Event: Regional Consultation Workshop for Latin America and Caribbean on the Groundwater Governance Project [viewed]
The project on "Groundwater Governance: A Global Framework for Country Action" was initiated by the the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) and the World Bank. This regional consultation is the first of a series. Additional consultations are planned for: Kenya, for the Africa region, in May 2012; Jordan, in October 2012, for the Arab countries; and China, in December 2012, for Asia. The fifth Regional Consultation dedicated to the European region as well as institutions from the private sector will be hosted by the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2013. The results of the regional consultations will contribute to the preparation of Global Groundwater Governance Diagnostic.
19 December 2011: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it has agreed a US$37 million loan to China for the preservation of wetlands. The money will be used by the Chinese Government to preserve wetlands of internationally recognized importance.
November 2011: The Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP), which is administered by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and advises the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has released a report that stresses the need for the GEF to develop a faster response to the growing problem of dead zones in the world's coastal waters.
19 December 2011: The first international workshop on controlled deliveries in wildlife smuggling took place under the auspices of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC). 
1 December 2011: The Governments of Spain and Honduras formally inaugurated a project in Honduras to protect the habitat of the Emerald Hummingbird, a species endemic to the country that is in danger of extinction. The project is supported by a debt-to-nature conversion programme managed by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE).
15 December 2011: A draft proposal for an enabling activities umbrella project has been posted on the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) website. 
12 December 2011: The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO-IOC) has signed an Aide Memoire with the Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) project of the UN Development Programme (UNDP)/Global Environment Facility (GEF).
12 December 2011: The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank Group has outlined its approach to evaluating the Bank's support for member countries and the private sector as they balance competing demands on forest resources and manage them for sustainable development.
