1996 in the environment

Events

• The IPCC Second Assessment Report is published.
• The woodchipping of indigenous forests in New Zealand is stopped.
• The Western Shield wildlife conservation programme commences in Western Australia.
• Construction of the Bakun Dam begins in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. When completed it will flood of rainforest and displace more than 9000 indigenous people.

  January

• The North Cape oil spill occurred when the tank barge North Cape and the tug Scandia grounded on Moonstone Beach in South Kingstown, Rhode Island in the United States.

  February

• The Sea Empress oil spill occurred at the entrance to the Milford Haven Waterway in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

  May

• The Convention of the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region or Nairobi Convention of 1985, a regional framework agreement for marine environmental management, comes into effect.
• US president Bill Clinton signed the Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act.

  June

• The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act is passed in New Zealand.

  August

• US president Bill Clinton signed the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996.
• US president Bill Clinton signed the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996.

  November

• World-renowned bird expert Tony Silva is sentenced to seven years in prison without parole for leading an illegal parrot smuggling ring.

  December

• The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification entered into force.