The stories listed below, gathered from
web-based news sources, provide developments related to this chapter that
have occurred since publication.
Environmental
degradation aggravated by loss of traditional knowledge, WWF says
WWF / ENN: November 23, 2000
GLAND, SWITZERLAND - A new report and a unique map released today by
WWF, the conservation organization, show that the world's most biodiverse
areas are inhabited by high concentrations of native cultures, and warn
that the loss of traditional languages and knowledge may lead to further
environmental degradation.
Population
Density, Growth Threaten Species-rich "Hotspots"
PAI: February 7, 2000
More than 1.1 billion people live within the 25 most species-rich and
environmentally threatened areas of the world, according to a new report
by Population Action International (PAI). The report documents the historical
impact of population growth on biological diversity on a global scale,
with
special attention to the current situation in these 25 "biodiversity
hotspots." (This press release includes a link to the report itself.)
Web
of life must be mended, report says
By Margot Higgins, ENN News
Wednesday, April 19, 2000
A new report on biodiversity has been released, based on an analysis
undertaken by World Resources Institute, the United Nations Development
Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.
It argues that earth's capacity to sustain diverse life and support world
economies is directly dependent on the health of major ecosystems, and
that these systems have been damaged by several decades of rapidly expanding
human impacts.
USGS
tracks biological resource trends
ENN June 25, 1999
Land use, water use and non-indigenous, or nonnative, species are the
three factors that have the greatest broad-scale effects on biological
resources in the United States, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey
report.
Issue 8.1: The Mass Extinction of Freshwater
Mussels
Toxic
algae returns to Lake Erie
ENN June 3, 1999
Microcystis, a blue-green algae that is harmful to humans and deadly
to plants and fish, has returned to a small area of western Lake Erie after
a 10-year absence. Researchers are examining whether the reappearance of
Microcystis
might be associated with the recent arrival of zebra mussels, a non-native
species that was introduced to Lake Erie from Russia in 1986.
Black-striped
mussels threaten Australia
ENN April 22, 1999
Australia may be on the brink of a marine pest infestation that is
eerily similar to the zebra mussel invasion that caused tremendous economic
and ecological damage to the North American Great Lakes system.
Issue 8.2: Ecotourism: Loving Wild Places
to Death
Amazon
adventure: Ecotour lodges saving a Brazilian river basin
Abigail Rome (ENN) June 7, 1999
The island community of Silves, 180 miles east of Manaus in Brazil's
Amazon Basin, is one of a growing number of communities in Brazil embracing
ecotourism and biodiversity conservation as a means to securing a healthy
future. |