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Travel the great indoors for a glimpse of your city's natural world

Kartik Chandramouli

March 31, 2020 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, New Delhi

Across India, as people are spending more time at home because of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals in increasing numbers are turning to new ways to connect to nature and each other. They are using their time at home to observe nature out their windows, and in doing so, they are sharing their findings on places like eBird, which “depend on public contribution of data for scientific research.”

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How a Beloved Bird Is Helping Save the Chesapeake Bay

Libby Sander

February 18, 2020 |

Hakai Magazine |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chesapeake, Maryland

The Natural Lands Project works with local landowners to turn hundreds of hectares of marginal croplands into native grasslands. The grasses offer refuge for the northern bobwhite quail and grip the soil, which helps prevent erosion and keeps agricultural runoff and sediment out of the Chesapeake Bay. The quail population has grown to 450, a 39% increase from 20 years ago. The project works with landowners to convert small parcels of their land for the habitat. The landowners receive a small payment and help planting and maintaining the native vegetation. Many species have flourished in the new habitat.

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Mending Coastal Marshes

Kerry Rose Graning

January 20, 2020 |

Hakai Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Louisiana

Martin Ecosystems uses recycled plastic bottles to manufacture artificial islands and shorelines, allowing native vegetation to grow and preventing land erosion, which has restored Louisiana’s wetlands and barrier islands. Plastic mats are layered, injected with Coast Guard approved foam for buoyancy, and planted with native vegetation. Once anchored in rows of up to 20 or more, they act as breakwaters reducing wave height by up to 80% and minimizing erosion. The mats also provide cover for nesting birds and a complex ecosystem for aquatic life. They have withstood years of hurricanes and tropical storms.

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Community conservation agreements a lifeline for Uganda's grey crowned cranes

Fredrick Mugira

December 24, 2019 |

Mongabay |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Kabale

Working with communities to develop alternative forms of livelihood helps to curb unsustainable practices and land degradation. In Uganda, the destruction of wetland habitat by farmers had had a serious impact on the population of grey crowned cranes in recent decades. The Cranes and Wetlands conservation project provides support to local communities, working to find alternatives to draining wetlands and promoting habitat restoration.

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The Dark Toll of Light Pollution

Teresa Carey

November 04, 2019 |

Freethink |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

In the morning, before the city’s cleaning crew makes its rounds, volunteers of the Lights Out Baltimore chapter are counting the number of birds that fly into buildings. Each year, for four months, they monitor 25 buildings, documenting over 400 bird deaths annually due to flying into a building. Artificial light from buildings can interrupt their vision and cause them to collide with structures. Using citizen science to log bird collisions, they hope to convince property owners to dim their lights during peak hours of the migration season or install a bird-safe film to their windows.

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Grassroots campaign saves major wetland in Montenegro

Mark Hillsdon

November 01, 2019 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Montenegro, Ulcinj

Encouraging governments to behave transparently can also assist in environmental conservation efforts. Ulcinj Salina, an important saltwater wetland in Montenegro, faced an uncertain future prior to an international lobbying campaign that resulted in the area’s designation as a Nature Park. The effort included a WeMove campaign, as well as crucial intervention by other members of the European Union, encouraging the Montenegrin government to enact environmental standards.

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Creating a high-tech island to save one of the world's rarest birds

Hannah Thomasy

April 25, 2019 |

Mongabay |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: New Zealand, Little Barrier Island

After a rare flightless parrot called kākāpō almost went extinct in 1995, scientists in New Zealand created a high-tech sanctuary for the birds on three nearby islands. They eliminate all possible predators from the island, use data-tracking tags for health information, and supplement their efforts with artificial insemination to ensure that the birds' species starts to grow again. 2019 is already a record year for kākāpō breeding, and the scientists' methods are even being replicated elsewhere to bring back other endangered species.

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Scientists are getting creative to save this muppet-faced, flightless parrot

Sarah Feldberg

March 05, 2019 |

National Geographic |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: New Zealand, Codfish Island

Scientists, volunteers, and rangers are working around the clock to save the endangered kakapo, a native New Zealand bird. With only 147 of these charismatic birds left in the world, they’re taking a multi-pronged, highly technological approach. Efforts include smart transmitters that track every bird and when they’re mating, artificial inseminations, and hatching fertile eggs in captivity while mothers sit on 3D-printed smart eggs.

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No More Shooting Crows. Nampa, Idaho Gets Creative To Solve Bird Problem

Amanda Peacher

February 05, 2019 |

Wyoming Public Media |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Nampa, Idaho

In urban centers, crows aggregate in huge numbers, causing headaches for business owners and residents. In Nampa, Idaho, officials are getting creative in dissuading the birds nightly visits. The tactics--from noise guns to laser pointers--are nonlethal, but the crow's renowned intelligence makes these methods more arms race than quick fix.

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In Oregon, This Man Is Bringing Burrowing Owls Back From The Brink

Ian McCluskey

January 02, 2019 |

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Umatilla, Oregon

At a decommissioned chemical depot, a lone biologist has been building artificial homes for burrowing owls. To date, he's installed some 182 burrows. Not only have his efforts helped bring a declining species back across the region, but his studies have gone a long way to better understanding the birds.

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