Global NGOs are joining forces to accelerate the campaign to end plastic pollution. The World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP), the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Plastics Initiative and waste charity WRAP are planning to work together to deliver a circular economy for plastics. This supports international negotiations to deliver a new Plastics Treaty, which began last November and aims to crack down on plastic waste by mid-2025.
Citizen science
Buglife, a conservation charity, is appealing for the public’s help to find a rare beetle in the woodlands of Devon and Cornwall. The blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus) has only been seen at 15 sites across the south-west of England and south Wales. The species was identified at two new sites on Dartmoor in 2022 but the charity would like people to help find out if it is living in more locations. Buglife is asking for people to take pictures if they think they have spotted the beetle, and to send them to the Dartmoor Blue Ground Beetle project online.
The blue ground beetle by Berard DUPONT via Flickr
Research
A chemical that is used in the production of toilet paper and ‘forever chemicals’ has been found in the bodies of orcas. A team of scientists have analysed tissue samples from six southern resident orcas and six Bigg’s whales that were stranded along the coast of British Columbia from 2006 to 2018. The team, made up of scientists from The Institute for the Ocean and Fisheries, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, found that the chemical accounted for 46% of the total pollutants identified. This toxic substance can interact with the nervous system and influence cognitive function.
The golden-crowned sifaka, a critically endangered mammal found in northeast Madagascar. Image by Alex Chiang via Flickr.
Conservation
Beavers are set to be released into Hampshire for the first time in 400 years. A pair will be released at Ewhurst Park estate near Basingstoke, which is being restored for nature and sustainable food production. Beavers were given legal protection in England in 2021, formally recognising them as native wildlife. This keystone species will help to create new wetlands on the estate, which will provide new habitats for dozens of bird and insect species.
Over 5,000 fish from endangered species have been released into the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers in Cambodia. The ceremony was held by the Cambodian government and the Wonders of the Mekong project at the Chaktomuk River in Phnom Penh, which is connected to both of the larger rivers. The species released included Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), giant barbs (Catlocarpio siamensis) and striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus). It is hoped that they will reproduce and increase the rare fish populations in both rivers.
A new herd of Dartmoor ponies have been brought in to boost the population on Thetford heathland in Norfolk. Fifteen ponies have joined the 119 others that currently live in the area and will help to deliver conservation grazing programmes across the nature reserves, including East Wretham Heath. These selective grazers will create a rich variety of different heights and species of vegetation, helping birds such as nightjars and stone curlews.
Extinction risks
The scientists who led the research into the mass die-off of crabs and lobsters along the north-east coast of England say they have not been questioned by the panel investigating the disaster. The review panel is due to send its findings to ministers this week, but they have also been excluded from examining government processes as part of its inquiry. This is raising questions about the potential limitations and reliability of the forthcoming results.
Queensland, Australia, has been urged to end its shark nets and drum lines programme, as scientists call these lethal methods “ineffective” and inhumane. In 2019, Humane Society International won a legal challenge to stop the use of lethal drum lines in the Great Barrier Reef park, but as of 1st December 2022, the Queensland government has only spent $505,000 on replacing the old drum lines with ‘Smart’ catch-and-alert ones. Last year, 15 humpback whales were caught in shark nets, as Queensland does not remove them during whale migration season.
Long-tailed tit on peanut feeder. Image by Conall via Flickr.
For the past 44 years the RSPB has been running one of the largest citizen science projects in the world, the Big Garden Birdwatch. Each year in January, more than half a million people take to their gardens, parks and balconies to count the birds they see. This huge dataset has allowed the RSPB to create a comprehensive picture of how our local birds are faring, and to examine changes in both abundance and distribution over this time.
Anyone can sign up to take part, and you don’t need to be a member of the RSPB. All it takes is an hour of your time. This year’s Big Garden Birdwatch will take place from 27th to 29th January, with results expected to be published in April.
Find a good spot to watch the birds in your garden or a local park and choose an hour between between Saturday 27th and Monday 29th January.
Have fun identifying the species visiting your garden during that hour and count the maximum number of each species you see at any one time. For example, if you see a group of three house sparrows together and after that another one, the number to submit is three. This method means it is less likely you will count the same birds more than once and makes data analysis easier. Make a note of any other wildlife that you spot as well.
Submit your results on the Big Garden Birdwatch website. Even if you don’t see anything, that’s still useful information. (If you can’t submit your results online, you can print off the form from the free guide and send it by post).
Join in the conversation on RSPB social channels throughout the weekend to see what other nature lovers are spotting across the UK and upload your own pictures and comments using #BigGardenBirdWatch
Look out for the results in April and take pride in having contributed data from your patch.
What did we learn in the 2022 Big Garden Birdwatch?
In 2022, almost 700 thousand people took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, submitting records of more than 11 million birds. The most frequently reported species was the house sparrow which received 1.7 million sightings. The second and third spots were held by blue tits and starlings respectively.
Other notable changes include a huge increase in jay sightings, up 73% from 2021. This increase was potentially due to an increase in food availability as 2021 was a notoriously poor year for acorns. A small increase in greenfinch numbers also provided cause for hope. This species has declined by 62% since 1993 due to an outbreak of trichomonosis which is spread through contaminated food and water. It is hoped that this increase in numbers represents the first signs of a recovering population. Results from this year’s Birdwatch will help to give a better picture of how they are faring.
How can I encourage more birds and other wildlife to my garden?
Participating in the Big Garden Birdwatch is the perfect opportunity to observe how wildlife is using your garden and to give you some insights into how you could make your outdoor space even more attractive to wildlife.
Improving your garden for wildlife can be as simple as leaving a patch of long grass; providing native trees or plants that are good for pollinators such as lavender, buddleja and verbena; or leaving a woodpile for insects to shelter in. You can also supply nest boxes for birds, bat boxes for summer roosting bats, access panels and shelters for hedgehogs, shelter for frogs and toads, and of course bird feeders, which will bring a multitude of species to your garden.
Recommended books
Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe
With expanded text and additional colour illustrations, the third edition of the hugely successful Collins Bird Guide is a must for every birdwatcher. The combination of definitive text, up-to-date distribution maps and superb illustrations makes this book the ultimate field guide, essential for every birdwatcher and field trip.
Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide
Covering more than 900 species, and illustrated with over 4,700 photographs, this is the most comprehensive, authoritative and ambitious single-volume photographic guide to Europe’s birds ever produced. The images are stunning to look at, making this a beautiful book to enjoy, as well as an up-to-date and essential source of identification knowledge.
Britain’s Birds: An Identification Guide to the Birds of Great Britain and Ireland
A bestselling guide since it was first published, Britain’s Birds has quickly established itself as the go-to photographic identification guide to the birds of Great Britain and Ireland – the most comprehensive, up-to-date, practical and user-friendly book of its kind. Acclaimed by birdwatchers of all kinds, from the beginner to the most experienced.
Park and Garden Birds
This newly updated fold-out guide covers the top 50 birds of gardens and parks, including ponds and rivers. Designed for speedy bird identification with living birds in the garden, the guide features beautiful colour paintings by Chris Shields. Accompanying text on the reverse side covers body size, food, key identification notes and conservation status.
RSPB Guide to Birdsong
Birdsong is one of the greatest and most accessible wildlife pleasures that people can experience, even in urban areas. This beautiful, full-colour book and narrated CD of brand new recordings will help people to learn about the sounds and calls of the commonest birds in Britain, and reveal when and why birds make these sounds.
The Winter issue of Conservation Land Management magazine (CLM) landed on our readers’ doormats in December, marking the end of volume 20. Read on to discover what featured in the most recent issue, and some highlights of articles across the entire volume.
The Winter 2022 issue of CLM
Reedbed restoration has benefited a large number of species, the bittern being a classic example; by 1997, ‘booming’ (territorial) males of this species had declined to 11, but this has now increased to over 200. Various techniques and machinery are used to manage reedbed habitats, and in this article Graham White and Steve Hughes provide an overview of the different methods and key strategic issues, such as what to do with cuttings, that need to be considered for the future.
Up until 2010, Nethergill Farm, in the Yorkshire Dales, was managed for intensive sheep rearing. Now under new owners, the current management ethos is to promote biodiversity. Gordon Haycock describes how, in addition to other ecological restoration work, a change to reduce sheep stocking densities and introduce free-roaming cattle across the farm has benefited biodiversity and increased the area of Priority Habitats, such as blanket bog and lowland meadow.
In 1965, the Nature Conservation Review was initiated by the Nature Conservancy, with the aim to identify and assess areas important to nature conservation in the UK. In the 1960s/70s, as part of the review, 26 calcareous grasslands in Dorset were surveyed, and in 2018/19, nearly half a century later, six of these were surveyed again. Peter Hawes et al. compare the results of the two surveys, with the aim of determining if the vegetation had markedly changed during the time between surveys, and discuss the gains and losses that have been made.
During the recent political turmoil in the UK, there were rumours that England’s new agri-environment scheme, Environmental Land Management (ELM), would be scrapped in favour of a return to area-based payments. Thankfully, the future of ELM is now looking more certain, but there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the details. In light of this, Alice Groom provides the latest on farming policy development in England, and also in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The selection process behind the formal designation of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England is based entirely on the compartmentalisation of a site based on the habitat types within it and the rarity of the species found there. Lacking from this process, however, is consideration of habitat connectivity and the ecosystem services that these habitats provide. In the context of two peat bogs in the north of England, one of which is currently threatened by development, Roger Meade asks if the current selection process is up to scratch.
Highlights from volume 20
This volume has included some fantastic articles, from conservation efforts tailored to specific species to wider management approaches and techniques. Below is a selection of articles from 2022:
Spring 20.1
· Habitat translocations: risks, advantages and key considerations – John Box explains the possible risks and potential benefits of habitat translocations, and sets out the key considerations of this approach.
·Conserving breeding goldeneye in Scotland through nestbox construction – Peter Cosgrove et al. share their observations and lessons learnt from constructing and installing nestboxes for the rare goldeneye duck along the River Spey.
· Environmental DNA for ecologists – Dr Helen Rees provides an overview of eDNA analysis and demonstrates how ecologists can use this technique in conservation.
Summer 20.2
· A guide to conservation land management and greenhouse gas emissions – Malcolm Ausden and Rob Field describe how different habitats and their maintenance impact the climate, and highlight the management practices that provide the greatest climate benefits.
· Viewpoint: Dams without beavers: could Beaver Dam Analogues yield benefits in the UK? While we wait for beavers to become more widespread in the UK, Richard Fleming argues that we need to replicate the benefits of natural beaver dams through the use of Beaver Dam Analogues.
Autumn 20.3
· Eleven years of manual eradication of Japanese knotweed – Claire Malone-Lee reflects on 11 years of manual control of Japanese knotweed in Aston’s Eyot nature reserve, in east Oxford, and demonstrates that it is possible, particularly on small sites or where knotweed is not overly dominant, to successfully eradicate this troublesome invasive without the use of herbicides.
· Time to rewet, replant and restore Yorkshire’s peatlands – Jenny Sharman describes the work of the Yorkshire Peatland Partnership and the process of peatland restoration in Yorkshire where signs of recovery have quickly become apparent.
Three years after peatland restoration began. Jenny Sharman/YPP
Twenty years of CLM
The end of volume 20 is an important milestone for CLM, marking its 20th year in print. Throughout this time, the magazine has strived to showcase innovative conservation projects, novel management techniques and personal experiences and insights of those working on the ground. Volume 21 is set to feature all of this and more, including a brand new series on habitat management for invertebrates and a look at some of the restoration approaches used in marine conservation.
CLM is published four times a year in March, June, September and December, and is available by subscription only, delivered straight to your door. Subscriptions start from £22 per year. If you would like to read any of these articles, back issuesare also available to purchase individually (subject to availability).
If you are involved in a conservation project and think your experiences could be useful to other practitioners, we would love to hear from you. Feel free tocontact us if you are interested in writing for CLM– we will be happy to discuss your ideas with you.
UK wildlife was ‘devastated’ by extreme weather in the UK. The National Trust’s annual audit revealed that 2022 was a dire year for animals, including amphibians, mammals, birds and insects. Due to strong storms, heatwaves and cold snaps, many species and habitats were effected. The wildfires during the hot summer destroyed many heathland areas in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, impacting rare species such as sand lizards and smooth snakes. This potential ‘new norm’ of extreme weather is creating major challenges for UK biodiversity.
2022 will be the warmest year on record in the UK, according to the Met Office. Provisional figures hint that the annual average temperature from last year will exceed the previous record set in 2014. The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 2003, with temperature trends showing that the UK is hotter since we began burning fossil fuels and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This new record is showing that climate change is having a real impact.
Unseasonably warm weather is expected this January, with at least eight countries across Europe experiencing record high temperatures. The warmest January day on record was recorded in Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia. The Czech Republic saw temperatures of 19.6°C, compared with the usual average of 3°C.
Polar bears are vanishing from the ‘polar bear capital of the world’ in Canada. The western Hudson Bay is considered a stronghold for this species but government research is showing that there has been a dramatic decline in numbers. Every five years, researchers count the number of bears in the area and extrapolate population trends, with the last count in 2021 estimating 618 bears, down from 842 five years earlier. The reveal showed significant declines in adult females and subadult bears between 2011 and 2021, possibly due to displacements to neighbouring regions or hunting. The bears’ sea-ice habitat has also been disappearing, with the far north of the world warming up to four times faster than the rest of the planet.
New discoveries
A pink coloured variant of the Monotropastrum humile plant, native to East and Southeast Asia, has been discovered to actually be a new species. A 20-year study determined how exactly these plants different, with specimens collected throughout Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. Originially, there was thought to be only one species in this genus in the world, so this new discovery has deepened our understanding of the plants in the Monotropastrum genus. As this newly recognised species is rare and therefore presumably endangered, the information from this study will hopefully be used to inform conservation efforts.
Eastern quolls have been released into the Australian bush in New South Wales, over sixty years after they were declared extinct on the mainland. The 10 individuals were released into a NSW nature reserve, bolstering an insurance population of quolls. The Barrington population is the largest on the mainland and was established through the Tasmanian Quoll Program. Special fences have been erected to keep out cats, foxes and pigs, as feral invasive predators are thought to have been the cause of the initial population decimation.
COP15, the UN Biodiversity Conference, took place between 7th and 19th December 2022. This event set out to convene world governments to agree to a new set of goals for nature over the next decade. This will create a framework that sets out an ambitious plan to implement broad-based action to change society’s relationship with biodiversity, ensuring that humanity can live in harmony with nature by 2050. COP15 has been touted as the key turning point in the fight to protect biodiversity, and a vital opportunity for countries to make change.
Biodiversity is declining globally, with the WWF Living Planet Report reporting that trends in the population abundance of mammals, fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians have revealed that populations have declined by an average of 69% between 1970 and 2018. Habitat conversion for people and livestock, hunting, exploitation, the intensification of agricultural practices, and the impacts of climate change such as temperature increase, changes to rainfall patterns and increased extreme weather events are among the wide range of challenges wildlife currently faces. Regionally, Latin America and The Caribbean have experienced the worst decline, at 94%. This global decline is set to worsen if no changes are made.
The main aim of COP15 was to reach a set of goals and targets that would create a comprehensive and equitable framework agreed upon by world governments. These clear targets need to address over-exploitation, pollution, fragmentation and unsustainable agricultural practices, and be matched by the resources needed for implementation. There also needed to be a plan that safeguarded the rights of indigenous peoples, recognising their contributions as stewards of nature. Finally, the finance for biodiversity needed to be addressed, particularly relating to the alignment of financial flows with nature to push finances towards sustainable investments and away from environmentally harmful ones.
The Deal
An agreement was reached on Monday 19th December 2022. Almost 200 countries agreed to the new set of goals and targets that aim to “halt and reverse” biodiversity loss by the end of the decade. Six items were adopted at COP15:
the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
A monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal GBF
Mechanisms for planning, monitoring, reporting and review
Capacity-building, development, technical and scientific cooperation
Resource mobilisation
Digital sequence information on genetic resources.
It is hoped that measurable targets within the Kunming-Montreal GBF, and a mechanism for implementation, will ensure it will succeed where previous targets have not. There are 23 global targets within this GBF for 2030, with 10 ‘milestones’, including ensuring that at least 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity are protected before the end of the decade. Currently, only 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas are protected.
The key targets also include increasing financial resources from all sources, not just governments, to at least $200 billion per year towards supporting biodiversity by 2030; reducing, redirecting or reforming environmentally harmful incentives by $500 billion per year; and reducing the nutrients lost to the environment by at least 50%, pesticides by at least two thirds and eliminating plastic waste from entering the environment entirely.
The digital sequence information target refers to genetic sequence data, derived from the natural world. This is used in medicine and science, for vaccines, biofuels, crop improvements and further research. The target would require that the benefits arising from this information be shared fairly and equitably.
Are they effective?
Many are labelling the goal of taking urgent measures by 2030 as a strong call to action, with many 2030 milestones listed in the final agreement, including reducing extinction risk by 20%. This would then be reduced tenfold by 2050. This, however, would mean many species are still likely to go extinct during this time, particularly specialist species that occupy narrow niches, as these are more likely to be impacted than generalist species that can survive in a wider variety of environmental conditions. Reducing the diversity of species within an ecosystem can reduce its resilience against other stressors, such as the impacts of climate change, disease and habitat degradation. This is known as biotic homogenisation, where ecological communities become increasingly similar due to a combination of the extinction of native species and the invasion of non-native species.
The target of protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 is hailed by many as the main success of the conference. This large increase in protected areas, especially with the requested focus on areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, will have a significant impact on biodiversity loss. However, some are describing the milestone of conserving at least 30% of land and sea by 2030 as a ‘floor, not a ceiling’, suggesting that 50% is an important step to the long-term survival of both biodiversity and humanity. This is the key aspect of the Half-Earth concept, developed by biologist E. O. Wilson, which states that the only solution to the upcoming ‘Sixth Extinction’ is to increase natural reserves to cover half the surface of the earth.
Additionally, there is no target for increasing species population abundance by 2030, with details on enlarging the area of natural ecosystems by at least 5% being removed after earlier drafts. While many of the other targets will most likely lead to an increase in species population abundance, and perhaps even in increasing the area of natural ecosystems, the lack of a set target makes it harder to hold governments to account.
Another item that has notably been missed is the issue of dietary consumption, beyond reducing general overconsumption. Research has shown the consumption of meat, particularly beef, is specifically linked to biodiversity loss, with 30% of biodiversity loss linked to livestock production. Reduction of meat consumption is not mentioned in the text of the COP15 agreement, despite research suggesting that beef consumption needs to fall by 90% in western countries to prevent the future impacts of climate change.
Research has also shown that over £1.48tn ($1.8tn) of environmentally harmful subsidies are being paid each year, going towards high-emission cattle production, deforestation and pollution. One of the Aichi biodiversity targets, discussed later in this article, was to remove these subsidies, which governments failed to achieve by 2020. This new target, which requires governments to redirect or reduce these subsidies by at least £416bn ($500bn) per year is a major opportunity, and is recognised as another major outcome of this agreement. However, this still leaves over £1tn ($1.3tn) in environmentally harmful subsidies each year, continuing to put pressure on global biodiversity.
Additonally, the COP15 agreement calls for businesses to assess and disclose how they impact and are impacted by nature loss, but it is not mandatory, which weakens this target. This is unlikely to effectively hold large corporations to account, though societal pressure may play a role in encouraging many countries and financial firms towards disclosures.
This all suggests that, while meeting these targets will put the world on the right track towards halting and reversing biodiversity loss, there is still much more that is needed to be done to create a ‘nature-positive’, more harmonious future. These targets need to be a starting point rather than an end goal.
Can we rely on these promises?
The previous strategic plan for biodiversity for the 2011-2020 period included the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, agreed upon at COP10 in 2010. However, by 2020, the Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 Report by the UN showed that the world failed to meet any of the targets. There were 20 targets agreed upon, which were separated into 6o elements, to aid in monitoring overall progress. In 2020, only seven of these elements were achieved, with 38 showing progress and 13 with no progress at all. Two had unknown progress. This resulted in six Aichi targets being partially achieved, such as those on protected areas and invasive species. This failure to meet the previous set of targets does not bode well for any confidence in the seriousness of the commitment of world governments to meet these new ones.
The new financial targets, widely hailed as one of the main successes of COP15 will make a huge difference in halting and reversing biodiversity loss but only if they are actually achieved. In 2009, developed countries committed to supplying $100 billion per year by 2020 to help vulnerable countries impacted by climate change. However, these rich nations failed to meet the long-standing pledge. Instead, $83.3 billion was provided in 2020, $16.7 billion short of the target. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggested that the $100 billion target would not be met until 2023, using U.N. data processed with a two-year delay. This, again, casts doubt on whether developed countries can be relied upon to follow through with the financial commitments agreed upon at these events.
The other main success of COP15, the goal to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, also has a failing precedent. In the UK in 2020, the Prime Minister at the time, Boris Johnson, committed to protecting 30% of the UK’s land and sea for nature by 2030. However, so far, according to the 2022 Progress Report on 30×30 in England by Wildlife and Countryside Link, only 3.22% of England’s land is effectively protected and managed by nature, compared to 3% in 2021. There was more progress in protecting English waters, with 8% effectively protected for nature, compared to 4% in 2021. With very little progress being made and the continued threats of deregulatory proposals to reform or repeal the strongest laws for nature, this calls into question whether the UK will remain committed to these new global goals. Additionally, the newly published environmental targets from The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are being criticised as a ‘job half-done’ as the goals to ensure greater biodiversity in 2042 than in 2022, and at least 10% more than in 2030, do not go far enough.
However, a proposed EU Nature Restoration Law might be the first step towards achieving these new targets. Should this law successfully make its way through the European Parliament, it would signal that these countries are willing to make the necessary policy changes to stop biodiversity loss. The new law aims to set specific timetables for restoring degraded habitats such as rivers, wetlands, fields and forests. It would cover 1.6 million square miles across the 27 member countries. As the EU’s current environmental laws don’t explicitly state how, when or who needs to restore these areas, this new law is a much-needed addition to ensure proper implementation of conservation. The final vote is expected to take place in June.
Protest at COP15. Image by UN Biodiversity via Flickr
Ultimately, world governments and global businesses have made similar pledges before and failed to follow through. Often, while the agreements contain targets that would make significant progress against biodiversity loss, there is a lack of strict regulation of adherence and adoption of policies that would allow for progress towards these targets. While there have been some initial steps that suggest a real commitment to achieving these targets, the next few months and years will be a key time for world governments to prove that they are willing to make the necessary changes.
The province of Limburg in the Netherlands will be restoring the habitat of the critically endangered garden dormouse over the next four years. In the Netherlands, this species (Eliomys quercinus) is only found in the southern Limburg area, although it is found across other parts of Europe, including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and areas of south eastern Europe. The species relies on contiguous hedges and bushes, avoiding open fields, with a food preference for blackberries, common hazel, elderberries, gooseberries and red currants. Habitat loss and fragmentation are thought to have been the cause of the decline in both their abundance and range.
The garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus) by Arno Laurent via Wikipedia Commons
Extinction risks
There have been a number of news stories relating to the mass die-offs of crustaceans off the North East and Yorkshire coasts, the first of which occurred in October 2021. Fishers and campaigners are protesting against further developments on the River Tee, where they believe dredging disturbed toxic chemicals and caused the mass deaths. Both the government and Tees Valley Combined Authority rejected this claim, with Defra suggesting naturally occurring algae was the most likely cause. Defra is organising an independent panel that will reinvestigate by January, and MPs are now calling for the inquiry to be open and collaborative, ensuring independence in the process.
Policy
Campaigners call for biodegradable plastic to be included in English single-use cutlery ban. The ban, expected to be announced in the coming weeks, comes after Scotland and Wales already legislated to ban various single-use plastics, including those described as biodegradable. Many ‘bioplastics’ are environmentally damaging and won’t break down in the natural environment, despite being termed biodegradable.
A report from the House of Lords has said that access to green space needs to be prioritised when deciding how to use land. The cross-party House of Lords land use in England commission has laid out its priorities for a land use framework. This would divide up the land in England and decide where is best for different types of agriculture, as well as carbon sequestration, nature restoration and recreation. The report, published on Tuesday last week, highlights the need for greater access to the natural world for the public, as it is ‘important for health and wellbeing, especially in urban and peri-urban locations near where people live’.
Sea Staghorn (Codium fragile) by Jerry Kirkhart via Flickr
A breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy has been announced by US scientists. Physicists have been pursuing the technology for decades as it promises a potential source of near-limitless clean energy. The fusion experiment, which took place at the National Ignition Facility in California produced more energy than was put in, but experts say there is still some way to go before fusion powers homes. Nuclear fusion works by taking pairs of light atoms and forcing them together, which releases a lot of energy. This process, while giving off small amounts of short-lived radioactive waste, produces no greenhouse gas emissions and therefore would not contribute to climate change.
Pollination loss removes healthy food from global diets. New research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has found that this increases chronic diseases causing excess deaths. Inadequate pollination, due to reduced biodiversity, has led to a 3-5% loss of fruit, vegetable and nut production, linked to an estimated 427,000 excess deaths annually from lost healthy food consumption and associated diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain cancers.
COP15
Eels are facing a population collapse after the annual fishing negotiations for key EU waters ended in quotas higher than those scientists have recommended. Conservation groups and scientists recently called for all EU eel fisheries to be closed to allow populations space to recover. However, the European Commission only agreed to extend the closure of eel fisheries at sea from the current three-month closure to six months. This will cover juvenile eel migrations and mature eels swimming between the sea and rivers. This decision came as the UN COP15 biodiversity summit, which ended on Monday 19th December, attempted to bring countries together to agree on targets to ensure the survival of species and stem the collapse of ecosystems across the world. A number of conservationists and scientists believe this decision is at odds with EU leaders’ proclaimed ambitions to protect biodiversity at COP15.
Countries have agreed to protect 30% of land and sea, decrease environmentally harmful subsidies and increase financing for nature restoration and protection. This goal is set to be achieved by the end of the decade, with initial responses from green groups being broadly positive. A new biodiversity fund will be formed, to sit within the UN’s existing Global Environment Facility, pooling together development aid, private sector money, philanthropic donations and funds raised through the use of digital sequence information of genetic resources. Additionally, rich countries have committed to increasing international aid for biodiversity to $20bn annually by 2025, then to $30bn by 2030.
The UN Climate Conference COP27 took place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 6th to 18th November. Bringing together over 45,000 people from around the world, the list of delegates included indigenous peoples, local communities, civil society and world leaders, with the aim of delivering solidarity between countries and following through on commitments made in the landmark Paris Agreement.
In this post we’ll take a brief look at some of the outcomes of the conference.
Breakthrough agreement on “Loss and Damage” fund
In negotiations that went up to and beyond the official closing date of the conference, an agreement was finally made to establish a “loss and damage” fund to help those nations most at risk due to the climate crisis. Although many of the details to do with the fund have yet to be ironed out, the money is expected to go to the most vulnerable countries to assist with problems arising from droughts, flooding and other situations caused by climate change.
Commitment to limiting global temperature rise
Although the final agreement of COP27 stated “the urgent need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions” and a renewed commitment to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels as stated in the Paris Agreement, there were widespread concerns that there have been no concrete plans to cut fossil fuel emissions since COP26.
The global transformation to a low carbon economy has been estimated to require investments of USD 4–6 trillion per year. This amount would require a complete transformation of financial systems, and concerns were raised that developed countries are not yet showing signs of working together to achieve this.
World Leaders Summit
The World Leaders Summit took place over two days and involved 112 world leaders in six round table discussions. Under the general title “Together for Implementation”, these discussions were intended to break down the steps required to translate commitments into concrete and achievable action. Topics covered by these discussions included:
Just transition
Innovative finance
Investing in the future of energy
Food security
Water security
Climate change and the sustainability of vulnerable communities
The voice of youth at COP27
Children and young people were given much greater prominence at COP27, with governments being encouraged to listen to their thoughts and opinions, and incorporate their ideas in solutions and policies.
The first ever Pavilion for Children and Youth featured a lively programme of discussions, panel events, creative workshops, talks and networking, and provided a dedicated space where the voices of young activists could be heard.
Also new at COP27 was the youth-led climate forum which brought together policymakers with young representatives from the Conference of the Youth (COY17), who presented the Global Youth Statement and highlighted the topics that they wanted raising during COP27 discussions.
Other key outcomes
• The second technical dialogue of the Global Stocktake took place. The Global Stocktake aims to assess collective progress on the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The UN Secretary-General will convene a ‘climate ambition summit’ in 2023, ahead of the conclusion of the stocktake at COP28 next year.
• The Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership was launched, which aims to half forest loss and degradation by 2030 by uniting action by governments, business and other community leaders.
• A USD 3.1 billion plan was announced by the UN Secretary-General which would ensure that everyone on the planet is covered by early warning systems by 2027. This is particularly important for the most vulnerable communities who often have no idea that hazardous weather is on its way until it is too late.
• A 12-month masterplan was drawn up to help make cleaner energies more accessible. Involving 25 collaborative actions to be delivered in time for COP28, the plan aims to speed up decarbonisation within five key areas: power, road transport, steel, hydrogen and agriculture.
For information about last year’s COP26, check out our series of blogs on its importance, the first week update and a round up of all the major outcomes from that event and how they could affect our efforts to combat climate change, if countries and businessess stay committed. We also have a series of blogs that look at some of the toughest global climate challenges that we are currently facing.
However, climate change isn’t the only challenge the natural world is facing. Despite world-wide and on-going efforts, biodiversity is deteriorating on a global scale, with the decline projected to worsen if nothing changes. COP15, the UN Biodiversity Conference, is currently underway (7th to 19th December 2022) and aims to agree a new set of goals for nature over the next decade through the Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 framework process. For more information on this, please check out the dedicated UN webpage.
More than 20,000 bison, in 65 herds, are now owned by 82 Native American tribes across the US. Once roaming North America’s Great Plains in the tens of millions, bison were slaughtered to near extinction by European settlers. Previously, conservation efforts for this species have excluded Native Americans but now this cultural connection is being rekindled, increasing food security, reclaiming sovereignty and improving land management.
More than 50 shark species are to be given protection from over-exploitation. Nearly 200 countries voted to add them to the list of species protected under global trade rules. This includes tiger sharks, blacktip sharks, the bonnethead and blue sharks. The two shark families, requiem sharks and hammerhead sharks, that these species belong to make up over 50% of the trade in shark fins for soup, with many species threatened with extinction. By listing them on CITES, trading products that contain these species will be much harder.
The largest-ever dam demolition will restore hundreds of miles of historical salmon habitat. Four ageing dams are set to be destroyed along the Klamath River in California and Oregon, a win for the Native American tribes and environmentalists that have been fighting for this for years. This $500 million proposal was approved in November and the project is slated to began next year, with the biggest removals taking place in 2024.
Cranes fledge young on the Suffolk coast for the first time. The RSPB recorded two successfully raised chicks at Snape Wetlands Nature Reserve by a pair of cranes. Only around 65 pairs breed in Britain each year. This is a great sign for the relatively new reserve: the original 82ha graslland was converted to wetland and reedbed between 2008-2014. The RSPB has said it will continue to manage the wetlands to encourage more cranes to breed at the site.
A new seaweed species has been discovered more than 100 metres below the surface of the Antarctic Ocean. The red algae, Palmaria decipiens, was found by a team that included researchers from the University of Aberdeen using a remotely operated vehicle. The project, funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, set out to clarify the maximum depths that seaweed could grow in Antarctica. Samples were collected for further examination and DNA sequencing was then used to confirm the type of seaweed.
Extinction risk
The Mount Ballow mountain frog, only discovered earlier this year, is already facing extinction, despite living in a World Heritage rainforest. Scientists have warned that the species could become extinct by 2055 due to the impacts of climate change reducing the availability of suitable habitats. These frogs are currently stranded on an ‘island in the sky’ due to habitat loss within the upland mountain rainforests of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, and occupy a very narrow niche. 91% of this ecological niche would be lost under a worst-case scenario of three degrees warming, according to lead author Liam Bolitho.
A survey has found that 80% of Scots fear climate change impacts on Scotland’s nature. The research, conducted for charities network Scottish Environment LINK, also found that pollution and ocean warming are also major fears. Just over 1,000 Scots were interviewed between 31st October and 6th November. Nearly a third of those polled stated thay were “very concerned” about the impact of climate change on Scotland, with 50% saying they were “quite concerned”. Just 14% put that they were “not that concerned”, and only 3% stated they were “not at all concerned”.
Policy
A number of MPs are backing the bill to ban trophy hunting overseas, in hopes to protect many endangered animals that are being hunted to the brink of extinction. Support currently includes the MPs for East Yorkshire, North Devon and Milton Keynes. The bill, which has cross party support, would ban British hunters from bringing ‘trophies’ of endangered and vulnerable animals into Britain. The bill has passed its second reading and it is now preparing for the committee stage of its progress through Parliament, which is expected to take place in the New Year.
Research
Tissue loss, decay and death, along with widespread coral bleaching, were reported across the northern coastline of New Zealand last year, impacting hundreds of thousands of specimens. Latest research shows that the most severe impacts on sponges occurred in areas where a prolonged marine heatwave was most intense. These organisms serve a number of important ecological functions, including filtering large quantities of water and moving carbon from the water column to the seafloor. A major loss in coral species would change the community structure of the ecosystem within that habitat, having widespread impacts on a variety of species.
Between 2003 and 2019, almost a quarter of Sweden’s remaining unprotected old-growth forest was logged. These rare and ecologically valuable forests are rich in biodiversity and are some of the last remaining areas where we can see how northern landscapes may have looked before humans began altering them. If logging continues at the same rate, all of these old-growth forests will be lost within the next 50 years.
A new analysis from the groups Global Witness, Corporate Europe Observatory and Corporate Accountability reported that 636 fossil fuel lobbyists are registered to attend the COP27 climate talks – a figure that is up 25% from last year. This shows a worrying rise in the influence of the fossil fuel industry at these critical climate talks.
100 universities in the UK have pledged to divest from fossil fuels, equating to 65% of the country’s higher education sector. The Fossil Free campaign, led by students, has been active since 2013, with the first institution, the University of Glasgow, announcing its divestment in 2014. Coventry University has become the 100th. Together, the endowments now unavailable for fossil fuel companies are worth more than £17.6bn.
The threatened Barberry carpet moth has seen a boom in numbers in a forest in Dorset, with the population trebling in four years. Experts found 50 larvae in Blandford Forest during their most recent survey, compared to just 14 in 2018. The moth was almost extinct in the 1980s, limited to just a single location in the UK. This drop was thought to be due to Barberry bushes being removed by farmers. Both Forestry England and Butterfly Conservation began planting Barberry plants in woodlands and along the edges of farmland in 2007 to try to repopulate the species.
30% of forests in Sierra Nevada, USA, disappeared between 2011 and 2020. The historic droughts and wildfires that plagued California for more than a decade have severely impacted woodlands. More than half of mature forest habitats and 85% of high-density mature forests have either been destroyed or transformed into low-density forests. These areas usually contain high levels of biodiversity, with a range of different types of trees, but the increasing loss of these mature forests is threatening this biodiversity.
New discoveries
Six new rain frog species have been discovered in Ecuador. Scientists discovered all six species on the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, in two national parks, within a 20km-radius of deforested areas. There are more than 550 different Pristimantis frog species across Central and South America. All six have been recommended to be added to the IUCN’s red list of threatened species.
A new species of mammal has been found in mainland Britain for the first time. The greater white-toothed shrew, usually found across western parts of Europe as well as the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Alderney, was spotted in Sunderland in 2021. The dead specimen was examined using a DNA test to confirm its species. There is other evidence that this species has been here for a while, with remains found in owl pellets in Ireland in 2007 and photos dating from at least 2015. Research is currently underway to discover how these shrews may have arrived.
Research
A new study has found that bees ‘count’ from left to right. There is a much-debated theory that this direction is inherent to all animals, including humans. However, as the opposite direction has been found in people from cultures that use an Arabic script, it has been suggested that there is a cultural element involved. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, found that after being trained to associate numbers with a sucrose reward, honey bees ordered numbers in increasing size from left to right.
A bar-tailed godwit has set a world record with a 13,560km continuous flight from Alaska to southern Australia, taking 11 days and one hour. The satellite tag recorded the flight of the five-month-old juvenile bar-tailed godwit, which was over 500km longer than the previous record. Juveniles migrate separately from adults, who make the journey up to six weeks earlier, as the juveniles use the extra time to fatten up for the long migration. Bar-jailed godwits can shrink their internal organs to make more space for these extra fat stores.
Hybrid songbirds are found more often in human-altered environments than in natural areas. A new study, published in Global Change Biology, found that hybrids of the black-capped and mountain chickadee, two common North American songbirds, were more likely to be found where humans had altered the landscape in some way. The study looked at observational data from the citizen science site eBird, as well as DNA samples from 196 black-capped and 213 mountain chickadees at 81 sites in North America. While they found a positive, significant correlation between hybrids and areas where humans have disturbed their habitat in some form, the study did not determine why these hybrids were more common in these areas.
Policy
The UK government has delayed its publication of clean water and biodiversity targets, breaching its Environment Act. The targets, which will underpin the country’s nature recovery were meant to be released on 31 October, ahead of the COP27 UN climate talks in November. The delay in publication means the delegation will not have targets to present to other countries. This is stated to be due to the “significant public response” to Defra’s consultation on nature recovery, with no date set as to when the targets will be published. This adds further concern to a number of environmentalists, as the government is currently reviewing over 500 pieces of environmental legislation by the end of next year under the retained EU law bill. If, by the end of this period, any bill has not been amended or retained by parliament, it will fall. Many critics are suggesting that it is unlikely the government will be able to review the thousands of EU laws required within this time.
Pollution
An analysis has found that scrapping nature-friendly farming payment schemes could worsen river pollution in England by up to 20%. Recent sources suggested that the previous government was looking to remove nature restoration from the upcoming scheme intended to replace the EU’s area-based payment scheme for farmers. 86% of rivers in England were deemed to not be in a ‘good ecological condition’, with agriculture being the reason why 40% of water bodies in England failed to meet this status, according to the Environment Agency.
