Vietnam's US$5 billion Apec island is running out of time
| | HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, 17 May 2026 (SCMP) - Ahead of next year’s Apec summit, Vietnam has a grand plan to transform Phu Quoc, its largest island, into Southeast Asia’s leading conference and exhibition hub. The 137 trillion dong (US$5.2 billion) blueprint includes an airport overhaul, a light-rail line, clusters of luxury hotels and a brand-new sewerage system – much of it paid for by one of the country’s largest conglomerates, in return for tracts of land, operating concessions and the cachet of building national landmarks. But problems are stacking up 18 months before world leaders are set to descend on Phu Quoc for the November 2027 summit. Construction sites are short of workers, building materials and diesel. The 18km boulevard meant to connect the airport to the summit complex is unfinished. And not a single new hotel room has been built. |
Weather Ready Pacific brings life saving connectivity to Pacific islands
| | 'EUA, Tonga, 17 May 2026 (SPREP) - The Tonga Meteorological Service is installing Starlink satellite internet systems at strategic community centres and the Meteorology Office on the island of 'Eua, as part of the Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme’s support to Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). The installations, happening in May, are designed to strengthen weather forecasting and early warning services for village communities, ensuring that life-saving information reaches the people who need it most. |
Hawaii's worst flooding in 20 years leaves farmers struggling
| | HONOLULU, Hawaii, 17 May 2026 (AP) - Across Oahu's North Shore, an area famed for its big-wave surfing, the small farms that help supply the island's food are struggling after back-to-back storms in March brought the state's worst flooding in two decades. Officials are pleading with farmers not to give up, stressing that local agriculture is crucial for the isolated archipelago. |
Scientists catalog the fractal dimensions of more than 130,000 islands
| | NEW YORK, US, 16 May 2026 (SA) - In 1967 mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot observed that the coastline of Great Britain is impossible to measure - its perimeter gets longer the more closely you measure it. At that point he was eight years away from coining the term "fractal": a shape containing smaller parts similar in shape to the larger whole that become apparent as you zoom in, creating an infinite, and infinitely complex, repeated pattern. New research, stitches together geographic data for more than 130,000 of Earth’s islands to show that although the landmasses behave like fractals in certain respects, the extent to which they do differs depending on what geometric feature of the island you’re looking at. |
These endangered birds survive by stealing from one another
| | NEW YORK, US, 15 May 2026 (NYT) - Brightly colored Hawaiian honeycreepers have evolved to survive in one of the most challenging environments on Earth. Now, researchers have identified an unexpected behavior helping them get by: stealing nest materials from one another. |
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CIS |
 | | Critical Island Studies 4th international conference 3-4 Oct, 2024, Manila, Philippines |
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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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GSIS |
| | Global Sustainable Islands Summit 20-22 April, 2026, Gran Canaria, Spain |
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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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IWRA |
| | 2nd Islands Water Congress 9-11 Dec, 2026, Montego Bay, Jamaica |
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