Nature Beat #3
Taking The Pulse
Survival International accuses Kenya of illegally evicting hundreds of Ogiek people from ancestral forests in the name of conservation. Meanwhile, Kenya has signed a deal with a Dubai-based company that would concede ‘millions of hectares’ of its territory to generate carbon credits, raising concerns for communities there.
In Canada, the federal government signed a ‘nature agreement’ with the province of British Columbia and First Nations leaders as part of its efforts to protect 30 percent of lands by 2030. WWF-Canada welcomed the deal — worth a billion Canadian dollars – to protect forests and restore ecosystems.
On 30 October, the World Health Organization published text that will form the basis of negotiations towards an international Pandemic Treaty. On 3 November, the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime published some suggested changes focused on preventing the spillover of pathogens from animals to people.
This week, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of the EU will meet to negotiate the final text of a new EU Nature Restoration Law, to be adopted in 2024. You can read about the law and the process for finalizing it here.
Next week, governments will meet in Nairobi, Kenya for the third session of negotiations to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Find out more about the meeting here, or read the treaty’s ‘zero draft’.
In Focus: Trade In Endangered Species
The 77th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is underway in Geneva, Switzerland. It has a packed agenda.
From 6-10 November, the Standing Committee will review how the 184 Parties to CITES are implementing decisions they made in 2022 at their 19th Conference of Parties. It will also consider urgent actions relating to species such as Asian big cats, jaguars, great apes, sharks, elephants, rhinos, the vaquita — the world’s rarest marine mammal — and products such as rosewood timber.
Other agenda items include alignment of CITES with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and the role of CITES in reducing risks of new diseases linked to wildlife trade.
More information
You can follow the meeting live on the CITES YouTube channel.
Learn more about CITES, the Steering Committee and this week’s meeting in the Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s preview or the CITES press release. Alternatively, check out the recording of this recent CITES briefing.
Find the National CITES Authority in your country here.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has a page dedicated to the SC77 meeting here. You can read a summary of EIA’s priorities for the meeting here, or find EIA’s detailed recommendations here.
Other useful sources include the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime, the Center for International Environmental Law, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and INTERPOL.
In The Spotlight
Philip Jacobson and Basten Gokkon expose a huge illegal shark finning operation by a major Chinese tuna supplier.
The demand for vulture parts among traditional healers in Zimbabwe is a major threat to the ecologically important birds, reports Linda Mujuru.
Congratulations to Nature Beat subscriber Fredrick Mugira, who was among the winners of the 2023 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications. You can read Fredrick’s winning stories here, and see the full list of winners here.
Mosquitoes threaten to kill off a species of bird in Hawaii called the ‘akikiki — there are only five left in the wild, reports Nell Lewis for CNN.
It took years to solve the mystery elephant deaths. Now, the threat is spreading, reports Phoebe Weston. She also published this feature about a truly remarkable woman — a 97-year-old horse-riding botanist battling for England’s wildflowers.
The Society of Environmental Journalists announced the winners of its awards for outstanding beat reporting. Congratulations to them all.
Kata Karáth reports on a fierce scientific debate over rewilding in Argentina that has included charges of government malfeasance and legal threats.
Tips And Resources
How the Amazon Underworld cross-border journalism project investigated organized crime networks in the Amazon Rainforest. By Santiago Villach for the Global Investigative Journalism Network.
The Society of Environmental Journalists is holding its 2024 Journalists' Guide to Environment and Energy on 16 November. Join online or in person.
IUCN published a new Issues Brief on cities and nature.
I have three invite codes for the Bluesky social network — email me (thenaturebeat@substack.com) if you would like one.
Jobs And Opportunities
The Solutions Journalism Network is looking for a Climate Director — deadline 8 November.
The Council for the Advancement of Science Writing’s CASW Connector is hosting a free online meeting on 8 November about how science journalists can find and benefit from fellowship opportunities. Register here.
You have until next week to apply for a reporting fellowship from the Earth Journalism Network or a place on the CNN Academy’s Climate Storytelling from the Global South program.
You don’t need to be American to submit your work for the next edition of The Best American Science and Nature Writing, so long as it appeared in any North American publication in 2023.
There’s still time to apply to join the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network — deadline 20 December — or apply for a grant from the Rainforest Journalism Fund.
The Pulitzer Center 's ocean initiative is also accepting proposals from journalists and will re-open applications for its Ocean Reporting Network in March-April 2024. Find out more here.
What Caught My Eye
In Nigeria, conservationists praise the government for destroying nearly four tons of pangolin scales and other wildlife parts seized from smugglers.
An editorial in the journal Science warns that unless biodiversity markets are well designed, they could legitimize biodiversity destruction for economic gain instead of promoting conservation.
Nature technology startups received investment worth US$ 7.5 billion in the past five years.
British journalist George Monbiot says the sixth mass extinction is just a euphemism, and a symptom of something even bigger — Earth systems collapse.
Namibia hosted Africa’s first community-led conservation congress. Victoria Schneider reports on where it could lead.
Journalist Usha Rai wrote a glowing review of Indian biodiversity expert Madhav Gadgil’s memoir A Walk Up The Hill: Living with People and Nature.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published its position paper ahead of the COP28 UN climate change conference.
The UK government rejected cross-party calls for new legislation to protect whales and dolphins.
260 bird species in the Americas that are named after people are going to get new English names.
I loved this article by Nupur Roopa about folk art and wildlife conservation in India.
On The Horizon
7-9 November 2023: The Nature for Life Hub 2023 is an online conference aimed at boosting action under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. There is something for everyone in the three-day agenda. Explore it and register here.
13-17 November 2023: Malaysia is hosting the Asia-Pacific Climate Week, the last of four regional conferences ahead of COP28.
30 November 2023: COP28, the 28th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will take place in the United Arab Emirates and will run until 12 December. See the UNFCCC’s media page.
May 2024: The UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s two subsidiary bodies will meet to finalize the approach for monitoring implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
16-21 June 2024: The World Biodiversity Forum will take place in Davos, Switzerland.
21 October 2024: COP16, the 16th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, is due to take place on 21 October to 1 November.
12-17 February 2024: The 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14), will take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Whose Eye Was It?
The eye belongs to beluga whale. Photo credit: Eric Kilby / Flickr — Creative Commons
Over To You…
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think and what you would like to see. If you found it useful, please consider sharing the newsletter with colleagues. If you have some new work that you’re especially proud of, please let me know. I’d love to see it. You can reach me at: thenaturebeat@substack.com