While much research has focused on the striking differences in biodiversity between tropical and temperate regions, another, equally dramatic, pattern has gone largely unstudied: the differences in species richness among Earth's three major habitat types—land, oceans and freshwater.
This report is the result of a collaboration between the Convention on Migratory Species and the UN Environment Programme as part of the CounterMEASURE II plastic pollution programme, generously funded by the Government of Japan, to assess the impact of plastic pollution in the Asia-Pacific region. It was prepared for the CMS Secretariat by the National Oceanography Centre, UK. This report is an important addition to knowledge on the threat of plastic pollution on CMS-listed species in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in the region.
More than 500 dams are planned or under construction within protected areas, according to a new study published in Conservation Letters.