Mountain environments are rich in plant and animal species, but the dual threat of human habitation and climate change means urgent action is needed to protect them.
Protesters interrupt a speech by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — demanding that the government stop invading Indigenous land — during the opening ceremony of COP15, the UN conference on biodiversity, in Montréal, on Dec. 6, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
In order to meet its 2030 biodiversity targets, Canada is heavily relying on Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas, which could do more harm than good for First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
Conserving nature in cities can help protect the biodiversity within them.
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We cannot think of nature as something set aside in wildernesses, far from human activity. We need to conserve some elements of nature everywhere, including in the cities we live in.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau addresses the 2022 UN biodiversity conference in Montreal.
Reuters/Alamy Stock Photo/Christinne Muschi
Global summits to arrest Earth’s deteriorating health look increasingly farcical.
The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted their new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework on Dec.19, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
As protected and conserved areas increase, an equity-based approach that respects Indigenous rights can help bring the transformative changes we need to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
New research finds nearly 30% of land animals could disappear form their local area by 2100 due to climate change and habitat destruction. This is more than double previous predictions.
Asian elephants in a tea plantation in Assam, India.
Assam Haathi Project, A. Zimmermann
Human-wildlife conflict can undermine public support for conservation.
Businesses and investors have a critical role to play in biodiversity and conservation efforts and need to invest in sustainable production and extraction methods.
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Almost 200 countries are reckoning with the world’s extraordinary loss of the variety of life at the COP15 nature summit in Canada. Here’s why Indigenous involvement is crucial.
Digital technologies like drones are being heavily promoted to address the threats of climate change and biodiversity loss.
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China’s international lending projects have big potential impacts on oceans and coasts. By cooperating more closely with host countries, Beijing can make those projects more sustainable.
The Fulford Harbour sea garden clam bed was built by First Nations in the Salish Sea near Salt Spring Island, B.C. Despite growing recognition that lands managed by Indigenous Peoples are, on average, more biodiverse, biodiversity conservation has typically marginalized Indigenous Peoples.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
As we set conservation goals for the next decade, we need to evaluate what worked and what didn’t in our efforts to meet the 2020 biodiversity conservation targets.
Global biodiversity summits have so far lacked a clear target, but this could change if COP15 agrees on the 30x30 initiative to protect 30% of land and sea by the end of this decade.
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University
Professor of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg; Research Associate, Stellenbosch University; Professor of Sociology of Development and Change, Wageningen University