“Why do I think we can actually deliver an abundant ocean in 2050 and feed a billion people on the planet? Well, I KNOW that we can, because we’ve already been able to do it in the countries where Oceana works.” Our CEO, Andy Sharpless, explains how we can achieve the unbelievable — protect our […]
Tag: biodiversity
World’s largest rat extermination returns South Georgia to its bird life
A team on South Georgia has successfully completed the world’s largest rodent eradication in an effort to rid the British territory of millions of rats and mice. Against the backdrop of an approaching Antarctic winter between February and May, three helicopters encountered perilous flying conditions while peppering the southern Atlantic island with 183 tonnes of […]
Over 700 species added to the threatened categories on the IUCN Red List (photos)
In another sign of the global biodiversity crisis, the IUCN Red List has added 715 species to its threatened categories of Vulnerable, Endangered, and Critically Endangered in this year’s update. Some of these species were evaluated by the IUCN Red List for the first time while others saw their conditions deteriorate, such as the the […]
Pesticides decimating dragonflies and other aquatic insects
While recent research (and media attention) has focused on the alleged negative impacts of pesticides on bees, the problem may be far broader according to a new study in the Proceedings of the US Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Looking at over 50 streams in Germany, France, and Australia, scientists in Europe and Australia found that […]
Conserving the long-neglected freshwater fish of Borneo
Borneo is a vast tropical island known for orangutans, rhinos, elephants, sun bears, proboscis monkeys, hornbills, and ubiquitous leeches. Conservationists have championed all of these species (aside from the leeches) in one way or another, but like many tropical regions Borneo’s freshwater species have long been neglected, despite their rich biodiversity and importance to local […]
Loss of big fruit-eating birds impacting trees in endangered rainforests
The extinction of large, fruit-eating birds in fragments of Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest has caused palm trees to produce smaller seeds over the past century, impacting forest ecology, finds a study published in the journal Science. The researchers — led by Mauro Galetti from Brazil’s Universidade Estadual Paulista — looked at Euterpe edulis palm seeds in […]
A few days in Sharjah, UAE
Earlier this year, I was fortunate to represent Kuwait at the 14th Conservation Workshop for the Biodiversity of Arabia. I am pleased to report that the bird team was able to achieve the workshop objective of assessing the regional Red List of all the breeding birds of Arabia. On the last day of the workshop, […]
Pictures: Top 10 new wildlife species of 2012
A glow-in-the-dark cockroach, an insect described from a photo posted on Flickr, a monkey that has been likened to Jesus, a carnivorous sea sponge, and the world’s tiniest frog are among the “top 10” species discovered during 2012, according to global committee of taxonomists. The list, now in its sixth year, is based on a […]