Rewilding & Conservation News and Discussions

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caltrek
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Scientists' Warning to Humanity on Tree Extinctions
by Tessa Koumoundouros
February 9, 2023


Extract:
From soaring coastal redwoods to dinosaur-era Wollemi pines and firs that make the perfect Christmas trees, even our most revered woody plants are in an awful lot of trouble.
But it turns out that losing some species won't just endanger local forests; it will threaten entire ecosystems, research shows.
In 2021, a global assessment titled State of the World's Trees found a shocking one-third of all tree species are currently teetering on the edge of existence.

In a subsequent study from last year, the same researchers issued a "warning to humanity" about the consequences of these losses, backed by 45 other scientists from 20 different countries.
Conservation biologist Malin Rivers from Botanic Gardens Conservation International and colleagues outline the many impacts these losses will have on our economies, livelihoods, and food (see discussion and related link provided below).
Read more of the Science Alert article here: https://www.sciencealert.com/scientist ... -humanity


Malin Rivers, Adrian C. Newton, Sara Oldfield,
August 31, 2022

Abstract:
(Plants, People, Planet) Societal Impact Statement

Trees play vital roles in many of the world's ecosystems while providing many benefits to people. New evidence indicates that a third of tree species are threatened with extinction, representing a tree extinction crisis. Here we demonstrate how tree species extinction will lead to the loss of many other plants and animals and significantly alter the world's ecosystems. We also show how tree extinction will negatively affect billions of people through loss of livelihoods and benefits. We highlight a series of urgent actions needed to avert an ecological, cultural and socio-economic catastrophe caused by widespread extinction of tree species.

Summary
Trees are of exceptional ecological importance, playing a major functional role in the world's ecosystems, while also supporting many other plants, animals and fungi. Many tree species are also of direct value to people, providing a wide range of socio-economic benefits. Loss of tree diversity could lead to abrupt declines in biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services and ultimately ecosystem collapse. Here we provide an overview of the current knowledge regarding the number of tree species that are threatened with extinction, and the threats that affect them, based on results of the Global Tree Assessment. This evidence suggests that a third of the world's tree species are currently threatened with extinction, which represents a major ecological crisis. We then examine the potential implications of tree extinctions, in terms of the functioning of the biosphere and impacts on human well-being. Large-scale extinction of tree species will lead to major biodiversity losses in other species groups and substantially alter the cycling of carbon, water and nutrients in the world's ecosystems. Tree extinction will also undermine the livelihoods of the billions of people who currently depend on trees and the benefits they provide. This warning to humanity aims to raise awareness of the tree extinction crisis, which is a major environmental issue that requires urgent global attention. We also identify some priority actions that need to be taken to reduce the extinction risk of tree species and to avert the ecological and socio-economic catastrophe that will result from large-scale extinction of tree species.
Read more here: https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/do ... pp3.10314
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Ninth Circuit Urges Mediation in Fight Over Livestock Grazing in Tonto National Forest
by Joe Duhownik
February 8, 2023

Introduction:
PHOENIX (Courthouse News) — A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday encouraged a community advocate group for Arizona’s Mogollon Rim to seek mediation with the U.S. Forest Service over expanded grazing allotment into a specific portion of the Tonto National Forest known as Bar X.

For 40 years, grazing wasn’t permitted in what’s known as the Colcord/Turkey pasture in the Bar X, until the Forest Service updated its management plan. Now it, along with four other pastures associated with the Bar X, is open to grazing if the Forest Service decides it’s safe. The plan doubles the number of livestock that’s allowed to graze on a specific pasture at a time.

The plan doesn’t open grazing indefinitely — the Forest Service retains the right to decide regularly whether the pastures should be opened or closed, depending on environmental conditions.

Neighbors of the Mogollon Rim, a community organization made up of homeowners in the area, claims the grazing will adversely affect the environment in multiple ways, like the permanent destruction of vegetation and damage to both the habitats and food sources of the Mexican spotted owl and the narrow-headed garter snake.

It also accused the Forest Service of violating the National Environmental Policy Act because the Forest Service didn’t consider their proposed alternative – that grazing be allowed in all the desired areas except for the Colcord/Turkey pasture. Instead, they claimed that the Forest Service only weighed two options – allowing grazing everywhere or allowing grazing nowhere.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/ninth-c ... l-forest/
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Dusky tetraka: Joy as bird feared extinct spotted in Madagascar

Published
18 hours ago

Bird lovers are celebrating after a species some feared extinct was spotted alive by scientists for the first time in 24 years.

The dusky tetraka is a songbird with a distinctive yellow throat that is native to Madagascar.

Three of them have been sighted in a rainforest in the island's north-east, but in an unexpected habitat.

The ground-dwelling birds were in thick vegetation near a rocky river - perhaps a good spot to find grubs and insects.

"If dusky tetraka always prefer areas close to rivers, this might help to explain why the species has been overlooked for so long," says ornithologist John Mittermeier who managed to take a photo of the rare bird.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-64822787


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Credit: JOHN C MITTERMEIER
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Global agreement to protect oceans by 2030

5th March 2023

UN member states have agreed on a legal framework for the High Seas Treaty, which aims to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030.

[...]

"This is a historic day for conservation and a sign that in a divided world, protecting nature and people can triumph over geopolitics," said Dr. Laura Meller, campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, speaking from New York. "We praise countries for seeking compromises, putting aside differences and delivering a Treaty that will let us protect the oceans, build our resilience to climate change and safeguard the lives and livelihoods of billions of people."

"This Treaty will be the game-changer the ocean urgently needs," said Fabienne McLellan, Managing Director of OceanCare.

Read more: https://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/202 ... y-2030.htm


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Beavers to be reintroduced in Ealing as London rewilding projects funded

21 March 2023

Beavers, bees and bats are among the species set to benefit from new rewilding schemes in London.

The projects will share hundreds of thousands of pounds to help bring back nature in the UK's capital city.

Beavers are set to be reintroduced in west London as part of efforts to restore London's lost ecosystems.

A breeding pair of the rodents could be living in Paradise Fields, Ealing, as soon as this autumn as part of a project between the local council and wildlife groups. It follows a landmark reintroduction scheme in Enfield last year, which brought beavers back to London for the first time in 400 years.

The project will share in £850,000 of funding from the Rewild London Fund, which is funding a number of organisations to help boost biodiversity, restore habitat and reintroduce species.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/202 ... unded.html
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Lynx Reintroduction in Scotland? It’s Complicated
March 30, 2023

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) Plans to reintroduce the lynx in Scotland provoke a complex range of opinions, new research shows.

Lynx died out in Britain more than 1,000 years ago, but some conservation groups argue the species could help restore natural ecosystems.

The new study, by researchers from Vincent Wildlife Trust and the University of Exeter, investigated the views of stakeholders including farmers, land managers and conservationists.

“Our results show that views in Scotland about potential future lynx reintroduction are far more diverse, nuanced and complex than might have been assumed,” said lead author David Bavin, of Vincent Wildlife Trust.

“Rather than a simple binary split of ‘for’ and ‘against’, we found a spectrum of different perspectives.”
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/984170
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A Surprisingly Uplifting, and Effective, Way to Sequester Carbon
by Gabriela Aoun Angueira
April 2, 2023

Introduction:
(Mother Jones) As the world increasingly turns toward natural climate solutions like reforestation and grassland restoration to sequester carbon, it may be overlooking a crucial ally: animals.

Protecting existing populations and restoring others to their natural habitats often improves the natural capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide within ecosystems, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change. Robust populations of just nine species, such as sea otters or gray wolves, or genera, including whales, could lead to the capture of 6.41 gigatons of CO₂ annually, the researchers found. That’s about 95 percent of the amount needed to be removed annually to ensure global warming remains below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

In “Trophic rewilding can expand natural climate solutions,” led by the Yale School of the Environment and the Global Rewilding Alliance, 15 international experts compare the carbon content in savannas, forests, and other ecosystems when their wildlife populations were healthy and when they were below historical numbers. They found multiple cases in which thriving populations of certain species, particularly large vertebrates, through acts like foraging, burrowing, and trampling, increased an ecosystem’s carbon storage capacity by as much as 250 percent.

The researchers argue that these essential species disperse seeds, facilitating the growth of carbon-sequestering trees and plants. Others trample or eat the vegetation that would otherwise rob those trees of space and nutrients. Predators prey on herbivores that, without predation, might adversely impact that essential fauna.

“Ecological science has had a long history of overlooking the role of animals as an important driver of the biogeochemistry of ecosystems,” Oswald Schmitz, an ecologist at the Yale School for the Environment and an author of the study, told Grist. “What we say is that we know animals can change the vegetation makeup of ecosystems, and a lot of ecosystem ecologists say vegetation is important for ecosystem function and carbon cycling, then surely the animals must be important, too.”

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/author/gab ... angueira/
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Mexico Sanctioned for Not Protecting Endangered Porpoise
March 27, 2023

Introduction:
MEXICO CITY (AP via Latino Rebels) — Mexico acknowledged Saturday it faces sanctions from the international wildlife body known as CITES for not doing enough to protect the vaquita, a porpoise that is the world’s smallest cetacean and most endangered marine mammal.

The sanctions have not yet been announced, but they could make it difficult for Mexico to export some regulated animal and plant products like crocodile or snake skins, orchids, and cactuses. Commercial seafood species like shrimp would not be affected, but the ruling sets a precedent and some groups are pushing for seafood import bans.

“While no one relishes economically painful sanctions, all other efforts to prompt Mexico to save the vaquita have failed,” said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We hope these strong measures wake up the Mexican government.”

Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that CITES had ruled that Mexico’s protection plan for the vaquita was insufficient.

Studies estimate there may be as few as eight vaquitas remaining in the Gulf of California, the only place they exist and where they often become entangled in illegal gillnets and drown.

Read more here: https://www.latinorebels.com/2023/03/2 ... ovaquita/

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A vaquita.
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California Fish & Wildlife Moves to Protect Greater Sage Grouse
by Natalie Hanson
April 6 , 2023

Introduction:
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Courthouse News) — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has recommended that the greater sage grouse receive protections under the state's Endangered Species Act, after reviewing a 2022 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity.

The agency’s report, filed with the California Fish and Game Commission, found the center’s petition provided enough scientific evidence to persuade that protecting the birds as either threatened or endangered in California is warranted.

Scientists look to greater sage grouse as an indicator species in the sagebrush ecosystem. As lekking birds, they are known for their distinctive plumage and elaborate mating dances during which males use large, inflated air sacs in their chests to make popping sounds.

A Northern California population of the bird resides in Lassen and Modoc counties, and the separate bi-state sage-grouse population is found east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains along the California-Nevada border in Inyo and Mono counties.

But the sage grouse faces risk of disappearing in California due to habitat loss and fragmentation from land development, mining, invasive species, wildfire, climate change and off-road vehicle use. Many subpopulations have numbers below the minimum population threshold, which the state says makes them increasingly isolated and at imminent risk of disappearing.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/califor ... e-grouse/

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Greater Sage Grouse
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India’s endangered tiger population is rebounding in triumph for conservationists

Published 1:10 AM EDT, Mon April 10, 2023

Tigers once roamed across Asia, their numbers as high as 100,000 at the start of the 20th century, before the species plummeted to the brink of extinction.

By 2006, their population in India – home to the majority of the world’s remaining wild tigers – hit a record low of just 1,411 individuals.

But decades of conservation efforts appear to have finally paid off. India’s tigers have more than doubled since then, reaching 3,167 last year, according to the latest tiger census released Sunday.

That’s about 70% of the world’s wild tiger population, which stands at around 4,500, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The resurgence of Indian tigers represents a triumph for conservationists, and a ray of hope for other countries struggling to boost wildlife numbers.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/10/indi ... index.html
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