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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/italy/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:54:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Italy environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/italy/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>How a popular spaghetti dish is threatening Italy’s marine ecosystem</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 17:47:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuela Callari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/16113722/Riccio_Viola_URCHIN-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321286</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Consumption, Crime, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Illegal Fishing, Invertebrates, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overconsumption, Overfishing, Surveillance, Tourism, Wildlife, and Wildlife consumption]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAPLES — On a warm, moonlit night in May, Maurizio Simeone sat in an ambush at his desk about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Naples, Italy. The marine scientist and director of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Gaiola Underwater Park was watching the grainy live feed from cameras surveilling the MPA as poachers descended [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAPLES — On a warm, moonlit night in May, Maurizio Simeone sat in an ambush at his desk about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Naples, Italy. The marine scientist and director of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Gaiola Underwater Park was watching the grainy live feed from cameras surveilling the MPA as poachers descended on the seafloor. “It was midnight. Here they were again,” Simeone told Mongabay. The poachers had come a few nights before to scout the area. Then a second time. This time, Simeone was waiting for them. He rushed to alert the Coast Guard. The poachers operated with ruthless efficiency, using a dangerous illegal method known as the hookah system. A compressor on a small boat pumps air through a hose to a diver, allowing them to stay underwater for hours and systematically strip the seabed. Every 20 minutes, the diver resurfaced to hand over a net full of purple sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus), grab an empty net and then dive back down. When the authorities moved in, the two men on the boat began dumping hundreds of sea urchins and their gear into the sea, as the diver quickly resurfaced. The three men were old acquaintances of Simeone’s. “They are repeat offenders. It’s not the first time we’ve caught them,” Simeone said. Illegally harvested sea urchins seized in July 2024. Image courtesy of Maurizio Simeone. During a previous bust a year earlier, the vessel was apprehended with a staggering haul: 976 sea urchins pulled from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321286</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Monica Montefalcone, leading seagrass scientist, dies in Maldives diving accident, aged 51</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 May 2026 09:34:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/16093229/Monica-Montefalcone-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319589</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Italy, and Mediterranean Sea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ecosystems, Marine Conservation, Obituary, Oceans, Restoration, and Seagrass]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[To Monica Montefalcone, the sea was a place to study: its plants, reefs, hidden habitats and seasonal changes. A meadow of Posidonia oceanica was not just a patch of green beneath the water. It provided a nursery, offered shelter, stored carbon, and afforded coastal protection. To most swimmers it might have looked like seagrass. To [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[To Monica Montefalcone, the sea was a place to study: its plants, reefs, hidden habitats and seasonal changes. A meadow of Posidonia oceanica was not just a patch of green beneath the water. It provided a nursery, offered shelter, stored carbon, and afforded coastal protection. To most swimmers it might have looked like seagrass. To Montefalcone it was a living system, and one that recovered slowly once damaged. That slowness mattered. Posidonia grows at a pace that does not fit human timetables. In the Mediterranean, more than half of its meadows have been lost over the past century; in Liguria, the losses were especially severe. Laws and European directives could help protect what remained, she argued, but protection alone was not enough. Where hundreds of hectares had disappeared, waiting for nature to repair itself would mean leaving the work to future generations. Active restoration, including the manual replanting of seagrass, was therefore a practical response to a practical problem. Monica Montefalcone. From Sky TG24 Montefalcone, who died on May 14th in a diving accident in the Maldives, was 51. Her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, 23, died with her, along with Muriel Oddenino, a research fellow who had worked with her, Federico Gualtieri, a recent marine-biology graduate, and Gianluca Benedetti, a diving instructor and boat operations manager. Four of the victims were connected to the University of Genoa, where Montefalcone was an associate professor of ecology. The group had been diving in caves in Vaavu Atoll. The final details of the accident&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The European wildcat hovers between recovery and local extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-european-wildcat-hovers-between-recovery-and-local-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-european-wildcat-hovers-between-recovery-and-local-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2026 13:12:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/07014556/Image_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318902</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Czech Republic, Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and Turkey]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Cats, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Diseases, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forests, Funding, Genetics, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Human-wildlife Conflict, Hunting, Mammals, Parasites, Population, Reintroductions, Saving Species From Extinction, Small Cats, Solutions, Species recovery, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A quiet comeback story is unfolding for the European wildcat in the Czech Republic’s Lusatian Mountains. Conservationists tracking this elusive species there have spotted a male and female, named Jonáš and Tonka, the first to be found in the region in nearly a century. This small cat species lives in forests across Europe. It’s doing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A quiet comeback story is unfolding for the European wildcat in the Czech Republic’s Lusatian Mountains. Conservationists tracking this elusive species there have spotted a male and female, named Jonáš and Tonka, the first to be found in the region in nearly a century. This small cat species lives in forests across Europe. It’s doing relatively well in some places and is imperiled in others, like the Czech Republic, where it’s critically endangered. The European wildcat (Felis silvestris), which is around the size of a large housecat, was wiped out because of disappearing habitat — and persecution. They were considered vermin and killed because they preyed on poultry and they were hunted for sport. More recently, they’re sometimes hybridizing, breeding with domestic cats. Numbers are spotty across parts of their range, so overall population numbers and trends, whether they’re rebounding or declining, is currently unknown. That’s a challenge shared by many of the world’s 30-plus small wildcat species that are often overlooked by research and funding. But they are hanging on in the Czech Republic. Earlier this year, Tonka gave birth to at least three kittens, offering hope that a slow wildcat recovery may be underway. Conservationists set up “hair traps,” wooden posts smeared with a lure that attracts the wildcats, then analyzed DNA from fur they left behind when they rubbed on them to mark their territory, as cats do. Genetically confirmed records of wildcat births are “exceedingly rare” in the country, said Kristýna Chroboková, field coordinator with the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-european-wildcat-hovers-between-recovery-and-local-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-european-wildcat-hovers-between-recovery-and-local-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318902</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists map Italy’s entire coast to guide seagrass and marine recovery</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/scientists-map-italys-entire-coast-to-guide-seagrass-and-marine-recovery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/scientists-map-italys-entire-coast-to-guide-seagrass-and-marine-recovery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2025 13:09:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuela Callari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/31141625/b04fbe00-ad40-4235-bec1-7e0d72f6e315-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308587</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Marine, Oceans, Restoration, Seagrass, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ROME and GENOA, Italy — In the urban waters off Naples, shoals of bream, wrasses, as well as crustaceans, mollusks and bryozoans are returning after decades of absence to Gaiola Submerged Park Marine Protected Area. &#8220;This MPA has turned into a significant repopulation zone for the surrounding coast of Posillipo,&#8221; Maurizio Simeone, a marine biologist [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ROME and GENOA, Italy — In the urban waters off Naples, shoals of bream, wrasses, as well as crustaceans, mollusks and bryozoans are returning after decades of absence to Gaiola Submerged Park Marine Protected Area. &#8220;This MPA has turned into a significant repopulation zone for the surrounding coast of Posillipo,&#8221; Maurizio Simeone, a marine biologist and the MPA’s director, told Mongabay. &#8220;The fishermen themselves tell us this.&#8221; Farther west, in the archipelago of La Maddalena off the northern tip of Sardinia, the scene is starkly different. Boat tour operators have seen the crystalline waters turning murkier and iconic species such as seahorses becoming rarer sightings. The difference between the two seascapes lies in the health of a single, vital ecosystem type: Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds. At Gaiola, decades of strict protection and active restoration experiments have allowed the meadows to recover; at La Maddalena, the meadows have been damaged by intense, uncontrolled boat anchoring. Here, too, researchers have implemented bans on anchoring and begun planting new cuttings. The plant itself has &#8220;a very slow growth,&#8221; Marina Pulcini, a marine biologist at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), told Mongabay, and reestablishing dense meadows may take a decade. But the high survival rate (more than 90%) of the initial transplants offers hope that the ecosystem can begin to revitalize now that pressures are reduced. For decades, Italy&#8217;s efforts to conserve its seagrass meadows have been hampered by a lack of information, with the last push to map seagrass&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/scientists-map-italys-entire-coast-to-guide-seagrass-and-marine-recovery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/scientists-map-italys-entire-coast-to-guide-seagrass-and-marine-recovery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308587</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous leaders optimistic after resumed U.N. biodiversity conference in Rome</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indigenous-leaders-optimistic-after-resumed-u-n-biodiversity-conference-in-rome/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indigenous-leaders-optimistic-after-resumed-u-n-biodiversity-conference-in-rome/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2025 16:31:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/05162924/54083315636_751026f8ff_o-scaled-e1741192244536-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295329</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Global, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Environmental Policy, Finance, Funding, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous peoples and local communities scored perhaps the most tangible progress as the 16th United Nations, or COP16 concluded after three days of final negotiations in Rome on Feb. 28, 2025. This completes the two-week session that began in Cali, Colombia, in mid-October, 2024. “COP16 has been a great success and is historic for us,” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous peoples and local communities scored perhaps the most tangible progress as the 16th United Nations, or COP16 concluded after three days of final negotiations in Rome on Feb. 28, 2025. This completes the two-week session that began in Cali, Colombia, in mid-October, 2024. “COP16 has been a great success and is historic for us,” Viviana Figueroa, a global technical coordinator with the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, told Mongabay from Rome. “We had a big achievement in Cali with the adoption of a new program of work on traditional knowledge and direct participation in negotiations. And here in Rome, we see there will be resource mobilization through the Cali Fund.” The new fund was launched on Feb. 25 in Rome, after parties agreed to establish it while in Cali. Officially titled the ‘Cali Fund for the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits from the Use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources’ (DSI), it is to receive contributions from industries such as pharmaceuticals and bio-agriculture that use nature-based genetic information for commercial products. Fifty percent of the funds raised will be allocated to the self-identified needs of Indigenous peoples and local communities. COP16 President Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s former environmental minister, was forced to close the Cali session prematurely last fall as final decisions involving international finance targets to meet the global framework to protect biodiversity were not complete on the meeting’s final day. Delegations rushed to catch flights home but agreed to reconvene in Rome to finish the biennial&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indigenous-leaders-optimistic-after-resumed-u-n-biodiversity-conference-in-rome/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indigenous-leaders-optimistic-after-resumed-u-n-biodiversity-conference-in-rome/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295329</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global ‘Slow Food’ movement embraces agroecology (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/global-slow-food-movement-embraces-and-advances-agroecology-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/global-slow-food-movement-embraces-and-advances-agroecology-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2024 19:06:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Mukiibi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/12215035/13992749734_744c0a0a2a_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287783</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, European Union, Global, Italy, Malawi, Southern Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroecology, Commentary, Environment, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Poverty, and Poverty Alleviation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[I have spent more than 20 years visiting communities and working with farmers around Uganda and across East and southern Africa. I have come to realize that there are many farmers who are trying their best to produce food in a way that harms neither the environment nor consumers. But many of these farmers are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[I have spent more than 20 years visiting communities and working with farmers around Uganda and across East and southern Africa. I have come to realize that there are many farmers who are trying their best to produce food in a way that harms neither the environment nor consumers. But many of these farmers are trapped in a corrupt system designed to benefit those who provide – and profit – from chemical inputs. How do we help them to break out of this bubble, and how do we create a network where they can share their motivations, their feelings, their practical knowledge and their experiences? Farmers need to be brought together so that they help each other move towards good, clean and fair production of food. And they need to be brought together because farmers are also bearers of knowledge. Uniting them in a network is the best way to free themselves from the trap of growing input-heavy, export-focused monocultures. My name is Edward Mukiibi. Since 2022 I have served as the president of the world’s largest food movement, Slow Food. In 2007 I was just an agriculture student at Makerere University in Kampala, but I was already working closely with farmers. I volunteered for a project to promote a new hybrid maize variety, supposedly drought-resistant, in western Uganda. I was convinced that this was the right way to produce more food: more high-yielding varieties grown with more external inputs like fertilizers. Edward Mukiibi in the field. Image courtesy of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/global-slow-food-movement-embraces-and-advances-agroecology-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287783</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fewer fish and more rules lead to illegal catches, Italian fishers say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/fewer-fish-and-more-rules-lead-to-illegal-catches-italian-fishers-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/fewer-fish-and-more-rules-lead-to-illegal-catches-italian-fishers-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Apr 2024 15:20:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alice PistolesiMonica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/15171144/19-Bagnarota-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280966</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CALABRIA, Italy — &#8220;On our coasts there is … a massive presence, that everyone can see, of poachers and illegal fishermen,&#8221; a fisher in Calabria, in southwestern Italy, told Mongabay. He said he decided to speak with this team of journalists because increased fishing of declining stocks meant &#8220;we are heading toward a point of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CALABRIA, Italy — &#8220;On our coasts there is … a massive presence, that everyone can see, of poachers and illegal fishermen,&#8221; a fisher in Calabria, in southwestern Italy, told Mongabay. He said he decided to speak with this team of journalists because increased fishing of declining stocks meant &#8220;we are heading toward a point of no return.&#8221; But it was not an easy decision: He asked to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation from other fishers and the local ‘ndrangheta or Calabrian mafia. A dozen other sources would also speak about illegal fishing in the area only off the record. &#8220;The situations are visible to all, they are experienced every day just by spending a little time on our coasts,&#8221; he said, describing illegal activities happening in plain view, such as fishing in the river mouth or near the coast, and the use of prohibited fishing gear and unregistered amateur boats. In Calabria, the region encompassing the toe of Italy’s boot-shaped peninsula, many fishers slip regularly between legality and illegality, as several sources told Mongabay. Even some fishers who usually work legally sometimes cross the line, and most know at least one illegal fisher, these sources said. In 2022, 13,172 crimes and administrative violations related to fishing activities were detected in Italy, or 36 per day, according to a report by Legambiente, an Italian environmental association. More than 48% of these incidents occurred in the four regions with a traditional mafia presence, including Calabria, the report says. (Italy has 15&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/fewer-fish-and-more-rules-lead-to-illegal-catches-italian-fishers-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/fewer-fish-and-more-rules-lead-to-illegal-catches-italian-fishers-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280966</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Takin’ out the trash: How do transnational waste traffickers operate?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/takin-out-the-trash-how-do-transnational-waste-traffickers-operate/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/takin-out-the-trash-how-do-transnational-waste-traffickers-operate/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2023 07:04:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Guia BaggiLaura CarrerRahma BehiVirginia Kirst]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/02145303/landfill-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271715</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Consumed]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Italy, and Tunisia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Circular Economy, Corruption, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Organized Crime, Plastic, Politics, Pollution, Recycling, Social Justice, Trade, trafficking, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2020, 282 containers full of mixed waste bales sailed from Salerno, Italy, to Sousse, Tunisia, in four shipments. Italian customs did not raise any flags. Customs classified them as CA, or automated control (controllo automatizzato in the local language), simply meaning no control. Back then, the COVID-19 pandemic was kicking, and officials relaxed scrutiny [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2020, 282 containers full of mixed waste bales sailed from Salerno, Italy, to Sousse, Tunisia, in four shipments. Italian customs did not raise any flags. Customs classified them as CA, or automated control (controllo automatizzato in the local language), simply meaning no control. Back then, the COVID-19 pandemic was kicking, and officials relaxed scrutiny of goods between countries. But even outside global emergencies, only a tiny portion of outbound containers undergo some control. In Italy, it’s roughly 2%. &#8220;We run very few checks because controlling in an excessive and massive manner is unthinkable,&#8221; the former head of the Salerno customs office, Maurizio Pacelli, told Mongabay. &#8220;Otherwise, no goods would leave.&#8221; However, those seemingly innocuous 282 containers would erupt into an international scandal, leading to protests, the arrest and the sentencing of six Tunisian officials, and a lengthy dispute between Italy and Tunisia on waste repatriation. There was even a fire that may have destroyed evidence. In Italy, prosecutors are still investigating the responsibilities of a broker, the exporting company, Sviluppo Risorse Ambientali (SRA) and the officials who authorized the shipment, among others. In 2020, 282 containers full of mixed waste bales sailed from Salerno, Italy, to Sousse, Tunisia, in four shipments. Pictured are standard containers in Salerno. Image by Guia Baggi. Those seemingly innocuous 282 containers would erupt into an international scandal, leading to protests, the arrest and the sentencing of six Tunisian officials, and a lengthy dispute between Italy and Tunisia on waste repatriation. Pictured are standard containers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/takin-out-the-trash-how-do-transnational-waste-traffickers-operate/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/takin-out-the-trash-how-do-transnational-waste-traffickers-operate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271715</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservationists aim to save critically endangered European eels on Italy’s Po River</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/conservationists-aim-to-save-critically-endangered-european-eels-on-italys-po-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/conservationists-aim-to-save-critically-endangered-european-eels-on-italys-po-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2023 15:48:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lucrezia Lozza]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/26134448/European-eel-Anguilla-anguilla-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269073</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Rivers, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OASI DI CANNEVIÉ, Italy — In the early morning haze, Luca Bellini steered his green boat through the web of canals and lagoons of the Po River Delta. He had just pulled the fyke nets after 12 hours in the water so biologist Mattia Lanzoni could check for baby eels entering the Po from the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OASI DI CANNEVIÉ, Italy — In the early morning haze, Luca Bellini steered his green boat through the web of canals and lagoons of the Po River Delta. He had just pulled the fyke nets after 12 hours in the water so biologist Mattia Lanzoni could check for baby eels entering the Po from the sea. Sifting through the catch in water-filled basins, Lanzoni looked for the 6-centimeter- (2.4-inch-) long babies, called glass eels for their transparent bodies. Their work is part of the monitoring efforts of LIFEEL, a public-private project focused on the long-term conservation of European eels (Anguilla anguilla) in the Adriatic Sea, with efforts on the Po in Italy and the Nestos River in Greece. The Po Delta, located where the Italian boot meets mainland Europe, is one of the most important habitats for European eels and the longtime heartland of eel fishing, a practice that is now slowly fading. For centuries, fishers have trapped adult eels heading out to sea and other migratory fish in the delta’s brackish waters, using massive V-shaped weirs called lavorieri. They also trap juvenile migratory fish to raise to adulthood in lagoons, a practice known as valliculture. “The elderly used to say that by placing a trap made of rushes in the water you would catch hundreds of glass eels,” Bellini said from his boat. “Now you struggle to see them.” Eels in a traditional bolaga, a jar immersed in water for storing eels. Image by Lucrezia Lozza. Since 1980, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/conservationists-aim-to-save-critically-endangered-european-eels-on-italys-po-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/conservationists-aim-to-save-critically-endangered-european-eels-on-italys-po-river/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269073</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can we control marine invaders by eating them?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/can-we-control-marine-invaders-by-eating-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/can-we-control-marine-invaders-by-eating-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Mar 2023 18:59:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Guia Baggi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/22155649/blue-crabs-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266752</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Italy, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, food security, Invasive Species, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Saltwater Fish, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced with funding support from the Pulitzer Center. MAZZORBO, Italy — In the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant, a dozen blue crabs await their fate in a deep stainless steel tray near the stove. Chefs Chiara Pavan and Francesco Brutto will use them to make blue crab soy-skin dumplings topped with marinated [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced with funding support from the Pulitzer Center. MAZZORBO, Italy — In the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant, a dozen blue crabs await their fate in a deep stainless steel tray near the stove. Chefs Chiara Pavan and Francesco Brutto will use them to make blue crab soy-skin dumplings topped with marinated egg yolk and oregano, one of the signature dishes at their restaurant Venissa on Mazzorbo island in Italy’s Venice Lagoon. Although the Atlantic blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) was uncommon in this part of the world until a few years ago, diners take to them easily: Their flesh is sweet, succulent and mellow. They have been on the restaurant&#8217;s menu since 2019, when Pavan and Brutto decided to ditch meat for ethical and environmental reasons. Apart from the blue crab, the chef duo has also introduced rapa whelk (Rapana venosa) and other invasive marine species that have been messing up local ecosystems and fisheries. This year, for instance, they will be serving a dish based on the nonnative arc clam (genus Anadara) that has been spreading along the Adriatic coast. “I’ve been here for seven years and in these seven years I’ve witnessed the population trends of the fish inhabiting the lagoon,” Pavan tells Mongabay, explaining the idea shaping her cooking. She likes to experiment with species that people are not familiar with but are locally abundant. &#8220;The blue crab is a real pest in this area,&#8221; she says. &#8220;It&#8217;s at the top of the food&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/can-we-control-marine-invaders-by-eating-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/can-we-control-marine-invaders-by-eating-them/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266752</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Hunting for future-proof marine plants in the acidic waters bathing a volcano</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/hunting-for-future-proof-marine-plants-in-the-acidic-waters-bathing-a-volcano/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/hunting-for-future-proof-marine-plants-in-the-acidic-waters-bathing-a-volcano/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2022 15:03:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Guia Baggi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/22150705/3-Ph-Credit-Marco-Milazzo-Vulcano-vent-site-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264032</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Chemicals, Climate Change, Coral Reefs, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Marine, Ocean Acidification, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plants, Seagrass, and Volcanoes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A stone causeway connects an islet, the famed Aragonese Castle perched atop it, to the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. Below water, along the islet’s northern and southern contours, CO2 bubbles from volcanic rocks. Across these effervescent strips of seabed, pH ranges from an extreme low of 6.6 to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A stone causeway connects an islet, the famed Aragonese Castle perched atop it, to the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. Below water, along the islet’s northern and southern contours, CO2 bubbles from volcanic rocks. Across these effervescent strips of seabed, pH ranges from an extreme low of 6.6 to a normal 8.1. Between 7.8 and 7.7, values that according to worst-case climate projections will be common in ocean waters globally by the end of the century, seagrass and macroalgae, or seaweed, dominate the seascape. Since 2008, scientists from all over the world have been using this area as a natural biogeochemistry lab and a window on the future. Researchers working in these waters, naturally acidified due to the presence of underwater volcanoes, are studying animal and seagrass populations that have inhabited these rocks for generations, among other aspects of local ecology. “We have photosynthetic organisms like [the seagrass] Posidonia and other types of macroalgae, which are already somehow adapted to marine acidification,&#8221; Marco Munari, a marine ecologist and ecotoxicologist at Zoological Station Anton Dohrn (SZN) in Naples told Mongabay in an interview. Until earlier this year, Munari was coordinator of SZN’s Ischia Marine Centre; he has since moved to a different SZN branch in Fano. The local populations of these organisms are already prepared for the stressors that populations in other areas might experience in a not-so-distant future. Posidonia seagrass grows in waters naturally acidified by carbon dioxide venting from an underwater volcano near&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/hunting-for-future-proof-marine-plants-in-the-acidic-waters-bathing-a-volcano/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/hunting-for-future-proof-marine-plants-in-the-acidic-waters-bathing-a-volcano/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264032</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Illegal bottom trawling widespread inside Mediterranean marine protected areas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/illegal-bottom-trawling-widespread-inside-mediterranean-marine-protected-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/illegal-bottom-trawling-widespread-inside-mediterranean-marine-protected-areas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Nov 2022 21:05:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/11/22205209/d-768x386.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262877</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, France, Italy, and Mediterranean Sea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Law Enforcement, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Saltwater Fish, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Mediterranean Sea isn’t the source of plenty it once was. It now contains some of the most ecologically degraded marine areas in the world, and has been the site of dead zones and fish stock collapses in recent decades. Populations of countless species are in decline, including sharks, seagrasses and marine mammals. The sea [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Mediterranean Sea isn’t the source of plenty it once was. It now contains some of the most ecologically degraded marine areas in the world, and has been the site of dead zones and fish stock collapses in recent decades. Populations of countless species are in decline, including sharks, seagrasses and marine mammals. The sea is “on the verge of ‘burn out,’” WWF has declared. Overfishing and destructive fishing practices, including bottom trawling, are part of the problem. Bottom trawlers drag fishing nets weighted down with heavy “doors,” and they often damage the seabed, destroying coral and sponge habitats, and catch unintended species at a high rate. Conservationists have pushed the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs) and no-trawl zones, but these are only effective if managed and regulated well, and reports in recent years have indicated that, in the Mediterranean, this isn’t the case. Now the Med Sea Alliance (MSA), an umbrella group of NGOs and environmental advocates, has launched an “atlas” showing widespread illegal bottom trawling in the Mediterranean. The atlas, an interactive online map, shows thousands of days of apparent bottom-trawling activity in areas where it is banned, in 2020 and 2021. The atlas uses data from transponders that fishing vessels carry, as well as 169 confirmed infractions based on coast guard records and media reports. “It’s the first time such an atlas [has been] released,” Anne Rémy, MSA’s movement coordinator, told Mongabay. “It can appear like a very scientific map, but behind this map, you have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/illegal-bottom-trawling-widespread-inside-mediterranean-marine-protected-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262877</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Love ‘em and loathe ‘em: Mediterranean grapples with tasty, voracious invasive crabs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/love-em-and-loathe-em-mediterranean-grapples-with-tasty-voracious-invasive-crabs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/love-em-and-loathe-em-mediterranean-grapples-with-tasty-voracious-invasive-crabs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2022 18:26:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Guia Baggi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/10175840/IMG_1750_Close-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=259059</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, and Tunisia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Invasive Species, Oceans, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DJERBA, Tunisia, and SICILY, Italy — On the deck of the Ghanem, which in Arabic means “winner,” sit eight boxes crawling with life. Blue legs and claws teem with each splash of sea water Najib Trabelsi pours over them. Most of the crabs show their spotty greenish-brown carapaces; the upside-down ones stand out in bright [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DJERBA, Tunisia, and SICILY, Italy — On the deck of the Ghanem, which in Arabic means “winner,” sit eight boxes crawling with life. Blue legs and claws teem with each splash of sea water Najib Trabelsi pours over them. Most of the crabs show their spotty greenish-brown carapaces; the upside-down ones stand out in bright white and blue. Trabelsi, 57, and his fishing partner, Fawzi Borji, 53, have been crabbing off the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia since 4:30 a.m. on this mid-May morning. Before heading back to the fishing port of Ajim, the two fishers drop a line of three or four round pots. When the Ghanem reaches the dock, a broker weighs the catch: 80 kilograms (176 pounds). An average day for Borji and Trabelsi. They will split what remains of 160 Tunisian dinars (about $51) after covering the costs of the fuel for their boat and the sardines they used as bait. Once the broker’s van is full, he’ll drive up to the city of Sfax, where he supplies seafood processing plants. “Before the blue crab, we would generally use our nets to catch other kinds of fish,” Borji says. “But since it ruins our nets and cuts them, we have to deal with it by fishing for the blue crab.&#8221; Fawzi Borji and Najib Trabelsi crabbing off the Tunisian island of Djerba on their boat the Ghanem, May 12, 2022. Image by Guia Baggi. Portunus segnis, the blue swimming crab, made its first official appearance&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/love-em-and-loathe-em-mediterranean-grapples-with-tasty-voracious-invasive-crabs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-259059</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Where does the Greater Mekong’s illegal timber go?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/where-does-the-greater-mekongs-illegal-timber-go/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/where-does-the-greater-mekongs-illegal-timber-go/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2021 12:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/15222749/mekong30-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=250704</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Europe, European Union, Italy, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Climate Change, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Politics, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After forests are logged, felled trees are typically sent to sawmills, where they’re processed into boards, or lumber. It’s in this processed form that wood typically enters the international commodity supply chain. But not all lumber is created equal. In the Greater Mekong region, high-quality hardwoods such as teak and rosewood from Myanmar are particularly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After forests are logged, felled trees are typically sent to sawmills, where they’re processed into boards, or lumber. It’s in this processed form that wood typically enters the international commodity supply chain. But not all lumber is created equal. In the Greater Mekong region, high-quality hardwoods such as teak and rosewood from Myanmar are particularly valuable, and have been logged almost to commercial extinction. Burmese rosewood (Dalbergia oliveri) remains highly sought after by Chinese buyers, fueled by a growing appetite for Qing and Ming-style furniture. Though Myanmar banned raw log exports in 2014, the booming demand in China and poor enforcement in Myanmar mean rosewood is regularly smuggled by truck across the land border between the two countries. Burmese teak (Tectona grandis) is another much-coveted species, often destined for farther destinations. The wood is particularly popular in the European shipbuilding sector, where it’s used for decking in superyachts for the super wealthy. Recognizing their role in Myanmar’s illegal timber trade, European Union member states developed a common position in 2017 acknowledging imports of Myanmar timber into the EU to be against the law due to their high risk of illegality. Despite this common position, the EU remains the third-largest market for Myanmar timber today after China and India, accounting for 19% of imports by value. Within the EU, Italy alone accounts for some two-thirds of total Myanmar timber imports, which last year amounted to 24 million euros ($27.4 million). The country has been the largest importer of Myanmar timber products&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/where-does-the-greater-mekongs-illegal-timber-go/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/where-does-the-greater-mekongs-illegal-timber-go/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-250704</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>One of world’s last two northern white rhinos withdrawn from breeding program</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/one-of-worlds-last-two-northern-white-rhinos-withdrawn-from-breeding-program/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/one-of-worlds-last-two-northern-white-rhinos-withdrawn-from-breeding-program/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Nov 2021 08:43:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Carolyncowan]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/11/01082703/NWRhino_Banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=248792</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Italy, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, Ethics, Extinction, Mammals, Northern White Rhino, Rhinos, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, White Rhino, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists striving to save the northern white rhino from extinction have announced their decision to retire one of the world&#8217;s last two individuals from their assisted breeding program. The BioRescue consortium resolved to stop harvesting eggs from 32-year-old Najin following an in-depth ethical risk assessment that took many factors into consideration, including her age, reproductive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists striving to save the northern white rhino from extinction have announced their decision to retire one of the world&#8217;s last two individuals from their assisted breeding program. The BioRescue consortium resolved to stop harvesting eggs from 32-year-old Najin following an in-depth ethical risk assessment that took many factors into consideration, including her age, reproductive health and overall welfare. “It was a difficult decision, very difficult, because we had to evaluate the conservation of the species against the welfare and life of the individual animal involved,” Barbara de Mori, director of the Ethics Laboratory for Veterinary Medicine, Conservation and Animal Welfare at the University of Padua in Italy, told Mongabay. “It was the right decision for Najin.” Najin and her daughter, Fatu, both live in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya and are the only two remaining northern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) in the world. In 2014, it became clear that the subspecies could not survive through natural breeding — neither Najin nor Fatu can carry a calf to term. In 2018, the situation became more pressing with the death of the last male, 45-year-old Sudan, Najin’s father. Najin at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Image courtesy of www.BioRescue.org/Jan Zwilling The BioRescue consortium comprises Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) in Germany, Safari Park Dvůr Králové in the Czech Republic (where Najin and Fatu were born), the Kenya Wildlife Service, and Ol Pejeta Conservancy. They have a bold strategy to generate offspring using assisted breeding techniques. These&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/one-of-worlds-last-two-northern-white-rhinos-withdrawn-from-breeding-program/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-248792</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Italian firms flout EU rules to trade in illegal Myanmar timber, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/italian-firms-flout-eu-rules-to-trade-in-illegal-myanmar-timber-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/italian-firms-flout-eu-rules-to-trade-in-illegal-myanmar-timber-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2021 12:01:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sheryl Lee Tian Tong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/01175601/Myanmar-Timber-Enterprise-log-depot-Sagaing-Division-c-Environmental-Investigation-Agency-copy-768x432.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=246683</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Italy, and Myanmar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Logging, Military, Politics, Rainforests, Regulations, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Negligible fines and inadequate enforcement are turning Italy into a hotspot for illegal Myanmar timber in spite of EU sanctions and regulations against the latter&#8217;s timber trade, according to a new report. The EU has long prohibited sales of illegal timber products in its markets under its 2013 EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). Not all Myanmar [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Negligible fines and inadequate enforcement are turning Italy into a hotspot for illegal Myanmar timber in spite of EU sanctions and regulations against the latter&#8217;s timber trade, according to a new report. The EU has long prohibited sales of illegal timber products in its markets under its 2013 EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). Not all Myanmar timber comes from illegitimate sources, but the industry’s history of poor governance, lack of documentation, and corruption make conducting adequate due diligence an impossible task. Member states therefore developed a common position in 2017 acknowledging imports of Myanmar timber to be against the law. In recent years, heightened scrutiny on the illegal timber trade and heavier penalties on errant firms have deterred shipments from Myanmar to many EU countries. But Italian companies have continued to import large quantities of high-value Burmese teak (Tectona grandis), according to the report from U.K.-based watchdog Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Even after European authorities imposed sanctions on the trade for funneling cash to Myanmar’s military leadership and decimating forests, Italian timber traders showed no signs of stopping, it said. Log yard in Myanmar. Image courtesy of EIA. The EIA’s report, published in September, identified 27 Italian firms that have been importing Burmese teak into the EU. Some of these companies continued to import timber products following the coup in Myanmar in February, researchers said. From March to May this year, Italian firms imported more than €4.31 million ($5.09 million) worth of wood from Myanmar, according to trade data. Teak, often&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/italian-firms-flout-eu-rules-to-trade-in-illegal-myanmar-timber-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-246683</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Titanic challenge’ for an Italian hospital rescuing sea turtles from plastic</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/titanic-challenge-for-an-italian-hospital-rescuing-sea-turtles-from-plastic/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/titanic-challenge-for-an-italian-hospital-rescuing-sea-turtles-from-plastic/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2020 10:32:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Manon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/02101714/5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=228499</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Conservation, Herps, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Plastic, Sea Turtles, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In late February, a three-legged turtle nicknamed Futura was released back into the sea by caregivers at the Sea Turtle Recovery Center of Brancaleone in Italy. Futura, a loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), had gotten caught in a web of nylon and rope that constricted one of her front legs. The hospital was forced to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In late February, a three-legged turtle nicknamed Futura was released back into the sea by caregivers at the Sea Turtle Recovery Center of Brancaleone in Italy. Futura, a loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), had gotten caught in a web of nylon and rope that constricted one of her front legs. The hospital was forced to amputate the limb. Fishing-related debris and plastics in the ocean are deadly for sea turtles. Turtles often mistake plastic for food —because it can both look like food and, as a recent study found, smell like food. Plastic can choke turtles, and puncture their internal organs. And when turtles get caught in nets, they often drown, unable to surface for air. Every year, Brancaleone’s Sea Turtle Recovery Center rescues around 50 turtles. Half of them have eaten plastic, according to Filippo Armorio, who heads the center. Armorio’s observations echo the findings of a 2015 study that found that 52% of sea turtles have ingested plastic. Armorio and his colleagues confront multiple challenges at once; turtles caught in fishing nets have often also eaten plastic. So in an effort to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean, volunteers at the recovery center organize weekly beach cleanups. Studies show beach cleanups have small, local benefits, but they don’t do much for the global plastic problem. Every year, an estimated 5 million to 13 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans. Still, researchers agree that beach cleanups are an important way to build awareness of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/titanic-challenge-for-an-italian-hospital-rescuing-sea-turtles-from-plastic/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-228499</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Young farmers apply ancient agroforestry practices in the heart of Sardinia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/young-farmers-apply-ancient-agroforestry-practices-in-the-heart-of-sardinia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/young-farmers-apply-ancient-agroforestry-practices-in-the-heart-of-sardinia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jan 2020 11:09:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/01/29093814/goats-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=226617</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Community Development, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Human Migration, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DESULO, Italy — In a late 1990s photo, a little girl with a ponytail and white apron poses at the corner of a cheese-making machine. Two decades later, with the same smile, Fatima Todde, 31, is one of the few casara, or female cheesemakers, in all of Sardinia. “The photo was shot when I was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DESULO, Italy — In a late 1990s photo, a little girl with a ponytail and white apron poses at the corner of a cheese-making machine. Two decades later, with the same smile, Fatima Todde, 31, is one of the few casara, or female cheesemakers, in all of Sardinia. “The photo was shot when I was 10. I was in this laboratory trying to do ricotta. It started as a childhood game, and, after the university, cheesemaking became my profession,” Fatima says. “A lot of young people move away from these mountains, but we choose to remain.” She lives in Desulo, in the middle of the island of Sardinia. A town of 2,000 inhabitants, it perches under the highest peak on the island that reaches 1,834 meters (6,017 feet). Named Gennargentu, meaning “silver door,” the color reminds one of the reflections of the silica-rich rocks, its shimmering light filtering through the woods. Fatima Todde and her brother Pietro in the goat stable. Image by Monica Pelliccia for Mongabay. It’s here that Caseificio Todde has for 30 years produced different types of cheese, including pecorino, casu agedu, casu e murgia, caprino, and ricotta. Started by her parents, who now spend their days selling the farm’s cheese at local markets, the farm is innovating its way into a new era with fresh ideas and new products, thanks in part to agroforestry. Ancient grazing, young farmers Close to the mountaintop, the operation’s tireless goats speed up the slope, grazing in an ancient system called silvopasture.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/young-farmers-apply-ancient-agroforestry-practices-in-the-heart-of-sardinia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-226617</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists identify frog through DNA without leaving forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/05/scientists-identify-frog-through-dna-without-leaving-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/05/scientists-identify-frog-through-dna-without-leaving-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2015 16:55:00 +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/2015/05/scientists-identify-frog-through-dna-without-leaving-forest/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Europe, Italy, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, DNA, Environment, Frogs, Genetics, Green, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists conduct first ever in-field DNA test&#8230;and potentially discover new species Ana Rodriguez Prieto conducting a test run of the new technology in Italy. Photo courtesy of MUSE. Yesterday, a team of Italian scientists caught a frog in a montane forest in Tanzania. And then they made history: using a small blood sample the team [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists conduct first ever in-field DNA test&#8230;and potentially discover new species Ana Rodriguez Prieto conducting a test run of the new technology in Italy. Photo courtesy of MUSE. Yesterday, a team of Italian scientists caught a frog in a montane forest in Tanzania. And then they made history: using a small blood sample the team were able to extract, purify, and amplify the amphibian&#8217;s DNA—all in the forest—through a new, battery-powered device called the Expedition Genomics Lab. They sent their genomic findings via cloud all the way to Italy, where local researchers ran it against the GeneBank of DNA sequences and shared the results with the media. &#8220;In our hopes [the] &#8216;Expedition Genomics Lab&#8217; could be of great help in producing live &#8216;real-time&#8217; data on biological diversity of any area in the world,&#8221; the team of Italian researchers—Michele Menegon, Massimo Delledonne, and Massimo Bernardi—told mongabay.com. &#8220;It will be possible to take a number of blood samples and have the identity revealed in a few hours directly in the field.&#8221; The portable DNA sequencer was developed through a partnership with MUSE Science Museum and Biodiversa, both in Trento, Italy, as well as the University of Verona. It employs a portable gene sequencer, known as a MinION, developed by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Menegon and Bernardi are research scientists with MUSE and Delldonne is with the University of Verona. In the field, the team was also joined by Ana Rodriguez Prieto and Chiara Cantaloni, both researchers with MUSE. The team believes the technology&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/05/scientists-identify-frog-through-dna-without-leaving-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23741</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pope Francis: &#8216;this is our sin: we exploit the earth&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/07/pope-francis-this-is-our-sin-we-exploit-the-earth/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/07/pope-francis-this-is-our-sin-we-exploit-the-earth/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2014 19:21:00 +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/2014/07/pope-francis-this-is-our-sin-we-exploit-the-earth/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Christianity, Deforestation, Environment, Ethics, Forests, Green, Philosophy, Pope, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Southern Italy over the weekend, Pope Francis reiterated his view that environmental destruction constituted a sin. Visiting the largely agricultural region of Molise, the pope responded to an address by a local farmer attending university. &#8220;I fully agree what has been said about &#8216;safeguarding&#8217; the earth, to bear fruit without &#8216;exploitation&#8217;. This is one [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Southern Italy over the weekend, Pope Francis reiterated his view that environmental destruction constituted a sin. Visiting the largely agricultural region of Molise, the pope responded to an address by a local farmer attending university. &#8220;I fully agree what has been said about &#8216;safeguarding&#8217; the earth, to bear fruit without &#8216;exploitation&#8217;. This is one of the greatest challenges of our time: conversion to a development that respects Creation,&#8221; he said off-the-cuff. &#8220;In [South America], my homeland, I see many forests, which have been stripped &#8230; that becomes land that cannot be cultivated, that cannot give life.&#8221; The pope added, &#8220;This is our sin: we exploit the earth and do not let it give us what it harbors within, with the help of our cultivation.&#8221; South America has long been at the heart of global deforestation, especially in the Brazilian Amazon which has lost nearly 20 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s. In the last decade deforestation has significantly slowed in Brazil, although not stopped. Only recently has Brazil&#8217;s deforestation rate been eclipsed by Indonesia, which is seeing forests fall to oil palm plantations, logging, and pulp and paper. The pope also dubbed the relationship between the farmer and the land &#8220;a dialogue, a fruitful dialogue, a creative dialogue.&#8221; Aerial view of cattle grazing in newly-deforested Amazon rainforest. The majority of deforestation in the Amazon is linked to cattle ranching. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. He went on, &#8220;It is this dialogue between man and his land that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/07/pope-francis-this-is-our-sin-we-exploit-the-earth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-24968</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trawling: destructive fishing method is turning seafloors to &#8216;deserts&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/trawling-destructive-fishing-method-is-turning-seafloors-to-deserts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/trawling-destructive-fishing-method-is-turning-seafloors-to-deserts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 May 2014 20:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/05/trawling-destructive-fishing-method-is-turning-seafloors-to-deserts/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Iceland, Italy, Pacific Ocean, Palau, Spain, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Fishing, Green, Habitat Loss, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bottom trawling is a practice used by commercial fisheries around the world in which a large, heavy net is dragged along the ocean floor to scoop up everything in its path. Previous research has linked trawling to significant environmental impacts, such as the harvest of large numbers of non-target species, collectively termed “bycatch,” as well [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bottom trawling is a practice used by commercial fisheries around the world in which a large, heavy net is dragged along the ocean floor to scoop up everything in its path. Previous research has linked trawling to significant environmental impacts, such as the harvest of large numbers of non-target species, collectively termed “bycatch,” as well as destruction of shallow seabeds. Now, a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds this method is also resulting in long-term, far-reaching consequences in the deeper ocean and beyond. Trawling dates back to the 1300s, and it became widespread in coastal areas around the world after the industrialization of commercial fishing in the late-1800s. Bottom trawling targets commercially valuable species that live near the sea floor, such as cod, rockfish, and various kinds of squid and shrimp. Gear varies depending on the fishing outfit, but nets can be nearly as large as a city block and scoop thousands of fish and other marine animals in a single drag. In bottom trawling, a large net is dragged by a boat along the seafloor. Bottom trawling has one of the highest bycatch rates of all commercial fishing practices. In the North Pacific, the practice accounts for 18 percent of annual groundfish harvests, and 82 percent of the region’s discarded by-catch. At times, bycatch accounts for upwards of 90 percent of a net’s total catch. In addition to directly killing many fish and other marine species, studies have shown that bottom trawling is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/trawling-destructive-fishing-method-is-turning-seafloors-to-deserts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/05/trawling-destructive-fishing-method-is-turning-seafloors-to-deserts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25169</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Europe approves vet drug that killed off almost all of Asia&#8217;s vultures</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/03/europe-approves-vet-drug-that-killed-off-almost-all-of-asias-vultures/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/03/europe-approves-vet-drug-that-killed-off-almost-all-of-asias-vultures/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2014 19:43:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mrinalini Erkenswick Watsa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/03/europe-approves-vet-drug-that-killed-off-almost-all-of-asias-vultures/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, Europe, India, Italy, Nepal, Pakistan, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Governance, Green, In-situ Conservation, Politics, Raptors, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Critically Endangered Indian vultures (Gyps indicus) hanging out in their nest at Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. Photo by: Yann/Creative Commons 3.0. When Europeans first arrived in North America, they exterminated three to five billion passenger pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) in the short span of a century through a combination of habitat destruction and hunting. In 1914, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Critically Endangered Indian vultures (Gyps indicus) hanging out in their nest at Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. Photo by: Yann/Creative Commons 3.0. When Europeans first arrived in North America, they exterminated three to five billion passenger pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) in the short span of a century through a combination of habitat destruction and hunting. In 1914, the last living passenger pigeon perished at the Cincinnati Zoo. Despite the staggering scale of this extinction event, three species of vulture from Southeastern Asia retain the dubious distinction of having had the most rapid population crash of any avian fauna. They might not have begun with numbers as large as the passenger pigeon, but within the space of a single decade, their populations were reduced by 96 to 99 percent. The scientific world argued in vain over the cause of this dramatic decline, suspecting an undocumented, lethal, and highly infectious virus. When the mystery was finally solved in 2006&#8212;to nearly everybody&#8217;s surprise&#8212;the cause was a single drug, diclofenac, often prescribed to subdue cattle. Subsequently, veterinarians were banned from prescribing it to farmers across the subcontinent. Despite these events and in the face of such evidence, the EU has just sanctioned diclofenac for use by veterinarians across the European Union. According to local conservation groups, European vultures could very well be the next victims of a massive extermination and extinction event. &#8220;It is shocking,&#8221; José Tavares, the Director of the Vulture Conservation Foundation, told Birdlife International, &#8220;that a drug that has already wiped out wildlife on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/03/europe-approves-vet-drug-that-killed-off-almost-all-of-asias-vultures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25487</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reversing local extinction: scientists bring the northern bald ibis back to Europe after 300 years</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/reversing-local-extinction-scientists-bring-the-northern-bald-ibis-back-to-europe-after-300-years/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/reversing-local-extinction-scientists-bring-the-northern-bald-ibis-back-to-europe-after-300-years/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Dec 2013 16:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Federica Di Leonardo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/12/reversing-local-extinction-scientists-bring-the-northern-bald-ibis-back-to-europe-after-300-years/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Austria, Europe, Germany, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Birds, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Migration, Poaching, Reintroductions, Rewilding, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The unmistakable northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita). Photo by: Waldrappteam. The northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), also called the hermit ibis or waldrapp, is a migratory bird. Once, the bald ibis lived in the Middle East, northern Africa and southern and central Europe, but due to hunting, loss of habitat and pesticide-use, the birds disappeared [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The unmistakable northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita). Photo by: Waldrappteam. The northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), also called the hermit ibis or waldrapp, is a migratory bird. Once, the bald ibis lived in the Middle East, northern Africa and southern and central Europe, but due to hunting, loss of habitat and pesticide-use, the birds disappeared from most of these areas and is currently considered Critically Endangered. It became extinct in Europe 300 years ago; the bird is almost gone in Syria, with only a single individual recorded at the country&#8217;s lone breeding site in 2013; and the only stronghold left is a small population of around 500 birds in Morocco. But now, a team of scientists from Austria is working to reestablish a self-sustaining, migratory population of bald ibis in Europe. In 2002 Johannes Fritz, who had been a doctoral student in biology at the Konrad Lorenz Research Station in Austria, came up with the idea of taking northern bald ibises from zoos and imprinting them, in effect becoming their foster parent to teach them a new migratory route to Italy. After more than ten years of research and feasibility planning, the Austrian Waldrappteam, together with partners from Germany and Italy (the Parco Natura Viva Garda Zoological Park) received funding from the European Union for a Life+ Project to be held from 2014 to 2019. The aim of the project is to create a European population of at least 120 ibises that migrate autonomously from Germany to Italy. Experiments conducted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/12/reversing-local-extinction-scientists-bring-the-northern-bald-ibis-back-to-europe-after-300-years/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25990</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Not far from Rome, Italy&#8217;s distinct bear faces down extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/not-far-from-rome-italys-distinct-bear-faces-down-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/not-far-from-rome-italys-distinct-bear-faces-down-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2013 15:39:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Federica Di Leonardo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/09/not-far-from-rome-italys-distinct-bear-faces-down-extinction/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bears, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Mammals, Poaching, Poisoning, Roads, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Marsican brown bear is on the brink of extinction. Despite authorities spending millions of Euros on its conservation, high human-caused mortality is menacing the survival of this distinct subspecies. The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) is only found in the Italy&#8217;s Central Apennines, less than 200 kilometers from Rome. The last reliable research [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Marsican brown bear is on the brink of extinction. Despite authorities spending millions of Euros on its conservation, high human-caused mortality is menacing the survival of this distinct subspecies. The Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) is only found in the Italy&#8217;s Central Apennines, less than 200 kilometers from Rome. The last reliable research carried out in 2011 by the University La Sapienza in Rome estimated a population of around 49 bears. Not surprisingly, the Marsican bear is at extremely high risk of extinction and is considered Critically Endangered on the Red List of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). The population was once distributed over a large area of the Apennines, but during the last two centuries Marsican bears were devastated by hunting. Now they mostly live in a core area limited to the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise (PNALM) and some surrounding territories. Experts believe that due to its &#8220;long-term isolation from the other brown bear population,&#8221; the Marsican bear is &#8220;a unique evolutionary and conservation unit, based on genetic and morphological traits,&#8221; according to a paper from 2008. The Marsican brown bear. Photo by: Francesco Culicelli. Researches stated that bear’s high mortality rate is unacceptable and remains the biggest obstacle to the survival of the population. Poachers and collisions with cars are the biggest killers of Marsican bears, though for half of the deaths we do not have a definite diagnosis. During the period of 1971 to 2013, 93 bears died. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/09/not-far-from-rome-italys-distinct-bear-faces-down-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26343</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>10,000 dead songbirds headed to Italian restaurants confiscated</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/11/10000-dead-songbirds-headed-to-italian-restaurants-confiscated/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/11/10000-dead-songbirds-headed-to-italian-restaurants-confiscated/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Nov 2011 18:20:00 +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/2011/11/10000-dead-songbirds-headed-to-italian-restaurants-confiscated/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Hungary, Italy, and Romania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Environment, Green, Law, Law Enforcement, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bushmeat, referring to wild animals killed (often illegally) for consumption, is usually considered a conservation problem in developing nations in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. However, a recent bust on the Hungarian-Romanian border proves that Europe is not immune: Hungarian officials seized around 10,000 dead songbirds. The birds were likely heading to restaurants in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bushmeat, referring to wild animals killed (often illegally) for consumption, is usually considered a conservation problem in developing nations in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. However, a recent bust on the Hungarian-Romanian border proves that Europe is not immune: Hungarian officials seized around 10,000 dead songbirds. The birds were likely heading to restaurants in northern Italy according to wildlife trade monitoring group, TRAFFIC. The illegal haul included Eurasian skylarks (Alauda arvensis), Calandra larks (Melanocorypha calandra), red-throated pipits (Anthus cervinus), bluethroats (Luscinia svecica), European goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis), fieldfares (Turdus pilaris), mistle thrushes (Turdus viscivorus), reed buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus) and white wagtails (Motacilla alba). While none of these species are considered Endangered by the IUCN Red List, some songbirds are in decline in Europe due to habitat loss and pollution in many parts of Europe. Small songbirds like the Meadow Pipit are especially targeted by the illegal trade in songbirds. Photo: © Richard Thomas/TRAFFIC. Two years ago TRAFFIC released a report detailing the trade from Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia to restaurants in Italy, where the tiny songbirds are considered a delicacy. &#8220;Despite TRAFFIC’s earlier warnings, the illegal trade in songbirds within Europe clearly still continues&#8212;a situation the EU should find unacceptable and do its utmost to rectify,&#8221; said Katalin Kecse-Nagy, a Senior Program Officer with TRAFFIC, in a press release. Songbird eating in Europe is not often discussed, but is hardly a secret. Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain has written about eating the ortolan songbird in France, a meal garnered from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/11/10000-dead-songbirds-headed-to-italian-restaurants-confiscated/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-31733</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Italy and Panama continue illegal fishing, says new report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/01/italy-and-panama-continue-illegal-fishing-says-new-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/01/italy-and-panama-continue-illegal-fishing-says-new-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jan 2011 20:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/01/italy-and-panama-continue-illegal-fishing-says-new-report/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, Panama, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Green, and Overfishing]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its biennial report identifying six countries whose fisheries have been engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing during the past two years. The report comes at a time when one-fifth of reported fish catches worldwide are caught illegally and commercial fishing has led to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its biennial report identifying six countries whose fisheries have been engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing during the past two years. The report comes at a time when one-fifth of reported fish catches worldwide are caught illegally and commercial fishing has led to a global fish stock overexploitation of an estimated 80 percent. The countries listed in the report &#8211; Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, Panama, Portugal, and Venezuela &#8211; have fishing vessels which engaged in practices such as fishing during closed seasons, using banned driftnets, and possessing undersized bluefin tuna. Other violations included illegal gear modifications, fishing without proper authorization, and problems with vessel registry lists. The identified nations will have two years to comply with mandates against IUU fishing or risk economic sanction. &#8220;If a nation fails to take appropriate action to address the instances of illegal fishing described in the report, that nation’s vessels may be denied entry into U.S. ports and the President may prohibit imports of certain fish products from that nation or take other measures,&#8221; said Russell Smith, NOAA deputy assistant secretary for international fisheries. “We are encouraged that the nations identified in 2009 have taken significant actions to address illegal fishing by their vessels, and we are now reaching out to the six countries identified in today’s report,” A sea turtle entangled in a piece of abandoned driftnet. Photo by NOAA The report is a result of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/01/italy-and-panama-continue-illegal-fishing-says-new-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-33102</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the midst of marine collapse will we save our last ocean?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/07/in-the-midst-of-marine-collapse-will-we-save-our-last-ocean/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2010/07/in-the-midst-of-marine-collapse-will-we-save-our-last-ocean/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jul 2010 22:34:00 +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/2010/07/in-the-midst-of-marine-collapse-will-we-save-our-last-ocean</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Ecological Beauty, Ecology, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Green, Interviews, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Ocean Acidification, Oceans, Overfishing, Penguins, Photos, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Sustainability, Whales, Whaling, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An interview with David Ainley. Imagine an ocean untouched by oil spills: a sea free of pollution, invasive species, dead zones, and over-exploitation; waters where marine animals exist in natural abundance and play ecological roles undimmed by mankind. Such a place may sound impossible in today&#8217;s largely depleted oceans, but it exists: only discovered in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An interview with David Ainley. Imagine an ocean untouched by oil spills: a sea free of pollution, invasive species, dead zones, and over-exploitation; waters where marine animals exist in natural abundance and play ecological roles undimmed by mankind. Such a place may sound impossible in today&#8217;s largely depleted oceans, but it exists: only discovered in 1841, the Ross Sea spreads over nearly a million kilometers adjacent to the Antarctic continent. Here killer whales, penguins, sea birds, whales, and giant fish all thrive. However, even with its status as the world&#8217;s &#8216;last ocean&#8217;, the Ross Sea has not escaped human impact. Over the last 15 years commercial fisheries have begun to catch one of its most important species in the ecosystem to serve them up on the dinner plates of the wealthy. &#8220;[The] Ross Sea is the last open ocean tract (i.e. not a reef) that still has a food web much like what one would expect the &#8216;Garden of Eden&#8217; to have been like. That is: all the &#8216;fruits&#8217; are still there, ready to be picked,&#8221; explains marine ecologist Dr. David Ainley in an interview with mongabay.com, adding that &#8220;the reason why it has yet to be depleted by humans is that the Antarctic Treaty prohibits mineral/oil extraction, and its remoteness from civilization, the extensive sea ice that covers it for a lot of the year, and its reputation for harsh weather.&#8221; David Ainley with an Adelie penguin. Photo courtesy of David Ainley. However, like many remote places on Earth&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2010/07/in-the-midst-of-marine-collapse-will-we-save-our-last-ocean/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-33955</doi>				</item>
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