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☆ U.S. Plan to Protect Oceans Has a Problem, Some Say: Too Much Fishing
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New details of the Biden administration’s signature conservation effort, made public this month amid a burst of other environmental announcements, have alarmed some scientists who study marine protected areas because the plan would count certain commercial fishing zones as conserved. The decision could have ripple effects around the world as nations work toward fulfilling a broader global commitment to safeguard 30 percent of the entire planet’s land, inland waters and seas. That effort has been hailed as historic, but the critical question of what, exactly, counts as conserved is still being decided. This early answer from the Biden administration is worrying, researchers say, because high-impact commercial fishing is incompatible with the goals of the efforts. “Saying that these areas that are touted to be for biodiversity conservation should also do double duty for fishing as well, especially highly impactful gears that are for large-scale commercial take, there’s just a cognitive dissonance there,” said Kirsten Grorud-Colvert, a marine biologist at Oregon State University who led a group of scientists that in 2021 published a guide for evaluating marine protected areas.

Persons: Biden, there’s, ”, Kirsten Grorud Organizations: Oregon State University

☆ Biden Administration Announces Rule to Strengthen Protection of Public Lands
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration on Thursday announced a new federal rule for the nation’s sprawling public lands that puts conservation on par with activities like grazing, energy development and mining. It elevates conservation in a number of ways, including by creating two new kinds of leases for the restoration of degraded lands and for offsetting environmental damage. These lands have long been managed for “multiple uses,” including cattle ranching, drilling and recreation. “As stewards of America’s public lands, the Interior Department takes seriously our role in helping bolster landscape resilience in the face of worsening climate impacts,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today’s final rule helps restore balance to our public lands as we continue using the best-available science to restore habitats, guide strategic and responsible development, and sustain our public lands for generations to come.”

Persons: Biden, Deb Haaland, “, ” Organizations: Bureau, Land Management, Interior Department

☆ The Widest-Ever Global Coral Crisis Will Hit Within Weeks, Scientists Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The world’s coral reefs are in the throes of a global bleaching event caused by extraordinary ocean temperatures, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and international partners announced Monday. It is the fourth such global event on record and is expected to affect more reefs than any other. Bleaching occurs when corals become so stressed that they lose the symbiotic algae they need to survive. Bleached corals can recover, but if the water surrounding them is too hot for too long, they die. The economic value of the world’s coral reefs has been estimated at $2.7 trillion annually.

Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration

☆ Flaco’s Crash Might Have Been More Than Bad Luck. Here’s Why.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Flaco spent a year defying expectations, an owl born into captivity who quickly learned to hunt and fend for himself in the wilds of New York City. Did he hit a window that he failed to perceive as glass, like hundreds of millions of birds across the United States each year? Or was he compromised in some way that impeded his ability to navigate New York’s concrete canyons? His initial examination, performed Friday by the Wild Bird Fund, a rescue group, showed a contusion on his chest and an impact to his right eye. He may have been dead by the time he hit the ground, said Rita McMahon, the group’s director.

Persons: Flaco, Rita McMahon, Ms, McMahon Organizations: Wildlife Conservation Society, Bird Fund Locations: New York City, Central, United States

☆ Monarch Butterfly Numbers Are Down Sharply at Wintering Areas in Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | More About Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The number of monarch butterflies at their overwintering areas in Mexico dropped precipitously this year to the second-lowest level on record, according to an annual survey. The census, considered a benchmark of the species’s health, found that the butterflies occupied only about 2.2 acres of forest in central Mexico, down 59 percent from the prior year. Only the winter of 2013-14 had fewer butterflies. Scientists said the decline appeared to be driven by hot, dry conditions in the United States and Canada that reduced the quality of available milkweed, the only plants monarch caterpillars can eat, as well as the availability of nectar from many kinds of flowers, which they feed on as butterflies. “It’s telling us that we need to intensify conservation and restoration measures,” said Jorge Rickards, the general director of World Wildlife Fund in Mexico, which conducted the survey with the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas and other partners.

Persons: “, ”, Jorge Rickards Organizations: World Wildlife Fund, National Commission Locations: Mexico, United States, Canada

☆ How Much Can Trees Fight Climate Change? Massively, but Not Alone, Study Finds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | More About Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the climate crisis intensifies, that ability has made them controversial: How much can we rely on trees to get us out of this mess? Dr. Crowther was the senior author of a polarizing study on forest carbon in 2019 that drew scientific backlash but also inspired an effort by the World Economic Forum to grow and conserve one trillion trees. In 2019, he acknowledged, careless language led to trees being wrongly painted as a silver bullet for climate change. “We are all terrified that this potential of nature gets misused,” Dr. Crowther said. “Nature has such spectacular potential to help us tackle global threats, but it will be devastating if major organizations use nature as an excuse to do more harm to our planet.”

Persons: Thomas Crowther, Crowther, Dr Organizations: ETH Zurich, World Locations: Switzerland

Amid the chaos of climate change, humans tend to focus on humans. Now that wildlife is depleted and hemmed in, climate change has come crashing down. In 2016, scientists in Australia announced the loss of a rodent called the Bramble Caymelomys, one of the first known species driven to global extinction by climate change. Their work brings them face to face with realities that few of us see firsthand. These scientists are witnesses to an intricately connected world that we have pushed out of balance.

Locations: Australia

☆ When Is a Species Extinct? U.S. Is Close to Naming 21, but Not This Woodpecker
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | More About Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Government officials said Monday that they plan to remove 21 species from the Endangered Species Act for the saddest of reasons: because they are extinct. But remaining on the list, at least for a bit longer? The ivory-billed woodpecker, a majestic bird whose continued existence has been debated by scientists and birders for decades. Fish and Wildlife Service’s delisting proposal, put forward in 2021 for 23 species, included ivory bills. Now the agency said it will continue to analyze and review available information before making a decision.

Organizations: Fish Locations: U.S

☆ This N.Y.C. Building Is in the Bird-Killing Hall of Shame. It Wants Out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | Andres Kudacki | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The dazzling views of Central Park come with a dark side. From tiny yellow warblers to large, elegantly marked woodpeckers, their journeys end at the building, Circa Central Park, when they crash into glass they can’t see. The deaths have brought outrage from bird advocates, shame on social media, disapproval from neighbors and even stronger disapproval from the residents’ own children. Circa Central Park certainly isn’t the only bird-killing building in the city, but it appears to be among the worst. Last year, the number of window strikes at Circa put it in the top three among buildings monitored by NYC Audubon.

Organizations: NYC Audubon

A marine heat wave is warming the waters off the coast of Florida, pushing temperature readings as high as 101 Fahrenheit and endangering a critical part of sea life: the coral reef. Catrin Einhorn, who covers biodiversity, climate and the environment for The Times, discusses the urgent quest to save coral and what it might mean for the world if it disappears.

Persons: Catrin Einhorn Organizations: The Times Locations: Florida

Should Ecuador continue drilling in one of the most biodiverse corners of the Amazon or should it keep the oil underground? On Sunday, its people will decide in a binding referendum that landed on the ballot after a decade-long fight by young activists. As the world faces twin ecological crises of climate change and ecosystem collapse, the vote will determine what one country’s citizens are willing to give up to protect the planet. But oil is Ecuador’s most important export and the government is campaigning for drilling to continue. According to official estimates, the country stands to lose $1.2 billion in revenue a year if the oil is left underground.

Locations: Ecuador

☆ See How They Held Off Flames at a Haven for Hawaii’s Endangered Birds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | More About Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“The sky was orange and there was smoke in the air, like out in the forest,” Ms. Pribble said. She went outside to see what was happening, and saw flames about 150 feet from the edge of the property. The center houses about 40 ‘akikiki, a native songbird, and about 40 ‘alalā, also known as the Hawaiian crow. The birds are divided between both places to insure against disasters such as this one. If it crossed, she thought, the grasses on the 46 acre property would provide ample fuel.

Persons: Ms, Pribble, Emily Senninger Organizations: Fire Department, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Locations: Hawaii, Maui County

When Bailey Thomasson first spotted the coral, she felt a jolt of relief. She was diving for samples off the Florida Keys, and the thicket of elkhorn coral below looked brown, not the stark white that would indicate bleaching from the record-breaking sea temperatures in the area. “The coral didn’t even have a chance to bleach, it just died,” said Ms. Thomasson, who works for the Coral Restoration Foundation, a nonprofit group based in the Keys. The brown color was not healthy coral but dead tissue sloughing off the skeleton, almost as if it had melted. Currently, about 44 percent of the global ocean is in a heat wave.

Persons: Bailey, she’d, ”, Thomasson, who’ve Organizations: Florida, Coral Restoration Foundation, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration Locations: elkhorn

Florida’s coral reefs are facing what could be an unprecedented threat from a marine heat wave that is warming the Gulf of Mexico, pushing water temperatures into the 90s Fahrenheit. The biggest concern for coral isn’t just the current sea surface temperatures in the Florida Keys, even though they are the hottest on record. The daily average surface temperature off the Keys on Monday was just over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or 32.4 Celsius, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Corals typically experience the most heat stress in August and September. “We’re entering uncharted territories,” Derek Manzello, an ecologist and the coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program, said.

Persons: “, Derek Manzello Organizations: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Reef Watch Locations: of Mexico, Florida

The rustling in the brush was loud, so Brian Christman raised his muzzleloader for the deer he expected to emerge. It was the end of the season in central New York, and Mr. Christman was hoping to take home a buck. Suddenly, Mr. Christman felt like the prey. “I thought it was a huge coyote,” Mr. Christman recalled recently. And the shot would open a new, uncertain front in the wars over what might be America’s most beloved and reviled predator.

Persons: Brian Christman, Christman, Mr Locations: New York, Canada, Cooperstown

☆ Video and Photos Show a Tiny, Critically Endangered Porpoise Still Hanging On
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The world’s most endangered marine mammal, a small porpoise called the vaquita, is hanging onto existence and appears to be benefiting from new conservation measures, according to the results of a new scientific survey of the species that was made public on Wednesday. An international team of scientists estimated that at least 10 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California, the waters that separate Baja California from the Mexican mainland. The porpoises are found nowhere else and have been driven to the brink of extinction by drowning in gill nets, a type of fishing gear that drifts like a huge mesh curtain, catching fish by their gills. Dolphins, sea turtles and vaquitas get stuck, too, dying when they can’t surface to breathe. “Today, we have good news, hopeful news,” María Luisa Albores González, Mexico’s secretary of environment and natural resources, said at a news conference announcing the survey results.

Persons: ” María Luisa Albores González Locations: Gulf of California, Baja California, Mexican

☆ The Mystery of the Vanishing Kestrels: What’s Happening to This Flashy Falcon?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | Bryan Anselm | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At first, people thought it might be a housing shortage. Scientists had noticed worrisome declines in the American kestrel, a small, flashy falcon found coast to coast. The downturn was especially puzzling because birds of prey in North America are largely considered a conservation bright spot. “Why are all these other raptors doing great when the American kestrel is on the decline?” said Chris McClure, who directs global conservation science at the Peregrine Fund, a conservation group. Scientists and members of the public set out nest boxes, and kestrels moved in.

Persons: ”, Chris McClure, kestrels Organizations: Peregrine Locations: North America, United States, Turkey

☆ A Vanished Bird Might Live On, or Not. The Video Is Grainy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If there’s new hope, it’s blurry. What’s certain: the roller coaster tale of the ivory-billed woodpecker, a majestic bird whose presumed extinction has been punctuated by a series of contested rediscoveries, is going strong. The latest twist is a peer-reviewed study Thursday in the journal Ecology and Evolution presenting sighting reports, audio recordings, trail camera images and drone video. Collected over the last decade in a Louisiana swamp forest, the precise location omitted for the birds’ protection, the authors write that the evidence suggests the “intermittent but repeated presence” of birds that look and behave like ivory-billed woodpeckers. But Dr. Latta acknowledges that no single piece of evidence is definitive, and the study is carefully tempered with words like “putative” and “possible.”

☆ Ecuador Strikes a Landmark Deal to Save Nature, and Some Cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The NewsEcuador announced a record-setting deal on Tuesday designed to reduce its debt burden and free up hundreds of millions of dollars to fund marine conservation around the Galápagos Islands, an archipelago of unique biodiversity that’s famous for inspiring Darwin’s theory of evolution. The arrangement, known as a debt-for-nature deal, is a bit like refinancing a mortgage, only for government bonds. Gustavo Manrique Miranda, the Ecuadorean foreign minister, called it a historic agreement that takes into account the value of nature. He said Ecuador was as wealthy as any of the richest countries in the world, “but our currency is the biodiversity.”

☆ Nurturing Nature in Your Yard
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Gabrielle Stevenson needed advice on how to welcome pollinators and other wildlife to her front yard in Roseville, Calif. She knew that replacing part of her lawn with native plants was the best way to nurture biodiversity there. But she didn’t want a mess and didn’t know where to begin. “To be honest, I find it quite daunting,” she wrote in an email to us last month. Native flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees in cities and towns offer food and habitat for wildlife facing alarming declines, particularly insects and birds. They also save water, since native species, when they’re placed in an appropriate spot, generally don’t require watering once established.

☆ Animals Are Running Out of Places to Live
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catrin Einhorn | Lauren Leatherby | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

In many places, poverty, powerful interests and a lack of law enforcement make habitat loss especially hard to address. Because animals there often have smaller ranges to begin with, habitat loss hits them especially hard. “That's the ultimate challenge of forest conservation globally.”Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Est. habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Estimated habitat in 2001 MADAGASCAR Source: Map of Life | Photo: Chien C. Lee MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCAR MOZAMBIQUE Habitat loss in 2021 MADAGASCARThis is the 2001 habitat of the white-headed lemur, a primate that eats fruit and flowers. Of the many targets being negotiated, the one that has gotten the most attention seeks to address habitat loss head on.

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