CBD News Headlines - 02 November 2009

 
INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES

U.S. cotton crops almost free of boll weevil menace
Jackson Sun (USA), 02 November 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - For more than a century, small green beetles ate through U.S. cotton crops, costing growers $20 billion and making the boll weevil the most expensive agricultural pest in the nation's history.
More: http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20091102/BUSINESS/911020303/U.S.-cotton-crops-almost-free-of-boll-weevil-menace
 

China threatened by 400 invasive alien species: expert
Xinhuanet, 02 November 2009
FUZHOU, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- China is threatened by more than 400 invasive alien species, which has caused billions of yuan of economic losses, an agricultural official said Monday.
More: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/02/content_12373525.htm
 

 
BUSINESS AND BIODIVERSITY

CHILE ECO TOURISM COMPANY BUYS PROTECTED ANIMAL HABITAT
Santiago Times (Chile), 02 November 2009
One of Chile’s largest Eco-Tourism firms, Nomads, plans to develop new tour routes after acquiring 22,000 hectares of un-spoiled land in southern Chile
More: http://www.santiagotimes.cl/santiagotimes/index.php/2009110217521/news/tourism-news/chile-eco-tourism-company-buys-protected-animal-habitat.html
 

 
CLIMATE CHANGE

Money is the key to the success of Copenhagen
Independent (UK), 02 November 2009
Developing countries want up to £245bn to reduce their carbon emissions while the EU thinks it should cost them as little as £20bn.
More: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/money-is-the-key-to-the-success-of-copenhagen-1813177.html
 

Climate worries to send Nepal cabinet to Everest base
Reuters, 02 November 2009
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's cabinet plans to meet at the base camp of Mount Everest this month to highlight the impact of global warming on the Himalayas ahead of next month's U.N. negotiations on climate change, a minister said on Monday.
More: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE5A11OZ20091102
 

Greenland is warming up
Financial Times, 02 November 2009
Disko Bay lay glinting with ice on the bright afternoon we sailed in. Bergs as big as buses floated among others the size of houses.
More: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/91635aac-c207-11de-be3a-00144feab49a.html
 

Money and science key to climate success: China
Agence France-Presse (France), 02 November 2009
BEIJING — Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao reiterated to the European Union Monday that technology transfers and financial support from developed nations were key to the success of upcoming climate change talks.
More: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gftd1AJmLqVP6Pt4RBTekQkoKnuQ
 

Scientists Seek 'Plan B' for Fighting Climate Change
New York Times, 02 November 2009
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Some geoengineering schemes to fight climate change would probably succeed in cooling the planet, scientists said here Friday -- but whether we should ever deploy them is still an open question.
More: http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/11/02/02climatewire-scientists-seek-plan-b-for-fighting-climate-16296.html
 

Climate change will burn Yosemite
BBC News, 02 November 2009
Wild fires within California's world famous Yosemite National Park are set to become more frequent and severe due to climate change.
More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8334000/8334472.stm
 

Climate change 'can kill children'
Press Association, 02 November 2009
A quarter of a million children could die next year due to the effects of climate change, Save the Children warned.
More: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hcu1bVTifUsTT3o5TuA_fge8oWcA
 

Higher temperatures will harm many crops, report says
Miami Herald, 02 November 2009
WASHINGTON -- Global warming would be bad news for all those amber waves of grain, and for the corn and soybeans that are plentiful throughout the Midwest.
More: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/1311374.html
 

Final round for UN climate talks
BBC News, 02 November 2009
The latest round of UN climate talks opens in Barcelona on Monday with major divisions remaining between countries.
More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8334985.stm
 

 
CLIMATE CHANGE; INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES

Earthworm invaders nudging out British species
Telegraph (UK), 02 November 2009
British worms are under threat of being replaced in their native habitat by a European species because of climate change.
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6470529/Earthworm-invaders-nudging-out-British-species.html
 

 
CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Eleventh meeting of the COP-11 to convention on biodiversity- 2012 in India
PIB (India), 02 November 2009
India offers to host the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the convention on biological diversity in 2012.
More: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=53761
 

 
DRY AND SUB-HUMID LANDS BIODIVERSITY

Devastating drought alters life for Kenya nomads
Associated Press, 02 November 2009
DELA, Kenya — When 64-year-old Jimale Irobe was a young man, he guided his herds of cows and camels through knee-high grass.
More: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jVgQGZZr_oansDvxFRseaiw1QAYQD9BMREE80
 

 
ENDANGERED SPECIES

River dolphin population stable, says report
Assam Tribune, 02 November 2009
GUWAHATI, Nov 1 – A recent report on the status of Ganges river dolphins (Plantanista Gangetica Gangetica) in the Brahmaputra and adjoining rivers has suggested that after a long period of decline, the population of the endangered species could have stabilised.
More: http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=nov0209/at03
 

 
GENERAL

02 November 2009

'I Am Optimistic'
Spiegel (Germany), 02 November 2009
In a SPIEGEL interview, former US vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, 61, discusses Barack Obama's environmental policies, the endless push by lobbyists to derail reforms and his hopes for a global deal at the climate change summit in Copenhagen next month.
More: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,658673,00.html
 

A visit to an eco-pioneer’s wilderness cabin
Financial Times, 02 November 2009
The dog team strained through a blizzard of fine snow, pulling our sled towards the mountain. Then we stopped. “We will snowshoe from here,” shouted my guide, Kenneth Trasti-Smedstad, above the wind.
More: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0d7c3b66-c200-11de-be3a-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1
 

Champion sprinter Usain Bolt kicks off ‘long run’ to save the planet – UN
UN News Centre, 02 November 2009
30 October 2009 – Jamaican sprinter and Olympic champion Usain Bolt today launched the Long Run Initiative aimed at supporting global ecotourism projects, which the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says are vital for conserving natural and cultural heritage.
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32792&Cr=unep&Cr1=
 

Indonesia activist hunts poachers of endangered wildlife
Los Angeles Times, 02 November 2009
Irma Hermawati, who works for a nonprofit, seeks to stem a lucrative trade in rare animals, including orangutans and the Sumatran tiger, that is evident in teeming Indonesian markets.
More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-indonesia-wildlife2-2009nov02,0,2342185.story
 

Eels off the menu on BBC's MasterChef
BBC News, 02 November 2009
MasterChef, the BBC cookery programme, will review what ingredients are used on the show after contestants were told to cook dishes featuring an endangered species.
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6479774/Eels-off-the-menu-on-BBCs-MasterChef.html
 

 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Medicines Access Again Captures Attention At WTO As Progress Urged In Round
Intellectual Property Watch, 02 November 2009
Access to medicine and preservation of biodiversity topped the agenda at the World Trade Organization Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Council meeting this week, as a new alleged drug seizure in France, a concern over a largely-unused amendment to TRIPS intended to help developing countries gain access to medicine, and a renewed mandate on biodiversity at the World Intellectual Property Organization influenced the issues on the table.
More: http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/10/30/medicines-access-again-captures-attention-at-wto-as-progress-in-round-urged/
 

 
MARINE AND COASTAL BIODIVERSITY

The sex life of seahorses
Guardian (UK), 02 November 2009
The mating habits of these bizarrely beautiful creatures are fascinating – they are the only species in which males truly become pregnant.
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/02/seahorses-mating-males-pregnant
 

Un Project Seeks to Protect West African Coastline
Scoop, 02 November 2009
In West Africa, the coast is more than just a simple marker between land and sea. It’s also the home of millions – as much as 80 per cent of the populations of many countries live nearby – and a vital source of livelihoods and income thanks to the critical industries of fishing and tourism.
More: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0911/S00016.htm
 

S Sumatra`s mangrove forests in critical conditions :official
ANTARA News, 02 November 2009
Palembang, S Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Mangrove forests in South Sumatra are in critical conditions due to the conversion of coastal areas into shrimp and fish farms by local residents, a provincial maritime official said.
More: http://www.antara.co.id/en/news/1257159087/s-sumatras-mangrove-forests-in-critical-conditions-official