<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=syria&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/syria/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:01:21 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.5</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Syria environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/syria/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>The effort to save Syria’s northern bald ibis population failed, but much can be learned (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/the-effort-to-save-syrias-northern-bald-ibis-population-failed-but-much-can-be-learned-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/the-effort-to-save-syrias-northern-bald-ibis-population-failed-but-much-can-be-learned-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Mar 2025 22:25:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gianluca Serra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/28211652/bald-ibis-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296668</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Middle East and Syria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Migration, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) is an extravagant waterbird adapted to forage in dry, open habitats, and is included in the list of the most genetically and evolutionarily unique creatures of the world. Five centuries ago, it was widespread from Southern and Central Europe to Northern Africa and the Middle East. Since then, it has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) is an extravagant waterbird adapted to forage in dry, open habitats, and is included in the list of the most genetically and evolutionarily unique creatures of the world. Five centuries ago, it was widespread from Southern and Central Europe to Northern Africa and the Middle East. Since then, it has undergone a steady decline mainly due to human collection of chicks for food, direct persecution, and habitat change, but also, it is suspected, due to the long-term changes of the climate (namely the so-called Little Ice Age, which occurred in Europe mainly between 1550 and 1650, and the current era’s global warming). Following its extinction from Central and Southern Europe more than four centuries ago, the species split into two geographically disconnected populations, one inhabiting northwestern Africa (Algeria and Morocco) and the other one the Middle East (Turkey and Syria), which diverged over time in relation to their behavior outside the breeding season. The western population is more or less resident, while the eastern one (or “oriental”) is a long-range migrant. Unsurprisingly, having been separated for centuries, the populations have proven to be genetically distinct, as evidenced by two independent studies performed in 2001. Extinct from Egypt millennia ago, the so-called oriental population still holds important cultural symbolism in the Middle East. It is mentioned in the Old Testament as a messenger of fertility and was sacred to the ancient Egyptians as the symbol of the afterworld divinity, Akh. In recent history, it used to breed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/the-effort-to-save-syrias-northern-bald-ibis-population-failed-but-much-can-be-learned-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/the-effort-to-save-syrias-northern-bald-ibis-population-failed-but-much-can-be-learned-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296668</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From Egypt to Syria, ‘water cancer’ chokes waterways</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/from-egypt-to-syria-water-cancer-chokes-waterways/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/from-egypt-to-syria-water-cancer-chokes-waterways/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 May 2024 21:35:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abd Almajed AlkarhLyse Mauvais]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/30211118/FarmerUprootsHyacinth_OrontesRiverSyria_AbdAlmajedAlkarhMongabay-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282793</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Egypt, North Africa, and Syria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Invasive Species, Lakes, Overfishing, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[AL-LANI, Syria and KAFR-EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — On the banks of Syria’s Orontes River, a beautiful flower has become a nightmare. Each spring, it creeps out of the soft mud that sheltered its seeds in winter, quickly overtaking the banks. In a matter of days, the plants sprawl across the shallowest parts of the river. Their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[AL-LANI, Syria and KAFR-EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — On the banks of Syria’s Orontes River, a beautiful flower has become a nightmare. Each spring, it creeps out of the soft mud that sheltered its seeds in winter, quickly overtaking the banks. In a matter of days, the plants sprawl across the shallowest parts of the river. Their intertwined stems form tightly woven mats of waxy green leaves topped by mauve flowers that float on the river’s surface, so fishermen can’t reach the water to cast their nets. “It grows incredibly fast, spreading by more than a meter [3 feet] every day,” says Abbas Abbas, a fisherman from the village of Al-Lani in northern Syria, standing on the edge of what was once a flowing river. “The plant starts growing from the banks and within three days, it spreads 5 meters [16 ft] into the river, completely covering its surface until July or August.” Locals call the plant ward el-Nil, meaning “Nile rose” or “Nile flower” in Arabic, or by its local nickname: “water cancer” — a plague nearly impossible to eradicate. In English, Pontederia crassipes is known as the water hyacinth. It is considered one of the worst invasive aquatic plants in the world, able to double in size in as little as six days under the right conditions. Lost livelihoods On the outskirts of Al-Lani, Mohammed Bahjat Bakro gestures toward lifeless trunks in his orchard, which once produced cherries, peaches, pomegranates and walnuts. “I used to have about 150 trees, of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/from-egypt-to-syria-water-cancer-chokes-waterways/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/from-egypt-to-syria-water-cancer-chokes-waterways/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282793</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Falcon trafficking soars in Middle East, fueled by conflict and poverty</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/falcon-trafficking-soars-in-middle-east-fueled-by-conflict-and-poverty/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/falcon-trafficking-soars-in-middle-east-fueled-by-conflict-and-poverty/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2023 09:37:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lyse Mauvais]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/03141312/rescued-falcon-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271771</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Wild Bird Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Iraq, Jordan, Middle East, and Syria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Forests, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Pet Trade, Politics, Rainforests, Raptors, Regulations, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ZARQA GOVERNORATE, Jordan; ERBIL, Iraq; QAMISHLI, Syria — In the darkness of a small, windowless room, half a dozen falcons were perched on low wooden stools, their eyes covered with leather hoods. Crouching on the sand-covered floor, their caretaker gently unhooded some of the birds, which stretched their wings cautiously. For most of them, free [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ZARQA GOVERNORATE, Jordan; ERBIL, Iraq; QAMISHLI, Syria — In the darkness of a small, windowless room, half a dozen falcons were perched on low wooden stools, their eyes covered with leather hoods. Crouching on the sand-covered floor, their caretaker gently unhooded some of the birds, which stretched their wings cautiously. For most of them, free flight was a distant memory. Most of the falcons had recently been rescued from traffickers by Jordanian authorities and placed in the care of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), the main conservation NGO in Jordan, which runs a raptor rehabilitation center in the desert. The RSCN closely controls access to the center, and Mongabay is withholding its exact location to minimize the risk of someone targeting the birds. “The center is very remote, and we’ve had cases where people show up there with guns in the middle of the night,” Nashat Hamidan, a conservationist with the RSCN who helped establish the rehabilitation center, told Mongabay from his office at the RSCN’s Amman headquarters in May. “Some owners will do anything in their power to get them back,” he added, referring to the falcons, some of which can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. When Mongabay visited the center in March 2022, it held around half a dozen raptors. Most had been seized at borders or airports, either from visiting falconers who were bringing them to Jordan to hunt but didn’t have the right documentation, or from traffickers trying to smuggle&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/falcon-trafficking-soars-in-middle-east-fueled-by-conflict-and-poverty/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/falcon-trafficking-soars-in-middle-east-fueled-by-conflict-and-poverty/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271771</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Through war, wildfire and pandemic, the world’s seed vaults hold strong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/through-war-wildfire-and-pandemic-the-worlds-seed-vaults-hold-strong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/through-war-wildfire-and-pandemic-the-worlds-seed-vaults-hold-strong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Dec 2020 12:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/08093804/svalbardvault_ccbysa4.o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=237655</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Lebanon, Norway, Syria, and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, COVID-19, Crops, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fires, food security, Forest Destruction, Forests, Genetics, Governance, Green, and Happy-upbeat Environmental]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[By the time the war broke out in Syria, researchers from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) had already duplicated and safely transported most of their genetic treasure trove to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen, Norway. The ICARDA facility in Tel Hadia, just [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[By the time the war broke out in Syria, researchers from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) had already duplicated and safely transported most of their genetic treasure trove to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the remote Arctic island of Spitsbergen, Norway. The ICARDA facility in Tel Hadia, just south of Aleppo, Syria, once stored the largest collection of crop diversity from the Fertile Crescent, one of the world’s earliest centers of agriculture. When the facility was abandoned in 2014, more than 80% of its collection was backed up in the Norwegian vault. “When the Arab Spring started, Syria was still considered a very secure and stable country, and then it became complete chaos, as we know,” Ola Westengen, an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Life Science who was coordinator of operations and management at the Svalbard Global Seed Bank at the time of the seed rescue, told Mongabay. “[B]ut one should not give the impression that the seeds were somehow smuggled out or sent out in a clandestine way, everything was by the book.” The safe and peaceful transfer of the samples from Syria, despite extreme conditions, Westengen says, is a testament to how well the international system of gene banks is working. The entrance to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, a remote archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Photo by Subiet via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Westengen is the co-author of a newly published paper in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/through-war-wildfire-and-pandemic-the-worlds-seed-vaults-hold-strong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/through-war-wildfire-and-pandemic-the-worlds-seed-vaults-hold-strong/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-237655</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dust and blood: Climate-induced conflict fuels migration, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/dust-and-blood-climate-induced-conflict-fuels-migration-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/dust-and-blood-climate-induced-conflict-fuels-migration-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Mar 2019 06:56:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nina Finley]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/03/29065010/refugee-camp-1442-768x400.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=216985</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conflict, Drought, Environment, Global Warming, Human Migration, Impact Of Climate Change, Migration, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Dec. 17, 2010, a 26-year-old Tunisian fruit vendor named Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire to protest the confiscation of his produce. This act kicked off protests in Tunisia that eventually swept the Arab world, toppling leaders and giving rise to conflicts that persist today. That upheaval, known as the Arab Spring, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Dec. 17, 2010, a 26-year-old Tunisian fruit vendor named Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire to protest the confiscation of his produce. This act kicked off protests in Tunisia that eventually swept the Arab world, toppling leaders and giving rise to conflicts that persist today. That upheaval, known as the Arab Spring, was largely political in nature, and fueled an exodus of migrants from across the swath of affected countries into Europe. Now, a study published in Global Environmental Change finds evidence that a changing climate was also a factor. The researchers hypothesized that abnormal and extreme climate events worsen conflicts, which in turn lead to migration. Using a statistical model to test their hypothesis, the researchers analyzed three sets of data: drought index for climate, battle fatalities for conflict, and asylum applications from 157 countries for migration. The model produced a clear result: drought was partially responsible for conflict in and asylum-seeking from northern Africa and western Asia — the Arab Spring region — between 2010 and 2012. “We were able to identify the relationships between climate, conflict and forced migration which were particularly relevant in the period of the Arab spring,” said Raya Muttarak, a geographer at the U.K.’s University of East Anglia and a co-author of the study. A shepherd tends a flock of sheep in the Syrian countryside in 2011, after a severe drought from 2007 to 2010. A recent study revealed drought as one factor behind the Arab Spring conflicts and resulting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/dust-and-blood-climate-induced-conflict-fuels-migration-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/dust-and-blood-climate-induced-conflict-fuels-migration-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-216985</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Featured video: Showtime releases first episode of major new climate change series online</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/featured-video-showtime-releases-first-episode-of-major-new-climate-change-series-online/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/featured-video-showtime-releases-first-episode-of-major-new-climate-change-series-online/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Apr 2014 19:48:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/04/featured-video-showtime-releases-first-episode-of-major-new-climate-change-series-online/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia, Syria, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Conflict, Deforestation, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forests, Global Warming, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Palm Oil, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Science, Tropical Forests, Videos, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Harrison Ford with orangutan in Years of Living Dangerously. Photo from: Years of Living Dangerously/Showtime. Although Showtime&#8217;s landmark new climate change series doesn&#8217;t premiere until Sunday, the network has released an edited version of the first episode of Years of Living Dangerously to the public (see below). The nine-part documentary series is being billed as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Harrison Ford with orangutan in Years of Living Dangerously. Photo from: Years of Living Dangerously/Showtime. Although Showtime&#8217;s landmark new climate change series doesn&#8217;t premiere until Sunday, the network has released an edited version of the first episode of Years of Living Dangerously to the public (see below). The nine-part documentary series is being billed as a &#8220;groundbreaking&#8221; exploration into the many ways that climate change is already wreaking havoc on the lives of people around the world. Employing well-known celebrities&#8212;including actors, journalists, and politicians&#8212;to tell the stories, it is the first high-budget television documentary dealing solely with global warming. The first episode begins a series of climate-related stories: Harrison Ford visits Indonesia to see first hand how deforestation and destruction of peat lands are contributing to the climate crisis; Don Cheadle heads to Texas to uncover if there&#8217;s a link between a biblical drought and climate change; and Thomas Friedman seeks to understand if climate change played a role in the civil war in Syria. The series debuts on the heels of the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the impacts of climate change. The report, which is an aggregation of the last several decades of research by thousands of scientists, finds that global warming is already decreasing agricultural production, increasing water scarcity, acidifying the oceans, exacerbating extreme weather, and adding to the risk of civil conflict. New palm oil plantation established on top of destroyed peat forest in Indonesia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Related&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/featured-video-showtime-releases-first-episode-of-major-new-climate-change-series-online/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/04/featured-video-showtime-releases-first-episode-of-major-new-climate-change-series-online/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25410</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Syrian bald ibis may be down to a single bird</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/syrian-bald-ibis-may-be-down-to-a-single-bird/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/syrian-bald-ibis-may-be-down-to-a-single-bird/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2013 18:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/06/syrian-bald-ibis-may-be-down-to-a-single-bird/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Middle East, and Syria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Green, In-situ Conservation, Migration, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The eastern population of northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) has likely fallen to a single breeding bird, reports conservationists monitoring the dwindling flock. The population had believed to be obliterated starting from 1989 until a small group was discovered in 2002 in Syria. However, it now appears that this last group is vanishing one-by-one despite [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The eastern population of northern bald ibises (Geronticus eremita) has likely fallen to a single breeding bird, reports conservationists monitoring the dwindling flock. The population had believed to be obliterated starting from 1989 until a small group was discovered in 2002 in Syria. However, it now appears that this last group is vanishing one-by-one despite efforts by conservation groups to sustain the distinct population. Only one northern bald ibis has returned to the breeding site in Palmyra, Syria this season. Dubbed Zenobia, she has possibly become the population&#8217;s endling, i.e. the last of her kind. Zenobia was paired with a male, Odeinat, but his satellite tag stopped broadcasting in July of last year. The birds migrate annually from Syria to the Ethiopian highlands. Northern bald ibises in Syria do not technically represent a distinct species or subspecies according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, they are genetically different from their western cousins (found in northern Africa) and are the only members of the species to undertake long-range migrations. &#8220;[This] is most likely the first time ever that the breeding of this species does not occur in the Middle East&#8212;over the course of millennia. This unique and legendary migratory population has now a foot (and a half) in its grave,&#8221; Gianluca Serra, a conservation biologist who has worked with the populations, told mongabay, adding that, &#8220;there might still be some few immature wandering around within Arabian peninsula.&#8221; There is one final hope for the eastern population of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/syrian-bald-ibis-may-be-down-to-a-single-bird/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/06/syrian-bald-ibis-may-be-down-to-a-single-bird/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28863</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Iraqi who is bringing back the Garden of Eden wins top environment award</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/iraqi-who-is-bringing-back-the-garden-of-eden-wins-top-environment-award/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/iraqi-who-is-bringing-back-the-garden-of-eden-wins-top-environment-award/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2013 14:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Vidal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/04/iraqi-who-is-bringing-back-the-garden-of-eden-wins-top-environment-award/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Iraq, Middle East, Syria, and Turkey]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Dams, Energy, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hydroelectric Power, Pollution, Prizes, War, Water, Water Scarcity, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The vast Mesoptomian marshes in southern Iraq were said to be the site of the original Garden of Eden. On their fringes have risen and fallen 12,000 years of Sumerian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian and Arab civilizations. Organized farming is thought to have begun here, as did the first cities and writing. In legend, Gilgamesh fell [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The vast Mesoptomian marshes in southern Iraq were said to be the site of the original Garden of Eden. On their fringes have risen and fallen 12,000 years of Sumerian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian and Arab civilizations. Organized farming is thought to have begun here, as did the first cities and writing. In legend, Gilgamesh fell asleep on the water side and let slip from his fingers the plant of eternal youth. Abraham was said to have been born here and explorers like Sir Wilfred Thesiger made their name here. But when Iraqi-born engineer Azzam Alwash returned in 2003 after 25 years away, he found a devastated land. Instead of the vast and unique freshwater world, all that remained was an arid, polluted, dried-out wilderness where reeds did not grow, no one lived and nothing was farmed. Saddam Hussein had drained thousands of square kilometers of the marshland that had once been fed by the rivers Tigris and Euphrates in an effort to punish the people who lived there. It was an ecological and cultural disaster that the UN ranked alongside the destruction of the Aral sea or the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. Alwash is now being honored with a $150,000 Goldman prize&#8212;the equivalent of a &#8220;green oscar&#8221; for environmental activism&#8212;for his part in restoring the ecological gems to much of their former glory. Marsh Arabs poling a traditional mashoof in the marshes of southern Iraq. Photograph slightly enhanced by contributor. April 2003. Photo by: Hassan Janali, U.S. Army Corps&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/iraqi-who-is-bringing-back-the-garden-of-eden-wins-top-environment-award/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/04/iraqi-who-is-bringing-back-the-garden-of-eden-wins-top-environment-award/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29199</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mysteries surrounding the legendary and vanishing oriental bald ibis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/mysteries-surrounding-the-legendary-and-vanishing-oriental-bald-ibis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/mysteries-surrounding-the-legendary-and-vanishing-oriental-bald-ibis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2012 14:34:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gianluca Serra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/10/mysteries-surrounding-the-legendary-and-vanishing-oriental-bald-ibis/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, East Africa, Ethiopia, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, and Syria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deserts, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, In-situ Conservation, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The efforts to ensure survival of the rarest bird in the Middle East Lubomir Peske engaged in fitting a satellite tag to a northern bald ibis in Syria in spring 2006. Photo @ G. Serra. In a remote corner of the Ethiopian highlands in January 2011, the bright tropical light combined with the fresh and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The efforts to ensure survival of the rarest bird in the Middle East Lubomir Peske engaged in fitting a satellite tag to a northern bald ibis in Syria in spring 2006. Photo @ G. Serra. In a remote corner of the Ethiopian highlands in January 2011, the bright tropical light combined with the fresh and thin air at 3,600 metres. The Ethiopian bird-watching guide and conservationist, Yilma Dellelegn, from the Ethiopian Wildlife Society, was startled when he spotted two un-ringed young bald ibises (Geronticus eremita), together with two ringed and well known adult females (Zenobia and Salam) at their wintering site. Considering the dwindling numbers, two unaccounted for young birds, literally popping out of the blue, were a great surprise&#8212;and precious! The sighting had the potential to raise intriguing geographic and behavioral questions: in fact, the riddle of the migration and wintering strategy of the oriental northern bald ibis was still half way from being solved. The international and diverse alliance of conservation organizations and experts I was a part of had so far managed to discover only a part of the mystery surrounding the hyper-threatened and tiny oriental population of bald ibises. The bird, until 2002, was considered extinct from the whole Middle East for a long time. That year, 3 breeding pairs were rediscovered in the Syrian desert of Palmyra, making media headlines internationally&#8212;the &#8220;Tutankhamen tomb of middle eastern ornithology&#8221; or &#8220;the rediscovery of the Arabian Phoenix, regenerated from its own ashes.” The peculiar features of the northern&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/mysteries-surrounding-the-legendary-and-vanishing-oriental-bald-ibis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/mysteries-surrounding-the-legendary-and-vanishing-oriental-bald-ibis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30105</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Food prices rise as food aid needed in Middle East and Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/food-prices-rise-as-food-aid-needed-in-middle-east-and-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/food-prices-rise-as-food-aid-needed-in-middle-east-and-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Oct 2012 19:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/10/food-prices-rise-as-food-aid-needed-in-middle-east-and-africa/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Lesotho, Middle East, Sahel, Southern Africa, Syria, and Yemen]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Prices, Global Environmental Crisis, and Green]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A mother with her severely malnourished child in the Sahel region. Photo: UNICEF/Chad/2012/C Tidey. Food prices increased in September on the FAO Food Price Index after two months of stability, while food aid has been urgently called for in Yemen and Syria, and concerns lingered in parts of Africa. Food prices globally rose 3 points [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A mother with her severely malnourished child in the Sahel region. Photo: UNICEF/Chad/2012/C Tidey. Food prices increased in September on the FAO Food Price Index after two months of stability, while food aid has been urgently called for in Yemen and Syria, and concerns lingered in parts of Africa. Food prices globally rose 3 points (or 1.4 percent) to 216 points. Civil war in Syria has sparked a widespread food crisis there. Currently, 1.5 million people are in need of urgent food aid, though that&#8217;s expected to go higher as the now seemingly entrenched conflict continues. However, Yemen is even worse off. Conflict, in addition to high food and fuel prices have pushed 10 million people into requiring food aid there. Two thirds of the population, around 725,000 people, of the small nation of Lesotho are also facing a local food crisis after a series of poor harvests. Surrounded entirely by South Africa, Lesotho suffers from widespread poverty and one of the highest levels in the world of HIV. Meanwhile, famine concerns continue in the Sahel region of Africa, which lies just to the south of the Saharan Desert. A prolonged food crisis in the Sahel this year has impacted 19 million people across the region. Conflict in Mali, including nearly half a million refugees, has exasperated a region already hit hard by a series of droughts. New concerns have been raised about the possible impact of desert locusts as well. Globally food prices are hovering just below crisis levels,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/food-prices-rise-as-food-aid-needed-in-middle-east-and-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/food-prices-rise-as-food-aid-needed-in-middle-east-and-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30210</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>