Printable Version of .: IPS Inter Press Service One Planet - 1.4 Million Species / Convention on Biological Diversity :. The Convention on Biological Diversity, signed by 150 governments at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, is the main instrument for protecting biodiversity and ensuring equitable and sustainable access to the benefits of the Earth's genetic riches and a healthy environment. But much has yet to be done just four years before the 2010 deadline agreed by the international community for achieving significant results in reducing biodiversity loss. Once again in Brazil, but this time in the southern city of Curitiba, the states party to the Convention are gathering in March to discuss these issues, as well as the Biosafety Protocol, including protecting biodiversity from the risks of biotechnology and preventing bioterrorism., RSS Feeds Aggregator, RSS Directory, RSS Feeds Reader, XML, RDF, Atom, RSS 0.91, RSS 0.92, RSS 2.0, RSS 1.0

The Convention on Biological Diversity, signed by 150 governments at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, is the main instrument for protecting biodiversity and ensuring equitable and sustainable access to the benefits of the Earth's genetic riches and a healthy environment. But much has yet to be done just four years before the 2010 deadline agreed by the international community for achieving significant results in reducing biodiversity loss. Once again in Brazil, but this time in the southern city of Curitiba, the states party to the Convention are gathering in March to discuss these issues, as well as the Biosafety Protocol, including protecting biodiversity from the risks of biotechnology and preventing bioterrorism.

.::U.S.-MEXICO: Fence to Carve Up Fragile Border Preserve::.

SAN DIEGO, California, Nov 19 (IPS) - Another chapter in U.S.-Mexico border relations is about to close. In the waning days of the George W. Bush administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is completing construction of a 22-kilometre triple fence along the San Diego-Tijuana border.

.::ENVIRONMENT-BURMA: Conflict Threatens Karen Biodiversity::.

BANGKOK, Nov 17 (IPS) - On top of 60 years of military occupation, the Karen people of Burma are now facing severe impairment of their environmental and cultural foundations, say activists.

.::BIODIVERSITY: Ten-Year Probe Reveals Oceans in Peril::.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Nov 11 (IPS) - A thousand points of light are being shone into the dark ocean depths as scientists from 82 countries work to complete the decade-long global research effort called the Census of Marine Life.

.::BIODIVERSITY: The Real Price of Farmed Salmon::.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Nov 10 (IPS) - Salmon aquaculture is devastating the world's oceans and an international coalition of scientists, Canadian First Nations and tourism operators have called for a global moratorium.

.::ARGENTINA: Newspaper Brings to Light Abuses against Poor Farmers::.

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 10 (IPS) - Small farmers in the northern Argentine province of Santiago del Estero are publishing their own newspaper in an attempt to raise awareness about the constant abuses they suffer at the hands of wealthy landowners, who are encroaching on their small plots of land.

.::ENVIRONMENT: Costa Rica at a Crossroads::.

SAN JOSÉ, Nov 8 (Tierramérica) - The Crucitas open-pit gold mining project in northern Costa Rica could become an environmental cross to bear for the government of Óscar Arias.

.::BIODIVERSITY: Unraveling the Mysteries of Salmon Migration::.

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Oct 31 (IPS) - Tiny juvenile salmon have been electronically tracked for the first time from their natal rivers in the Rocky Mountains 2,500 kilometres north to Alaska.

.::CHILE: Maize Contaminated with Transgenics ::.

SANTIAGO, Oct 30 (IPS) - The Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA) at the University of Chile has detected genetically modified organisms in four samples of conventional maize grown near fields where transgenic maize seeds are being produced for export.

.::ENVIRONMENT: Europe Casts a Net for Dying Fish::.

BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (IPS) - The European Union has resisted calls for a ban on fishing for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean despite warning signs that the species is being exploited towards extinction.

.::ARGENTINA: Caution and Enthusiasm for Fish Farming::.

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 25 (Tierramérica) - Fish farming is expanding in Latin America, fuelled by the demands of a global market that is facing the stagnation of commercial fishing. But some people are warning about the limits of industrial production of fish and the environmental and social risks.

.::ENVIRONMENT: Global Financial Crisis a Bad Sign for Andean Biodiversity::.

BARCELONA, Oct 16 (Tierramérica) - The crisis affecting the financial sector and stock markets around the world could fuel the expansion of extractive industries in South America's Andean region, warn experts.

.::ENVIRONMENT: Going Beyond Climate Change ::.

BARCELONA, Oct 15 (IPS) - While the financial mayhem continues to draw the headlines, the cost of persistent biodiversity loss has yet to be established. But it is believed to be bigger than that of the meltdown, and in many cases also irreparable.

.::ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Illegal Trade Decimating Wildlife ::.

BANGALORE, Oct 13 (IPS) - A great variety of endangered wildlife species end up feeding the illegal market for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) thanks to poor enforcement in stopping the trade, say experts and activists.

.::BIODIVERSITY: Mammals Face Extinction Crisis::.

BARCELONA, Oct 7 (TerraViva/IPS) - One in four mammals on Earth is at risk of disappearing forever, according to the new "Red List of Threatened Species" released by the Geneva-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Monday.

.::ENVIRONMENT: Twisted As Unnaturally as the Banks::.

BARCELONA, Oct 6 (IPS/Terraviva) - The financial meltdown in most of the industrialised world presents an opportunity for a new economic model that would end short-sighted search for high returns, according to leading economists attending the IUCN World Conservation Congress here.