Oceans Suffering From Sea Sickness: Ocean Health Index Unveiled
Humans undoubtedly have substantial negative impacts on the ocean, and index scores are negatively correlated with coastal human population.
Réunion Island Revokes Order to Hunt Sharks, Yet Controversy Arises
The mayor of a town on Réunion Island has been forced to withdraw decision to pay fishermen to hunt and kill sharks because it contravenes French conservation law.
Emerging Trends in Land-Use conflicts in Cameroon
In 2011, WWF produced a map of the protected areas of Cameroon at the request of the government. Simultaneously, observations had been made by conservation groups that mining permits were being granted inside of Cameroon’s protected areas…
Rock Drilling ‘Threatens’ Scotland’s Geology
Irresponsible drilling of holes into rocks to extract samples threaten to “annihilate” geological features in Scotland, with the general public experiencing defaced outcrop in every setting imaginable – remote beaches and islands, mountain tops, and, lamentably, classic geological sections within statutory protected areas.
Red Tide Species Is Deadlier Than First Thought
Scientists have discovered that a species of tiny aquatic organism prominent in harmful algal blooms sometimes called “red tide” is even deadlier than first thought, with potential consequences for entire marine food chains.
Climate Change and Deforestation: Pre-Human Effect On Biodiversity in Northern Madagascar
A recent study, by an international research group led by Lounès Chickhi, group leader at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (Portugal) and CNRS researcher (in Toulouse, France), questions the prevailing account that degradation of tropical ecosystems is essentially a product of human activity…
Liberia’s Hasty Forest Sell-Off Risks More Conflict
More than half of Liberia’s forests — dense and packed with rare and endangered species, sprawling for hundreds of miles over the small coastal country — have been granted to logging firms, bypassing environmental laws and with few benefits to the people.
Growing Traffic in Sri Lanka’s Waters Threatens Blue Whales
Fifteen miles off the southern coast of Sri Lanka is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and whales are known to swim regularly inside them…
Global Network Will Track Acidifying Oceans
A global effort to track ocean acidification has begun to take shape, as researchers this week made plans to set up an international network of monitoring stations.