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Category Archives: Islands

Anwar Ibrahim: Why Is RM18 Billion Placed In Cayman Islands? Who Is In Charge Of The Funds? – Video

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Anwar Ibrahim: Why Is RM18 Billion Placed In Cayman Islands? Who Is In Charge Of The Funds?
Press Conference, PKR HQ, Petaling Jaya 29/04/2014 Subscribe to us http://www.youtube.com/mediarakyat Check out our website: http://www.mediarakyat.net Faceb...

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Anwar Ibrahim: Why Is RM18 Billion Placed In Cayman Islands? Who Is In Charge Of The Funds? - Video

Sailing the Whitsunday Islands of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland Australia – Video

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Sailing the Whitsunday Islands of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland Australia
Boarding the Derwent Hunter, we went sailing along the Whitsunday Islands of the Great Barrier Reef located in Queensland, Australia. It #39;s a beautiful day here in the Whitsunday Islands. Today...

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Sailing the Whitsunday Islands of the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland Australia - Video

British Virgin Islands Tourist Board signs up to Pack for a Purpose

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Tortola, British Virgin Islands, April 30, 2014 The British Virgin Islands (BVI) Tourist Board is proud to announce its inclusion in Pack for a Purpose. Through the programme, visitors may bring much needed items such as, school and artistic supplies, books, games, and toys that may be donated to BVI schools, community projects and charities.

Pack for a Purposecombines volunteer tourism with humanitarian outreach that is tailored to suit the needs that have been specified by our local participating organisations. The programme provides a wonderful opportunity for our visitors who may wish to make a contribution to the destination through an experience that is both meaningful and impactful, said Sharon Flax-Mars, Director of Tourism.

Scrub Island Resort & Spa and Guana Island are already on board with Cooper Island Beach Club, Peter Island Spa & Resort and Necker Island joining the initiative shortly.

Scrub Islands choice of cause is The BVI Autism Centre, which is dedicated to supporting families affected by autism spectrum disorders. The BVI Autism Centre requests materials such as books, toys, and art supplies.

Guana Island is supporting the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), a project set up on Tortola to provide youths with the opportunity to engage in activities, which allow for positive outcomes. YEP requests include encyclopaedias and alphabet flash cards.

We passionately believe that BVI businesses should give back to the community. Our guests fall in love with our islands and our people. Returning guests often ask us for ways they can contribute.Pack for a Purposeticks both boxes for our hotels to give back and our visitors to feel included. For very little effort,Pack for a Purposecan make a huge impact to the BVI and the BVI Tourist Board is delighted to be able to support such a simple, yet greatly effective initiative, said Ginny Hawksley, Manager UK and Europe, BVI Tourist Board.

For a full list of the projects requirements, please visit the British Virgin Islands section on the Pack For A Purpose website atwww.packforapurpose.org/destinations/caribbean/british-virgin-islands

About the British Virgin Islands

An archipelago comprised of 60 islands and cays, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) are located approximately 50 miles east of Puerto Rico, in the northwestern region of the Caribbean Sea. The main islands are Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke. Road Town, located on Tortola, is the British Virgin Islands capital.

Renowned as one of the worlds premier sailing destinations, the BVIs dynamic and vast topography provides a unique opportunity to island hop with ease with each island characterized by its own cultural and natural wonders. Among these attractions are The Baths on Virgin Gorda, Anegadas Flamingo Pond, and Tortolas Sage Mountain. Destination highlights also include world-class yachting, snorkeling, hiking, sustainable tourism and, for diving enthusiasts, the Caribbeans most stunning wreck dives, such as the RMS Rhone.

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British Virgin Islands Tourist Board signs up to Pack for a Purpose

Marshall Islands minister: The EU needs shorter-term goals on climate

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The Foreign Affairs Minister of the Marshall Islands, a country which suffers a great deal from climate change impact, tell EurActiv's Tanka Milevska what his country needs from the developing world in terms ofdecarbonisationand stronger climate ambitions.

Tony DeBrumis the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

What is the current situation in your country and what are the main challenges youre facing?

We brought Commissioner ConnieHedegaardto the Marshall Islands in September for our Pacific Forum meeting and she saw first-hand what it means to be a small island barely two metres above sea level. Weve going through extended droughts in the North.In the South we were suffering from high tides, which closed down our airport. The situation is affecting food security, its affecting everything. The tides are washing away much of the shoreline in the main populated areas, high tides are wiping out homes and gardens and other public facilities like schools. They are also waking up the dead, literally,undermining the graveyards and exposing the bodies, the skeletons. Recently 26 bodies were exposed. These conditions not only affects the country in physical terms but also in terms of long-term plans for development and keeping up with the requirements for energy and water. Having said all that, here we are trying to work hard on climate change with our big development partners.

What do you need?

We need to clarify what the ambitions are for the big countries. The EU wants to lock in some of the goals for 2030 but there needs to be flexibility to reflect the fact science will get better over time.We think that should be shortened, 2025 is much better than 2030,and that would be something that the EU can easily accept. We are aware that the United States seems to be amenable to such an idea, and if those two agree, the rest of the world would fall in place we think.

Clarification on climate change financinghas been a long time coming. We need to make sure that the vulnerable countries have a way to deal with this threat. To not only safeguard what they have now, but also plan for the future. What happens if this rise in sea levels is uncontrollable? We ought to think about it and discusswhat aspects of development not threatened by climate changewe can secure.

In our own small sort of way, the Pacific Islands have, in co-operation with the EU, been engaged in energy projects that contribute to decarbonising the world, including thesolarisationof the Marshall Islands. We are also talking about solar-to-grid improvements in our main operationcentres, not just theMarshalls, but the Pacific Islands, with assistance from the EU.Were talking about a revamping of our transportation requirements. We need to support our islands with shipping and that requires fossil fuels and when it comes to fossil fuels were at the farthest end of the pipeline that you can be. Weare also at the bad end of the pipeline when it comes to energy production. So we want to try and find solutions to those things with our EU friends.

What are your expectations for the upcoming climate conference in Paris in 2015?

We have to have something enforceable by Paris. We think we have the opportunity and the science and we understand what needs to be done. All we need is a bit more political will to agree that something enforceable and binding must be agreed upon by the Paris meeting.

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Marshall Islands minister: The EU needs shorter-term goals on climate

Old Diaoyu Islands maps go under the hammer

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Nineteen old western maps including ones featuring the Diaoyu Islands will be highlights of first day of Xiling Academy of Traditional Arts' spring auction in Hangzhou.

Published from the mid-18th century until 1944 in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, the maps are currently owned by an European collector and will be sold on May 3, according to Li Qin, spokesperson for the academy. Previews began on Wednesday.

On these maps, the islands to the northeast of Taiwan are marked as "Haoyusu","Tiaoyousou" or "Tyaoyusu", based on the Mandarin Chinese or dialects in use when the maps were made, she said.

On the oldest map, dating back to 1752, a copy of a map drawn by French geographer and cartographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville in 1734, the islands are marked as Haoyusu, or Diaoyu in the Minnan Dialect, Li said.

These items provide fresh evidence that the islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times. Japan annexed the islands in 1895 after the First Sino-Japanese War. They are known as the Senkaku Islands.

Also under the hammer are a collection of documents revealing the Sino-Japanese ties from 1911 to 1932, including correspondence, intelligence documents, official files, memorandums, certificates, and bank statements.

Established in 1904 in the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, Xiling Academy of Traditional Arts specializes in poetry, calligraphy, painting and engraving, and has the longest history and the most wide influence in the study of seal engraving in China.

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Old Diaoyu Islands maps go under the hammer

Bay of Islands marine reserves long overdue

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Bay of Islands marine reserves long overdue

Independent conservation organisation Forest & Bird is welcoming a proposal from a local community group for two marine reserves to be created in the Bay of Islands.

Fish Forever released the proposal at a function last night (Thursday) at the Copthorne Hotel in Waitangi.

Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Katrina Goddard says the current lack of any marine reserves in the Bay is typical of the poor level of marine protection found throughout New Zealand waters.

The Bay of Islands is hugely popular with tourists, recreational anglers, and boaties, and there is an urgent need to set aside a portion of the area for full marine protection. These reserves would allow significant pockets of marine life to flourish.

Right now, snorkellers in the Bay of Islands commonly see kina barrens vast areas where the absence of crayfish and snapper has allowed kina to multiply, killing off kelp, leaving rocks bare, and starving juvenile fish of important habitats.

Easily accessible marine reserves like those proposed by Fish Forever draw huge numbers of visitors, protect biodiversity and help replenish fish stocks across the wider area, Katrina Goddard says.

More than 380,000 people visit the Goat Island Marine Reserve every year. People fishing outside the marine reserves boundaries are a common sight so its pretty clear there would be more than just conservation benefits to having no-take marine reserves in the Bay of Islands.

Less than one per cent of New Zealands total marine area is protected by marine reserves. We need marine reserves that protect all the various ocean habitats and marine life, whether in deep offshore waters, or in areas like the Bay of Islands.

We hope that plenty of New Zealanders take the opportunity to have their say on Fish Forevers proposal, Katrina Goddard says.

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Bay of Islands marine reserves long overdue


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