Info, news & views for anyone interested in biodiversity conservation and good environmental decision making
“We’re in a war!” proclaimed New York’s Governor, Kathy Hochul, during her Xmas day emergency news conference. “We’re at war with Mother Nature, and she’s been hitting us with everything she has.”
[and see item 3]
In this issue of Dbytes
1. Transforming Conservation, A Practical Guide to Evidence and Decision Making
2. Biodiversity breakthrough or time to stop global environmental meetings altogether?
3. The first casualty – do we really want a war with Mother Nature?
4. The Anti-Shark Exhibit at the Australian Museum
5. Normalise the ‘wanting to quit’ feels in academia
6. Towards a transformative governance of the Amazon
7. Assessing the impact of referred actions on protected matters under Australia’s national environmental legislation
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1. Transforming Conservation, A Practical Guide to Evidence and Decision Making
Edited by William Sutherland, Open Book Publishers
Free to read online or download pdf or buy hard copy.
There are severe problems with the decision-making processes currently widely used, leading to ineffective use of evidence, faulty decisions, wasting of resources and the erosion of public and political support. In this book an international team of experts provide solutions.
Transforming Conservation: A Practical Guide to Evidence and Decision Making | Open Book Publishers
And see Bill Sutherland’s blog on the book and evidence based decision making here
Transforming Conservation: A Practical Guide to Evidence and Decision Making (wordpress.com)
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2. Biodiversity breakthrough or time to stop global environmental meetings altogether?
The big biodiversity conference in Montreal from 7-19 December was described as the event that will decide on the ‘fate of the entire living world’. Its outcome to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 is regarded by some as ‘historic’, but in reality promotes more business-as-usual. Have global environmental meetings reached the end of their usefulness? Or is hanging on to them worth it in the face of worsening environmental crises?
Biodiversity breakthrough or time to stop global environmental meetings altogether? – Undisciplined Environments
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3. The first casualty – do we really want a war with Mother Nature?
Our world is sinking; climate disruption is unpicking the very fabric of humanity’s identity; our belief in a future with certainty is withering. In response, people are calling for action, big action, revolutionary responses as only occur in a time of war, and the calls are growing more strident and desperate. But be careful about what you wish for. In war, society’s norms are thrown out the window. Truth is no longer regulated by our institutions, chaos reigns.
https://sustainabilitybites.home.blog/2023/01/17/the-first-casualty-do-we-really-want-a-war-with-mother-nature/
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4. The Anti-Shark Exhibit at the Australian Museum
“Never before have I seen a shark exhibit do so much damage to so many sharks in so casual a manner. The public is misinformed by this show, which is wrapped in pseudo-science from actual scientists. The flaws are many, but the fact is that the Australian Museum has put together one of the scariest exhibits on sharks in the past 20 years.”
Chris Pepin-Neff
https://pepin-neff.medium.com/review-the-anti-shark-exhibit-at-the-australian-museum-7572c217c14
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5. Normalise the ‘wanting to quit’ feels in academia
Manu Saunders: “We don’t talk enough about thinking about quitting academia. We tend to focus on the two extremes, the success stories in academia vs the reasons many people quit. But what about the more common middle ground?”
Normalise the ‘wanting to quit’ feels in academia – Ecology is not a dirty word
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6. Towards a transformative governance of the Amazon
Joana Castro Pereira & João Terrenas, Global Policy
The crises of the Anthropocene can neither be confronted incrementally nor through short-term, reductionist strategies. As the risk of severe, irreversible socioecological damage increases, transformative change towards achieving long-term sustainability becomes ever-pressing. Against this backdrop, we explore how transformative governance can help strengthen ecosystem resilience, empower vulnerable communities and ensure sustainable development in the Amazon. The article starts by briefly reviewing the concept of transformative governance, arguing that it provides an adequate framework for thinking about and responding to the challenges of the Anthropocene. It then looks at how extant governance practices are destroying and fragmenting the Amazon, eroding the resilience of regional ecosystems. It proceeds by investigating how the Andes–Amazon–Atlantic Corridor, a transnational project aligned with the normative commitments and operational principles of transformative governance, aimed at protecting, restoring and building socioecological connectivity in the region, can offer an alternative pathway for Amazonian development in the new geological epoch.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.13163
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7. Assessing the impact of referred actions on protected matters under Australia’s national environmental legislation
The authors examine the vegetation loss that is referred to the Australian Government under the EPBC Act for consideration. They compared the threatened species, migratory species and ecological community habitat loss that occurs under “controlled action” and “not controlled action” determinations. Contrary to expectations, no significant difference could be found between the amount of habitat removed on average under the two referral types, after applying an index that considers the number of species impacted and the proportion of their ranges. The work highlights the importance of considering cumulative impacts and the need for quantitative thresholds when determining if a significant impact is likely.
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.12860
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About Dbytes
Dbytes is a weekly eNewsletter presenting news and views on biodiversity conservation and environmental decision science. ‘D’ stands for ‘Decision’ and refers to all the ingredients that go into good, fair and just decision-making in relation to the environment.
From 2007-2018 Dbytes was supported by a variety of research networks and primarily the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED). From 2019 Dbytes is being produced by David Salt (Ywords). Dbytes is supported by the Global Water Forum.
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