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New Zealand has provided a new system of "biodiversity credits" in an effort to help support the native ecosystem.

In theory, the project will fund conservation projects and programs to save threatened species, by selling these credits to inidividuals, business owners and landowners.

Associate Minister for the Environment James Shaw says the following:

“Sixty three percent of our native ecosystems are now threatened, and a third of our native species are threatened or at risk of extinction. It’s time we find new ways to incentivise conservation, protect our precious wildlife, and provide clearer guidance on how to identify, manage and protect biodiversity.”
“Landowners, land managers, farmers, and Maōri should be looking at their wild spaces as a taonga, but also as a valuable source of supplementary income. This can then be used to support on-the-ground conservation, like reforestation, wetland restoration, or planting native vegetation."

In a further win for nature, clearer direction on how to identify, manage and protect areas of significant biodiversity will be phased in over several years, from 4 August.

All we can do is die trying.

All over the world, insect populations are declining. The impacts of climate change, combined with chemical pesticide use, habitat destruction, and lack of food source diversity are only some of the issues that insect species are struggling to adapt to.
There was the infamous study from Germany in 2017 which found that insect populations had apparently declined by 75% in 30 years, and the article in this post estimates that bee and hoverfly species in the UK have dropped by 25% compared to the 1980s. But data is scarce even in wealthy countries, and historical data in developing nations is all but nonexistent. That means we just don't know exactly how much insect populations are struggling, but what we do know looks pretty bad.

Demonstrators chained themselves to a pink boat outside Ffos y Fran, the largest opencast coal mine in the UK.
The four people arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass were 43, 45, 68 and 75. This surprised me, although I find it encouraging that it is not only young people recognising and trying to do something about our situation.

From the article:

The mine has been hugely controversial in recent years with residents complaining over noise, pollution and disruption to their lives. Since then, campaigners claim mining has continued unlawfully at the mine. Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd, which operates the site, recently made a last-ditch appeal against the decision to stop operations there.

...The Public Order Act (2023) came into effect in May. Under the Act, locking-on is now an offence which can result in 51 weeks in prison.

The group claims the mine is continuing to operate despite planning permission running out in September. Recently barristers for climate action claimed that continued coal extraction at Ffos y Fran was illegal.

Superintendent Michelle Conquer said: “Since Wednesday afternoon, police officers have been deployed to the Ffos y Fran site in Merthyr Tydfil to facilitate peaceful protest.
“In doing so we note the views of the protest group that the mine is operating unlawfully."

Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell, says renewable energy replacements are not happening fast enough, and increased demand could raise prices again.
Climate experts disagree with his concerns.

From the article:

Head of the UN António Guterres recently said investment in new oil and gas production was "economic and moral madness".
Mr Sawan told the BBC: "I respectfully disagree." He added: "What would be dangerous and irresponsible is cutting oil and gas production so that the cost of living, as we saw last year, starts to shoot up again."

Many countries do not have the infrastructure to move to more sustainable forms of energy.

The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, has said that "if governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal from now".

The UK currently imports more than half of its oil and gas - and that proportion is expected to rise without renewed investment in the North Sea. Shell recently decided to sell its stake in a major new undeveloped oil field at Cambo.

Does it seem hotter than normal? Drier than usual? Have you noticed a distinct lack of bees in your neighbourhood? Come in and tell us about it.

This thread is for discussion of collapse-related issues that you’re personally experiencing, have experienced, or are affecting people you personally know. AKA things you don’t have to read the news to know are happening.

Links to relevant news articles are encouraged, however.

For anyone who would enjoy a heaping side of societal breakdown to go along with their environmental destruction, here is a whiff of what is to come for all of us.

From the article:

A study published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday found a 1C increase in average annual temperature was connected to a rise of more than 6.3% in incidents of physical and sexual domestic violence across three south Asian countries.

Extreme heat can lead to crop failures, buckle infrastructure, eat into economies, trap people indoors and render them unable to work – all factors that can place families under extreme stress and push up violence rates. The researchers found that although there was a heat-related increase in violence across all income groups, the largest increases were among lower-income and rural households.

Previous research from Madrid found that when a heatwave hit, the risk of intimate partner femicide rose 40%, and in Kenya, women who experienced severe weather events – including heatwaves – had 60% higher odds of reporting intimate partner violence. Studies collating global data have found the risks of interpersonal violence increased by 2.3% and intergroup conflicts by 13.2% as temperatures rose.

Hold on to your butts and thank your lucky stars if you aren't part of any of the following groups:
-poor people
-women
-residents of underdeveloped countries

Because for the rest of us, things will be getting even worse, even faster.