Positive Wildlife News 2023

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Mākolelau Acquisition Provides Additional Watershed Protection on Moloka‘i

In an effort to protect native forests, watersheds, and reefs in southeast Moloka‘i, TNC Hawai'i and Palmyra, in partnership with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), purchased five parcels of land in the Mākolelau area in September, dedicating the land for conservation and restoration. This is the first land deal TNC has made in Hawai'i in 10 years.

The purchase was made possible with a $1.8M grant from the USFWS and over $600,000 in private donations to TNC.

Mākolelau Acquisition Provides Additional Watershed Protection on Moloka‘i
 
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation helps expand Montana’s largest wildlife management area

Montana’s largest wildlife management area offers more room to roam for hunters, anglers and others thanks to a collaborate effort led by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation teamed up with private landowners with a history of conserving and opening public access to elk habitat by acquiring and conveying 829 acres to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), which added the land to the now 56,980-acre Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area.

RMEF Helps Expand Montana’s Largest Wildlife Management Area | Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
 
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Record year for breeding birds and rare sightings on Teesside at RSPB Saltholme

A nature reserve on Teesside says it has experienced one of its most successful years on record.

Breeding rates of both Avocet and Lapwing have increased at RSPB Saltholme, following the installation of a predator fence in Autumn 2021.

The 4.5km fence encloses areas of wet grassland - a favourite nesting habitat for ground-nesting birds - and protects birds from land predators such as foxes.

The structure also allows breeding pairs to nest further away from each other, reducing the risk of nests being trampled by cattle and the spread of disease.

Nature reserve reports record year for breeding birds and rare sightings | ITV News
 
49 sites identified for national park system

Forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts involved to protect wild flora, fauna

China has identified 49 sites in 28 provinces where national parks have already been established or can be potentially built, a move aimed at creating the largest national park system in the world.

The details were outlined in the National Park Spatial Layout Plan recently released by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

49 sites identified for national park system
 
New national monument proposed south of Joshua Tree National Park

The area is home to desert tortoise, bighorn sheep and chuckwalla and offers important recreation space for people in nearby communities.

The vast stretch of the Colorado Desert bordering the southern edge of Joshua Tree National Park provides vital habitat for threatened and endangered desert wildlife, including the desert tortoise, bighorn sheep and chuckwalla ― but it also offers important recreation space for the humans living in nearby communities in the eastern Coachella Valley and surrounding the Salton Sea.

Mecca Hills Wilderness, for example, is home to the popular Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon Trail, where hikers can view colorful giant rock formations and scramble up ladders through a narrow canyon. The nearby Dos Palmas Preserve, the Orocopia Mountains and Box Canyon Road are all also popular local hiking and camping destinations.

New national monument proposed south of Joshua Tree National Park
 
Yucatan beaches declared Sea Turtle Sanctuary

The beaches within the environmental reserve of Ría Lagartos were declared a Natural Protected Area in the category of Sea Turtle Sanctuary by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), in order to protect their nesting and reproduction areas.

In the case of Yucatán, it will be called Playa Ría Lagartos and covers an area of 827.359 hectares, which includes the municipalities of Tizimín, Río Lagartos and San Felipe, located in the northeastern part of the state.

It should be noted that although they were part of the Ría Lagartos Reserve, these beaches were not legally protected to prevent turtle predation and exploitation.

Yucatan beaches declared Sea Turtle Sanctuary
 
Piñas Joins Forces with other Municipalities to Protect Water Sources

On July 29, 2022, the municipality of Piñas in the El Oro Province of Ecuador approved a new Municipal Conservation and Sustainable Use Area measuring 29,886 acres (12,094.50 ha). Piñas is in the Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspot and is home to swiftly flowing rivers and streams, mountain wetlands, lush forests, and wildlife found nowhere else in the world. Piñas and its surrounding conservation areas are also paramount for humans, as it stores the primary sources of drinking water for the people of the El Oro province.

Piñas Joins Forces with other Municipalities to Protect Water Sources - Andes Amazon Fund
 
Southern hairy-nosed wombat population booms on Nullarbor after drought breaks

Scientists and wildlife carers are urging drivers to watch for wombats on the Nullarbor Plain this summer as populations of the furry marsupial boom.

Key points:
  • Wombat numbers are booming across the Nullarbor
  • Scientists say the population is recovering from recent drought
  • Wildlife carers are urging drivers to watch out for the animals
A recent University of Adelaide survey found southern hairy-nosed wombat numbers were sky-high, with up to 200 animals per square kilometre in some parts of the desert.

It comes after populations were decimated by drought between 2017 and 2019.

Researcher Mike Swinbourne said he was pleased to see wombats recovering.

"Since the drought's broken, conditions on the Nullarbor have been pretty good, grass is growing, there's been a bit of rainfall, a bit of water around," he said.

https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/101795134
 
I know that this story is from 2022, but since the thread, "Positive Wildlife News 2022" was closed, I decided to share it here. I still think it is a relevant story.

Migratory Habitat Win in Nevada

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation successfully collaborated with a landowner to conserve 12,122 acres of elk and mule deer habitat, a vital migratory route, in northeast Nevada. The voluntary conservation agreement is adjacent to more than 15,000 acres of public land for hunting, fishing and other recreational activities.

“This is an all-around win for elk and other wildlife, hunters and for the landowner group,” said Kyle Weaver, RMEF president and CEO. “We express our gratitude to EFM Investments & Advisory for working with us to conserve this valuable landscape.”

The Pole Canyon property is about 40 miles east of Elko. It serves as critical transition and summer range for elk as well as a calving area. It is also home to bighorn sheep and provides summer, winter and transition range for the largest herd of migrating mule deer in the state.

Migratory Habitat Win in Nevada | Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
 
Two new National Parks and the expansion of protected areas

2022 ended with a positive balance in terms of National Parks in Argentina, with the creation of two new spaces in Córdoba and in Río Negro and with the expansion of Pre-Delta protected areas (in Entre Rios) and Aconquija (in Tucuman).

One moment, please...
 
Bounding Toward Recovery

The Iberian lynx—one of the world’s most endangered cats—made a giant leap toward a comeback in just a few years, easing the way for other species to follow in its path.

When Salão and Sidra step out of their carrying crates, the first ground the two Iberian lynx feel beneath their paws is warm, tilled earth. It’s a bright day in early May, and a crowd of about 75 people, including government officials, schoolchildren and TV crews, watch from the corner of the fallow farm field as Salão trots by at a languid pace. Sidra follows soon after, at a faster clip. The two young lynx—honey-hued with black spots, ear tufts, and short, ink-dipped tails—disappear into a dense thicket of gum rock rose.

A lot rides on Salão and Sidra’s fate in the mosaic of agricultural lands, hunting estates, and scrublands that make up this part of the Guadiana Valley, in the northeastern stretch of the Algarve region in southern Portugal. For decades, conservationists considered the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) one of the most endangered wild cats in the world. Biologists worried it would become the first wild feline to go extinct in Europe in millennia. The cat once thrived across much of the Iberian Peninsula and parts of southern France, but by the mid-2000s, only a few scattered populations remained, all in southern Spain. Today, though, nearly eight years into a wildly popular reintroduction campaign in Portugal that brought Salão and Sidra to their new home, and a parallel effort in Spain, the Iberian lynx is bounding toward recovery.

Bounding Toward Recovery - bioGraphic
 
North Florida Land Trust has helped to protect Little Tiger Island in Nassau County

Florida Land Trust has helped to protect more than 565 acres in Nassau County known as Little Tiger Island. Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approved the property for acquisition through the Florida Forever Program. The property connects a network of protected lands and waters along the Florida-Georgia border from St. Andrew Sound in Georgia to the St. Johns River, which includes Fort Clinch State Park, Cumberland Island National Seashore and the Fort Clinch Aquatic Preserve.

NFLT facilitated much of the due diligence necessary to acquire the property and secured a $1 million grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program. The state will fund the remaining $1,965,000 purchase price. Once the purchase is complete, the State will own and manage the land.

“It is now or never for conservation in Florida, and we applaud Governor DeSantis and his Cabinet members for realizing the importance of saving our natural spaces,” said Allison DeFoor, president of NFLT. “We have been working to protect this property for years and are thrilled it will now be natural forever. Little Tiger Island is an important ecosystem for many plant and animal species and provides environmental benefits to the area.”

North Florida Land Trust has helped to protect Little Tiger Island in Nassau County - North Florida Land Trust
 
6 Reasons Why We Can Be (Cautiously) Optimistic About Solving the Climate Crisis

I’ve been spending a lot of time pushing back on what appears to be a pervasive
culture of doom fueled by an abundance of misinformed climate clickbait. Many on the outside of the recent COP27 summit in Egypt may have heard that it’s too late to achieve the target of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5°C, which was enshrined in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. But on the floor of the convention, 1.5°C was very much alive with many diplomatic blocs, especially vulnerable nations and island states, joined by the U.S. and hundreds of civil society organizations calling for 1.5°C aligned government pledges (NDCs) by 2025.

On the heels of COP27, here are my 6 top reasons why I believe we can be cautiously optimistic about solving the climate crisis, getting the world on track to achieve the 1.5°C target.

1. Renewables have reached a turning point, and emissions will peak before 2025.

2. The Climate Economy is about to explode with an influx of public funding.

3. Private capital is flooding in, as climate becomes a major focus for investors.

4. Investors and governments are waking up to the massive risk associated with fossil fuel equities.

5. Investors are also getting very serious about their own transitions to net zero financed emissions.

6. Climate finance gets personal: people are realizing that their banking decisions could make or break our planet

6 Reasons Why We Can Be (Cautiously) Optimistic About Solving the Climate Crisis - CEF
 
Two new marine protection sites established in Ireland

Two new marine protection sites established in Ireland

Ireland has committed to protecting 30% of its seas by 2030. The proposed new legislation will allow Ireland to designate new nationally based MPAs, helping it meet its national and international commitments, and giving nature at sea the best opportunity to not only survive, but thrive.

Ireland currently has 2.1% MPA coverage, but with the recent announcement of the new Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) off the North West, and South West coasts of Ireland, that number has increased to 8.3%.

Two new marine protection sites established in Ireland - Oceanographic
 
Massachusetts declares April 24 as Right Whale Day to raise awareness about the endangered species

Massachusetts has declared April 24 as Right Whale Day in an effort to raise awareness about the endangered species.

North Atlantic right whales number fewer than 350, according to federal fisheries estimates. The New England Aquarium says it hopes Right Whale Day will encourage Massachusetts residents to learn more about the mammals and threats posed to them by entanglements in fixed fishing gear and ship strikes.

Mass. declares April 24 as Right Whale Day to raise awareness about the endangered species
 
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