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Conservation news

Environmental science and conservation news

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Brazil’s Atlantic Forest still losing ‘large amounts’...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

By 1970, scientists had spent 65 years thinking the black lion tamarin, a small monkey with a spectacular mane, was extinct. That year, locals found a small population of the species (Leontopithecus chrysopygus) clinging to survival in a patch of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. After decades of efforts, around 1,800 of these football-sized primates now swing […]

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The call of a native frog is heard again in Southern...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

THE SANTA ROSA PLATEAU ECOLOGICAL RESERVE, Calif. (AP) — Efforts to restore the red-legged frog to Southern California, where it had all but disappeared, seemed doomed when the COVID-19 pandemic struck and restrictions were put in place at the U.S.-Mexico border. But scientists were able to airlift coolers of frogs’ eggs from a tiny population […]

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Officials struggle with land invasions in Mexico’s...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Balam Kú Biosphere Reserve has been invaded over the past year by people trying to establish a permanent settlement, and officials are racing to remove them before more of the forest is destroyed. Around 450 people have crossed into the reserve in the southern state of Campeche, clearing the forest for […]

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Rewilding project aims to restore resilience to...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

Some 30,000 years ago, Stone Age people decorated a cave, today known as Cueva de los Casares, in central Spain with pictures of mating humans (most famously), geometric shapes, and animals. The most popular carved animal is the wild horse. Cueva de los Casares sports at least two dozen images of wild horses. Eventually, these […]

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Indigenous people gain formal role in Amazon...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) recently announced the creation of a formal role for Indigenous peoples, giving them a voice for the first time in one of the Amazon Basin’s most important intergovernmental bodies. The announcement was made during ACTO’s fifth summit of presidents of Amazonian countries in Bogotá, Colombia, marking a historic shift […]

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Small islands offer big hope for conservation of...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

Animals living on small islands are often thought to be more susceptible to extinction compared to those distributed across mainland land masses. Small population sizes, limited habitat availability, and genetic isolation can propel species into a downward spiral. However, new research from Indonesia’s biodiverse Wallacea region suggests that in areas facing intense anthropogenic disturbance, small […]

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Thailand’s living floral heritage takes root in a...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — During the second half of the 20th century, Thailand’s forest cover plummeted from around 50% to 25% due to urbanization and rapid economic development. Although legislation such as the Community Forest Act of 2019 has helped to slow the rate of deforestation by empowering those who live in the forest, the […]

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Brazilian court restores Amazon soy moratorium, for now

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

A federal court in Brazil has reinstated the Amazon soy moratorium, a private-sector antideforestation measure that helps protect the Amazon Rainforest against the expansion of soy farms in the biome. The Aug. 25 ruling overturns a suspension issued last week by Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADE, which had opened an investigation into claims that the two-decade-old […]

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Climate change intensified wildfire weather in...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

Hundreds of wildfires across Europe have burned at least 1 million hectares, or around 2.5 million acres, since the start of the year. That’s made 2025 the worst year for the continent since official wildfire records began in 2006. In Türkiye, Greece and Cyprus, which saw deadly fires peaking since June, weather conditions that drove […]

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Giraffe is now officially four species

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, now officially recognizes four distinct giraffe species, it announced on Aug. 21. Until recently, giraffes across Africa were classified as a single species with eight to 11 subspecies. However, since 2016, when the giraffe’s threat status was last assessed for the IUCN Red List as vulnerable, several studies […]

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In Nepal, artificial ponds offer drought relief...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

KATHMANDU — Until the summer of 2024, residents of Rajabahs village in Nepal’s southeastern Madhesh province reeled under a water shortage for more than eight years as wells and springs dried up amid extreme summer heat. “We didn’t even have enough to drink, let alone bathe or wash clothes or irrigate our fields,” farmer Kul […]

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After 160 years, an old drawing leads scientists to a...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/28

COLOMBO — In the mist-wrapped folds of Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Mountain Range, a UNESCO-recognized world heritage site, where clouds softly wrap the rugged peaks in a soft embrace, a group of scientists recently stumbled upon a ghost from the island’s colonial past, in the form of a forgotten orchid. Nestled among the branches of forest […]

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Brazil suspends Amazon Soy Moratorium, raising fears...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/22

Brazil’s antitrust regulator suspended a key mechanism for rainforest protection, the Amazon Soy Moratorium, on Aug. 18, less than three months before the nation hosts the COP30 climate summit. The Amazon Soy Moratorium is a 19-year-old voluntary private-sector agreement to not source soybeans from areas deforested after 2008 in the Brazilian Amazon. It is estimated […]

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China races to build world’s largest solar farm to...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/22

TALATAN, China (AP) — Chinese officials have showcased what they claim will be the world’s largest solar farm on the Tibetan plateau. It covers 610 square kilometers, or about 235 square miles, and is part of China’s rapid solar expansion. A study published Thursday said China’s carbon emissions fell 1% in the first half of […]

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Ghana passes landmark legislation to protect...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/22

Ghana has adopted a new fisheries act that introduces a series of regulations aimed at restoring severely depleted pelagic fish stocks and tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. “The new Fisheries and Aquaculture Act introduces bold reforms aimed at ensuring sustainability, compliance, and improved livelihood, especially among small-scale fishers,” Eric Baah, the spokesperson for […]

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Escalation in tourism, climate change leaves Nepal’s...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/22

MUSTANG, Nepal — On a crisp morning after a night of rain, the breeze diffuses the smell of wet earth in the village of Kagbeni in Mustang, Nepal’s trans-Himalayan frontier. The perennial Kali Gandaki River, rejuvenated by the rain, roars with its silt-laden water as scores of pilgrims carry packages of grain, flowers, saffron powder […]

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Waste-to-energy project could boost Brazil’s...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/22

Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, is one of the top generators of solid waste among Brazil’s state capitals, with an average of 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of garbage per resident every day. According to the Brazilian Association for Waste and the Environment (ABREMA in Portuguese), the waste problem is not exclusive to Amazonas’ most […]

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Global brands join drive for deforestation-free palm...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/22

JAKARTA — Some of the world’s biggest consumer brands are banding together to tackle deforestation in one of Earth’s richest biodiversity hotspots in Indonesia. The companies, including Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever, on Aug. 13 launched the Aceh Sustainable Palm Oil Working Group, which brings together major palm oil buyers, producers and refineries to align with […]

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To save a rare South African ecosystem,...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/22

Three conservation trusts have together purchased an area of a severely threatened vegetation type found in the Overberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape province. Known as the renosterveld, this unique habitat characterized by shrubs and grasses is also a breeding ground for endangered black harriers, the three groups announced in a joint press release. […]

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Rare Javan leopard sighting renews focus on...

Conservation news ·

2025/08/22

A camera trap in an Indonesian mountain forest has recorded a rare Javan leopard, sparking renewed conservation monitoring efforts in the area. The Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) was captured on a camera installed in the Mount Lawu forest area of Central Java province, according to a July 29 post by the KGPAA Mangkunagoro I […]

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