Tag: ecosystems

In Moldova, Shelter Belt Forests Build Rural Livelihoods and Protect Against Climate Change Impacts

Mihail Bozianu’s interest in beekeeping started early. “I was 11 years old and we had nothing,” he remembers. “I started on my own with two hives. By the day I graduated from...

Drawing Disaster-Preparedness Lessons From Tonga’s Volcano

The massive volcanic eruption off the coast of Tonga on 15 January produced a blast hundreds of times the strength of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion, according to NASA. The volcano and subsequent tsunami...

2022: Emergency Mode for the Environment

As the new year gets underway, the world continues to grapple with a number of familiar challenges – the continued COVID-19 pandemic, resurgent wildfires, enduring crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and...

Plastic Planet: How Tiny Plastic Particles are Polluting our Soil

The millions of tons of plastic swirling around the world’s oceans have garnered a lot of media attention recently. But plastic pollution arguably poses a bigger threat to the plants and animals...

Nature-Based Solutions as a Response to Climate Change

Today International Union for Conservation of Nature, Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (IUCN ECARO), in cooperation with the Public Investment Management Office of the Government of the Republic of...

5 Reasons Why a Healthy Ocean is Linked to Human Rights

We live on a blue planet, with oceans and seas covering more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. Oceans feed us, regulate our climate, and generate most of the oxygen we...

EU for Natura 2000 in Serbia

The EU for Natura 2000 project has reached the end of its implementation. After two and a half years, numerous results and products have been achieved. The “EU for Natura 2000 in Serbia”...

What Does COP26 Mean for Adaptation?

As the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) came to a close, news agencies and bloggers ploughed through the Glasgow Climate Pact to make sense of the commitments made to...

Why Are Coral Reefs Dying?

Beneath the ocean surface, an expansive network of dynamic skeletal-like invertebrates harbours at least 25 percent of all known marine species. Both hard and soft corals provide the basis for functioning coral...

Comprehensive Assessment on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution Confirms Need for Urgent Global Action

A drastic reduction in unnecessary, avoidable and problematic plastic is crucial to addressing the global pollution crisis, according to a comprehensive assessment released today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). An accelerated...

Europe’s Nature Under Pressure — Challenges and Solutions

The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) work and other assessments have shown that European ecosystems are under serious threat. Centuries of exploitation have left their mark on Europe’s natural world and most protected...

Key Renewables Payers Call for Collaboration Between Renewable Energy and Agriculture Sectors

Energy use is responsible for about one-third of greenhouse gases emitted by the food systems. With its continuously declining costs, renewables have become an attractive and effective way to fuel the achievement...

UNESCO MAB Programme Relaunches the Network on Mountainous Regions

In an effort to improve the protection of mountainous ecosystems and the livelihoods of mountain communities, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is relaunching its World Network of Mountain Biosphere Reserves(WNMBR). Ahead...

Mediterranean Gripped by Extreme Heat, With New Reported Temperature Record

The World Meteorological Organization is seeking to verify a reported temperature of 48.8°C (119.8°F) in Sicily, Italy, on 11 August 2021 and to establish whether this is a new temperature record for...

Western Indian Ocean region has Declared 550,000 Square Kilometers as Protected, a 63 percent Jump Since 2015

The Western Indian Ocean region has declared 143* marine and coastal areas as protected – an area covering 553,163 square kilometers, representing 7 percent of the total Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for...

Securing Food, Protecting Biodiversity

The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, today told a gathering of experts, diplomats and senior officials that the agricultural world and the environmental...

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