Positive Wildlife News 2024

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West Coast Indigenous-led marine conservation area gets global spotlight

A coastal First Nation is celebrating global recognition of its marine protected area after recently snagging a “blue park” designation that highlights exemplary ocean conservation efforts around the world.

The Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation (KXFN) Gitdisdzu Lugyeks Marine Protected Area (MPA), about 500 kilometres north of Vancouver, is the first certified blue park in Canada.

It will receive $8,000 in funding and join 30 other parks around the world awarded “blue park” status by the Marine Conservation Institute, an international science-based group that advocates for ocean conservation.

“Getting this award and international recognition was a pretty cool thing,” KXFN elected Chief Doug Neasloss told Canada’s National Observer. Gitdisdzu Lugyeks is also the first Indigenous-protected marine blue park in the world, he said.

The conservation area covers 33.5 square kilometres in Kitasu Bay, near Laredo Sound and the KXFN community of Klemtu, on B.C.’s central coast.

West Coast Indigenous-led marine conservation area gets global spotlight
 
Indigenous efforts to save Peru’s Marañon River could spell trouble for big oil
  • In March, the Federation of Kukama Indigenous Women in the Parinari district of Loreto won a lawsuit against the oil company Petroperú and the Peruvian government, protecting the Marañon River from oil pollution.
  • Since the 1970s, the exploration of oil reserves in the Peruvian Amazon has resulted in hundreds of oil leaks and spills, compromising the health of Indigenous communities.
  • While the defendants have already appealed the decision, a favorable ruling in higher courts could force oil and gas companies to answer for decades of pollution in the Peruvian Amazon.

Living deep in the Peruvian Amazon, the Kukama Kukamiria Indigenous community have spent generations with their feet in the Marañón, the river emerging from the Andes that provides the main source of water for the Amazon River. They depend on the river to drink, bathe, fish and plant crops. They also believe family members who have drowned or disappeared continue living under its waters, a core part of their spirituality.

But as oil companies flocked to the region, the once-clear river has become tainted by oil spills. Worse, community members have suffered for decades from an array of unexplained illnesses, including fevers, headaches, diarrhea, skin rashes and even miscarriages.

“We have always lived off the water, but now it’s slowly killing us,” community leader Mariluz Canaquiri Murayari, 55, told Mongabay. “It’s damaging not only our drinking water and food but also our economy, health and way of life.”

After decades of denouncing oil companies’ harmful practices in the region to little effect, the Federation of Kukama Indigenous Women living in the community and led by Murayari has recently made a breakthrough.

Indigenous efforts to save Peru’s Marañon River could spell trouble for big oil
 
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.
January brought a pair of rough storms to the northeastern U.S. They hit when the tides were high and pushed higher than normal by rising sea levels, setting numerous high-water records and prompting Maine Governor Janet Mills to request a federal disaster declaration. These events, just three days apart, built on damage suffered during another storm during the December 2023 holidays and another during the previous December.

“Extensive” is the word that Peter Slovinsky, a marine geologist for the Maine Geological Survey, chose to describe the most recent damage during an interview with Mongabay. He pointed to an estimate that 60% of Maine’s working waterfronts were severely damaged. “We saw numerous seawall failures and erosion of anywhere between 15 to even up to 30 feet [4.5-9 meters] of coastal sand dunes, and massive bluff failures also,” Slovinsky said.

The common response to busted docks, condemned houses, shrinking shorelines, disappearing dunes and faltering bluffs has been to bolster the shore with ‘hard’ infrastructure like concrete jetties and breakwaters of imported boulders. But those interventions are expensive, carbon-intensive, and ultimately ineffective due to continual sea level rise.

Increasingly, agencies like Slovinsky’s have been experimenting with a more natural and possibly more effective approach called living shorelines. The U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines these as “projects that connect the land and water to stabilize shorelines, reduce erosion, and provide valuable habitat that enhances coastal resilience.”

U.S. East Coast adopts ‘living shorelines’ approach to keep rising seas at bay
 
New Study Confirms FSC-Certified Forests Help Wildlife Thrive in the Congo Basin

A new study reveals compelling evidence that forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in Gabon and the Republic of Congo harbour a higher abundance of larger mammals and critically endangered species, such as gorillas and elephants, compared to non-FSC certified forests. The research was led by Utrecht University with support from WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and was published in Nature on 10 April 2024. It underscores the effectiveness of measures implemented in FSC-certified forest concessions to safeguard wildlife.

New Study Confirms FSC-Certified Forests Help Wildlife Thrive in the Congo Basin
 
Spokesman: Herds of wild elephants show increased presence in protected areas over previous years

A spokesman for the Ministry of Environment confirmed that a herd of wild elephants, or Asian elephants, had recently appeared in protected areas in Mondulkiri province in greater numbers than in previous years.

Khvay Atiya, spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, said on April 24, 2024, that park rangers had observed the presence of wild elephants roaming the forest and sometimes entering the community of protected areas in groups of between 20 and 30, an increase from 3 to 5 that appeared in the past.

Asia-Pacific’s alarming loss of biodiversity – a hidden threat to the food security and habitat of our future generations - Khmer Times
 
President Biden expands Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California

President Joe Biden has signed a proclamation expanding the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, the White House announced Thursday.

In a statement, the White House said the expansion, which was authorized by Biden under the Antiquities Act, honors "Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples through the protection of this sacred California landscape and its historically and biologically important features, while conserving our public lands and growing America's outdoor recreation economy."

The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument consists of around 330,000 acres of the California Coast Ranges in Napa, Yolo, Solano, Lake, Colusa, Glenn and Mendocino counties.

"The expansion will add 13,696 acres of public lands, managed by the Department of the Interior, to the monument's original 330,000 acres, which are jointly managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S Forest Service," the statement read.

President Biden expands Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California
 
‘An amazing discovery’: Scientists hit upon first nursery for hammerhead sharks in the Galápagos

The scientists were also able to tag one of the elusive species for the first time, and hope their findings will lead to greater protection.

Scientists have discovered what could be the first known smooth hammerhead shark nursery in the Galápagos.

The vulnerable shark species - so-called for its elongated head which forms a straighter curve than the scalloped hammerhead - is rarely spotted in the marine reserve.

But after observing several young pups in a small bay at Isabela Island, the Greenpeace expedition team believe they have found a breeding ground in the archipelago - and they’re rightly excited.

“This is an amazing discovery!” says lead scientist Alex Hearn from Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador and marine conservation research organisation MigraMar. “Not only is this species rarely reported here, but in this bay we have found numerous young-of-the-year, suggesting that this might be a nursery site.”

Scientists make ‘amazing discovery’ of rare shark pups in Galápagos
 
Vegetation cover in Saudi Arabian nature reserve increases to 8.5%

The Imam Turki Bin Abdullah Royal Nature Reserve Development Authority has reported a significant increase in vegetation cover within the reserve, which has reached 8.5% over the past years.

This development, as highlighted by scientific research and field studies, is attributed to factors such as improved air quality and reduced dust storms, particularly noticeable since last spring.

Vegetation cover in Saudi nature reserve increases to 8.5%
 
Endangered species spotted at nature reserve

Rare species are among more than 170 invertebrates, reptiles, and wildflowers recorded at a nature reserve.

They were found during a survey by scientists and experts at Benfield Hill Nature Reserve as part of the City Nature Challenge 2024, an international event that encourages the documentation of wildlife.

Six scarce species were identified. There were five nationally scarce spiders, including the rare and threatened Thin Weblet, and the vulnerable Mottled Umber moth. Other notable species included adders, common lizards and slow worms.

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Qalipu, conservation group sign agreement to protect Gander Lake area

The area holds significant biodiversity and cultural significance.

The Qalipu First Nation is partnering with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect a historically significant area of Gander Lake in central Newfoundland.

The 11,000-hectare area between the southwest and northwest rivers flowing into Gander Lake, known as Charlie's Place, hold significant biodiversity and cultural ties, according to the Qalipu Nation.

Qalipu, conservation group sign agreement to protect Gander Lake area
 
Little Beaver Creek named newest nature preserve in Ohio

High quality habitat harboring rare plants and protecting both sides of the Little Beaver Creek State and National Wild and Scenic River has been designated as Ohio’s newest state nature preserve, according to the Ohio DNR.

“It remains important to preserve Ohio’s many wonderful natural resources for citizens of today and of the future,” said Gov. Mike DeWine. “Dedicating Little Beaver Creek as a State Nature Preserve will protect one of Ohio’s scenic rivers as well as critical habitat for rare plant species.”

Located in Columbiana County, the new preserve protects nearly a mile of the scenic river, including a superior tributary featuring a series of waterfalls and groundwater springs along with habitat protecting several salamander species.

Little Beaver Creek named newest nature preserve in Ohio - Outdoor News
 
San Gabriel Mountains National Monument expands by more than 100,000 acres

President Biden on Thursday expanded San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by nearly a third in an action that was widely praised by the Indigenous leaders, politicians, conservationists and community organizers who had long fought for the enlargement of the protected natural area that serves as the backyard of the Los Angeles Basin.

The president also signed a proclamation expanding Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument by adding the 13,696-acre Molok Luyuk, or Condor Ridge, to the 330,000-acre swath of rolling oak woodlands, lush conifer forests and dramatic rock formations along Northern California’s inner Coast Range.

San Gabriel Mountains National Monument expands by more than 100,000 acres
 
Tarmac gift important nature reserve to local wildlife trust

Sixty-nine hectares of rare wildlife habitat near Faversham handed over to Kent Wildlife Trust

TARMAC have gifted Oare Marshes, an internationally important nature reserve near Faversham, to Kent Wildlife Trust.

Since 1984, the trust managed and leased the area from Tarmac. Forty years later, the transfer of deeds has made them the proud new owner of one of their flagship nature reserves. Oare Marshes is one of the few grazing marshes left in Kent and of significant importance for migratory birds.

The new ownership has been described as a ‘Marsh Milestone’ by Kent Wildlife Trust, which is delighted to have secured the precious nature reserve for future generations to come. The 69 ha of rare wildlife habitat was gifted by Tarmac, with the trust only covering the legal fees.

Tarmac gift important nature reserve to local wildlife trust
 
Forest Service grant completes funding Summit County needed to purchase 910 Cattle Ranch

A $40 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service cinches Summit County’s open-space purchase of the 8,588-acre

910 Cattle Ranch property.

The U.S. Forest Service announced this week it has awarded $40 million in funding from the Forest Legacy Program to Summit County’s Wasatch Back Forest Conservation Project for the purchase.

The property is now 100% funded by this grant award in combination with the $15 million in funding from the General Obligation Bond for open space that Summit County voters passed in 2021. Officials also received $600,000 from the Summit County Recreation, Arts and Parks tax program as well as a grant through Trout Unlimited.

“The county is incredibly grateful for this federal support and our strong partnership with Utah’s Forestry, Fire and State Lands department,” Summit County Manager Shayne Scott said. “This is a momentous acquisition for current and future generations of Summit County residents.”

Summit County had long eyed the East Canyon property for its continuous, open landscape. Officials approved the $55 million price tag, the largest open space purchase to date, in August 2023.

https://www.parkrecord.com/news/sum...receives-40-million-for-conservation-efforts/
 
Naturaland Trust secures 660 acres along Scenic Highway 11 corridor

After 12 years of effort, Naturaland Trust has secured several key properties for protection along Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway 11 in northern Pickens County.

The handful of properties totaling about 660 acres are significant because they form a contiguous link between two already protected areas – Nine Times Forest and Jocassee Gorges Wilderness Area – according to Mac Stone, executive director of Naturaland Trust.


Stone said the protection of the properties is part of a larger effort by the trust and other conservation partners to preserve land along S.C. Highway 11 — one of four highways in the state designated as scenic byways. Highway 11 has for decades been described as one of the most beautiful drives in the state as it traverses the mountainous northwestern corner of the Upstate through Cherokee, Spartanburg, Greenville, Pickens and Oconee counties.

Naturaland Trust secures 660 acres along Scenic Highway 11 corridor
 
In Bangladesh, olive ridley turtles break 4-year record with 53% increase in eggs
  • Bangladesh has seen the highest number of olive ridley turtle eggs this year, a conservationist group says.
  • The olive ridley’s main nesting ground is different islands of the country’s southeastern district, Cox’s Bazar, in the Bay of Bengal.
  • The key reasons behind the success are extensive conservation action across beaches and an awareness program among local people.
  • Conservationists say they believe success might decline if the current pace of tourism and related infrastructure development is not checked, as they appear to disturb ecosystems.
This year, Bangladesh has seen its highest number of olive ridley turtle eggs, thanks to extensive conservation actions, including building awareness among local people and the vigilance of local conservation groups to ensure favorable conditions for the species.

Nature Conservation Management (NACOM) found 12,425 eggs in five turtle hatcheries — Pachar Island, Shilkali Island, Shahpari Island, Matharbunia, and Shonadia Island in Cox’s Bazar district — through April 17 this year.

The number of eggs has increased by almost 53% compared with the previous year, from 8,096 to 12,425. Those tallies represent a significant jump from the 4,713 eggs recorded in 2020-2021 and 5,763 in 2022-23.

In Bangladesh, olive ridley turtles break 4-year record with 53% increase in eggs
 
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