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Loading ...World Bank: Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Services Severely Undervalued
Monday, April 6th, 2009From the World Bank: Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Services Severely Undervalued New World Bank Review Calls for Action to Protect the Marine Environment Properly valuing coastal and marine ecosystem services is critical to sustainable development, according to the World Bank publication “Environment Matters 2008” launched today. Titled: “Valuing Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Services”, the review […]
EPA to Study Virgin Islands Coral Reefs
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009From the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): EPA to Study Coral Reefs in U.S. Virgin Islands For nearly three weeks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will study coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea around the U.S. Virgin Islands. Starting today, EPA’s ocean survey vessel, the OSV BOLD, will conduct a series of scientific observations […]
What a Shame
Thursday, January 15th, 2009Just two months ago a study was released putting a dollar value on the preservation of Belize’s reefs. Now comes a report that a cargo ship wandered (reportedly while on autopilot) onto a barrier reef 32 miles from Belize City in an area near Caye Glory. Experts say that the grounding may have permanently destroyed […]
Putting a Value on Belize’s Reefs and Mangroves
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008In a recent post I applauded efforts to estimate the true economic value of the mangroves along the coast of Mexico’s Baja California. Last month the World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released a report that estimates the economic value of Belize’s coral reefs and mangroves that I similarly applaud — in […]
A Poor Report Card for the Mesoamerican Reef
Monday, December 22nd, 2008A “report card” on the health of the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) was released recently, and it was not pretty. Not the type of report card a student would want to take home to his/her parents. The MAR follows the Caribbean coastline of Mexico and Central America for over 1,000 kilometers, and as such is the […]
Will Lula Protect Brazil’s Reefs?
Thursday, November 20th, 2008In September Brazil’s Environment Minister, Carlos Minc, caused quite a stir in conservation circles. He announced that he was sending a decree to the Planalto Palace for President Lula to sign that would significantly enhance Brazil’s protection of its coral reefs, something conservationists and marine biologists have been pushing for since at least the late […]
The Caribbean Challenge
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008Yes, I know, this announcement was made publicly at the end of May. I held off talking about here, in part to work first on older backlog from The Temas Blog queue, and in part to see if, as hinted, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and St. Lucia would quickly announce that […]
Past as Prologue for Caribbean Reefs?
Friday, June 13th, 2008Earlier this year the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published a report by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) assessing the state of the Caribbean’s coral reefs after their toughest year in recent history, 2005. The IOC is the lead international entity assessing and reporting […]
GEF Funds Project to Protect Caribbean Sea from Pesticides
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007Synopsis in English: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) will provide US$5 million to help three LAC nations — Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua — reduce the adverse impact on the marine environment of the Caribbean Sea of their agricultural sectors’ use of pesticides. The three participating governments will match the amount, making it a US$10 […]
Colombia Insists: We’re Serious About Climate Change
Monday, March 19th, 2007Just before the release of the IPPC report, the Minister for Environment, Housing and Territorial Development (MAVDT) held a press conference to assure everyone that global climate change is a priority issue for the Uribe Administration. The fact that Minister Juan Lozano Ramírez felt the need to do so says something. Lozano Ramírez outlined the […]