Wildwood Ecology | Certified B Corporation™’s Post

The Federal Government has announced the appointment of a Nature Repair Committee, following on from The Nature Repair Act 2023, which came into effect on 15 December 2023 to establish a framework for a world-first legislated, national, voluntary biodiversity market to incentivise environmental restoration and improve biodiversity outcomes. Committee members are given as: Mr Stephen McCutcheon (Chair) Dr James Fitzsimons Mr Brendan Foran Mr Tyronne Garstone Ms Fiona Simpson Ms Siobhan Toohill The Committee complements the Federal Government’s goals of: - protecting 30% of Australia’s land and seas by 2030. - working towards no extinctions and investing $500 million to protect threatened species. - encouraging investment in nature and encouraging businesses to report nature-based financial risks. The committee provides independent, expert advice to the Minister for the Environment, and Committee members have substantial experience, knowledge, and significant standing in: - agriculture - biological or ecological science - economics - environmental markets - Indigenous knowledge - land management Read more at https://buff.ly/3YXXZtu and https://buff.ly/3AJDIgU #NaturePositive #30x30 #NatureRepairCommittee

The EU Council of Ministers this week formally adopted the first of its kind regulation on nature restoration. The new law aims to put measures in place to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. It sets specific, legally binding targets and obligations for nature restoration in each of the listed ecosystems – from terrestrial to marine, freshwater and urban ecosystems. Environment campaigners have welcomed the ‘historic’ development, but some are warning that its success and ambition is threatened by inaction on pesticides, following the scrapping earlier this year of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUR) bill amid claims by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that it had “become a symbol of polarisation”. To read the full story, follow the link below. 👇 https://lnkd.in/eyXv2wXG

Test your environmental knowledge with 20-question MCQ quiz! 🌍 Think you're an environmental whiz? 🧠 Put your knowledge to the test with this interconnected MCQ quiz! Each question builds on the previous one, taking you on a journey through conservation, biodiversity, and more. Here's a sneak peek: What program addresses elephant poaching? (Hint: It's MIKE 😉) Which organization runs MIKE? ...and so on! Ready to challenge yourself? Take the quiz on 7:30 PM today https://lnkd.in/gSXKWjXf #environment #quiz #sustainability #biodiversity #conservation #MCQ #testyourknowledge #environmentaleducation

Check out these stunning sunflowers captured by one of our agronomists in a stewardship block this week! 🌻 If you're considering environmental schemes for your farm but aren't sure where to begin, we’re here to help. We can even arrange a free visit through the Future Farm Resilience Fund to explore what options might work best for you. 🌱🚜#SustainableFarming #EnvironmentalStewardship #Biodiversity #FarmResilience #FutureFarming #RegenerativeAgriculture"

📢 Since March, the Nature Restoration Law - meant to tackle both climate and biodiversity issues and promote sustainable economic development - has been stuck due to lack of major support needed from Member States. A survey conducted among citizens from countries opposing the #NRL (Italy, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Poland and The Netherlands) shows that a large majority of respondents consider that the decline of biodiversity in the EU must be tackled urgently by bringing nature back and restoring ecosystems. They largely agree that nature and biodiversity decline will have long-term negative effect on people, farming and the economy. 🌱 We support #RestoreNature and the deployment of green infrastructure and urge member states that oppose the law to rethink their stance and prioritize their citizens' interests. The survey results support a powerful letter signed by 11 environment ministers, urging their counterparts to adopt the law at the upcoming Environment Council meeting on 17 June. Find here the full survey 👉 bit.ly/3wINvSZ Read the letter 👉 bit.ly/4bBpAUm

It's #BiodiversityDay and as good a time as any to talk about how important it is we #RestoreNature 🌳 Working on the issue of peatlands for 2 years really opened my eyes to how much humans have destroyed. The picture in Europe particularly is pretty stark - over 50% of all peatlands have been drained for agriculture, and in the UK alone, that jumps up to over 80%... and they're being lost 10x faster than they are growing 😓 Yet #peatlands are some of the best nature-based solutions we have for addressing the climate and biodiversity crises that are playing out as we speak. They suck up and store carbon whilst creating a wetland environment that's home to all sorts of amazing plant and animal life amongst a whole host of other ecosystem services. So why don't they get more attention? Often, restoring #wetlands like peatland is seen to be at odds with agriculture and food production. But that simply isn't the case. 🌱 Food systems need nature for growth and pollination. 🌱 Food systems need reliable sources of water. 🌱 Food systems are under threat from ever-increasing wildfires and droughts as a result of climate change, which wetlands can help mitigate. 🌱 New food systems and products can be grown in peatlands via wet farming or 'paludiculture', creating new economic opportunities for farmers. 🌱 and let's not forget, some food systems are using up way more land, water and resources than needed to produce the food we require (did you know livestock take up 80% of all agricultural land yet provide less than 20% of global calorie supply?) Restoring nature and ensuring food security shouldn't be in competition, they should be in collaboration. And we need to start rewetting part of our lost peatlands now to begin tackling the very real #climateemergency we are living through. 🌍 If you're interested, you can read more about our previous peatland programme here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e-5a4egt #restorenaturenow #climateaction

Can profit and sustainability work together? Here’s the video of my Nuffield Farming Scholarship presentation! Over the past three years, I’ve traveled, met amazing people, and explored how farmers can be at the center of solving big environmental challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss. In this talk, I share an idea I’m passionate about: creating **digital assets that reward real environmental action**—making sustainability a win for farmers, businesses, and the planet. I’d love for you to watch it and let me know your thoughts. Could this idea work? https://lnkd.in/eVrEc8Tq #NuffieldFarming #Sustainability #FutureOfFarming #ClimateAction

5 years and counting. No 60 4 Years, 10 Months, 9 Days “The end of the world versus the end of the month” is a rather dramatic, perhaps overly polar, but succinct framing of the tension that can exist between the actions that need to be taken to protect the world’s long-term sustainability and the impact they may have on the livelihoods of individuals and communities today. It was referenced apparently repeatedly in the drawn-out negotiations of the EU Nature Restoration Law which took effect last month, with thanks to Wout Steurs for bringing it to my attention. The law is far reaching in its ambition. It mandates EU countries to restore 20% of natural land and sea areas by 2030 and all ecosystems in need by 2050. Which is expected to mean restoration of at least 30% of terrestrial, coastal, freshwater, and marine ecosystems from “poor” to “good” condition. The most affected sectors are agriculture, forestry, fishery, and energy, and it was backlash from the farming sector, amplified by broader political tensions in some EU states, which caused the delay in the vote in the Council of the EU. It is however notable that it has now passed – yet another example of the EU’s leadership in sustainability legislation. Member States will have two years to submit draft plans to the European Commission, and the European Environment Agency will monitor and report on progress. But yet again the EU’s intent goes beyond the borders of the block, with an explicit objective that other regions including Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia will copy. The excellent 'Eurasia Group commentary that Wout forwarded to me asserted rather dispiritingly that ongoing opposition from farmers in some countries, and funding constraints would mean “the NRL targets are unlikely to be met”. But I think it is far too soon to draw such a depressing conclusion. What matters for now is that once again the EU has shown that it is willing to run the gauntlet of short-term political pressures for the longer-term good, and the ball is now in the court of each Member State to show the same mettle. https://lnkd.in/em6HZxEN --------------- This series is edited versions of the emails I am sending once a week to KPMG colleagues with my personal reflections. Each one is published here a few weeks later, time-stamped to the time remaining on the carbon clock for 1.5 degrees at the time I sent the original email

June 20, 2024 - By MARC HELLER- E&E News, "The agency will take public comment for 90 days on a draft environmental impact statement on conserving old-growth areas of #nationalforests. -- E&E NEWS PM | The #Bidenadministration stepped closer Thursday to tighter limits on logging in old-growth areas of national forests, saying it will take public comment on plans to conserve those landscapes. The Forest Service posted (https://lnkd.in/eiuySn3F) the draft environmental impact statement for the old-growth proposal ahead of Friday's publication in the Federal Register. The plan includes a nationwide amendment to forest plans throughout the 193-million-acre system. The draft will be open to public comment for 90 days. “Recent scientific analysis shows us that many #oldgrowthforests are under significant threat from climate change,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. “The Forest Service’s plan will help safeguard these iconic stands of trees through science-based management and #conservation strategies that can be adapted to unique local circumstances on national forests.” The draft adheres broadly to earlier signals from the administration that national forests should more closely consider the impact on old-growth forests from a wide range of projects, including thinning to reduce wildfire risk, prescribed fire and timber harvesting. The draft calls for “stewardship of existing and recruitment of future old growth forest” that is resilient over time. But the draft EIS doesn’t contain the specific carve-out for the #TongassNationalForest in Alaska that the administration floated several months ago, though the administration says it remains committed to the Southeast Alaska strategy, including small sales of old-growth timber in certain circumstances. That provision, which appeared in a notice of intent to pursue the environmental impact statement, said limits on commercial old-growth harvesting wouldn’t apply if they’re part of the administration’s “Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy” aimed at diversifying the region’s economy. The draft EIS is the next step in a process that began in earnest in 2023 with an inventory of old-growth and mature areas of national forests, and a definition to more clearly indicate what those terms mean. The definition — and the means to conserve those areas — aren’t the same everywhere, given a variety of landscapes and types of trees, the Forest Service has said. The administration proposed new protections for mature and old-growth forests as part of its response to #climatechange, beginning with an executive order from President Joe Biden in 2022. Forests are a top carbon sink, scientists say, absorbing much of the greenhouse gas emissions put out by various industries But debates continue to swirl around how intensely #forests should be managed — including through logging — to protect that status. Although the proposal steers forest policy away from commercial..." Continue reading

The Other State Forest (OSF) category refers to state-owned forests not included in the country's designated Protected Area network. Rich in biodiversity, these forests were managed by Sri Lanka's Forest Department under Circular No. 05/2001 (amended by No. 02/2006). OSF could only be developed after review by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and an Environmental Assessment under the National Environmental Act. In 2020, Circular No. MWFC/1/2020 replaced these provisions, allowing District and Divisional Secretaries to alienate OSF lands without proper environmental review. This threatens Sri Lanka’s biodiversity, violating National Forest Policy. Environmental Foundation Ltd. (EFL) sought legal action, stressing the need for stronger safeguards to protect these vital ecosystems. Appreciation goes to President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris and Mr. Charith Galhena for their role in achieving this outcome. #Justicefornature, #ClimateChange, #Biodiversity, #Conservation, #ProtectedAreas, #OSF