Biodiversity

Central America Weakens Forest Shield Against Future Droughts

By Daniel Salazar
Jazziel Baca lives in the municipality of Esquías, in western Honduras, one of the areas hardest hit by the southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis), which damaged almost 500,000 hectares of forest in that Central American country between 2013 and 2015.

Long Maligned for Deforestation, Charcoal Emerges from the Shadows

By Friday Phiri
“We have various financial obligations that push us to charcoal making. Top on the list is farming inputs and school fees,” explains Arclay Moonga, a charcoal producer and chairperson of the recently formed Choma District Charcoal Association in Southern Zambia.

Money Talks at One Planet Summit in Paris

By Paris Correspondent
As funding to combat climate change has lagged behind lofty words, the One Planet Summit in France this week invited governments and business leaders to put money on the table.

Build Back Better: The Tiny Island of Dominica Faces New Climate Reality

By Desmond Brown
McCarthy Marie has been living in the Fond Cani community, a few kilometres east of the Dominica capital Roseau, for 38 years. The 68-year-old economist moved to the area in 1979 following the decimation of the island by Hurricane David.

Indigenous People, Guardians of Threatened Forests in Brazil

By Mario Osava
Indigenous peoples, recognised as the best guardians of the world's forests, are losing some battles in Brazil in the face of intensified pressure from the expansion of agriculture, mining and electricity generation.

Q&A: “What Price Do We Put on Our Oceans?”

By Manipadma Jena
“Political resolve is the key for succeeding in our fight against oceans pollution,” Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, who is leading hands-on the organisation’s global campaign to clean up seas and oceans of plastic litter, agricultural run‑off and chemical dumping, told IPS.

Combating Climate Change? Combat Land Degradation, Says UNCCD Chief

By Stella Paul
Land restoration is not a “glamorous subject even when you give all the numbers,” admits Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD). But she also stresses that by 2050, the world population will reach 10 billion. To feed that extra 2.4 billion, current food production would need to be increased by 75 percent.

The Mekong, Dammed to Die

By Pascal Laureyn
In Laos, the lush forests are alive with the whines of drills that pierce the air. On the Mekong, a giant concrete wall rises slowly above the trees. The Don Sahong dam is a strong symbol, not only for a power-hungry Asia but also for what critics fear is a disaster in the making.

SLIDESHOW: Two Models of Development in Struggle Coexist in Brazil’s Semi-arid Region

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Irrigated green fields of vineyards and monoculture crops coexist in Brazil’s semiarid Northeast with dry plains dotted with flowering cacti and native crops traditionally planted by the locals. Two models of development in struggle, with very different fruits.

Will Policymakers Listen to Climate Change Science This Time Around?

By Busani Bafana
Climate change is altering the ecosystem of our oceans, a big carbon sink and prime source of protein from fish. This is old news.

Locals Learn to Live in Harmony with Drought in Brazil’s Semi-arid Region

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Irrigated green fields of vineyards and monoculture crops coexist in Brazil’s semiarid Northeast with dry plains dotted with flowering cacti and native crops traditionally planted by the locals. Two models of development in struggle, with very different fruits.

Pollution or How the ‘Take-Make-Dispose’ Economic Model Does Kill

By Baher Kamal
The prevailing “Take-Make-Dispose” linear economic model consisting of voracious depletion of natural resources in both production and consumption patterns has proved to be one of the world’s main killers due to the huge pollution it causes for air, land and soil, marine and freshwater.

World Campaign to Clean Torrents of Plastic Dumped in the Oceans

By Baher Kamal
With 30 countries from Kenya to Indonesia and from Canada to Brazil now involved in the world campaign to beat pollution by countering the torrents of plastic trash that are degrading oceans and endangering the life they sustain, the UN has strengthened its massive efforts to clean up the seas, which are the Earth’s main buffer against climate change.

The Shifting Dynamics of Rhino Horn Trafficking

By Julian Rademeyer
Recent raids in South Africa have uncovered disturbing evidence of the changing dynamics of rhino horn trafficking from Africa to Asia.

Fisheries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific – Immense Opportunities, Critical Challenges

By Viwanou Gnassounou
Fish is big business. The latest figures show that more than 165 million tonnes of fish are either captured or harvested in a year, with each person consuming more than 20kg of fish annually, according to the world average. Roughly US$ 140 billion worth of fish is traded globally per annum, with millions of people relying on jobs in fishing and fish-farming, not to mention the seafood industry which involves processing, transport, retail and restaurants.

Alert: Nature, on the Verge of Bankruptcy

By Baher Kamal
Pressures on global land resources are now greater than ever, as a rapidly increasing population coupled with rising levels of consumption is placing ever-larger demands on the world’s land-based natural capital, warns a new United Nations report.

Europe, New Border of Africa’s ‘Great Desert’ – The Sahara

By Baher Kamal
With the highest temperatures on record and unprecedented heat waves hitting Europe this year, Africa’s ‘Great Desert’, the Sahara, is set continue its relentless march on the Southern European countries until it occupies more than 30 per cent of Spain just three decades from now.

Protecting Africa’s Drylands Key to the Continent’s Future

By Sam Otieno
Africa’s population continues to grow, putting intense pressure on available land for agricultural purposes and life-supporting ecosystem services even as the scenario is compounded by the adverse impacts of climate change.

Building Climate Resilience in Coastal Communities of the Caribbean

By Zadie Neufville
Ceylon Clayton is trying to revive a sea moss growing project he and friends started a few years ago to supplement their dwindling earnings as fishermen.

What Does “Climate-Smart Agriculture” Really Mean? New Tool Breaks It Down

By Desmond Brown
A Trinidadian scientist has developed a mechanism for determining the degree of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) compliance with respect to projects, processes and products.

This Is How Indigenous Peoples Help Curb Gas Emissions, End Hunger

By IPS World Desk
A third of global forests, crucial for curbing gas emissions, are primarily managed by indigenous peoples, families, smallholders and local communities, according to the United Nations.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*