Nature Beat #34
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
Chevron Doctrine: A decision by the US Supreme Court on 29 June will undo 40 years of regulatory progress in areas such as environmental protection, harmful pollution and action on climate change, say scientists and environmentalists. The court’s conservative majority overturned a longstanding legal precedent called the Chevron Doctrine that has enabled the Federal Government to set regulations in situations in which the legal framework is ambiguous. Marianne Lavell explains what the court’s means for US climate policy and ongoing legal cases that Republican-led states and fossil fuel companies have filed against federal agencies for regulating to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Ecological integrity: A national park in the Republic of the Congo has become the world's first site to be recognized for its ecological integrity, meeting criteria in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Key Biodiversity Areas standard — see the press release from the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the national park.
UN Convention on Biological Diversity: The Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD has selected 18 entities and organizations — listed here — to host subregional technical and scientific cooperation support centres. The centres are intended to boost progress towards to the goals of the CBD and the Global Biodiversity Framework.
IUCN Red List: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its updated Red List of Threatened Species on 27 June. The update includes assessments of around 6,000 additional species bringing the total to more than 160,000. Of these, IUCN concludes that more than 45,000 are threatened with extinction, an increase of around 1,000 since last year. Species and wildlife populations newly classed as threatened include Asian elephants in Borneo, reptiles on the island of Gran Canaria and cactuses from Chile. See the IUCN press release.
Indonesian forests: Indonesia announced plans to protect 15 million hectares of forest, with close to a quarter of this total being assigned to indigenous communities through one of the country’s social forestry schemes. The plans are part of an agreement with the Bezos Earth Fund. The move will increase the area of forest assigned to indigenous groups by a factor of ten. According to the Rainforest Foundation Norway, this could be achieved within just three months.
Fire loop: Researchers have shown for the first time that wildfires are increasing in number and intensity worldwide, reports Jeff Tollefson. More fires mean more global warming and yet more fires. As new analysis from the World Resources Institute and the University of Maryland, last year’s wildfires in Canada alone caused carbon emissions equivalent to four years of global aviation.
In The Spotlight
Iván Carrillo reported on how the US-Mexico border wall harms wildlife accustomed to crossing the border and how local people are trying to help — read in English or Spanish.
Solomon Yimer wrote about how Ethiopia's church forests and their guardian monks are conserving biodiversity.
Alexandra Talty's in-depth series covers America's burgeoning farmed-seaweed industry and its potential as a climate solution — read the overview or part one.
Tom Baxter interviewed Annah Lake Zhu of Wageningen University about China's approach to nature-based solutions to development challenges at home and overseas.
Tips And Resources
The Global Investigative Journalism Network published a list of resources for journalists covering wildlife trafficking.
Media accreditation for the 16th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is open — apply here.
See past editions for more tips and resources.
In Focus: Conservation Imperatives
Researchers have identified unprotected areas around the globe that are home a significant portion of the most threatened species. They say these ‘conservation imperatives’ should be urgently protected alongside carbon-rich areas as countries move towards their shared target of protecting 30 percent of land and sea by 2030. The researchers say this is urgent as only 7 percent of protected areas created since 2018 overlapped with conservation imperative areas — see the press release or the full paper.
The conservation imperatives include more than 16,000 sites that together account for only 1.2 percent of the world’s land area. The researchers say these sites should be ‘anchor points’ for regional scale efforts to achieve the 30 percent target. More than half of the sites worldwide are in just five countries: Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Madagascar and and the Philippines. The researchers expect that protecting all the tropical areas would cost around US$34 billion a year over five years.
What Caught My Eye
Elizabeth Claire Alberts reported on one of the world’s largest-scale efforts to restore coral reefs.
After a two year delay, the US-Mexico-Canada Commission for Environment Cooperation will investigate Mexico's efforts to protect the world's most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita.
Kate Klikis from the Environmental Investigation Agency wrote about how the United States and European Union still import ‘blood timber’ from Myanmar despite having sanctions and laws to prevent this.
Divya Gandhi reported on Kenya's plan to kill a million Indian crows by the end of the year.
Two hundred investors managing US$15 trillion in assets have teamed up to put pressure on 60 major companies to address and improve their impacts on nature.
Romany Williams interviewed Ferris Jabr about his new book Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life.
China and France established an international biodiversity research network.
A report from TRAFFIC shows how Tanzania has rapidly developed regulations to tackle poaching and promote sustainable and legal trade in wild meat.
From The Journals
Researchers says that the Living Planet Index used to measure changes in populations of vertebrate species is overestimating declines — read the full paper.
Restoring water levels in the Great Salt Lake, in the United States, would decrease racial disparities in exposure to harmful dust — read the press release or the full paper.
Rhino poaching has declined in South Africa’s Kruger National Park because there are fewer rhinos to hunt but not because poachers are less active — read the full paper.
Episodes of coral bleaching are set to intensify and last longer as the planet warms — read the press release or the full paper.
Gaps in human rights commitments of international conservation organizations — read the full paper.
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Jobs And Opportunities
Science writers aged 30 and below can apply for the Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award — deadline 30 June.
New Scientist is hiring a head of features — deadline 17 July.
Climate News Tracker is hiring a managing editor — deadline 2 August.
The National Geographic Society is seeking innovative photography, short film, writing, data visualization and other storytelling proposals — deadline 11 September.
The FRONTIERS Science Journalism Initiative invites applications for its science journalism in residency programme — deadline 25 September.
Bonus content: There are 35 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
8-12 July 2024: The 27th meeting of the CITES Plants Committee takes place in Geneva, Switzerland.
10-14 July 2024: The 19th International Congress of Investigative Journalism takes place, both online and in-person in São Paulo.
13-14 July 2024: A joint session of the CITES Plants Committee and Animals Committee takes place in Geneva, Switzerland.
15-19 July 2024: The 33rd meeting of the CITES Animals Committee takes place in Geneva, Switzerland.
15 July - 2 August 2024: The 2nd Part of the 29th Annual Session of the International Seabed Authority takes place in Kingston, Jamaica. See ENB’s preview and daily coverage.
Bonus content: The full calendar for Global Nature Beat’s supporters includes 50 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 blue-footed booby. Photo credit: Timothy Finley / Flickr — Creative Commons
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