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The first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a new legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution concluded today in Punta del Este, Uruguay. WWF welcomes the strong support shown for an ambitious global plastics treaty demonstrated at the meeting, but cautions that this is just the first step in the two-year road to a global plastics treaty. More...

Vietnam’s pangasius sector will achieve its target to certify ten per cent of the country’s pangasius production under the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standard by the end of 2012. Vietnam’s pangasius sector will achieve its target to certify ten per cent of the country’s pangasius production under the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standard by the end of 2012. This achievement...

Bella Bella, British Columbia – On the heels of the coastal First Nations’ declaration opposing the hunting of grizzly and black bears on the central and north coast of BC, Raincoast Conservation Foundation has now secured the commercial trophy hunting rights across a large portion of the Great Bear Rainforest.  A new purchase, completed this week, abuts another exclusive...

The Australian Greens said today that 60% of Australians do not support the processing of gas in the Kimberley. Speaking  today at the announcement of the Sea Shepherd’s visit to Broome and the Kimberley Senator Rachel Siewert, said polling release today made it clear that Australians say ‘No’ to the development of a gas hub in the Kimberley. Australian Greens spokesperson...

Libreville, Gabon, 27th June 2012 – In a bold move against poaching and illegal wildlife trade, Gabon is expected to burn its government-held ivory stockpile today. The decision comes at a time of intense poaching pressure in Central Africa, where the illegal killing of elephants for ivory is at record levels. Gabon’s President Ali Bongo will ignite the ivory...

For more than half a century, surface longline fishing has wastefully caught and killed Atlantic bluefin tuna and other nontarget ocean wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico, including white marlin, swordfish, and endangered sea turtles. The western Atlantic bluefin is particularly at risk from surface longlines, which average 30 miles long and suspend hundreds of hooks, because it is a...

Washington, DC — Florida panther mortality is off to another record start in 2012, with the tenth and eleventh cats perishing this week. Panther deaths so far this year are nearly double replacement from new litters and signal that shrinking habitat may be pushing the wide-ranging predators rapidly to extinction, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The total...

Civil society groups call on member states to suspend existing 'fracking' projects and ban new ones. A coalition of environmental and health NGOs warned the European Parliament today that hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) of shale gas, shale oil, and coal bed methane represent an dangerous experiment on the environment and human health. The warning comes following a draft report on shale gas...

Beijing – Africa and China can work together towards the common goal of sustainable development, says WWF, the global conservation organization. The upcoming China-Africa Ministerial Conference, in July 2012, presents a key opportunity to make China’s trade and capital flows a driving force for global footprint reduction and green growth in Africa a possible future. Ahead of the Conference, WWF...

New species of primate from Madagascar is shown exclusively on BBC’s Decade of Discovery program Washington, DC / London – A species of fork-marked lemur believed to be new to science was discovered in the dry forests of Madagascar. It will be shown for the first time exclusively on BBC's "Decade of Discovery" special program this Tuesday, Conservation International and...

Scientists analyzing measurements taken in the deep ocean around the globe over the past two decades find a warming trend that contributes to sea level rise, especially around Antarctica. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, cause heating of the Earth. Over the past few decades, at least 80 percent of this heat energy has gone into the...

New research reveals that Europe could not feed itself on fish from EU waters for more than 189 days a year, and from today is dependent on fish caught elsewhere. Consuming far more than our depleted European seas can produce is making the EU increasingly dependent on fish from elsewhere, according to a new report from leading independent think-tank nef...