More than 275,000 people and leading scientific and conservation organisations from the UK and around the world have called on the UK government to establish a protected area in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), which is comprised of the Chagos Islands and its surrounding waters.

If established, the Chagos Protected Area would be the largest marine reserve in the world and play a vital role in fulfilling the UK’s global international conservation commitments.

Rich marine biodiversity

The support for a marine reserve comes as the UK government closes its three-month public consultation period today [Friday 5 March 2010] on future management of the Chagos Islands. The government will now consider the creation of a Chagos Protected Area, a designation that would safeguard the rich marine biodiversity of the islands and their surrounding waters by prohibiting extractive activities, such as fishing. A final decision is expected sometime this spring.

2009-2010 Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Waltzing Matilda

After three long weary and dramatic months upon the most remote and hostile seas in the world, the Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and Bob Barker were welcomed by crowds of cheering supporters in the port of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, on Saturday, March 6^th, 2010.

Sea Shepherd just completed the most ambitious and effective campaign to defend the great whales that we have ever undertaken and Operation Waltzing Matilda, the sixth voyage to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to oppose the illegal whaling activities of the Japanese whaling fleet, was astoundingly effective.

The Republic of Tanzania and Zambia have submitted a controversial proposal to CITES, the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species, for a one time sell-off of over 80 tons of ivory.  The 15th CITES conference will convene from March 13-25th in Doha, Qatar and these two countries will need 66% of the 175 country votes in order to proceed.  Some other African countries support lifting the ban on sales, notably South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

Kenya, the Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda and Sierra Leone are offering a counter proposal, calling for a 20 year moratorium on one-off sales and lobbying other countries to join them.  These countries are upset because of the potential implications of the sale -  the elephants don’t follow the borders and the sale could impact these shared elephants populations.  The proposal is seen to have “betrayed the spirit of conservation in the region.”

In the past, permission has been granted for one-off sales.  In 1997, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana were permitted to sell approximately 50 tons of ivory and in 2007, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe were permitted to sell 108 tons of ivory to Japan and China, earning a reported $20 million USD.  The 2007 deal included a 9 year moratorium on future sell-offs, but a loophole in the text allows for countries not involved in the 2007 deal to submit proposals during this time-span.

Iconic fashion model Twiggy pleads with UK fashion designers to stop using fur at London Fashion Week.

With the increase of fur on the catwalk this London Fashion Week, many celebrities are denouncing the use of fur. Additional supporters of ADI include: Stella McCartney, Mary McCartney, Brian Blessed, Meg Mathews, Ricky Gervais, Samantha Janus, and Belinda Carlisle.

A mid ocean floating plastic dump,  that's just been discovered in the Atlantic,  has been labelled a sad indictment of our throw away culture and a potential menace to marine wildlife and humans, by MCS.

The area, where plastic waste appears to accumulate, is similar to a site in the Pacific Ocean dubbed ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’

The conservation work in Janos, funded by PTES among others, resulted in the Presidential Decree of the Janos Biosphere Reserve in December 2009. This half a million hectare Biosphere Reserve is the first federally protected area created with the main purpose of protecting the grassland ecosystem. Its wildlife includes black-tailed prairie dogs, bison, kit foxes, mountain plovers, burrowing owls, black bears and thick-billed parrots.

BirdLife International has compiled International Action Plans for three globally Endangered and Critically Endangered migratory waterbirds in Asia, under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species.

The action plans for Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus and Chinese Crested Tern Sterna bernsteini were launched recently at the fourth meeting of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP). On 5th March, the action plan for Endangered Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor was launched at the International Symposium on Ecology, Migratory and Conservation of the Black-faced Spoonbill.

With the welcome sights and sounds of spring tentatively emerging, now is the ideal time to look at ways in which we can all help wildlife recover from the harshness of Britain’s long, cold winter.

The population, found in areas located in South Tapanuli, North Tapanuli and Central Tapanuli, is believed to be the first found this year. Last year, an orangutan population was found in Dairi regency.