【推荐1】Everything, no matter how great it is, will always have its problems. If you ever find yourself in an argument (争论) about renewable (可再生的) energy with someone who needs to receive more education, do your part for the environment by giving the following facts.

Argument one: renewable energy is expensive. This argument is only a surface truth. For a large house or small business, to start using renewable energy can be expensive at first. There’s a lot of equipment (设备) to buy. However, in the following 10 or 20 years, you’ll never see another power bill again. If you make lots of energy, you might even be able to sell it back to the power company.

Argument two: renewable energy takes up a lot of space. If you have a small yard, people might have told you that you’ll never be able to fit in solar energy equipment there. Even if you can’t, look at land for sale close to your place. If your neighbors are interested in going green, you might be able to go in together to buy a piece of land and build a large solar farm you can share. Many houses can benefit from one solar farm. Not everyone needs a big yard.

Argument three: renewable energy isn’t necessary. Renewable energy allows us to power our lives without using up anything. We don’t need to do much—we can just make receptacles (容器) for the free, renewable energy that already surrounds us. When you think about it, it’s almost like wasting energy if we don’t collect it.

Argument four: renewable energy isn’t so efficient (效率高的). A UK based study on renewable energy actually found that it was a lot more efficient than traditional energy sources. Since it produces almost no waste heat, while most other energy sources can produce more than half of their production in waste heat, it’s safe to say that using the energy we already have in our daily life can be more than twice as efficient.

【推荐2】In shallow coastal waters of the Indian ocean, Dugong, a kind of sea cow, is in trouble. Environmental problems pose such a major threat to its survival that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the species’ extinction risk status(地位)to vulnerable (脆弱的).

Much worse, Dugongs are at risk of losing the protection of the Torres Strait Islanders, who have looked after them historically, hunting them for food sustainably and monitoring their numbers. These native people keep their biodiversity, and have deep knowledge about their environment. But these people are also threatened, in part because rising sea levels are making it difficult for them to live there.

This situation isn’t unique to Dugongs. A global analysis of 385 culturally important plant and animal species found 68 percent were both biologically vulnerable and at risk of losing their cultural protection.

The findings clearly illustrate that biology shouldn’t be the primary factor in shaping conservation policy,says anthropologist Victoria Reyes-García.When a culture declines,the species that are important to that culture are also threatened.“Lots of conservationists think we need to separate people from nature,” says Reyes-García. “But that strategy misses the caring relationship many cultural groups have with nature.”

One way to help shift conservation efforts is to give species a “bio-cultural status,”which would provide a fuller picture of their vulnerability. In the study, the team used a new way to determine a species’ risk of disappearing: the more a cultural group’s language use declines, the more that culture is threatened.The more a culture is threatened, the more culturally vulnerable its important species are. Researchers then combined a species’ cultural and biological vulnerability to arrive at its bio-cultural status. In the Dugong’s case, its bio-cultural status is endangered, meaning it is more at risk than its IUCN categorization suggests.

This new approach to conservation involves people that have historically cared for them. It can highlight when communities need support to continue their care. Scientists hope it will bring more efforts that recognize local communities’ rights and encourage their participation-taking advantage of humans’ connection with nature instead of creating more separation.

【推荐3】Hong Kong was once home to booming shellfish reefs, but due to over-development and coastal pollution, shellfish populations have declined sharply. Restoring oyster reefs can solve some of the environmental problems typical of coastal development, such as damage from storm surge and loss of biodiversity.

“Globally, we have lost 85% of shellfish reefs, making it the most endangered marine habitat on earth,” said Marine Thomas, Conservation Project Manager, for TNC in Hong Kong. “Most people associate oysters with food, but less well-known is that oysters create reef habitats that support coastal marine life. Only by restoring these lost habitats can we start to bring back some of the associated environmental benefits.”

A primary benefit that healthy oyster reefs contribute to coastal environments is their role as natural water purifiers. This new study found that, just 7 m² of Hong Kong oyster reef can filter up to one Olympic swimming pool of water each day; a single Hong Kong oyster can filter up to 30 liters of water per hour at summer temperatures, among the highest filtration rates recorded of any oyster species.

Even more importantly, oyster reefs provide habitat and nursery grounds for many native species that are otherwise lost from our shores. Another research found over 80 species on intertidal muddy shores in Deep Bay, 95% of which were found in oyster reefs.

“While we are excited by the biological possibility of restoration, unfortunately the human aspect remains our biggest challenge to bring these habitats hack at scale. Shellfish habitats are still severely under protected in Hong Kong. We are working with Government on gaining more protection and recognition for these important ecosystems and hope to include them in the next Hong Kong Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan(BSAP),” said Ms. Thomas.