positive Water news
Oil exploration on hold in Virunga National Park—for nowThe Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has suspended oil exploration in Africa's oldest national park, Virunga, until a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is conducted. The move ends oil companies, Soco and Dominion's plans to explore for oil in blocs within the park that were awarded to the companies last year. |
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McDonald’s Sets Long-Term Sustainable Beef, Coffee PlansMcDonald's has laid out a plans to move to more sustainable meat, coffee and packaging. |
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Mitsubishi and Walmart agree to clean up fish sourcing practicesTwo big players in seafood today announced that they are changing the way their fish are caught. Mitsubishi, which owns the UK's most popular brand for tuna in a tin, Princes, and Walmart, which owns Asda, have agreed to stop buying from fishermen who use purse seines fishing in conjunction with fish aggregating devices (FADs) by 2014. |
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Costco Steps Up Sustainable Seafood PolicyIn a “stunning win for the oceans,” Costco recently stepped up its Sustainable Seafood policies. Improving on voluntary changes announced last August, Costco issued its Seafood and Sustainability Report agreeing to stop selling 12 red-listed varieties of fish. |
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Brazil judge blocks Amazon Belo Monte damA Brazilian judge has blocked plans to build a huge hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest because of environmental concerns. |
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Islamic Leaders Preach Conservation in Sumatra, IndonesiaDo religious texts mandate respect for the earth and other species? Some Islamic leaders in Sumatra believe the Koran does. |
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Peru moves to shut down illegal gold miners in AmazonPeru has sent the security forces to destroy river dredgers used by illegal gold miners in the country's south-eastern Amazon region of Madre de Dios. |
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Obama pushes effort to protect public landsPresident Barack Obama called Wednesday for a series of steps to help Americans conserve and get in touch with nature, including full funding of the $900 million Land and Water Conservation Fund for only the third time in its existence. |
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Oyster Bed Restoration Among First Since Oil SpillVolunteers from across the country are rebuilding oyster reefs along the Gulf of Mexico's delicate shoreline, hoping to revive oyster beds under assault for decades from overharvesting, coastal development, pollution, and most recently the BP oil spill. |
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Plastic bag ban begins on Kauai and Maui, fee discussed for rest of stateIn Hawaii, Maui and Kauai County are the official forerunners in banning single use plastic bags that easily find their way into water streams, ocean currents and the stomachs of birds and fish. |
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Huge Coral Reefs Discovered off Puerto RicoA new discovery of thriving coral reefs off the coast of Puerto Rico may offer hope for other shallower reefs. |
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Past decade ‘best for UK rivers’The last decade has been the best for UK rivers since the Industrial Revolution, according to the Environment Agency. |
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UN to create panel of biodiversity expertsThe UN General Assembly agreed to form a panel of international experts on biodiversity in a resolution approved on Monday. |
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Canada set to declare Arctic marine sanctuary protected: officialsThe leading advocates of a new national marine park in Lancaster Sound — a wildlife-rich but controversial expanse of waters off the north coast of Baffin Island — say the Canadian government is poised to end doubts about the area’s future and officially declare it protected. |
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Environmental news headlines
- City of Vancouver proclaims country’s first Meatless Monday
- EU to ban pesticides in bee scare
- New law to protect Puerto Rico leatherback turtles
- China, world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, will tax carbon
- New wind power cheaper than coal or gas in Australia
- Gorillas to Be Protected with New Congo National Park
- From the brink of extinction: elephant seals stage remarkable comeback
- Nations agree on legally binding mercury rules
- Six million turn out for global garbage clean-up
- Obama triples area of protected California coastline
- Swiss Parliament Passes Plastic Bag Ban
- This week, a shark sanctuary the size of Australia has been established
- French move boosts shark sanctuaries
- Canada introduces new rules to curb future vehicle emissions
- Brazil says Amazon deforestation at record low
- Australia outlaws illegally-logged wood from abroad
- Tokelau islands shift to 100% solar energy
- Another city in BC bans shark fins
- EU on track to exceed Kyoto emissions goal
- Victory for Forests: Disney Stands Up for Endangered Forests and Animals
- more