EcoTreasures, a young tour company based in Sydney, have involved a new plan in their Manly Coastal Walks to remove marine debris from Penguin habitats.

The tour company specializes in Ecotourism experiences on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales. Ecotreasures have been lucky to host a range of international study tour students visiting Sydney this winter, who have been participating in the plan. The students arrive in Australia for short stays of generally 7—14 days, which consist of English lessons and Australia tour experiences. EcoTreasures owner, Damien McClellan, has been happy to host the students on his tours and to involve a new element in the half-day adventure, with a purpose to clean up marine debris that accumulates in the natural environment known to be the habitat for little penguins.

McClellan has been very proud to run these tours, which highlight a range of environmental awareness messages, and mentions, “when we visit the little penguin habitat at Collins Beach in Sydney Harbour National Park we conduct a beach clean-up. The students always put in 110% and we remove as much as marine debris from the catchment(积水处) as possible. We are all giving back to the location we are appreciating because of its natural beauty, and I’m proud of all these international guests caring for Australia’s environment.”

The tours offer a great display of Sydney’s natural setting right on the city’s door step. Mr. McClellan also adds, “The students and teachers really enjoy their experience on the walk around Manly. We visit the beach, Sydney Harbour National Park, Cabbage tree Aquatic reserve and Manly suburbs all in a half day adventure. We always keep the walk fun and interesting by identifying native plants & searching for Whales from land with binoculars and other wildlife along the way.”

EcoTreasures was founded in 2010 by Damien McClellan, and the business is looking forward to working with more partners in the future, developing new ecotourism plans for a range of target markets, and keeping it fun is part of the plan. EcoTreasures is Advanced Ecotourism and ROC certified.

An impressive invention made by a 17-year-old teenager, called Anna Du, is helping to clean up small pieces of plastic from the ocean.

While walking along her local beaches in Massachusetts, the young student began collecting waste plastic bags and bottles. But what she noticed was a large number of tiny pieces of plastic or microplastics that were impossible to pick up. At just 12 years old, Du set out to solve the problem. After testing a few prototypes(原型)in her backyard, she invented a remotely operated vehicle that uses the infrared camera(红外摄像机)to detect microplastics on the ocean floor. More recently, Du has also created a simulation(模拟)model that uses artificial intelligence to predict where microplastics are located.

Du’s robot invention has earned her awards at top science fairs in the US, and she’s now a nationally recognized advocate for microplastic awareness and pollution prevention. “When I first started doing science fairs, I had no idea that a young girl without lots of money and just a little advanced engineering knowledge could make a difference in the world. I’ve learned that I truly love working on a problem that’s so much larger than me,” Du said.

Du has also released a new book to help spread the word not only about the dangers of microplastics but also about the ways to relieve the problem. Titled Microplastics &Me, the book follows Du’s own story of how she went from worrying about the environment to designing award-winning solutions. Writing for kids her own age, the young girl alerts her readers to the threat of microplastic pollution and urges them to care about the environment. The book hopes to encourage young students to get into science, technology, engineering and math(STEM)subjects and to inspire a new generation of inventors and engineers. What’s more, Du has even raised more than $7,000 to distribute the book free to kids and libraries in high-need communities.

Protected areas have mixed success in protecting wildlife, according to the largest study on the effects of reserves (保护区).

A team led by researchers from the U. K. examined water bird data from 1,506 protected areas and analyzed more than 27,000 bird populations across the world. The authors write that their study, published in Nature, is the first robust (强有力的), global assessment of protected area influence on bird populations. The scientists found that protected areas with management of water birds and their habitats were more likely to benefit those populations.

“Our study shows that, while many protected areas are working well, many others are failing to have positive effect,” lead author Hannah Wauchope of the University of Exeter says in a statement. Rather than focusing only on the total global area protected, we need more focus on ensuring areas are well-managed to benefit biodiversity (生物多样性). “The study compared water bird populations before and after the establishment of protected areas and also compared trends of similar populations within and outside of protected areas. Water birds respond quickly to changes in site quality, making them a good group to look at when studying the impact of protected areas.

“In the majority of places we looked at, wildlife populations were still stable or were increasing, but they weren’t doing any better than in unprotected areas,” Wauchope says. “That’s disillusionary, but not surprising. There seems to be this disconnect between people talking about how much land is protected and whether those areas are actually doing anything positive.”

This research comes ahead of a United Nations meeting in China to discuss biodiversity goals for the next decade. Several countries have already devoted to protecting 30 percent of the planet by 2030, yet researchers say protection alone does not necessarily ensure positive outcomes for species.

“Efforts to reach a certain area-based goal such as 30 percent by 2030 — without a focus on improving the condition of existing protected areas will achieve little,” says co-author Julia Jones from Bangor University. “When world leaders gather in China later this year to set goals for the next decade, I really hope to see a focus on effectiveness of protected areas, rather than simply how much surface area is devoted to them.”

“We are not saying protected areas don’t work,” Wauchope concludes in the statement. “The key point is that their effects vary hugely, and the biggest thing this depends on is whether they are managed with species in mind — we can’t just expect protected areas to work without effective management.”