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5 Proven Ways to Help Nature

Industrial wastelands to wildlife oases: Five nature wins that have actually worked:

Getty Images An orangutan in a rainforest (Credit: Getty Images)

World leaders are gathering in Cali, Colombia, to agree ways to save species from extinction and restore nature. Here are five powerful solutions to halt biodiversity loss.

There's a treasure trove of ways to save species in decline, and restore their habitats so they can live safely. In a healthy state, rich and biodiverse habitats can replenish our water, air, soil and reduce the risk of dangerous contagious diseases.

What is biodiversity and how are we protecting it?

 

Baby Amur leopard also known as the Manchurian leopard, at the Parc des felins, in Nesles, south-eastern Paris.

Amur leopards are one of the most endangered species in the world


Targets to reverse the decline of biodiversity by 2030 may be missed without urgent action, according to a new report.

This goal was a key part of the UN global summit on biodiversity held in December 2022.

Nearly a third of all monitored species are currently endangered due to human activities.

Nicaragua Bosawas Biosphere Reserve under threat from illegal logging

Bosawas-biosphere-reserve-nicaragua-rainforest-diversity-logging-development-threat
Saslaya-National Park Bosawas Bioshpere Reserve Nicaragua Map

Nicaragua cloud forest 'under siege' by illegal loggers. Bosawas forest - the Bosawas Reserve is a critically important rainforest but native people say it is being destroyed by "colonists" A famed rainforest in Nicaragua is under growing threat from illegal loggers, say indigenous leaders. The Bosawas Biosphere Reserve is Central America's largest tropical forest with clouds constantly drifting over the hilly terrain. But the Mayangna and Miskito people who live there say 30,000 hectares a year are being deforested by "colonists". They are calling on US president Barack Obama, who is visiting the region, to support their battle. Described by the United Nations as a global biological treasure, the reserve is located on the border between Nicaragua and Honduras and teems with wildlife. “We believe that if there is no intervention there will be no Biosphere Reserve in five to 10 years” Taymond Robins, Mayangna people The two million hectares are said to be home to 150,000 insect species, rare jaguars, eagles and crocodiles as well as the world's last populations of Baird's Tapir and the Central American Spider Monkey. Landless invaders The Bosawas reserve also overlaps the homes of indigenous communities who have been there for centuries, living by hunting and fishing. The Nicaraguan government recognised the full legal title of the Mayangna to their lands in 2007. Since then, they say they have been subject to what they term an "invasion" by landless people from other parts of the country.

Conservation targets need billions in funding

Scientists say billions required to meet conservation targets

 

Ethiopian bush crow

 

The most threatened species tend to be relatively cheap to save because of small range sizes.

 

Reducing the risk of extinction for threatened species and establishing protected areas for nature will cost the world over $76bn dollars annually. Researchers say it is needed to meet globally agreed conservation targets by 2020. The scientists say the daunting number is just a fifth of what the world spends on soft drinks annually. And it amounts to just 1% of the value of ecosystems being lost every year, they report in the journal Science.

“Nature just doesn't do recessions, we're talking about the irreversible loss of unique species and millions of years of evolutionary history” Donal McCarthy RSPB

Niger creates Africa's largest protected reserve

This inhospitable-looking landscape is home to some critically endangered species. The Niger government, this month, formally decreed this whole area - the Termit Massif and Tin Toumma desert - to be a national nature and cultural reserve. At almost 100,000 square kilometres it is the largest single protected area in Africa.   One of Earth's most inhospitable deserts is an important stop-over for migrating wildlife, scientists say. Researchers working in the Termit Massif and Tin Toumma desert in Niger say the whole area should be protected, because it is a biodiversity "hotspot". The rocky massif is home to the Critically Endangered dama gazelle.

 Thomas Rabeil/Saharan Conservation Fund)

 

 

Winchat (Thomas Rabeil/Saharan Conservation Fund)

 Seamus Maclennan/SCF)

The elusive Saharan cheetah, captured here by a camera trap, also lives there. Scientists working for the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) are working to have the area declared a National Reserve. The rainy season transforms the arid landscape into a temporary wetland, which many migrating animals depend on.

   

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