USAID, the US State Department’s foreign aid program, offers a number of initiatives focused on conservation and limiting climate change. They list goals to promote biodiversity in all areas, not just in wealthy countries. Poor countries deal with issues like poaching and destruction of wilderness for fuel which may not be as prominent in wealthier countries. The site goes in depth into statistics of the importance of conservation and biodiversity. They offer suggestions and examples of the implementation of their efforts in foreign countries. For example, their efforts helped secure indigenous peoples land in the Amazon, limit restaurants serving shark fins, and create sustainable forests through promoting sustainable cutting and selling of wood products in Cambodia. There are a number of cool, interesting, and in depth links on the USAID site under the Environment and Global Change tab. https://www.usaid.gov/biodiversity/policy lists the strategic plan of the organization to conquor biodiversity loss. It is interesting to see such a globally influential organization at work. These are goals that are being implemented globally. These policies have the change to affect very diverse lands. Some further topics on the website include sustainable urbanization, property rights, and sustainable tourism. All of these relate to conservation and the protection of the biosphere. With efforts like these, the biosphere will be more heavily protected against threats.

Movebank is an online database that provides an international space for the collection of animal tracking data. Thousands of researchers input data they have collected on animal movement. They fit animals with trackers and plot the point on a map to look at their spatial relation. This database uses GIS technology to track the movement of animals, on a local level as well as across continents. This information helps scientists learn more about climate change, habitat loss, and other environmental issues we have discussed in this class. The way animals migrate can  This is similar to the research of the interviewing professors who used GIS technology to track the impacts of climate change on our environment. National Geographic featured this database on their website to talk about key species which are endangered. Scientists can use this information to track a species’ ability to recover from the endangered list. This database is super helpful and lets

I found a website that has looked at the bird migration in each region of the United States and is tracking their movements. For each region, they have multiple charts with specific birds to see which ones have been moving more in the past week, and which ones have been moving less in the past week. It would be cool to go on this website for a whole year and see what birds migrate at different times, and how consistent this timing is over the years. There is also an animation that basically shows bird migration over the past few months.

Within this website, there is an interesting link that further expand upon bird migration. This link defines each region (i.e., what states are in each region), and then talks about when they would expect bird migration. It talks about when you would expect the species to arrive first, then when the number of birds arriving would begin to increase rapidly, when the number would peak, when they would start to leave, and when the final bird would leave. This website is relatively new (created in 2015), so I’m not entirely sure how accurate these predictions would be, but nonetheless it is still interesting.

link: http://birdcast.info/forecast/regional-migration-analysis-10-17-november-2017/#MidwestNortheast

A view of the Chihuahuan Desert, situated in parts of western Texas and Mexico. Three biosphere reserves are located in this desert.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), famously known for their World Heritage Sites, also has an extensive biosphere reserves program, established under the umbrella of their Ecological Sciences for Sustainable Development department. These biosphere reserves are internationally recognized conservation zones found all over the world, incorporating marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystems. In addition to functioning as conservation zones that preserve biodiversity, these biosphere reserves also serve as areas for scientific study, particularly in the fields of sustainability, ecology, and human development. To ensure that these biosphere reserves are properly functioning and effectively managed, UNESCO conducts a periodic review process every ten years to ensure that each reserve measures up to the international standards.

Biosphere reserve in Cuba.

This website provides an overview of biosphere reserves and their mission and lists each of the 669 biosphere reserves around the world, first by region and then by country. Here is the list for Europe and North America, and here is the list specifically for the United States. UNESCO’s biosphere reserves website relates to our class discussion of the biosphere and the importance of biodiversity in maintaining healthy ecosystems. As climate change intensifies, we see a greater need for the creation and maintenance of conservation zones like UNESCO’s biosphere reserves. However, this website also reveals that this needed maintenance is in fact not occurring. Unfortunately, in 2017, twenty biosphere reserves were withdrawn from the global list, seventeen of which were in the United States alone, and all of which were withdrawn because of their poor performance in UNESCO’s periodic review. This raises important questions about our national and global priorities for the future of such important biosphere reserves. Will we make preserving biodiversity through biosphere reserves and other forms of conservation a priority? Or will we continue to let vital ecosystems in our biosphere flounder and disappear?