Biodiversity
Romania Breaks Up Alleged €25m Illegal Logging Ring
Romania’s security forces have mounted a series of raids to break up an alleged €25m illegal logging ring, in what is believed to be the largest operation of its kind yet seen in Europe. Officers from Romania’s Directorate for Investigation…
Two Studies Reveal Amazing Resilience of Older Forests
Maybe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but two recent studies revealed that old forests around the world are full of surprises. In Europe, scientists working to complete the first ever map of the continent’s old growth forests…
Climate Change on Track to Cause Major Insect Wipeout, Scientists Warn
Global warming is on track to cause a major wipeout of insects, compounding already severe losses, according to a new analysis. Insects are vital to most ecosystems and a widespread collapse would cause extremely far-reaching disruption to life on Earth,…
A Third of World’s Nature Reserves Severely Degraded by Human Activity
A third of global protected areas such as national parks have been severely degraded by human activities in what researchers say is a stunning reality check of efforts by nations to stall biodiversity loss. A University of Queensland-led study, published…
Climate Change Threatens Kelp Forests With Invasions of Weeds
The devastating consequences climate change is already having on coral reefs is well known, but now scientists have discovered that yet another unique marine ecosystem is threatened by rising carbon dioxide levels. A paper published in Ecology this month based…
Land Degradation Threatens Human Wellbeing
Land degradation is undermining the wellbeing of two-fifths of humanity, raising the risks of migration and conflict, according to the most comprehensive global assessment of the problem to date. The UN-backed report underscores the urgent need for consumers, companies and…
Report: Unchecked Climate Change Will Lead to Widespread Biodiversity Loss
The world will see enormous losses of biodiversity across all species groups on every continent by the end of this century if we do not make deep cuts to global greenhouse emissions, according to groundbreaking research from the WWF and…