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Tuesday, November 10, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Biodiversity
Conservation Congress Votes to Ban All Domestic Trade in Elephant Ivory
The international conservation community has taken an important step towards saving African elephants from mass slaughter by voting at a major congress to call on all governments to ban their domestic trade in ivory.
Conservation Congress Sets Ambitious Target to Protect Oceans
A major environmental conference of governments and NGOs has called on nations to set aside at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans as “highly protected” areas by 2030, but delegates said opposition from China, Japan and South Africa had seriously undermined chances of success.
Japan and South Africa Try to Block Proposed Ban on Domestic Ivory Trade
Japan and South Africa have ignited a furore at a major conservation congress by coming out against a proposed appeal to all governments to ban domestic trade in elephant ivory.
When It Comes to Conservation, Size Matters
When the communities living in the Tatamá y Serranía de los Paraguas Natural National Park in the west of Colombia organised in 1996 to defend their land and preserve the ecosystem, they were fighting deforestation, soil degradation and poaching.
Without Indigenous People, Conservation Is a Halfway Measure
“You don't convert your own house in a tourist site,” said Oussou Lio Appolinaire, an activist from Benin, wearing a traditional outfit in vivid yellows and greens. He was referring to opening up to tourists places that are sacred to indigenous people.
Big Oil and Activists Unite to Protect Endangered Whales
A rare case of intensive and decade-long collaboration between Big Oil, scientists and environmental activists has been hailed as a success story in protecting an endangered species of whale from extinction.
Eastern Gorilla, Our ‘Closest Cousin’, Added to Endangered Species List
Our closest cousin in the animal world, the Eastern Gorilla, is sliding towards extinction because of illegal hunting, the IUCN announced today in the latest update of its Red List of Threatened Species.
Elephant Census Ramps Up Pressure to Stop Domestic Trade in Ivory
A dramatic decline in Africa’s savanna elephant populations caused by poaching - as exposed by the results of a three-year aerial survey released this week - has piled pressure on reluctant governments to back proposals that would lead to bans on domestic trade in ivory.
Dire Warnings But Also Hope as IUCN Environmental Congress Opens
A congress billed as the world’s largest ever to focus on the environment has opened to warnings that our planet is at a “tipping point” but also with expressions of hope that governments, civil society and big business are learning to work together.
Obama Stresses Climate Change Urgency Ahead of IUCN Congress
U.S. President Barack Obama has stressed the urgency of tackling climate change in a speech to Pacific leaders in his home state of Hawaii.
Ships Bring Your Coffee, Snack and TV Set, But Also Pests and Diseases
“Every evening, millions of people all over the world will settle into their armchairs to watch some TV after a hard day at work. Many will have a snack or something to drink…
Concern over Profit-Oriented Approach to Biodiversity in Latin America
In July 2015, the Mexican government granted a U.S. corporation permission for the use of genetic material obtained in Mexican territory for commercial and non-commercial purposes, in one of the cases that has fuelled concern in Latin America about the profit-oriented approach to biodiversity.
The Time is Ripe to Act against Drought
Let us start with some good news. Sort of. The strongest El Niño in 35 years is coming to an end. [1]
False Promises: Avoid ‘Miracle’ Rice and Just Eat a Carrot
Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution, died on September 9, 2009. Alfred G. Gilman died on December 23, 2015. Both were Nobel laureates and now both dead. Gilman was a signatory to a recent letter condemning Greenpeace and its opposition to genetic engineering.
Forests and Crops Make Friendly Neighbors in Costa Rica
While Latin America keeps expanding its agricultural frontier by converting large areas of forest, one country, Costa Rica, has taken a different path and is now a role model for a peaceful coexistence between food production and sustainable forestry.
Malawi Leads Africa’s Largest Elephant Translocation
One of the world's largest and most significant elephant translocations kicked off earlier this month within Liwonde National Park in southern Malawi.
Biodiversity, GMOs, Gene Drives and the Militarised Mind
A recent report from the National Academy of Science of The United States, titled Gene Drives on the Horizon : Advancing Science, Navigating Uncertainty, and Aligning Research with Public Values”, warns:
The Future of Food in Cities: Urban Agriculture
Habitat III, the UN’s conference on cities this coming October will explore urban agriculture as a solution to food security, but here in New York City, it has shown potential for much more.
Record High Seafood Consumption Not Sustainable, Warns UN
The UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) warned Thursday that global fish stocks cannot keep up with record consumption, with the average person now consuming 20 kilograms of fish a year.
Can Better Technology Lure Asia’s Youth Back to Farming?
Farming and agriculture may not seem cool to young people, but if they can learn the thrill of nurturing plants to produce food, and are provided with their favorite apps and communications software on agriculture, food insecurity will not be an issue, food and agriculture experts said during the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Food Security Forum from June 22 to 24 at the ADB headquarters here.
African Fisheries Plundered by Foreign Fleets
In 2011, Dyhia Belhabib was a volunteer in the Fisheries Centre at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver when she was asked to participate in the Sea Around Us’s project to determine how much fish had been taken out of the world’s oceans since 1950 in order to better avoid depleting the remaining populations of fish.« 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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