Bays of Harris estate buyout secures land fund award
| | LONDON, UK, 4 August 2026 (BBC) - A community group has been given more than £1m to buy a 27,181-acre crofting estate in the Western Isles. Bays of Harris Community Estate Ltd (BoHCEL) said the land would help with its plans to tackle housing shortages and depopulation in the area. |
Scottish islanders refused permission to stage annual seabird hunt
| | GLASGOW, UK, 3 August 2026 (BBC) - Permission has been refused for a guga hunt which would have seen hundreds of young seabirds killed on an uninhabited Hebridean island. For centuries, gannet chicks have been hunted for their meat each summer on Sula Sgeir, a small rocky island 40 miles north of Ness on Lewis. Modern hunts require a licence from public agency NatureScot, which rejected the application this year due to concerns about the impact on the gannet population. Animal welfare groups have welcomed the decision, but supporters accused campaigners of "bullying" a small island community. |
Madagascar’s regenerating forests impacted by invasive rats
| | BERKELEY, US, 3 August 2026 (Conversation) - In south-eastern Madagascar, patches of forest that were once cut down to make way for farms are slowly naturally regenerating after being left to lie fallow. But recovering a native forest needs more than just gaining tree cover. The animals that once lived in these forests also need to make their way back so that the forest can function the way it used to. When these native animals try to return, however, they often find that the forest has been taken over by invasive species like black rats that they’ve never encountered before. |
Marshall Islands moves to strengthen single-use plastics legislation
| MAJURO, Marshall Islands, 3 August 2026 (SPREP) -The Marshall Islands is taking the next step in its efforts to tackle plastic pollution by strengthening its legislation to address a wider range of problematic single-use plastic products. While the country was among the first Pacific Island nations to ban the importation, manufacture, sale and distribution of Styrofoam cups and plates, disposable plastic cups and plates, and plastic shopping bags in 2016, plastic pollution continues to pose a significant challenge. Limited land availability, increasing reliance on imported goods and constrained waste management infrastructure have resulted in plastic waste accumulating in landfills, littering coastlines and threatening the country's fragile marine environment.
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How does a city-state of six million people meet its water demand
| | SINGAPORE, 3 August 2026 (Terra Daily) - Singapore meets roughly 40 percent of its water demand by pushing treated sewage through microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet light - a system called NEWater that came online in 2003 under the pressure of an expiring water treaty with Malaysia and the falling cost of membranes. |
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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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ISISA |
| | 20th Islands of the World Conference 7-11 July 2026, Shinan County, Jeollanam-do, 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 9-11 Dec, 2026, Montego Bay, Jamaica |
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