Environment | WPN World People News

Gorilla at Virunga National Park, DRC.

The World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction, organized by Japan and the United Nations, concluded today, calling for increased investment in disaster preparedness and recovery.

13 okapi were killed in the raid.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and a non-governmental organization today launched an emergency appeal to support the staff and rebuild the headquarters of a key wildlife reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which was recently attacked by poachers.

Sankore mosque in Mali’s fabled city of Timbuktu.

On the U.S. Pacific island state of Hawaii, an invasive predator is threatening many native bird species with extinction. The predator is the mongoose, a non-native mammal introduced to the island chain over a century ago to control rats in the sugar cane fields.

The use of mercury to extract gold poses health risks to artisanal miners.

Aircrews in a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems equipped C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing drop fire retardant in support of the efforts to suppress the Waldo Canyon wildfire in Colorado Springs, CO on June 27, 2012. MAFFS equipped aircraft and crews have recently been moved from operating out of Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., to the Wyoming Air National Guard's base in Cheyenne, Wyo., to battle wildfires in Wyoming and South Dakota.

Mountains of Virgin Komi, Russia

Several thousand people in Sydney have protested a carbon tax that came into force Sunday. The government says it is a key economic and environmental reform, while critics insist it will inflict great damage on the economy.