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.

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

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Sviatoslav Zabelin, SEU coordinator

Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for February 17, 2022. №43

Banner image: The Beringia National Park preserves the unique natural and historical and cultural heritage of Chukotka, whose inhabitants are the first on the planet to greet the morning of a new day: the date line passes through the Bering Strait. The easternmost specially protected natural area in Russia is located at the junction of two continents - Eurasia and North America, and two oceans — the Pacific and Arctic. Here are the only deep-sea fjords in the Far East, formed as a result of the movement of tectonic plates. The area of the national park "Beringia" exceeds 18 thousand square kilometers.

Despite the harsh climate, the Arctic tundra and coastal waters are rich in flora and fauna: the world's largest walrus rookeries are located here, the hubbub of huge bird markets does not subside, and herds of whales live in oceanic waters, swimming in the summer to work up fat.

© Maksim Antipin / Beringia National Park

A study carried out by scientists in 18 countries found tropical forests to be more resilient than once believed and largely capable of regenerating over just a few decades. The study analyzed 2,200 patches of forest in West Africa and Central and South America, including areas of the Atlantic and Amazon rainforests. In the areas studied, soil richness was restored about 10 years after deforestation; after 25 years, the forests’ structure and function had fully returned. However, biodiversity took longer to fully return, at an average of 120 years.

This illustration shows the results of the study revealing the regeneration rate of four tropical forest attributes (soil, structure, ecosystem function and biodiversity) in deforested areas over 20, 40, 80 and 120 years. Image by 2ndFOR/Pixels&Ink (CC BY-ND).

But enabling this low-cost regeneration and supporting restoration and conservation projects requires three things: understanding each area’s different characteristics; halting the deforestation; and keeping nearby healthy primary forests standing. These were the conclusions of the unprecedented study carried out by 2ndFOR, a collaborative research network focusing on secondary forests. Read more

Africa’s Giraffe Populations Are Rebounding. Giraffe numbers across Africa have grown to 117,000—more than 20% higher than the population in 2015. Across 21 surveyed countries, northern, reticulated, and Masai giraffes have significantly increased in numbers, and southern giraffes have remained relatively stable.

“While advanced survey methods may be the reason for some of the increase in population estimates, there has been very positive indicators that conservation programs on the ground are also having a profound impact,” says biologist Jenna Stacy-Dawes in this National Geographic article.  Read more

In 2007, the first pair of giant anteaters was reintroduced into Argentina’s Iberá reserve, a region from which it had gone extinct decades earlier. The success of that program created the blueprint for reintroducing other native species, including Pampas deer, giant river otters, and red-and-green macaws.The reintroduction program rescued anteaters from hunters and people keeping them as pets in northern Argentina.

Today, more than 200 anteaters live free in four population centers in the Iberá reserve. Read more

Cuba recently declared that it had established a new marine protected area off the country’s northwestern coast known as the Este del Archipiélago de Los Colorados. The new MPA spans 728 square kilometers (281 square miles), and will provide protection for a number of species, like hawksbill turtles, Antillean manatees, and reef fish like snappers and groupers.

Hawksbill turtle. Image © Noel Lopez / WCS.

The MPA was established with the support of the fishing community since the protected area should help replenish fish stocks. Read more

The population of monarch butterflies overwintering in California has increased a hundredfold, according to an annual count: more than 247,000 butterflies were counted in 2021, up from 2,000 butterflies in 2020. Scientists are unsure why numbers have soared, but speculate it is due to a suite of environmental factors including climate and food resources.

Image of a monarch by Laurie Boyle via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Although this year’s count is overwhelmingly positive, the population has still plummeted from historic numbers; more than 1.2 million butterflies were recorded in 1997.Pesticide- and herbicide‐intensive agriculture, urban sprawl, pollution, and climate change have contributed to the global decline of insects, including monarchs. Read more

A butterfly that disappeared from England in 1976 has established a stable population in Northamptonshire. The chequered skipper has been the subject of a furtive reintroduction programme, the location of which was kept secret to avoid enthusiasts descending on the site. However, this week conservationists revealed that the population in Fineshade Wood is now stable enough for the public to visit. It follows extensive habitat management to ensure the woods are suitable for the insects. “We are delighted to be able to reveal their location so that butterfly enthusiasts can come and enjoy spotting them in the wild in England for the first time in more than 40 years,” said Dr Dan Hoare of the charity Butterfly Conservation. Read more

A judge restored federal protections for gray wolves across much of the U.S. on Thursday, after their removal in the waning days of the Trump administration exposed the predators to hunting that critics said would undermine their rebound from widespread extermination early last century. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, Calif., said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without protection under the Endangered Species Act. Wildlife advocates had sued the agency last year.

The ruling does not directly impact wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming and portions of several adjacent states. Those animals remain under state jurisdiction after federal protections in that region were lifted by Congress last decade. Read more

Appeals Court Confirms that Historic Climate Lawsuit Will Proceed in State Court. Colorado win is the first major decision following the Supreme Court’s 2021 BP v. Baltimore ruling. February 8, 2022, Denver, Colo. – In the first ruling of its kind, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled today that the historic climate accountability lawsuits filed by Boulder County, San Miguel County, and the City of Boulder will continue to proceed in state, rather than federal, court. This decision sets a precedent for more than two dozen similar cases across the country.

The cases, against oil companies Exxon Mobil and Suncor for their decades of misinformation and other contributions to the climate crisis, had been proceeding in state court following an initial decision from the Tenth Circuit in 2020. Last year, however, the Supreme Court decided in BP v. Baltimore that the appeals court had to take another look at the issues in this case and several other climate accountability cases. 

“This is a massive win for the people of Colorado and for all communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis,” said Marco Simons, General Counsel for EarthRights International, which represents the plaintiff communities. Read more