biodiversity

It’s World Penguin Day today, April 25^th, and I simply can’t imagine a world that didn’t have penguins in it. So in order to celebrate our funny fine-flippered friends I thought it would be good to pull together some fun facts about penguins. Some are fun, some are facts, and some are both at once.

The news from Indonesia today that Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has moved a tiger from one part of South Sumatra province to another in order to protect it. This is supposed to prove that company has green stripes. But, as with anything emanating from the APP publicity machine, scratch beneath the surface and you'll find an altogether different tale.

Nathalie Rey (pictured above briefing journalists) is an Amsterdam-based Oceans Policy Analyst who led Greenpeace's delegation in Nagoya for the CBD. She is the proud mother of two daughters, an avid coffee drinker and a surprised fan of Japanese food.

After two weeks of negotiations, this Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has concluded and not without some last-minute drama. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the contentious issues were left to the last day. Delegates, media and observers were told that the Friday afternoon plenary discussion was to begin at 3pm. That meant that the 197 nations gathered here would have to agree a new Protocol, decide the future of protected areas on land and at sea and sign off on a new Strategic Plan for the CBD all in less than three hours.

For all of you out there who haven't sat through these talks for the past two weeks, I assure you that this seemed like an impossible feat when they announced it on Thursday.

Richard Page is an oceans campaigner with Greenpeace International, focusing on marine reserves and polar ecosystems. He currently has the pleasure of attending the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Japan. 

So today is my last day in Nagoya doing my bit to try and make sure that the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) gathers momentum and that governments create a global network of marine reserves.  It is good to be in Japan again - the people of Nagoya seem especially friendly and helpful.

Two years ago, I was lucky enough to visit the Tokyo fish market at Tsukiji with Callum Roberts, the scientist with whom we worked to design the Greenpeace proposal for a global network of marine reserves and Daniel Pauly, who has done much to raise awareness of the dire consequences of overfishing.