Latest news with #Re:wild
The Guardian
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Why does Leonardo DiCaprio care so much about Australian wildlife?
When a fiery parliament debate erupted this week about Tasmania's salmon industry, support for the endangered fish at the centre of the fight – the Maugean skate – came from an unlikely corner. Hours before the Albanese government's controversial legislation to protect fish farming in the state's Macquarie Harbour passed on Wednesday, global star Leonardo DiCaprio weighed in. 'URGENT: This week the Australian government will decide the fate of Macquarie Harbour and has an opportunity to shut down destructive industrial non-native salmon farms, protecting the Maugean Skate,' he wrote in a post to his 60.4m Instagram followers. The shallow estuary off Tasmania's coast was one of the most important places in the world, DiCaprio said, and 'essential for the planet's overall health and the persistence of biodiversity'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The actor regularly uses his platform to post about conservation concerns in many places around the world – and it's not the first time he has highlighted the plight of Australia's threatened species. Earlier this month, he warned clearing in Western Australia's jarrah forests for bauxite mining, approved by the federal government, would affect species including the endangered woylie and the red-tailed black cockatoo. He has repeatedly raised awareness of threats to koalas, and last year, called on the Australian government to end native forest logging to protect the breeding habitat of the critically endangered swift parrot in Tasmania. He also drew attention to Guardian Australia reporting on land clearing in Queensland, writing in a post: 'Australia has the highest rate of mammalian extinctions in the world … The only way to protect the hundreds of threatened Australian forest species is to end native forest logging.' But how involved is the actor and conservationist in the decision to post on these topics to his personal profile? More than people might expect, according to scientist Janice Chanson, the Australasian manager of Re:wild, the conservation organisation co-founded by DiCaprio. 'He does 100% have the say on whether the post goes up,' Chanson said. 'He is very engaged and he is very informed.' Re:wild, which works on conservation projects around the world, was founded in 2021 when Global Wildlife Conservation, a scientist-led environment organisation based in the United States, merged with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. DiCaprio sits on Re:wild's board, whose membership includes Razan Al Mubarak, the current president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to Chanson, DiCaprio 'speaks to our CEO on a daily basis' and has attended many field trips. Re:wild has staff based in Australia, where it partners with other conservation organisations to support the creation of protected areas, land restoration and species recovery. The organisation regularly creates social media posts on local issues, which a US-based communications team passes on to DiCaprio 'to choose if he wants to engage on that particular topic', Chanson said. She said Re:wild's Australian work focuses on two goals: ending native forest logging and helping Australia meet its commitment to zero new extinctions. 'The Maugean skate is very much at the forefront of the zero extinction target,' she said. 'Australia has made that commitment. We're here to help Australia meet that commitment. Unfortunately what's happening to the Maugean skate is flying in the face of that.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion For months, Re:wild had been working to have the skate's Macquarie Harbour habitat declared a key biodiversity area, a global program that supports identification and conservation of the world's most important places for species habitats. It had posts prepared for a potential announcement. Then on 20 March, news broke that the Labor government planned to rush through legislation to protect salmon farming in the harbour, which threatens the skate's survival, in the final week of parliament. Chanson said Re:wild decided to bring its posts forward, publishing an urgent message on its own Instagram account, and the communications team asked DiCaprio if he would share it on his own page. 'The urgency came when we stressed it's in parliament right now,' she said. She only realised he had acted on the request '15 minutes after he had posted'. The federal government has faced criticism during this term for delays to promised environmental law reforms that a statutory review five years ago found were necessary in response to the failure by successive governments to protect Australia's unique wildlife and habitats. During debate over the Tasmanian legislation, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young waved a dead salmon in the Senate, accusing the government of selling out its environmental credentials for 'rotten, stinking extinction salmon' on the cusp of an election. The passing of the bill drew condemnation from environment groups and prompted dismay from the Labor Environment Action Network. As the federal election was formally called on Friday, former Greens leader Bob Brown said the environment had become 'the sleeper election issue, awakened by this week's uproar in parliament'. 'By ramming through protection for the polluting Atlantic salmon companies in Tasmania, both [Anthony] Albanese and [Peter] Dutton have catapulted the environment back into the headlines,' he said.
Forbes
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Foreign Aid Cuts Hit The Amazon: What Business And Philanthropy Can Do
Cuts to U.S. foreign aid are being felt far beyond Washington, reaching communities worldwide — including in the Amazon rainforest, a massive carbon sink critical to climate stability. But on the ground, local leaders, small business owners, and families believe these cuts don't have to be a setback. They argue that with proper philanthropy and strategic investment, the Amazon could be a proving ground to pilot new partnerships beyond traditional foreign aid, showing how economies can grow without destroying the natural systems we all rely on. Cuts to U.S. foreign aid don't just impact budgets — they cost lives, weaken children's futures, and undermine the communities in the Amazon that protect the world's most vital carbon sink. In the heart of the Amazon, within Pará state — one of Brazil's largest states, roughly the size of France — the impact of recent foreign aid budgetary decisions is stark. In Santarém, where the rainforest meets the Tapajós River — one of the main tributaries of the Amazon — the consequences are already unfolding. I sat down with Moisés, a leader of a local association that runs an eco-tourism lodge in one of the region's most biodiverse reserves. He described how a three-year USAID agreement — designed to support conservation, training (including English language skills), logistics, essential services, and small forest-based businesses — was cut short after just six months. Moisés didn't mince words: 'This massive cut from USAID will only have one outcome: it will damage the poorest people. These funds are critical. Without them, everything stops. The U.S. calls itself a global leader, but this just brings misery to those protecting the forest. The whole region will suffer.' Forests stewarded by communities like this one have some of the lowest deforestation rates in the Amazon. This is no accident. It is the product of generations of knowledge and the deliberate decision to protect rather than exploit. But that protection comes at an opportunity cost — one that foreign aid once helped to offset. Without support, communities face a brutal reality: protect the forest or survive. And when survival is on the line, illegal logging, gold mining, or cattle grazing become hard to resist — short-term fixes that carry long-term global costs. As my friend and guide Rodrigo Medeiros of Re:wild put it, 'Today, they stop gold mining. But tomorrow? Without alternatives, they'll go back.' He adds: 'You want to help us conserve the forest? Great. But the people here tell us, 'We have no jobs. Our children are leaving. And when that happens, cattle moves in.' The economic model has to evolve.' But this is where opportunity comes in. If governments are stepping back, others can step forward. Supporting communities in the Amazon during an age of foreign aid cuts is not about politics or even charity — it's an about smart, strategic investment that protects the forest, stabilizes communities and builds markets. Communities like Moisés' are ready to scale their businesses, but they need patient capital: customers, affordable loans, and infrastructure investment to turn sustainable livelihoods into lasting economic engines. Bouncing along an unpaved road in the Amazon, I spoke with John Goedschalk of BioTara, an entrepreneur focused on building a regenerative Amazonian bioeconomy. He believes the recent foreign aid cuts — while painful — could force a leap forward. 'Are we going back — or building something new?' he asks. 'I think we can do better.' Just hours later, we visited a facility producing honey and oils from native Amazonian species — a model for turning conservation into commerce. The products have eager buyers, but infrastructure and logistics constraints still hold them back. 'We have the forest, we have the buyers — but without storage and training, we can't scale,' one staff member told me. This is where philanthropy and corporate social responsibility funding can step in — funding training for young people in hospitality to welcome eco-tourists, building processing facilities so forest products like oils, fruits, and honey can reach global markets, and supporting infrastructure that connects communities to buyers without destroying ecosystems. 'These are investments that let industries like this stand on their own within five to ten years,' Goedschalk explains. A few days after our conversation, Goedschalk announced BioTara's participation in the 100+ Accelerator, which focuses on matching startup companies with corporate partners. BioTara's program will focus on integrating Amazonia ingredients — derived from a native Amazonian plant — into consumer product formulations. For example, if you were to take Tucumã butter, a native Amazonian palm that can be used in bars of soap. Even if it were just a tiny part of the mix, one regular bar of soap weighs roughly 100 grams. If just one gram, 'just one drop,' he says, is added to the formulation of a bar of soap, for example, it would have the power to transform thousands of lives if scaled across the different US consumer markets. The US market consumes 2.63 billion bars of soap annually, representing 263,000 metric tonnes of materials. Should the industry decide to add just 1 gram of soap per bar, this would lead to a market demand of 2,630 tonnes of Tucumã butter. This would provide jobs for over 3,000 families in 15 forest communities with sustainable livelihoods and safeguard over 600.000 hectares of the Amazon Rainforest. Tucumã is far from being the only opportunity. Take, for example, the potential of Patua oil—a promising new product with an eager market but lacking market connectivity and infrastructure. Or Jambu (plant-based botox), which could become the next global wellness craze, much like açaí did two decades ago. Still, Goedschalk admits the biggest challenge isn't just training or logistics — it's dependable, long-term demand from corporate buyers and patience. 'You can build pilots; you can prove it works,' he told me. 'But if the market doesn't show up with consistent demand, it won't scale. That's the biggest barrier.' Goedschalk, a self-described 'solar-punk'—someone who believes in practical, forward-looking solutions where technology, nature, and business work together—is betting that consumer sentiment is shifting. He's convinced enlightened companies are ready to start embedding Amazonian forest products into global supply chains and showing that conservation and commerce can thrive side by side. Back in the car with Re:wild's Rodrigo Medeiros, Goedschalk is under no illusion: building dependable demand will take time. In the meantime, transition funding is essential — to help communities hold the line until markets mature. 'If I live here in the Amazon,' Medeiros chimes in, 'I can make more money from soybeans than from forest products. That's the reality. You have to cover that opportunity cost — what they'd get from cutting or mining.' This is where foreign aid-backed investment, like that provided by the Amazon Fund, still plays a crucial role. Supported by countries like Norway and Germany, the fund offers payments to communities that choose not to deforest, compensating them for the short-term income they forgo. These foreign aid payments buy critical time — allowing sustained investment to build viable forest-based industries that can compete with logging, mining, or cattle grazing over the long term. The consequences of inaction are clear. In neighboring Suriname, where Goedschalk is from, uncontrolled gold mining has choked rivers, killing ecosystems and crushing tourism — another potential source of sustainable income. Some might dismiss regular foreign aid payments as 'wasteful subsidies.' But as Goedschalk points out, every primary industry — including oil — was built on strategic government backing. In The Prize, Daniel Yergin recounts how Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, made the pivotal decision to convert the British Navy from coal to oil — a move that reshaped global power and cemented oil's dominance, all underwritten by government procurement and long-term contracts. 'The bioeconomy is no different,' Goedschalk says. 'You build the conditions, the market follows.' The same strategic thinking is needed today. The good news is that other governments continue to back the Amazon Fund despite U.S. foreign aid cuts. Norway, for instance, has been one of its most prominent supporters — and public sentiment for foreign aid remains strong even amid economic uncertainty. A recent survey found that 62% of Norwegian conservative voters oppose cutting aid to the world's poorest nations, signaling that they do not believe Norway should join a race to the bottom on foreign aid. Ultimately, it's worth remembering that even in the US, foreign aid programs represent less than 1% of the federal budget—yet they protect ecosystems that store carbon, support small businesses, and save lives around the world. Pointing out the window of our moving car, Goedschalk reflects on what is needed in this era of foreign aid cuts: 'The Amazon is a living laboratory for what a regenerative economy could be. We just have to prove it — and scale it.' The question is whether investors, philanthropists, and corporate buyers will seize this moment — using their capital to complement and leverage the remaining foreign aid that is buying precious time for a new bioeconomy to take root. Later this year, the world's attention will turn to Belém, the capital of Pará state, as it hosts the UN's COP30 climate talks. Brazil's COP30 presidency has issued a global call for a mutirão — a collective push to initiate a decade of accelerated progress. As Moisés put it, for those hesitating ahead of COP30: 'You can't sit on the sidelines. If you care about the future, show up — with courage and purpose. If you don't, you're letting those who destroy the forest win.' For the skeptics, Goedschalk offers this pragmatic reminder: 'Even if you don't believe in Amazon or climate change, you'll have no regrets investing in an economy that creates jobs, stabilizes communities, and builds resilience. This is just smart business.' With COP30 on the horizon, this is a no-regrets moment for business, philanthropy, and policymakers alike: show up, invest wisely, and help scale a regenerative economy that complements remaining foreign aid and builds lasting resilience. The Amazon is ready. Now it's on the world — through business investment, philanthropy, and strategic foreign aid — to show up.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Experts celebrate rediscovery of rare species 120 years after it went missing: 'I was completely amazed'
After 120 years, scientists in Mexico have rediscovered a type of rabbit long thought extinct. The Omiltemi cottontail rabbit was finally spotted on camera in the conifer forests of Mexico's Sierra Madre del Sur. The five-year mission to find the elusive Omiltemi rabbit was led by ecologist José Alberto Almazán-Catalán. Locals had claimed for years that they regularly hunted Omiltemi rabbits, but scientists could never seem to find them. But with the information from the locals, the scientists set up a series of cameras that eventually started capturing footage of the rabbits. And Almazán-Catalán was thrilled. "I was completely amazed and very happy to have had the opportunity to see one." Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species? Definitely Depends on the animal No way Just let people do it for free Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The effort was done in conjunction with Re:wild as part of a global initiative to locate and protect animals and plants that have not been seen for 10 years or longer. The goal of the effort is to protect and restore our planet, and it has been successful. The Omiltemi rabbit marks the 13th species Re:wild has rediscovered. But the work is not over. Now that the species has been rediscovered, scientists hope to learn more about the elusive rabbits. They want to gain insight into their reproductive habits as well as the role the species plays in the mountains so that they can be better preserved and protected. Conservation efforts are not limited to just rediscovering species. For example, conservationists have recently had success reintroducing pygmy pigs in India. And creative efforts in Tristan da Cunha helped save a very rare bird species, the Wilkins' bunting. The ability to save and preserve all the species on our diverse planet is extremely important. All species are part of our biosphere and are essential to a healthy and thriving ecosystem. The Omiltemi rabbits are a perfect example of this. As José Alberto Almazán-Catalán explains, "They are important for seed dispersal. … Their droppings are important for soil fertility. … They are the base of the food chain for predators such as snakes, owls, tigrillos, ocelots, pumas and coyotes." Christina Briggs of Re:wild applauded the efforts of the scientists. "Alberto and his team are helping fill a huge knowledge gap to make sure that the Omiltemi cottontail rabbit is never lost to science again." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
