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Taiwan in Time: When island neighbors became strangers
TAIPEI, Taiwan, 14 June 2026 (TT) - The Tao people of Orchid Island once maintained frequent contact with the Ivatan of Batanes in the Philippines. That sea journey will be recreated this week with a plus-sized traditional canoe.

'This island is not a museum, it is a working village'
HOLY ISLAND, UK, 14 June 2026 (BBC) - Holy Island, a tiny settlement connected to the mainland by a majestic tidal causeway which disappears under the North Sea twice a day, welcomes up to 700,000 visitors a year. They sustain many businesses and livelihoods, but some islanders say it can feel like living in a museum.

Jamaican beach access campaigners go to court
KINGSTON, Jamaica, 14 June 2026 (Guardian) - Campaigners in Jamaica are heading to court next week to try to prevent the government from cutting off access to more of their beaches. They argue that ceding their shorelines to big hotel chains enriches private investors and benefits tourists and outsiders while depriving Jamaicans who depend on the sea for their livelihoods, leisure and health.

Jamaica's beach access crisis
ST ANN, Jamaica, 14 June 2026 (Guardian) - Devon Taylor remembers when the Mammee Bay shoreline in St Ann, Jamaica, was filled with children frolicking in the ocean after school, fishers haggling with locals over the price of their daily catch and craft vendors carving souvenirs under almond trees. Today, Mammee Bay is ground zero in his war against a multibillion-dollar all-inclusive tourism model that the government says is the backbone of the country’s economy, but that he and other activists argue is “plantation tourism”, designed to benefit rich visitors and the elite and disadvantage most Jamaicans.

The snake-wrangling 84-year-old who lives on a remote barrier island
LONDON, UK, 13 June 2026 (BBC) - Once called the "wildest woman in America", this fearless knife-wielding naturalist has lived off the land for 53 years, fighting to preserve Cumberland Island for future travellers.

Cuba gets inventive to save its pristine reefs amid US blockade
ZAPATA, Cuba, 13 June 2026 (Guardian) - At 8am, scuba divers gather to collect plastic and drinks cans from the sea at Cuba’s Cienaga de Zapata national park. Amid a power crisis that has virtually paralysed the country’s economy, they use an electric trailer to move to a designated spot. In only a few hours, they have collected five sacks of cans and waste.

Dramatic restoration on land and sea after island rat removal
ULONG ISLAND, Palau, 13 June 2026 (Mongabay) - When invasive rats are removed from islands, the ecological benefits can ripple across both land and sea more quickly than scientists expected, according to recent research. Scientists have long assumed that meaningful recovery after the predators are eradicated would take decades. However, researchers with the U.S.-based NGO Island Conservation conducted a rat-removal experiment on Ulong Island in Palau, which provides the first experimental evidence that ecosystems can rebound far more quickly than previously expected.

CIS
Critical Island Studies 4th international conference 3-4 Oct, 2024, Manila, Philippines

CBD
COP16 21 Oct-1 Nov, 2024, Cali, Colombia

UNFCCC
COP29 11-22 November, 2024, Baku, Azerbaijan

ISLAND DYNAMICS
DARKNESS II conference, 20-23 January 2025, Nuuk, Greenland

JICAS
Islands And Island Studies conference 3-7 June, 2025, Jersey, Channel Islands

UNITED NATIONS
UN Ocean Conference 9-13 June, 2025, Nice, France

UPEI
3rd international conference on SIS and SNIJs 16-20 June, 2025, Charlottetown, PEI

OTIE
17th International Islands Conference 23-25 October, 2025, Corsica, France

ARCTIC COUNCIL
UArctic Congress 26-29 May 2026, Torshavn, Faroe Islands

SICRI
Island Studies International Conference 25-28 June, 2026, Tacloban City, Leyte Islands, Philippines

ISISA
20th Islands of the World Conference 7-11 July 2026, Shinan County, Jeollanam-do, South Korea

SPREP
11th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, 7–11 September 2026, Noumea, New Caledonia  

ANATOMY OF ISLANDS
14th Anatomy of Islands symposium 15-17 Oct, 2026, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia

IWRA
2nd Islands Water Congress 9-11 Dec, 2026, Montego Bay, Jamaica