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Monday, November 9, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Biodiversity
ENVIRONMENT: Galapagos Islands in Search of Clean Energy
Ecuador has taken the first step towards ending the oil dependence of its Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, with the official opening of a 10.8 million dollar wind energy facility on the island of San Cristóbal.
BIODIVERSITY: Life Under the Macroscope
Free, authoritative and online: 1.8 million species.
ENVIRONMENT: Household Chemicals Wreaking Havoc in Fish
When people take their daily doses of birth control pills, antidepressants and antibiotics, fish are being dosed too.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Canada’s Polar Bears Beset on All Sides
Melting sea ice caused by climate change and government inaction is putting polar bears at extreme risk in Canada as a species over the next 50 years, according to local environmental groups.BRAZIL: GM Maize ‘Worst Tragedy’ of Lula Administration – NGOs
Non-governmental organisations actively involved in the Campaign for a GM-Free Brazil are protesting against what they call "the worst tragedy" to befall the country during the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: the release for cultivation and sale of two transgenic varieties of maize.
LATIN AMERICA: Deforestation Still Winning
Never before have Latin America and the Caribbean fought so hard against deforestation, say experts and government officials, but logging in the region has increased to the point that it has the highest rate in the world.
RIGHTS-BRAZIL: Pantanal Indians Threatened by Deforestation
The indigenous peoples of the central-western Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul do not look like the tribes portrayed in film, decked out in colourful clothing and adornments and depending on their natural surroundings to survive in the Amazon jungle. But some of their problems are similar to their Amazonian counterparts, and in some cases even more serious.
ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Call To Save Major Biodiversity Hotspot
Environmentalists are reviving a plan to conserve the vast hilly, forested region running parallel to the west coast of peninsular India (western ghats), recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot.LATIN AMERICA: A Hellish Life for Dolphins
Mexico is one of the few countries in Latin America that allows the operation of dolphin aquariums - tourist venues that rake in high profits and where these sea mammals often live in severely inadequate conditions, according to studies.ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Bird Watching to Save Habitats
A global banking and investment firm has taken an unusual route to corporate environmental responsibility: through the promotion of bird-watching.US-MEXICO: Border Wall Condemns Jaguars to Extinction
Jaguars have no place in the United States, although a handful still roam the southwest. Environmentalists suspect the real reason U.S. officials are allowing the jaguar to become extinct is the "security" wall being built along the Mexican border.ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Prosecuting Poachers Impossible – Wardens
Inquiries into the decimation of 22 tigers by poachers in this famed tiger reserve, during 2002-2005, have revealed a serious problem - the near impossibility of booking poachers in India.AGRICULTURE: Deep-Freezing Crop Diversity as Safeguard for the Future
Three tons of maize and wheat seeds are on their way to a deep-freeze vault built on an island in Norway, in the Arctic Circle, to be stored with 200,000 crop varieties from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.ENVIRONMENT-SOUTH AFRICA: Ban May Push Abalone to Extinction
South Africa’s decision to suspend commercial fishing of wild abalone, a large marine mollusc, from Feb. 1, could drive the species further towards extinction. Conservationists fear the ban will fuel poaching, currently the most criminalized wildlife trade in Africa.ARGENTINA: Mystery of the Dead Whales
It will be difficult to determine exactly why the number of whale deaths has shot up along the Atlantic coast of southern Argentina’s Patagonia region, but experts studying the phenomenon are pointing to poisoning from the "red tide".ENVIRONMENT-THAILAND: Green Groups Will Take GM Crops Issue To Court
Thai environmentalists are banking on the country’s courts to overturn a decision by the military-appointed government to allow field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops.
ENVIRONMENT-AUSTRALIA: Activists Split Over Policy on Japanese Whaling
As Australia continues to call on Japan to abandon its whaling program, leading environmental groups are divided in their response to the government’s plan to stop Japanese whaling.MEXICO: Transgenic Maize Knocking at the Door
Mexico’s first experimental trials of genetically modified maize will take place next year, a government official has announced. The news has put environmental and campesino (small farmer) organisations, still hoping that this will not happen, on the alert.ENVIRONMENT-INDONESIA: Rescued Pademelons Reach Home
When Hendrik and Hesty flew into the local airport here earlier this month, they were given a ceremonial welcome with Papuan warriors in full battle regalia hopping about to the tune of traditional martial music.BIODIVERSITY: Fish Farms Pushing Wild Salmon to Extinction
Vast populations of pink salmon on Canada's west coast will be extinct in four years due to infestations of parasites from open ocean salmon farms, scientists reported Friday in the prestigious journal Science.CLIMATE CHANGE: Biofuels Scarce on Bali Menu
Green groups hoping that the social and environmental cost of biofuels would get an airing at the United Nations climate change conference here are a disappointed lot.« 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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