Human rights-based conservation is key to protecting biodiversity: Study
by Liz Kimbrough on 23 December 2020
To slow the rapid loss of global biodiversity, many countries have made commitments to protect and conserve large areas of land in the coming decades, but the fate of the Indigenous peoples, local communities and Afro-descendants who live on these lands remains unclear.
Past approaches to creating protected areas have involved relocating people or banning access and traditional use of land from its historical inhabitants. An estimated 136 million people have been displaced in the process of formally protecting land.
A new study addresses the risks Indigenous peoples, local communities and Afro-descendants face from exclusionary conservation measures and urges decision-makers to adapt rights-based conservation approaches.
Federation to publish first report on Taiwan’s birds
MILESTONE: The report highlights threats such as the degradation of wetlands, and compiles long-term data gathered by researchers, citizen scientists and birders
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
The Taiwan Wild Bird Federation yesterday said that it would publish the nation’s first comprehensive report on the 674 wild bird species documented in Taiwan and the threats facing them, hailing it as a milestone for the nation’s biodiversity conservation efforts.
The federation made the announcement along with the Council of Agriculture’s Endemic Species Research Institute at a news conference in Taipei, with Scott Pursner, director of the federation’s international affairs, providing simultaneous translation in English.
By Zhou Lin · 2020-12-21 · Source: China Today
In November 2020, the new British ambassador to China Caroline Wilson paid her first visit to south China after she took office. At Shenzhen’s Lianhuashan Bus Terminal, Wilson visited the world’s first and largest pure electric bus operator - Shenzhen Bus Group Co., Ltd. She experienced a ride on a pure electric double-decker bus used for tourism and sightseeing produced by BYD Auto Co., Ltd., a Shenzhen-based Chinese automakerknown for its battery-electric vehicles. Wilson said the bus was clean and beautifully designed. After paying for the ride by scanning a QR code, she boarded and mounted to the second floor of the bus to begin her “zero-emission” journey.
SCOTLAND has failed to meet international targets to prevent wildlife from becoming extinct by 2020 - despite ministers insisting last year they were on track, the Herald can reveal. An analysis by Scotland s countryside agency, NatureScot, seen by the Herald reveals that efforts to protect endangered animals and plants were “insufficient” to meet 11 of 20 agreed United Nations (UN) targets by 2020. Two years ago, the Scottish Government agency, then known as the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), admitted it was failing to meet 13 of the 20 targets. The Scottish Government had required a full assessment on performance in meeting the targets by the end of 2020. It has yet to be published.