Source: [link] A guide for youth as the ECOSOC Youth Forum concludes at UN HQ — As the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum just finished convening at the United Nations in New York, we reflect once again on the recently launched Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their relevance to youth. Through its advocacy initiatives at the global, regional and national levels, the UNiTE campaign is working to mobilize individuals and communities. MORE

However these same countries have no problem with continuing to run up huge national debts, with demanding debt repayment by vulnerable countries (as in the current Eurozone crisis) or with crippling Third World countries with massive debt (for a damning account read John Perkins’ “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”). trillion national debt and is devaluing this debt by printing money. MORE

As governments and aid agencies scramble to deliver desalination plants and bottled water to drought stricken Pacific Island nations of Tuvalu and Tokelau, other Pacific Island nations - Samoa and the Cook Islands - are preparing for a similar fate. MORE

Accordingly, by 2020 and based on Liberal-National Party Coalition Opposition and Labor Government (aka Lib-Lab) promises of “5% off Domestic GHG pollution by 2020” and ABARE projections (see ABARE, “ Australian energy: national and state projections to 2029-30 ”), Australian Domestic plus Exported GHG pollution will be 621 Mt CO2-e (Domestic) (Australian Government, Treasury, “Strong Growth, Low Pollution. MORE

Over four hundred delegates and observers from Pacific nations and territories as well as the European Commission participated in the meeting. Members: Australia , China, Canada, Cook Islands, European Union, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, Japan, Kiribati, Korea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Chinese Taipei, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States of America, Vanuatu. MORE

It is no surprise that many governments, whether they be national or local, are looking towards banning the use of plastic bags. These are among the many reasons that the island of American Samoa has recently announced that they will be banning the use of plastic bags next year. The reports are endless regarding the build-up of plastics in our oceans and the subsequent deaths of marine animals and the increasingly poisoned seas. MORE

ppm per year (see “ Recent Mauna Loa CO2 ”, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). After the disastrous inaction of the Durban Climate Conference and the derisory First World offer of a $100 billion climate fund for poor nations, it is apparent that the greedy climate criminals (notably the US, Australia and Canada) and the other Climate Debtors will not repay their debt nor indeed stop polluting the atmosphere. MORE

Having just read the cover story in the April issue of National Geographic on bringing back extinct species, our columnist — who has spent years fretting over a conservation initiative to restore bison to the grasslands of eastern Montana — now found good reason to fear that the reintroduction of woolly mammoths and other extinct species was headed our way. Woolly mammoths: coming soon to a prairie near you? Well, not so fast. Photo: Flying Puffin under a Creative Commons license. MORE

million square kilometres of tropical waters, coral reefs and remote island atolls in the Pacific Ocean into US National Monuments (see map). "As Under the American Antiquities Act of 1906, a president does not need congressional approval to preserve public land or water for conservation as a National Monument. The US claims jurisdiction over a number of small islands and atolls across the Pacific, including American Samoa, Wake Island and the Northern Mariana Islands. MORE

It would be an international shame for Australia and send a shocking message that even the wealthiest nations cant manage their reefs," Felicity Wishart, director of Fight for the Reef , said. This includes reefs in the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Navassa Island, Florida, Flower Garden Banks, the Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, the Pacific Remote Islands, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and Palau. Skip to Navigation. Skip to Content. MORE

But that tragedy is compounded when the species at risk is a country’s national bird. Sadly, that is indeed the situation in Samoa, where the Manumea , or Tooth-billed Pigeon , numbers fewer than 200 individuals. For more info on both species, check out this video from Samoa’s Ministry of Environment. It’s always tragic when a species goes extinct. Americans of a certain age will recall how close their country came to losing the Bald Eagle.). MORE

Subspecies pealei , National Park of American Samoa. All the way back in 2011 I wrote about the confusing taxanomic enigma that is the Collared Kingfisher , a species that ranges from the Red Sea to Tonga in a bewildering variety of forms. I’m happy to report that an analysis of the species and some relatives has found that, as suspected, it isn’t a single species. MORE

The Collared Kingfisher isn’t the most widespread kingfisher in the world (a distinction that would probably go to the Common Kingfisher or the Pied Kingfisher ), but it is close, ranging from the African coast of the Red Sea through to Tonga and American Samoa. Almost six thousands kilometres away, on Tutuila in American Samoa, there is another population of mostly white-headed Collared Kingfishers. Subspecies pealei , National Park of American Samoa. MORE

| Green Travel News | Each year, Ethical Traveler reviews the policies and practices of the world’s developing nations, then selects the ten that are doing the best job of preserving their environment, promoting human rights and creating a sustainable, community-based tourism industry. MORE

160,000), American Samoa (55,000), and the Northern Mariana Islands (54,000). The ABA purports to be the national association of birders for the United States and Canada. Simply put, the current ABA Area does not reflect the true diversity of the birds of the United States, a manifest shortcoming for a national birding association. Some are unique: El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the National Forest System. MORE

” A Nicobar Pigeon bathes at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington © David J. Thankfully not extinct: Western Crowned-Pigeon ( Goura cristata ) at the National Zoo © David J. The Dodo ( Raphus cucullatus ) — that towering icon of modern anthropogenic extinctions — was a pigeon. MORE