Sustainability/Biodiversity Archive

Pelican release by South Florida Wildlife Center

Jun 19, 2022 Wildlife Centers and Living in Harmony with Nature and Pelicans

Posted at 15:38h In Animal Sentience, Articles, Sustainability/Biodiversity, Tales of WellBeing, Well-being, Wild Animals - By Kathleen Rowan CEO, WellBeing International

The Wildlife CenterNestled in a high-density population area and abutting an international airport resides the South Florida Wildlife Center (Center), founded 53 years ago with a mission to rescue, rehabilitate, release and educate. The Center occupies a secluded tree-covered 4.1-acre site with a 1.2-acre "jurisdictional...

Book Cover: The Mind of a Bee by Lars Chittka, PhD

Jun 19, 2022 The Mind of the Bee

Posted at 12:19h In Animal Sentience, Animal Well-being, Animals, Book Review, Sustainability/Biodiversity, Tales of WellBeing - By Lars Chittka, PhD

A journey into the alien mind of an insect Bees were once thought to be cleverly designed biorobots that can construct elaborate comb architectures, have labor divisions, and nest climate control. But all this engineering and complex behavior was considered to be delivered by reflex machines...

Mar 31, 2022 Tourism in the Arctic: A Catalyst for Good or Bad?

Posted at 02:00h In Sustainability/Biodiversity, Well-being, WellBeing News - By Laura Gosse

The Arctic, a region extending from the North Pole into Canada, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States, has experienced global warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet. The likely cause of such higher temperatures?...

Jan 31, 2022 Human-Wolf Conflict and Wolf Protection

Posted at 12:08h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Letter from the President, Sustainability/Biodiversity, WellBeing News, Wild Animals - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

While there may be as many as one billion domestic dogs in the world today, estimates of the global population of grey wolves (from whom domestic dogs evolved) put the number at a paltry 200,000-250,000. Once, there were an estimated 2 million wolves in North...

Coal fire with wind power in Germany | Photo credit: Eisenlohr,

Nov 01, 2021 Climate Change and COP26

Posted at 11:31h In Articles, Environment Well-being, Letter from the President, Sustainability/Biodiversity, Well-being, WellBeing News, Wildlife in Water, Wildlife on Land - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil and Kathleen Rowan CEO, WellBeing International

The Letter from the President for September 2021 addressed climate change. This Letter is a follow-up to the previous Letter in September, but we revisit the topic because its importance and gravity to humanity cannot be overstated. We hope to provide a brief primer on...

Antarctic Glacier | Photo credit: Bernhard Staehli

Oct 04, 2021 Climate Change, Food Systems, and Health Impact at the United Nations

Posted at 12:03h In Articles, Environment Well-being, Letter from the President, Sustainability/Biodiversity, Well-being, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Three significant gatherings address various aspects of climate change, and global limits started in September and proceeded through early November. In September (21 to 27), the United Nations (UN) held its 76th annual meeting (also known as the General Assembly) in New York. During this...

Pink-backed pelicans | Photo credit: Gus Akerhielm

Oct 04, 2021 Counting Birds and Other Wild Animals

Posted at 12:00h In Animal Well-being, Animals, Articles, Sustainability/Biodiversity, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

Estimating the total number of wild animals in a particular location or country has always been challenging. Still, better data on wild animal numbers are needed to recognize changes, identify the causes, and what might be done to address such changes. The Living Planet Report...

Oct 04, 2021 Dasgupta Review Revisited

Posted at 11:59h In Articles, Sustainability/Biodiversity, Well-being, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan, DPhil

In May, WellBeing News published an article alerting readers to the Dasgupta Review (Review) publication addressing the economics of biodiversity. We suggested that the Review could become a classic along with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring but have just come across a significant critique of the...

Aug 17, 2021 Animal Welfare at the United Nations

Posted at 11:50h In Animal Well-being, Animals, Articles, Ethics, Regulation, Law, Sustainability/Biodiversity, WellBeing News - By Andrew Rowan

In 2018, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP – headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya) signed a two-year agreement with a Kenyan animal protection group, the Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW – founded in 2006), that included a stipulation that ANAW should organize animal welfare conferences...

A tiger bred for commercial use in South Africa | Photo credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/GettyImages

Jun 28, 2021 South Africa Moves to End Captive Breeding of Wildlife. Some Thoughts from the Chinese Experience

Posted at 13:49h In Animal Well-being, Articles, Sustainability/Biodiversity, WellBeing News, Wild Animals - By Peter J. Li, Ph.D.

South Africa occupies an ecologically strategic position in the world. Like China, it has rich biodiversity and has been building its reputation as a favorite wildlife tourist destination. But it has also attracted its share of wildlife traders, poachers, and trophy hunters[1]. South Africa’s own...