The latest in a regular series of posts to biodiversity-related* items that have caught my attention during the week:

• Sri Lanka has become the first country to protect all of its mangrove forests, a move that has economic as well as environmental benefits.  Hopefully other countries will follow their lead.

• Weather around the globe could get very unpredictable later this year if the forecasted “substantial El Nino event” occurs.  Worth keeping an eye on this, some areas could experience extreme weather and the resulting impacts on habitats.

• For his championing of the cause of pollinator conservation, my friend and colleague Professor Dave Goulson has been named one of the Top 50 “conservation heroes” by the BBC Wildlife Magazine, alongside luminaries such as Sir David Attenborough.  Well done Dave, very well deserved!

• “Cattle ranching has been the primary driver of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon……. But “zero-deforestation agreements” signed by some of Brazil’s big beef industry players appear to be helping reduce the destruction, a new study concludes.”  Will be interesting to see how this plays out in the longer term, though rainforest is by no means the most threatened habitat in Brazil: cerrado continues to be lost to soybean production.

• Finally, here’s a video of an informative debate about the relationships/conflict between capitalism and nature was recently posted, including contributions by Peter Kareiva and Tony Juniper, amongst others.  It’s an issue that excites a lot of discussion and was the subject of my first substantive blog post on this site, back in 2012.

Feel free to recommend links that have caught your eye.