Newsletter 2020-06-11

FEATURED

Brazilian government taken to court for assault on environment, climate by Sam Cowie [06/10/2020]

– The Bolsonaro government has waged an aggressive campaign to negate Brazil’s environmental laws and de-tooth its environmental protection agencies — even as deforestation rates have reached a ten year high and violence by land grabbers and illegal loggers against indigenous and traditional peoples has grown rapidly.
– In an attempt to stall the systematic deregulation, defunding and firings, socio-environmental NGOs, public prosecutors and opposition political parties have launched three lawsuits, targeting actions taken by Environment Minister Ricardo Salles and Eduardo Bim, president of IBAMA, the country’s environmental agency.
– The first suit aims to annul a recent measure signed by Bim, enabling illegally harvested Brazilian timber to be exported more easily to the U.S., EU and elsewhere. Evidence allegedly demonstrates a cozy and corrupt relationship between Bim and the forestry industry.
– The second and third suits address Amazon deforestation (demanding reactivation of the administration of the R$1.5 billion Amazon Fund) and climate change (requiring the reinstatement of administration of the R$8.5 million Climate Fund). Both these effective programs have been derailed by the Bolsonaro government.

A bid to legitimize invasions of Brazil’s indigenous lands faces a court challenge by Caio de Freitas Paes [06/10/2020]

– In April, Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency FUNAI authorized the registration and sale of land on unratified or unregistered indigenous territories, potentially affecting 237 reserves in 24 states.
– Regulation No. 9, as it’s known, affects at least 9.8 million hectares (24 million acres), rendering an area the size of Iceland open to real estate transactions.
– Amazonas is the state with the most threatened reserves — a total of 30 in the sights of land grabbers, landed estate owners, and oil and gas companies — followed by Mato Grosso do Sul, where indigenous communities already live in dire conditions of extreme poverty, hunger and violence.
– FUNAI’s regulation has already withstood a court challenge on a technicality, but now faces a new bid for annulment by the state attorney general of Mato Grosso, who calls it a dereliction of FUNAI’s own mission.

Bison: (Back) home on the range by John C. Cannon [06/10/2020]

– The Rosebud Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of South Dakota plans to bring the American bison back to around 11,300 hectares (28,000 acres) of prairie on the reservation.
– Over the next five years, tribal groups will work with WWF and the U.S. Department of the Interior to release as many as 1,500 bison on the Wolakota Buffalo Range, which would make it the largest Native American-owned herd in North America.
– The Lakota people of Rosebud have an abiding connection with the bison, or buffalo, and the leaders of the project say that, in addition to the symbolic importance of returning the Lakotas’ “relatives” to their land, the herd will help create jobs, restore the ecological vigor of the landscape, and aid in the conservation of the species.

Nicaraguan beef, grazed on deforested and stolen land, feeds global demand by Mario Rautner, Sandra Cuffe [06/10/2020]

– A Mongabay analysis shows major multinational companies including Nestlé and Cargill are at risk of sourcing Nicaraguan beef from indigenous regions consumed by settler occupation and mass deforestation. Both companies admit they can only trace the origin of their Nicaraguan beef back to the slaughterhouses, not the ranches.
– More than 100 indigenous people living in the country’s autonomous indigenous regions have been killed, kidnapped or injured since 2015 amid conflicts ignited by settler migration and land grabbing.
– Nicaragua is one of the world’s most heavily deforested countries, having lost about a fifth of its forest cover since 2000. Its indigenous regions were particularly badly hit, with deforestation rates as high as 27% over the same period.
– Lawyers allegedly rubber-stamp land sale documents that have no legal basis, further compounding invasions of indigenous territories. Meanwhile, researchers have identified locations of scales and intermediaries serving ranchers occupying a biosphere reserve and indigenous land.

‘Every time an elder dies, a library is burnt’: Amazon COVID-19 toll grows by Sue Branford [06/09/2020]

– COVID-19 kills the elderly, those with underlying health conditions, the poor and vulnerable. It is now doing so in the Brazilian Amazon where the virus killed nine Munduruku indigenous elders in just a few days. Forest people elders are typically leaders and keepers of culture, so their loss is especially destabilizing.
– Officially, 218 indigenous people had died of COVID-19 and 2,642 were infected as of 7 June. But experts say that the numbers are at least three times higher, with poor government recordkeeping and Amazon community remoteness resulting in a severe undercount.
– The Munduruku, Kokama, and Xavante groups are already seeing cases, with the virus now threatening Brazil’s two largest indigenous territories: Yanomami Park and Javari Valley Indigenous Territory. These two reserves are home to most of Brazil’s uncontacted peoples. COVID-19 spread there would be a disaster.
– Indigenous groups are pursuing independent efforts, such as setting up COVID-19 communication websites, to protect their communities. In response to what they call government inaction, indifference and blundering, advocates remind the Brazilian government and the world that “indigenous lives matter.”

‘I’ll never be ready for this port,’ locals say of Colombia’s proposed project by Kimberley Brown [06/08/2020]

– Under the government of President Iván Duque, however, the port looks closer to becoming a reality, as developers say it’s necessary for the future of the country’s economy and development.
– Many locals, who include mostly Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations, tell Mongabay they are concerned the port will bring violence and poverty, much like the port city of Buenaventura, 200 kilometers (120 miles) south.
– Environmentalists say the port will destroy the communities’ local ecotourism economy, the unique breeding grounds for whales and sharks, and thousands of hectares of mangroves, as well as carve up the Chocó rainforest and displace several species of native wildlife and fauna.

MRN bauxite mine leaves legacy of pollution, poverty in Brazilian Amazon by Thais Borges and Sue Branford [06/04/2020]

– Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) arrived in the Trombetas River basin in the 1970s with plans to mine bauxite on a gigantic scale. Today, MRN is the fourth largest producer of bauxite in the world, providing the valuable aluminum ore to nations and manufacturers around the planet.
– On arriving in the Amazon, MRN immediately annexed lands from the traditional riverine community of Boa Vista, reportedly displacing 90 families to build its port company town. Boa Vista is a quilombo, a community of Afro-Brazilians (known as quilombolas), the descendants of runaway slaves.
– While MRN says it provided jobs, education and health services, quilombo residents report a decade of horrendous water pollution from mine waste — never cleaned up — the loss of fisheries and hunting grounds, rampant poverty, a lack of electricity, health services, and proper sanitation.
– The harm done by industrial mining to Boa Vista, and lessons learned, and not learned, over the last 40+ years, are especially relevant today, as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro aggressively pushes forward his agenda to open indigenous reserves and other Amazon conserved lands to industrial mining.

 

NEWS

Brazil revises deforestation data: Amazon rainforest loss topped 10,000 sq km in 2019 by Rhett A. Butler [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surpassed 10,000 square kilometers in 2019, the first time forest clearing in Earth’s largest rainforest has topped that mark since 2008, according to revised data from Brazil’s national space research institute INPE.
– INPE says that 10,129 square kilometers of forest were cleared across the “Legal Amazon” between August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019. That’s 3.8% higher than the preliminary estimate the government provided in November.
– Forest loss in 2020 is pacing well ahead of last year’s rate according to INPE’s short-term deforestation alert system.

The perfect firestorm: COVID-19 in Mesoamerica’s indigenous territories (commentary) by Jeremy Radachowsky [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– Jeremy Radachowsky, Director of the Mesoamerica and Western Caribbean Program at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), writes about a recent expedition to the Miskitu indigenous territory called Bakinasta in the heart of Honduras’s Moskitia Forest.
– Radachowsky’s team entered the area before the COVID-19 epidemic started spreading widely through the Americas. By the time they exited the remote area, the world was a different place.
– Radachowsky says the Bakinasta territory, which is already under severe threat due to invasions by land grabbers, is being devastated economically by COVID-19. He’s calling on the global community to help indigenous peoples as they navigate this crisis.
– This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Where are South Africa’s great white sharks? by Heather Richardson [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– White sharks have disappeared from False Bay and Gansbaai, two sites off South Africa where they have historically been commonly sighted.
– Scientists have a number of theories about this, including predation of sharks by orcas, and fishing activity that targets species that juvenile sharks feed on.
– Scientists say it’s important to look at the big picture — while sharks have gone from some areas, they’ve increased in others — but data covering South Africa’s whole coastline is still patchy.
– The COVID-19 lockdown is also hampering data-gathering efforts, with scientists not yet permitted to go out to sea, potentially leading to a gap in the long-term data.

How much rainforest is being destroyed? by Rhett A. Butler [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– In December 2019, Mongabay published a review of decade in tropical forests. The analysis wasn’t fully complete because forest loss data for 2019 hadn’t yet been released.
– Last week, the University of Maryland (UMD) and World Resources Institute (WRI) published the 2019 data, which showed that 3.75 million hectares of primary forest were cleared during the year.
– That brings the total tropical primary forest loss since 2002 to 60 million hectares, an area larger than the combined land mass of the states of California and Missouri.
– However the 2019 numbers may not capture the full extent of loss due to the extent of deforestation that occurred in the Amazon during the later part of the year.

Audio: Conservationists find opportunity and community amidst current crises by Mike Gaworecki [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we look at how the environmental crises we’re currently facing intersect with two other major crises: the Covid pandemic and the systemic racism and police brutality that have sparked protests around the world in recent weeks.
– We welcome two guests onto the Mongabay Newscast today. Leela Hazzah, founder and executive director of Lion Guardians, joins us to discuss conservation as an essential service, how the Covid pandemic has impacted Lion Guardians’ community-based conservation work, and what she sees as opportunities for transformative change in conservation due to the pandemic.
– We’re also joined by Earyn McGee, a herpetologist and science communicator who helped organize the first-ever Black Birders Week, a week-long celebration of black birders and outdoor enthusiasts. McGee tells us how Black Birders Week came together so quickly and why it is necessary to celebrate black nature lovers.

Banned: No more pangolin scales in traditional medicine, China declares by Elizabeth Claire Alberts [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– The Chinese government has banned pangolin scales from use in traditional Chinese medicine, and elevated pangolins to be a level one protected species within China.
– Conservationists say they believe this move will completely shut down the commercial trade of pangolin parts within China and slow the international trade of the species.
– Pangolins are one of the most widely trafficked animals in the world, despite being protected under CITES Appendix I, which bans most international trade.

Crediting the lockdown for Sri Lanka’s cleaner air masks the real problem (Commentary) by Lareef Zubair [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– The lockdown on traffic and industry imposed by the Sri Lankan government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with a period of improved air quality, especially in Colombo.
– But the popular perception that the lockdown led to the im-provement ignores a much more important factor, says envi-ronmental scientist Lareef Zubair: a seasonal change in wind di-rection bringing clean, fresh air from the Indian Ocean.
– Air quality in Colombo continues to be influenced largely by transboundary transport of air pollution from the Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia; forest, scrub and agricultural res-idue burning; poor solid waste management systems; and the Norochcholai coal power plant located in Sri Lanka’s northwest.
– This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

For forest communities without a legal footing, new guideline is a starting template by Mongabay.com [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– Environmental law group ClientEarth has developed a global guideline to help forest communities build legal frameworks that uphold their rights.
– The new guideline lays out an elaborate and highly adaptable list of questions that decision-makers and stakeholders involved in the community forest can use to develop and review legislation.
– Community forest enterprises are believed to be a proven mechanism for conserving forests and biodiversity, but communities’ rights are often sidelined by governments in favor of infrastructure projects and extractive industry interests.

Indonesia’s lobster export safeguards won’t end smuggling, scientists warn by Basten Gokkon [Wed, 10 Jun 2020]
– Indonesia has allowed the resumption of exports of lobster larvae and set a maximum quota for wild capture of the crustacean to control the trade.
– But fisheries experts and conservationists say the quota and requirements will not be enough to spur companies into investing in Indonesia’s lobster aquaculture sector, or to stop illegal lobster exports.
– Lobsters are among Indonesia’s top fisheries commodities, but the illegal export of larvae and baby lobsters cost the country 900 billion rupiah ($64 million) in lost revenue in 2019 alone.
– The larvae are typically sold to buyers in Vietnam, Singapore and China, where they can be raised and sold at much higher prices.

Report names the banks financing destructive oil projects in the Amazon by Maurício Angelo [Tue, 09 Jun 2020]
– Five international banks and investment funds invested a combined $6 billion in oil extraction projects in the western Amazon between 2017 and 2019, a new report shows.
– The region, known as the Sacred Headwaters of the Amazon, is recognized as being the most biodiverse on the planet.
– It spans 30 million hectares (74 million acres) between Ecuador, Peru and Colombia and is home to 500,000 indigenous people.
– Funding these projects runs counter to these companies’ own statements of support for climate actions, including the Paris climate agreement, activists say.

Less than a thousand remain: New list of animals on the brink of extinction by Liz Kimbrough [Tue, 09 Jun 2020]
– More than 500 vertebrate species are on the brink of extinction, with populations of fewer than a thousand individuals, a new study says.
– According to the authors, the Earth is experiencing its sixth mass extinction, extinction rates accelerating, and human activity is to blame.
– The authors call the ongoing extinction perhaps “the most serious environmental threat to the persistence of civilization, because it is irreversible.”
– “The conservation of endangered species should be elevated to a national and global emergency for governments and institutions, equal to climate disruption to which it is linked,” they say.

Overlap of fire, COVID-19 peaks: A ‘catastrophe’ for Brazil’s Amazon by John C. Cannon [Tue, 09 Jun 2020]
– Scientists at the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project, an initiative of the Amazon Conservation Association, have discovered the first major fire of 2020 in the Brazilian Amazon.
– The team has developed a new app that uses aerosol and fire alert data gathered from satellites to pinpoint significant fires across the world’s largest rainforest.
– Another report, led by scientists at Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPE), indicates that the continued rise in cases of COVID-19 combined with the approach of fire season in the Amazon could overwhelm the Amazon region’s clinics due to the increase in respiratory diseases as a result of the fires.
– Higher-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean may also lead to drought in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon, exacerbating fire risk, air pollution, and the incidence of respiratory ailments, especially among children.

Grasslands claim their ground in Madagascar by Edward Carver [Tue, 09 Jun 2020]
– Grasslands cover most of Madagascar’s land area, but they are often regarded as nothing more than former forests, denuded by human destruction.
– In the last 15 years, scientists from Madagascar and abroad have set out to restore grasslands’ reputation as ancient and valuable ecosystems in their own right.
– New research shows that some of Madagascar’s grass communities are ancient, having co-evolved with natural fires and now-extinct grazing animals such as hippos and giant tortoises.

What is an American alligator? Candid Animal Cam goes to North America by Mongabay.com [Tue, 09 Jun 2020]
– Every Tuesday, Mongabay brings you a new episode of Candid Animal Cam, our show featuring animals caught on camera traps around the world and hosted by Romi Castagnino, our writer and conservation scientist.

Scientists agree on the need to protect 30% of the seas. But which 30%? by Elizabeth Claire Alberts [Mon, 08 Jun 2020]
– Scientists recommend protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 to safeguard biodiversity, avoid fishery collapse and build ocean resistance to climate change.
– In 2018 and 2019, representatives from the United Nations were negotiating a high seas treaty to meet this goal through a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) throughout the open ocean, but the meeting meant to finalize the treaty in March was delayed due to COVID-19.
– Two reports were presented to show how to practically protect 30% of the ocean: one from a group of researchers from University of Oxford, the University of York and Greenpeace, and the other from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and other universities and institutions.
– The two reports used different methodologies and had slightly different results, but they also showed considerable overlap in their recommendations of safeguarding certain areas of biological and ecological importance.

In lockdown’s calm, glossy ibis finds prime nesting conditions in Sri Lanka by Malaka Rodrigo [Mon, 08 Jun 2020]
– The glossy ibis, a migratory bird that winters in the tropical island of Sri Lanka, has been observed nesting there for the first time in nearly 150 years.
– Sri Lanka is a key stopping point for nearly 250 species of migratory birds, many of which have in recent years appeared to be staying over for longer or visiting in larger numbers.
– While climate change has been identified for changes in the migratory behavior of many species, in this case it appears that local conservation efforts have succeeded in attracting bird species that historically used to frequent Sri Lanka in large numbers.
– Bundala National Park, where the glossy ibis flock is nesting, has been shut to visitors since mid-May because of the COVID-19 pandemic; once it reopens, park managers plan to keep visitors away from the nesting site so as not to disturb the birds.

Climate conundrum: Could COVID-19 be linked to early Arctic ice melt? by Gloria Dickie [Mon, 08 Jun 2020]
– The COVID-19 pandemic has yielded unexpected environmental benefits, as wildlife explore urban streets and 2020 carbon emissions drop by the largest amount since World War II. But now researchers are wondering if a record hot and sunny start to the Arctic sea ice melt season could be linked to the Coronavirus lockdown.
– The possible cause: a reduction in atmospheric sulphate aerosol pollutants emitted by factories, ships and other sources. Sulphate aerosols increase the amount of clouds and brighten the atmosphere, reflecting more solar heat, thus masking global warming intensity — and making the Arctic cloudier and colder.
– Scientists are working to determine if, and by how much, sulphate aerosols have declined due to the industrial slowdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
– These figures could help them more precisely determine how aerosols have been inhibiting atmospheric heating around the world, especially in the Arctic. One study found that sulphate aerosol-seeded clouds could be masking about a third of all warming from greenhouse gases. However, the question is far from settled.

Caught on camera: Rare finless porpoises sighted in Hong Kong waters by Elizabeth Claire Alberts [Mon, 08 Jun 2020]
– Video of the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise, a rare and elusive species, was recently captured by drone off the coast of South Lantau Island in Hong Kong.
– A 2002 study estimated there to be about 220 finless porpoises left in the Hong Kong area, while more recent reports give a slightly higher number.
– In 2019 alone, there were at least 42 strandings of finless porpoises in Hong Kong, which has raised concerns about the current population in that region.
– The finless porpoise has a large range across Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East, but the elusive nature of the species makes it hard to survey.

Lockdown allowed illegal fishing to spike in Philippines, satellite data suggest by Mongabay.com [Sun, 07 Jun 2020]
– Satellite data indicate a spike in the number of commercial fishing vessels operating in waters within 15 kilometers (9 miles) of the Philippine coast — a zone that’s off-limits for commercial fishing.
– The increase coincided with the peak fishing season and the imposition of a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when marine patrols were reduced.
– Known as municipal waters, this coastal band is restricted to small-scale fishing, in order to protect the coral reefs and marine habitats that thrive there.
– Legislation mandating the use of the tracking devices on commercial fishing boats has been on the books since 2015, but the implementation continues to be delayed amid opposition from the industry.

Our most-read conservation news stories in May 2020 by Mongabay.com [Sun, 07 Jun 2020]
– Mongabay produced a record number of stories and continued to see strong readership during May.
– Our direct site-wide readership amounted to 15.1 million pageviews, 56% higher than May 2019.
– COVID stories represented just over one-quarter of the stories produced during the month.
– Below are the 20 news.mongabay.com stories that attracted the most traffic during May 2020.

In Hawai’i, researchers work to slow the rapid death of a beloved tree by Shannon Brown [Fri, 05 Jun 2020]
– ʻŌhiʻa lehua trees are the most biologically and culturally important native tree in the Hawaiian Islands.
– They comprise most of the trees in native forests and support a variety of wildlife, including endangered Hylaeus bees and Hawaiian birds.
– Rapid ʻōhiʻa death, a fungal disease, has affected more than 71,000 hectares (175,000 acres) of forest on the Island of Hawai’i since around 2008, and has been detected on the islands of Kaua’i, Oʻahu, and Maui.
– Researchers say they are hopeful in the fight against ROD because some trees seem to show resilience against the disease, and they are exploring ways to limit its spread.

Conservation insights from an enormous aspen clone: Q&A with ecologist Paul Rogers by James Dinneen [Fri, 05 Jun 2020]
– Pando is the name of a 40-hectare (100-acre) aspen forest in central Utah whose 47,000 stems share a single genome. It’s thought to be the largest and one of the oldest organisms on Earth.
– In discovering that Pando might be dying, ecologist Paul C. Rogers came to realize that the problems troubling the famous giant were a microcosm of the problems troubling aspen forests across the Northern Hemisphere, and with them the highly biodiverse set of organisms they support.
– That sparked a collaboration among aspen researchers from eight countries, who propose a conservation strategy they’re calling ‘mega-conservation.’ It aims to protect common ecosystems distinguished by a species that, like aspen, supports uncommon levels of biodiversity while facing common threats.
– Mongabay spoke with Rogers about Pando, mega-conservation, and the wisdom of thinking like an aspen forest.

Triple crisis of pipelines, pesticides and pandemic is an existential threat to Ecuador’s indigenous peoples (commentary) by Mitch Anderson [Fri, 05 Jun 2020]
– Days after Ecuador declared a state of emergency for COVID-19, the Secoya people’s principal fishing river, the Shushufindi, was poisoned by a massive pesticide runoff from nearby African palm plantations, decimating local fish stocks.
– Three weeks later, a devastating rupture of the country’s biggest oil pipelines spilled crude oil into the Napo river, a tributary of the Amazon, leaving dozens of indigenous villages and tens of thousands of peoples without access to clean water
– Despite dozens of people showing symptoms of COVID-19, Secoya people spent nearly a month in an infuriating battle to get the government’s attention. In response, Secoya families took matters into their own hands, turning to medicinal plants and going deeper into the forest to both escape disease and find food and clean water
– This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Baby humpback whales bulk up in Hawaii ahead of migration [VIDEO] by Liz Kimbrough [Fri, 05 Jun 2020]
– New video reveals baby humpback whales nursing in Hawaii, a sight rarely seen by humans.
– A team of researchers used non-invasive suction cups to outfit seven baby humpback whales with special tags for recording data on nursing as well as other whale behaviors.
– During their time in Hawaii, the whale calves must drink enough milk to fatten up for a one to two-month migration back to Alaska.
– The researchers hope to understand the needs of mother whales and their calves during their time in the tropical breeding grounds and for their long migration.

Mystery ailments, asymptomatic individuals: Spotlight on monkeypox in chimps by Shreya Dasgupta [Fri, 05 Jun 2020]
– In 2017 and 2018, monkeypox viral outbreaks struck three chimpanzee communities in Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire.
– Researchers investigating the outbreaks found that very few individuals actually showed the characteristic smallpox-like skin rashes on their bodies associated with monkeypox; many chimps that only exhibited respiratory symptoms like coughing with few or no rashes also had high viral loads of monkeypox virus DNA in their feces.
– Detecting monkeypox viral DNA in individuals with only respiratory symptoms suggests that the same might be true in humans, researchers say, which could mean that monkeypox cases could be going undiagnosed.
– This study is the first-of-its kind deep dive into monkeypox virus transmission among wild primates.

For Sri Lanka’s dwindling leopards, wire snares are the leading killer by Malaka Rodrigo [Fri, 05 Jun 2020]
– Snares are the leading cause of death among Sri Lanka’s leopards, accounting for 42 recorded deaths in the past 10 years.
– The most recent death was of a rare black leopard, which succumbed to its injuries three days after getting snared, prompting public outrage over the use of snares.
– Snares are technically banned in Sri Lanka, but an exception is allowed for trapping “pest species” such as wild boars; however, the indiscriminate nature of the devices means that all wildlife are potential targets.
– A local environmental organization has declared May 29 Leopard Day in Sri Lanka to highlight the importance of protecting the fast-vanishing iconic species and to raise awareness against existing and potential threats to the big cats.

Changing climate creates ideal conditions for devastating locust swarms by Gilbert Nakweya [Thu, 04 Jun 2020]
– A second wave of locust swarms is spreading across the Horn of Africa, following an earlier swarm that devastated large areas at the end of 2019.
– Increased rainfall and storm frequency have created conditions conducive to swarms of desert locusts.
– Swarms are basically impossible to control once they form, and widespread aerial and ground spraying of insecticides risks damaging the environment.

 

PREVIOUS FEATURES

Loss, resilience and community amid an outbreak: Q&A with gorilla researcher Magdalena Bermejo by Heather Richardson [06/04/2020]
Better wines among the pines: Agroforestry can climate-proof grapes, French researchers show by Erik Hoffner [06/03/2020]
Amazon deforestation gig economy booms despite COVID-19 (Photo Essay) by Fabio Nascimento (photos) and Gustavo Faleiros (text) [06/03/2020]
New data show world lost a Switzerland-size area of primary rainforest in 2019 by Morgan Erickson-Davis [06/02/2020]
Communities on Brazil’s ‘River of Unity’ tested by dams, climate change by Sarah Sax [06/02/2020]
Marijuana cultivation whittling away Madagascar’s largest connected forest by Edward Carver [05/29/2020]
Taylor and Tate: Canine-human teams rescue Australia’s fire-ravaged koalas by Laurel Neme [05/28/2020]

 

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