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action acknowledging that china had made some progress and needed more time to take the necessary steps to protect pangolin species from possible extinction biden said china needed to completely close its domestic market for pangolins and pangolin parts transparently account for domestic stockpiles and fully remove pangolins and pangolin parts from the national list of approved medicines he said if significant commitments by the people s republic of china to implement cites directed measures to protect pangolin species have not been made by december 31 2023 i plan to direct certain prohibitions on the importation of and impose trade measures on certain products from the people s republic of china such products might include fish and wildlife products as well as pharmaceuticals made by companies that manufacture products containing pangolin derivatives we think the response by the president is quite strong and we re hopeful that the us is able to successfully negotiate meaningful change says erica lyman director of the global law alliance for animals and the environment sarah uhlemann international program director and senior attorney at the center for biological diversity says we hope the white house will continue to assert strong pressure over the next two months the white house announcement suggested that the president is standing strong demanding that china close its domestic market account for stockpiles and remove pangolins from its national list of traditional chinese medicines she told me these actions would make a real difference for pangolin survival photo credit marcus chua flickr creative commons why 263 bird species are going to get new english names november 2 2023 mike shanahan 1 comment john kirk townsend who lived from 1809 to 1851 was a prolific american naturalist in his short life he collected specimens of several species of bird that were new to science but he was also an odious racist who raided the graves of native americans he removed skulls from their corpses and sent them to samuel morton one of the founders of scientific racism whether realising this or not for nearly two hundred years biologists and birdwatchers have had to utter this man s name when speaking of birds called townsend s solitaire and townsend s warbler but those days could soon be over on 1 november the council of the american ornithological society aos announced that it would be changing all english language names of birds in its jurisdiction that have been named after people many scientists are celebrating the decision back in 2018 a phd student called robert driver had urged the aos to rename a bird called mccown s longspur rhynchophanes mccownii it was named after was john p mccown who fought for the confederacy during the american civil war and had been involved in forced relocations of native americans in the 1840s this longspur is named after a man who fought for years to maintain the right to keep slaves and also fought against multiple native tribes wrote driver i ask that the english name of rhynchophanes mccownii be changed from mccown s longspur to a sensible name or if possible a name used by native tribes in 2019 an aos committee rejected driver s proposal but the following year it announced a rethink and soon after renamed the bird the thick billed longspur in the meantime the bird names for birds campaigned had taken off highlighting other controversial names such as a sparrow named after a slave owner and racist called john bachman the campaign called on the aos to rename another 149 bird species in north america that bore the names of people it s a position that ornithologist matthew halley had taken a year earlier having previously opposed renaming in 2020 halley exposed the grave digging by townsend and by john james audubon another pioneering american naturalist whose name has also been attached to bird species as well as schools streets protected areas and other places writing on x yesterday halley pointed out that calls to end the naming of species after people are not new way back in 1799 the american ornithologist charles w peale had stated that it was essential to stop naming subjects of nature after persons who have plumed themselves with those childish ideas of their being the first discoverers of such or such things more than two centuries later the aos agrees it will give new english names to 260 bird species in the americas regardless of the merits or failings of the individuals after whom they are named it will also rename three species whose names are otherwise offensive or exclusionary announcing the plan aos president colleen handel said there is power in a name and some english bird names have associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today said we need a much more inclusive and engaging scientific process that focuses attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves read more about the aos s english bird names project or read the full report of recommendations to the aos council photo credits left townsend s solitaire don henise wikimedia commons right townsend s warbler francesco veronesi wikimedia commons remembering saleemul huq 1952 2023 october 31 2023 november 3 2023 mike shanahan leave a comment i was devastated to learn that my friend and former colleague saleemul huq died at his home in bangladesh on 28 october few individuals have had a greater impact on humanity s response to the climate emergency than him it was an honour to know and work with such a man without saleem the world would be hotter today than it is communities the world over would be less prepared to face what is coming and we would have less hope of ever reigning in the climate monster he was an inspirational and visionary leader a master strategist and a mentor to hundreds of people his death has sent shockwaves through the vast community of people working on climate change i first encountered saleem when i was working as a journalist and needed a comment on a story on climate change soon and for eight years i was working alongside him at the international institute for environment and development where he led the climate change group and i was the organization s press officer saleem was a dream to work with as he never turned down a chance to talk to journalists about climate change he would be ready at 4 00 am for an interview with a reporter on the other side of the world he would say yes to a media request whether it came from a major broadcaster or a tiny newspaper i introduced him to hundreds of journalists and he gave his time and knowledge to them all saleem was on a mission and he knew that each second counted he took every opportunity to push the world towards a sustainable future other colleagues and friends have written about saleem s immense impacts on climate change policy he also did more than nearly anyone to inform and educate journalists and through them raise awareness of climate change among hundreds of millions of people worldwide some of the journalists who knew saleem well and who have written obituaries include joydeep gupta jayanta basu and seth borenstein saleem s passing is hard to take in i will remember him for his softly spoken words and the glint in his eye his warmth good humour generosity and tireless commitment to justice the outpouring of love for him on social media this week has been a powerful reminder of how many lives saleem touched and how many careers he shaped this is perhaps his greatest legacy the small army of saleem inspired researchers activists negotiators policymakers journalists and others in every corner of the world who have committed their lives to addressing the climate and ecological emergencies i m sure his passing will inspire many to redouble their efforts goodbye saleem the work goes on we will never forget you photo credit iisd enb conservation narratives about protected areas and local people are not telling the whole story december 7 2022 mike shanahan 1 comment a new study highlights flaws in stories that conservation organizations often tell about how protected areas can improve the wellbeing of local people it shows that some of the most entrenched narratives lack evidence and need more nuance but it found stronger evidence for narratives that centre the rights and roles of indigenous people and local communities the findings are timely as the global community is striving to agree a new plan for conserving the planet s biodiversity and securing the benefits it provides us that deal set to be agreed at the 15th conference of parties to the un convention on biological diversity in december 2022 could include a target of increasing protected areas to 30 of the world s land area from about 17 today the target has the backing of more than 100 countries and some major conservation organizations but groups focusing on human rights such as survival international amnesty and the rainforest foundation uk say it is a disaster waiting to happen should it go ahead it will constitute the biggest land grab in history and rob millions of people of their livelihoods said fiore longo of survival international in a press release on 1 december if governments are really meaningful about protecting biodiversity the answer is simple recognize the land rights of indigenous peoples the new study on conservation narratives in the journal ucl open environment lends weight to that argument the researchers investigated evidence for each of five common narratives about protected areas and human wellbeing in countries that the world bank defines as low or lower middle income these narratives are prevalent one or more of them appears on 138 of the 169 websites of conservation organizations that the study team reviewed more than 70 percent of these organizations used the conservation is pro poor narrative we see these narratives or stories playing out and being very powerful in directing conservation interventions says lead author emily woodhouse an assistant professor in the department of anthropology at university college london these stories and narratives have value they help organisations be efficient to roll out particular types of program or project but the problem is if they override complexity using them in an unthinking way can be quite dangerous woodhouse told me that the first three narratives are particularly problematic especially if they are used in a simplistic way that doesn t account for example for broader ideas of wellbeing and only looks at material poverty for example compensation for the lack of access to natural resources or for damage caused by wildlife to crops is rarely sufficient and it often fails to compensate for cultural losses alongside economic or material ones similarly while protected areas or ecotourism projects conservation can benefit poor people living nearby they can also significantly harm them if they exclude them from accessing and using local natural resources there is evidence that material poverty can decline with those kinds of projects says woodhouse but there are also much wider issues around justice and broader wellbeing and the fact that the poorest often lose out in these kinds of projects what s at stake is social justice the other two narratives were better supported by the evidence the study team assessed but the best supported narrative that secure tenure rights for local communities supports conservation was also the least prevalent on the websites of conservation organizations appearing on less than a quarter of them woodhouse says this is likely because the conservation sector is still catching up with the development sector about the importance of tenure the emphasis on land tenure is relatively new says woodhouse it has come alongside recognition that indigenous and local communities manage something like a quarter of all land across the world these communities protect about 80 percent of the world s biodiversity on that land and there is growing evidence that they tend to manage land and resources better than state actors do in 2021 for example a review of evidence published in the journal ecology and society showed that conservation initiatives that centre indigenous people and other local communities tend to be more effective and fairer lead author neil dawson of the university of east anglia and colleagues looked at 169 studies and concluded that empowering and supporting the the environmental stewardship of indigenous peoples and local communities represents the primary pathway to effective long term conservation of biodiversity particularly when upheld in wider law and policy the study by woodhouse and colleagues comes as countries are negotiating a new global biodiversity framework a 10 year strategy for addressing the biodiversity crisis with time short there is an urgent need to ensure that conservation solutions bring both social and ecological gains but there is a risk that entrenched narratives will get in the way of the best outcomes woodhouse says the draft global biodiversity framework text ticks all the boxes by mentioning justice equity participation and indigenous people and local communities but says there are issues with nuance there s an emphasis on local communities as stakeholders rather than being agents of change she says the emphasis should be shifted and that goes for women as well and marginalised groups how the global biodiversity framework is implemented within countries is going to be really important for justice and also the success of conservation she says it is about the most marginalised people losing out from these processes and the importance of putting local people and indigenous communities at the centre for their voices to be heard and for governance structures to embed local systems and local knowledge into them references woodhouse e et al 2021 rethinking entrenched narratives about protected areas and human wellbeing in the global south ucl open environment 4 doi 10 14324 111 444 ucloe 000050 dawson n m et al 2021 the role of indigenous peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation ecology and society 26 19 https doi org 10 5751 es 12625 260319 photo credit the jenu kuruba hold signs at their protest outside nagarhole national park in india where they are being evicted in the name of conservation survival international related posts explainer cop15 the biggest biodiversity conference in a decade will 30 30 reboot conservation or entrench old problems human wellbeing threatened by unprecedented rate of biodiversity loss what s in a narrative in policy everything or nothing explainer cop15 the biggest biodiversity conference in a decade august 15 2022 mike shanahan leave a comment biodiversity encompasses the full variety of life all genes species and ecosystems and it is in danger which means we are too as this article explains a major conference in december 2022 could have a big impact on our colle...