News

Improved recycling and a circular economy negates the need for costly and damaging mining of the deep seabed...Interest in alternative sources of minerals is growing among civil society, scientists and companies, with work being undertaken towards “urban mining” and the shift to a circular econom

Coastal communities have a stronger effect on local ocean acidification than previously believed...new measurements taken in California’s Monterey Bay show that it absorbs carbon dioxide emissions from the surrounding cities and agricultural lands, making it more acidic.

The Oceania Regional Conservation forum entails a week full of debates, discussions and decisions which will be the input imposed on the 2020 global biodiversity framework.

Rubbish has been washing up on its isolated beaches in the Pitcairn chain at a rate of several thousand bits of plastic a day. Link to full article below. 

Climate change will cost Pacific island countries and territories about $60 million in lost tuna-related revenue by 2050, Johann Bell, senior director of Pacific tuna fisheries at Conservation International, reportedly told the Pacific Islands News Association.

All mining operations, on land or at sea, cause environmental damage. Research strongly suggests that deep-sea mining will result in the loss of biodiversity...Such efforts could protect fragile marine environment from impacts of mining. Link to full article below.

International fleets are putting pressure on the world’s shark populations, whose natural habitat is largely located in industrial fishing areas — where no legal protection exists, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.Link to the full article below.

A single use plastic ban and importation levy comes into force in Tuvalu from the beginning of August to help deal with waste in the small remote islands. Link to full article below. 

Security has been beefed up at caves where moa bones are at risk of being pillaged, as the government moves to make it illegal to trade remains of the extinct bird. Link to full article below.

A gradual restriction on the use of plastics starts in New Caledonia today. Per capita New Caledonians have reportedly used more than 200 plastic bags each year. Link to the full article below.