Protecting urban oysters and Canadian wilds

1. Canada

Canadian First Nations have set aside millions of acres of land and ocean for protection. From the Nááts’įhch’oh National Park Reserve in the Northwest to the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area in the eastern Arctic, more than 90 million acres are slated for or are under conservation, some in collaboration with the Canadian government.

Since 2018, more than 170 Indigenous Guardian initiatives across the country have been funded by Canada to aid in Indigenous management.  

The Indigenous preservation movement got its start in the 1970s, but the road hasn’t always been smooth. Some conservation cases, especially when oil and gas interests have been at stake, were won only through Canada’s court system. Over the years, partnerships between Indigenous communities and scientists have become more common, facilitating research on issues ranging from mercury contamination to the sustainable management of hunting. For Dieter Cazon, director of lands and resources for Łíídlįį Kų´ę´ (hlih-dlinh-kwenh) First Nation, “this collaborative work is going to be the only way we’re going to figure a lot of these answers out.”

Dennis Fast/VWPics/AP/File

A barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus) is seen on subarctic tundra in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

Source: Yale Environment 360

2. United Kingdom

The European Space Agency (ESA) recruited Britain’s John McFall as the world’s first disabled astronaut. The agency’s new class, the first in over a decade, was selected late last year, comprising 17 individuals chosen from over 22,500 applications. Mr. McFall lost a leg following a motorcycle accident as a teenager but went on to become a professional runner and won a bronze medal in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.

Francois Mori/AP

While not guaranteed to go into orbit, John McFall will help determine standards for future astronauts with a disability.

The athlete was selected as part of a feasibility program to determine the requirements for sending someone with a physical disability into space. ESA will study safety needs and possible adaptations for space vehicles. “Space is indeed the new frontier,” said U.K. science minister George Freeman. “It’s where humanity comes together, and it’s where we destroy the barriers that are holding back this planet and mankind.”
Sources: BBC, Deutsche Welle

3. Africa

Countries across Africa are taking steps to protect child safety. Corporal punishment was prohibited in schools in Comoros, and banned outright in Zambia and Mauritius, the latter two of which are now among the 65 countries where violent punishment of minors is illegal. In Zambia, the Children’s Code also enshrined a list of social rights for children, including the right to parental and health care, privacy, education, leisure, and protection from sexual harassment. The Children’s Act in Mauritius includes provisions to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.

Meanwhile, Nigeria and Burkina Faso agreed to end the military detention of children who are suspected of involvement with armed groups, instead providing reintegration support. Between 2016 and 2022, over 4,000 children were released from administrative custody by the Nigerian military and were provided interim care services.
Sources: Human Rights Watch, UNICEF

4. Hong Kong

Hong Kong conservationists are helping stabilize, cleanse, and revitalize coastlines by restoring oyster reefs. One oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, and their reefs help protect against erosion and create habitats for other species. Yet an estimated 85% of oyster reefs have been lost around the world in the last two centuries. In Hong Kong, climate change and pollution have warmed and acidified local waters, while algae blooms harm oysters.

Researchers from The Nature Conservancy and the Swire Institute of Marine Science have been tending oyster reefs in locations around the city since 2018. In some sites, the team has installed new farms. In others, it’s transformed abandoned oyster farms into thriving reefs. It’s also had success collecting oyster shells from Hong Kong restaurants to use as substrates for oyster larvae to grow. “The value of oyster reefs is proven, but we need to restore them,” said Anniqa Law Chung-kiu, conservation project manager for The Nature Conservancy Hong Kong. “You can see that this place is full of life.”

Restoration has also proved effective in New York City, where the Billion Oyster Project educational approach has involved thousands of students and volunteers.
Source: Mongabay

World

Women make up nearly half of the world’s most-performed living classical composers. The list is based on over 27,000 performances listed last year on classical music website Bachtrack. In 2019, only one woman made the top 20. In 2022, there were nine: Sofia Gubaidulina, Anna Clyne, Kaija Saariaho, Olga Neuwirth, Unsuk Chin, Cecilia McDowall, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Missy Mazzoli, and Errollyn Wallen. Two of the women held places in the top 10.

Mark Allan/Invision/AP/File

Errollyn Wallen receives the Ivor Novello classical music award in London, May 16, 2013.

The gender divide remains in other realms of the performing arts: According to the Bachtrack study, only 12 women make the list of the world’s 100 busiest conductors. And there is only one woman, Crystal Pite, among the 20 most-performed living choreographers. But women are gaining ground as composers in the United Kingdom and the United States. Half of the U.K.’s 24 composers on the 106 most-performed living composers list are women, while women make up more than a third of Americans on the list.
Sources: Classic FM, Bachtrack