13 Feb 2024

The Seabed User & Developer Group (SUDG), an informal grouping of the UK’s key marine industries, have called on the UK government to put in place a moratorium on the biodiversity metric for intertidal habitats. Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a policy set out in the Environment Act 2021 and on 12 February 2024 it […]

12 Feb 2024

The first-ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report has been launched by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a UN biodiversity treaty, at the opening of a major UN wildlife conservation conference (CMS COP14). The landmark report reveals: Nearly all (97 per cent) of CMS-listed fish are threatened with extinction. While […]

12 Feb 2024

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have developed a metric that will give governments, businesses, civil society, and financial institutions the ability to measure whether their actions can help halt biodiversity loss and reduce global species extinction risk in oceans and seas. Developed in partnership with several organisations, scientists and experts from across the […]

11 Feb 2024

Fisheries scientists and marine biologists are calling on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to approve additional regulations that eliminate harmful fisheries subsidies. In a commentary published in the journal npj Ocean Sustainability over 30 renowned researchers remind the WTO that well-managed wild fisheries are pillars supporting food and nutrition security, livelihoods, equity, and cultural heritage, particularly in the […]

09 Feb 2024

A group of conservation organisations are calling on planners to work together to ensure that wildlife is protected in the Irish Sea. The ‘Ecological Considerations for Marine Spatial Planning in the Irish Sea’ report urges planners in all six nations bordering the Irish Sea to collaborate and cooperate “for the sake of nature”. The Irish […]

06 Feb 2024

Mangroves and saltmarshes sequester large amounts of carbon, mitigating the greenhouse effect. New research from the University of Gothenburg shows that these environments are perhaps twice as effective as previously thought. Natural habitats flooded by the tide form ecosystems that captures large amounts of carbon, which can help to mitigate climate change. Carbon dioxide is […]

06 Feb 2024

Tiny plankton – measuring less than 20µm (or 0.02mm) in diameter – make up the majority of plankton in the ocean and play a critical role in the planet’s health, according to new research. However, scientists say challenges in identifying them have led to them becoming a silent majority that is currently being overlooked when […]

06 Feb 2024

By Ashley Pearl in The Conversation: Norway has a reputation for environmental leadership, from championing international biodiversity policies to its wilderness protection and ambitious biodiversity regulations. Now it is leading into another area, leveraging its long legacy of offshore oil and gas production into developing deep-sea mining. In January Norway became the first nation to open its continental shelf to commercial […]