One of the big pieces of environmental news in recent days has been the success of negotiations (see also) at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. According to Reuters news agency:
Nearly 200 nations agreed on Saturday to a sweeping plan to stem the loss of species by setting new 2020 targets to ensure greater protection of nature and enshrine the benefits it gives mankind.
Environment ministers from around the globe also agreed on rules for sharing the benefits from genetic resources from nature between governments and companies, a trade and intellectual property issue that could be worth billions of dollars in new funds for developing nations.
Agreement on parts of the deal has taken years of at times heated negotiations, and talks in the Japanese city of Nagoya were deadlocked until the early hours of Saturday after two weeks of talks.
Delegates agreed goals to protect oceans, forests and rivers as the world faces the worst extinction rate since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.
The Jamaica Observer reports on how a partnership launched at the Nagoya meeting could benefit the Caribbean:
Jamaica and other developing countries now have a new window to access funding to help halt species loss, thanks to a new partnership launched here at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity on Wednesday.
The partners include the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank and BirdLife International, and will respond to those countries with sites identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction as being in need of immediate action.
“Over the next four years, the global map of key sites for extinction avoidance produced by the alliance will be used as an important blueprint for targeted action, helping to safeguard key sites where species are in imminent danger of disappearing,” said a release to the media, which was made available at the press conference announcing the partnership.
There are some 587 sites that have been identified, accounting for some 920 of the world’s most endangered species. The Jamaican sites and species on that list include: The Blue and John Crow mountains for the frog species Eleutherodactylus alticola and the Jamaican Petrel; The Cockpit Country and Catadupa for the frog species Eleutherodactylus griphus and the Eleutherodactylus sisyphodemus; The Hellshire Hills for the Jamaican Iguana; and The Portland Byte and Ridge surrounding areas for the frog species Eleutherodactylus cavernicola.
Other Caribbean countries on the list include Bermuda, Haiti, Montserrat, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. Together they account for a variety of bird species, including the Bermuda Petrel and the Bermuda Cedar as well as the Montserrat Oriole, the Sempler’s Warbler and the Trinidad piping guan.
Omitted from the Observer’s report are locations in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean: Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and especially Cuba, where there are over a dozen sites and species recommended for special attention.
For more information, I highly recommend that you visit Alliance for Zero Extinction website and check out for yourself the list and maps sites and species, Caribbean and otherwise, that they have identified as being in most urgent need of conservation.
A few of the several previous related articles on Green Antilles: Birding expedition in Jamaica finds hope for Petrels, Montserrat Oriole, Saving the Trinidadian Pawi (also known as the Piping Guan), Protecting ecosystems and economies in Haiti.
The government of Montserrat is exploring its renewable energy options, with a particular interest in the island’s geothermal potential:
Jeff Dawson, of Montserrat’s Department of Environment, writes about the 
Last year I wrote about plans to 
And even more encouraging Caribbean-related conservation news: 
Several months ago I mentioned some of the 
