Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. A harpy eagle needs large trees for nesting and enough surrounding forest for its young to learn to fly. The Amazon also depends on the eagle. By controlling populations of monkeys, sloths, and other animals, the predator helps limit damage to the forest canopy. Its decline can therefore indicate broader changes in the ecosystem. Governments often assess biodiversity by counting species. These figures are useful, although they don’t show whether an ecosystem is still functioning. A recent paper in Frontiers in Science argues that conservation policy should also track ecological processes, including predation, migration, pollination, and the movement of water and nutrients, reports Mongabay’s John Cannon. The authors propose using the Three Global Conditions Framework, developed in 2019, to decide what different landscapes require. It divides the planet according to the degree of human influence. Large, relatively intact areas need protection from new development. Landscapes where farming and settlements coexist with nature require management that maintains ecological functions. Heavily altered areas need restoration. The approach could help countries meet the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls for the loss of nature to be halted and reversed by 2030. Progress varies widely among countries. The agreement is not legally binding, and national governments determine how its targets are applied. The paper uses the term “nature positive” to describe an outcome in which ecosystems are healthier at the end of the decade than they were…This article was originally published on Mongabay
