Central America’s largest protected area is in for a difficult year next year.
The Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala is facing increased pressure from cattle ranching at the same time that drought threatens to spark an unprecedented wave of fires. Meanwhile, a tumultuous government transition could leave environmental agencies without enough funding and resources to keep up with it all.
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/guatemala-braces-for-unprecedented-year-of-deforestation-in-maya-reserve/
According to Global Forest Watch Virunga National Park, the oldest protected area in the DRC, has lost 964 hectares (2,382 acres) of forest since June.
“The Nyiragongo volcanic eruption in May and the recent war that has broken out between M23 and the Congolese government have forced many people to flee into the park,” Depaul Bakulu, a volunteer with the refugee NGO Goma Actif, told Mongabay in a phone interview. He has been working with the NGO to distribute food and clothing to these refugees since 2021.
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/in-drc-virunga-deforestation-escalates-as-fighting-sends-refugees-into-park/
Since 2020, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has spent nearly $173 million on 80 completed or ongoing monument projects across 37 states, supporting a broader and more diverse range of stories in the nation’s public spaces. On Tuesday, the arts and humanities philanthropy announced it would double its original commitment of $250 million over the next five years, pledging a total of $500 million for its Monuments Project.
The foundation said the half-a-billon-dollar commitment is the largest multiyear funding initiative in its history. “I feel proud that we’ve been catalysts and contributors to a larger conversation in the nation about monuments,” said Elizabeth Alexander, the foundation’s president.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/28/arts/design/mellon-foundation-funding-monuments.html
