Show Notes
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imposed a trade ban on 201 salamander species in 2016 in order to prevent the import of the the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans ('Bsal') which could be a major threat to the world's salamander hotspot of North America (and the U.S. in particular). However, the recent discovery that frogs can also carry Bsal has led scientists to urge the American government to ban the import of all salamander and frog species to the country. But what other policies or regulations could be enacted to prevent Bsal from wiping out this rich amphibian heritage? In this 5th episode of Mongabay Explores' inaugural season, host Mike DiGirolamo speaks with Priya Nanjappa, former Program Manager for the Association of Fish and Wildlife agencies, and Tiffany Yap, a Staff Scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, about animal trade policy, differences in the way the United States conducts this policy from other nations, and what the U.S. might do to more effectively combat the threat. More resources on this topic: On the hunt for a silent salamander-killer Scientists are racing to stop a pandemic before it starts – but will they find it in time? Mongabay's special series on 'Bsal' is here United States Bsal Task Force website To hear Part 1 of this season, see, "Mongabay Explores the Great Salamander Pandemic, Part 1: Are we ready?" -- Part 2 discussed the amazing diversity of salamanders, "Why are salamanders so diverse in North America?" Parts 3 & 4 are also helpful in understanding the threats and opportunities presented by Bsal. Based on a multi-year project Mongabay.com published about Bsal at the site (link above), episodes of this podcast season delve further to learn what's known about this issue, now. If you enjoy this show, please invite your friends to listen and subscribe. Be sure to check out our sister podcast, the Mongabay Newscast, via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Pandora, or wherever you get podcasts. See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay. Please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep this show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps! Supporting at the $10/month level now delivers access to Insider Content at Mongabay.com, too, visit the link above for details. Feedback is always welcome: [email protected].
More from Mongabay Explores
According to UN-Habitat, a global housing affordability crisis is underway, with 1.6 billion people currently in need of adequate, affordable homes. That number could rise to three billion in just a few years. Home prices in urban markets have reached "impossible" levels of unaffordability while temperatures continue to rise as a result of climate change. On this third episode of the Mongabay Explores podcast season on the circular economy — the effort to design goods to be less resource-intensive, from their manufacture to disposal and recycling — Louise Dorignon, a postdoctoral research fellow and housing circularity expert at RMIT University in Melbourne, details this housing reform plan to address sustainability in the most unaffordable housing market in the English-speaking world: Australia. Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne have devised a framework for combatting this housing shortage, improving housing circularity, and reducing emissions from construction to help alleviate the housing sector's contributions to climate change. "Our goal was to find out how implementing a circular economy approach can lead to a more sustainable housing system. And we didn't want to juxtapose sustainability and circular economy as two different things. But instead, we wanted to see how they work together," Dorignon says. Listen to the first two episodes of Mongabay Explores the Circular Economy here and here. Mongabay Explores is a podcast series investigating some of the biggest environmental issues of our time, and the people working to solve them. This conversation is the third episode of the fifth season. To listen to them all, simply subscribe to or follow Mongabay Explores wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image credit: Die Sonnenblumenhäuser is a housing project in Vienna's Wildgarten neighborhood. The 11-building plan is an evolution of an award-winning project from the Europan 10 competition, which values "sustainable projects capable of creating urban intensity while taking care of the environment." Arenas Basabe Palacios built 82 units as commissioned by the Vienna city council, which owns the land. Image courtesy of Kurt Hoerbst. Timecodes (00:00) A more sustainable and affordable housing system (02:18) How do we make housing circular? (07:36) Curious case studies (12:57) First pillar: Reappraising value (18:23) Second pillar: Shaping markets with regulation (22:06) Third pillar: Tilting investment flows (23:57) Fourth pillar: Building capacity and skills (27:38) Australia's housing affordability crisis (34:54) The problem with using housing as an investment (38:57) Addressing vacant homes (40:53) Which nation is 'getting it right?' (44:39) One thing to change right now
In 2016, Finland became the first nation to design a circular economy roadmap, in an effort to design goods to be less resource-intensive, from their manufacture to disposal and recycling. Tim Forslund of the Finnish Innovation Fund (SITRA) was one of its architects and joins this episode of Mongabay Explores to detail his nation's circularity plan and the challenges ahead. Over 50 nations now have such plans in development, and while Finland is years ahead of them all, it hasn't yet seen a reduction in its economy's resource consumption so far. Forslund explains why, and how policies implemented today may only produce results much later. "We're seeing a lot of these policies being implemented, but it will take more [time] to see the change." Read more on Finland's circular economy roadmap by Mongabay contributor Sean Mowbray here: Lessons from Finland's attempt to transition to a circular economy Subscribe to or follow Mongabay Explores wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify. You can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website. Image Credit: Finland has produced innovative solutions seeking to increase circularity in the textile sector. For example, a pilot project incentivizing textile collection in the city of Lahti claimed a 500% increase in recycling rates. Companies such as Spinnova are adopting methods that use renewable resources, such as wood. Other circular solutions, including expanding markets for recycled materials, increasing circularity in design, and reducing consumption, are required, experts say. Image courtesy of Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto. Timecodes (00:00) Introduction (02:17) It's Not Just Finland (05:58) Sector by Sector, Country by Country (11:30) Roadblocks and Challenges (17:16) Policy and Market-Based Solutions (20:17) A 'Greenlash' to Mandates? (25:37) Slowing Down Fast Fashion (29:07) Plastics Recycling (31:33) Transforming Education (33:50) Designing Solutions for People (36:41) Credits
The fifth season of Mongabay Explores dives into the circular economy: the effort to design goods to be less resource intensive, from their manufacture to disposal and recycling. In this episode, we speak with circular economy researcher and policy expert Jessika Richter, associate senior lecturer at Lund University in Sweden, who discusses the environmental and social impacts of electric vehicles (EVs), and what we can do to mitigate them. As she says, any conversation about solving transportation emissions that only discusses cars misses the bigger picture: "We need to go back to, exactly, what do we need? And are there different ways we can solve this? Again, public transport, biking, walking need to be part of the discussion when we're talking about transport. It can't be just about cars, and any conversation that is just about cars or vehicles is too narrow at solving a problem, because it's only going to be shifting things," says Richter. Read more on the circularity of electric vehicles from contributor Sean Mowbray here: EVs offer climate hope, but total auto supply chain revamp is vital Internal combustion vs. EVs: Learning from the past to boost sustainability Mongabay Explores is our in-depth podcast series which investigates some of the most significant environmental issues of our time. Check this podcast's feed to hear previous seasons about Congo rainforest conservation issues, and other compelling topics. Image credit: While electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions, there are a lot more factors involved in producing a car: steel, tires and people affected along the supply chain. Image by Ivan Radic via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). --- Time codes (00:00) Introduction (03:28) The benefits of EVs (05:02) The costs (08:04) Cleaning up the supply chain (13:33) It's not just about cars (17:30) Rethinking how we use urban centers (22:28) To retrofit or not to retrofit? (27:41) Mining and NIMBYism (34:35) Pricing externalities for real (35:42) Credits
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), pollution from extracting minerals commonly used in the energy transition like cobalt and copper is on the rise, and miners generally ignore their legal obligations to clean it up. Cases of such pollution have killed and displaced people and caused major health problems, say residents and community organizations.
The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) plays a critical role in shaping the Congo rainforest, experts say. Though they represent incalculable and intrinsic value, there is much scientists still do not know about this critically endangered species of megafauna.