By Rodney Reynolds NEW YORK, 12 September 2024 (IDN) — As the 57th session of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) addresses the human rights situation in Sri Lanka next week, a new report from the Oakland Institute, Trincomalee Under Siege: Land Grabs Target the Tamil Homeland in Sri Lanka uncovers the rapidly escalating colonization […]
UN Biodiversity Summit: The Window of Opportunity Closes a Little Every Day
As COP16 in Colombia nears, renowned Argentine biologist Sandra Díaz tells Dialogue Earth of the need for transformative change to tackle biodiversity loss By Fermín Koop* BUENOS AIRES, Argentina | 19 August 2024 (IDN) — Colombia will host the United Nations’ biodiversity summit, COP16, from 21 October to 1 November. In the south-western city of […]
Nepal: Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Maintain Symbiotic Bonds with Forests
By Devinder Kumar NEW DELHI | 10 August 2024 (IDN) — Nepal is richly endowed with forest resources, with a coverage of about 6.4 million hectares. Between 1992 and 2016, the country nearly doubled its forest cover, moving from 26 percent to 45 percent of its land area. The progress in forest regeneration and improvement […]
UN Takes Yet Another Step Towards Reconciling Humanity with Nature
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 […]