PACIFIC
/ OCEANIA
Australia:
Canberra cuts down timber standard
The Federal Government fails to respond effectively to
Australia’s involvement in the international illegal
wood trade. Why?
Storm
floods Australia as bushfires burn
The clash of monsoon rains and drought-fuelled bushfires.
Australia's
Military Asked to Battle Cane Toads
Introduced from Hawaii in 1935, cane toads have now multiplied
to near-plague proportions. Numerous native species risk extinction
on account of eating their poisonous skin.
NORTH AMERICA
A
speck of a species - felling pines across West
Now for the Gore Range, across the lower Blue River Valley…..
The mountain pine beetle continues its devastation of lodgepole
pines.
Gardeners
save the day as butterfly habitats disappear
Genetically engineered crops have destroyed the monarch
butterfly habitat but can gardeners help?
Oregon:
Logging found to violate owl protection
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violate the Endangered
Species Act by approving a federal logging project that affects
the northern spotted owl habitat.
Forests
lure moose to Massachusetts
Natural reforestation encourages the unexpected return of
the moose.
Activists
fight forest land sales
Bush is at it again. In his 2008 proposed budget, 300,000
acres of national forest is to be sold.
Sea
Bird Tied to Logging Fight Dwindles
The marbled murrelet, a threatened sea bird whose nesting
habits have influenced logging battles in the U.S. Northwest,
is in dramatic decline in their usual homeland of Alaska and
Canada.
California:
State must defend costly deal to save Headwaters Forest
In 1999, California and the federal government paid a
generous $480 million to Pacific Lumber in a historic deal
to save venerable redwoods and protect wildlife habitat in
the Headwaters Forest.
Landowners
Plant Trees to Consume Gases
New forests are being planted by landowners in the Pacific
Northwest in order to consume greenhouse gases and potentially
buffer climate change.
Advocacy
Groups Seek Ban on Wildlife Poisons
Advocacy groups ask for the ban of two poisons primarily used
to kill coyotes that threaten livestock and game. These are
causing traumatic deaths not only of the intended victims
but also of the wildlife that feeds on them.
MIDDLE EAST
Iraq
Marshlands Rebound to Go on Despite Turmoil
Thousands of birds and fish return to the ancient marshlands
of southeastern Iraq, formerly drained by Saddam Hussein.
Big
Cat to Bow Out of Afghanistan?
The snow leopard continues to be a great prize for poachers.
Oman:
MIT team describes unique cloud forest
Trees extract moisture from low-lying clouds in the desert
of Oman.
Cedars
of Lebanon Biosphere Reserve in the Line of Fire
Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon puts at risk the last
surviving biblical cedars of Lebanon.
Syria:
Rare Ibis Tagged in Race to Save Bird of Pharaohs
Scientists have tagged three northern bald ibis, a bird once
so revered it had its own Egyptian hieroglyph. Now it faces
extinction.
SOUTH EAST ASIA
Bangladesh:
At the mercy of climate change
The trees of the Sundarbans nature reserve in Bangladesh have
suddenly started dying.
India's
vulture programme breeds success
The oriental white-backed vulture is bred in captivity for
the first time. Is it too late to save it from extinction?
Nepal:
1,792 species of plants in Nepal used as medicine: book
1792 of an estimated 7000 plants in Nepal have been used in
some way in both traditional and modern medicine.
India's
forgotten tribes gain rights over forests
Eviction laws change to laws which give rights to the native
inhabitants of the Gir wildlife sanctuary in western India.
EUROPE
Poles
Protest Road Plan that Threatens Nature Site
Poles protest against a road-building project to save their
nature reserves.
Norway:
Doomsday Vault Designed
Norway has unveiled the final design for the Svalbard International
Seed Vault, destined to house seeds for every food crop on
earth.
European
blowback for Asian biofuels
European concern over the adverse environmental impact associated
with the production of south-east Asian biofuels may yet scupper
this multi-billion dollar industry.
United
Kingdom: UK criticised over illegal timber
The UK is the world's third largest importer of illegal timber,
according to a report from conservation body WWF.
Where
have all the birds gone?
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds cites global
warming as reason for their disappearance.
Warm
Winter Brings Exotic Butterflies to Alps
African and Mediterranean butterflies are seen alongside blossoming
almond trees and primroses in the usually snowy Austrian Alps.
EU:
Climate change will transform the face of the continent
The European Union predicts that Europe will be devastated
by climate change.
United
Kingdom: Concern for rainforest forces RWE to scrap palm oil
project
In a major blow to the promotion of biofuels, environmental
groups help convince RWE npower to abandon plans to convert
a British power station to run on palm oil.
United
Kingdom: Butterflies and lambs...in winter!
The first day of 2007 saw new born lambs, flowering rhododendrons
and exotic butterflies.
WINTER
2006
SPRING
2006
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SOUTH
/ CENTRAL AMERICA
Eco-tourism
hope for Ecuador tribes
One of the rainforest’s indigenous tribes is taking
over a unique eco-tourism project as a way to protect their
lands from oil extraction.
Peru:
Glacier could be gone in five years
Within five years, global warming could cause the disappearance
of the principal glacier of the world’s biggest ice
cap according to a leading glaciologist
Patagonia
to the Highest (Foreign?) Bidder
A new book which investigates major land purchases by
foreign multimillionaires has been selling like hot cakes.
City
botanist sows seeds of help for Peruvian farmers
The Royal Botanic Garden is helping Peruvian farmers in the
Andes replant their native forests.
Ethanol
Production Could Be Eco-Disaster, Brazil's Critics Say
Brazil’s biofuel program could become a world model
for the production of sustainable energy. But at what cost?
Peru's
Amazon oil deals denounced
Large areas of the Amazon are to be auctioned off to oil and
gas companies by the Peruvian government.
Acres
of Paraguayan wetland saved
The British charity the World Land Trust has bought thousands
of acres of environmentally important wetland under threat
from destruction.
Brazil
nuts' path to preservation
Brazil nuts have a huge market in Europe and North America.
Since they grow wild, they provide an excellent financial
reason for preserving the rainforest.
More
Isolated Indians Survive in Amazon Rain Forest, but Face Peril
Far more Indian groups than previously thought are surviving
in Brazil’s Amazon rain forest isolated from the outside
world, but they risk destruction at the hands of encroaching
loggers and miners.
World's
Largest Gas Pipeline Proposed to Run Through Amazon
The proposed Southern Gas Pipeline through 5000 miles of South
American wilderness risks being an environmental catastrophe.
AFRICA
Niger:
Projects Aplenty to Halt the Desert
The Ténéré desert, part of the Sahara
is advancing by 6km every year.
Kenya:
Sweet-Smelling Tree of Arid Areas Faces a Bleak Future
Sandlewood, famed for its medicinal qualities, is under threat
of extinction from over-exploitation.
Uganda:
Kalangala to Lose More Land
More forest to be converted to palm oil plantations.
Mozambique:
Chainsaws Cut Down More Than Just Trees
Mozambique’s forests continue to be stripped in the
demand for hardwood.
Dying
with Lake Chad
NASA blames global warming and human activity for the vanishing
waters of Lake Chad.
Madagascar:
The 'extinct' animal ducks back again
Zoologists spent 18 years looking for the Madagascar pochard
in the wrong habitat.
Cameroon:
German MPs Astonished At Misuse of Forest Resources
The Cameroon Government’s management of forest and wildlife
resources under scrutiny by German MPs in an effort to guarantee
that the local population remains the major beneficiary.
EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA
Indonesia:
World Bank Criticized for Forest Report
Is the World Bank endorsing Indonesia’s plans to create
vast timber plantations in place of tropical forests?
Indonesia
to Welcome Endangered Rhino
The first Sumatran rhino born in captivity in more than 100
years is bound for Indonesia to breed and help save the endangered
species from extinction.
Wildlife
Group Urges Guilt-Free Chinese New Year
The Chinese are encouraged to think about what they eat on
their special occasions.
Orangutans
in Peril as Indonesian Logging Accelerates
Only emergency measures will save the orangutan now warns
a new United Nations report.
Malaysia:
PM: We must preserve mangrove forests
Protection from another tsumami and possible medicinal properties
of their plant life were stated as reasons for the call to
protect threatened mangrove forests.
Indonesia
Wants Countries Paid to Keep Forests
It’s O.K. for you! Indonesia wants rich countries to
pay developing nations to preserve their forests.
Indonesia:
Greenpeace: Gov’t auction of Indonesian forests is scandalous
Greenpeace denounces the Indonesian Forestry Ministry’s
latest plans to auction off old forest concession permits.
2.16
Billion Trees Planted in China in 2006
The country’s percentage of forest cover has risen to
18.21 percent, compared with 12 percent in 1981.
Vietnam's
illegal bile trade traps bears in agony
How to change strong cultural traditions? Can a bear sanctuary
begin to stop this barbaric cruelty?
WORLDWIDE / GENERAL
Native
languages hold the key to saving species
Many animals and plants could be saved just by exploring
the vocabulary and expressions of native people.
Global
Standard Set for Wild Medicinal Plant Harvesting
The IUCN's Species Survival Commission launched a new
standard to promote sustainable management and trade of wild
medicinal and aromatic plants.
Zoologists
plan 'ark' to save frogs from extinction
Hundreds of species of frogs may be wiped out because of a
fungus. Zoologists plead for a global action plan.
Deforestation
Main Challenge for UNEP
The governing council of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) discuss the severe degradation of the environment
and its impact on climate change.
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