Environment

• Saturday, May 11th 2019 - 09:59 UTC

  Call for Evidence: UK program to support nature in British Overseas Territories

  

  A ten week Call of Evidence was launched by the UK Government on Friday, to gather knowledge on safeguarding nature in the UK Overseas Territories. Many of the Overseas Territories are globally significant in their ecological richness, containing over 90% of UK’s marine and terrestrial nature. They are hotspots for biodiversity with an estimated 3,300 endemic species, but they are also highly vulnerable to environmental change.

• Friday, May 10th 2019 - 09:50 UTC

  Vital role of penguins and seals poo for Antarctica bio-diversity

  

  For more than half a century, biologists studying Antarctica focused their research on understanding how organisms cope with the continent's severe drought and the coldest conditions on the planet. One thing they didn't really factor in, however, was the role played by the nitrogen-rich droppings from colonies of cute penguins and seals - until now.

• Friday, May 10th 2019 - 08:30 UTC

  “Spider” man arrested in Ecuador and sentenced to two years in prison

  

  A Japanese man was sentenced to two years in prison in Ecuador for attempting to smuggle a massive haul of creepy crawlies out of the country, officials said on Thursday.

• Thursday, May 9th 2019 - 12:56 UTC

  Ex Brazilian environment ministers blast Bolsonaro's forestry and water policies

  

  Eight former Brazilian environment ministers blasted new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his administration in a letter on Wednesday, saying it is dismantling the country's environmental protections.

• Wednesday, May 8th 2019 - 09:56 UTC

  US objections to climate change derail Arctic nations joint statement

  

  US objections to the wording on climate change prevented Arctic nations signing a joint statement at a summit in Finland, delegates said. It is the first time such a statement has been cancelled since the Arctic Council was set up in 1996.

• Tuesday, May 7th 2019 - 09:57 UTC

  Human activities have put a million species at risk of extinction, says UN global biodiversity report

  

  Human activities have put as many as one million other species at risk of extinction, according to the first comprehensive United Nations report on global biodiversity. The report, a summary of which was released on Monday, emphasizes humanity’s devastating impact on the natural world, which is accelerating extinctions at an unprecedented rate in human history.

• Monday, May 6th 2019 - 09:55 UTC

  Falkland Islands action plan for whale strandings

  

  The reiteration of cetacean strandings and the possible responses to this growing phenomenon were addressed in the Falkland Islands by the Environmental Committee at the Department of Agriculture in Stanley.

• Saturday, May 4th 2019 - 09:52 UTC

  Antarctic Tour Operators introduce mandatory measures to prevent whale strikes

  

  Members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) have unanimously voted in mandatory measures to prevent whale strikes in cetacean-rich Antarctic waters during their annual meeting this year held in Cape Town, South Africa.

• Monday, April 29th 2019 - 09:54 UTC

  Sturgeon declares a “climate emergency” and insists with a second referendum on Scottish independence

  

  Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has declared a “climate emergency” in her speech to the SNP conference. The SNP leader told delegates in Edinburgh she was inspired after meeting young climate campaigners who had gone on strike from school.

• Monday, April 29th 2019 - 09:32 UTC

  Australia plans to cull two million feral cats to save native wildlife

  

  Australia's federal government is once again in the spotlight for a years-old plan to cull 2 million feral cats by 2020, this time after details emerged about the reported use of poison-laced sausages to reduce the island's wild cat population.