Celebrate and champion wildlife

Make giant strides toward biodiversity goals

National Wildlife Day, this September 4, may very well bring a smile to your face.

Think about smart and gentle giants — elephants, giraffes. Consider psychedelic frogs and honey bees. Listen for throaty and melodic songbirds. We love wildlife.

But we are also surrounded by sobering statistics.

The UN reports that 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history. Since 1900 there has been a 20% loss of native species in most major land-based habitats.

Lest we be complacent about wildlife disappearances, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that biodiversity loss threatens the security of the world’s food supplies and the livelihoods of millions.

Regulations mandate protection and restoration

But this day dedicated to wildlife reminds us that it is time to restore and protect biodiversity. To that end, governments and agencies worldwide are setting standards and goals.

The European Commission proposed a new nature restoration law with an overarching target to restore 20% of the EU’s land and sea area by 2030 and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. This includes:

• Restoring 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers.
• Reversing decline of pollinator populations.
• Restoring agricultural ecosystems.
• Increasing grassland butterfly and farmland bird populations

In its 2021 Environment Act, the UK established biodiversity as one of four targets for recovery of the natural world. This includes:

• Requiring 10% biodiversity net gain (BNG) in new developments — habitat creation and enhancement that must be designated for biodiversity prior to local planning approvals.
• Providing greater enforcement powers to reduce illegal tree felling.

In the U.S., the House Committee on Natural Resources oversees federal conservation and species protection programs and is holding hearings on various bills, including:

• Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2022 — funding conservation or restoration of wildlife and plant species of greatest conservation need
• Safeguarding America’s Future and Environment Act (SAFE Act, 2021) — establishing an integrated national approach to respond to ongoing and expected effects of extreme weather and climate change by protecting, managing, and conserving the fish, wildlife, and plants

Long-standing U.S. regulations with recent amendments and programs also support and fund wildlife and biodiversity:

• Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, which continues to fund programs supports cooperation between the federal government and the states to protect and restore watersheds.
• Endangered Species Act, which provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found.

Private organizations and businesses also are moving biodiversity efforts forward. More than 1,100 companies with more than US$5 trillion in revenue have joined the global Business for Nature coalition, calling on immediate action from governments to enact policies that will reverse the nature loss of recent years.

We can deliver by 2030. Here’s how.

Regulations are one thing but meeting them is another.

The critical, must-deliver date according to the U.N. is 2030. To cross that finish line, NOW is the time for intensive assessment planning that drives biodiversity results.

That’s where AiDash can help.

Launched at COP 26, our Intelligent Sustainability Management System (ISMS) transforms the process of assessing biodiversity.

Using satellites and AI, this climate technology takes stock of the current environment, from tree cover to wetlands, and enables end-to-end planning to manage carbon offset and biodiversity efforts. ISMS helps local governments as well as gas and electric utility, water and wastewater, and construction companies to:

• Assess the environment, quickly and accurately, and reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) at the same time. Fast, easy, and economical satellite measurements cover 100% of the area, not just the sample that expensive classic assessments observe. With fewer trucks needed for ground assessment, the carbon footprint is drastically reduced.
• Identify targets and steps. ISMS combines ground info with satellite measurements in a single dashboard and uses AI to crunch numbers and make predictions for efficient planning. No guesswork is needed. Because data can be 100% compiled and analyzed in a week, planning can be done in near real time — shaving months off assessment efforts.
• Operationalize. Put effective plans to meet biodiversity net gain targets into action. With clear direction of how to optimize operations per the available budget, companies can reduce operational costs by as much as 75% — while moving toward 10% BNG, 20% land and sea restoration, and other biodiversity goals.

This National Wildlife Day, while taking a moment to appreciate the pollinators and all the species that contribute to a workable planet, consider how your company can move the biodiversity barometer toward sustainability.

For more information or to get your biodiversity management and planning underway, contact us here.