January 15-17
Welcome to the next issue of Positive News. Let you spread it among your friends and co-fighters in your countries and around the Earth.
Climate change
The world may be barreling towards climate disaster but rapidly eliminating planet-heating emissions means global temperatures could stabilize within just a couple of decades, scientists say. For many years it was assumed that further global heating would be locked in for generations even if emissions were rapidly cut. Climate models run by scientists on future temperatures were based on a certain carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. If this remained at the current high level there would be runaway climate disaster, with temperatures continuing to rise even if emissions were reduced because of a lag time before greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere. But more recent understanding of the implications of getting to net-zero emissions is giving hope that the warming could be more swiftly curtailed: http://www.envirolink.org/2021/01/10/global-heating-could-stabilize-if-countries-go-net-zero-emissions-scientists-say/.
Siberia
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of virgin forest have been saved in Yakutia, according to Alexander Zhurakovsky, co-chairman of the public environmental movement “Protect the Nature of Yakutia”. Two logging companies, LLC “Woodland24” and LLC “Angara”, decided to voluntarily abandon the land plots in the Aldan district that were leased following the auction. The companies filed claims to the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for invalidation of past auctions for the right to conclude land lease agreements in the Aldan district and the application of the consequences of the invalidity of the transaction. They indicated quite a lot of reasons for termination of contracts. The companies also filed lawsuits against the Regional Ministry of Ecology, stating that “during the auction for the right to conclude a lease agreement, the defendant provided false information about the absence of encumbrance of the forest plot.” The termination of the lease agreements of Woodland24 LLC and Angara LLC was prompted by a wide public outcry.
In 2021, a reserve for the reproduction of wild reindeer will appear on the territory of Yakutia. This is reported by the Ministry of Ecology of the Republic. A specially protected natural area of regional significance will be created in the Bulunsky district of the republic. It will help to preserve the breeding stock of wild reindeer of the Leno-Olenek population. The total area of the reserve will be more than 64.1 thousand hectares. According to the Ministry of Ecology, it will be placed within the Chekanovsky ridge, where the main breeding stock is concentrated (about 90%). In addition, 64 species of birds live there, and 260-280 species of higher vascular plants grow there.
“Sakhalin Ecowatch ” finally won another court in the protection of nature and indigenous peoples! As a result, the huge burial ground of Rosneft’s oil waste near the village of Val in the north of Sakhalin is finally closed. The court’s decision finally came into force. It was hard work, it took five years, and there was a lot in it – representative round tables (organized jointly with the Public Chamber of the Sakhalin Region), rallies and public hearings in the village of Val, dozens of public raids and inspections, clashes with the security of the oil burial ground, another court won in 2017 and a war with bailiffs who sabotaged the execution of its decision, one court lost by us and another ongoing court case (the oil service company filed against us and www.sakhalin.info a lawsuit for the protection of business reputation) and many other things https://social.riafan.ru/1318648-putin-zayavil-o-neobkhodimosti-mosta-na-sakhalin.
Reforestation
Indigenous agroforestry revives profitable palm trees and the Atlantic Forest. Highly popular in Brazil because of its delicious heart, the jussara palm was eaten nearly to the brink of extinction. The Indigenous Guarani people from the the São Paulo coast are traditional consumers of jussara palm hearts, and decided to reverse the loss by planting thousands of palm trees. With more than 100,000 jussara palms planted since 2008, the community now sells hearts and seedlings to tourists and beach house owners. The next step is to start extracting the pulp from jussara berries – similar to açaí berries, the popular superfood – which the group hopes will generate enough income to keep the palm trees standing. The palms grow among native trees in an ancient and increasingly popular agricultural technique called agroforestry, which combines woody trees with shrubs, vines, and annuals, in a system that benefits wildlife, builds water tables and soil, provides food, and sequesters carbon: https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/indigenous-agroforestry-revives-profitable-palm-trees-and-the-atlantic-forest/. acai berries
New food for humans
Yellow mealworm finger foods, smoothies, biscuits, pasta and burgers could soon be mass produced across Europe after the insect became the first to be found safe for human consumption by the EU food safety agency. The delicacies may not be advisable for everyone, however. Those with prawn and dustmite allergies are likely to suffer a reaction to the Tenebrio molitor larvae, whether eaten in powder form as part of a recipe or as a crunchy snack, perhaps dipped in chocolate. The conclusion of scientists at the EU food safety agency, following an application by the French insect-for-food production company, Agronutris, is expected to lead to EU-wide approval within months of yellow mealworm as a product fit for supermarket shelves and kitchen pantries across the continent: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/yellow-mealworm-safe-for-humans-to-eat-says-eu-food-safety-agency.