Erik Hoffner

To help address the biodiversity crisis, momentum has been gaining around establishing and tracking protected areas (PAs) and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to achieve 30-by-30, the conserving of 30% of our Earth by 2030. However, a wide variety of conservation efforts occur beyond PAs and OECMs, often led by actors that are traditionally […]

To help address the biodiversity crisis, momentum has been gaining around establishing and tracking protected areas (PAs) and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to achieve 30-by-30, the conserving of 30% of our Earth by 2030. However, a wide variety of conservation efforts occur beyond PAs and OECMs, often led by actors that are traditionally underrepresented in global databases. How do we track global conservation progress to best support inclusive and equitable conservation? Currently, global area-based conservation progress is officially tracked by the World Databases on Protected Areas (WDPA) and on Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM). These databases rely primarily on reporting by governments. However, it is possible to approach the challenge of recognizing conservation areas differently. A more inclusive, bottom-up, and empirically-based approach, parallel to the official process, can look holistically to where people are already managing areas with conservation intent, or in ways that have potential conservation outcomes. To be effective, the approach should engage local knowledge and embrace diverse inputs, rather than defaulting to top-down guidance with predefined criteria. To illustrate the importance of a more inclusive approach of tracking conservation progress, we tested such an approach in the Amazonian countries and territories, and uncovered some unique insights. By simply utilizing existing literature, reports, legal documents, and local expertise, we already get a better idea of conservation progress and potential than official databases. For instance, we found that more than 40% of the land area of all nine Amazonian countries is governed with conservation potential or…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Mammal-watching tourism has traditionally focused on large, charismatic species, such as the African ‘big five' (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo) or humpback whales in California and New England.

Decarbonizing transportation systems generally involves replacing traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars with electric vehicles (EVs). But any conversation about decarbonizing transport that only talks about cars is way too narrow, says Jessika Richter, associate senior lecturer at Lund University in Sweden, who researches policy related to circular economies and the technologies associated with them. […]

From 11 to 22 November, the world will be looking to leaders to ramp up action and financial support for nations on the frontlines of climate change.

It is always puzzling to witness the immense hype surrounding COPs (conferences of the parties to international conventions or treaties). Back in 2009, Barack Obama had just been elected U.S. President. His arrival in Copenhagen, the host city of that year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), brought so many expectations. Some would argue that despite his star power, COP15 only managed a last-minute deal to save face. Despite the complexity of the climate COP, every year it is heralded as a crucial juncture in the ongoing battle against climate change. However, it consistently falls short of meeting the expectations of those advocating for swift action in light of the stark warnings presented by scientific research. A recent comprehensive assessment of planetary health, unprecedented in its scope, sounded the alarm that the Earth is surpassing safe thresholds. This begs the question: why are politicians and policymakers not responding with a comparable sense of urgency? Once again, this year, representatives from over 198 countries are gearing up to head to Baku, Azerbaijan, for COP29 to push climate action forward with their usual energy and enthusiasm – perhaps a good thing, as the daunting nature of the process makes it only possible for optimists to stand its slow nature. While it could be credited for enabling incremental change, it falls short in achieving the transformative change demanded by science and activists. Worst still, its ability to deliver what Africa needs regarding financial solutions to address the urgent impacts of climate on its…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Conservation has always been an uphill battle but this has never deterred conservationists from continuing to struggle to make a difference, even if their strategies have not halted the extinction crisis.

What a week. The global biodiversity conference in Cali, Colombia (COP16) had just concluded. And then Trump got re-elected as President of the United States. Clearly the latter puts an enormous damper on the former. That is, if one believes that the Cali conference actually made significant progress in terms of tackling the biodiversity crisis. Surely, the conference produced some positive outcomes: Indigenous peoples have been granted permanent representation at the United Nations and companies need to pay more for ‘nature’s genetics’ to produce drugs. But overall, most agree that COP16 did not lay the groundwork for the dramatic action so urgently needed to address the biodiversity crisis. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. International environmental meetings consistently fail to halt the crises they are meant to address. And in the meantime, the biodiversity crisis keeps going from bad to worse. The massive, climate change-induced fires raging in the largest wetland on Earth, the Brazilian Pantanal, and their staggering impacts on biodiversity, are just one of the latest illustrations. Fires raged in the world’s largest wetland, Brazil’s Pantanal, this year. Image courtesy of Gustavo Figueiroa / Environmental Justice Foundation This is why a growing group, of which we are part, have been pushing hard for a systemic alternative, a ‘convivial conservation’ that confronts the root causes of the crisis: an unjust capitalist economy bent on continual growth through land use change, resource extraction and worker exploitation. To some, this seems radical. And if radical is defined etymologically as ‘going to the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Todd Smith didn’t intend to quit his career as a commercial pilot, but a visit to the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru, which has been receding by about 60 meters, or 200 feet, per year, prompted a frank personal examination of the airline industry’s impacts on the planet. During a subsequent medical leave, he decided […]

Todd Smith didn’t intend to quit his career as a commercial pilot, but a visit to the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru, which has been receding by about 60 meters, or 200 feet, per year, prompted a frank personal examination of the airline industry’s impacts on the planet. During a subsequent medical leave, he decided to quit his dream job and leave the industry, for good. Today, Smith is co-founder of the organization Safe Landing, which advocates for an aviation industry transition that adapts to the realities of climate change, adheres to carbon budgets, and ensures long-term employment for those who work in it. He joins the Mongabay Newscast to speak with Rachel Donald about his move away from being a pilot to advocating for industry reform, and what the industry needs to do to effect sustainable change. “I don’t really want anyone to be grounded in the way that I have. I would love for an aviation worker to come into the industry and have a long-term career in an industry that’s compatible with the climate science,” Smith says on this episode. “If we do less now, then we might actually have a budget left when in 15 or 20 years’ time we have a next generation of aircraft, if we can scale green hydrogen, if there’s enough renewable energy to do that.” Smith’s testimony gives credence to the fact that 50% of carbon emissions from the airline industry come from a tiny fraction — just 1% — of…This article was originally published on Mongabay