Colliding icebergs and chirping seals: Polar ocean sounds are reimagined in art-science collaboration
By
Jasmin Galvan
[2024-12-06]
- The United Nations declared the 2020s the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development to highlight the need for public engagement, citizenship, and connection to harness positive change for the world’s seas.
- Art and science collaborations can make the hidden depths of the oceans come alive for people via creative pieces drawing from real marine research.
- Researchers in Germany and artists from around the world united to highlight the sounds of the polar oceans through art projects created with recordings from the Ocean Acoustics Group at the Alfred Wegener Institute.

As Thailand’s blue swimming crabs decline, crab banks offer a sustainable solution
By
Ana Norman Bermúdez
[2024-12-05]
- Fishing of blue swimming crabs in Thailand has historically exceeded sustainable levels, leading to a decline in both the number and size of crabs that fishers were catching.
- Understanding the urgency of recovering the crab population, fishers, government agencies, NGOs and the private sector have rolled out a series of initiatives to make the fishery more sustainable.
- These include seasonal bans on harvesting egg-carrying crabs, restrictions on trawling and certain kinds of fishing gear, and the establishment of crab banks, where egg-bearing females are nurtured, with their hatchlings later released into a secure marine site.
- Fishers and experts welcome the crab banks, but emphasize the need for a “sustainable holistic scheme,” given that a reliance on crab banks alone won’t rebuild blue swimming crab populations.

Gaps in Peru’s peatland policies harm conservation and Indigenous Shipibo: Study
By
Aimee Gabay
[2024-12-05]
- Significant inconsistencies and gaps in science and policies for peatland protection in Peru’s Imiría Regional Conservation Area have led to long-standing conflicts with Indigenous Shipibo residents who argue the regulations restrict their livelihoods.
- According to researchers, the current local conservation policies inadvertently impose adverse effects on Indigenous livelihoods and negatively impact Indigenous sovereignty, therefore exacerbating existing tensions and mistrust between conservation authorities and communities.
- The absence of scientific data and lack of mention of peatlands in the area’s master plan means locals and policymakers are unaware of the importance of the critical ecosystem and policies aren’t well-informed, the researchers warn.
- Researchers and park management underline the importance of scientific support and the creation of participatory and effective governance frameworks that incorporate Indigenous perspectives and a more strategic approach to conservation.

Bolivia’s internal colonization and its March to the East
By
Timothy J. Killeen
[2024-12-05]
- Bolivia’s current configuration and its final area were consolidated after the Chaco War and after the country ceded Acre to Brazil and its coastal provinces to Chile.
- Since then, the need to occupy vast territories allowed for wide-scale deforestation, especially in the Chapare and the alluvial plain of Santa Cruz.
- In the department of Santa Cruz, population grew from about 300,000 in 1960 to more than three million in 2022. Although 70 % of this growth has been concentrated in the metropolitan area of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the urban economy continues to rely heavily on agriculture.

Progress on rights complaint systems in Congo Basin but more needed, says group
By
Ashoka Mukpo
[2024-12-05]
- On November 27, the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) released a report on data it collected on human rights complaints procedures at 24 protected areas in four Congo Basin countries.
- The data showed that only around a third had active grievance and redress mechanisms (GRMs), and that most suffered from shortcomings related to financing, participation, design and transparency.
- Of parks with procedures for community members to make complaints about human rights abuses, fewer than half kept a public register of those complaints or their outcomes.
- Salonga National Park in the DRC, site of some of the worst abuses in recent memory, was said to have the most advanced complaints procedure, but RFUK said there was still room to improve.

Agroecology offers blueprint for resilient farming in northern Ghana
By
Caleb Ahinakwah
[2024-12-05]
- Erratic rainfall and rising temperatures have hit farmers in Ghana’s semiarid Upper East region hard in recent years
- Planting rows of trees and allowing goats and sheep to graze their fields is helping retain soil moisture and fertility, while encouraging birds and bats to return, helping to control pests.
- The trees and small livestock also provide additional sources of income for farmers.
- These agroecological practices of alley cropping and mixed farming can be adapted to other drought-prone regions across Africa, proponents say.

Coral reefs could survive climate change, but in altered state, study says
By
Keith Anthony Fabro
[2024-12-05]
- Coral reefs, vital for a billion people globally, face massive loss and potential collapse within decades due to rising ocean temperatures and acidification, even if emissions reduction targets under the Paris Agreement are met, scientists say.
- A new study challenges this prediction, suggesting reefs could adapt and avoid collapse, albeit with significant changes; it nevertheless highlights the need for ongoing reductions in local stressors and carbon emissions.
- The study tested the responses of experimental reefs, which included eight Hawaiian coral species and other reef-dwelling organisms, to various future ocean scenarios.
- However, some point out that such studies have limitations, such as not fully replicating reality or simulating the impact of further shocks on coral reef ecosystems, that reduce their predictive capacity.

In Chile, discovery of shallowest red hydrocoral forest yet surprises scientists
By
Rocío González Trujillo
[2024-12-05]
- Scientists have discovered massive marine forests in southern Chile’s Kawésqar National Reserve, formed by the red hydrocoral species Errina antarctica.
- These colonies, found at depths ranging from 1.23 to 33 meters (4 to 108 feet), are the world’s southernmost and shallowest known to date.
- Experts emphasize the importance of protecting these fragile ecosystems and hope the newly discovered forests will be considered in the reserve’s management plan.

Certified ethanol produced in Brazil for global airlines linked to slave labor
By
Poliana Dallabrida from Repórter Brasil
[2024-12-05]
- Fuel produced from sugarcane in Brazil has become a strategic option for decarbonizing the aviation sector.
- But companies operating in this business have been linked to recent reports of labor abuses on sugarcane farms, a new report from Repórter Brasil shows. The rise in reports of labor abuses is partly attributed to the growing outsourcing of labor for planting.
- Workers hired via subcontractors lived in poor conditions without basic amenities, traveled long hours to reach the sugarcarne fields, and paid for their safety equipment.
- While certifications needed to access the fuel market are meant to protect workers, experts says certifiers are not doing enough to ensure fair working conditions and pay.

Severe drought in Peruvian Amazon isolated more than 130 Indigenous communities
By
Aimee Gabay
[2024-12-05]
- A severe drought that spread over recent months in Peru’s Loreto and Ucayali regions led to the isolation of more than 130 communities.
- Record low river levels affected the navigation of boats that deliver food and supplies as well as the health and livelihoods of communities that rely on fish for food and trade.
- Indigenous leaders from isolated communities have criticized the state for failing to deliver emergency assistance, such as drinking water and medical supplies.
- The frequency and intensity of extreme drought in the Amazon will continue to increase substantially due to climate change, experts warn.