Martha Rojas Urrego says restoring such areas as bogs and mangroves can prevent species extinction and have all sorts of other beneficial effects

AN international conference aimed at preserving the planet’s diversity of plants and animals in the face of pollution and habitat loss begins today in Japan, facing some of the same divisions between rich and poornations that have stalled UN climate talks.

WITH a few gentle wing flaps and expressions of godspeed from well-wishers, white-tailed eagles were again soaring across Irish skies, yesterday, for the first time in 100 years.

A five-year breeding experiment to re-introduce eagles in Ireland takes flight today.