Nature’s Many Gifts

From Stephanie Feldstein, Population and Sustainability Program Director

If you spend any time in nature, you know a dose of Vitamin N can improve your mood, lower stress, and calm your troubled mind. The benefits of spending time outdoors are well known, but a new study found that all environments aren’t created equal.

Outdoor spaces that included a larger range of biodiversity, such as trees, plants and birds, were associated with greater mental well-being than environments that included a smaller range of natural features. The results, researchers say, highlight the importance of policies and practices that support richness of biodiversity for public mental health.

Read on to learn more about how we’re fighting for a diverse and thriving world, including abortion access in the time of climate change and plant-based school menus.

A new article looked at 40 years of data collected on pronghorn herds in the Wyoming Basin Shrub Steppe and found that 80% of the herds saw a decrease in the number of juveniles per 100 females, which can be an indication that a population is struggling. Researchers determined the two main culprits: habitat fragmentation from oil and gas development and woody plant encroachment.

Join Us for Virtual Trivia

Join the Center for Biological Diversity and Population Connection in celebrating International Day for Biological Diversity with an engaging virtual trivia game on May 22 at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET. This fun event will feature rounds of trivia about topics such as endangered species, biodiversity, reproductive health, and population dynamics. Register to join us on Zoom.

Here’s another thing you can do: Love wildlife trivia? Sign up to become a Pillow Talk volunteer and help others make the connection between endless growth and the wildlife extinction crisis in engaging ways.

Fourth UN Plastics Talks Fail to Curb Plastic

Plastic pollution has a direct and deadly effect on wildlife. Every year billions of pounds of plastic end up in the world’s oceans, imperiling the wildlife who live there. Plastic is so ubiquitous that it’s found at the tops of the tallest mountains and in the human bloodstream.

Last month the fourth session of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution met in Ottawa, Canada. The Center and many other groups attended to encourage strong and effective treaty language that would cut plastic production and address pollution along the full lifecycle of plastic. Unfortunately little progress was made toward an international agreement to end plastic pollution. But the fight continues. The next negotiating session will take place in Busan, Korea, in November 2024.

Here’s one thing you can do: Read our research into the national food code and how it relates to refillable container laws by state.

New Standards Support Plant-Forward K-12 Menus

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s latest numbers confirm that meat and dairy are a leading source of potent greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why we advocate for better school menus — to improve the health of what’s on students’ plates today and the health of the planet tomorrow.

We notched a big win recently when the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its nutrition standards for child-nutrition programs, allowing schools to build healthier, more sustainable menus for millions of children across the nation. The changes include establishing stricter limits on sodium and added sugar, providing greater flexibility for school districts to serve beans, peas and lentils as part of entrees, and allowing bean dips like hummus to be served as a “Smart Snack.”

Here’s one thing you can do: Learn more about our work supporting healthy and fair school menus on our Earth-friendly school food website.

Abortion Care Is Critical During Climate Crisis

Last month the Arizona Supreme Court shocked the country with its decision to uphold a 160-year-old law banning abortions and punishing doctors who provide care. Thankfully Arizona lawmakers quickly repealed the law. But the ruling serves as a warning of the peril facing reproductive healthcare across the country.

As Linda Rico, a communications professional at the Center, argued in an op-ed for the Arizona Daily Star, abortion bans are tragic under any circumstance, but they’re especially devastating now, as climate catastrophe takes a disproportionate toll on women. Drought, extreme heat, and air pollution from wildfires all cause harmful outcomes for pregnant people. In the era of climate catastrophe, she argues, politicians should be doing everything they can to make abortion care more accessible, not less.

Here’s one thing you can do: Read the Center’s statement on abortion to learn more about how we believe the health of humans and ecosystems are two sides of the same coin.

Capitalism Hurts the Environment and Public Health

Endless growth — whether of population or the economy — is an unachievable fantasy that won't work on a finite planet. If we continue to ignore that fact, we’ll miss our chance to build a just and sustainable economy, slow the climate and extinction crises, and protect a future where people and wildlife can thrive.

Center senior campaigner Kelley Dennings joined the National Women’s Health Network’s podcast to talk about how environmental health, reproductive rights, and gender equity are harmed by an endless-growth mindset and to lay out solutions.

Here’s one thing you can do: Learn more about the connections between environmental health, reproductive health and capitalism in our groundbreaking report The Influence of Environmental Toxicity, Inequity and Capitalism on Reproductive Health.

Wildlife Spotlight: Saltmarsh Sparrow

The saltmarsh sparrow is the only native bird that breeds solely in the salt marshes of the Northeast. True to their name, they spend their entire lives in the thin ribbon of coastal salt marshes along the Atlantic Coast and Florida Gulf Coast. Saltmarsh sparrows are known for their whisper-like song and promiscuous mating behavior, with males and females breeding with multiple partners, frequently resulting in every egg in a nest having a different father.

But rising sea levels, climate change and human development have destroyed much of the bird’s habitat. Since 1998 more than 4 out of every 5 saltmarsh sparrows have disappeared. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified the sparrow as needing protection in 2019 but has yet to take action. That’s why the Center filed a formal petition with the service seeking protection for the saltmarsh sparrow under the Endangered Species Act.

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Photo credits: Poppies by Apache Trail in Arizona via Canva; pronghorn by Tobias Klenze/Wikimedia; Trivia Night graphic courtesy Center for Biological Diversity; Hawaiian monk seal with plastic bottle by Matthew Chauvin/NOAA; school lunch by Yan Krukau/Pexels; protest signs by kgnixer/Flickr; egrets on plastic trash by waders/Flickr; saltmarsh sparrow by Dan Irizarry/Flickr.

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Center for Biological Diversity
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