Many governments are ignoring alien invasive species such as weeds or rats that may be causing $1.4 trillion damage a year to the world economy, the head of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) said on Friday.

The magnitude of the international wildlife trade is immense, with estimates of billions of live animals and animal products traded globally each year. This trade has facilitated the introduction of species to new regions, where they compete with native species for resources, alter ecosystems, damage infrastructure, and destroy crops.

In light of the impact invasive alien species have, the Convention on Biological Diversity recognizes the importance of preventing the introduction of, and controlling or eradicating alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats and native species. This brochure highlights the threat invasive alien species pose to biodiversity and what each of us can do to tackle the problem.

Tamil Nadu forest department plans to weed out algae manually A RED alga grown commercially for its starch extract in the Gulf of Mannar, off Tamil Nadu, is said to be choking the coral reef in the protected area. There is no conclusive finding whether the corals are threatened, but the state forest department is not taking chances. It has decided to weed them manually.

food The secret of cheese For the past 800 years, farmers in Gouda, Netherlands, were making a yellow creamy cheese, from cow

This paper summarises the proceedings of the first IUCN Workshop on Biofuels and Invasive Species, held in Nairobi on the 20th-22nd April 2009.

The objective of this Pacific Ocean synthesis is to comprehensively and systematically survey the published scientific literature, government publications and other peer-reviewed reports to identify Pacific Ocean and regional threats as well as the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of those threats.

The paper presents the findings of 7year long field trial of a fodder plantation technique specially designed for enrichment of wildlife habitats by biological displacement of Lantana cover by bamboo in a Lantana-infested area. The field trial was carried out between 1995-96 and 2002-03 in Rajaji National Park.

It could have come from plants, thinks Karnataka Four wild elephants, found dead in Nanjangud, 25 km from Mysore, in November 2008, died of cyanide poisoning. Chemical analysis ordered by the Karnataka forest department has confirmed this. The deaths made the high court take notice for the first time of the increasing number of unnatural deaths among elephants in the state. In December it

In his attempt to track avian flu in China, Peng Gong ended up creating the only comprehensive wetlands map the country has. When Gong compared that map, described in an article published in Chinese last month, to another as-yet unpublished one, he found that nearly 30% of China

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