New Study Confirms the Cost of Population Pressure

From Stephanie Feldstein, Population and Sustainability Program Director

It’s no secret that humans are causing biodiversity loss across the planet. Previously our impact on wildlife was largely studied in specific locations or related to single threat. But a new synthesis of more than 2,000 studies that cover nearly 100,000 sites across every continent confirmed a grim reality: In every species and ecosystem studied, biodiversity loss was linked to humans.

Habitat loss — primarily due to industrial agriculture — and pollution were found to be particularly harmful, but the report also looked at the impacts of climate change, exploitation, and invasive species. This study underscores why, in addition to fighting for imperiled wildlife and wild places, the Center addresses the underlying drivers of extinction. Read on for more about our work to support women worldwide, advocate for sustainable food, and inspire change in waste reduction.

Crowded Planet: Researchers found an average of 221 particles of microplastics accumulating in the lungs of more than 50 species of birds, raising new questions about the effects of plastic pollution in air and water.

Center Returns Land to Indigenous Women Farmers

In the forests of Talamanca, Costa Rica, Indigenous Bribri women use traditional agroforestry practices to produce cocoa, supporting the community, its sacred rituals, and biodiversity. The Bribri are a matrilineal society, passing land and culture from mother to daughter.

With the help of the Center’s Chief Development Officer Paula Simmonds and Costa Rica-based attorney Enrique Rojas Solis, the Center recently donated more than 40 acres of land received through a bequest back to the Association Commission of Indigenous Women of Talamanca to continue sustainable cocoa production and conservation.

Here's one thing you can do: Women around the world are at risk since President Donald Trump cut all U.S. funding for the United Nations Population Fund’s lifesaving work to increase access to contraception and reproductive health care and stop gender-based violence in more than 150 countries. Contact your representative and ask them to support the UNFPA Funding Act, which would reinstate funding through Congress.

Cutting the Carbon Footprint of School Lunches

A new study in the journal Sustainability, coauthored by Senior Food Campaigner Jennifer Molidor, looked at how simple menu shifts could reduce the carbon footprints of school lunches in the United States. The authors analyzed menus from six major urban school districts to calculate their carbon emissions over a month and what would happen if schools introduced more sustainable meals.

They found that reducing beef-based meals to once per month would result in an average emissions savings of 34%. Introducing an entirely plant-based day each week would reduce emissions by 32%. But combining both actions would reduce food-related emissions by 43% — which shows how simple menu shifts can have big climate results.

Here’s one thing you can do: Check out our new Wildlife-Friendly Guide to Sustainable School Food to learn more about how schools can improve access to foods that are better for students, the climate, and wildlife.

Listen: Inspiring Youth During Challenging Times

Population and Sustainability Director Stephanie Feldstein recently joined Seth Bernard on the State of Water podcast to talk about turning passion into action even as we face multiple, often-overwhelming crises. They discuss how individual action has an impact, building community, the ways policy affects our choices, and the importance of empowering young people.

State of Water is a podcast that focuses on the connections between clean water and policy, equity, community, and climate.

Here's one thing you can do: Listen to this episode online or watch the conversation on YouTube.

New Avocado Certification Brings Hope to Monarchs

The popularity of avocados in the United States has driven rapid expansion of the industry in Mexico, putting pressure on the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve and its surrounding forests. But the recently launched Pro-Forest Avocado certification program could help prevent future deforestation.

The program uses satellite data to confirm that avocados were grown on land that meets specific standards, such as not having been logged since 2018. More than a dozen packinghouses have already signed on, including most of the biggest importers to the United States.

The Pro-Forest Avocado program is still voluntary, so it can only succeed if retailers require their suppliers to sign on.

Here's one thing you can do: Tell grocery stores to adopt zero-deforestation avocado policies.

Watch: Innovative Approaches to Waste Reduction

Senior Campaigner Kelley Dennings and Organizer Malia Becker, along with Laura Gonzalez-Ospina from California State University, Sacramento, presented a webinar to a campus recycling coalition on how waste management at colleges and universities can go beyond recycling to reduce the amount of waste generated in the first place. They discuss how understanding language, perceptions, and motivations around waste can help influence behavior change and shift consumption habits to promote waste prevention.

Here's one thing you can do: To learn more, read Talking Trash: U.S. Perspectives on the Language of Waste Reduction, our 2023 report on waste-prevention messaging and strategies.

Wildlife Spotlight: Dunes Sagebrush Lizard

Dunes sagebrush lizards are small, light brown lizards who live among the shinnery oaks in the white sand dunes of southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. They hunt insects and spiders among the dunes and bury themselves in the cool sand to hide from predators and regulate their body temperature. Their home is a rare ecosystem surprisingly rich in oaks, bluestem grasses, yucca, and other plant species.

Their home also includes part of the Permian Basin, one of the fastest-growing oil and gas fields in the world. More than 95% of the shinnery oak dunes ecosystem has been destroyed by fossil fuel extraction, development, and livestock grazing. Last month the Center took legal action to defend Endangered Species Act protection for the lizards.

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Photo credits: Header via Canva; Laysan albatrosses by David Slater/NOAA; cacao tree and ceremonial house by Axxis/Wikipedia, Talamanca mountain range by Seuayan ravina/Wikimedia; school lunch by Yan Krukau/Pexels; webinar screenshot courtesy Center for Biological Diversity; monarch butterfly by Dendroica/Flickr; webinar screenshot used with permission; dunes sagebrush lizard by Mark L. Watson.

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