Cuba has survived 66 years of US-led embargoes
| | SYDNEY, Australia, 24 February 2026 (Conversation) - After toppling Venezuela’s leader earlier this year, the Trump administration has turned its sights on Cuba. The near-total blockade of the island is now posing the greatest challenge to the government since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Cuba is quickly running out of oil, creating a dire political and economic crisis for the island’s 11 million residents. |
Rottnest Island: The dark history behind an island paradise
| | ATLANTA, US, 24 February 2026 (CNN) - Rottnest Island, or Wadjemup, as it’s known by the local Aboriginal Noongar people, lies 19 kilometers off the coast of Fremantle. More than 800,000 people visit each year to enjoy its white sand beaches, crystal-clear waters, and native quokka: an adorable, Instagram-famous marsupial that smiles in selfies. Wadjemup became a prison in 1838 and almost 4,000 Indigenous men and boys were incarcerated on the island. Of the 373 of them who died there, most were buried in unmarked graves. |
Can African penguins be brought back from the brink?
| | LONDON, UK, 23 February 2026 (Conversation) - South Africa is home to 88% of the world’s colonies of African penguins. The species is classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN meaning there is a high risk the birds could go extinct in the wild following rapid population declines. In recent years, conservation organisations, scientists and government agencies have escalated efforts to halt this decline. One of the most significant developments was a March 2025 court ruling that supported the introduction of improved no-fishing zones around key breeding colonies, to protect the penguins’ foraging grounds. Robben Island (11km north-west of Cape Town) is one of the colonies. |
Azores dodges proposal to overturn no-fishing zones in its new MPA
| | SAO MATEUS, Portugal, 23 February 2026 (Mongabay) - A law establishing the Azores Marine Protected Areas Network was approved in October 2024 and took effect recently, on Jan. 1 this year. The network now safeguards 30% of Azorean waters, 287,000 square kilometers of seascape sheltering a rich array of marine life, and makes up the largest MPA network in the North Atlantic Ocean. Not two weeks later, on Jan. 15, the Azores Parliament voted on a measure that upholds a core provision of the MPA network, after it came under fire in recent months: No fishing inside the fully protected areas, which constitute half the vast network. |
Protecting dolphins and whales in our Pacific
| | APIA, Samoa, 22 February 2026 (SPREP) - Traditional knowledge, science, storytelling and innovation will converge in Fiji next week as Pacific nations and global partners gather to strengthen collaborative conservation efforts for whales and dolphins across the Western Pacific. The routes whales travel, known as “blue corridors,” increasingly overlap with hazards such as growing risks from fisheries bycatch, busy shipping lanes, ocean pollution and climate change. |
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SIDS |
 | | 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States 27-30 May 2024, Antigua and Barbuda |
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NAF |
| | North Atlantic Forum bi-annual international conference 17-21 June, 2024, Connemara, Ireland, |
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IWRA |
| | 1st Islands Water Congress 4-6 Sept, 2024, Torshavn, Faroe Islands |
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ANATOMY OF ISLANDS |
| | 12th Anatomy of Islands symposium 26-28 Sept, 2024, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia |
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CIS |
| | Critical Island Studies 4th international conference 3-4 Oct, 2024, Manila, Philippines |
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CBD |
| | COP16 21 Oct-1 Nov, 2024, Cali, Colombia |
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UNFCCC |
| | COP29 11-22 November, 2024, Baku, Azerbaijan |
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ISLAND DYNAMICS |
| | DARKNESS II conference, 20-23 January 2025, Nuuk, Greenland |
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JICAS |
| | Islands And Island Studies conference 3-7 June, 2025, Jersey, Channel Islands |
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UNITED NATIONS |
| | UN Ocean Conference 9-13 June, 2025, Nice, France |
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UPEI |
| | 3rd international conference on SIS and SNIJs 16-20 June, 2025, Charlottetown, PEI |
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ISISA |
| | 20th Islands of the World Conference 7-11 July 2026, Shinan County, Jeollanam-do, South Korea |
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