Conservation tech prize with invasive species focus announces finalists
The Con X Tech Prize just announced its second round will be funding 20 finalists each with $3,500 to create their first prototypes. Some 150 teams submitted ideas that use…
“Part of something bigger”: the social movement around New Zealand’s Predator-Free 2050 goal
In Whāingaroa/Raglan on New Zealand’s (NZ’s) west coast, trapping for introduced mammals that prey on endangered native birds is something of a competitive sport. Karioi Project, a local conservation NGO…
Primates lose ground to surging commodity production in their habitats
The global trade of products that come at the expense of tropical forest is driving many primate species closer to extinction, a new study suggests. The research, published June 17…
Exotic pet trade responsible for hundreds of invasive species around the globe
Last April, a male Burmese python led researchers at the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Florida Everglades straight to a 17-foot female that was carrying 73 developing eggs. The…
Predator-free by 2050? High-tech hopes for New Zealand’s big conservation dream
When the British explorer James Cook circumnavigated the islands that he would later call New Zealand in 1769, he described the birdsong on the densely forested archipelago as “deafening.” One…
The health of penguin chicks points scientists to changes in the ocean
It’s hard to imagine how the oceans might operate without the sway of human activity. The recent assessment by the U.N. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services found…
Interest in protecting environment up since Pope’s 2015 encyclical
Just before Pope Francis released Laudato Si’, an encyclical, or formal letter from the pope, on the environment, on May 24, 2015, global concern for the environment seemed to be…
’Unprecedented’ loss of biodiversity threatens humanity, report finds
Life on this planet, in all its wide diversity, is disappearing more quickly now than it has at any time in human history, and some 1 million species of plants…
Creating a high-tech island to save one of the world’s rarest birds
In 1995, there were only 51 kākāpō left on Earth, and it seemed that the giant flightless parrots were headed for extinction. Once abundant in New Zealand, the ground-dwelling kākāpō…
‘Judas’ snakes lead scientists on a high-tech Easter egg hunt for pythons
Remember that 3-meter (17-foot) pregnant Burmese python recently captured by wildlife authorities in southern Florida? These snakes, invasive to North America and destructive to native wildlife, are cryptic in both…
Waters off Galápagos have way more alien species than previously known
The waters off the Galápagos Islands have nearly 10 times more alien marine invertebrates than previously recorded, a recent study has found. Located 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off Ecuador, the…
To stop extinctions, start with these 169 islands, new study finds
Island-dwelling animals around the globe often face a common threat: alien species that compete with them for food, kill them and their young, and otherwise hamper their ability to survive.…
Invasive plants a fast-growing threat to India’s rhinos
On a gloomy afternoon in May 2018, conservation biologist Bibhab Talukdar was visiting Pobitora National Park in India's Assam state. As he rode an elephant into the grasslands at the…
New maps show where humans are pushing species closer to extinction
Animals around the globe are losing ground to farming and ranching, and their numbers are dwindling at the hands of human hunters. But the question of where to direct precious…
Freshwater fishes and other threatened but overlooked biodiversity must be new flagships for conservation (commentary)
“Why on earth would anyone give up working on tigers to focus on freshwater fish?” is the question I am asked most frequently since becoming the Executive Director of Shoal,…
Latam Eco Review: Mining bust in Peru, mining boom in Chile
A state of emergency against illegal mining in Peru, open season for new mining ports in Chile, drones vs rats in the Galápagos, and jaguar corridors in Colombia are among…
Indigenous hunters vital to robust food webs in Australia
Ecologists know that when we humans start tugging at the threads of a food web, the unraveling that results is often catastrophic to the connected species, paving the way for…
How do you assess if a reintroduced species is thriving? Listen for it
When you’re new to an area, it takes time to settle in. We all want a comfortable place to live, in a safe neighborhood, with convenient access to shops and…
Tech prize encourages solutions to threats from invasive species
A new competition seeks ideas for tech solutions to a broad range of challenges facing conservation. The second round of the Con X Tech Prize encourages anyone to submit an…
George, the last known Hawaiian snail of his kind, dies at 14
On the first day of 2019, George, the last known member of the Hawaiian snail species Achatinella apexfulva, died. He was 14 years old. Named after Lonesome George, the last known…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- ‘Pray & continue’: Death of Philippine ranger is latest in legacy of violence
- In Cambodia, a rare acquittal in a climate of danger for green activists
- On Peru’s border, the Tikuna tribe takes on illegal coca growers
Indonesias forest guardians
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
- On the island of Java, a social forestry scheme creates jobs at home
- In Indonesia, bigger catches for a fishing village protecting its mangroves
Amazon infrastructure
- Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act
- Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
- Amazon fish kill at Sinop spotlights risk from 80+ Tapajós basin dams
Asian rhinos
- Nepal to conduct, self-fund, rhino census in March 2020
- Calls for natural solution over man-made one in flood-ravaged rhino refuge
- Death on the Brahmaputra: The rhino, the rangers, and the usual suspects
