somethingswearegettingright

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WELCOME to Number #7 somethingswearegettingright

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Welcome to our?Seventh Edition of the?somthingswearegettingright newsletter.

Here, we offer a brief digest of?5 or 6 inspirational posts from the past two weeks’ environmental news. So much that is positive is taking place – so some things we are (clearly) getting right!

In this weeks edition:

• Launch of the Biodiversity Builders Base
• 75 reasons to celebrate trees
• A handful of American songbirds and a hurricane called Lee
• A new U.N. treaty to protect the world's oceans was signed by 67 countries this week
• Brazil strengthens climate goals and targets 48% lower emissions by 2025
• World Rhino Day – some Good news from @FransSheppers
• Spurn Migration festival – a wildlife festival that is true to its name

What we are doing needs to be celebrated. We need to remember all the thousands of projects and successes, large and small. It may be wilding a hedge, or planting a pond. It might be a more ambitious re-introduction of a lost species. or launching a database of eco-projects. Whatever it is, it is part of the momentum that we are creating, with thousands upon thousands of committed individuals all over the world. This weekly space is to serve two goals. One is highlighting a handful of amazing projects that I have found inspiring. And the other is helping to remind us that we are making progress together in this collective endeavor for our planet.

Please take action by subscribing to #somethingswearegettingright.?

There is so much amazing environmental work going on out there that deserves to be celebrated! This week. Next week. And every week! Here goes!?

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Saturday 7th October

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I want to open this Seventh Edition with a huge thanks to the 183 amazing people who have subscribed to #somethingswearegettingright. Thank you for following us, and for following the good news. Please look at our first article on Oliver Dauert 's Biodiversity Builders Base – there are many amazing people and projects listed here. Gaining visibility for each project is huge – and next week we also have the Blue Earth Summit in Bristol. I will be reporting as best I can on some of the keynotes and other highlights of this important rendezvous for our beautiful Planet.?

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Wednesday 4th October

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Some amazing news here from Oliver Dauert – introducing his Biodiversity Builders Base

I am sharing his post here (link to original post at the bottom of this article)

You can't scale your nature venture? You can't find a job in the nature field? Here is my solution. Introducing: The free Biodiversity Builders Base. Next week, I will be at the?Blue Earth Summit . While this is great for me, I don't find it fair that other biodiversity builders can't go. So, I was looking for a way that you all could benefit from this, too.

The idea is simple:?We must collaborate more to stop biodiversity loss.

?? What does the Biodiversity Builder Base do??

1. Makes it easy to be found by others?

2. Share how you make the world wilder

3. Share your current roadblocks

4. We all have a reference point we can send people to if they are looking for investment, people, etc.

??♂? Who is this for??

1. Passionate people who want to find a job in the nature field?

2. Nature ventures experiencing roadblocks (investment, talents, grants, not enough customers etc.)

?? Real-life examples:?

1. Passionate people like?Efrat Kadosh ,?Ramona Bulexa ?or?Chris Clarke ?want to dedicate their full-time to nature, but currently have a hard time finding opportunities.

2.?Peter Jeffs ?&?Tom Constable ?have 2 incredible nature ventures and are currently looking for funding, sponsorships, podcast guests & co.

?? 2 things you can do (links in comments)

1. If you have a nature venture or are looking for a job/freelance mission, add yourself via the 2 min form?

2. Share the base far & wide so that others can help those in the base or add themselves.

This will be extremely handy for me next week to promote you. But why stop there? Let's bring the Biodiversity Builder Base to life so we all can constantly collaborate and help one another. No one can fix the nature crisis by themselves. But together we have a chance!

P.S. Tag 1 person/nature venture that deserves to get more attention, funding, a job in nature etc.

#nature ?#biodiversity ?#regeneration ?#collaboration ?#biodiversitybuildersbase

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/oliver-dauert-49016075_nature-biodiversity-regeneration-activity-7115256497420263424-OP-g

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Tuesday 26th September

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75 reasons to celebrate trees.

75 GOODNESS OF THE TREES – My DEEP ETHNOECOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHY

By?Dr Raziq Kakar

Dr Raziq Kakar is a deep ethnoecologist, ethnobotanist, and desert explorer. Here, he has learned knowledge from nature and the people. He shares his understanding of the trees with the people. He loves trees and nature and spends time with nature to heal his soul. Here are the 75 goodnesses of the trees in the following lines of his post. Here are the first ten to whet your appetite! ? 1. The chlorophyll (green powerhouse) in the leaves transforms solar energy into chemical energy

1. Trees provide shade to animals and human beings
2. Cooling of air by transpiration, hence conserves energy costs on cooling
3. Trees conserve water, a tree is a huge water reservoir
4. The fruits we eat come from the trees
5. Foods other than fruits like leaves, barks, roots, gums, etc come from the trees
6. Trees bring a diverse group of people together and provide a great social opportunity and unity
7. Animals’ feed, especially the drylands??” trees with edible leaves and pods
8. Nesting opportunities for birds, act as birds’ sanctuaries
9. Habitat for insects, rodents, birds, and many other animals as a tree is a colony for them

There are 65 more reasons to love and celebrate trees in the link below! Truly awesome! https://arkbiodiv.com/2020/10/14/71-goodness-of-the-trees-my-deep-ethnoecological-philosophy/

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Monday 25th September

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The fascinating story of a handful of American songbirds and a hurricane called Lee. No this is not a rarity in the repertoire of Bob Dylan.

A record-breaking number of extremely rare North American songbirds have arrived in the UK this week, blown over the Atlantic in the aftermath of Hurricane Lee. More than a dozen species of small songbirds – one of which has never been seen in the UK before – were sent veering off their usual migration routes by the high winds. It was “the largest such arrival ever recorded in the British Isles”, said Dr. Alexander Lees, a reader at Manchester Metropolitan University and the chair of the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee. “One species hasn’t been seen before, and several have only been recorded once or twice.”

So far, 15 species have been spotted, with 49 individual birds. Included is the Canada warbler, which has never been seen before in the UK. Meanwhile, the bay-breasted warbler had only its second-ever UK sighting, and the magnolia warbler its third. All were spotted in Pembrokeshire, which got the lion’s share of activity.

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It is astonishing how an event such as this storm can impact migrating birds, yet having seen some of the amazing avian "migration maps" it must be relatively common for birds to be blown off-route by storms. This must have impacted evolution, presenting new species to (potentially) fecund habitats, throughout the evolution of the bird nations. Many British birdwatchers were delighted, and I have to say it is wonderful to see so many following the flight paths of these little-winged-wonders with such passion and assiduity.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/25/canada-warbler-magnolia-uber-rare-american-birds-land-in-uk-aoe

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Sunday 24th September

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A new U.N. treaty to protect the world's oceans has been signed

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Following a number of comments to my post, I want to preface here that any treaty or declaration which is not enforced, may as well not be signed. We need commitment, accountability. I fully acknowledge that many treaties are signed, and then ignored. It is nonetheless my hope that the treaty mentioned below will begin a process of change for our oceans. My own country (Britain) itself is far from transparent in the handling of its own Maritime Protection Areas. It is clear that if we cannot even enforce these, what point in being a signatory of yet another treaty? That said, we have to start somewhere. And we have to use our own "people-power" to hold the political community to account. All said, I sincerely hope that this Treaty represents a positive step, no matter how small.

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A new U.N. treaty to protect the world's oceans was signed by 67 countries on Wednesday, another step in efforts to reverse the damage done to fragile marine environments by overfishing and other human activities.

The global pact to conserve biodiversity on the high seas was?finally agreed in March?and formally adopted by the United Nations in June. It is seen as a crucial tool to meet a target agreed last year to protect 30% of the earth's land and sea by 2030, known as "30 by 30."

Despite the nearly 70 signatures at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, the treaty needs to be ratified on a national level before it goes into effect. "With the signature of the High Seas Treaty, we can safeguard the ocean from human pressures, and get closer to our objective of protecting at least 30% of the planet by 2030," said European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevi?ius, calling the treaty "our constitution for the ocean.”

This is the good news, though, it is apparent that the Treaty has – despite the nearly 70 signatures at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday – to be ratified on a national level before it goes into effect. This is a serious weakness, because it is clear this will take implementation time, and it may be that some Governments will not actually ratify it. According to the UN, Sixty-seven countries signed the treaty on the first day of the meeting, including the United States, China, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, and Mexico as well as the European Union as a whole, according to the?UN.

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/dozens-nations-sign-un-ocean-treaty-implementation-still-awaits-2023-09-20/

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Saturday 23rd September

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Excellent news: Reuters reports that Brazil will strengthen climate goals, targeting 48% lower emissions by 2025.

The country's environment minister Marina Silva told the United Nations' Climate Ambition Summit in New York on Wednesday, that Brazil aims to cut its emissions by 48% by 2025, as she issued a revised set of stronger climate goals. By 2030, Brazil aims to cut its emissions by 53% compared with 2005 levels, Silva added on behalf of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

I find this particularly encouraging, and in total contrast to the retrograde motion of Britain, a country that has lost its compass...

Whatever the practicalities of the Brazil developments, it is clear that many changes, reductions in the use of fossil fuels, and encouragement of better practices in industry, in homes, are going to be key to a hands-on effort. The elephant in the room is of course the electric vehicle, and as one brave person recently suggested, the only thing the EV might potentially save is the automobile industry. It seems to me that a radical reduction in our use of petrol and diesel, be accompanied by massive improvements in public transportation. In my own view, EVs have a major role to play in reducing urban pollution, in buses and utility vehicles, accompanied by serious roll-outs and sponsorship of public transport. We all too easily forget the?"Beeching cuts"?– a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the?nationalized?railway system in Great Britain?in the 1960s.

They were named after?Richard Beeching, then-chair of the?British Railways Board?and the author of two reports?–?The Reshaping of British Railways?(1963) and?The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes?(1965)?– that outlined the necessity of improving the efficiency of the railways and the plan for achieving this through restructuring. The first report identified 2,363 stations and 5,000 miles (8,000?km) of railway line for closure, amounting to 55% of stations, 30% of route miles, and the loss of 67,700 British Rail jobs,[1]?with an objective of stemming the large losses being incurred during a period of increasing competition from road transport and reducing the?rail subsidies?necessary to keep the network running.

It is clear that we had a much more ecologically sustainable system of public transport in the 60s and we need to note that it was road "interests" (doubtless road-builders, construction, as well as automobile manufacture) that sabred a perfectly viable rail network that would serve well today, if it had not been butchered by automobile interests.

And so, returning to Brazil, yes, well done! I have no idea when things will change in the UK. Scientists, environmentalists, and activists are still in a state of profound shock.

#Brazil ?#climatechange ?#energypolicy

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/brazil-strengthens-climate-goals-targets-48-lower-emissions-by-2025-2023-09-20/

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Friday 22nd September

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GOOD NEWS ON RHINO DAY ??

Some POSITIVE news on?#WorldRhinoDay ?today!

African authorities have estimated that there were 23,290 rhinos across the continent at the end of 2022, 5.2% more than in 2021. Nonetheless, at least 561 rhinos were illegally killed (poached) across the continent during 2022.

The current poaching crisis actually began in Zimbabwe ???? around 2007, where the difficult socio-economic and political climate facilitated rhino poaching. Once the easy pickings were taken in Zimbabwe, poaching gangs turned their attention to neighbouring South Africa ????, which in turn saw huge increases in poaching from 2009-2014.

According to?Save the Rhino International , since 2008 11,690 rhinos have been poached in Africa (until end of 2022). In South Africa it started around 2010 and from 2013, the South African crisis spread to other countries in Africa. First Kenya ???? was hit hard: its worst year for poaching was in 2013?when 59 animals were killed (more than 5% of the national population). In 2015, both Zimbabwe and Namibia ????suffered losses: Namibia lost 80 rhinos to poaching, up from 25 in 2014 and just two in 2012, while in Zimbabwe at least 50 rhinos were poached in 2015, more than double the previous year. For Africa as a whole, the total number of rhinos poached during 2015 was the highest it had been in two decades.

From 2004 until 2014 I have been working on supporting rhino conservation in southern Africa, though my work in?WWF-Netherlands (Wereld Natuur Fonds) . In the first 5-8 years we saw a lot of progress in rhino recovery, like in the succesful?#BlackRhinoRangeExpansionProject ?in South Africa. But then the poaching started hitting hard, changing the narrative completely.

I am very happy to see the slight progress being made and hope we can keep the momentum growing.

Conservations works, and nature can recover. If we allow it to ??

#wildlifecomeback ?#coexistence ?#naturepositive ?#rewilding ?#antipoaching ?#wildlife ?#rhinos

https://www.iucn.org/press-release/202309/african-rhino-numbers-are-increasing-despite-poaching

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Thursday 21st September

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Spurn Migration festival – a wildlife festival that is true to its name

Spurn Migration festival is a glorious weekend programme, staged in the key migratory period, at a place where this unfolding drama is more visible than anywhere in mainland Britain. On the Humber estuary, which bounds the peninsula on its south-eastern edge, there are thousands, probably tens of thousands, of birds omnipresent.

For the price of fish and chips for two at a pub, you get access to all the wildlife excursions, nature walks and demonstrations over the three days. This isn't just about birds. There are many other activities too. There are various walks taking place over the weekend - migration walks, bird identification walks, a bat walk on Friday evening, and even a plant walk. From early morning Saturday and Sunday there are migration watches and bird ringing demonstrations taking place. There are also art classes on both days run by renowned artist Darren Woodhead with photography and digiscoping classes as well.

The Spurn Migration Festival was the brainchild of two Spurn stalwarts – Martin Garner and Andy Roadhouse. Having run several guided events for small groups, they were pleasantly surprised at how much the participants got out of them – even on mediocre days. This sowed a seed in their minds – could they hold a much bigger event – a Migration Festival! They went about trying to convince others of their idea and work out how on earth they could pull it off.

The Spurn Migration Festival (MigFest) is a partnership between Spurn Bird Observatory Trust Ltd), British Trust for Ornithology ‘BTO’ and Westmere Farm.

This year's festival has come and gone, but it is wonderful to know this exists and there is next year to look forward to.

#wildlifeconservation #wildlifefestival #naturewalks #birdlife #nature #conservation #spurnmigfest

https://lnkd.in/eUprSqJ5

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THANK YOU FOR READING OUR SEVENTH EDITION!

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All my thanks again to the 183 wonderful souls who have subscribed! If you have enjoyed these brief notes, please let me know in the comments, and please share the newsletter. We can build a positive impact through this newsletter, sending encouragement to all those wonderful people who are already doing so much to protect our planet and support the plants and animals with whom we share our earth.

If you are involved in positive impact projects that you would like to see highlighted and shared here, please reach out and DM me. My goal is to remind us that SOMETHINGSWEAREGETTINGRIGHT

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WITH MY WELL-WISHES UNTIL NEXT WEEK AND EDITION #8

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Thank you so much for reading –

please subscribe, share and support!?

Wishing you a fabulous day! Aho!