Dear friends and co-fighters,

Welcome to the next issue of Positive News.

Let you spread it among your friends and co-fighters in your countries and around the Earth.

I will be glad to receive and publish your positive news from the fields and offices.

Sviatoslav Zabelin, SEU coordinator

Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for November 25, 2021. №38

Amendment to Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill following LSE report on decapod and cephalopod sentience. From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, The Rt Hon Lord Benyon, and The Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith Published 19 November 2021 The scope of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill has today been extended to recognise lobsters, octopus and crabs and all other decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs as sentient beings. The move follows the findings of a government-commissioned independent review by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) which concluded there is strong scientific evidence decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs are sentient. The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill already recognises all animals with a backbone (vertebrates) as sentient beings. However, unlike some other invertebrates (animals without a backbone ), decapod crustaceans and cephalopods have complex central nervous systems, one of the key hallmarks of sentience. Read more

The village of Kampung Naga in Indonesia’s West Java province has for decades eschewed modernization for a way of life rooted in a deep spiritual connection to nature. Kampung Naga families have worked for generations to preserve the forest in the Ciwulan River Basin, all under the guidance of a customary rule book.

Children at play in Kampung Naga. Image by Donny Iqbal for Mongabay.

They have also worked to reintroduce more than 10 variants of rice seeds that were phased out during the 1950s in favor of new higher-yield varieties. Today, Kampung Naga offers a limited form of tourism, aimed at presenting the community’s customary traditions to a handful of curious outsiders at a time. Read more

In the Altai Republic, on the Ukok plateau, on the section of the border with Mongolia, 14 kilometers of engineering and technical structures for the free migration of wild animals were dismantled. The work was carried out by employees of the Directorate of Specially Protected Natural Territories of the Altai Republic with the support of WWF Russia and the World Around You Foundation of Siberian Wellness Corporation in coordination with the Border Department of the FSB of Russia for the Altai Republic.

Engineering and technical structures on the high-altitude Ukok plateau were installed back in the eighties of the last century on the Ukok plateau, where the borders of four states converge: Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China. The structures are a long fence stretching tens of kilometers with rows of barbed wire stretched between wooden poles. At the same time, the Ukok Plateau is a unique natural area, a habitat for rare species of animals, a UNESCO Natural heritage site, where in 2005 a natural park "Ukok Rest Zone" was created here. Barbed wire fences have blocked the migration routes of animals for many years, destroyed wild animals and birds who tried to overcome the barrier, and maimed the livestock of cattle breeders who live on the Ukok plateau. Read more

The UK’s largest urban rewilding project was approved. It was one of the engine rooms of the Industrial Revolution. Now the English city of Derby is to become a pioneer again – this time in the field of rewilding.  Its council has approved plans to turn the city’s 320-acre Allestree Park into a haven for wildlife. It will be the largest urban rewilding project in the UK. The council says the reimagined park will be a “natural health service” for residents, providing them with opportunities to connect with nature. How exactly the park will be transformed depends on the outcome of a public consultation. However, it will likely involve the creation of woodlands, wetlands and orchards. Species such as the water vole and the harvest mouse are also being mooted for reintroduction. Dr Jo Smith, CEO of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said: “This is a big moment for Derby – an opportunity for the city to lead the way on creating vital wild spaces within urban environments – it’s more important than ever before, with the climate and nature crisis worsening.” Read more

The first surveys to count jaguars in Mexico revealed a 20% increase in the population from 2010 to 2018, up to 4,800 animals. Conservation strategies targeted the most urgent threats to jaguars, and prioritized protecting wildlife preserves and natural corridors.

Mexico’s National Alliance for Jaguar Conservation united the government, people living near protected areas, and the private sector in plans to conserve the iconic species. Read more

The Chilean subspecies of the burrowing parrot used to be on the brink of extinction, with small fragmented populations scattered throughout the country. Conservation measures adopted 35 years ago have now seen the number of parrots increase from 217 to nearly 4,500.

Key to this success has been the protection of one of the bird’s key habitats, Río de los Cipreses National Reserve, and the native plants it depends on for food. Conservationists say they’re hopeful the burrowing parrot is on track to repopulating areas from where it has gone extinct; sightings have even been reported near Santiago, Chile’s capital. Red more

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is spawning in an explosion of color as the World Heritage-listed natural wonder recovers from life-threatening coral bleaching episodes. Scientists on Tuesday night recorded the corals fertilizing billions of offspring by casting sperm and eggs into the Pacific Ocean off the Queensland state coastal city of Cairns.

The spawning event lasts for two or three days. The network of 2,500 reefs covering 348,000 square kilometers (134,000 square miles) suffered significantly from coral bleaching caused by unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2016, 2017 and last year. The bleaching damaged two-thirds of the coral. Read more

Right to repair campaigners claimed victory over Apple. People will soon be able to repair broken iPhones at home, after Apple agreed to make manuals, tools and some parts publicly available. The move follows pressure from the right to repair movement, which campaigns for home repairs to be made easier to prolong the life of products. Apple will make screens, batteries and other parts available in the US and EU from 2022 – but only for the iPhone 12 and newer models. Campaigners cautiously welcomed the move, but said spares would need to be affordable. “This move represents a major reversal from Apple, who have spent untold millions lobbying against legislation which would require them to do this,” said Chloé Mikolajczak of Right to Repair Europe. Right to repair legislation – covering washing machines, fridges and TVs – came into effect in the UK and EU this year. Campaigners are petitioning for other items, including phones, to be included in the law. Read more

In her first major policy action, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an ordinance on Monday to divest public funds from fossil fuels. The measure prohibits public investment in any financial instrument deriving more than 15% of its revenue from fossil fuels, as well as from tobacco products or jail or prison facilities. "Boston, as a finance hub, is looked to for leadership. By signing this ordinance, Mayor Wu signals that she is serious [and] that Boston is serious" about pursuing climate goals, Mary Cerulli, founder of Climate Finance Action, told the Boston Globe.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu delivers remarks after being sworn in on Nov. 16, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. Wu is the city's first woman and person of color elected to the post. Scott Eisen / Getty Images

Boston is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and is already spending millions of dollars on short-term projects to prevent flooding in its subway system, the oldest in the country. The ordinance does not apply to the city's pension investments, which are governed by state law. The divestment ordinance is the latest in a growing drumbeat of divestment moves, including by New York City and Harvard University earlier this year. Read more