The Central Asian nation is set to join the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) beginning in 2025. Home to many charismatic and widely traded species, such as the Persian leopard, snow leopard, peregrine falcon and markhor goat, this move is a step toward regulating the legal wildlife trade and preventing the illegal trade in Turkmenistan and the whole of Central Asia.
Canada’s federal government contributed $300 million to the initiative, while private donors contributed $75 million. Funds are expected to be received starting in mid-2025 and flow for 10 years after that. The funds can be used to establish new protected and conservation areas as identified by Indigenous governments and to support guardian and stewardship programs. The money can also be used for things like eco-tourism and traditional economic activities, climate research, and on-the-land language and culture programs . It’s one of the largest Indigenous-led conservation efforts in the world, according to a news release.
Brazil recently announced a plan to restore an area of degraded land about half the size of the U.K. by 2030, in a bid to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. The Planaveg 2.0 initiative, launched at the U.N. biodiversity summit, COP16, in Colombia on Oct. 28, aims to restore 30 million acres, about half of Brazil’s degraded land area. Home to 15-18% of the world’s known species, Brazil is the most biodiverse nation on Earth, making it a key player in global ecosystem restoration.
Indigenous peoples in Colombia have been granted the authority to protect, manage, and conserve biodiversity within their territories according to their knowledge. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has issued a decree that lays out the standards required for Indigenous authorities to issue regulations regarding the protection, preservation, use, and management of natural resources in their territories and effective coordination with state authorities. These powers will be exercised according to their self-government structures.
On October 16, biologists with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spotted the fish above the former site of the J.C. Boyle Dam in the Upper Klamath River. The dam was one of four that had blocked the salmon’s migration between the Klamath Basin and the Pacific Ocean. Each of those dams was recently deconstructed in the largest dam removal project in United States history, which has restored the river to its natural, free-flowing state.
South America’s tallest tree, a 400-year-old red angelim in the northern tip of the Brazilian Amazon, is the star of a newly created conservation area called the Giant Trees of the Amazon State Park. The area was officially sectioned off from the larger Paru State Forest for stronger protection. Now, the 1.38-million-acre Giant Trees of the Amazon State Park has been upgraded to the “full protection” category. This means that activities like logging, permitted under the “sustainable use” category when it was previously part of Paru State Park, can no longer be proposed in its bounds.
Conservation authorities in the Republic of Congo have launched a plan to invest in the protection of “high-integrity forests” in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, treating these ecosystems as an asset class. The new initiative aims to fill a funding gap to protect the ROC’s forests by selling high-integrity forest (HIFOR) units, defined as representing “one hectare of healthy, high integrity tropical forest actively conserved within a large landscape for decades.”
By expanding protected areas and bolstering ranger patrols, the steady growth in the number of rhinos, seen since the late 60s, has now accelerated to the point where 3,000 horns grace the Assam savannah. “Rhinos are synonymous with the identity of Assam. They are our pride and the crown jewel of our biodiversity. Ever since we assumed office, we have taken various initiatives to protect the prized species, expand its habitat and ensure its safety,” Assam state’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote.
From Spain in the west to Cyprus in the east, the Mediterranean has witnessed a record rise in sea turtle nesting – testimony to the painstaking efforts of environmentalists determined to save an ancient mariner that not that long ago was on the verge of extinction. In Greece, which hosts 60% of Caretta caretta nests, the rebound has been phenomenal: from an average of 5,000 to 7,000 nests per year, since 2023 over 10,000 nests have been recorded annually, according to Archelon, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece.
Six Guam kingfishers, known locally as sihek, have been released into the wild, marking their return from nearly four decades of being extinct in the wild. Sihek became extinct in the wild from their native Guam in 1986 due to the introduction of the brown tree snake, but a captive-breeding program has kept the species alive since then. This release, on the predator-free Palmyra Atoll, about 3,700 miles east of Guam, is part of a larger plan to establish a breeding population there, with the ultimate goal of returning the sihek to Guam once the threat from brown tree snakes is addressed.
