19 February

• European Consortium for Ocean Drilling Research (ECORD)
  Ocean-floor drilling provides essential material for studying of climate changes, bio-diversity, geophysics and geodynamics. Since 2003, the European Consortium for Ocean Drilling Research (ECORD) participates in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) under a single banner and works alongside the U.S.A, Japan, Korea, China, Australia, New Zealand and India. ECORD is also responsible for operating the mission-specific platform (MSP) expeditions in challenging environments like ice-covered areas and shallow seas. ESO is the ECORD Science Operator and ESSAC the ECORD Scientific Committee.
  More information: http://www.eso.ecord.org/

18 February

• Diving onboard Tara
  For the past fifteen days, diving has been the main item on the menu for Tara's crew. Onboard, six scientists and one cameraman are busy crisscrossing the depths of the Gulf of Tadjoura and the bay of Ghoubet, to examine the fish and coral of this region blessed with such a rich biodiversity. After 5 months spent fishing for plankton, Tara has just turned herself into a diving platform, for the first coral study session of the Tara Oceans expedition.
  More information: http://oceans.taraexpeditions.org/en/abdou-son-of-obock.php?id_page=286

10 February

• Eravikulam National Park. Kerala (India)
  A national park in the high ranges of Kerala, the Eravikulam National Park is situated in the Kannan Devan Hills of the southern Western Ghats. The wildlife park with an area of 97 sq. km. can be reached via Munnar, the famed hill station of Kerala. Located in the Devikulam Taluk of Idukki district in Kerala, after reaching Munnar, you need to take the road going to Rajamala to reach this national park.
  More information: http://www.keralatourism.org/kerala-article/197/national-park-eravikulam.php

• Dormice detective success
  Rare dormice have been recorded for the first time at a Woodland Trust wood near Chelmsford in Essex. Dormice are rare, small, nocturnal and extremely shy so they are not easy to track down. Finding out where they live requires persistence and detective work to spot the clues they leave behind. In the summer dormice build nests on low branches, using bark and leaves. These nests are abandoned in the winter when the mice find a warm place to hibernate under leaf litter on the forest floor. Graham Hart, a local volunteer naturalist, has turned dormouse detective. Trained as a dormouse monitor, he has been looking for evidence of dormice for three years.
  More information: http://www.biodiversityislife.net/?q=node/260

• The Spinosaurus were semi-aquatic dinosaurs for sure
  The Spinosaurus, an enigmatic group of carnivorous dinosaurs that lived during part of the Mesozoic period (150 to 90 million years), led a semi-aquatic way of life similar to that of current crocodiles or hippopotamus. This is what researchers from the Laboratories PaléoEnvironnements and PaléobioSphère CNRS/University Claude Bernard Lyon 1) and Geology from the Normal Superior School (CNRS/ Normal Superior School of Paris), have found, together with their colleagues from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Pekin. The isotopic composition of the oxygen contained in the fossilized rests of these dinosaurs contributed to the finding of a solution to this ecological problem that has worried paleontologists until now. These results are published in the Geology issue of February 2010.
  More information in French: http://www.insu.cnrs.fr/a3364,spinosaures-etaient-bel-bien-dinosaures-semi-aquatiques.html

• World's Biggest Snake Ate New Prehistoric Croc Species
  A new species of prehistoric croc has been unearthed in Colombia—and the ancient reptile was likely prey for the largest known snake ever to have slithered the Earth, a new study says. But if you're hoping for a prehistoric clash of the titans, you're out of luck: The 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) crocodile relative—called Cerrejonisuchus improcerus—wouldn't have stood a fighting chance against the 45-foot-long (13.7-meter-long) Titanoboa cerrejonesis, researchers say. There would have been "no competition whatsoever," said study leader Alex Hastings, a University of Florida graduate student in vertebrate paleontology who works with the school's the Florida Museum of Natural History.
  More information: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100205-worlds-largest-snake-crocodile-new-species-titanoboa/

8 February

• Lahugala and Kumana wildlife parks open
  Two of Sri Lanka’s most sought after wildlife sanctuary sites: Lahugala and Kumana situated near Arugambay, in the east of Sri Lanka reopened for visitors last Saturday. Kumana, a bird sanctuary and a main eco-tourism attraction, bordering the the Yala National Park is 391 km southeast of the Colombo while Lahugala, a wildlife sanctuary lies 318 km east of the capital city. Now clear of terrorists, and those parts that were affected by the Tsunami also coming back to former conditions, the sanctuaries are ready for the influx of both local and foreign visitors. The reopening of the two park sites coincided with the opening of two new national park offices within the precincts. The Wild Life Conservation Department and the Forest Department are preparing to open all of the 20 national parks in the island to the public by April this year.
  More information: http://www.wearedesigners.net/sltb/vol02_025.html

• The Grumpy on the Maroni River
  Tomorrow morning at 8.30, Patrice Franceschi and his crew will set sail to join the mouth of the River Maroni in the frontier with Surinam. The first scientific fieldwork tasks will begin here. The crew is currently made up of 26 members that will soon become 33 in February 15th. During the next weeks, four more expeditions will simultaneously take place. The Grumpy will serve the “mother boat”. During this period, Patrice Franceschi, captain of the Grumpy, will simultaneously guarantee the command of the ship and the coordination of the different expeditions, while Amaury Bironneau, the onboard administrator, will be in charge of terrestrial connections and Bernard Wolfrom, who was responsible for the previous base, will be responsible for the Paris connections.
  More information in French: http://la-boudeuse.org/actualite-la-boudeuse/la-boudeuse-sur-le-fleuve-maroni/

• Whales, dolphins and porpoises suffer dramatic declines from by-catch in fishing nets
  Toothed whales are currently suffering from a major threat which is unsustainable loss from by-catch in fishery operations. For 86% of all toothed whale species, entanglement and death in gillnets, traps, weirs, purse seines, longlines and trawls poses a major risk. Lack of food and forced dietary shifts due to overfishing pose additional threats to 13 species. These are among the findings of a report launched today on the website of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS). A corresponding poster available online shows for the first time all toothed whale species sorted according to their conservation status as defined by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  More information: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/
  Default.asp?DocumentID=612&ArticleID=6457&l=en

The Naturalists' Handbook Series
Anyone interested in Natural History can make original discoveries; at home or at college, in the back garden or in the countryside. The Naturalists' Handbook Series provides what an investigator needs to make novel discoveries about local plants and animals:

• a clear introduction to what is already known about the natural history of each group, highlighting topics on which further research is needed
• accurate and attractive coloured illustrations, line drawings and user-friendly keys for identification
• practical advice on techniques and approaches to publishing one's findings
• an extensive reading list and index.

As well as helping students undertaking projects at school or college, the books in this series are valued by anglers, farmers, gardeners and other naturalists. The specialists who write the books address themselves directly to people unfamiliar with their subject, hoping to share their enthusiasm with a wider audience. Compact enough to find a place in the car or rucksack, the books are lucid enough to be enjoyed by inexperienced naturalists and by students at school and university, yet authoritative enough to be useful to professional ecologists.
http://www.biologists.com/other/naturalist/naturalist.html

Buy it at the United Nations Bookshop or download it below.
http://www.centerforunreform.org/node/251

The book was launched on Friday 29 January 2010, within the framework of the International Conference on Biodiversity Science Policy and the International Year of Biodiversity.
http://portal.unesco.org/science/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8300&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Publication Online - Global Environmental Governance Forum: Reflecting on the Past, Moving into the Future
The stories of the men and women whose ideas and aspirations formed the system as we know it today brought to life the original vision for the international environmental governance architecture and laid the basis for a candid debate on governance reform. The Forum showed the importance of an historical analysis when designing institutions. One of the core principles of institutional design, which originates from the 1970s, is that form should follow function. Participants identified a set of five core functions that need to be performed by the GEG system as a whole: 1) monitoring, assessment and early warning, 2) policy and norm development, 3) capacity development, 4) enforcement, and 5) coordination.
http://environmentalgovernance.org/gegforum2009/

Analyse et modélisation du changement climatique
Deuxième édition du Livre blanc Escrime
Cet ouvrage présente, de manière davantage vulgarisée que le précédent, les analyses scientifiques effectuées par la communauté française dans le cadre du projet ESCRIME, des résultats obtenus suite aux simulations climatiques réalisées avec les modèles francais (IPSL et Météo-France) pour le 4e rapport du Groupement intergouvernemental d'experts sur l'évolution du climat (GIEC).
Les articles scientifiques publiés à l'issue de ces analyses ont alimenté les débats scientifiques des auteurs des différents chapitres du 4e rapport du GIEC dont les conclusions seront discutées (par le GIEC) lors d'une réunion qui se tiendra du 29 janvier au 1er février 2007 à Paris. Le projet Escrime a été financé par l'INSU avec le soutien de l'ONERC et de l'IDDRI et a impliqué la participation de plusieurs organismes : CNRS, CEA, Météo-France et Cerfacs.
http://www.insu.cnrs.fr/a3363,analyse-modelisation-changement-climatique.html