Half the world must be set aside for nature, says Canadian conservationist
Posted in Library, Multi-Media, News & Publications, Papers & Publications on 08/29/17
Originally published August 27, 2017 by CBC Radio Canada Listen to the full radio segment > Harvey Locke is a self-described "free range conservationist". His ancestors lived in the mountains of the Bow Valley before Banff became a national park, and he still lives in the town of Banff. He happily shares his property with wildlife. It's not rare for a grizzly bear, or a wolf, or a 700-pound elk to wander...
Read MoreSafeguarding space for nature, securing our future
Posted in Blog, News & Publications on 08/1/17
From our colleagues at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) WHEN: 27 Feb - 28 Feb 2018 WHERE: Huxley Lecture Theatre, Main Meeting Rooms, Zoological Society of London, Outer Circle, Regents Park, NW1 4RY REGISTER: www.zsl.org/ticket/safeguarding-space-for-nature-securing-our-future-both-days We are rapidly losing Earth’s wild species and wild spaces, with global vertebrate populations set to decline by two-thirds by 2020. Under the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have pledged to protect,...
Read MoreFrom Laggard to Leader?
Posted in Library, News & Publications, Papers & Publications on 07/26/17
Canada's renewed focus on protecting nature could deliver results Originally published by Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Executive Summary CANADA IS A COUNTRY DEEPLY CONNECTED TO NATURE. It underpins our sense of place, our well-being, and our economy. Maintaining the health of Canada’s ecosystems to sustain wildlife and people requires the creation of an extensive network of protected natural areas as the foundation for effective nature conservation strategies. This...
Read MoreAccelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction
Posted in Library, News & Publications on 07/26/17
By: Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich, Anthony D. Barnosky, Andrés García, Robert M. Pringle, Todd M. Palmer Originally published in Science Advances The oft-repeated claim that Earth’s biota is entering a sixth “mass extinction” depends on clearly demonstrating that current extinction rates are far above the “background” rates prevailing between the five previous mass extinctions. Earlier estimates of extinction rates have been criticized for using assumptions that might overestimate the severity...
Read MoreNature for the People
Posted in Library, News & Publications, Papers & Publications on 07/26/17
Nature for the People: Toward a Democratic Vision for the Biosphere Originally published by Erle Ellis in the Breakthrough Institute Read the full article here > Introductory Comments by: Ted Nordhaus, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Breakthrough Institute For over a decade, landscape ecologist Erle Ellis has marshalled an enormous trove of archaeological, paleontological, and historical evidence to demonstrate that humans have been terraforming the Earth for many,...
Read MoreProgress In Canada's Boreal Forest Shows We Can Protect Half Of Nature
Posted in News & Publications, Papers & Publications on 06/1/17
Originally posted on 15 May 2017, by Jeff Wells on the Huffington Post In the midst of a steady stream of grim reports about the environment, a new study offers a welcome ray of hope. Researchers have determined that there are still hundreds of regions around the globe healthy enough to help maintain clean air and water, support rich animal and plant life and slow climate change. If we act...
Read MoreWhat is needed to protect our wild lands, waters, and animals?
Posted in News & Publications, Papers & Publications on 06/1/17
Originally published on 2 May 2017, by Jeff Wells on CPAWS How many people know the truth about what is needed to maintain our wild animals, plants, clean air, clean water, and other values that keep us humans alive and healthy? Still not enough, apparently, as the last global protected areas target that most countries of the world signed on to in 2010 (the so-called Aichi target) was to protect...
Read MoreIf we want a whole Earth, Nature Needs Half: a response to Büscher et al.
Posted in News & Publications, Papers & Publications on 06/1/17
Published on 27 April 2017, Cambridge University Press Büscher et al.'s (2016) recent article ‘Half-Earth or Whole Earth? Radical ideas for conservation, and their implications’ raises some important issues for conservation, but it paints a misleading picture of the Nature Needs Half movement. Nature Needs Half expresses three main tenets: (1) habitat loss and degradation are the leading causes of biodiversity loss, (2) current protected areas are not extensive enough...
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Protecting Half Is Still Possible
Posted in News & Publications, Papers & Publications on 04/14/17
An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm A new study published in BioScience today examines a bold new approach to halting the world’s extinction crisis through a strategy to protect 50% of the Earth’s land mass. Many vertebrate species have vanished over the past 5 decades or have become critically endangered and the rate of extinction is accelerating. If habitat conversion continues unabated, key ecosystems could collapse,...
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