Nature Beat #28
Updates, stories, resources and opportunities
Welcome to the latest edition of Global Nature Beat. If you are new here, read my About page to find out what this newsletter is, who I am and why I am doing this. Or just dive in. You’ll find news, reporting resources, job postings, links to some great stories and a look ahead to what’s coming up in the world of biodiversity and nature policy.
Taking The Pulse
UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD): The CBD’s two subsidiary bodies are meeting soon in Nairobi, Kenya, to make progress on issues relating to the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework, the global strategy for halting and reverse nature loss by 2030.
At the meetings in Kenya, parties to the CBD will focus on developing a monitoring framework, financing strategy and rules for periodically reviewing progress on implementation. The aim is to develop text that will form the basis of decisions parties adopt in October at the 16th Conference of Parties to the CBD.
The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice is meeting from 13-18 May. See the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s position paper outlining its recommendations. The CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Implementation will meet from 21-29 May. IUCN’s position paper for that meeting is here. For a preview and daily coverage of both meetings, see the Earth Negotiations Bulletin.
National biodiversity strategies: The nearly 200 parties to the CBD have committed to sharing a new National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) this year. So far, only a handful have. The team at Carbon Brief has published a valuable tracker that shows who are the leaders and laggards, and how each NBSAP aligns with targets parties agreed to meet in the Global Biodiversity Framework. Thanks to Daisy Dunne, Anika Patel, Yanine Quiroz and Alice Vernat-Davies for pulling this together.
Whaling: Japan announced on 9 May that it is adding endangered fin whales to its list of species that can be commercially hunted — see the statement by the Environmental Investigation Agency.
Wildlife trafficking: The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has shared results of an Africa-wide crackdown on wildlife trafficking by customs officials in 35 countries. Operations Sama has resulted in 104 seizures of endangered wildlife products in 19 of these countries. In Thailand, law enforcement arrested six men and seized more than 1,000 turtles and 48 lemurs that had been trafficked from Madagascar and were worth US$2 million on the illegal pet trade market.
Forests: The UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) is underway this week (6-10 May). Governments are negotiating a declaration that is meant to signal their commitment to forests, and a resolution laying out future action for the UNFF. They are making dismal progress on both count, according to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, which will publish a summary soon after the meeting ends.
In The Spotlight
Gabriela Barzallo reported from Ecuador about a group of indigenous women protecting their patch of the Amazon rainforest from illegal mining and deforestation.
Bob Berwyn wrote about mass die-offs of ocean life due to marine heatwaves and the grief this is inducing in scientists.
Kang-Chun Cheng reported on how conservation and luxury game hunting have forced Maasai people off their ancestral land in Tanzania.
Charu Bahri wrote about how bioengineering increased a village’s resilience to heavy rain and flooding in India’s Himalayan region.
Tips And Resources
Serdar Vardar reported from a session at the Perugia Journalism Festival at which climate reporters shared tips for investigating the fossil fuel industry.
On 14 May, the Global Investigative Journalism Network has a webinar on techniques for investigating extractive industries in Africa — register here.
On 15 May, IUCN has a hybrid event on the status and policy of species conservation and recovery in the United States — find out more and register here.
Environmental lawyers ClientEarth are gathering international experts for their annual Summit on 4-6 June — register here to watch online.
See past editions for more tips and resources.
In Focus: Orangutan Diplomacy
In a bizarre effort to prove that it is committed to conserving biodiversity, Malaysia plans to give orangutans to countries that buy its palm oil. It is the worst idea I have heard in a long time.
It came just days after researchers reported that an orangutan had applied a medicinal plant to an open wound on its face, healing it within a month. While apes have been recorded eating plants with known medicinal powers before, it was the first time that scientists have seen one purposefully applying such a plant to a wound — though I imagine that indigenous people may have long ago observed this kind of behaviour.
What’s remarkable to me is that the orangutan chewed the plant before applying it like a bandage to a wound it could not see, as it was close to its right eye. The idea of sending these intelligent animals to live in a cage in a distant land is retrograde in the extreme. And the notion that doing so would prove anything about sustainability and conservation is laughable.
What Caught My Eye
Dan Collyns reported on concerns that Peru’s ‘anti-forest’ law will increase deforestation in the Amazon — Jithu Jose raises similar concerns about India’s Forest Conservation Amendment Act.
Wildlife biologist Ian Redmond wrote about some of the science that tends to be overlooked in the debate over trophy hunting of elephants.
Australia has asked the European Union to delay implementing its anti-deforestation regulation, reports Mark Tilly.
Ceres Kam from the Environmental Investigation Agency wrote about efforts to develop synthetic alternatives to wildlife products used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Kebba Jeffang and Emma Bryce wrote about the threats climate change and ocean acidification pose to shellfish and people’s livelihoods in Senegal and in the United States.
Joseph Maina reported on an ongoing dispute between Kenya’s government and environmentalists who oppose plans for a road through a national park.
Phoebe Weston reported on research on the link between biodiversity loss and the emergence of new diseases that threaten us.
The carbon market being established under the Paris Agreement on climate change will enable communities to pre-emptively oppose projects set to grab land, pollute water or cause other problems, reports Joe Lo.
Oil crops occupy more than a third of all cropland, according to a new report from IUCN that suggests ways to limit the impacts of oil crop production on biodiversity — see the press release and related briefing paper.
Karl Burkart says companies need to set an ‘Internal Price on Nature’ to shift away from harming biodiversity.
Nina Lakhani interviewed the UN’s departing special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, David Boyd, who is leaving the role after six years.
In Focus: Threats to Environment Journalists
A new report from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) documented widespread intimidation and violence directed towards environment journalists, 44 of whom were murdered between 2009 and 2023 — see the press release. In only five of these cases were the killers convicted. On 3 May, Jon Sawyer, CEO and president of the Pulitzer Center, touched on this subject as he reflected on a half century of covering the environment — you can read his speech here or watch the video, which includes a discussion among journalists Meaghan Parker, Amrita Gupta, Jeje Mohamed, Clayton Weimers and Sandhya Ravishankar.
From The Journals
The EU could mitigate 13 percent of its agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by planting cover crops on bare soil before growing maize — see the press release or full paper.
Governments are not adequately integrating biodiversity into targets into policies and plans for different economic sectors — see the press release or full paper.
Why do some threatened species do so well when introduced outside of their native range in what is called the conservation-invasion paradox? — see the full paper.
An assessment of rewilding potential in the United Kingdom — see the full paper.
Active forest restoration accelerated the return of bird species in Costa Rica — see the full paper.
A systematic assessment of motivations, scale, and costs of forest restoration in 14 Latin American countries — see the full paper.
While the number and size of marine protected areas is increasing, their quality is lagging behind — see the press release or full paper.
Can You Help?
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Jobs And Opportunities
The Earth Journalism Network has fellowships for journalists to report on the COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan — deadline 6 June.
Inside Climate News is hiring a senior editor and reporters in Alabama and North Carolina — apply here.
Carbon Brief has paid summer journalism internship — deadline 3 June.
New York University is offering journalists fellowships on climate economics — deadline 31 May.
The Ampla Journalism Prize is for reporting on the Amazon — enter here by 15 September.
Bonus content: There are 30 jobs, grants, fellowships and other opportunities listed here for Global Nature Beat’s paying supporters. Paid subscriptions are less than £1 per week. A free seven-day trial is available.
On The Horizon
15 May 2024: IUCN hosts the first World Species Congress as a 24-hour online event.
22 May 2024: International Day for Biological Diversity.
30 May – 2 June 2024: The Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will host two regional dialogues on national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) for African countries in Nairobi, Kenya.
3-13 June 2024: The intersessional meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change takes place in Bonn, Germany.
5 June 2024: World Environment Day.
Bonus content: The full calendar for The Nature Beat’s supporters includes 57 nature-related intergovernmental negotiations, scientific conferences, report launches, and other events up until 2026. Paid subscriptions are less than £1 per week. A free seven-day trial is available.
Whose Eye Was It?
The eye belongs to a caracal. Photo credit: Anthea Fishburn / Flickr — Creative Commons
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