Progress Towards Protected Area Targets
Protected Area targets have been set globally, regionally, and sometimes at a country level. During the last decade, the global protected area targets that all country signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) committed to were the CBD's Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Specifically, Aichi Target 11 which stated that:
The relationship between Indigenous Peoples' lands and conservation: A systematic literature review
A growing body of peer-reviewed literature is focused on the relationship between Indigenous Peoples' lands (Indigenous lands) and conservation outcomes.
We performed a systematic review of this English reported peer-reviewed literature (n = 111) to examine: the key characteristics; the conservation outcomes documented; the methods used in these studies; and the factors that can shape the effectiveness of Indigenous lands compared to other land tenure types.
The environmental impacts of deep-sea mining
The deep sea contains a wealth of potential mineral resources, many of which are being investigated for commercial exploitation. Exploration and technical tests started in the late 1970s with an initial focus on polymetallic nodules from an abyssal region in the eastern Pacific Ocean called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). More recently, exploration has commenced at seafloor massive sulphides (formed by hydrothermal vents) and seamounts (for cobalt-rich crusts).
Global trade in sea cucumbers ‘alarming’ with many species at risk: Study
The global trade in sea cucumbers has grown since 2013 and continues to decimate the populations of many species, according to a recent study that cites “escalating impacts” and calls for stronger conservation measures. “Nowadays it’s overexploited nearly all over in the world,” Chantal Conand, an emeritus associate at France’s National Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study, told Mongabay, speaking of sea cucumbers generally.
Ocean justice? Marine genetic resources and monetary benefit-sharing under the BBNJ Agreement
he adoption of the BBNJ Agreement concluded a decades-long dispute over how MGRs of ABNJ should be legally classified and how benefits, particularly monetary benefits, derived from the utilisation and commercialisation of these MGRs, should be shared. The outcome represented a legally creative compromise bridging the opposing positions of the Global North and South on these issues. This article argues that the BBNJ regime should be understood less as a final resolution of distributive conflict and more as a reconfiguration of ocean justice through the deferral of equity claims.
Integrating behavioral movement and environmental preferences to map critical habitat of whale sharks using long-term satellite tracking in the Indo-Pacific Ocean
Understanding the spatial ecology of wide-ranging marine megafauna is essential for identifying critical habitats and designing effective conservation strategies. Whale sharks undertake extensive movements far beyond well-studied aggregation sites, yet the spatial structure and environmental drivers of these movements remain poorly resolved.
How Fiji’s Luxury Resorts Are Saving The Endangered Crested Iguana
Deep in the dry tropical forest of Malolo Island, Peter Harlow freezes mid-step. The retired biologist from Sydney’s Taronga Zoo raises his flashlight to cut through the heavy Fijian darkness. To the untrained eye, the canopy is just a monochromatic tangle of leaves. But to Harlow, the light reveals a ghostly reflection—a whitish glow against the dark foliage that signals life.
"There he is," Harlow whispers, pointing to a high branch in a Tahitian chestnut tree. Clinging to the wood is a Fijian crested iguana, a small, emerald-green lizard that looks like a miniature dragon.
Novel Strategies for Coral Restoration
An interdisciplinary team at the University of Miami discovered a new way to help lab-grown baby corals survive through the often-difficult early life stage. By growing these tiny baby corals on cement tiles formulated with sodium carbonate, which raises the alkalinity of the water, a research team was able to show that young mountainous star corals are able to survive much better than the average lab-grown corals. And because survivorship among these young corals is often challenging, the technique could prove useful for coral restoration efforts across the globe.
Don’t just plant trees, plant forests to restore biodiversity for the future
Around the world, people plan to plant more than 1 trillion trees this decade in an ambitious effort to slow climate change and reduce biodiversity loss. But if the past is prologue, many of those planted trees won’t survive. And if they do, they could end up as biological deserts that lack the richness and resilience of healthy forests.