Antpittas living in Refugio Paz de las Aves, a small, family-owned nature preserve in Ecuador’s Chocó cloud forest, can breathe easier. That’s because a GoFundMe campaign organized to prevent the likely deforestation of the 49-hectare (129-acre) property reached the US$160,000 mark by July 26—exceeding its goal by $5,000. The future of the reserve, known in the birding world for the ability of co-owner Ángel Paz to coax rare antpittas and other bird species into view for visitors, became uncertain following the death of Paz’s mother last year. Of her nine children, all but two—Ángel and his brother Rodrigo—wanted to sell the land, which would likely have been bought for use as a dairy or ranching operation. But Ángel and Rodrigo signed an agreement in April to buy the property from their siblings so it could remain a private reserve and continue hosting...
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Colombian President-elect Gustavo Petro, who has pledged to promote renewable energy and tackle climate change, announced this month that environmental advocate and political scientist Susana Muhamad will be the country’s next environment minister. Slated to take office along with Petro on August 7, Muhamad has promised to put environmental issues at the top of the government’s agenda and protect natural habitats that she says have long been ignored. Muhamad served as the Bogotá city environment secretary during 2012-2015 when Petro was mayor, a period in which the city drafted a climate action plan and introduced hybrid public buses and electric taxis. She is currently vice-president of Humane Colombia, a left-wing political movement led by Petro, and previously worked for organizations campaigning to eliminate oil and gas development that involves hydraulic fracturing. “Change isn’t easy, and we know change is hard, but we have a government willing to...
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The migratory monarch butterfly drew a surge of media scrutiny this month when the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) placed the insect on its Red List of Threatened Species, classifying it as endangered. The July 21 listing by the IUCN, a worldwide network of public and private conservation entities, applies to the migratory subspecies of the monarch whose scientific name is Danaus plexippus plexippus. This subspecies comprises two populations, the larger of which lives east of the Rocky Mountains and migrates from overwintering locations in central Mexico to breeding areas spread across the eastern and midwest United States and southern Canada. The far smaller western population overwinters on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. state of California and the Mexican state of Baja California, and breeds in inland areas west of the Rockies. The IUCN estimates that overall, migratory monarch numbers have declined 22% to 72% over the...
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Uruguay has decided to adopt European Union (EU) regulations for certifying organic fruit, vegetables, honey and other foods grown domestically and imported. In doing so, the country joins South American nations Argentina and Peru in embracing EU organic standards. It also discontinues the Participative System of Guarantees, the standards regimen it used until mid-2021 for organic certifications. Though producers will have to make changes, the new scheme will ensure “the organic integrity” of their goods while accounting for the “new prevailing demands of potential international markets,” Leonardo Olivera, director of agricultural services for the Uruguayan Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), told EcoAméricas this month. Olivera says that the biggest adjustment will be that organic producers will no longer be allowed to use manure from feedlots as fertilizer because the chickens and cows that produce it eat grains that are not organically grown. Organic farms will continue to...
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