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‘The world we know is over’ without urgent climate action
ANTALYA, Turkey, 11 November 2026 (Guardian) - Failure to provide an overwhelming response to the climate crisis means “the world we know is over”, the president of the embattled Marshall Islands has warned, as dozens of leaders gathered in Turkey for the Cop31 climate summit. Hilda Heine, one of a handful of Pacific Island leaders to make an impassioned speech at Cop31 on Wednesday, told other heads of state that overshooting the 1.5C Paris temperature target would mean waves eating away their shores and floods that destroy towns, schools and hospitals. |
US renews push to open Pacific marine protected area to fishing
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 12 November 2026 (Mongabay) - The U.S. government has published proposed rules to allow commercial fishing in an area more than double the size of California inside a Pacific marine reserve that encompasses a network of islands, atolls, seamounts and coral reef systems. |
Argentina threatens UK oil firm CEO with jail
HAMBURG, Germany, 12 November 2026 (Guardian) - The Argentinian government threatened a British businessman involved in an offshore Falkland Islands oil project with jail. Sam Moody, the chief executive of Rockhopper Exploration, and his company’s chief financial officer received the correspondence this autumn as Buenos Aires began ramping up its rhetoric over the UKOT. |
US companies apply to explore deep-sea mining in area bordering Pacific island states
SAN FRANCISCO, US,11 November 2026 (Mongabay) - Two U.S. companies have applied to the U.S. government for seabed mining exploration licenses in two patches of international waters in the South Pacific Ocean. One of the patches, known as the Eastern High Seas Pocket 3, is bounded by the exclusive economic zones of the Cook Islands, Kiribati and French Polynesia, and is a special management area for fisheries. Any future mining there could create an early test for how deep-sea mining and fishing interests interact. |
US warns Madagascar over growing military ties with Russia
LONDON, UK, 11 November 2026 (BBC) - The US has warned Madagascar against strengthening its ties with Russia, saying similar partnerships with military-led governments in West Africa have failed to improve security. Russia has expanded its co-operation with Madagascar since the army seized power in 2025, supplying weapons and military instructors. |
Falkland Islanders face ‘devastating consequences’ if Argentina blocks oil project
HAMBURG, Germany, 10 November 2026 (Guardian) - The people of the Falkland Islands face “devastating consequences” if Argentina is successful in blocking development of its offshore oilfield, the attorney general for England and Wales has told an international tribunal. Ellie Reeves, representing the British government at a hearing of the international tribunal for the law of the sea (Itlos), said billions of pounds vital to the future of the British overseas territory would be lost. |
Coral colony found off Cocos (Keeling) Islands
KARRATHA, Australia, 11 November 2026 (ABC) - A kilometre-long coral formation thriving in waters off Australia's most remote inhabited territory is one of the largest ever recorded. The 1.56km rose coral colony was discovered off the coast of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. For comparison, the colony covers the equivalent of approximately 100 buses laid end to end and an area three times the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. |
States like Samoa face brutal 2027 storm season
LONDON, UK, 10 November 2026 (Conversation) - Every nation is grappling with climate change, but a super El Niño is about to collide with the 2026-27 South Pacific cyclone season. This presents one of the toughest challenges yet for the world’s small island nations. Samoa is on high alert. |
Cabo Verde’s presidential election
LISBON, Portugal, 11 November 2026 (Conversation) - Cape Verde’s presidential election takes place against the backdrop of a democratic record that remains unusual in its regional context. The country, made up of an archipelago of islands off the coast of west Africa, has sustained multiparty competition for more than three decades. It has had peaceful transfers of power and no coups or military takeovers since independence from Portugal in 1975. |
New book puts small islands at center of archaeological research
WOLLONGONG, Australia, 10 November 2026 (Mirage) - Small islands are often regarded in archaeology as remote, marginal, and difficult to investigate. Yet these locations frequently emerge as important hotspots for prehistoric settlement and human activity. The newly published volume Coastal Archaeology in Small Islands: Prehistoric Lifeways, Research Perceptions, Biases, Methods and Approaches brings together researchers from around the world to explore their significance. |
Croatia to introduce new island living assessment
ZAGREB, Croatia, 9 November 2026 (Hina) – Croatia has become the first country in the Mediterranean to begin implementing Habitability, a methodology designed to measure the real conditions of island life and help shape more effective policies for island communities. |
A year after a wastewater spill in the Philippines
MANJUYOD, Philippines, 10 November 2026 (Mongabay) - For years, Jonalyn Rentuaya, president of Alangilanan United Seaweed Growers Association, began her mornings the same way. By 6:00 a.m., she and other seaweed growers in the Alangilanan neighborhood of Manjuyod, would be wading in the shallows of Bais Bay, out on their lines, tending their crop. Then, on Oct. 26, 2025, the usually clear waters deepened to the color of dark tea. A flood of waste from an ethanol plant about a kilometer away had poured into the bay. |
El Niño’s hidden toll on trees emerges years later in PNG rainforest
LAE, Papua New Guinea, 9 November 2026 (Mongabay) - A recent study at a forest research site in Papua New Guinea found that more trees died after the 2015-17 El Niño drought than before or during it. Not all trees were affected equally, however. Trees located in valleys showed high mortality during the drought but recovered quickly, while trees on ridgelines showed a lagged effect, with mortality highest after the drought ended. |
On wild Cumberland Island, a land swap proposal stirs controversy
CUMBERLAND ISLAND, US, 9 November 2026 (NPR) - Since 1972, the National Park Service has managed Cumberland Island National Seashore, including roughly 9,800 acres of wilderness designated by an act of Congress which stated that "the seashore shall be permanently preserved in its primitive state." But there's more on this island than federally protected wilderness. Visitors also can find Native-American relics, remnants of Spanish missions, the ruins of ante-bellum plantations, and opulent homes built by the wealthy Gilded Age industrialist Thomas Carnegie and his wife Lucy, who had 9 children. Descendants of the Carnegies still live or vacation here on private property, and the park service has proposed a land swap with them that would allow for new construction. |
Rapa Nui’s ruin wasn’t ‘Ecocide.’ Stop blaming the victims
HONOLULU, Hawaii, 9 November 2026 (CB) - This is probably a familiar story to you: the people of Rapa Nui, famous for carving the great moai, caused their own demise. A recent book by the British writer and archaeologist Mike Pitts might finally debunk this theory once and for all. In “Island at the Edge of the World,” Pitts dismantles the narrative we’ve all heard. In a synthesis of the most recent research alongside his own exploration into historical sources – all packaged for the general reader – he offers a radical revision of the history of this little island some 2,300 miles off the coast of Santiago. |
Outrigger Impact Fund raises $33m to finance blue economy in SIDS
BERKELEY, US, 8 November 2026 (IA) - Small island developing states are formally recognized by the United Nations for their sustainable development challenges, but receive only about a sixth of the estimated $12 billion a year they need to adapt. Outrigger Impact Fund, a Luxembourg-domiciled blended finance fund, aims to draw institutional capital into blue economy businesses and projects that help small islands build climate resilience. |
Pacific countries strengthen push for 1.5 to stay alive
ANTALYA, Turkey, 8 November 2026 (SPREP) - The Pacific’s contribution to the fight to defend the integrity of the science from the IPCC on the 1.5?C temperature goal for the survival of humanity has brought hundreds of Pacific Leaders, ministers, senior government representatives and officials to Antalya, Türkiye. From 9-20 November 2026, the One Pacific Voice will feature prominently in negotiation rooms and pavilion spaces at COP31, where they hope to advance collective action to combat climate change. |
Scillonian III sets sail on final voyage from Isles of Scilly
LONDON, UK, 8 November 2026 (Guardian) - Tears were shed, sea shanties sung and tales of stormy voyages exchanged as one of the UK’s most characterful ships set sail for the final time. Scillonian III, also known as the “vomit comet” because in stormy weather it tended to rock a little too much for the comfort of those susceptible to sea sickness, has chugged between the British mainland and the Isles of Scilly, for just shy of half a century. |
Migrant surge to Spain's Canary Islands is unsustainable
LA RESTINGA, Spain, 6 November 2026 (Reuters) - Migrant arrivals to Spain's Canary Islands accelerated this week, with maritime rescue services rescuing 3,261 migrants in the first six days of November, and regional authorities warned on Friday that the numbers arriving were unsustainable. |
Mediterranean beach resorts learn to share the sand with turtles
BARCELONA, Spain, 6 November 2026 (Mongabay) - Loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean are expanding their nesting range westward to the coastlines between Italy and Spain. Researchers say rising sea temperatures due to global warming are accelerating juvenile loggerhead growth in the foraging grounds of the Western Mediterranean, causing turtles to reach sexual maturity earlier when they’re thousands of kilometers away from their ancestral, eastern rookeries. |
The presidential wiretapping scandal rocking Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 6 November 2026 (BBC) - Authorities are investigating possible treason in Indonesia after a bombshell announcement this week that President Prabowo Subianto's phone conversations might have been spied on. |
Burnham wants to ‘recast’ Chagos Islands deal
LONDON, UK, 5 November 2026 (GuardianI) - Andy Burnham has said he wants to “recast” the UK’s deal to cede control of the Chagos Islands after resistance from Washington, which said the agreement could instead be modelled on America’s Greenland deal with Denmark. |
Swiss Army knife of the Hawaiian Islands
CHICAGO, US, 5 November 2026 (Phys.org) - There are no woodpeckers on the Hawaiian Islands, but a little yellow bird called the 'akiapola'au has evolved an unusual beak to drill into branches to find food. A new study provides the most in-depth look yet at this bird's unique anatomy, including its "Swiss Army beak" that looks like two different birds' beaks Frankensteined together. |
Private island inspired a plan to suck carbon pollution from the air
LONDON, UK, 6 November 2026 (CNN) - A pristine atoll in the Pacific Ocean once owned by late acting legend Marlon Brando is the birthplace of a technology that could help solve a problem created far beyond its sandy shores. Alex Gagnon and fellow oceanographer Julian Sachs, co-founders of Seattle-based Banyu Carbon, were on Tetiaroa island, north of Tahiti, a decade ago researching the impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs, when they realized what they were doing could help tackle a global crisis. |
Why geohazards must be part of the Pacific’s resilience agenda
BANGKOK, Thailand, 6 November 2026 (IPS) - Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and landslides remain a constant threat across the Pacific. While less frequent than climate-related hazards, their impacts are often sudden, severe and far-reaching. Geophysical hazards account for a significant share of disaster-related deaths and economic losses. ESCAP analysis indicates that approximately 73% of the population and 65% of economic assets in Pacific SIDS are exposed to seismic hazards, which are the second most costly and deadly disaster types in the Asia-Pacific region. |
Greece plans €6.4 million cleanup of dumpsites on six islands
ATHENS, Greece, 6 November 2026 (Tovima) - Greece’s Environment and Energy Ministry has announced a €6.4 million funding call to rehabilitate six inactive illegal dumpsites on the Greek islands of Mykonos, Tinos, Sifnos, Patmos, Paxos and Kalymnos, addressing a longhstanding environmental problem that continues to generate European Union court penalties. |
UK and Caribbean to begin ‘dialogue’ after slavery reparations call
LONDON, UK, 4 November 2026 (Guardian) - The UK has agreed to “structured dialogue” in the next year with Caribbean nations affected by the slave trade and its legacy, Commonwealth leaders have said. Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister, said there was a “consensus” in discussions between governments about a way forward on slavery reparations at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting. |
Sri Lanka’s fishers still reeling from 2021 toxic plastic spill
PAMUNUGAMA, Sri Lanka, 5 November 2026 (Guardian) - On the beach in Pamunugama, on Sri Lanka’s west coast, women in uniform work under the scorching sun. They sift through rubbish washed ashore, searching among the usual litter for something much smaller: tiny plastic pellets. In May 2021, after the MV X-Press Pearl caught fire 10 miles off this stretch of coast. The Singapore-flagged container ship was carrying 1,486 containers, including tonnes of hazardous materials such as nitric acid. As the blaze intensified, containers fell overboard and billions of pellets known as nurdles, which are used to make most plastic items, spilled into the sea before the vessel sank. |
Scepticism over UK-EU deal to ease Manx fishing pressures
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, 4 November 2026 (BBC) - The Isle of Man's fishing industry could benefit from a proposed UK-EU agreement to remove post-Brexit checks on food exports, while concerns remain over whether it will significantly reduce costs for local businesses. The draft so-called sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, expected to form a major part of the forthcoming UK-EU summit, aims to cut red tape imposed on exporters after the UK exited the single market. On the Isle of Man, about 97% of commercial fishing production is exported, predominantly to Europe via the UK. |
Falkland Islands tensions ‘causing perfect storm of greed’
LONDON, UK, 4 November 2026 (Independent) - Growing tensions between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands has resulted in a fishing “free-for-all” in the south-west Atlantic, risking severely depleted fish populations, an expert has warned. |
Pacific scientists build a regional picture of a changing ocean
SUVA, Fiji, 4 November 2026 (IPS) - The Pacific Ocean connects thousands of islands, and understanding how ocean acidification is unfolding across the region requires more than individual research projects or monitoring stations. Scientists need observations from different island environments, collected over time, to understand how seawater chemistry is changing and what those changes could mean for marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. |
European Commission threatens to dismantle EU nature laws
CAMBRIDGE, UK, 4 November 2026 (BirdLife) - The European Commission has put the review of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives, and with them the Natura 2000 network of protected areas, back on the table in its 2027 Work Programme, even though the preliminary results of its own ‘stress test’ say these laws need proper implementation, not a potential revision. |
How a ‘living breakwater’ in Hawai‘i aims to protect coastline
SEATTLE, US, 4 November 2026 (Mongabay) - A new project off the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu tests an unusual method of shielding coastal communities and infrastructure from destructive waves: an artificial reef intended to act as a set of speed bumps. By January 2027, 60 huge concrete structures will be sunk off Kalaeloa Harbor, an industrial port on West O‘ahu, to protect the coastline from storm surge and erosion. |
Do the Shetland Isles need Cold War-style military protection?
GLASGOW, UK, 2 November 2026 (BBC) - Calls are being made for the defence of the Shetland Isles to be strengthened after increased sightings of Russian trawlers off the coast of Scotland. Recent analysis has also revealed that there have been more than 500 incidents where Russian boats have been stationed above undersea cables linking Britain with Europe and the US. These cables carry the majority of telecoms data abroad. |
Indonesia's toxic haze is giving its neighbours a political headache
SINGAPORE, 2 November 2026 (BBC) - The haze billowing out from wildfires in the Indonesian regions of Kalimantan, Papua and Sumatra knows no borders. Carried by winds to nearby Singapore and Malaysia, the toxic smog has in recent weeks impacted populations across maritime South East Asia, triggering respiratory illnesses and headaches. It's also giving the region's governments a different kind of headache - split between the mounting frustrations of their citizens and the risk of souring diplomatic ties with Indonesia. |
How a New Brunswick island is caught in the middle of trade war
MONTREAL, Canada, 3 November 2026 (GN) - For most Canadians, avoiding the United States amid a bitter trade war might mean skipping a cross-border shopping trip or choosing a vacation closer to home. But for the roughly 900 people who live on Campobello Island, N.B., it’s not that simple. The Canadian island sits just off Lubec, Maine, and is cut off by road from the rest of Canada. Its only bridge leads to the United States, making crossing the border a part of everyday life. |
A mysterious statue emerged on Easter Island
NEW YORK, US, 2 November 2026 (PM) - In February 2023, a moai was found lying face-up among reeds in a dried lakebed on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. The roughly five-foot statue was small by the island’s standards, but its location surprised archaeologists. It was the first moai reported in the lakebed inside Rano Raraku, the volcanic crater where islanders carved many of their statues. |
Peruvian petrels have made a remarkable comeback on Choros Island
BRISTOL, UK, 3 November 2026 (DW) - According to a new study the population of Peruvian diving petrels on Choros Island, an important breeding ground, rocketed up from approximately 12,000 breeding pairs in 2013 to nearly 90,000 breeding pairs in 2024. This remarkable increase was achieved through conservation work, including the removal of invasive rabbits from the island and restoring critical nesting habitat, with the petrels’ nesting area expanding from 3.2 hectares in 2010 to more than 10 hectares in 2024. |
New Hawaii island program promotes reusable food containers
HILO, Hawaii, 3 November 2026 (SA) - Hilo residents may have noticed large metal trash can-like bins being installed around town in recent weeks. But these bins are not meant for garbage. They are part of Ho‘i, a new returnable takeout dishware program launching this month - the first of its kind in the nation. Through the program, participating businesses will offer stainless steel takeout containers in place of disposable ones. Customers can return the dishes to any of the collection bins, where they will be picked up, cleaned, sanitized and returned to restaurants to be reused. |
Uncertainty surrounds controversial resort in Zanzibar forest reserve
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 3 November 2026 (Mongabay) - Work that began earlier this year on a luxury resort inside Zanzibar’s Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, appears to have come to a halt. Details of the project remain opaque, but construction of a wall near the reserve’s boundary and land used by nearby communities sparked public outcry earlier in 2026 and no further work has taken place since the wall was completed |
Why is doing business in Norfolk Island so complicated?
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, 2 November 2026 (Conversation) - Norfolk Island is, legally speaking, part of Australia. But running a business in this remote Pacific territory, home to around 2,100 residents, can be very different from on the mainland. Government forms can reject local telephone numbers and banking services can be difficult to access. Even routine changes to internet services can leave businesses disconnected. This speaks to its geographic challenges – Norfolk lies some 1,500km from the Australian mainland – as well as some unique complexities stemming from its unusual political and administrative history. |
Commonwealth Nature Initiative launched in Antigua and Barbuda
SUVA, Fiji, 3 November 2026 (PINA) - The Commonwealth Nature Initiative (CNI) was launched at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda aboard the Fortescue Green Pioneer, bringing together governments, philanthropic leaders and conservation organisations behind a landmark US$202.2 million pledge to accelerate progress towards protecting at least 30 percent of the world’s land and oceans by 2030, the 30×30 target. |
How fast ferries can threaten whales in the Mediterranean
LONDON, UK, 2 November 2026 (Guardian) - Collisions have long been recognised as a leading human-induced cause of death for the Mediterranean’s endangered sperm and fin whales. Now, a Guardian investigation using data from the maritime intelligence firm Veson Nautical, has found that large passenger and cargo vessels operated by four companies – the Grimaldi Group, Corsica Ferries, Baleària and Moby Lines – have frequently travelled through a protected habitat that includes the Pelagos sanctuary at 15 knots (17mph) or above – speeds that almost always kill cetaceans in cases of a collision. Strikes are unlikely to kill when a vessel is travelling below 10 knots. |
'Harmonious and Beautiful Islands' program yields positive results
BEIJING, China, 2 November 2026 (CD) - With more than 11,000 islands, China's diverse island communities face shared challenges such as balancing environmental protection with economic development, improving public services, and tackling climate change, coastal erosion and scarcity of freshwater. In 2023, the Ministry of Natural Resources designated the first batch of 33 islands as "Harmonious and Beautiful Islands". Each island pursues a sustainable development path tailored to local conditions, focusing on ecosystem conservation, disaster risk reduction, improving living conditions and public services, and sustainable industries and livelihoods. |
Venomous Indonesian primate feared extinct still clings on
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 2 November 2026 (Mongabay) - A small, venomous primate that scientists thought had gone extinct still survives on an Indonesian island. The Bangka slow loris, native to parts of Borneo and the island of Bangka, was declared critically endangered, and possibly extinct, on the IUCN Red List in 2015, after last being documented in the scientific literature around 1937. |
A Caribbean island that looked like a ‘moonscape' is now flourishing
LOS ANGELES, US, 31 October 2026 (UW) - When animals thrive, it often signals a healthy ecosystem. But when the wrong kind of animals thrive in the wrong area, it can actually signal the opposite. Redonda is a perfect example. In 2016, the uninhabited Caribbean island looked like a big rock jutting out of the ocean. Goats and rats, brought to the island by human phosphate miners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, had effectively destroyed the ecosystem. These invasive species consumed nearly all of the island’s plant life, making what was once a lush landscape into a barren moonscape. A decade later, the natural ecosystem is recovering remarkably. |
Global nature talks reach deal but money remains an issue
LONDON, UK, 31 October 2026 (BBC) - The world's nations have been gathered in Yerevan for nearly two weeks negotiating, and arguing, over a new agreement on nature. Early on Saturday morning, hours after talks were due to finish, they finally agreed the key parts of a new action plan. Four years earlier the same countries had signed a landmark deal committing to "halt and reverse" the decline of nature.That global deal in 2022 - the Global Biodiversity Framework - contained 24 targets including putting 30% of the world's land and seas into protection by the end of the decade. But according to the UN this week, the world is on track to achieve just one of those two dozen targets. |
Bluebottle drones to patrol Fiji's waters for drug traffickers
MELBOURNE, Australia, 31 October 2026 (ABC) - Fiji's hundreds of islands and vast maritime territory make it difficult to detect drug traffickers. But a new fleet of uncrewed maritime surface drones could help level the playing field. The 7.4-metre-long Australian-made Bluebottles can remain at sea for up to six months, while using artificial intelligence to identify suspicious activity. Powered by a retractable solar sail that can harness the sun and wind, they also have an underwater flipper that converts the boat's rocking in the waves into forward motion. |
World Lemur Day
GLAND, Switzerland, 30 October 2026 (IUCN) - Picture Madagascar’s rainforests at dawn. The calls of indris carry through the canopy, while sifakas move between the trees and other lemurs forage for food. These forests are home to some of the world’s most remarkable wildlife, with lemurs among their most distinctive inhabitants. Lemurs have evolved in isolation over millions of years, adapting to habitats ranging from humid rainforests and dry forests to wetlands and Madagascar’s spiny thickets. Many species play an important ecological role by dispersing seeds and helping forests regenerate. But the landscapes they depend on are under growing pressure. |
El Niño-driven drought in Papua New Guinea a 'national crisis'
PORT MORESBY, PNG, 30 October 2026 (BBC) - Extreme drought driven by an historic El Niño is affecting as many as 8 million people in Papua New Guinea, causing a cascade of issues from shortages of food and water, to electricity scarcity and schooling disruption. An influential coalition that includes churches, trade unions and business groups has said the Pacific nation is in the midst of a “national crisis”, but there appears to be “no coordinated plan to protect vulnerable communities from the worsening impacts of El Niño.” |
Biodiversity Cop17 seems to be stalling.
LONDON, UK, 30 October 2026 (Guardian) - When things are not going well at an environmental summit, organisers often tell delegates that the “world is watching” in an attempt to focus minds. But spend any time at biodiversity Cop17 in Armenia and it is clear that the world’s attention is elsewhere. There are too many meetings, and not enough decisions, say experts – and time is running out |
Strength in unity: Climate action for the Pacific islands
WASHINGTON, US, 29 October 2026 (CSIS) - This analysis examines how Pacific Island Countries have leveraged international institutions to promote core interests such as climate change and discusses some of the benefits and limitations of this approach. |
Rare manx shearwaters returned to Isle of Canna
LONDON, UK, 28 October 2026 (BBC) - Conservationists are trying to re-establish a population of rare manx shearwaters on the Isle of Canna. The island in the Small Isles, off the west of Scotland, had as many as 3,000 breeding adult birds, but the colony was devastated by a rat infestation. Rats were eradicated on Canna in 2005, and National Trust for Scotland has now moved 40 young manx shearwaters to the island from the nearby Isle of Rum. |
What islands reveal about the real bottleneck in renewable mini-grids
BERLIN, Germany, 29 October 2026 (PV) - Islands are frequently held up as the proving ground for 100% renewable electricity - contained systems, clear stakeholder lines, and in most cases no main grid to fall back on. A new IEA PVPS Task 18 report puts that reputation to the test, examining 11 islands that have already reached, or come close to, very high renewable shares, from the 88-person village of Apolima in Samoa to Lolland in Denmark, home to more than 57,000 people and connected to the wider Danish grid. |
Islands harbor nearly 20% of Earth's biodiversity
PARIS, France, 28 October 2026 (CNRS) - Although they account for just 7% of the Earth's land surface, island ecosystems harbor almost 20% of the world's biodiversity. From sea-level rise to biological invasions, islands are facing multiple pressures associated with ongoing global change, and yet they are still overlooked in global biodiversity conservation strategies. |
Pemba’s new marine protected areas show the power of collaboration
PEMBA, Tanzania, 29 October 2026 (Mongabay) - The east coast of Pemba Island was facing severe overfishing and illegal activity leading to declining fish populations and degrading ecosystems. In an extensive collaboration between more than 20 local communities, the Tanzanian government, and environmental NGOs, two new marine protected areas have been introduced in order to protect the ecosystem and those who rely on it. |
Investigations into Singapore palm oil firm
SINGAPORE, 29 October 2026 (Mongabay) - Investigations by environmental groups have found new evidence that companies linked to deforestation in Borneo are likely controlled by First Resources, a Singapore-listed plantation firm that produces palm oil marketed as sustainable. |
These seabirds are so full of plastic they're starving to death
WASHINGTON, US, 28 October 2026 (Nat.Geog) - Just off Australia's eastern coast lies Lord Howe Island, a pristine paradise of white-sand beaches, vibrant coral reefs, and towering mountains. But on this island oasis, an ecological crisis is unfolding. The island’s iconic sable shearwaters are bursting with plastic. More than 75 percent of the island's sable shearwaters have plastic in their stomachs. When researchers pick up these birds, they hear hundreds of bottle caps, balloon clips, soy sauce packets, toothbrush heads, and plastic pellets (known as “nurdles”) rattling inside. |
Pacific nations emit less than 0.03 per cent of the world's greenhouse gases
MELBOURNE, Australia, 28 October 2026 (MU) - The Pacific Islands are home to some of the world's most extraordinary natural assets. Yet these countries and communities face an extraordinary injustice. They contribute less than 0.03 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions but confront some of the most severe consequences of climate change. The Pacific’s annual adaptation financing needs alone are estimated at US$3.3 billion. |
The world is watching Norway. Will the country protect Antarctica?
OSLO, Norway, 28 October 2026 (IPS) - A global boycott of Antarctic krill products is gathering support. As a Norwegian, I want my country – the world’s largest krill-fishing nation – to change course when it comes to protecting Antarctica. Scientists, explorers and ocean advocates are urging consumers to stop buying supplements and pet food containing Antarctic krill and to avoid farmed fish raised on feed containing it. This follows earlier moves by retailers – from Holland & Barrett in Britain to dm-drogerie markt in Germany and supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles in Australia – to remove krill supplements from their shelves. |
What small nations need from the next UN Secretary-General
VICTORIA, Seychelles, 28 October 2026 (IPS) - On 21 September 1976, less than three months after independence, Seychelles took its seat in the General Assembly of the United Nations. We became the 145th member of the Organisation. For a young nation of scattered islands in the Indian Ocean, with a small population and no army to speak of, it was far more than a ceremony. It was a promise that, in the family of nations, size would not decide whose voice was heard. |
Farwiza Farhan’s fight to save tropical hotspot of Indonesia
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, 28 October 2026 (IPS) - Forty-year-old Farwiza Farhan’s eyes light up instantly when she talks about the Leuser Ecosystem – a national strategic area encompassing a national park, a wildlife reserve, protected forests and other land uses. “It’s rare to have such a large landscape remain intact despite continuous encroachment by developers, which is shrinking the habitat of the tiger, the elephant, the rhino and the orangutan,” she says. At 2.7 million hectares, Leuser remains a rare stronghold for wildlife in a country where many forests have been decimated. |
Pangolin scale lawsuit in Indonesia could shake up how traffickers pay
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 28 October 2026 (Mongabay) - A civil lawsuit filed by an Indonesian NGO against individuals and companies accused of trafficking more than 3 metric tons of pangolin scales in Indonesia could mark a turning point in how wildlife criminals are held accountable for the harms they inflict on biodiversity and ecosystems, according to experts. The lawsuit seeks to make the alleged traffickers pay to remedy the ecological harms caused by removing thousands of pangolins from their wild habitats, including funding forest restoration and pangolin monitoring. |
New reptile discoveries across Greece’s Sporades Islands
LONDON, UK, 27 October 2026 (Bioengineer) - A seven-year survey of the Sporades Islands in the Aegean Sea has produced the most complete picture yet of the archipelago’s reptiles and amphibians, documenting 26 new island records, confirming five previously unvalidated reports, and correcting three erroneous ones. |
Locals urge King Charles to help save Bahamas reefs
LONDON, UK, 27 October 2026 (GR) - The Save Exuma Alliance, a coalition of environmentalists, community leaders and residents of the Exuma Cays, has made an urgent appeal to King Charles III on the eve of his visit to The Bahamas, asking him to use his voice at next week's Commonwealth summit to protect the region's coral reefs and seagrass meadows from large-scale resort projects. |
La Palma geothermal drilling exempt from simplified EIA
LONDON, UK, 27 October 2026 (EN) - The Canary Islands Government has excluded the "Sondeo Isla de La Palma" geothermal exploration drilling project from the simplified environmental impact assessment procedure. The Canary Islands draw most of their electricity from imported fossil fuels and the regional government is seeking a dispatchable renewable source, and high-enthalpy geothermal, a high-temperature technology suited to power generation, is the option under study. It could generate electricity continuously. |
Indonesia’s fires test Singapore’s anti-haze law
SINGAPORE, 27 October 2026 (Mongabay) - As Singapore comes off its longest streak of unhealthy air since the 2015 Southeast Asian haze crisis, authorities have served notices to 20 firms linked to Indonesia’s fires, but have stopped short of taking further legal action. Half of the notices were sent to concession holders in Sumatra and Kalimantan where the fires originated, while the other half went to Singapore-based entities with ties to them. |
Pacific call for support to continue invasive species eradication
YEREVAN, Armenia, 27 October 2026 (SPREP) - Pacific Islands have success stories to tell when it comes to eradicating invasive species contributing to achieving Target 6 of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to reduce the introduction and impact of invasive alien species. For example, in Tonga a rat eradication programme spanning over a decade has resulted in the strong return of the Tongan Whistler, also known as the Hengehenga in the native lowland forest area of Mount Talau on Vava’u, Tonga. |
It’s time for WCPFC to commit to a biodegradable FAD transition
SUVA, Fiji, 27 October 2026 (PINA) - The science is clear. Solutions exist. And resources are within reach. Non-entangling and biodegradable fish aggregating devices (bio-FADs) - made from bamboo, hemp, cotton, and other organic materials - offer a sustainable, effective alternative to conventional drifting FADs. There are real consequences to the continued use of conventional FADs made with plastic and synthetic materials, which can damage the marine ecosystem when lost or abandoned. |
Why Israel's new Pacific status is splitting the region
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, 27 October 2026 (RNZ) - Israel's inclusion into the Pacific region's main political body has drawn sharply contrasting reactions across the region. While the official diplomatic tone from Pacific leaders, including New Zealand, has been welcoming and focused on consensus, civil society groups have described the move as wrong and demanded a review. Others, such as Kiwi media academic Professor David Robie, have called it "shameful", while veteran Solomon Islands diplomat Collin Beck said it puts into question the "credibility" of the Pacific Islands Forum's (PIF) partnership mechanism. |
The Emerging Role of Offshore Wind for Energy Security in SIDS
MASDAR CITY, Abu Dhabi, 27 October 2026 (IRENA) - This joint report produced by the Global Offshore Wind Alliance and IRENA examines how offshore wind and other ocean technologies can help to overcome the structural challenges faced by Small Island Developing States face in their energy transitions, including high electricity generation costs, limited land availability and reliance on volatile, imported fuels. Offshore wind, combined with other renewable, ocean-based technologies, can help improve electricity costs, reduce import exposure, strengthen resilience and support energy and water security. |
Taiwan's tea growers let nature take back control
MEISHAN TOWNSHIP, Taiwan, 26 October 2O26 (Mongabay) - Alishan, a mountain region in central Taiwan, is famous for producing the prized high-mountain tea, but its tea production has declined in recent years. Tea growers are facing threats not only from soil degradation but also from climate change, leading a handful of tea growers to adopt more environmentally friendly farming methods and nature-based solutions. |
Building climate resilient livelihoods in rural Timor-Leste
GLAND, Switzerland, 26 October 2026 (IUCN) - Remote villages in the municipalities of Oecusse and Ermera are tackling poverty and food insecurity with the support of the Kiwa Initiative and local not-for-profit organisation, RELOKA, Foundation Re-Inventing Local Production. The Kiwa RELOKA local project, which began in August 2025, aims to improve water and land management practices, support locally led sustainable permaculture, and help rural women develop natural dyes for income generation. |
Seabirds and sewage among UNESCO status challenges
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, 25 October 2026 (BBC) - Sewage being discharged into the sea and under-threat seabirds are among the challenges facing the Isle of Man after a decade as a UNESCO Biosphere. The State of the Biosphere report looks back on the 10 years since the island became the world's first whole-nation Biosphere in 2016, in recognition of its thriving natural habitats from returning wildlife to new marine reserves. But it warns that while some wildlife is recovering, many species and habitats are still in long-term decline. It comes ahead of a UNESCO decision next summer on whether the island will keep its status. |
What it takes to be an Antarctic postmaster
BRISTOL, UK, 25 October 2026 (BBC) - It is hardly a typical round for a postie, but for five months of the year George Clarke leaves behind his partner and friends in Bristol to become a postmaster at the world's most southerly post office - in Antarctica. He takes up his role as Port Lockroy postmaster from late October to March, during the southern hemisphere summer. |
Lights out: the island that goes dark to save young seabirds
LONDON, UK, 25 October 2026 (Guardian) - Once a year, Corvo, the smallest and most northerly island of Portugal’s Azores archipelago, goes dark. Since 2019, the island’s 450 or so inhabitants have chosen to switch off the lights every autumn for five nights to tackle the disastrous effects of artificial light on Cory’s shearwaters, a seabird endemic to the Atlantic Ocean. |
The Norwegian island that wanted to abolish time
LONDON, UK, 24 October 2026 (BBC) - In 2019, a tiny island community in the Norwegian Arctic made headlines around the world with an extraordinary proposal: it wanted to abolish time. Residents of Sommarøy, a fishing village 56km west of Tromsø, were supposedly campaigning to become the world's first time-free zone during the 69 days each summer when the Sun never sets. Watches were hung from a nearby bridge and a local hotel owner presented a petition bearing residents' signatures to a member of Norway's parliament. The international media enthusiastically embraced the idea, lauding the town's efforts to live without reference to time. |
In Germany’s Halligen islands, a bird sanctuary faces rising sea levels
PARIS, France, 25 October 2026 (RFI) - Three out of five bird species are in decline worldwide, and one in eight is threatened with extinction. In the Halligen islands of northern Germany, a sanctuary for migratory birds is under threat due to rising sea levels. These 10 small islands – listed as a Unesco World Natural Heritage Site – are home to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds travelling between Africa and the Arctic Circle, as well as many breeding birds. |
Moth survey captures 1,179 species across South Korean islands
LONDON, UK, 23 October 2026 (Bioengineer) - An eighteen-year survey of moth communities across thirty islands in southern South Korea has documented 1,179 species, representing 41.4 percent of all moth species known from Korea within the nineteen families investigated. The dataset, compiled from surveys conducted between 2007 and 2025, spans 332 sampling sites and covers twenty-eight islands within Dadohaehaesang and Hallyeohaesang National Parks as well as two islands outside these protected areas, including Gageodo, the southwesternmost island of the country. |
Caribbean islands were once the center of diversity for barn owls
GAINESVILLE, US, 22 October 2026 (UF) - Barn owls dispersed to North America from Eurasia between the Pliocene and early Pleistocene epochs, less than 5 million years ago, likely by crossing the Atlantic Ocean. A new study conducted by scientists at the Florida Museum of Natural History shows that barn owls initially arrived and diversified in the Caribbean, where paleontologists have found fossils of several giant species in this group that are now extinct. From the Caribbean, barn owls dispersed to the Galápagos Islands. Afterward, Caribbean barn owls made their way onto the North and South American continents. |
Thousands of penguins found dead on Antarctic island
RENO, US, 22 October 2026 (Earth.com) - Researchers discovered thousands of dead Adelie penguins on Heroína Island in Antarctica. While they expected bird flu as the cause, further testing proved that was not what killed them but rather avian cholera, a bacterial disease. |
US deep-sea mining claims in Pacific's high seas
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 20 October 2026 (Mongabay) - The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a U.N.-associated body, has long managed activities related to deep-sea mining in international waters. But after the Trump administration issued an executive order in 2025 calling for the U.S. to develop its deep-sea mining sector, companies have been applying to the U.S. for rights to explore and exploit the international seabed, challenging the ISA’s authority. In the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, a hotspot of mining interest in international waters, a Mongabay analysis shows that companies have either applied to the U.S. or already been granted rights to areas of the seabed equal to about half the expanse already designated for mining activities by the ISA. |
IUCN launches global strategy to tackle invasive alien species
YEREVAN, Armenia, 23 October 2026 (IUCN) – IUCN has launched its first global strategy to tackle invasive alien species, one of the world’s greatest drivers of biodiversity loss and species extinctions. It sets out how IUCN’s Members, Commissions and Secretariat will join forces to scale up action on biological invasions, while supporting other governments, civil society organisations, Indigenous Peoples, the private sector and researchers to work with IUCN to implement the strategy worldwide. |
Flores, Indonesia’s 'priest island'
LONDON, UK, 22 October 2026 (TW) - Flores is home to multiple seminaries, training thousands of young men in Catholic liturgy, religious doctrine and pastoral care. Through “their early morning prayers, their long days of study, and their shared meals cooked over simple stoves, they carry forward a vocation” that lives on. |
Genetic study shows seafarers from Easter Island settled Hawaii
PALO ALTO, US, 20 October 2026 (KSL) - It was a difficult, almost incomprehensible, feat. A band of seafarers from Easter Island in the South Pacific set off in double-hulled sailing canoes on a voyage across Earth's largest ocean that ended more ?than 4,400 miles away in Hawaii, the only Polynesian island in the Northern Hemisphere. But this oceanic odyssey centuries ago was no myth. New genetic research has determined that Native Hawaiians are genetically most closely related to the people of Easter Island, also called Rapa Nui. |
Nevis to restore Alexander Hamilton museum with US funds
HAVANA, Cuba, 21 October 2026 (AP) - St. Kitts and Nevis has received a financial boost in honor of one of its most famous sons, Alexander Hamilton, who went on to become a founding father of the U.S. and America’s first treasury secretary. |
Argentina's president rules out military action over Falkland Islands
LONDON, UK, 22 October 2026 (Independent) - Argentine president Javier Milei has ruled out taking military action to take the Falkland Islands from Britain, despite repeatedly claiming sovereignty. He reiterated his recent claim that the archipelago belonged to his country, but said he planned to secure the territory through diplomacy and did not believe in military solutions. |
Samoan Island witnesses explosion of native wildlife
MANASSAS, US, 22 October 2026 (GNN) - Just one year after ecological restoration efforts on Samoa, forests, wildlife, and food resources are showing remarkable signs of recovery. Nu’utele Island is considered a Key Biodiversity Area for Samoa, and is home to one of the country’s most pristine native forests teeming (usually) with native species.Yet, like many islands across the Pacific, it has suffered from ecological degradation by invasive species - in Nu’utele’s case rats, and feral pigs which turn up the soil and prevent native vegetation from growing. |
COP31 must move climate promises from paper to people
VICTORIA, Seychelles, 21 October 2026 (IPS) - Next month, from 9 to 20 November, world leaders and negotiators will gather on the Mediterranean coast in Antalya, Türkiye, for COP31.The summit carries an unusual and promising diplomatic architecture: Türkiye will host the gathering and hold the Presidency, while Australia leads the negotiations, fresh from partnering with Fiji and Tuvalu to host the Pre-COP meetings in the Pacific. Having Pacific island voices help shape the road to Antalya is a welcome sign. Yet as the countdown begins, the overarching question hanging over COP31 is not whether the world can draft another eloquent communiqué. It is a much simpler, sharper question: will we finally keep our promises? |
Virtually all coral reef ecosystems face high risk of collapse in 50 years
GLAND, Switzerland, 22 October 2026 (IUCN) - Nearly every assessed shallow-water coral reef ecosystem on the planet faces an extremely high risk of collapse by 2075, with 96% being classified as Critically Endangered, the first global coral reef assessment under the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems revealed today. |
Rare Indonesian maleo birds face new threat
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 22 October 2026 (Mongabay) - Wildlife traffickers are increasingly targeting critically endangered maleo birds from coastal Indonesia for the international exotic pet trade, according to a recent study. |
Greenland moves to suspend seabed mining until 2029
NUUK, Greenland, 22 October 2026 (Mongabay) - Greenland’s parliament has asked the government to pause licensing on seabed mining amid concerns about foreign interests in mining and potential environmental consequences for marine life. |
Deadly gold rush continues as latest landslide kills four in Sumatra
PADANG, Indonesia, 22 October 2026 (Mongabay) - A recent mining landslip in South Solok district on the Indonesian island of Sumatra buried four miners, after nine were killed in a similar incident in the same province in May. Globally, more than 20 million people work in the so-called artisanal and small-scale mining sector, many exposed to environmental disasters and dangerous levels of mercury, a potent neurotoxin used to separate gold from ore that causes permanent neurological and physical harms. |
How Argentina's Javier Milei hopes to exploit a dispute over Falklands oil
READING, UK, 21 October 2026 (Conversation) - Argentina is trying to stop a planned oil project near the Falkland Islands. On October 13, the government asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (Itlos), a court in Hamburg that deals with disputes over the sea, to halt the project. Argentina says the UK approved the drilling without its agreement and in breach of Argentina’s rights to the seabed. |
HPMA devastation – the battle continues
STORNOWAY, UK, 22 October 2026 (SG) - The latest proposals for Highly Protected Marine Areas.around the waters of the Western Isles would result in significant job losses in the fishing industry and will be “devastating for communities”. |
This Norwegian village is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth
LONGYEARBYEN, Norway, 21 October 2026 (Guardian) - On a rugged mountain plateau of snow-dusted rocks, in the remote archipelago of Svalbard, a glaciologist, Andy Hodson, points out the “ears” of ice, white against the rock, that gave Foxfonna glacier its name, after the arctic fox. But in Svalbard, where glaciers cover 57% of the land and temperatures are rising up to seven times faster than the global average, making it one of the fastest-warming places on Earth, Foxfonna is changing rapidly. |
Japan, US launch drills focusing on islands near Taiwan
TOKYO, Japan, 21 October 2026 (TT) - Japanese and US troops on Monday started one of their largest joint exercises focusing on the defense of Japan’s southwestern islands and showcasing advanced weapons systems in the face of growing tension in the region. About 45,000 Japanese troops and 12,000 US service members are participating in the biennial Keen Sword 27. Seven other nations from the Indo-Pacific region and Europe are also taking part in some elements of the exercises, five of them - France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines - for the first time, the Japanese Joint Staff Office said. |
The British island where red squirrels are thriving
JERSEY, Channel Islands, 20 October 2026 (BBC) - With growing concerns that red squirrels could soon become extinct in England, one Channel Island is a corner of the British Isles where they maintain a stronghold. Jersey is home to a thriving red squirrel population, thanks to the complete absence of grey squirrels, which carry a virus deadly to their red cousins. |
Indigenous protest against projects on Indonesia’s 'geothermal island'
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 20 October 2026 (D+C) - On the Indonesian volcanic island of Flores, a state-owned company is pushing ahead with controversial geothermal projects in the name of climate neutrality. The Indigenous groups living there are protesting, calling for greater involvement – and the German development bank KfW has suspended its funding following criticism. |
Over 1,500 U.S. lobster tags end up on Atlantic islands
MADRID, Spain, 19 October 2026 (AS) - Plastic pollution in our oceans has become a serious problem collecting in massive garbage patches on the open water but it is often difficult to tell where it is coming from. However, a group of scientists at the University of the Azores were able to track some of the plastic pollution washing up on the shores of Faial and Pico islands. The researchers began to notice that some pieces of plastic had similar series of numbers on them. Once they figured out what they were used for, they were able to discover where they came from, the lobster fisheries off the coast of the United States and Canada over 2,000 miles away. |
Colombia reignites territorial dispute with Nicaragua over islands
BOGOTA , Colombia, 19 October 2026 (LAR) – On a visit to the San Andres and Providencia archipelago, Colombia’s northernmost territory, President Abelardo de la Espriella reignited a decades-long dispute with Nicaragua. Reaffirming Colombian sovereignty over the islands and their territorial waters, the far-right leader dismissed a 2012 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that expanded Nicaragua’s maritime boundary, pledging to redraw the nautical map. Though de la Espriella pledged dialogue with Managua, he also threatened to use force if needed to “defend the sovereignty” of Colombia, ratcheting up diplomatic tensions between the two nations. |
Making 30x30 count for nature and people
GLAND, Switzerland, 20 October 2026 (IUCN) - Launched at CBD COP17, the IUCN Global Standard for Effective and Equitable Protected and Conserved Areas – the IUCN Global PCA Standard – gives every protected and conserved area a common framework to assess, improve and demonstrate performance. |
Expedition fails to find fresh clues in hunt for Amelia Earhart’s plane
LONDON, UK, 19 October 2026 (CNN) - A recent expedition to remote Nikumaroro Island in the South Pacific to search for wreckage from Amelia Earhart’s lost plane has come up empty. Researchers said they found “no conclusive evidence” that the famed aviator landed her Lockheed 10E Electra aircraft on or near the small atoll south of the original pit stop of her ill-fated flight nearly 90 years ago. |
African island fights offshore gambling network linked to UK family
LONDON, UK, 19 October 2026 (Guardian) - The island of Anjouan, rising out of the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar, is a corner of the Earth that few people have heard of, let alone laid eyes on. Known as Nzwani in the local language, this tiny volcanic island – one of a collection that make up the Union of Comoros – counts ylang-ylang oil and vanilla among its chief exports. Yet Anjouan has stumbled into a role at the heart of a much more dangerous but highly lucrative industry: underground online gambling. The African island has become notorious for selling licences to rogue casinos, many operating illegally. |
Tap water no longer drinkable in Longyearbyen in Svalbard
LONDON, UK, 19 October 2026 (Guardian) - Residents of a remote town in Norway that is in one of the fastest-warming places in the world have been told they must no longer drink tap water due to heavy metal contamination that scientists have linked to the thawing permafrost. Longyearbyen, in the archipelago of Svalbard, gets its main drinking water supply from a 2.5km long dammed lake called Isdammen, or “ice pond”. Higher temperatures as a result of the climate crisis have thawed permafrost, leading to newly exposed bedrock leaching metals into the pond. |
Syros amphibians face extinction as Greek island’s wetlands vanish
LONDON, UK, 19 October 2026 (Bioengineer) - On the Greek island of Syros, the amphibians and reptiles that once thrived in its wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate. The Balkan Water Frog and the Balkan Terrapin, both recorded on Syros in the nineteenth century, have now vanished entirely. The European Green Toad survives at only a single known breeding site, and the status of the Grass Snake remains uncertain. |
Tasmania’s gains against kelp-grazing sea urchins threatened
HOBART, Australia, 19 October 2026 (Mongabay) - The long-spined sea urchin is an invasive species in the waters around Tasmania, Australia, and it’s been munching away the state’s kelp forests. A state program offers financial incentives to support a commercial fishery for the urchins and their highly valuable roe, with the aim of reducing urchin numbers in targeted areas so that kelp can rebound. Researchers say the program has been effective in helping to recover some of the state’s kelp forests. Now, however, they warn that progress is threatened by a shift to short-term funding cycles that undermine stability for harvesters and put kelp recovery on wobbly ground. |
Rival groups claim independent leadership of Norfolk Island
CANBERRA, Australia, 17 October 2026 (Politico) - On Feb. 7, a group of Norfolk Island residents sent a letter to Territories Minister Kristy McBain seeking “clarification and reassurance” over a bizarre situation in the external Australian territory. The group claimed Norfolk Island resident Leah Honeywood had been appearing at forums in the Pacific and representing herself as the leader of an island that has been under Canberra’s control since 1914. |
New research reveals more about volcanic origins of Lord Howe Island
PORT MACQUARIE, Australia, 18 October 2026 (ABC) - Two chains of mainly submerged volcanoes run along Australia's east coast, with Lord Howe one of the only remnant volcanoes above the sea. The chains were formed as the Australian tectonic plate has moved over a deep Earth hotspot for millions of years. A new research paper suggests the chains formed from a single hotspot, and that the upwelling of hot rock, known as the mantle plume, split in two. |
Beyond GDP - Sustainable economic growth in island economies
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, 17 October 2026 (KPMG) - Small island economies are navigating a period of heightened global uncertainty. Slowing growth, demographic shifts and increasing exposure to economic and environmental shocks are placing added strain on these economies. Against this backdrop, KPMG Islands Group has launched a new report, Beyond GDP – Sustainable Economic Growth in Island Economies, which provides timely insight into how island jurisdictions can respond, highlighting both the risks and the significant opportunities ahead. |
Indonesian women cash in on mangrove restoration
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 17 October 2026 (Mongabay) - Wisye Sahambangung, a fisher and mangrove conservationist from Sarawet, a village in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, has gone from receiving government assistance for low-income families to leading a women’s group restoring mangroves and creating livelihood opportunities. In 2022, she helped establish Rhizopora, which now collects mangrove propagules, supplies seedlings, monitors coastal areas, and supports restoration projects. |
Indonesia’s neighbours fed up with acrid haze
SINGAPORE, 16 October 2026 (Guardian) - Singapore is threatening to prosecute companies responsible for some of the worst fires in years in neighbouring Indonesia, as the region grows increasingly frustrated with a persistent, acrid haze that could result in diplomatic relations fraying. |
Island fossil identified as new dinosaur species
LONDON, UK, 14 October 2026 (BBC) - A new species of dinosaur - a long-clawed predator the size of a large tiger - has been identified from a fossil found on the Isle of Wight more than 100 years ago. |
'Onion cartel' in Philippines fined $28m for price shock
LONDON, UK, 16 October 2026 (BBC) - Filipino authorities say they have fined six companies 1.76 billion pesos ($27.9m; £21m) for forming an "onion cartel" that caused the price of the vegetable to skyrocket. In 2022 the price of onions, a staple of Philippine kitchens, surged to a record 800 pesos per 1kg, surpassing the country's daily minimum wage and overtaking the price of meat. The crisis put pressure on then newly-elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who had promised to bring down surging food prices. |
VW, Ford and Tesla batteries linked to destructive deforestation
SULAWESI, Indonesia, 16 October 2026 (Guardian) - Volkswagen, Ford and Tesla are among the electric carmakers whose batteries may contain nickel mined in indigenous woodlands plagued by deforestation, an analysis has found, highlighting the struggle to make vehicles that are free from environmental destruction. Corporate disclosures and trade flows from the last two years show mines in the battery supply chains of automotive giants are linked to the loss of trees in Sulawesi, a wildlife hotspot in Indonesia that houses the world’s largest nickel deposits. The metal is widely used in cathodes in car batteries because it boosts energy density and increases range. |
The islands keeping Germany safe
BONN, Germany, 16 October 2026 (DW) - Rising sea levels are threatening a way of life for hundreds of millions of island dwellers across the world. Tropical islands might be some of the first that come to mind, but it’s a problem that’s made its way to Europe, too. Germany, for example, is currently wrestling with questions of how to preserve its beloved islands in the North Sea whose cultures and traditions date back centuries. Not to mention their proud history of adapting to turbulent waters. |
Sister Islands cat cull to continue without shooting
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, 16 October 2026 (CC) - The culling of feral cats that threaten rare seabirds in the Sister Islands will continue, according to the Department of Environment, though trapped cats will no longer be shot. |
Seagrass meadows may offer a more nutritious catch than reefs
BRIDGEND, Wales, 16 October 2026 (Mongabay) - Researchers surveyed 40 sites along the East African coastline from Kenya to Mozambique, studying seagrass and coral reef ecosystems. They found that when it comes to benefits for coastal communities, seagrasses bring something important to the plate. In a paper they write that while reefs support “greater fish biomass, abundance, and richness overall,” fish communities living in seagrass meadows may provide a richer mix of nutrients when seen from the perspective of human sustenance. |
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