14 October 2014
After decades of negotiations the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing received its final necessary ratification and entered into force, enhancing opportunities for the equitable sharing of benefits of the world’s biodiversity. (more…)
1 October 2014
Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Hor Namhong, said that climate change is having devastating effects on developing countries as they mostly rely on agriculture and also suffer from typhoons, floods and draughts. (more…)
Source: UN News Centre | Adverse conditions stop poorer countries reaching development goals, Laos tells UN
23 January 2014
Lion status in West African protected areas within lion range.
© P. Henschel, L. Coad, C. Burton, B. Chataigner, A. Dunn et al. (see footnote).
A recently published study showed that the lion in West Africa is now critically endangered and faces extinction. From one angle, this would be just one of the large (though unknown) number of species that has previously faced extinction or has even become extinct. But the risk of extinction of some species give more reason for pause than others. Surely the lion – a cultural icon for cultures across the world since time immemorial – deserves a moment of reflection.
The cited study describes how the lion was once the most successful large carnivore. Its range extended from South Africa, across Eurasia, and into the southern United States. Today, the lion’s range is restricted to Africa, with a population of the Asiatic sub-species in India. Lions in Africa have lost 75 percent of their range in the last 100 years. (more…)