WILD

The Aftermath

Since the dismal conclusion of the Copenhagen talks, experts following the UN climate change negotiations have been trying to sort out whether the Copenhagen Accord was a step forward or not. Some have begun calling it the Copenhagen Discord. Some have taken a gentler view, saying that even if it is not the solution, at least it helps build consensus. Reading the tea leaves on the issue of forests and wilderness is similarly difficult. Read More

Ivory Sell-Off Proposal Raises Concern for African Elephant Herds

The Republic of Tanzania and Zambia have submitted a controversial proposal to CITES, the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species, for a one time sell-off of over 80 tons of ivory.  The 15th CITES conference will convene from March 13-25th in Doha, Qatar and these two countries will need 66% of the 175 country votes in order to proceed.  Some other African countries support lifting the ban on sales, notably South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Kenya, the Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda and Sierra Leone are offering a counter proposal, calling for a 20 year moratorium on ... Read More

Tranboundary Wildlife Corridor in Australia

A press release last Friday from the government of the Northern Territory of Australia officially announced its commitment to a transboundary conservation project with South Australia - part of the Eco-Link program. “This wildlife corridor will cover about 1.4 million square kilometres – connecting both public and private land – to provide a continuous refuge of native habitat,” Mr Rann (SA premier) said. “It is designed to help a huge section of Australia’s native flora and fauna survive and adapt to the threats of fire, drought and other fallouts of climate change,” Mr Henderson (NT Chief Minister) said.  More information can be ... Read More

Celebrate Biodiversity

What do the United States (the world’s largest economy and “superpower”), The Holy See (independent micro-state of the Vatican) and Andorra (independent micro-state in SW Europe) have in common? They are the only three states in the world which have not ratified the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). Despite this, and in fairness, long before the CBD the US passed the Endangered Species Act of 1973, a pioneering legal instrument that powered a movement around the world and underlies a great deal of US domestic accomplishments in protecting biodiversity.   While the Endangered Species Act has ... Read More

BC Government Vows to Ban Mining in Flathead River Valley

On Tuesday afternoon, as we were sitting in a creative meeting on some long-term goals for WILD, Harvey Locke, WILD's VP for Conservation Strategy, noticed that his phone continued to ring.  Recognizing that perhaps the many calls were an indication of something important, he stepped away from our meeting.  A few moments later we heard whoops and hollers of excitement. We knew something was up, and hoped for the best.  When Harvey returned, we listened with great anticipation as he described the breaking news from British Columbia.  In just a few short hours, he said, it was anticipated that Lt. Governor ... Read More

And then there were three

The Copenhagen Climate talks were supposed to be the place where the global community finally achieved broad consensus, providing at the very least a political way forward that everyone could rally behind. Conservationists hoped that this new consensus would include strong and unambiguous recognition of the role of nature and wilderness in climate change. I attended the Copenhagen Climate meeting with this message – in the form of the Message from Merida launched at WILD9, the World Wilderness Congress in Mexico one month earlier. The Message from Merida was signed by over 70 NGOs representing many of the largest conservation ... Read More

50th Anniversary of the US Wilderness Act

[caption id="attachment_9349" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ahklun Mountains and the Togiak Wilderness within the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge in the U.S. state of Alaska."][/caption] I recently got an email from a colleague, bringing to my attention that the 50th Anniversary of the US Wilderness Act is coming soon!  Sure, you might say that 4 years is really not all that soon....but in order to plan a celebration in equal magnitude to the importance of the Wilderness Act - we'll need some time to start preparing!  His email read: "The Wilderness Act of 1964 was a milestone in American History and will celebrate its' ... Read More

After Copenhagen – Suspended Animation

Fortunately, none of the 120 or so heads of state in Copenhagen pretended that the climate talks in Copenhagen (the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or “COP 15”) were a big success. Any attempt to greenwash these talks would have been a) insulting and b) a clear signal that the political will for a comprehensive, legally binding climate agreement had truly and completely evaporated. Read More

The Politicians Take the Stage in Copenhagen

One day remains in the UN’s climate talks in Copenhagen. Negotiators have been working around the clock in a desperate race against time to resolve outstanding issues and rise above the many controversies that have wracked these talks. From the secret Danish proposal, which to the dismay and anger of developing countries has continued to hover in the background of the negotiations, to the sometimes violent demonstrations outside the Bella center, to the eviction of NGOs from the negotiating process – a disgrace, all the more so in the country where the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation ... Read More

Extreme Ice Survey Presents at UN Climate Change Conference

James Balog, founder and director of the Extreme Ice Survey, is representing NASA and the U.S. State Department at the Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 15. Over the course of the 12-day conference, he is speaking a total of six times—five times on behalf of NASA and once on behalf of the World Wildlife Fund—about the Extreme Ice Survey’s ongoing photographic documentation of stunningly rapid glacial retreat and the implications of these findings. Read More