Nations

Howler monkey

Brazil takes pioneering action to rewild howler monkeys

Brown howler monkeys, endemic to the Atlantic Forest in Brazil and Argentina, became one of the 25 most threatened primate species following a yellow fever outbreak in late 2016.
In response, Brazilian government agencies and other conservation organizations launched a nationwide population management plan, the first of its kind in the country, focused on coordinating captive facilities with experts who could relocate animals to areas where populations have vanished or declined.

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Belgian flag

Belgian sex workers to get health insurance, pensions and maternity leave in world first

The law makes it legal to give prostitutes employment contracts, after Belgium became the first country in Europe to decriminalize self-employed sex work in 2022. It bestows certain rights on the worker and conditions on their employer. These include the right to refuse a client or a sexual act, as well as the right to interrupt a sexual act at any time without fear of dismissal or punishment.

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Banisteriopsis caapi vine

Church of the Eagle and the Condor can now drink ayahuasca legally in the U.S.

Ayahuasca is a psychoactive brew traditionally used by Indigenous cultures in the Amazon and Orinoco. It is now often used to help treat depression, PTSD, trauma, and other mental illnesses and to promote spiritual and emotional development. The Church of the Eagle and the Condor is officially the first non-Christian church in the U.S to obtain legal protections to use it as a sacrament.

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Salmon in stream

The number of fish on U.S. overfishing list reaches an all-time low

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an updated analysis of American fisheries late last week via its annual “Status of the Stocks” report, which provides an assessment of the populations of the seafood species fishermen catch and customers buy. The report states that 94% of fish stocks are not subject to overfishing. NOAA said it was able to remove Atlantic coast bluefish and a Washington coast stock of coho salmon from the overfished list.

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Coal pollution

G7 agree to close all coal-fired generating stations by 2035

Energy ministers from the G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union — agreed at a meeting in Turin, Italy, to close all coal-fired generating stations in their countries by 2035 if not sooner. Putting an end date on coal — the most polluting of all fossil fuels — has been highly controversial at international climate talks. Until this point, Japan, which derived 32% of its electricity from coal in 2023 according to the climate advocate Ember, has blocked progress on the issue at past G7 meetings.

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Offshore wind turbines

Denmark plans massive 10GW offshore wind tender to insure against “Putin’s black gas”

The Danish Energy Agency announced this week plans for the largest offshore wind tender in the country’s history, which could see anywhere from 6GW to 10GW awarded from six new sites. Denmark is currently operating total offshore wind capacity of 2.7GW, with the 1GW Thor Offshore Wind Farm to be completed in 2027. A further 3GW is expected to be built on the Bornholm energy island being developed between the Danish Energy Agency and Danish TSO Energinet.

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Acacia tree branch

Democratic Republic of the Congo plants more than 800 million trees between 2019 and 2023

Ten percent of the world’s tropical forests are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). But the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the DRC is losing 1.2 million acres of forest every year. To help address this, a Congolese government program aspired to plant 1 billion trees between 2019 and 2023, aiming to strengthen climate resilience, alleviate poverty and protect biodiversity, and achieved 90% of their goal.

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