Knowledge Base

Free Kirstenbosch entry for world celebration

Cape Town - Wednesday, the International Day for Biological Diversity, is being celebrated around the world, including at Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, where entry is free for the day.

Namibia: Biodiversity Action Day Marked

Gobabeb — Namibia's environment has started turning into an enemy that conspires with nature, while poor farming practices, excessive mining and deforestation have contributed to environmental degradation, according to the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Uahekua Herunga.

It's not just another day

Whenever Savithri, a resident of south Chennai lifts a drink of water she sends a silent “thank you” to the sea near her home. “This is the latest gift from the sea,” she says with feeling.

New app teaches Costa Rican biodiversity

Interested in Costa Rican biodiversity? A new app claims to be the easiest way to find out about Costa Rican species.

Q+A: Committee on World Food Security chair urges use of forest foods in diets

Governments must ensure food security is top of the development agenda as global population expands from 7 billion to a projected 9 billion people by 2050, the chair of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) told Forests News at a conference in Rome.

Plague of deforestation sweeps across south-east Asia

In 1968, during the six-month siege of Khe Sanh — one of the most bitterly fought battles of the Vietnam War — a special U.S. Air Force outfit flew defoliation missions. Called the Ranch Handers, their motto was: "Only you can prevent a forest."

Environmentalists See Seeds as Key to Agricultural Reform

FLORENCE, May 20 2013 (IPS) - As the global agricultural sector is faced with ever-greater challenges, the question of how to reform and improve the sector is a controversial and difficult one. So Terra Futura, a three-day exhibition and conference on agricultural good practises held annually in ...

British school takes lecture classes to new depths -- 60 feet down

ESSEX, England, May 20 (UPI) -- Britain's University of Exeter says it has taken its marine biology lecture classes to a new level -- 60 feet beneath the sea off Indonesia, to be exact.

Shrinking Ganga Continues To Battle Pollution

VARANASI: Even as the world gets set to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) on May 22, the Ganga continues to be threatened by pollution.

UNEP says Bright Moon partnership reaffirms China's green aspirations

NAIROBI, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN Environment Program (UNEP) agency said Monday China is currently a strategic and significant player in the advancement of green transformation and sustainable development globally.

'Most fragile' Spain tops endangered species list

Ecologists have urged government action to tackle the 'alarming' crisis of 'biodiversity destruction' in Spain as data reveals that the country is the most vulnerable in Europe.

Blue whales making comeback in New Zealand waters

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, May 20 (UPI) -- Blue whales, the world's largest animal almost hunted to extinction in the 19th Century, are making a comeback in waters off New Zealand, scientists say.

A second chance to save the climate

Humanity has a second chance to stop dangerous climate change. Temperature data from the last decade offers an unexpected opportunity to stay below the agreed international target of 2 °C of global warming.

Climate Change May Have Little Impact On Tropical Lizards: Study Contradicts Predictions of Widespread Extinction

May 17, 2013 — A new Dartmouth College study finds human-caused climate change may have little impact on many species of tropical lizards, contradicting a host of recent studies that predict their widespread extinction in a rapidly warming planet.

Invasive Species: 'Away-Field Advantage' Weaker Than Ecologists Thought

May 17, 2013 — For decades, ecologists have assumed the worst invasive species -- such as brown tree snakes and kudzu -- have an "away-field advantage."

New Discovery: One Good Thing Coal Does for Nature

Before we get started, a warning. What you’re about to read is going to sound at first like something cooked up by the same folks who gave us the oxymoronic (and otherwise moronic) advertising slogan “Clean Coal.” It will sound like a fantasy story even a Fox News anchor would not dare announce: ...

Many species of waterbirds thrive along the Seberang Prai and Kedah coastlines

SPOTTING a spoon-billed sandpiper was not on the agenda, but it happened. The first sighting in nine years in Penang, one might argue that only someone as bird-crazy as David Bakewell, an environmental consultant and avid birdwatcher, could have spotted it.

Could the Tasmanian tiger be hiding out in New Guinea?

Many people still believe the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) survives in the wilds of Tasmania, even though the species was declared extinct over eighty years ago.

Biosphere conservation: monumental action is critical to avert global environmental crisis

Human-caused changes to our biosphere—the global total of the world's ecosystems—are now so great and alarmingly rapid that human lives and societies undoubtedly face epic challenges in the near future as our biosphere deteriorates, planetary boundaries are reached, and tipping points exceeded.

How to Save a Fish … a Lake and a People

LILONGWE, May 20 2013 (IPS) - Lloyd Phiri, a fisherman from Senga Bay on Lake Malawi’s shores in Malawi’s central region, knows that the lake’s water levels are dropping. He can see it in his catch, which has shrunk by more than 80 percent in recent years.

Rare crane egg given 24-hour guard

The first common crane egg laid in western Britain for more than 400 years has been given a round-the-clock guard

Statement by Mr. Braulio F. de Souza Dias , CBD Executive Secretary, at the opening of the Regional Workshop for South, East and Southeast Asia on the Preparation of the Fifth National Report and Regional Scenario Analysis, Incheon City, Republic of Korea, 20-24 May 2013

Regional Workshop for South, East and Southeast Asia on the Preparation of the Fifth National Report and Global Biodiversity Outlook and regional policy scenarios

20 - 24 May 2013, Incheon City, Republic of Korea

Statement by Mr. Braulio F. de Souza Dias , CBD Executive Secretary, at the opening of the Regional Workshop for South, East and Southeast Asia on the Preparation of the Fifth National Report and Regional Scenario Analysis, Incheon City, Republic of Korea, 20-24 May 2013

Biodiversity week in Saint-Laurent

19 May 2013, Montreal, Canada