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Data missing on clearing of endangered ecosystems for western Sydney housing scheme

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Wednesday, March 20, 2024

The New South Wales environment department stopped monitoring and reporting on a $530m conservation program meant to compensate for swathes of land-clearing at the same time as its management of biodiversity offset schemes was under investigation, Guardian Australia can reveal.Conservationists and the NSW Greens say the government must investigate the “startling failure” by the department to report on progress towards meeting the conservation offset requirements for new suburb developments in western Sydney.The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has sought urgent advice from her department about the missing data related to clearing of critically endangered ecosystems for housing in areas including Shanes Park, Riverstone and Schofields.The data has not been filed by the department for three years. It is an apparent breach of the state’s annual reporting obligations agreed to when the federal government approved the Sydney growth centres, a multi-decade urban development program for western Sydney.Sharpe, who was in opposition when the department stopped filing the reports, became aware of the issue after Guardian Australia requested to see the documents last week.“I have asked for urgent advice on what other data and reports might have been delayed under the previous government,” Sharpe said.The reports track progress towards offset targets for threatened species and ecosystems affected by clearing for new housing and infrastructure in western Sydney. The affected areas include the critically endangered Cumberland plain woodland. The reports also document annual spending on offset credits and conservation areas under the $530m program. Individual transactions under the program can be worth millions of dollars.The NSW government has not submitted a completed report to the federal environment department or published one since 2019-20, despite being required to do both under its federal obligations.NSW Greens environment spokesperson Sue Higginson said it was a “shocking omission” and called on the government to investigate.“These reports are required as part of the state’s obligations under the federal legal framework,” she said. “Considering the parlous state of biodiversity in NSW and the extent of the known failures of the biodiversity offsets system, it’s completely unacceptable.”The state’s environment department stopped filing the reports during a period in which multiple inquiries, including an auditor general’s review, a parliamentary inquiry and departmental investigations, were under way into the management of the state’s biodiversity offset schemes. The inquiries were triggered in 2021 after Guardian Australia revealed serious failures in the offsets scheme meant to compensate for the clearing of bushland in western Sydney.Sharpe said she was concerned, and that it was “yet another example of the previous government’s don’t care attitude to the environment”.The missing conservation reports are for a planning scheme that was designed to guide more than 30 years of housing development in Sydney’s west.The scheme was approved by the federal government in 2011 under a policy that removed the need for developers to seek individual environmental approval for projects. Instead, it allowed environmental approval to be granted upfront for multiple projects across a mapped region and conservation conditions to be set for the life of the development.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Afternoon UpdateOur Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionThe state government is responsible for meeting the conservation requirements by acquiring conservation lands and buying offsets. Developers contribute to some of the cost by paying a levy.A NSW environment department spokesperson said the offset program for the growth centres had continued despite its failure to file regular reports. They said the government acquired 10.7ha for conservation in 2020-21 and 98.7ha in 2021-22. They said no offsets were bought under the program in 2022-23, but the government expected to acquire a further 45.67ha this financial year.Lisa Harrold, the president of the Mulgoa Valley Landcare group, said when the Sydney growth centres were approved the community had hoped it would lead to new nature reserves and corridors to stop the region’s unique ecosystems collapsing. She said transparent reporting on the use of conservation funds was important because it allowed the community to scrutinise whether commitments were being met and where money had been spent.“Millions of dollars should be invested annually in acquiring land for conservation, but exactly how much funding has been spent and where these offsets are located is a mystery,” she said.James Trezise, the director of the Biodiversity Council, said the case was a “startling failure” that highlighted the pitfalls of “set and forget” environmental and planning approaches that had been adopted by the federal government over the years.He said proper environmental oversight was critical in western Sydney, the home of the last remaining patches of Cumberland plain woodland, which provides habitat for species such as koalas, gliders and threatened plants.The NSW environment department spokesperson said reporting was not a condition of the federal approval for the growth centres but was an obligation under a “procedural agreement” between the two governments. They said the department was working to bring the reporting up to date and publish the missing reports.A spokesperson for the federal environment department said it had ensured the state government was fully aware of its obligations.

NSW environment department spokesperson says offset program for the area has continued despite failure to file reports for three yearsGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales environment department stopped monitoring and reporting on a $530m conservation program meant to compensate for swathes of land-clearing at the same time as its management of biodiversity offset schemes was under investigation, Guardian Australia can reveal.Conservationists and the NSW Greens say the government must investigate the “startling failure” by the department to report on progress towards meeting the conservation offset requirements for new suburb developments in western Sydney.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

The New South Wales environment department stopped monitoring and reporting on a $530m conservation program meant to compensate for swathes of land-clearing at the same time as its management of biodiversity offset schemes was under investigation, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Conservationists and the NSW Greens say the government must investigate the “startling failure” by the department to report on progress towards meeting the conservation offset requirements for new suburb developments in western Sydney.

The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has sought urgent advice from her department about the missing data related to clearing of critically endangered ecosystems for housing in areas including Shanes Park, Riverstone and Schofields.

The data has not been filed by the department for three years. It is an apparent breach of the state’s annual reporting obligations agreed to when the federal government approved the Sydney growth centres, a multi-decade urban development program for western Sydney.

Sharpe, who was in opposition when the department stopped filing the reports, became aware of the issue after Guardian Australia requested to see the documents last week.

“I have asked for urgent advice on what other data and reports might have been delayed under the previous government,” Sharpe said.

The reports track progress towards offset targets for threatened species and ecosystems affected by clearing for new housing and infrastructure in western Sydney. The affected areas include the critically endangered Cumberland plain woodland. The reports also document annual spending on offset credits and conservation areas under the $530m program. Individual transactions under the program can be worth millions of dollars.

The NSW government has not submitted a completed report to the federal environment department or published one since 2019-20, despite being required to do both under its federal obligations.

NSW Greens environment spokesperson Sue Higginson said it was a “shocking omission” and called on the government to investigate.

“These reports are required as part of the state’s obligations under the federal legal framework,” she said. “Considering the parlous state of biodiversity in NSW and the extent of the known failures of the biodiversity offsets system, it’s completely unacceptable.”

The state’s environment department stopped filing the reports during a period in which multiple inquiries, including an auditor general’s review, a parliamentary inquiry and departmental investigations, were under way into the management of the state’s biodiversity offset schemes. The inquiries were triggered in 2021 after Guardian Australia revealed serious failures in the offsets scheme meant to compensate for the clearing of bushland in western Sydney.

Sharpe said she was concerned, and that it was “yet another example of the previous government’s don’t care attitude to the environment”.

The missing conservation reports are for a planning scheme that was designed to guide more than 30 years of housing development in Sydney’s west.

The scheme was approved by the federal government in 2011 under a policy that removed the need for developers to seek individual environmental approval for projects. Instead, it allowed environmental approval to be granted upfront for multiple projects across a mapped region and conservation conditions to be set for the life of the development.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

The state government is responsible for meeting the conservation requirements by acquiring conservation lands and buying offsets. Developers contribute to some of the cost by paying a levy.

A NSW environment department spokesperson said the offset program for the growth centres had continued despite its failure to file regular reports. They said the government acquired 10.7ha for conservation in 2020-21 and 98.7ha in 2021-22. They said no offsets were bought under the program in 2022-23, but the government expected to acquire a further 45.67ha this financial year.

Lisa Harrold, the president of the Mulgoa Valley Landcare group, said when the Sydney growth centres were approved the community had hoped it would lead to new nature reserves and corridors to stop the region’s unique ecosystems collapsing. She said transparent reporting on the use of conservation funds was important because it allowed the community to scrutinise whether commitments were being met and where money had been spent.

“Millions of dollars should be invested annually in acquiring land for conservation, but exactly how much funding has been spent and where these offsets are located is a mystery,” she said.

James Trezise, the director of the Biodiversity Council, said the case was a “startling failure” that highlighted the pitfalls of “set and forget” environmental and planning approaches that had been adopted by the federal government over the years.

He said proper environmental oversight was critical in western Sydney, the home of the last remaining patches of Cumberland plain woodland, which provides habitat for species such as koalas, gliders and threatened plants.

The NSW environment department spokesperson said reporting was not a condition of the federal approval for the growth centres but was an obligation under a “procedural agreement” between the two governments. They said the department was working to bring the reporting up to date and publish the missing reports.

A spokesperson for the federal environment department said it had ensured the state government was fully aware of its obligations.

Read the full story here.
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Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates

A mysterious group linked to Patagonia has been accused of making what appear to be illegal “straw donor” contributions. The post Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates appeared first on The Intercept.

The newest front in dark money’s war on election transparency shares an address with Patagonia, according to a new complaint. The outdoor clothing company known for its high quality, high prices, and liberal leanings may have funded illegal campaign donations over the summer, a watchdog group alleged this month. The Campaign Legal Center has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that a mysterious corporation made $1.4 million in what appear to be illegal “straw donor” contributions to funds supporting Democratic candidates within days of its creation. The ultimate source of the money was likely Patagonia, the Campaign Legal Center says. The complaint is the second of its kind this year involving Patagonia, raising fresh questions about whether left-leaning donors at ideological odds with “dark-money” groups on the right should resort to similar tactics. For Saurav Ghosh, the director of federal campaign finance reform at the nonpartisan, nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, the donations also highlight the need for swifter action from the FEC, which has yet to take action against another alleged “straw donor” that made donations to a right-wing Senate candidate two years ago. “The amounts of money involved, the brazenness of setting up a company and making a seven-figure contribution almost immediately — it shows that this tactic is alive and well, and I don’t see any reason for that to change unless the FEC starts enforcing the law and dishing out penalties,” Ghosh said. Ties to Patagonia Neither Patagonia nor the entity in question, Save our Home Planet Action, responded to requests for comment. But to hear the Campaign Legal Center tell it, linking them together was a straightforward detective job. Save Our Home Planet Action was incorporated in Delaware on August 6. Within 10 days, it began doling out money to campaign organizations: $450,000 to the Senate Democratic campaign fund, $425,000 to the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund, $450,000 to House Democrats, $50,000 to a super PAC supporting Kamala Harris, and $50,000 to a committee supporting Democrats in state races. Why would a newborn company go on a campaign spending spree? Ghosh alleges that the answer lies in a web of evidence tying Save Our Home Planet Action to Patagonia. Save Our Home Planet Action uses the same mailing address, and its name also matches a slogan that Patagonia has used in marketing materials and on clothing for years. “These circumstances plainly suggest that Patagonia and/or one or more of its owners, executives, or employees may, in fact, be the unknown true source(s) that provided sufficient funds to SOHPA for it to contribute over $1.4 million while concealing their identities,” the Campaign Legal Center complaint states. Corporate filings in California unearthed by The Intercept indicate that Save Our Home Planet Action has the same CEO, Greg Curtis, as the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit organization that owns 98 percent of Patagonia. Curtis, who did not respond to a request for comment, previously worked as corporate counsel for Patagonia. The Holdfast Collective was created under the direction of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard in 2022. Using what the trade publication Inside Philanthropy called “a complex and unconventional structure,” Holdfast and a network of affiliated trusts redistribute money earned from Patagonia sales to environmental causes. “That might work for environmental causes, but it undermines the transparency the law requires for money spent influencing elections.” The California filings reinforce the theory that Patagonia is the ultimate source of the contributions, Ghosh said. “Curtis’s involvement here, alongside his role as the CEO of the Holdfast Collective, is interesting, since it suggests that SOHPA was designed to operate in a similar vein — namely, the distribution of corporate profits to finance philanthropy. That might work for environmental causes, but it undermines the transparency the law requires for money spent influencing elections,” Ghosh said. Steering corporate profits to super PACs and campaign committees aimed at boosting environmental causes would not run afoul of federal laws. The nonprofits associated with Patagonia, which are known as social welfare groups and are legally allowed to make campaign donations, have disclosed spending money on conservation projects and even on a Democratic super PAC before. But using what are known as “straw donors” — people or corporations designed to mask the original source of funds — to make campaign contributions would be illegal. Such entities often argue that they are legitimate corporations that just happened to have enough money to make big donations, Ghosh said. According to the complaint, there is “reason to believe” that “unidentified person(s)” violated straw donor laws, and that Save Our Home Planet Action did the same when it “knowingly permitted its name to be used to effect contributions of one or more other persons in its own name.” The complaint says the FEC “should find reason to believe” that straw donor laws were violated “and conduct an immediate investigation” under its enforcement powers. A Growing Pattern? In its complaint with the FEC, the Campaign Legal Center notes that Save Our Home Planet Action does not appear to maintain a website or a social media presence, leaving the reason for its creation something of a mystery. Patagonia has long worn its politics on its sleeves — and once on a tag stitched into the rear of a pair of shorts, which read “Vote the assholes out.” In the case of Save Our Home Planet Action, however, much of the money went to committees such as the House Majority PAC and the Senate Majority PAC, which supported some candidates with views at odds with the environmental movement, such as supporters of fracking in Pennsylvania and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Meanwhile, the nonprofit that owns most of Patagonia, the Holdfast Collective, was already under scrutiny in the form of a February FEC complaint from the conservative group Americans for Public Trust for allegedly misidentifying the source of political contributions. Patagonia has previously stated that the errors in that case could have been on the part of the entities that received the money. Caitlin Sutherland, that group’s executive director, told The Intercept she was still waiting for a determination from the FEC. The election commission, which is supposed to act as watchdog for violations of campaign finance law, is deadlocked along partisan lines and notoriously reluctant to take action. These days, many of the biggest donations to federal campaigns are routed through what are known as “dark-money” groups, which take advantage of the federal tax code to wrap their donors in anonymity. Although liberals have been far more critical of developments in campaign finance that opened the spigots on corporate spending, there are dark-money groups operating from both the left and the right to influence American politics, ranging from the Koch brothers network to George Soros. “These corporate entities and other ‘social welfare’ nonprofits have extremely smart lawyers to figure out how to game the system,” said Aaron Scherb, the senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, a nonprofit group pushing for more disclosure. “That, combined with an FEC in which half the commissioners refuse to enforce disclosure laws, ends up yielding a very unhealthy system in which voters can’t fully understand in many cases who is trying to influence their votes.” While the Campaign Legal Center believes alleged “straw donor” groups should be investigated because the donations appear to be illegal, the FEC has been slow to crack down on them. Two years ago, Ghosh’s group filed an FEC complaint against an alleged straw donor called the Leadership Action Fund, which sent more than $600,000 to a Republican Senate candidate in Oklahoma. The Campaign Legal Center is still waiting on a response, Ghosh said. Increasingly, he believes, corporations are making a “risk calculation” of whether to follow the law or to violate it. “There’s the upside, in their mind, of not disclosing their political spending, and then the potential downside, which is really quite minimal. These schemes in most cases will either go undetected or unpunished,” he said. The post Patagonia’s Ties to a Dark-Money Operation Bankrolling Democratic Candidates appeared first on The Intercept.

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This Year in Conservation Science: Elephants, Sharks, Mountains, Bees, and More

We asked conservation researchers to send us their best papers of 2024. They surprised us with some powerful and important science. The post This Year in Conservation Science: Elephants, Sharks, Mountains, Bees, and More appeared first on The Revelator.

Every month scientific journals publish hundreds of new papers about endangered species and wildlife conservation. It’s a firehose of information in a world that feels increasingly in flames. That’s why I started writing this column. “This Month in Conservation Science” is an opportunity to sort through some of that critical research and filter it for an audience who can put these scientific discoveries to good use. Our first few columns looked at papers published over specific four-week periods. This month, as we all wrap up 2024, we asked researchers to send us their best or favorite papers of the past year. We received submissions that offer hope, guidance, analysis, and insight into emerging threats. Stuart Pimm, president of Saving Nature, recommended a paper he and his colleagues published in Science Advances revealing surprising news for elephants. He wrote: “The public may think that elephants in the African savannah are in freefall. In fact, over the last quarter century, their numbers have held their own across Southern Africa (mid-Tanzania southwards), an area that holds three-quarters of them. The paper shows what strategies led to this success and recommends that connecting now-isolated populations will be vital for future progress.” Sukakpak Mountain. Photo: Bob Wick/BLM Aerin Jacob, director of science and research at Nature Conservancy of Canada, sent a coauthored paper from Conservation Biology about mountains — a habitat type that deserves more attention. “People often think that mountain ecosystems are so rugged and inaccessible that they don’t need habitat protection, but that’s not true,” she wrote. “We studied six major mountain regions around the world and found that on average half of them are as modified as the rest of the world; two-thirds of them don’t (yet) meet the 30×30 global protection target; and existing protected areas don’t include the vast majority of mountain ecosystem types. Mountains are super-important for biodiversity, ecosystem function, and the benefits people get from nature. We ignore them at our peril.” Speaking of 30×30, marine expert Stacy Jupiter with the Wildlife Conservation Society recommended a paper in Marine Policy, cowritten by two other WCS specialists, that she tells us sought to “identify highly productive marine areas around the world to help the world achieve the protection of at least 30% of the planet by 2030. This analysis adds to the current body of knowledge by exploring the notion of marine productivity as an enabling condition that drives ecological integrity in marine ecosystems. It’s a critically important feature to inform and complement future conservation efforts.” An endangered Caribbean reef shark. Photo: Brian Gratwicke (CC BY 2.0) Sticking with the ocean, shark scientist David Shiffman (a frequent Revelator contributor) sent a commentary he published in Integrative & Comparative Biology about how misinformation shapes the public’s perspective on shark conservation. “This invited commentary summarizes the last decade of my research into public misunderstanding of ocean conservation issues,” he wrote. “In a career sitting in rooms with global science and conservation experts and a career talking to the interested public about how to save the ocean, I’ve noticed something striking: both groups talk about the same issues, but they talk about them very differently. This inspired a decade-long research project looking at where concerned members of the public learn about ocean conservation threats and their policy solutions, and what type of information is spread through those information pathways. It turns out that nearly every information pathway is flooded with misunderstandings if not straight-up pseudoscience, a big problem as we work to save endangered species and key ecosystems.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Charles Eutsler (@charles.eutsler) Sharks get a lot of press, but many other species fly under the radar. Wildlife trade researcher Lalita Gomez shared a Discover Animals paper cowritten with frequent Revelator contributor Chris Shepherd about a cat-like mammal called the binturong that faces an underappreciated threat. “This little creature is currently being traded under the radar in large numbers for the pet trade, which is ridiculous considering its vulnerable status,” she wrote. “The online trade of live animals is also out of hand and with this paper we push for stronger regulation of social media platforms that perpetuate the trade.” Shepherd, meanwhile, was the senior author of a paper in the European Journal of Wildlife Research that examined Canada’s role in international wildlife trade. “Wildlife trade is embedded in Canada’s history, dating back to the early fur traders, evolving to include multiple commodities such as the contemporary fur industry and the thriving pet trade of today,” he wrote. “Considering recent reports of animals legally and illegally imported into Canada and the potential threats of wildlife trade studied elsewhere, wildlife trade may pose risks to Canada’s natural heritage, biodiversity, biosecurity, and animal welfare. Our review underscores the need to enhance academic knowledge and policy tools to effectively identify and address trade issues concerning Canadian and nonnative wildlife.” Continuing the theme of wildlife trade, Neil D’Cruze shared a Journal of Environmental Management paper from several authors at World Animal Protection and John Jay College of Criminal Justice that “highlights significant gaps in global wildlife trade laws despite a century of growing legislation. Examining 11 biodiversity-rich countries, the research found that the Global Biodiversity Index does not correlate with the scope of wildlife trade laws. Legislation is unevenly distributed across trade stages, with animal welfare notably underrepresented, particularly in captive breeding and farming. Our study urges the alignment of national and international regulations to address critical gaps, protect biodiversity, and prioritise animal welfare, emphasising its importance for public health and environmental sustainability.” Moving on to a different topic, let’s talk about the damaging ways people move through the natural world. William Laurance, distinguished research professor at James Cook University, shared a Nature paper led by one of his Ph.D. students about ghost roads — often-illegal roads that don’t exist on maps but pose a serious danger to ecosystems. “Globally, ghost roads are one of the most serious, understudied threats to ecosystems and biodiversity — especially in poorer nations that harbor much of Earth’s biodiversity,” he wrote. We also heard from Dr. Sara Cannon with the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, who was the lead author of a paper in Facets that argued the open data movement is putting too much pressure on Indigenous people to make their scientific data public. “This paper highlights why Indigenous data sovereignty is crucial for addressing environmental challenges like climate change and cumulative effects on ecosystems, particularly salmon-bearing watersheds in British Columbia,” she writes. “It underscores the need for respectful collaborations between Indigenous knowledge-holders and external researchers, offering actionable steps to honor Indigenous data sovereignty and improve data management practices. By reading this paper, the public can better understand how Indigenous data sovereignty supports ecosystem resilience and empowers Indigenous communities to maintain sovereignty over their territories and knowledge.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Wildlife Conservation Society Mongolia (@wcs.mongolia) Samantha Strindberg of the WCS submitted two papers, both authored with expansive teams, that showcased the value of large, long-term conservation monitoring programs. The first, published in Oryx, assessed the population size of the Mongolian gazelle. “The Eastern Steppe of Mongolia harbors the largest remaining temperate grassland on the planet and is home to millions of Mongolian gazelles,” she wrote. “This is the first comprehensive assessment of this species that roams over 750,000 square kilometers, predominantly (91%) in the Mongolian open plains, and also Russia and China. It highlights the importance of comprehensive monitoring surveys and the value of cross-border collaboration to provide important information for conservation of this species in the long-term.” The second, published in Primates, examined great ape surveys: “The Republic of Congo expanded the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park to include the gorilla-rich, previously unlogged forest of the Djéké Triangle. These survey results for western lowland gorilla and central chimpanzee are part of a 25-year history of globally important scientific research on the ecology and behavior of western lowland gorillas. Empirical evidence of the environmental value and strategic conservation importance supported the inclusion of the Djéké Triangle into the NNNP with long-term monitoring results also informing best-practice standards and ape tourism certification.” Finally, this month, we heard from Liber Ero Postdoctoral Fellow Jayme Lewthwaite, who recommended a paper she didn’t work on as one of the best she’s seen in 2024. Published in Nature Sustainability, lead author Laura Melissa Guzman and colleagues examined the effects of pesticides on wild bee distributions in the United States. “This paper is so important because it’s the first national assessment of how pesticide use is affecting native bees across their ranges,” Lewthwaite wrote. “While overall pesticide use has plateaued in the U.S., Guzman et al. show that the novel pesticides that are increasingly being favored (such as neonicotinoids) are extremely deadly to native insects, perhaps more than any of their predecessors. While this was suspected and shown through a few studies in the UK (where they were subsequently banned), this is the first study to do so in the U.S. on such a large taxonomic and spatial scale. We should all be worried about the decline of native bees because they are by far the most effective pollinators out of any group, and this has important food security implications.” We’ll return to our regular format next month, which will link to papers published between Dec. 15, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025. We’re happy to hear from any author or team with a new paper coming out in a peer-reviewed journal or other publication during that timeframe, especially if you’re from the Global South or an institution without much public-relations support. For consideration in a future column, drop us a link at tips@therevelator.org and use the subject line TMICS. Scroll down to find our “Republish” button The post This Year in Conservation Science: Elephants, Sharks, Mountains, Bees, and More appeared first on The Revelator.

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Can a New Generation of Conservationists Make the Field More Accessible?

Modern conservationists are finding new ways to protect wildlife.

Rachel Feltman: I want you to do something for me. Close your eyes. I’m going to say a word, and I’d like you to, as quickly as you can, come up with a mental image to go with it.The word is “conservationist.”Okay, so what did you picture? (If you were able to come up with anything, that is.) Did you see images of animals first? When your mind got around to picturing an actual zoologist, who did you see? Was it Charles Darwin? David Attenborough? Maybe Jane Goodall?On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.[CLIP: Theme music]Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, this is Rachel Feltman. You’re listening to the third episode of our Fascination miniseries on “The New Conservationists.” Today we’re going to talk about who actually does this kind of work—and how that’s changing.Our guide for this adventure is Ashleigh Papp, an animal scientist turned storyteller. And to tell this particular story, she’ll take us out to an island off the coast of California—and later onto the African savanna—to meet two conservation researchers who are breaking those dusty old molds and changing the field for the better.Isaac Aguilar: The Argentine ant is one of the most invasive species in the world; it’s found on every continent now, all over the world, except for Antarctica. They’re probably just in my backyard here.Ashleigh Papp: That’s Isaac Aguilar. He’s a graduate student in the geology division at the California Institute of Technology. Before starting this chapter he spent plenty of time outside as a field research assistant on San Clemente Island, off the coast of Southern California, watching ants.[CLIP: Sounds of footsteps and birds]Aguilar: We hike around and find where these infestations are. We bring our GPSes, kind of take data points of where we see them. And then we can come back to these areas and treat them so that we can apply these pesticide beads towards a very specific area and limit the other side effects of the pesticide that could potentially be impacting other species. And that way we hope to eradicate this pest from the island soon so that the biodiversity can kind of come back.Papp: This ant—which honestly looks like your classic, nondescript ant—is native to South America and was accidentally introduced to other parts of the world. They’ll build their nests just about anywhere, and as a result they’re dominating native bugs and threatening biodiversity in certain habitats.[CLIP: “Those Rainy Days,” by Elm Lake]Papp: But before Isaac was tracking ants on an island, before he studied molecular environmental biology and ecosystem management and forestry at the University of California, Berkeley, he fell in love with nature and the great outdoors in Mexico.Aguilar: Every time I would go to Jalisco, I’d stay with my mom’s side of the family in El Grullo; it’s a small town there located a couple hours west of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco.Papp: And the town where they would stay stands at the gates of a UNESCO biosphere reserve where his grandpa owned a small piece of land.Aguilar: And I would always hear stories from my grandpa about, like, jaguars in the mountains and pumas roaming around. And so for me, it was this kind of, like, mysterious place where there were all these animals that maybe I would never see.Papp: The wonder and beauty of his ancestral homeland reached far beyond just stories, though.Aguilar: It became more of our kind of little vacation getaway, where I could just jump in the river with my cousins, swim around, look at the fish in the rivers, look for the birds in the trees, hike around waterfalls, and things like that.Papp: This is where his love for conservation science was born.Aguilar: It was somewhere where I think I really connected to the environment in, and learning about my family, their culture and their history in the region, and being able to kind of learn from their experiences on the land is something that, I think, I always kind of really was inspired by. And that’s kind of what really inspired me to look for potential careers in—at the outdoors, in science, which is something that I think growing up I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about.Papp: In high school he enrolled in an advanced environmental science class.Aguilar: That was something that kind of opened up a lot of potential careers for me as someone who had never really met a biologist before, who had never really seen what that kind of work was. And so that was something that I think really excited me because I was like, “Wow, like, I don’t know anything about this. Like, there’s so much to learn. There’s so much to see, so much to do.”Papp: Isaac went on to study science in college. But as a Latino kid from Southern California, he felt a little out of place.Aguilar: I always had incredible scientific mentors growing up, going to Berkeley and being able to meet with all these really incredible and esteemed scientists, but also, I did recognize, I think, the lack of people from my own community or people who looked like me.Papp: And there is, unfortunately, data to back up Isaac’s personal experience. According to a survey of more than 200,000 full-time faculty at colleges and universities in the U.S. during the 2023 to 2024 school year, almost 80 percent of tenure-track professors were white.It can be hard to envision yourself in a career path when the people in that field don’t look like you. And this poses a big problem for diversity in science. Fortunately, faculty make up only part of the college experience.Aguilar: The grad student population at a lot of universities are a lot more diverse than the faculty. I was able to connect with them a lot better on the types of experiences they had growing up, on the frameworks that they developed when they approach their own scientific kind of projects, how they’re able to draw inspiration from their community, from their experiences to do their own research.Papp: Isaac says that sense of community helped him to realize that even if he looked different from the faculty norm in science, his work is important.Aguilar: I remember, like, my first experiences going to grad students’ office hours and being able to finally kind of share, like, yes, we’re out here doing research in Mexico. We’re out here, like, doing research in these different parts of the world. We’re able to develop a network of regional, local scientists and start to expand the efforts of conservation-restoration projects in these areas.Papp: Isaac went on to work in labs at UC Berkeley and later discovered a program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, that pays students to go into the field and get their hands dirty. It helped his career actually get started.[CLIP: “It Doesn’t End Here (Instrumental),” by Nehemiah Pratt]Papp: That first step is one of the biggest hurdles for those new to conservation. Many of its disciplines—such as ecology, animal science and zoology—feature some of the lowest-paid early career incomes in science, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And it’s pretty common for interns or entry-level students to work for free to get their foot in the door.In a pretty blatant way this means that most people who get involved in conservation must have resources to fall back on, such as a decent savings account. And as a result conservation science has developed quite a catch-22 type of situation. Those working in the field seem to be mostly white people from middle- or upper-middle-class backgrounds. That lack of diversity discourages some individuals from underrepresented backgrounds from entering the field of study—which further exacerbates the problem.So programs like the one Isaac got into can really help change the face of the field.Aguilar: We need to continue putting in the work of expanding outreach towards these underserved communities, towards communities that are historically excluded from research, from academia, from science.Papp: In a world where species are disappearing by the hour and habitats are shrinking by the minute it seems obvious that we’re in dire need of dedicated and paid conservation scientists. And the more diverse their ranks are, the more varied their approaches to solving big conservation challenges will be.Aguilar: When we have an overrepresentation of science and research that comes from one area of the world—like, say, here in the United States, where maybe a lot of research is going on in California or a lot of research is going on in this Western part of the world—we tend to lose the value that can come from studying other systems, that can come from other forms of knowledge, other forms of science and how science is done.Papp: Change can be hard, and unfortunately, it often takes time. But Isaac is seeing a lot of positive change already underway when he looks across the field of conservation—and even his family’s dinner table.[CLIP: “Pushing Forward (XO Edit) (Instrumental),” by Ballinger]Aguilar: Now I have younger family members who are starting to go off to college. Some of them are starting to major in, like, environmental science kind of biology things, too, so I always love being able to see those doors open and people able to find their own kind of niche within this field.Papp: For the next part of our story I decided to seek out exactly that: someone using other forms of knowledge who does science differently because of it. I found her inside one of Africa’s largest game reserves.Malungane Naledi: So when you go in a night patrol, that’s where we do our visual policing, again, by shining our spotlight and looking for everything that is suspicious in the reserve. If it is dark, we look for any lights that we wanna know if they’re suspicious: maybe cigarette lights, maybe dogs barking, gunshots.Papp: That’s Malungane Naledi. She’s a crime prevention sergeant with the Black Mambas, an all-woman anti-poaching unit that patrols South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park.Malungane: Our intention is not to kill but is to prevent crime and wildlife crime. So as the Black Mambas, we do visual policing to deter the poachers away from the reserve. So we are the nature guardians. That’s the Black Mambas.[CLIP: Black Mambas chanting: “I am a Mamba, hear me cheer. Poachers, be warned I have no fear.”]Papp: The group, named after a super poisonous African snake, was formed in 2013. Naledi grew up in a nearby area and remembers taking school field trips to Kruger National Park.[CLIP: Birds chirping at Kruger National Park]Papp: While she saw plenty of animals, there was one iconic species that was never around.Malungane: Every time when I went to Kruger via school trips and everything, there we’ll see all any other animal, but you will come back not seeing any rhino. And I thought to myself, “What can I do that I can make this rhino poaching stop?”[CLIP: “Let There Be Rain,” by Silver Maple]Papp: This part of South Africa is home to an impressive list of endangered and threatened animals: black rhinos, elephants and pangolins, to name a few. But policing the poaching inside the national park and surrounding areas is challenging. In 2021 the rhino poaching rates in the Kruger park were some of the highest in the country. Since then poaching rates in the park have declined, but the reason why remains a bit unclear. South African authorities point to anti-poaching efforts and other initiatives, while some researchers have suggested it may simply be because of dwindling rhino populations.Malungane: I hope that one day the poaching thing can stop, and then we can enjoy our heritage, nature heritage, in peace. Like, that’s what I wish: that they can truly see the importance of wildlife and the importance of these animals.Papp: All Mambas receive paramilitary training, similar to a military boot camp, but they don’t carry or use weapons. More often than not, members of the community are the poachers—or at least are helping out-of-town poachers find what they’re looking for. By carrying weapons the Mambas would run the risk of getting into shoot-outs with their neighbors, potentially turning members of their community into orphans and widows.So they decided to do things differently.Malungane: When we see something that is suspicious, let’s say maybe we heard a gunshot. We have to report the distance where we see the light—like, everything—then we report it.Papp: The Mambas report what they see to armed backup in the reserve. Those folks then have the authority to pursue and investigate the poaching activity.Malungane: Then they will do further investigations. And then they will come back to us if maybe it’s someone that they know or maybe it’s really, really, really suspicious; then we have to stay on high alert.Papp: Instead of using force the Mambas do everything they can to make the land undesirable to poachers. They remove traps and snares, dismantle makeshift outposts and assist in arrests. The women log everything they encounter, whether it be wild animals or evidence of poachers.[CLIP: Three members of the Black Mambas running]Papp: And more than 10 years later their hard work is, well, working.Ashwell Glasson: You can see that they’ve picked up snares and traps. And their visibility’s probably had other positive impacts. It’s hard to quantify, but I think, like, crime prevention overall, being visible, patrolling, all of those kind of things does bring benefits.Papp: That’s Ashwell Glasson. He grew up in South Africa and now works at the Southern African Wildlife College.Glasson: Black Mambas didn’t set out to become this huge, tactical law enforcement body. Whereas a lot of people say, “Okay, we put boots on the ground, firearms on the ground,” that kind of thing—Black Mambas, yes, they put boots on the ground, but those boots work differently, you know, they’re not purely just law enforcement. And I think that’s also been the big value add, because pure, hard law enforcement won’t solve these problems. They’re more long term.Papp: When Ashwell first entered the conservation science scene more than 25 years ago, apartheid had only recently ended and a newfound democracy established in its place.Glasson: So we had a bit of Mandela magic, if that makes sense. People were very excited about South Africa opening up.Once we transitioned to democracy conservation had to then mainstream. It couldn’t have been a minority kind of thing, where it was just about white people still enjoying the benefits of conservation.Papp: Ashwell’s ancestors immigrated to South Africa from Europe and New Zealand during the colonial gold and diamond rush of the 1800s. When he was young his grandfather would take him to rural areas and teach him about birds and nature, which later led Ashwell on a path to conservation work. But he recognizes that he was privileged to grow up with this kind of relationship to wildlife.After working as a park ranger and then a nature guide he felt the pull to get involved in training the next generation of conservation scientists—and making sure they didn’t all look like him.Glasson: There was a lot of transformation, a lot of opportunities to bring people on board into conservation that historically were kept out of it, excluded.Papp: The Black Mambas seek to extend that transformation by serving as role models for local communities. Naledi and her fellow Mambas do a lot of work with locals, especially kids.Glasson: A lot of the Black Mambas, you know, do work with schools, do environmental clubs, bring kids in. And the other power of that, which is also overlooked sometimes, is they’re doing it in cultural context. So they’re speaking Shangaan or Sepedi or Venda, and that’s what those young children speak at home, and a lot of people don’t realize, in South Africa, with all the languages, if you’re not a polyglot or multilingual, you will struggle—and making it accessible for children.Papp: For Naledi and the Mambas, bringing in those who have historically been left out of conservation science means sowing seeds for the next generation.Malungane: If you teach a kid—I will go at home and then explain to my father and my uncle that this is illegal, so they will eventually stop what they are doing, hearing from what I was taught. I think most people in our community, they are uneducated, but if we teach them and then we teach the kids while they are still young, they will grow up knowing that poaching is bad.[CLIP: Black Mambas chanting: “Empower mothers to educate. Our young future guardians are at stake.”]Papp: There’s a long road ahead for those seeking to protect places filled with animals so highly sought after by poachers.[CLIP: Theme music]Papp: But it’s these types of efforts—the ones inviting in people who were previously left out—that are going to help bring about change and maybe, hopefully, tip the scale in a positive direction.Feltman: That’s all for today’s episode. Tune in next time for the conclusion of this four-part Fascination series on “The New Conservationists.” It’s a fun one. There won’t be any tigers, but there will be lions—well, mountain lions—and bears, oh my!Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was reported and co-hosted by Ashleigh Papp. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.For Scientific American, this is Rachel Feltman. See you next time!

Conservation
Animals
Forests

Explore 48 Blue Flag beaches in South Africa this summer

South Africa’s new list of Blue Flag beaches for the 2024/2025 season showcases 48 beautiful beaches to explore over the summer… The post Explore 48 Blue Flag beaches in South Africa this summer appeared first on SA People.

Blue Flag beaches for the 2024/2025 season Each year, the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) releases a list of South African beaches that qualify for Blue Flag status. In total for the 2024 year, 48 beach locations featured on the list. According to WESSA, the iconic Blue Flag is one of the world’s most recognised voluntary eco-labels awarded to beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating tourism operators. The programme uses 33 criteria across four categories to determine whether a beach meets the requirements for recognition. These categories are: Environmental Education and Awareness, Water Quality, Environmental Management and Safety Services.  In addition to the beaches, four marinas and seven tourism boats were also recognised and were awarded the eco-label. Seven sites were awarded Green Coast status – these being community-driven coastal conservation areas of high biodiversity and eco-tourism value that appeal to people seeking adventure and nature-based experiences. This year’s awards also acknowledged the efforts of 18 pilot beaches, highlighting their progress in striving for Blue Flag status. The 48 beaches: Where are they? Western Cape (31 beaches): Silwerstroomstrand Clifton 4th Camps Bay Llandudno Muizenberg Bikini Melkbosstrand Fish Hoek Kleinmond Grotto Struisbaai Witsand Preekstoel Lappiesbaai Jongensfontein Gouritzmond Stilbaai Wes De Bakke Hartenbos Klein Brak Santos Glentana Wilderness Herold’s Bay Victoria Bay Robberg 5 The Waves Nature’s Valley Lookout The Dunes Singing Kettle Eastern Cape (8 beaches) Dolphin Cape St Francis Kings Humewood Hobie Kariega Kelly’s Middle Kent on Sea KwaZulu-Natal (9 beaches) Marina Beach Trafalgar Southport Umzumbe Ramsgate Hibberdene Pennington Blythdale Thompson Bay The post Explore 48 Blue Flag beaches in South Africa this summer appeared first on SA People.

Conservation
Education
Nature

Forest Park would lose more than 370 trees in PGE transmission upgrade

The tree loss has spurred opposition from conservation groups, while PGE says the upgrade will address a transmission bottleneck in Portland.

A clash over plans to upgrade existing Portland General Electric transmission lines in Forest Park foreshadows the probable future in Portland and throughout the region as a growing thirst for electricity bumps up against environmental protection goals.Several conservation groups oppose PGE’s proposal to cut down more than 370 trees on about 5 acres, citing ecological damage to the park and a lack of clarity about how residential utility customers would benefit from the project.

Conservation
Forests

Suggested Viewing

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 1: Return to the Wild

Go behind the scenes with Wilderness Documentarian Ross Thomas as he learns the amazing and inspiring stories of the critically endangered California condor. Ross meets the Ventana Wildlife Society experts who have been working since 1997 to restore these majestic giants to the wild Big Sur coast. Ross’s epic journey begins with a once-in-a-lifetime visit with Senior Wildlife Biologist and California Condor Recovery Program Manager, Joe Burnett, to a wild condor’s nest deep in the Big Sur wilderness. Ross witnesses the intimate interaction between a condor parent and its new chick in the crown of a giant redwood tree. Ross then travels with Joe to see the Condor’s Big Sur sanctuary, which was destroyed by the Dolan Fire in 2020.

Conservation
Extinction
Pollution

Tōku Waiata / My Song

Star is a bird of many names. Kārearea, kāiaia, the New Zealand falcon. Aotearoa was once a nation of manu. Winged creatures reigned: bats, bugs and birds. Whilst flightless creatures crawled the land, the skies were ruled by aerial predators, some of these birds almost mythical in size. Yet with the arrival of humans came great change. Today, many manu linger only in legend. But a few birds of prey remain, including the feisty kārearea. The New Zealand falcon didn’t survive these changing years unscathed. Kārearea are even rarer than the kiwi. But they won’t go down without a fight. Through both traditional filmmaking and stop-motion animation, Tōku Waiata / My Song soars Aotearoa's skies alongside Star, an advocacy falcon at Wingspan Birds of Prey Centre. Here, a rather different conservation practice is used to conserve New Zealand's only falcon; the ancient art of falconry.

Animation
Conservation
Student

Vanishing Springs

The Florida you know is a lie. In contrast to what Americans have been told, Florida’s magic is not found in the giant mouse, the rolling green golf courses, or in the beachside palaces. The beauty and uniqueness of Florida is under our feet - the aquifer. This pure, crystal clear water is the life blood of our state and without it, life as we know it in the sunshine state would not exist. This life sustaining force is only seen where it bubbles up to the surface through Florida’s collection of 1,000 springs. These springs were originally what drew society to this land. Wealthy tourists in the 1900’s flooded the Florida springs seeking medicinal cures from its pristine waters. As springs became a popular tourist destination, spring houses were built around these pools of water. When this development began, the springs began flowing less and some eventually stopped altogether. People assumed this was the natural order of this wonder and moved on. Theme parks, golf courses and resorts were erected to entice tourists to visit Florida, the natural beauty of the state soon faded out of our memory. The springs of Florida now silently suffer from the effects of continued development in Florida. The current strain we are placing on the fragile ecosystem is choking the life out of our state. Overdevelopment is one of the leading forces that is damaging the springs. The once pure sources of water no longer boil up like a fountain the way they have for centuries. The water that the springs do produce is polluted by nitrates. This pollution fuels the growth of toxic algae blooms, which are taking over springs and the rivers they feed, thus putting our health at risk. Over 90% of our drinking water gushes out of these sapphire pools. These glorious reservoirs have begun to shrink. If something is not done soon, the springs will simply become part of Florida history. In southern Florida they already have. Springs once bubbled up all across the state. They were wiped out in South Florida decades ago by the ditching and draining of the landscape as well as over-pumping of the aquifer. This water was then sprayed on suburban lawns and farmers' fields, run through showers and flushed down toilets, turned into steam to crank turbines for electricity, or siphoned into plastic bottles for sale around the country. Because of poor use and neglect of our greatest resource, we will soon be without this supply of fresh water. Floridians regard their water supply as abundant and cheap, when the fact is it's neither. Until this attitude changes, the springs will not be rescued.

Water
Conservation
Health

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 2: Leading the Way with Non-Lead

Through experiencing the work of Ventana Wildlife Society, Ross comes to understand the greatest threat to condors is lead ammunition. Ross meets Mike Stake, Non-Lead Ammunition Program Manager, who takes him to meet with a rancher in a key condor area to better understand these complex issues. Through responsible gun use, California condor recovery is achievable. We thank hunters and ranchers who switched to using non-lead ammunition.

Conservation
Extinction
Pollution

Kaziranga

Nestled in India’s northeastern Assam district, Kaziranga National Park contains the world’s highest density of the endangered Asian one horned rhino. Long plagued by civil unrest, this park is also ground zero for poaching and illegal trade of rhhorn. The film focuses on the efforts of journalist Uttam Saikia, who begins to serve as a mediator between the park and local poachers.

Animals
Conservation
Extinction

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