#Florida #WildlifeCorridor linking #StateParks would thwart #development

#LoxaLucie Headwaters Initiative aims to buy #HobeSound land for conservation.

by Timothy O'Hara, Jan. 2, 2026

"At a time when development pressure is pushing north into rural Martin County, conservation groups want to protect a wildlife corridor between two state parks in Hobe Sound.

"The Loxa-Lucie Headwaters Initiative was founded to protect the ecologically important corridor between #AtlanticRidgePreserve State Park and #JonathanDickinson State Park and connect the #LoxahatcheeRiver and #SaintLucie rivers. That would create a preserve for #NativePlants and #wildlife species that would span about 70,000 acres.

"The public owns #Hapatiokee and #PalMar regional parks, but there are thousands of acres of privately owned land in natural conditions that are ripe for development, said Guardians of Martin County Executive Director Greg Braun, whose group is part of the initiative.

" 'If they can connect the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, we should be able to connect Jonathan Dickinson State Park to Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park,' Braun told TCPalm."

Learn more:
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-lagoon/2026/01/02/florida-wildlife-corridor-state-parks-martin-county-jonathan-dickinson-atlantic-ridge-hobe-sound/87397089007/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/nARjr

#SolarPunkSunday #WildlifeConservation #Florida #Nature #Wildlife #UrbanSprawl #InvasivePlants #NativeSpecies #ProtectingWildlife

Crime against wildlife is surging in Australia
Flogging off native animals and plants

" Around the world, wildlife and environmental crime is surging. It is estimated to be the fourth largest organised transnational crime sector, and to be growing at a rate two to three times faster than the global economy."

"This is a considerable problem, because Australia has unique and endemic wildlife species, high extinction rates, and is a country that is difficult to police due to its sheer size and vast remote areas. Our new, Australia-first study addresses this knowledge gap."

"We don’t understand the full extent and impact of these crimes in Australia, but we do know they can be disastrous. Wildlife trafficking and illegal trade erodes biodiversity through the removal of native species from their habitats. It also fuels the spread of invasive species, parasites and diseases."

"Over half of the environmental crimes (61.3%) occurred in outer regional and remote areas of Australia. "
>>
https://theconversation.com/crime-against-wildlife-is-surging-in-australia-these-4-reforms-can-help-tackle-it-273006
#Biodiversity #extractivism #CITES #monetisation #TakeCulture #WildlifeTrafficking #crime #loggingImpacts #deforestation #LandClearing #ecosystems #destruction #Trade #pets #consumption #NativeSpecies #flora #reptiles #birds #extinction #WEC #fishing #harm #exploitation

How Do You Design A #WildlifeCorridor For #Maine Garden Design?

Excerpt:

"Plant Palette: #NativeSpecies and Layering for Maine

Choose plants that are native to your Maine ecoregion and that provide multiple functions: forage, cover, nesting structure, and seasonal continuity.

- Canopy and large trees (plant for future shade and mast): white pine (Pinus strobus), red #maple (Acer rubrum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), red oak (Quercus rubra), balsam fir.
- Small trees and large shrubs (structure and fruit): serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), crabapple (Malus spp. native selections), chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana).
- Shrubs for berries and cover: highbush #blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), #winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata), highbush #cranberry (Viburnum trilobum), black #chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), #elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), #bayberry (Morella pensylvanica).
- Herbaceous layer and pollinator plants: common #milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), joe-pye weed (Eutrochium spp.), #asters (Symphyotrichum spp.), #goldenrod (Solidago spp.), mountain mint (Pycnanthemum spp.), columbine (Aquilegia canadensis).
- Groundcover and forest floor: bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), wild ginger (Asarum canadense), sedges (Carex spp.), native ferns where appropriate.
- Wetland edge species for riparian corridors: blueflag iris (Iris versicolor), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), #sedges, and #NativeRushes.

Plant choice should reflect site moisture, sunlight, and soil pH. Avoid ornamental cultivars with little #wildlife value and never plant species known to be invasive in Maine such as Japanese #barberry or #bittersweet."

Learn more:
https://cultivatingflora.com/how-do-you-design-a-wildlife-corridor-for-maine-garden-design/

#SolarPunkSunday #WildlifeCorridor #NativeSpecies #GardeningForPolinators #Rewilding

#Colorado - Residents celebrate game-changing agreement for crucial US nature area: 'My goal has always been to preserve'

by Misty Layne
Wed, December 17, 2025 at 11:00 AM

"Land conservation is more important than ever, as changes in the climate and increased #urbanization have brought about habitat loss.

"According to Hoodline, one ranch owner in Colorado did their part to support land conservation while also securing the future of their 675-acre property through a significant donation that placed the property under a #ConservationEasement.

"A conservation easement is a legal agreement that permanently limits how landowners can use their land to protect its conservation value.

"#LegendTrailRanch in Northern Colorado is found in the Laramie Foothills region, an area targeted by the Larimer County Open Lands Master Plan as essential for land conservation. In particular, the ranch's proximity to U.S. Hwy 287 makes it a vital parcel of protected lands in Larimer County.

"Significant conservation work has already happened in the Laramie Foothills region. For example, Great Outdoors Colorado funded the Mountains to Plains Project in 2004, which was, at the time, the largest Great Outdoors Colorado grant of all time — an $11.6 million request plus an estimated local match totaling $13.7 million. Overall, through the years and various projects and partnerships, 140,000 acres of land in the Laramie Foothills have been protected.

"This protected land connects the plains to the mountains, providing a key corridor for #wildlife movement in the region, which is just one reason conservation of this area is so important. Additionally, current and future projects aim to collect #seeds to restore #Prairie land and manage invasive plants and #weeds, thereby protecting #NativeSpecies, conserving natural resources, and economically benefiting those living in the area.

"Legend Trail Ranch offers up working #agricultural lands, rock #outcroppings, and rolling grasslands for conservation. With the conservation easement, Legend Trail Ranch can not only continue using the land for growing hay, grazing cattle, and other agricultural uses, but also protect local #ecosystems, #biodiversity, wildlife habitats, and the land's incredibly scenic views.

"As Hoodline reported, the ranch's landowner, Cheryl Rennels, shared, 'My goal has always been to preserve the agricultural way of life I grew up in and currently enjoy. Partnering with Larimer County permanently conserves what I value: agriculture lifestyle, livestock, wildlife and the beauty of the Livermore Valley.' "

Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/residents-celebrate-game-changing-agreement-160000155.html

#SolarPunkSunday #WildlifeCorridors #Grasslands #Nature

‘It seems to be taking grip’

Invasive plant species can have far-reaching consequences on an area. Officials in County Mayo, Ireland, are raising concerns…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #CountyMayo #Invasiveplantspecies #Ireland #Latvia #LV #mayocountycouncil #NationalBiodiversityDataCenter #nativeplants #nativespecies #rhubarbplant #spreading #WesternPeople
https://www.newsbeep.com/223893/

Humans profoundly reshaped mammal communities on a global scale.

"After farming began, just a handful of livestock species spread with humans and scrambled those natural boundaries, reshaping mammal communities worldwide...Large ungulates like horses and cows are important because they monopolize food resources wherever they are in high numbers...At the same time, many wild mammals went extinct, in each case following human arrival—not during a particular worldwide climate change episode."

"Post-extinction ecosystems have not been truly natural for the last 10,000 years or more, so national parks in the hardest-hit regions, such as Australia and the Americas, lack over half of the native large mammal species that would have been present if not for humans. Over the last 10,000 years or so, humans have overseen the wholesale replacement of native mammal communities with a very limited set of domesticated species."
>>
How humans reshaped the animal world: Research traces 50,000 years of change
https://phys.org/news/2025-09-humans-reshaped-animal-world-years.html

"These findings underscore how human-driven extinctions, agriculture and resource extraction profoundly reshaped mammal community structures. How we manage these interactions today will determine whether mammal communities become resilient or increasingly destabilized."
>>
Barry W. Brook et al, Late Pleistocene faunal community patterns disrupted by Holocene human impacts, Biology Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0151
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0151
#ecosystems #biosphere #biodiversity #wildlife #nativespecies #mammals #holocene #extinctions #disruption #fauna #NovelAssemblages #NPs #nature #ungulates #livestock #HumanDriven #NicheModification #monoculture #Australia #extractivism