Today in Squirrel News, Mexico, Belize and Guatemala plan a 14 million-acre nature reserve, a train in Colorado stores renewable energy, and a Brazilian favela becomes an award-winning sustainable community.
Giant nature reserve plan for Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala announced
Forming the second biggest reserve in the Americas after the Amazon, the plan for a ‘Great Mayan Jungle Biocultural Corridor’ includes 14 million acres of tropical forest. The main challenge remains to protect the environment from destructive development and organised crime.
Plastic bag use in Vermont down 91% following bag ban
Vermont’s 2020 law banned plastic checkout bags at stores and restaurants and put a fee on paper bags. A new survey confirms not only a 91% reduction in bag use, but also 70% approval of the law, which also banned many other single-use plastics and packaging.
Fatalities halved thanks to 70 years of European flood adaptation efforts
A study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research examined over 1700 floods between 1950 and 2020, and the level to which protective measures changed outcomes. Results show the efforts reduced deaths by 52% and offset losses by 63%.
Nova Scotia uses ‘living shorelines’ to diffuse storm surges naturally
Barriers like seawalls can shift storm surges to other areas and disrupt ecosystems. Canadian Atlantic coastal communities are investing instead in layered shorelines that include submerged barriers, rock sills, and tidal plants that break up and disperse wave energy.
Japan’s new power plant generates electrical power from osmosis
The first in Japan and second in the world, the Fukuoka plant harnesses the power of the action between salt and fresh water. The emerging renewable technology has been limited by the power required to pump water, but pumps have improved, and enough electricity is generated at the site to power the city’s desalination plant.
Renewable energy storage train offers solution for transport from sources
Many sites producing a high volume of renewable energy are far away from urban centres. A new 20-car battery train can bring 344 megawatt hours of electrical energy from wind and solar plants to areas of high power use. Their prototype travelled 10,000 miles on existing tracks across Colorado and California, delivering to power grids along the route.
Report shows UK government funds helped 150 struggling species recover
A large funding influx from the UK government two years ago to its ‘Natural England’ conservation arm seems to be paying off. A new report shows that the money funded 63 projects involving 78 conservation groups, led to habitat creation and 633 new breeding and nesting areas, and contributed to measurable recovery of 150 struggling or declining species.
Bookshop chains grow in response to more reading, especially in young adults
The UK Publishers Association says fiction sales are up 12.2%, partly driven by a social media trend of book interest in young adults. Waterstones in the UK will open 10 new stores a year for the foreseeable future, and Barnes and Noble in the US is planning for 60 this year alone.
Crowd-sourced map of NYC ‘safe zones’ for neurodivergent city goers
Kulture City, an organisation creating accessibility for people with neurodivergence, has developed a collaborative map of quiet spots to get away from the sometimes overwhelming sounds and smells of New York City. WNYC’s All Things Considered airs an interview with executive director Uma Srivastava about the criteria for and reasons behind the map.
Greening and gardening is helping a Brazilian favela face down eviction
A São Paolo favela, or slum area, was facing eviction and resettlement in 2006, when a resident florist initiated a project to save the homes of 600 people. Starting with a community-led garbage cleanup and a garden, Vila Nova Esperança has gone on with help from universities and NGOs to create an award-winning sustainable community with an urban food garden at its centre.
