UNESCO / World Heritage in the Pacific

UNESCO Workshop considers national and regional priorities for World Heritage in the Pacific “Suva, Fiji (19 November 2021) – UNESCO, in partnership with IUCN Oceania, recently completed a draft background report to inform the Pacific Regional World Heritage Action Plan 2021-2025. The report is based on consultation at national and regional levels, and the findings present the dynamic heritage profile of the Pacific region, including challenges, strengths and opportunities, and suggest national and regional priorities for action for World Heritage....

CITES meeting in France vital for wildlife trade issues

France is preparing to host 74th meeting of the CiTES* Standing Committee * cites – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Lyon, with the support of the Metropole, and ensuring safe sanitary conditions for the participants.   The upcoming 74th meeting of the CITES Standing Committee will take place in the Metropolis of Lyon (France) and bring together members and observers to review strategic, policy and species-specific matters affecting the implementation of...

Soils – new plan for healthy green countryside

  Soil is one of the world’s most precious resources, but is often overlooked. The soil does many important tasks. It provides food and energy, keeps water clean, acts as a place to store carbon in the fight against climate change, and maintains biodiversity. But some modern farming and countryside management practices have been degrading our soil, causing erosion and causing other issues in the surrounding landscape. Now soil is at the centre of a recently announced UK government policy...

Is all well in paradise? Christmas Island locals demand a voice…

Australia is adding an area of the Indian Ocean bigger than France to its network of marine parks in an attempt to keep out international fishing boats and promote scientific discovery in two biodiversity hotspots. The Morrison government announced $5.4m would be spent to create two marine parks around Christmasp Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands covering 740,000 sq km – a huge expanse of ocean almost as large as the state of New South Wales. Conservationists said the promised...

National Parks of Australia: Christmas Island turns 40

“Located 1500 km from the Australian mainland, Christmas Island is a remarkable ecotourism destination. This tiny dot of land in the Indian Ocean boasts tropical rainforests, freshwater wetlands, spectacular sea cliffs and diverse wildlife both above and below the water. Visit us to encounter rare birds, millions of crabs and an extraordinary array of marine life. ( Source : https://parksaustralia.gov.au/christmas/ ) Geology Christmas Island’s steep cliffs, stepped terraces and abundant caves are the result of a fascinating geological past. The...

Animals of Christmas : the Robin

The robin is a fundamental creature of Christmas season Appearing on Christmas cards ( right )   ~~~~~~~~~ The Robin – according to some English folklore – is the harbinger of “bad luck” . Note I’m not all into superstition, however I found this intriguing ….. “A robin in the house is a portent of death The humble little robin, eh? Who’d have thought he hid such sinister purpose? But some people take this very seriously indeed. On Dartmoor, it...

Red list – Bad news for birds

  The birds of the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man are assessed every few years and placed into one of three categories of increasing conservation importance – Green, Amber or Red. Birds of Conservation Concern 5 More birds than ever before were placed on the Red list of greatest conservation concern in the latest report, published in 2021. At 70 species long, the Red list is nearly double the length of the one in the first report in...

environment events calendar

  Penguin Awareness Day – January 20 Australia Day – January 26th – https://www.australiaday.org.au World Wetlands Day – February 2nd  – SAMSAR  women in Science- February 11th World Wildlife Day – March 3rd – world-wildlife-day  World Penguin Day – April 25 Youth Clean up Day – March 4th Parks Week – March 5-13 – parks Week Seaweek – March 6 -14 – aaee  Sustainable Seafood Week – March 21-28 – information African Penguin Awareness Day (October 13) LearnFromNature  Tweet  ...

Museums – digitising collections & making discoveries

The Australian Museum is digitising its collections, including the historic and diverse Marine Invertebrate collection. Below the Museum explains how is opening up its treasure trove of specimens to the world and the discoveries we are making along the way – but first, two some questions that the digitising raises…    Why are museums important? In today’s uncertain times, museums can act as an anchor in the storm. To those who aren’t as passionate about the power of museums as...

Monkey Day – time to celebrate, or wonder why they are endangered?

Monkeys, it is said … can be very cute, are mischievous, and are sometimes downright obnoxious  – pulling down washing, stealing food. Note that since people have come to be in, dominate and take over monkey’s habitats – it’s therefore the monkeys’ negative behaviours that might be a result of human interference or overly close proximity to these otherwise interesting creatures! Many species of primates are also endangered – visit IUCN Red List , and then there are questions of animal...