Protecting 30% of Global Diversity by 2030
Forrest
After a year ofpandemic delay, the international community is ready to decide on a newproposed target for global diversity protection this year. Under theGlobal Biodiversity Framework Post 2020 (GBF Post 2020), the target aims topreserve at least 30% of the world s area, connectivity, and integrity ofnatural ecosystems by 2030 or the 30 by 30. Its negotiation kicked off duringthe 14th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) inEgypt in November 2018.
The proposed targetprescribes a new playing field following the Aichi Biodiversity Target (ABT)2011-2020 concluded over a decade ago at the 10th COP of CBD in Japan. Afterfailing the ABT and coupled with the alarming 2019 Global Assessment Report ofthe Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and EcosystemServices (IPBES), the international community now have an urgent cond
ENVIRONMENT: Pragmatism vs policy
Has pragmatic politicking replaced sound policy decision making?
IN a victory for the pragmatic politicking which seems to have replaced sound policy decision making in much of the country these days, NSW Environment Minster Matt Kean had to knock over his own pick Malcolm Turnbull as chair of the Net Zero Emissions and Clean Energy Board before he’d even started. Did Turnbull lack qualifications for the role? Not at all. But he’s seen as anti-coal mining and with an Upper Hunter byelection looming the good old Coalition political pragmatism prevailed.
Rewind to the last NSW state election. Batemans Marine Park had areas reopened to rec fishing without any consultation, even with its own advisory board. Science based? No way. Rec fishing vote based. Now NSW is reported to be developing a “network management plan” for the state’s marine parks. Kean, as minister jointly responsible for the parks, looks to be caught again. Agriculture Mini
Meat Free Monday
Bottom trawling as harmful as flying
Raking the sea bed to catch fish produces as much carbon as the aviation industry, according to a new study
Posted : 1 April 2021
Deep sea trawlers are the Boeing 747s of the oceans, responsible for churning up as much carbon dioxide as the entire aviation industry. That’s the conclusion of a new report that has revealed scraping the seabed to catch fish to be an environmental evil on a par with flying.
While planes are a visible and well known climate foe, fishing vessels that drag heavy nets along the sea floor disturb sediment – the world’s largest carbon storage system – and release 1 gigaton of carbon every year, according to the study by published in the journal Nature. So for all that short-haul holiday flying habits have been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s possible that Friday night fish-and-chip suppers have been making up the carbon shortfall.
London, UK (17 March 2021) A new study published in the prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journal
Nature today offers a combined solution to several of humanity s most pressing challenges. It is the most comprehensive assessment to date of where strict ocean protection can contribute to a more abundant supply of healthy seafood and provide a cheap, natural solution to address climate change in addition to protecting embattled species and habitats.
An international team of 26 authors identified
specific areas that, if protected, would safeguard over 80% of the habitats for endangered marine species, and increase fishing catches by more than eight million metric tons. The study is also the first to quantify the potential release of carbon dioxide into the ocean from trawling, a widespread fishing practice and finds that
Ecologists seek to expand Galapagos Marine Reserve
The Ecuadoran president is to decide on a proposal to expand the islands’ marine reserve, seen as vital to protect the world heritage site from the fishing industry
By Dan Collyns / The Guardian
Strolling along a beach dotted with sea lion pups and their mothers barking at one another, utterly unconcerned by your presence, is a singularly magical experience. On the trail leading to the shore on tiny Seymour Island, noisily courting blue-footed boobies and frigate birds are equally unruffled by the presence of humans.
Getting up close to the natural world without disturbing it seems as refreshingly easy on the Galapagos Islands today as when Charles Darwin visited on HMS Beagle in 1835. Isolated from the mainland, the archipelago’s unique endemic species from giant tortoises to finches helped Darwin set out his theory of evolution in On the Origin of Species.