The Resilience of Reefs and Indigenous-led Conservation in This Week’s Earth Optimism
These stories celebrate success, uncover a spark of hope, share a new idea, or might just make you feel good about Planet Earth.
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Indigenous-led Success
Although the current pandemic has led to significant setbacks for conservation work, one key aspect has shown its value brightly through the darkness. Indigenous-led and -managed areas have persevered and even thrived as exampled in Amid Pandemic, Tribal-Run Conservation in Africa Proves Resilient in Yale Environment 360.
Resilient Reefs
New research shows that bleached reefs still provide a necessary ecosystem service for local people – nutrition. Read Bleached Reefs Still Support Nutritious Fish, Study Finds in Mongabay to understand how “…in certain circumstances, critical nutrients for human development found in reef fishes remain available even after mass bleaching has occurred.
Reflecting with Hope
The United States’ first-ever "National Climate Advisor" reflects on their first year in this new position. Gina McCarthy shares a sense of hope for the future and highlights recent successes with a positive attitude we can get behind in Why I’m More Optimistic Than Ever on Tackling the Climate Crisis for the Hill.
Support from Satellites
Satellites have been a crucial tool for successful biodiversity assessment and management in a multitude of practices. A new study has shown how it can also be useful for wildlife monitoring by supplying researchers with information about stranded whales – data that can be challenging to gather while fieldwork is limited during the pandemic. Learn more in Satellites Can Spot Beached Whales From Space here in Smithsonian Magazine.
