A few days ago, The Country of Beauty excelled in the world's most important birding event, recording over 1,550 species, and showcasing its unparalleled biodiversity on the global stage. Colombia is the leading destination for birdwatching in the world. That's a fact. With a total of 1,558 species recorded and 12,007 checklists submitted during the Global Big Day, the Country of Beauty outperformed countries such as Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and India, positioning itself at the top of the global count. Since the inception of Global Big Day in 2015, Colombia has ranked first in the standings since 2017, except for the year 2021. This event is organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which invites people from around the world to observe and record birds for a day. Its goal is to...
Read MoreTag: biodiversity
While 95% of national tourism policies acknowledge nature as a primary asset for tourism, actual detailed plans for sustainable management practices are often lacking, a new report from UN Tourism reveals. Published on International Day of Biodiversity, the report "The Integration of Biodiversity in National Tourism Policies", explores the intricate relationship between the tourism sector and biodiversity, which encompasses the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. It assesses how 80 national tourism policies incorporate biodiversity values and aims to deepen the understanding of the references to biodiversity within these policies. The report comprises four detailed subsections that examine the integration of biodiversity within policy narratives, policy ...
Read MoreTarget to protect 30% of nature on Earth by 2030 A United Nations summit approved on Monday a landmark global deal to protect nature and direct billions of dollars toward conservation but objections from key African nations, home to large tracts of tropical rainforest, held up its final passage. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, reflecting the joint leadership of China and Canada, is the culmination of four years of work toward creating an agreement to guide global conservation efforts through 2030. There was widespread support for the final text put forward after two weeks of UN biodiversity negotiations to agree this decade’s targets for protecting nature, which included protecting 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade, reforming $500bn (£410bn...
Read MoreWTTC publishes ground-breaking report on how Travel & Tourism can reverse nature loss A new report published by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), shows how Travel & Tourism can play a critical role in halting and reversing the destruction of nature. The report, which will help businesses understand and manage their impact on biodiversity, is launched ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in December, where global governments will finalise actions to transform society’s relationship with nature, offers new hope for global nature conservation. ‘Nature Positive Travel & Tourism’, created jointly with ANIMONDIAL, a key advisor to global Travel & Tourism on animal and nature protection, and in collaboration with global businesses within the s...
Read MoreConservation groups say that a lack of political leadership has bogged down negotiations Some conservation scientists are warning that a global deal to protect the environment is under threat after negotiations stalled during international talks in Nairobi last week. They are calling on global leaders to rescue the talks — and biodiversity — from the brink. Others are more hopeful that, although progress has been slow, a deal will be struck by the end of the year. A southeast Greenland polar bear on glacier, or freshwater, ice is seen in this handout photograph taken in September 2016. Thomas W. Johansen/NASA Oceans Melting Greenland/Handout via REUTERS Negotiators from around 200 countries that have signed up to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) met in ...
Read MoreHundreds of millions of butterflies have began to emerge from chrysalises in the Honghe butterfly valley in southwest China's Yunnan Province, forming a rare ecological spectacle. "Butterfly explosion" refers to the seasonal landscape formed in late spring and early summer every year, in which a large number of Stichophthalma larvae pupate in a short period of time and then emerge into butterflies, according to Yang Zhenwen, curator of the butterfly valley museum in Ma'an'di Town under Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County. Photo taken on June 9, 2022 shows butterflies in the Honghe butterfly valley in southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) "Based on the samplings at 23 observation sites in the valley, the total number of butterflies during this year's explosi...
Read MoreRapid increases in the scope and effectiveness of global conservation efforts are critical to maintaining Earth’s ecological integrity New research published in the June 3, 2022 issue of journal Science reveals that 44 percent of Earth’s land area – some 64 million square kilometers (24.7 million square miles) requires conservation to safeguard biodiversity. The team, led by Dr James R. Allan from the University of Amsterdam, used advanced geospatial algorithms to map the optimal areas for conserving terrestrial species and ecosystems across the world. They further used spatially explicit land-use scenarios to quantify how much of this land is at risk from human activities by 2030. A drone view shows road traffic near Banco National Park in Abidjan, Ivory Coast May 16, 2022. REUT...
Read MoreA team of marine biologists have welcomed the discovery of an endangered giant freshwater stingray during a recent expedition to a remote stretch of the Mekong River in Cambodia, though they warned the biodiversity of the area was under threat. The stingray was accidentally caught by fishermen in an 80-metre (260 ft) deep pool in the Mekong in Cambodia's northeastern Stung Treng province and the visiting scientists helped return the animal alive. Local fishermen stand with a rescued 180-kilogram and 4-meter long giant freshwater stingray hooked by a fisherman's net at the Mekong River, in Stung Treng province, Cambodia May 5, 2022. University of Nevada/Handout via REUTERS Zeb Hogan, a fish biologist at the University of Nevada, said finding the 180 kg (397 lb) stingray, spanning ...
Read MoreAbout a fifth of reptile species - from the Galapagos tortoises to the Komodo dragon of the Indonesian islands, from West Africa's rhinoceros viper to India's gharial - are threatened with extinction, researchers said on Wednesday in the first comprehensive global status assessment for reptiles. The study examined 10,196 reptile species including turtles, crocodilians, lizards, snakes and the tuatara, the only surviving member of a lineage dating back more than 200 million years. They found that 21% of species are critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable to extinction as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of species. They also identified 31 species that already have gone extinct. FILE PHOTO: A reptile curat...
Read MorePonds, lakes, rivers and streams cover only a tiny fraction of Earth's surface, yet they are home to a comparatively large number of different species, according to a study led by University of Arizona ecologists While much research has focused on the striking differences in biodiversity between tropical and temperate regions, another, equally dramatic, pattern has gone largely unstudied: the differences in species richness among Earth's three major habitat types – land, oceans and freshwater. A new study led by ecologists at the University of Arizona reveals the origins of diverse animal and plant species richness in terrestrial, ocean and freshwater habitats at a global scale. It also explores the possible causes of these richness patterns. One of the world's longest rivers, th...
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