Solomons vanishing islands: Walande and Fanalei
| | SUVA, Fiji, 14 April 2026 (PINA) - At low tide, just off the coast of South Malaita in the Solomon Islands, a few wooden posts emerge from the waters. They aren’t easy to miss – although weathered, fragile, and half-submerged. But for the people of Walande, those posts are more than debris. They are the last visible remains of a once-thriving artificial island that over 800 people once called home. |
Scientists just debunked a 50-year myth about Hawaii's birds
| | HONOLULU, Hawaii, 14 April 2026 (SD) - A new study from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa is overturning a decades-old belief that Indigenous Hawaiians hunted native waterbirds to extinction. Instead, researchers found no scientific evidence supporting this claim and propose a more complex explanation involving climate change, invasive species, and shifts in land use - many occurring before Polynesian arrival or after traditional stewardship systems were disrupted. |
Cuban farmers bear the brunt of Trump's pressure campaign
| | ARTEMISA, Cuba, 13 April 2026 (Guardian) - In Artemisa, Cuba’s rural heartland just south of Havana, many farmers survive on scarce meals, unable to afford essentials, while cuts to the state procurement system – under which the government buys farmers’ products – leave crops to rot in the fields. The crisis, worsened by post-Covid inflation and US sanctions, drives some towards illegal charcoal trading or migration, as families split to survive. |
Philippines accuses Chinese fishermen of dumping cyanide
| | LONDON, UK, 13 April 2026 (BBC) - The Philippines has accused Chinese fishermen of dumping cyanide in waters around the Spratly Islands, a fiercely contested area in the South China Sea. Manila described the alleged poisoning as an act of "sabotage" on Monday, intended to "kill local fish populations" and deprive Filipino troops stationed at Second Thomas Shoal of a crucial food source. |
Repeated failures expose gaps in nickel waste management
| | JAKARTA, Indonesia, 13 April 2026 (Mongabay) - A deadly 2026 landslide in Indonesia’s Morowali nickel hub highlights risks in “dry stack” waste systems, which can still liquefy under poor conditions. Indonesia’s booming nickel industry generates massive volumes of toxic waste, with dry stack or “filtered” tailings promoted as safer than the typical wet sludge, but often poorly implemented. Experts cite design flaws, weak oversight, and challenging local conditions, including rainfall and seism activity, as key factors behind repeated failures. |
Informal settlements grapple with climate extremes in Pacific Islands
| | SYDNEY, Australia, 13 April 2026 (IPS) - A rising cycle of poverty and extreme weather threatens many towns and cities, especially those situated on coastlines, in the Pacific Islands. Urban centres in the Pacific have grown at an unprecedented rate this century, rapidly straining national resources for urban planning. But governments are now making progress on improving people’s lives in the informal settlements that dominate the urban sprawl in some of the region’s largest cities. |
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SIDS |
 | | 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States 27-30 May 2024, Antigua and Barbuda |
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NAF |
| | North Atlantic Forum bi-annual international conference 17-21 June, 2024, Connemara, Ireland, |
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IWRA |
| | 1st Islands Water Congress 4-6 Sept, 2024, Torshavn, Faroe Islands |
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ANATOMY OF ISLANDS |
| | 12th Anatomy of Islands symposium 26-28 Sept, 2024, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia |
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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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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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