The World Diamond Council, representing all segments of the global diamond industry, has joined 100 international human rights groups, in calling for swift passage of legislation to bar US imports of diamonds from conflict areas.

Skeptical environmentalist, Dr Bjørn Lomborg believes ecological groups are misleading us with their doomesday predictions. Roger Highfield reports.

In Paris last week, an international conference on BSE urged all countries to assess the risk and take precautionary measures against developing BSE in cattle and the human disease vCJD. The conference was jointly organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), FAO and the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE).

Water Management in Islam, was recently published by IDRC and United Nations University Press. Stephen Dale recently interviewed two of the book's co-editors, Professor Asit K. Biswas and Dr Murad J. Bino, for IDRC Reports Online.

The first international agreement on the conservation of albatrosses and petrels was signed here today by officials from all southern hemisphere nations surrounding the Southern Ocean who pledged to protect these threatened migratory seabirds.

If governments do not act quickly to discourage the building of cities for cars, the international effort to control global warming will become much more difficult, reports a new study by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization.

A novel urban renewal programme in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, has been used at the UN General Assembly's "Istanbul plus 5" special session on human shelter to demonstrate the potential for partnership between communities and local government in improving urban services and amenities.

The Institute of Environmental Studies (IES) at the University of Zimbabwe announces its website. You will also be able to access the website with information on the activities of the Southern African Network for Training and Research on the Environment Here you will find information about the diferent projects going on at the institute and also the different publications from the Institutes and its associates in many different countries. This is a valuable site for finding information on the environmental activities in Zimbabwe and in Southern Africa.

DJIBOUTI-VILLE, Djibouti, June 13, 2001 - Traders in the city center marketplace openly selling wildlife products restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) were raided Friday by government authorities on a mission. With the assistance of 25 police, officials inspected over 40 stalls at the Rue de Brazaville and seized 16 ivory pieces, 11 sea turtle shells, including three hawksbill turtle shells, nine leopard skins, two cheetah skins, the hide from a spotted hyena and nearly 250 ostrich eggs.

The European Commission is holding out a carrot to entice developing countries into making environmental sustainability a pillar of their international trade programs. The Commission has proposed that developing countries meeting certain environmental standards be eligible for tariff concessions on their exports to the European Union.

International Finance Corporation, the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank, has postponed a decision on funding oil services companies in the Niger Delta following protests from environmental campaigners.

Duration: Two years (Renewable) Duty Station: Nairobi, Kenya; Closing Date for Applications: 30 June 2001; Contact Details: Executive Director African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) P.O. Box 45917, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel. (+254-2) 527 400/07/09 E-mailed applications are encouraged.

Is it really a lack of the right technology that is keeping solar power off the mass market? Or is the light from our nearest star, the Sun, being held hostage by an economy that is devoted to using up the Earth's last drops of fossil fuel at all cost?

More than 100 countries in all climatic regions on all continents are seriously affected by desertification, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today in a statement marking the UN's World Day to Combat Desertification on Sunday.

A bull called Mwalimu helped save the lives of hundreds of cattle in Kenya's Baringo District during a recent drought. Mwalimu means "teacher" in Swahili and this bull taught other cattle to do something that does not come naturally to them - eat cactus.

As policy makers around the world grapple with the economic and political issues raised by climate change, Dr. Robert Watson, the World Bank's Chief Scientist and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), called on the international community to "keep the scientific warnings of the potential effects of climate change uppermost, as we work together to limit the magnitude of climate change in a cost-effective way, and make ourselves less vulnerable to the climatic changes that lie ahead."

Looks at the interactions between wild biodiversity and agriculture around the world. It outlines a new solution to the biodiversity extinction crisis based on a new understanding of wildlife biology and ecology, on-the-ground experimentation, and major scientific advances in genetics, remote sensing, and other fields. The recommended approach, called ecoagriculture, seeks to help farmers, most urgently those living in or near biodiversity hotspots, to grow more food while conserving habitats critical to wildlife.

Cities in the developing world are at the forefront of the global struggle to achieve better living standards. How urban residents and their governments meet the challenges of rapid population growth and development will largely determine the kind of world that lies ahead.

The Japanese government has suspended funding to a controversial hydroelectric power project in Western Kenya which is still in the first phase of construction. Citing "environmental disruption and corruption" in a letter to the government of Kenya, Japan's Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka indicated that suspension of funding for the Sondu Miriu hydropower dam project was "a response to criticism from environmental campaigners and differences between Kenya and Japan over further funding."

A leading African environmentalist, Dr. Calestous Juma, has received the prestigious Henry Shaw Medal for his dedication to protecting the environment while promoting sustainable development. The award honours Juma as "one of the world's leading authorities on protecting the environment while promoting ethical sustainable development in developing countries". He called on the international community to work towards blending environmental goals with development strategies.