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Conservation news

Environmental science and conservation news

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Three tracks to rescue 1.5°C: fossil exit, forest...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/08

The planet just crossed a grim milestone: last year’s global temperature averaged more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, shredding our margin for error under the Paris Agreement. That doesn’t doom the goal forever, but it leaves little room for delay. Clinging to energy decarbonization alone won’t pull us back. If negotiators at COP30 in Belém […]

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Why Sweden’s forest policy matters to the world...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

The deep, dark forests of northern Europe supplied people with wood, timber and food for millennia. They gave rise to myths, legends and fairy tales, and offered refuge to the persecuted. Over time, though, the forests themselves became subjugated, forced to submit to the will of humankind as forestry turned into a mighty machinery. Sweden […]

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Cautious optimism greets new global forest fund at COP30

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

At the COP30 Leaders’ Summit in Belém, host country Brazil formally introduced the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). It’s an endowment-style mechanism designed to pay countries and forest stewards to keep tropical forests standing. TFFF has drawn goodwill and cautious optimism from leaders and NGOs. TFFF has received more than $5.5 billion in initial pledges; architects of […]

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After 6 years, trial in Indigenous forest guardian...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

Six years after the killing of Indigenous forest guardian Paulo Paulino Guajajara and the attempted killing of fellow guardian Laércio Guajajara in the Brazilian Amazon, the trial of the two suspects charged in the crimes still will not take place this year, triggering outrage among the Guajajara people and Indigenous rights advocates. “I am concerned […]

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Early-career journalists join the next wave of...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

English poet Thomas Gray famously wrote, “where ignorance is bliss, ‘Tis folly to be wise.” He wasn’t particularly speaking of journalists or of Earth’s precarious future. I believe that ignorance is the enemy of journalism, it is no bliss, but the very thing we are meant to expose. Perhaps ignorance is an ally of […]

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Asian golden cat range expands, but declines continue...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

A single camera trap image of an Asian golden cat, photographed in Nepal’s Jajarkot district, has expanded this felid species’ range westward by nearly 400 kilometers (248 miles). Out of nearly 60,000 camera trap images snapped in 2024 in the district, this elusive cat showed itself just once. It’s likely, says Badri Baral, program coordinator […]

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Study finds deforestation fuels West Africa’s water...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

A new study warns that deforestation across Ghana, Niger and Nigeria is intensifying West Africa’s water crisis, threatening the health and livelihoods of more than 122 million people. Drawing on 12 years of satellite data from 2013-2025, the joint report by WaterAid and Tree Aid finds a direct correlation between forest loss and the decline […]

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COP30 tropical forest fund may drive debt and...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

A new global fund meant to reward tropical countries for protecting forests could instead drive deforestation and deepen debt in the developing world, civil society groups warn. The Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), launched Nov. 6 in Belém, Brazil, ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, aims to raise $125 billion and promises to pay […]

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New pledge, old problems as Indonesia’s latest...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

BELÉM, Brazil — Indonesia has pledged to recognize the rights of Indigenous and customary communities to 1.4 million hectares, about 3.5 million acres, of forests by 2029. It’s a move the government says will help curb deforestation and protect Indigenous rights. Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni made the announcement Nov. 4 at the United for […]

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Brazil launches fund tying forest cash to steep...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

Brazil officially launched a new financial market fund, called the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, or TFFF, at a Nov. 6 event ahead of the COP30 climate summit it will host in Belém. Countries with significant amounts of tropical forest cover can receive up to $4 per hectare ($1.62 per acre) of standing forest per year […]

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Europe’s under-pressure bats face ‘astonishing’...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

Researchers have captured video of an unexpected predator at two bat hibernation sites in northern Germany: invasive brown rats that lie in wait to intercept the bats mid-flight. Invasive rodents are known predators of native animals on islands, including bats. However, this is likely the first time invasive brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) have been recorded […]

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Across the Amazon, impunity among politicians remains...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

Brazil and the Andean Republics all have constitutional provisions establishing special protocols for the prosecution of elected officials. These supposedly were conceived to ensure public servants are held accountable for misdeeds, while protecting them from frivolous or politically motivated prosecution. This special status, however, has created a two-tiered justice system that protects politicians from the […]

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Indigenous delegates prepare for COP30 with focus on...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/07

As the Brazilian city of Belém prepares for this year’s U.N. climate conference, COP30, Indigenous leaders worldwide say they’re getting ready to have their demands addressed. Dubbed the “nature COP” by some delegates, the 2025 conference is set to see the largest participation of Indigenous leaders in the climate conference’s history, with more than 3,000 […]

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UNESCO biosphere listing raises hope, questions for...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/06

Malaysia’s Kinabatangan floodplain, home to orangutans, pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys, has officially joined UNESCO’s global network of biosphere reserves, protected areas of high biological and cultural diversity. Covering 413,866 hectares (1.02 million acres) of forests, wetlands, and villages in eastern Sabah, the newly declared Kinabatangan Biosphere Reserve (KBR) connects the Heart of Borneo, a […]

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Expedition charts Cook Islands seafloor, amid...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/06

Thousands of meters below the ocean’s surface, a camera attached to a remotely operated vehicle captured a ghostly white creature gliding above a plain of polymetallic nodules — mineral-rich rocks that resemble blackened potatoes. The animal’s orchid-shaped fins undulated as it cruised through the water, while its spindly tentacles trailed behind. This otherworldly creature was […]

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Researchers define the importance of the ‘circular...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/06

In a review article published in Nature, researchers have introduced a new term to describe the importance of seabirds across land and marine ecosystems: the circular seabird economy. Although seabirds spend most of their lives at sea, they return to land to breed, often forming colonies of thousands of individuals. This influx of birds, bringing […]

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Leaders of world’s biggest polluters skip UN climate...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/06

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — World leaders gathering in a coastal city in the Brazilian Amazon for the U.N.‘s annual climate summit hope it’s a rare opportunity to turn previous commitments into practical steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, preserve rainforests and make good on pledges to finance clean energy. But the heads of the world’s […]

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Healthy rivers, healthy people: A Brazil project...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/06

Some 30 years ago, Apolo Heringer, a Brazilian public health doctor, was participating in a night fishing trip with residents of the community Raiz, in southeastern Brazil. That night, the fish were being caught with harpoons, and to ensure visibility, the fishers used a spotlight that illuminated the entire river. When the light first reflected […]

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The uncertain future of DRC’s traditional medicine, a...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/06

Congolese traditional medicine is disappearing. Not due to a lack of usefulness, but due to a lack of space in an increasingly standardized medical world. Faced with the rise of modern medicine, supported by institutions and universities, ancestral knowledge is being forgotten and sometimes even scorned. Yet, in rural areas where hospitals are scarce […]

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No, Bill Gates, we don’t have to choose between...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/06

Bill Gates has long been a leading voice in the global response to human health and climate change. His climate investments and advocacy have helped drive innovation, expand access to clean energy and push climate action higher on the world’s agenda. However, his recent essay, “Three Tough Truths About Climate,” marks a dangerous shift that […]

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