Retired batteries can still be useful, and recycling is essential to cut down on mining.

La equidad en el acceso al agua es una de las mayores amenazas a los derechos humanos en California.

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If the Agriculture Resilience Act is included in this year's food and farm bill, it will give a big boost to research that takes a holistic approach to food production, health, and the environment.

Audubon Policy Staff From Across the Country "Fly-In" to Capitol Hill Robyn Shepherd Tue, 03/28/2023 - 12:07 Popular Stories How to Tell a Raven From a Crow How to Make Hummingbird Nectar What Should Be Done About Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl Loose in New York? 13 Fun Facts About Owls Get to Know These 20 Common Birds Birds Tell Us to Act on Climate Pledge to stand with Audubon to call on elected officials to listen to science and work towards climate solutions. Sign the Pledge Earlier this month, more than 50 policy, communications, and engagement staff from around the country gathered in Washington, DC to meet with elected officials and the Biden Administration to talk about several legislative issues affecting birds and communities. It was the first in-person advocacy "fly-in" for policy staff since 2019, so staff were just as eager to see each other as they were to see their members of Congress. Staff gathered Monday evening for a celebratory reunion near DC headquarters to see colleagues that had not gathered since before the pandemic, or in many cases to meet for the very first time away from Zoom. The next day everyone gathered for a day-long preparation session to review legislative priorities, and share best practices and strategies for engaging everyone from high-level officials to locally-based grassroots members and activists. Then they were ready for the Hill! The third day had an appropriately birdy start with a birding outing in the shadow of the Capitol building at the Bartholdi Fountain and grounds of the U.S. Botanic Garden, where participants were joined by Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. The group was rewarded for braving a chilly morning with spottings of Song Sparrows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Red-tailed Hawks, and even a Bald Eagle sparring with an Osprey. Then it was time for meetings! Among the issues that staffers discussed were: o the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, which would provide a key source of funding for conserving birds across the Western Hemisphere o investing in natural infrastructure like wetlands can help protect bird habitat as well as provide climate resilience for communities, o the reauthorization of the Farm Bill, especially programs that assist voluntary conservation on private lands Over the course of the day staff held over 80 meetings with elected officials across the political spectrum. Sam Samuelson of Audubon California had some thoughts on different ways to reach out to elected officials beyond coming all the way to DC: "The pandemic evolved how we engage with legislators and staff, increasing our advocacy through social media and sparking interest in bird outings to get outside. As we emerge from the Covid stage, the time is ripe for creative thinking." "As Audubon meets with our nation's leaders we will deliver the message that birds are telling us it's time for action," said Marshall Johnson, chief conservation officer, National Audubon Society. "We have lost 3 billion birds in North America since 1970. No matter where you are from or what party you belong to, that's alarming. The love of birds connects all of us and we must respond to this dramatic decline." How you can help, right now Get Audubon in Your Inbox Let us send you the latest in bird and conservation news. Email address Find Audubon Near You Visit your local Audubon center, join a chapter, or help save birds with your state program. Explore the Network Become an Audubon Member Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine and the latest on birds and their habitats. Your support helps secure a future for birds at risk. Join Today Spread the word. It's the least you can do.

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The Ocean Project and the International Zoo Educators Association (IZE) are like-minded organizations in many ways. Both are small and nimble non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting conservation education professionals in pursuit of a healthier planet. Many IZE institutions celebrate World Ocean Day, which The Ocean Project has been coordinating globally for over 20 years, and The post Partnering with the International Zoo Educators Association appeared first on The Ocean Project.

Why it is worth changing Colombia's productive landscapes Poly Martinez Tue, 03/28/2023 - 01:11 Popular Stories How to Tell a Raven From a Crow How to Make Hummingbird Nectar What Should Be Done About Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl Loose in New York? 13 Fun Facts About Owls Get to Know These 20 Common Birds Birds Tell Us to Act on Climate Pledge to stand with Audubon to call on elected officials to listen to science and work towards climate solutions. Sign the Pledge In 2020, when the world stopped, the Audubon Americas team increased its activities. Taking advantage of this bizarre reality and being unable to do fieldwork, the strategic decision was to invest time and purpose in strengthening the structure of different projects halted by the Covid-19 pandemic. While people worldwide waited for the end of restrictions, outside nature thrived where human hands could not reach it, and birds continued moving along the flyways. In this particular and significant context, the strategic line of Regenerative Agriculture acquired greater relevance thanks to its purpose to improve and manage agricultural production lands so they could serve as corridors that facilitate the movement of wildlife. This strategy's mission is to "design and implement a portfolio of practices for productive landscapes that are friendly with the birds and able to generate habitats and connectivity for them," explained Gloria Lentijo, biologist and director of the strategy for Audubon Americas, and with sound experience in developing and implementing Audubon's programs in Colombia. Gloria also has extensive experience in community work: she holds a Master's in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida, and her graduating thesis focused on working with farmers and studying their attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors regarding birds and conservation. By working productive landscapes and connecting wetlands, forest patches, and protected areas in a more organized and efficient way, wildlife, soil, and water can be protected, while providing environmental benefits to people, such as food security, flood prevention, resilience to climate changes, and improving the productivity and profitability of farmers as well as communities. Respectful bird-friendly practices on agricultural land include silvopastoral systems for cattle raising, habitat restoration, and protection and crop rotation models. These systems, already used in the country, are long-term organizational structures that demand the will and participation of different actors, such as landowners, community leaders, protected area administrators, and environmental authorities. In Colombia, with immense agricultural potential and more than four million people working in the fields, the Audubon team studied which regions and landscapes offered the best program implementation opportunities. They were looking for sites of high contribution due to their bird species diversity and threatened by climate change, deforestation, mining, infrastructure, and unsustainable production. Valle del Cauca, in southwestern Colombia, was the chosen region. It has the optimal characteristics for implementing the program, offering many types of habitats in the Pacific, the Western Mountain Range, the geographical valley of the Cauca River, and the Central Mountain Range. In addition, having the support of partners such as the Calidris Association and the collaboration of the sugarcane sector, interested in the restoration and reforestation of protective forest strips along the shorelines of rivers and streams. Designing a world for birds and biodiversity Landscape management tools seek to ensure that birds can live and move freely, taking advantage of natural habitat resources. What is connectivity based on? It refers to uniting two or more forest fragments through a vegetation line. In ecological terms, it aims to allow birds to move through safe areas, especially species that are more vulnerable to landscape changes and challenged by open spaces. "If the birds remain confined to a small forest, it would be very likely that it would lead to their extinction, since there would be long-term problems of competition for resources, genetic problems in the population, no balance between males and females, imbalances in the reproductive niches, among others," explains Gloria. Implementing regenerative agriculture tools in areas close to rivers and streams improves water quality, regulates flows, and reduces erosion and the possibilities of land movements or landslides. Although when seeing a landscape, many people only admire the variety of greens, the truth is that its design, diversity, and shape can significantly impact migratory birds and local fauna. Among the most common landscape management tools are live fences made by lines of trees of different heights and corridors, which are larger strips with varying vegetation types. A combination of pastures with trees and bushes is used in silvopastoral systems; forest fragments are isolated, preventing the entry of cattle, to protect the vegetation inside. Whichever tool is used, the purpose is to create shelters for the most vulnerable species. "All these tools provide more coverage and protection. This way, we have productive landscapes conserved, ensuring their long-term productivity and sustainability, which is also one of the main goals of the new National Strategy for the Conservation of Birds of Colombia (ENCA)," explains Gloria. How can these landscapes be friendlier with birds and biodiversity and, at the same time, productive and sustainable over time? "We design practices that work for birds and biodiversity and are also suitable to the farmers who can't just be asked to convert their lands into forests but can incorporate practices in a way that works best for them and the environment. If we consider that biodiversity, in general, provides ecosystem services benefiting everyone, this way we ensure production in the long term," explains Lentijo. The new practices must be cost-effective, understanding that implementing new ways to do things requires a mindset change. One of the purposes of the Regenerative Agriculture program is to ensure investment recovery. Still, there is an additional challenge: the gain is difficult to quantify in many cases, even though multiple studies seek a solution. "In sustainable ranch systems, with silvopastoral systems, there is evidence that livestock productivity -meat and milk- improves in the midterm. The initial investment is expensive, and change takes time because it is necessary to wait for the trees and bushes to grow. Still, the protocol allows slow changes in the land, and the results are very good with time," says Gloria. Achieving change in the way of doing things is one of the biggest challenges in her work and her team's work. "It's not only designing, implementing, and showing the pilot lands of the program. Adapting new behaviors is complex. There will always be producers at the forefront, those who wait to see to believe, and those who will never change their production habits. Even if there are different thoughts and types of people, we cannot lose sight of the opportunity to offer better habitat conditions to protect birds and a program structured on realistic goals and practices," says Lentijo. A sizable part of the realistic practices mentioned by Gloria has been linked to Audubon since 2014, requiring rolling up sleeves and participating in small, high-impact activities such as designing and building community nursery gardens that provide the plants needed to implement the strategy. Workshops and training are available to build community awareness of environmental issues and work on conservation agreements. Since this is a long-term program, ecological education must reach the younger ones, which is why an educational curriculum for children was developed and offered to different rural schools so students can learn more about the birds surrounding them and how to care for them. Planting for the future Generally speaking, many of today's actions will take a while to show results. Audubon's science team designed indexes of bird-friendly practices and ecological health indicators that will allow us to understand if implementing these actions worked and if it was good for the birds, biodiversity, and the community. Colombia implemented a ten-year sustainable cattle-raising project between 2010 and 2019. Some 4,000 producers had excellent results on the farms where the project developed, as conclusive data regarding changes in cattle raising production shows. "Everyone must benefit. That is why it is so important to have a baseline in which we have initial information on how the place was before the program implementation and go back in five, eight, or ten years to evaluate with excellent information the rates again," add Lentil. "The benefits should be for everyone. That's why it's important to have a baseline with initial information about the place before implementation. Then in five, eight or ten years, we go back and evaluate, with excellent information, the success indicators," Lentijo adds. How you can help, right now Get Audubon in Your Inbox Let us send you the latest in bird and conservation news. Email address Find Audubon Near You Visit your local Audubon center, join a chapter, or help save birds with your state program. Explore the Network Become an Audubon Member Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine and the latest on birds and their habitats. Your support helps secure a future for birds at risk. Join Today Spread the word. It's the least you can do.