Currently, Brazil has a national goal to restore 12 million ha of native vegetation by 2030 [3]. The aim to invest in research and science in order to establish restoration efforts and policies sounds very promising and important, given that many Brazilian biomes and ecosystems are not so well known and this could aid prioritization efforts. Sadly, the first quarter of this year has already marked another deforestation record for the Amazon – 69% more than last year’s during the same period [4]. This situation is so controversial that we might feel somewhat hopeless. However, we are aiming for the opposite here! Learning more about our biomes, understanding their importance for distinct scales, and how our relationship with nature impact positively for the creation of different restoration initiatives can lead to a big wave of change.

In this GCE Blog series on Brazilian biomes, I will explore each of these biomes’ characteristics, the present biodiversity, historical changes, their current state and research gaps. So, stick with me and get to know a bit more of my country!

References:

[1] IBGE – Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics

[2] Guerra et al. 2020. Ecological restoration in Brazilian biomes: Identifying advances and gaps. Forest Ecology and Management, 458, 117802.

[3] Brazil 2017. Ministério do Meio Ambiente. Planaveg: Plano Nacional de Recuperação da Vegetação Nativa/Ministério do Meio Ambiente, Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento. Ministério da Educação: Brasília, DF. 73 p. ISBN: 978-85-7738-336- 8.

[4] The Guardian. ‘Record after record’: Brazil’s Amazon deforestation hits April high, nearly double previous peak.

The post Brazilian Biomes: Intro Series appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

The answer might have something to do with baselines – more specifically, Shifting Baselines Syndrome (SBS), a term coined by scientist Daniel Pauly [2]. Pauly, a fisheries scientist himself, pointed out that fisheries scientists tend to take the stock characteristics from the beginning of their career as a baseline condition against which future catch characteristics are compared. When each generation starts their career, stocks have declined – but a new baseline for comparison is set, which leads to a basically unnoticed and gradual disappearance of species [3]. This phenomenon can also be applied more generally: people tend to set baselines for nature based on their early experiences with it. Over time, with a lack of memory, experience, or knowledge, the expectations and “acceptable” condition for the natural environment shifts. What your grandparents would consider degraded might be considered natural by your children. As Pauly notes in his talk, it is in this way that we transform the world – but we don’t remember it. This has impacts on conservation, restoration, and management.

How can we set appropriate goals and judge progress without an appropriate baseline?

Depending on the baseline, “success stories” may be viewed quite differently. One example would be the bison in North America [4]. The bison populations were driven to near extinction by the late 19th century, mainly due to hunting, and numbered less than 1,000 individuals. Today, the estimates lie at 500,000 bison, and this recovery is regarded as a major success conservationists [5]. Yet, the population of bison previously numbered in the tens of millions, and they now occupy less than 1% of their original habitat range [6].

How much does this even matter?

You might be thinking: the world is different now, and ecosystems are not likely to return to long-past baselines anyway. Seeing that today’s conservation efforts are influencing positive change to any degree gives feedback that things can be made better, and that actions make a difference. This might be true, but we must also be aware of what we have lost so that we are not complacent with “miserable leftovers,” as Pauly terms them. With SBS, there is a danger that we accept these leftovers because we do not know that the situation was ever different. Eventually, if we lose these leftovers, even this will not be perceived as a big loss. In this way, SBS accustoms us to progressive environmental degradation, leading to a shift in what is considered desirable, or even worth protecting, in the natural world.

Are there solutions?

One way to combat shifting baseline is to diversify sources of data in science. More methodological scientific record-keeping often does not extend much further than the last 50 or 100 years. By carefully incorporating other sources, such as financial logs, anecdotes, art and literature, or even genetic and archeological data, more information about the past can be understood and knowledge about the past can be preserved [7]. This information is not only useful for scientists or conservation managers – it can also be used for education in the general public. This is key for making people more familiar with the natural environment as well as ensuring that important knowledge about its condition through time is not lost. Another way to help is by supporting people’s connection to the environment. This could be through engaging with citizen science, which not only allows for data collection but also gives the opportunity for non-scientists to interact with nature [3].

[1] Ellis, E., Gauthier, N., Goldewijk, K., et al. (2021). People have shaped most of terrestrial nature for at least 12,000 years. PNAS 118 (17): e2023483118.

[2] Pauly, D. (1995). Anecdotes and shifting baseline syndrome of fisheries. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 10 (10:430).

[3] Soga, M. & Gaston, K. (2018). Shifting baseline syndrome: causes, consequences, and implications. Front. Ecol. Environ, 16(4): 222-230.

[4] Mehrabi, Z. & Naidoo, R. (2022). Shifting baselines and biodiversity success stories. Nature 601: E17–E18.

[5] Sanderson, E., Redford, K, Weber, B., et al. (2008). The Ecological Future of the North American Bison:Conceiving Long-Term, Large-Scale Conservation of Wildlife. Conservation Biology 22(2): 252 – 262.

[6] Boyd, D., & Gates, C. (2006). A Brief Review of the Status of Plains Bison in North America. JOW 45(2): 15 – 21.

[7] Pinnegar, J. & Engelhard, G. (2008). The ‘shifting baseline’ phenomenon: a global perspective. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 18: 1–16.

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During the spring of 2021, I participated in a science school organized by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN). Every year since 2010, the module has accepted 25 master-level students to learn at the International Academy for Nature Conservation on the Isle of Vilm in Germany. While this year was offered virtually, the experience remained worthwhile.

Broadening knowledge

Prior to the start of the course, students were expected to complete some background reading and an assignment to ensure that everyone had a good base of knowledge. From there, we hit the ground running! We began by assessing the current state of biodiversity and discussed both marine and terrestrial conservation. We learned about conservation tools like protected areas and about the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Students discussed how to engage in strategic conservation planning to meet goals most effectively and efficiently. We also spent some time addressing international law and the international governance framework for environmental protection, as well as discussing the social impacts of conservation.

Part of the reason that the seminar remained so engaging throughout the week was the mixed method of instruction, from lectures to panel discussions to interactive simulations. Generally, new topics were introduced with a talk from an invited expert. However, this was followed by group discussions and activities. This allowed students to actively engage with the material that had just been introduced. I found that this really made the information “stick,” while also creating connections among students.

Building a network

A strength of the module was the possibility to network. Lectures, panel discussions, and simulations run by conservation experts gave students a way to develop professional contacts for future internships, for example. Additionally, there were opportunities to interact with peers through “market place” activities, which closed each daily session. During these market place times, students shared short presentations outlining an experience they had with conservation. This took place in various breakout rooms, facilitating discussions in smaller groups.

The next Module on International Nature Conservation is expected to take place from 27 February to 5 March 2022, either online or in-person as the COVID-19 situation allows. If you are interested, then set a reminder – the upcoming application period will start in late autumn 2021.

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The Convention on Biological Diversity and Biodiversity Day

In the late 1980’s, the United Nations convened a series of working groups and negotiating committees to develop an international treaty to guide sustainable use of and address threats to the Earth’s biological resources. Through this process came the Convention on Biological Diversity, which the United Nations adopted on May 22, 1992, in Nairobi, Kenya [4]. The main objectives of this document are 1) the conservation of biological diversity, 2) the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and 3) the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources [5]. The Convention opened for signature on June 5, 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit and entered into force with 168 signatures December 29, 1993 [4]. There are 196 Parties to the Convention, which meet regularly as the Conference of the Parties to review and make decisions about the fulfillment of the Convention. [5, 6]. Since 2001, the United Nations has celebrated Biodiversity Day on May 22 to commemorate the anniversary of the date that the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted [1].

We’re part of the solution, in 2021 and beyond

In 2021, Biodiversity Day is organized with the slogan: “We’re part of the solution” [2, 8, 15]. This connects to the 2020 slogan, “Our solutions are in nature” and recognizes the role we have in crafting sustainable and just solutions to environmental, ecological, and social challenges [2, 15].

This year’s Biodiversity Day generates momentum and support in advance of the meeting of the Conference of the Parties in October 2021 [2, 6, 14]. During this meeting, Parties will make decisions about a post-2020 global biodiversity framework towards the fulfillment of the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, where the world is “living in harmony with nature” [2, 7, 14, 15].

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Day for Biological Diversity has been moved online. In this context, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity asks you to join governments, organizations, and individuals in raising awareness via messages about the importance of biodiversity and how you can be the solution [8, 9]. Be sure to tag @UNBiodiversity and use the hashtags #BiodiversityDay and #ForNature on social media. Also check out different online events, such as the Global Biodiversity Festival.

There are also other ways for you to contribute to international biodiversity goals, even after May 22. Educate yourself and learn how to raise awareness about the value of biodiversity in nature for fostering sustainable human development on a healthy and functioning planet [3, 10, 11, 12, 15]. Make a concrete commitment in line with the reversal of biodiversity loss on the Convention’s Action Agenda tracker, then share your pledge to inspire others and increase ambition [13]!

For the most up-to-date materials on Biodiversity Day and information about biodiversity issues and opportunities, follow @UNBiodiversity on facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube, and linkedin.

References

[1] United Nations General Assembly. 2001. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on the report of the Second Committee. Convention on Biological Diversity. Fifty-fifth session. A/55/582/Add.2. Access here.

[2] The Convention on Biological Diversity. 2021. Overview of the Campaign. Access here.

[3] IPBES. 2019. Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. S. Díaz, J. Settele, E. S. Brondízio E.S., H. T. Ngo, M. Guèze, J. Agard, A. Arneth, P. Balvanera, K. A. Brauman, S. H. M. Butchart, K. M. A. Chan, L. A. Garibaldi, K. Ichii, J. Liu, S. M. Subramanian, G. F. Midgley, P. Miloslavich, Z. Molnár, D. Obura, A. Pfaff, S. Polasky, A. Purvis, J. Razzaque, B. Reyers, R. Roy Chowdhury, Y. J. Shin, I. J. Visseren-Hamakers, K. J. Willis, and C. N. Zayas (eds.). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. Access here.

[4] The Convention on Biological Diversity. 2021. History of the Convention. Access here.

[5] United Nations. 1992. 8. Convention on Biological Diversity. Rio de Janeiro, 5 June 1992. Chapter XXVII Environment. Access here.

[6] The Convention on Biological Diversity. 2021. Conference of the Parties (COP). Access here.

[7] United Nations Environment Programme. 2020. Update of the Zero Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework: Preparations for the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework. Convention on Biological Diversity. CBD/POST3030/PREP/2/1. Access here.

[8] Mrema, E.M. 2021. Notification: International Day for Biological Diversity 2021. Convention on Biological Diversity. Ref.: SCBD/OES/DAIN/MB/FD/89492. Access here.

[9] The Convention on Biological Diversity. 2021. Messages for the International Day for Biological Diversity, 22 May 2021: “We’re part of the solution”. Access here.

[10] The Convention on Biological Diversity. 2021. Biodiversity Day 2021: Activities. Access here.

[11] United Nations Development Program, NBSAP Forum, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Rare. 2021. Course on Biodiversity Valuation: Communicating the Value of Biodiversity. Access here.

[12] The Convention on Biological Diversity. 2021. Biodiversity and Nature, close but not quite the same. Access here.

[13] The Convention on Biological Diversity. 2021. An agenda for action: Reversing Biodiversity Loss and Promoting Positive Gains to 2030. Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People. Access here.

[14] The Convention on Biological Diversity. 2021. Preparations for the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework. Access here.

[15] United Nations. 2021. International Day for Biological Diversity 22 May. Access here.

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Some of you may know that I am from Brazil and I have a Bachelor of Science in Sanitation and Environmental Engineering. Among the subjects I studied was waste management. Considering we are constantly generating waste on this planet, it struck me that only in 2010 a law that concerns waste management was enacted in my home country, the Brazilian National Solid Waste Bill n. 12.305/2010. Even though it was considered a revolution at the time and perhaps even now still is—I think it shows how much we are neglecting the crucial waste management agenda.

Don’t get me wrong, this was not the first bill of its kind in Brazil. However, the absence of clear goals, instruments, principles and rules can cause the accumulation and repetition of automatic actions that may lead to substantial issues in the future. Thus, the bill 12.305/2010 was created with the goal to protect public health and environmental quality; promote non-generation, reduction, reuse, recycling, and treatment of the solid waste; and to ensure the adequately environmental final disposal of the rejects (the waste that could not be recycled, reused or recovered). One important target defined by the Brazilian National Solid Waste Bill was the eradication of dumpsters in the entire country by 2014—a goal that was not achieved and postponed to 2021. Sadly, according to the Cleaning and Special Waste Companies Brazilian Association (Abrelpe), in 2017 dumpsters increased by 1% in the country, while the volume of waste destined to such places also rose in 4%. ¹ Irony can be ironic sometimes… Even with the bill, the waste management issue is not improving in Brazil.

This was supposed to be a short introduction to my review of the documentary “A Plastic Ocean”, but here I am… And indeed, there is a lot to say regarding this “waste disease”. Nevertheless, being now in Germany, I feel impressed, happy and excited when I see how well this country manages its waste. I don’t know what your opinions are if you were born and grew up in Germany. Still, compared to my upbringing in Brazil, Germany sets a great example to several governments in how to successfully implement domestic waste separation and recycling, ultimately supporting an improved quality of life, environment, and a better tomorrow for all. Now, without further ado, I will begin my documentary review, I hope you are still with me.

The documentary “A Plastic Ocean” impacted me in so many different ways. From the start of its first frame which quoted Helman Melville’s Moby-Dick until the end of the movie, it is an honest, heart-breaking, apologizing letter to the planet and to the biota present in it. This documentary was directed by journalist, filmmaker and adventurer Craig Leeson and begins with him talking about his astonishment as an 8-year-old kid when he saw a whale for the first time in a National Geographic magazine. As we are led to the ocean by the coast of Sri Lanka, diving alongside the British diver Rich Horner, the viewer is shocked as plastic and other kinds of waste are found in that area, especially because the beaches in that region have been closed for up to 30 years.

The film continues its trajectory in the ocean presenting several different locations and the environmental problems caused by plastic—up to this point, especially on the marine fauna. It is devastating as the viewer sees footage of a dying Bryde whale that had its digestive system blocked by a 6 square meter plastic sheet. Animals including dolphins, seals and sealions are physically harmed because they had some kind of plastic wrapped around their necks. It is not possible to live having this general thinking that when we throw something away, we are free of it. As some of the interviewers stressed, which is a 100% true, there is no “away.” We live in a closed system, one planet, and at this point we are well aware that nothing simply disappears. How outrageous is it to think that in some places in the ocean there is more plastic than plankton?

“A Plastic Ocean” exhibits didactically the ocean’s function and importance for the planet, as well as how it is possible for plastic to be transported from anywhere to the ocean. With an assembly of doctors and researchers, the viewer is guided through the documentary to understand the role of the currents, the existence of gyres, what is bioaccumulation, toxicity of plastic components and effects of plastic pollution on our health. There is not a moment when the viewer is left hanging. It is an essential documentary for every human inhabitant of this Earth. It emphasizes that we live in an interconnected world; it makes us travel to different corners of the planet and reminds us of social inequalities, sustainable alternatives, technological advancements and essential, immediate action. Besides counting statistical plastic production within the time frame we are watching the movie, as production never stops.

I would say find time and watch “A Plastic Ocean” today. It is a movie that challenges and confronts us. It opens our eyes to spheres of our planet and the current reality that we either sometimes neglect or are unaware of. We are active agents of change and it is a fact that we can help planet Earth. Bit by bit. One by one. The sum of everyone’s good actions can make a huge impact. And share this documentary or suggest to friends and family because, quoting Craig Leeson, “From knowing comes caring, and from caring comes change.”

Sincerely,

Éverton Souza da Silva

P.S.: “A Plastic Ocean” is available on Netflix.

1 https://ecocircuito.com.br/legislacao/

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Get to know the Pantanal of Mato Grosso

With an area of 160,000 km², Pantanal is considered the largest wetland on the planet. It is mainly located in the Brazilian territory in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, having 15,000 km² of its area situated also in Bolivia and 5,000 km² in Paraguay. To the North of Pantanal, we find the Amazon rainforest, and to the west, the Andes Mountain Range. The climate in this biome is characterised as hot with a dry season that extends from May to September and a rainy season in the rest of the year¹. According to Junk et al. (2005)¹, Pantanal was established in a circumglobal belt of climatic instability and this weather conformation drives extreme events of flooding and droughts combined with extensive wildfires that threatens the fauna and the flora of the biome.

Concerning to the biodiversity in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, records list a total 2,241 plant species, 816 aquatic invertebrates, 263 fish species, 96 species of reptiles, 40 amphibian species, 390 bird species and 130 species of mammals¹. Among these, the Jabiru stork is highlighted for being the largest flying bird in this biome and it is considered the symbol of the Pantanal in Brazil. This biome is also considered a sanctuary for the hyacinth macaw, the capybara, the jaguar and the giant river otter – top predators of the ecosystem –, which are all well adapted to the changing environmental conditions of this big wetland.

The 2020 Pantanal Fire Event

Aiming for a better management and environmental protection, in 1998, the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE²) started a monitoring program to verify and record fires in the country. Last year (2019), in the Pantanal region, the INPE recorded 3,165 hotspots between January and August, corresponding almost entirely to dry season of the biome. As alarming this number might be to you, the scenario this year was not any better. The records of the same period for year 2020 showed that over 10,000 hotspots were recorded in Pantanal, which has led to the biggest fire event ever recorded for this area.

So far, the fire has burned over 15% of Pantanal’s total area. Even though natural fire events are common in the region during its dry season, increasing deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest and in Pantanal has been affecting the movement of the flying rivers and, hence, the rain patterns in seasonality and magnitude. Lower precipitation rates impact the water level in the wetland – as the biome faces the worst drought in 47 years –, leading to exposure of areas and vegetation that typically would be underwater, even during the dry season. As temperatures are high and the vegetation becomes exposed and dry, even small fires can thrive and ultimately develop into major fire events that are difficult to control and predict, e.g. peat fires.

According to the Integrated Multiagency of Operational Coordination Centre of Mato Grosso (CIMAN-MT), the fires of this year were caused by the anthropogenic interferences to prepare pasture lands for livestock, burning trees to acquire honey, and one accidental fire caused by an agricultural equipment. Nevertheless, even though the causes were discovered, the fire remains bringing destruction to the biome, great loss of biodiversity and seed banks, burning plants and trees, killing the animals and summing up to the global carbon emissions. Every action against the environment is a step closer to 1.5°C higher of the global warming.

Red List Assessment for notable species in the area

Pantanal has the largest concentration of jaguars in the world. Having a look at the UCN Red List assessments (2020) for some animal species that have the wetland as a sanctuary, it is noted that the jaguar is classified as “Near threatened” and its population trend is decreasing, according to the assessment dated in 2016. In regards to the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), assessed in 2014, the report categorizes it as an endangered species. Concerning the hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), that was last assessed in the Red List in 2016, the status is as a vulnerable species, with a number of 4,300 of mature individuals worldwide, presenting a decreasing trend on its population. On the other hand, the Jabiru stork (Jabiru mycteria) is classified as of least concern, having a range of 6,700 to 17,000 mature individuals; and the same classification goes for the rodent capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris).

Click here to go the UCN Red List so you can check the status of other species too!

Know how to help

The NGO WWF-Brasil is one of the many organisations that are fighting to revert this tragedy in Pantanal. If you want to know how to HELP, click HERE!

Get to know more about the Pantanal and check the biodiversity photo gallery here!

References

¹ Junk et al. (2005)

² INPE (2020)

The post SOS Pantanal: The fire that ravages the world’s largest wetland appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

The Landesnaturschutzverband Baden-Württemberg e.V. (LNV)

In Baden-Württemberg, one of the 16 German states, there are 3 large nature conservation organizations: the BUND, the NABU and the LNV. LNV is an umbrella organization with 33 member organizations including nature conservation organizations, fishing, hunting and hiking organizations.

“Sometimes there are conflicts between freetime activities like mountain biking, climbing, diving and nature conservation”, explains Gerhard Brönner, director of the LNV in Baden-Württemberg.  “The LNV tries to find solutions together with all stakeholders. Nature conservation is successful only when it follows the principle “use it or lose it”. For this reason, it has to provide benefits to everybody, otherwise it is not effective in the long run.”.

Since those associations have different opinions and ideas, the LNV mediated the creation of agreements consisting of position papers followed by the 33 organizations. These position papers are important for county working groups as they serve as a directing line for working volunteers. Brönner deplored the recent difficulty to find new volunteers:

“Most of the work is done by volunteers. That is why it is essential for us to find dedicated people. Sometimes we have the chance to be in contact with relevant persons and try to get them to volunteer at the LNV, retired public servant for instance”, he says. According to Brönner, the LNV  is recently facing difficulties to engage young people in nature conservation.

“I guess it’s due to new technology distractions, a lack of commitment or a change in generation mindset and interests”, he says.

With so many different stakeholders it takes a long time and effort to develop a common position paper — the last one took about 1 year to be written. LNV was facing difficulties with a hunting regulation, but it finally found an agreement pleasing everybody. Some of these positions are very sensible and if one of the member organization has a different opinion it cannot speak about it in the name of the LNV. It has to stay in a “grey zone” with its own opinion. However, most of the time the 33 organizations cooperate and stay united to defend their view in front of the politicians.

Budget, funding and subvention

The LNV is mainly financed by the local state subventions and organization membership fees. “The state budget varies and has to be approved annually, it is rarely sufficient”,  complains Brönner.

Each of the 33 organizations belonging to the LNV pays a membership fee based on their size, which means based on the  number of individuals in the organization. Usually only NGOs can be members, nonetheless individuals can support the LNV by paying an annual membership fee of 300€. “Those supporting individual members don’t have any voting rights. In addition, they have to be approved by the LNV’s executive board to avoid any conflict of interest. For the same reason, the LNV refuses money from companies and corporate. Unlike famous international foundations such as WWF and Greenpeace sponsored by rich donors and organizations, we prefer to be as independent as possible. Even if we received two third of our budget from state subventions, we would still criticize it openly and freely”, the director of the LNV says.

For specific projects requiring extra expenses, the LNV raises fundings through donation campaigns. “Although donations vary, most of the fundings are constant over time as public subvention and membership fees are fixed”, says Brönner. All this money is used by the LNV to act politically as a lobbyist,  so that they can pay their office staff and defray their volunteer expenses.

LNV’s role at the state level

The LNV is a consulting organization, it doesn’t deal with practical environmental protection but gives detailed opinions about projects impacting nature and organizes lobbying legal actions. Currently, there is one court case against a windmill built in an area of the red kite (Milvus milvus).

Although the planning process was done by the company together with the public and the local authorities, the planning documents were never made public. Since the windmill was composed of less than 20 turbines, the LNV had access to the planning documents only at the court. The windmill project documents contained weaknesses and the LNV asked the court to review its decision about the construction project.

The LNV aims to  mediate conflicts between renewable energy and nature conservation. The organization ensures that wind turbines don’t harm migrating birds, bioenergy land doesn’t compete with food production and hydroenergy doesn’t disturb aquatic wildlife…

“On the one hand, we don’t have enough space in Baden-Württemberg to produce all the energy we need. On the other hand, in the north-western states of Germany there is more electricity produced than needed. To solve our energy problem, there is a project to bring electricity from Morocco with windmill on the coastline and solar panels in the Sahara. Only 5–10 % of the electricity would be lost during the transport and it could provide energy to all Europe” says Bronner.

The LNV helps county administrations create landscape conservation unions and mediate nature conservation actions between towns, farmers and conservationists. It also tries to convince the state government to provide funding for every county to have his union. Since there is an increasing demand of space for infrastructures and settlements, the LNV ensures the efficient use of the scarce urban land and abundant cheap rural land. “In the countryside, we try to integrate agriculture with nature conservation. We try to make farmers have a more biodiversity friendly and still economically viable management. We need to change the policy and get away from the current agri-environment scheme which subsidizes farmers on a hectare based evaluation”, Brönner says.

To control the implementation of impact compensation in the state of Baden-Württemberg, the LNV is also creating a system where all compensation measures are documented.

Once per year, in autumn, the LNV holds the “Zukunftsforum” or translated “Forum of the Future”. The aim is to bring different stakeholders together to discuss about pressing issues: last year’s conference, for example, they discussed about the declining insect diversity. Two years ago, the forum was about environmental education and the LNV tried to convince the local government to put back the basic identification of plants and insect families into the school curriculum.

“In the forum we promoted so called Naturpark schools which are primary schools in the south of the Black Forest where children go outside and learn practical subjects about nature. Pupils also meet rangers, foresters and carpenters to widen their view on the world”, says Brönner. “Nonetheless it is difficult to create these schools because teachers lack training about nature. Thus, they are afraid to go out of the school because of security and responsibility issues. Not to mention the difficulty to get parent permission and logistic funding. Another problem is the lack of experts in various conservation fields, people who know the insect or plant species. This is mainly due of the low wages in this sector.”

LNV’s role at the national and European level

As mentioned before, the LNV is a state run organization. Nonetheless, at the federal level, the LNV is part of the “Deutscher Naturschutzring” (translated German nature conservation ring) organization which assesses and shares the most efficient policies and practices among states.

“The Deutscher Naturschutzring regularly publishes reports and organizes meetings, so there is a communication between Federal states. A good example is a recent study searching for the best conservation regulations among states. We submitted the best ones to the Ministry of Baden-Württemberg and some were added in the state law.”, Brönner says.

The organization reminds the state government about their commitment to European environmental laws such as the Habitat, Birds directives and Natura 2000, in extreme cases it can complain to the European court of justice in Brussels.

To conclude, I would like to remind all of us that “alone we go faster, but together we go further “.

If we want our Earth and people to go far, we will need to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize partnerships. Organizations like the LNV are already doing this, enhancing cooperation between different stakeholders and acting for sustainable development and use of Central European landscapes.

Written by Thuan SARZYNSKI

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We breath the air she provides,

We eat the fruits from the fields and trees around us.

And yet, we take her for granted.

She satisfies our thirst for water,

She eases us with a light rustling of green leaves when we are out of balance,

She consoles us with salty air when our hearts lust for freedom,

And yet, we take her for granted.

We heist her most precious treasures,

We spill her veins with dirty oil,

We poison her oceans with deadly plastics,

You see? We take her for granted.

She will, at some point, not longer, forgive us

The crimes and harms we throw upon her.

She will, one day, not longer, hold her anger

And show us how small and dependent we are.

She will, soon enough, unleash her forces

To conquer back her dignity and pride.

We can still change the fortune ahead,

We can still act and become better in treating our Mother,

We can still make up for our mistakes of the past

And not take her for granted no more.

Today on her day, we don’t take her for granted.

Let’s make everyday like today.

The post Earth Day – Time to Act appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Why do you want to create something epic? You say on your website you want to create something “better than reality”.

Von Wong: There are lots of documentary photographers out there, capturing great stories. I think it is important to always have a different approach. Documentaries have a very important but also a very different way to communicate with people and reach a different sort of demographic which is important. To create these epic stories, just happens to be something that I am particularly good at. I try to educate through adventure and I found that the internet likes things that are really flashy and it’s something they have never seen before. It is an effective way to communicate with an audience that is not already interested.

Your picture with a mermaid drowning in plastic bottles was exhibited at the UN Environmental Assembly in Nairobi last year. Do you see yourself as an environmentalist?

They reached out for me and asked if they could use my latest work on plastic pollution. In the end, they used around seven or eight of my pictures, some of the plastic pollution topic and some others about toxic laundry. I wasn’t invited to Nairobi unfortunately, so I did not attend the assembly. But this is what I try to do: I want my images to help people who are struggling to get their message out there. I don’t necessarily consider myself as an environmentalist, there are so many amazing environmentalists doing far more than me. At the end of the day, I am just somebody trying to do positive things with the skills I have.

How do you create an interaction between your art and people, outside of social media?

I am more focused on the online engagement for now. In the future, I would like to get more into creating installations. That is what I am doing right now: Creating installations – and after the work we destroy it. So, in many ways, I am creating temporary art installations and I would love to find a way for them to live on. The problem is that it costs a lot of money, you need a place to store it, exhibit it… Hopefully someday someone is going to say: “Hey, let’s make it something more permanent!”

Sometimes, for example with the mermaid and the plastic pollution, we transform the work into educational posters which you can buy then. And I think, we are going to do the same with the e-waste posters, so that everyone can buy it without making profit. For now, the only way to own one of the pictures is either as a gift or if it is related with charity. Maybe one day, when I become a starving artist, then I might sell them. (laughs)

Who supports you in your complex photoshoots?

Mostly it is all done by volunteers. People I never met before text me that they want to help. Mostly I post something on social media asking if anyone is in town and wants to help and people just show up. For the e-waste project, there were about 50 volunteers.

You have a background in engineering and are now a photographer – when did conservation and social aspects become important for your work?

It was about two or three years ago when I was getting off the back of a large campaign and it felt meaningless to only do advertising. So, I started to search for a purpose and tried different ways – in the beginning I was doing documentary videos and I decided I wasn’t that good at it. So, I decided to do my crazy photography instead. (laughs)

The goal right now is to get cooperation to start supporting global campaigns. And as we are starting to get more conscious, people will start to care more about what a company stands for and not just about the final product. We live in a global economy and as everyone is doing basically the same, it becomes more about what they support, what their values are. I want to get these companies more involved – something like social capitalism. (laughs)

For me, it is a little harder to work with the establishment in the conservation field because they already have their way to do things. That is why I want to concentrate on good corporate behaviour. Instead of always pointing the finger on how companies are doing the bad thing, I want to do the reverse and reward the ones doing good things. I want to bring big brands to spending more money on social impact – it’s not about taking the brands that are already doing a lot in that area but trying to encourage those who don’t have it as a primary focus.

Adidas for example, recently launched that by 2025 they want 100% of their footwear to be made from ocean plastic – these are the kind of initiatives that will carry us into the next century. If more big brands do it, more little brands will follow, too.

Do you think that companies are shifting towards “good” attitudes?

They have to because the world is going to shift. (laughs) Maybe the next 20 years they can go on like now but in the next 50 years, they can’t. Sooner or later, the world has to make this shift. And I want to accelerate this and be on that side of the battle when it comes.

In your last project about e-waste, Dell lent you all the electronic materials you needed – and took it back afterwards to recycle them. How does this recycling look like?

They sort the material and break it down to smaller parts. We were at the facility in McKinney, Texas. There, they took all the metal parts and run it through a metalogical process to separate all different types of materials. After the recycling, less than one percent of the materials goes to the landfill. It was very impressive!

Do you know what is the impact of your pictures outside of social media?

It is hard to tell who we reach. But for this campaign we are giving away a postcard for everyone who donates their electronic waste. We have 1000 postcards to give away but so far, we have no calculations about how many items we collected. I hope to have in the end a huge amount of extra recycling as the result of this campaign.

Do you see a change in awareness caused by your pictures?

There are always positive and negative reactions. Lots of parents and teachers are excited about it because they can show it to their students and it is very interesting for them to engage with it in a different way. But how do measure the efficiency of art? That is really hard.

Any ideas for new projects already?

I always like to tackle different problems with every project. So, I am always coming up with different ideas – there are like 20 different ideas in my mind. (laughs) It is then important to figure out the one that works out and finding the right people to collaborate with, finding the right stories to tell.

e-Waste, sharks, plastic bottles – they don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other. Where and how do you get your inspiration?

With the work I do, I try to connect with different people who care about the same things. Often, they say “Hey, I saw your work, would you like to talk?” and I just say yes to everybody – and sometimes, the project becomes real. One of the projects that we are launching next month was similar: We got access to a huge facility in Cambodia to raise awareness for the environmental costs of fast fashion – just because I talked to this one girl by chance. It is always about finding the people who are passionate about making a difference. We will publish our project about this probably close to Earth Day on April 22nd.

Do you have a message you would like to spread?

Participate in the challenge, recycle your e-waste, get a free card at rethinkandrecycle.com!

Thank you for your time, Benjamin!

Thank you so much!

The post “I want to reward companies with a good impact” appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

To find out when I consume palm oil, I had to do some research. What exactly is the term for palm oil, written in the very thin and very small letters at the back side of shampoo bottles or sizzling plastic bags? Actually, there are more than 200 names which hide the original ingredient palm oil: They can be cryptic like Caprylic triglyceride or they sound like the short names of diseases for example APG or BTMS. A lot of food products for instance don’t use the term palm oil but the much broader term “vegetable oil”. But the most common designations I stumbled upon were Sodium Laureth Sulfate and nebulous circumscriptions containing the word “Coco” or “Coca” – like Cocamidopropyl Betaine and Cocamide MEA. My self-experiment thus consisted of many looks at the backside of packaging and sometimes almost frustrating research for unknown words and terms.

So, my week of tracking palm oil in my life starts on Monday, already at breakfast time: Normally, I prepare a porridge with some fruits. To make it a little bit tastier, I add a teaspoon of peanut butter – which in my case contains “palm fat from certified organic agriculture.” This would be the first thing to delete from my daily food then. I am skiing this week, so instead of having a proper lunch, there is this genius invention of granola bars. Here I find palm oil as an ingredient as well. In the shower I have a closer look at shampoo and shower gels: The gel is from Lavera, a natural cosmetic brand – and still it contains Sodium Coco Sulfate – again an indicator for palm oil, coming from “certified organic agriculture”, as the brand promises. The shampoo on the other hand is just from Nivea and reading through the ingredients I find the term Cocamidopropyl Betaine. Afterwards I search for this term in the internet and – surprise! – it is another expression for palm oil.

On Tuesday, there isn’t much of a change as I use mostly the same products. Just the granola bar is another one; and still it has palm oil in it.

Wednesday I realize that I have forgotten to check some more products: First of all, the toothpaste I use every morning. It has Sodium Lauryl Sulfate listed as an ingredient – by now I know this is palm oil. Secondly, as we are in the mountains and there is a lot of sun, we need sunscreen every day. The sunscreen I use as contains astonishingly no palm oil, but when I do some research on the ingredients I figure out there is a substance which is suspected to cause cancer. Great – no palm oil, but cancer-causing. My daily face cream also doesn’t have palm oil listed in the ingredients, but I find coconut oil. This is, as known from the previous article about palm oil, not necessarily a better alternative. In the evening, after a long day on the slope, I treat myself with Milka chocolate. It is incredibly tasty – but then I realize I should check for palm oil. And on this purple-white packaging, it is firstly written in the easiest way to detect: palm oil. The former incredibly sweet and tasty chocolate in my mouth starts beginning to taste a bit like a small crime.

On Thursday, we go cross-country skiing which is much more exhausting than just sliding down the slopes. Therefore, I took a Balisto bar for more sugar and therefore more energy. Looking at the backside of the colourful plastic foil, our sought-after ingredient hides behind the term hardened palm fat. Before cooking in the evening, I wash my hands and realize that I also didn’t check the soap in the bathroom. It actually contains two palm-oil based ingredients: Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Cocamide MEA.

Leaving the mountains on Friday noon, I am able to go to the birthday party of two friends in the evening. They prepared some pizzas and chips and other goodies. I attract some astonishing looks as I crawl almost inside the cupboard to dig into the trash bin to find the packaging. When I finally find them, palm oil is listed on the carton of the pizzas and Tortilla chips are made of corn, salt and palm oil.

On Saturday, astonishingly, nothing new adds to the list of palm oil containing ingredients. At least, that is what I think. Until I check the can of roasted nuts for ingredients – palm oil is one of the main components next to the nuts themselves.

Sunday evening, there are wraps for dinner. The whiteish wheat-based flat cakes are shrink-wrapped and I don’t really think that palm oil could be an ingredient of this basic dough. But I am wrong: Even here, palm oil is used for the mixture of the wraps.

After this week of tracking down palm oil, I am quite unsure which products I can use with a good conscience. But as in the first article on palm oil it becomes evident that we can – at least partly – control the use of palm oil by establishing a conscious way of consumption. Not only considering palm oil, but all products that contain alternative oils like coconut oil or rapeseed oil.

The post Experiment: Tracking down palm oil appeared first on Global Change Ecology.