How gender quotas could lead to more land conservation
The key to boosting environmental conservation around the world could be gender quotas. While it seems like an unlikely tool to inspire more conservation, a new study conducted in three developing countries showed that when more women are involved in group decisions about land management, the group Read More...
Green groups expand protection over one of the most biodiverse places on Earth
Magdalena Valley, a low land rainforest in Central Colombia and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, is home to some of the world’s rarest animal species that are under serious threat because of intense deforestation and illicit farming in the area. Luckily, after years of negotiations, Read More...
The inventor of Roomba designed a subaquatic robot to hunt invasive lionfish
While the lionfish may look spectacular, this venomous fish is a disaster for marine ecosystems. In the Bahamas alone, the invasive lionfish will eat 72 different species, far more than any other local predator; a single lionfish in a coral reef can reduce native reef fish by 79 percent. Reducing Read More...
New Zealand’s second largest national park just got a whole lot bigger
Not too long ago, an area of unspoiled land near Kahurangi National Park in New Zealand was at the center of a major environmental row as developers sought to take over the land. Now that land has received special protection and will become the largest addition to a national park in New Zealand’s Read More...
An Indonesian community built a natural defense to save its shoreline
When the Demak District of Indonesia’s most populous island started to notice that its precious shoreline was degrading and disappearing, the district came up with a five-year plan to restore it. The plan included the installation of permeable dam structures made of bamboo and brushwood that trap Read More...
Lake Erie just became the first ecosystem in America to be granted rights
How can we ensure that our most precious natural sites such as lakes and mountains are spared from human pollution? One answer is giving lawful rights to them, something that recently happened in Toledo, Ohio where residents passed a bill that grants new rights to Lake Erie. In the last few years, Read More...
The UN just declared 2021 to 2030 the ‘Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’
Massive political and financial backing will be needed if we want to turn the tide against climate change. That’s why it’s more than welcoming to know that the period between 2021 and 2030 has officially been declared as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Just this week, the General Read More...
Can you bring a forest back to life? Absolutely
The Iberian peninsula was once home to vast stretches of forests that spanned across the northern coast of Spain. Now the region is an arid one with depleted soil baking under the hot sun. Typically such a baron landscape would present a major obstacle for any old reforestation program, but for Read More...
Congress passes new bill that creates over a million acres of new public land
It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to say this, but both sides of Congress have been working well together lately. At least, when it comes to public lands they are. The Senate already approved the Natural Resource Management act earlier this month, which will designate roughly 1.3 Read More...
To prevent human-bear conflict, wildlife rangers are turning to dogs
When dozens of polar bears descend upon the northern Russian archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, no one was sure what to do. The bears entered homes and public buildings, and people were afraid to go outside. But polar bears are an endangered species, and the federal government has refused to issue Read More...