Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Wildlife Refuges No Safe Haven From Dangerous Toxics

America’s national wildlife refuges are being doused with hundreds of thousands of pounds of dangerous agricultural pesticides every year, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity.

Our report, No Refuge, reveals that more than 490,000 pounds of pesticides were dumped on commodity crops like corn, soybeans and sorghum grown in national wildlife refuges in 2016. The analysis was conducted with records obtained by the Center under the Freedom of Information Act.

“These refuges are supposed to be a safe haven for wildlife, but they’re becoming a dumping ground for poisonous pesticides,” said the Center’s Hannah Connor. “Americans assume these public lands are protected, and I think most people would be appalled that so many pesticides are being used to serve private, intensive agricultural operations.”

Press Release link – http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2018/wildlife-refuge-pesticides-05-10-2018.php?utm_source=eeo&utm_medium=email

Read the ‘No Refuge’ report via this link – https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.biologicaldiversity.org%2fcampaigns%2fpesticides_reduction%2fpdfs%2fNo-Refuge.pdf

Center for Biological Diversity – web site:

  http://biologicaldiversity.org/

More News:

Victory: Taiwanese Humpback Dolphin Gets U.S. Protection

There are fewer than 75 wild Taiwanese humpback dolphins left in the world. But good news this week: In response to a petition from the Center and allies, the National Marine Fisheries Service protected these incredibly rare dolphins under the Endangered Species Act.

The long-snouted, mottled-gray mammals are threatened by gillnet fishing, pollution, boat traffic and development along Taiwan’s west coast, including proposed construction of large wind farms. The endangered listing will let the United States provide expertise and resources to support Taiwan in conserving these animals.

“This could save these dolphins from extinction,” said Abel Valdivia, an ocean scientist at the Center. “International cooperation is the key to saving certain critically endangered species.”

Read more in our press release.

Suit Launched to Save Beautiful Borderlands Moth

The Center, Defenders of Wildlife and Patagonia Area Resource Alliance have filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in order to secure Endangered Species Act protection for the rare, gorgeous Patagonia eyed silkmoth.

This moth — whose bright orange-yellow wings sport large, striking “eyespots” — clings to survival in only one U.S. location, an abandoned cemetery in Arizona, and two places in Mexico. We filed our notice after the Service rejected a petition to protect the moth.

Read more.

Petitioned Filed to Save Texas and New Mexico Lizard

Thousands of acres of habitat for the rare dunes sagebrush lizard are now at risk from oil and gas drilling and sand-mining projects in Texas and New Mexico — so the Center filed a petition Tuesday to protect the lizards under the Endangered Species Act, along with the habitat critical to their survival.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided not to protect the species in 2012, in part because Texas promised to implement its own voluntary conservation plan — finalized by then-state official Susan Combs, who’s now a senior Trump appointee for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department. The plan, which Combs oversaw through 2015, has failed to conserve the lizard.

Read more in The Texas Tribune.

Climate Change Heats Up: CO₂ Hits New High

Planet Earth just reached a disturbing milestone: Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are now higher than ever recorded.

For 60 years the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has continuously measured carbon dioxide. Data from April 2018 show that for the first time ever, atmospheric CO₂ exceeded 410 parts per million. Meanwhile, to meet goals established by the 2015 Paris Accord, we need to be reducing levels of carbon dioxide to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Read more at CNN.

Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional |