Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for October 20, 2024. №70

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.

Welcome to send us photos of your country's Nature Reserves.

Sviatoslav Zabelin, SEU coordinator

Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for October 20, 2024. №70

Banner image: In the valley of the Besh-Tash River, in the mountains of the Talas range, the Besh-Tash National Park (Five Stones) stretches for 30 km, created on August 02, 1996. The area of its territory is more than 32 thousand hectares. An unprecedented variety of flora and fauna is collected in this corner of nature.  More than a thousand species of plants grow here, including the rare endangered species. In this picturesque place, beautiful forests of Tien Shan spruce with an admixture of Semenov fir have been preserved. The reserve, located at an altitude of almost four kilometers, is surrounded on three sides by numerous mountain ranges. The majestic Besh Tash River descends from the upper reaches of the mountains, which is constantly fed by huge mountain glaciers.

After nearly a quarter of a century observing one of the world’s most famous sea turtle nesting grounds, Charikleia Minotou is convinced of one thing: nature, she says, has a way of “sending messages”. Along the sandy shores of Sekania, on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, what she has seen both this year and last, has been beyond her wildest dreams. The beach, long described as the Mediterranean’s greatest “maternity ward” for the Caretta caretta loggerhead sea turtle, has become host to not only record numbers of nests, but record numbers of surviving hatchlings as the species makes an extraordinary resurgence.

A loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) off Elafonissos island in Greece, where the rebound in population has been phenomenal. Photograph: Giacomo Augugliaro/Getty Images

“The message sea turtles are sending is very clear,” said Minotou, who coordinates the WWF programme in the protected area. “And that is the measures we have taken over the past 25 years to ensure conditions are right for the marine turtles to nest here are working … It’s fantastic.” Read more

The Biobío River is now the first ecosystem to have a Declaration of Rights in Chile.  The communities of Defensa Ribera Norte Chiguayante, situated downstream on the Biobío River, and Malen Leubü, located in Alto Biobío, alongside the NGOs Defensa Ambiental, Manzana Verde, International Rivers, and Earth Law Center, proudly announced the launch of the Declaration of the Rights of the Biobío River, after following exhaustive studies and consultations along the river’s expanse.

Photos here (credit: Defensa Ambiental)

This historic declaration seeks to rekindle the bond between communities and their river while safeguarding the rights of Chile’s Biobío River against mounting environmental threats. Supported by the Somos Cuenca initiative, the Declaration of the Rights of the Biobío River is currently open for endorsements from both national and international organizations, as well as the general public. The full document can be read and signed here. Read more

Cambodia’s environment minister has ordered a ban on forest clearance at a hydropower project site where activists and media, including Mongabay, previously reported indications of illegal logging.

Activists on the ground found evidence that huge logs of valuable timber are being extracted by workers at the Stung Meteuk hydropower project. Image supplied by Tat Oudom.

The Stung Meteuk hydropower project is being developed by a company under Ly Yong Phat, a ruling party senator notorious for a long history of environmentally and socially destructive businesses. In April, Mongabay documented the illegal logging operations at the project site, where logging routes had been cut leading into the nearby Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary. Activists have welcomed the order to halt forest clearance, but say they’re skeptical the ban will be enforced against such a powerful figure, noting that timber processing continues at the site. Read more

In advance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the U.S., the federal government announced a new national marine sanctuary off the coast of California that will be co-managed with tribes and Indigenous groups in the area. The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sactuary will be the third-largest federally protected  stretch of water, encompassing more than 11,600 square kilometers (4,500 square miles) of ocean along 186 km (116 mi) of California coastline. The new marine sanctuary is at the confluence of warm southern currents and cold northern currents, which together provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including migrating whales, sea turtles and sea otters.

The region boasts a variety of diverse ecosystems including kelp forests, sandy beaches, underwater mountains and rocky reefs. The sanctuary will be co-managed among the government, which will provide additional monitoring and scientific research, and local tribal peoples who will provide technical expertise and traditional knowledge. “Being able to address climate change, use traditional ecological knowledge, and participate in co-management is Indigenous peoples’ contribution to saving the planet,” Violet Sage Walker told NPR. Walker is chairwoman of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, which led the campaign for the sanctuary more than a decade ago. Walker’s father spearheaded the effort; she said it was his dying wish to see the area protected. Read more

In the shadow of the Didcot power station in Oxfordshire, a small group of people sat around a kitchen table and thought “let’s replace it” with green community energy. That was in 2011. Now, in 2024, that little group has become the Low Carbon Hub with 1,773 members and 55 renewable energy installations around Oxford, including two hydroelectric dams on the River Thames. Meanwhile, the Didcot power station is half-demolished, no longer burning coal or belching greenhouse gases into the air.

Osney Lock Hydro uses energy from the river to power 50 homes. Photograph: Low Carbon Hub

“The ambition was really that we just believed a better energy system is possible, one that’s not powered by fossil fuels, and one that benefits local people,” says Beth McAllister, the head of communications for the community energy group. “We build renewable energy projects that are owned by people and that benefit local people. All of our profits go back into sort of community action.” The hub does what they call a “double carbon cut”: profits from the sale of excess electricity back to the grid partly go back to investors as a small return, but the rest is spent on community benefits such as better insulating schools and other buildings. This means less energy is used to heat them. Read more

California is tackling the problem of textile and fashion waste with the country’s first law that requires clothing companies to implement a recycling system for the garments they sell. Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed SB 707, the Responsible Textile Recovery Act.

Piotr Lapinski / NurPhoto via Getty Images

The new law requires a clothing, apparel and textile extended producer responsibility (EPR) program, as defined by lawmakers, reported Waste Today. “I’m very proud to see SB 707 signed into law. It will have a major positive impact on California’s environment and communities,” said state Democratic Senator Josh Newman, who authored the bill, as Sourcing Journal reported. “SB 707 isn’t just about recycling; it’s about transforming the way we think about textile waste.” Read more

01.10 | В мире Digest of Socio-Ecological Union International for October 01, 2024. №69

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