by Pablo COZZAGLIO / Alberto PEÑA Agence France-Presse PARQUE NACIONAL PATAGONIA, Chile (AFP) – Pumalin and Liquine, two juvenile condors rescued from certain death, have been released back into the wild in a much-needed boost for a dwindling species emblematic of the Chilean Andes. After 14 months of rehabilitation, the pair of scavengers were freed last week in the Patagonian National Park in Chile’s extreme south, where every individual counts for a species listed by […]
Tag: iucn
Conservation meet mulls moratorium on deep sea mining
by Laure FILLON Agence France-Presse MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – The world’s top conservation forum will vote this week on whether to recommend a moratorium on deep sea mining, with scientists warning that ecosystems degraded while dredging the ocean floor 5,000 metres below the waves could take decades or longer to heal. The proposed ban is among a score of measures deemed too controversial to be decided remotely ahead of the International Union for the Conservation […]
Conservation meet mulls plan to protect 80% of Amazon
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – Should 80 percent of the Amazon be declared a protected area by 2025? The world’s top conservation body is on Sunday poised to decide whether its 1,400 members can vote on this controversial proposal, put forward by indigenous groups. Submitted under an emergency provision to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the measure calls for a “global action plan” to halt rampant deforestation […]
Climate change biggest threat to natural World Heritage sites
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Climate change has become the biggest threat to UN-listed natural world heritage sites like glaciers and wetlands, and has pushed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef into “critical” condition, conservationists said Wednesday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revealed in a new report that shifts due to the changing climate now imperil a full third of the 252 UNESCO-listed natural sites around the globe. Overall, 94 […]
Animal and plant species vanishing fast, as conservationists try to save them from extinction
by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Animal and plant species are vanishing at an accelerating pace around the world — sometimes even before we know that they exist — but conservationists are pushing back against the juggernaut of mass extinction. From captive breeding to satellite tracking; restoring habitats to removing predators; shaming multinationals to nursing baby pandas and orangutans — in all these ways, scientists and others have given a […]
Tiny plastic particles from clothing, tires clogging oceans: report
by Nina Larson Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Invisible particles washed off products like synthetic clothing and car tires account for up to a third of the plastic polluting oceans, impacting eco-systems and human health, a top conservationist body warned Wednesday. Unlike the shocking images of country-sized garbage patches floating in the oceans, the microplastic particles that wash off textiles and roadways leave the waterways looking pristine. But […]
Giraffes ‘threatened with extinction’
PARIS, France (AFP) – by Marlowe HOOD Wild giraffe numbers have plummeted by 40 percent in the last three decades, and the species is now “vulnerable” to extinction, a top conservation body warned Thursday. The population of the world’s tallest land mammal dropped to below 100,000 in 2015, mainly due to shrinking habitat and illegal hunting, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported. The group added 742 newly-discovered birds to the global […]





