CITES TRADE CONTROLS TO TAKE EFFECT FOR MAHOGANY

     GENEVA, 11 November (UN Environment Programme) -- Internationally agreed trade regulations for big-leaf mahogany will enter into force on 15 November.  This tropical timber generates over $100 million a year in export sales, making it one of the world's most valuable forest products.

NEW STRATEGY FOR INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS MANAGEMENT TO BE LAUNCHED IN BANGKOK

500 Delegates Will Look at Ways to Improve Chemical Safety

(Reissued as received.)

BANGKOK, 5 November (UNEP) -- A major new effort to improve the way the world deals with chemicals begins this weekend in Bangkok, Thailand.

CHILDREN TO CONVEY THEIR VISION OF CLEANER, HEALTHIER WORLD

IN THIRTEENTH GLOBAL PAINTING CONTEST, ‘SEAS AND OCEANS’

NAIROBI, 5 November (UNEP) -- Children are being urged to pick up their paint brushes to capture on canvas the beauty, romance and threats to the marine world.

MINISTERS TO SIGN NEW ENVIRONMENTAL TREATY ON PROTECTING CASPIAN SEA

TEHRAN, 3 November (UNEP) -– Ministers from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan are meeting in Tehran today and tomorrow to adopt and sign the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea.

UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME ANNOUNCES 2003 SASAKAWA ENVIRONMENT PRIZE WINNERS

NAIROBI, 27 October (UNEP) -- Xie Zhenhua of China, who has worked tirelessly to steer the world's most populous country and fastest growing economy on an environmentally friendly path, is co-winner of this year's prestigious United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Sasakawa Environment prize.

UN ENVIRONMENT CHIEF CHALLENGES WORLD'S FINANCIERS

UNEP Launches New Initiative to Shift Investment to Sustainable Energy

UNDERWATER LIFE-SUPPORT SYSTEM DYING THROUGH IGNORANCE, UNEP SURVEY ASSERTS

First ‘World Atlas of Seagrasses’ Reveals Vital Role of Marine Meadows

LONDON/NAIROBI, 14 October (UNEP) - Manatees, dugongs and green sea turtles are just some of the growing list of already threatened species at risk from the destruction of ocean seagrass, a new report has revealed.

CARIBBEAN NATIONS REVIEW PROGRESS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN PREPARATION

FOR 2004 INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES

Call Made for Greater Transparency and Inclusion

Of Small Island Nations in Setting International Trade Standards

SCIENTISTS TURN SPOTLIGHT ON THREATS, OPPORTUNITIES

OF BOOMING MARINE AQUARIA TRADE

(Reissued as received.)

NAIROBI/LONDON, 1 October (UNEP)- - Over 20 million tropical fish, including 1,471 species ranging from the sapphire devil to the copperhead butterflyfish, are being harvested annually to supply the booming marine aquarium trade in Europe and the United States, according to the most comprehensive global survey ever undertaken.

CAN DAMS MEET HUMAN NEEDS AND BE ECO-FRIENDLY? STAKEHOLDERS SEEK SOLUTIONS

THROUGH UNEP-SPONSORED DIALOGUE

(Delayed in transmission; reissued as received.)