Turkey: 3 Germans fined for collecting endangered reptiles

Three Germans have been fined about 44,565 U.S. dollars for collecting endangered snakes, lizards and plants in Turkey, local media reported.

Boat protest against Canaries oil prospecting

LANZAROTE, Spain: Protesters plunged half-naked into the icy sea and unfurled banners on Saturday (Dec 13) to try to stop oil prospecting near Spain's Canary Islands, a major tourist destination.

Ten boats from the archipelago took protesters eight nautical miles from where Spanish firm Repsol is exploring with a view to possibly drilling off the islands in the Atlantic ocean.

Rosneft to study Arctic’s fauna to protect it during oil exploration

Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft will monitor marine fauna in the Northern Sea Route in 2014 in a bid to preserve marine life during oil exploration, the company’s press release says.

“The objective of the said studies is collection of data on marine fauna in Rosneft License Areas with a view to building a complete and detailed picture of the baseline environment state and developing a set of environmental controls to be applied during hydrocarbons exploration and production,” Rosneft said in a press release released Wednesday.

UN adopts new global platform to tackle wildlife, forest crime

UN,  21 May 2014 – In response to the rising levels of illicit trafficking of fauna and flora, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has adopted a new global platform taking aim at this “particularly devastating’ form of organized crime involving a raft of illegal activities – from poaching to timber smuggling and money laundering.

The Global Programme for Combatting Wildlife and Forest Crime will be implemented over the next four years and is an important step towards building Government capacity to prevent and combat such crime on a regional, national and local basis. It will also raise awareness to contribute to the reduction of demand for wild fauna and flora.