Environment

European countries have agreed to create six marine protected areas (MPAs) in the northeast Atlantic to step up the protection of the region's environment. They have defined six zones or MPAs over 285,000 sq km where human activity should be limited. The decision was taken at a meeting on Friday in the southwestern Norwegian city of Bergen of the OSPAR Commission, a body through which 15 regional countries, along with the European Union, work to protect the environment of the northeast Atlantic...

Two-thirds of US cities and counties consider the environment and energy conservation a priority, but far fewer have taken steps to address those issues. And four out of five people do not consider climate change to be a high priority. The findings are from a survey of 2,176 local governments by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). When asked to what extent different elements were a priority for them, 46.3 percent said it was "no priority". Another 34.6 percent said it...

The damage caused by the flash floods in Leh and Uttarakhand regions could have been minimised or even averted had their respective state governments put in place warning systems to alert citizens of impending disasters which were predicted by climate change reports. The IPCC fourth assessment report in early 2007 had warned of precisely such climate impacts. The Climate Revolution Initiative has released RTI replies filed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) environment...

The example of Pune has been cited as a classic case study for making cities resilient by investing in and maintaining critical infrastructure that reduces risk, such as flood drainage, adjusted where needed to cope with climate change. The initiative was driven jointly by the elected municipal government, the municipal commissioner and Alert (active citizen groups), and involves many different city departments. It demonstrates that local governments can prepare for climate change by reducing...

Half of UK consumers have no idea that the paper and wood products they are buying may be contributing to the destruction of the world’s forests. But two-thirds believe authorities should commit to buying sustainable wood and paper products. The findings are from a survey carried out as part of WWF’s ‘What Wood You Choose?’ campaign. The two-year, EU-funded project, aims to help people make the right choices when buying wood-related products such as a new bed, flooring or paper for their printer...

Greenpeace activists Tuesday occupied an oil drilling ship anchored off Shetland Isles to push for a ban on deepwater drilling in the North Sea. Two members used boats to reach the 228-metre Stena Carron and attached themselves to its anchor chain. One of the Greenpeace protesters, Anais Schneider, said, "The Shetlands are so beautiful and an oil spill here could devastate this area and the North Sea. It's time to go beyond oil. Our addiction is harming the climate, the natural world and our...

Worldwide application of a new standard for sustainable harvesting of wild medicinal, aromatic, dye and food plants and trees is charting new ways to protect the species and their habitats and benefit the communities that depend on them. In Karnataka, India, it is now possible to collect the resin of the white palle tree used in traditional Indian medicine and incense without removing the bark and killing the trees that provide it. In Cambodia, a new cooperative has boosted returns to medicinal...

Researchers in the UK have demonstrated nature’s talent for cross-breeding plants to create new flowers. These findings may help explain the rich biodiversity of the natural world. DNA analysis of wild evergreen rhododendrons in the Himalayas has suggested that hundreds of species of the plant could be derived from hybrids — cross-breeds between different species. These findings may help explain the rich biodiversity of the natural world. The study by researchers from the University of Edinburgh...

This is a subject so oft-debated in our circles that it is beginning to lose its significance. The basic factors responsible for the virtual non-existence of environmental/wildlife issues in the news media are the same today as they were some years back. Recycling the same issues again would do nothing more than fill up space for Green Voice. It is time to take things further, to develop a strategy, and work on – not towards – it. The fight for news-space is not a battle, it is a game. It is a...