Conservation News ~ 28 February 2020

• BP cutting ties with three US lobby groups over climate policies
• Coke and Pepsi sued for creating a plastic pollution nuisance
• Shenzen could be first city in China to ban eating of dogs and cats
• Missouri farmer wins $265 million verdict against Monsanto
• Lava flow tells 600-year- storyof biodiversity loss on tropical island
• 12 new species of amphibians were found in Abra de Zamora, Ecuador
• Forest duff must be considered in controlled burning to avoid damaging trees
• Palau’s marine secretary backfires, leading to increased consumption of reef fish
• On anniversary of nun’s murder, Amazon land rights activists at high risk
• Bolivia and Paraguay unite to protect critically endangered guanacos
• Call for prosecution of Indonesian politician who kept baby oranguatan as pet
• Barrage of mining requests targets Brazil’s isolated indigenous people
• Heathrow third runway ruled illegal over climate change
• China to dispatch army of ducks to Pakistan to devour locust swarm
• Virginia lawmakers vote to ban offshore oil drilling
• Rewilding project aims to give Thames its floodplain back
• Two new ancient species of cockroaches found in cave in Myanmar
• The Dept of Interior official says that the Border Wall helps environment
• Online shopping can be worse for environment than driving to a store
• Evidence does not support hunting as a way to control cougars
• Protecting tropics could save half of species on brink
• Manatee filmed being dragged along a road in Nigeria sparks outcry
• Science shows nature makes children happier
• Deaf moths evolved noise-cancelling scales to evade prey
• Costa Rican indigenous land activist killed by armed mob
• Moab’s Slickrock Trail spared from energy leasing as BLM withdraws plans
• Canadian mining giant withdraws plans for C$20bn tar sands project
• China permanently bans consumption of wild animals
• Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai meet at Oxford University
• Rare Red Colobus caught on camera in South Sudan
• Oil and gas industry rewards US lawmakers who oppose environmental protections
• Virginia state legislature passes landmark wildlife corridor bill
• PepsiCo adopts stricter, greener rules for palm oil in products
• Camera traps confirm presence of lowland gorillas in central mainland Equitorial Guinea for first time in over a decade
• Coronavirus, trawls take a toll on shrimp fishery on Indonesia’s Jambi
• Amazon tipping point puts Brazil’s agribusiness, energy sector at risk
• Listening to marine mammals is helping scientists understand Arctic impacts of climate change
• Global seed bank receives one-millionth variety
• Nearly 50 rhinos killed in Botswana in 10 months as poaching surges
• Stunning footage of snow leopard and her quadruplet cubs
• India’s bird population going down sharply
• Durham miners join Extinction Rebellion in protest against coal
• Polar bears in Baffin Bay have skinnier, fewer subs due to less sea ice
• Bengal Forest officials say that Rhino toll reaches five in Jaldapara National Park
• Canada’s oil bust has left thousands of orphan wells, and not enough money for cleanup
• JPMorgan Chase to pull support for some fossil fuels
• $85 million initiative to scale up agroforestry in Africa announced
• Threat to Assam rhinos as fake coronavirus medicine doing rounds
• Jupiter’s atmosphere has far more water than previously thought
• Kenyan Agriculture Secretary orders closures of all four donkey slaughterhouses
• Solar storms may leave grey whales blind and stranded
• Conservation prioritization can resolve the flagship species conundrum
• Bernie Sanders and AOC unveil a Green New Deal for public housing
• Oregon Zoo has first Condor Egg of 2020
• World’s richest 10% are responsible for 50% of carbon emissions while poorest 50% produce 10%
• Sea Shepherd rescue entangled whale in Vaquita refuge
• Red-state Utah embraces plan to tackle climate crisis in surprising shift
• Fossils reveal first known giant parrot
• Equinor abandons plans to drill in Great Australian Bight
• California lawmakers introduce legislation to fight tropical deforestation
• Coronavirus outbreak hits Vietnam’s timber sector
• On-billion-year-old green seaweed fossils identified, relative of modern land plants
• Climate warning disrupts tree seed production
• Tasmania’s underwater forests disappearing in our lifetime
• Massive wildlands bill passed by House would preserve more than 416,000 acres in Southern California
• World Wildlife Day is March 3
• Mine waste dams threaten the environment, even when they don’t fail
• Former UN climate chief calls for civil disobedience
• Chinese government approves decision to ban consumption of wild animals
• Myanmar survey finds record number of Ayeyarwady dolphins
• Six new gecko species found in Western Ghats
• New species of soil bacteria can fight soil pollutants
• Lawsuit forces White House action on Emperor Penguins
• Oregon denies Jordan Cove LNG on Eve of FERC decision
• House Democrats urge banks to not fund drilling in Arctic refuge
• Enigmatic small primate finally caught on film in Kenya
• Tropical snakes disappear as fungal outbreak decimates their prey
• Palode forest yelds new amaranthus species
• California Attorney General files lawsuit against White House for failing to protect endangered species
• New way to turn carbon dioxide into coal could rewind the emissions clock
• 28 people were arrested in Seattle for calling out Chas’s massive investments in the fossil fuel industry
• Eagle trio sees parenting success in Illinois
• Philippines races to save increasingly endangered hornbills
• African penguin population plummets
• Antarctic temperature rises above 20c for first time on record
• The once-endangered Echo Parakeet has officially been downlisted to Vulnerable from just 12 birds in 1970 to 800 today
• Himalayan wolf lopes toward recognition as distinct species
• New parasitoid wasp species discovered in Amazon manipulate host behavior in complex way
• UN accepts India’s proposal to save three endangered species
• New Zealand opens Paparoa Track, first new Great Walk in 25 years
• White House to approve strip mining on Tennessee’s protected Cumberland Plateau
• Dry February sends California back to drought
• New protections for jaguar and Asian elephant
• Kellogg’s bans palm oil to save Orangutan after Brit siters’ campaign
• Pets are rounded up and slaughtered to stop spread of coronavirus
• Firms are making billions from highly hazardous pesticides
• Iran upholds heavy sentences for conservationists convicted of spying
• Investors drop demands after Tyson Foods commit to no deforestation
• UN Human Rights Chief Slams Trump for Attacks on Environment, Refugees, and Children
• Australian lion species discovered in Queensland's Riversleigh World Heritage area