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Help Protect Wildlife from Rat Poisons

Raptors Are The Solution (RATS) is keeping the pressure on California Governor Gavin Newsom to stop the ongoing damage to wildlife from anticoagulant rat poison. The Earth Island project and 20 other organizations recently sent a letter to the governor asking him to issue a moratorium on the use of second-generation anticoagulant rat poisons due to their fatal impact on non-target animals. Two recent mountain lion deaths in California have been attributed to rat poison. RATS is asking California residents to help by printing their double-sided postcard, adding their signature and address, and mailing to the governor's office in an effort to get his attention on this important issue.

For five years, Earth Island's International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) has been working to advance a lawsuit against SeaWorld, contending that the marine theme park chain's false statements about captive orcas violates California laws. The trial for the case has finally been scheduled for the spring of 2020. Recently, IMMP lawyers succeeded in making public four expert witness reports that are devastating to SeaWorld's claims. IMMP is preparing a series of blogs focusing on specific false claims about orcas in captivity. Learn more here.

From polystyrene packing peanuts and non-recyclable bubble wrap, to plastic-wrapped pouches of air, nearly every Amazon.com order arrives buried in heaps of wasteful single-use plastic packaging. Plastic Pollution Coalition, a project of Earth Island, is gearing up for a campaign urging Amazon.com to reduce their plastic footprint, just in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two of Amazon's biggest money-making days of the year. Help start the momentum on this important campaign by being among the first to add your name to the petition here. Share the link and spread the word using #plasticpollutes. Read More.

On November 17, Shark Stewards attended the Pacific Fisheries Management Council meeting in Southern California to block a proposed Pacific longline fishery that would kill tens of thousands of sharks, sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals. After providing testimony and evidence, the Earth Island project submitted a petition from 2,500 supporters, persuading the council to block approval of this harmful fishery. At the federal level, the House of Representatives just made a major move in global shark conservation with the passage of a bill, HR 737, which  bans the sale and trade of shark fins in the US. Sign the Petition and contact your Senator to support the US Shark Fin Trade Ban.

Earth Island's Project Coyote works to encourage compassionate coexistence with native wildlife, livestock, and ranchers. The organization promotes non-lethal ranching practices via their Ranching with Wildlife program. Recently, Project Coyote joined forces with the Mendocino Non-Lethal Wildlife Alliance to present a workshop and informational session in Mendocino County. The project's Ranching with Wildlife Coordinator Keli Hendricks was a featured speaker. Retaliation against predators for livestock losses has long led to mass killing of carnivores to the detriment of healthy ecosystems and ranches. Project Coyote works cooperatively with ranchers to establish good animal husbandry practices and to employ strategic nonlethal predator control methods that considerably reduce livestock losses and meet the needs of individual operations while protecting wildlife.

Earth Island's Food Shift is partnering with friends at Regrained, a company that fights food waste by upcycling beer supergrain into tasty energy bars. Regrained will donate 25 percent of proceeds from all orders on Tuesday, November 26, to Food Shift! If you're looking to stock up on a nutritious snack, place your order on Giving Tuesday. Your purchase will help support Food Shift's kitchen expansion. Use code "GIVE25" at checkout. To learn more, join the project on December 14 for an evening of wisdom, founder farewell, and new leadership with guest speaker Robert Egger from DC Central Kitchen. Tickets available here.

The Best of Earth Island Journal

Get the latest environmental news from Earth Island Journal. Here are our favorite stories from the last two weeks:

Most Popular: Painting for the Planet. Journalist Elizabeth Watson Chaney writes about 13-year-old Bria Neff, whose striking portraits of endangered species are helping raise awareness and funding for conservation work.

Editors' Pick: Okinawans Keep Up Fight against US Military Base in Biodiverse Oura Bay. Reporter Autumn Schoolman's dispatch from Japan describes how the construction of a US Army base in Okinawa prefecture endangers the largest recorded rare blue coral colony in the world.