Children first: Protecting and nurturing, from Colombia to Finland
Coastal seabeds are getting the attention they deserve as carbon sinks
A lack of high-quality maps has left the ocean floor relatively understudied compared with ecosystems such as mangroves, kelp forests, and even seagrass meadows, whose ability to sequester carbon is well documented.
A recent project in Canada used machine-learning predictive mapping to produce better-quality data. The study reported that within the top foot of the Canadian seabed, there are 11 billion metric tons of stored carbon. Meanwhile, a U.K. study found that the top 4 inches of the U.K. seabed could capture nearly three times the amount of carbon sequestered by the United Kingdom’s forests.
Why We Wrote This
Our progress roundup highlights national policymaking that may contradict common practice, but recognizes the needs and rights of children – at birth but also through adolescence.
Phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide at the ocean’s surface and carry it downward when they die, creating a carbon-rich layer of sediment on the ocean floor. Dredging, trawling, and infrastructure projects all threaten to release that carbon. The new data is expected to help policymakers make better decisions about what areas to prioritize for conservation.
Source: Mongabay
Colombia banned child marriage after a 17-year campaign
An estimated 4.5 million girls and women in Colombia were married before the age of 18, including 1 million who married before they turned 15, according to UNICEF.
Studies have linked underage marriage to higher school dropout rates and abusive relationships. Child marriage rates are nearly three times higher for girls than for boys, disproportionately impacting children from low-income families, rural areas, and Indigenous communities.
The campaign, dubbed They Are Girls, Not Wives, faced opposition from more traditional sectors of the population, including some Indigenous groups and those pushing for parental rights. Just over a third of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have banned child marriage entirely.
Source: The Guardian
Finnish fathers have nearly doubled their paternity leave
A 2022 reform in Finland gave each new parent 160 days of paid leave, the first time mothers and fathers received the same amount.
Men often do not take as much parental leave as women, even when it is available. Before the change, 80% of Finnish fathers took some paternity leave, using an average 44 days out of the 54 offered. Fathers of children born after the reform have taken an average 78 days. Sixty-three of the 160 days can be transferred from one parent to the other.
Paternity leave has been found to strengthen father-child bonding, benefit children’s development, and advance gender equity at home and at work. In the United States, less than 5% of fathers who receive paid parental leave take more than two weeks off.
Source: Agence France-Presse
Solar-powered tools are making dairy farmers’ lives easier
Malawi’s dairy industry is made up primarily of smallholder farmers, many of whom lack access to electricity or clean water.
A new solar-powered milking machine helps prevent contamination, and a solar water pump provides water for animal and household needs while generating electricity for lighting and charging phones. “Now ... I have more time [for] other equally important activities,” said Robert Mbendera, one of the farmers who tested the devices.
The technology was developed by researchers at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and trialed in the Dedza district of central Malawi. The project is scaling up with funding from Malawi’s commission for science and other grants.
Source: SciDev.net
Siamese crocodiles are making a comeback in the wild
Once common in Southeast Asia, the numbers of this nonaggressive species plummeted in the last century due to hunting. By the late 1990s, even while being interbred on farms for leather, Crocodylus siamensis was believed to be extinct.
In 2000, the nonprofit Fauna & Flora discovered a small population of crocodiles in the Cardamom Mountains, which had been protected by the Indigenous Chorng people. It also tracked down purebred crocodiles on farms across Cambodia for a captive breeding program.
Today, around 1,000 Siamese crocodiles are spread across Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Indonesia. In May, Cambodian locals found five nests in an area that yielded 60 hatchlings, suggesting that two decades of collaboration with residents on habitat protection and monitoring may be paying off.
Sources: The New York Times, Fauna & Flora, The Associated Press
