Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for October 29, 2023. № 61

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Sviatoslav Zabelin, SEU coordinator

Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for October 29, 2023. №61

Altai State Natural Biosphere Reserve is a specially protected natural area in the Altai Mountains. It was founded in 1932 in order to preserve the unique natural complex of Lake Teletskoye and the Pryteletskaya taiga. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Golden Mountains of Altai". The entire right bank of Lake Teletskoye and 22 thousand hectares of its water area are located in a protected area. The territory is almost impassable, if you do not use the rare trails laid by foresters and employees of the reserve.

An Indonesian court has rejected lawsuits filed by two plantation companies operating in the Tanah Merah mega oil palm plantation project in the country’s Papua region. The ruling means the companies are legally required to stop clearing forest in their concessions and preserve what remains.

Gregorius Yame from the Papuan Indigenous People of the Awyu Tribe, attends the hearing on the case of revocation of forest area permits at the Administration Court (PTUN), Jakarta. Hendrikus Frangky Woro and Gregorius Yame became witnesses for the defendant in relation to a lawsuit filed by two oil palm plantation companies in the Boven Digoel area, PT. Kartika Cipta Pratama (KCP) and PT. Megakarya Jaya Raya (MJR) against the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) for the Revocation of Forest Area Permits. Image courtesy of Muhammad Adimaja / Greenpeace.

Activists and Indigenous Awyu people living in the area have welcomed the ruling, but point out that communities in the concession areas still don’t have legal recognition of their ancestral rights to these forests. They’ve called on the government to formally recognize their ancestral rights and ensure the companies’ permits to the concessions are revoked. Read more

In 2016, conservationists began restoring the island of Redonda, part of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, by removing invasive rats and goats. Shortly after removing these invasive species, vegetation on the island sprang back to life, and seabirds and other wildlife recolonized the island.

Seabirds on Redonda Island cliffs. Image © Ed Marshall / Fauna & Flora.

In September 2023, the government of Antigua and Barbuda announced it had established the Redonda Ecosystem Reserve, covering nearly 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of land and sea. Experts say they hope Redonda’s restoration and successive protection will be used as a model for similar projects across the Caribbean. Read more

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 59 percent in September compared to the same month last year, official data showed, confirming a positive trend that began after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to power this year.

Burnt trees after illegal fires were lit by farmers in Manaquiri, Amazonas state, on September 6, 2023

However, it hit new highs in the tropical savannah region known as the Cerrado, south of the Amazon, which has been hit by incursions from farming companies. Some 590 square kilometers (230 square miles) were deforested last month in the Brazilian part of the world's largest tropical forest, compared to around 1,454 square kilometers in September 2022, according to satellite data collected by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Read more

The European Commission adopted the first European Bicycle Declaration. It emphasizes that cycling is a sustainable, affordable and healthy mode of transport that brings significant economic benefits to the European Union. The bicycle Declaration contains 8 principles and 36 obligations to ensure the safety and convenience of cycling, among which: the creation of connected bicycle road networks in cities, the organization of bicycle storage and charging stations for electric bicycles, as well as the construction of "bike highways" connecting cities with each other and with rural areas. Read more

Half of the world’s economies are already five years past a peak in fossil-fuelled power generation, with the majority of that output displaced by clean electricity, concludes a new analysis released this morning by London, UK-based energy think tank Ember.

“Not many people realize just how many countries’ power sectors are already well into a phase of fossil decline,” said Ember’s head of data insights, Dave Jones. “For many countries, this was done simultaneously to rising electricity demand.” Out of a dataset of electricity figures from 215 countries, 107 economies accounting for 38% of global electricity demand are at least five years past peak fossil power, with emissions falling 20% in the last decade, Ember found. And “economies that are at least one year past a peak in fossil power represent 50% of global demand, setting the stage for a peak and subsequent decline in global power sector emissions.” Some 78 of these economies have displaced fossil fuels from their power sectors through clean electricity growth in the years since a post-2000 fossil power high, Ember said in a release. “As many as 45 of them did so despite an increase in overall electricity generation, in most cases driven by an increase in electricity demand.” Read more

EU legislators on Tuesday, October 24, voted to slash the use of pesticides by half across the bloc, despite opposition from some conservative groups. But green politicians regretted the rejection of a proposed symbolic declaration calling for a complete ban on the controversial weedkiller glyphosate. A parliamentary commission rejected making a declaration a month before the 27 member states are due to decide on appeal whether to extend the use of glyphosate, something the WHO fears could be carcinogenic.

In this file photo, a French farmer sprays a glyphosate herbicide made by agrochemical giant Monsanto, in northwestern France on September 16, 2019. JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

Earlier this month the bloc failed to agree to do so as divisions emerged and the matter will now go to an appeals committee in early November. Tuesday saw the EU's environment committee vote by a narrow majority – 47 votes to 37– to set binding targets on reducing pesticide use that targets a 50% reduction by 2030. The pesticides judged the most hazardous will see use pared back by two-thirds compared with 2013-2017. The committee has also banned the use of pesticides in designated sensitive areas, including public parks, around schools and at Natura 2000 protection sites. Read more

	10.09 | В мире Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for September 09, 2023. №60
	14.07 | В мире Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for July 14, 2023. №59
	31.03 | В мире Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for March 31, 2023. №58

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