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Sviatoslav Zabelin, SEU coordinator

Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for September 25, 2021. №34

September 26 is World Rivers Day.  

Advocates from across the globe gathered at the IUCN World Conservation Congress to highlight the precipitous growth of the movement to recognize the rights of rivers and watersheds. The press conference also marked the approximate one year anniversary of the formal launch of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Rivers (“Declaration”), a civil society initiative to define the basic rights to which all rivers are entitled. According to its proponents, the Declaration intends to build awareness and serve as a customizable legal model for governments wishing to join the rights of rivers movement. Over the past year, rights have been recognized or declared for (at minimum) Boulder Creek and the Boulder Creek Watershed (Nederland, USA, mirroring some language from the Declaration), the Magpie River (Canada), waterways in Orange County, Florida (USA), the Alpayacu River (Ecuador), and the Paraná River and Wetlands (Rosario, Argentina). In contrast to traditional environmental laws that recognize Nature as mere human property, this legal precedent acknowledges that rivers, watersheds, and other natural entities are living entities with rights. With regards to the Declaration, it now has support from close to 1,700 individuals and 211 organizations from over forty countries. Numerous ‘rights of rivers’ campaigns also incorporate parts of the Declaration, including in El Salvador (rights of the Lempa River), France (rights of the Tavignanu River), Mexico (rights of all rivers in Oaxaca), Nigeria (rights of the River Ethiope), Pakistan (rights of the Indus Delta and River), Serbia, and the UK (rights of the River Frome). Additionally, last week, 16 IUCN members co-sponsored an emergency motion calling upon IUCN members to endorse the Declaration, although it did not pass.  Read more

Dozens of American Indian tribes asked the Biden administration Tuesday to immediately enact emergency protections for gray wolves, saying states have become too aggressive in hunting the animal. Groups representing the tribes sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland asking her to act quickly on an emergency petition they filed in May to relist the wolf as endangered or threatened.

They also asked Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico and the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency, to relist the wolf on an emergency basis for 240 days, ensuring immediate protection. The groups say that states have enacted "anti-wolf" policies that present "a real potential of decimating wolf populations." Read more

Garter snakes are some of the most beautiful on the planet, with bright colorful ribbons of blue, red, and black lining their little bodies. They've also become one of the most threatened species due to rapid urbanization, habitat destruction, and climate change, including in the San Francisco Bay Area. Luckily, the San Francisco airport (SFO) has risen to the snake's defense.

Across from its huge transit hub, SFO has reserved 180 acres for approximately 1,300 of these gorgeous, vulnerable snakes to survive and thrive. We need to keep this momentum going! The area, called "Bayshore," is reserved exclusively for wildlife, with the public banned from entering. Staff have cultivated the area to meet the snakes' needs, providing ponds, long grasses, and also protections for their favorite food, the red-legged frog (also an endangered species). This type of unofficial refuge is hugely important for threatened species, and SFO officials have stated that they are committed to providing a safe home for these snakes and frogs over time. But so far, that's just based on the goodness of their hearts. Read more

A small furry marsupial that roamed the grassy plains of Australia's Victoria state has been brought back from the brink of extinction, officials say. Numbers of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot plummeted because of non-native foxes, habitat destruction and feral cats. Now, after 30 years of conservation efforts, the number has jumped from just 150 animals to an estimated 1,500. It is the first time Australia has changed the status of an animal from "extinct in the wild" to "endangered".

The Eastern Barred Bandicoot has been bumped off the Australian state of Victoria's "extinct in the wild" list

When recorded population levels of the bandicoots plunged in the years leading up to the late 1980s, conservation teams in the state of Victoria invested millions of dollars setting up captive breeding programmes. They created predator-free sites - some of which were protected by trained dogs - and moved some of the animals to fox-free islands. Read more

Once infamous for its smog, Beijing and its pollution-prone neighbour – Hubei province – have recorded their best monthly air quality levels since records began. Beijing’s municipal government said that the average concentration of lung-damaging particles known as PM2.5 was 16 micrograms per cubic metre in July, which is the lowest reading since 2013. Efforts have been made to reduce pollution since the ‘air-pocalypse’ event of 2013, when levels of PM2.5 reached 900 micrograms per cubic metre. They include shutting down smut-belching factories, reducing vehicle emissions, and controlling the burning of rubbish. Read more

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed one of the nation’s most ambitious state-level clean energy plans into law on Wednesday. “​​After years of debate and discussion, science has prevailed, and we are charting a new future that works to mitigate the impacts of climate change here in Illinois,” Pritzker said in a statement. The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, or SB 2408, puts Illinois on track for a carbon-free power sector by 2045 and 100 percent clean energy by 2050. It includes equity and electric transportation provisions, holds utilities accountable, and increases funding for renewables. The legislation makes Illinois the first Midwest state to require a carbon-free future, joining California, Hawaii, New Mexico, New York, Virginia, and Washington. Jeff Deyette, the director of state policy and analysis for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Climate and Energy program, said the bill is unique because it goes beyond clean energy targets by centering communities and people in a way that other states’ commitments haven’t. “This could serve as a catalyst to Congress, to show there’s an urgency here to act,” said Deyette. “What Illinois has shown is that diverse stakeholders can come together.” He added that Illinois is the first major coal-producing state in the nation to commit to a carbon-free future. Read more

A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule, first proposed in May, will lower the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) 85 percent over the next 15 years. HFCs have a thousand times the heat-trapping potency of carbon dioxide and often leak through pipes or appliances that use compressed refrigerants like air-conditioners and refrigerators.

Air conditioning systems on buildings with the New York skyline in the background from Gutenberg, New Jersey on May 4, 2021. The EPA has moved to regulate HFCs, powerful greenhouse gases central to refrigeration and air-conditioning. Kena Betancur / VIEWpress / Corbis via Getty Images

The White House says the rule will cut the equivalent of three years' worth of climate pollution from the electricity sector, and is an important way to show America's commitment to dealing with climate change before the upcoming climate summit in Glasgow. Business interests that use HFCs are largely supportive of the rule, telling The New York Times it is "good for the environment, good for the economy, and good for trade." A growing number of refrigerator and air-conditioning manufacturers have already moved to limit their use of HFCs and offer new models that use a more climate-friendly alternative. Scientists estimate that a global push to reduce HFCs could avoid a half degree Celsius of global warming over this century. Read more