• Climate Change

Our Global War on Nature is Suicidal, Our Ocean Should Be Better Managed

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• climate change
• management
• nature
• ocean
• sustainable
• World Meteorological Organization

World leaders spoke out yesterday on the state of the planet and the message was clear — we must stop taking the natural world for granted.  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that “the state of the planet is broken,” our attitude about it is “suicidal,” and then he spent more than 10 minutes cataloging our global “crimes against nature.” 

Why This Matters:  Guterres implored the world to make 2021 a “leap” year — a year in which individuals, businesses, and governments make a “quantum leap” towards carbon neutrality, and when more women leaders are at the table and they take decisive action to begin to cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030.

• Sustainability

The Vicuña Makes A Comeback

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• endangered species
• habitat
• nature
• vicuña

Just a few decades ago, the vicuña was nearly extinct from overhunting. Today, there are more than 350,000 vicuñas — the long-necked fluffy alpaca cousins — living in their native range along the Andes. How did this conservation comeback happen?  By giving communities the rights to shear the vicuñas for their prized wool, the animals became a source of income. 

Why This Matters: Vicuña wool is a luxury item and one of the most expensive fibers in the world.

• Sustainability

One World Thing: Global Leaders Unite to Fight Destruction of Nature That Triggered Pandemic

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• biodiversity
• conservation
• nature
• science
• WWF

Yesterday, three key global leaders united to write an op/ed for the Guardian. Together they issued a powerful call to action (taking a shot at the Trump Administration among others): “while Covid-19 has given us yet another reason to protect and preserve nature, we have actually seen the reverse take place. From the Greater Mekong to […]

• Land

EU Commits to Protecting 30% of Nature by 2030

• #CampaignforNature
• 30 by 30
• EU

Yesterday the European Commission announced that it will commit to protecting 30% of the EU’s land and oceans by 2030 (30 by 30) as part of the European Green Deal. In addition to this declaration, the EU will also plant 3 billion trees by 2030 and cut chemical pesticide use by 50% and fertilizer use […]

• Animals
• Politics

Creating “Safe Passages” To Conserve Migration Routes in Wyoming As the Climate Changes

• #30x30
• #CampaignforNature
• #wildlifecorridors
• elk
• wildlife corridors

The Washington Post did a beautiful piece on the importance of preserving wildlife corridors in the face of climate change and other man-made threats. Interstate 80 is a vital transportation link that connects the east and west coasts, but it also blocks the historic migration routes through the Rocky Mountains for mule deer, elk, and pronghorn — some of the most iconic species of wildlife in the American West.

• 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