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South Georgia is a conservation success story
LONDON, UK, 13 March 2025 (Sky) - Technically, the hundred-mile-long, 20 mile-wide British overseas territory of South Georgia is uninhabited. Only a few visiting scientists and government fisheries inspectors occupy the island all year round. But from a wildlife perspective, it's anything but. Its shores are home to the largest number of marine birds and mammals on the planet. |
Reef islands in need of restoration
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 14 March 2025 (Mongabay) - A recent study of the islands in the Gulf of Mannar has found evidence of reduction in the surface area since 1973. Accretion and erosion across these islands are mediated wave dynamics, wind speeds and the frequency and intensity of storms. Rising sea levels and frequent ocean swells are also slowly pushing the southern groups of islands towards the mainland. |
India's plans for container port on Nicobar Islands spark controversy
MUMBAI, India, 14 March 2025 (NZZ) - India plans to build a major container port on the Nicobar Islands, offering strategic advantages but causing economic and environmental concerns. Critics warn that the port may not be economically competitive and could harm the environment, threatening indigenous groups such as the Shompen. The government defends the project as essential for national security interests and to counter China's influence in the region. |
Plastic pollution leaves seabirds with brain damage
LONDON, UK, 12 March 2025 (Guardian) - Analysis of young sable shearwaters, a migratory bird that travels between Australia’s Lord Howe Island and Japan, has found that plastic waste is causing damage to seabird chicks not apparent to the naked eye, including decay of the stomach lining, cell rupture and neurodegeneration. |
Residents of islands that saved millions from Cyclone Alfred
BRISBANE, Australia, 13 March 2025 (ABC) - Beyond being a tranquil getaway 58 kilometres from Brisbane, Moreton and Queensland's surrounding bay islands play a crucial role in the region. They protect Brisbane and other mainland areas from severe storm surges and ocean swells, acting as natural barriers. And they were what saved millions from the full force of Cyclone Alfred. |
Bills surrounding future of Sears Island discussed in Augusta
AUGUSTA, US, 12 March 2025 (WABI) - Two bills were discussed at the State House Wednesday regarding what supporters say are protections of Sears Island. The first bill would extend the conservation easement on the property, protecting the area from industrializing and the second would restrict the construction of a potential offshore wind terminal which would impact sand dune systems, reversing a decision made last session. Supporters argue millions of dollars of funding has gone into what they say is a dead end project. |
Surges in violence in Haiti push basic services to the brink of collapse
NEW YORK, US, 12 March 2025 (IPS) - In 2025, the humanitarian crisis in Haiti has grown increasingly dire amid the ongoing gang wars. With rates of displacement, child recruitment, food insecurity, physical violence, and sexual violence having skyrocketed in the past year alone, the national police have found it difficult to keep gang activity under control. |
Former chauffeur drives uptake of biogas by Java farmers
SLEMAN, Indonesia, 13 March 2025 (Mongabay) - A former migrant worker and chauffeur has pioneered the use of biogas in his home village near the city of Yogyakarta on Indonesia’s Java Island. Local residents say the installation of anaerobic digesters has improved household finances and that they no longer need to queue to buy propane cylinders. |
Honduras locals craft custom gear and hunt invasive lionfish
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 13 March 2025 (Mongabay) - Without a natural predator, invasive lionfish, which damage coral reefs, have become widespread throughout the Caribbean over the last several decades. To prevent further harm off the northern coast of Honduras, locals have resorted to crafting their own spears to effectively and safely hunt lionfish, |
Indonesia's coal gasification reboot faces backlash
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 13 March 2025 (Mongabay) - Indonesia is reviving plans to develop coal gasification plants to produce hydrogen and dimethyl ether (DME), aiming to reduce reliance on imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), with funding from the newly launched Danantara sovereign wealth fund. Experts warn that coal gasification is economically unviable, with previous plans falling through due to high costs, and that the government may need to provide large subsidies to make the initiative financially feasible. |
Greenland's opposition wins election
LONDON, UK, 12 March 2025 (BBC) - Greenland's centre-right opposition has won a surprise general election victory - in a vote dominated by independence and US President Donald Trump's pledge to take over the semi-autonomous territory. The centre-right Demokraatit party - which favours a gradual approach to independence from Denmark - achieved around 30% of the vote, near-complete results show. |
Deep-sea mining beckons but opposition is growing
LONDON, UK, 12 March 2025 (Guardian) - Deep-sea mining has been proposed as a source of critical metals and minerals for decades, but mining companies now say the technology is almost ready to make this a reality. Mining has not begun yet but 2025 is set to be a crucial year. The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the regulator, has a new leader promising an era of openness, with meetings planned in March and July to discuss the next steps. |
Trump orders likely to drive species' extinction
LONDON, UK, 11 March 2025 (Guardian) - Donald Trump's administration, backed by House Republicans and Elon Musk's Doge agency, are carrying out an attack on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and federal wildlife agencies that, if successful, will almost certainly drive numerous species into extinction, environmental advocates warn. The three-pronged attack is designed to freeze endangered wildlife protections to more quickly push through oil, gas and development projects, opponents say. |
Campobello Island residents seek exemption from retaliatory tariffs
HALIFAX, Canada, 11 March 2025 (G&M) - The 949 residents of uniquely situated Campobello Island in New Brunswick have become collateral damage in the trade war initiated by the Trump administration, say local politicians who are calling on the federal government for an exemption on Canadian-imposed retaliatory tariffs. |
Tragedy haunts community on shore of Sumatra's largest solar farm
LAKE SINGKARAK, Indonesia, 12 March 2025 (Mongabay) - A joint venture between Indonesia’s state-owned electricity utility PLN and Saudi developer ACWA Power says it remain on track to build Sumatra’s largest floating solar power array on Lake Singkarak by 2027. The renewable energy project’s managers face a difficult task on the ground getting local community members on board with the project, given lingering memories of a flash flood 25 years earlier linked to a hydroelectric plant. |
Mystery of Jersey's huge iron age hoard may have been solved
LONDON, UK, 11 March 2025 (BBC) - The mystery of why the world’s largest iron age Celtic hoard was buried on the south-east coast of Jersey more than 2,000 years ago may have been solved by archaeologists. When about 70,000 silver coins, 11 gold torques and jewellery were unearthed in a field at Le Câtillon in the Grouville district in 2012, experts were unable to explain why it had been transported to a remote and unpopulated area with dangerous coastal reefs. Now a geophysical survey around the site has identified a possible Celtic settlement, which means Jersey was no isolated backwater in the mid-first century BC. |
Philippines ex-leader Duterte arrested on ICC warrant
SINGAPORE, 11 March 2025 (BBC) - Philippine police have arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity over his deadly "war on drugs". The 79-year-old was taken into police custody shortly after his arrival at Manila airport from Hong Kong. |
Nickel miners dig up Indonesia's Gebe Island despite opposition
GEBE ISLAND, Indonesia, 11 March 2025 (Mongabay) - Gebe Island is the site of seven nickel mining concessions. Local Indigenous communities say the mining sites have put their food security at risk, with pollution affecting fruit trees and root vegetables as well as depletion of local fisheries. Forestry campaigners say the mining clashes with a 2007 law on small islands designed to prevent large-scale environmental destruction in these fragile ecosystems. |
Europa Nostra and EIB Institute release report on the Cycladic Islands
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, 10 March 2025 (EN) - In a technical report published today, experts from Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank Institute highlight the great threats posed by overdevelopment and tourism-driven pressures on the Cycladic Islands, notably Sifnos, Serifos and Folegandros. |
Sri Lanka calls for five-minute surveys to identify crop-raiding animals
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, 11 March 2025 (Mongabay) - Sri Lanka’s agriculture suffers significant losses due to crop-raiding wildlife, especially elephants, monkeys, wild boars, giant squirrels, porcupines, and peafowls. An island-wide, citizen-assisted count of wild animals on agriculture land and in home gardens is planned for Mar. 15, lasting five minutes starting 8 a.m. |
Scientists unveil a fascinating bird find in Indonesia
CAMBRIDGE, UK, 10 March 2025 (BirdLife) - The beautiful Banda Myzomela occurs across three remote island groups in Indonesia, called the Banda Islands, Tanimbars and Babar. Feeding on nectar and small invertebrates, males of this charismatic flycatcher species are distinguished by their vibrant black and red plumage. |
Japan's small island communities prepare to ride out disasters alone
SENDAI, Japan, 10 March 2025 (KN) - Japan has more than 400 small, inhabited islands that are uniquely exposed to the risks of natural disasters. In the event of a major earthquake, the islands' inherent isolation and, for some, remote locations make the delivery of emergency supplies and other aid in the aftermath of tsunami and other calamities a big challenge. |
Balearic Islands introduce new measures to protect their future
MALAGA, Spain, 9 March 2025 (EW) - The Balearic Islands are taking proactive steps to ensure their treasured shores and communities remain welcoming and sustainable for everyone. In response to steadily growing visitor numbers - which could top 20 million by 2025 - local authorities have presented a ‘containment and sustainability’ plan, aiming to balance economic benefits with environmental stewardship. |
Greenland's homeless left behind as Arctic island modernises
NUUK, Greenland, 10 March 2025 (AFP) - A flimsy tent rises up behind a snowdrift, home for nearly two years to one of the many homeless left behind by a wave of modernisation in Greenland, living rough in the harsh Arctic cold. Greenland is home to around 500 homeless people, or almost one percent of its population, according to a 2022 tally. |
Jurassic-era trees have grown in Tasmania for millions of years
LONDON, UK, 8 March 2025 (Guardian) - Only found in Tasmania, pencil pine dates back to the late Jurassic, 140 million years ago. It is from the small Athrotaxis genus, with King Billy pine and a third species that crosses between them called the Lax-leaf. If allowed, these trees can live a thousand years. Unlike eucalypts, they are hypersensitive to fire; if burned around the trunk, they die. As lightning fires become more common, humans must mobilise to protect them – or lose these ancients forever. |
Greenland prepares to vote amid Trump-inspired existential crisis
LONDON, UK, 8 March 2025 (Observer) - When it comes to the issues on the table – schools, healthcare, independence – Tuesday’s election is “not that exceptional”, says Greenlandic politician Aaja Chemnitz Larsen. And yet, it will potentially be the most consequential in the Arctic island’s history. |
Wind farm plan to go before Highland councillors
LONDON, UK, 7 March 2025 (BBC) - Plans for a 125-turbine wind farm off the north Caithness coast are to go before Highland councillors. The West of Orkney Wind Farm site is 50km north west of Thurso and about 30km off the west of Orkney and would generate power for about two million homes and have a life span of 30 years. |
More than a million salmon dumped from Tasmanian fish farms
LONDON, UK, 8 March 2025 (Guardian) - At least 1 million salmon died at Tasmanian fish farms and were dumped at landfill sites and rendering plants in February in what authorities and the industry described as an “unprecedented” mass death triggered by a bacterium outbreak. |
Initiative sets sights on rewilding three New Zealand islands
BLUFF, New Zealand, 7 March 2025 (Mongabay) - Three New Zealand islands will join an international initiative to remove invasive species and restore native wildlife. With the addition of Maukahuka (Auckland) Island, Rakiura (Stewart) Island and Chatham Island, the Island-Ocean Connection Challenge (IOCC) will now have 20 ongoing projects aimed at restoring and rewilding 40 globally significant island-ocean ecosystems by 2030. |
Tackling invasive species in East Rennell
GLAND, Switzerland, 7 March 2025 (IUCN) - The East Rennell World Heritage Site (ERWHS) covers about 30 percent of Rennell Island. In 2013, the site was declared ‘in danger’ due to problems like lack of protection, few job opportunities, possible logging, and invasive species. A 2018 study found that the invasive black rat was common on the island, threatening crops, livelihoods, and local wildlife. Six native birds and some snails were especially at risk. To tackle these problems, The Kiwa Initiative BirdLife International included women and people with disabilities in managing invasive species. |
Why are whales getting tangled up in ropes?
GLASGOW, UK, 6 March 2025 (BBC) - A sperm whale which died on Monday after washing up on the island of Raasay had been entangled in ropes. It was the latest in a series of whale entanglements off the Scottish coast in the last few months. What is behind such incidents and how common are they? |
St Vincent and the Grenadines buys island central to Garifuna culture
KINGSTOWN, SVG, 6 March 2025 (Guardian) - Members of the Garifuna community are celebrating “a historic and long-awaited victory” after the Caribbean nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) announced the purchase of a privately owned island where thousands of their ancestors perished from disease and starvation. The uninhabited island of Baliceaux has long held great significance for the Garifuna people, the descendants of enslaved Africans and Indigenous Kalinago and Arawak people. |
Canary Islands hit by flash floods and 30mm of rain in a day
LONDON, UK, 7 March 2025 (Guardian) - On Monday, a storm brought heavy rainfall to the Canary Islands, especially affecting Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Telde, in eastern Gran Canaria received more than 30mm of rain, nearly three times the March average. Flash floods submerged homes, turned streets into rivers, and swept cars out to sea. Airports and popular beaches shut down ahead of the downpour, affecting more than 850,000 residents. The islands’ mountainous topography, tropical climate and urbanisation worsened the floods by aiding thunderstorm formation and runoff. Snow accumulated on Mount Teide in Tenerife, creating a rare but disruptive scene for emergency services and local infrastructure. |
Innovation brings islands together to solve critical challenges
NEW YORK, US, 7 March 2025 (Forbes) - James Ellsmoor moves briskly through the Blue Zone at COP29 in Baku, stopping to exchange words with delegates - many of them stakeholders from island nations - who recognize him in passing. Now attending his seventh UN Climate Summit, he is here for a specific mission: ensuring that islands - many of which are on the front lines of climate change - have a seat at the table. |
A global plant database from Southern Ocean islands
LONDON, UK, 7 March 2025 (Nature) - The Southern Islands Vascular Flora (SIVFLORA) dataset is a globally significant, open-access resource that compiles essential biodiversity data on vascular plants from islands across the Southern Ocean. The SIVFLORA dataset was generated through five steps: study area delimitation, compiling the dataset, validating and harmonizing taxonomy, structuring dataset attributes, and establishing file format and open access. |
Protesters champion Channel Islands National Park
VENTURA, US, 6 March 2025 (VC Star) - Despite the rain, many came early and stayed late for a planned half-hour rally in support of the Channel Islands National Park off Ventura and its employees, including those abruptly fired last month. The terminations were part of President Donald Trump's workforce reduction that affected thousands of employees nationwide. |
How Caribbean islands are leading the charge in global island resilience
FRANKFURT, Germany, 5 March 2025 (Impakter) - The backdrop of an increasingly severe climate crisis, tense geopolitical negotiations, and a destabilised funding market is exerting external pressures on island communities globally. Despite these challenges, island communities continue to exhibit the ambition, leadership, and innovation that have tended to define major economies at an international diplomacy level. The Caribbean region as a whole has emerged as the epicentre for island leadership and climate action. |
Sri Lanka's rail tracks continue to claim elephant lives
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, 7 March 2025 (Mongabay) - In Sri Lanka, wild elephants are often killed in train collision accidents along certain railway stretches. A recent accident killed seven elephants, highlighting the enormity of this issue. While train-related elephant deaths account for only about 5% of total fatalities, these deaths are mostly preventable and evoke both public attention and anger. |
Indonesia seeks alternative funding after USAID freeze
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 7 March 2025 (Mongabay) - The Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid, including USAID funding, has delayed several marine conservation programs in Indonesia, impacting projects like the Coral Triangle Initiative. |
Ann Singeo, hero of the ocean, leads women to sea change
GLAND, Switzerland, 7 March 2025 (IUCN) - The Ebiil Society, led by Ann Singeo, works to preserve Palau's marine habitats while supporting women fishermen in Ngardmau. As part of IUCN Oceania's Kiwa Initiative, the Ebiil Society is causing concerns in the community with their ingenious method to environmental conservation and sustainable fishing practices. |
Fearing toxic waste, Greenland ended uranium mining
NARSAQ, Greenland, 5 March 2025 (Guardian) - From the iceberg-filled bay, the mountains above the town of Narsaq, in south-west Greenland, appear unremarkable. However, the range is home to one of the largest undeveloped deposits of rare-earth minerals and uranium in the world: the Kvanefjeld site, or Kuannersuit in Greenlandic. It contains high concentrations of metals such as terbium and neodymium, which are used to manufacture permanent magnets in wind turbines and electric cars. Every major power in the world is scrambling to get access to these minerals for carbon-free energy and transport. |
Breakthrough in campaign to build subsea tunnels in Shetland
EDINBURGH, UK, 4 March 2025 (Scotsman) - Ground investigations using sonar technology have been ordered in the latest stage of a campaign for tunnels to connect the two most northerly islands in Shetland. The Unst and Yell Tunnel Action groups said experts would also make recommendations for seismic survey locations that would contribute to the potential route of the tunnels under Yell Sound and Bluemull Sound, which are served by ferries. |
Avian influenza H5N1 alert level for Australian islands
SYDNEY, Australia, 4 March 2025 (ABC) - French scientists say the H5N1 strain of avian influenza travelled more than 5,000 kilometres from South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic Ocean to the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands in the subantarctic region. Kerguelen is only 440km from Australia's remote Heard and McDonald Islands. Bird flu watchers are concerned the possibility of long-distance transmission could lead to the virus reaching Australian and New Zealand islands. |
In Zanzibar, women turn the tide with sponge farming
JAMBIANI, Zanzibar, 5 March 2025 (IPS) - In the early morning, as the tide pulls away, Zulfa Abdallah ties her scarf tightly around her head. She adjusts her goggles, places a snorkel across her forehead, and wades into the chest-deep waters off Jambiani village. The Indian Ocean is her livelihood now, its waves offering a lifeline to women like her who confront challenges of poverty and climate change. |
Cyprus and the US have grown closer in recent years
NEW YORK, US, 6 March 2025 (BI) - A former Russian partner and so-called "unsinkable aircraft carrier" strategically located in the Mediterranean has drawn much closer to the US in recent years and can now more easily get its hands on American weapons. |
Indonesia's independent media count cost of US funding cuts
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 6 March 2025 (Mongabay) - Last November, Jakarta-based Muhamad Heychael, program director at nonprofit media organization Remotivi, began offering small grants to local journalists to report on the nickel mines and smelters proliferating in remote corners of Indonesia’s far east. But when U.S. President Donald Trump froze USAID funding in January, Remotivi’s reporting initiative ended as soon as it began, putting at risk coverage of the impact to remote communities from one of fastest-growing sectors of Indonesia’s economy. |
Indonesian court blocks palm oil expansion
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 6 March 2025 (Mongabay) - Indonesia’s Supreme Court has upheld the government’s decision to block further expansion of the Tanah Merah oil palm project in Papua, preserving a Jakarta-sized swath of primary rainforest. |
World's largest iceberg runs aground off South Georgia
LONDON, UK, 4 March 2025 (BBC) - The world's largest iceberg has run aground in shallow waters off the remote British island of South Georgia, home to millions of penguins and seals. The iceberg, which is about twice the size of Greater London, appears to be stuck and should start breaking up on the island's south-west shores. Fisherman fear they will be forced to battle with vast chunks of ice, and it could affect some macaroni penguins feeding in the area. But scientists in Antarctica say that huge amounts of nutrients are locked inside the ice, and that as it melts, it could create an explosion of life in the ocean. |
The revellers making Trinidad's carnival more sustainable
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, 4 March 2025 (BBC) - From dazzling costumes to exuberant parties, Trinidad's carnival is often dubbed "the greatest show on Earth". But some of its elements are not exactly eco-friendly and the festivities are estimated to produce 3.4 tonnes of waste every year according to Carnicycle, a local initiative aiming to make festivities more sustainable. |
Taiwanese chip giant's $100bn investment in US plants
TAIPEI, Taiwan, 3 March 2025 (Guardian) - Chips giant, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), will boost its US investment by $100bn, building new five new “cutting edge” fabrication plants on American soil, Donald Trump has announced alongside the company’s chief executive. Trump said the investment means TSMC, which supplies the vast majority of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, will avoid the tariffs he has publicly mulled imposing on the global industry, as he seeks to bring more manufacturing to the US and assert US trade dominance over both rivals and allies. |
Ireland's time-warped island of Owey
LONDON, UK, 3 March 2025 (BBC) - Located off Donegal's coast, this car-free isle was last inhabited full-time in the '70s. Now, locals are resurrecting a lost way of life – and adventurous travellers are welcome. |
Greenlanders tell Trump (and Denmark) their home is 'not for sale'
NUUK, Greenland, 4 March 2025 (Time) - On a boat, surrounded by snow-covered mountains and icebergs in shades of blue, Qooqu Berthelsen points to the breaking sea ice as a worrisome sign. Now, though, something is worrying him and many Greenlanders as much as the retreating ice that endangers their livelihood. “My concern,” says the 23-year-old hunter, fisher and tour company owner, “is that Trump will come and take Greenland.” |
Massive effort aims to put seagrasses on the map
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 4 March 2025 (Mongabay) - In 2019, scientists set out to map the extent of seagrass in Seychelles where they hit upon a startling number: More than 90% of the country’s “blue carbon,” or the carbon stored in marine ecosystems, is contained within seagrass meadows. Under the Large-scale Seagrass Mapping and Management Initiative, the seagrass mapping effort is now expanding to Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar, covering 2 million square kilometers (772,200 square miles) of seas hugging 9,500 km (5,900 mi) of coastline in the Western Indian Ocean. |
Tonga's innovative approach to sustainable weed control
VAVA'U, Tonga, 4 March 2025 (SPREP) - African tulip tree, originally from tropical Africa, is a destructive alien weed in the Pacific region that invades indigenous forests and arable land causing a reduction in natural biodiversity and agricultural productivity. As part of efforts to battle this invasive weed, a recent monitoring survey of a natural enemy of African tulip tree on Vava'u has been conducted, delivered promising results and marking a significant step forward in safe, long-term, sustainable weed control in Tonga. |
Swedish police investigate suspected sabotage on Gotland
LYON, France, 3 March 2025 (Euronews) - Attempted sabotage on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland might have targeted its water supply over the weekend, according to Swedish police. The head of the island's water and sewage system said that the island's pump system was tampered with. |
Steps forward in New Caledonia political talks
SUVA, Fiji, 3 March 2025 (IB) - For the first time since 2019, there have been tripartite talks on the political status of New Caledonia, during an eight-day visit by France’s Overseas Minister Manuel Valls. After six months of conflict that began on 13 May 2024, six parliamentary groups, representing both supporters and opponents of independence, have sat around the table with the French government for talks on a political statute to replace the 1998 Noumea Accord. |
UN rings alarm over crisis in the Pacific
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, 3 March 2025 (PMN) - The UN warns that Pacific children face alarmingly high rates of violence and abuse, which are among the highest in the world. The UN says these issues stem from inadequate government-funded services, persistent religious and cultural barriers, and rising drug use. |
Northern Mariana Islands plans $2.7b Silicon Valley-inspired tech park
SAIPAN, CNMI, 3 March 2025 (RNZ) - An envisioned technology hub, dubbed EUCON Silicon Valley Tech Park, is being touted as the savior of the CNMI economy, with the plan expected to inject between US$2.2 billion and US$2.7 billion, create up to 10,000 new jobs, and in the process, increase the US territory's gross domestic product by 30 percent in the first five years. |
UN accuses Indonesian palm oil firm of rights & environmental abuses
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 3 March 2025 (Mongabay) - UN special rapporteurs have singled out Indonesia’s second-largest palm oil company, PT Astra Agro Lestari, for alleged human rights violations and environmental degradation, marking the first time they’ve targeted a specific company rather than the industry as a whole. |
Illegal sea fence displaces fishers and sparks land scandal
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 3 March 2025 (Mongabay) - A property developer installed 30 kilometers (19 miles) of bamboo fencing in the sea near Jakarta, blocking fishers’ access; an investigation revealed it encompassed 280 ocean plots for which title deeds had been illegally issued. The fence has forced many fishers to stop working, while coastal farmers have lost their land to the same luxury development; residents also face eviction with no clear alternatives. |
Activists push for Chuuk islands' independence
CHUUK ISLANDS, FSM, 1 March 2025 (DW) - The US new and seemingly erratic foreign policy has sent out waves across the Pacific Ocean - to the Chuuk islands in Micronesia, where local independence campaigners say it's time to start as a new sovereign nation. |
Funerary practices in Fiji protect marine areas
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 28 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Indigenous iTaukei people across Fiji have historically protected their freshwater and marine areas in memory of chiefs and community members who have passed away. These are called aquatic funerary protected areas (FPAs). |
NZ blocks tighter trawling rules at South Pacific fisheries meeting
SANTIAGO, Chile, 28 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Aotearoa New Zealand spent years spearheading the introduction of a new set of rules governing bottom trawling in the South Pacific Ocean, which more than a dozen countries adopted by consensus in 2023. But under a new government, the country has now blocked an effort to fully implement those rules. |
Shortsighted Taiwan may have lessons for the world
TAIPEI, Taiwan, 28 February 2025 (Guardian) - Taiwan has one of the world’s highest rates of myopia, alongside most of east Asia and Singapore. As well as the platoons of soldiers in spectacles, there are plenty of other signs. Optometry shops are everywhere – just around Taipei there are more than 40 outlets of Own Days, a chain which tests customers’ eyesight and makes prescription eyewear on-site within an hour. |
Seagrass planting bids to restore nature along Scottish coastline
LONDON, UK, 1 March 2025 (Independent) - Scotland’s most comprehensive seagrass planting programme has been launched to help restore nature in seas around the country. The £2.4 million project aims to plant 14 hectares of seagrass, described as a wonder plant, over the next three years. |
Water supply issues keep flowing in Cuba
HAVANA, Cuba, 28 February 2025 (IPS) - Problems such as hydraulic network breakdowns, water lost through leaks, power outages, and even fuel shortages are making access to water supply services difficult for the population in Cuba |
Cop16 nature summit agrees deal at 11th hour
ROME, Italy, 28 February 2025 (Guardian) - The task of halting nature loss by 2030 is slipping out of reach, ministers warned, as countries from around the world come to a hard-won compromise on nature finance after marathon negotiations in Rome. Despite some wins, difficult questions were kicked down the road, including the creation of a new fund to distribute money, and significant issues including nature-destroying subsidies and cutting pollution have not progressed. |
Volcano owners' conviction over deadly eruption thrown out
LONDON, UK, 28 February 2025 (BBC) - The owners of a New Zealand volcano that erupted in 2019, killing 22 people, have had their conviction over the disaster thrown out by the country's High Court. Whakaari Management Limited (WML) was found guilty in 2023 of failing to keep visitors safe and fined just over NZ$1m. They were also ordered to pay NZ$4.8m in reparation to the victims. However, following an appeal, the High Court ruled on Friday that the company only owned the land and were not responsible for people's safety. |
Cook Islands China deal riles allies as West's grip loosens
LONDON, UK, 27 February 2025 (BBC) - The Cook Islands may be small but the ambitions of its leader are mighty. A range of deals Prime Minister Mark Brown signed with China without consulting the public or New Zealand – an ally to which the Cooks is closely tied – has caused increasing irritation and concern. The agreements are the first of their kind with a country that is not a traditional ally. They cover infrastructure, ship-building, tourism, agriculture, technology, education and, perhaps crucially, deep-sea mineral exploration. |
China's defence ministry warns Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan, 28 February 2025 (Guardian) - China’s defence ministry spokesperson has warned Taiwan “we will come and get you, sooner or later”, after Taipei announced an expansion of military exercises. |
Philippines micro-hydro alternatives power Indigenous homes
MANILA, Philippines, 27 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Around 3.6 million households in the Philippines are not connected to the national power grid. In the country’s mountainous north, some villages have overcome this challenge by building and maintaining small-scale hydroelectric generators. |
How tourism and fish farming can thrive together
STIRLING, UK, 26 February 2025 (Conversation) - In many coastal regions, tourism and fish farms are vital industries that drive economic growth. Yet, they often compete for space, raising concerns about how to balance these two sectors without compromising the environment or local livelihoods. |
The sea is swallowing an African island
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 27 February 2025 (Economist) -Standing on the shores of Nyangai, a small island off the coast of Sierra Leone, Melvin Kargbo points to his old football field, now below an expanse of seawater. Never large, Nyangai has shrunk from around 700 metres in length a decade ago to about 90 metres now. Most of its mango and coconut trees have been felled by the waves. The remaining residents live in a tight cluster of houses that flood frequently. |
Trump 'inclined' to back UK's Chagos Islands deal
LONDON, UK, 27 February 2025 (BBC) - US President Donald Trump has indicated he would be prepared to back Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. |
Stress and fear roil a tiny Japanese island near Taiwan
YONAGUNI, Japan, 26 February 2025 (AP) - This tiny island on Japan’s western frontier has no chain convenience stores. Nature lovers can dive with hammerhead sharks and watch miniature horses graze on a hill. But the wooded mountain ranges now carry radar sites. A southern cattle ranch has been replaced with the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force’s Camp Yonaguni. Japan and its ally, the United States, hold joint military exercises here. Plans are underway to add a new missile unit and expand a small airport and port. |
Major deposit in Svalbard Global Seed Vault
LONGYEARBYEN, Svalbard, 25 February 2025 (CIFOR) - In a historic milestone at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) deposited 120,000 seeds from 13 native African tree species, including the iconic baobab, bringing its total deposits since 2008 to over 1.1 million seeds from 177 species. |
Dayak community makes strides on Borneo toward forest autonomy
MEKAR RAYA, Indonesia, 26 February 2025 (Mongabay) - In Mekar Raya, a semi-remote pocket of Ketapang district near the west coast of Indonesian Borneo, the local Dayak Simpan Indigenous society are navigating the complex bureaucracy of the state in a bid to gain semi-autonomous control of their customary forest. Under the national “social forestry” program, Indonesia’s central government has released more than 8 million hectares (20 million acres) from the national forest estate to management by local and Indigenous communities. |
First place in British Isles set to approve right to die
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, 25 February 2025 (BBC) - A law to give terminally ill adults on the Isle of Man the right to end their own lives is entering its final stages, making it potentially the first jurisdiction in the British Isles to legalise assisted dying. Anyone over the age of 18 and with a prognosis of 12 months or fewer to live would be eligible, under the legislation being debated in the Manx parliament. |
The island priest who fought a nuclear rockets range
GLASGOW, UK, 24 February 2025 (BBC) - Seventy years ago, in the early years of the Cold War, East and West were locked in a nuclear arms race. The UK government needed somewhere to test its first rockets capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. It picked South Uist, a Hebridean island of a few thousand inhabitants on Scotland's rugged Atlantic coast. What the government did not expect was resistance from within the community led by a Catholic priest, Fr John Morrison. |
Crucial UN nature talks are about to reopen in Rome
LONDON, UK, 25 February 2025 (Guardian) - Global talks to halt the loss of nature will reopen today in Rome, amid “loss of trust” in the United Nations-led process and concerns that countries will not turn up for the meeting. Delegates are due to meet at Cop16, the UN’s biodiversity conference, to discuss global targets to stop nature loss by 2030. |
Tracking polar bears on Svalbard's shifting icescapes
LONDON, UK, 25 February 2025 (Guardian) - For more than 20 years, scientists have followed the animals in Norway’s Arctic archipelago to understand how they may adapt to changing threats as the ice they depend on melts. |
Rice paddies to mega resorts
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 24 February 2025 (Guardian) - Famous for its lush green rice paddies and stunning beaches, the “island of the Gods” has undergone rapid change over the past half-century with locals and tourists complaining about the traffic, pollution and badly behaved foreigners that have come with the hotels and resorts that now swamp the island. As the Indonesian government tries to restrict development on the island, new and declassified satellite images from 1965 reveal the extent of Bali’s transformation. |
Indonesia signs agrarian reform commitment
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 25 February 2025 (Mongabay) - The Indonesian government and civil society groups signed a joint statement on the first day of the Asia Land Forum marking a shared commitment to fast-track agrarian reform aimed at alleviating poverty and achieving food self-sufficiency. This comes amid increasing land ownership inequality, land-grabbing, and agrarian conflicts in Indonesia, where up to 68% of lands are controlled by 1% of the population. |
Island life of the 1970s brought back on screen
GLASGOW, UK, 25 February 2025 (BBC) - It was an attempt to use cutting-edge video technology to chronicle the daily lives of people in the Western Isles. Cinema Sgire ran from 1977 to 1981 and involved training local people to use some of the first commercially available portable video cameras to tell their own stories in their own ways. At the end of the project, more than 100 tapes were packed away for 15 years before being rediscovered. They have now been digitised and made available online and are being shown in Glasgow on Wednesday as part of Scotland's World Gaelic Week. |
Koh Mak: The tiny island that's redefining travel to Thailand
LONDON, UK, 23 February 2025 (BBC) - As season three of The White Lotus prepares to thrust Thailand's islands into the global spotlight, drawing fresh waves of visitors to the already bustling shores of Phuket and Koh Samui, a very different story is unfolding across the Gulf of Thailand. Here, a speck of an island named Koh Mak has quietly positioned itself as a model for sustainable tourism, offering a rare vision of what the future of travel in Thailand could be. |
The fate of Great Nicobar Island
MUMBAI, India, 24 February 2025 (IE) - The Rs 72,000 crore Great Nicobar megaproject - now revised to over Rs 81,800 crore - includes an international container transhipment terminal, a township, an airport, and a power plant. It aims to transform the remote island into a “global destination for business, trade, and leisure,” with the first phase covering 166.10 sq km. On paper, it presents a grand vision of development. But beneath its glossy promises lies a grim reality - ruthless ecological devastation, the appropriation of Indigenous lands, and the erasure of their cultures and worldviews. |
Climate change is robbing Pacific islands of another resource: Tuna
SYDNEY, Australia, 19 February 2025 (WP) - Fourteen Pacific island nations will receive $107 million to adapt their tuna-dependent economies as climate change pushes the fish farther from their shores, the Green Climate Fund announced Tuesday. The fund’s largest grant-only project to date, the money will be used to create an advanced warning system to enable Pacific island nations to track changes in tuna migration and potentially pursue compensation when warming waters drive the fish from these countries’ exclusive economic zones. |
Year-round biologists to leave Farallon Islands
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 20 February 2025 (SFGATE) - Biologists who monitor wildlife year-round at San Francisco’s remote Farallon Islands will be leaving their posts for the first time in nearly six decades due to federal budget cuts. |
The last carriage horses of Indonesia's capital endure harsh lives
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 22 February 2025 (AFP) - In a dark stable under a heaving highway in Indonesia's capital, trucks rumble past emaciated carriage horses tied to pillars in ramshackle wooden stalls, their ribs protruding. The steeds are used to pull traditional wooden carriages known as delman, once a staple of colonial-era transportation, but fading from view in Jakarta in an era dominated by ride-hailing apps. Now limited to just a few areas of the city, only several hundred delman horses remain to ferry tourists on weekends or public holidays. |
Fishermen, sailing champions clean up trash-covered Rio island
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, 21 February 2025 (AFP) - Fisherman Jose Antonio Crispin recalls the days when he would throw out a net and get a decent haul of fish around Pombeba Island, a small oasis in Rio de Janeiro's iconic Guanabara Bay that is being suffocated by trash. "Now, the net only brings garbage, garbage, garbage. And we can't survive that way," the 60-year-old told AFP, as a team of volunteers including a two-time Olympic sailing champion endured record heat this week to collect hundreds of sacks of plastic waste in a clean-up drive on the island. |
Here's what it's like to live in Greenland
LONDON, UK, 23 February 2025 (NGT) - The Inuit of Greenland have 80 different words for ice. Niels Davidsen is currently most familiar with sikuuvoq (sea covered by a layer of ice) because the sikuuvoq has stolen his boat. It is currently sikkuppaa (frozen into sea ice) in the harbour of Ilulissat, on the west coast of Greenland, and there it will stay for a couple more months. Come June, the thaw will rescue the vessel and its many neighbours, or else the town will decide its winter visitor has outstayed its welcome and employ an ice-breaker or dynamite to swiftly blast an ammavoq (passage in sea ice for a boat to pass through) and be done with it. |
Santorini fears for summer tourist season as earthquakes hit island
ATHENS, Greece, 12 February 2025 (BBC) - February marks the unofficial start of the tourist season in the Greek island of Santorini - when the first cruise ships are due to arrive and the Easter holidays approach. But with thousands of earthquakes shaking the island since January and experts unable to say when they will end, one cruise has already turned away and there are fears that the island's most important industry could be facing a difficult year. |
Loganair aims to launch flights to Orkney with hydrogen fuelled planes
STORNOWAY, UK, 12 February 2025 (HN) - Loganair is exploring how hydrogen infrastructure could be rolled out across Scotland as part of a new partnership. The UK Civil Aviation Authority has announced the expansion of the ‘Hydrogen Challenge’ with the launch of a second round of programmes. Loganair plans to progress hydrogen fuel operations from Kirkwall Airport to test short-haul routes from Orkney. |
Nauru's citizenship by investment scheme
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, 13 February 2025 (RNZ) - The head of Nauru's citizenship by investment scheme hopes the initiative will bring in tens of millions of dollars for the island this year. The scheme allows investors to secure Nauru citizenship for US$105,000 within four months of their application and was established as an innovative way to finance some of the island's climate infrastructure initiatives. |
Forest of rare trees in Zanzibar now earmarked for 'eco-resort'
MICHEWENI, Tanzania, 13 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Botanists have found a stand of rare trees in Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago not known to grow wild anywhere else in Africa. The intsia trees were found growing within moist coastal forest in the north of Ngezi Forest Reserve on the island of Pemba. Worryingly, the area is earmarked for the first phase of a new “eco-resort.” |
Indonesia's unrelenting illegal wildlife trade
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 13 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Authorities in Indonesia have made yet another major seizure of smuggled songbirds, highlighting the persistent pressure from a trade with deep cultural roots in the country. The shipment of 6,860 songbirds from West Nusa Tenggara province was intercepted on Feb. 1 following a tip at Tanjung Wangi Port at the eastern end of the island of Java, Indonesia’s most populous island and the main market for the songbird trade. |
Windfarm profits should be used to screen Scots for rare diseases
LONDON, UK, 13 February 2025 (Guardian) - A leading geneticist has called for the profits from windfarms to be used for the mass screening of Scottish islanders at risk of rare cancers and blood disorders. Prof Jim Wilson, who leads a Viking DNA project that has discovered hotspots of rare disorders in Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles, said that money could prove vital in identifying people who need life-saving treatments. |
This volcanic Italian island was made for wine
WASHINGTON, US, 12 February 2025 (Nat.Geog) - Pantelleria, a volcanic island between Sicily and Tunisia, is quite small, but it produces great wine. Geographically closer to Tunisia, it has a rich history that has seen the passage of different cultures that made their way from across the sea. |
Richest nations 'exporting extinction'
LONDON, UK, 14 February 2025 (Guardian) - The world’s wealthiest nations are “exporting extinction” by destroying 15 times more biodiversity internationally than within their own borders, research shows. Most wildlife habitats are being destroyed in countries with tropical forest, according to the study which looked at how wealthy countries’ demand for products such as beef, palm oil, timber and soya beans is destroying biodiversity hotspots elsewhere. |
The only land disputed between the US and Canada
LONDON, US, 13 February 2025 (BBC) - As tensions between the US and Canada rise, a tiny puffin-filled island has become emblematic of a larger conflict about where one nation ends and another begins. Located smack-dab between the Canadian province of New Brunswick and the US state of Maine, Machias Seal Island is the last contested land territory between Canada and the US – but that may soon change. |
Explore true Icelandic culture in the country's less-travelled north
LONDON, UK, 14 February 2025 (BBC) - Iceland wasn't always the blockbuster travel destination it is today; in the early 1990s, the country saw just a little more than 130,000 visitors a year. By 2023, however that number had surged to 2.21 million, far outpacing Iceland's tiny population of around 380,000. But with soaring popularity came new challenges, pushing the country to grapple with the pressures of overtourism. |
Tasmania fires destroy huge swath of wilderness
LONDON, UK, 14 February 2025 (Guardian) - Fires that have razed 90,000 hectares of Tasmanian wilderness, including parts of the famous Overland walking track, could burn for weeks as firefighters battle to contain blazes in remote terrain. |
The birth and resurrection of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
HATTERAS ISLAND, US, 12 February 2025 (IFP) - North Carolina’s iconic Outer Banks are famous for numerous things – most are nationally famous, some are world-famous: the first English colony in the New World. the Wright brother’s first powered fight in a heavier-than-air machine controlled by a pilot, its seven lighthouses, its premier beaches, and the first national seashore, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. |
The pressure of eco-anxiety on small islands
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, 14 February 2025 (MD) - In the heart of the ocean, small islands are often seen as paradises of biodiversity and natural beauty. However, beneath their picturesque exteriors lies a complex reality shaped by the pressures of eco-anxiety and the demands of greening initiatives. |
Growing an Island: An interview with Noli Taylor
EDGARTOWN, US, 12 February 2025 (VG) - Noli Taylor has been a major contributor to food sustainability, food equity and food education on Martha’s Vineyard for almost 20 years. She began working with Island Grown Initiative (IGI) when it was first coalescing in 2006. Through the years, she has been instrumental in helping the nonprofit organization to develop into a well-respected model of community-focused programming in the Northeast. |
Raisins or not? Pudding debate splits island nation
ST JOHN'S, Antigua, 16 February 2025 (BBC) - It is not cricket or politics that triggers the most ardent debate in Antigua and Barbuda. It is the ingredients of a beloved national dish. The question of whether "ducana" – a sweet potato and coconut dumpling – should or should not contain raisins has divided local residents for decades. The piquant pudding is one of many foods widely eaten in the Caribbean country that has its origins in Africa and has survived to this day. |
Order restored in Indonesia as fishers recapture farmed crocodiles
BATAM, Indonesia, 17 February 2025 (Mongabay) - On Jan. 13, several hours of extreme rain over Indonesia’s Batam archipelago, a one-hour ferry from Singapore, caused a breach in the perimeter of a large saltwater crocodile farm on the east of Bulan Island. More than 100 of the stir-crazy predators reportedly escaped in the storm, causing panic among the population while halting local fishing activities. |
Meta plans globe-spanning sub-sea internet cable
LONDON, UK, 17 February 2025 (BBC) - Meta has announced plans to build a 50,000km (31,000 mile) sub-sea cable across the world. The tech giant said Project Waterworth - connecting the US, India, South Africa, Brazil and other regions - will be the world's longest underwater cable project when completed. |
UK early warning system for climate tipping points given a kickstart
LONDON, UK, 18 February 2025 (Guardian) - An ambitious attempt to develop an early warning system for climate tipping points given £81m kickstart will combine fleets of drones, cosmic ray detection and the patterns of plankton blooms with artificial intelligence and the most detailed computer models to date. |
'The last plant left': can Rapa Nui's extinct tree be resurrected?
RAPA NUI, Chile, 19 February 2025 (Guardian) - In the Mataveri Otai nursery on the island of Rapa Nui, Estefany Paté cradles a bag of soil with a 10cm sprout like it is a baby. She caresses its leaves. “It’s been so emotional to have it here,” says Paté, who works for Chile’s National Forest Corporation (CONAF). She is hugging a sprout of Sophora toromiro, a tree that was declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s and which scientists have been trying to bring back ever since. |
Indonesia's militarized crackdown on illegal forest use
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 17 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Indonesia’s president has tasked the military with combating illegal forest activities, raising concerns about human rights violations and evictions of Indigenous and local communities. The regulation risks criminalizing Indigenous communities while favoring large-scale corporations that exploit forests. |
Madagascar shuts down tortoise trafficking network
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, 17 February 2025 (Mongabay) - A crackdown on the illegal trade in Malagasy tortoises has led to a series of recent arrests. Following the arrest of a Tanzanian national with 800 tortoises in December 2024, officials said a major investigation had uncovered a major international trafficking network that led to the arrests of more than 20 people in Madagascar and Tanzania. |
Starmer to tell Trump UK's Chagos deal will avoid tensions with China
LONDON, UK, 21 February 2025 (Guardian) - Keir Starmer is to urge Donald Trump to recognise that a US rejection of Mauritius’s legal claim to own the Chagos Islands, including the strategic US military base at Diego Garcia, may stoke tensions similar to those in the South China Sea. |
Chanel wanted 'responsible' gold from a protected area in Madagascar
ANDRANOTSIMATY, Madagascar, 21 February 2025 (Mongabay) - In 2019, French fashion house Chanel sought to obtain responsibly sourced gold from artisanal miners in Madagascar - who happened to operate inside a protected area that’s home to critically endangered lemurs and other wildlife. Under the initiative, which eventually fell through, Chanel partnered with Fanamby, the local NGO managing Loky Manambato Protected Area in northern Madagascar, to formalize the operations of some 1,000 miners. |
AGEL withdraws from controversial Sri Lanka wind power project
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, 21 February 2025 (Mongabay) - In a dramatic turn of events, Indian tycoon Gautam Adani’s Green Energy Limited (AGEL) has withdrawn from the second phase of a proposed wind power project in northern Sri Lanka. The project, which was planned to generate 250 MW through the installation of 52 wind turbines in Mannar in the island’s north, faced strong opposition since the beginning due to serious environmental implications and allegations of financial irregularities. |
Wisdom, the world's oldest known bird at 74, has a new chick
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 21 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, made headlines recently for laying an egg with a new partner, her first egg in four years. The egg has now hatched, and Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, or moli in Hawaiian, was spotted caring for her chick, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pacific region said in a statement on X. |
Cook Islands controversial deal with China stirs debate
AVARUA, Cook Islands, 22 February 2025 (Guardian) - Standing under the shade of trees outside the Cook Islands parliament this week, Fe’ena Syme-Buchanan questioned a controversial deal signed with China that has sparked concern across the Pacific country. |
Polar heritage sites are slipping into the sea
HERSCHEL ISLAND, Canada, 10 February 2025 (Guardian) - It was early July when the waters of the Beaufort Sea crept, then rushed, over the gravel spit of a remote Arctic island. For hours, the narrow strip of land, extending like the tail of a comma into the waters, gradually disappeared into the ocean. When Canadian scientists on Qikiqtaruk (also known as Herschel Island), off the coast of Canada’s Yukon territory, surveyed the deluge, they saw a grimly comical scene unfold. |
Mowi offers bounty to catch 27,000 escaped salmon off Norway
LONDON, UK, 11 February 2025 (Guardian) - The global seafood company Mowi is offering a bounty to fishers who catch escaped salmon after an estimated 27,000 fish went missing from a farm off the Norwegian coast in what campaigners said was a “disaster for wild salmon”. The world’s largest farmed salmon producer is offering a reward of 500 kroner (£36) per salmon caught after it said a quarter of its 105,000 salmon population escaped from a cage in Troms, north-west Norway. |
Many birds-of-paradise species emit light through their plumage
LONDON, UK, 12 February 2025 (Guardian) - Birds-of-paradise are known for their bright and colourful plumage, but it turns out they are even more dazzling than previously thought. Researchers have found 37 of the 45 species show biofluorescence – in other words, patches of their plumage or other body parts absorb UV or blue light, and emit light at lower frequencies. |
Police in Sicily arrest almost 150 people in mafia crackdown
ROME, Italy, 11 February 2025 (AFP) - Italian police have arrested almost 150 people in a significant operation against the Sicilian mafia in Palermo, areas of which remain in the grip of powerful Cosa Nostra clans. More than 1,200 officers were involved in dawn raids, in what media reports said was the biggest operation against the Cosa Nostra since 1984. |
Chagos Islands deal tearing families apart in Mauritius
DOHA, Qatar, 11 February 2025 (Al Jazeera) - Slam poet Geraldine Baptiste pulls no punches when telling the story of her “Granpapa”, one of the 1,500-plus people ripped from a peaceful existence on the Chagos Islands by the British to make way for a United States military base, most shipped “kouma zanimo” (meaning “like animals” in her native Creole) to a hellish fate more than 1,000 miles (1,610km) across the Indian Ocean in Mauritius. |
Solomon Islands landowners seek compensation over oil spill
LONDON, UK, 12 February 2025 (Guardian) - The companies allegedly responsible for the one of the worst environmental disasters in Solomon Islands’ history are being sued over the catastrophic oil spill that caused harm to an ecologically sensitive island. The claim over the 2019 Rennell Island disaster was filed in the Solomons high court last week, just days before the statute of limitations expired. In February 2019, MV Solomon Trader ran aground on a coral reef in the east of Rennell Island, spilling more than 300 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, damaging the reef, a nearby lagoon, and contaminating water supplies. |
Marine Prosperity Areas introduce a fresh approach
LOS ANGELES, US, 12 February 2025 (SPX) - The year 2025 could mark a pivotal shift in marine conservation strategies. A research team, including Octavio Aburto from UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has introduced a novel framework known as Marine Prosperity Areas (MPpAs) aimed at aligning ecological restoration with human economic well-being. |
Philippines storm survivors join climate protest outside Shell HQ
LONDON, UK, 12 February 2025 (Guardian) - For two days and two nights, Ronalyn Carbonel and her four children clung to the roof of their home as a huge storm raged around them. With the wind battering her village of Rizal, about 10 miles east of Manila in the Philippines, and water swirling through the rooms below them, they had no choice but to wait, hoping that someone would come to rescue them and hundreds of their neighbours. Carbonel was speaking to the Guardian as Greenpeace activists and youth leaders from the Philippines protested outside the oil firm Shell’s headquarters in London on Wednesday demanding “accountability from major polluters and justice for all the loss and damage they have caused”. |
Monkey blamed for nationwide power cut in Sri Lanka
DELHI, India, 10 February 2025 (Guardian) - A countrywide power outage in Sri Lanka has been blamed on a monkey that clambered into a power station south of Colombo. Engineers scrambled to restore power in the island nation of 22 million people, prioritising critical facilities such as hospitals and water purification plants. While some areas regained electricity within hours, many households without generators remained in the dark well into the night. |
Bali tourism trade peddles threatened primate skulls
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 12 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Indonesia’s Bali, with its beautiful beaches and ancient temples, is a tourist hotspot where many businesses cater to foreign travelers, including those that sell art and curios. A new study finds that primate skulls, including those from threatened species such as orangutans, gibbons and proboscis monkeys, are openly sold in these shops, despite the trade being illegal. Between 2013 and 2024, researchers recorded more than 750 carved and uncarved primate skulls sold to mainly foreign tourists, with sales increasing over time. |
Tremors hitting Santorini reach new strength
ATHENS, Greece, 10 February 2025 (BBC) - Santorini has been hit by a powerful, shallow 5.3 magnitude earthquake, which is the strongest to strike the Greek island during recent seismic activity in the area. The tremors were felt in Athens on Monday evening and measured a focal depth of 17km (10.6 miles). |
Half of French island in Indian Ocean burnt by wildfire
LONDON, UK, 12 February 2025 (BBC) - For nearly a month the French territory of Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean has been engulfed in flames. Located about halfway between Australia, Antarctica and Madagascar, the island has seen burning across more than 55% of its 54 sq km area. Amsterdam Island doesn't have a permanent population but researchers have been stationed there since the 1980s. Due to its unusual climate, the island is rich in biodiversity, serving as a breeding site for southern elephant and sub- Antarctic fur seals. It is home to several albatross species including the Amsterdam Albatross, which breed exclusively on the island, and 84% of the world's yellow-nosed albatross population. A colony of Southern rockhopper penguin also live on the island. |
Te Ipukarea Society: Why we do not need to destroy our seabed?
RAROTONGA, Cook Islands, 8 February 2025 (CIN) - As innovative technology starts to rev up around the globe so does innovative tech for the electric car (EV) industry. Despite some slowdowns in the global EV market, the demand for battery materials continues to rise. This rise in battery demand however is now moving away from the need to use cobalt. This may come as a bit of a blow for the Cook Islands Government and the mining companies currently exploring our deep ocean seabed. This is because cobalt is one of the main target metals found within the polymetallic rocks the Cook Islands is wanting to mine. |
Greenland ice sheet cracking more rapidly than ever
LONDON, UK, 3 February 2025 (Guardian) - The Greenland ice sheet – the second largest body of ice in the world – is cracking more rapidly than ever before as a response to climate breakdown, a study has found. Researchers used 8,000 three-dimensional surface maps from high-resolution commercial satellite imagery to assess the evolution of cracks in the surface of the ice sheet between 2016-2021. |
The island left behind by Lagos's economic boom
LAGOS, Nigeria, 4 February 2025 (Guardian) - For the estimated 2,000 residents of Refuge Island life sometimes feels like that of a refugee. A dozen communities live on the island, which lies in a lagoon on the eastern fringes of Lagos and takes its name from the arrival of enslaved people fleeing the hinterland of western Nigeria in the 19th century. The island has never had electricity, and there are no tarred roads, only footpaths. |
Effects of habitat fragmentation on Sri Lankan specialist birds
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, 4 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Forest fragmentation is considered one of the main threats to biodiversity. Many believe this primarily affects small creatures like amphibians and small mammals, while mobile creatures such as birds are less impacted due to their ability to fly. However, new research coming out of Sri Lanka shows how forest fragmentation can restrict even the movement of birds, especially forest specialists that inhabit the understory of the forest. |
Shetland spaceport ready for launch in July
LONDON, UK, 5 February 2025 (BBC) - The UK's new spaceport in Shetland will be ready for satellite launches by July, MPs have been told. A number of companies plan to use SaxaVord Spaceport in Unst, the northernmost point in the UK, as a launch site for commercial rockets. Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), from Germany, is thought to have the most advanced plans and it was officially licensed for spaceflight by the regulator last month. |
UK denies it faces paying billions more for Chagos deal
LONDON, UK, 5 February 2025 (BBC) - The UK government has denied claims made by the prime minister of Mauritius that it faces paying billions more under a renegotiated deal over the future of the Chagos Islands. The Times suggested that the payments by the UK government to Mauritius could effectively double from £9bn to £18bn. |
Indonesia targets 2.3m hectares of protected forests
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 6 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Indonesia has identified 2.3 million hectares (5.7 million acres) of protected forest that could be converted into “food and energy estates,” which could result in the country’s largest-ever deforestation project. This is part of a plan to convert a total of 20 million hectares (50 million acres) of forest for food and biofuel crop production. |
Disease surges in Indonesia community
LELILEF SAWAI, Indonesia, 6 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Residential areas next to a major nickel processing site on Indonesia’s Halmahera Island recorded exponential increases in diagnoses of respiratory infections between 2020 and 2023. During that same period, the value of nickel exports from Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of the metal, increased from around $800 million to $6.8 billion. |
How the world's plastic ends up on a Guernsey beach
LONDON, UK, 6 February 2025 (Guardian) - Evidence of the extent of the world’s plastic litter problem is washing up on Guernsey’s beaches with every tide. But it does not go unnoticed. It is being removed and catalogued. A group of Guernsey beachcombers, united under the Facebook group Found on the Beach in Guernsey, “womble” across the island’s bays on a daily basis and share their evidence with the marine biologist Richard Lord. |
Cook Islands ditches passport plan after New Zealand 'ultimatum'
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, 7 February 2025 (RNZ) - Cook Islands has dropped the controversial passport proposal, their Prime Minister Mark Brown confirmed Wednesday, after discussions to convince New Zealand that it would not affect their constitutional relationship fell flat. |
Surge in legal land clearing pushes up Indonesia deforestation rate
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 7 February 2025 (Mongabay) - Indonesia’s deforestation increased in 2024 to its highest level since 2021, with forest area four times the size of Jakarta lost; 97% of this occurred within legal concessions, highlighting a shift from illegal to legal deforestation. More than half of the forest loss affected critical habitats for threatened species like orangutans, tigers and elephants, particularly in Borneo and Sumatra. |
Indigenous group flees drowning island
GARDI SUGDUB, Panama, 8 February 2025 (BBC) - "If the island sinks, I will sink with it," Delfino Davies says, his smile not fading for a second. There is silence, except for the swish of his broom across the floor of the small museum he runs documenting the life of his community in Panama, the Guna. "Before, you could hear children shouting… music everywhere, neighbours arguing," he says, "but now all the sounds have gone". His community, living on the tiny low-lying island of Gardi Sugdub, is the first in Panama to be relocated because of climate change. |
Flinders Island to rid vermin aiming to be pre-settlement haven
PORT LINCOLN, Australia, 4 February 2025 (ABC) - A pest eradication baiting program using federal and state funds aims to remove mice, cats, and rats from Flinders Island to return it to a pristine pre-settlement state. The island needs to be pest free for a year before threatened species including wallabies that once lived on the island are introduced to a new haven. |
Governance and ecological challenges of mangroves in small islands
BRUSSELS, Belgium, 7 February 2025 (Phys.org) - Research by Dr Meenakshi Shankar Poti delves into the environmental policies and governance structures in small islands, with further emphasis on the mangrove ecosystems of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Her study underscores the challenges posed by top-down governance and the pressing need for tailored environmental policies that consider local ecological and socio-cultural conditions. |
NZ raises 'concern' as Cook Islands prepares to sign China deal
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, 10 February 2025 (Guardian) - A diplomatic row has erupted between two tight-knit Pacific countries, after New Zealand said the Cook Islands failed to properly consult on its plans to deepen ties with China amid growing concerns over Beijing’s push for influence in the region. The Cook Islands was a dependent New Zealand colony from 1901-1965 but has since operated as a self-governing nation in “free association” with New Zealand. Its roughly 17,000 citizens hold New Zealand citizenship. There are obligations between the two nations to regularly consult on matters of defence and security. |
Islanders blast plan for long-term retreat from rising seas
CARNARVON, Australia, 9 February 2025 (ABC) - A plan to relocate hundreds of Cocos (Keeling) Island residents over the next 10 to 50 years has sparked outrage among islanders. The strategy - proposed by the Commonwealth and West Australian governments - aims to manage the impact of rising seas on Australia's most remote territory, nearly 3,000 kilometres north-west of Perth. |
Traversing the seas to bring vital immunizations to island communities
GENEVA, Switzerland, 31 January 2025 (WHO) - With over 17,500 islands in Indonesia, many people face challenges accessing sufficient medical care, including routine immunizations. As a result, the risk of disease is very high, especially for vaccine-preventable diseases, like measles. On Sanane Island in South Sulawesi Province, where Mimi provides care, more than 95% of children have received their routine immunizations, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the country’s health workers and health cadres. |
Leaders in the Pacific raise alarm over Trump's decision
LONDON, UK, 1 February 2025 (Guardian) - Leaders and environmental advocates in the Pacific have expressed alarm over Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and freeze foreign aid, warning the moves will accelerate the existential threats they face as nations on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The Paris agreement is the world’s main effort to address the impacts of the climate crisis. Trump has called it “unfair” and a “rip off”. |
Australia tried to influence UNESCO to keep GBR off in-danger list
LONDON, UK,. 31 January 2025 (Guardian) - The Australian government carried out an international lobbying campaign to keep the Great Barrier Reef off a list of world heritage sites in danger, including dispatching politicians and officials to Unesco’s Paris headquarters and asking diplomats to gather intelligence on countries that could influence the decision. |
Koala sanctuary plan for Kangaroo Island to protect population
ADELAIDE, Australia, 31 January 2025 (ABC) - A sanctuary for up to 1,000 koalas and other wildlife will be established on South Australia's Kangaroo Island next month with plans to facilitate research into a sustainable future on the island for the marsupials. |
Indonesia deforestation rises for third year running
BANGKOK, Thailand, 31 January 2025 (AFP) - Deforestation in Indonesia rose in 2024 for a third year running, a local environmental NGO said Friday, based on satellite image analysis and fieldwork. The report by NGO Auriga Nusantara said 261,575 hectares (646,366 acres) of primary and secondary forests across Indonesia were lost in 2024, over 4,000 more than the previous year. |
The warming Arctic is now a carbon source, report finds
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 31 January 2025 (Mongabay) - A combination of increased microbial activity, thawing permafrost, and more frequent wildfires now means the Arctic is releasing more carbon dioxide than it’s storing, according to the 2024 Arctic Report Card. The temperature has also been rising; the past nine years have been the warmest on record in the Arctic. The changes have affected the region’s wildlife, with migratory tundra caribou populations declining by 65% over the past two to three decades. |
Iceland's pioneering female fishing guides fear for wild salmon
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, 2 February 2025 (Guardian) - For seven generations, Andrea Ósk Hermóðsdóttir’s family have been fishing on the Laxá River in Aðaldalur. Iceland has a reputation as a world leader on feminism, but until recently women have not been able to work as guides to wild salmon fishing for visiting anglers – a job that has traditionally been the preserve of men. |
Nomads of the sea: The tribe that rarely set foot on land
LONDON, UK, 3 February 2025 (BBC) - Known as 'sea nomads', the Bajau Laut tribe have lived at sea for more than 1,000 years. Their lifestyle has given them the ability to stay underwater for very long periods of time. Travel reporter Nick Kwek goes to Malaysian Borneo to meet Asia's super divers. |
Santorini on alert as tremors rattle Greek island
LONDON, UK, 2 February 2025 (BBC) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged people on the island of Santorini to "stay calm" after an increase in seismic activity. His remarks come as schools were told to close on Monday and authorities advised against large gatherings in enclosed spaces across the island, a popular tourist destination known for its whitewashed buildings and blue-domed churches. More than 280 earthquakes were recorded across Greek islands in the past 48 hours, according to the University of Athens' Seismological Laboratory. |
Bird population changes on Goose Island Archipelago in Canada's BC
SAN FRANCISCO, US, 3 February 2025 (Mongabay) - The types of birds that visit and thrive on the Goose Island Archipelago, a Canadian Important Bird Area, have changed dramatically in the past 70 years. The First Nation stewards of the land for millennia, and academics have analyzed ecosystem data and traditional knowledge to uncover the drivers of change. |
BVI accused of 'shameful' attempt to avoid financial crime crackdown
LONDON, UK, 4 February 2025 (Guardian) - The British Virgin Islands (BVI) have been accused of a “shameful” attempt to avoid a crackdown on financial crime, in a growing rift with the government that threatens to escalate into a constitutional standoff. MPs have written to the premier of the BVI, while the former development minister Andrew Mitchell fired a broadside at the islands’ leadership, over their proposals for a new register of who owns companies registered on the islands. |
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