Navy Sonar Settlement Brings Historic Win for Whales

September 14, 2015, earthjustice.org | “The blue whale is one of the largest animals ever known to have lived on Earth, but despite its heft, this magnificently oversized marine mammal can’t withstand the biological blows caused by Navy sonar training and testing.”

Yes!!!
The blue whale is one of the largest animals ever known to have lived on Earth, but despite its heft, this magnificently oversized marine mammal can’t withstand the biological blows caused by Navy sonar training and testing. Today, the blue whale…
earthjustice.org

End Mining Within 100 Feet of Streams

August 28, 2015, action.biologicaldiversity.org | “For decades legal loopholes have allowed coal companies to mine directly through streams, harming imperiled species like the Colorado pikeminnow and eastern hellbender salamander, and poisoning downstream waterways for people.  But at least the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has proposed a new Stream Buffer Zone Rule that would restrict all mining within 100 feet of streams.”

A court victory in 2014 against exceptions made by George Bush in 2008 requires that a new strict rule be adopted.
For decades legal loopholes have allowed coal companies to mine directly through streams, harming…
action.biologicaldiversity.org

Norway’s wealth fund expels POSCO, Daewoo Int’l over palm oil holdings

August 18, 2015, news.mongabay.com, | “Norway’s central bank is divesting the country’s $870 billion pension fund of its holdings in four Asian multinationals over rainforest destruction for palm oil in Southeast Asia, the bank announced yesterday.  Two of the companies, steelmaker POSCO and its subsidiary Daewoo International Corp., are headquartered in South Korea. The others, Genting Bhd. and IJM Corp. Bhd., are Malaysian conglomerates.”

GoodNews FortheEarth shared a link. Norway’s wealth fund expels POSCO, Daewoo Int’l over palm oil holdings destruction of Rainforests!

Genting, IJN are also being divested from because of rainforest destruction in Indonesia.
news.mongabay.com
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Chimpanzees Could Be Treated As ‘Legal Persons’ For First Time [UPDATED]

April 20, 2015, www.thedodo.com | “The move is significant because it’s the first time that a motion to recognize chimps as legal persons — and therefore to allow them to benefit from legally protected bodily autonomy — has been acknowledged so directly in a court.” The Nonhuman Rights Project filled a petition to give the two chimpanzees, being held at Stony Brook University, bodily liberty.

 

 Juliann Adiastri Rubijono

 

Brazil’s special forces wage uphill fight against Amazon destroyers

July 10, 2015, www.latimes.com | “Carrying guns and wearing jungle fatigues, the three men don’t look like scientists as they push their way through the thick foliage of the Amazon.  They’re trying to reach a clearing they’ve seen on satellite images. When they finally get there, they discover that the largest trees have been uprooted by a tractor. The ground has been seeded with grass to create a pasture for cattle.”

Lou Gold shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
Carrying guns and wearing jungle fatigues, the three men don’t look like scientists as they push their way through the thick foliage of the Amazon.
latimes.com|By Los Angeles Times
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Scientists raise population estimate for world’s most endangered sloth

July 1, 2015, news.mongabay.com | “There may be more pygmy sloths than believed, according to a new paper in the Journal of Mammalogy. Scientists originally estimated a population of less than 500 pygmy sloths (Bradypus pygmaeus) on Escudo de Veraguas Island off the coast of Panama, the only place in the world where these diminutive sloths survive. But the discovery that these sloths inhabit the interior of the island—and not just the mangroves ringing the edges—means there could be as many as 3,200 sloths on the small island.”

“It’s a miscount, but possibly a positive miscount.
There may be more pygmy sloths than believed, according to a new paper in the Journal of Mammalogy. Scientists originally estimated a population of less than…
news.mongabay.com”

Court Rules Grazing Harms Endangered Species in Arizona’s Fossil Creek

June 29, 2015, www.biologicaldiversity.org | “A federal court has ruled that cattle grazing in the Fossil Creek watershed of central Arizona harms critical habitat of threatened frogs, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The ruling resulted from a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2010. ‘Fossil Creek is one of the Southwest’s most biologically precious river reaches,’ said Jay Lininger, a senior scientist with the Center. ‘The ruling is a victory for this beautiful creek, native wildlife and public investments made to recover them.'”

Good news for endangered species and precious Arizona rivers. Cattle grazing in stream corridors illegally harms critical habitat of threatened amphibians. It doesn’t stop grazing or watershed degradation, but opens a door to advocacy under the “adverse modification” standard of the Endangered Species Act. Little by little, such battles are won.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.— A federal court has ruled that cattle grazing in the Fossil Creek watershed of central…
biologicaldiversity.org
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Germany To Turn 62 Military Bases Into Nature Sanctuaries For Birds, Beetles And Bats

June 19, 2015, www.huffingtonpost.com | “The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation announced on Thursday that it will turn 62 military bases into tranquil nature reserves.  ‘We are seizing a historic opportunity with this conversion — many areas that were once no-go zones are no longer needed for military purposes,’ Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks said, according to Agence France-Presse.”

“Thank you, Heather Louise Parker, for letting us know about this.
Next time, you can post things directly our Timeline at GoodNews FortheEarth
The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation announced on Thursday that it will turn 62 military bases into tranquil nature reserves. “We are seizing a historic…
huffingtonpost.com”
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Pope Francis Slams GMOs and Pesticides for Environmental and Social Damage

June 16, 2015, sustainablepulse.com | “On the subject of GMOs Pope Francis states; ‘It is difficult to give an overall judgment on the development of genetically modified organisms (GMO), plant or animal, for medical purposes or in agriculture, since they can be very different and require different considerations.  Although we do not have definitive evidence about the damage that transgenic cereals could cause to humans, and in some regions their use has produced economic growth that has helped solve some problems, there are significant problems that should not be minimized.”

Kevin Phillips shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
Pope Francis slams both GMOs and pesticides in a draft of his major environmental document that was leaked Monday. He has also called for the financing of…
sustainablepulse.com
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France Bans Sale of Monsanto Herbicide Roundup in Nurseries

June 14, 2015, www.ndtv.com | “French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal announced today a ban on the sale of popular weedkiller Roundup from garden centres, which the UN has warned may be carcinogenic. The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, was in March classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the UN’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).”

Ami Linden shared a link to GoodNews FortheEarth‘s Timeline.
French Ecology Minister Segolene Royal announced today a ban on the sale of popular weedkiller Roundup from garden centres, which the UN has warned may…
ndtv.com
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