PARIS, France, July 4, 2009 (ENS) -The largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere has been placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and an Italian Alpine mountain range and a coastal wetland in Germany and The Netherlands have been newly inscribed for protection on the World Heritage List. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee designated the two new natural sites of outstanding universal value and 11 cultural sites at its annual meeting that concluded in Seville, Spain earlier this week. >>more

DHARAMSALA, India, July 4, 2009 (ENS) -One of the most honored Tibetan Buddhist leaders is appealing to his fellow Tibetans not to harm wildlife. "Animals are not our enemies. We are all interdependent; every animal has a role to play in the ecology by being a part of the food chain," H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, told an audience of students and guests at the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala. "If you remove one layer, the entire chain is affected," he said. >>more

WASHINGTON, DC, June 30, 2009 (ENS) -Reversing a Bush-era decision, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today granted California's waiver request enabling the state to enforce its greenhouse gas emissions standards for new motor vehicles, called Clean Car Standards, beginning with the current model year. The EPA ruling immediately clears the way for California and 13 additional states to require reductions in tailpipe emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. >>more

MADEIRA, Portugal, June 24, 2009 (ENS) -A paper released today by the International Whaling Commission shows that Japan kills more whales than any other country, although Japan is a signatory to the international ban on commercial whaling, which took effect in 1986. Since then, Japan has killed about 12,000 whales for "scientific research" purposes. The commission's 85 member governments opened the 61st IWC annual meeting Monday, after a year of closed-door discussions that have failed to win agreement from whaling nations Japan, Iceland and Norway to respect the commission's scientific procedures and commercial whaling ban. >>more

GLAND, Switzerland, June 24, 2009 (ENS) - One-third of open ocean sharks are threatened with extinction yet are virtually unprotected, according to new research by the Shark Specialist Group of the IUCN's Species Survival Commission. The first study to determine the global conservation status of 64 species of open ocean sharks and rays reveals that 32 percent are threatened, primarily due to overfishing, and 52 percent of the shark species taken in high-seas fisheries are threatened. >>more

By Captain Paul Watson
MADEIRA, Portugal, June 23, 2009 (ENS) - The trip to the 61st annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission became an adventure as soon as the TAP airliner landed at Funchal airport and Deborah Bassett and I walked from the runway into the arrival lounge. I had no reason to be concerned as I walked up to Immigration Control and handed them my passport. The officer took the passport, ran the electronic strip through the machine and then I saw a serious look cross his face. "Excuse me sir, there appears to be a problem," he said. >>more