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Two lions

Nearly 20,000 animals seized in global wildlife trafficking crackdown

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Big cats, birds, primates, and pangolins were among the nearly 20,000 animals rescued in a recent global operation against wildlife and forestry traffickers. Led by Interpol and the World Customs Organization, the campaign involved police, customs, border patrol, forestry, and wildlife officials from 138 countries. Six transnational criminal networks suspected of trafficking animals and plants were identified, with 365 arrests made.

Brazilian Indigenous protest victory

Indigenous protests in Brazil topple law seen as threat to rural schools

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After 23 days of protests, Indigenous groups and teachers in the Brazilian state of Pará have successfully pressured Governor Helder Barbalho to revoke a controversial education law that favored online learning in remote communities and slashed benefits for teachers. According to Indigenous leaders and the local teachers’ union, the law eliminated the existing education framework, cut teachers’ incomes, including a transportation allowance for teachers to reach remote communities.

School of fish

Marshall Islands protects ‘pristine’ Pacific corals with first marine sanctuary

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The Marshall Islands government has announced it will protect an area of the Pacific Ocean described as one of the most “remote, pristine” marine ecosystems on Earth. The 18,500-square-mile marine sanctuary covers two of the country’s northernmost uninhabited atolls and the surrounding deep sea, and it is the first federal marine protected area (MPA) established by the Pacific Island nation. Fishing and other extractive activities will now be strictly forbidden, future-proofing the area against threats and formalizing protections.

Crane bird in the snow

Critically endangered Siberian crane populations have increased by nearly 50% over last decade

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The Siberian crane, known for its extremely long and arduous annual journeys, is one of the world’s rarest cranes. Its western and central populations are nearly extinct today. Most Siberian cranes that remain belong to the eastern population, which migrates between northeastern Russia and China. By 2012, researchers estimated there were around 3,500-4,000 individuals left in this eastern population. The latest bird counts from Russia and China suggest their numbers have nearly doubled to 7,000 individuals thanks to concerted habitat protection efforts.

Basking shark

South Australia bans fishing of many sharks and rays in its waters

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The state of South Australia has banned fishing of several endangered or critically endangered sharks and rays in its waters.
The state government said the new rules prohibit both recreational and commercial fishing of critically endangered species such as the whitefin swellshark, oceanic whitetip shark, gray nurse shark, and green sawfish; as well as endangered ones like the greeneye spurdog, southern dogfish, and basking shark. Additionally, fishing of all stingarees in the genus Urolophus and skates in the genera Dipturus and Dentiraja are banned.

Onager

Asiatic wild asses return to Saudi Arabia after 100 years

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It’s been a century since an onager or Asiatic wild ass was last seen in Saudi Arabia. But in April this year, seven onagers were relocated from neighboring Jordan into one of Saudi Arabia’s nature reserves. One of the onagers has even birthed a female foal since then. Saudi Arabia was historically home to the Syrian wild ass , an onager subspecies that was hunted into extinction in the 1920s. But with the Syrian onager gone forever, it’s closest living relative, the Persian onager from Jordan, “was deemed the best alternative sub-species with which to re-populate the Middle East.”

Brazilian flag

Brazil passes law to cap emissions and regulate carbon market

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Brazil will join the short list of countries, which includes China, Mexico, and Kazakhstan, and most E.U. member states, with a nationwide regulated carbon emissions system. The Brazilian government and the law’s proponents in the industrial sector say a regulated market will encourage companies to adopt low-carbon technologies and innovate toward greener production methods. Fines for not complying will be largely rerouted toward Brazil’s national climate change fund and administrative costs, with 5% of the fines destined to compensate Indigenous communities.

Turkmenistan flag

Turkmenistan to join global wildlife trade convention CITES

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The Central Asian nation is set to join the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) beginning in 2025. Home to many charismatic and widely traded species, such as the Persian leopard, snow leopard, peregrine falcon and markhor goat, this move is a step toward regulating the legal wildlife trade and preventing the illegal trade in Turkmenistan and the whole of Central Asia.

A Aerial Photo Of Fredericksburg Va on a clear fall day

Rappahannock Tribe first in U.S. to enshrine rights of nature into constitution

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The Rappahannock Tribe in Virginia has become the first tribal nation in the U.S. to adopt a tribal constitution that grants legal rights to a river, specifically protecting the Rappahannock River’s rights to exist, flourish, and maintain clean water. The provisions allows legal cases on behalf of the river itself, with a tribal court system planned for 2025 to enforce these rights. The Rappahannock’s actions are part of a rights-of-nature movement that includes Ecuador’s constitutional recognition of these rights in 2008 and New Zealand granting legal personhood to the Whanganui River in 2017.

Sea turtle swimming

Local groups drive creation of new Puerto Rico marine protected area

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The marine protected area (MPA), named Jardines Submarinos de Vega Baja y Manatí or the Vega Baja and Manatí Underwater Gardens, spans 77 square miles and is the culmination of a 16-year effort by ­­a coalition of local communities and NGOs. It’s comprised of several critically important ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds, and is home to more than a dozen threatened species, including the greater Caribbean manatee and several species of sea turtles.

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