NEW VENTURE: Deniston Mariano Dutra and his son Matheus Correia Dutra harvest cacao seeds. After giving up on cattle, the family replanted their farm with these indigenous trees. © Kevin Arnold via TNC

We care deeply about Amazonia, and Brazil is the country with the most deforestation in the river region, specifically from cattle ranching. But good news is coming from The Nature Conservancy in the April/May issue, where, as the article’s subtitle reads, “After decades of turning forests into pastures and fields, Brazilian landowners have begun reversing the trend.” Julian Smith reports for the TNC Magazine:

Lazir Soares de Castro stands amid white and gray Nelore cattle on his ranch in São Félix do Xingu, a remote and sprawling county on Brazil’s northeastern Amazon frontier. Beyond a wooden fence, high grass and scrub brush fade into sporadic trees in the distance.

Still vital at 70, Soares describes…

This video from England says about itself:

18 January 2013

Highlights in London Wetland Centre‘s World Wetlands include Asian short-clawed otters, Hawaiian geese (Nenes) and White-faced whistling ducks. Filmed by Television Roehampton.

From the London Bird Club in England today, on Twitter:

London WWT: Snipe, 4 Common Tern, Common Sand[piper], Little Ringed Plover, 2 Shelduck, Grey Wagtail, 3 Wheatear.

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National Geographic reports on how climate change is moving the North Pole.

As melts and aquifers are drained, Earth’s distribution of mass is changing—and with the position of the planet’s spin axis.

Read story at Climate Change Is Moving the North Pole

This is a common merganser video, which also shows some smews and mute swans. Winter 2015-2016. Belarus.

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Dawn Williams with little Lallu

By Rudra Krishna

First published by http://bodahub.com

The Blue Cross of India is an NGO and Animal Welfare Organisation situated in Chennai (Madras) in the South of India. I must begin with the disclaimer that I have been a volunteer with this over-50 year old organisation for most of my life.

The Head of Rescues in the Blue Cross of India is Dawn William, a former army man, vegan, and animal rescue specialist par extraordinaire. I could have gone with one of his more action-filled rescues here, but I’ve chosen the current one to make a relevant point.

Approaching midday on the 31st of March, 2016, Dawn received a panicked call from a security officer in a factory on the outskirts of the city. The information given was that a dead monkey had been found on the premises. What caused the panic was that alongside…

This video, recorded in India, says about itself:

21 August 2012

Symbiosis, including anemonefish & clownfish. Part 18 of my DVD, “Reef Life of the Andaman“.

From ScienceNews:

In the Coral Triangle, clownfish figured out how to share

by Sarah Zielinski

11:41am, April 1, 2016

Clownfish and anemones depend on one another. The stinging arms of the anemones provide clownfish with protection against predators. In return, the fish keep the anemone clean and provide nutrients, in the form of poop. Usually, several individual clownfish occupy a single anemone — a large and dominant female, an adult male and several subordinates — all from the same species. But with 28 species of clownfish and 10 species of anemone, there can be a lot of competition for who gets to occupy which anemone.

In the highly diverse waters of the Coral Triangle of Southeast Asia, however, clownfish…

This 2 April 2016 video from Breskens in Zeeland province in the Netherlands shows a sperm whale swimming and blowing.

Translated from RTL TV in the Netherlands today:

Two sperm whales have been successfully returned to sea this morning, after they had been seen in the Westerschelde estuary between Vlissingen and Breskens.

Volunteers of the lifeboat organisation KNRM and Rijkswaterstaat with their boats made a funnel on the water so that the sperm whales could only swim towards the sea. “The operation was successful. The sperm whales are off Cadzand,” said a spokesperson for Rijkswaterstaat.

England: East coast sperm whales stranding investigation continues: here.

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• Rare sperm whale fossils discovered…

An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
April 2016

[Also read SeaWorld’s Three Whoppers.]

Keiko in Icelandic sea pen…

Wayne, what are you doing?

Wayne Pacelle is the President of the Humane Society of the United States.

I have known Wayne since the Eighties when he and I were both working with the Fund for Animals. At the Higgins Pigeon shoot in Pennsylvania I filmed Wayne running in front of hunters armed with shotguns who were blasting defenseless pigeons being released from cages. It was a brave thing to do and Wayne was a dedicated and passionate activist for the Fund for Animals, mentored by Cleveland Amory himself.

I’ve always liked and respected Wayne, even when he decided that Sea Shepherd and I were too controversial to be seen together in public, but that’s okay, we get that from lots of folks…

This video says about itself:

Mongolia‘s entire way of life under threat from mining

The Big Dig, 2012 – Mongolia‘s mining boom is now in full swing, but not everyone is happy with the various consequences and shady business deals.

Mongolia is the new frontier in a massive, break-neck speed resources rush. But as it races to take advantage of Chinese demand, helped along by Rio Tinto, what is it getting from digging up the steppes?

Genghis Khan must be rolling in his grave as foreigners arrive in Mongolia to plunder his once mighty domain. Australian miner Rio Tinto is about to open one of the biggest copper mines on the planet in Mongolia, which will soon account for more than 30% of the country’s entire GDP. “Some of the optimistic geologists we have say that this business could run for up to 100 years”, Cameron McRae…