#UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

[todayontumblr]

Saturday April 22.

But noooo, this is no mere Saturday. It's only motherflippin' International Mother Earth Day 2023!

And it's an important one. In their own words:

"Mother Earth is clearly urging a call to action. Nature is suffering. Oceans filling with plastic and turning more acidic. Extreme heat, wildfires and floods, have affected millions of people. Even these days, we are still trying to get back on track from COVID-19, a worldwide health pandemic linked to the health of our ecosystem.

Climate change, man-made changes to nature as well as crimes that disrupt biodiversity, such as deforestation, land-use change, intensified agriculture and livestock production or the growing illegal wildlife trade, can accelerate the speed of destruction of the planet.

This is the second Mother Earth Day celebrated within the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet - and its people. Restoring our damaged ecosystems will help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent mass extinction. But we will only succeed if everyone plays a part.

For this International Mother Earth Day, let's remimd ourselves - more than ever - that we need a shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. Let’s promote harmony with nature and the Earth. Join the global movement to restore our world!"

[reasonsforhope]

Sorry, im kinda freaking out beacuse i read on positive news that the un published a paper saying the earth might warm up above 3° degrees if we dont take massive action :(

I thought the predictions were now between 1,5° and 2 ? Sorry for my bad english it's just upsetting

I totally get it. Of course that's upsetting.

As for the predictions, the thing is, there are a bajillion variables in these models - around human action, around different country's actions, and around all of the many, many, many things about the weather and ecosystems that we don't understand.

For scientists, part of their job is modeling and predicting the entire realm of possibility.

You're right that most people/sources don't think warming will get that high anymore. Core predictions are right now mostly between 1.5 and 2.5, with a lot of mainstream predictions saying that if we stay on the current path, we'll likely end up peaking around 2.3 degrees. Which would suck, admittedly! And 3 degrees or a bit more is still within the realm of possibility, which also sucks!

For what it's worth, though, I genuinely think we'll be able to keep warming under 2 degrees. To my research/understanding, right now 3 degrees is possible but a lot less likely - one of the less likely predictions in general, or else a lot more scientists would be saying 3 degrees, and we'd all hear that number all over the place and be scared.

Edit: I did find the UN report that the article was presumably referencing. And yeah, I hate to see it. But again: WE DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE. Iirc the last IEA report said we're on track for 2.3. The exact methodology and models can change a lot about the end result, so it's very common for reports to disagree, and at this point, I do think "over 3 degrees" is an outlier. And that's if we stay on the current track - WHICH IS EXTREMELY UNLIKELY, BECAUSE WE'RE GETTING BETTER AND FIXING MORE THINGS WITH EVERY YEAR

Anyway, here's why it's no longer likely that we'll hit or surpass 3 degrees of warming, and why you can and should still have hope.

Climate change is growing exponentially. We know for a fact now that renewable energy, electric vehicles, costs of renewable energy, etc. are all improving way, way faster than ever before. And they're going to keep doing that. Over the rest of the decade, I genuinely think we're going to make so much more progress, so much faster, than models are currently predicting. Partly because we've only in the past couple years gotten proof that these paths ARE exponential. x, x, x, x, x

It would be super irresponsible of climate scientists and energy watchdogs to be optimistic with their numbers/outcomes. They KNOW how many politicians and oil companies would swoop in the SECOND there were . claims that we'll be fine without doing more, actually. Their job is to always make sure that someone is including the worst case scenarios, and that they don't start giving more optimistic numbers unless they're really, truly, completely confident in those numbers and improved models

The peak temperature we reach is NOT the temperature that we'll be stuck at forever. As we keep putting carbon back into ecosystems and restoring nature, we WILL take more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, which WILL let the planet start to cool back down again, as less carbon dioxide is in the air to trap heat, and more of it will go back to escaping into space. This probably won't be immediate after we hit net zero emissions, but if we drawdown enough carbon, it will happen. x, x, x

This article, posted by Positive.News, November 13, 2023

[wachinyeya]

Our soil is degrading, droughts increasing and once fertile land turning into desert (www.decadeonrestoration.org ). But there are glimmers of hope:

Sometimes the biggest global changes are driven by local communities and their leaders, Africa’s smallholder farmers, for example. Hundreds of thousands of people are now coming together to revive their lands – by turning dried up monoculture plots into forest gardens. Learn how it works!

African Farmers Restoring Food Systems, led by Trees for the Future, has been recognized as a World Restoration Flagship under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

[triscribe]

The Force is a forest

So I've had a thought.

There are all sorts of posts on this webbed-site that analysis Star Wars, and the Force, and the Jedi vs. Sith dynamic - some I agree with wholeheartedly, others have turned my own worldview on its head, and a select few make me want to throw my computer out a window.

Now I've got one of my own.

The Force, when you come down to it, is an ecosystem. A metaphysical inclusion of all ecosystems in the universe, technically, but for purposes of this analysis we're just going to call it a forest. All different types of fauna and flora, from the big to the small, mega to microbial. All different kinds of networks and relationships, spanning the whole of the forest to just occupying tiny nooks, separate entities working in harmony and others finding the best possible spots to take advantage. Death and rot have their place, too, because nothing lives forever, and when something decays, it provides nourishment to an entirely new generation of life.

The Dark Side is not death and rot.

The Dark side is man-made machinery.

It is the chainsaws, the flamethrowers, the bulldozers, coming in and taking taking taking until there's nothing left, cutting down trees and removing undergrowth and tearing at the earth itself for resources to steal away.

The Jedi Order is big on ideals, on finding your path towards enlightenment and spiritual contentment - in other words, maintaining and watching over a patch of woodland, finding joy in small things and taking time to appreciate each individual detail. That isn't to say sometimes a person doesn't get annoyed, or outright angry, that this plant isn't growing where it should, or that animal is stealing more than its fair share, and at that point, out comes a hatchet or a gun (or a lightsaber), to fix what is seen as the problem. But is the destruction truly necessary? Could the annoying plant have been gently pulled from the soil, and moved elsewhere? Could the irritating animal have been trapped and relocated rather than killed? The point of being a Jedi is not that moments like these never happen: it is learning from them, learning restraint and how to see another option, so that each member of the Order can strive to do and be better.

But if one refuses to mind themselves, if they think well, there was no harm done in cutting down that one weed, or eliminating a single pest. They've joined the cycle of life and death, after all. No great loss to the ecosystem. And that makes it easier to justify the next time a bigger plant needs to be removed, a larger animal exterminated, rearranging the woodland to be better - if it's yours to protect then it's also yours to tend as you wish, right? And you really want that particular tree out of the way for something else to grow instead, but wait, now it all looks wrong, the dratted bugs are gone but nothing new is growing, you cleared out all the frustrating birds but now there's rotting fruit everywhere, why doesn't it look nice anymore, why won't this stupid piece of land do what you want it to? Fine, if it won't cooperate, tear the whole thing down.

But you can't recreate what was lost at that point. Because the level of annihilation you unleash is Not part of the usual cycle of life and death. It is wholly un-natural, and nothing will be as it once was. Perhaps this bit of forest will recover in time, after you've finished and left; perhaps not. Maybe a more gentle soul will come in to repair what they can, in the aftermath or long decades later.

(Maybe, at the very last moment, you are struck by realization, and halt, and attempt to redeem yourself by healing the harm caused - but even then, long years of work won't be enough to restore what was there. Even if the forest does grow back under penitent hands, it will be something new, and possibly not ever equal to its former self.)

Tldr: the Force, as a whole, will have small ups and downs, the occasional wild fire catastrophe, and a wealth of different experiences every day in every place. Individuals can get frustrated, can feel a whole range of emotions, and sometimes inflict more harm than they mean to. Jedi, too, which is why they strive towards the ideal of "there is no emotion, there is peace". Because that's a better path than losing one's temper every day; to tend to the forest, instead of harming it. But Sith? Those who get attached to what they want above any other consideration, who cling to a thing, a person, a vision of how things should be?

They're the ones bringing out woodchippers, sooner or later.

[darkpoisonouslove]

i need a spoiler!!!!

I was hoping someone else would ask because I remembered a REALLY juicy one after I answered the last ask!!!!! Like, MAJOR MAJOR spoiler but I wanted to drop the bomb so... here goes:

Enchantix is a transformation meant only for Guardian Fairies. Every planet can have one Guardian Fairy - either male or female - at a time but they don't always have a need for them. A Guardian Fairy only appears when the planet is under serious threat and so there could be no Guardian Fairy for decades on end if everything is peaceful. Valtor is literally the only reason why all of the Winx become Guardian Fairies. The way to earn Enchantix is to literally straight up sacrifice your life to save your planet from a cataclysm. The transformation is what revives you before you've died completely BUT... it comes with major strings. Enchantix is so powerful only because it allows the fairy to draw from the magical energy of the entire planet. It makes the fairy a part of the ecosystem, though, so using Enchantix off-planet can lead to total destruction, an apocalypse-level event on the fairy's planet. Winx are officially all tied to their planets once their Enchantix becomes public knowledge, which means that they can not see each other in person. Bloom is the last to get her Enchantix in SotLK. It barely even manages to save her life because she exhausted herself that much trying to kickstart Domino's core because all Dominians were in mortal danger when they were dumped from Obsidian straight into the arctic desert that the planet still was. Bloom melted all of it and restored the planet herself but getting Enchantix just breaks her more because it means that she too has to stay on Domino and can't visit the other Winx OR go home to Gardenia. So Bloom decides to give up her Enchantix so that she doesn't have to be separated from any of her loved ones. (A transformation can be "un-achieved" if the fairy herself wills it so since a transformation is an expression of the fairy's personal growth and deciding to step away from the transformation negates that growth which makes the transformation inaccessible again and impossible to re-earn.) The rest of Winx also decide to give up their Enchantix because helping Bloom fight the Ancestral Witches by using their Enchantix caused a lot of damage back on their home planets. The point being that they refused to let go of their friendship even in the face of all their new responsibilities so they decide to give up Enchantix for their own sake as well as their planets' sake.

send me "spoiler" and i'll give you a spoiler for a WiP my Winx rewrite

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Governments appear to have signed a once-in-a-decade deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems, but the agreement seems to have been forced through by the Chinese president, ignoring the objections of some African states.

After more than four years of negotiations, repeated delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and talks into the night on Sunday in Montreal, nearly 200 countries – but not the US or the Vatican – signed an agreement at the biodiversity Cop15, which was co-hosted by Canada and China, to put humanity on a path to living in harmony with nature by the middle of the century.

In an extraordinary plenary that began on Sunday evening and lasted for more than seven hours, countries wrangled over the final agreement. Finally, at about 3.30am local time on Monday, news broke that an agreement had been struck.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s negotiator appeared to block the final deal presented by China, telling the plenary that he could not support the agreement in its current form because it did not create a new fund for biodiversity, separate to the existing UN fund, the global environment facility (GEF). China, Brazil, Indonesia, India and Mexico are the largest recipients of GEF funding, and some African states wanted more money for conservation as part of the final deal.

However, moments later, China’s environment minister and the Cop15 president, Huang Runqiu, signalled that the agreement was finished and agreed, and the plenary burst into applause.

Negotiators from Cameroon, Uganda and the DRC expressed incredulity that the agreement had been put through. The DRC said it had formally objected to the agreement, but a UN lawyer said it had not. The negotiator from Cameroon called it “a fraud”, while Uganda said there had been a “coup d’état” against the Cop15.

Amid plummeting insect numbers, acidifying oceans filled with plastic waste, and the rampant overconsumption of the planet’s resources as humanity’s population grows wealthier and soars past 8 billion, the agreement, if implemented, could signal major changes to farming, business supply chains and the role of Indigenous communities in conservation.

The deal was negotiated over two weeks and includes targets to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade, reform $500bn (£410bn) of environmentally damaging subsidies, and restore 30% of the planet’s degraded terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems.

Governments also agreed urgent actions to halt human-caused extinctions of species known to be under threat and to promote their recovery.

The deal follows scientific warnings that humans are causing the start of Earth’s sixth mass extinction event, the largest loss of life since the time of the dinosaurs.

[sciencespies]

Animals are key to restoring the world's forests

https://sciencespies.com/nature/animals-are-key-to-restoring-the-worlds-forests/

Animals are key to restoring the world's forests

As UN climate talks close in Egypt and biodiversity talks begin in Montreal, attention is on forest restoration as a solution to the twin evils roiling our planet. Forests soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide and simultaneously create habitat for organisms. So far, efforts to help forests bounce back from deforestation have typically focused on increasing one thing — trees — over anything else. But a new report uncovers a powerful, yet largely overlooked, driver of forest recovery: animals. The study by an international team from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Yale School of the Environment, the New York Botanical Garden, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute examined a series of regenerating forests in central Panama spanning 20 to 100 years post-abandonment. The unique long-term data set revealed that animals, by carrying a wide variety of seeds into deforested areas, are key to the recovery of tree species richness and abundance to old-growth levels after only 40-70 years of regrowth. The article, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, is part of a theme issue focused on forest landscape restoration as part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

“Animals are our greatest allies in reforestation,” says Daisy Dent, a tropical ecologist from MPI-AB and the study’s senior author. “Our study prompts a rethink of reforestation efforts to be about more than just establishing plant communities.”

The report also notes that situating regenerating forests near patches of old growth, and reducing hunting, encourages animals to colonize and establish. “We show that considering the wider ecosystem, as well as features of the landscape, improves restoration efforts,” says Sergio Estrada-Villegas, a biologist now at Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia) and the study’s first author.

Seed dispersal by animals is key to forest expansion. In the tropics, over 80% of tree species can be dispersed by animals, which transport seeds throughout the landscape. Despite this, forest restoration efforts continue to focus on increasing tree cover rather than reestablishing the animal-plant interactions that underpin ecosystem function. “Figuring out how animals contribute to reforestation is prohibitively hard because you need detailed information about which animals eat which plants,” says Estrada-Villegas.

The forest at the Barro Colorado Nature Monument (BCNM), in the Panama Canal, offers a unique solution to this problem. In one of the best studied tropical forests in the world, generations of scientists at have documented frugivore interactions to understand which groups of animals disperse which tree species.

In the present study, the team led by Estrada-Villegas and Dent examined this unique long-term dataset to determine the proportion of plants dispersed by four groups of animals — flightless mammals, large birds, small birds, and bats — and how this proportion changed over a century of natural restoration.

Their results offer the most detailed data of animal seed dispersal recovery across the longest timeframe of natural restoration. “Most studies examine the first 30 years of succession, but our data spanning 100 years gives us a rare glimpse into what happens in the late phase of restoration,” says Dent.

The study found that young regenerating forests were made up mostly of trees dispersed by small birds. But as the forest aged, trees dispersed by larger birds increased. Surprisingly, however, the majority of plants were dispersed by terrestrial mammals across all forest ages — from 20 years old to old growth. “This result is quite unusual for post-agricultural regenerating forests,” says Dent. “It is likely that the presence of large tracts of preserved forests near our secondary stands, coupled with low hunting, has allowed the mammal populations to thrive and to bring an influx of seeds from neighboring patches.”

Says Estrada-Villegas: “We hope this information can help practitioners to structure their restoration practices by enabling frugivorous species to help the restoration process and speed up forest recovery.”

Story Source:

Materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

#Nature

[zara24smit]

DRINKING WATER SOLUTION: ALLATRA at the forefront of the best technologies!

The world is on the verge of an ecological catastrophe. Global warming, caused by human activity, is irreversibly changing our planet. Groundwater temperatures are rising, threatening millions of people. Access to clean water, which we have used so thoughtlessly, is becoming impossible. How can we save ourselves? How can we secure the future for our children?

The answer is simple: we need a consolidation of the efforts of all humanity! This is exactly what the ALLATRA volunteer movement calls for. We must bring together the best minds of the planet, direct scientific potential towards solving global problems.

ALLATRA volunteers are already doing this! We have gathered all available information about the climate crisis, united scientists, and presented an effective solution to save the planet at the Prague Summit on May 11, 2024.

What is this solution?

ALLATRA proposes the introduction of atmospheric water generators (AWGs). 

This technology will not only provide humanity with clean water, but also improve the ocean's ability to draw heat from the atmosphere. AWGs will help remove microplastics from the ocean and reduce the number of extreme weather events. All this will give our planet a chance to recover!

It is important to emphasize that the use of AWGs is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly. This means that we are not only solving the climate problem but also building a future for all the peoples of the planet!

Read more about the technology in my previous articles:

Why is ALLATRA taking important steps to address climate issues today? Because WATER WILL BECOME UNDRINKABLE in the near future!

Groundwater temperatures could rise by 3.5°C over the next few decades, making them undrinkable for billions of people.

This alarming forecast is based on the world's first global groundwater temperature model, developed by an international team of researchers including Dr. Gabriel Rau from Newcastle University and Dr. Dylan Irvine from Charles Darwin University.

The model predicts that changes will occur everywhere. But the most significant warming will occur in Central Russia, Northern China, parts of North America, and the Amazon rainforest, Australia.

The research findings have far-reaching consequences for water quality, ecosystem health, and human safety. Dr. Rau explains that warmer groundwater contains less dissolved oxygen, which could lead to fish dying in rivers that depend on groundwater during dry periods.

Of greatest concern is the potential impact on drinking water safety. 

The increase in temperature can promote the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, creating significant risks to human health, especially in regions where access to clean drinking water is already limited.

Warming groundwater also carries economic risks, potentially disrupting the operation of sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and energy production, which rely heavily on groundwater resources. 

While the world grapples with multifaceted climate change challenges, this research underscores the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to mitigate global warming and its impact on vital water resources.

We need to massively implement alternative technologies to safeguard human health.  We need to ensure everyone has access to water resources, thus allowing the planet to restore its compensatory mechanisms and cleanse itself.

We urge everyone to join the ALLATRA movement! Together, we can overcome the climate crisis and preserve our planet for future generations! 

Please subscribe to my channel and support this article with thunderous applause, a like, a share, and a comment.

#AWGs #Ocean #ClimateChange #SustainableFuture #ALLATRA #GlobalAction #SaveOurPlanet #un

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

For decades, Gaza’s environment has been facing degradation and pressure on its ecosystems, the consequence of recurring conflicts, rapid urbanization, high population density, political conditions, and the region’s vulnerability to climate change, the statement said. The preliminary assessment found that the war “undoes recent, albeit limited progress on Gaza’s environmental management systems.” This included the development of water desalination and wastewater treatment facilities, a rapid growth in solar power, and investments in the restoration of the Wadi Gaza coastal wetland. It also found that an estimated 39 million tonnes of debris have been generated by the conflict – for each square metre in the Gaza Strip, there is now over 107 kg of debris. “This is more than five times the quantity of debris generated from the 2017 conflict in Mosul, Iraq,” the statement said. Debris poses risks to human health and the environment, from dust and contamination with unexploded ordnance, asbestos, industrial and medical waste, and other hazardous substances, it added.

[tmr-blogs2]

Ecological Restoration Service Market Value to Reach US$ 87.9 Bn by 2031

The global ecological restoration service market is projected to expand at a CAGR of CAGR of 9.4% from 2022 to 2031, according to the market outlook presented in a study by TMR.

Increase in initiatives by governments of several countries across the globe to conserve nature are anticipated to present significant business opportunities in the market in the next few years.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) of the U.S. recently launched the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration program. The primary motive of this program is restoration of 1 billion hectares of degraded land by the end of 2030. It is considered a call to action for the global restoration and preservation of ecosystems for the benefit of the environment as well as humans.

Download a sample copy of the report (please prefer the corporate mail ID to get the highest priority) - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=85305

Market Segmentation

By Service Type: Habitat Restoration, Species Reintroduction, Soil Remediation, Erosion Control, Water Resource Management.

By Sourcing Type: Outsourced Services, In-house Services.

By Application: Land Reclamation, Urban Development, Mining Sites Restoration, River Basin Restoration, Coastal Rehabilitation.

By Industry Vertical: Government & NGOs, Mining & Energy, Construction & Infrastructure, Agriculture & Forestry, Tourism & Recreation.

By Region: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa.

Regional Analysis

North America: Leading the market due to stringent environmental regulations and significant investments in restoration projects.

Europe: Witnessing steady growth driven by sustainability initiatives and increasing public-private partnerships.

Asia Pacific: Emerging as a key market propelled by rapid urbanization, infrastructure development, and conservation efforts.

Latin America, Middle East & Africa: Showing promising growth potential fueled by biodiversity conservation agendas and natural resource management projects.

Market Drivers and Challenges

Drivers:

Regulatory Push for Environmental Compliance

Corporate Sustainability Mandates

Public Awareness and Advocacy

Technological Innovations in Restoration Techniques

Challenges:

Funding and Investment Constraints

Lack of Skilled Workforce

Complexity of Ecosystem Interactions

Policy Uncertainties and Regulatory Variability

Market Trends

Technology Integration: Adoption of AI, drones, GIS mapping for efficient monitoring and execution of restoration projects.

Collaborative Partnerships: Public-private partnerships, academia-industry collaborations driving innovation and scale.

Nature-Based Solutions: Emphasis on natural processes like wetland filtration, forest carbon sequestration for sustainable outcomes.

Circular Economy Approaches: Waste-to-resource strategies, eco-friendly materials usage in restoration activities.

Future Outlook

The future of the Ecological Restoration Service Market looks promising with increasing global commitments towards biodiversity conservation and climate action. Market players focusing on innovation, collaboration, and sustainable practices are expected to gain a competitive edge.

Key Market Study Points

Market Dynamics: Understand drivers, challenges, and opportunities shaping market growth.

Segment Analysis: Evaluate market potential across different service types, applications, and regions.

Competitive Landscape: Assess key players, their strategies, partnerships, and market positioning.

Technological Trends: Analyze the impact of emerging technologies on restoration services.

Regulatory Environment: Stay updated on evolving regulations influencing market dynamics.

Buy this Premium Research Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=85305&ltype=S

Competitive Landscape and Recent Developments

Key players in the Ecological Restoration Service Market include [List the key players here]. Recent developments in the market include strategic partnerships for large-scale restoration projects, technological innovations for precision restoration techniques, and initiatives focusing on community engagement and capacity building.

About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and consulting services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques to gather and analyses information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

Contact:

Transparency Market Research Inc.

CORPORATE HEADQUARTER DOWNTOWN,

1000 N. West Street,

Suite 1200, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 USA

Tel: +1-518-618-1030

USA – Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com  

[intlforestday]

Sustainable Horizons: Showcasing Progress in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Watch Sustainable Horizons: Showcasing Progress in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration!

[chamelgaspardblogs]

UNEP Executive Director announces seven new UN World Restoration Flagships

Through the World Restoration Flagships Award, the United Nations is honouring the planet’s most ambitious, successful, and inspiring examples of large-scale ecosystem restoration. With only seven years left in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, seven new winners are announced: From the last place where rhinos, elephants, tigers, and humans co-exist to the Indus River Basin and the peaks of…

[wachinyeya]

“Our soil is degrading, droughts increasing and once fertile land turning into desert (www.decadeonrestoration.org ). But there are glimmers of hope:

In 2004, Sri Lanka was hit by a devastating tsunami. Coastal areas with mangrove trees were more protected – so mass planting started. And failed. Watch how the country learned, adapted, and is finding success where land meets the ocean.

Natural Mangrove Regeneration in Sri Lanka has been recognized as a World Restoration Flagship under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.”

[sjjnyc]

Swimming in Phoenix + The Bad Ass Swimmers Club

I enjoyed the few times I was able to go swimming in an outdoor pool in Phoenix at Ability360! I loved the heated therapy pool and got a chance to feel my body react to being submerged in water from the shallow to deep end. It's too bad I didn't continue swimming lessons when I was a kid, because then I'd be a part of the Bad Ass Swimmers Club lol (aka all the folks who swim!). I literally feel like taking swimming lessons as a child is one of the best things a parent/guardian can do for their kids; it can be a great advantage to have as the child gets older. I'm learning and accepting it's never too late to start something you really want to do, so I really look forward to swimming more in the future!

The Bad Ass Swimmers Club

I just randomly made up the concept of "The Bad Ass Swimmers Club" to be an umbrella term for all the swimmers I admire. There are folks in my personal life and orbit who inspire me (s/o to Nora Almedia who is an avid swimmer and has a dope project called "Open Waters", and Charmaine Bee who documents their time swimming in the ocean and waterways in/near Bahia, Brazil), and I just feel like swimming journeys are some of the most beautiful unfoldings to witness.

I've also been following two recent river swims:

#HudsonSwim2023 by Lewis Pugh and team!

"On August 13 2023, Lewis Pugh began his 315-mile (507-km) swim down the Hudson River, from its source to its end at New York City. He is doing this to highlight the critical role rivers play in a habitable planet.

Lewis will explore the interconnectedness of rivers and oceans, and stress the urgent need to restore, protect and respect them. “If we want healthy oceans we also need healthy rivers — it’s that simple.”

The end of the swim will coincide with the UN General Assembly Week, Climate Week NYC 2023, and the UN Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit".

Agbetsi Living Waters Swim by Yvette Tetteh and team!

"Imagine a future where the beach is clean and the waters clear. A future where fishing nets catch fish, and not trash. A future without discarded clothes washing up along the banks of our rivers, burning on our roadsides, or towering over the homes of thousands of people at the place once regarded as a sacred lagoon. A future where the Korle Lagoon is swimmable…

With the stage set by decades of Waste Colonialism and centuries of extractive and exploitative global trade, this future may seem impossible, but it is the future we are working toward. It is the future we must work toward, breaking down the impossible into its constituent parts, one stroke at a time.

We are excited to launch the Agbetsi Living Water Swim, a month-long exploration of the Volta River System that gives life to millions of people in Ghana and throughout West Africa".

Yvette Tetteh actually joined Lewis Pugh for a leg of the Hudson Swim journey on September 12, 2023!

#REPOST from @lewispughfdn "Wonderful to have our #RiverWarrior @yvette_tetteh join @lewis.pugh on the #HudsonSwim2023 yesterday. Yvette recently swam the entire length of the Volta River in Ghana to raise awareness of the impact synthetic microfibers have on river ecosystems and communities 👏🏊‍♂️ #RiversAreLife"

Hello you swimmers out there! You inspire me! Here's a message for you!

[wolfnowl]

The What, Why, and How of Ecosystem Restoration | World Resources Institute

Worth reading. 🌱

[xtruss]

Water: Global Fresh Water Demand Will Outstrip Supply By 40% By 2030, Say Experts

Landmark report urges overhaul of wasteful water practices around world on eve of crucial UN summit

— Fiona Harvey, Environment Editor | Thursday 16 March 2023

Low water levels at Lac de Chambon hydroelectric dam in Éguzon, France. Photograph: Hubert Psaila Marie/ABACA/Rex/Shutterstock

The world is facing an imminent water crisis, with demand expected to outstrip the supply of fresh water by 40% by the end of this decade, experts have said on the eve of a crucial UN water summit.

Governments must urgently stop subsidising the extraction and overuse of water through misdirected agricultural subsidies, and industries from mining to manufacturing must be made to overhaul their wasteful practices, according to a landmark report on the economics of water.

Nations must start to manage water as a global common good, because most countries are highly dependent on their neighbours for water supplies, and overuse, pollution and the climate crisis threaten water supplies globally, the report’s authors say.

Johan Rockstrom, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, and a lead author of the report, told the Guardian the world’s neglect of water resources was leading to disaster. “The scientific evidence is that we have a water crisis. We are misusing water, polluting water, and changing the whole global hydrological cycle, through what we are doing to the climate. It’s a triple crisis.”

Water Stress: Freshwater Withdrawal as a Proportion of Available Freshwater Resources, 2019

Rockstrom’s fellow Global Commission on the Economics of Water co-chair Mariana Mazzucato, a professor at University College London and also a lead author of the report, added: “We need a much more proactive, and ambitious, common good approach. We have to put justice and equity at the centre of this, it’s not just a technological or finance problem.”

The report marks the first time the global water system has been scrutinised comprehensively and its value to countries – and the risks to their prosperity if water is neglected – laid out in clear terms. Like with the Stern review of the economics of the climate crisis in 2006 and the Dasgupta review of the economics of biodiversity in 2021, the report authors hope to highlight the crisis in a way that policymakers and economists can recognise.

Many governments still do not realise how interdependent they are when it comes to water, according to Rockstrom. Most countries depend for about half of their water supply on the evaporation of water from neighbouring countries – known as “green” water because it is held in soils and delivered from transpiration in forests and other ecosystems, when plants take up water from the soil and release vapour into the air from their leaves.

The report sets out seven key recommendations, including reshaping the global governance of water resources, scaling up investment in water management through public-private partnerships, pricing water properly and establishing “just water partnerships” to raise finance for water projects in developing and middle-income countries.

Human Survival Depends on a Sustainable Water Cycle For Both Blue and Green Limits

More than $700bn (£575bn) of subsidies globally go to agriculture and water each year and these often fuel excessive water consumption. Water leakage must also be urgently addressed, the report found, and restoring freshwater systems such as wetlands should be another priority.

Water is fundamental to the climate crisis and the global food crisis. “There will be no agricultural revolution unless we fix water,” said Rockstrom. “Behind all these challenges we are facing, there’s always water, and we never talk about water.”

Many of the ways in which water is used are inefficient and in need of change, with Rockstrom pointing to developed countries’ sewage systems. “It’s quite remarkable that we use safe, fresh water to carry excreta, urine, nitrogen, phosphorus – and then need to have inefficient wastewater treatment plants that leak 30% of all the nutrients into downstream aquatic ecosystems and destroy them and cause dead zones. We’re really cheating ourselves in terms of this linear, waterborne modern system of dealing with waste. There are massive innovations required.”

The UN water summit, led by the governments of the Netherlands and Tajikistan, will take place in New York on 22 March. World leaders are invited but only a few are expected to attend, with most countries to be represented by ministers or high-ranking officials. It will mark the first time in more than four decades the UN has met to discuss water, with previous attempts stymied by governments reluctant to countenance any form of international governance of the resource.

Henk Ovink, a special envoy for international water affairs for the Netherlands, told the Guardian the conference was crucial. “If we are to have a hope of solving our climate crisis, our biodiversity crisis and other global challenges on food, energy and health, we need to radically change our approach in how we value and manage water,” he said. “[This] is the best opportunity we have to put water at the centre of global action to ensure people, crops and the environment continue to have the water they need.”

Seven Calls to Action on Water

1– Manage the global water cycle as a global common good, to be protected collectively and in our shared interests.

2– Ensure safe and adequate water for every vulnerable group, and work with industry to scale up investment in water.

3– Stop underpricing water. Proper pricing and targeted support for the poor will enable water to be used more efficiently, more equitably, and more sustainably

4– Reduce the more than $700bn of subsidies in agriculture and water each year, which often fuel excessive water consumption, and reduce leakage in water systems.

5– Establish “just water partnerships” which can mobilise finance for low- and middle-income countries.

6– Take urgent action this decade on issues such as restoring wetlands and depleted groundwater resources;, recycling the water used in industry; moving to precision agriculture that uses water more efficiently; and having companies report on their “water footprint”.

7– Reform the governance of water at an international level, and including water in trade agreements. Governance must also take into account women, farmers, indigenous people and others in the frontline of water conservation.

— This article was amended on 17 March 2023. An earlier version, relying on figures from a draft version of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water report, said agricultural and water subsidies totalled $1 trillion a year; this has been changed to $700bn in line with the final report — The Guardian USA