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The Bombay High Court pulled up the Maharashtra government for its stand that benefits given to orphaned children cannot be given to abandoned children and asserted there is no distinction between the two. A division bench of Justices <keyword id="6386119" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="gautam-patel" source="Orion">Gautam Patel</keyword> and <keyword id="437075" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="neela-gokhale" source="Orion">Neela Gokhale</keyword> on Thursday said it expected "far less bureaucracy and far more concern from the government". The bench directed the Maharashtra government to issue certificates to two adult girls stating they were abandoned children. These certificates will help them avail benefits of government schemes, including reservation in educational institutions. The bench was hearing a petition filed by <keyword id="13894234" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="nest-india-foundation" source="Orion">NEST India Foundation</keyword>, a charitable trust, which sought directions to authorities to issue certificates to the girls declaring them as abandoned children. Government <keyword id="16460443" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="pleader-purnima-kantharia" source="Orion">Pleader Purnima Kantharia</keyword> told the court that as per a government resolution, the Maharashtra government differentiated between orphaned and abandoned children and, hence, the certificate could not be issued to abandoned children. "An orphaned child gets reservations that will not be applicable to those abandoned. Orphans have no one to care for them. Those abandoned have someone to take care of them," Kantharia said. Refusing to accept this argument, Justice Patel said. "There is no distinction, at least there is no moral distinction. There are benefits that orphans will get, but abandoned children will not? What according to you is the material distinction justifying or taking away the reservation to abandoned child? What is the logic?" "We expect far less bureaucracy from the state and far more concern from the state. These children are not responsible for their condition," he added. The court said making such a distinction was entirely meaningless and it defeats the purpose of the <keyword id="178482" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="juvenile-justice-act" source="Orion">Juvenile Justice Act</keyword>. The bench further said it was the government's responsibility to look after children, orphaned or abandoned. "We note that the definition of orphans, interestingly, also includes children whose legal guardian is incapable of caring for the child. Point to be noted is the Act (Juvenile Justice Act) itself does not distinguish between a child who is abandoned and a child who is orphaned," the court said. The court directed the Child Welfare Committee to decide the application filed by the two girls and posted the matter for further hearing on February 22. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/adani-group-hires-us-law-firm-wachtell-in-fight-against-hindenburg-says-financial-times-report/articleshow/97797018.cms">Adani group hires US law firm Wachtell in fight against Hindenburg, says Financial Times report</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/android-14-what-to-expect-from-the-new-next-gen-os-update/articleshow/97797127.cms">Android 14: What to expect from the new next-gen OS update</a>

Orphaned and abandoned children are same says Bombay HC,  pulls up Maha for differentiating

Ranges of six endemic <keyword id="12925" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="africa" source="Orion">Africa</keyword>n stork species that are widespread from East to Southern Africa, but have highly fragmented ranges in West Africa, may have declined by over 25 per cent in three decades, says a latest study. But, separate studies in India indicate a steady increase in the woolly-necked stork, which prefers irrigation canals over wetlands. In Haryana, ornithologists found a rather large breeding population of <keyword id="440191" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="storks" source="Orion">storks</keyword> even in those densely populated villages and towns that have witnessed agriculture for over a century. In Africa, the studied stork species that have seen a decline are the African openbill, the Abdim's stork, the African woolly-necked stork, the saddle-billed stork, the marabou stork and the yellow-billed stork. The marabou stork can reach five feet tall with a wingspan of up to 10 feet. The researchers evaluate species status based on new collated information on distribution and recommend uplisting the global status of the saddle-billed stork to near threatened and West African populations of the saddle-billed stork, the marabou stork and the yellow-billed stork to threatened status. The assessments of range wide distribution of the six African stork species and their relationships with protected areas has been published in Ostrich, the Journal of African Ornithology, and is the result of <keyword id="14180132" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="jonah-gula" source="Orion">Jonah Gula</keyword>'s master's research at <keyword id="336963" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="texas-state-university" source="Orion">Texas State University</keyword>. The international team of authors included people from the US, India, and South Africa, led by Gula, now a PhD student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. "Data is largely lacking on the status and distributions of the African storks. We collated records of these species from secondary sources spanning over 150 years to develop the first distribution maps based on known occurrence of each species," co-author K.S. Gopi Sundar, a Scientist at the Nature Conservation Foundation, told IANS. "We used these data to estimate range loss since 1990. We then investigated the relationship between occurrence and the amount of protected area where storks were recorded," he said. "We found all six stork species were widespread from East to southern Africa, but most had fragmented ranges in West Africa caused by extirpations in a number of countries, such as Mali and Nigeria," Gula said. According to the assessment, the range of the African openbill has potentially declined by 21 per cent. It is most abundant in East and southern Africa in major wetland systems, and in West Africa it occurs in smaller numbers in primarily coastal areas. An isolated population of openbill remains in Sierra Leone and is threatened by the harvesting of chicks from nests. The range of the Abdim's stork has potentially declined by 27 per cent. As an equatorial migrant, it occurs in huge migratory flocks numbering in the thousands. While it still remains widespread in West Africa, where it breeds during the rainy season, there is evidence of decline on the periphery of its range in the region. It has increased in number on the southern Arabian Peninsula, specifically Oman, where groups numbering in the hundreds are now regularly found in winter. While the range of the saddle-billed stork has declined by 28 per cent, it was 26 per cent in both the Marabou stork and African woolly-necked stork and 27 per cent in the yellow-billed stork. Sundar said this study importantly contributes a coarse understanding of distribution and population status of African storks and has helped identify geographic priority areas for future field efforts. It also highlights the utility of using secondary sources to enhance the knowledge of understudied, large birds such as storks. "Finally, our work highlights how presumptions about status of species with large geographic ranges can lead to regional declines going overlooked," said Gula. According to Sundar, the African study has many similarities with the situation in India. Storks in India have been classified with respect to status without too many detailed studies. The woolly-necked stork for example was assumed to be negatively impacted by agriculture and was raised to vulnerable status. After evidence emerged that the species is doing very well in Indian agricultural areas, IUCN had to reassign the status to near-threatened to reflect actual data. "It is possible that storks in Africa are doing better than what we are finding but the absence of work outside protected areas, like for most species in India, is a major gap that needs filling," he said. Currently, all <keyword id="51700" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bird" source="Orion">bird</keyword> species have been assigned an IUCN status even though a large number of them do not have the necessary information to do so. "The race to place all bird species into IUCN Red List status is illogical, reduces the scientific reputation of the Red List, and is not a good way to understand how birds are doing. "Bird species without information on their habits and distribution, or with very outdated information, need to be identified so scientists can work on them and assess actual status. Our paper on African storks shows the importance of doing careful assessments," explained Sundar. "Our work on nesting woolly-necked storks published in a paper was conducted between 2016 and 2020 where we located 298 nests of this species, the largest data set in the world for this species," said Sundar, also Co-chair of the IUCN Stork, Ibis and <keyword id="9865774" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="spoonbill-specialist-group" source="Orion">Spoonbill Specialist Group</keyword>. "We analysed this information assuming the storks in Haryana would conform to patterns of nest location that have been observed in storks globally, including the single nesting stork species in Europe and China." Storks are large birds that have attracted enormous mythological and scientific attention over centuries and are closely associated with endangered habitats such as wetlands. Talking about the assessment of the African storks, Gula told IANS these storks are very charismatic, and an attraction to them can be seen as far back as ancient Egypt, where the saddle-billed stork was depicted in hieroglyphs as representing divinity. African openbills, Abdim's storks and yellow-billed storks were also deified, as evidenced by their mummified remains in Egyptian animal galleries. "I find it surprising that researchers and conservationists have overlooked these species for so long," Gula adds. The storks nesting on chimneys in Europe are considered an omen of good luck. The migration of some stork species is celebrated each year as some of the most fantastic animal movements across the globe. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/misleading-ads-to-get-10-lakh-penalty-says-govt-body-insisting-14-cos-withdrew-covid-efficacy-ads-after-notice/articleshow/92170866.cms">Misleading ads to get ₹10 lakh penalty says govt body insisting 14 cos withdrew COVID efficacy ads after notice</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/layoff-season-continues-as-logistics-mgmt-startup-fareye-lays-off-250-people/articleshow/92170737.cms">Layoff season continues as logistics mgmt startup FarEye lays off 250 people</a>

Storks are flocking to Haryana and ornithologists are studying their nest location patterns

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Zealandia broke apart from the supercontinent Gondwana millions of years ago then sank.</li><li>It's hard to study an underwater landmass, but researchers say they've created a complete map.</li></ul>After decades of work, a team of scientists has finally completed a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maps-reveal-eighth-continent-zealandia-underwater-2020-6">map of Zealandia</a>. It's helping them unlock the secrets of this lost continent's mysterious past.Zealandia is sometimes called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hidden-continent-zealandia-under-new-zealand-age-map-2021-7">Earth's eighth continent</a>. It stretches over 1.9 million square miles — about half the size of Australia. But it was hidden, lost for millennia, because 95% of it is underwater. That makes it extremely difficult to map since most of its volcanoes, valleys, rifts, and mountains lie at the bottom of the ocean near New Zealand.But that didn't deter scientist Nick Mortimer, who led the team that's been studying Zealandia for over 20 years. In a new study, the team finished mapping the final piece of the continent, the northeast corner. Combined with their data from years of research, they've mapped the continent's surface features like plateaus and ridges. As well as the boundary where the continent and ocean usually meet — a feature that's largely unknown for other continents, because it's not typically studied, Mortimer said.As a result, the scientists believe they've mapped Zealandia more thoroughly than any other continent on Earth. "As far as we're aware, this is a world first," Mortimer, a geologist with <a href="https://data.gns.cri.nz/tez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GNS Science</a> who led the study, told Insider.<h2>Decades of work establish Zealandia as a continent </h2>Some have argued Zealandia isn't a continent because so much of it lies below the water. Others <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/zealandia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">consider it</a> a continental fragment or microcontinent. For geologists, like Mortimer, the definition of a continent doesn't necessarily have to do with sea level. In addition to a continent's large size and defined boundaries between land and sea, another important factor is the continental crust. A continent typically has a thicker crust and is geologically much more varied — with granites, schists, limestones, and quartzites — compared to the sea floor.<div type="image" title="A colorful map of Zealandia in different shades of yellow, orange, and dark red" height="2718" width="3624" msid="104068286" hostid="261" sizebytes="649304"></div>It took a large international collaboration and a combination of satellite, radar, and rock data to understand Zealandia's geology. By 2019, the team had mapped the boundaries of South Zealandia. Based on years of research and accumulating evidence, the team felt they could finally "pronounce Zealandia as a continent, albeit one that is a lot more hidden than other ones" Mortimer said. But the researchers also wanted to know how Zealandia looks, from its volcanoes and ridges to its basement geology — the oldest crust that serves as its foundation. <h2>Geologically mapping Zealandia </h2>Their latest paper,<a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023TC007961" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> published</a> in the peer-reviewed journal "Tectonics" on September 12, fills in the maps' geological gaps in the northeast section, the last piece of the puzzle. The researchers gathered and dated basalt and sandstone rocks from the seabed of the Fairway Ridge area of Zealandia, located in the Coral Sea to the northwest of New Caledonia. They ranged between about 36 and 128 million years old.By gathering rock samples then plotting where they lay on Zealandia, the team could get a sense of what geological forces, like volcano formation and sinking crusts, were happening and when. <div type="image" title="Several gray granite rocks lined up on a white background with a sample number and 5 centimeter scale" height="1685" width="2250" msid="104068287" hostid="261" sizebytes="161692"></div>From left to right, the paper's bathymetric map shows Zealandia's basement geology getting progressively younger, from the Paleozoic to the Permian-Mesozoic eras. The data helps geologists understand what happened when Zealandia broke off from a bigger landmass. <h2>Zealandia is likely Antarctica's cousin </h2>Mortimer calls Zealandia an extra piece of the supercontinent Gondwana puzzle. For a long time, geologists have known Gondwana was a landmass containing what's now Antarctica, Australia, South America, Africa, and India. It began to break up during the Late Jurassic period, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921818114001507" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about 160 million</a> years ago. Zealandia's basement geology gave clues about where it fit into the supercontinent alongside Australia and Antarctica. That included finding where granite once met granite and records of reversals in the Earth's magnetic field. "We can get some very satisfying geological matches across these continents before the supercontinent broke up," said Mortimer. Under its ice, much of West Antarctica is submerged underwater, Mortimer said. Around 100 million years ago, the two nested together in Gondwana. "Both of those parts were stretched, a lot like pizza dough, pulled out and stretched," Mortimer said. "They got wider, but they got thinner."As the crust cooled and thinned, Zealandia started to subside below the water and continued sinking until about 25 million years ago. Meanwhile, crustal uplift created mountains and islands, though New Zealand <a href="https://www.gns.cri.nz/news/the-geological-evolution-of-our-continent-over-100-million-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may never</a> have been fully submerged. <div type="image" title="A drawing of several e atatu penguins on rocks and in water with green hills in the background" height="797" width="1063" msid="104068289" hostid="261" sizebytes="113594"></div>"Adding Zealandia into the data mix is bound to give us some insights into why supercontinents break up," Mortimer said. It also provides biologists with important information about the plants and animals — like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/extinct-penguin-species-suggests-origin-on-lost-zealandia-continent-2020-9">ancient penguins</a> — that lived on Zealandia. The answers to that question and many others remain unsolved, Mortimer said. But now that geologists have a basic idea of the outline of Zealandia and its geology, they can shape their research projects and questions in a much more informed way to answer the whens, the hows, and the whys.

Scientists finally finished mapping Earth's 8th continent Zealandia, helping them solve the lost continent's mysterious history

<ul class="summary-list"><li>While coronavirus has put a majority of the world on some form of lockdown, conservationists consider how these restrictions will impact animals.</li><li>In some regions, sea turtles will be able to nest and hatch easier since beaches are closed. But in other areas, closed beaches may make poaching easier. </li><li>"The news is not all great in terms of how this virus is affecting turtles," David Godfrey, the executive director of the <keyword id="831085" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="sea-turtle">Sea Turtle</keyword> Conservancy, told Insider.</li><li>Either way, experts doubt these lockdowns will have any long-term effects on sea turtle populations. </li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The world's population is on pause and beaches around the world are deserted. It's just in time for sea turtle nesting season.These empty beaches have conservationists questioning how lockdown measures will affect <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photo-sea-turtle-stuck-in-plastic-ocean-pollution-2020-1">sea turtles</a> around the world."The news is not all great in terms of how this virus is affecting turtles," David Godfrey, the executive director of the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=sea+turtle+conservancy&amp;oq=Sea+Turtle+Conservancy&amp;aqs=chrome.0.0l5j69i60j69i61j69i60.219j0j9&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8ome&amp;ie=UTF-8">Sea Turtle Conservancy</a>, told Insider.In some locations, closed beaches have clear positives for turtles. But in other regions, conservationists are concerned that empty beaches might see an uptick in poaching. Either way, experts are unsure if these lockdowns will have any long-term impact. <div type="image" title="Credit Neil Osborne Green" height="804" width="1071" msid="75699018" hostid="261"></div><h2>Although sea turtles have survived for 100 million years, six of the seven species are currently threatened or endangered</h2>Each year, millions of female turtles head to the coastline to lay eggs. Their nesting season starts in March and lasts through October. Populations of loggerheads, leatherbacks, and Kemp's ridleys will head to the shores of <a href="https://www.insider.com/conservationists-are-protecting-sea-turtle-nests-from-hurricane-dorian-2019-9">Southeast US</a>, while other groups of green sea turtles and leatherbacks will swim hundreds of miles to lay eggs in places like <keyword id="57870" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Costa-Rica">Costa Rica</keyword> and Gabon. On these shores, turtles are met with challenges. They might face boat collisions in the shallow water, poachers on land, or disorienting artificial lights.Depending on a turtle's nesting location, the set of challenges vary. For some nesting and hatching populations, empty beaches may be helpful.<div type="image" title="sea turtle conservancy baby turtles" height="900" width="1200" msid="75699020" hostid="261"></div>Take <keyword id="6357385" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="florida">Florida</keyword> for instance, where <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/understanding-vessel-strikes">boat collisions</a> are one of the leading causes of mortality for sea turtles. The coronavirus has largely eliminated that obstacle. "Many of the marinas are closed. Many of the public boat launches are closed," Godfrey said. "So there are few fewer people cruising around our coastline in boats."But even if a turtle makes it to the shore, it could still get deterred by beach debris — whether that's beach chairs, sandcastles, or trash.If the female turtle successfully lays eggs, the eggs will hatch a couple of months later."They all tend to sort of bubble out of the nest, and they immediately are trying to find their way to the water," Godfrey explained. Debris and bright lights can cause them to head in the wrong direction, where they could be caught by predators or become dehydrated. It's estimated that only <a href="https://www.seeturtles.org/baby-turtles">one sea turtle in 1,000</a> will make it to adulthood.<div type="image" title="sea turtle conservancy panama" height="800" width="1067" msid="75699023" hostid="261"></div>Now that beaches are closed, restaurants have shuttered, and hotels sit empty, the female turtles have a better chance of making it to shore and successfully laying eggs. As turtles begin to hatch in lockdown, the babies will also have an easier time finding their way to the ocean. "Purely from a biological standpoint, I expect that there will be less hatching disorientation. I suspect there will be fewer boat collisions. I expect that fewer adult female turtles will be disturbed and caused to go back to the water," Godfrey said. "From a biological standpoint, we're talking about Florida, I think you're going to see those benefits."<h2>At Juno Beach in Florida, researchers have recorded an increased number of loggerhead and leatherback turtle nests than the year before</h2>Just two months into the typical nesting season, the <a href="https://marinelife.org/2020/04/17/leatherback-aussie/">Loggerhead Marinelife Center</a> has already counted 676 nests on its nine and a half miles of beach. At this time last year, the research team had marked 494 nests. But Justin Perrault, the director of research at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, said there's no indication the increase is due to coronavirus. "We are actually above our record year for loggerheads right now," Perrault told Insider. "That doesn't mean anything at the moment. They could start early and end early." <div type="image" title="Morning Surveys_Jen Reilly, Research Operations Manager copy" height="900" width="1200" msid="75699027" hostid="261"></div>Nesting rates vary from year to year as female turtles only nest every few years. The organization expects to have between 10,000 and 15,000 nests, which it's on track for. Perrault also noted that the leatherbacks started nesting in February, which is earlier than usual and before stay-at-home orders had been placed in south Florida. "We don't know the impacts of coronavirus and beach closures on sea turtles in Florida yet," Perrault said. <h2>Empty beaches have created another problem in some regions: the potential for increased poaching</h2>Many coastal communities have long histories of turtle poaching. According to <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sea-turtle">WWF</a>, tens of thousands of sea turtles and their eggs are lost to unsustainable harvesting each year. Turtle meat and eggs have been used as a source for food, income, and medicine across the world for thousands of years. But as sea turtle populations declined, groups formed to support both the turtles and coastal communities.Godfrey and his team at the Sea Turtle Conservancy work directly with communities to reduce turtle poaching. One successful strategy is by providing <a href="https://www.insider.com/airbnb-influencers-sustainable-tourism-5-ways-travel-changed-this-decade-2019-12">ecotourism</a> opportunities. <div type="image" title="sea turtle conservancy" height="800" width="1067" msid="75699031" hostid="261"></div>"In more developing countries, like Costa Rica and Panama for example, we work with coastal communities essentially to eliminate the unsustainable harvesting of turtles and their eggs and replace it with the sustainable use of turtles as an <keyword id="828728" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="ecotourism">ecotourism</keyword> driver," Godfrey said. The coronavirus lockdowns have put tourism on hold, and businesses now face a lack of business. That, paired with an escalated need for food and income, may lead to an increase in poaching."All the people that make their living off those tourists are getting more desperate," Godfrey said. "Those forces are going to cause people to go out and get food for their family off the beach."<div type="image" title="green sea turtle" height="786" width="1048" msid="75699034" hostid="261"></div>In Tortuguero, Costa Rica, Godfrey has heard from his team "that there's less patrolling by park guards taking place, and they are seeing evidence of increased poaching.""The direct human consumption threat is the problem there, and that's only going to get worse because of the virus," Godfrey said. "There's nothing about the virus that will make that better."Before lockdowns, volunteer groups would walk the beaches, tourists would be present, and residents could go on beach walks. Their presence was often enough to deter poachers. With these groups staying home, people have an easier time stealing turtle eggs.Roderic Mast, the CEO of the Oceanic Society and sea turtle expert, said he's heard similar accounts in French Guiana.Mast, who works with turtle conservationists on a global scale, said the pandemic has caused challenges in regulating fisheries. While there might be fewer fishermen on the water, which could lead to fewer accidental turtles caught, there are fewer people on the water to enforce regulations."I think it's not only important to continue to enforce," Mast said. "But I think it's important to take this moment to engage the public in understanding why we enforce. Why it is we protect these resources, not just turtles, but everything."<h2>Are new nests a result of coronavirus?</h2>In a few locations around the world, there has been new or increased sea turtle nesting attributed to empty beaches.On one of <keyword id="3739" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Thailand">Thailand</keyword>'s popular tourist islands, Phuket, leatherbacks are nesting for the first time in five years, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-thailand-turtles/deserted-thai-beaches-lure-rare-turtles-to-build-most-nests-in-20-years-idUSKBN22207G">Reuters</a>.Across the beaches, 11 leatherback nests have been spotted, the highest number in the past 20 years. Although these new nests have been associated with quiet beaches during Thailand's lockdown, according to Aorn Sillapasathitwong, foundation manager at the <a href="http://www.maikhaomarineturtlefoundation.org/about.html">Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation</a> in Thailand, the nesting happened before Thailand's lockdown went into effect. "There is no sea turtle rebounding during COVID-19 in Thailand," he told Insider in an email. "If we consider the timeline, the returning of the leatherback is not related to the lockdown."In India, an estimated 60 million eggs were laid on the eastern coast this year and linked to lockdowns, according to <a href="https://seavoicenews.com/2020/04/01/an-estimated-60-million-sea-turtle-eggs-have-been-laid-on-indias-beaches/">Sea Voice News</a>.Where a sea turtle decides to nest is coded in its DNA, explained Godfrey. By using the earth's <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30351-8">magnetic fields</a>, female turtles can relocate their birthplace and navigate back to the area each year they nest. <div type="image" title="green sea turtle lays eggs" height="784" width="1045" msid="75699036" hostid="261"></div>While it's an exciting discovery, a single sea turtle can nest anywhere from <a href="https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-frequently-asked-questions/">two t0 11 times</a> each season, meaning that it could be as few as two turtles who nested on the beaches in Thailand. That's still promising. Those beaches may have previously been inaccessible to turtles due to fisheries in the water or tourists on the land."We don't want to fool ourselves into believing that a spike portends some sort of recovery of the species," Mast said. "It takes more than a spike to indicate that something like that is happening. But it offers us an opportunity to really stop and reflect on, not just as the status turtles, but the status of nature in general."<div type="image" title="Florida loggerhead hatchlings emerging" height="649" width="865" msid="75699041" hostid="261"></div><h2>Experts doubt empty beaches will have any lasting impact</h2>While the prospect of lockdown has people questioning the benefits and disadvantages it will likely have on turtle populations, the experts that Insider spoke to agreed that one season won't have long-term impacts on sea turtles unless it leads to changes in human action."If we do find these positive impacts of beach closures on the sea turtles, maybe there will be some increased management," Perrault said of Juno Beach.Godfrey agreed. One good or bad season won't make or break sea turtle populations, but he does hope that data might.The data collected during this time could be used to persuade people to protect these animals and change their behaviors."If we can take lessons learned from this year about positive things that have happened to these animals and say, 'Look, you know all those things we've been asking you guys to do the last couple of decades? It actually works. That's the only silver lining I see coming out of this for turtles," he said.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/couple-living-on-sailboat-waiting-to-cross-indian-ocean-2020-5">A couple living on a sailboat had plans to cross the Indian Ocean before lockdowns put their journey on hold in Malaysia</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/photos-children-spain-enjoy-outdoors-first-time-in-six-weeks-2020-4">Photos show children in Spain enjoying the outdoors for the first time in weeks</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/family-quarantining-tree-house-village-dominican-republic-2020-4">What life is like for a family quarantining in an empty treehouse village that usually accommodates 52 people</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/icelandic-forest-service-urges-residents-hug-trees-not-people-2020-4">The Icelandic Forest Service is encouraging residents to hug trees instead of people</a></li></ul>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.insider.com/sea-turtles-coronavirus-lockdowns-florida-thailand-poaching-2020-4">Insider</a>

Beaches around the world may be empty, but conservationists question if sea turtles are truly thriving during lockdowns

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div>Steve Snodgrass via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensnodgrass/2803040449/">www.flickr.com</a> creative commons</div>COMPANIES are the building blocks of the modern world. America has some 6m of them employing 120m people and controlling $30 trillion-worth of assets. Emerging markets are catching up: the number of Chinese companies increased by 80% in 2004-08. Globally 3m new firms are registered each year.
But are companies so good for the world? Enron and <keyword id="50209" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Lehman-Brothers">Lehman Brothers</keyword> were not. Corporate debacles have scorched the global economy: the IMF calculates that the financial crisis produced total bank losses of $2 trillion. They have also led to a collapse of trust in business: a recent survey of trust in the professions found that businessmen and bankers came last, along with politicians.
Why have so many prominent companies gone up in flames? In a new book, "Firm Commitment", Colin Mayer, of Oxford University's Saïd Business School, takes a familiar argument--that <keyword id="6376563" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Shareholders">shareholders</keyword> have too much power--and gives it new life. The idea that the main function of companies is to boost shareholder value rests on a misunderstanding of the nature of the firm, he says. Companies are not owned by shareholders in the way that ordinary goods are owned. They are artificial persons with a distinct legal identity. Companies are not just devices for lowering transaction costs or bundling contracts together. They are devices for getting groups of people--workers and managers as well as investors--to commit themselves to long-term goals.
The doctrine of shareholder primacy is particularly dangerous when combined with dispersed ownership, he believes. Dispersed ownership (which often occurs when founding families sell shares to finance growth) leads to a separation between ownership and control. Managers exploit this separation to feather their own nests. Owners respond by relying on two devices--shareholder activism or the market for corporate control.
Mr Mayer concedes that dispersed shareholding produces benefits. It provides companies with liquidity, extends the role of professional managers and limits the ability of founding families to mess things up. But he worries that the costs are also mounting. The risk of a hostile takeover often reduces a company's incentive to invest for the long-term. The temptation to trade firms rather than build them can hollow out even great institutions: witness the demise of Britain's once-mighty General Electric Company (GEC). The ease with which traders can buy and sell shares means the fate of companies can be determined by people with no stake in their long-term success. Roger Carr, the chairman of <keyword id="6399124" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Cadbury">Cadbury</keyword>, a British food firm bought by Kraft after a bloody takeover battle, noted that "individuals controlling shares which they had owned for only a few days or weeks determined the destiny of a company that had been built over almost 200 years."
Can anything be done to limit the damage done by such predatory behaviour? Mr Mayer thinks corporate social responsibility (CSR) is just hot air unless it changes the financial incentives of people who run companies. He worries that government regulation, at best, treats diverse organisations as if they are the same and, at worst, does more harm than good: the Bubble Act of 1720, introduced after the collapse of the South Sea Company, delayed the development of the joint-stock company by over a century.
He is more sympathetic to a third option--building long-termism into companies' DNA. Many continental companies such as Germany's ThyssenKrupp and Bosch are owned or partly owned by foundations that are obliged to take a long view. Germany saw only three hostile takeovers between 1945 and 2000. For all the talk of the "Anglo-Saxon model", America is less wedded to shareholder power than Britain. American managers can call upon devices (such as "poison pills" and "staggered boards") that make it harder for raiders to take them over. Tech firms often issue two classes of share (voting and non-voting) so that founders can remain in charge. Google crowed that this would "make it harder for outside parties to take over or influence Google".
Mr Mayer wants to go further and create a new class of companies--trust companies. These would be overseen by a board of trustees who would be charged with balancing the interests of various stakeholders and ensuring that the companies lived up to their corporate values. They would also have recourse to different classes of shares with different degrees of power. Voting rights might be linked not just to how many shares you own but also to how long you have held them.
<h3>The companies we keep</h3>
Mr Mayer's proposed cure is less persuasive than his diagnosis. Trust companies can behave as badly as shareholder-controlled ones. ThyssenKrupp, for example, was recently fined EUR103m ($127.5m) by Germany's cartel office for its role in fixing the prices of rail tracks. Mr Mayer praises the Tata Group, which is run by a trust. Fair enough, but Tata had decades to build up its war chest behind India's old trade barriers. He points out that great founders like Mayer Lehman (of Lehman Brothers) infused their firms with values that also helped them grow. Boards of trustees, being committees, are more likely to produce CSR waffle.
Mr Mayer saves his argument by linking it to a wider plea for corporate pluralism. He argues that different sorts of companies are good at different things. Anglo-Saxon firms are good at making tough decisions. Continental ones are good at making long-term investments. Partnerships are good at creating loyal workforces. Policymakers often assume that one corporate form is best, and discourage others. It would be better if they fostered variety, since diverse ecosystems are much more robust.
Click <a href="http://www.economist.com/products/subscribe/CUR22/noreg">here</a> to subscribe to <keyword id="425741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="The-Economist">The Economist</keyword>

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