Making 30x30 count for nature and people
| | GLAND, Switzerland, 20 October 2026 (IUCN) - Launched at CBD COP17, the IUCN Global Standard for Effective and Equitable Protected and Conserved Areas – the IUCN Global PCA Standard – gives every protected and conserved area a common framework to assess, improve and demonstrate performance. |
Indigenous protest against projects on Indonesia’s 'geothermal island'
| | JAKARTA, Indonesia, 20 October 2026 (D+C) - On the Indonesian volcanic island of Flores, a state-owned company is pushing ahead with controversial geothermal projects in the name of climate neutrality. The Indigenous groups living there are protesting, calling for greater involvement – and the German development bank KfW has suspended its funding following criticism. |
The British island where red squirrels are thriving
| | JERSEY, Channel Islands, 20 October 2026 (BBC) - With growing concerns that red squirrels could soon become extinct in England, one Channel Island is a corner of the British Isles where they maintain a stronghold. Jersey is home to a thriving red squirrel population, thanks to the complete absence of grey squirrels, which carry a virus deadly to their red cousins. |
Over 1,500 U.S. lobster tags end up on Atlantic islands
| | MADRID, Spain, 19 October 2026 (AS) - Plastic pollution in our oceans has become a serious problem collecting in massive garbage patches on the open water but it is often difficult to tell where it is coming from. However, a group of scientists at the University of the Azores were able to track some of the plastic pollution washing up on the shores of Faial and Pico islands. The researchers began to notice that some pieces of plastic had similar series of numbers on them. Once they figured out what they were used for, they were able to discover where they came from, the lobster fisheries off the coast of the United States and Canada over 2,000 miles away. |
Tasmania’s gains against kelp-grazing sea urchins threatened
| | HOBART, Australia, 19 October 2026 (Mongabay) - The long-spined sea urchin is an invasive species in the waters around Tasmania, Australia, and it’s been munching away the state’s kelp forests. A state program offers financial incentives to support a commercial fishery for the urchins and their highly valuable roe, with the aim of reducing urchin numbers in targeted areas so that kelp can rebound. Researchers say the program has been effective in helping to recover some of the state’s kelp forests. Now, however, they warn that progress is threatened by a shift to short-term funding cycles that undermine stability for harvesters and put kelp recovery on wobbly ground. |
Tap water no longer drinkable in Longyearbyen in Svalbard
| | LONDON, UK, 19 October 2026 (Guardian) - Residents of a remote town in Norway that is in one of the fastest-warming places in the world have been told they must no longer drink tap water due to heavy metal contamination that scientists have linked to the thawing permafrost. Longyearbyen, in the archipelago of Svalbard, gets its main drinking water supply from a 2.5km long dammed lake called Isdammen, or “ice pond”. Higher temperatures as a result of the climate crisis have thawed permafrost, leading to newly exposed bedrock leaching metals into the pond. |
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CBD |
 | | COP16 21 Oct-1 Nov, 2024, Cali, Colombia |
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UNFCCC |
| | COP29 11-22 November, 2024, Baku, Azerbaijan |
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ISLAND DYNAMICS |
| | DARKNESS II conference, 20-23 January 2025, Nuuk, Greenland |
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JICAS |
| | Islands And Island Studies conference 3-7 June, 2025, Jersey, Channel Islands |
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UNITED NATIONS |
| | UN Ocean Conference 9-13 June, 2025, Nice, France |
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UPEI |
| | 3rd international conference on SIS and SNIJs 16-20 June, 2025, Charlottetown, PEI |
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ARCTIC COUNCIL |
| | UArctic Congress 26-29 May 2026, Torshavn, Faroe Islands |
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SICRI |
| | Island Studies International Conference 25-28 June, 2026, Tacloban City, Leyte Islands, Philippines |
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WORLD ISLANDS FAIR |
| | The world’s first international event themed around islands 5 Sept-4 Nov, 2026, Yeosu, South Korea |
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SPREP |
| | 11th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, 7–11 September 2026, Noumea, New Caledonia |
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ANATOMY OF ISLANDS |
| | 14th Anatomy of Islands symposium 15-17 Oct, 2026, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia |
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SOCIETY OF ISLAND BIOLOGY |
| | 5th Island Biology conference 2-6 November, 2026, Atami City, Japan |
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IWRA |
| | 2nd Islands Water Congress 27-29 Jan, 2027, Montego Bay, Jamaica |
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ISISA |
| | 21st Islands of the Word Conference 6-10 June, 2027, Willemstad, Curacao |
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