2008 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

2007 - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec

21 November

• UNESCO publishes first world map of underground transboundary aquifers
  UNESCO is publishing the first-ever world map of shared aquifers to coincide with the submission to the General Assembly of the United Nations on 27 October of a draft Convention on Transboundary Aquifers. Almost 96% of the planet’s freshwater resources are to be found in underground aquifers, most of which straddle national boundaries.

13 November

• CVA Monthly e-News: November Conservation Volunteers e-News
  Conservation Volunteers e-News is the monthly email newsletter that is filled with information about upcoming conservation projects, nature holidays, opportunities to volunteer overseas and special offers.

10 November

• Park Management Effectiveness - WWF Methodology
  WWF's Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Areas Management (RAPPAM) methodology was created by the Forests for Life Programme to provide policy makers and park managers with an appropriate tool to assess the management effectiveness of protected area systems. Among other, the RAPPAM identifies management strengths and weaknesses, analyses the scope, severity, prevalence, and distribution of a variety of threats and pressures, and identify areas of high ecological and social importance and vulnerability.

• Top 10 Scary (Sounding) Destinations
  They may sound scary and forbidding but these natural destinations are home to rich biodiversity, rare species, cultural heritage and spectacular landscape. More scary than their names are the threats they face - urban development, pollution, deforestation, overfishing, drought and global warming. They are actually beautiful places that need to be protected and safeguarded for future generations to enjoy and explore.
  WWF. News

• Crossing water borders
  How should countries that share rivers manage water resources? That’s the topic of the latest title in the IUCN Water and Nature Toolkit Series. SHARE – Managing Water Across Boundaries was launched before an audience of international water policy negotiators at the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in Changwon, Korea. The book serves as a practical guide to transboundary water management. With more than 260 river and lake basins worldwide shared by two or more countries, managing water across borders is a critical challenge.
  IUCN. News

• IUCN gets specific in Pacific – Fiji office approved
  IUCN was officially recognised as an international organization in Fiji on Thursday, November 6. The Republic of Fiji’s interim Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Civil Aviation, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, signed an agreement with IUCN, formally establishing the IUCN Oceania Regional Office, which will serve as the regional hub for Oceania, including the Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand.
  IUCN. News

• Quarter of northeast Atlantic sharks and rays threatened with extinction
  The release of the first ever IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ assessment of northeast Atlantic sharks, rays and chimaeras reveals that 26 percent are threatened with extinction and another 20 percent are in the Near Threatened category. The total number of threatened species may well be higher as there was insufficient information to assess more than a quarter (27 percent) of the species.
  IUCN. News

• TNC Campaign for a Sustainable Planet
  The threats to nature and the benefits it gives people are growing — threats from bleached coral reefs to vanishing rainforests, rising sea levels to degraded rivers. That's why The Nature Conservancy has launched the Campaign for a Sustainable Planet — the largest conservation campaign in history — to ensure the survival of the natural world that sustains us all. Use this page to explore this unprecedented campaign — and find out how you can help us protect all the habitat types critical to people and nature.
  The Nature Conservancy

• Photo of the month - Kimbe Bay - Papau New Guinea by Mark Godfrey
  While visiting The Nature Conservancy's projects in Papua New Guinea, I spent a day snorkeling at one of the marine protected areas along Restorf Island at the western end of Kimbe Bay. It was my desire to take photographs that show the relationship between the land and coral reefs that surround it. Though I have little experience as an underwater photographer, a new shallow-underwater housing for my digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera, combined with a fisheye lens and a large memory card, helped me get this "over/under" photo.
  The Nature Conservancy

• Rare Launches 29 Conservation Campaigns Around the World
  Rare, with local partners around the world, will launch 29 conservation campaigns this fall. These campaigns focus on direct threats including marine issues, illegal logging, and shorebird migration, just to name a few. Now, just in the beginning training phase of the Rare Pride program, we give you a glimpse of each campaign: what conservation issues the various campaigns are targeting, and how they plan to spread pride and preserve conservation.

• After the Disaster - Restore the mangrove
  Four months after the 2004 tsunami roiled the Pacific Ocean, killing hundreds of thousands, destroying buildings and infrastructure and devastating coastal communities around Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Conservation International (CI) knew that, even with the massive international outpouring of financial support being directed to the region, something more targeted had to be done.

• Stop the Clock on Species Extinction Campaign
  Every 20 minutes, one species is pushed to extinction as more than 1,200 acres of forest are destroyed. At the same time, more than 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. Protecting and restoring forests is a key solution to climate change and is vital to the survival of all life Earth. Sign our petition to stop the clock on extinction and tell government leaders to incorporate forest protection into their national policies on climate change for the good of our species, our climate, and our planet. More than 40,000 individual have signed our petition. Please add your name to a growing list of people who want to see real change made to protect our forests, curb climate change, and save endangered species.

• Panda Survival Plan
  We have a plan to save pandas. With partners Shanshui, McDonald’s, DreamWorks and others, CI aims to protect all known panda habitat in China and to connect the few remaining populations of this iconic species. Conservation is never black and white, not even when it comes to saving pandas. There are fewer than 1,600 pandas left in the wild today and half of them live outside of protected areas. They share land with some 300,000 people and are scattered across forest fragments throughout the Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces of Southwest China.

• Persistent Leatherback Turtle Migrations Present Opportunities for Conservation
  Science is the basis for all CI work and initiatives. The Sea Turtle Flagship Program is no exception. From studying beach nesting sites to tagging sea turtles with satellite tracking devices, we seek to gain an accurate picture of what these animals do, where they go and how we can better protect them on land and at sea.

5 November

• US National Park Service International Programs Quarterly Bulletin: July-Sept.'08
  Welcome to the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) International Programs Quarterly Bulletin, issued by the NPS Office of International Affairs (OIA). The following news items are noteworthy events undertaken by the National Park Service during the last three months that involve an international component.

• Message from Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development. 10 November 2008
  Every year, on World Science Day for Peace and Development, we celebrate the role of the sciences in forging a better world. Science has long been recognized as a driver of change. However, the magnitude and complexity of the problems we confront today – from extreme poverty and deepening inequality to environmental degradation and increasing vulnerability to resource scarcity and natural disasters – make the effective mobilization of scientific knowledge more fundamental than ever...

3 November

• World Heritage Nominations for Natural Properties : A resource manual for practioners
  Tim Badman, Bastian Bomhard and Paul Dingwall IUCN 2008
  This Resource Manual, developed with the support of the World Heritage Fund, is an input from IUCN to the implementation of the Global Strategy of the World Heritage Committee. In particular it seeks to support States Parties in implementing the World Heritage Convention and to provide guidance and knowledge that will help ensure a credible World Heritage List of well managed natural and mixed properties universal value...

• Thematic Study on Caves and Carst
  A global review of karst World Heritage properties: present situation, future prospects and management requirements. The purpose of this review is to assist with the implementation of this decision and, in particular, to advise States Parties to the World Heritage Committee on: 1. The scope of karst landscapes and features, including caves, already represented on the World Heritage List; 2. The potential and priorities for further future recognition of karst landscapes and features on the World Heritage List in relation to the relevant World Heritage criteria; and 3. The requirements for integrity and management that should apply to karst landscapes and features on the World Heritage List.