Deforestation and biodiversity loss in Haiti
Writing for Bloomberg, Faye Flam discusses recently published research about deforestation in Haiti, and the impacts on Haiti’s rare and endemic forest species: Improbably, a fairly tale world of miniature frogs and lizards survives in Haiti — dozens of species found only in that environment. Wildlife doesn’t always disappear in proportion …
Guyana and EU sign agreement to improve forest governance and promote legal timber trade
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that Guyana and the European Union recently finalised a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme: Guyana and the European Union (EU) have concluded a six-year process of negotiations towards a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which …
Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots is revealed to have engaged in questionable practices, including in the Caribbean
From the Guardian, a comprehensively researched exposé of a shady “conservation” organisation and its questionable dealings in endangered parrots, including birds from Dominica, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) is home to one of the largest private collections of threatened …
Belize and Australia exchange experiences on barrier reef conservation and World Heritage Site management
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the largest is the world’s largest coral reef system. The Belize Barrier Reef is part of the world’s second largest coral reef system, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (also known as the Great Mayan Reef). Both the Great Barrier Reef and the Belize Barrier Reef …
Caribbean scientists receive training in endangered species assessment
Scientists from six Caribbean countries recently participated in a training course in The Bahamas on how to assess potentially threatened and endangered species for classification on the IUCN Red List: Fourteen Bahamian and eight Caribbean experts took part in a week of training in Nassau on how to assess threatened …
Saving the Turks and Caicos rock iguana
Perhaps, like me, you thought that the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) focused exclusively on bird conservation. I was surprised to learn that they are also working to conserve, among other species, the critically endangered Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana (Cylcura carinata, also known as the Bahamas …
Anguilla’s Sombrero Island Nature Reserve Marine Park designated as a Wetland of International Importance
The Sombrero Island Nature Reserve Marine Park was recently designated as Ramsar Site number 2354 under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (also known as the Ramsar Convention). It is the first such designated site in Anguilla: The United Kingdom has named Sombrero Island Nature Reserve Marine Park (Ramsar …