Fewer fish and more rules lead to illegal catches, Italian fishers say (April 26, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/fewer-fish-and-more-rules-lead-to-illegal-catches-italian-fishers-say/
- The line between legal and illegal fishing in the waters off Italy’s Calabria region is often blurred, with fishers blaming stringent top-down regulations for constricting their traditional practices.
- The issue is further muddied by the presence here of the ‘ndrangheta or Calabrian mafia, which investigations have shown is involved in the fish trade and also uses it as cover for illicit activities such as drug smuggling.
- The Mediterranean Sea is experiencing a decline in fish stocks, ranging from 60-90% depending on the species, with the NGO Sea Shepherd Italia blaming illegal fishing for environmental damage.
It’s tough to be a wild orchid: Interview with conservation biologist Reshu Bashyal (April 26, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/its-tough-to-be-a-wild-orchid-interview-with-conservation-biologist-reshu-bashyal/
- Conservation biologist Reshu Bashyal highlights gaps in Nepal’s implementation of CITES regulations, leading to ineffective protection measures.
- Nepal’s transition to a federal system has brought challenges and opportunities for orchid conservation, with local communities often unaware of conservation needs.
- Protected areas struggle to prioritize plant conservation alongside charismatic megafauna, while road construction further fragments orchid habitats.
- Bashyal emphasizes the importance of raising awareness about the significance of wild plants and updating inventories to guide conservation efforts.
Fishing by dodgy fleets hurts economies, jobs in developing countries: Report (April 26, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/fishing-by-dodgy-fleets-hurts-economies-jobs-in-developing-countries-report/
- A recent report gauged the economic damage done by fishing fleets with shady track records in five vulnerable countries: Ecuador, Ghana, Peru, the Philippines, and Senegal.
- It found that these fleets’ activities could be costing the five countries 0.26% of their combined GDP, leaving some 30,000 people jobless and pushing around 142,000 deeper into poverty.
- “The report emphasizes that the uncontrolled growth in global fishing has led to overfishing, stressing fish stocks and impacting communities and the oceans’ well-being,” one of the authors told Mongabay.
Wildlife from space: Winners of Satellites for Biodiversity Award named (April 26, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/wildlife-from-space-winners-of-satellites-for-biodiversity-award-named/
- The winners of the second edition of the Satellites for Biodiversity Award have been announced.
- The winners include conservation initiatives that use satellite data to monitor and protect wildlife such as chimpanzees, bears, wolves and rhinos in South Sudan, Peru, Ethiopia and Nepal respectively.
- The award was launched in December 2022 as a partnership between the Airbus Foundation and U.K.-based nonprofit the Connected Conservation Foundation.
- The winners of the award will be granted access to Airbus’s high-resolution satellites as well as funding and training from the Connected Conservation Foundation.
Etelvina Ramos: From coca farmer to opponent of the illegal crop (April 26, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/etelvina-ramos-from-coca-farmer-to-opponent-of-the-illegal-crop/
- Etelvina Ramos’ story encompasses the war in the Colombian Amazon. She grew up alongside coca crops, witnessed several massacres, and was displaced by violence due to the illicit, but profitable, crop.
- Now, at 52 years old, she is fighting to replace coca.
- Etelvina Ramos has a mission that is contrary to the interests of the drug trafficking industry: through her work in the Workers’ Association of Curillo (ASTRACUR), she is seeking the approval of a rural reserve. This would make it possible to close the pathway to coca production and illegal mining.
- Due to her work as an environmental and land defender, she frequently faces threats by illegal armed groups. She admits that she has learned to live with the fear of death.
DRC’s 1 billion trees program makes progress, but hurdles remain (April 26, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/drcs-1-billion-trees-program-makes-progress-but-hurdles-remain/
- According to the FAO, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) loses 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of forest cover every year due to shifting cultivation, mining and illegal and informal logging.
- As part of addressing this, a Congolese government program aspired to plant 1 billion trees between 2019 and 2023, aiming to strengthen climate resilience, alleviate poverty and protect biodiversity.
- Program officials say they achieved 90% of their target. A forestry specialist says that future reforestation efforts should include feasibility studies, informing tree species selection to maintain ecological balance.
A single gang of poachers may have killed 10% of Javan rhinos since 2019 (April 26, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/a-single-gang-of-poachers-may-have-killed-10-of-javan-rhinos-since-2019/
- A poaching case currently being heard in an Indonesian court has revealed that at least seven Javan rhinos were killed from 2019-2023 for their horns.
- The world’s sole remaining population of Javan rhinos lives in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park, with official population estimates standing at around 70 individuals.
- A single suspect has been arrested and indicted in the case, with three alleged accomplices still at large.
- The revelation from the recent indictment raises questions about security at the park, most of which has been closed off to the public since September 2023 over poaching concerns.
Women weave a culture of resistance and agroecology in Ecuador’s Intag Valley (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/women-weave-a-culture-of-resistance-and-agroecology-in-ecuadors-intag-valley/
- In Ecuador’s Intag Valley, the women’s artisan collective Mujer y Medio Ambiente (Women and the Environment) has developed an innovative way to dye and stitch fibers from the cabuya plant, an agave-like shrub.
- The women use environmentally friendly techniques, such as natural dyes from native plants and insects, and agroecological farming practices to cultivate cabuya as a complementary crop to their primary harvests.
- Being part of the collective has empowered the women economically and personally, enabling them to contribute to their children’s education, gain autonomy, and become community leaders in the nearly 30-year struggle to keep mining companies out of their forests.
- In March 2023, the community’s resistance paid off when a provincial court recognized that mining companies had violated the communities’ constitutional rights and canceled their permits, setting an important precedent for protecting constitutional and environmental rights in Ecuador.
Latest Peruvian oil spill cuts Indigenous communities from life-giving river (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/latest-peruvian-oil-spill-cuts-indigenous-communities-from-life-giving-river/
- On March 5, a collision between two oil barges in the Peruvian Amazon led to an oil spill in the Puinahua River, near Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, a protected region of rainforest.
- Since the spill, local Indigenous communities, who almost exclusively depend on the river for their livelihoods, have been unable to collect water or fish due to fear of contamination.
- The impacted communities are awaiting compensation for their losses, yet face a deadlock as environmental assessments, which could take weeks, must be conducted first before payments are made.
- The ecological, economic and social impacts of the oil spill have not yet been published; for decades, the Peruvian Amazon has been subjected to hundreds of oil spills and leaks, which experts say have wreaked havoc on the basin.
EU law to reduce deforestation is on a knife’s edge, will leaders act? (commentary) (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/eu-law-to-reduce-deforestation-is-on-a-knifes-edge-will-leaders-act-commentary/
- The landmark law to halt the import of products linked to global deforestation into the European Union is at a crucial stage.
- The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) could stand or fall in the coming days, depending on how the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, acts, and she should listen to the large chorus of corporations — many of whose industries are linked to deforestation — a new op-ed states.
- “It’s not every day that such a broad bench of companies encourages environmental and human rights regulation, and this thousands-strong corporate movement is worth celebrating. Von der Leyen can take heart in knowing she can act courageously for global forest protection, whilst maintaining considerable corporate support.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
Navigating the rise in conflicts between humans and fishing cats in Bangladesh (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/navigating-the-rise-in-conflicts-between-humans-and-fishing-cats-in-bangladesh/
- In Bangladesh, rapid village expansion shrinks wetlands, forcing fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) closer to humans. This triggers human-cat conflicts occurring every two weeks, with over half of them ending in a cat’s death.
- The main reason for the killings is fear. Locals often mistake fishing cats for tigers and feel threatened. Social pressure to participate in killings and revenge for livestock losses (often caused by other animals) further fuel the conflicts.
- Despite ongoing threats like infrastructure projects that fragment habitats, some hope exists. Government awareness campaigns and dedicated nongovernmental efforts are educating communities and finding solutions to promote peaceful coexistence with fishing cats.
IKEA blamed for Romanian forest destruction (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/ikea-blamed-for-romanian-forest-destruction/
- IKEA is facing scrutiny over its wood sourcing practices after two damning reports linked the furniture giant to destructive logging in some of Europe’s last ancient forests.
- The investigations by Greenpeace and fellow environmental groups Agent Green and the Bruno Manser Fonds focus on IKEA’s procurement of wood from ecologically sensitive areas in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains.
- Inter IKEA Group, the franchisor responsible for the IKEA supply chain, and Ingka told Mongabay they “strongly disagree” with the findings and that the operations complied with national and European laws.
Outdated infrastructure and oil spills: the cases of Colombia, Peru and Ecuador (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/outdated-infrastructure-and-oil-spills-the-cases-of-colombia-peru-and-ecuador/
- Outdated oil pipelines built by foreign companies in the Andean Amazon have repeatedly put at risk ecosystems and Indigenous communities in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, exposing them to oil spills and wide-scale contamination.
- Unlike modern extractive infrastructure, those pipelines are built on the surface, making them vulnerable to the elements, accidents and sabotage. For example, in Putumayo, Colombia, oil infrastructure was attacked more than 1,000 times between 1986 and 2015, triggering at least 160 oil spills.
- Highly dependent on oil revenues, governments in the region are unlikely to give up on the income provided by the old pipelines in order to remedy environmental impacts that affect a small percentage of their population.
Human rights allegations prompt World Bank to freeze project’s funds in Tanzania (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/human-rights-allegations-prompt-world-bank-to-freeze-projects-funds-in-tanzania/
- Nine months after its Inspection Panel registered allegations of gross human rights violations linked to a $150 million project in southern Tanzania, the World Bank has suspended further payments.
- People living near one of the project sites, Ruaha National Park, accuse rangers of killings, sexual assault and livestock seizures as well as preventing farmers from accessing their land in connection with a project aimed at improving management and infrastructure at the park.
- The government has also announced plans to expand the park’s boundaries, a move that residents say will mean 21,000 people will be forcibly resettled.
- The bank has sent a high-level delegation to Tanzania to look into the allegations; a separate investigation into whether the financial institution has failed to monitor and act on violations of its social and environmental policies is ongoing.
Liberia puts a wartime logger in charge of its forests (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/liberia-puts-a-wartime-logger-in-charge-of-its-forests/
- In February, Liberia’s newly inaugurated president, Joseph Boakai, appointed timber lobbyist Rudolph Merab to head the country’s Forestry Development Authority.
- Merab has been a fixture in Liberia’s logging industry for decades, and was the co-owner of a company that operated on the Sierra Leonean border during the region’s civil wars.
- Environmental advocates describe Merab as an opponent of community forestry and donor-driven conservation projects.
- Merab’s predecessor as head of the Forestry Development Authority, Mike Doryen, was controversial, with the FDA marred by allegations of corruption and mismanagement under his watch.
Indigenous community fights to save its lands on Indonesia’s historic tin island (April 25, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/indigenous-community-fights-to-save-its-lands-on-indonesias-historic-tin-island/
- The Lanun Indigenous community of Indonesia’s Belitung Island have responded to increasing environmental damage by building their capacity in skills such as advocacy and mediation.
- At issue is the growth in illegal mining and forest clearing by the plantation industry on land that the Lanun consider to have long been theirs.
- In 2021, UNESCO announced this area of Indonesia would become an international geopark, which required joint applications by government and local communities to conserve a landscape of global significance.
U.S. East Coast adopts ‘living shorelines’ approach to keep rising seas at bay (April 24, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/u-s-east-coast-adopts-living-shorelines-approach-to-keep-rising-seas-at-bay/
- Along the U.S. East Coast, communities are grappling with the dual destructive forces of rising sea levels and stronger storms pushed by climate change, resulting in effects ranging from ‘ghost forests’ of saltwater-killed coastal trees in the Carolinas, to inundations of New York City’s subway system.
- While the usual response has been to build higher seawalls and other concrete or rock structures, a natural approach that aims to protect coastal areas with natural assets that also create habitat and are generally cheaper and less carbon intensive — ‘living shorelines’ — is increasingly taking hold.
- State agencies and landowners alike are shoring up the shore with innovative combinations of locally sourced logs, rocks and native plants and shrubs to protect homes, dunes and beaches.
- In Maine, where a trio of powerful winter storms recently pummeled the coast, living shorelines designers are in growing demand.
Deforestation haunts top Peruvian reserve and its Indigenous communities (April 24, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/deforestation-haunts-top-peruvian-reserve-and-its-indigenous-communities/
- Peru’s Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, considered one of the best-protected nature reserves in the world, has seen a spike in deforestation on its fringes from the expansion of illegal coca cultivation and mining, and new road construction.
- The forest loss appears to be affecting the ancestral lands of several Indigenous communities, including the Harakbut, Yine and Matsiguenka peoples, according to a new report by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP).
- The report found that 19,978 hectares (49,367 acres) of forest have been cleared in the buffer of the reserve over the past two decades.
- According to Indigenous leaders, the state is doing “practically nothing” to address deforestation drivers in the buffer zone, and they warn that if left unchecked, the activity will spread into the protected area itself.
Global study maps most detailed tree of life yet for flowering plants (April 24, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/global-study-maps-most-detailed-tree-of-life-yet-for-flowering-plants/
- A new study unveils the most comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary history of flowering plants to date.
- The research analyzed 1.8 billion letters of genetic code from more than 9,500 species, clearing up some of the mystery surrounding the rapid rise of flowering plants.
- Some data came from dried and preserved specimens from herbarium collections that are nearly 200 years old.
- To ensure the widest possible use of this data, the tree and all its underlying data have been made openly and freely accessible to all.
Tribes turn to the U.N. as major wind project plans to cut through their lands in the U.S. (April 24, 2024)
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tribes-turn-to-the-u-n-as-major-wind-project-plans-to-cut-through-their-lands-in-southwestern-u-s/
- Last week a United States federal judge rejected a request from Indigenous nations to stop SunZia, a $10 billion dollar wind transmission project that would cut through traditional tribal lands in southwestern Arizona.
- Indigenous leaders and advocates are turning to the U.N. to intervene and are calling for a moratorium on green energy projects for all U.N. entities “until the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected and recognized.”
- Indigenous leaders say they are not in opposition to renewable energy projects, but rather projects that don’t go through the due process and attend their free, prior and informed consent.
- According to the company, the wind transmission project is the largest clean energy infrastructure initiative in U.S. history, and will provide power to 3 million Americans, stretching from New Mexico to as far as California.