A shellfish company gets into the weeds

In the environmental sector there is still rampant sexism, women find it difficult to enter leadership positions and face discrimination, according to a six-author study. However, the study also shows that when women are in leadership positions factors that indicate success go up. Women are more likely to say yes to new conservation projects and are more willing to compromise. Case studies from the Maite Marine Sanctuary to the Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation show that women in leadership positions are succesful.

Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Namibia gives rural communities the rights to manage and profit from wildlife through organized conservancies, which has dramatically recovered wildlife populations (like elephants growing from 7,000 to 26,000) while providing economic incentives that motivate communities to protect rather than poach animals, even during severe droughts.

Lobster is a crucial economic resource in New England, but entanglements with the fishing line from lobster traps are a major cause of death for endangered North Atlantic right whales. Scientists and lobstermen are testing ropeless, on-demand gear that minimizes the risk for whales and allows fishing to continue in areas that would otherwise be closed for months as the whales pass through.

Canopy works to preserve the untouched Broadback Forest, which stores twice as much carbon as the Amazon and is central to the Cree Nation. The nonprofit works with 750 corporations, including fashion brands, commercial printers, and publishers to reduce the amount of packaging they use and eliminate sourcing from biodiverse, ancient, and endangered forests. They help source waste from grain and other food harvests for packaging, paper, and fabric production and enlist companies’ support of conservation initiatives. They also partner with other groups to lobby the government to protect the Broadback forest.

Coral reefs play a vital role in the ecosystem, but are facing a dire future in many parts of the world. In Jamaica, however, "grassroots-run coral nurseries and fish sanctuaries" have been established over the last decade, which has helped bring reefs in this area back to life.

The monarch butterfly is a migratory species that winters in central Mexico. However, warming temperatures have threatened the forests that house the butterflies. Scientists have responded by creating a greenhouse to grow trees that would shift the monarch’s habitat to a higher altitude, where temperatures are more favorable to helping the butterflies survive.

In 2007 a program in Meghalaya, India called The Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project was created to bring together the community members in an agreement to protect the sacred groves there. This was part of the larger REDD project within India by the United Nations to mitigate some of the effects of deforestation and forest degradation. The longterm goal is to revive 27,000 hectares (about 66,718 acres) of forests and to serve as an example for other biodiverse areas in the country. The project has since received international funding to support other things as well, like stimulating the tourist economy.

Purple sea urchins are taking over the California coastal waters that were once known for sought-after species such as abalone. Seen as an indicator of an ailing ocean as well as a detriment to local diving businesses, divers from all over California are joining forces to work towards removing a vast amount of the species.

In the late 1970s to late 1980s, activists, scientists, and politicians began to address the climate change crisis. For a decade, they attempted to ask the U.S. to commit to an international agreement to reduce emissions, and they almost succeeded. “In a single decade, they turned a crisis that was studied by no more than several dozen scientists into the subject of Senate hearings, front-page headlines and the largest diplomatic negotiation in world history.”

Record heat is killing coral reefs throughout the world. Recent research in Australia however has lead to the piloting of a coral fertility treatment known as Coral IVF that is showing promising signs of healing damaged parts of the Great Barrier Reef.