Friday, October 31, 2025

High symbolism, high stakes mark historic 1st meeting of new biodiversity body dedicated to elevating the role and contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities

Indigenous peoples and local communities representation at the decision-making level of a UN environmental treaty is unprecedented

UN Convention on Biological Diversity

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During the inaugural meeting of CBD's new subsidiary body, delegates advanced the contribution of traditional knowledge to the first global report on collective progress in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreement of 2022, to be reviewed at CBD's COP17, Yerevan, Armenia, 19-30 October, 2026.

Credit: CBD

Panama City-Montreal – Amid a mix of celebration and caution, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) made important progress and decisions on the operation and governance of a new Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) and Other Provisions of the Convention Related to Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.

At the Subsidiary Body’s inaugural meeting (SB8J-1, 27–30 October, Panama City), delegates advanced important aspects of work on CBD’s Article 8j, which relates to traditional knowledge, innovations and practices.

During the meeting, delegates:

Advanced the contribution of traditional knowledge to the first global report on collective progress in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), to be reviewed in Yerevan, Armenia, in October 2026.
Addressed foundational issues, such as the operation and governance of SB8J, including mechanisms to ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities.
Held in-depth dialogue on strategies for mobilizing resources to ensure the availability of and access to financial resources and funding, as well as other means of implementation, including capacity-building, development and technical support for indigenous peoples and local communities.
Advanced discussions on guidelines to implement the Article 8j work programme

Strong support was expressed for reflecting the expertise of women and youth in the work of the CBD.

The Parties’ decisions in full, here, include bracketed text for resolution at COP17 next October in Armenia.

SB8J is the first permanent body of its kind established under a Multilateral Environmental Agreement. Dedicated to elevating the role and leveraging the contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities, this new Subsidiary Body was adopted in a landmark decision at the 16th Conference of the Parties to the CBD Convention (COP16) in 2024 in Cali, Colombia.

Colombia’s Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres, the current President of CBD’s COP16, hailed the new body as an “unprecedented step toward greater environmental democracy.”

The Minister of Environment of Panama, Juan Carlos Navarro, meanwhile, urged the body to ensure that commitments “translate into real policies, accessible funding, and visible results on the ground.”

Astrid Schomaker, CBD Executive Secretary, stressed: "This is just the beginning of the journey, but the first round of SB8J negotiations has paved the way for a fully operational body that has everything it needs to deliver on its mandate and marks a major step forward.”

Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily reports detailing negotiations: https://bit.ly/4oGtvWk

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Post-meeting debrief, CBD Executive Secretary, transcript: https://bit.ly/4ntgZZ9, video: https://bit.ly/47PcmUF

Landscapes for biodiversity, food, climate and more

University of Göttingen

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Multifunctional land use in Wietingsmoor: in the moor, the “paludiculture” approach combines the production of biomass – by cultivating plants like reeds for building materials and peat substitutes – with the preservation of peat soils.
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Credit: Claudia Heindorf

Land use is at the heart of the many emergencies facing our world today: climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice and food insecurity. These – exacerbated by unsustainable practices such as industrial agriculture – combine to create simultaneous and interconnected crises. To overcome these challenges, large parts of the Earth's surface must meet several demands at the same time – from species conservation and food production to human well-being. This is where multifunctional landscapes come in, because they can meet many ecological, social and economic goals at once. Researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Kassel have evaluated how using land in such ways can support nature conservation and ecosystem restoration. Their review article shows ways to redesign land use and nature conservation using integrated approaches. This was published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity.

“It is only when we understand synergies and conflicts of use that we can develop land use systems which will simultaneously meet different aims. These include: securing our food supply, regulating our climate, preserving our valuable biodiversity, and providing areas for rest and recreation,” explains Dr Marion Jay, postdoctoral researcher at Göttingen University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development. With this in mind, the researchers analysed theoretical concepts and practical approaches to land use from different continents and time periods. In their article, they present a variety of models that promote biodiversity and multifunctionality in landscapes.

According to the researchers, multifunctional landscapes can take various forms. However, what they often have in common is a closely interconnected mosaic of forests, arable land, pastures and, in some cases, settlements, reconciling multiple land use demands. They cite traditional farming systems such as agroforestry or pastoralism as proven examples. However, both are being threatened by global trends such as industrial agriculture. In contrast, some modern multifunctional land use systems are being promoted worldwide via approaches such as “urban green and blue infrastructure”. Urban forests, parks and wetlands are designed to serve human well-being, biodiversity, the regulation of extreme weather events and urban agriculture, for example. Multifunctional land use also contributes to the restoration of destroyed nature. One example described in the article is “paludiculture”. This refers to sustainable agricultural production on wet or rewetted peatlands. Paludiculture combines the production of biomass for food, feed, construction material or biofuels, with the preservation of wetland habitats and soils, and the restoration of ecosystem services such as carbon storage and water regulation.

To effectively integrate multifunctional land use into nature conservation and restoration measures, commitment is needed across many levels: "Cross-sector cooperation, for example between agriculture, nature conservation and urban planning, is crucial. This also applies to landscapes where the protection of biodiversity is a priority, such as in protected areas,” says Tobias Plieninger, Professor of Social-Ecological Interactions in Agricultural Systems at the Universities of Göttingen and Kassel. “Financial support, for instance by promoting both public and private investment and new business models, is just as important."

Original publication: Jay & Plieninger. Addressing landscape multifunctionality in conservation and restoration. Nature Reviews Biodiversity (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s44358-025-00091-4

Oasis agroforestry – here in Tinghir, Morocco – is a traditional land-use system that combines the production of food and feed in different vegetation layers with ancient irrigation systems and a unique cultural diversity and cultural heritage.

Urban trees, parks, and lakes in Bengaluru, India, build a green and blue infrastructure that supports the well-being of people, providing food, timber, medicine, but also cooling and purifying air and water and carrying important spiritual values.

Credit

Tobias Plieninger

Contact:

Faculty of Agricultural Sciences

Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

\www.uni-goettingen.de/en/677082.html

Journal

Nature Reviews Biodiversity

DOI

10.1038/s44358-025-00091-4

Method of Research

News article

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Addressing landscape multifunctionality in conservation and restoration

Article Publication Date

30-Oct-2025

Arctic predators exposed: New study finds bisphenols biomagnify up to polar bears

Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences

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Toxic trail of bisphenols through the Arctic food web.
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Credit: Environmental Science and Ecotechnology

A new study has uncovered alarming evidence that bisphenols (BPs) —plastic-related chemicals known to disrupt hormones—are accumulating and magnifying through Arctic food webs. Analyzing 32 bisphenol analogues in 134 samples from water, soil, sediments, and organisms near Svalbard, researchers found that compounds such as bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol F (BPF), and BPPH concentrate from plankton to top predators, with polar bears showing levels up to 1396 ng g⁻¹ wet weight. The study also identified local contamination hotspots, including a firefighting training site and landfill leachate. These findings highlight that even remote Arctic ecosystems face local chemical threats and that BPs can biomagnify across trophic levels.

Bisphenols (BPs) are widely used in plastics, epoxy resins, and flame retardants, with bisphenol A (BPA) being the most common. Growing evidence links BPA exposure to metabolic, cardiovascular, and developmental disorders, prompting industries to replace it with structurally similar analogues such as bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF). However, the toxicity and environmental persistence of these substitutes remain poorly understood, especially in fragile polar ecosystems. Although long-range transport has brought many pollutants to the Arctic, the contribution of local pollution sources and the potential for trophic biomagnification of BPs have not been clearly established. Due to these uncertainties, comprehensive investigations on bisphenol sources and food-web transfer in the Arctic are urgently needed.

Researchers from the Harbin Institute of Technology, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and their international partners have published (DOI: 10.1016/j.ese.2025.100627) a study on October 9, 2025, in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, revealing the first clear evidence that BPs biomagnify within Arctic marine food webs. The team analyzed 32 bisphenol analogues in sediments, soils, and biota collected near Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Their results show that these contaminants not only originate from local human activities but also increase in concentration from marine invertebrates to fish, seabirds, and ultimately to polar bears.

The study examined 134 samples representing multiple trophic levels, from pelagic amphipods and annelids to crabs, fish, glaucous gulls, and a polar bear. Researchers detected 32 bisphenol analogues and found clear evidence of bioaccumulation and trophic magnification. The bisphenol compound BPPH exhibited the highest trophic magnification factor (TMF = 2.3), while total bisphenol concentrations in polar bear organs reached up to 1396 ng g⁻¹ wet weight, far exceeding those in lower-level species. Sediment analysis revealed that BPA and BPF were the most abundant compounds, and biota-sediment accumulation factors confirmed effective transfer from sediments to benthic organisms such as sculpins and annelids. The researchers identified two major local pollution sources: a firefighting training site releasing 2,4,6-tribromophenol and landfill leachate containing bisphenol C (BPC). These findings reveal that not only global transport but also local anthropogenic activities are major contributors to Arctic chemical contamination. The results provide the first comprehensive dataset showing that BPs behave like classical persistent pollutants in Arctic ecosystems.

“People often view the Arctic as pristine and isolated, but our findings show it is not immune to modern chemical pollution,” said Professor Zi-Feng Zhang, corresponding author of the study. “What's striking is that these BPs are not just present—they are magnifying through the food web all the way to polar bears. This means local emissions, such as from firefighting foams and landfills, can have far-reaching ecological impacts. Future management must consider both imported and locally generated pollutants.”

This research underscores the urgent need to integrate local emission control with global monitoring of emerging pollutants. Since BPs can mimic hormones and affect wildlife reproduction and metabolism, their trophic magnification in Arctic species raises new concerns for food safety and ecological resilience. The findings call for stricter waste management at Arctic settlements, improved alternatives to bisphenol-based materials, and inclusion of BPs in long-term Arctic monitoring frameworks. Future studies will refine isotopic baselines for trophic-level assessment and evaluate the combined effects of BPs and other coexisting contaminants under changing polar environments.

###

References

DOI

10.1016/j.ese.2025.100627

Original Source URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2025.100627

Funding information

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.52321005) and Provincial Key Research and Development Program of Heilongjiang (No. 2023ZX02C04). This study was also partially supported by the open project of the National Engineering Research Center for Safe Disposal and Resources Recovery of Sludge (No. Z2024B003). We thank the Research Council of Norway (RCN) for funding the project No. 268258 “Reducing the impact of fluorinated compounds on the environment and human health – PFOslo”.

About Environmental Science and Ecotechnology

Environmental Science and Ecotechnology (ISSN 2666-4984) is an international, peer-reviewed, and open-access journal published by Elsevier. The journal publishes significant views and research across the full spectrum of ecology and environmental sciences, such as climate change, sustainability, biodiversity conservation, environment & health, green catalysis/processing for pollution control, and AI-driven environmental engineering. The latest impact factor of ESE is 14.3, according to the Journal Citation ReportsTM 2024.

Journal

Environmental Science and Ecotechnology

DOI

10.1016/j.ese.2025.100627

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Evidence for local sources and trophic biomagnification of bisphenols in the Arctic

Article Publication Date

29-Oct-2025

Wildlife trafficking within a web of organized crime

Canadian research team finds that disrupting the illegal wildlife trade means addressing its ties to other global crimes

University of Waterloo

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**Leopard skin in a traditional wildlife market in South Africa.**
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**Credit: Dr. Michelle Anagnostou/University of Waterloo**

A new study reveals that the illegal wildlife trade — worth billions annually — is deeply connected to other forms of organized crime, including arms dealing, drug trafficking and human smuggling.

By mapping these criminal intersections, researchers found that tackling the illegal trade in animals and plants requires understanding how it converges with other serious crimes. This approach can help law enforcement agencies focus on the key actors driving these global networks, rather than low-level offenders.

The illegal wildlife trade has wide-reaching implications for society globally. According to the study led by the University of Waterloo, learning how this activity intersects with other crimes can boost the efficiency of anti-trafficking interventions by concentrating on key players in large networks.

“Law enforcement agencies in South Africa, Hong Kong and Canada have identified links between this and other major crimes, which shows that wildlife trafficking is more than an environmental issue,” said Dr. Michelle Anagnostou, now a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford, and who led this research as part of her PhD at Waterloo. “It is a complex, high-stakes criminal problem that affects public health, biodiversity and human security.”

While South Africa and Hong Kong are known hotspots for the illegal wildlife trade and part of this study, the researchers wanted to include Canada as well.

“Canada might not be the first country people think of in relation to illegal wildlife trade, yet our research finds it is occurring from coast to coast,” Anagnostou said. “This study is unique because it shows that even high-income countries also experience this interconnectedness of criminal activity involving the illegal trade of plants and animals.”

The next phase of the research will focus on understanding how best to implement anti-money laundering interventions to counter wildlife trafficking in Canada. Following the money trail allows law enforcement to determine the key players that are operating at the top level internationally and profiting the most from the exploitation of wildlife.

The research team used innovative methods of data collection and access to law enforcement and intelligence experts, who often cannot publicly share opinions or experiences.

"This study is a prime example of the kind of research that can inform policy with real-world experience to solve a global problem,” said Dr. Brent Doberstein, a professor in the Faculty of Environment at Waterloo and Dr. Anagnostou’s doctoral supervisor. “This work promises to both extend what we know about the complex world of illegal wildlife trade and help in designing interventions to reduce the extent of this crime.”

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and UWaterloo funded the research. Other authors on the paper include Dr. Derek Armitage from Waterloo, Dr. Peter Stoett from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Dr. Ashwell Glasson from the Southern African Wildlife College in South Africa.

The study, Disentangling and demystifying converging crimes and illegal wildlife trade in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Canada, appears in the Journal of Economic Criminology.

Seized wolf skin in Canada.

Credit

Dr. Michelle Anagnostou/University of Waterloo

Journal

Journal of Economic Criminology

DOI

10.1016/j.jeconc.2025.100196

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Disentangling and demystifying converging crimes and illegal wildlife trade in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Canada

Article Publication Date

8-Oct-2025

Small bat hunts like lions – only better

A tiny bat uses a “hang-and-wait” strategy to save energy and capture large prey with surprising success

Aarhus University

Trachops hovering over a frog on a leaf — image:
A fringe-lipped bat (Trachops cirrhosus) hovering over a frog on a leaf by a pond
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Credit: Grant Maslowski

A new international study led by researchers from Aarhus University and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) reveals that small bats can be just as efficient predators as lions – and often more successful.

To find out how fringe-lipped bats (Trachops cirrhosus), miniature carnivores from the forests of Panama, hunt in the wild, the research team equipped 20 of them with miniature “backpacks” – biologging tags that recorded every movement and sound, including those from the surrounding environment.

The data revealed something remarkable: these bats hunt large prey such as frogs, birds and small mammals, using a “hang-and-wait” strategy combined with an exceptionally sensitive sense of hearing that allows them to pick up sounds made by their prey. In this way, they can quickly locate large prey and strike with minimal effort.

The study, published in Current Biology, concludes that these bats can consume nearly their own body weight (30 grams) in a single meal, making them among the most energy-efficient predators on Earth.

A biological paradox

The team set out to solve a biological paradox:

In the animal kingdom, size usually shapes hunting strategy. Large predators such as lions and polar bears can afford to chase big, energy-rich prey because their large energy reserves and low metabolic rates let them outwait repeated failed hunts. Small predators, like rodents and most bats, face the opposite challenge. With tiny energy stores and high metabolic rates, they need to eat almost constantly and consequently target abundant, easy-to-catch prey to survive.

But a few bats break the rules. Nine known species are true carnivores, meeting more than half of their energy needs by eating vertebrates such as frogs, birds, and even small mammals. This raises an intriguing question: how can such small predators, with limited energy reserves and high daily demands, survive by hunting large and rare prey – a strategy that usually requires enormous effort and involves frequent failure?

To answer that question, the researchers used the fringe-lipped bat as their model species.

These bats are known to feed on small túngara frogs, and when they went hunting with the miniature backpacks attached, the researchers expected to see them catching large numbers of these small frogs.

Hunting like big cats

But the data told a completely different story. These small bats hunt more like big cats than like their fellow bats.

They lie (or rather hang) in wait to ambush their prey, strike with precision, take large victims, and rest for much of the night between hunts – just like lions and leopards.

The movement and sound data showed that the bats combine their “hang-and-wait” strategy with hearing, vision, and echolocation. They have low-frequency hearing and are already known to eavesdrop on frog mating calls. By combining these senses, they can detect and kill large prey with remarkable efficiency.

Big predators trapped in small bodies

“It was incredible to discover that these bats hunt like big predators trapped in tiny bodies,” says lead author Leonie Baier, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Aarhus University and research fellow at STRI. “Instead of spending the night constantly on the wing, they wait patiently, strike with high precision, and sometimes end up catching enormous, energy-rich prey. The discovery that an animal this small can do this really turned our assumptions upside down.”

The recordings revealed that during the study period, the bats spent 89 percent of their time stationary, conserving energy. When they did attack, it happened quickly: most flights lasted less than three minutes, and the median hunting flight only eight seconds.

The bats succeeded in about 50 percent of their hunts – far more than large mammals, where lions, for example, succeed only 14 percent of the time. For polar bears, the rate is as low as two percent.

Eighty-four minutes of chewing

The prey also turned out to be larger than expected. On average, it weighed seven percent of the bat’s own body weight – equivalent to a 70-kilogram person eating a five-kilogram meal.

In some cases, the bats caught prey nearly their own size, such as the large Rosenberg’s gladiator tree frog, which can weigh up to 20 grams.

The size of the prey could be inferred from how long the bats could be heard chewing on it in the sound recordings – the longest meal lasted 84 minutes.

The older, the better

Older bats were found to handle larger prey suggesting that hunting skill improves with experience. The species is already known for remembering specific frog calls for years and for learning new hunting techniques by observing other bats.

“We wanted to understand what these bats are actually doing out there in the dark – so we listened in, much like the bats themselves listen to their prey,” says Laura Stidsholt, assistant professor at Aarhus University and senior author of the study. “With the data from our biologging tags, which combine high-resolution sound recordings with movement data, we were able to reconstruct entire hunting sequences in the wild. In this way, we experienced the forest through the bats’ ears – revealing a hidden world of patience, precision and survival in the dark.”