This week has been spent researching a couple of stories so the round up of conservation news and views is a little bit more random and, thanks to an argument between some green tea and my laptop, a little shorter/later than originally planned. I hope it’s still of interest but please do feel free to get in touch to let me know what you want to see more (or less) of in these weekly posts.
Is the World waking up to climate change?
Photo by ainhi from FreeImages
First up, some positive news in the battle against the end of the planet as we know it, as 72 World leaders (as of posting this) have pledged to reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. The UK, Germany, France and Canada, are among the countries to have signed the ten-point Leader’s Pledge, which acknowledges that enough is really enough, when it comes to the way we are treating the planet. As the pledge states: “A transformative change is needed: we cannot simply carry on as before.”
The ten point pledge, is seen as an important rallying call ahead of this week’s UN Summit on Biodiversity, part of ongoing negotiations which will ultimately set important targets relating to biodiversity loss, land and ocean degradation, pollution, resource depletion and climate change.
Sao Paolo, Brazil under a haze of smog. Photo by mashiba from FreeImages
Of course, the obvious elephant(s) in the room is that Australia, Brazil, China, India and the United States – perhaps the ‘big five’ when it comes to their environmental impact – are among those who have failed to sign.
However, last week saw signs of a softening in China’s environmental stance as the country’s PM, Xi Jinping announced plans to aim for carbon neutrality by 2060 and called for a green recovery post-Covid. Xi reconfirmed those bold (and unexpected) statements during his opening address at this week’s summit as China looks to take the lead in this global crisis.
While it might seem an unlikely source, there is a genuine hope among conservationists that the current pandemic is acting as an urgently needed wake up call for world leaders when it comes to the environment. We’ll see quite how big a wake-up call over the next few weeks and months.
New reserve in Central Vietnam is home to rare primates and elusive ‘Asian Unicorn’
An endangered Red-shanked Douc Langur. Photo courtesy of Bjornolesen.com/Viet Nature
In more good news for the state of the planet, a new nature reserve has been officially approved in Quang Binh province in Central Vietnam.
The Dong Chau-Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve covers 22,132 hectares of lowland evergreen forests in the Annamite Mountain ranges and is home to 40 threatened species including the Red-shanked Douc Langur, singing Southern White-cheeked Gibbon, Sunda pangolin and the Saola, a type of antelope, so rare and mysterious it has been dubbed the ‘Asian Unicorn.’
The decision by the Vietnam government to upgrade the previously Watershed Protection Forest (WPF) region to a full reserve is a victory for local Conservation body Viet Nature who have been working since the early 2010s to get the highest possible level of government protection for this important region.
“The new status puts biodiversity protection as a key objective – the level that its outstanding biodiversity deserves,” stated Viet Nature President and Co-founder Pham Tuan Anh.
View over Khe Nuoc Trong and Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve. Photo courtesy of Viet Nature Conservation Centre/Pham Tuan Anh
As well as being an important sanctuary for biodiversity, the region also plays an important role in the fight against climate change. Research conducted by the University of Leeds has found that the forested area could offset almost 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year over the next 30 years.
South East Asia, including Vietnam, is home to 15% of the world’s tropical forests but also faces the highest rates of deforestation, losing up to 1.2 per cent of its forests annually. Any steps to slow these alarming rates of destruction through greater levels of protection has got to be a positive step forward.
A greener Singapore
An illustration of the proposed new route, image courtesy of National Parks Singapore
Meanwhile, closer to (my) home, Singapore’s plans to become a City in Nature continue apace, with Deputy PM Heng Swee Keat announcing that a new central green corridor will be developed linking Changi Beach Park on the north east coast with East Coast Park. The 15km route, which will run alongside existing roads, will include cycle lanes and see the planting of native trees and shrubs to create green nature corridors. More specific details, such as a completion date are still to be confirmed, but it fits in with the wider government plans, announced back in March, to add an additional 200 hectares of natural parks and an extra 160km of park connectors on the island by the year 2030.
A walk on the wild(er) side
Talking of green corridors, this week saw me take a 10km hike on the northern leg of Singapore’s best-known nature way, The Rail Corridor. As the name suggests, this is a 24km stretch of former railway line (last used in 2011), which runs north to south through the heart of the island from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station up to Woodlands Train checkpoint.
I’ve spent a lot of time during the lockdown walking those parts of the central section that aren’t currently undergoing redevelopment - redevelopment which have led some, including me, to grumble that the green space risks being ‘over-sanitised’ through excessive paving, planting and signage – but I’d never tried the northern stretch before until this week.
While the first half does meander through a pretty urban environment of thrusting housing developments, shabby industrial estates and comes with a rumbling soundtrack from the road it runs alongside, the grassy trail (no tarmac here) offers good walking through open meadows, bordering on marshes that are alive with butterflies, dragonflies, mayflies and crickets. It’s worth persevering too, as things turn much wilder (and wonderfully muddy) once you head away from the busy road at around the 19km mark. Reeds and grasses dotted with wild flowers start to encroach, while doves, parakeets and kingfishers call out to you from the branches of the beautiful old trees that line the trail.
The highlight for me though had to be the final km, which passes under the modern MRT line before entering a charming patch of woodland. As the sun fought its way through the overhanging canopy, I found myself lead back to the main road along the increasingly boggy path by a beautiful black and white oriental magpie robin.
Above all else the walk did underline what I really loved about the other parts of the green corridor, before they were closed for redevelopment. Namely that they felt natural, untouched and a little unruly, something that’s been lost a little on the updated sections. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to this section any time soon, as it’s really hard to find these wilder spots in Singapore and you really can’t beat the feel of mud beneath your feet.
A Natural Escape
I’ll end this week with a recommendation for a nature-focused podcast I’ve been listening to since the start of lockdown. Presented by nature writer and novelist Melissa Harrison, the Stubborn Light of Things is a lyrical exploration of the gentle wonders of the English (or more specifically the Suffolk) countryside.
Every week Harrison, who writes a regular nature notes column in theTimes, heads out into the surrounding fields, marshes and woods in pursuit of the birds and animals that call it home, while highlighting the specific challenges these creatures face in our modern world. Her descriptions are vivid and thoughtful and Harrison’s voice regularly betrays her deep love for the natural world, whether its glimpsing a barn owl swooping across the fields, hearing a nightjar burr or watching rabbits hop about at sunset. These expeditions run alongside poetry readings and personal reflections by special guests - usually either writers or poets – all with a focus on the natural world. Perhaps my favourite part though, is the readings from the nature diaries of Gilbert White, a cleric and academic who lived in East Hampshire in the 18th century. There’s something remarkably poignant about the window it offers into a very different world, a poignancy with added weight for me, as I remembered reading the diaries as a child.
I am not sure when I’ll next get back to the UK next but while I wait for that day this podcast is a delightful link back to its countryside.