Conservation Effectiveness News Today

Protected areas (PAs) are the primary strategy for slowing terrestrial biodiversity loss. Although expansion of PA coverage is prioritized under the Convention on Biological Diversity, it remains unknown whether PAs mitigate declines across the tetrapod tree of life and to what extent land cover and climate change modify PA effectiveness1,2. Here we analysed rates of change in abundance of 2,239 terrestrial vertebrate populations across the globe. On average, vertebrate populations declined five...

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Today we discuss newly released data for 2020 that shows an increase in deforestation even as efforts to replant forests are sprouting up all over the world. Listen here: Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler joins us to unpack the 2020 deforestation data and how it fits into broader trends affecting global forest cover. We […]

How to pick a tree-planting project? Mongabay launches transparency tool to help potential supporters decide by Liz Kimbrough on 17 May 2021 Mongabay has put together a database to show whether tree-planting and reforestation projects publicly disclose the criteria that experts say are keys to success. Our directory is built on a three-month research effort to record publicly available information on more than 350 tree-planting projects in 80 countries. Rather than make an assessment (and perc...

Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says? by Mike Gaworecki on 13 May 2021 As the world searches for solutions to global climate change, tree planting has become increasingly popular, with ambitious campaigns aiming to plant billions or trillions of trees. These projects often have other environmental goals, too, like regulating water cycles, halting soil erosion and restoring wildlife habitat. They also often have socioeconomic goals, like alleviating poverty. But how effectiv...