Biden releases plan for "30x30" protected lands & waters goal

Biden administration officials on Thursday took their first step toward carrying out the president's campaign pledge to conserve 30% of American land and water over the next decade, outlining six categories for how it should be used.

The "America the Beautiful" report by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory calls on the administration to back locally led conservation projects across the country with investments and focused policies.

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/biden-officials-make-recommendations-protecting-30-us-land-water-2021-05-06/

Chile | Report recommends removal of salmon farms from new PA

A new report recommends that the Government of Chile not approve any new applications for salmon farming within the newly created Kawésqar national reserve in the Magallanes region, Chilean Patagonia, and also the removal of those salmon farms currently operating in this protected area.

The report written by the Kawésqar communities for the Defense of the Sea in conjunction with National Geographic Pristine Seas initiative combined scientific and biocultural knowledge collected from two expeditions throughout the Patagonian fjords, which is the Kawésqar people’s ancestral territory or Kawésqar Wæs.

https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2021/04/29/kawesqar-communities-request-a-ban-on-salmon-farms-in-national-reserve-in-patagonia/

Brazil | Pumpkin-colored toadlet discovered in PA identified as new species

Pumpkin toadlets look exactly like what their name suggests. Less than half an inch-long, these tiny, orange frogs hop around the sweltering forests along Brazil’s Atlantic coast. But how many species of these frogs are there? The question isn’t just important to biology, but for conservationists seeking to preserve unique rainforest amphibians.

To researchers, pumpkin toadlets belong to the genus Brachycephalus. Determining how many Brachycephalus species exist, however, isn’t easy. As many as 36 have been named, but researchers sometimes disagree on which species are valid or which species a particular population of frogs should be assigned to. Different populations of these frogs look very similar to each other, not to mention that their genetic makeup only varies slightly.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/biologists-discover-new-species-glowing-pumpkin-toadlet-180977610/