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Outcry in Trinidad and Tobago after passing of police bill
LONDON, UK, 6 October 2026 (Guardian) - Journalists in Trinidad and Tobago have called for an urgent amendment to a sweeping new bill that increases police powers of search and seizure, which they argue threatens the country’s much-vaunted freedom of the press. The government says the special operations bill 2026, passed on 24 September, is designed to tackle alarmingly high crime and murder rates in the Caribbean nation. |
Pacific's new climate fund gets $15 million boost
NADI, Fiji, 7 October 2026 (Reuters) - Nations including Fiji and Ireland said on Wednesday they were donating about $15 million to a fund to finance climate resilience and adaptation projects in Pacific islands, but pledges remain far below the fund's target. Pacific islands face acute risks from rising seas and volatile weather but say they struggle to access money from global funds. |
Science, Indigenous knowledge team up to restore Canada's kelp
VANCOUVER ISLAND, Canada, 6 October 2026 (Mongabay) - Emily Fulton spends a lot of time in a small boat cruising the waters of Clayoquot Sound off the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. As the marine program manager for the nonprofit Redd Fish Restoration Society, she regularly checks on a newly created kelp nursery growing within the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. |
Indonesia's two rhino species are close to extinction
SYDNEY, Australia, 5 October 2026 (Conversation) - According to the latest State of the Rhino report, the future of the elusive Javan rhino and the small, hairy Sumatran rhino is now especially precarious. Distribution is a major reason why. There are roughly 50 surviving Javan rhinos. All live in a single protected area, Ujung Kulon National Park on the island of Java. Due to nearby converging tectonic plates, it is vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis. One natural disaster could well exterminate the Javan rhino population. In contrast, the several dozen remaining Sumatran rhinos are scattered into many subpopulations, across two islands. This means the chance of a wild individual rhino encountering another of their kind is remote or even impossible. With no prospect of finding a compatible mate, isolated survivors are destined to be the end of their genetic line. |
Falklands celebrates Peat Cutting Day
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, 6 October 2026 (MercoPress) - Monday 5th October has been a public holiday in the Falkland Islands. This is because the first Monday in October every year has been declared Peat Cutting Day, which is a way of celebrating a long standing tradition and recalling the primary fuel that for decades kept Islanders and their homes warm. |
Science, Innovation and Investment at pre-COP31 in Fiji
SUVA, Fiji, 6 October 2026 (SPREP) - The Pacific Island way of life is buoyed by the ocean. This lifeblood that courses through the blue lungs to gift the world oxygen, is also the foundation of Pacific culture and traditions, its food source, as well as the pathway that carried Pacific people throughout history as they journeyed from Pacific island to island. |
Transition away from fossil fuels not open for renegotiation
FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu, 6 October 2026 (Guardian) - Pacific island leaders have urged a promised global transition away from fossil fuels must not be left open to renegotiation as they gather in tiny Tuvalu in a bid to build momentum before a major climate summit. |
SBMA maintains exploration of deep-sea minerals continues
RAROTONGA, Cook Islands, 6 October 2026 (RNZ) - Commercial deep-sea mining in the Cook Islands and other pro-mining Pacific countries could begin as early as 2027, an Australian-based think tank predicts. However, the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) maintains that exploration will continue until 2032. |
People with albinism living in terror in Madagascar
TOLIARA, Madagascar, 1 October 2026 (Guardian) - The country is struggling to address a rise in attacks, with a record 13 people – mostly children – killed this year for body parts, which some believe can bring good fortune. |
The people evacuated to the UK from Tristan da Cunha in 1961
LONDON, UK, 5 October 2026 (BBC) - "Just over a year ago, they'd never seen traffic or a road or a house higher than a cottage," said Tim Brinton in a BBC new report in 1963. He was talking about the residents of Tristan da Cunha, the world's most remote inhabited island. In the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, roughly halfway between Cape Town in South Africa and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the tiny British outpost is more than 1,500 miles from any other populated land, and is only accessible by a seven-day boat journey. |
Channel Islands National Park braces for El Niño
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 5 October 2026 (SFGATE) - El Niño is strengthening over the Pacific Ocean, raising the odds of a wetter-than-usual winter in Southern California. At Channel Islands National Park, that could mean a season of welcome rain - but also a difficult test for an ecosystem still recovering from one of the largest wildfires in the islands’ history. The stakes are particularly high on Santa Rosa Island, where a May fire burned 18,379 acres, roughly one-third of the island. The blaze devastated much of a rare grove of Torrey pines, with a postfire assessment estimating that 60% to 80% of the mature trees died. |
Empty classrooms on remote Greek island signal a crisis across Europe
KALAMOS, Greece, 5 October 2026 (AP) - Chryssa Ntalaka’s classroom has become an object lesson in subtraction. The sole teacher in the last school on the idyllic Greek island of Kalamos has a shorter list of students every fall. This year, just two. On Sept. 23, the sixth graders sat at Ntalaka’s table beneath the whiteboard, in front of rows of unused desks and benches. When they head to middle school on Greece’s mainland next year, her school will be mothballed. Toys and picture books still sit on shelves in the nearby kindergarten since it was shuttered three years ago. |
The fight to protect Indonesia's orangutans as El Nino fuels fires
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 5 October 2026 (Mongabay) - In Indonesia, fires are burning in rainforests that contain 13 of the 20 largest remaining populations of Bornean orangutan. Without urgent action, thousands more orangutans could be killed, injured or displaced, warns the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, a network of primatologists, field researchers and conservation experts. Actions must include long-term measures, including community-led efforts, beyond emergency firefighting to tackle the fires, say experts. |
Hunters reportedly kill hundreds of migratory birds in Malta
VALLETTA, Malta, 5 October 2026 (BirdLife) - Last month a multi-day thunderstorm over the Mediterranean Sea struck Malta, stranding hundreds of passing migratory birds. Hunters in the country then shot hundreds of those birds, including protected species, shows evidence gathered by the conservation NGO BirdLife Malta. |
Fijian climate activist sends message ahead of UN talks in Pacific
YASAWA ISLANDS, Fiji, 3 October 2026 (Guardian) - From her wooden veranda in Fiji’s remote Yasawa islands, climate activist Lavenia Naivalu remembers when the reefs were once so healthy, her grandfather would walk to the shoreline and return with fish. But life there has changed. |
'The truth is Cuba has already fallen'
NEW YORK, US, 2 October 2026 (El Pais) - Sandro Castro, Fidel's influencer grandson who runs several Havana nightclubs, was asked a question on Instagram a few days ago that was seen by his more than 165,000 followers. “When will change come to Cuba?” The young Castro posted a photo of himself with a Cuban flag draped over his back while gazing at Havana’s cracked skyline from afar: “Cuba is already changing, or haven’t you noticed?” he replied. Certainly, the country that existed in January is not the same nine months later: most people still watch life slip away amid shortages and long power outages, but a new private class is taking on roles that used to belong to the state - supplying pharmacies, importing and distributing diesel, and ensuring food sales. |
Java holds some of the planet’s greatest ancient treasures
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia, 2 October 2026 (CNN) - In the frenetic, action-packed metropolis of Jakarta, a democratically elected president oversees Indonesia’s government. But just a few hours east, a sultan still holds court. Yogyakarta is a rare thing, a sultan’s kingdom inside of a country that is otherwise a republic. In the local Javanese language, the letter Y is pronounced like a hard J, with the city’s name shortened to “Jogja.” Here in Jogja, a city whose backbone was built along an ancient cosmological axis, the present always exists door-to-door with the past. |
Island hosts inter-island environment summit
GUERNSEY, Channel Islands, 3 October 2026 (BBC) - Environmental experts, conservation groups and businesses from across the British Isles and France have gathered in Guernsey for the 26th Inter-Island Environment Meeting. The annual event, co-ordinated by the Guernsey Nature Commission, brings together delegates to share ideas and develop joint projects aimed at protecting the natural environment. |
The Price of a Narrow Metric: Why Vulnerability Must Count
VICTORIA, Seychelles, 1 October 2026 (IPS) - From a distance, an island nation can appear to possess everything: pristine waters, a thriving tourism industry and a strong cultural identity. Its income figures may suggest prosperity. Yet those figures can conceal the permanent costs of remoteness, dependence on imported food and fuel, expensive transport and infrastructure, and an economy exposed to forces far beyond its shores. A pandemic, a cyclone or a sudden interruption in tourism can undo years of progress with frightening speed. |
Restoring native forests and improving biodiversity in Samoa
GLAND, Switzerland, 2 October 2026 (IUCN) - Samoa Conservation Society (SCS) is supporting the restoration and preservation of Community Conservation Areas (CCAs) and protected areas through forest management and support network activities. Through a Kiwa Initiative-backed local project, SCS is strengthening the resilience of local ecosystems and empowering communities to drive grassroots conservation action. |
The wealthy Cuban Americans ready and waiting for Havana to fall
LONDON, UK, 2 October 2026 (BBC) - At the lavish home of one of Miami's top plastic surgeons, overlooking the Biscayne Bay, some of the wealthiest Cuban-American families in Florida have gathered. They are there to thrash out their vision of Cuba's future at the fourth meeting of the newly created Cuban-American National Chamber of Commerce (CANCC). |
Pacific Islands get their climate moment with pre-COP meeting
CANBERRA, Australia, 2 October 2026 (Reuters) - Australia's efforts to put Pacific island nations at the centre of global climate diplomacy are falling short of ambitions, with few leaders from outside the region planning to attend a gathering in Tuvalu and Fiji next week. Australia and its Pacific island partners sought to turn the pre-COP conference - a forerunner to the UN's flagship COP31 event - into a headline-grabbing moment when some of the world's most recognisable leaders would visit a tiny atoll threatened by rising seas and extreme weather. |
Plankton bloom turns Thai island waters a bright, smelly green
KO LAN, Thailand, 2 October 2026 (Reuters) - The sea off Thailand's popular tourist island of Ko Lan turned a bright, pungent green this week as heavy rains and floods helped spark a plankton bloom that kept some swimmers on shore. Dense patches of green could be seen stretching along parts of the coast, with jet skis floating in discoloured waters around the island in the northern part of the Gulf of Thailand, while other stretches of the shoreline were unaffected. |
Indonesia's rubber growers draw on traditional ways to fight back
PENUKAL ABAB LEMATANG ILIR, Indonesia, 2 October 2026 (Mongabay) - In South Sumatra province, rubber tree growers in the Tempirai customary zone say they use fire only after the end of the dry season, after they have planted food crops, and that fires began to afflict this area of South Sumatra province after the oil palm industry began operating in the peatland. That may reflect the relative resilience of oil palm trees to wildfires compared with rubber trees, which are much more vulnerable to incineration. |
Birdsong tells only part of a forest's story
SHEFFIELD, UK, 2 October 2026 (Conversation) - Birds calling back and forth in the morning is one of the defining sounds of tropical forests. We’re likely to assume more types of birds we hear or see indicate a healthy forest. But counting species isn’t the only way to measure a forest’s health. Evolutionary biology asks another question that matters just as much: How closely related are the bird species that live together there? In a study of 422 bird species across 1,410 sites on seven islands in Borneo and the Wallacea region, my team and I found that densely forested areas do not necessarily harbour a greater diversity of bird species. |
Beyond Treaties: How investment disputes trap Pacific nations
SUVA, Fiji, 2 October 2026 (PINA) - Across the vast expanse of the Blue Pacific, island states are managing approximately 30 percent of the world’s oceans and seas within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs), making the region a continent of “Big Ocean States.” What lies in the depths of these waters are substantial deposits of rare earth elements and precious minerals. These deep-sea minerals have become the centre of regional to international debate, driven by the increasing demand for energy, military expansion, and digital and commercial technologies. Corporations have now entered a race to secure access to Pacific earth minerals. |
Knitters flock to Shetland's wool week
LERWICK, UK, 30 September 2026 (BBC) - Almost 1,000 people have gathered in Shetland for the island's annual celebration of wool, knitting and textiles. The week-long event is marking its 17th year and features classes, workshops, talks, tours and social activities. Shetland Wool Week draws enthusiasts from around the world, including the US and Japan. |
Excavations on tiny Scottish island shed light on spread of Christianity
LONDON, UK, 1 October 2026 (Guardian) - To the residents of the Scottish island of Lismore, population 190, history is never very far away. This quiet place, documentary evidence records, was home to a monastic settlement in the sixth century AD, when missionaries from Ireland were first moving into northern Britain to spread Christianity. But apart from a few fragments of an early carved cross, there was almost nothing to see from this period of history. |
UN urges more US action on Marshall Islands nuclear legacy
GENEVA, Switzerland, 1 October 2026 (Reuters) - The United States needs to take additional steps to remedy the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands by providing healthcare and releasing secret archives, according to a UN report presented to its human rights body on Thursday. |
The island where time doesn't exist and the sun never sets
NEW YORK. US, 1 October 2026 (Hola) - In a world driven by schedules, deadlines, and constant productivity, there is a remote Arctic island where time quite literally loses its meaning. Located just one hour from Tromso, Sommaroy, which translates to “Summer Island,” is home to a small community of around 300 residents who made a symbolic yet powerful statement: they hung their watches on the bridge that connects them to the mainland. |
Indonesia’s new peatland agency faces questions
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 1 October 2026 (Mongabay) - Indonesia plans to create a new agency to restore and manage peatlands prone to burning, in a repeat of a measure it took in response to the severe fire season of 2015. The new agency will replace an older one that shuttered at the end of 2024, raising questions about why its predecessor was allowed to die off and what the new body will do differently. The previous agency’s restoration efforts helped reduce fire hotspots, but damaged infrastructure and continued land conversion have limited lasting ecological recovery. |
India's isolated island tribes need autonomy to survive rising threats
MONTREAL, Canada, 1 October 2026 (Mongabay) - Isolated and contacted Indigenous tribes in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands face threats from illegal fishing, mega-development projects and misinformed government welfare policies that undermine their self-sufficiency, says Manish Chandi, a former research scholar who has spent decades working with tribal communities in the region. |
World's oceans absorbed record heat last year
LONDON, UK, 30 September 2026 (Guardian) - A record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat was sunk into the world’s seas last year, leaving ocean waters hotter, higher and less hospitable, a report has found. The explosive addition of thermal energy, which was almost 40 times greater than all the energy humanity used that year, comes amid far-reaching changes to the deep water bodies fundamental to life on Earth. Sea levels have risen by about 3.8mm per year since 1999, and at a faster rate of 4.2mm per year between 2012 and 2025, according to the 10th edition of the Copernicus ocean state report. It found the global ocean has become 17% more acidic in the last 40 years. |
New penguin species found on the Kerguelen Islands
NEW YORK, US, 28 September 2026 (People Inc) - Researchers discovered a new gentoo penguin species living on the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean. This is the first new penguin species identified in over 100 years, with the last being the northern rockhopper penguin in 1921. There are four different species of gentoo penguins, which all have genetic differences, but Pygoscelis kerguelensis was previously unknown to scientists |
Japan's Shikoku Pilgrimage route
WASHINGTON, US, 29 September 2026 (SM) - I had just arrived at Konsen-ji, the third temple on Japan’s Shikoku Pilgrimage route, when a young Japanese girl presented me with two origami cranes. These tiny gifts, I would later learn, symbolized wishes for a safe and smooth journey along the 750-mile circuit connecting 88 Buddhist temples, as well as other sacred sites, on Shikoku, the smallest and least populated of Japan’s four main islands. |
Rising sea temperatures putting pressure Zanzibar's seaweed farmers
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, 30 September 2026 (IPS) - Fatuma Makame learned to farm seaweed in the shallow water where her parents worked. These days, she grows it farther from shore. In the shallows, warmer water has left the crop more vulnerable to poor growth and disease. Conditions can be better farther out, but working there requires a boat, equipment, and the skills to handle deeper water. Makame joined Mwani Zanzibar Mamas - a cooperative union that obtained a boat and farming gear. She has since reported larger, more reliable harvests. |
Scientists expected these Galápagos sea turtles to wander
QUITO, Ecuador, 28 September 2026 (SD) - Yellow-morph green sea turtles in the Galápagos surprised scientists by staying remarkably close to home instead of making the long journeys typically associated with sea turtles. Satellite tracking showed that none left the marine reserve during the study, revealing just how important the islands’ coastal habitats may be to their survival. |
Pacific calls for a strong, implementable global plastics treaty
SUVA, Fiji, 30 September 2026 (PINA) - Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) are calling for continued progress towards an ambitious, effective and implementable international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, as Heads of Delegation meet in Bangkok this week for the second informal in-person meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC). |
‘Overwhelmed’ by British tourists, the Canary Islands are fighting back
LONDON, UK, 25 September 2026 (inews) - Thousands of demonstrators are expected to fill the streets of Spain’s Canary Islands on Saturday, as part of major protests against overtourism. The demonstrators, who will march in Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, are demanding action from the island’s authorities to relieve the strain on roads, airports and other infrastructure which they say are being overrun by millions of tourists from Britain, Germany and other North European countries every year. |
Family steps up for Chatham Islands shipping service
FEILDING, New Zealand, 25 September 2026 (FW) - The highly anticipated new vessel set to service the Chatham Islands is proving to be very much a family affair between its Kiwi and Italian partners. Auckland-based McCallum Brothers partnered with Italian shipping family Nova Marine Carriers to design and finance the replacement vessel for the aging Southern Tiare that has come to the end of its 40-year service life. |
The treasured 'eternal snow' on Papua is about to disappear forever
LONDON, UK, 25 September 2026 (BBC) - The mountains of Papua are not far from the equator, but they've been topped with "eternal snow" for centuries. The peaks in this Indonesian region on the world's second-largest island, just north of Australia, have offered scientists countless insights into the Earth's climate history. They're also the epicentre of the spiritual universe for many Papuans - a Mecca or a Vatican, as one activist puts it. But now, nearly all the snow is gone. |
Meet the women transforming Zanzibar’s seaweed industry
WASHINGTON, US, 26 September 2026 (Nat.Geog) - On Zanzibar’s east coast, a community of women harvests seaweed with the tides, preserving generations of knowledge while helping to shape a more sustainable future. For generations, Zanzibar’s communities have understood the restorative qualities of seaweed, long before it became a sought-after ingredient in skincare. After harvesting, the crop is carefully cleaned and processed, traditional knowledge paired with scientific expertise to shape it into a range of soaps and skincare products. |
World leaders approve new declaration to tackle rising sea levels
NEW YORK, US, 24 September 2026 (UN) - Sea level rise is among the most visible consequences of global warming, but for some countries, it is an imminent existential threat. World leaders approved a new declaration on Thursday while debating the best ways to strengthen international cooperation and support vulnerable low-lying nations most at risk. |
The endangered native ponies of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides
LONDON, UK, 28 September 2026 (Guardian) - Fewer than 400 Eriskay ponies remain. One of the rarest native breeds in the world, their plight is unique because the community living on their tiny Hebridean island are fighting for them. The ponies wander the village and townsfolk care for them together. |
Civilians pay the price for West Papua conflict
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, 25 September 2026 (RNZ) - More than 125,000 people are reported to have been displaced in West Papua as armed conflict escalates, but the real number is likely much higher. A recent report from the Human Rights Monitor said military operations and armed violence have been particularly intense in the central highlands of Indonesian-ruled Papua region this year. |
Singapore's plan to merge several islands could wipe out coral reefs
SINGAPORE, 28 September 2026 (Mongabay) - Singapore’s prime minister recently announced plans to merge several islands into a new “western island” to support “a new generation of industries.” The mega-project could bury up to 60% of Singapore’s remaining reefs, many of which are “mother” reefs and of regional ecological significance, conservationists say. The reefs are traditional fishing grounds for the Indigenous Orang Laut, who say the project would restrict their access to an area of cultural significance. |
Review urged of Channel Islands' relationship
LONDON, UK, 29 September 2026 (BBC) - People in Guernsey, Alderney and Sark are being urged to have their say on the future of the islands after a review found some long-standing arrangements may no longer meet modern needs. |
Putin is testing NATO on Norway's remote Arctic islands
BARENTSBURG, Norway, 28 September 2026 (Politico) - For the best part of a century, the biggest threat to the residents of Svalbard was polar bears. Increasingly, it now comes from Russia. Fears are growing that Moscow could use the sprawling Arctic archipelago - a part of Norway with an unusual legal status - to test NATO militarily amid growing uncertainty over the U.S. commitment to European defense. |
Sri Lanka's disappearing snake charmers
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, 28 September 2026 (Mongabay) - In Sri Lanka, the traditional snake charming culture is fast fading as changing livelihoods, modern entertainment and attitudes toward wildlife reshape the island’s nomadic community, the Ahikuntika tribe. During the act of snake charming, cobras do not respond to the music itself, but to the movement of the charmer and instrument, which they perceive as a potential threat, herpetologists say. |
Messina Strait Bridge would kill tens of thousands of migratory birds
CAMBRIDGE, UK, 25 September 2026 (BirdLife) - The Italian government is about to approve a suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina, a 3-kilometre stretch of sea separating Sicily from mainland Italy, and one of the most important bird migration bottlenecks in the African-Eurasian Flyway. |
Scientists track reef recovery across Pacific Islands
SAN DIEGO, US, 21 September 2026 (Fox) - From Hawaii to Howland and Baker Islands, through American Samoa and the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, NOAA scientists spent months diving at protected coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean to monitor fish, coral reef and ocean conditions. They dove 1,006 times, conducted 440 fish surveys, took hundreds of ocean water samples, photomosaic surveys, temperatures readings, coral surveys and much more during the effort to survey Pacific island reef conditions. |
Faroe Islands kill 15 times more whales than demand requires
LONDON, UK, 21 September 2026 (OM) - Marine conservationists have launched a report exposing the scale of animal cruelty, neglect and waste behind whale and dolphin hunts in the Faroe Islands – arguing that the annual kill count vastly exceeds what domestic consumption actually requires. |
Little Cayman narrows UNESCO World Heritage bid to marine parks
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, 22 September 2026 (CC) - Little Cayman has narrowed its bid to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site to include only its marine environment, rather than the entire island. The original recommendation to include the entire island had been met with opposition from local landowners, who argued UNESCO oversight may influence the development plan process and lead to new restrictions. They had pressed for the application to be restricted to the island’s marine parks. |
The clock is ticking on this tiny Australian island
SYDNEY, Australia, 23 September 2026 (SBS) - Yessie Mosby paces down the beach near his home on Masig, a teardrop-shaped island in the Torres Strait. Less than three metres above sea level, Masig's sandy shores are slowly being eaten away by rising tides. Areas once safely inland, such as burial sites, playgrounds, roads and family gardens, are receding before its residents' eyes. |
From French outpost to Euro-Canadian corridor?
PARIS, France, 21 September 2026 (Conversation) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not need to cross the Atlantic to meet Emmanuel Macron on French soil over the weekend. Instead, he joined the French president in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, just 25 kilometres off Newfoundland. The visit brought together a contentious shared history, Canada’s rapprochement with Europe and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon’s search for new development opportunities. |
Key moments in Trump's push to control Greenland
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 22 September 2026 (Reuters) - The United States, Denmark and Greenland have entered into an agreement for the US to boost its military presence on the island, while prohibiting US adversaries from building their own bases there, President Donald Trump said on Friday. Following is a timeline of the rising geopolitical tensions around Greenland and Trump’s wish to control the semi-autonomous Arctic island of 57,000 people, which has been under Danish rule for centuries. |
Outcry over plan to merge cluster of Asian islands into one
MELBOURNE, Australia, 23 September 2026 (YN) - Just over 3,000km north of Australia, scientists are warning against plans to merge a cluster of tropical islands into one. The idea has been floated in Singapore, which has some of the world's most expensive real estate. Between 47 and 56 per cent of Singapore has been designated as green space, and the government claims more land must be created for a giant industrial hub for power generation and manufacturing. |
Tourism has the potential to reverse coral decline at Bali hotspot
BANGKOK, Thailand, 22 September 2026 (Mongabay) - A new study in Bali found that coral reefs continue to decline at one of the island’s major tourism hubs at Sanur, despite multiple efforts to rehabilitate them. Reef restoration initiatives often take place without first addressing the underlying drivers of coral decline such as sediment runoff and wastewater discharge, the study found. |
New Galapagos Atlas charts the islands’ biodiversity
PUERTO AYORA, Galapagos, 23 September 2026 (Mongabay) - A new atlas of biodiversity of the Galápagos Islands highlights the unique evolutionary and ecological diversity of life in the famed archipelago that helped Charles Darwin develop the theory of natural selection. |
US to build two military bases in Greenland under new deal
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 22 September 2026 (BBC) - The US, Denmark and Greenland have signed a defence deal that allows Washington to build two new military bases in the Arctic territory, while reaffirming Copenhagen's sovereignty over it. |
As fires spread in Indonesia, Bornean orangutans flee forest
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 23 September 2026 (Mongabay) - Fires are spreading across Bornean orangutan habitat in West Kalimantan, including Gunung Palung National Park and the Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor. Conservationists said losing forest in the national park would be devastating for its large orangutan population and long-running research program. |
Jamaica hails King’s decision to refer slavery reparations petition
LONDON, UK, 23 September 2026 (Guardian) - King Charles has referred a landmark slavery reparations petition from Jamaica to a high-level UK appeals court for legal advice, Jamaica’s culture minister announced in parliament on Tuesday. Referring to the move as a “really big deal”, Olivia Grange told Jamaica’s MPs the monarch had confirmed that their legal questions have been passed on to the London-based privy council – the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth countries. |
UK to review Chagos Islands deal over lack of US support
LONDON, UK, 23 September 2026 (BBC) - The UK is reviewing its deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, the defence secretary has said. Wes Streeting confirmed the deal was being looked at again after US President Donald Trump called it "terrible" at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. The original agreement would see the UK cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius and pay an average of £101m ($136m) per year to lease back a joint UK-US military base there, prized for its strategic location in the Indian Ocean. |
When a country goes underwater: Island States fight for their future
NEW YORK, US, 22 September 2026 (UN) - Rising sea levels and ever-more-powerful storms are eroding shorelines, submerging land and threatening to evict millions of people from their homes worldwide. Yet, for the people of some low-lying small island States, what is at stake is more than just their houses. Their countries face the possibility of substantial losses of land territory and even complete submergence, which could render them uninhabitable. Where will they go? What will happen to their nationalities? Their culture? |
The tiny Arctic island where travellers have found refuge since 1897
LONDON, UK, 23 September 2026 (BBC) - For centuries, this tiny Norwegian island sheltered fishermen from violent seas. Now one woman is using tourism to revive it – and offer travellers refuge from modern life. For generations, Støtt was a refuge. Fishing boats blown off course in the Norwegian Sea could shelter here, while a trading post on Innerstøtt, the largest of Støtt's three inhabited islands, supplied fishermen heading north to the rich Arctic cod grounds of Lofoten. |
Planned US tech hub in Philippines hit over environmental concerns
MANILA, Philippines, 23 September 2026 (Mongabay) - The Philippines is a key location for the U.S. led Pax Silica initiative, a global pact to establish a semiconductor and AI supply chain not reliant on China. Pax Silica, and a related national initiative called the Luzon Economic Corridor, have been met with opposition from civil society and Indigenous groups. |
Logging still threatens Bornean forest once envisioned as peace park
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, 23 September 2026 (Mongabay) - A conservation park that Indigenous communities from the Malaysian state of Sarawak believed they could co-manage and self-govern has been transformed into a timber concession and stripped of critical tree cover, according to a recently published report. |
Meet the Philippines' islanders reclaiming their heritage
WASHINGTON, US, 24 September 2026 (Nat.Geog) - In the central Philippines, the Visayan Islands’ tropical beaches are a backdrop for deeply rooted communities who are working to preserve locals’ unique way of life - inviting visitors to share in complex culinary traditions and heritage crafts, and explore the reclaimed relics of the sugar trade. |
These remote Scottish islands make too much clean power, now what?
ATLANTA, US, 24 September 2026 (CNN) - The Orkney Islands often generate 100% of their electricity needs from powerful winds and some of Europe’s strongest tides. But their success has created a new problem: what to do with too much power. Ahead of Global Perspectives in Doha, CNN explores how these islands have become a living lab for a carbon-free future. |
Argentina again threatens sovereignty of Falklands at UN
LONDON, UK, 23 September 2026 (Guardian) - Argentinian president Javier Milei has condemned the UN as he warned that Argentina would take “matters into our own hands” in its dispute with Britain over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. |
Naoero tells UN it will withdraw from ICC
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, 24 September 2026 (RNZ) - David Adeang, president of Naoero (formerly Nauru), used a United Nations gathering of world leaders to announce his country's voluntary withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and criticise the International Seabed Authority (ISA) for delays on agreeing on rules for deep sea mining. |
Antigua and Barbuda partners with Octopus Energy
LONDON, UK, 24 September 2026 (OE) - Octopus Energy and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda are joining forces to explore ways of making energy cheaper, cleaner and more secure for the people of Antigua and Barbuda. Announced at the Global Citizen NOW: Impact Session during New York Climate Week, the partnership will look at how solar, batteries, EVs and smarter, flexible demand can work together to reduce the country’s reliance on expensive imported fossil fuels, lower energy costs and strengthen the resilience of the national electricity grid. |
Nato welcomes Greenland deal
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 18 September 2026 (BBC) - The US and Denmark have announced a deal on Greenland's security, resolving a diplomatic dispute sparked by President Donald Trump's threats to seize it by force. Nato said the deal would help stabilise the region, as Trump said Denmark would grant the US "permanent control over security, and all other needs" in the semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic. |
The slow, muddy work of saving ancient bogs
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, 12 September 2026 (BBC) - High up on a Manx hillside, Sarah Hickey effortlessly pushes a metre-long metal rod into the wet ground until it disappears almost to her hands. "This is pretty deep here," she says, reading the markings on the probe. Beneath her boots is peat, built up over thousands of years and consisting of partially decayed plants and organic matter. Hickey is the island's peatland officer and part of an uplands team of just three, who, between them, manage about 8,000 hectares of the island's hills. |
UAE joins Pacific Islands Forum as strategic partner
ABU DHABI, UAE, 19 September 2026 (The National) - The UAE has been formally recognised as a strategic partner of the Pacific Islands Forum, joining 12 other global powers in a landmark step for the country's Pacific engagement. The UAE's new status is expected to open further opportunities for trade, investment and business partnerships, as well as an exchange of knowledge in areas including the energy transition, digital transformation and connectivity. |
Tapanuli orangutans face mining, landslides, and fire threats
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 18 September 2026 (Mongabay) - In late 2025, extreme rainfall associated with Cyclone Senyar wiped out swaths of North Sumatra’s Batang Toru ecosystem, home to the largest known population of Tapanuli orangutans. Nearly a year later, there are is still no coordinated recovery strategy for the critically endangered ape, and its habitat faces multiple threats. |
Niue-based trust has been named a finalist in Earthshot Prize
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, 21 September 2026 (RNZ) - The Niue Ocean Wide Trust has been announced as one of the finalists in the Earthshot Prize. The trust sells Ocean Conservation Commitments to individuals, companies and governments, building a 32 million dollar endowment to fund permanent protection of the Pacific Ocean for future generations. |
Coastal flooding could save atoll islands from rising seas
PLYMOUTH, UK, 16 September 2026 (Conversation) - Communities living on coral atoll islands, which rarely rise more than four metres above the surface of the sea, face a strange paradox. On the one hand, these islands are among the most sensitive to the effects of climate change, with sea-level rise and potentially increasing storminess expected to make coastal flooding events more frequent and intense. On the other hand, when waves overwash such islands during extreme weather events, new sediment from their surrounding coral reefs is typically deposited on the island, increasing its elevation. |
Tonnes of fishing gear and plastic washing up on Seychelles beaches
OXFORD, UK, 17 September 2026 (Conversation) - Vast quantities of plastic and fishing gear are washing up along the shores of the Seychelles, destroying fragile ecosystems and causing significant economic problems. Aldabra Atoll, a Unesco world heritage site in this archipelago nation of 115 islands, is estimated to have accumulated more than 500 tonnes of plastic on its shores alone. Most of this plastic debris continues to pile up along its beaches today. It was estimated that removing it would cost approximately £3.46 million and would require 18,000 hours of labour. |
Nat Geog studies Tokelau's lagoons, reefs, and open ocean
SUVA, Fiji, 19 September 2026 (PINA) - National Geographic Pristine Seas begins an expedition this week in Tokelau. At the invitation of Tokelau’s government and in partnership with its Ministry of Climate, Ocean & Resilience, the team of scientists and filmmakers will study the nation’s marine ecosystems to identify vital areas for protection. Surveying biodiversity in reef, mid-ocean, and deepwater sites, researchers will provide data to support Tokelau’s ongoing conservation efforts, including the development of a future National Ocean Policy and marine spatial plan. |
Pacific SIDS need stronger social protection to build resilience
SUVA, Fiji, 18 September 2026 (PINA) - Pacific island countries need to expand social protection systems to reduce poverty, strengthen resilience to climate and economic shocks and improve social cohesion, according to a new UN policy brief. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) says significant gaps in social protection coverage leave people in several Pacific SIDS highly vulnerable to shocks, including climate-related disasters and volatility in food, fuel and energy prices. |
Millions without power as Cuba hit by latest major blackout
LONDON, UK, 19 September 2026 (BBC) - Millions in Cuba were left without power on Friday as the country was plunged into yet another major blackout. The country's entire electricity grid suffered "total disconnection" that triggered a nationwide outage, Cuba's energy ministry said. Power was restored to some priority areas by late evening, including those near hospitals and water pumping stations in the capital Havana, grid operator UNE said. |
How being a tax haven has changed Jersey
ST HELIER, Jersey, 21 September 2026 (Guardian) - On a late Friday afternoon on the Channel Island of Jersey, tourists and locals are flocking to St Helier’s waterfront where the town’s sprawling beach has emerged at low tide. In one direction, they face the calm waters of St Aubin’s Bay, ringed by a seaside promenade and punctuated with a tidal island hosting the 16th century Elizabeth Castle. Back on shore, however, it is all business. Gleaming glass buildings hosting global accountancy firms and and international banks hint at the £4bn offshore finance industry dominating this nine-by-five-mile island’s economy. |
The black robin wins NZ bird of the year
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, 21 September 2026 (Guardian) - The black robin, once the world’s rarest bird before an extraordinary conservation project brought it back from brink of extinction, has been crowned New Zealand’s bird of the year, after record voter turnout. The tiny bird is found only in the Chatham Islands, 800km east of mainland New Zealand. Called kakaruia in Maori and karure in Morirori – the language indigenous to the Chathams – the birds are also fondly known as the “goth” of New Zealand’s bird world, for its striking black plumage, black eyes and a little pointy black beak. |
In the 1950s, whaling ended around these remote Scottish islands
BRISTOL, UK, 21 September 2026 (DW) - When a wildlife expedition visited former whaling grounds in the Scottish Hebrides, they spotted what may be one of the largest minke whale gatherings on record in the region. Experts estimate they saw up to 30 individuals feeding off the Isle of Eigg, Scotland. |
How Indonesia's fire haze affects millions
LONDON, UK, 21 September 2026 (Guardian) - Intensified by this year’s super El Niño, fires in Borneo and Sumatra are emitting toxic air for swathes of the population in Indonesia and its neighbours. The fires are sometimes lit illegally as a cheap way to clear land for plantations of oil palm, of which Indonesia is the world’s largest producer. |
How freediving helps Indonesia's Bajau preserve traditions
POTO TANO, Indonesia, 21 September 2026 (Mongabay) - The Bajau people of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have traditionally harvested the sea through freediving. A recent ban on compressor-assisted diving in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara province has made traditional freediving skills more valuable than ever. On Sumbawa, one of the province’s largest islands, traditional fishers and a local NGO are working together to preserve Bajau diving techniques and to manage local marine and fisheries resources in harmony with traditional management practices. |
Isle of Barra Distillers expands into the US and Japan
GLASGOW, UK, 21 September 2026 (Herald) - From one of Scotland's most remote islands to shelves across Europe, North America and Asia, Isle of Barra Distillers has spent the past few years steadily building an international presence for its island-made spirits. That growth has gathered pace. The business reported a 24% increase in production volumes during 2025, alongside revenue growth of 13.5%, despite challenging conditions across much of the spirits sector. It also doubled its workforce from six to 12 people, launched new products and continued work towards a planned £12 million distillery development at Eoligarry, which is expected to open in 2027. |
Last remaining stoat evades hunt on Scottish island
LONDON, UK, 20 September 2026 (Telegraph) - A solitary stoat sighted on a remote Scottish island is still at large despite a £150,000 effort to remove the invasive predator. Rousay, a small, hilly island with a population of about 230, was thought to be clear of the non-native mammal until a male stoat was caught on camera in April. Attempts to catch it with detection dogs, artificial-intelligence cameras and more than 200 traps have so far failed, raising fears for the safety of several species of birds’ nesting sites, including curlews, lapwings and oystercatchers. Stoats also pose a threat to the Orkney vole, which is unique to the collection of 70 islands and the main food source for the rare hen harrier and short-eared owls, |
Singing lemurs use opera technique, study finds
LONDON, UK, 21 September 2026 (BBC) - A species of lemur known for its song appears to use a similar technique to opera singers, researchers have found. Scientists from the University of Warwick, the University of Turin and the indri lemurs' home nation Madagascar have spent a number of years watching the species. They have produced a new study which finds the lemurs open their mouths wider to reach higher notes - similar to a trained soprano. |
Vying for control of Cuba's assets if regime falls
HAVANA, Cuba, 17 September 2026 (Guardian) - Spanish hotel chains. A Canadian mining firm. European shipping giants. Visa and Mastercard. Scores of foreign companies have been driven out of Cuba this summer over fear of being hit with potent, new secondary sanctions. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, told Axios last month there are “no escape valves” from his unprecedented pressure campaign against the island. But not everybody is losing out. A growing cast of Washington and Florida insiders – from billionaire Trump cronies and Rubio-linked lobbyists to Cuban exiles – are jockeying for control of the communist-ruled island-nation’s key assets, charging top dollar to help clients navigate the ever-expanding web of sanctions, and positioning themselves for lucrative business opportunities in the case of regime collapse. |
Insect remains reveal burial practices in the Canary Islands
DURHAM, UK, 16 September 2026 (Phys.org) - Archaeologists have analyzed insect remains preserved in the 7th to 9th centuries AD funerary cave of Cruz de la Esquina, Gran Canaria, and found that it was used by the island's Indigenous people for food storage before being adapted into a burial site. |
The women saving Borneo: battling fire, patriarchy and super El Niño
LONDON, UK, 16 September 2026 (Guardian) - Irma puts on her heavy rubber boots as she prepares for a volunteer firefighting shift in her village of Sungai Putri, on the Indonesian side of Borneo island. Dressed in full safety gear she heads into fire zones on her motorbike, the air thick with toxic smoke. The 39-year-old is a member of the Power of Mama, Indonesia’s first-ever all female firefighting team, formed to protect one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. |
Houthis seize strategic Red Sea islands
LONDON, UK,15 September 2026 (Guardian) - Yemen’s Houthi militants have seized two strategic islands in the Red Sea, reinforcing the Iran-backed group’s ability to control a key shipping route, as concerns mount that the world is facing a new oil supply crisis. The seizure of the islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish is the latest in the militant group’s swift advance across Yemen’s Red Sea coast, after the capture of the port of Mokha and Perim island in the Bab al-Mandab strait. The islands lie 160km north of the strait which is a chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the open ocean and Saudi Arabia's key Asian markets. |
These ‘alien tortoises’ are back on a Galapagos island
FLOREANA ISLAND, Galapagos, 15 September 2026 (CNN) - The giant tortoises of the Galápagos are not a single species; each island has its own species of tortoise that, over time, adapted to its environment. Several of these became completely extinct because whalers stopping in the archipelago caught them for food and introduced other threats, such as invasive species. The first to go extinct, around 1850, was the Floreana tortoise, named after the island where it lived. |
Indonesian wildfires threaten orangutan research site in Borneo
LONDON, UK, 15 September 2026 (Guardian) - Wildfires in Indonesia are sweeping through a critical research site for Bornean orangutans and are now threatening a celebrated research camp, home to one of the world’s longest-running studies of wild apes. In the past few days, the fires have burned within 200 metres of Rangkong research station, a satellite of Cabang Panti research station, which lies about four miles north in Gunung Palung national park |
Despite population decline, Rishiri Island’s kombu harvest goes on
RISHIRI ISLAND, Japan, 13 September 2026 (JT) - Deciding on which day to harvest and dry their kombu is one of the highest-stakes choices the fishermen make all year. There are multiple harvest days, but once brought ashore, that day’s haul must be laid out to completely dry within hours in steady sunshine and dry air - a tall order for this remote island off Hokkaido’s northern coast where rain and shifting winds are part of the daily weather. |
Former Greek prison island of Gyaros becomes biodiversity haven
ATHENS, Greece, 13 September 2026 (LM) - In the heart of the Cyclades archipelago, this island, long used as a place of exile, has been transformed into a sanctuary for wildlife, especially Mediterranean monk seals. The marine area is now officially protected under a presidential decree. |
Macron, Carney to visit French islands after Trump's map post
PARIS, France, 13 September 2026 (AFP) - The leaders of France and Canada will next week visit France's North Atlantic territory of Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon to underscore their support for national borders in the face of Donald Trump's territorial ambitions. |
New to science endemic species in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, 12 September 2026 (Mongabay) - Scientists have formally described Mus dumbara, a new species of spiny mouse from Sri Lanka’s Dumbara or Knuckles Mountain Range after years of waiting. |
PMC share progress in strengthening weather services
NUKUALOFA, Tonga, 13 September 2026 (SPREP) - The 8th Pacific Meteorological Council meeting brought Pacific nations and development partners together to share the progress they have made in strengthening weather services, early warning systems and climate information. |
The communities adapting to a changing Bay of Bengal
GLAND, Switzerland, 11 September 2026 (IUCN) - Nijhum Dwip is a remote coastal island in the Meghna estuary of Bangladesh, where the boundaries between land and water shift with each monsoon season. In Mollagram village, 60-year-old Md. Mehraz Uddin has spent his adult life on this island, watching its shoreline change around him. Like many residents here, his experience reflects a pattern common across the Bay of Bengal: gradual land loss to riverbank erosion, reduced fish stocks, and the steady pressure these changes place on households that have long depended on the water for their livelihoods. |
Can AI save the Maldives’ coral reefs?
WASHINGTON, US, 11 September 2026 (Nat.Geog) - How can you protect what you don’t understand? In the Maldives, a pioneering coral-monitoring project is combining AI, 3D mapping and marine science to reveal the hidden lives of reefs and show travellers a new way to experience conservation. |
PCNC11 ends with declaration committing to strengthened efforts
NOUMEA, New Caledonia, 12 September 2026 (SPREP) - The 11th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas closed with an enhanced commitment, renewed purpose and a shared responsibility to carry the conservation work forward, together. |
One in nine migratory birds threatened with extinction
LONDON, UK, 11 September 2026 (Guardian) - One in nine migratory birds are threatened with extinction and 45% of migratory species such as cuckoos, turtle doves and Arctic terns are in decline, according to a global report. The migratory slender-billed curlew was officially declared extinct last year, the first global bird extinction in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries. Worldwide, seven migratory bird species have been confirmed or are suspected to have become extinct over the last 150 years. |
A second island chain strategy for Asia
ARLINGTON, US, 10 September 2026 (DP) - The United States has two core interests in Asia worth protecting with military power: defending the U.S. homeland and safeguarding access to key economic markets and trade routes. The first priority requires little in the way of a forward military presence while the second benefits from a modest air and naval presence to hedge against outcomes that would threaten U.S. interests. A strategy that shifts U.S. military commitments and presence from the vulnerable “first island chain” toward a more defensible “second island chain” would reduce U.S. military requirements and the risk of a war with China while still protecting U.S. interests. |
Javan rhinos survive eruption in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 11 September 2026 (Mongabay) - Indonesia’s critically endangered Javan rhinos appear to have weathered a recent volcanic eruption near their only remaining habitat, highlighting the precarious position of one of the world’s rarest large mammals. |
Vanuatu’s fight against invasive species
NOUMEA, New Caledonia, 11 September 2026 (SPREP) - From the sacred forests of North Tanna to community conservation areas across the provinces, Vanuatu is demonstrating that invasive species management is about far more than protecting biodiversity. It is also about strengthening cultural identity, building resilience and empowering local people to take ownership of their natural heritage. |
This small island off Yemen is now a strategic prize
PERIM ISLAND, Yemen, 10 September 2026 (CNN) - Perim Island sits in the Strait of Bab al-Mandab, a geopolitical pinch-point that’s taken on an outsized importance since US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz. To help keep global energy supplies flowing, and prices down, Saudi Arabia diverted its oil exports from Hormuz to the Red Sea. But now Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Iran’s most powerful regional proxy, have begun an offensive that could land them control of Perim – and with it the ability to prevent ships passing through this narrow gateway from the Red Sea. |
On Tangier Island, the waters keep rising
OAKLAND, US, 9 September 2026 (SC) - Tangier Island is a speck of land in the middle of Chesapeake Bay, with about 10 miles of water separating it from Maryland and Virginia. While small, the island is rich with natural beauty and a seafaring legacy that goes back generations. It is also on the front lines of climate change - rising seas pose an existential threat. |
California officials allow plans for the country's biggest kelp farm
SANTA ANA, US, 10 September 2026 (AP) - California has long been farm country, and its oceans soon could be, too. State coastal officials voted to allow a plan to build the United States' largest kelp farm 6 miles off the Southern California coast to move forward as the Trump administration seeks to ramp up aquaculture in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean Rainforest, which is based in the Faroe Islands in Northern Europe, is planning to grow giant kelp on a roughly 3-square-mile stretch of federal waters to develop products to boost soil and plant health in California’s avocado farms and strawberry fields. Some environmentalists are concerned that the lines used to grow seaweed could tangle whales and that increased boat traffic will disrupt an expanse of ocean that has been wild. |
Islands tap energy from oceans thermal layers
NEW YORK, US, 10 September 2026 (IEEE) - Construction underway on a remote island nearly 400 kilometers west of India’s mainland could demonstrate, for the first time, the commercial viability of a vast, untapped renewable resource: the ocean’s thermal layers. Here, on the Lakshadweep Archipelago, surface waters are more than 20 °C warmer than the depths below, and with the right equipment that temperature differential can be exploited to generate electricity. |
Global Birdfair funding gives new hope to Sao Tome rarest birds
CAMBRIDGE, UK, 9 September 2026 (BirdLife) - In the forests of São Tomé, a small island rising from the Gulf of Guinea, hidden beneath the canopy are three birds found nowhere else on Earth: the Dwarf Ibis, Sao Tome Grosbeak ands Newton's Fiscal. All three are Critically Endangered. Two may number fewer than 250 individuals. One disappeared from scientific records for more than a century before being found again.?For birds this rare, every sighting matters. Every new nesting site, every better understanding of a threat, and every person who knows where to look can help build the knowledge needed to keep a species from disappearing. Now, a US$150,000 donation from Global Birdfair is giving the BirdLife São Tomé and Príncipe programme the opportunity to find out more and turn that knowledge into action.
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Community conservation success in Tonga heralded by birdsong
NOUMEA, New Caledonia, 10 September 2026 (SPREP) - Birdsong from the Tongan Whistler, also known as the Hengehenga bird can now be heard signaling successful conservation efforts in Tonga from the Vava’u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA). One of its activities is to eradicate rats from the native lowland forest area of Mount Talau on Vava’u, a successful undertaking by VEPA Ambassadors and community members. Working to protect endemic species, this has resulted in an amazing comeback of the Hengehenga. |
Lawsuit challenges Mariana Islands deep-sea mining lease sale
HONOLULU, Hawaii, 8 September 2026 (EJ) - Conservation and community groups filed a lawsuit today challenging the Trump administration’s plan to kick-start deep-sea mining off the coast of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in the western Pacific. The lawsuit contests the National Marine Fisheries Service’s conclusion that the deep-sea mining lease sale is unlikely to adversely affect imperiled species like humpback whales and giant manta rays. |
Denmark’s energy islands to become regional game changers
MADRID, Spain, 9 September 2026 (REM) - Offshore wind is becoming the backbone of Denmark’s clean energy future. The country plans to establish an artificial island in the North Sea with an initial capacity of 3GW and another island-based hub at Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. |
Iceland condemns Trump’s post showing island under American flag
LONDON, UK, 9 September 2026 (CNBC) - Iceland summoned the U.S. ambassador after Trump posted a map showing Iceland under the American flag. Reykjavik said the image was unacceptable, while reaffirming its support for Greenland amid Trump’s annexation threats. Denmark and Mexico also objected, underscoring the diplomatic backlash to Trump’s territorial ambitions. |
Jammertest is an open-air hacking festival set on Andoya island
LONDON, UK, 9 September 2026 (BBC) - Hosted annually by the Norwegian authorities, Jammertest is an open-air hacking festival set on remote Andoya island 300km north of the Arctic Circle. Its aim is simple but mind-bending: to use satellite signals to mess with time itself – and see if receivers in everything from clocks to drones can withstand the pressure. At the heart of this experiment is a technology that runs much of our modern digital world: Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). We tend to think of satellite networks such as GPS as tools for navigation. Yet they also do something else just as important: they transmit ultra-accurate time. |
Indonesian foragers may have sucked on mind-altering nuts
LONDON, UK, 9 September 2026 (Guardian) - What may be the earliest known evidence for human drug taking has been traced to ancient Indonesian foragers who sucked on mind-altering nuts as long as 25,000 years ago. Analysis of two exceptionally rare skeletons from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi revealed dramatic tooth wear and traces of a psychoactive substance in the individuals’ remaining teeth, suggesting they routinely sucked on hard, abrasive betel nuts. |
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