• The UNEP-WCMC has released their first annual report (pdf, French+Spanish also available) on the state of the world’s protected areas. They’re also conducting a survey from users to improve future reports.
• Andy Revkin wonders if satellites and supercomputers fit in a stimulus bill. I’m not sure what the problem is. It’s a stimulus bill, which means we’re trying to spend money. Lots of it. And funding things that are useful is a great way to spend money. Meanwhile, the Defenders of Wildlife run down some of the other green jobs that’ll be funded in the bill (habitat restoration, visitor center restoration, etc.)
• And speaking of Andy Revkin, he, too, is wondering about science advocacy. But I think we are on opposite sides of the issue. As one commenter notes: “In short, we all have the right to be people or citizens even if we are “scientists”, as long as we make it clear when we are being what.” In fact, I believe that scientists are held to a much higher standard for advocacy than any other class of citizens. As though science were the only field in which The Truth can be known, so while fudging numbers in other policy arenas may be acceptable, in the scientific world it’s verboten. We should have the same standard as everybody else — ideally, that would raise the burden of proof for everybody else, but in the short term, I think it’s imperative that we actually lower the standard for scientist “pundits.” Anyway, the comments section on the Dot Earth blog is (uniquely) insightful and worthwhile reading.
• President Correa of Ecuador still hasn’t decided whether to offer oil leases in Yasuni National Park. Yasuni is a biodiversity and oil hotspot, and as discussed previously, Correa is looking to make up some of the money that his government would’ve earned from the leases.
• Buck Denton reviews the recent news that a species, extinct since 2000, has been cloned. The first cloned individual died shortly after birth.

• A bunch of groups have signed on to a letter supporting Rep. Raul Grijalva for Interior Secretary.
• The UN has released an atlas of carbon-wildlife hotspots, where protection would save biodiversity and carbon sinks. (Atlas PDF)
• More species downgraded (upgraded? So confusing being a conservation biologist) on the IUCN Red List.
• In terms of carbon reduction, palm oil plantations do better planted in grasslands than forest. Meanwhile, HSBC is cutting ties with palm oil companies in Indonesia and Malaysia. Also, Sime Darby (big palm oil co.) is devoting some cash to protecting orangutan habitat.
• Some thoughts on science reporting in the Washington Post.
• It might seem like I’m sharing this story (thanks, Em) because it’s got a money quote from our fearless leader. No, it’s because I can relate this anecdote: at the Lawrence Berkeley campus up in the hills, they have cops on Segways. They also have aggressive turkeys. I have a source who has seen the turkeys chasing the cops on Segways. Just FYI, they have almost identical land speeds.
• This story came up in my feed reader of conservation news. Not really sure why, but it really is a huge potato. 2008 is the Year of the Potato, apparently, which makes this whole thing smell kind of fishy. Or, potato-y.

Wow, lots of stuff happened over the weekend:

• UNEP and UNESCO have proposed listing the Fertile Crescent as a World Heritage Site. There’s a lot to unpack here: first, this would obviously fall under the heading of Warfare Ecology, as much of the wetlands were drained by Saddam Hussein as a means of controlling the Marsh Arabs‘ culture.
  But in addition to that, the wetlands obviously provide important ecosystem services, improving drinking water conditions for thousands of people among other things. There’s a massive restoration project underway for this area of the world, and I hope it succeeds. Good for nature? Check. Good for humans? Check. Symbolism through the roof? This is exciting. It’s the Garden of Eden!
• DRC wildlife authority and the army have negotiated a plan to move thousands of soldiers and their families out of Virunga National Park.
• IUCN has joined forces with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) for the World Conservation Congress. The conference will be the world’s largest meeting ever on biodiversity (Barcelona, Oct 5-14).
• Look, I like to spend a small percentage of my huge salary at Nobu every week, too, but any good conservationist should probably stop: they’re serving the gorilla burgers of the sushi world.
• Do you have a scientific PhD? Are you named Steve (or any variation thereof, I’m looking at you, Stephanie)? Do you believe in the theory of evolution? Please go register at Project Steve, an effort by the National Center for Science Education to get 1,000 Steves to fight creationism as a “science.” [Thanks to Chantal for the tipoff]
  

• The International Society for Ecological Economics is holding their biennial conference, starting today, in Nairobi. The title of this year’s conference is “Applying Ecological Economics for Social and Environmental Sustainability.” Get your abstracts here.
• The Global Environmental Facility (here, forever-after “GEF”) and the United Nations Environment Programme (“UNEP”) have announced a 5 year, $27 million program to protect key pollinators: “Conservation & Management of Pollinators for Sustainable Agriculture through an Ecosystem Approach.”