Exploitation can modify the characteristics of fish populations through the selective harvesting of individuals, with this potentially leading to rapi...

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Castries, Saint Lucia, October 29, 2014 - The Centre of Food Security and Entrepreneurship of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus (UWI) and Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology are set to formalise an important collaboration, to support Saint Lucia’s transition to a Green Economy Sector for wealth creation.

The Government of Saint Lucia has indicated interest in developing a Green Economy initiative for the country and has been working closely with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the University of the West Indies to achieve this objective.

Saint Lucia is also undertaking concurrent developments that merge well with this Green Economy initiative. In essence this thrust will help the country progress in a manner that factors social, economic and environmental considerations equally into the mix of its development paradigm.

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Montreal, 21 October 2014 – Recognizing that wildlife is an important renewable natural resource, with 
economic, cultural, nutritional and recreational value to humans, Parties at the twelfth meeting of the 
Conference of the Parties (COP 12), held in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, have passed a landmark 

decision on the sustainable use of biodiversity with regards to bushmeat and sustainable wildlife management. 

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Jeannine Compton-Antoine, designated Marine Biodiversity Champion by the Biodiversity Unit because she is the first female Chairperson of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) that has been in existence since 1989, has been praised for her leadership role as the chairperson of the IWC. She has long represented Saint Lucia as a Commissioner at the IWC and has just completed her two year stint as the IWC chairperson. She was congratulated in a statement by the IWC following its 65th Annual Meeting in Slovenia.

The statement commended the Saint Lucian Commissioner and Chairperson “for her excellent chairmanship” and that “ all parties were pleased with the outcome of the meeting” under her stewardship. Jeannine said that she was “pleased with the constructive dialogue and commitment of the member-governments of the IWC, to reach consensus wherever possible on the issue of whaling.”

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Pyeongchang/Montreal 17 October: The Convention on Biological Diversity closed the 12th meeting of the 
Conference of the Parties today with Governments committing to step up actions to achieve, by the end of the decade, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets agreed four years ago, and contribute to the sustainable development agenda. 

A key outcome was the agreement by Governments on the financial resources to support achievement of the 
Strategic Plan. Responding to the call initiated at COP-10 in Nagoya, governments today reaffirmed their 
agreement made at COP-11 in Hyderabad to double total biodiversity-related international financial resource 
flows to developing countries, in particular least developed countries and small island developing States, as 
well as countries with economies in transition by 2015, and at least maintain this level until 2020. The basis for calculating this is to use average annual biodiversity funding for the years 2006-2010 as a baseline. 
Governments also agreed to increase domestic financing for biodiversity and identified a set of actions to allow the increased mobilizations of financial resources from all sources. 

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3 October 2014, Majuro Marshall Islands - On the fourth and final day of the 25th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, High Level representatives from across the Pacific island region and beyond called for less talk and more action on climate change financing. Other key themes discussed at the Meeting included the importance of building island resilience, developing the blue-green economy and the growing meaningful and durable partnerships to achieve common goals.

Today's High Level Segment was Chaired by Hon. Tony de Brum, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and attended by Ministers and Heads of Delegations from 25 countries and territories that are Members of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

Today's High Level Segment and conclusion of the 25th SPREP Meeting was preceded by three days of discussion involving a total of 132 delegates representing SPREP Member countries and territories, key stakeholders, partner organisations, donors and observers.

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Arlington, Va. (October 6, 2014) — Nature doesn’t need people. People need nature. That’s the message of the provocative, celebrity-studded campaign Conservation International (CI) is launching today. Nature Is Speakingaims to raise awareness that people need nature in order to survive.

The campaign features a series of short films voiced by some of the biggest names in Hollywood includingPenélope Cruz, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Robert Redford, Julia Roberts, Ian Somerhalder and Kevin Spacey. In the series, Nature reveals serious misgivings about the way humans are treating the Earth from the viewpoint of a cast of characters — from Mother Nature to The Ocean and The Rainforest.

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Pyeongchang/Montreal 6 October 2014 –Under the theme, “Biodiversity for Sustainable 
Development,” thousands of representatives of governments, NGOs, indigenous peoples, 
scientists and the private sector gathered in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea for the 12th

meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity(COP 12) 
Between 6 and 17 October 2014, Parties will agree on steps to accelerate the 
implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity 
Targets, which are to be achieved by the end of this, the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. 
The results of Global Biodiversity Outlook 4, the flagship assessment report of the CBD will 
inform the discussions. 
The collection of decisions to be taken at COP 12 is already being referred to as the 
“Pyeongchang Road Map” and is expected to include aresource mobilization strategy expected 
to substantially increase the resources available for biodiversity conservation and sustainable 
use. 

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Pyeongchang/Montreal 6 October 2014 –Under the theme, “Biodiversity for Sustainable 
Development,” thousands of representatives of governments, NGOs, indigenous peoples, 
scientists and the private sector gathered in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea for the 12th

meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity(COP 12) 
Between 6 and 17 October 2014, Parties will agree on steps to accelerate the 
implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity 
Targets, which are to be achieved by the end of this, the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. 
The results of Global Biodiversity Outlook 4, the flagship assessment report of the CBD will 
inform the discussions. 
The collection of decisions to be taken at COP 12 is already being referred to as the 
“Pyeongchang Road Map” and is expected to include aresource mobilization strategy expected 
to substantially increase the resources available for biodiversity conservation and sustainable 
use. 

[Read the rest of this article...]

Pyeongchang/Montreal 6 October 2014 –Under the theme, “Biodiversity for Sustainable 
Development,” thousands of representatives of governments, NGOs, indigenous peoples, 
scientists and the private sector gathered in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea for the 12th

meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity(COP 12) 
Between 6 and 17 October 2014, Parties will agree on steps to accelerate the 
implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity 
Targets, which are to be achieved by the end of this, the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. 
The results of Global Biodiversity Outlook 4, the flagship assessment report of the CBD will 
inform the discussions. 
The collection of decisions to be taken at COP 12 is already being referred to as the 
“Pyeongchang Road Map” and is expected to include aresource mobilization strategy expected 
to substantially increase the resources available for biodiversity conservation and sustainable 
use. 

[Read the rest of this article...]