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TOP STORIES

Money tight as world launches global biodiversity fund

The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Fund was formally launched Thursday to scale action on biodiversity across 186 countries, but only two countries provided funds at the announcement.

Forest firm targets systemic change with biodiversity pilot

Metsa Group has targeted triggering “systemic” international change in land management with the launch of a pilot to boost biodiversity across 650 hectares, Carbon Pulse has learned.

MARKET

US government lacks awareness of UK net gain strategy, says DC expert

The US government in general is unaware of the UK’s biodiversity net gain (BNG) policy, the executive director of a policy-focused company has claimed.

Biodiversity offsetting by mining firms not sustainable, academics say

The practice of biodiversity offsetting by mining companies is not a long-term sustainable solution to compensating for environmental impacts, academics have said.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Australia to host global nature positive summit

Australia on Sunday announced it will host a global summit next year to drive private-sector investment in nature conservation and restoration projects, just weeks before the next biodiversity COP.

US government prioritises tribal and state-owned land restoration with new investment

The US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Services has announced $16.2 million to restore forest lands in tribal, state, and private sites in an effort to boost nature-based resilience to climate change, as part of its Landscape Restoration Programme.

Biodiversity megatrend is shaping the world, says asset manager Robeco

Biodiversity is a “megatrend” that will reshape human behaviour, company trajectories, and industry value chains, according to asset manager Robeco.

Philanthropy has “vital” role in supporting biodiversity investment, bank says

Philanthropic funding has a “potentially vital” role in driving investment towards tackling biodiversity loss, the sustainability research arm of Swiss bank UBS has said.

Academics outline unequivocal principles for area-based biodiversity conservation

A paper currently undergoing peer review aims to cut through current debates on how best to do area-based biodiversity conservation in light of the increased global attention on national biodiversity targets and investments and the emergence of nature-based credit markets.

Political ambition to improve drying ponds lacking, researchers say

Small water bodies with crucial benefits for biodiversity have been overlooked due to their size, a German research centre has said.

POLICY

Indian state boycotts central government’s palm oil plantation drive in a bid to protect biodiversity

A state government in India this year refrained from participating in the federal government’s annual palm oil plantation drive, saying it would hurt the state’s biodiversity while causing rising carbon emissions.

Australia’s Biodiversity Council begs for gas well drilling halt

Australia’s Biodiversity Council is asking the Queensland state government to halt new gas developments in the Lake Eyre Basin given the potential damage to the floodplains by drilling and its related infrastructure.

MARKET

Ambitious – The leader of highly-forested Guyana touted huge aspirations for carbon markets at a recent meeting with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and separately rebuffed questions on carbon credit integrity. President Irfaan Ali said the South American country is targeting $70/tonne – some 10 times higher than current market prices – for credits from its jurisdictional REDD+ programme, under which it has roughly 5 mln credits for sale annually for the 2016-30 period. (Carbon Pulse)

Neat peat – The UK government has committed £16 million to restoring peatland across 12 projects covering over 6,000 hectares collectively in England to help boost the nation’s carbon sink. (Carbon Pulse)

BUSINESS & FINANCE

Fish trap – Campaigners say tonnes of fish could be sucked into UK nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C’s cooling system if an acoustic fish deterrent is not installed. The Environment Agency (EA) has removed a requirement for operator EDF to install the deterrent, which the company said could be dangerous to maintain. Environmental groups say millions of fish could be killed per year. The EA said it was confined to looking at water discharge activity, which did not deal with the entrapment of fish. A final decision on whether EDF will have to install an acoustic fish deterrent will made by the secretary of state for environment later this year. (BBC)

Shut down – The Zambia Environmental Agency (ZEMA) has this week cancelled permissions for a $500-mln copper mine being built by mining firm Mwembeshi Resources in the Lower Zambezi National Park. Conservation groups have been campaigning against the mine, saying it will have significant impact on local nature, in particular on the Zambezi river and its freshwater fisheries, which provide food security and livelihood for local communities. The cancellation means the project won’t moved forward, and was a result of the mining company failing to comply with several of the conditions the permissions was originally based on, according to a statement from WWF.

To the fund – Denmark will donate DKK150 mln ($21.9 mln) to Brazil’s Amazon Fund to fight deforestation, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy Dan Jorgensen announced on Tuesday with his Brazilian counterpart. Jorgensen and Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva said in a joint statement that climate change has an impact on forests, local communities, and Indigenous peoples that need support to manage forests in a sustainable way and promote trade in sustainably produced forest products. (Reuters)

Moving the needle – BirdLife International Africa and Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) on Friday signed an MoU to advance collaborative biodiversity conservation in Africa. The MoU will focus on developing and implementing conservation programmes and linkages including climate change and restoration in line with the Africa Union Agenda 2063, Africa’s vision and development agenda, and the Global Biodiversity Framework – the global plan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. (Africa Science News)

Grants – The US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has announced $1.7 mln in grants to implement wildlife-focused forest management and improved grazing practices in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The grants will generate $1.6 mln in matching contributions from grantees for a total conservation impact of $3.3 mln to enhance and restore shortleaf and white oak forests, in-stream habitats, and establish plant and pollinator habitats, NFWF said.

POLICY

To-do list – African environment ministers have agreed to institute national and regional strategies to minimise environmental impacts in the extraction and processing of critical mineral resources. The continent is facing several challenges as countries, especially China, rush to Africa for its mineral resources. Fifty-four countries acknowledged key environmental challenges faced by the continent – land degradation, desertification, and drought – in the Addis Ababa declaration earlier this month. (Down to Earth)

Neutrality no more – The UK government has announced plans to scrap EU legacy laws requiring housebuilders to achieve ‘nutrient neutrality’ from developments. The policy aimed to reduce extreme levels of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus was expanded last year through nutrient credit schemes. Government statements argue that the new move will lead to 100,000 new homes being built, although environmental campaigners are concerned that the move means more pollution in water and wetland habitats that are already at high risk of sewage dumping and agricultural runoff. (BBC)

SCIENCE & TECH

Catastrophic – A catastrophic die-off of emperor penguin chicks has been observed in the Antarctic, with up to 10,000 young birds estimated to have been killed. The sea-ice underneath the chicks melted and broke apart before they could develop the waterproof feathers needed to swim in the ocean. The birds most likely drowned or froze to death. The event, in late 2022, occurred in the west of the continent in an area fronting on to the Bellingshausen Sea. (BBC)

James Pond – French research institute Ifremer is launching a new participatory science platform, “Ocean Spies”, which invites citizens to participate in research on four marine ecosystems in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Young and old alike can analyse photographs of the seabed, from the harbour of Brest to the hydrothermal vents of the deep sea, and help scientists identify the species that live there.

Social creatures – Academics have harvested data on species distribution from Facebook groups for a case study on biodiversity in Bangladesh. Developing an automated tool to extract such information from social media is an “essential priority”, they said in a preprint that has not yet undergone peer review published on EcoEvoRxiv.

Rich heritage – Over 20% of mapped global species richness is in UNESCO World Heritage sites, which only make up 1% of the Earth’s surface, according to an assessment by the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN) and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Countries should address the sites in their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, the organisations said.

Wild allies – Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society have found that overhunting makes forests less able to store carbon. The peer-reviewed study published in PLoS Biology asserts that fauna has a vital role to play in maintaining the integrity of forests due to their seed dispersal function, and the loss of large fruit-eating animals can degrade forest composition. The authors contend that current voluntary carbon mechanisms could integrate a carbon bonus price where fauna is kept intact through REDD+ schemes.

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