A pet sea turtle that has been held in captivity for most of its life finally made its way back home to the Red Sea. The male sea turtle, named Halashka, was captured by a fisherman in Aqaba?s southern sea port in Jordan nearly three years ago and sold to a pet shop in Amman.

About 250 live Asian Elephants have been smuggled from Myanmar in the past decade, mostly destined for ?elephant trekking? tourism activities in neighbouring Thailand, reveals a report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, a joint programme of IUCN and WWF.

India is a hub of the wild-collected plant medicine industry in Asia, but key species have declined due to over-collection to supply domestic and foreign medicinal markets, according to IUCN and TRAFFIC researchers.

In a step towards enhancing the understanding for better management of protected areas in the West Asia region, IUCN West Asia/Middle East Regional Office has taken the lead to translate three WCPA Guidelines on Protected Areas Management to the Arabic Language.

Supporting the national dialogue on forest law enforcement, governance and trade

Spreading environmental awareness in the West Asia region is one of the major focuses of IUCN West Asia/Middle East Regional Office. A regional workshop on ?How to Design and Implement a Public Awareness Campaign? was conducted by Capacity Building International Germany (InWent) in partnership with IUCN WAME during October 26-30, 2008 in Amman ? Jordan.

By the end of this year a first-time record of 3.3 billion people, more than half of the world?s population, are expected to live in urban areas according to the UN. 

Four young children from West Asia have participated in the Sailing to Barcelona initiative during the IUCN World Conservation Congress. Those young leaders; aged 12 to 14, have sailed all the way from the Red Sea along with eight other kids, starting from Saudi Arabia, stopping in Jordan, Lebanon and Greece. Four of those children arrived in Barcelona on October 4th along with other world leaders who met in Barcelona to discuss and influence the future of the planet. The children where accompanied by a TV crew who filmed the whole journey.

A new fund that places species conservation at the forefront of the environmental debate was announced on the sidelines of the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC). The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund is a 25 million Euro endowment fund established by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who hopes to make a genuine contribution to species conservation worldwide when the Fund?s operations commence in January 2009.

VIPs gather on board Prince Turki Bin Nasser?s boat ?Sarah? 
Barcelona, Spain, 9 October 2008 ? Sustainability leaders from around the world gathered on board Prince Turki Bin Nasser Bin Abdulaziz?s yacht ?Sarah? in Barcelona, where they shared their inspiring ideas and thoughts about the environment and the pressing need to face the global environmental challenge.

Have ecosystems really an economic interest for people? And are people really interested to make sure that ecosystems will not degrade? Those questions were raised during the Rewarding Ecosystems in the West Asia session on October 7th, 2008, during the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The session discussed the benefit exchanged between the ecosystems and people, highlighting this dual challenge and focusing on conditions in the West Asia.

Background: Global leaders from different parts of the world will be joining the World Sustainability Leaders VIP Dialogue hosted on board the Yacht of HRH Prince Turki Bin Naser Bin Abdelaziz, President of Presidency of Meteorology and Environment in Saudi Arabia on October 7, 2008, in Barcelona. This yacht will carry selected global leaders who will share their success stories and best practices in their countries and organizations. This event is held during the IUCN World Conservation Congress taking place between 5-14 October, 2008 in Barcelona.

Japan, which is due to host the 10th UN Biodiversity Conference in 2010, has signed the Countdown 2010 Declaration to halt or reduce the loss of biodiversity. The move came while ministers from Asia gathered at the Eco-Asia Summit in Japan.

IUCN and the Regional Organization for Conservation of Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) recently joined forces to deliver a training course on the Economic Valuation of Damage by Ship Grounding on Coral Reefs.

Five highly resourceful and innovative local entrepreneurial partnerships which can contribute to the Millennium Development Goals were today celebrated as the SEED Initiative announced its 2008 SEED Awards for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development.

A panel of whale scientists convened by IUCN has addressed an open letter to the Russian Prime Minister to highlight the lack of transparency in oil operations off eastern Russia, which could seriously imact the already critically-endangered western gray whale population .

9 July, 2008, Cairo, Egypt ? Under the Patronage of HE Dr Mahmoud Abu Zeid President of the Arab Water Council and Egyptian Minister of Water & Irrigation, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) through its West Asia Middle East Regional Office is holding a Regional Dialogue on the Future of Ground Water in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Region between 12-14 July, 2008 in Cairo. This dialogue is held in cooperation with Center for Environment & Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), The Arab Water Council and funded by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGCS), IUCN Water & Nature Initiative (WANI), in addition to the Global Water Partnership ? MED.

The 4th Asian Wetland Symposium (AWS), held. in Hanoi from 22 to 25, June 2008, identified ten urgent and immediate actions to address current threats to wetlands and challenges in wetland management.  It calls on decision-makers to give priority these issues of conservation and sustainable management in Asia.

IUCN marks World Environment Day by holding a regional debate on Future of Sustainability in the Arab Region. In light of the global crisis in water, food and energy, Arab experts from governments, civil society, youth and private sector have gathered in Alexandria to discuss the issue of Future of Sustainability in the Arab Region. In this regional debate entitled ?Future of Sustainability Debate in the Arab Region: Voices from the South?, special focus was given to the innovative solutions that are urgently needed to control the economical, environmental and social challenges facing the region today.

One of the main aims of IUCN West Asia/Middle East (WAME) strategy is to strengthen its presence and raise its profile in the Arabian Gulf Region. In line with this strategic aim, a team from IUCN West Asia/ Middle East (WAME) has undertaken a mission to UAE, Abu Dhabi, where they met the Secretary General of the Environmental Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD).