Positive Wildlife News 2021

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Dallas adopts its first urban forest master plan

  • The Dallas City Council this week unanimously adopted the city's first urban forest master plan, with 14 recommendations for a unified approach to build a resilient and equitable urban forest. They include ensuring city regulations support tree canopy preservation and growth, maximizing investment in urban forest programs and management, and creating a city storm response and recovery plan. Improved air quality and reduced temperatures are among the most sought-after benefits.
Dallas adopts its first urban forest master plan
 
Rare Wildlife Images From Niokolo Koba National Park Give Birth To New Hope

Recent photographs of African wild dogs (including pups) in the Niokolo Koba National Park of Senegal, West Africa, is a reason to rejoice, as the species has all but disappeared across West Africa.

Remote camera traps set up by Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, and Senegal’s Directorate of National Parks captured rare images of these wild dogs with pups, ranging from 6 to 8 months, in Niokolo Koba. Scientists believe these animals are members of the last surviving population of the endangered African wild dog in West Africa. According to Panthera's Marine Drouilly, Regional Carnivore Monitoring Coordinator for West and Central Africa, the wild dogs are likely using the dry riverbed of the Niokolo River as a corridor to move across the park.

Rare Wildlife Images From Niokolo Koba National Park Give Birth To New Hope - WorldAtlas
 
Town of Garner, North Carolina Purchases Land for New Park, Trails and Watershed Protection

Today, the Town of Garner and The Conservation Fund announced the purchase of 86.5 acres of undeveloped wetlands and open space for future public access and the protection of drinking water resources.

Located southeast of U.S. Highway 401 S and near other permanently protected lands owned by the City of Raleigh, Wake County and the Town, the acquired property borders a major tributary to Swift Creek, which is part of the Lake Benson watershed, a critical source of drinking water supply for Wake County. The site's wetlands and extensive floodplain provide a naturally vegetated buffer that helps to filter storm water runoff from surrounding upland areas while providing important upland habitat for wildlife.

North Carolina Town Purchases Land for New Park | The Conservation Fund
 
Panama creates a marine reserve almost as large as its land area

Panama has taken this Tuesday, June 8, a giant step to protect its seas. The Central American country, rich in biodiversity, but one of the most threatened by climate change, has created a marine reserve in its Pacific waters of 67,742 square kilometers, that is, an area almost as large as its land surface. It is located in the so-called Cordillera de Coiba, a wide area rich in fishing resources, but also an important meeting point for marine species that find abundant food in the region. In this way, Panama complies with the protection goals established in the Convention on Biological Diversity, signed by 196 countries for the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. Along with neighboring Colombia reserves, the protected area expands to 121,341 square kilometers, making it the third largest marine reserve in the tropical Pacific. “We are very happy,” he says. Milciades Concepcion, Minister of the Environment of Panama. “The entire region is very excited that Panama is going to achieve this,” he adds.

Panama creates a marine reserve almost as large as its land area - The News 24
 
Ocean conservation group works with community to restore coral reefs

In an effort to rehabilitate a vital waterfront on Oahu, an ocean conservation group began a first of it’s kind project to rebuild coral reefs in Maunalua Bay.

Malama Maunalua launched its “Restore with Resilience” project Saturday morning.

Organizers said over 4,000 thermally resilient and locally sourced coral fragments will be planted to help rebuild coral reefs. They said this project is essential in order to ensure the survival of coral for future climate conditions.

Community volunteers took two samples then attached them to aragonite plugs to help scientists assess the coral’s resilience to warmer temperatures in specialized tanks.

Ocean conservation group works with community to restore coral reefs
 
Woods for wildlife and people get £16m funding boost in England

Landowners to be paid for planting that protects wildlife, reduces flood risk and increases public access

Landowners will be paid thousands of pounds in bonuses for creating new woodlands that boost wildlife, increase public access and reduce flooding, under a new £16m scheme for England announced on Wednesday.

The Forestry Commission plan will for the first time allow payments for natural regeneration, where wind-blown seeds colonise land. This can be the best way to recreate native woodlands and some landowners have complained that past grants only allowed tree planting. Support for planting trees along rivers to improve waterside habitats will also be offered for the first time.

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...-reveals-plan-to-create-new-english-woodlands
 
Due to the major ecological/environmental impact that such a project like the Keystone XL pipeline would have, I consider this positive conservation news! The Keystone XL pipeline has been cancelled!

 
New coral protections coming to areas off New England

Federal regulators have signed off on new protections for thousands of square miles of deep-sea corals off New England.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday it has approved a final rule that designates the coral protection areas on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. The largest of the underwater areas is called the Georges Bank Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area and it is located mostly southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The protected zone places prohibitions on bottom-tending commercial fishing gear, with the exception of certain kinds of crab traps, NOAA officials said. It also creates a dedicated habitat research area called the Jordan Basin Dedicated Habitat Research Area south of the Maine coast.

New coral protections coming to areas off New England
 
New survey nearly doubles Grauer’s gorilla population, but threats remain
  • A recent survey led by the Wildlife Conservation Society has revised the population estimate for Grauer’s gorillas to 6,800, up from a 2016 estimate of 3,800.
  • The survey includes data from the Oku community forests in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which could not be surveyed in 2016 due to security issues.
  • Endemic to the eastern DRC, Grauer’s gorillas are still classed as critically endangered, and face threats due to mining and bushmeat hunting.
  • The large numbers of gorillas observed in the community forests surrounding Kahuzi-Biéga National Park underscore the importance of engaging local communities in conservation.
New research indicates that the global population of Grauer’s gorillas may be almost twice as high as previously estimated, leading to renewed optimism among conservationists about the future of the critically endangered ape.

A study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) published last month has updated the global population estimate for Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) — the world’s biggest gorilla subspecies, found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo — to 6,800 individuals from a 2016 estimate of 3,800 individuals.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...rs-gorilla-population-but-threats-remain/amp/
 
Two snow leopards successfully collared in Nepal

Scientists successfully collared two snow leopards in Western Nepal—a feat that will help researchers learn more about this elusive and vulnerable species. The satellite GPS collaring of these big cats brings Nepal’s tally of collared snow leopards to eight. The two adult males—a 7-year-old and a 6-year-old—are in sound health and moving through their normal range area after being fitted with collars in Shey Phoksundo National Park.

A team of 30 members comprised of staff from the Shey Phoksundo National Park Office, wildlife experts, technicians, veterinarians from WWF Nepal and the National Trust for Nature Conservation, and local citizen scientists participated in this year’s expedition.

National park staff and conservation biologists will closely monitor the big cats over the next 18 months. The GPS collars periodically transmit the location of the animals, providing invaluable information on the snow leopard’s habitat, spatial behavior, and movement across borders. This data helps inform conservation planning for the species.

Two snow leopards successfully collared in Nepal
 
Endangered species found thriving in wetlands at San Francisco airport

An undeveloped parcel of land owned by San Francisco International Airport is home to a thriving population of an endangered snake species, a recent study revealed, CBS San Francisco reports.

The study, commissioned by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, revealed that the 180-acre parcel of wetlands and uplands sustains some 1,300 San Francisco garter snakes — the largest concentration discovered to date, airport officials said Wednesday.

https://www-cbsnews-com.cdn.ampproj...-species-garter-snakes-san-francisco-airport/
 
North Florida Land Trust has helped to expand McGirts Creek Preserve

North Florida Land Trust has once again helped the City of Jacksonville expand McGirts Creek Preserve, a 425-acre park on the Westside. The nonprofit land conservation organization facilitated the donation of three parcels totaling 61 acres. A private donor contributed 51.5 acres and NFLT contributed 9.5 acres. NFLT acted as the liaison between the donor and the City as well as contributing its land to the deal.

North Florida Land Trust has helped to expand McGirts Creek Preserve - North Florida Land Trust
 
Camera trap pics of rare species in Vietnam raise conservation hopes
  • Camera traps recently captured images of several different highly endangered species in Vietnam’s Phong Dien Nature Reserve.
  • These include the Annamite striped rabbit (Nesolagus timminsi) and Owston’s palm civet (Chrotogale owstoni), which are only found in the Annamite Range of Laos and Vietnam.
  • The sightings have confirmed the high biodiversity value of Phong Dien, and the importance of strengthening protection from threats such as snare hunting and hydropower development.
Camera traps placed in a remote nature reserve in central Vietnam recently captured images of rare muntjac deer, in addition to a number of other endangered species, raising hopes for the state of biodiversity there.

The sightings took place in Phong Dien Nature Reserve in Thua Thien-Hue province, a rugged part of the Truong Son Mountains (known internationally as the Annamites) near Vietnam’s border with Laos.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...cies-in-vietnam-raise-conservation-hopes/amp/
 
Reviving the critically endangered gharials in Odisha

On May 22, a forest protection team of Satkosia wildlife division was on its usual patrol duty when they spotted a nest of a female gharial with 28 hatchlings on the banks of river Mahanadi in Odisha. In a first in over four decades, a gharial had bred in the wild, making it a breakthrough moment for hundreds of forest officials, experts and local communities who were involved in the conservation efforts.

Immediately, the higher-ups were informed and they assigned special protection and research teams to monitor the condition of the hatchlings.

The efforts to create a conducive habitat for the natural breeding of the critically endangered species had first started in 1975 by the forest department in collaboration with the Nandankanan zoological park in Bhubaneswar. But, the success came only this year. In the 1980s, some nests were found, but no hatchlings were spotted.

“This instance of a female gharial breeding under natural conditions has given hope to Odisha’s conservation efforts. Over the last 45 years, we had taken up several initiatives, some of which worked and some did not. But this instance gives us hope that we are on the right track and things should go uphill from here,” Sudarsan Maharana, Advisor to Odisha’s Crocodile Conservation Project, told Mongabay-India.

Reviving the critically endangered gharials in Odisha
 
Elkhorn Slough Foundation folds in 34 acres of Moro Cojo wetlands to conservation area

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation announced it’s acquired 34 acres of Moro Cojo wetlands, a major tributary of the Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, in effort to provide more continuous habitat benefits throughout watershed.

“If you are interested in and concerned about protecting such a rich and vital waterway as the Elkhorn Slough, you cant stop at the waters edge, you have to look at the entire drainage, the watershed, and what’s influencing the aquatic environment,” Elkhorn Slough Foundation Executive Director Mark Silberstein said.

This particular section of the Moro Cojo Slough was formerly farmed, diked and drained, but the area has sat largely unproductive in recent years.

Elkhorn Slough Foundation folds in 34-acres of wetland to conservation lands
 
Australia gets a new national park the size of Singapore

The South Australian outback has a new national park containing the oldest animal fossils on Earth that will also help protect threatened native animals.

The new Nilpena Ediacara National Park will replace the existing Ediacara National Conservation Park by adding nearly 60,000 hectares of extra protected land, which is equivalent to the size of Luxemburg.

The 60,000-hectare (150,000 acre) Nilpena property is located 600 km north of the South Australian capital Adelaide and is situated west of Blackfellows Creek.

The expansion will make Nilpena the new home of the world-renowned Ediacaran fossils which provides an understanding of the early evolution of complex life on earth.

Australia gets a new national park the size of Singapore - The Lead South Australia
 
Development of third Sumatran rhino sanctuary advances to save species
  • The development of a highly anticipated sanctuary for the Sumatran rhinoceros in Indonesia’s Aceh province is advancing as part of conservation efforts to save the nearly extinct species.
  • The planned facility will be the third in a network of Sumatran Rhino Sanctuaries to breed the species in captivity.
  • Its location in the Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra means it will have access to what is believed to be the largest population of the critically endangered species.
  • Indonesia is now the only home in the world for Sumatran rhinos, a species decimated by a series of factors, from poaching to habitat loss and, more recently, insufficient births.
The development of a highly anticipated captive-breeding facility for Sumatran rhinos in Indonesia’s Aceh province is advancing as part of conservation efforts to save the nearly extinct species.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...rhino-sanctuary-advances-to-save-species/amp/
 
Land Transfer Secures Nevada Bird and Wildlife Habitat

Long-awaited Transfer of Carson Lake and Pasture to the State of Nevada Gives Birds a Boost

More than 30 years have passed since Congress enacted the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act in 1990 (Public Law 101-618), which provided for the transfer of Carson Lake and Pasture from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to the State of Nevada for use as a “state wildlife refuge.” This week, the Nevada Division of State Lands and the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) announced that the long wait is over and the transfer of more than 23,000 acres of wetlands and pasture is complete.

Along with lands from Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge and the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribal Wetlands, Carson Lake and Pasture is part of the Lahontan Valley Wetlands complex, a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) site of hemispheric importance. The 220,000-acre site, located near Fallon, and less than two hours east of Reno, provides critical habitat for migrating and breeding shorebirds, in some years supporting up to 250,000 individuals including up to 150,000 Long-billed Dowitchers. NDOW will manage the property as a State Wildlife Management Area consistent with its designation as a WHSRN site.

Land Transfer Secures Nevada Bird and Wildlife Habitat
 
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