South America

The 6th Interdisciplinary Desert Conference was held in SoGE from 16-17 March 2023. The conference brought together academics and non-academics who research, work and live across the world's desert and semi-desert regions for two days of vibrant talks, presentations, panels and networking opportunities. Conference organiser, Ariell Ahearn, reviews the interdisciplinary event which allowed social and physical scientists to exchange views, develop lasting collaborations and make a positive global impact.

The 20th anniversary of the Dana Declaration on Mobile Peoples and Conservation was marked in Wadi Dana, Jordan, from 7-10th September 2022 with the event titled Dana+20: Mobile Indigenous Peoples, Conservation, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Two Decades after the Dana Declaration. Working with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN, Jordan), representatives of the World Alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples (WAMIP), concerned practitioners and academics, and representatives of Mobile Peoples from around the world - including Mongolia, Malaysia, India, Iran, Jordan, Sweden, Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, and Peru - came together to discuss shared concerns.

Jesús Aguirre Gutiérrez has been awarded a new five-year Independent Researcher Fellowship from the Natural Environment Research Council to understand tropical forest responses to global change drivers, working with contacts from around the world including Brazil, Ghana, Mexico, Australia, Costa Rica, and Oxford and Leeds (UK).

A new study, published in Science magazine by an international team in the Brazilian Amazon, shows that redesigned conservation projects could deliver big gains for critical freshwater ecosystems - raising hopes for the futures of thousands of species. 'In a time when the Amazon is under increasing pressure from human activities, this paper provides effective solutions for biodiversity preservation,' explains co-author Erika Berenguer.

A major drought and forest fires in the Amazon rainforest killed billions of trees and plants and turned one of the world's largest carbon sinks into one of its biggest polluters. Examining the Amazonian epicentre of the El Niño - Brazil's Lower Tapajós, an eastern Amazonia area around twice the size of Belgium - the research team, led by scientists from Lancaster University, the Environmental Change Insitute, University of Oxford, and The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation found the damage lasts for multiple years.