By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 6 July 2024 (IDN) — Reconciling Humanity with Nature does not sound sexy in a world caught in the grips of geopolitical turmoil, which is triggering a divorce between Humanity and Nature. But it is a vital component of what the United Nations system describes the Triple Planetary Crisis referring […]
Reflections From the Dried-Up Aral Sea
UNCCD Special Feature BONN | 17 June 2024 (IDN) — In the haunting expanse that was once the flourishing Aral Sea, the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe unfolds with swift and devastating consequences. Once the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea has lost about 90% of […]
Like Humans, Elephants Call Each Other by Name
By Ngala Killian Chimtom YAOUNDE, Cameroon | 15 June 2024 (IDN) — A new study has revealed an interesting fact about elephants. Like human beings, they call each other by name. Researchers analyzed 469 calls, or “rumbles,” from wild African elephants in Kenya that had a known caller and receiver. Using artificial intelligence, they found […]
UN Meeting Agrees Actions for the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
By Jutta Wolf BERLIN | 19 February 2024 (IDN) — While human migration continues to stir up emotions, the world’s migratory species that undertake astonishing journeys between ecosystems, often through air, land and water—increasingly damaged by unsustainable human activities—remain out of focus. The State of the World’s Migratory Species report—launched at the start of the […]
World’s Migratory Species of Animals are in Decline, Says UN Report
By Rita Joshi BONN | SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan | 12 February 2024 (IDN) — Unsustainable human activities are jeopardizing the future of migratory species, warns the first-ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report. Migratory species play an essential role in maintaining the world’s ecosystems, and provide vital benefits, by pollinating plants, transporting key nutrients, preying […]
Rainforest Villages in the Line of Fire as Oil Block Auctions are Approved
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 28 November 2023 (IDN) — Is nothing sacred? That seemed to be the question posed by Jean Bolengu Ekunja, chief of the village Baringa in the Congo basin forest. “We won’t compromise!” he was reported to say to a crowd as he drove his spear into […]
Global Progress Towards Ending Land Loss to Be Reviewed in Uzbekistan
By Jutta Wolf BONN | 10 November 2023 (IDN) — The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced the launch of its first-ever Data Dashboard compiling national reporting figures from 126 countries, which shows that land degradation is advancing at an astonishing rate across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Between 2015 and 2019, the […]
Effectiveness of Carbon Credits from Forest Conservation Exaggerated
By Sven Wunder* BARCELONA, Spain. 7 October 2023 (IDN) — Carbon credits from forest conservation have been seen as a promising tool to help mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Global South. They offer a mechanism for companies and individuals to compensate for or offset their own carbon footprint. Carbon credits […]
UN Conference in Samarkand to Address Rapid Land Degradation
By Rita Joshi BONN | SAMARKAND. 13 September 2023 (IDN) — At least 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land were degraded every year between 2015 and 2019, affecting food and water security globally and directly impacting the lives of 1.3 billion people, according to the latest UN data. This adds up to 420 […]
Restore-Rewild-Remind Urges 2030 Global Diversity Framework
By Aurora Weiss VIENNA 7 July 2023 (IDN) — The 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted last December by the 196 State Members of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It was the first international conference designed to move into the implementation of GBF and to support the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Biodiversity was also the topic […]