Populations of elephants in Africa continue to be under severe threat as the illegal trade in ivory grows - with double the numbers of elephants killed and triple the amounts of ivory seized, over the last decade.

According to a new report entitled "Elephants in the Dust - The African Elephant Crisis", increasing poaching levels, as well as loss of habitat are threatening the survival of African elephant populations in Central Africa as well as previously secure populations in West, Southern and Eastern Africa. 

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Around 120 representatives from 60 Africa regional adaptation knowledge platforms and other organizations have boosted climate change adaptation efforts in Africa, one of the world's most vulnerable continents to shifting climactic conditions, by endorsing the Africa Adaptation Knowledge Network (AAKNet) as a key tool for creating a coordinated approach.

Africa is particularly susceptible to climate change for a variety of reasons: its reliance on rain-fed agriculture, limited supply of freshwater, widespread poverty and disease, weak institutions, variable access to information and technology, complex disasters and conflicts, and inadequate access to basic services.

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Throughout most of his 55 years, Mohammed Hassen and his family have suffered  during recurring droughts that have ravaged his district of Kalu, South Wollo Zone, in northeastern Ethiopia.

The country, once defined by rural poverty, is developing a strategy to address pockets of extreme poverty in its growing urban areas, and UNDP’s pioneering satellite mapping is helping.

In Hassen’s case, it has meant providing him and his neighbours with high-yielding seeds that are drought-resistant. Hassen’s income has improved, and his large family is now able to enjoy three meals a day; he even has extra cash to buy school supplies for the children and to start saving for the future.

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On Saturday March 23rd and in spite of the bad weather, Anjar and KfarZabad residents; and visitors from different Lebanese districts celebrated the Miracle of Life as part of the annual celebrations for the Bird Migration, and the World Water Day. The festival that was organized by SPNL in partnership with the municipalities of Anjar and KfarZabad, with the generous support of the MAVA Foundation, was a truly great success with a day full of fun, outdoor activities, and rejoicing the values of nature and the importance to preserve it.

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Rapidly rising demand for these precious tropical hardwoods has led to serious concerns that unregulated logging is depleting populations of already rare species.

Bangkok, 14 March 2013 - The triennial World's Wildlife Conference closed today with robust measures adopted to protect precious timber and marine species from overexploitation.

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by Ryan Koronowski,

A report issued Monday from Conservation Action Trust and Greenpeace India outlines the health cost of coal. Via ClimateWire:

As many as 115,000 people die in India each year from coal-fired power plant pollution, costing the country about $4.6 billion, according to a groundbreaking new study released today.

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Grace, a farmer near the Mau Forest provides both material support to kenya forest service rangers and where possible gives information to the authorities on the activities of illegal loggers. © unep/riccardo gangle

Governments, businesses and civil society must commit to protect forests by reducing deforestation, preventing environmental degradation, and providing sustainable livelihoods for all of those who depend on this precious ecosystem, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

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Public leaders need to protect the environment from a problem of increasing magnitude: the private ownership of exotic animals.

As a national leader on animal protection and wildlife conservation, Born Free USA is working to halt the epidemic of wild animals as “pets” and the deep impact keeping wildlife in captivity has on conservation by spearheading efforts to preserve wildlife’s rightful place in the wild.

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United Nations Environment Programme Goodwill Ambassador Gisele Bündchen has joined former United States Vice President Al Gore to urge support for the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's initiative to achieve universal access to modern energy services by 2030.

In video messages that started airing this week, Ms. Bündchen and Mr. Gore stand with the head of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Kandeh K. Yumkella, to advocate for the Secretary-General's Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.

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The smell of virgin olive oil may signal the Mediterranean diet to you — and it. Researchers at the German Research Center for Food Chemistry have found what seems to be another health benefit of olive oil, already hailed for its antioxidants and for its heart-protecting oleic acid. Extra virgin olive oil may help a person feel satisfied thanks to its particular aroma.

Olive oil does have a distinctive scent, in part because one of its components is a compound called hexanal, which some thinks smells like fresh-cut grass.

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