POACHERS ARRESTED- Nepal

Poachers are being arrested in different part of the country in efforts to control trade of endangered species. A police team of Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has  recently arrested a poacher with three feet long skin & four teeth of endangered, clouded leopard from Kathmandu, central Nepal while one more was arrested by  armed police force in Parsa, central Nepal with a rhino horn on 5 January.

January 7

http://www.ekantipur.com/2015/01/07/national/2-held-with-animal-parts/400005.html

FOUR-HORNED ANTELOPE CAPTURED AT BARDIA- Nepal

A rare wildlife species, four-horned Antelope has been captured for the first time in Bardia, mid western Nepal. According to a research in India, the estimated 95 per cent of this species in the world is found in India while only about five per cent in Nepal but they were not spotted earlier in Nepal. International Union Nature Conservation (IUCN) has enlisted this species in the vulnerable category.

January 5

http://m.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Chausingha+in+the+lens+first+time+in+Nepal+&NewsID=331781#.VKofDiuUeYg

IPBES

GYBN and the CBD Alliance serve as best-practice examples for the design of a stakeholder engagement mechanism at IPBES! 

Representatives of scientific organizations, NGOs, indigenous peoples and many other groups at IPBES-3 in Bonn are currently putting together a proposal for a mechanism that will mobilize a large variety of stakeholders to actively contribute to IPBES-processes.
Several elements of the proposal, which will be presented to governments later today, are also inspired by GYBN and our network’s experience with establishing transparent, inclusive, democratic and especially globally-representative structures. Let’s hope governments will support the proposal!

IPBES-3 this week in Bonn, Germany.

Even though 2015 is only a few days old yet, the first major Biodiversity meeting is already about to kick off today! Five members of GYBN will be following the negotiations under IPBES-3 this week in Bonn, Germany. 

IPBES stands for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and is an international body with the goal to assess the state of the world’s Biodiversity, supporting governments to take more scientifically-sound decisions to prevent the loss of biological diversity.

2015 is International Year of Soils!

Expanding cities, deforestation, unsustainable land use and management practices, pollution, overgrazing and climate change endangers our soils. And as long as soils are at risk, sustainable agriculture, food security and the provision of ecosystem services are compromised.

Shell Agrees To Pay $83 Million For Devastating Nigerian Oil Spill

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay a Nigerian fishing community for two massive oil spills that devastated the Niger Delta region in 2008 and 2009. Shell will give $53 million of the $83 million settlement, one of the largest settlements ever in Africa, to 15,600 fishermen and farmers with the remaining $30 million going to the broader Bodo community. This is the first time that compensation for an oil spill has been paid directly to affected individuals, according to the BBC.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/07/3608767/nigerian-oil-spill-payout-to-community-six-years-later/

Bolivia passes "Law of Mother Earth" which gives rights to our planet as a living system

 

Last fall, Bolivia pasted the Law of Mother Earth ("Ley de Derechos de La Madre Tierra") It holds the land as sacred and holds it as a living system with rights to be protected from exploitation, and creates 11 distinguished rights for the environment. It was passed by Bolivia's Plurinational Legislative Assembly. How can we spread this law?