• Animals

Two Species On the Precipice of Extinction

• #30by30
• #CampaignforNature
• endangered species
• rhino

The last surviving Sumatran Rhino in Malaysia has died in captivity, with the WWF estimating that there are only about 80 left mostly living in the wild in Sumatra and Borneo, and the entire species is on the verge of extinction due to poaching and deforestation.  But, National Geographic reports scientists have found and photographed a silver-backed chevrotain, a small deer-like species, in southern Vietnam that was feared to be extinct since its last known siting was in 1990.

Why This Matters:  This good news-bad news story juxtaposition shows both the fragility and the resilience of nature – both species will be lucky if they make it

• Animals

The Endangered Species Act Is Now the One That Is Endangered

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• Endangered Species Act
• IFAW
• IPBES
• IPCC

By Beth Allgood, U.S. Country Director, International Fund for Animal Welfare According to a 2019 independent survey conducted on behalf of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), a vast majority of Americans affirmed that it is ‘very important’ for the United States to protect endangered species both domestically and across the globe. Three in […]

• People

Interview of the Week: Neil Gelinas, National Geographic

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• endangered species
• Okavango Delta
• wildlife

Neil Gelinas is an award-winning National Geographic documentary filmmaker,  whose most recent work was “Into the Okavango.” ODP: Nature is a beautiful subject, but it cannot talk.  How hard is it to make wildlife documentaries as a result?  NG:  I wouldn’t say I make wildlife documentaries. I make conservation documentaries in which people are the main subjects, […]

One Cool Thing: Turtle Power!

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• Endangered Species Act
• loggerhead turtles
• threatened species

Loggerhead turtles have laid a record number of nests this year on the East Coast of the U.S. from North Carolina to Florida — more than 12,200, smashing the previous record by nearly a thousand nests in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.  And while just the nest numbers alone bode well for the future […]

• Animals

Botswana Lifts Ban On Hunting Elephants

• #CampaignforNature
• Botswana
• elephants
• illegal ivory
• ivory
• poaching
• tourism
• wildlife trafficking

After a 5-year ban, the government announced recently that elephant hunting is again legal in the southern African nation of Botswana. The former President Ian Khama originally implemented the hunting ban, but it came under scrutiny by Khama’s successor, President Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi, with the Environment Ministry citing conflicts with humans and an inability to manage increasing elephant populations as the rationale.

• Sustainability

Shrinking Protected Areas Causing Biodiversity Concerns to Rise

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• Amazon
• biodiversity
• Campaign for Nature
• Conservation International
• endangered species
• habitat
• parks
• protected areas
• United Nations

A new report from Conservation International published today in Science documents that governments have removed more than 500,000 square kilometers from protected areas and downgraded the protection for an additional 1.65 million square kilometers, the majority of which are associated with industrial-scale development.

• Oceans

New Whale Conservation Challenges Surface — Fishing Gear and Finding Food

• #CampaignforNature
• endangered species
• entanglement
• gray whales
• International Fund for Animal Welfare
• North Atlantic Right Whale
• whales

Due to spikes in whale mortality on both coasts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is stepping up its efforts to tackle one of the leading causes of death — whale entanglement in fishing lines and nets.