Nature Beat #30

Updates, stories, resources and opportunities

May 24, 2024

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 Biological Diversity (CBD): Parties to the CBD have agreed a set of science-based recommendations that will form the basis of decisions they formally adopt at the 16th Conference of Parties to the CBD in Colombia in October.

They include: a framework for monitoring progress towards the targets and goals that parties to the CBD adopted in 2022; a proposed Global Plan of Action on Biodiversity and Health; a recommended decision on the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal biodiversity that identifies key areas for greater action; and progress on approaches for describing ecologically or biologically significant marine areas.

Other recommendations concern issues including synthetic biology and the detection of living modified organisms — you can read full texts in all UN languages here.

The recommendations were agreed at the 26th meeting of the CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, which ended on 18 May — see the CBD Secretariat’s press release. Square brackets in the text show areas that parties have not yet agreed, and will need to discuss again when they meet in Colombia.

The CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Implementation is now meeting (21-29 May) — see the press release. Its agenda includes work to identify how to close the huge funding gap for conserving and restoring nature, which amounts to US$700 billion per year. Emine Isciel, co-chair of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation working group on Public Policy Advocacy, shared some ideas about how to do this.

Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF): The GBFF exists to support parties to the CBD as they implement actions to achieve the targets and goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework. On 20 May, it approved a new round of project preparation grants, setting aside US$70 million for 18 new projects in 21 countries — see the press release.

Climate obligations: The nearly 170 states that are parties to the UN Law of the Sea should reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take other steps to protect the marine environment, according to the treaty’s judicial body, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The tribunal’s opinion was issued on 21 May, having been requested by small island states. It is not binding, but is likely to be significant — as David Fogarty explains here. See also the press release from WWF.

Migratory fish: WWF published a report showing that populations of migratory freshwater fish declined by an average of 81 percent between 1970 and 2020, rising to 91 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean — see the press release or read the summary.

Nature-based carbon credits: On 22 May, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Salesforce announced the Symbiosis Coalition, which aims to show how to improve the integrity of nature-based carbon credits. The partners are committing to buy up to 20 million tons of credits that “have high certainty of impact on the climate... draw on the best available science and practice, and equitably involve and compensate Indigenous Peoples and local communities.” The coalition will initially focus on forest and mangrove restoration projects. In related news, Virginia Furness reported that Microsoft will buy 1.6 million carbon removal credits from a project in Panama that is planting six million trees on land degraded by cattle ranching and providing US$70 million to local communities through lease payments.

In The Spotlight

Tim Vernimmen interviewed conservation biologist E.J. Milner-Gulland about the challenges of studying and regulating wildlife consumption, and why many people hunt for wild meat even if they don’t eat it themselves.
Graeme Green reported on the world’s biggest ever translocation of vultures, a 17-hour road trip that took 163 birds to a new home in a private wildlife reserve in South Africa.
Diwash Gahatraj and Ali Jabbir Malik report how on a surge in snakebites across South Asia is linked to climate change as floods and heatwaves reduce snake habitat.
The Bezos Earth Fund is giving out US$10 billion for climate and biodiversity, but as Patrick Greenfield reports, there are concerns over its influence and interest in carbon offsets.
Benji Jones reported from Puerto Rico, where volunteers are hunting invasive pythons and scientists are digging through the gut contents of thousands of snakes to assess their impacts on native biodiversity.

Tips And Resources

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is the genetic material that organisms leave in the environment. IUCN published a briefing paper on how it is useful for conserving and restoring nature.
Jelter Meers of the Pulitzer Center wrote about how to expose the money behind environmental destruction.
New to solutions journalism? The Solutions Journalism Network has a webinar for you on 4 June.

See past editions for more tips and resources.

Four researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands have launched Europe for Nature, a platform for scientists to share stories and advocate for nature-positive policies and behaviours ahead of the European elections.
The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Legacy Landscapes Fund committed to spend US$1 million annually for the next 50 years to conserve the Yasuní National Park and Biosphere Reserve in Ecuador.
Threatened howler monkeys are falling dead from their trees in Mexico, report Luis Manuel Lopez and Raul Cortes.
Between 2019 and 2020, researchers from TRAFFIC found over 5,000 turtles and tortoises for sale on Facebook groups in the Philippines — they share their findings in an infographic-rich story.
Craig Foster describes the three revelations he had while writing Amphibious Soul: Finding the Wild in a Tame World.
Who pays the price for the loss and damage of nature? IIED published a summary of an online dialogue focused on this and related questions.
Jullie Pereira reported that indigenous people linked to mining interests in Guyana have entered Brazil and clashed with indigenous people there.
Tesla is exploring the need to establish no-go zones for mining to protect indigenous communities — see the reaction from Survival International.
Maria Sköld and colleagues at the Stockholm Environment Institute say parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity must focus on the impacts of consumption, the resilience of coastal communities and the potential of the bioeconomy.
Canada has awarded 28.7 million Canadian dollars in funding to scale up nature-based solutions that will help three cities — Dire Dawa, Ethiopia; Kigali, Rwanda and Johannesburg, South Africa —and their residents to adapt to climate change.
Canada also announced 15 million Canadian dollars in funding for community-led bird conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The funding will help communities to conserve 2 million hectares of land in 100 sites.
The Global Landscapes Forum published multimedia feature on light pollution and its impacts on us and other living things.
China updated its national biodiversity database, adding 6,690 species to last year’s total.
Uganda became the first African country to submit a set of national targets aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

In Focus: Protecting Mangroves

Mangrove forests are crucial stores of carbon, nurseries for marine life and protectors of coastlines. On 22 May, IUCN published a global assessment of these ecosystems. It found that more than half of the world’s mangroves are vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered, with 19.6 percent of them being in the two highest categories of risk. The assessment highlights how rising seas linked to global heating threaten mangroves, and provides guidance on mangrove management and restoration — see the press release.

Classifying mangroves as protected areas is alone not enough, as research published on 20 May shows. It looked at what drives mangrove deforestation in protected areas, and found that state-managed areas had higher levels of mangrove loss than areas managed privately or by communities or subnational authorities. Mangrove loss was also greater in areas with the strictest restrictions on human uses, while areas that permitted sustainable use of mangroves had lower levels of loss.

From The Journals

Biodiversity loss reduces global terrestrial carbon storage feeding a loop of more climate change and more biodiversity loss — read the full paper.
Urgent actions that social media and other tech companies can take to contribute to conservation and public health goals — read the full paper.
Media coverage of a problematic brown bear in Italy was polarizing and lacked key information and perspectives — read the full paper.
Conservation dogs detect rare frogs — read the full paper.
Researchers say protected areas can cover 30 percent of China without affecting food security — read the full paper.
Deforestation increases risk of vampire bats spreading rabies to cattle in Costa Rica — read the press release or the full paper.
A ‘nature’s strongholds’ approach for conserving biodiversity — read the press release or the full paper.
A study of 109 countries shows where people are swallowing and inhaling the most microplastics — read the press release or the full paper.

Thank You

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Jobs And Opportunities

Journalists in Nigeria can apply for Diaspora Africa’s course on reporting on climate migration.
The Earth Journalism Network has story grants for journalists covering the gendered impacts of — and responses to — the environmental and climate crises in Asia and the Pacific — deadline 12 June.
The African Youth Storytelling Contest seeks entries telling how Africa can regenerate its landscapes, protect biodiversity, lead climate action and protect the rights and livelihoods of millions — deadline 30 June.
Science journalists in low-income countries can apply for a Louise Behan Reporting Grant — deadline 15 July.
Reuters and Durham University invite applications for the Sir Harry Evans Global Fellowship in Investigative Journalism — deadline 15 July.
Journalismfund Europe has grants for cross-border teams of journalists to investigate wrongdoing by European fossil fuel companies and their proxies within and beyond the continent — deadline 25 July.

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

28-30 May: The 11th Conference of Parties to the Nairobi Convention — a regional treaty that works to protect, manage, and develop the Western Indian Ocean — takes place in Madagascar.

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.

6 June 2024: The GLF Peatlands 2024 hybrid conference has the theme ‘The Climate Solution We Forgot’ and focuses on conserving, managing and restoring these ecosystems. Register here to attend online or in person.

Bonus content: The full calendar for The Nature Beat’s supporters includes 55 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 an axolotl. Photo credit: David Ellis / Flickr — Creative Commons

Thanks for reading. For past editions, see the Archive. If you found it interesting or useful, please share and subscribe. If you want to get in contact, you can reach me at: thenaturebeat@substack.com.