The tiny island of Tean was once home to a single resident, a modest chapel, diminutive grazed fields and a dwarf pansy smaller than the tip of a pencil. All these things vanished from the 0.16 sq km Scilly island in the years after it was abandoned by humans seeking larger things. But now the dwarf pansy… Read More Dwarf pansy blooms on tiny Scilly island after 16-year absence
An area of forest the size of France has regrown around the world over the past 20 years, showing that regeneration in some places is paying off, a new analysis has found. Nearly 59m hectares of forests have regrown since 2000, the research found, providing the potential to soak up and store 5.9 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide… Read More Forest the size of France regrown worldwide over 20 years, study finds
In the past year, Roc Sandford has left the tiny Scottish island which is his off-grid home only once, to get a Covid vaccination. The rest of the time he has been alone with the birds, sheep and open skies. His days are busy but evenings can be lonely; cooking for one is “very sad”,… Read More Harriet Sherwood: The man orchestrating climate protest … from a shed in the Hebrides
The world’s glaciers are melting at an accelerating rate, according to a comprehensive new study. A French-led team assessed the behaviour of nearly all documented ice streams on the planet. The researchers found them to have lost almost 270 billion tonnes of ice a year over the opening two decades of the 21st Century. The… Read More Jonathan Amos: World's glaciers melting at a faster pace
We see how our forests are turning into large mud pools. We see how the sources of our rivers are silting up and how their courses are diverting. We see how the tree shadows begin to disappear, how the harvested fruits are diminishing, and how the crystalline water of the Tapajós River, of the igarapés – the… Read More Val Munduruku: How I took the fight to save the Amazon to the world stage
I grew up and learned about caring for nature thanks to a pilot programme (Fatima Experimental Center) for the conservation of Amazonian fauna run by the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza (OPIP). Today, Pastaza Kikin Kichwa Runakuna (Pakkiru – the current name for OPIP, my home organisation) consists of more than 180 grassroots communities and 13 associations,… Read More Andrés Tapia: Oil exploitation is threatening the Ecuadorian rainforest – and the planet
More than a third of the vast floating platforms of ice surrounding Antarctica could be at risk of collapsing and releasing “unimaginable amounts” of water into the sea if global temperatures reach 4C above pre-industrial levels, UK scientists say. Researchers from the University of Reading said that limiting the temperature rise to 2C could halve the area at… Read More Third of Antarctic ice shelves ‘will collapse amid 4C global heating’
Growing up in the remote mountains of Sierra Gorda, Mexico, Roberto Pedraza Ruiz developed a serious case of biophilia. A term coined by biologist Edward O. Wilson, biophilia — meaning “love of life” — describes the human need to connect with nature. Pedraza Ruiz — now a conservationist and photographer — moved from the bustling central Mexican… Read More This photographer captures the beauty of Mexico's mountains
Staring at the Nanda Devi peak on a warm winter morning, Lal Singh, a magnificent 93, could never have imagined the change his region has undergone in the last two decades. He points towards the Kumaon Himalayas and says, “I’ve never seen these mountains naked in bare rock at this time of the year. Until… Read More Muddam Vijay Dixit Reddy: Mukteshwar in an ecological flux
Rare Mandarin duck makes appearance in Assam after nearly 120 years For the last week or so, visitors to Maguri Beel in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in upper Assam’s Tinsukia district have been treated to a rare sight – one that they have likely never seen before in their lives. The Mandarin duck, first spotted… Read More Rare Mandarin duck makes appearance in Assam after nearly 120 years // Black-browed babbler found in Borneo 180 years after last sighting
After the truth-shower 