Deforestation in Colombia Drops Dramatically

Good Morning! We have loads of Good News for you today. From puffin numbers increasing on the Isle of May to drones planting mangrove trees and a coal plant being turned into a giant battery. We sincerely hope that these nuggets of Good News will brighten up your week!

Deforestation in Colombia has fallen significantly in 2023 and is currently at its lowest level in more than two decades! In just a year, the total annual loss in the country’s forests decreased by 36%, with most gains made in the Amazon rainforest. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has significantly ramped up reforestation efforts since taking office in 2022. Not only are there more surveillance measures being implemented to monitor illegal forest activities, but farmers and cattle ranchers are also receiving funds to plant trees of their own instead of cutting down forest trees.

Deforestation in Colombia was at a record high in 2017 after the country’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), was disbanded. This group used to keep deforestation reined in because they needed the cover of the trees to hide their operations. The disbandment of the Farc left a power vacuum and caused a land rush in Colombia. Farmers, armed factions, and industry groups started moving further into the Amazon to claim land for themselves. With that, deforestation went largely unchecked, until Petro’s government stepped in and initiated peace talks. 

Now, armed rebel groups have joined the fight against deforestation by banning illegal logging and keeping an eye on the country’s forests. Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s environment minister, explained to The Guardian: “We have identified that there is a direct association between peace and the outcome of deforestation. Peaceful conditions lead to reduced deforestation.”

Biniam Girmay may have been the only Black cyclist in this year’s Tour de France, but he made sure people took notice! Not only did the Eritrean become the first Black African cyclist to win a stage at the prestigious cycling race, but he won three in total and bagged the coveted green jersey prize for best sprinter at the three-week event.

Cycling is one of Eritrea’s most popular sports, and Girmay has said that it’s easier to do well at the Tour de France than in his home country brimming with talented and medal-winning cyclists. Eritreans and South Africans both dominate the cycling circuit on the African continent. Why, then, is there a severe lack of Black African riders in international races like the Tour de France?

One reason is that these talented cyclists are rarely offered contracts by the UCI WorldTeams who race in the European Grand Tours. For the riders of Eritrea, it’s especially difficult. The country has long struggled with both internal and external conflict, and the UCI’s training camps and races are often in countries unwilling to issue visas to nationalities they regard as asylum flight risks.

There also seems to be a general bias against recruiting non-European riders to compete in these prestigious races. Advocates, however, hope that the continuous success of athletes like Girmay will put pressure on governing bodies to be more inclusive, and allow these talented individuals to compete in a sport historically dominated by white cyclists.

Abu Dhabi has launched a massive restoration project that aims to plant 100 million mangrove trees by 2030 in the United Arab Emirates. And they are using drones to help them! In 2023 alone, drones were used to distribute over six million mangrove seeds. These drones are equipped with a delivery system that shoots down the seeds into tidal muds where they can grow best and restore the country’s coastal mangroves.

The automated system follows patterns in nature to ensure that the seeds are planted in the most optimal spots and under the best natural conditions. Mangroves are important in the fight against climate change as they are great at catching and storing carbon. The World Wide Fund for Nature estimates that mangrove forests can store up to four times more carbon than tropical forests. On top of that, mangroves also protect against storm surges and keep coastal communities and infrastructure safe from elevated water levels.

This Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative is part of the UAE’s plan to establish the country as a hub for research and innovation, focusing specifically on mangrove conservation. The use of drones also reduces the ecological footprint of planting mangrove trees. It’s less labor intensive, more cost-effective, and eliminates both the need for tree nurseries and the transportation of saplings to be planted on the coastline!

The Isle of May National Nature Reserve is a protected habitat for seabirds. Scientists have long been concerned over the food supply and the impact of climate change on the reserve’s puffin population. It came as a pleasant surprise, then, when field workers recently discovered that the numbers of these pelagic seabirds have increased by a third since 2017.

There are around 100,000 puffins living on the Isle of May, and they have been carefully monitored for the past 50 years. Puffins are vulnerable when it comes to climate change. Rising ocean temperatures can reduce their food supply, and heavy storms can kill them. The fact that their numbers have increased by an estimated 33% is wonderful news, as healthy puffin colonies often point to a healthy marine ecosystem.

During the breeding season, a puffin only lays a single egg. Researchers suggest that the growth in population has to do with a higher breeding success and survival rate of puffins during the last decade. In even more Good News, the recent banning of sandeel fisheries in the North Sea—the main food source of puffins—will further help to support and sustain the puffin population!

The Trenton Channel Power Plant in Detroit, Michigan, had been burning coal for almost 100 years before it finally shut down in 2022. Now, it’s being turned into a giant battery storage site able to capture energy from the grid. This ensures that energy doesn’t go to waste when demand is low and that it can be distributed again once demand for energy rises. Old coal power plants are great locations for battery storage because they’re already connected to the energy grid. 

Called the Trenton Channel Energy Center, this new facility will be able to store enough energy to power around 40,000 homes a day. According to the International Energy Agency, battery storage systems are vital if we want to meet our climate change goals and move away from fossil fuel energy to cleaner energy.

The Energy Center is expected to go online in 2026, and it’s set to be the largest standalone battery storage project in the Great Lakes region of the United States. There are around 70 utilities in the U.S. making use of large-scale grid battery resources in an effort to move towards clean energy and a healthier, more sustainable future.

That’s it for today! We hope this Good News update has made you as happy as a puffin with a full belly. Have a wonderful week, and keep it green. 🌻

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