9 March 2012: The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) has announced that the Government of the US has designated as its 31st Ramsar Site, the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs on the shores of Lake Superior in the state of Wisconsin.
Established in 1958, the North American Forest Commission (NAFC) is one of six Regional Forestry Commissions established by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to provide a policy and technical forum for countries to discuss and address forest issues on a regional basis. It meets every two years. At its 26th session, NAFC is scheduled to discuss, among other agenda items: the strengthening of international cooperation in forest fire; the long-term strategy for the Global Forest Resources Assessment; and regional issues identified by the Commission for the attention of the Committee on Forestry (COFO).
This session of the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) is scheduled to, among other agenda items: take action on the recommendations of its 19th session; discuss the main outcomes of the sixth session of the Scientific Sub-Committee; and carry out a performance review of CECAF.
22 February 2012: The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) has released an information paper that showcases the approaches of six parties in creating and operating National Ramsar/wetlands Committees (NRCs).
February 2012: In its latest issue, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Protected Area Programme (GPAP) newsletter highlights the value of good governance in protected areas, as well as a conservation project in Quebec, Canada and anti-poaching efforts in Africa and Asia.
6 February 2012: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has announced that the voting process is open to select observers for three "Southern" civil society organizations (CSOs) and one "Northern" CSO to attend the Participants Committee meetings of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), which is hosted at the World Bank.
20 January 2012: The World Trade Organization (WTO) was informed by the United States that it will appeal the results of the new round of disputes on the WTO's "Tuna-Dolphin" case. The WTO's panel report had found that the US' provisions on dolphin-safe labeling of tuna were more trade-restrictive than necessary, and that Mexico had provided a less-restrictive alternative also capable of dolphin protection and informing consumers.
15 December 2011: The 26th General Meeting of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) adopted resolutions on the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) and the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN). The Rio+20 resolution encourages ICRI members to support the inclusion of references to the conservation and sustainable management of all coral reefs, in the conference outcome document. The other resolution suspends ICRAN.
15 December 2011: Experts from governments, international organizations, NGOs and industry participated in a panel on "Forests 2030: The future of forests in Europe and North America," in Geneva, Switzerland. The panel was chaired by Michael Zammit Cutajar, former UNFCCC Executive Secretary, under the patronage of Janusz Zaleski, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Environment, Poland.
11 November 2011: The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Data Portal has contributed to a study of over 300,000 mammal records from the US to assess the importance of climate and land cover on species presence at various scales.
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