In Germany’s Halligen islands, a bird sanctuary faces rising sea levels
| | PARIS, France, 25 October 2026 (RFI) - Three out of five bird species are in decline worldwide, and one in eight is threatened with extinction. In the Halligen islands of northern Germany, a sanctuary for migratory birds is under threat due to rising sea levels. These 10 small islands – listed as a Unesco World Natural Heritage Site – are home to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds travelling between Africa and the Arctic Circle, as well as many breeding birds. |
Lights out: the island that goes dark to save young seabirds
| | LONDON, UK, 25 October 2026 (Guardian) - Once a year, Corvo, the smallest and most northerly island of Portugal’s Azores archipelago, goes dark. Since 2019, the island’s 450 or so inhabitants have chosen to switch off the lights every autumn for five nights to tackle the disastrous effects of artificial light on Cory’s shearwaters, a seabird endemic to the Atlantic Ocean. |
What it takes to be an Antarctic postmaster
| | BRISTOL, UK, 25 October 2026 (BBC) - It is hardly a typical round for a postie, but for five months of the year George Clarke leaves behind his partner and friends in Bristol to become a postmaster at the world's most southerly post office - in Antarctica. He takes up his role as Port Lockroy postmaster from late October to March, during the southern hemisphere summer. |
Seabirds and sewage among UNESCO status challenges
| | DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, 25 October 2026 (BBC) - Sewage being discharged into the sea and under-threat seabirds are among the challenges facing the Isle of Man after a decade as a UNESCO Biosphere. The State of the Biosphere report looks back on the 10 years since the island became the world's first whole-nation Biosphere in 2016, in recognition of its thriving natural habitats from returning wildlife to new marine reserves. But it warns that while some wildlife is recovering, many species and habitats are still in long-term decline. It comes ahead of a UNESCO decision next summer on whether the island will keep its status. |
The Norwegian island that wanted to abolish time
| | LONDON, UK, 24 October 2026 (BBC) - In 2019, a tiny island community in the Norwegian Arctic made headlines around the world with an extraordinary proposal: it wanted to abolish time. Residents of Sommarøy, a fishing village 56km west of Tromsø, were supposedly campaigning to become the world's first time-free zone during the 69 days each summer when the Sun never sets. Watches were hung from a nearby bridge and a local hotel owner presented a petition bearing residents' signatures to a member of Norway's parliament. The international media enthusiastically embraced the idea, lauding the town's efforts to live without reference to time. |
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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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