Not many people know about pangolins, even as they disappear from the Earth at a rate of 100,000 per year. They could go extinct before we realize they exist.
Nations vote to ban international pangolin trade! New policy will cover every species of pangolin.183 nations gathered in South Africa and voted to ban commercial trade in all eight pangolin species. By moving pangolins up to Appendix I, the species has the highest level of global endangered species protections.
A year ago, the Fish & Wildlife Service was considering how to respond to the pangolin poaching crisis. A major international meeting was coming up, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the issue was expected to come up. Back then, the United States could have lost the opportunity, as the Fish & Wildlife Service indicated that it was still undecided on whether or not to elevate the pangolin’s status.
Clashes in El Geneina, in Sudan’s West Darfur State, have forced more than 11,000 people to flee as refugees into neighbouring Chad since last month. Four thousand of them have fled during last week alone and it is estimated that the clashes have displaced some 46,000 inside the country.
Most of them were already internally displaced people and when attacks happened in West Darfur in late December 2019, including on displacement camps, people fled and found temporary refuge in schools, mosques and other buildings in El Geneina.
With El Geneina only 20 kilometers from the border, thousands of refugees crossed into Chad, a number UNHCR anticipates could reach 30,000 in the coming weeks as tensions persist. UNHCR teams on the ground are hearing accounts of people fleeing after their villages, houses and properties were attacked, many burnt to the ground.
In Chad, the refugees are currently scattered in several villages along a line that spans nearly 100 kilometers near the border, around the town of Adré, in the province of Ouaddaï which already hosts 128,000 Sudanese refugees. The conditions are dire. Most are staying in the open or under makeshift shelters, with little protection from the elements. Food and water are urgently needed, while health conditions are a concern.
Kingston, Jamaica – Marine scientists from around the world have issued a stark warning about the emerging industry of deep sea mining, stating that its development “puts the overall health of ocean ecosystems under threat” and could contribute to climate breakdown. [1] Greenpeace activists went to the International Seabed Authority (ISA) annual meeting in Kingston, joined by the members of Jamaica Environment Trust and representatives of several other Jamaican civil society organizations, to deliver a letter of concern by 28scientists from eight countries to the participants of the meeting. A banner was unfurled at the event which said “No deep sea mining” as Greenpeace demands protection of the sea bed and global oceans.
Activists from around the world have sailed on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, to join in a peaceful assembly in front of one of the battlegrounds for protecting the deep oceans from monster mining machines: the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is hosting its 25th Assembly in Kingston, Jamaica.
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John Horstman (itchydogimages, SINOBUG)
alpenglowtravelers
Diegojack
–MARCO POLO–
tucker.tterence
