Under the slogan “with the sea in our heart,” scientists, conservationists, tour guides and national and international advocacy groups are promoting a debt-for-nature swap aimed at dramatically expanding the size of the marine reserve surrounding Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands. The initiative, begun by an Ecuadorian citizens network called Más Galápagos and joined by 160 domestic and international organizations, aims to more than triple the size of the Galápagos Marine Reserve. Currently 133,000 square kilometers (51,400 sq. miles), the species-rich reserve would be expanded by 445,953 sq. kms (172,183 sq. miles), with the shape tailored to conserve key marine ecosystems while at the same time designating areas for sustainable fishing. Under the plan, US$1 billion of Ecuadorian sovereign debt would be purchased at a discounted rate and retired with help from the Pew Foundation, the International Development Finance Corporation and the Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO). An estimated US...
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Some 700 hectares (1,730 acres) of Costa Rica’s Guanacaste National Park burned this month in one of the area’s largest fires in years, threatening wildlife in an important biological corridor. The fire began on March 4 and authorities suspect it may have been started by illegal hunters inside the park. It burned for nearly 48 hours before it was extinguished on March 6. The fire killed animals, plants and trees that had been growing undisturbed for 20 years, setting back efforts to reforest the area, according to the Guanacaste Conservation Agency. The forest helps retain and filter water that feeds a reservoir serving the nearby town of Colonia Bolaños. The fire also destroyed large swaths of grass in the park, which could lead to erosion, says Luis Diego Román Madriz, coordinator of the national fire management program. While fires are common in Guanacaste during the dry months of December through...
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The Guatemalan Agriculture, Livestock and Food Ministry (MAGA) has issued a second six-month phytosanitary state of emergency amid an ongoing locust plague that has raised concerns about food security in northern regions of the country. MAGA announced the original state of emergency on July 24, 2020, and on Jan. 25 declared another was needed to control the outbreak, says Víctor Hugo Guzmán, Guatemala’s Vice Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Health and Regulations. In July, the International Organization of Regional Agriculture Health (OIRSA) issued an alert for the Mexico, Central America and Caribbean region to prepare steps aimed at slowing the spread of the locusts (Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons), which in early 2020 were reported in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. OIRSA has created an action plan to help Mexico and Central American and Caribbean countries monitor and combat the plague, with components including the creation of special teams to fumigate infested...
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The 2020-21 overwintering population of eastern monarch butterflies in Mexico was an estimated 26% smaller than that of the year before, says a report issued last month by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and partner organizations. Eastern monarchs (Danaus plexippus) are found east of the Rocky Mountains and account for an estimated 99% of the monarch butterflies in North America. They typically migrate to oyamel fir (Abies religiosa) forestland in the central states of Michoacán and Mexico for the winter. For 17 years, WWF-Mexico has led an annual survey based not on a count of individual monarchs but, rather, on the acreage of forest they cover as they roost in dense clusters in the trees. The 2020-21 survey, issued last month, found that as of December the overwintering monarchs occupied 5.18 acres of forest, down from seven acres in 2019. The survey points to a continuing loss in the...
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