halting biodiversity loss is one of the great challenges of the 21st century, and if we want international conservation policies that work, we need to urgently re-evaluate how we think ecosystems work, argue the authors of this op-ed.
- We can do so by measuring some core processes of the many unique ecosystems, by employing factors like proxy measuments and analyzing the local ecological and environmental processes taking place in an ecosystem.
- Nations must move away from simplistic policy based on a desire for general rules and instead embrace the complexity of their ecosystems, with the help of researchers and scientists. “Only by protecting this complexity can we protect our diversity into a changing future.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Top mangrove news of 2022
- Mangroves are unique forests adapted to live along the coasts in mostly tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
- Mangroves are in danger as they are cleared to make room for farms, mines, and other human developments.
- Mangroves provide a bevy of important ecosystem services such as flood and erosion control and greenhouse gas storage, and they provide habitat for many species.
- Below are some of the most notable mangrove news items of 2022.
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.
Who decides on ‘priorities’ for ecosystem restoration?
- A set of maps from research published in 2020 in the journal Nature suggested that restoring ecosystems in “priority areas” offered a cheap and effective way to slow climate change and stem the global loss of species.
- Soon after the study’s release, however, researchers from around the world raised concerns about the areas identified by the study, whether the biodiversity- and climate-related gains would be as substantial as the authors claimed, and how decision-makers might use the maps to guide policy.
- The study aimed to point out optimal spots for restoration based on the biggest boost they could provide to avoid the extinction of species and sequester the most carbon at the lowest costs. But, the authors wrote, the study did not consider “socio-economic issues,” and the maps were not intended to directly inform local implementation.
- The study’s critics say that, in spite of the authors’ intentions, investors and policymakers could use the maps in ways that might not consider the impacts on local communities.
Fish return to Southern Brazil after trawling ban
- Small- and large-scale fishers report an increase in the volume and variety of fish species in the Patos Lagoon and the coast of Rio Grande do Sul state.
- Such abundance came after a bill banning motorized trawling on the state’s coast was passed and signed into law in 2018.
- Drafted by fishers and scientists and passed unanimously in the state parliament, the law goes against the interests of President Bolsonaro’s allies.
- Appointed to the Federal Supreme Court by Bolsonaro, Justice Kassio Nunes Marques overturned the Court’s prevailing view and suspended the effects of a previous ruling. On a date yet to be scheduled, the Court’s plenary session will have the final word.
Amazon cloud forests need protection (commentary)
- Where the Andes meet the Amazon, you will find one of the earth’s richest and most important biomes but its role has been largely overlooked in our efforts to mitigate climate change impacts, argues Enrique G. Ortiz of the Andes Amazon Fund.
- After 40 years working in tropical forests, Ortiz says the Amazon cloud forest is his favorite type of forest. In this commentary, he makes the case for why their protection should be a priority for conservation efforts.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
‘It sustains us all’: IPBES report calls for accounting of nature’s diverse values
- A recent assessment from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services calls for the integration of the variety of ways humans value nature.
- Often, many decisions are driven by market-based considerations, which has helped contribute to the global biodiversity crisis, the authors of the assessment say.
- But nature is worth more to humans than just the marketable or tangible.
- By considering these other values, such as cultural identity and spirituality, decision-makers can create policies that are more inclusive and have the potential to stem the worldwide loss of species, the scientists say.
End old-growth logging in carbon-rich ‘crown jewel’ of U.S. forests: Study
- A recent study of the Tongass National Forest, the largest in the United States, found that it contains 20% of the carbon held in the entire national forest system.
- In addition to keeping the equivalent of about a year and a half of the U.S.’s greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere, the forest is also home to an array of wildlife, including bald eagles, brown bears and six species of salmon and trout.
- Scientists and conservationists argue that the forest’s old-growth trees that are hundreds of years old should be protected from logging.
- They are also hoping that efforts by the administration of President Joe Biden are successful in banning the construction of new roads in the Tongass.
As animal seed dispersers go the way of the dodo, forest plants are at risk
- Many plants rely on animals to reproduce, regenerate and spread. But the current sixth mass extinction is wiping out seed-dispersing wildlife that fill this role, altering entire ecosystems.
- Thousands of species help keep flora alive, from birds and bats to elephants, apes and rodents.
- Animals give plants the ability to “move,” with the need for mobility rising alongside warming temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events. Transported elsewhere, plants may be able to “outrun” a warming climate.
- There are growing efforts to restore these critical ecological relationships and processes: protecting and recovering wild lands, identifying and rewilding key animal seed dispersers, reforesting destroyed habitat, and better regulating destructive logging and agricultural practices.
‘Nature has priority’: Rewilding map showcases nature-led restoration
- The Global Rewilding Alliance and OpenForests have officially launched a map of rewilding projects around the world.
- Organizations have contributed stories, photos and videos for projects in 70 countries covering 1 million square kilometers (386,000 square miles), and the alliance’s leaders say more will be added.
- Rewilding is a type of ecological restoration that aims to restore natural dynamics and processes to ecosystems.
- Proponents of the approach say it has the potential to address both biodiversity loss and climate change.
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.
‘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.
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.
Malaysian officials dampen prospects for giant, secret carbon deal in Sabah
- The attorney general of the Malaysian state of Sabah has said that a contentious deal for the right to sell credits for carbon and other natural capital will not come into force unless certain provisions are met.
- Mongabay first reported that the 100-year agreement, which involves the protection of some 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) from activities such as logging, was signed in October 2021 between the state and a Singapore-based firm called Hoch Standard.
- Several leaders in the state, including the attorney general, have called for more due diligence on the companies involved in the transaction.
- Civil society representatives say that a technical review of the agreement is necessary to vet claims about its financial value to the state and its feasibility.
The year in rainforests 2021
- 2021 was a year where tropical forests featured more prominently in global headlines than normal thanks to rising recognition of the role they play in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss.
- Despite speculation in the early months of the pandemic that slowing economic activity might diminish forest clearing, loss of both primary forests and tree cover in the tropics accelerated between 2019 and 2020. We don’t yet know how much forest was cut down in 2021, but early indications like rising deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon suggest that forest loss will be on the high end of the range from the past decade.
- The following is a look at some of the major tropical rainforest storylines from 2021. It is not an exhaustive review.
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.
Study shows ‘encouraging’ results of China’s bid to protect coastal wetlands
- China’s coastal wetlands experienced a significant recovery in recent years after many decades of loss and destruction, a new study suggests.
- Satellite imagery shows that different kinds of coastal wetlands deteriorated between 1984 and 2011, but began to improve from about 2012.
- The degradation of China’s coastal wetlands is largely attributed to land reclamation, construction and other economic activities, the study suggests.
- But the nation has recently recognized the importance of coastal wetlands, and initiated several projects aiming to restore and conserve these ecosystems.
Deforestation notches up along logging roads on PNG’s New Britain Island
- Recent satellite data has shown a marked increase in the loss of tree cover in Papua New Guinea’s East New Britain province.
- Many of the alerts were near new or existing logging roads, indicating that the forest loss may be due to timber harvesting.
- Oil palm production is also growing, altering the face of a province that had more than 98% of its primary forest remaining less than a decade ago.
- The surge in land use changes has affected not only the environment in East New Britain, but also the lives of the members of the communities who depend on it.
Amazonian ecosystems and peoples on the brink – it is time for a new vision (commentary)
- Mercedes Bustamante — a Professor at the University of Brasilia, member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and a lead scientist for the Science Panel for the Amazon — says the world needs to announce a “code red” for the Amazon due to increasing threats to the world’s largest rainforest.
- Bustamante cites evidence gathered in a new synthesis of the scientific knowledge on Amazonian socio-ecological systems, which “summarizes how ecosystems and human populations coevolved in this unique region and documents the unprecedented changes the Amazon has witnessed in recent years and their profound impacts on the continental and global environment.”
- “Saving existing forests from continued deforestation and degradation and restoring ecosystems is one of the most urgent tasks of our time to preserve the Amazon and its people and address the global risk and impacts of climate change,” Bustamante writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Deforestation threatens tree kangaroo habitat in Papua New Guinea
- A proposed conservation area in northwestern Papua New Guinea has experienced a substantial surge in deforestation-related alerts, according to satellite data from the University of Maryland.
- The still-unofficial Torricelli Mountain Range Conservation Area is home to critically endangered tree kangaroo species, along with a host of other biodiversity.
- In May 2021, communities voiced concern about road construction that was approaching the boundaries of the proposed conservation area and that the intended target may have been high-value timber species found within the region’s forests.
- Investment in local communities and the protection of the forests that these communities provide have led to an apparent rise in tree kangaroo populations, but logging and other potentially destructive land uses such as conversion to large-scale agriculture remain threats in the Torricellis and throughout Papua New Guinea.
Inland mangroves reveal a tumultuous climatic past — and hint at our future
- A new study concludes that the presence of inland mangroves along a river in southern Mexico was the result of climate change-driven sea level rise during the Pleistocene Epoch, some 115,000 to 130,000 years ago.
- The researchers’ analysis of the genetic history of the mangrove trees suggests that they are closely related to trees found on the coastline, and sediments nearby are similar to those found in ocean environments.
- Publishing their work Oct. 12 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team notes that their research highlights the impacts of global climate change.
Africa’s montane forests are more carbon-dense than even the Amazon
- Mountain forests store nearly 150 metric tons of carbon dioxide per hectare, a new study estimates, which is more than the Amazon Rainforest per unit area.
- The U.N.’s leading scientific body on climate change, the IPCC, pegs the default value for these forests at 90 metric tons per hectare, underestimating their role in regulating the planet’s climate.
- High-altitude forests cover 16 million hectares (40 million acres) of land in Africa, primarily concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but about 5% has already disappeared since the turn of the century.
- The study authors say they hope the new estimates will make these forests more attractive for carbon finance initiatives.
Climate change threatens traditional extractive communities in the Amazon
- Traditional peoples in the Amazon are already experiencing the scientific community’s warnings that rising temperatures will impact those who depend on the forest for their livelihood.
- Brazil nuts, açaí berries, andiroba oil, copaíba oil, rubber, cacao and cupuaçu fruits are some of the products at risk of disappearance or reduced production in the next 30 years.
- In addition to climate change’s environmental impact on these resources, the social impact will likely bring worsening poverty and an exodus of traditional peoples to urban areas.
Lessons from Brazil’s São Paulo droughts (commentary)
- São Paulo is increasingly facing severe droughts, as is the case in 2021. In 2014 the city came close to having its reservoirs run dry. Brazil’s agriculture and hydropower also depend on reliable rains.
- Anthropogenic climate change is increasing the fluctuations in ocean surface water temperatures, and the frequency is increasing of the combination of warm water in the Atlantic and cold water in the Pacific off the coasts of South America, a combination that leads to droughts in São Paulo.
- The trends in ocean temperatures are expected to worsen these droughts, but what could make them truly catastrophic is the prospect of this variation being combined with the impact of deforestation depriving São Paulo of the water that is recycled by the Amazon forest and transported to southeastern Brazil by the “flying rivers.” The lessons are clear: control global warming and stop deforestation.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Building back Miami’s Biscayne Bay: Do natural solutions hold hope?
- A massive fish kill in August 2020 was a red flag that historically troubled Biscayne Bay in Miami had passed a biodiversity health tipping point.
- Years of scattered efforts and mixed results of various conservation actors working toward the bay’s recovery have begun to fade in favor of more collaborative, inclusive efforts.
- Scientists and citizens are now focusing their efforts on creative ways to restore biodiversity in Biscayne Bay.
Farmers in the Amazon could earn 9 times more and prevent ecosystem collapse
- In this opinion piece, Jonah Wittkamper, Alexander Borges Rose, and Denis Minev argue that agroforestry in the Amazon “can replace cattle, generate new wealth, create jobs and develop new economic zones that insulate pristine forest from deforestation risk.”
- “The opportunity is huge and the needs are urgent,” they write. “If landowners switched from producing soy to a polyculture of fruit and horticultural products, their income would more than triple.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
In Pennsylvania, agroforestry holds a key to cleaning up waterways and Chesapeake Bay
- Scientists and regulators in Pennsylvania are working with farmers to plant trees along streams in the state, in an effort to reduce the level of pollutants entering the water.
- To meet their target of planting 34,800 hectares (86,000 acres) of riparian buffers by 2025, they’re taking a bottom-up approach, starting at the local level.
- For farmers, this can be a profitable endeavor, allowing them to cultivate fruit trees and flowers for additional income.
- The riparian buffers represent another example of an agroforestry system that’s a win-win for ecological outcomes and community well-being and livelihoods.
Momentum is building for a ‘robust’ biodiversity framework: Q&A with Elizabeth Mrema
- One of the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been to rally global ambition for a biodiversity framework that sets the world on a path to a sustainable future, says Elizabeth Maruma Mrema.
- Mrema, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), says there’s growing awareness of the importance of biodiversity for everything from food security to the regulation of water and air quality, to pest and disease regulation.
- “World leaders fully recognize that the continued deterioration and degradation of Earth’s natural ecosystems are having major impacts on the lives and livelihoods of people around the world,” she says.
- In an interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler, Mrema talks about building a robust post-2020 framework after the Aichi Biodiversity Targets fell short, how the conservation sector has changed over her career, and her hopes for the CBD summit coming up later this year.
Rivers can be climate change solutions, too (commentary)
- The usual avenues for addressing and adapting to climate change–like protecting forests and ramping up clean energy sources–typically overlook one powerful solution: rivers.
- Rivers and their floodplains have the potential to act as shock absorbers to climate change, and are powerful agents for keeping wildlife and communities healthy and resilient.
- The most effective climate action plans will account for this and incorporate rivers into their plans for a climate-resilient future, argues Michele Thieme, a freshwater scientist at World Wildlife Fund.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Developing nations pay for rich countries’ hunger for healthy, exotic food
- A new study shows that high-income countries place enormous demands on developing countries’ by importing crops that rely heavily on pollinators.
- The researchers apply the principle of Virtual Water, where goods are seen not just as movements of things but also of raw materials and services, in this case of pollinators.
- A growing demand in places like the U.S. and Europe for healthier diets, rich in fruits and beans, is also putting pressure on scarce pollination services.
- Pollination services may be free, but there are hidden costs to maintaining them, and it is communities in developing countries who pay them, the study suggests.
An economic case for competing in the XPRIZE Rainforest contest (commentary)
- In 2019, XPRIZE Rainforest opened its doors and challenged the world to develop new biodiversity assessment technologies by offering a $10 million prize for the best one.
- In this commentary, Jonah Wittkamper, President of the Global Governance Philanthropy Network and co-founder of NEXUS, makes an economic argument for participating in the contest.
- Wittkamper says a great deal of value could be unlocked with the ability to rapidly assess rainforest biodiversity.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.
Researchers urge better protection as wetlands continue to vanish
- Wetlands provide many benefits to ecological and human communities alike, from nutrients and nurseries to flood control and climate change mitigation.
- However, as much as 87% of the world’s wetlands has been lost over the past 300 years, with much of this loss happening after 1900.
- In response, nations banded together and in 1971 ratified the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty designed to facilitate wetland conservation and sustainable use around the world.
- But 50 years on, researchers say the convention has not led to effective protection and wetlands continue to blink out.
Lasers reveal steep decline in ecosystem function of degraded Amazon forests
- Large portions of the Amazon rainforest are degraded by human activities, such as patchy smallholder farming, timber extraction, and burning.
- Airborne laser scans paired with an ecological model show that these areas store less carbon, carry less water, and are much more fire-prone.
- During periods of extreme drought, intact forests also run out of water and become as hot as degraded forests, stressing the entire ecosystem
‘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.
In mangrove restoration, custom solutions beat one-size-fits-all approach
- The loss of mangrove forests worldwide is slowing, except in Asia, where there’s been a massive increase in deforestation over the past 30 years.
- Previous mangrove restoration projects have proved unsustainable over the long term due to a focus on planting “in the wrong place, the wrong species, the wrong density.”
- A new approach, called community-based ecological mangrove restoration (CBEMR), accounts for an area’s altered hydrology and encourages natural restoration, resulting in better survival rates, faster growth, and a more diverse, resilient forest.
- Proponents say restoration projects must be supported by robust legal frameworks that protect mangroves across national jurisdictions if they are to be successful over the long term.
IPBES report details path to exit current ‘pandemic era’
- A new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) calls for a “transformative change” in addressing the causes of virus outbreaks to prevent future pandemics and their devastating consequences.
- Human-driven climate change, the wildlife trade, and conversion of natural ecosystems all increase the potential for the spillover of viruses that infect animals to people.
- The current COVID-19 pandemic is likely to cost the global economy trillions of dollars, yet preventive measures that include identification of the hundreds of thousands of unknown viruses that are thought to exist would cost only a fraction of that total.
We’re not protecting enough of the right areas to save biodiversity: Study
- In 2010, the member nations of the U.N.’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 195 countries plus the EU, agreed that at least 17% of global land and 10% of the ocean needed to be protected by 2020.
- A new global review finds that many countries have fallen short of these targets, and the expansion of protected areas over the past 10 years has not successfully covered priority areas such as biodiversity hotspots and areas providing ecosystem services.
- The research team overlaid maps of protected areas, threatened species, productive fisheries, and carbon services, and found that 78% of known threatened species do not have adequate protection.
- Adequate protection of the world’s biodiversity will require conservation areas in the right places, the involvement of Indigenous peoples and local communities in decision-making and management, ecologically connectivity between protected areas, and much more financing.
‘Tamper with nature, and everyone suffers’: Q&A with ecologist Enric Sala
- Marine ecologist and National Geographic explore-in-residence Enric Sala has written a new book, The Nature of Nature: Why We Need the Wild, published Aug. 25.
- The book is a primer on “ecology for people in a hurry,” Sala writes, revealing the startling diversity of life on our planet.
- It also serves as a warning, calling out the impacts we humans are having on the global ecosystem, as well as solutions, such as protecting half of the Earth for nature, to address these problems.
In defense of bats in a COVID world (commentary)
- Bats seem to be among the least popular of all animals. Covid-19 hasn’t helped their reputation. But we’ve gotten them all wrong. As you drink a Margarita, think of why that may be.
- Through pest-control, pollination, and seed dispersal of agricultural crops, bats play a critical role in our collective well-being, yet they are commonly scapegoated and persecuted as vectors of disease, writes Enrique G. Ortiz, Senior Program Director at the Andes Amazon Fund.
- The time has come for us to recognize bats contributions and treat them as the magnificent creatures they are, he argues. We need to protect them and their habitats.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.
Everything you need to know about the Amazon rainforest: an interview with Mark Plotkin
- As Earth’s largest rainforest, the Amazon is the planet’s single greatest repository of biodiversity, houses the largest number of uncontacted indigenous tribes, and is home to the world’s mightiest river. Yet the Amazon faces a range of dire threats.
- A new book, The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know succinctly summarizes these issues but also adds important context, color, and factoids on why we should care about the fate of the Amazon.
- The book is written by Mark Plotkin, one of the world’s most foremost experts on ethnobotany and the co-founder of the Amazon Conservation Team, a non-profit that works with indigenous communities to conserve rainforests in the Amazon and northern Colombia.
- Plotkin talked about his new book during a May 2020 interview with Mongabay’s founder Rhett A. Butler.
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.
Will the next coronavirus come from Amazonia? Deforestation and the risk of infectious diseases (commentary)
- Many “new” human diseases originate from pathogens transferred from wild animals, as occurred with the COVID-19 coronavirus. Amazonia contains a vast number of animal species and their associated pathogens with the potential to be transferred to humans.
- Deforestation both brings humans into close proximity to wildlife and is associated with consumption of bushmeat from hunted animals.
- Amazonian deforestation is being promoted by the governments of Brazil and other countries both through actions that encourage clearing and by lack of actions to halt forest loss. The potential for releasing “new” diseases adds one more impact that should make these governments rethink their policies.
- The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.
Extreme El Niño drought, fires contribute to Amazon insect collapse: Study
- A recent study found that dung beetle species experienced significant diversity and population declines in human-modified tropical Brazilian ecosystems in the aftermath of droughts and fires exacerbated after the 2015-2016 El Niño climate event.
- Forests that burned during the El Niño lost, on average, 64% of their dung beetle species while those affected only by drought showed an average decline of 20%. Dung beetles provide vital ecoservices, processing waste and dispersing seeds and soil nutrients.
- For roughly the past three years, entomologists have been sounding alarms over a possible global collapse of insect abundance. In the tropics, climate change, habitat destruction and pesticide use are having clear impacts on insect abundance and diversity. However, a lack of funds and institutional interest is holding back urgently needed research.
US economy will take biggest hit if we continue with business as usual: report
- New research finds that if humans carry on with business as usual and the environmental degradation that results, we will pay a steep price — quite literally.
- Researchers found that if we simply continue under the status quo, the global economy will lose at least $479 billion a year, adding up to nearly $10 trillion in losses by 2050, as compared to the “baseline” scenario in which there is no change in ecosystem services over the next 30 years.
- Of the 140 countries included in the study, the United States stands to take the biggest economic hit, losing $83 billion per year by 2050 under this “business as usual” scenario that includes intense consumption of energy and raw materials, widespread land-use change, ongoing rises in greenhouse gas emissions, and continued loss of biodiversity.
2019: The year rainforests burned
- 2019 closed out a “lost decade” for the world’s tropical forests, with surging deforestation from Brazil to the Congo Basin, environmental policy roll-backs, assaults on environmental defenders, abandoned conservation commitments, and fires burning through rainforests on four continents.
- The following review covers some of the biggest rainforest storylines for the year.
Tropical forests’ lost decade: the 2010s
- The 2010s opened as a moment of optimism for tropical forests. The world looked like it was on track to significantly reduce tropical deforestation by 2020.
- By the end of the 2019 however, it was clear that progress on protecting tropical forests stalled in the 2010s. The decade closed with rising deforestation and increased incidence of fire in tropical forests.
- According to the U.N., in 2015 global forest cover fell below four billion hectares of forest for the first time in human history.
Study finds massive reorganization of life across Earth’s ecosystems
- A new study pulls together data from 239 studies that looked at more than 50,000 biodiversity time series.
- The research reveals that almost 30 percent of all species are being swapped out for other species every 10 years.
- The scientists found that the reorganization and loss of species are happening much more quickly in some environments than in others, a finding that could help inform future conservation.
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.
The unrecognized cost of Indonesia’s fires (commentary)
- As Indonesia’s forests go up in smoke, the world may be losing a lot more than we currently understand, argues Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler in this commentary that was originally published in Singapore’s Straits Times on September 30, 2019.
- In one instance, deforestation in Borneo nearly eradicated a potential anti-HIV drug before it was discovered. The near-miss with the drug, Calanolide A, provides one vivid illustration of what is at risk of being lost as Indonesia’s forests are cleared and burned.
- Other local and regional impacts from continued large-scale destruction of Indonesia’s forests may include hotter temperatures, more prolonged droughts, and increased incidence of fires.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
A healthy and productive Amazon is the foundation of Brazil’s sovereignty (commentary)
- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro likes to assert that foreigners deserve no say over the fate of the Amazon because it is a national sovereignty issue. In making the argument, Bolsonaro at times lays out a grand conspiracy under which a body like the U.N. tries to “internationalize” the Amazon, claiming it as the domain of the world.
- As fires rage, some on social media are raising the idea of the Amazon being the domain of the world. But this discussion plays directly into Bolsonaro’s narrative, strengthening his hand.
- Instead, concerned people of the world should talk about how a healthy and productive Amazon actually underpins Brazil’s sovereignty by strengthening food, water, and energy security, while supporting good relations with its neighbors.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Dam in Ethiopia has wiped out indigenous livelihoods, report finds
- A dam in southern Ethiopia built to supply electricity to cities and control the flow of water for irrigating industrial agriculture has led to the displacement and loss of livelihoods of indigenous groups, the Oakland Institute has found.
- On June 10, the policy think tank published a report of its research, demonstrating that the effects of the Gibe III dam on the Lower Omo River continue to ripple through communities, forcing them onto sedentary farms and leading to hunger, conflict and human rights abuses.
- The Oakland Institute applauds the stated desire of the new government, which came to power in April 2018, to look out for indigenous rights.
- But the report’s authors caution that continued development aimed at increasing economic productivity and attracting international investors could further marginalize indigenous communities in Ethiopia.
Healthy reefs, healthy people: Community-based marine conservation in Papua New Guinea (commentary)
- Marine resources play a vital role in food security for coastal communities across Papua New Guinea, which, after Australia, is the largest and most populated country in Oceania. The maintenance of marine ecosystem integrity (the health of these habitats) ensures the provision of the goods and services communities rely on, including seafood, medicine, coastal protection, and carbon capture.
- Today, these ecosystem services are in jeopardy — but a solution exists in working with local communities to reverse destructive trends.
- Although this community-focused approach takes time, effort, and money, it represents our best chance for long-term success.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Study reveals a fragile web of knowledge linking plants to people
- To understand how indigenous knowledge is structured, researchers chose to focus on communities’ use of palm plants, which are used across the world for a range of economically important needs — from medicine to rituals, roofing to flooring, hair products to handy tote bags.
- The primary goal of the research was not to document the uses of the palms, but to study how knowledge is held in communities and how it might change.
- The team concluded that cultural heritage is just as important as the plants themselves in our realization of nature’s services.
Altered forests threaten sustainability of subsistence hunting
- In a commentary, two conservation scientists say that changes to the forests of Central and South America may mean that subsistence hunting there is no longer sustainable.
- Habitat loss and commercial hunting have put increasing pressure on species, leading to the loss of both biodiversity and a critical source of protein for these communities.
- The authors suggest that allowing the hunting of only certain species, strengthening parks and reserves, and helping communities find alternative livelihoods and sources of food could help address the problem, though they acknowledge the difficult nature of these solutions.
Conservation groups concerned as WHO recognizes traditional Chinese medicine
- The World Health Organization (WHO) will include traditional Chinese medicine in the revision of its influential International Classification of Diseases for the first time.
- The move concerns wildlife scientists and conservationists who say the WHO’s formal backing of traditional Chinese medicine could legitimize the hunting of wild animals for their parts, which are used in some remedies and treatments.
- The WHO has responded by saying that the inclusion of the practice in the volume doesn’t imply that the organization condones the contravention of international law aimed at protecting species like rhinos and tigers.
’Unprecedented’ loss of biodiversity threatens humanity, report finds
- The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services released a summary of far-reaching research on the threats to biodiversity on May 6.
- The findings are dire, indicating that around 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction.
- The full 1,500-page report, to be released later this year, raises concerns about the impacts of collapsing biodiversity on human well-being.
Hippos poop a lot of silica, and that’s critical for Africa’s rivers and lakes
- By chomping on large amounts of silica-rich grass at night, then defecating into the Mara River during the day, hippos help move silicon from land to the water — something that’s vital for the health of the river and lakes further downstream, a new study has found.
- Researchers analyzed samples of soil, water, grass and hippo feces from various points along the Mara River, and found that hippos alone were likely contributing more than 76 percent of the silicon being transported along the river.
- If the Mara River’s hippos decline in number, it could lead to a reduction in the amount of silicon that makes its way to the lakes. This in turn could result in algal blooms that can use up the oxygen in the lakes downstream and kill the fish.
Community buy-in stamps out elephant poaching in Zambian park
- No elephants were poached in Zambia’s North Luangwa National Park in 2018, and the surrounding area had a 50 percent decrease in poached carcasses found.
- The North Luangwa Conservation Programme, a partnership between the Frankfurt Zoological Society and the country’s Department of Parks and Wildlife, has been around since the late 1980s and has focused its efforts on community involvement in stopping poachers from going after elephants, rhinos and other wildlife in the park.
- Staff of the program say the participation of the communities living near the park’s borders is critical to protecting the elephants of North Luangwa.
- The broader Luangwa ecosystem is home to more than 63 percent of Zambia’s elephants.
Deforestation diminishes access to clean water, study finds
- A recent study compared deforestation data and information on household access to clean water in Malawi.
- The scientists found that the country lost 14 percent of its forest between 2000 and 2010, which had the same effect on access to safe drinking water as a 9 percent decrease in rainfall.
- With higher rainfall variability expected in today’s changing climate, the authors suggest that a larger area of forest in countries like Malawi could be a buffer against the impacts of climate change.
Malaysian state chief: Highway construction must not destroy forest
- The chief minister of Sabah, one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo, said that the Pan Borneo Highway project should expand existing roads where possible to minimize environmental impact.
- A coalition of local NGOs and scientific organizations applauded the announcement, saying that it could usher in a new era of collaboration between the government and civil society to look out for Sabah’s people and forests.
- These groups have raised concerns about the impacts on wildlife and communities of the proposed path of the highway, which will cover some 5,300 kilometers (3,300 miles) in the states of Sabah and Sarawak.
Putting the Blue in the Green New Deal (commentary)
- The Green New Deal (GND) is a U.S. resolution that aims to address economic inequality and global warming through a set of proposed economic stimulus projects.
- As nearly half of the U.S. populace lives in or near coastal areas, the GND needs to prioritize the sustainable use and preservation of the marine environment – called the “blue economy.”
- David Helvarg of Blue Frontier and Jason Scorse of the International Environmental Policy Program and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies suggest a series of policy and investment priorities for incorporation of the blue economy into the GND.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Proximity to towns stretches giraffe home ranges
- A recent study found that female giraffes that live close to towns have larger home ranges than those living further afield.
- The study’s authors believe that large human settlements reduce giraffes’ access to food and water.
- The team cites the importance of understanding the size of the area that giraffe populations need to survive to address the precipitous decline in the animal’s numbers across Africa in the past 30 years.
Indigenous hunters vital to robust food webs in Australia
- A new study has found that the removal of indigenous hunters from a food web in the Australian desert contributed to the local extinction of mammal species.
- The Martu people had subsisted in the deserts of western Australia for millennia before the government resettled them to make space for a missile test range in the 1950s.
- A team of researchers modeled the effects of this loss, revealing that the hunting fires used by the Martu helped maintain a diverse landscape that supported a variety of mammals and kept invasive species in check.
What’s in a name? The role of defining ‘wilderness’ in conservation
- In a recent opinion piece published in the journal Nature, several ecologists question recent efforts to delineate areas of wilderness and intactness around the world to define conservation targets.
- They argue that it would be better to build broadly supported consensus that includes the perspectives of local and indigenous communities.
- But the leader of a team that recently mapped out the remaining wilderness on land and in the ocean said that identifying these areas and developing new targets that incorporate their conservation is critical because current international agreements do not prioritize their protection.
Conservation groups press world leaders to protect 30% of the planet
- Thirteen nature conservation organizations are urging world leaders to back a plan to protect 30 percent of the world’s surface and oceans by 2030.
- Recent research has shown that less than a quarter of the world’s wilderness still remains.
- The group released a statement as negotiators were meeting in Japan to begin drafting a plan to meet that goal.
Wetland forests: What are they worth? (commentary)
- The wetland forests of the Southern United States are a valuable, yet vulnerable, national treasure. Their tangled branches, ancient butted roots, and swampy mystique conceal rare and beautiful wildlife and are deeply ingrained in the cultural heritage of the region.
- Wetland forests provide vital ecosystem services for people living in the U.S. South. These benefits include protecting communities from the worst impacts of hurricanes and flooding, supporting a vibrant recreation economy, improving property values, providing opportunities for ecotourism, filtering water, treating waste, supporting pollinators, growing food and forest products, and even cooling the worst of the South’s sticky hot summers.
- Just a few hundred years ago, the swamps of the South were drastically different. They stretched over the landscape where tree plantations, farms, and cities have now replaced them. The forested wetlands of the Southern US and the myriad benefits they provide are crucial to the health and wellbeing of the region, which is why we should work to protect them.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Saving the forests of the Congo Basin: Q&A with author Meindert Brouwer
- Central African Forests Forever, first published in 2017, takes readers to the heart of the continent, introducing them to the people and wildlife of this region.
- Its author, independent communications consultant Meindert Brouwer, says the book also functions as a tool for sharing information about efforts to address poverty and environmental issues in the region.
- Mongabay spoke with Brouwer to learn more about his motivations and the reception of his work in Central Africa.
The biggest rainforest news stories in 2018
- This is our annual rainforests year in review post.
- Overall, 2018 was not a good year for the planet’s tropical rainforests.
- Rainforest conservation suffered many setbacks, especially in Brazil, the Congo Basin, and Madagascar.
- Colombia was one of the few bright spots for rainforests in 2018.
The true story of how 96 critically endangered sea turtle hatchlings survived New York City
- On this episode, the true story of how 96 critically endangered sea turtles survived a New York City beach — with a little help from some dedicated conservationists.
- This past summer, beachgoers in New York City spotted a nesting Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle on West Beach, which is on National Park Service land.
- Luckily, two of those beachgoers had the presence of mind to call the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation’s 24-hour hotline to report the nesting turtle — which very likely saved the lives of 96 Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle hatchlings.
New research quantifies ecosystem services provided by Amazon rainforest
- New research published in the journal Nature Sustainability this month attempts to establish the monetary value of the ecosystem services provided by the world’s largest tropical forest, the Amazon.
- Researchers estimated that, in total, the Amazon contributes as much as $8.2 billion to Brazil’s economy on an annual basis. Some $3.3 billion of that total is generated from privately owned forest areas, they found, while areas under protection, sustainable use areas, and indigenous lands together contribute $3 billion.
- In the study, the researchers write that their findings can help inform tropical forest conservation measures, such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes, that allow for sustainable use of forests — and that their findings show the importance of conserving the rainforest not only to protect its rich biodiversity but also to ensure the sustainability of agricultural production in Brazil.
The forested path to climate stability (commentary)
- Halting and reversing deforestation is critical for climate stability — this alone could reduce the world’s net carbon emissions by up to 30 percent. Furthermore, forests and land offer the most cost-effective way to store more carbon right now.
- In September, leaders from around the world will gather in California for the Global Climate Action Summit. The agenda focuses on the twin truths of climate change: While we are making real progress, we need to move much more ambitiously and quickly to seize the opportunities right in front of us.
- There are many paths to climate stability, and we need to follow all of them. Some of these paths — and particularly those that lead through fields and forests — are less traveled.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Biodiversity and the society of superlatives (commentary)
- The media is full of references to the vast number of species in tropical ecosystems: “Megadiverse Ecuador;” “Colombia, the most biodiverse country on Earth;” “Life at its purest!” Every tropical country has its own. But the way we use these superlatives and the richness that they try to represent tells us something important about the way in which we perceive and relate to biodiversity and natural systems.
- Perpetuating this bias can lead us down two slippery paths. First, it masks the complexity of natural systems and the diversity of life strategies. The importance of an ecosystem is reduced to a measurement of the number of species that it harbors. Second, we end up ignoring the intrinsic value of species and ecosystems.
- Changing this misplaced emphasis on species richness will require significant reforms in all levels of our education systems. In the name of conservation, Nature has been turned into an economic asset and, in many instances, its usefulness for humans has become the only value that we can bring to light for the common citizen.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Tracking the shift of tropical forests from carbon sink to source
- Improved maps of carbon stocks, along with a better understanding of how tropical forests respond to climate change, are necessary to meet the challenge of keeping the global temperature below a 2-degree-Celsius (3.6-degree-Fahrenheit) rise, according to scientist Edward Mitchard of the University of Edinburgh.
- Currently, tropical forests take up roughly the same amount of carbon as is released when they’re cleared or degraded.
- But climatic changes, which lead to more droughts and fires resulting in the loss of tropical trees, could shift the balance, making tropical forests a net source of atmospheric carbon.
Forest communities pay the price for conservation in Madagascar
- In a two-year investigation of a REDD+ pilot project, a team of researchers spoke with more than 450 households affected by the establishment of a large protected area called the Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor, a 3,820-square-kilometer (1,475-square-mile) tract of rainforest in eastern Madagascar.
- The REDD+ project, supported by Conservation International and the World Bank, was aimed at supporting communities by providing support for alternative livelihoods to those communities near the Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor protected area.
- They found that the REDD+ project’s preliminary studies identified less than half of those negatively affected by the Corridor’s designation.
- The team also discovered that the value of the one-off compensation, in the form of support to pursue other livelihoods, fell far short of the opportunity costs that the communities are likely to face as a result of losing access to the forest in the coming decades.
Indigenous stewardship is critical to success of protected areas (commentary)
- A recent article in Science reports that, while the portion of the world’s terrestrial surface allocated to protected areas has grown to around one-sixth of the area available, a significant number of these areas are so compromised by human pressures that they may be unable to meet their conservation goals.
- What we increasingly understand is that if we are to address the threats posed by activities ranging from logging and mining to agriculture and urbanization effectively, we must seek out local solutions where possible. That means drawing on the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and safeguarding their rights.
- In case after case, the world’s remaining strongholds of biodiversity remain intact thanks to the stewardship of the people living there. That is why conservation organizations have supported Indigenous Peoples and local communities as they negotiate with governments to win recognition of resource rights.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Mangroves and their deforestation may emit more methane than we thought
- A recently published study finds mangroves release more methane than previously estimated.
- Methane packs much more of a global warming punch than carbon dioxide, and the study indicates this methane could be offsetting around 20 percent of a mangrove’s soil carbon storage rate.
- Deforestation of mangroves releases much of the carbon stored by mangroves, including methane.
Nature retention, not just protection, crucial to maintaining biodiversity and ecosystems: Scientists
- In a paper published last week in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, a team of Australian researchers argue that we need to shift conservation goals to focus on diverse and ambitious “nature retention targets” if we’re to truly safeguard the environment, biodiversity, and humanity.
- The researchers, who are affiliated with Australia’s University of Queensland (UQ) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), make a distinction between targets aimed at retaining natural systems and the current model that seeks to achieve targets for setting aside land as protected areas.
- Rather than simply setting a certain amount of the planet’s land and seas aside, nature retention targets would establish the baseline levels of natural system functions that we need to preserve in order to ensure the health of ecosystems and the services they provide.
Logging roads drive loss of intact forest in FSC-certified logging concessions
- Logging roads in Central Africa cause greater loss of intact forest landscapes, or IFLs, on certified timber concessions compared to non-certified concessions, an analysis shows.
- Certified timber companies typically build more robust road networks that are more apt to show up on satellite imagery than non-certified companies.
- The findings highlight an apparent contradiction between certification for logging and the protection of IFLs, leading some critics to argue that IFL protection should not be part of the Forest Stewardship Council’s standards.
Scientists find surprising genetic differences between Brazil’s mangroves
- Mangrove forests occupy tropical costal areas and provide important habitat for wildlife, as well as ecosystem services for human communities. They’re also carbon storage powerhouses, pound-for-pound capable of sequestering four times more carbon than a rainforest.
- Researchers analyzed the genes of mangrove forests along the coast of Brazil. They found that trees in different forests show “dramatic” differences from one another, even when they belong to the same species.
- They think these differences arose because an ocean current separates mangroves in northern and southern Brazil, making it so they can’t exchange genes.
- The researchers suspect the genetic distinctiveness of mangrove populations extends beyond Brazil. They say their results highlight the importance of enacting conservation plans that give a higher priority to the preservation of genetic diversity – an endeavor they say is becoming more and more critical for mangroves as they continue to disappear and climate change ramps up.
As biomass energy gains traction, southern US forests feel the burn
- An estimated 50 to 80 percent of southern wetland forest is now gone, and that which remains provides ecosystem services totaling $500 billion as well as important wildlife habitat. Logging is considered one of the biggest threats to the 35 million acres of remaining wetland forest in the southern U.S., and conservation organizations are saying this threat is coming largely from the wood pellet biomass industry.
- Touted as a renewable energy source, research shows wood pellets release more carbon dioxide than coal per megawatt of electricity produced and industry critics worry that incentivizing this energy source could actually be accelerating climate change.
- Experts argue that biomass energy effectively acts as a loophole for countries to under-report their carbon emissions and give a false impression of meeting Paris Agreement objectives. Research indicates pellet production plants also have a negative impact on air and water quality.
- But industry proponents say biomass energy is an important component of mitigating climate change and that regulations will ensure its sustainability.
New study finds mangroves may store way more carbon than we thought
- A new study finds mangrove soil held around 6.4 billion metric tons of carbon in 2000.
- Between 2000 and 2015, up to 122 million tons of this carbon was released due to mangrove forest loss – roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of Brazil. More than 75 percent of these soil carbon emissions came from mangrove deforestation in just three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar.
- Mangroves provide a slew of benefits in addition to storing carbon, reducing flooding and erosion from storms, acting as nurseries for fish, and filtering pollutants from water.
- Research indicates at least 35 percent of the world’s mangrove forests may have been lost between 1980 and 2000. Mangroves are deforested for many reasons, including to make room for shrimp farms and other forms of aquaculture, as well as for their wood. Mangroves also depend on the presence of freshwater and can die when dams and other developments stem the flow of rivers. Scientists also believe they’re at risk of mass drowning as global warming raises sea levels.
US urban areas are losing 36 million trees every year, study finds
- Forest Service researchers estimate that urban areas in the U.S. lost a collective total of 1 percent of their tree cover between 2009 and 2014. In total, around 175,000 acres of tree cover was lost annually.
- At the same time, they found “impervious surfaces” like asphalt roads and buildings increased at 1 percent per year.
- Trees provide a variety of benefits to cities from shielding buildings from the sun and reducing cooling costs and energy consumption, filtering pollutants from water and air, mitigating flooding and erosion, and helping in the fight against global warming by storing carbon. In total, analysts estimate urban trees save the U.S. around $18.3 billion every year. Impervious surfaces do not provide these benefits and often have the opposite effect.
- The researchers urge changes to management policy to prioritize tree cover and create more programs focused on protecting urban forests.
Island logging must go beyond current ‘best practices’ to avoid erosion: New study
- In a new study, a team of ecologists modeled what would happen if companies were allowed to log the forests of Kolombangara Island under several management scenarios, including those designed to minimize soil erosion and protect water quality.
- As the model simulated higher proportions of land clearance, the most stringent methods couldn’t stop the soil erosion that would foul clean water and agricultural land for the island’s people, as well as the habitats of local aquatic plants and animals.
- The Kolombangara Island Biodiversity Conservation Association is spearheading an effort to get intact forests at elevations higher than 400 meters (1,310 feet) designated as a national park on the island.
Leopards could reduce rabies by controlling stray dog numbers in India, study finds
- Stray dogs make up about 40 percent of the diet of the roughly 40 leopards currently living in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, according to a recent study.
- Dog bites lead to perhaps 20,000 deaths from rabies each year in India, according to the World Health Organization.
- A team of scientists figures that leopards kill 1,500 stray dogs each year, reducing the number of bites by about 1,000 per year and the number of rabies cases by 90.
Ecotourism payments for more wildlife sightings linked to conservation benefits in Laos
- A four-year research project in a national protected area in Laos established a connection between higher payments for more wildlife sightings and improved protections for wildlife.
- Over the course of the study, sightings of common wildlife rose by more than 60 percent.
- Payments were funded by the entry fees paid by tourists.
- They were placed in village development funds, which would then finance projects like school construction and healthcare.
Mangrove deforestation may be releasing more CO2 than Poland, study finds
- A new study calculates that, worldwide, mangroves were storing 4.19 billion metric tons of carbon in 2012, representing a 2 percent loss since 2000. It estimates that number had dropped further to 4.16 billion metric tons by 2017.
- In total, the study estimates that this lost carbon translates to as much as 317 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of around 67.5 million passenger vehicles in the U.S. and more than the 2015 emissions of Poland.
- The researchers found Indonesia harbors the lion’s share of the world’s mangroves – around 30 percent – while also experiencing the biggest proportion of its 2000-2012 mangrove carbon loss, with deforestation there accounting for more than 48 percent of the global total. Other parts of Southeast Asia, such as Myanmar, are also undergoing high rates of mangrove deforestation, making the entire region a hotspot of global mangrove carbon loss.
- Previous research estimates that between 30 and 50 percent of the world’s mangroves have been lost over the past 50 years. Deforestation for shrimp, rice and palm oil are among the biggest drivers of mangrove decline.
New study: Radar reveals bats are a bellwether of climate change
- New research indicates that bats could signal seasonal shifts due to climate change.
- The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, is the first to use radar to track an animal migration.
- The scientists found that bats that migrate between Mexico and a cave in Texas are now arriving about two weeks earlier than they did in 1995.
‘Photo Ark’ a quest to document global biodiversity: Q&A with photographer Joel Sartore and director Chun-Wei Yi
- The film “RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark” follows National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore as he travels the world snapping pictures of thousands of different animal species.
- In the last 12 years, Sartore has photographed nearly 8,000 species.
- “RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark” was named Best Conservation Film at the New York WILD Film Festival.
Protected areas with deforestation more likely to lose status in Brazilian state
- A recent study finds that ineffective protected areas stand a lower chance of surviving if deforestation has occurred within their boundaries.
- The research took place in the state of Rondônia in the Brazilian Amazon.
- The team of scientists also found that protected areas that work are less likely to be carved up for development.
- The authors argue that removing safeguards, even from degraded areas, does not take into account the benefits that we may derive from existing protected areas, including carbon storage and clean water.
Carbon pricing could save millions of hectares of tropical forest: new study
- Recently published research in the journal Environmental Research Letters found that setting a price of $20 per metric ton (about $18/short ton) of carbon dioxide could diminish deforestation by nearly 16 percent and the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by nearly 25 percent.
- The pair of economists calculated that, as things currently stand, the world stands to lose an India-size chunk of tropical forest by 2050.
- In addition to carbon pricing, stricter policies to halt deforestation, such as those that helped Brazil cut its deforestation rate by 80 percent in the early 2000s, could save nearly 1 million square kilometers (386,000 square miles).
Maps tease apart complex relationship between agriculture and deforestation in DRC
- A team from the University of Maryland’s GLAD laboratory has analyzed satellite images of the Democratic Republic of Congo to identify different elements of the “rural complex” — where many of the DRC’s subsistence farmers live.
- Their new maps and visualizations allow scientists and land-use planners to pinpoint areas where the cycle of shifting cultivation is contained, and where it is causing new deforestation.
- The team and many experts believe that enhanced understanding of the rural complex could help establish baselines that further inform multi-pronged approaches to forest conservation and development, such as REDD+.
Friend, not foe: Review highlights benefits of predators and scavengers
- Predators are typically better known for harassing pets and livestock or being the source of disease than they are for the valuable — and often less visible — services they provide.
- A review published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution catalogs benefits provided by predators to humans documented in the scientific literature.
- Authors of the review highlighted instances that ranged from the potential for mountain lions to cut down deer-vehicle collisions, bats that save corn farmers at least $1 billion annually, and vultures that clear away tons of organic waste.
Waterbirds flock to well-run countries, new study shows
- A new study demonstrates that how a country is governed is the factor that has the most influence on waterbird populations.
- Governance plays a bigger role than climate change or human population booms.
- The authors suggest that waterbirds, which include ducks, flamingos and pelicans, could serve as indicators to demonstrate the impact that governance has on biodiversity in general.
Chainsaws imperil an old-growth mangrove stronghold in southern Myanmar
- Tanintharyi, Myanmar’s southern-most state, is home to the country’s last remaining old-growth mangrove forest. The trees support village life and a booming fishing industry up and down the coast.
- But logging for charcoal and fuel wood, much of it illegal, is taking a toll. Studies show that roughly two-thirds of the region’s remaining mangrove forests have been degraded, with consequences for people and wildlife.
- Conservationists are attempting to expand community forestry and set up mangrove reserves to combat the widespread degradation.
Building a refuge where trawlers now ravage Cambodia’s marine life
- In Cambodia’s Kep Archipelago, fleets of trawlers dragging weighted, electrified nets have reduced the area’s once sprawling seagrass meadows to a sludgy underwater wasteland and sent fisheries into a tailspin.
- Here and around the world, seagrass meadows are in decline. But these critical habitats serve as nurseries and feeding grounds for many marine organisms, as well as bulwarks against climate change and ocean acidification by capturing carbon dioxide.
- In the Kep Archipelago a small NGO is working to establish a marine refuge that will keep the trawlers at bay so seagrass meadows can recover and depleted fish stocks can return to life.
Mammal diversity may increase carbon storage in rainforests
- Having a diverse mix of mammals may play a more pivotal role than expected in the carbon cycle of tropical forests, by feeding microbes that lock the carbon from food scraps in the soil.
- Hundreds of indigenous research technicians collected data for this study across an area roughly the size of Costa Rica.
- Conserving mammal species will become increasingly important in efforts to protect the health of rainforest ecosystems, researchers suggest.
The world lost an area of tree cover the size of New Zealand last year
- A new analysis of satellite data found 29.7 million hectares of tree cover was lost in 2016. The number represents a 51 percent jump over 2015.
- The analysts say fire is the big culprit. The data indicate big upticks in fires around the around the world, both in areas where fire naturally occurs as well as wetter areas of the tropics where fire is a rare phenomenon.
- El Nino coupled with human-caused land disturbance like slash-and-burn clearing is thought to have been a big contributor to increase in fire activity around the world.
- Preliminary data indicate 2017 may also be a big fire year. The analysts recommend improved forest management to lower the risks of fire and tree cover loss.
New study: Risky roads cause more than just environmental harm
- Globally, 25 million kilometers (15.5 million miles) of paved roads are planned for construction by 2050.
- A new study, published Monday in the journal Current Biology, examines the environmental, socio-political and economic risks that accompany road building, particularly in the developing world.
- The authors argue for a more deliberate process to select sites for roads that will produce the most economic benefit while minimizing damage to the environment.
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.”
UNEP official calls for ‘coherent planning’ as Aichi falters in Africa
- International agreements are increasingly looking at conserving forests as a way to mitigate global warming, preserve biodiversity and safeguard human communities from environmental disasters.
- An assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has found many forest-related Aichi Targets of the Convention of Biological Diversity will not achieve their goals at their current rates of progress.
- Over the past few years, more forest-conservation goals have been adopted by UN member countries. But a UNEP official says this duplication of efforts may actually be derailing forest conservation.
- He recommends a more streamlined approach focused on the Aichi Targets and Sustainable Development Goals.
Legendary musician Bruce Cockburn on music, activism, and hope
- Music has a unique ability to inspire awareness and action about important issues — and we’re excited to welcome a living legend onto the program to discuss that very topic.
- Bruce Cockburn, well known for his outspoken support of environmental and humanitarian causes, appears on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast.
- Our second guest is Amanda Lollar, founder and president of Bat World Sanctuary, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Texas.
- All that plus the top news!
Communities struggle to save Sabah’s shrinking mangroves
- A development plan establishing shrimp farms and timber plantations begun purportedly to reduce poverty in northern Sabah, Malaysia, has attracted criticism from local communities and NGOs, which say the project is ignoring communities’ land rights.
- Satellite imagery shows the clearing of large tracts of mangrove forest for shrimp farms. Critics of the development say this is depriving forest-dependent local communities of their livelihoods as well as threatening mangrove wildlife.
- Several communities have banded together and are together petitioning the government to officially recognize their rights to the remaining mangroves and prevent further clearing for development.
Trees provide ecosystem services worth $500 million to the world’s megacities
- Just as they do in forests and other natural ecosystems, trees deliver a variety of ecosystem services in cities. They sequester carbon and reduce air pollution and stormwater runoff, for instance.
- Researchers looked at 10 megacities on five continents that lie in five different biome types: Beijing, China; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cairo, Egypt; Istanbul, Turkey; London, UK; Los Angeles, United States; Mexico City, Mexico; Moscow, Russia; Mumbai, India; and Tokyo, Japan.
- They determined that trees provide an average of $505 million in benefits to each megacity every year, or about $1.2 million per square kilometer of trees.
Sixth mass extinction ‘tsunami’ coming, but preventable
- Biologist Thomas Lovejoy writes in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that we can stop the current spate of biodiversity and species loss that the Earth is experiencing.
- Pointing to a recent study showing that many animals are declining in numbers in addition to those facing the imminent risk of extinction, Lovejoy argues that we need to address all of the impacts that humans have on ecosystems.
- He calls for the restoration of degraded forests and wetlands — activities in which everyone can participate — to facilitate the movement of wildlife between habitats and bring back the services that ecosystems provide.
Mothers vs. loggers: the destruction of Białowieża Forest splits Poland
- A bark beetle outbreak has led Polish officials to begin large-scale logging across old-growth Białowieża Forest, home to bison, wolves and a rich cultural history.
- The logging is opposed by everyone from scientists to the UN to the European Commission to a group of mothers concerned about the world their children will inherit.
- The European Commission has recently declared that all logging should cease.
Transforming business as usual in Indonesia: an interview with Aida Greenbury
- Aida Greenbury is the former Chief Sustainability Officer at Asia Pulp & Paper, a forestry giant with extensive operations in Indonesia.
- Greenbury was the lead internal architect for APP’s 2013 forest conservation policy, which is today one of the most ambitious zero deforestation commitments in the plantation sector.
- Greenbury left APP in May and is today working on collaborative initiatives to protect and restore ecosystems.
Ongoing mass extinction causing ‘biological annihilation,’ new study says
- Building on research in which they showed that two species have gone extinct per year over the past century, a team of biologists analyzed the population trends for 27,600 vertebrates around the world.
- They found that nearly a third of the animals they looked at were on the decline.
- In a closer look at 177 well-studied mammals, the team found that all had lost 30 percent or more of their home ranges, and 40 percent had lost at least 80 percent of their habitat.
Study: Biodiversity poorly protected by conservation areas worldwide
- The study identified the highest concentrations of species, phylogenetic and functional biodiversity on Earth and determined how well the current network of protected areas encompasses these dimensions.
- The three facets of biodiversity overlap on only 4.6 percent of land on Earth, with only 1 percent under protection.
- The research points to areas that could be prioritized to maximize the amount of unique biodiversity protected.
The fight to save Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem
- One of the richest, most biodiverse tropical forests on the planet, Leuser is currently being targeted for expansion of oil palm plantations by a number of companies.
- Tillack explains just what makes Leuser so unique and valuable, details some of her organization’s investigations into the ongoing clearance of Leuser in violation of Indonesia’s moratorium on deforestation for new oil palm plantations, and how consumers like you and me can help decide the fate of the region.
- We also welcome to the show research ecologist Marconi Campos Cerqueira for our latest Field Notes segment. Cerqueira has recently completed a study that used bioacoustic monitoring to examine bird ranges in the mountains of Puerto Rico, and he’ll share some of his recordings with us on today’s show.
Slight bumps in protected areas could be a boon for biodiversity
- Increasing protected areas by 5 percent in strategic locations could boost biodiversity protection by a factor of three.
- The study examined global protected areas and evaluated how well they safeguard species, functional and evolutionary biodiversity.
- More than a quarter of species live mostly outside protected areas.
- The new strategy from the research leverages the functional and evolutionary biodiversity found in certain spots and could help conservation planners pinpoint areas for protection that maximize all three types of biodiversity.
New leaf-nosed bat uncovered amidst burning habitat in Venezuela
- Using genetic and morphologic comparisons, scientists uncovered a new leaf-nosed bat species they named Sturnia adrianae. The species inhabits montane forest in northern Venezuela and Colombia.
- The species is comprised of two subspecies, one of which is restricted to an isolated mountain range in northeastern Venezuela where human-caused fires are common.
- The study’s lead author recommends increasing conservation and scientific attention for the area to preserve bat habitat, safeguard water supplies, and help prevent landslides like those that recently killed at least 250 people in Mocoa, Colombia.
A Bornean village conserves a forest the government listed for cutting
- Residents of Bawan village in Indonesia Borneo applied for a permit to manage their land as a “village forest,” a form of community forestry being pushed by President Joko Widodo’s administration.
- The national government had designated the area as “production forest,” meaning it could be sold to a plantation or mining company, but residents chose instead to protect the land.
- “I consider Bawan’s village forest a champion project,” said Lilik Sugiarti, a USAID representative who helped to bring it about.
Deforestation-free commodities represent a major investment opportunity: Report
- Agricultural commodities — especially beef, palm oil, soy, and pulp and paper — have become an increasingly important driver of deforestation over the past couple decades, particularly in the tropics.
- While there’s a lot of work left to be done, WEF and TFA 2020 see momentum building toward a sea change in the global supply chain for these much-in-demand commodities.
- Overcoming the barriers to sustainable production of the big four commodities and supporting the transition to deforestation-free supply chains represents an investment opportunity that will “roughly total US$ 200 billion annually” by 2020, per the report.
Police clash with protesters marching against power plant in Bangladesh
- The protesters were showing their disapproval of a new coal-fired power plant currently under construction.
- Injuries were reported, with estimates varying from five to 50.
- Critics of the project say it poses threats to the nearby Sundarbans mangrove – the largest mangrove forest in the world – as well as to the health of thousands of local residents.
- The Bangladeshi government is supporting the project and insists it poses no danger.
Local NGOs: Ecosystem services, not orangutans, key to saving Leuser
- Sumatra’s Leuser ecosystem covers 2.6 million hectares, encompasses two mountain ranges, three lakes, nine river systems and three national parks. It boasts 10,000 species of plant and 200 species of mammal — dozens found nowhere else on earth. Of the 6,000 orangutans left in Sumatra, 90 percent live in Leuser.
- But the region has been under siege by the government of Aceh, which has repeatedly tried to sell off concessions to oil palm companies that encroach on the borders of conserved lands.
- While international environmental NGOs have focused on saving Leuser’s orangutans, local NGOs have had far more success focusing on the US $23 billion in ecosystem services provided by the preserve — including flood prevention, water supply, agro-ecology, tourism, fire prevention, carbon sequestration, and more.
- Many rural Sumatrans see orangutans not as important endangered species to be protected, but rather as garden and farm pests. Local organizers like Rudi Putra and T.M. Zulfikar are building a homegrown Sumatran conservation movement that relies heavily on litigation over the potential loss of Leuser’s ecosystem services.
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.
Higher incomes driving Indonesian smallholders to oil palm and rubber
- Interviews with more than 460 farming households led the scientists to conclude that farmers making the switch to a single crop chasing better incomes.
- More than 40 scientists from Indonesia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Germany were involved in the research.
- The research is part of the EFForTS project, based at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
Tree biodiversity critical to forest productivity, study finds
- A team of more than 80 researchers collected data in 44 countries covering nearly all major forest ecosystems.
- In natural forests, they were able to show accelerating declines in productivity as the forest loses more tree species.
- Based on their calculations, the value of tree species biodiversity is $166-$490 billion.
World’s watersheds lost 6 percent of their forests in 14 years
- Watersheds are important ecologically and for human communities, and forests have an important role in mitigating pollution, erosion, and flooding.
- An analysis of data collected between 2001 and 2014 found high rates of forest loss in many of the world’s 230 watersheds, averaging 6 percent tree cover loss globally.
- Some areas have been particularly hard-hit, with Sumatra losing up to 22 percent of its tree cover in 14 years.
Yosemite as a case study in protected area downsizing and habitat fragmentation
- Legal changes to Yosemite’s boundaries demonstrate that even the U.S.’s national parks are not always safe from protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement — often referred to as PADDD.
- Yosemite National Park was downsized twice and had five additions made between 1905 and 1937, resulting in a nearly 30 percent net reduction in the size of the park.
- Researchers found that PADDD leads to habitat fragmentation, so it’s perhaps good news that the team also found that PADDD is reversible.
Peru’s new environmental policies: What are they and will they work?
- The new policies are the result of collaboration between Peru’s government and NGOs.
- Those involved say they provide a unifying strategy for the country’s forests as well as multiple policy objectives for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
- The policies have been approved by the central government, but it isn’t yet clear if they will be fully implemented at the regional level.
- Another wildcard is Peru’s new presidential administration, which appears to be focused on economic growth.
Sri Lanka set to become first nation to protect all mangroves
- Mangroves provide many ecosystem services, from protecting shorelines and serving as nurseries for fishes and crustaceans to sequestering carbon.
- Mangroves are one of the most threatened tropical ecosystems on the planet, declining by more than 50 percent in as many years.
- Major drivers of mangrove deforestation include conversion for agricultural purposes, dam-building, and firewood collection. Scientists believe rising sea levels from global warming will be a big future threat.
- Sri Lanka’s new museum is part of a project launched last year that aims to protect the country’s 8,800 hectares of mangrove forests and restore 3,900 hectares. The museum seeks to attract more than 20,000 visitors in its first year.
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.
10 reasons to be optimistic for forests
- It’s easy to be pessimistic about the state of the world’s forests.
- Yet all hope is not lost. There are remain good reasons for optimism when it comes to saving the world’s forests.
- On the occasion of World Environment Day 2016 (June 5), the United Nations’ “day” for raising awareness and encouraging action to protect the planet, here are 10 forest-friendly trends to watch.
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.
Conservation’s people problem
- Since its beginnings, conservation has had a people problem. An ugly history of marginalizing indigenous and local communities living in ecosystems designated for protection has made re-gaining trust and building relationships with these groups one of the toughest aspects of conservation today.
- In Part 4 of Conservation, Divided, veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance explores how the field has shifted to embrace local communities as partners in conservation — and the work that remains to be done.
- 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.
Conservation today, the old-fashioned way
- There used to be one way to do good conservation: save a species and protect some land or water. But as the human population has exploded, the atmosphere warmed, the oceans acidified, and the economy globalized, conservation has, not surprisingly, shifted.
- In Part 3 of Conservation, Divided, veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance explores how some conservationists are continuing to focus on traditional methods, even as the field shifts around them.
- 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.
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.
Has big conservation gone astray?
- In Part 1 of Conservation, Divided, veteran Mongabay reporter Jeremy Hance 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.
- Neither side of the debate disagrees that conservation today is failing to adequately halt mass extinction. But how to proceed is where talks break down, especially when it comes to the importance of protected areas and the efficacy of the biggest, most recognizable groups.
- 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 will run weekly through May 17.
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.
China’s forests are growing back – but at a cost
- In 1998, catastrophic flooding spurred China to implement the Natural Forest Conservation Program, with a goal of reforesting 40 million hectares by 2020.
- Analysis of satellite data indicate the program has had some success, with a 1.6 percent gain in overall tree cover between 2000 and 2010.
- But now, instead of supplying its own timber products, China is sourcing them from the forests of other countries.
Aceh citizens ask governor to keep bulldozers out of a crucial rainforest
- Communities in North Aceh have been resisting plantation firm PT Mandum Payah Tamita for years.
- Locals are afraid the company’s actions will spur flooding downstream of two important rivers.
- The firm’s concession lies within the Leuser Ecosystem, one of Sumatra’s last intact rainforests.
What’s that forest worth? Disaster assistance (finally!) takes nature into account
- A backyard shed gets destroyed by fire, that’s a $2,000 loss. But when 77,000 acres of Yosemite National Park are reduced to smoking embers? Nada.
- It was only after calculating the dollar value of the forests destroyed by a 400-square mile swath of California near Yosemite in 2013 that Governor Jerry Brown was able to secure federal funds to help the state and its residents cope with the loss.
- Fast forward to 2016, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded $1 billion to 13 communities through the National Disaster Resilience Competition — and actually required applicants to calculate the value of nature and other non-traditional benefits in their proposals.
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.
Researchers find the world’s forests are fragmenting at a quick pace
- The world experienced a net loss of 3.76 million square kilometers of interior forest area — or 9.9 percent of global interior forest area — in just over a decade.
- This fragmentation could severely jeopardize the ability of remaining forests to provide critical wildlife habitat and other ecological functions.
- U.S. Forest Service researchers argue that focusing on forest area loss alone risks ignoring the ecological threats of forest fragmentation.
Why should I care about endangered species?
- Studies have found that unchecked deforestation and species extinctions will directly impact human well-being.
- Even little-known species can provide surprising benefits for humans, such as drugs that combat cancer.
- The benefits of protecting species may not be immediately evident, but the countless ecosystem services many animals and ecosystems provide make wildlife conservation worth the time and money.
What’s ahead for rainforests in 2016? 10 things to watch
- Between Indonesia’s massive forest fires, the official approval of REDD+ at climate talks in Paris, and the establishment of several major national parks, there was plenty to get excited about in the world of rainforests during 2015. What’s in store for 2016?
- Here are a few things we’ll be watching closely in the new year.
- What are other rainforest-related things to watch in 2016? Add your thoughts via the comment function below.
Loss of big animals reduces forests’ carbon-storing capacity
- Over-hunting contributes to forest carbon loss, claims a study published this week in the AAAS journal Science Advances.
- After looking at data from 31 sites from the Atlantic Forest researchers conclude that the over-hunting of large animals in those forests will eventually result in the widespread loss of the larger tree species responsible for storing the most carbon.
- The study lends further support for the need for conservation efforts that focus on protecting ecosystem services as a whole, as opposed to focusing on isolated measures such as hectares of forest, or numbers of trees left standing.
Aceh official takes chainsaw to illegal oil palm trees
- A district head in Indonesia has ordered a purge of illegal oil palm plantations in his jurisdiction.
- On Tuesday, Hamdan Sati, the head of Aceh Tamiang regency, felled one of the trees himself.
- Aceh Tamiang is located in Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, whose relatively pristine rainforests are starting to be eaten away by plantations.
The state of the market for ecosystem services
- Payments for ecosystem services programs involve evaluating the monetary value to society of natural “services,” such as clean water, biodiversity, or reduced atmospheric carbon, and then compensating people who manage land that provides these services.
- The concept has been around for about a century, but took off around the globe about fifteen years ago.
- Both the philosophy behind attaching an economic value to a natural process and its practical application have proved to be controversial, complicated, and difficult.
New research sets doomsday for Indo-Pacific mangroves
- Mangroves are hugely valuable, both ecologically and economically, but many are highly threatened by clearing and rising sea levels.
- This new study finds some mangroves may be able to keep pace with rising seas because of influxes of sediment – but many more may not, and may become submerged in the coming decades.
- The the authors say it’s not too late to turn things around in some areas.
How much is clean water worth? New report guides payments for ecosystem services
Mangroves provide many ecosystem services like controling erosion and mitigating the effects of tsunamis. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The first-ever set of comprehensive guidelines for designing, implementing and managing mechanisms to facilitate payments for ecosystem services has been established by a group of experts and researchers. The authors of a report published in the […]
Rainforest parks cut malaria transmission
Google Earth image showing the Surui tribe’s territory (right) and unprotected areas (left) in the Brazilian state of Rondonia. Strictly protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon are associated with lower rates of malaria transmission than extractive reserves, mining zones, and areas with roads, reports a paper published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy […]
In Sumatra, an oasis in a sea of oil palm
An oil palm plantation near Tangkahan village in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. Photo: Quino Alonso The landscape during the five-hour ride from Medan, the capital of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, to Tangkahan village is dominated by manicured rows of oil palm that stretch for hundreds of kilometers in all directions. The sky is darkened by […]
Consumer choice: Shade-grown coffee and cocoa good for the birds, farmers, ecosystems
A thunderhead builds over a lush agricultural mosaic in a coffee growing region of Ethiopia. Photo credit: Evan Buechley. The next time you order that “wake up” cup of Joe or reach for a sweet treat, you may want to consider whether those coffee or cocoa beans were grown in the shade or open sun. […]
Energy Sprawl: Comparing biodiversity impacts of oil, gas and wind production
Energy has become a contentious and politicized topic, spurring activism, whether it be the fossil fuel divestment campaign, Keystone pipeline protests, or concern over wind turbine harm to birds. But whatever energy future we choose, two things are clear: an expanding human population will need more energy, and no matter what energy source we pick, […]
Ocean contributes $2.5 trillion to economy annually
A new study attempts to place a value of goods and services afforded by the ocean, estimating that if the planet’s seas were classified as a country, it would rank as the world’s seventh largest economy. Reviving the Ocean Economy, commissioned by environmental group World Wildlife Fund (WWF), “conservatively” places the value of the ocean […]
Big surprise in the greenhouse: study finds economic costs of climate change hugely underestimated
Aerial view of Egypt’s drylands. Research has linked a changing climate with the downfall of Egypt’s Old Kingdom 4,200 years ago. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Look at most climate change projection graphs and you will see a smoothly rising red line of increasing temperature, melting ice and other impacts. But climate does not work […]
Bottom trawling reduces size of commercially important flatfish
Oceans not only provide important ecosystem services, including climate regulation and nutrient cycling, but they also serve as a major contributor to food and jobs. Yet human actions in the oceans are having a major impact on species, sometimes in unexpected ways. Indeed, a recent study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B finds […]
New report connects human health to biodiversity protection
During February, the 14th World Congress on Public Health in Kolkata, India, revealed a new “ground-breaking” report entitled, Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, which demonstrates human health benefits yielded from protecting Earth’s biodiversity. It’s designed to be the new “flagship publication,” acting as a primary source of information that supports the upcoming 2015 […]
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 […]
Pollinator collapse could lead to a rise in malnutrition
A bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) covered in pollen. Photo by: P7r7/Creative Commons 3.0 Saving the world’s pollinators may be a public health issue, according to recent research from Harvard and the University of Vermont. Scientists have long believed that pollinators are important for human nutrition, but this is first time they have tested the hypothesis. What […]
Economic models for forests often neglect value of biodiversity
Tropical forests provide countless goods and services that help sustain human life. Given the rapid conversion of forests to agricultural lands, scientists say it is critical that we prioritize conservation of forest ecosystems. While economists have attempted to quantify the economic value of tropical forests, these estimates may overlook the intricacies of the landscape. According […]
How termites hold back the desert
Palm tree and termite mound: typical scenery in Okavango Delta in Botswana. Photo by Tiffany Roufs. Some termite species erect massive mounds that look like great temples springing up from the world’s savannas and drylands. But aside from their aesthetic appeal—and incredible engineering—new research in Science finds that these structures, which can stand taller than […]
Ecosystem services pioneer wins $1M award
Forests like this rainforest in Borneo provide an array of ‘ecosystem services’ including carbon storage, flood and erosion control, transpiration, climate moderation, and biodiversity, among others. Forest Trends, a non-profit that is working to develop market-based tools and approaches to value ecosystems for the services they afford, has won a million dollar award from the […]
Accounting for natural capital on financial exchanges
Maliau Falls in Borneo. The global economy depends on natural capital such as freshwater. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Last month, Norway’s stock exchange, the Oslo Børs, introduced a way for investors to use their money to promote sustainability. A new list by the stock exchange highlights green bonds, financial products issued by companies to […]
Tropical deforestation could disrupt rainfall globally
- Large-scale deforestation in the tropics could drive significant and widespread shifts in rainfall distribution and temperatures, potentially affecting agriculture both locally and far from where forest loss is occurring, concludes a study published today in Nature Climate Change.
- The research is based on a review of several studies that measured and modeled the impacts of tropical forest clearance in different geographies and at various scales.
- It finds that overall rainfall does not diminish with deforestation, but precipitation patterns shift.
- Areas that now benefit from rainfall may be deprived should deforestation reach certain thresholds. Other zones would become wetter.
Forests could be a thrifty way to fight ozone pollution
Planting trees may be a cost-effective way to reduce ground-level ozone, a toxic component of smog that contributes to the deaths of about 152,000 people annually worldwide, according to new research. The study is the first to lay out a practical plan and examine the economic impacts of lowering ozone levels with trees. Scientists used […]
Pollinators puzzle to find flowers amidst natural and human fumes
While unpleasant car exhaust makes us wrinkle our noses, such human-made fumes may pose serious problems to insects searching for nectar. Researchers recently revealed that background odors make finding flowers difficult for pollinators. The study, published in Science, measured how hawk moths (Manduca sexta) pick out the sacred datura flower scent (Datura wrightii) amidst all […]
Initiative to restore 50M acres of degraded Latin American ecosystems by 2020
Rainforest in Costa Rica. A coalition of governments and organizations today pledged to restore 20 million hectares (50 million acres) of degraded forests and ecosystems across Latin America by 2020 under an initiative that aims to curb boost rural incomes, fight climate change, and increase agricultural production. The effort is backed by $365 million from […]
New survey finds surprisingly large population of endangered owl
Despite vast forest loss, the Anjouan scops owl is holding on in the Comoros Islands The Anjouan scops owl. Photo by: Alan Van Norman. The Anjouan scops owl—an elusive owl found only on its tiny eponymous island—was once considered among the world’s most endangered owls, and even the most threatened birds. However, the first in-depth […]
Facing severe drought, ‘war effort’ needed to save the Amazon, says scientist
Rain approaching in Brazil. Photo by Rhett Butler. Severe droughts in southern Brazil may be linked to deforestation and degradation of Earth’s largest rainforest, argues a new report published by a Brazilian scientist. Reviewing data from roughly 200 studies, Antonio Donato Nobre of Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) warns that reducing deforestation will […]
Pesticides harm bumblebees’ ability to forage
Bumblebees exposed to pesticides suffered adverse effects to their foraging behavior, according to a new study co-authored by Nigel Raine and Richard Gill in the journal Functional Ecology. Bumblebees (Bombus terrestis) are essential insect pollinators that are vital to healthy crop yields and biodiversity, but their populations have been in decline. The loss of bumblebees […]
Amazon rainforest is getting drier, confirms another study
The Amazon Rainforest. Photo by Rhett Butler. Parts of the Amazon rainforest are getting considerably less rain, leading trees to absorb less carbon, finds a study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research is based on new satellite technology that measures rainfall more accurately than previous approaches […]
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 […]
Planting meadows in the ocean: technique may help restore disappearing seagrass beds
BuDS method disperses eelgrass seeds, maintains genetic diversity Seagrass meadows form important parts of many ocean ecosystems, but is disappearing due to human impacts. However, a study published recently in PLOS ONE found eelgrass beds could benefit from a restoration technique using seed-filled pearl nets. The technique, called Buoy-Deployed Seeding (BuDS), uses pearl nets filled […]
It’s not just extinction: meet defaunation
Unknown orange butterfly in Sumatra. Scientists believe we are in the midst of a defaunation crisis, which is impacting animals, and ecological services, the world over. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Get ready to learn a new word: defaunation. Fauna is the total collection of animals—both in terms of species diversity and abundance—in a given […]
Too much of a good thing: fertilizer ‘one of the three major drivers of biodiversity loss this century’
Excess nutrients impacting productivity, biodiversity, functioning of grasslands around the world The world’s grasslands are being destabilized by fertilization, according to a paper recently published in the journal Nature. In a study of 41 grassland communities on five continents, researchers found that the presence of fertilizer weakened grassland species diversity. The researchers surveyed grasslands in […]
Next big idea in forest conservation? Playing games to understand what drives deforestation
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Claude Garcia Ivindo National Park in Gabon. The loss of rainforest is an emerging issue in the Congo Basin. The forests of the Congo Basin are some of the wildest areas on Earth, and until now, the level of threat was comparatively low, a result of low […]
Mountain forests store 40 percent more carbon than expected
It’s not easy to measure carbon in mountain forest ecosystems. For one thing, climbing into these forests can be difficult, exhausting, and even treacherous. For another, many mountain rainforests are almost constantly blanketed by clouds—hence the term “cloud forest”—making it problematic to measure above-ground carbon storage from the air or satellite. But a new review […]
New study finds environmental damage globally may cost more than U.S. GDP
A new study published in Global Environmental Change added up all the world’s ecosystem services – from carbon storage and crop pollination, to recreation and flood mitigation – and found, every year, nature provides $145 trillion in benefits. It also indicates that land use changes, most of which has been caused by humans, may be […]
Next big idea in forest conservation? Making community protection economically viable
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q & A with Dr. Neil David Burgess Rural scene in Tanzania. Photo by: Nika Levikov. After years of discovering new species and setting up protected areas, Neil Burgesses’ career changed. Currently he is focused on community-driven conservation and on how to improve protected areas in Africa’s Eastern Arc mountains […]
Next big idea in forest conservation? Linking public health and environmental degradation
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Chris Golden Members of the MAHERY (Madagascar Health and Environmental Research) team that includes social surveyors, lemur researchers, tenrec researchers, veterinarians and human health professionals. Photo courtesy of: Christopher Golden. Dr. Christopher Golden is an explorer on a mission. As both an epidemiologist and ecologist, he is […]
Seeing the Forest for the Trees: How ‘One Health’ Connects Humans, Animals, and Ecosystems
This article first appeared on the May 2014 cover of Environmental Health Perspectives and was funded under Mongabay.org’s Special Reporting Initiative: Innovation in tropical biodiversity conservation. A gossamer mist settles over the jagged peaks of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a 318-square-kilometer park on the eastern flank of the Albertine Rift in southwest Uganda. It’s a […]
Next big idea in forest conservation? Connecting deforestation to disease
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Thomas Gillespie Abel Nzeheke of the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project, preserves a lowland gorilla fecal sample for later analysis in the Republic of Congo. Due to logistical difficulties and potential dangers associated with anesthesia, we often use non-invasive sampling to examine pathogens in wildlife. Photo courtesy of […]
Chile turns to owls to combat fatal disease
A brood of barn owls. Photo by: chdwckvnstrsslhmn/Creative Commons 2.0. This year the Hanta virus has already caused 15 deaths in Chile, according to reports in The Santiago Times. It isn’t always fatal—the 15 deaths were of a total of 36 cases over six months—but the symptoms are severe. Those affected experience flu-like symptoms, as […]
Next big idea in forest conservation? Quantifying the cost of forest degradation
Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Dr. Phillip Fearnside Pasture meets gallery forest in the Brazilian Amazon. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. How much is a forest really worth? And what is the cost of forest degradation? These values are difficult to estimate, but according to Dr. Phillip Fearnside, we need to do a […]
Deforestation makes Indonesia hotter, reduces quality of life
Indonesian rainforest One of the reasons I like living in the tropics is that they are perpetually warm. No more tepid showers in freezing student rooms. No more painfully cold hands and ears cycling through frosty Amsterdam air. A pair of shorts and a light shirt will comfortably get you through the day and night […]
Ecotourism pays: study finds lower poverty where nature-based tourism is prevalent
Economists find that protected areas reduce poverty in Costa Rica A new study has quantified a point long advocated by advocates of setting aside protected areas: ecotourism pays. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), finds that communities neighboring conservation areas in Costa Rica had lower rates of poverty relative […]
Handful of species key to ecosystem health, finds study
While conducting field research in the humid salt marshes of Sapelo Island, scientists Marc Hensel and Brian Silliman made an astonishing discovery: species type, not just quantity, is vital for maintaining healthy ecosystems. For decades, scientists believed that preserving the largest number of species was critical for ecosystem function, regardless of their genetic makeup. However, […]
Tree growth accelerates with age
Old, large trees may be even more important ecologically than long-believed, according to a new study in Nature. Looking at over half a million individual trees from over 400 species (both tropical and temperate), scientists have determined that most trees actually grow faster in their dotage than in their youth. “In human terms, it is […]
Over 75 percent of large predators declining
The world’s top carnivores are in big trouble: this is the take-away message from a new review paper published today in Science. Looking at 31 large-bodied carnivore species (i.e those over 15 kilograms or 33 pounds), the researchers found that 77 percent are in decline and more than half have seen their historical ranges decline […]
Environmental degradation leads to public health crises
A “systematic and comprehensive” approach is needed to understand the impact of human behavior on the world’s public health, according to a new report. Written by the Heal (Health & Ecosystems Analysis of Linkages) consortium, the study highlights multiple examples of the impact on human health from environmental degradation, including sickness, death and even childhood […]
Rainforest news review for 2013
- 2013 was full of major developments in efforts to understand and protect the world’s tropical rainforests.
- The following is a review of some of the major tropical forest-related news stories for the year.
- As a review, this post will not cover everything that transpired during 2013 in the world of tropical forests. Please feel free to highlight anything this post missed via the comments section at the bottom.
Natural sponges: forests help moderate floods, droughts
Scientists: well-managed forest restoration benefits both biodiversity and people
In November this year, the world was greeted by the dismaying news that deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon jumped 28% in the past year. The year 2013 also holds the dubious distinction of being the first time since humans appeared on the planet, that carbon concentrations in the atmosphere rose to 400 parts per million. […]
REDD+ carbon market stabilizes, but risk of supply glut looms
The state of the REDD+ carbon market in 2012 Logging, conversion to plantations and agriculture, and other drivers of deforestation account for roughly ten percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions The market for carbon credits generated under projects that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) showed signs of stabilizing in 2012 after a […]
Amazon deforestation could cause droughts in California
Complete deforestation of the Amazon rainforest could reduce rainfall in the Pacific Northwest by up to 20 percent and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada by up to 50 percent, suggests new research published in the Journal of Climate. The study is based on high resolution computer modeling that stripped the Amazon of its forest cover […]
Deforestation may hurt U.S. agriculture, affect monsoon cycle
Unchecked deforestation will have far-reaching impacts on temperature, rainfall, and monsoon cycles in regions well outside the tropics, affecting agriculture and water availability, warns a new report published by Greenpeace International. The report, titled An Impending Storm: Impacts of deforestation on weather patterns and agriculture, is a synthesis of dozens of recent scientific papers that […]
Preserving forest, birds boosts coffee profit up to $300/ha by controlling pests
Birds are providing a valuable ecosystem service on coffee plantations in Costa Rica, finds a new study that quantifies the pest control benefits of preserving tree cover in agricultural areas. The study, published in the journal Ecology Letters, looked at the impact of the coffee berry borer beetle (Hypothenemus hampeii) on coffee yields. The beetle […]
Yasuni could still be spared oil drilling
When Ecuadorean President, Rafael Correa, announced on August 15th that he was abandoning an innovative program to spare three blocs of Yasuni National Park from oil drilling, it seemed like the world had tossed away its most biodiverse ecosystem. However, environmental groups and activists quickly responded that there may be another way to keep oil […]
Losing just one pollinator species leads to big plant declines
A shocking new study finds that losing just one pollinator species could lead to major declines in plant productivity, a finding that has broad implications for biodiversity conservation. Looking at ten bumblebee species in Colorado alpine meadows, two scientists found that removing a single bee species cut flower seed production by one-third. Pollinators worldwide are […]
Conserving top predators results in less CO2 in the air
What does a wolf in Yellowstone National Park have in common with an ambush spider on a meadow in Connecticut? Both are predators and thus eat herbivores, such as elk (in the case of wolves) and grasshoppers (in the case of spiders). Elk and grasshoppers also have more in common than you probably imagine: they […]
How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature – An interview with Mark Tercek
In 2008, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) surprised the conservation world when it selected Mark Tercek, an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, as its new president and CEO. For people familiar with Tercek, however, the move made perfect sense: he was a leading figure in Goldman’s efforts to pursue new environmental policies. In 2005, Tercek became […]
Deforestation will undercut effectiveness of rainforest dams
Deforestation may significantly decrease the hydroelectric potential of tropical rainforest regions, warns a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The study, led by Claudia M. Stickler at the International Program at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM-International), used climate, hydrological, and land use models to forecast the impact of potential […]
Scientists discover that marine animals disperse seagrass
Lesser known than coral reefs, marine seagrass ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and are powerhouses when it comes to sequestering carbon dioxide. Yet, much remains unknown about the ecology of seagrass beds, including detailed information on how seagrass spread their seeds and colonize new area. Now a recent study in Marine Ecology Progress Series documents […]
Europe bans pesticides linked to bee collapse
The EU has banned three neonicotinoid pesticides (imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam) linked to the decline of bees for two years. The ban will apply to all flowering crops, such as corn, rape seed, and sunflowers. The move follows a flood of recent studies, some high-profile, that have linked neonicotinoid pesticides, which employ nicotine-like chemicals, to […]
What if companies actually had to compensate society for environmental destruction?
The environment is a public good. We all share and depend on clean water, a stable atmosphere, and abundant biodiversity for survival, not to mention health and societal well-being. But under our current global economy, industries can often destroy and pollute the environment—degrading public health and communities—without paying adequate compensation to the public good. Economists […]
Greener neighborhoods have less violent crime
Turn your neighborhood green and it may prevent violent crime in the long run, according to a new study in Landscape and Urban Planning, which found that violent crimes (assaults, robberies, and burglaries) occurred less often in greener areas of Philadelphia. The connection between greener neighborhoods and less violent crime even stood up after researchers […]
An insidious threat to tropical forests: over-hunting endangers tree species in Asia and Africa
A fruit falls to the floor in a rainforest. It waits. And waits. Inside the fruit is a seed, and like most seeds in tropical forests, this one needs an animal—a good-sized animal—to move it to a new place where it can germinate and grow. But it may be waiting in vain. Hunting and poaching […]
Domesticated bees do not replace declining wild insects as agricultural pollinators
Sprinkled with pollen, buzzing bees fly from one blossom to another, collecting sweet nectar from brilliantly colored flowers. Bees tend to symbolize the pollination process, but there are many wild insects that carry out the same function. Unfortunately, wild insect populations are in decline, and, according to a recent study, adding more honey bees may […]
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 […]
Seeing the forest through the elephants: slaughtered elephants taking rainforest trees with them
Forest elephants in the Mbeli River, Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Congo. Photo by: Thomas Breuer. Elephants are vanishing. The booming illegal ivory trade is decimating the world’s largest land animal, but no place has been harder hit than the Congo basin and its forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis). The numbers are staggering: a single park in Gabon, […]
EU pushes ban on pesticides linked to bee downfall
Honey bee (Apis mellifera) collecting pollen. Photo by: Jon Sullivan. Following a flood of damning research on the longterm impact of neonicotinoid pesticides on bee colonies, the EU is proposing a two year ban on the popular pesticides for crops that attract bees, such as corn, sunflower, oil seed rape, cotton. The proposal comes shortly […]
Featured video: the miracle of mangroves
Mangroves are among the most important ecosystems in the world: they provide nurseries for fish, protect coastlines against dangerous tropical storms, mitigate marine erosion, store massive amounts of carbon, and harbor species found no-where else. However, they are vanishing at astonishing rates: experts say around 35 percent of the world’s mangroves were lost in just […]
Controversial research outlines physics behind how forests may bring rain
According to a controversial theory, forests—such as this one in Borneo—drive winds bringing rain from the coasts to continental interiors. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. It took over two-and-a-half-years for the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics to finally accept a paper outlining a new meteorological hypothesis in which condensation, not temperature, drives winds. If proven […]
Over $8 billion invested in watersheds in 2011
How a sample payment for ecosystem services project works. Click to enlarge. Unlike cars, hamburgers, and computers, clean drinking water is a requirement for human survival. In a bid to safeguard this essential resource, more and more nations are moving toward protecting ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, and streams. In fact, according to a new […]
Forests in Kenya worth much more intact says government report
Loita hills forest in Kenya. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Kenya’s forests provide greater services and wealth to the nation when they are left standing. A landmark report by The Kenyan Government and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) addresses the importance of forests to the well-being of the nation, putting Kenya among a pioneering […]
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Local and Regional Policy – a book review
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Local and Regional Policy, edited by Heidi Wittmar and Haripriya Gundimeda, provides thoughtful and actionable approaches to integrate nature’s benefits into decision-making frameworks for local and regional policy and public management institutions. Filled with numerous case studies, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Local and Regional Policy, […]
Scary caterpillar fungus could lead to new cancer drug
Caterpillars infected with Cordyceps sinensis, mostly whole. Photo by William Rafti of the William Rafti Institute. Cordyceps sinensis, commonly known as caterpillar fungus, may be a groundbreaking new treatment for a number of life-threatening conditions including asthma, kidney failure and cancer according to a paper recently published by The RNA Society. If you’re a caterpillar […]
World has lost half its wetlands
A cow stands in Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland which is threatened by cattle ranching and agriculture. In 2006 it was announced that 17 percent of the Pantanal had been lost to deforestation. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Half of the worlds wetlands have been destroyed in just the last 100 years, says a […]
Investors shouldn’t ignore financial risk of environmental damage
Deforestation for a palm oil plantation in Malaysia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Environmental damage poses a long-ignored risk to sovereign bonds, according to a new report by the UNEP FI (The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative) and the Global Footprint Network. The report, E-RISC Report, A New Angle on Sovereign Credit Risk, finds […]
Legislation leaves future of world’s largest temperate rainforest up in the air
Stream and forest in the Tongass National Forest, the world largest temperate rainforest located in Southeast Alaska. Photo by: Matthew Dolkas. Although unlikely to pass anytime in the near term, recurring legislation that would hand over 80,000 acres of the Tongass Rainforest to a Native-owned logging corporation has put local communities on guard in Southeast […]
Wolves, mole rats, and nyala: the struggle to conserve Ethiopia’s highlands
Gaysay Grasslands in Bale Mountains National Park. Photo courtesy of the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS). There is a place in the world where wolves live almost entirely off mountain rodents, lions dwell in forests, and freshwater rolls downstream to 12 million people, but the place—Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains National Park—remains imperiled by a lack of legal […]
Future of the Tongass forest lies in salmon, not clear-cut logging
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Stream in the Tongass National Forest. Photo by: Ian Majszak. The Parnell administration’s Timber Task Force recently unveiled a proposal to carve out two million acres of the Tongass National Forest for clear-cut logging under a state-managed “logging trust.” The stated goal is to revive Southeast Alaska’s timber industry that collapsed two decades ago amid […]
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 […]
Saving the world’s species from oblivion will cost around $80 billion a year, but still a good deal
The mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz) is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. If the world is to conserve its wealth of life—species great and small, beautiful and terrible, beloved and unknown—it will cost from $3.41-4.76 billion annually in targeted conservation funds, according to a new study in Science. […]
Forest destruction leads to more floods in temperate regions
Frozen stream in Minnesota. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. Keeping forests standing would lessen both the number and size of spring floods in temperate regions, according to a new study in Water Resources Research, by slowing seasonal snow melts. In deforested areas, snow melts faster due to a lack of shade causing at least twice as […]
Learning to live with elephants in Malaysia
Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks fitting a GPS-collar to study the movements of a wild elephant. Photo courtesy of Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz. Humans and elephants have a lot in common: both are highly intelligent, intensely social, and both are capable of having a massive impact on their local environments. Given their […]
Arachnopocalypse: with birds away, the spiders play in Guam
The accidental introduction of the brown tree snake on Guam has resulted in a loss of birds and a subsequent explosion of spiders. Photo by: Isaac Chellman. The island of Guam is drowning in spiders. New research in the open-access journal PLOS ONE has found that in the wet season, Guam’s arachnid population booms to […]
Bird diversity at risk if ‘agroforests’ replaced with farmland
Çağan Şekercioğlu uses radio equipment to track an orange-billed nightingale-thrush in the Costa Rican countryside. A new study by Şekercioğlu indicates that wooded ‘shade’ plantations where coffee and cacao are grown are better for bird diversity than open farmlands, although forests still are the best habitat for tropical birds. Photo by: Mauricio Paniagua Castro. Agroforests […]
Mangroves protect coastal areas against storm damage
Extent of mangroves in Southeast Asia. Image courtesy of NASA and the US Geological Society. Click to enlarge. Mangroves reduce wave height by as much as 66 percent over 100 meters of forest providing a vital buffer against the impacts of storms, tsunamis, and hurricanes, according to a new report published by The Nature Conservancy […]
Amazon deforestation could trigger drop in rainfall across South America
Study reveals the effects of deforestation on rainfall. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Deforestation could cause rainfall across the Amazon rainforest to drop precipitously, warns a new study published in the journal Nature. Using a computer model that accounts for forest cover and rainfall patterns, Dominick Spracklen of the University of Leeds and colleagues estimate […]
Rainforest fungi, plants fuel rainfall
Salt compounds released by fungi and plants in the Amazon rainforest have an important role in the formation of rain clouds, reports research published in the journal Science. Scientists in recent years have shown that organic compounds released by rainforest vegetation contribute to the formation of aerosol particles that drive rainfall above the Amazon. The […]
Private reserve safeguards newly discovered frogs in Ecuadorian cloud forest
The Las Gralarias glass frog is the world’s newest glass frog. It was discovered by Carl Hutter on the Reserva las Gralarias, after which the researcher subsequently named the new amphibian. Photo by: Jaime Garcia. Although it covers only 430 hectares (1,063 acres) of the little-known Chocó forest in Ecuador, the private reserve of las […]
Human society surpasses ‘nature’s budget’ today
Deforestation for oil palm plantations in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. As of today, August 22nd, humanity has overshot the world’s annual ecological budget, according to the Global Footprint Network, which tracks global consumption related to resource availability and sustainability. The organization looks at a variety of data […]
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 […]
Guyana rainforests secure trust fund
Aerial view of Kaieteur Falls, Guyana. Photo © Conservation International/John Martin. The nation of Guyana sports some of South America’s most intact and least-imperiled rainforests, and a new $8.5 million trust fund hopes to keep it that way. The Guyanese government has teamed up with Germany and Conservation International (CI) to create a long-term trust […]
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