Story | 05 Sep, 2019
Where lions go, Africa goes. Unlocking the value of lions and their landscapes
Lions and their landscapes are a major part of Africa’s lifeblood indicator. Facing a catastrophic decline in lion population and habitat, a fresh report is the first to look in detail at the wider ecosystem services lions and…
Story | 29 Jul, 2019
Celebrating the extension of the Ohrid Region World Heritage site in Albania
The oldest and one of the most biodiversity rich lakes in Europe is now recognised as World Heritage in its entirety. The already inscribed part of the Ohrid region, located in North Macedonia, was extended at the 2019 World Heritage Committee meeting held earlier this July in Baku to include…
Story | 07 Jun, 2019
Azerbaijan brings regional restoration commitments to 3 million hectares
Azerbaijan announced it will restore 170,000 ha of degraded lands by 2030 - and an additional 100,000 ha conditional upon receiving funding - under the Bonn Challenge. The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million ha of degraded and deforested land into restoration by 2020 and 350…
Story | 07 May, 2019
Towards Natura 2000 in Albania
The centrepiece of EU nature policies, Natura 2000 is the largest coordinated network of protected sites in the world. Despite being on a steady rise, the Albanian system of protected areas is facing numerous challenges, stemming from the country’s fast development in recent years. To help…
Story | 10 Mar, 2019
Red List of Finnish species - every ninth species in Finland is threatened
A new assessment of threatened species indicates an increasing loss of biodiversity in Finnish nature. Of the 22,000 species evaluated, 11.9% were classified as threatened. The highest proportion of threatened species is found among birds and bryophytes (mosses). The primary threat is the…
Story | 04 Mar, 2019
Restoration of Urban Longinoja Brook Wins Finnish Biodiversity Award 2017-2018
Perseverance in the voluntary restoration of the urban brook of Longinoja in the Malmi suburb of Helsinki won the Finnish Biodiversity Award 2017-2018. The winner was chosen by the National Committee of Finland of IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. The award was given out in…
Story | 04 Mar, 2019
Finland Publishes the Most Comprehensive Red List of Ecosystems in the World
The results of the extensive assessment for the Red List of all of Finland’s terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems were published in December 2018. The threat status of ecosystem or habitat types in Finland was now evaluated for the second time, using this time the new assessment methodology called…
Story | 10 Dec, 2018
Forest Landscape Restoration in Caucasus and Central Asia
Forest loss, land degradation and decline in ecosystems services is growing across the Caucasus and Central Asia region, resulting in loss of the biological and economic productivity of the land, decreases in environmental benefits, and a substantial negative impact on national economies. Yet,…
Story | 06 Jul, 2018
The first Bonn Challenge Regional Ministerial Roundtable for the Caucasus and Central Asia was a massive success with several countries in the region pledging to bring 2.5 million hectares into restoration.
Story | 14 Feb, 2018
Azerbaijan to create the first Marine Protected Area in the Caspian Sea
Azerbaijan is upgrading and expanding the Gizilaghaj State Reserve to become a National Park and will include the first Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on the planet. The new MPA will seek to protect six significant marine species on the brink of…