Conservation News ~ 26 June 2020

• Microplastics found for first time in Antarctica’s food chain
• Global warming shortens spring feeding season for Mule Deer in Wyoming
• 2020 Human Development Report to focus on meeting people’s aspirations in balance with the planet
• Almost 50 Blue Whales spotted off the coast of San Francisco
• Early Plant DNA researcher at Chicago’s Field Museum dies at 35
• Colombia’s capital city moves to completely ban bullfighting
• Ford takes comprehensive approach to sustainability will be carbon neutral by 2050
• Polls show most Americans want action on climate change; swing voters are moved by it
• Adani lands conservation area ‘126 times’ bigger than mine
• New velvet spider species is named after actor Joaquin Phoenix for his role in the Joker
• Four new species of giant single-celled organisms discovered on Pacific seafloor
• Pandemic cleaner air could reshape what we know about the atmosphere
• A palm oil conglomerate pay $22m to an unnamed ‘expert’ in Papua
• Whit Rhinos numbers increased 34,000
• Maine has latest $150M Green Bonds purchase protects pristine water parcel
• US unveils vision for more development in National Forests
• Conservation creates more jobs than fossil fuel development
• Tree-planting campaigns can reduce, not improve biodiversity
• Most American believe the government should do more to combat climate change
• Godzilla dust cloud from Sahara blankets Caribbean on its way to US
• Long Beach and 13 partner cities and agencies, win class action lawsuit
• Alaskan megaeruption may have helped end the Roman Republic
• Dutch Parliament votes to shut down all 128 mink farms
• Malawi court convicts 7 Chinese, 2 Malawians on wildlife crimes
• Maasai farmers offer Kenya’s Wildlife a lifeline
• Nebraska farmers return land to Ponca Tribe in effort to block Keystone XL
• Residents hide as macaque gangs take over Thai city
• Facebook allows climate denial to Flourish on its platform
• Amazon launches $2bn clean tech venture fund
• Researchers find three new species of geckos lurking under granite rocks in the Mysore Plateau
• Government urged to tackle UK carbon emissions by working with nature
• Trillion-dollar investors warn Brazil over dismantling of environmental policies
• Illegal farms on indigenous lands get whitewashed under Bolsonaro administration
• China and EU appetite for soy drives Brazilian deforestation, climate change
• Indonesian court jails indigenous farmers from stealing from land they claim
• Republicans, Democrats agree on opposing drilling off Florida’s Gulf, Atlantic coasts
• Trudeau announces $100m investment in Canada’s plant-based protein industry
• China’s annual dog-meat fair opens despite COVID
• Pangolins return to region where they were once extinct
• New Ocelot spotted at Laguna Atascosa
• Endangered smoky mouse, feared wiped out during bushfires, found alive in Kosciuszko
• Study shows positive YouTube videos of wolves linked to greater tolerance
• Barcelona Opera reopens with an audience of plants
• Indonesia resumes release of captive wildlife amid COVID
• CocaCola is again the world champion in plastic pollution
• Vatican calls on catholics to divest from fossil fuels
• One-fifth of Earth’s ocean floor is now mapped
• Manatee mother and calf released in Sarasota
• New monkey species found hiding in plain sight
• Undergraduate student discovers 18 new species of aquatic beetle in South America
• Hello Kitty dives into campaign to protect coral reefs
• French Citizens’ council on the environment proposes making ‘ecocide’ illegal
• Endangered Australian fish routinely being sold in shops and restaurants
• COVID lockdown reveals human impact on wildlife
• A water crisis looms for 270 million people as South Asia’s glaciers shrink
• Siberia Arctic hits 100 degrees Fahrenheit
• British Colombia poised to lose ‘white rhino of old growth forests’
• Stuck at home, scientists discover 9 new species of phorid flies
• US demand for clean energy destroying Canada’s environment, indigenous peoples say
• Assam’s endangered langurs observed to practice forced abortion
• Italian team covers glacier with giant white sheet to slow melting
• To recover from global recession, we must invest in nature
• Last chance for the Persian Leopard: the fight to save the Iraqi Kurdistan forests
• Researchers capture drone footage of African ‘tree lions’ in conservation study
• Swiss researchers identify new bacteria in permafrost
• New lizard species discovered by Uddhav Thackeray’s son
• Floppy-nosed antelope has baby boom, raising hope for critically endangered species
• One of the world’s rarest dolphins is rebounding in Pakistan
• COVID is jeopardizing world’s protected areas
• Agriculture secretary directs national forests be used for more mining, oil, and gas
• Australia: Million hectares of endangered species' habitat cleared without federal approval