Nature Breaking

Today's episode features two people who recently teamed up to tell an important story. The topic? Seaweed farming. Seaweed has all sorts of amazing applications, from feeding people to livestock, and even as a replacement for some plastic packaging. Expanding its market share in those areas could reduce the world's reliance on land- and energy-intensive agricultural practices because seaweed farming requires no land, freshwater, fertilizer, or pesticides. And seaweed is also good for sea life, because it absorbs carbon and produces nutrients beneficial to fish and other species.

But what does it really mean to be a seaweed farmer? That's the story that today's guests are helping to tell. Dr. Ana Borrero is a hatchery manager at Seaweed Solutions, a seaweed farming company based in Norway. And Jeff Siebert is the founder and creative director of Bananabones, a video production company based in the US. WWF recently commissioned Jeff to produce a series of short films called "Portrait of a Seaweed Farmer." Each film follows a single farmer and tells the story of their journey into the seaweed farming industry and what their work entails each day. Ana was one of the featured individuals.

In this episode hear what it's like to produce a docu-series focused on the seaweed industry (2:04), what Ana's experience has been like as a seaweed farmer (6:00), and how she hopes her work will contribute to a better future for her children (19:47).

Links for More Info: Portrait of a Seaweed Farmer: https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/portrait-of-a-seaweed-farmer

Dr. Ana Borrero & Seaweed Solutions: https://seaweedsolutions.com/the-team

Jeff Siebert & Bananabones: https://www.hellobananabones.com/story

In this episode of Breaking Waves, Johan interviews Admiral Tim Gallaudet to discuss the complex intersections of ocean health, maritime competition, and national security within the context of geopolitics. Key topics include his three-dimensional approach to ocean geopolitics—economic (blue economy), national security, and environmental conservation (1:58), how the US is countering the challenges of IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing (14:23), and the importance of international alliances in ensuring stability in a warming Arctic (18:28).

LINKS:

Tim Gallaudet bio

Foreign Affairs: Fish Wars by Sarah Glaser and Tim Gallaudet

Black-footed ferrets are among the most endangered mammals in North America. These animals live in the prairies of the Great Plains, and only about 390 of them remain in the wild today. That's actually up significantly from decades past, when they were once believed to be extinct. But big threats remain in the form of habitat loss and a non-native disease called sylvatic plague, which affects the ferrets as well as the prairie dogs that they rely on for food and prairie dog burrows for shelter. The ongoing effort to save both black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs has brought together experts from WWF, Fort Belknap Indian Community, local conservation agencies in Montana, and students from the Aaniiih and Nakoda College. Joining the show today to discuss this work are Kristy Bly, WWF's black-footed ferrets restoration manager, and Tevin Messerly, a biologist with the Fort Belknap Fish and Wildlife Department. Kristy and Tevin give a rundown of all the basic facts you need to know about black-footed ferrets (1:39), what strategies they are pursuing to save them (10:46), and what it looks like to deploy those strategies in the field (13:12).

LINKS:

WWF's Black-Footed Ferrets page

PBS Wild Hope Episode: America's BFF

Welcome to Breaking Waves, a 6-episode limited series from WWF's Nature Breaking podcast. In this episode Johan Bergenas talks with Dr. Enric Sala, Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic, and Dr. Gabby Ahmadia, WWF's VP of Area-Based Ocean Conservation on the ecological and economic benefits of well-managed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Both have extensive experience implementing and studying MPAs, including "no-take" areas (which prohibit all fishing and other extractive activity) and "multi-use" areas (which allow for regulated activities, including some forms of extraction and recreation, in designated zones). They discuss the rapid positive impacts on tourism of MPAs (4:19), the need for equitable and inclusive practices in MPAs (17:35), and how to overcome financial challenges associated with these strategies (21:00).

LINKS:

Pristine Seas

Project Finance for Permanence

As we approach the upcoming Juneteenth holiday, today's episode is about environmental justice. You've probably heard that term before, but in short, it refers to the notion that underserved and historically underrepresented communities with higher populations of black, indigenous, and other peoples of color, have born a disproportionate share of the impacts from climate change and environmental degradation. And over the last few decades there's been a growing movement to address that disparity head on, by raising awareness, engaging companies and other actors that contribute to localized environmental harm, and by changing federal, state and local policies to ensure better outcomes. Joining the show to talk more about this is Carlos Claussell Velez, WWF's manager for climate, DEI, and environmental justice. Carlos explains how his upbringing in Puerto Rico led to a passion for environmental justice (1:41), what climate and environmental justice really means for communities on the front lines of these issues (5:00), and what steps the US government has taken in recent years to embed the notion of justice for communities in climate action plans (12:45).

LINKS:

Carlos Claussell Velez bio

BLOG: Unleashing Change: Federal Climate Investments Driving Community Benefits

Renewable Thermal Collaborative

America Is All In

Welcome to Breaking Waves, a 6-episode limited series from WWF's Nature Breaking podcast. In this episode of Breaking Waves, WWF's Senior Vice President of Ocean Conservation, Johan Bergenas, talks with Bill Hilf, Chairman of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, about the progression and potential of AI for ocean conservation. Johan and Bill dive into AI's role in enhancing ocean health by leveraging big data and predictive models (16:27), the challenges of sustainable funding (18:44), and the risk of energy consumption presented by AI (23:26).

LINKS:

• Allen Institute for AI

Today's episode focuses on the latest efforts to conserve wild tigers. After a century of decline, tiger populations began to rebound in the last decade, growing from just 3,200 in 2010 to over 5,500 today. But tigers are still an endangered species. So what are the most important steps we can take to keep tiger populations trending upward? That was the topic of the recent Sustainable Financing for Tiger Landscapes Conference in Bhutan. As the title suggests, one of the biggest hurdles facing tiger conservation is funding. Simply put, countries with wild tigers need more reliable, long-term sources of funding to continue implementing conservation measures at the scale required. Today you'll hear from someone who attended that summit: Jenny Roberts, Director of Development and Communications for WWF's Tigers Alive Initiative. Jenny provides an update on the current status of wild tigers (2:00), shares the key outcomes from the tiger conference in Bhutan (20:35), and explains what global leaders need to do next to secure a future for these iconic big cats (26:55).

LINKS:

WWF Tiger Facts Page

WWF Tigers Alive Initiative

Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes Summit

Breaking Waves is a new 6-episode limited series that will run on the Nature Breaking feed throughout the summer of 2024. Join host Johan Bergenas, WWF's senior vice president for oceans, as he interviews outside experts on a range of ocean-related topics. You'll hear episodes about how we effectively manage marine protected areas, how new kinds of partnerships are advancing ocean conservation, what the AI revolution means for the open seas, and more. Episodes will run every other week beginning on Tuesday, June 4. Regular episodes of Nature Breaking will continue on opposite weeks.

Today's episode celebrates an important milestone: the 10th anniversary of the largest tropical forest conservation program on Earth. It's called the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program for Life, or ARPA for Life, for short. And since 2014 it has helped provide the resources required to protect 150 million acres of the Brazilian Amazon, an area larger than the state of California. The Amazon rainforest is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, containing about 1 in 10 of all known species. It also stores an abundance of carbon, and regulates regional weather as the moisture from the forest contributes to rainfall in one of the most important agricultural regions in the world. In short, we all have a stake in keeping the Amazon rainforest vibrant and intact. And ARPA for Life is the single biggest initiative attempting to do that. Joining the show today to reflect on 10 years of ARPA for Life is Dr. Mariana Ferreira, Director of Strategy for WWF-Brazil. Mariana shares some of the history behind the creation of ARPA for Life (2:35), how it has endured political challenges presented by changes in the Brazilian government (10:34), and how it has benefitted people, biodiversity, and the climate through its first 10 years (16:41).

LINKS:Dr. Mariana Ferreira bio

ARPA for Life web story

Amazon Rain Forest fact page

Enduring Earth website

Today's episode is about a piece of legislation currently pending in the US Congress that could make a big difference for global forest conservation: the FOREST Act. This bill would create new requirements and incentives for companies to ensure that the products they import into the US are not associated with illegal deforestation. This matters now more than ever because forests are a critical ally in our global fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, and because we're still losing forests like the Amazon far too quickly. Last year we lost about 10 soccer fields worth of forest every minute. The FOREST Act could help reverse that trend. Today's episode features a conversation with Stephanie Cappa, WWF's director for policy and government affairs. You'll hear Stephanie talk about what's driving deforestation around the world (2:12), the nuts and bolts of how the FOREST Act would work (9:15) and where it currently stands in Congress (22:20). Stephanie also gives a quick update on some other priority legislation for this year, including the Farm Bill (25:28).

LINKS:

Stephanie Cappa bio

Take Action to Support the FOREST Act

WWF FOREST Act Page