Ivory tusks seized during an anti-smuggling operation are displayed during a Hong Kong Customs press conference on October 20, 2012 Officials travelling to Tanzania with Chinese President Xi Jinping went on a buying spree for illegal ivory, an environmental activist group has said. The delegation bought so much ivory prices in the local market soared, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said in a report. Tanzania rejected the report as "stupid nonsense". China said the allegations were "groundless". Conservationists say demand for ivory in China is fuelling poaching. In recent years, poaching has increased across sub-Saharan Africa, with criminal gangs slaughtering elephants for ivory. Tanzania is the largest source of poached ivory in the world, according to the EIA. 'Security checks averted' The EIA report cited a trader in Tanzania's main port city, Dar es Salaam, named as Suleiman Mochiwa, who met undercover investigators. He said that when the Chinese government and business delegation arrived, ivory prices in the local market doubled to $700 (£438) per kilo during the visit. Earlier this year China destroyed a large quantity of confiscated ivory for the first time "The [delegation]... used the opportunity to procure such a large amount of ivory that local prices increased," the report says. Investigators alleged that the Chinese buyers could take advantage of a lack of security checks for those in the country on a diplomatic visit.

Corals are likely to suffer as a result of the changes to our oceans The health of the world’s oceans is deteriorating even faster than had previously been thought, a report says. A review from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), warns that the oceans are facing multiple threats. They are being heated by climate change, turned slowly less alkaline by absorbing CO2, and suffering from overfishing and pollution. The report warns that dead zones formed by fertiliser run-off are a problem. It says conditions are ripe for the sort of mass extinction event that has afflicted the oceans in the past. It says: “We have been taking the ocean for granted. It has been shielding us from the worst effects of accelerating climate change by absorbing excess CO2 from the atmosphere. “Whilst terrestrial temperature increases may be experiencing a pause, the ocean continues to warm regardless. For the most part, however, the public and policymakers are failing to recognise - or choosing to ignore - the severity of the situation.” It says the cocktail of threats facing the ocean is more powerful than the individual problems themselves. Coral reefs, for instance, are suffering from the higher temperatures and the effects of acidification whilst also being weakened by bad fishing practices, pollution, siltation and toxic algal blooms. IPSO, funded by charitable foundations, is publishing a set of five papers based on workshops in 2011 and 2012 in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN’s) World Commission on Protected Areas.

Belo monte - The proposed Belo Monte dam will be one of the biggest in the world, but deforestation could limit the amount of energy generated Deforestation in the Amazon region could significantly reduce the amount of electricity produced from hydropower, says a new study. Scientists say the rainforest is critical in generating the streams and rivers that ultimately turn turbines. If trees continue to be felled, the energy produced by one of the world's biggest dams could be cut by a third. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Many countries in tropical regions are turning to hydropower as an untapped source of energy. In Brazil around 45 new hydro plants are in the planning stage. “We now have very strong evidence that Brazil's ability to generate electricity depends on forest conservation” Dr Daniel Nepstad Rainforests, by their very name, are prime locations for the dams that are usually required to create the force of water needed to generate electric power. Until now the presumption has been that cutting down the trees near a dam actually increased the amount of water flowing into the dams. Trees of life But in this new study the researchers took a broader look at the climate projections for the Amazon basin and not just at the rivers on which the dams were built. They found that rainforests are more critical than previously thought as they produce the rain that fills the streams that ultimately drives the rivers and the turbines.

Climate change: Soot's role underestimated

The burning of wood is a major source of black carbon the world over.

Black carbon, or soot, is making a much larger contribution to global warming than previously recognised, according to research.

Scientists say that particles from diesel engines and wood burning could be having twice as much warming effect as assessed in past estimates. They say it ranks second only to carbon dioxide as the most important climate-warming agent. The research is in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. Black carbon aerosols have been known to warm the atmosphere for many years by absorbing sunlight. They also speed the melting of ice and snow. This new study concludes the dark particles are having a warming effect approximately two thirds that of carbon dioxide, and greater than methane.

South Georgia prepares to cull its invasive reindeer

Reindeer have caused great damage to the fragile South Georgian eco-system, trampling native plants and destroying birds' nests and penguin habitats.  

The world's mostly southerly herd of reindeer is to be culled to try to save the environment of the island of South Georgia. The 3,000 reindeer are trampling native plants, causing erosion and endangering king penguins and other local birds by destroying their nests and habitat. A team of Sami herdsmen from Norway have arrived and are preparing to round up and kill the reindeer. The operation is expected to take two southern hemisphere summers.