The UK Biodiversity Action Plan consists of a list of species in need of protection due to their falling numbers. The plan, reviewed every 10 years, has doubled since 1997 and now includes 1,149 species. Of those, the house sparrow, cuckoo and hedgehog have recently been added to the list.

Uganda’s environment minister Maria Mutagamba announced that the government has rejected a plan to convert protected rainforest to sugarcane production.

Thousands of Canadians will be surveyed for their preferences on marine species protection, a program headed by the federal Fisheries Department. This will play a role in the allocation of scarce resources for recovery activities.

As negotiations continue in Bali, progress is being made on forest protection issues, where financial rewards may be given to those that prevent trees being cut down.

“The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) and Alberta Environment (AENV) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to step up joint efforts to protect groundwater resources in the province.”

Tim Flannery, “Australia’s most prominent environmental campaigner,” is proposing an internet-based carbon scheme where households and businesses can protect forests and replant trees in Papua New Guinea. He believes that forest protection is key since 20% of global carbon emissions is attributable to the wholesale destruction of tropical forests.

The Globe and Mail

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged other leaders at the UN Conference on Biological Diversity to do more to reduce the rate of disappearing species in order to achieve a 2010 international objective. He stated that the world’s flora and fauna are “disappearing at a disturbing rate.”

Planet Ark

Norway will donate US$1 billion to Brazil’s Amazon protection fund through 2015, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday, to help Brazil fight deforestation.