Are protected areas working when it comes to promoting biodivesity? A new study, published in Nature Communications, shows that local biodiversity is actually higher within, rather than outside protected areas.

Abstract: 

Protected areas are widely considered essential for biodiversity conservation. However, few global studies have demonstrated that protection benefits a broad range of species. Here, using a new global biodiversity database with unprecedented geographic and taxonomic coverage, we compare four biodiversity measures at sites sampled in multiple land uses inside and outside protected areas. Globally, species richness is 10.6% higher and abundance 14.5% higher in samples taken inside protected areas compared with samples taken outside, but neither rarefaction-based richness nor endemicity differ significantly. Importantly, we show that the positive effects of protection are mostly attributable to differences in land use between protected and unprotected sites. Nonetheless, even within some human-dominated land uses, species richness and abundance are higher in protected sites. Our results reinforce the global importance of protected areas but suggest that protection does not consistently benefit species with small ranges or increase the variety of ecological niches.

Original Source:

The original article is openly accessible at:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12306

Held once every 10 years, the IUCN World Parks Congress provides a unique opportunity to bring about change, not only for today, or tomorrow, but for the decade ahead. It will be a gathering not just for protected area professionals but for everyone who cares about the health of humanity and our natural world.  On behalf of the IUCN and its partners, Parks Australia and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services,  I encourage you all to join us on this journey and help provide inspiring solutions for our planet’s most precious natural areas.

Congress registration is now open online. The ‘Early Bird’ registration fee is available until 30 June, and you can also benefit from the preferential rates for IUCN Members, Commission members and staff.

An excellent way to keep up to date is to visit the World Parks Congress website and to subscribe to the Congress newsletter.

The SETAC Europe 25^th Annual Meeting will be held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, from 3-7 May 2015.  

The innovative use of chemicals and nanomaterials in new technologies, industry and agriculture challenges many aspects of the ecosystem functioning of the global environment. However, these new technologies and materials also offer opportunities to remediate or minimise these anthropogenic insults. Finding innovative solutions to environmental problems is ever more important in the current economic scenario.  This international conference brings together experts from government, industry, consultancy and academia to meet this challenge. The conference will focus on the most recent advances in environmental sciences and will provide platforms for implementing this knowledge, for improving the protection of our environment and to shape policies from current viewpoints to future needs.

Learn more here: http://barcelona.setac.eu/general_info/welcome!/?contentid=790&pr_id=766&last=769&sub=790

The Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) is a worldwide network, founded in 2008, to enhance the science and practical application of ecosystem services. To facilitate the needed dialogue between scientists, policy makers and practitioners ESP organises an annual international conference in different parts of the world.

8th ESP World Coference will be held in South Africa from 9-13 November 2015 and is hosted at a very special location: Spier Wine farm and Conference Centre in Stellenbosch.

The central theme is ‘Ecosystem Services for Nature, People and Prosperity’. The conference will pay special attention to the public and private sector dialogue on how the ecosystem services concept can be used to support conservation, improve livelihoods and engage the business community.

We especially encourage delegates from businesses to attend the ESP conference in order to discuss challenges and opportunities in using the concept of ecosystem services to achieve conservation and sustainable use of our ‘natural capital’ within a market-context. The conference will provide an excellent platform to engage with experts who can generate solutions to these challenges and start making a difference in practice.

For more information and for registration, please visit the conference website: http://espconference.org/espconference2015

Held once every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress brings together several thousand leaders and decision-makers from government, civil society, indigenous peoples, business, and academia, with the goal of conserving the environment and harnessing the solutions nature offers to global challenges. The next Congress will take place 1-10 September in the Hawaiʻi Convention Center, in the Hawaiian capital, Honolulu. It is being hosted by the State of Hawaiʻi with the support of the Department of State of the USA.

The Congress aims to improve how we manage our natural environment for human, social and economic development, but this cannot be achieved by conservationists alone. The IUCN Congress is the place to put aside differences and work together to create good environmental governance, engaging all parts of society to share both the responsibilities and the benefits of conservation.

The Congress is the place where IUCN’s more than 1,300 Member organisations exercise their rights, influence the global conservation agenda and guide IUCN’s work plan for the four years to follow.

Find out more here: http://www.iucnworldconservationcongress.org/

Nathan Eovaldi was a dependable starter for the Red Sox over five seasons, especially in October.

The post Red Sox have reportedly shown ‘interest’ in reunion with 2018 World Series hero  appeared first on Boston.com.

"Come on, man, show some love to Papi."

The post David Ortiz enjoyed soaking up jeers from Yankee fans during World Series coverage appeared first on Boston.com.

"I don't know if I've ever quite seen anything like this, especially in a World Series or postseason game."

The post David Ortiz and former Yankees roasted New York ‘meltdown’ in World Series loss appeared first on Boston.com.

Amazing Piano Stairs From Around The World 1. Piano Stairs in Stockholm, Sweden blendingpoint.com “Piano Stairs” is an interactive playful musical stairway installation created into ... Read more

The post 10 Amazing Piano Stairs From Around The World appeared first on CMUSE.

Post-pandemic, the opportunity to enjoy live music and music festivals at home, abroad or further afield is again possible. The plethora of options is almost ... Read more

The post Classical Music Festivals Around The World appeared first on CMUSE.

Here's why Boston was just named one of the most beautiful places for a winter getaway by Afar in a recent travel article.

The post Boston named one of the world’s most beautiful places for a winter getaway appeared first on Boston.com.

"Here's a little fun fact: That guy right there grabbing Mookie Betts' glove was my friend in college."

The post Rob Gronkowski said he knows Yankees fan who was ejected from World Series game for interference appeared first on Boston.com.

The fate of the Amazon is in jeopardy. Logging, cattle ranching, and soya bean farming are threatening its very existence. But the threat doesn’t end there; carbon dioxide coming from cities thousands of miles away is altering tropical forests and the climate on a much larger scale. In this special edition we travel to Brazil to find out why the fate Amazon is more consequential than ever and meet some of the people fighting to preserve it.

(Claudio da Silva and the Guajajara Guardians of the Forest ride up the Caru River to investigate a report of illegal cutting on Guajajara land. Credit: Sam Eaton/The World)

It wasn’t easy for Elton John to get producers to keep all the scenes in his new fantasy-biopic, “Rocketman.” He was determined that the Paramount film not gloss over his sexuality or past drug use. Despite his efforts, Russia’s version appears to be missing about five minutes-worth of footage. .

Also, we meet the American singer who teaches Italian kids how to sing like Beyoncé; plus the story of how Lucia Lucas became the first transgender person to sing a lead part in a standard operatic work in the US; why Lincoln, Nebraska is a great place to hear traditional Yazidi music; and Filipina-American musician Ruby Ibarra tells her family story with rap.

(Elton John (R) and David Furnish attend the "Rocketman" UK Premiere at Odeon Leicester Square in London, United Kingdom. Credit: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

We all have similar questions about the coronavirus pandemic. When will it end? How do we recover? Is it safe to visit friends and extended family? Most of us look to medical experts and our elected officials for guidance. Historically, as a superpower, the US has taken a lead in times of global crisis. Former NATO ambassador Nicholas Burns says this is not currently the case.

Female leaders are being praised for the way they are leading their nations in these uncertain times, so does gender affect governing style? Jon Huntsman, a former US ambassador to China says that during this pandemic the ‘stakes are high’ for the US-China relationship. Russia expert Fiona Hill explains how President Vladimir Putin has become a ‘wild card’ in Russia's political system. And cybersecurity chiefs, from Facebook and Twitter, explain what they are doing to combat false information in the age of the coronavirus.

Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing about coronavirus testing in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC (Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

By baseball’s modern viewership standards — and the standards of some other major professional sports — the World Series was a huge success.

The post Dodgers-Yankees World Series was a hit with viewers, but it could’ve been so much more appeared first on Boston.com.

In This thread , lets try to get all results and goal scorer for upcoming Exposure tour before world cup 

FIFA identified India as a possible host of U-17 WC in 2017 or 2019. If India can manage to build minimum seven world class stadiums then FIFA will give their green signal. It will be a great boost for Indian football as we will get a direct entry and also infrastructure will develop rapidly.

News Source - Anandabazar Patrika dated 11/06/2011

This week James and Dustin talk through the importance of discipleship and how it can strengthen our day lives. Do we really need it? How does true discipleship function? See what the guys have to say in this weeks episode. 

-----------------

The Worship Podcast is powered by All About Worship in partnership with WeAreWorship.

Subscribe to the podcast:
theworshippodcast.com
linktr.ee/theworshippodcast 

You can also connect with The Worship Podcast on social media:
The Worship Podcast on Facebook
The Worship Podcast on Instagram
The Worship Podcast on Twitter

This is coming from a Cardinals fan...

20 Years After the Berlin Wall, Bibles confiscated in Malaysia, Iran closes church, Reaching Iran with the Gospel.

On this week's WorldWatch report - Somalia and Homeschoolers in UK.

On this week's WorldWatch report - Olympic Outreach

On this week's WorldWatch report - China, Myanmar and Haiti.

On this week's WorldWatch report - U.K. Foster Care, Palau in Vietnam, and Cambodia survivors.

On this week's WorldWatch report - Luis Palau in Vietnam, Billy Graham's My Hope Campaign in Dominican Republic and Sign-Language Bible.

On this week's WorldWatch report - Britian used to be the heart of Christian civilization in Europe. Now, the faith is under attack.

On this week's WorldWatch report - North Korea Freedom Week: Christians are gathering in Seoul, South Korea, for a week of prayer and protests to bring about change in one of the darkest countries on earth: North Korea.

WorldWatch: May 21, 2010

On this week's WorldWatch report - Execution in Somalia, Minarets in Sweden, Home Church members jailed China, Messianic jews harassed in Isreal and UK Christian Radio.

On this week's edition of The Watchman, we're joined by Joel Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of "The Islamic Antichrist," to discuss his new book, "When a Jew Rules the World."

Israel's Miracle: 'Stand Up Nation' Battles Existential Threats While Helping Repair the World

Moscow unleashed a horrific attack on Ukraine after a daring invasion into Russian territory.

How President Trump might be alienating his strongest supporters.

A profound spiritual transformation is unfolding in the Amazon rainforest.

The fighting between Israel and Lebanon has reached a dangerous new phase.

Christians are caught in the middle of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Millions of Christians flee danger in Nigeria

A Haitian gang leader pledges to protect missionaries and orphanages.

Israelis huddled in bomb shelters as the missiles streaked across the sky.

Double hurricanes bring massive devastation to the U.S.

Israeli forces found and killed the Hamas leader after a year of hiding.

Israel's new Foreign Minister Gidon Sa'ar warns that Israel is battling a level of antisemitism not experienced since World War II, and says international countries have to take steps to protect Jews, and Sa'ar says there's been progress ...

We owe our past and future existence on Earth to fungi. Some can heal you, some can kill you, and some can change you forever. And the people who love them are convinced that mushrooms explain the world.

Original Air Date: June 08, 2019

Guests:

Lawrence Millman — Paul Stamets — Eugenia Bone — Michael Pollan — Dennis McKenna — Robin Carhart-Harris

Interviews In This Hour:

Humanity? It All Started With The Raven and Fungus Man — The Soil-Cleaning, Insect-Warding, Smallpox-Curing Power of Mushrooms — From Candy Caps To Morels: Notes From A Mushroom Hunter's Cookbook — John Cage, Vaclav Halek and the Marvels of Mushroom Music — Did Magic Mushrooms Shape Human Consciousness? — 'Fantastic Fungi' And How To Film Them

As this week unfolds, half of America will be furious, or crushed in spirit to say the least. Hundreds of millions of others will be elated, full of joy. Of course, a disinterested smaller segment of the population will yawn their way through the news of the day. Truly a nation divided, far from Jesus’ prayer for unity found in John 17. As news junkies and concerned citizens monitor election results and their given candidate’s victory or defeat, our gaze unfortunately shifts from loving God...

How an Italian immigrant and his wife started a specialty plastering company.

Before you hurt yourself jumping out of your Barcalounger so you can dial up the editor to launch complaints about this piece, a thread on the Walls and Ceilings bulletin board regarding "Box Marts" struck a nerve in yours truly and was the motivation behind this month's diatribe.