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Sunday, November 8, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Biodiversity
A Growing Illicit Trade Threatens Jamaica’s Wildlife
News of Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo's newest attraction shocked Jamaican authorities. The unlikely stars: a flock of 45 endangered Jamaican Amazon parrots, hatched from eggs smuggled out of the island in rum-cake boxes.
Oceans Will Not Survive ‘Business as Usual’
Our oceans face a grim outlook in the coming decades. Ocean acidification, loss of marine biodiversity, climate change, pollution and over-exploitation of resources all point to the urgent need for a new paradigm on caring for the earth’s oceans—"business as usual" is simply not an option anymore, experts say.
Rio+20 Summit: A Moment That Must Be Seized
The upcoming Rio+20 conference has to be the moment in human history when the nations of the world come together to find ways to ensure the very survival of humanity, many science and environmental experts believe.Thai Province Shows the Green Way
As fingers of morning light slip through the mango and banana orchards of his village, Suchin Utanarat heads out in a boat to net a fresh catch from the nearby canals teeming with shrimp.
Mesoamerican Coral Reef on the Way to Becoming a Marine Desert
Scientific studies show that global warming is causing irreversible damage to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the world’s second largest coral reef, yet efforts to protect this biologically and economically vital ecosystem remain insufficient.
Q&A: Needed: Common Caribbean Strategies Against Climate Change
Subject to the double impact of the global economic crisis and climate change, the Caribbean island nations are in need of adaptation strategies in which international cooperation and citizen participation play key roles, says Cuban expert Ramón Pichs.More Japanese Turn Against Whaling
The arrest and release of a Dutch activist in Japan has put in bad light this country’s refusal to heed international calls to limit traditional dolphin and whale hunting practices in favour of conservation.
Q&A: No Magic Solutions for the Extinction of Species
The Earth's life support system, which generates the planet's air, water and food, is powered by 8.7 million living species, according to the latest best estimate. We know little about 99 percent of those unique species, except that far too many are rapidly going extinct.
No Magic Solutions for the Extinction of Species
The Earth's life support system, which generates the planet's air, water and food, is powered by 8.7 million living species, according to the latest best estimate. We know little about 99 percent of those unique species, except that far too many are rapidly going extinct.
Caribbean Hit Hard by Sargassum Seaweed Invasion
When scientists speak of the Sargasso Sea, which occupies part of the Atlantic Ocean, there is usually little mention of things drifting out because of the immobile currents.
Rural Women Are Leading the Way – Will the World Follow – Part 2
The United Nations’ 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) opened Monday in New York, with the empowerment of rural women high on a list of priorities for this year.
Rural Women Are Leading the Way – Will the World Follow? – Part 2
The United Nations’ 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) begins today in New York, with the empowerment of rural women high on a list of priorities for this year.
Rural Women Are Leading the Way – Will the World Follow? – Part 1
Agriculture currently provides a livelihood for roughly 1.3 billion smallholder farmers and landless workers, of which nearly half – close to 560 million – are women.
COTE D’IVOIRE: Illicit Timber Trade Exposes the North to Drought
Environmental groups in Côte d'Ivoire say the illegal logging and sale of wood from the African gum tree is exposing the north of the country to the encroaching desert. The NGOs are calling on the authorities to take firmer action against the illicit timber traders – who allegedly include government officials.
Somalia’s Rich Maritime Resources Being Plundered, Report Says
The international community has failed to grapple with the real underlying political and economic issues facing the troubled East African nation of Somalia, which has been surviving without an effective government for over two decades, according to a new study released here.
Scientists Urge Reform for a Broken Global System
Unless governments work actively to build a brighter future for humanity, climate change, poverty and loss of biodiversity will worsen and continue to exacerbate existing global problems, top scientists warned ministers attending the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) governing council meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday.INDONESIA: Community Radio Helps Revive Forests
Irman Meilandi unhesitatingly attributes the return of birds, wildlife and the forests around his hilly village of Mandalamekar in West Java province to conservation advice streaming in over community radio.
Paper Industry Decimating Indonesia’s Tigers
The survival of Sumatra's tigers, elephants, orangutans, rhinos, as well as indigenous communities, is threatened by the "world's fastest deforestation rate", caused by none other than the pulp and paper industry, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Q&A: ‘World Bank in Tiger Territory – No Greenwashing’
BANGKOK, Feb 20, 2012 (IPS) - When World Bank president Robert Zoellick steps down in June, the tiger will lose an ally who worked to prevent the decimation of Asia’s iconic animal by a voracious demand for its bones and parts in newly affluent China.ENVIRONMENT: Weed Threatens Indian Rhino’s Last Refuge
While shoot-at-sight orders are now effectively keeping rhinoceros poachers at bay, an aggressive weed is threatening the one-horned ungulate in one of its last retreats - the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in eastern Assam state.ARGENTINA: Parana River Not What It Used to Be
Lower water levels and increasing pressure from overfishing in the Paraná river are causing an unprecedented decline in fish stocks in the river that is regarded as the second most biodiverse in South America after the Amazon river.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The world's diverse flora and fauna are facing urgent threats due to pollution, climate change, commercialization of nature and other forms of harmful human intervention. The widespread loss of biodiversity is worrying not simply because of the disappearance of exotic species which deserve saving, but because tampering with nature's equilibrium means that the loss of one form of life is a threat to another. IPS taps into its own diverse network of correspondents around the world to report on continuing and emerging dangers to nature's riches - and the struggle to protect them.
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