The Down Side of Remote Pacific Islands – The Disappearing Species of New Zealand.

Hawai'i is the third largest island in the Pacific after the North and South Islands of New Zealand. Each has a reputation for beautiful landscapes but all have experienced extraordinary losses of their unique flora and fauna. When man arrived on Pacific Islands, most low altitude habitats were rapidly degraded and indigenous species either lost or pushed into rapid decline; but sadly many people fail to recognise the problem. On islands where there are higher altitudes many indigenous species cling on, but invariably they are compromised in some way, in particular by introduced pests.  To the casual observer Pacific Islands appear…

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Belize: The Down Side – Deforestation.

During a recent visit to Belize with my wife and daughter, it was impossible not to appreciate the beauty of the flora and fauna of what many regard as a a sub-tropical paradise. "But, there is something missing", said my wife, "and I'm not sure what it is". I thought about this for while and if I had to put it down to one particular thing, then it would have to be a lack of primary forest. Figures for deforestation are sketchy for Belize and what we believe sometimes depends on where the figures come from - certainly it would…

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