While feral domesticated cats are a big problem in a lot of places (including NYC) and need vigorous #TNVR / #TNR or relocation, #WildFelines need to be protected!

In #Brazil, #conservationists try to save one of the world’s most #endangered #cats

by Sarah Brown on 13 June 2024

via @mongabay

"- #Muñoa’s #Pampas cat, a small wild feline, is endemic to the Pampas grasslands that sprawl over southern Brazil, #Uruguay and northeastern #Argentina.

"- With fewer than 100 individuals left in the wild, experts call Muñoa’s pampas cat one of the most endangered felines in the world and warn it go extinct within 10 years as its natural habitat is cleared for #cropland.

- #Conservation plans to save the species include switching from #monocultures to extensive ranching that preserves the natural #grasslands, creating a #captivebreeding program, and developing a trinational conservation agreement.

"- Recent #floods in the Brazilian state of #RioGrandeDoSul, where many Muñoa’s Pampas cat sightings have been recorded, have currently halted all local #conservation efforts, putting the future of this feline at risk."

Read more:
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/in-brazil-conservationists-try-to-save-one-of-the-worlds-most-endangered-cats/

Global evaluation of human-bird coexistence challenges: 1. impact of birds on crop production, 2. effect of interventions on #crop losses, 3. perceptions of #birds by stakeholders, producing a map of #cropland areas with win-win potential #PLOSBiology https://plos.io/3JMeQqt

‘Forever chemicals’ may have polluted 20 million acres of US #cropland, study says

#PFAS-tainted sewage sludge is used as fertilizer in fields and report finds that about 20m acres of cropland could be #contaminated

Tom Perkins, 8 May 2022

"PFAS, or per- and #polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of about 9,000 compounds used to make products heat-, water- or stain-resistant. Known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t naturally break down, they have been linked to #cancer, thyroid disruption, liver problems, birth defects, immunosuppression and more.

"Dozens of industries use PFAS in thousands of consumer products, and often discharge the chemicals into the nation’s sewer system.

"The analysis, conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), is an attempt to understand the scope of cropland contamination stemming from sewage sludge, or biosolids. Regulators don’t require #sludge to be tested for PFAS or closely track where its spread, and public health advocates warn the practice is poisoning the nation’s #food supply.

"'We don’t know the full scope of the contamination problem created by PFAS in sludge, and we may never know, because #EPA has not made it a priority for states and local governments to track, test and report on,' said Scott Faber, EWG’s legislative policy director.

"All sewage sludge is thought to contain the dangerous chemicals, and the compounds have recently been found to be contaminating crops, cattle, water and humans on farms where #biosolids were spread."

Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/08/us-cropland-may-be-contaminated-forever-chemicals-study

New WRI Insights article: “A recent analysis shows that only 37% of the harvested area of major #crops are used for direct #food #consumption — that is, crops used for foods that are produced and consumed domestically.”

How to feed more people with less #cropland?

- Prioritize food for people (relax biofuel mandates & targets)
- Reduce #FoodWaste
- Shift high-#meat diets toward plant-based foods
- Boost #productivity & #resilience of crops important to #FoodSecurity

https://www.wri.org/insights/crop-expansion-food-security-trends

New comment from my colleague Tim Searchinger et al. on the EU's "Fit for 55" #climate plan, which could lead to increased #wood harvests, shift 1/5 of #cropland to #bioenergy production, and outsource agricultural land expansion & #deforestation (with #carbon & #biodiversity impacts) to tropical countries.

Faulty accounting that treats bioenergy as "carbon neutral" leads to policies that increase (rather than decrease) carbon in the atmosphere for decades. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04133-1

Here's my favorite #IPCC graphic, showing that pathways for the #land sector that keep #climate change below 1.5 degrees Celsius basically all require reduction in #food/feed #cropland and #pasture area and an increase in #forest area by 2050, even while feeding a growing population.

It's a global land squeeze.

Needed changes include: demand-side changes (reduced #FoodWaste, sustainable #diets); increases in crop, #livestock, and forestry #yields; & supportive policies.
https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

Global #land use (13 billion hectares of ice-free land) in 100 emojis:

Legend:

= #pasture, used savannas and scrublands
= #cropland
= #forests
= unforested #ecosystems with minimal human use
= other land (barren, rock)
= #infrastructure

Each square = ~130 million hectares

#Data ~2015.

Source: #IPCC (2019), Figure 1.1.