Higher counts of returning Atlantic salmon stir hope after years of decline
Counts in Labrador, Quebec and Maine all showed a significant increase last year in returning adult salmon
As the leaves started to change last fall, divers with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans slipped into the clear waters of the Restigouche River in northern New Brunswick, their eyes on the river bottom, looking for salmon.
Since 1999, the Restigouche snorkel count has been tallying the adult Atlantic salmon spotted during spawning season.
But last year, divers counted about 10,500, more than twice as many as they counted the year before.
Doria’s foam-nesting treefrog (Chirixalus doriae) was first described in 1893 from Karin Bia-po in Myanmar and was later sighted in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
The natural history and distribution of Doria’s foam-nesting treefrog, last recorded in India in 1912, is virtually unknown
A virtually unknown treefrog with known traits such as changing skin shade and whipping up foam to protect its eggs has resurfaced in India after 108 years.
A team of zoologists from Mizoram University’s Developmental Biology and Herpetological Laboratory spotted Doria’s foam-nesting treefrog during a nocturnal survey in the buffer area of Mizoram’s Pualreng Wildlife Sanctuary in June 2020.
Natural England announces new National Nature Reserve for East Devon Pebblebed Heaths
Natural England, in collaboration with Clinton Devon Estates, has announced today a new National Nature Reserve (NNR) for East Devon Pebblebed Heaths.
East Devon Pebblebed Heaths, stretching between the village of Woodbury towards Budleigh Salterton on the Jurassic Coast, is the latest site in the county to join the UK’s list of nationally and internationally important landscapes.
The management partners are the Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust, Devon Wildlife Trust and the RSPB.
A new board, under the chairmanship of Chris Woodruff, the manager of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership, will guide and advise the partners in the management of the new NNR.
Recognition of the 1,160 hectare site as a NNR both protects and establishes East Devon Pebblebed Heaths’ important habitats, species and geology, and provides an ‘outdoor laboratory’ for research.
The new NNR will make up a part of the wider Nature Recovery Network to significantly expand and connect wildlife rich places to benefit people and nature.
First wild fishers born in the North Cascades as part of statewide restoration project
State and federal biologists have found the first wild fishers to be born in the North Cascades in perhaps half a century. A female fisher, F105, was detected on a trail camera moving four kits on April, 18, 2021, at her den in western Chelan County.
Peru’s new Bosques Secos del Marañón Regional Conservation Area Protects Unique Dry Forests Along South America’s “Grand Canyon”
Established on May 12, the Bosques Secos del Marañón Regional Conservation Area will protect the rare Marañón dry forest ecoregion, an area underrepresented in the Peruvian National Protected Area System. Situated along the Marañón River in the Cajamarca Region, this new area protects 53,856 acres containing one of the highest rates of endemism of plant and animal species in Peru. Referred to as the Grand Canyon of South America, this area boasts a unique microclimate and landscape that acts as a genetic island hosting many species found only in this region.
South Australia to get Australia’s biggest national park
South Australia could soon be home to the largest national park in Australia, with the proposal to create the Munga-Thirri–Simpson Desert National Park.
The new national park will be 3.6 million hectares in size, large enough to fit in 1.75 million Adelaide Ovals. It’s also more than one million hectares larger than the next biggest national park – Kakadu. This is the biggest expansion of national parks in the state’s history backed up by the biggest government investment in parks ever.
Elephant baby boom, drop in ivory poaching in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park offer hope for the future
Drought-busting rain, a crackdown on the illegal trade in ivory and education in Asia to stem demand for it has seen new life blossom on the African savannah
A record-breaking 248 baby elephants were born in the Amboseli National Park last year, and its thousands-strong herds can roam in greater safety
Once on the verge of extinction, the Iberian lynx population in Spain and Portugal has risen more than 10-fold over the past 18 years, the Spanish government said Friday.
A total of 414 lynx were born in 2020 bringing their total number in the two countries to 1,111, a record high since monitoring of the species began, the ministry for ecological transition said in a statement.
That is up from fewer than 100 in 2002, when the first census of the spotted nocturnal cat was carried out, thanks to a programme of captive breeding and release of the animals into the wild.
"This demographic curve allows for optimism and raises scenarios that move the great Iberian feline away from the critical risk of disappearance," the statement said.
Chocolate giant funds high resolution carbon map to protect forests
A new carbon map based on high resolution satellite imagery that will help companies avoid deforestation in their supplies chains is expected to be published by the end of 2021.
The map builds on the High Carbon Stock (HCS) approach, a methodology that differentiates between six categories of vegetation cover, from native forest areas that conservationists say should be protected to degraded lands low in carbon and biodiversity that may be appropriate for conversion to other uses.
The map was developed by the EcoVision Lab at ETH Zurich and financed by Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest chocolate maker.
The initial release of the map covers Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
A project by the EcoVision Lab at ETH Zurich expects to have every quarter of the tropics mapped and classified by carbon stock by the end of the year, providing a complete picture of which lands store the most carbon and allowing companies to track deforestation in their supply chains. The map is being constructed by passing publicly available satellite imagery through a deep machine learning algorithm in order to inventory the world’s landscapes at a resolution of 10 by 10 meters.
Statement on Biden Administration's Announcement to Improve, Strengthen the ESA
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries have proposed regulatory revisions to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The agencies have released a plan to improve and strengthen the implementation of the ESA and will initiate a rulemaking in the coming months to revise, rescind, or reinstate the five ESA regulations finalized by the Trump administration.
Statement by Jamie Rappaport Clark, President and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife:
"Endangered and threatened species scored a big win today as the Biden administration stepped up to protect vital habitat. Thank you to the Biden administration for its commitment to saving biodiversity and addressing the impacts of climate change on our public lands and imperiled species. With 1 million species threatened with extinction in the coming decades, this is a welcome decision for our nation’s wildlife.”
How Returning Lands to Native Tribes Is Helping Protect Nature
From California to Maine, land is being given back to Native American tribes who are committing to managing it for conservation. Some tribes are using traditional knowledge, from how to support wildlife to the use of prescribed fires, to protect their ancestral grounds.
President Biden’s Budget Invests $2.8 Billion To Support Economies, Outdoor Recreation, & Access To Public Lands
Today, the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture announced their proposed Fiscal Year 2022 allocations of $2.8 billion in projects, grants and programs authorized in the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) to support economies, outdoor recreation, and access to public lands. The investments are consistent with and help advance the America the Beautiful initiative, the decade-long, voluntary national conservation effort that the Biden-Harris administration recently launched.
Eighteen million trees to be planted around Glasgow
An urban forest, consisting of 18 million trees, is to be planted in and around Glasgow over the next 10 years.
The Clyde Climate Forest will be part of the city region's commitment to reaching Net Zero.
It will increase woodland cover in the area from 17% to 20%.
Inter-connected woodlands will be created across Glasgow, East and West Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, and North and South Lanarkshire council areas.
Press Release: Invasive Rodents No Longer Threaten Wildlife on Seymour Norte Island and Mosquera Islet
Two years after implementing the rodent eradication program on Seymour Norte and Mosquera, the Galapagos National Park Directorate and Island Conservation determine the islands are free of invasive rodents.
The Galapagos National Park Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Water, together with the not-for-profit organization Island Conservation have declared Seymour Norte Island and Mosquera islet free of invasive rodents. These conservation actions have been carried out over the last two years, with the intention of eradicating invasive vertebrates that affect native biodiversity and preserving the island ecosystems.
Critically endangered swift parrots spotted in Port Macquarie spark hope, excitement
A large flock of critically endangered swift parrots has been spotted in northern New South Wales, sparking a ripple of excitement, and hope, among birdwatchers.
Turning the tables—how table corals are regenerating reefs
Table corals have been dubbed as "extraordinary ecosystem engineers"—with new research showing these unique corals can regenerate coral reef habitats on the Great Barrier Reef faster than any other coral type.
The study highlights the importance of tabular Acropora, and is led by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in collaboration with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the University of Queensland and The Nature Conservancy.
Being of predominantly Portuguese ancestry myself. I can take pride in this.
"Portugal bans the sale of bird traps
The law has been revised, and now forbids not just the use but also the sale of indiscriminate traps such as lime-sticks, snares and snap-traps. After years of work with parliamentary groups, and with the support of the thousands of citizens who signed our petition, this is an important step to increase the efficiency of the fight against illegal killing and trapping of birds in Portugal."
Langidoon, Metford stations purchased by NSW government to create new outback reserve
More than 60,000 hectares of far west New South Wales land has been purchased by the state government, the second-largest land acquisition in NSW for national parks in the past decade.
The lesser prairie chicken, a species of prairie grouse commonly recognized for its colorful spring mating display and stout build, lives across parts of five states — Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado. Populations of the bird have been in decline for years, due largely to habitat loss and fragmentation, some of which is credited to the installation of energy infrastructure across the region.
