• Food

Climate and COVID Are Increasing Indigenous Food Insecurity

• Canada
• First Nations
• food insecurity
• indigenous communities

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer The COVID-19 pandemic has shined a light on BIPOC communities’ systemic lack of access to healthcare and the role that environmental injustice plays in health outcomes. Now, it’s shining a light on food insecurity in some of North America’s most remote regions. Canadian non-profit Mikinakoos Children’s Fund found that the cost of getting […]

• Land

Nevada Activists Fight For Federal Protections for Native Lands

• Bears Ears
• conservation
• indigenous communities
• protected areas

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer Activists in Nevada are fighting to permanently protect a stretch of Mojave Desert with ecological and Native American cultural importance. The proposed site would be called Avi Kwa Ama National Monument and would encompass 594 square miles, including a Spanish Colonial Revival house that belonged to 1920s stars Clara […]

• Ocean

CHOW Day 2 Closes with Discussions of Global Policy Inclusivity

• Capitol Hill Oceans Week
• CHOW
• indigenous communities

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Today marks the last day of Capitol Hill Ocean Week. Don’t miss today’s talks on justice and equity as well as the CHOW Closing Plenary. Yesterday, experts got busy discussing international policy, inclusivity, and uplifting communities. Global ocean policy will play a significant role in halting catastrophic temperature rise, but we must […]

• Ocean

As Biden Suspends ANWR Leases, Advocates Push for Arctic Shipping Noise Restrictions

• Arctic
• ice
• indigenous communities
• marine mammals
• Noise Pollution
• ocean noise
• shipping
• speed restrictions

As the Biden administration moves to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling, advocates are also urging officials to tighten restrictions on Arctic shipping because the number of ships and distance traveled in the Arctic has grown dramatically. A new report by the Arctic Council found that underwater noise pollution from shipping in parts of the Arctic ocean doubled in just six years.

Why This Matters: The Arctic is warming at rates two to three times faster than the rest of the world, creating ripple effects like changing ocean temperatures, storm patterns, and increased coastal permafrost erosion.

• Forests

In Sweden, Ancient Forests Replaced by Monoculture 

• carbon sink
• deforestation
• ecosystem
• ecosystem services
• indigenous communities
• old growth
• Sweden
• timber

Tree planting seems like a straightforward, positive climate solution: plant trees to soak up carbon, green urban spaces, reduce heat. However, in Sweden, nearly a fifth of the country’s ancient growth forests have been cut down since 2000 as part of the country’s timber products sector. 

Why This Matters: The Swedish forestry model causes many of the same harms as deforestation even with no tree replacement.

• Water

Interior Gives Portion of Missouri River Back to MHA Nation

• Department of Interior
• indigenous communities
• MHA Nation

Our river and our waters are our home. The Missouri River will continue to be home for our future generations.#OurRiverOurHome pic.twitter.com/gbMlQVPEdC — MHA Nation (@MHANation1825) January 14, 2021 by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer The Interior Department has returned jurisdiction over a portion of the Missouri River to the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara (MHA) Nation, […]