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Non-Human Animals Show Empathy. What Happened To Ours?

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Image Credit: Huffington Post Images

According to Wikipedia, Empathy is defined as: the capacity to understand or feel what another being (a human or non-human animal) is experiencing from within the other being's frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another's position.

In my recent research on animals, I've come across interesting concepts and theories. The most notable, the concept of empathy among other animal species.

Scientists used to believe that only humans were capable of experiencing any emotions, most of all, empathy.

However, we now know that elephants, dolphins, whales, chimpanzees, and a handful of other animals also demonstrate emotional reactions that appear to be "empathy" and a type of self-awareness. They are able to recognize themselves in the mirror, mourn the death of their young, and experience a wide range of emotions.

Additionally, several species of animals have areas of their brains that are analogous to our emotional epicenters, the limbic and paralimbic systems.

In fact, it seems as though some nonhuman animals may experience a wider range of emotions, and/or have a larger neocortex and capacity for empathy, then even we do.

Herein lies one of the major problems. Some time ago, (some) humans stopped showing empathy, and started killing indiscriminately -- people, and other animals.

We seem to have forgotten the basic tenets of empathy. We seem to have forgotten what it feels like to be in someone else's, or some other animal's, proverbial shoes.

We kill each other over political differences, racial differences, religious differences, and resources. We kill animals for "research," or for competition and sport, or for a token without even remotely thinking about how painful and torturous it must be for that animal, its family, and the social structure of that species.

For the poachers, they do not care that the large elephant they killed for 200 pounds of ivory was the matriarch leader of a herd of elephants who depended on her for direction, safety, and love. Poachers do not care that they have orphaned the herd who mourn and who go through turmoil, and strife, and have a reduced likelihood of survival.

To the dolphin hunters, they don't care or even acknowledge the screams of sorrow as they murder one dolphin, a mother, a brother as the other pod members look on helplessly. In fact, some men even laugh or smirk.

And that, is perhaps what sickens me, and saddens me most. That "man" can torture and kill innocent animals who were living their lives just moments before, and be snide about it, celebrate it, relish it, or poke fun at it.

To me that is a psychosis. It demonstrates the very opposite of empathy. It is mechanistic, inhumane, and disrespectful. It is a very dangerous lesson to teach our children.

Imagine you are that dolphin, or that elephant, or that rhinoceros. Imagine the sorrow, imagine the fear, imagine the complete lack of understanding of why this is happening to you. You did nothing wrong, except were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Or perhaps, like Cecil the Lion you were tracked with equipment and devices making your escape impossible.

We have become such a technology-based society, that we have forgotten how to feel. We have forgotten how to relate. We have forgotten how to connect among other humans, let alone with other sentient animals.

Our world is quickly becoming a desolate island, a screen that we hold six inches in front of our noses, and it's a hard pill to swallow.

And, because of this, we lose touch with nature, we lose touch with reality, we lose touch with each other.

It is time to stop killing each other and animals. It is time to stop taking hostage other humans and animals. The time to stop is now.

I call upon us all to close our eyes and reflect on what it is to be empathetic. To teach our children respect for each other, respect for animals, respect for differences of opinion, respect for different race, religion, or whatever!

The time to be empathetic is today. This minute. Now.

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Blue Growth by Design - an ocean of opportunity awaits, if we get it right
Humanity's relationship with the ocean can be summed up in two words: exploration and exploitation. Together, they are driving a sea change in the health and future prospects of the ocean. Sustaining the energy, food, minerals and jobs that make up our Blue Economy--while at the same time conserving the ocean, has become one of our most important collective global challenges.

Given how vital a healthy ocean is, I am delighted that countries have created their own annual international conference - the Our Ocean Conference. First launched by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in 2014 it is being held this year in Washington, DC September 15-16th. The Blue Economy challenge will be firmly on the table, and for us at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) this is an opportunity to shift the narrative away from viewing the ocean as another problem, and instead treating it as part of the solution.

Our global Blue Economy is growing so rapidly that the impacts have not yet been fully assessed. From oil and gas to offshore wind, we increasingly rely on energy that comes from the ocean. We have developed an aquaculture industry that provides half the world's seafood and is the fastest growing food production sector. Marine tourism is projected to triple in the next 15 years.

Investment in the Blue Economy is soaring, and many sectors are set to grow exponentially by 2030; offshore wind by as much as 8,000%, and aquaculture and fish processing by over 300%. The potential for food, jobs and renewable energy production is enormous.

But, alongside these rewards come huge risks. We know that the ocean is bearing the brunt of climate change: it has absorbed 90% of our excess heat and 25% of our carbon emissions, causing it to become 30% more acidic. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 85% of global fish stocks are "overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion," while illegal fishing costs coastal nations up to $25 billion a year.

Our efforts must ensure that developing the Blue Economy does not come at the cost of ocean health. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) projects that under a sustainable scenario, with high economic growth and low ecological deterioration, the ocean economy will more than double its global value added to reach $3.2 trillion by 2030.

Diving under a breaking wave at the reef crest near Penguin Spit within Palmyra Atoll in the equatorial Northern Pacific. ©The Nature Conservancy (Tim Calver)

The question for me is not if we will continue to explore the ocean and exploit its resources; it's how, when and where we should do it. Blue Growth by Design is an approach to ocean conservation and management that balances the interests of people and nature, while ensuring that conservation has a voice. At TNC, we believe that the most important levers are: 1) international, collective action; 2) smarter use of sea space based on new science and technology; 3) increased investments in natural solutions to address climate change; and 4) strong, cross-sector collaboration.

More than 40% of our planet--the high seas--lies outside any national jurisdiction. Fish stocks, pollution and climate change aren't contained by national boundaries and to manage resources, we need international cooperation and legally binding laws and treaties.

Blue Growth and climate change are exerting growing pressure on ocean areas, only about 3% of which are protected. The "30/30" target, to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030, is an important goal to help offset this pressure and build ocean resilience. But simply setting targets is not enough. Establishing smart, effective marine protected areas (MPAs) based on scientific planning and strong management will preserve ocean wealth.

The reality is that little can be achieved without funding. The ocean covers over 70% of our planet, yet in 2013 less than 5% of the $9.7 billion donated to environmental issues was devoted to marine causes.

In response, TNC is using innovative financing methods, like first-of-their-kind debt conversions, to leverage more of this money. For example, in February 2016, with a combination of grant and impact capital, we helped the Government of the Seychelles finance a more than $20 million debt buy-back from its Paris Club creditors, to help create a marine spatial plan for their entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and place 30% of it - 400,000 km2 - into biodiversity protection zones. By working with other Small Island Developing States to provide similar financial opportunities, we intend to facilitate an additional 2 million km2 of MPAs.

None of this work can be done alone. I know from my years as EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs that it's essential to build strong partnerships. TNC is working with fishermen, governments, scientists, the insurance industry, the tourism industry, the World Bank, the Red Cross, and business to help drive the changes we need.

We see the current boom in ocean industries as a call to action, a chance to design sustainable Blue Growth. I am confident that together we can get this right.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post in partnership with Secretary of State John Kerry's Our Oceanconference and Ocean Unite, an initiative to unite and activate powerful voices for ocean-conservation action. The series is being produced to coincide with the Our Ocean Conference (September 15th, 16th) as part of HuffPost's "What's Working" initiative, putting a spotlight on initiatives around the world that are solutions oriented. To read all the posts in the series, read here. The State Department does not endorse the content of this blog. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #OurOcean #MakeASplash.

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Fishermen: Our Best Hope for Abundant Oceans That Feed the World

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What is the future for billions of people around the world who depend on seafood for nutrition? Many experts will tell you that wild fisheries collapse is on the rise, and that fishermen are trying to get more from the oceans today, leaving a lot less for the future. If nothing changes more than 80% of fisheries will be in need of recovery by 2030. But this dismal scenario doesn't need to be our future, and in fact, fishermen and women are our best hope for healthy, abundant oceans that can feed a lot more people.

I understand that for a conservationist like me to say that the primary user group of a natural resource can be the key to its recovery is rather surprising. But my personal and professional experiences have shown me why it's true.

Growing up on the water and at the beach in Massachusetts, I became an oceans advocate from an early age. My grandfather taught me how to skipper a boat, fish "stripers", and dig for quahogs. He'd take the family whale-watching, and once, when we were miles offshore, I got to swim with humpbacks. I was hooked. But I struggled to reconcile my passion for the wildlife of the oceans with my concern for the people who harvested them. Even my ancestors fished for food and livelihoods.

The crux of the challenge became clear to me as a graduate student studying the collapse of the green sea urchin in coastal Maine. Sea urchin roe, or uni, is a common food in sushi. The fishery boomed in the early 1990s--called "green gold" locally, but by the time I arrived in 1999, it had already gone bust. Urchin harvesters were part of my dive research team. During our long days on the water I'd ask them why they didn't just stop fishing when it was clear that the fishery was being wiped out. What I heard repeatedly was "If I don't take the last urchin, someone else will." What a deeply unsettling answer: the urchin harvester knew he was killing his own job, but he also knew that he could not change the final outcome even if he tried. This is the epitome of hopelessness, and unfortunately is a story repeated the world over.

The good news is that there is a better way. We need to shift our assumptions so that fishermen's self-interest isn't just viewed as a risk, but rather as an asset in the recovery of the oceans. Rather than forcing fishermen into a false choice between protecting the resource and putting food on the table, they can be empowered to do both. This isn't an academic hypothesis. Secure fishing rights are a social contract in which fishermen and communities agree to adhere to strict, science-based fishing limits in exchange for the right to a secure share of the catch or to a traditional fishing area. This gives fishing communities a long-term reason to conserve; they benefit as fish populations recover and catches increase.

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Here in the U.S. the results are compelling, with more fish in the ocean, more food on the plate and more prosperous fishing communities. Along the Gulf coast, there are three times more red snapper; fishermen have safely caught twice as many of them; and revenues have doubled. Fishermen say they've figured out how to "fish smarter, not harder." On the West coast, groundfish fishermen operating with fishing rights are advocating new protected areas because they understand how breeding grounds help seed their futures. Secure fishing rights coupled with a strong federal fisheries law have led to a 60% drop in overfished species and many depleted species are recovering decades ahead of schedule.

Secure fishing rights are showing promise on other shores too. In two communities in Belize, illegal fishing dramatically declined, coral reef health improved, and communities saw a better future ahead. Word quickly spread and fishermen demanded more. The government began implementing fishing rights nationwide in June, showing the world that there can be a better tomorrow for fishermen and fish in small-scale, developing world fisheries too. Similar stories of hope are beginning to unfold around the world.

With fishermen at the center of the solution to global overfishing, hopelessness can become an upward spiral of recovery so that the oceans feed an additional half a billion people, while supporting twice as many fish for conservation, and three-times more income to fishermen and communities. Moreover, benefits accrue quickly as most fisheries can recover in as few as ten years.

I see this as the best path to ensuring others can grow up swimming with whales, spending time with their grandfathers, and appreciating the generosity of the oceans for generations to come.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post in partnership with Secretary of State John Kerry's Our Ocean conference and Ocean Unite, an initiative to unite and activate powerful voices for ocean-conservation action. The series is being produced to coincide with the Our Ocean Conference (September 15th, 16th) as part of HuffPost's "What's Working" initiative, putting a spotlight on initiatives around the world that are solutions oriented. To read all the posts in the series, read here. The State Department does not endorse the content of this blog. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #OurOcean #MakeASplash.

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Ocean Champions for Healthy Oceans
Even though the world's oceans cover two thirds of the surface of our planet, they rarely get the attention they deserve. Perhaps we take the oceans and the services they provide us for granted because we - literally speaking - can't see what is going on under the surface? In my view, it is high time we placed healthy and productive oceans higher up the global agenda.

The world's oceans produce half of the oxygen we breathe, and they absorb about one third of our CO2 emissions. They are a source of food and they provide us with employment, energy and transport opportunities. Given that the world's population is expected to grow by two billon people over the next 30 years, the future share of food and other resources coming from the oceans will have to increase substantially to meet growing demand.

The world's oceans are of crucial importance for mankind, and yet they are under threat due to human activities. The current state of our oceans gives cause for great concern: three out of ten of the world's commercial fish stocks are overexploited and marine ecosystems are under severe pressure from global warming, ocean acidification and pollution.

This means that we are facing a double challenge. We have to halt the degradation of the world's marine ecosystems at the same time as we increase ocean productivity. Last year, world leaders agreed on a plan to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. Ensuring healthy and productive oceans is essential if we are to reach the sustainable development goals.

For this reason, I have accepted Secretary Kerry's invitation to become an ocean champion. I will use the Our Ocean Conference and other international arenas where I take part to promote sustainable use of ocean resources. You will hear me repeating the message that we must manage our oceans wisely, and that we must find a balance between sustainable use and conservation of living marine resources.

Now, there is nothing strange about a foreign minister from Norway being an advocate for healthy and productive oceans. The oceans have shaped Norway's development and they are part of the identity of most Norwegians. More than two thirds of the value of Norwegian exports come from ocean-related activities, and Norway's economy shows that sustainable ocean management can provide a strong platform for stable economic growth. I firmly believe that ensuring healthy and productive oceans is in my country's as well as in the global interest.

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©AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool

One of my biggest concerns is the impact of climate change on the marine environment. We have all heard how densely populated coastal areas, including coastal megacities and key agricultural regions, are being threatened by sea level rise. In the Arctic, glaciers are retreating and sea ice is melting at a record pace. But under the surface, invisible to the human eye, equally dramatic changes are taking place. Warmer water and ocean acidification are posing a silent threat to entire ecosystems.

In its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that global climate change will alter ocean productivity and cause shifts in the distribution of marine species. We can expect to see invasions of new species at high latitudes and high rates of extinction in the tropics and in semi-enclosed seas. In addition, research shows that the absorption of huge amounts of CO2 by the oceans inhibits shell growth and may cause reproductive disorders in a range of marine animals. The environmental and economic consequences of this could be devastating.

Fortunately, with the Paris Agreement, we now have a global agreement in place for reducing CO2 emissions. Implementation of the Paris Agreement will be crucial for safeguarding the world's oceans.

The world's oceans are interdependent. Fish stocks know no borders and marine pollution travels long distances. Actors involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing are part of international criminal networks that steal from our common resources. In other words: sustainable use of the oceans requires enhanced international cooperation and the implementation of common rules.

The world needs more ocean champions who are committed to sustainable ocean management. If we join forces, we will stand a far better chance of safeguarding our oceans for future generations.

Let's place the issue of healthy and productive oceans where it belongs - at the top of the global agenda. After all, it is the very life support system of our planet that is at stake.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post in partnership with Secretary of State John Kerry's Our Oceanconference and Ocean Unite, an initiative to unite and activate powerful voices for ocean-conservation action. The series is being produced to coincide with the Our Ocean Conference (September 15th, 16th) as part of HuffPost's "What's Working" initiative, putting a spotlight on initiatives around the world that are solutions oriented. To read all the posts in the series, read here. The State Department does not endorse the content of this blog. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #OurOcean #MakeASplash.

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Climate Action in Support of a Sustainable World

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Children fetch water during flooding in 2008 in Aweil, Sudan. UN Photo/Tim McKulka

There is only one possible future for humanity and that is a sustainable one. In 2015, the global community converged on this integrated vision for the future and set in motion the pathways to an economic and social transformation to achieve it.

The vision is articulated through the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The unity of purpose reflected in these momentous agreements will now need to leverage unprecedented scale and depth of universal action involving all actors at all levels in all regions of the world. The challenges will be enormous but the rewards of success will be even greater.

The plan requires a profound structural transformation that places at its very heart low-carbon economies and societies which are resilient to climate change.

Over the next 15 years, the objectives of these agreements - linking climate, sustainability and resilience - must see unprecedented reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions and unequalled efforts to build societies that can resist rising climate impacts.

The current rate of progress will not deliver success.

A priority requirement is a much more rapid and fundamental shift in the global patterns and incentives of investment away from unsustainable power generation, infrastructure, pollution and waste.

All action to address climate change is an inseparable and integrated part of the whole plan and the leadership and commitment of all governments remains central to success.

Climate action contributes directly to the greater human well-being that is captured in the seventeen sustainable development goals. It protect lives and livelihoods, improves public health, creates new industries and sustainable farming, cuts costs for governments, business and citizens and opens up new avenues of profitable investing.

Climate action is also absolutely necessary to avoid the existential crises that unchecked climate change would present to humanity.

Greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise in the atmosphere and global temperatures break record highs by the month.

To limit global warming to well below 2°C and as close to 1.5°C as possible to prevent dangerous tipping points in the climate system, global emissions must peak soon and be driven down drastically thereafter. A balance must be achieved in the second half of this century between global emissions and removals through sequestration into ecosystems or through other means.

The generations alive right now are at a unique crossroads. We are the first who can end poverty but the last who can act to avoid the dangerous climate change that could undermine the universal well-being that lies within our grasp.

Government Leadership a Foundation of Future Success

Success will undoubtedly require political leadership and momentum from the highest levels, but supported by a clearly presented and growing public understanding of the enormous social, health and economic benefits that will accrue to citizens everywhere.

Technology developments and smart finance are moving ever more rapidly towards theses transformational goals, but nowhere near fast enough.

The power to shift all this into higher gear still rests firmly with governments, both individually and collectively. Key to the transformation will be the way national governments integrate climate action and implementation of the sustainable development and risk management goals across sectors and ministries.

More climate-friendly, coordinated laws, policies and incentives are needed. All forms of unequal treatment favoring old growth and development models based on fossil fuels and high-carbon lifestyles and aspirations must be removed soon.

But while the transformation demands new technologies and redirected investment, it does not require an entirely new way of human inter-action only closer and deeper cooperation between the levers of change - namely governments working hand in glove with cities, regions, business and investors.

Meanwhile, the well understood economic incentives of risk and return and social goals of equity and justice remain completely relevant and deployable in the race to a low-carbon, resilient future.

Opening up the private sector appetite to fund the transformation directly is essential. Tens of trillions of dollars sit in banks and on corporate balance sheets at low, zero, even negative interest rates looking for bankable projects with real returns if the right incentives, sureties and certainties are provided by national governments, supported by the international community and its multilateral lenders.

Paris Climate Plans and Support Structures Offer Platform to Faster Progress

One of the most significant outcomes of Paris was that governments publicly accepted responsibility to lead climate action.

They presented a global set of national plans to take immediate action, pledging never to lower efforts over time and, whenever possible, to raise ambition.

They agreed to complete in good time the details of a transparent global regime which will account for, review and underpin greater action by all sides.

And they agreed to complete but also to strengthen adequate technology and financial support to nations, including the poorest and most vulnerable, so all countries can build their own clean energy, sustainable futures.

Because well-planned and supported climate action in its many forms almost always speeds up advances in sustainability and resilience, these plans have a multiplier effect for faster progress across the board.

To reach its full potential, governments will now engineer the ambitious design of the Paris Agreement into a well-oiled machine of these fully functioning working parts capable of accelerating climate action to meet the agreement's stated aims and goals.

Essential for International Institutions to Focus and Prioritize

Meanwhile, continued success under the UN climate regime will both strengthen and be strengthened by the other country-level initiatives across the global development, environmental, disaster risk, human rights and peace agendas.

Without decisive climate action all these other goals will be difficult if not impossible to achieve, but without serious and significant progress on development, environment disaster management, human rights and peace, combating climate change and building resilience will become harder and less certain.

This unified development agenda is therefore the core agenda for governments under the United Nations and the prime focus for UN agencies and other multilateral institutions which assist. No single process or agency can possibly adopt, or try to adopt, all aspects of the solution under its wing.

Leadership responsibility for different aspects of progress will be coordinated by those organizations best placed in resources and skills to effect change. Credit for progress will flow to the entire organization rather than to its individual parts.

The Will and Knowledge to Succeed

Achieving the aims and ambitions of the Paris Agreement are not a given. The world needs to understand the urgency and complexity of what the international community has embarked upon.

This is a multi-decadal effort to turn around two centuries of development based on fossil fuels and the mining of nature-based resources into an all-embracing sustainable path for every nation, man, woman and child.

But I am confident that world leaders and the enormous groundswell of support from cities, companies, investors and citizens can propel ambition further and faster in support of our shared vision of a climate-secure and sustainable future.

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A Movement to Understand Our Changing Ocean - Building Capacity in Africa to Monitor Ocean Acidification
The waves were strong that Saturday in Mauritius. Our small group of scientists was snorkeling out past the placid, turquoise waters of the coral-protected lagoon.

We had just wrapped up a week-long training workshop under the OceAn pH Research Integration and Collaboration in Africa (ApHRICA) Program. Eighteen scientists from nine countries had received classroom, lab, and field training in how to study and monitor ocean acidification and its effects.

Now, seven of us were being pushed about by these great ocean waves, looking down at the marvelous reef beneath us. The reef fish were being pushed too! The whole school of tropical reef fish slid back and forth with the ebb and flow of the waves.

As our bodies and the hundreds of fish moved in sync with the waves, I realized, "We're all in this together. We are all on this ride together."

When it comes to ocean acidification we truly are all in this together. Water knows no boundaries. Chemistry plays by its own set of rules. The ocean is becoming increasingly acidic as carbon dioxide we emit from burning fossil fuel dissolves into the ocean.

Ten years of expansion of the ocean acidification field and yet, there are entire regions where there is no scientific assessment of local ocean chemistry or how local species are being affected by these changes. In these regions, few, if any, scientists have received training in the theory and protocols for studying ocean acidification. This leaves coastal communities around the world with no way to understand or respond to the very real threat of ocean acidification.

In 2013, groups came together to address this problem: The XPRIZE Foundation launched the $2 million Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE to incentivize the development of a cost-effective and accurate ocean pH sensor. The U.S. Department of State highlighted ocean acidification at the first Our Ocean conference in 2014. The Ocean Foundation committed to raising $1 million for the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON), to build capacity in regions with little or no data.

Through the ApHRICA program, we are trying to address a big information gap: Africa. The July workshop included attendees from Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa funded under the ApHRICA program, and attendees from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Algeria and Egypt funded by the International Atomic Energy Association's Ocean Acidification International Coordination Center (IAEA OA-ICC).

Participants watched James Beck, CEO of Sunburst Sensors, take apart and walk through the ins and outs of the XPRIZE winning iSAMI sensor. World famous ocean chemist Dr. Andrew Dickson, of Scripps Oceanographic Institute, demonstrated the precision needed to measure the carbonate chemistry of a water sample. And students got their hands wet with ocean acidification pioneering biologist Dr. Sam Dupont, of The University of Gothenburg, as he demonstrated how to set up laboratory experiments to study the biological effects.

Participants also saw the first ever deployment of the iSAMI sensor in African waters. A prototype iSAMI has been left for collaborative use by The University of Mauritius, the Mauritius Oceanographic Institute, and the Mauritius Ministry of Environment.

Over the next six months, Sunburst will finalize the development of the iSAMI. International ocean acidification experts will include the iSAMI in the first ever complete kit for ocean acidification monitoring and lab study. Four of these kits will be deployed by The Ocean Foundation to the ApHRICA countries: Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and South Africa.

The ApHRICA program is part of a larger effort: The workshop in Mauritius was the third in a series to build capacity in Africa, following a 2015 workshop in Cape Town, South Africa, and one held earlier this year in Mozambique. These workshop have built the foundation for a regional ocean acidification observing network, which allows African scientists to collaborate and build a self-sufficient research and training network that meets their region's needs.

We're all in this together. Despite this success in Africa, there is much more to do across the globe. The Ocean Foundation is committed to raising awareness and funds until there are no gaps in the GOA-ON, and strong, regional networks around the world can equip communities with what they need to address ocean acidification. Because when we are all in this together, we all have to work together.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post in partnership with Secretary of State John Kerry's Our Oceanconference and Ocean Unite, an initiative to unite and activate powerful voices for ocean-conservation action. The series is being produced to coincide with the Our Ocean Conference (September 15th, 16th) as part of HuffPost's "What's Working" initiative, putting a spotlight on initiatives around the world that are solutions oriented. To read all the posts in the series, read here. The State Department does not endorse the content of this blog. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #OurOcean #MakeASplash.

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When it Comes to Natural Capital, it's Easy to Forget that We're on the Same Team

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This article has been submitted as part of the Natural Capital Coalition's series of blogs on natural capital by Mark Gough, Executive Director of the Natural Capital Coalition

We often feel safer when we're surrounded by people with complementary views. In few places is this more obvious than at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, where 10,000 passionate and dedicated individuals come together to rally around the conservation of the natural world.

The event takes place every four years, and allows the IUCN, and the conservation community at large, to build consensus about the direction that conservation should take. As you may imagine, there are many different views as to what should and should not be done, and some fierce debate.

At this year's Congress, the Guardian described a resolution to end the domestic trade in ivory as 'descending into acrimony' as delegates and national representatives fought over the what they believed to be the most effective methods of protecting native elephants populations.

To many, it may appear commonsensical that the legal ivory trade must be immediately abandoned. A recent report detailing that nearly a third of African savannah Elephants have been wiped out between 2007 and 2014 and an understanding of Elephants as ecosystem engineers, may only strengthen this resolve.

However, an awareness that the closure of legal markets will serve to significantly increase global ivory prices, and may subsequently encourage and embolden poachers - many of whom are desperately poor - may give some reason to take pause.

As with any global challenge, conservation is vastly complex, and answers that may appear clear in one light suddenly become opaque when taken in the context of geo-political issues such as poverty, climate change, and globalization.

Based in Hawaii, this year's Congress sat at a mid-point between the East and the West, (and to some degree, between the North and the South), making it an appropriate venue for a global meeting. The beautiful setting, and its rich biodiversity, serve to remind delegates what's at stake.

I attended this year's Congress to help launch the Natural Capital Protocol to the conservation community. Although the Protocol is aimed predominantly at businesses, it will only be successful if all of nature's stakeholders support it, and the conservation community are a vital piece of this puzzle. Indeed, 35 conservation organizations are part of the Coalition, including the IUCN, Conservation International and the WWF; all three of whom were involved in the Protocol's development process.

While the natural capital movement has progressed significantly over the last couple of years, it was clear at Congress that there are many who still reject the concept. For some, natural capital approaches are not only an ineffective method of protecting nature and the natural environment, but they actually serve to hasten their demise. This is a narrative reflected by some in the media, most recently in a widely shared article from the Conversation, and most famously by British writer George Monbiot.

Much of this distrust stems from the use of the term we have coined for this work, 'capital' and the connections this has to 'capitalism'. More still stems from the suggestion that such approaches split nature into neat little packages, and place isolated monetary 'prices' on each, leaving them open to commodification and privatisation.

The suggestion that we 'put a price on nature', is one I am often confronted with. While these concerns are well-intentioned, I believe the charge is a category error. We don't price nature, we illuminate the value that we already receive from it.

This is a vital distinction. Price and value are not one and the same. You don't pay a price for the air that you breathe, but does that mean that it holds no value? In this way, we can also communicate the value of clean air, without assigning it a price. This is the aim of natural capital in a nutshell.

Translating this value into monetary terms can certainly be very useful. Financial values are understood near-universally, and allow businesses and governments to make decisions using comparable sets of information. However, monetary valuations are one small element in natural capital, qualified or quantified information is often enough to inform our decisions.

It's important to remember that even when monetary values are used, this valuation is not a 'price' for which the natural capital can be 'bought', nor is it 'commodifying nature'. Rather, it is demonstrating the value that we already receive from the natural world, in ways that allow it to be incorporated into traditional decision making frameworks, leading to better outcomes for all.

If a 'price' is used at all, it often reflects the cost of doing nothing. Valuing clean air for instance, does not involve assigning a dollar value to each particle of unpolluted oxygen. It might however value clean air in terms of the financial costs associated with air pollution. If 9,500 people in London die each year from dirty air, the value of clean air should be calculated, (in part), in terms of the financial cost to the NHS. Again, this is not 'pricing nature', but highlighting our dependence on its systems in terms we can all understand.

Of course, these values cannot reflect the true and total intrinsic value of the natural world, this is something that cannot be expressed in words, let alone numbers. What they can do however, is to make one dimension of nature - the dependence on it for successful human societies - discernible to decision makers. Once our dependencies on the natural world are understood in this way, even in the absence of ethical arguments about the innate value of the natural world, the argument for conservation in fantastically strong.

It's also important to remember that it's not the 'separate units' of natural capital that are valued, but the services that they collectively provide. So in natural capital, we don't value an individual bee, or a bee hive, or a collection of bee hives, we value the service of pollination. This works to take ecological complexity into account, by valuing all pollinating insects, their habitats, and the ecosystems (i.e. the other organisms, habitats and phenomena) that allow the pollinating insects to flourish.

I spent a lot of my time at the Congress listening to the concerns of people working on the front line of conservation. We had discussions around the risks of providing numbers for things that are innately priceless, and the need for businesses to fundamentally change their models of working.

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It became obvious as we talked through practical examples, that both those applying natural capital approaches, and those challenging them, share, for the most part, largely identical concerns. Although there are challenges, there are also many great opportunities to finally work together across the system, with the goal of conserving and enhancing our natural world.

I came away contemplating an article which argues that (somewhat paradoxically), in this dispute at least, it's possible to be on both sides of the debate.

The author caricatures the debate as it is often seen: as an argument between 'Idealistic Dreamers' & 'Neoliberal Pragmatists'. As he then outlines, this depiction is a fiction.

Proponents from either side of the discussion rarely, if ever, magnetise to one or the other of these poles. Rather, our beliefs, ideals and concerns are often much closer than we think, and this leaves the door open for honest dialogue.

As with many situations in life, the answer to conflict is to sit down, look each other in the eye, and be honest about our fears and aspirations. Often our fears are unfounded, or we come away with different perspectives and understandings. Good communication is probably the best tool we have to address the challenges we face in the world.

As well as being an opportunity for the conservation community to meet and share experiences and solutions, the Congress also provides an opportunity for IUCN members to agree their future mandate.

Last weekend a motion was passed that requires the IUCN Director General to 'establish with urgency an inter-disciplinary and multi-sectoral working group' on natural capital, which will 'explore the conceptual and ethical underpinnings of natural capital approaches and related policies'.

This is a significant step forward for us all, as it formalises the role that the conservation community can play in this work, and will allow them to bring their expertise and concerns into the fold, providing a space for challenges to be addressed, and new partnerships to be formed.

The most astounding thing for me though, was how much support this motion gained. 98% of member governments and 96% of the Non-Governmental Organizations voted in favour.

Quoting a poster I saw in a café in Hawaii, 'The wave is coming. Either drown, or pick up your surf board'.

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Disclaimer: Articles in this series are submitted by people who work in organizations who are part of the Natural Capital Coalition, or people who are involved in the natural capital space more generally, the views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of The Natural Capital Coalition, other Coalition organizations, or the organization that employs the author.

Mark Gough is the Executive Director of the Natural Capital Coalition.

Follow Mark Gough on Twitter: @Mark_Gough

On 13th July 2016, The Natural Capital Coalition launched a standardized framework for business to identify, measure and value their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. This ' Natural Capital Protocol' has been developed through a unique collaborative process; a World Business Council for Sustainable Development consortium led on the technical development and an IUCN consortium led on business engagement and piloting. The Protocol is supported by practically focused 'Sector Guides' on Apparel and Food & Beverage produced by Trucost on behalf of Coalition.

Keep up to date with the Natural Capital Coalition on Twitter: @NatCapCoalition

Keep up to date with our series on natural capital here.

www.naturalcapitalcoalition.org

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The European Union Steps Up Commitments As Ocean Champion
More than ever before, we understand the many ways in which oceans shape our lives: as a source of food, jobs, medicine, energy, comfort - right to the very air we breathe.

Yet if anything, the threats to our oceans have grown. Climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing, pollution - these pressures know no borders, and they are expected to increase. Our previous indifference has come back to haunt us. Now the world needs to act, together, to nurse our oceans back to health.

That is why a vast coalition of ocean champions is coming together in Washington this week, for the third edition of the Our Ocean conference.

Set up by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in 2014, these conferences allow us to share ideas and experiences, to find out what is working and where more needs to be done.

But what makes them stand out is their focus on concrete commitments for action. Delegates are expected to set out how they plan to make our oceans healthier - and, crucially, report back on their progress.

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In the European Union, I am proud to say we are well on track. We are making good progress to achieve good environmental status of our waters by 2020. We are halfway to our goal of setting aside 10 percent of our oceans and seas as marine protected areas by 2020. And we are on target to have maritime spatial planning for all EU waters by 2021.

The European Union is also delivering on its commitment to make global fishing more sustainable: in the last 12 months, we have tightened rules for EU fishing vessels above 15 metres, proposed rules to better monitor and control our fishing fleet, and continued to use a budget of 675 million euros - roughly 760 million dollars - to help countries in Africa and Asia fight illegal fishing and develop sustainable fisheries of their own.

But we can do more.

First, we want to share our experiences - and learn from others in return. So we are launching a transatlantic "twinning" project on marine protected areas with countries in Africa, North and South America. Next year, we will co-organise an international conference to work on global guidance on maritime spatial planning.

Second, we want to step up our fight against marine pollution. In December, we proposed ambitious waste targets that address marine litter "upstream", to prevent our waste from even reaching the ocean. The next step is to present a targeted strategy on plastics by 2017, to keep plastic and microplastics from contaminating the marine and coastal environment.

Third, we want to boost ocean research and knowledge. We have more than doubled our initial commitment, setting aside 250 million euros or 280 million dollars until 2020. We are also looking to strengthen scientific cooperation with our transatlantic partners: in spring next year, we will launch a science action plan for the south Atlantic, complementing our excellent cooperation with the United States and Canada.

Finally, we want to ensure a more sustainable use of the oceans and their resources around the globe. This means continuing our fight against illegal fishing, boosting regional fisheries bodies, closing legal gaps, cooperating more effectively, strengthening enforcement - in short, better ocean governance. I intend to launch a major initiative on international ocean governance before the end of the year.

The Our Ocean conferences have created momentum for change. Now we need to keep that momentum. In this spirit, I am proud that the European Union will be hosting the fourth edition of the Our Ocean conference on 5-6 October in Malta next year. In the spirit of Washington and Chile, it will seek new concrete initiatives from around the globe while following up on previously made commitments.

I am also looking forward to engaging more with a sustainable blue business and finance community. Next year in Malta, I would like to hear success stories of investments in the blue economy that helped preserve or restore the marine environment while creating jobs and growth for coastal communities. Let's share some best practices and hear some commitments from the private sector.

The oceans are our common opportunity and our common responsibility. Let's all take good care of them.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post in partnership with Secretary of State John Kerry's Our Oceanconference and Ocean Unite, an initiative to unite and activate powerful voices for ocean-conservation action. The series is being produced to coincide with the Our Ocean Conference (September 15th, 16th) as part of HuffPost's What's Working initiative, putting a spotlight on initiatives around the world that are solutions oriented. To read all the posts in the series, read here. The State Department does not endorse the content of this blog. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #OurOcean #MakeASplash.

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Sportsmen to Candidates: Stand up for Public Lands
In an election season marked by deep divisions, the National Wildlife Federation and 41 other sportsmen's organizations have a suggestion for finding - literally - common ground.

Organizations from across the country have sent letters to all four presidential candidates asking them to publicly commit to keeping our national public lands in public hands. The organizations represent millions of hunters, anglers, hikers, campers, paddlers and wildlife watchers. These people use our public lands and waterways to recreate, sustain family traditions and fill their freezers.

These sportsmen and wildlife advocates, who come from all social, economic and political backgrounds, are worried about being able to keep using public lands. A small but relentless group of state and federal lawmakers keep trying to auction off our public lands, turn them over to states or undermine the federal agencies that manage the lands for all U.S. citizens.

Public Lands Under Assault

During the past two years, sportsmen's and other conservation organizations have helped defeat dozens of bills in state legislatures across the West that attempted to seize control of national public lands. On the federal level, The Center for American Progress found that members of Congress filed at least 44 bills between January 2013 and March of this year to remove or undermine protections for national parks and public lands.

Whether the attempted public-land grabs are one more iteration of the so-called "Sagebrush Rebellion" that's roiled the West for years or are efforts by an elite few to profit from our great American commons, the results of the loss of public lands would be the same. Families would be locked out of fishing, hunting, hiking and camping spots they've enjoyed for generations. Fish and wildlife populations that depend on open rangeland, pristine waterways, forests and mountain sanctuaries for migration, food and shelter would be in jeopardy. The $646 billion outdoor recreation economy that supports 6.1 million direct jobs nationwide would be threatened. Local communities and businesses that benefit from spending by hunters and anglers and visitors to national parks, monuments and forests would lose a vital and sustainable source of revenue.

American Values

Even more fundamental, we as Americans would be robbed of an incredible legacy built by political leaders of both parties and farsighted conservationists. Millions of hunters and anglers rallied at the start of the last century to rebuild wildlife populations that had been depleted by commercial exploitation and disregard for wildlife habitat. They teamed up to conserve wetlands and other habitat and financed advances in fish and wildlife management through license fees and taxes on their gear. We must preserve the gains made over the last century, and to do that you need the vast habitats provided by our public lands.

The loss of our national public lands would cut through the marrow of something that connects all Americans. The lands we all share, no matter who we are or where we live, are a uniquely American tradition. They embody our democratic principles. They keep alive that spirit of exploration and discovery that underlies our optimism and our best entrepreneurial impulses.

And they are the places we go with our families and friends to build togetherness and memories. This summer, I traveled to Yellowstone National Park and the Gallatin National Forest with my 5- and 8-year-old to introduce them to some of our nation's crown jewels. After bathing in the Lamar River and watching bison and grizzly roam from our campsite, a fundamental piece of America has now been ingrained in my children's psyche as Americans. And that American right needs to be preserved for all.

Conserving our national public lands is not a partisan issue; it's an American issue. The 42 organizations calling on all the presidential campaigns to keep these lands in public hands hope candidates remember that much more binds us together than drives us apart. The National Wildlife Federation and its state affiliates are also asking other candidates of all parties across the country to join us in publicly committing to keeping our proud public-lands heritage intact.

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Pit Bulls? Hero Mayor Affirms: I'm With Stupid
In the debate over whether pit bulls should be banned, Montreal's mayor has demonstrated rare grit. It takes backbone to stand firmly against every professional organization on the continent, and to embrace heroic ignorance. I stress: Mayor Denis Coderre is not rejecting "some" expert groups. He's not sneering at "the majority." He's rejecting every single one. Every. Single. One.

Bravo, mayor. Short may you prosper.

Ah, but the mayor laughs -- Ha! Je ris! -- at specialists who have studied the matter, and who have concluded that Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) does absolutely nothing to reduce dog bites, and means the slaughter of thousands of innocent pets.

When local citizens oppose these worthless measures, they too are treated with royal contempt. I urge you to watch the video below. It's disgraceful. An animal behavior consultant, Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, stands at an open hearing to confront the mayor with the proven fact that breed bans have worked literally nowhere in the world. Coderre's democratic response (midway through the argument) is: "Coupe le micro."

If you're français-deprived, that means: "Cut the mic." And the mic is duly cut. Thank you, Mayor. You're a peach. May your silenced constituents vote you into oblivion.

Sure, but what kind of mayor listens to mere citizens? That's hardly his job. So let's revisit those expert organizations, shall we. By "experts," I don't mean pompous pseudo-scientists who hate pit bulls, but qualified professionals who rely on peer-reviewed articles written by actual scientists and published in major international journals. Perhaps you require names? Well, I've written about this recently, but to recap and expand, the legislation Mayor Coderre is forcing down the collective throat of his city has been scorned by the following (and this is by no means a complete list):

1. Ordre des médecins vétérinaires du Québec
2, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association
3. SPCA Montréal
4. Humane Society International/Canada
5. Ontario Health and Safety Board
6. Toronto Humane Society
7. Canadian Kennel Club
8. National Animal Control Association
9. National Animal Interest Alliance
10. National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors
11. International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants
12. International Association of Canine Professionals
13. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
14. Best Friends Animal Society
15. Humane Society of the United States
16. American College of Veterinary Behaviorists
17. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
18. Association of Pet Dog Trainers
19. Animal Behavior Society
20. American Kennel Club
21. American Humane
22. American Bar Association
23. American Dog Owners Association
24. American Veterinary Medical Association
25. American Working Dog Federation
26. American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior
27. The, uh, White House

Eyes glazed yet? Sorry, but sometimes ennui is instructive. Note that I'm restricting myself to a select group of North Americans here -- I'd hate to bore you even further with a more comprehensive list, but you're welcome to Google the entire civilized world.

Oh, come on: isn't there even one prominent group in Canada or the U.S. in favor of banning pit bulls? Not one? Okay, it's only fair to note that there is one. Not a professional organization, by any stretch, but famous. In the way that Kim Kardashian is famous. This would be PETA: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA's argument isn't based upon anything remotely scientific, of course, but it's deeply felt. And that's what matters. Their caring founder goes further in the way of Breed Specific Legislation than most: she has called for every living pit bull taking refuge in a shelter to leave that safe haven in a body bag. (She's big on animals leaving shelters in body bags. It's more than just a hobby for her; you might say that it's a calling.) So, if you're the kind of person -- a sterling, Coderre-like type -- who stands firm with the vile, the confused, and the famous, you might wish to take this into account: PETA's on your side.

Don't get me wrong. I have a great vat of admiration for this mayor. A brimming trough, even. Let's face it: there's an unprincipled bias, worldwide, in favor of science. Far too many people have kneejerk respect for intelligence and rigor. It takes fortitude to lift the executive schnozz in disdain at those "science whores," and to insist that the city swallow mayor-approved medicine, even if it won't make constituents any safer, will seize and kill many of their pets, and will put a significant dent in the municipal budget. Hey, who cares about mere dollars? Or dogs? Or humans? What matters is to be stout, unwavering, righteously deaf, and benthically ignorant.

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Did a Front Group Use Pro-Dakota Access Pipeline Fake Accounts on Twitter, Led by GOP-Tied Firm?

Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog

Image Credit: Twitter

A DeSmog investigation has revealed the possibility that a front group supporting the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) — the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now (MAIN) — may have created fake Twitter profiles, known by some as "sock puppets," to convey a pro-pipeline message over social media. And MAIN may be employing the PR services of the firm DCI Group, which has connections to the Republican Party, in order to do so.

DeSmog tracked down at least 16 different questionable Twitter accounts which used the #NoDAPL hashtag employed by protesters, in order to claim that opposition to the pipeline kills jobs, that those protesting the pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's encampment use violence, and that the pipeline does not pose a risk to water sources or cross over tribal land.

On September 13, people began to suspect these accounts were fake, calling them out on Twitter, and by September 14, most of the accounts no longer existed.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is set to carry oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") from the Bakken Shale basin in North Dakota across the Dakotas, Iowa, and Illinois. Its owner, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), says it plans to talk to the Obama administration and "reiterate [its] commitment to bring the Dakota Access Pipeline into operation." It will do so despite the administration requesting that the company halt construction "voluntarily — particularly around the contested sacred tribal sites located 20 miles east and west of Lake Oahe and the Missouri River — until further notice."

In his memorandum announcing his company's plans to do so, ETP CEO Kelcy Warren espoused many of the same arguments that were deployed by the Twitter sock puppets, which calls into question whether his company helped spearhead the social media campaign behind the scenes in order to create the appearance of grassroots support, a technique known as "astroturfing."

In that memo, Warren said his company plans to engage more aggressively in the PR sphere.

"It has not been my preference to engage in a media/PR battle," wrote Warren. "However, misinformation has dominated the news, so we will work to communicate with the government and media more clearly in the days to come."

Vicki Granado, a spokesperson for the company, did not respond to a request for comment.

In the meantime, as all stakeholders in the debate await a definitive next move from the Obama administration, protests both on-site and nationwide have continued, with a militarized police presence at the Sacred Stone Camp intensifying. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke at a September 13 Washington, DC protest against the pipeline, while U.S. Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Raul Ruiz (D-CA) that same day called for a congressional oversight investigation of the hotly contested permitting issues which have arisen in the ongoing saga over the pipeline's future.

With that backdrop, in came the "sock puppets" for their own September 13 day of action on Twitter — and with MAIN likely pulling the strings.

The Sock Puppets

The sock puppet profiles had names such as Ashley Lovinggood, Garnett Vreeken, Yong Fetner, and Ying Baars, and all of the profile pictures featured women. Besides tweets promoting the Dakota Access Pipeline, what links all of the bogus profiles together is that they all "follow" (similar to "liking" a page on Facebook) the company Hootsuite.

Image Credit: Twitter

Hootsuite serves as a social media platform management tool which allows an administrator for many different social media accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter, to toggle quickly between accounts and send out posts in the form of tweets and other status updates. One of those accounts, that of Angla Dullea, formerly followed MAIN — and like all of the other pages — also followed Hootsuite; that is, until the account became suspended.

Dullea's profile photo bore an identical resemblance to the Twitter profile for Palma Mackerl, another bare-bones Twitter account.

Image Credit: Twitter

Dullea also retweeted a tweet from a group called Standing Rock Fact Checker, which on its website describes itself as a project of MAIN. The website also states it is "dedicated to promoting the truth" and battling "misinformation about the approved — and nearly complete — Dakota Access project." Five other suspicious Twitter profiles also shared Fact Checker tweets.

MAIN members include the South Dakota Petroleum and Propane Marketers Association, North Dakota Petroleum Council, Petroleum Marketers, Convenience Stores of Iowa, and others.

Reverse photo searches on Google revealed that the pictures used for other sock puppet profiles also appeared on a dermatologist website, a mail order bride website, and a hairstyle website featuring a photo of Eva Longoria, as well as images of Chinese model Crystal Wang Xi Ran, singer Keri Hilson, and the late singer Amy Winehouse.

Eva Longoria doppelgänger; Photo Credit: Twitter | Oliver Keyes

The use of political bots and sock puppets is nothing new and in fact, has become normalized by political factions worldwide, explained Norah Abokhodair of the Political Bots research program based at the University of Washington and Oxford University.

"There are many ways in which social bots can disrupt or influence online discourse, such as, spamming, phishing, distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS), or other nefarious activities," Abokhodair explained, pointing to examples such as the Syrian Civil War bots and bots used in Turkey. "They can also be deployed for sophisticated activities like astroturfing, misdirection (botnet that tries to get the audience to attend to other content by spamming the hashtag) and smoke screening (serves to hide or provide cover for or obscure some type of activity)."

MAIN and DCI Group

MAIN was the only industry group to issue a press release in response to the Obama administration's September 9 announcement halting construction on a portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Its press release contained a statement attributed to spokesperson Craig Stevens. Stevens also recently did an interview with KVLY-TV, the NBC and CBS affiliate for Fargo, North Dakota. When on TV, however, he was billed as the "spokesperson for a pipeline sort of group, if you will" by segment host Chris Berg.

Despite the lack of disclosure by KVLY and Berg, it turns out that Craig Stevens actually works as Media Affairs and Crisis Management Lead for DCI Group. His DCI Group contact information is listed for MAIN's profile page on the website PR Newswire.

Image Credit: PR Newswire

DCI is a PR firm tied to the GOP and with roots in creating front groups on behalf of Big Tobacco, spearheading the modern Tea Party movement, and representing oppressive dictatorial regimes such as that of Burma and oil- and gas-soaked Azerbaijan. Stevens formerly worked for the George W. Bush presidential campaign, served as spokesperson for U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman for the George W. Bush Administration, and also worked on Mitt Romney's 2012 Republican Party presidential campaign.

Jim Murphy, the political director for Donald Trump's Republican Party presidential campaign, formerly served as President and Managing Partner for DCI Group. Beyond the DCI Group connection, Continental Resources — whose founder and CEO Harold Hamm is one of Donald Trump's top energy advisers and a potential candidate for U.S. Secretary of Energy under a Trump presidency — said in a recent investor statement that a significant chunk of the company's Bakken oil will flow through Dakota Access.

Before DCI Group began working on Standing Rock-related projects for MAIN, it appears the PR firm LS2Group maintained the PR account for Dakota Access. A MAIN press release from November 2015 lists LS2's Kayla Day as the contact person and her LS2 work number is also listed, while metadata for the press release's PDF shows the document was last saved by former LS2 staffer Alex Shaner.

DCI's Role

As DeSmog has previously revealed, LS2 also did PR work in support of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline. The group Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement published emails from 2014 (obtained via a public records request) showing LS2 also doing advocacy work in support of Dakota Access.

LS2's Day told DeSmog that LS2 still does some work on behalf of MAIN, but declined to comment further on how the work is divvied up between LS2 and DCI Group. Stevens was first listed as a spokesperson for MAIN in a September 6 press release, two days after the now-infamous dog biting incident took place at the protesting Standing Rock Siuox Tribe's Sacred Stone Camp. The Standing Rock Fact Checker website was registered the day before, and it also sent out its first tweet that same day.

"Standing

Image Credit: WhoIs.net

Stevens declined to comment on who funds MAIN, referring to the membership list and confirming he was brought on in the past couple weeks to do PR work on behalf of the coalition, "as the whole public discussion has increased and been elevated" surrounding the pipeline. He also confirmed he runs the Fact Checker portal.

Asked about whether his firm or MAIN had anything to do with the sock-puppet tweets, Stevens denied he or MAIN had any involvement.

"It's frustrating to me because we're working to be respectful in tone and fact-based and any tactics like these are a distraction for what we're trying to do and that's to bring facts and contexts to this discussion," Stevens said. "I don't know about the tactics themselves and I don't know who or what is behind it, but as someone who's trying to get facts out and trying to be respectful in tone, it was incredibly frustrating that this was going on. As far as I know, and think I know, the MAIN Coalition had nothing to do with them."

However, noted environmental advocate and co-founder of climate group 350.org, Bill McKibben, doubts the authenticity of such claims from PR firms with a record like DCI, saying:

"There's a word for this kind of thing, and that word is: lying. The invention of fake people to make fake arguments perfectly exemplifies the tactics Big Oil has been reduced to. They can't win an argument on the merits, so they've given up trying. Instead, they literally make things up. The contrast with the steadfast straightforwardness of the tribes, and of the climate scientists, couldn't be more stark."

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Zero Waste Cities: At The Forefront Of The Sustainable Development Goals Agenda
A call to rethink our relationship with the stuff that we use and discard is fundamental to the sustainability agenda.

Making "cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable" will prove to be one of the most critically important SDGs of this century. In particular, SDG 11.6 commits us all "by 2030, [to] reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality, municipal and other waste management".

In the context of an unprecedentedly rapid pace of urban population growth - not only does most of the global population now live in cities, it is foreseen that by 2050, 70% of the population will live in the urban context, effective management of municipal solid waste poses one of the biggest challenges.

Badly managed municipal solid waste contributes to resource depletion, economic lock-in, air pollution, and public health impacts such as diarrhoea, asthma, dengue fever, and other serious health effects such as cancer. Moreover, cities account for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions if a consumption-based method is used (that is, accounting for all goods consumed by residents, irrespective from their origin), so a call to rethink our relationship with the stuff that we use and discard is, clearly, fundamental to the sustainability agenda.

Facing up to the waste challenge can hold the key to the transformation of our relationship with resources and provide practical, bottom-up and decentralised strategies for reducing climate pollution, conserving energy and natural resources, and present enormous opportunities for the development of local economies.

Fortunately, the transition towards a more resource-efficient society has already begun: Zero Waste strategies currently implemented around the world by visionary local leaders, recyclers cooperatives, and innovative practitioners, provide some of the necessary building blocks for a 'sustainable city'.

In Europe, the Zero Waste Municipalities network has grown rapidly and it now counts on more than 350 members and municipalities in more than 7 EU countries. The keys for success have proven to be a combination of strong political will, community leadership and engagement, and a locally-adapted strategy.

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Zero waste is both a goal and a plan of action. The goal is to ensure resource recovery and protect scarce natural resources by progressively minimising and ultimately ending waste disposal in incinerators, cement plants, dumps, and landfills. Experience shows that these costly end-of-pipe options do not address the underlying problems with the throw-away society, lead to the destruction of resources, and create issues regarding the disposal of the considerable and often highly toxic ash that remains, air pollution, and the destruction of livelihoods in local recycling economies.

The plan encompasses people-led programs for waste reduction, reuse and repair programs, composting, recycling, changes in consumption habits, redesign and toxic-free production. Being rooted in community participation, zero waste policies are both far-sighted and inclusive, they pave the way toward sustainable waste management systems that work for both communities and the environment. Ultimately, zero waste is a revolution in the relationship between waste and people, a new way of thinking that aims to safeguard the health and improve the lives of everyone who produces, handles, works with, or is affected by waste--in other words, all of us.

Cities engaging in raising their mark on sustainability can look at the innovative experiences around the world that today are already making real progress towards compliance with the SDGs for urban sustainability:

A door-to-door collection service operated by a cooperative of almost 2,000 grassroots recyclers in Pune, India, has been integrated into the city's waste management system and diverts enough waste to avoid 640,000 tons of GHG emissions annually.
A zero waste movement in the Basque country province of Gipuzkoa led to the adoption of a door-to-door waste collection service in more than 30 small cities that have reduced their amount of waste going to landfills by 80 percent.
In Italy, the Contarina district in Treviso has not only managed to reach more than 85 percent diversion in its cities but it has actually achieved the most impressive residual waste reduction rates in Europe, down to 56Kg/pp/year, which is more than 4 times lower than the German average. Moreover, they aim at going below 10Kg/pp/year by 2022. Italy now has 232 cities working toward Zero Waste, totalling more than 4.8 million inhabitants.
In 2015 Ljubljana, Slovenia, became the first 'Zero Waste Capital' in Europe implementing a wide range of zero waste practices into the fabric of the city. Also in Slovenia, 5 other municipalities, among which the very touristic town of Bled have taken the path toward Zero Waste, with now 1 in 5 inhabitants of the country living in a Zero Waste city.
Through incentives and extensive public outreach, San Francisco has reduced its waste to landfill by more than 80 percent--the highest diversion rate in the United States and one of the best well-known cases.

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These experiences show that solving the waste problem in line with the creation of sustainable cities requires more than technical fixes: it is part of a larger web of decisions about health, equity, power, poverty, and development, including policy decisions and governance.

At its heart, how cities deal with the stuff its residents make, use and discard, will determine the effectiveness of strategies for climate mitigation, clean air, clean water, clean energy, healthy food, healthy people, healthy wildlife, and the availability of resources for future generations.

These are the kind of commitments that we need to be making for a truly sustainable city to be achieved. That is, zero waste strategies are essential if we are serious about the creation and development of sustainable cities.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post to mark the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, or, officially, "Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development"). The SDGs represent an historic agreement -- a wide-ranging roadmap to sustainability covering 17 goals and 169 targets -- but stakeholders must also be held accountable for their commitments. To see all the posts in the series, visit here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Who Are Tomorrow's Leaders in Ocean Conservation?
By Julia Luthringer, Conservation Innovation Fellow at Conservation X Labs

Photo: Alex Dehgan

On World Oceans Day 2014, Nancy Knowlton and Elin Kelsey launched #OceanOptimism, a hashtag used by researchers and practitioners to share marine conservation successes globally. 60 million tweets later, there's a lot to be hopeful about. I spent the past few weeks "catching" hope at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii. President Obama drastically expanded the Papahānaumokuākea National Monument to 582,578 square miles to serve as a sanctuary for endangered and imperiled marine species. The Russian Arctic National Park now protects Franz Josef Land, a group of 190 extremely biodiverse, northern islands. The pacific reef Coral Castles, once thought dead, is showing signs of new and revived life even despite 2016's record-breaking heat. The UK government plans to ban microbeads in all products by 2017 to stop the plastics from entering the oceans and potentially entering the marine foodweb.

While these solutions pinpoint awe-inspiring success, they are usually local in scope. Where are today's global-scale, transformative ocean solutions?

"Our Problems are exponential, but our solutions have been linear. We need to increase the speed, scale, efficacy, and sustainability of our conservation interventions," explains Alex Dehgan, the co-founder and CEO of the DC-based tech startup Conservation X Labs. "Conservation science must continue its shift from being a descriptive, discovery-based science to a transdisciplinary field that seeks to also engineer solutions. While conservation science can help define the problems, it alone does not possess the solutions. However, powerful new tools for conservation exist and offer hope." Dehgan previously worked as the chief scientist for USAID, where he created the Global Development Lab, a space for social-based innovators and entrepreneurs to create and scale solutions in public health. Realizing a need for similar, transformative solutions in conservation, Dehgan, along with Paul Bunje of Xprize, created Conservation X Labs.

The organization aims to create and utilize technologies to transform the field of conservation in a number of ways, focusing on "revolutionary solutions rather than evolutionary ones." Conservation X Labs is building their own technologies, like the world's first DNA Barcode Scanner, a tool that can be used to slow illegal wildlife and timber trafficking and trade.

Australia's innovationXchange within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is funding an AU$3 million global challenge, The Blue Economy Challenge, to source new solutions and engage new solvers to rethink the future of aquaculture to improve both food security and enhance sustainability. Conservation X Labs partnered with the innovationXchange as well as SecondMuse and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to implement the challenge, as it is a great opportunity to source transformative solutions for ocean conservation. The Blue Economy Challenge seeks innovative solutions that will reduce the burden on the environment and improve food security in developing countries of the Indian Ocean for three issues in aquaculture: highly nutritional fish-free aquaculture feed replacements; new ocean products; and, new technology and practices for aquaculture farmers to improve the efficiency and environmental and economic sustainability of aquaculture farms. The winners of the Challenge will be announced at Our Ocean, and the top 20 innovators are featured in this blog post, From Sea Cucumbers to Spirulina: Meet the 20 Finalists.

This fall, Conservation X Labs and WWF will launch Ocean X Labs: an accelerator that will bring transformative, ocean-based conservation innovations to scale. Oceans X Labs will provide entrepreneurs, innovators, problem-solvers, and scientists access to lessons in business and finance, guidance and mentorship from industry leaders, and time and resources to continue building and prototyping their products. The program is also building a web platform to be used as a virtual co-working space, so that people from many disciplines and backgrounds can collaborate to solve the wicked problems our oceans face today.

Enter our ocean heroines and heroes: ordinary people with big ideas for conservation.

Small, start-up companies have already begun to pepper the market. A number of them submitted their ideas in The Blue Economy Challenge. New Wave Foods has created shrimp-free, kosher, and vegan shrimp that is made from algae in an effort to stop mangrove forest degradation associated with shrimp farming. Coral Vita farms corals to rebuild reefs that are resilient and hearty for both ecotourism and habitat restoration. MicroSynbiotiX is growing algae for fish feeds containing vaccinations for common diseases in aquaculture to reduce fish mortality.

#OceanOptimism lies with these unique thinkers and dreamers who have the capacity to revolutionize ocean conservation by drawing on their own, diverse experiences and knowledge. It's an exciting time for conservation--there is great potential for creative, positive and transformational change.

Julia Luthringer is a Conservation Innovation Fellow at Conservation X Labs and a 2017 NOAA Knauss Finalist. She's a recent and proud graduate of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she studied marine policy and sustainable fisheries management.

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post in partnership with Secretary of State John Kerry's Our Oceanconference and Ocean Unite, an initiative to unite and activate powerful voices for ocean-conservation action. The series is being produced to coincide with the Our Ocean Conference (September 15th, 16th) as part of HuffPost's "What's Working" initiative, putting a spotlight on initiatives around the world that are solutions oriented. To read all the posts in the series, read here. The State Department does not endorse the content of this blog. Follow the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #OurOcean #MakeASplash.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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Uniting Against Organized Wildlife Crime

Law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and business leaders gathered from across the world in Washington this week to share information and expertise and organize a concerted strategy to combat the global scourge of wildlife trafficking.

The unprecedented collaboration was heralded at the National Geographic Society's headquarters on Tuesday, at an event held against the backdrop of recent news of a catastrophic plunge in the last wild populations of African elephants and other species. The meeting also set the stage for CITES CoP17, a world wildlife conference in Johannesburg at the end of this month that will bring more than a hundred governments together to review the planet's biggest wildlife challenges and opportunities.

Stories From the Front Line: Exploring Global Law Enforcement in the New Age of Wildlife Trafficking — the title of the event hosted by the National Geographic Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was attended also by officials and conservation experts from 11 African nations on the frontline of poaching of elephants, rhinos, and other iconic species.

The National Geographic/FWS event coincided with the publication of the October 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine, which features a report on the rhino horn trade and rhino farming in South Africa, written by Bryan Christy, the Society's wildlife crimes investigator.

Human-Wildlife Conflict Likely to Grow

"“You — “You are on the front line every single day, making a difference as we try to tell your stories to inspire others to take action,” National Geographic Society President and CEO Gary E. Knell said in his welcome address to the law enforcement officials. “You are not alone. This is no longer the problem of the few, of one protected place or one country,” he added. Photograph by David Claypool

The human population is expected to grow to nine billion people by 2050, one billion more in Africa alone in the next 35 years, said National Geographic Society President and CEO Gary E. Knell, at the opening of the event. “The chances of human-wildlife conflict are going to grow, whether we like it or not. We've got to come up with solutions, whether they're in Yellowstone National Park ecosystems, or whether it's in Gorongosa [National Park in Mozambique], or in Kenya or Cameroon. We have to find ways to find a balance and figure out ways to protect the natural habitats of wildlife, and at the same time protect the human needs for survival, food, housing, education, energy, and for all the things which we deserve in human rights.”

Bryan Christy's work on wildlife crime has been cited as one of ten ways National Geographic is changing the world, Knell said. Christy, head of the Society's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) team and 2014 NG Explorer of the Year, is an award-winning journalist and a true champion for wildlife and wild places, he added. “With dedication, courage and conviction [Christy] has already produced astounding results, exposing the criminals of wildlife trafficking and sharing these stories in print, television, digital media, Facebook. That's how we can make his work amplified. That work has put elephants and the illegal trade in elephants on the priority list of many countries, including our own, and has led to numerous Internet petitions and campaigns to stop the illegal ivory trade.”

Enforcement Is Key — But not Enough

David J. Hayes, Chair of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance and Vice Chair of the President's Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking, said enforcement was key, both domestically in the U.S. and in Africa. “It is so fantastic that the FWS is training you all together to have an effective force,” he told the dozens of wildlife protection and law enforcement officers at the event. “But enforcement is not enough; we have to reduce the demand. As long as there are tremendous dollars chasing illegal products, it's going to be impossible for you guys to completely win,” he said.

Hayes said there was a need to develop international cooperation and public-private partnerships. “The government can't reduce demand by itself. We need all of civil society to come together. We need all of the big nonprofits in this space to not compete against each other, but to work together. And we need to recruit the corporate sector. We need new voices in this debate. We need companies that are being abused by traffickers, to step up, make sure that their supply chains are not being polluted by trafficked goods, and use their communications channels to deliver a broad message to consumers [to] ‘Watch out, don't buy this stuff. You may be the unwitting purchaser of it.'”

Hayes said the Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking went first to National Geographic to form a broad organization, “and with National Geographic, the World Wildlife Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the African Wildlife Foundation…we brought them under the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance banner. Then we went to the corporate world and said, we need your help…we're a nongovernmental temporary coalition bringing together the nonprofit community with the corporate community. We looked at leading companies in important sectors that traffickers were using. The e-commerce sector for example.”

Secret Sauce

The broad coalition of companies and NGOs under one umbrella speaks with one voice to help American consumers make better decisions, Hayes said.

But there's a secret sauce in this, he added. “You might say, why are you spending so much time in the U.S. consumer world when we know that the largest demand is coming from Southeast Asia. If we get global big name companies like Google, E-bay, Ralph Lauren, and others taking up this cause, communicating with their customers about the importance of this issue, that's going to affect international commerce, too. We're already seeing it happening. If we can get it done in the U.S., we think it will take fire globally as well.”

“All of society needs to help you do your job,” Hayes told the law enforcement gathering. “And with National Geographic's voice, with the impetus of companies and NGOs working together, we can address this issue and we must.”

"Ashe. — Daniel M, Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Photograph by David Claypool

Engagement Key to Success

“National Geographic's work gives us inspiration and helps us see what's possible in a world of challenge that often seems impossible,” Daniel M. Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told the meeting. “If we are going to solve this crisis, this epidemic of wildlife trafficking, engaging people is the key ingredient in success.”

Photo Ark: A Reminder of What's at Stake

“Things like [the National Geographic project] Photo Ark with its 6,000 images, all of them a reminder of what's at stake,” was an example of engagement, Ashe said. “Iconic creatures like African elephant and black rhino and Sumatran tiger, but also the thousands of less charismatic creatures that form the foundation and the sinews that connect this global ecosystem on which we depend. The decline of all of these species, the great and small, the loved and obscure, is an ominous sign for the health of the planet and the billions of people that it sustains — and there will more people in the future, which reminds us that we need to do more and better.”

As we think about the future of prosecuting this effort, we can't just catch the poachers and the middlemen, Hayes added. “We have to go after the people who are making the money, so that we take wildlife trafficking from a high-profit, low-risk endeavor toward a lower profit, higher risk endeavor.”

Operation Crash

The success of Operation Crash [an ongoing nationwide criminal investigation led by the FWS Office of Law Enforcement, focusing on the illegal trade in rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory in response to international poaching and smuggling syndicates] was a key reason why the FWS was working to position senior agents around the globe to facilitate these efforts, Ashe said. The agency had recently selected a special agent to serve in Libreville, Gabon, joining five other attaches stationed in embassies in China, Thailand, Tanzania, Botswana, and Peru. “Hopefully before the end of the year, we will have attaches placed in three more key embassies around the world, because we've seen the tremendous value that these agents provide in improving our collaboration and information-sharing. They are dramatically expanding the reach and effectiveness of our law enforcement efforts and communication among law enforcement agencies across the globe,” Ashe said.

"Photograph — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe (left) used the event at National Geographic to present the highest award the Service can bestow on an employee, the Distinguished Service Award, to Special Agent In Charge **James Gale**. “Over more than two decades in wildlife law enforcement, first as a Game Warden for the State of Virginia and then as a special agent for the Fish and Wildlife Service, Jim has led dozens of investigations and secured hundreds of convictions of criminals here and across the world,” Ashe said. Gale currently serves as the Chief of the USFWS Special Investigations Unit. He personally led Operation Crash, a global, ongoing investigation of rhino horn smuggling that has led to 41 arrests, 30 convictions, and seizure of ivory horn and elephant ivory with street values exceeding U.S. $75 million, Ashe said. Photograph by David Claypool

Long Time Coming

Introducing a panel discussion, Bryan Christy noted that the gathering of an international group of law enforcement officials had been a long time coming.

"“To — “To have a room full of law enforcement, people fighting on the front lines, leading policymakers, gathered together from multiple jurisdictions, is extraordinary,” said Bryan Christy (far left). Photograph by David Claypool

“Wildlife crime is organized crime…something that funds terrorist organizations operating in central Africa. It is violent…militarized…mechanized. And one of the advantages that it has is that law enforcement is not violent most of the time, not as well-funded, and, from the international perspective, not historically organized.

“You as law enforcement officers have restrictions that criminals don't; you have diplomatic restrictions on the ability cross borders, you have funding limitations, and you are outfitted with outdated technology occasionally. Criminals are not. Organized criminals are not, especially. So what's exciting to me about tonight is that this represents organized crime fighters.”

Christy noted that he had created the National Geographic Special Investigations Unit with specific goals: “To allow me to work on long investigations, give voice to the work that you do, have a platform for law-enforcement, and to profile endangered species and species we don't hear enough about — and then to empower communities on the ground, talk to journalists in developing countries where wildlife exists, and to law enforcement in those places.”

Following the Story No One Else Can Tell

“I tell law enforcement, if you share your story with me I will follow it,” Christy said. “I know you can't follow it…because of funding and so on. We have had great success doing that. And the success comes from sharing that story, sharing the work that you're doing, the work being done in other countries, pulling that together. And the impact can be pretty impressive.”

Panel Discussion

Five panelists joining Christy on the podium were Curtis Brown (Director of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission), Julius Kamwendwit Cheptei (Assistant Director, Kenya Wildlife Service Parks and Preserves), Mike Cenci (Deputy Chief, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Program), Christopher Fominyam Njoh Tangi (Director, Kimbi-Fungom National Park, Cameroon), and Timothy J. Santel (Resident Agent in Charge, Special Investigations Unit, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service-Office of Law Enforcement).

Highlights of the Discussion

Curtis Brown: “It takes a lot of work, money and patience to allow for conservation work to happen, especially undercover work. It takes a long time for these cases to actually develop. And it costs a lot of money. So we appreciate everyone's support in that endeavor.

At a national association of conservation law enforcement chiefs meeting we will be trying to collaborate better, share information better, have better intelligence. We are going to get together and do a better job of sharing trafficking intelligence and work better together as investigators. Talking across borders is critical. Any time you share data it's always hard, but if you sit down and share information in conversation, that is valuable information.

Julius Kamwendwit Cheptei: Kenya is divided into eight conservation areas. One of those is the area I am responsible for, in the southern part of the country, 31,000 square kilometers, the equivalent of Israel. I have about 600 foot soldiers charged with the responsibility to ensure the survival of elephants, rhinos, and all other species. A big challenge is conflict between wildlife and community, but our primary responsibility is to ensure that wildlife survives.

Mike Cenci: We have 130 very dedicated Fish and Wildlife police officers and a small cadre of detectives that focus on trafficking and crimes related to natural resources. Some of you may be wondering what does this state agency have to do with the trafficking of species, particularly at the international level. Well, as a state, we've experienced our own natural resources being trafficked on a global scale. We're often the source…there's a lot of diversity in the Pacific Northwest…and our resources that are in relative abundance are highly valued worldwide, so we understand what some of these other nations are facing. If we are going to be concerned about our challenges, we have to show a lot of concern for their challenges. We know that wildlife trafficking is global and it requires a global response, and that requires that it be coordinated worldwide.

Chrstopher Fominyam Njoh Tangi: Responsible for the latest national park created in Cameroon (2015). We have a problem of bush meat, and our greatest problem is cross-border poaching from Nigeria. We also have a problem with the small trophy that comes out of our park, the buffalo horn, which is used as a drinking cup in our tradition. One of our greatest ways of handling wildlife crime is working with our local people. We have a lot of wildlife, but we need to do research to know what we have in the park. The park is enclaved, with no roads, so we have to work with the local people.

The wildlife criminals from Nigeria use the local people as their accomplices to get to what they want. We educate the local people to not be accomplices. In our culture, local people may take a little bush meat for their cultural use, but they may not sell it. But they always abuse this, so we have to discipline them. We have to work with them, get their support to track and find Nigerian trans-boundary poachers.

We don't have the technology, manpower, money, but we work with the local population. But what we hear from them is, “What is the alternative, if we don't work with these people who are paying us to show them where to get these animals, what are we going to do?” The challenge is to find partners who can come into these communities and help with alternative livelihoods, so they can have a better life and turn away from these poachers.

We must look at habitat to improve it. If the animals have a place to hide, they will outsmart the poachers by using the camouflage of the forest. Where we have deforested, the animals are exposed and can be shot from a long distance away. The restored forest is not friendly to poachers; more friendly to animals that can hide there. That's the planned aspect of our work…give animals places to hide and better security.

"Timothy — Timothy J. Santel, Resident Agent in Charge, Special Investigations Unit, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service-Office of Law Enforcement. Photograph by David Claypool

Tim Santel: We kicked off Operation Crash in 2011 with a team of special agents. I can say five years later, I am very proud of the results that our team put together. [Operation Crash is the centerpiece of Bryan Christy's rhino story in the October 2016 issue of National Geographic.] It is an extraordinary case that shows at multiple level the challenges for law enforcement and the impact of the U.S. Government.

John Webb, Member of the Federal Advisory Council on Wildlife Trafficking, and U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor (retired): We need well trained, well prepared investigators, and to be effective across borders requires those same investigators to cooperate among themselves. Two other important players in effective interdiction and enforcement: prosecutors and judges. How do we get that group of dedicated prosecutors that will take our effective investigations and turn them into successful prosecutions? How do we ensure that we have judges that take our cases seriously and are not corrupt? We have a trilogy of players, all of who must be on the same page for us to have effective wildlife crime fighting.

'More — More than three dozen officers from U.S. conservation Agencies and as many senior African conservation officers attended the “Stories from the Frontline” conference. The african countries represented were Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. The conference was hosted by the National Geographic Society and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The audience included Federal, State and African officers, NGOs, donors, and conservation organizations. Photograph by David Claypool

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VIDEO: Eastside Sol Celebrates Community, Culture, and Clean Energy in Los Angeles

EAST SIDE SOL 2016 from Youth Speak Media Solutions on Vimeo.

By: Luis Gutierrez, Senior Associate, Leadership for Urban Renewal Network (LURN) and Jorge Madrid, CA Campaign Director, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

It's a warm, sunny day in August at the iconic Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, California. More than 400 local residents have come together to dance to the classic tunes of Selenamos and the cumbia-rock fusion of El Conjunto Nueva Ola - the entire stage powered by solar. They're enjoying delicious vegan treats, participating in a live mural art project, and screen printing their own reusable tote bags. Many are collecting free shade trees to plant at home, learning about bicycle safety and receiving free helmets, and discovering information about a new vehicle trade-in program that allows Californians to swap out their older vehicles for a new or used electric car. So what exactly is this celebration of music, art, culture, and clean energy? It's Eastside Sol.

Event organizers Jorge Madrid and Luis Gutierrez reflect on the origins of Eastside Sol, its driving principles, and what's in store for the future.

How did the idea for Eastside Sol come about?

Jorge: I started working in clean energy policy during the peak of the economic recession, around 2008. Many advocates, myself included, believed clean energy could combat climate change, reduce local air pollution, and alleviate some of the economic malaise that hit low-income communities of color first and worst. Problem was, very few of these new clean energy technologies and programs were showing up in neighborhoods like the one I grew up in, on the Eastside of Los Angeles. This needed to change. I knew I wanted to do something to celebrate the culture and community where I grew up and introduce new technologies and programs that could help folks save money, access jobs and resources, and breathe cleaner air. But I had no idea how to pull it off until I met the folks at REPOWER LA and LURN.

Luis: LURN was working on several projects related to land use and local economic development, including a citywide effort to legalize street vending, a project to reimagine vacant lots throughout South Los Angeles, a healthy foods purchasing-cooperative for small businesses, and a campaign to utilize art in combatting gentrification and displacement in Boyle Heights. When Jorge approached us with this wild idea, we thought it fit perfectly with our style of projects.

How has this event evolved since the first Eastside Sol last year?

Jorge: The first Eastside Sol focused on solar access and equity issues. It was a great success, only because of the amazing community partners and residents who came to support. This year, we wanted to expand the scope of the event and provide residents with more, because we know there are complex challenges facing our neighborhood. Intersectional challenges need intersectional solutions.

Boyle Heights ranks among the top 5 percent most environmentally burdened neighborhoods in the state. Simultaneously, the community is dealing with a lead contamination disaster and major pollution from freeways and heavy industry. The neighborhood is 70 percent renters and the median income is $33,000. Boyle Heights is also on the front lines of gentrification and displacement, a growing concern in Los Angeles and many major U.S. cities.

We believe clean energy, like solar power and electric vehicles, can help families in Boyle Heights and similar neighborhoods. It can create local, well-paying jobs, lower energy bills, reduce pollution impacts and health costs like asthma, and create more affordable mobility options. California, and cities like Los Angeles, are rolling out programs that can help residents access these technologies and make them more affordable.

Clean energy is not a silver bullet to address all the challenges facing the Eastside, but we are confident it can be part of the solution.

What have you learned from Eastside Sol about community building?

Luis: To pull off the delicate balance between entertainment, information, and engagement, we discovered five values while planning our 2015 event and refined them this year:

• Fun - If people aren't having a good time, they're not going to grab onto the ideas we're sharing and they're certainly not going to share their opinions and advice. So, to get people to see the entire event, we turned it into a game of "loteria." Visiting different stations allowed you to collect stamps on a card. Once attendees reached a certain number, they traded in their cards for a food ticket. The awesome music during the event helped keep people happy and moving!
• Culture - We worked closely with community organizations and members to ensure the event was an extension of local culture and values. Everything - from the food to the messaging and music - was planned and coordinated collectively. We wanted folks in the neighborhood to feel like it was their space.
• Local leadership - This event was a success because we worked closely with community leaders and organizations. We asked for their help in leading the planning and identifying the themes for the event.
• Tradition and history - We started Eastside Sol knowing the community was already doing a lot for the environment - re-using plastic containers, repurposing water for gardens, etc. Knowing this, we sought to introduce residents to services and resources that would help augment those existing practices.
• Accountability - Large agencies, such as LA Metro and utility companies, were critical in the development and execution of Eastside Sol. However, very early in the process we opened consistent and clear lines of communication to ensure their participation served community needs and the spirit of Eastside Sol. We also knew we had to hold ourselves accountable to community needs and concerns.

What's next for Eastside Sol?

Luis: We want to return to Mariachi Plaza next year and produce an even bigger event with more resources for the community. Additionally, we may replicate our model in other neighborhoods and cities throughout Los Angeles and California. We want to work with as many impacted communities as possible to ensure they are at the table where important environmental, transportation, and land-use decisions happen. This, to us, is one of the best ways of engaging underrepresented communities - through fun, art and culture, and collaborative community spaces.

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