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Deserts on the World Heritage List: Filling the gaps
29 07 2010 Deserts are not just arid, inhospitable places, they are unique and fragile environments and surprisingly full of life. But only a few deserts are World Heritage Sites, despite them covering one third of the earth’s land surface, says IUCN.
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Galapagos off danger list but still at risk
29 07 2010 The World Heritage Committee decided to remove the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) from the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger, despite IUCN´s recommendation to the contrary.
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Help families of rangers who have died on the frontline of conservation
29 07 2010 On 26 July 2010 Achille Vilavu was killed whilst protecting the gorillas of Mount Tshiaberimu against a Mai Mai militia attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Achille is just one of a long line of rangers who have given their lives for conservation worldwide.
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96% of chimpanzees could be saved by African action plan
26 07 2010 Ninety-six per cent of known populations of eastern chimpanzees, that’s an estimated 50,000 individuals, could be protected with a new action plan, which puts stamping out illegal hunting and trafficking as key to saving one of man’s closest relatives. The nations of East and Central Africa have developed a 10-year plan to save the eastern chimpanzee from hunting, habitat loss, disease, the capture of infants for the pet trade and other threats, IUCN and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today.
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IUCN and Rio Tinto announce three-year relationship – focus on enhanced sustainable development
26 07 2010 IUCN and Rio Tinto today entered into a formal collaboration agreement, committing to work together over a three-year period.
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Biodiversity climbs the corporate agenda
26 07 2010 Business leaders in biodiversity-rich developing economies are concerned about losses of ‘natural capital’, a new report highlights.
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Final push to the negotiations on access to genetic resources and benefit sharing
26 07 2010 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity are meeting in Montreal from 10 till 16 July to agree on the details of a new global legal agreement to regulate the provision and use of the world’s genetic resources. The results of these negotiations, to be presented to the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to take place in Nagoya, Japan in October this year, will significantly improve the management of the genetic diversity of our planet contributing to the three objectives of the Convention and - ultimately - to human well-being.
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Protecting our World Heritage
26 07 2010 The UNESCO World Heritage Committee opened its annual meeting today in Brasilia. The Committee will add new outstanding natural and cultural places to the list of World Heritage sites. IUCN plays a key role in the meeting as the advisory body assessing natural sites and recommending new nominations to the World Heritage list.
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Offshore wind farms – green energy or biodiversity threat?
26 07 2010 In the rush to find new sources of energy and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, offshore wind farms are increasingly seen as an attractive solution, but their potential impact on marine biodiversity should not be overlooked.
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Vintage biodiversity – IUCN honoured with dedicated wine
26 07 2010 A 2009 vintage of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris has been dedicated to IUCN in recognition of its work and to mark the International Year of Biodiversity (2010). Julia-Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of IUCN, whose headquarters are located near Geneva, received the wine from La Vigne des Nations from Canton Geneva’s official vineyard at a ceremony on 15 June.
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Launch of IUCN-Reuters-COMplus Environmental Media Awards 2010
15 06 2010 IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), Thomson Reuters Foundation and COMplus are launching the 2010 Media Awards, a worldwide competition aimed at raising global awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues, by encouraging the highest standards in environmental reporting worldwide.
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Go-ahead for Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
14 06 2010 After a week of intense negotiations, governments have agreed to establish a new mechanism, which will strengthen the dialogue between the scientific community and policymakers on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The so-called 'IPBES' - the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services - will be a leading body in making scientifically sound and relevant information available to support more informed decisions on how biodiversity and ecosystem services are conserved and used around the world.
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Signs of renewed confidence in Bonn, but action still urgent
12 06 2010 Climate talks in Bonn healed some of the wounds left by the great disappointment of the Copenhagen Climate Summit last December. Following two weeks of talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), there is now renewed hope that the building blocks for a global climate deal can be adopted at the next summit in Cancun, Mexico at the end of 2010, says IUCN.
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Coasts of life: helping tropical seaside communities cope with climate change
08 06 2010 Climate change is hitting coastal areas hard: rises in sea levels, ocean acidification, extreme events, bleaching and death of coral are all climate impacts which will require adjustments socially and economically. A new IUCN report, published today, provides practical guidance for coastal communities and industries to adapt to climate change.
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Water and Climate Coalition launches statement for Bonn climate talks
07 06 2010 As part of the newly-formed Water and Climate Coalition, the IUCN Water Programme contributed towards the statement on water and climate change, to be announced during the Climate Change negotiations taking place from 1st – 11th June in Bonn, Germany.
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Biodiversity Media Alliance links journalists with the web of life
07 06 2010 Journalists worldwide now have a vital new resource to help their reporting on the world’s biodiversity, what its decline means for humanity, and how it can be tackled.
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Authoritative platform on biodiversity and ecosystems to be established
07 06 2010 IUCN and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBSCD) have today announced their support for the establishment of an overarching platform to provide independent policy‐relevant information on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
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Stop oil and gas exploration now, says IUCN
07 06 2010 Following the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) calls for a global moratorium on oil and gas exploitation in ecologically sensitive areas, including deepwater ocean sites and polar areas.
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Climate action needed now - talks continue
31 05 2010 As climate negotiations resume today at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Bonn, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) urges delegates to establish a post-2012 global climate change regime.
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Mass mortality among saigas in Kazakhstan: 12,000 dead
30 05 2010 Nearly 12,000 Critically Endangered saiga antelopes have been found dead over the last week in the Ural population in western Kazakhstan.
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Drylands mustn't go to waste
25 05 2010 How can we manage something that we can’t measure? The value of drylands is often overlooked and yet they are a crucial source of income and other benefits for millions of people worldwide, as well as for the environment. IUCN works to ensure that dryland resources are valued, recognized and taken into account by decision makers.
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España, a la cabeza de la UICN en el Mediterráneo
25 05 2010 La Ministra de Medio Ambiente, y Medio Rural y Marino de España, Elena Espinosa, ha firmado hoy martes, 25 de mayo con la Directora General de la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, Elena Madrazo, el Consejero de Medio Ambiente de la Junta de Andalucía, José Juan Díaz Trillo y la Directora General de la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, Julia Marton-Lefèvre, un Protocolo General de Colaboración en Madrid cuyo objeto es mantener el Centro de Cooperación del Mediterráneo de la UICN y sus actividades en Málaga.
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New prescription needed for medicinal plants
24 05 2010 Medicinal plants are valuable species: they provide income and healthcare to thousands of people around the world. Greater numbers of people rely on traditional medicine, mostly based on herbs, for their primary healthcare than ‘conventional’ or western medicine. But 15,000 species of medicinal plants are globally threatened from, amongst others, loss of habitat, overexploitation, invasive species and pollution.
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Japanese vision – the New Strategic Plan, a decade of biodiversity and raising awareness with origami
24 05 2010 After the scientific and technical discussions in Nairobi, the eyes of the conservation world will be moving towards Nagoya, Japan, where Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet in October this year to make binding decisions on the future of the world’s biodiversity. The Japan Committee for IUCN has been working to make every effort to ensure that this event, which is crucial for the future of our planet, has a high profile in Japan. Professor Masahito Yoshida is the Chair of the Japan Committee for IUCN. Here he answers questions about the Committee’s work, its role in the CBD conference and how the Japan Committee for IUCN uses origami to raise awareness of the need to conserve biodiversity, all life on earth.
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One step forward to halting biodiversity loss?
24 05 2010 Governments have made “postive moves” towards coming up with a plan to reduce the current loss of biodiversity, which is threatening the future of our planet. Over the past two weeks, delegates at a meeting in Nairobi have been discussing the scientific and technical aspects behind a new “big plan” to save all life on earth, the planet’s biodiversity. Scientists from IUCN, who have been taking part in the discussions, say that they’re encouraged by the commitment shown by governments to develop a new Strategic Plan for the next ten years, which would set targets to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss.
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