ICRI News

2013-04-16 06:35

A new "coral reef" Ramsar Site for Honduras

The offshore Sistema de Humedales de la Isla de Utila (16,226 hectares, 16o06’00”N 085o56’14”W) comprises the Bahía Islands Marine Park, which includes two Marine Special Protection Zones and one Wildlife Refuge. The importance of the site, which includes the Isla de Utila and surrounding waters, is based on its diverse and interdependent ecosystems, which are part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System and include coral reefs, marine grasses, mangroves, swamps, coastal lakes, rocky shores, hypersaline shallow waters, and floodplains, as well as above and below ground karstic systems.

2013-03-04 08:43

New Maps Depict Potential Worldwide Coral Bleaching by 2056

Feb. 25, 2013 — In a study published February 24 in Nature Climate Change researchers used the latest emissions scenarios and climate models to show how varying levels of carbon emissions are likely to result in more frequent and severe coral bleaching events.

2013-03-04 08:37

UNESCO IOC Reports on the Ningaloo Niño Event

26 February 2013: The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported on the impacts of the La Niña phenomenon in 2010-2011, which caused a massive ocean heatwave in the Indian Ocean, more than 10,000 km off of Australia’s western coast.

2013-02-26 08:17

ICRI acknowledged by United Nations General Assembly

The 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly has once again recognised the importance of our Partnership by “reiterating its support” to ICRI in the resolution entitled Oceans and the law of the Sea adopted on 11 December 2012.

2013-02-26 07:41

Second Signatory State Meeting Marks Progress in Dugong Conservation

20 February 2013: The Second Signatory State Meeting for the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs and their Habitats throughout their Range (Dugong MoU) convened from 19-20 February, in Manila, the Philippines, acknowledged progress in the conservation of the dugong, while four new Signatories – Bangladesh, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan – joined the MoU.

2013-02-25 05:44

Maldives - Entire country to become UNESCO Biosphere Reserve by 2017

Montreal, 18 February 2013 – In response to the call for champions in support of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the Republic of Maldives has pledged to become the first nation where the entire country and its Exclusive Economic Zone will be a Biosphere Reserve.

2013-02-14 11:02

SPREP Calls on Pacific Communities to Assist in Tracking Sea Turtles

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is calling on Pacific communities to assist with ongoing efforts to track over 15,000 sea turtles in the region. Communities are asked to report turtle sightings, along with turtle tracking information to SPREP.

2013-02-14 04:26

Netherlands names three new Caribbean Ramsar Sites

The government of the Netherlands has designated three new coastal and near-coastal Wetlands of International Importance, with coral reefs, on the Netherlands Antilles island of Curaçao, a constitutent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the Leeward Antilles 70km north of Venezuela.

2013-01-31 05:43

Dominican Republic’s newest Ramsar Site

The Parque Nacional Manglares del Bajo Yuna (77,518 hectares, 19º10’12”N 069º40’48”W) has been named as the Dominican Republic’s third Wetland of International Importance, effective as of World Wetlands Day, 2 February 2013. A large subtropical coastal wetland, with estuarine characteristics, predominance of mangroves, and many watercourses, it is located in the Samaná Bay, the largest semi-closed bay in the Caribbean, which contains a specific salinity gradient capable of supporting a great mosaic of habitats. It is also important by being part of karst systems and springs.

2013-01-21 04:49

Belize declares new marine reserve around Turneffe Atoll

The Government of Belize has announced that it is to create a marine reserve around Turneffe Atoll, part of the largest and most biodiverse coral reef system in the western hemisphere.

2013-01-21 04:57

Ramsar Announces Mangrove Rehabilitation Project in the Marshall Islands

The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) has reported on an upcoming mangrove rehabilitation and replanting project in two of the Marshall Islands’ wetlands of international importance, Namdrik and Jaluit Atolls.

2012-12-06 11:14

Coral Reef Conservation Fund Accepting Pre-Proposals at NFWF

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and its partner NOAA are soliciting conservation grant proposals for coral reef conservation.

2012-12-06 10:55

News release - Madagascar Gets Tough with Poachers

New York (December 5, 2012) — The Wildlife Conservation Society congratulates Madagascar’s Ministry of Fisheries and local communities around Ankarea Marine Protected Area (MPA) for working together to eliminate illegal sea cucumber harvesting from an area known for highest coral species richness in the Western Indian Ocean.

2012-11-24 11:12

43rd GEF Council approves work program with coral reef related projects/programs

15 November 2012: The 43rd Meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council adopted a Work Program that amounts to US$174 million and aims to benefit 63 countries.

2012-11-23 13:00

Support to attend the "Responding to Climate Change and Reef Resilience Workshop", Zanzibar, Tanzania, June 2013 (dates TBD).

The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with NOAA, and with support from IUCN and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, will offer a workshop for coral reef managers from the following countries: Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, India, Seychelles, Mauritius, Egypt, Sudan, Eretria, Djibouti and the islands of Madagascar. The workshop "Responding to Climate Change and Reef Resilience Workshop" will be held in Zanzibar, Tanzania in early June 2013 (dates TBD).

2012-11-14 03:12

Mozambique creates Africa’s largest coastal marine reserve

The Primeiras and Segundas have been approved as a marine protected area in Mozambique making this diverse ten-island archipelago Africa’s largest coastal marine reserve.

Comprising ten islands off the coast of northern Mozambique, and featuring abundant coral and marine turtle species, the protected area will cover more than 1,040,926 hectares. WWF has worked for eight years to secure this important marine reserve, which has been threatened by overfishing and unauthorised tourism.

2012-11-11 12:00

NOAA Coral Reef Watch releases publicly-accessible Light Stress Damage product

On October 26, 2012, NOAA Coral Reef Watch (CRW) released on its website an experimental daily Light Stress Damage product for the greater Caribbean region: http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/research/lsd_index.html.

2012-11-01 14:23

Mexico, OAS Launch Project to Help Caribbean Reefs and Coastal Management

18 October 2012: The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Government of Mexico announced joint implementation of a project aiming to improve the capacity of Caribbean countries to value and measure ecosystem services of coral reefs and to strengthen coastal zone management systems.

2012-10-31 05:11

Status of Coral Reefs of the Pacific and Outlook: 2011

This report is based on the information collected by hard working scientists, managers, conservation organisations and non-governmental organisations working tirelessly across the Pacific. It shows that the coral reefs of the Pacific are in better condition than those in other reef regions in the world, and remain the less stressed compared to reefs elsewhere. This is encouraging considering that recent global reports paint a gloomy picture of the status (and likely future prospects) of large areas of the world’s coral reefs.

2012-10-10 05:01

CBD COP 11 Opens with Focus on Strategic Plan Implementation, Climate and Marine Issues

The 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) opened on 8 October 2012, in Hyderabad, India, directly following the sixth Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The two-week meeting will address a series of cross-cutting and ecosystem-related issues, as well as financial, administrative and implementation-related topics.

2012-10-05 16:09

Release of the "Invasive Lionfish: A Guide to Control and Management"

This guide provides best practices for lionfish control and management, including control strategies, outreach and education, research, monitoring, legal considerations, and ideas for securing resources and partnerships. By following these best practices, resource managers can reduce the local impacts of invasive lionfish in marine protected areas and other places of ecological and economic importance.

This project would not have been possible without the support of NOAA, REEF, ICRI, United Nations Environment Programme, Caribbean Environment Programme, SPAW-RAC, and the over 40 participants of the 2010 Caribbean Regional Lionfish Workshop.

2012-10-03 11:39

Two ICRI member countries win Future Policy Award for marine resource management

New York, 26 September 2012. The Republic of Palau has been announced as the winner of the Future Policy Award 2012. Palau received the Award in recognition of two outstanding marine policies, Palau’s Protected Areas Network Act, initiated in 2003, and its Shark Haven Act from 2009. The two Silver Awards were bestowed on the Philippines for the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park Act (2010) and on Namibia for its Marine Resources Act (2000). According to the international jury the three winning policies contribute most effectively to the sustainable management of the world’s oceans and coasts for the benefit of current and future generations. The winners were announced during a press conference at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 26 September 2012.

2012-09-20 15:02

World’s Largest Marine Parks Established in Cook Islands, New Caledonia

The Cook Islands and New Caledonia have announced the establishment of new marine parks. The Cook Islands Marine Park encompasses approximately 1.1 million square kilometers (km2) of the southern Cook Islands’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), making it the largest single-country marine park. The Government of New Caledonia committed to establishing a Marine Protected Area (MPA) covering 1.4 million km2.

The Cook Islands' Marine Park was designed and established in partnership with Conversation International, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the University of California Santa Barbara (US).

2012-09-07 20:21

Crunch time for Caribbean corals

Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, 7 September 2012 (IUCN/International news release) – Time is running out for corals on Caribbean reefs. Urgent measures must be taken to limit pollution and regulate aggressive fishing practices that threaten the existence of Caribbean coral reef ecosystems, according to a new IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) report.

2012-08-30 06:43

France’s new Ramsar Site in the Mozambique Channel

The government of France has designated its 42nd Wetland of International Importance, an exceptionally interesting low-lying island in the Mozambique Channel, with a central lagoon enclosed by mangroves, and surrounding waters. In a summary prepared by Ramsar’s Assistant Advisor for Europe, Ms Kati Wenzel, based on the accompanying RIS, Île d’Europa (Terres Australes et Antarctiques françaises) (205,800 hectares, 22°21’00”S 040°21’00”E), a Nature Reserve and Important Bird Area (IBA), is surrounded by a “fringing reef”, interrupted by sandy beaches, which constitute one of the world’s most important breeding and nesting sites for the globally endangered Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas.