Julia Davies had one only goal in mind when she sold her share of the outdoor equipment company Osprey Europe a few years ago. The entrepreneur decided she was going to spend her millions turning back the clock – by returning swathes of the British farmland to wilderness. Nature is in crisis in the UK, […]
Tag: biodiversity crisis
‘Significant suffering’: experts call for national plan to save wombats from mange
Last month Grasso wasn’t doing well. The bare-nosed wombat, dubbed Fatso in Italian, was infected with mange. The devastating skin disease caused by parasitic mites had left his skin crusted, bleeding and constantly irritated. His eyes and ears were so affected he could barely see, hear or even smell. The nocturnal animal was out grazing […]
Why does Wildlife Matter in the Fight Against Climate Change
Wildlife is concerned with the protection of species, the preservation of their habitats and the rewilding of natural spaces. It encompasses but does not limit to the animal world. All living things fall under the wildlife theme. Yes. Even sea cucumbers. What is the inherent importance of wildlife at the scale of our planet? Well, it’s […]
As the mammal tree of life suffers hits, should we prioritize which species to save?
The current mass extinction is eliminating whole branches of the mammal tree of life, which will take millions of years to replace, according to a recent study. Some researchers suggest focusing our conservation efforts on mammal species that sit on the tree’s most distinct and precarious limbs. How we choose to save one species over […]
Europe faces ‘biodiversity oblivion’ after collapse in French birds, experts warn
The “catastrophic” decline in French farmland birds signals a wider biodiversity crisis in Europe which ultimately imperils all humans, leading scientists have told the Guardian. A dramatic fall in farmland birds such as skylarks, whitethroats and ortolan bunting in France was revealed by two studies this week, with the spread of neonicotinoid pesticides – and […]
Over 700 species added to the threatened categories on the IUCN Red List (photos)
In another sign of the global biodiversity crisis, the IUCN Red List has added 715 species to its threatened categories of Vulnerable, Endangered, and Critically Endangered in this year’s update. Some of these species were evaluated by the IUCN Red List for the first time while others saw their conditions deteriorate, such as the the […]
Pesticides decimating dragonflies and other aquatic insects
While recent research (and media attention) has focused on the alleged negative impacts of pesticides on bees, the problem may be far broader according to a new study in the Proceedings of the US Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Looking at over 50 streams in Germany, France, and Australia, scientists in Europe and Australia found that […]
Conserving the long-neglected freshwater fish of Borneo
Borneo is a vast tropical island known for orangutans, rhinos, elephants, sun bears, proboscis monkeys, hornbills, and ubiquitous leeches. Conservationists have championed all of these species (aside from the leeches) in one way or another, but like many tropical regions Borneo’s freshwater species have long been neglected, despite their rich biodiversity and importance to local […]