Environment | WPN World People News

Almost two million Americans stated their opposition to the Trump administration’s proposal to strip endangered species protections from gray wolves in a comment period that closed on July 15. This is one of the largest numbers of comments ever submitted on a federal decision involving endangered species and reflects broad dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s politically driven move to turn wolf management over to state agencies across most of the lower 48 states.

On July 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with a New Hampshire company, Londonderry Freezer Warehouse, LLC, of Londonderry, for alleged violations of chemical accident prevention related to the use of anhydrous ammonia in refrigeration and cooling units. Londonderry Freezer Warehouse has spent more than $215,000 to bring its facility back into compliance with Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements that apply to ammonia refrigeration systems that have less than 10,000 pounds of ammonia. Londonderry Freezer Warehouse has paid $78,200 to resolve the alleged violations.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) New England regional office has reached a settlement with a Vermont animal feed supplement supplier that failed to report information about toxic chemical compounds at its manufacturing facility.

A Japanese fishing company, Fukuichi Gyogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Fukuichi), on July 11, was convicted and sentenced in the District of Guam for two violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and one count of obstruction of an agency proceeding.

The World Heritage Committee on Jul.03 followed IUCN’s advice to list Mexico’s Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California as a World Heritage site in danger. The site’s population of vaquitas – the world’s smallest and most endangered species of porpoise – has been decimated due to the illegal trade of marine products, with possibly as few as 10 individuals left.

The political interests of World Heritage Committee members are being prioritized over its conservation mandate leaving many natural and mixed World Heritage sites with ineffective protection, according to a WWF report released on July 1.

Natural and mixed World Heritage sites represent some of our planet’s most precious places. Counting the Belize Barrier Reef and Selous Game Reserve among their number, they are recognized as globally significant due to the outstanding value they provide to both people and nature.

One of the longest free flowing rivers in southern Africa, the 1100 km Luangwa is a lifeline for communities and two of the most iconic national parks on the continent. Along with providing 25 chiefdoms with water, food and livelihoods, the Luangwa supports a wealth of wildlife, including over 400 species of birds and the only refuge for reintroduced black rhinos in Zambia as well as elephants, lions, hippos, leopards, African wild dogs, and the endemic Thornicroft’s giraffe.

New global coalition calls for action to reverse nature loss and restore natural systems on which economies' well-being and prosperity depend.

On July 3, at the Trondheim Biodiversity Conferences in Norway, a diverse group of influential international organizations has announced a global coalition to elevate a business call for comprehensive action to reverse nature loss and restore the planet’s vital natural systems.

WWF issued a rallying cry for an urgent New Deal for Nature and People for halting biodiversity loss by 2030 at conference for Biodiversity in Trondheim Norway which starts, on July 2. As government and business representatives and sector experts from over 100 countries, gather at the Trondheim conference to discuss the biodiversity framework, WWF called for achievable, science based targets as part of the New Deal for Nature and People to inspire governments to act for a sustainable and equitable planet by 2030.

On July 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in coordination with the North American Development Bank (NADB), announced the results of an analysis which showed an 85 percent reduction in carbon dioxide and particulate matter emissions at the Port of Nogales-Mariposa crossing because of the Unified Cargo Processing (UCP) and Free and Secure Trade (FAST) programs.