Story | 06 Dec, 2021
Endangered Caspian Seal Habitat Awarded Important Marine Mammal Area Status
Today, the IUCN Task Force on Marine Mammal Protected Areas, a joint task force of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and the World Commission on Protected Areas, announces that Caspian seals have been awarded three Important Marine Mammal Areas, or IMMAs, as part of a tranche of 14 new IMMAs…
Story | 29 Nov, 2021
How to ignite ecosystem restoration in your community
Grassroots action for the restoration of your local ecosystem is a means to engage yourself and the community around you to become part of the change that you are trying to achieve, according to the IUCN Community-Organizing Toolkit on Ecosystem Restoration.
Story | 10 Nov, 2021
Global launch of the Great Blue Wall
Movement launched to conserve and restore marine and coastal biodiversity while unlocking the development of a regenerative sustainable blue economy
At the UNFCCC COP26 in Glasgow, Western Indian Ocean states and partners including International Union for Conservation of…
Story | 10 Nov, 2021
Community-based Environmental Monitoring special section in BioScience
Over recent decades, community-based environmental monitoring has exploded in popularity. A special section in BioScience describes the potential for such efforts to advance the scientific enterprise well into the future…
Story | 29 Oct, 2021
This International Black Sea Action Day, 31st October, 11 habitats of Red-List Endangered Black Sea harbour porpoises and bottlenose dolphins as well as Vulnerable Black Sea common dolphins have been formally awarded Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) status by the…
Story | 19 Oct, 2021
Marine Heatwaves: a serious threat to marine biodiversity and livelihoods
Back in 2011, extremely warm water temperatures persisting over thousands of kilometres along the coastline of Western Australia caused coral bleaching, mass die-out of marine life and wiped out kelp forests. Since then, this phenomenon of abnormally high-water temperatures has been recorded in…
Story | 13 Oct, 2021
Plankton are the superstars of the ocean and MAPMAKER is the tool that follows them
Without marine plankton our planet would be a different place. Future projections and impact metrics of plankton diversity around the world are now able to be seen graphically through the MAPMAKER tool. MAPMAKER's new visualisation tools allow data-driven decision-making on marine biodiversity…
Story | 01 Jul, 2021
A new paper, published today in Science, argues for an international legally binding agreement that addresses the entire life cycle of plastics, from extraction of raw materials to legacy plastic pollution. Three clear goals are proposed and encouraged, to address not only the well-known issue…
Story | 26 Feb, 2021
New IUCN-backed study finds gray whales at high risk from ship strikes in the North Pacific Ocean
Gland, Switzerland (IUCN) – Ships operating in the North Pacific pose a serious threat to gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), according to the first scientific study that examines the impacts of vessel traffic on the species throughout its range.
Story | 01 Feb, 2021
Each year, the international community celebrates World Wetlands Day on the 2nd February, a day to put a spotlight on the state of our wetlands globally. Organised by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the 2021 theme focuses on the intrinsic link…