Rooney’s old account @girls_can@qoto.org

Nice bit from #Wired on how bioplastics aren't a magic bullet to fix #plastic #pollution. I really think the main takeaway needs to be that consumption isn't free. As Sarah Frenkel lays out in her excellent book on plastics, plastics manufacturers have encouraged us to think of stuff as cheap and disposable for way too long now.

https://www.wired.com/story/bio-based-plastics-aim-to-capture-carbon-but-at-what-cost/ #sustainability #environment #green #greenwashing

Today, we celebrate a historic agreement - we have agreed on a mission to protect nature by 2030.

I feel much more proud to know that we can build a better future. Now, it’s on all of us to implement.

- @WWF Director General Marco Lambertini @WWF_DG at #COP15

#EUatCOP15

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_ENV/status/1604977099743236097

Ok, #mosstodon, I took some pic of some of between-paver moss. One with my phone cam, one with a microscope attachment, same general location.

“We have 30 by 30. Six months ago, who would have thought we could 30 by 30 in Montreal? We have an agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, to work on restoration, to reduce the use of pesticides. This is tremendous progress.”

https://apnews.com/article/china-united-nations-biodiversity-climate-and-environment-eee5683a8fac71540f94e9934031bd22

New #paper by former #REU student Anna Paraskevopoulos, with Chris Catano: #Ant and #plant diversity respond differently to seed-based #prairie #restoration

Anna was interested in the Field of Dreams Hypothesis in restoration: if you build diverse plant communities, will animals also benefit?

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rec.13853

Anna found that seeding more diverse seed mixes led to restorations with more plant diversity, but not more ant diversity

So, plant diversity didn't matter for ants? Not so fast!

Ant diversity was highest in locations with high plant richness (seeded + non-seeded species), when the veg was sparse and ground temps high

So plants and ants respond differently to plant-focused restoration efforts, but plants matter for the ants when we also pay attention to environmental factors

Great job Anna!

CBC: Biodiversity agreement to protect planet reached at UN conference in Montreal

The world sets goals and targets in Montreal. Will it be different this time, or just more empty goal-setting?

#COP15

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/cop15-montreal-biodiversity-agreement-1.6690667

So it's #Day13, the final day of #COP15 - and of our #historicalecology series here. To return to the original Guardian article all this was in response to (adding here again for reference): this (monster rather than mini) thread has tried to put together evidence that the history of our relationship to nature has not been one of unilinear destruction; and that destruction is not "human nature".

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/25/cop15-humans-v-nature-our-long-and-destructive-journey-to-the-age-of-extinction-aoe

How does this matter for #COP15, and beyond? Today it was great news that a (first!) Global Biodiversity Framework was forged. In the face of Sixth mass extinction, & with widespread rapid #capitolocence destruction, the protection of biodiverse forests, wildlife habitats & crucial ecosystems is hugely important - for example the Leuser Eco System in North Sumatra, or Okomu National Park in Nigeria. I'm myself involved in forest elephant protection here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oQsJ1yhrq8

Yep.

"What is universal healthcare, the welfare state, increased minimum wage, guaranteed income, the welcoming of the stranger, the struggle for peace, the liberation of the oppressed, and the protection of the planet if not the contemporary manifestation of Christmas values?

There is, as I say, a war on these. "

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/religion/2022/12/war-christmas-values

@kathhayhoe this is a huge milestone, but just like with #climateJustice and the need for a #LossAndDamge in #COP27, the #biodiversity #COP15 target will require us to adequately fund #conservation in developing countries!

Here is the text of the agreement if you are interested in reading it! https://www.cbd.int/conferences/2021-2022/cop-15/documents

Overnight, the world agreed to a "Paris Agreement" for biodiversity! It's the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its goals aren't expressed in degrees of warming but rather in land and water protected: 30% by 2030 globally. Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64019324

It seems like almost everyone is talking about Birdland on this app. It is time to move on. Don't dwell on the past. You are here now, make the most of it. Post about your work, share your idea's. The last thing this app should become is a Kindergarten full of twitter refugees feeling sorry for themselves and spend all their time mocking Musk (sorry if that sounds a bit harsh, I know I had to go through the same for a day or so, but it's time to get up and dry your tears now). ;-)

As we crossed that 30k user count, I'm incredibly humbled that so many have chosen to make Mastodon Canada their home in the fediverse. I'm doing everything I can to get back to folks that are emailing in with issues, DMing me, and others but I know I'm missing tagged posts.
Thankful to those coming out to help new mastdonauts on their journey, too.
And to all the donors to the instance - sincerely, thank you.
The commitment to make us a society stands - but it won't happen in December. #mstdnca

I’m sorry for those excited about #Post but any social media site that makes you wait on wait list won’t be like #twitter or have even close to the same feel.
It’s just creating your own private club that’s an echo changer. 
I’ll pass on Post.

The Keystone pipeline leaked in Kansas. What makes this spill so bad? https://www.npr.org/2022/12/17/1142675809/cleanup-for-keystone-pipeline-oil-spill-kansas

Happy Chanukah, may light burn brightly in the dark for all of us.

The remarkably odd Australian Dracula ant, Amblyopone australis, seen here in the brood nest with silken cocoons.

#Ants #Insects #Australia #Amblyopone