Scott Atkinson

Thrilled to share this study on Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) which are designed to achieve long term and effective conservation outside of protected areas. It offers valuable insights for anyone focused on achieving global biodiversity goals. Take a look!

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The EPA hydrology bulletin for August is now available to download. Average river flows for August decreased when compared to July, with 41% of river flows below the long-term normal range. Learn more: bit.ly/3z6NKbI

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This promises to be an excellent course in Coastal Climate Resilience, organized by some of the most innovative leaders in this space. The topic is more important than ever and the course will equip professionals working in this space with the latest knowledge and skills need to address growing challenges associated with climate change and to build resilience in/with coastal communities.

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I am happy to share our new publication on #threats to inland #wetlands and uncertainty around global #soil #carbon #stocks and #sequestration rates https://lnkd.in/d_f__dDU

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Now published, IUCN WCPA Technical Note No. 17: The role of OECMs for inland water biodiversity outcomes. https://lnkd.in/gGDkpqT3

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What a week! The Governors'​ Climate & Forests Task Force held an incredibly productive technical exchange focused on #climatefinance in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Much more detail in the 👇 post. A key set of takeaways for me: 🚨 funds flowing from the global south to the global north for debt service dwarf what is committed (and needed) to protect tropical forests and communities 💡 subnational governments, indigenous peoples, and local communities know their realities, needs, and opportunities best 🎯 we - collectively - need to get on target, work together, and align funding mechanisms to support the clear visions and investable opportunities that exist in these regions immediately and urgently 🆕 innovation, experimentation, and speed are vital necessities in this space. We often get stuck on the “perfect” mechanism or the “perfect” accounting, while 🌳 continue to be cleared and burn 🤝 only thru co-designing can we ensure finance goes to derisk larger-scale investments that create new forest economies built around standing forests and improved economic opportunities Excited to continue working together across the #gcftaskforce and with our partners to advance this vital, “inescapable and undeniable necessity” as stated by our incredible host, Santa Cruz Governor Mario Aguilera

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Experts at a recent Earth Day forum highlighted the urgent need to prepare our shoreline for the impacts of climate change. Janet Williams, Conservation Commission Chair and Clerk for the Climate Collaborative, and Natural Resources Director Greg Berman emphasized community efforts, data-driven projections and nature-based solutions to address rising sea levels and powerful storms. “Climate change is not only a motivator to action, it also opens opportunities,” said Williams. TAKE ACTION NOW! ✅ Stay Informed and Engaged: Follow local and state initiatives on coastal resilience. ✅ Support Nature-Based Solutions: Advocate for and participate in shoreline vegetation projects. ✅ Promote Adaptive Management: Encourage the use of innovative, flexible approaches to coastal protection. ✅ Push for Regulatory Change: Support common sense bylaw changes and collaborative regional efforts to strengthen coastal regulations. Together, we can protect our shoreline for future generations. Read a recap of the Earth Day forum here: https://bit.ly/4bywb20

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The groundwater depletion crisis in Iran represents just the tip of the iceberg in a broader global water scarcity challenge fueled by human induced climate change. As glaciers continue to melt and weather extreme events increase in frequency and intensity, the availability of freshwater resources is jeopardized, impacting billions. This phenomenon not only threatens regional ecosystems but also undermines food security and economic stability worldwide. To mitigate these risks, sustainable water management practices and implement adaptive strategies that enhance resilience in water-scarce regions must be prioritized.  https://lnkd.in/dKdEyaWJ

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Our "From Runoff to Recharge" StoryMap, developed in partnership with the CA DWR and other organizations, presents an overview of groundwater recharge and the potential it holds for communities, ecosystems, agriculture, and flood risk

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Sharing WWF’s latest innovation, the #NBSAP Tracker—a powerful tool that monitors how countries are advancing their biodiversity commitments through their National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs). This tracker offers an accessible way to assess progress and evaluate how national strategies align with the UN’s Global Biodiversity Framework, with the goal of reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. Explore more: https://lnkd.in/gcjRjbMJ

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In April 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center released a report entitled “The Forest Resilience Bond: Structural Design and Contribution to Water Management in Collaborative Forest Restoration Partnerships”, which outlined the mechanics and motivation behind Blue Forest’s pilot project, the Yuba I FRB. Fast forward to 2024 and we’re revisiting the original question: Why was the EPA interested in the Forest Resilience Bond in 2021? As the sector’s main regulator, the EPA has a vested interest in helping utilities protect their water resources. In this 2021 blog post by now Managing Director of Science & Research, Kim Quesnel Seipp, PhD you will understand why the Forest Resilience Bond is a win for utilities.

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Flourishing In The America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge: A Partnership to Conserve and Restore America’s Rivers, Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands announced today https://lnkd.in/d93hBqDF "...the Biden-Harris Administration is setting bold, new national goals that help rebuild our nation’s wetlands and freshwater resources: 1) Reconnect, restore, and protect 8 million acres of wetlands by 2030, with an emphasis on forested, vegetated, peat soil, brackish, and tidal wetlands; and 2) Reconnect, restore, and protect 100,000 miles of our nations’ rivers and streams by 2030,using approaches like removal of impediments and stream bank restoration." This is a bold step in the right direction. Our goal must be bolder than just slowing or reducing damage to nature and communities, but to reach a future where we and nature flourish together.

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Field Boundary and Land Cover data is available in OS NGD. Helping to boost landscape monitoring, reduce environmental impact, and enhance biodiversity. 🌳 This dataset details physical barriers like walls, trees, and hedgerows, aiding landowners and organizations in benchmarking and planning for biodiversity net gain: https://ow.ly/okZz50TlRlG RICS

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A study https://lnkd.in/gsDWV6aG from earlier in 2024 suggests dryland expansion from increased aridification (a long-term process by which a region becomes more arid), desertification (a process by which a formerly productive habitat becomes more desert-like from a combination of natural processes and human activities), and decreased greening in a warming global climate will be limited to drylands in northeast Brazil, Namibia, western Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and central Asia, with most drylands seeing increased greening rather than aridification and desertification. This is due to the CO2 fertilization effect https://lnkd.in/gATs4j7c overcoming the effects of increased evapotranspiration in most drylands of the world. However, as a yale e360 article https://lnkd.in/gb753dNA discussing this study mentions, even as drylands are largely exhibiting a greening trend, such a trend is not without numerous downsides. An increase in greening can result in more intensive water use by plants, which can deplete already scarce water resources. Greening can largely manifest as an increase in short, woody plants such as shrubs, which just as with woody encroachment of shrubs into grasslands https://lnkd.in/gb675AiK, provides fuels that can more easily burn and increase risk of large brushfires, as the brushfires in southeast Australia in December 2019-January 2020 demonstrate. Fast-growing invasive plants can also benefit from this greening trend and further displace native plants https://lnkd.in/gri5WD9P. All of this leads to further degradation of arid land ecosystems, even as these arid ecosystems largely avoid aridification and desertification. So, while CO2 fertilization can slow down the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide, largely enhance greening in drylands, and result in far less aridification and desertification of drylands than one may expect, it is not without negative impacts, especially to plant and animal species that have adapted to habitats with scarce water. Continued monitoring as well as adaptation and resiliency efforts will be just as important in drylands seeing persistent or increased greening trends despite increased temperatures as it will be in drylands seeing increased aridification and desertification. Drylands cover up to 42% of land on Earth, but are unfortunately overlooked in conservation efforts https://lnkd.in/gajQG9b8. Only 12% of drylands are protected according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories, and less than 5% of the most biodiverse drylands are managed for biodiversity protection, below 30% protection of Earth's surface by 2030 target set by multilateral Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) treaty. Gaps in protection and conservation in drylands further highlight importance of monitoring, conservation, adaptation, and resiliency efforts in drylands, and these gaps in protection and conservation are of key concern in Africa and Asia, which contain the largest drylands.

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U.S. Geological Survey researchers are combating desertification and increasing climate resilience with a nature-based solution called Natural Infrastructure in Dryland Streams, or NIDS. This method could also have other benefits, like lowering greenhouse emissions and providing crop pollination. Read how: https://ow.ly/Ajac50SPz1q

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Understanding Manganese in Water Wells: Challenges and Solutions ▸ https://lttr.ai/AX5lp #BART #SmallSystemStruggling #ShowingPromisingResults #Groundwaterguy #VaryingPhLevels #groundwaterguy #PoseHealthRisks

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Did you know that there are more options besides climate bonds?👀 There's a way to mobilize finance and protect nature simultaneously!🎉 Check out this new e-learning course we have designed just for you 👇🏼

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Please submit your thoughts and experiences! Critically important process and outcome!

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A new paper: Validating Locational Marginal Emissions Models with Wind Generation, authored by WattTime.org's Nathaniel Steinsultz, Pierre Christian, Joel Cofield, Gavin McCormick and REsurety's Sarah Sofia, was published in the IOP Publishing Science journal Environmental Research: Energy. In it, the accuracy of nodal marginal emissions factors (MEF) was independently validated for the first time. The work found that REsurety’s Locational Marginal Emissions (LME) data has the lowest bias and highest correlation to the monthly average benchmark marginal emissions data, among datasets examined. The value of high geographic resolution in marginal emissions data was also demonstrated, showing that our locationally granular LME data is 40% more effective for reducing emissions through temporal load-shifting than an ERCOT-wide marginal emissions dataset. Learn more, read the paper: https://lnkd.in/eNaHCbj9 #cleanenergy

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