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A new U.N. report on the Asia-Pacific region said Tuesday that migratory species, including endangered freshwater dolphins that drown in fishing nets and elephants forced to scavenge through rubbish, are among the most vulnerable to plastic pollution. Plastic particles have infiltrated even the most remote and seemingly pristine regions of the planet, with tiny fragments discovered inside fish in the deepest recesses of the ocean and peppering Arctic sea ice.

The paper by the U.N.’s Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) focused on the impacts of plastic on freshwater species in rivers and on land animals and birds, which researchers said were often overlooked victims of humanity’s expanding trash crisis.

It said that because these creatures encoun...

Blue whales, the world’s largest mammals, are returning to Spain’s Atlantic coast after an absence of more than 40 years. The first one was spotted off the coast of Galicia in north-west Spain in 2017 by Bruno Díaz, a marine biologist who is head of the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute in O Grove, Galicia. Another was spotted in 2018, another the following year, and then in 2020 they both returned. Just over a week ago a different specimen was sited off the Islas Cíes, near O Grove.

Díaz said it was not yet clear whether the climate crisis was leading the creatures to change their habits and return to an area where they were hunted almost to extinction.

“I believe the moratorium on whaling has been a key factor,” he said...

You’ve heard of chonky cats, but how about chonky coral? Researchers have measured a piece of coral that’s the “chonkiest” yet discovered in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

The Porites (a genus of coral) specimen is located in the Palm Islands in Queensland, Australia. The Indigenous Manbarra people, traditional custodians of the area, named it Muga dhambi (big coral). “It is the widest and sixth tallest coral measured in the Great Barrier Reef,” according to a statement Thursday by Springer Nature, publisher of a study on the coral in the journal Scientific Reports. 

The study, led by marine scientist Adam Smith of James Cook University, describes the coral as “exceptionally large” and estimates the age at 421 to 438 years old. The coral measures 17.4 feet (5...

UN negotiators have resumed work on the text of world-wide plan to protect nature and species for the next decade. The draft Global Biodiversity Framework aims to conserve at least 30% of the world’s land and oceans. It will also push to eliminate plastic waste and cut pesticide use by at least two thirds.

The pact was due to be agreed at a UN biodiversity summit in China this October, but face to face talks have been delayed until April next year.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a UN treaty that has been ratified by 195 countries plus the European Union. 

The United States signed the agreement in 1993 but has failed to ratify it and remains outside the pact.

Over the past three decades, countries have agreed a series of plans under the CBD to protect n...

The world’s largest ever report into climate change will be published later, setting out the stark reality of the state of the planet. The study is by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – a UN group that looked at more than 14,000 scientific papers. It will be the most up-to-date assessment of how global warming will change the world in the coming decades.

Scientists say it will likely be bad news – but with “nuggets of optimism”.

And environmental experts have said it will be a “massive wake-up call” to governments to cut emissions.

• Have countries kept their climate change promises? 
• A really simple guide to climate change
• Why China’s climate policy matters to us all

The last time the IPCC looked at the science of global warming was in 2013 – and scientists believe...

Nikoletta Sidiropoulou and her colleagues in the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece (Archelon) are huddled together on Marathonisi beach, carefully digging in the sand. Eventually they find what they’re looking for: a turtle nest, containing upwards of 100 eggs. “It’s really exciting,” says Sidiropoulou.

Endangered loggerhead sea turtles, or Caretta Caretta, make their main nesting spot on the Mediterranean island of Zakynthos – one of the most visited islands in Greece, with roughly 1 million yearly visitors, including many British tourists. Mass tourism has long threatened the loggerheads: tourists frequently break rules designed to keep them away from nests. But new research suggests the Covid-19 pandemic has allowed these turtles to come up for air.

The research...

Now in its 33rd year, Shark Week is the longest-running cable event in history reaching 27 million viewers—a gigantic audience for marine biologists and conservationists. Discovery Channel claims the goal of Shark Week is to shed light on the latest scientific findings on these underwater predators and encourage conservation efforts of the often misunderstood creatures.

Shark conservation is crucial in today’s world. About 27 percent of cartilaginous fish, including sharks, are estimated or assessed to be threatened with extinction, says Lisa Whitenack, an associate professor of biology and geology at Allegheny College. 

But, according to researchers, the iconic week of television might be hurting those it claims to help...

A new study raises questions on whether current conservation science and policy for protected areas could be saving more biodiversity — with political and economic expediency often having taken precedence in the past. Lead author Professor Bob Pressey, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University (JCU), said the term ‘save’ in conservation needs to be better defined.

“Across the world, protected areas are established where they least interfere with commercial activities, even though those activities can cause decline and extinction,” Prof Pressey said.

“But ‘saving’ means intervening in a way that prevents the loss of ecosystems and species,” he said.

“There lies the problem...

The 2,300-km Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half of its corals as a consequence of rising ocean temperatures due to global warming. The reef also suffered two mass bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. Given the damage, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee had proposed that the Great Barrier Reef be put under ‘in danger’ category. However, the Australian government, on July 23, managed to avoid a downgrade of the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status after a concerted lobbying effort by Canberra.

Now, the Australian government will have to submit an updated progress report in 2022. It is being said that Australia didn’t want the ‘in danger’ status for the Great Barrier Reef—which draws a huge tourist turnout every year—as it might affect the post-pandemic visitors.

But tha...

China will step up measures to protect and restore habitats for marine species over the next five years as the country strives to improve biodiversity conservation, a Ministry of Ecology and Environment official said. The quality of the marine environment has “generally improved “since 2018, when the responsibility for dealing with marine pollution was transferred from the State Oceanic Administration to the ministry, said Ke Chang, director of the ministry’s Department of Marine Ecology and Environment.

By the end of 2020, the proportion of water of “fairly good quality” near the shore of the Bohai Sea was 82.3, which was 9.3 percentage points higher than the national target, he said. The proportion of fairly good quality water stood at 77...