Landowners around the world are returning their fields to nature in a hopeful trend often referred to as rewilding. In 2021, an Oregon farmer in the Klamath River Basin decided to take the plunge and converted 70 acres of barley on his 400-acre farm back to the wetland habitat that was there before the area was drained for farmland. Now, just two year later, the new wetland supports migrating waterbirds and endangered fish, reports The Guardian. It also acts as a buffer to keep harmful pollution from farm fertilizers from seeping into the adjacent Klamath Lake.
While this wetland is still young, it could provide a roadmap for other farmers in the Klamath River Basin, which has lost more than 95 percent of its precolonial wetlands. That’s the hope of the Wetlands Initiatives, a nonprofit that is working to make farm-based wetlands commonplace in the future, acting as a boon to biodiversity and a natural way to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Making and spreading seed balls (also called seed bombs!) like those seen in “Rebuilding a Forest” is a fun and easy way to kick-start a local rewilding project and help out native wildlife. Native flowers and grasses are essential building blocks that benefit the entire ecosystem — by attracting pollinators and providing the cover of […]
In Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, Mauricio Ruiz has turned his love for nature into action by working with the community to reforest a critical stretch of the nation’s most endangered forest, and by using drones to help him reach his goal of planting 15 million trees.
In order to scale up reforestation, Mauricio Ruiz and his organization ITPA have partnered with the drone fleet at MORFO. Each drone can plant up to 50 hectares of forest per day, which is 50 times faster than planting by hand.
Mauricio Ruiz grew up in the Atlantic Forest—one of the most biodiverse and threatened on Earth. At just 14 years old, he founded ITPA to fight back against rampant deforestation.
Planting native trees, grasses, and flowers is a great way to bolster biodiversity. Plants provide food and cover for animals and fungi, proving the foundation for healthy ecosystems.
Among the many benefits of healthy forests is their incredible ability to act as natural water filters. They do this in several ways. Leaves and branches in the forest canopy interrupt the fall of rainwater, slowing its progress and decreasing rainwater-driven erosion.
As a photographer, Rejane Duarte da Costa opened paths in her work in the environmental world as a field assistant and a hard worker. Seed collection and fire control were part of Rejane Duarte's daily routine until an opportunity arose to work in the nursery of the Instituto Terra de Protection Ambiental (ITPA).
Mauricio Ruiz is a political scientist and environmentalist renowned in Brazil. He is a winner of the Muriqui award, dedicated by UNESCO to personalities with great influence in the fight for biodiversity conservation.
Upcoming: Episode 24: Protecting Paradise
Marine biologist Callie Veenlenturf came to the Pearl Islands to study sea turtles, but soon helped spark passage of remarkable laws that grant legal rights to nature and the turtles themselves.
In the past 40 years, golden lion tamarins became a symbol of conservation success when 150 zoos worldwide assisted a breeding and reintroduction program that brought their numbers in the wild from 200 to over 3700. Then, yellow fever jumped from humans to the primates and began to decimate their population—taking a third of the population in just two years.
Golden lion tamarins were nearly wiped out in the 1970s, but worldwide efforts by 150 zoos helped bring the species back from near-extinction. Today, local conservationists are expanding the forests in Brazil, and the wild population has grown from under 200 to now over 4800 tamarins!
Andreia started working with the conservation of the golden lion tamarin in 1983 as a volunteer in environmental education actions. In 1984, she became part of the golden lion tamarin reintroduction team. She is currently the coordinator of the field management of golden lion tamarins.
Zoos may be places where you can catch a glimpse of your favorite animal on a day out, but increasingly, they play an even more important role: as conservation institutions.
Upcoming: Episode 23: Jaguar Passage
More than 35% of land in Belize is protected, and that’s been good for jaguars that live in these refuges — but for populations to thrive, the cats need to move from one safe area in the north to another in the south across a landscape of farms and towns. Local conservationists are learning where the cats go and buying the land they rely on to create a wild corridor that can finally give the cats safe passage.
Deep in the Panamanian forest, researchers are looking for “lost frogs” — species believed to have gone extinct, but that may be holding on in the wild.
In the heart of Panama, scientists have created an artificial rainforest to protect endangered frogs from the worst wildlife disease ever recorded.
Harlequin frogs (also called harlequin toads) are a group of beautiful, brightly-colored toads found in Central and South America. One species in particular, the Panamanian golden frog, is considered the national animal of Panama and a flagship species for amphibian conservation.
Dr. Gina Della Togna is the Executive Director of the Amphibian Survival Alliance and a Research Associate of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
Brian Gratwicke is a conservation biologist who leads the amphibian conservation programs at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Smack-dab in the middle of Rio de Janeiro, stands the world’s largest urban rainforest…and it needs our help. To combat a century of deforestation and hunting, a team of researchers are repairing the forest’s forgotten web of life, one species at a time.
When a habitat looks lush but is actually devoid of much of its native wildlife, it is sometimes called a green desert. A green desert might refer to a field planted with a single crop (called “monoculture”) or a forest planted with just one or several tree species.
Plants can’t move on their own, so they usually need a little help to spread their seeds far and wide. Animals that scatter these seeds — often by eating the fruit and pooping out the remains — are known as seed dispersers.
Alexandra Pires is currently an associate professor at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, where she teaches the subjects of Natural Resources Conservation and Fauna Management.
Marcelo Rheingantz is a biologist at the Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Executive Director of Refauna. He has dedicated his research career to the ecology and conservation of vertebrate populations in Brazil and South America.
In 2010, Fernando launched the concept of refaunation, and from then on coordinated the Refauna project, which reintroduced populations of agoutis, howler monkeys and tortoises in the Tijuca National Park, in Rio de Janeiro.
To restore the park to its former glory, researchers knew which animals needed to be reintroduced: monkeys, rodents, tortoises, and even dung beetles all played crucial roles in keeping the forest healthy.
Agoutis are large, adorable rodents found in Central and South America – and they’re critical players in keeping forest ecosystems healthy.
Brazil is a trove of biodiversity — habitats like the Atlantic Rainforest, urban forests like Tijuca National Park, and more coastlines, rainforests, and rivers that are rich with endemic plants and wildlife.
Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of songbirds endemic to the Hawaiian islands, all descended from a single species that arrived from the mainland six to seven million years ago. They are considered a dramatic example of adaptive radiation, a phenomenon in which a single species rapidly diversifies into many different ones. At one point, there were more than 50 different honeycreeper species on the islands, each sporting its own unique coloration, beak shape, and diets.
One of the major threats to Hawaiian honeycreepers is a deadly, mosquito-borne disease called avian malaria. Similar to malaria that infects humans, the disease is caused by parasites that enter honeycreepers’ bloodstreams when they are bitten by a disease-carrying mosquito.
Hawai’i is home to a broad, beautiful array of birds species found only on its islands—like the stunningly diverse honeycreepers, many on the border of extinction. Now, a local team is removing invasive predators, restoring habitats, and battling mosquito-borne diseases to protect honeycreepers from their latest threat: avian malaria.
Christa Seidl is a disease ecologist with over 10 years of experience leading research and conservation projects in Hawai'i, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Madagascar, Ecuador, and California with private, public, and industry partners.
Laura Bertholdis an Avian Research Field Supervisor at the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project (MFBRP) assisting with planning and implementing research and management projects for native honeycreeper and forest recovery.
In addition to the impact of avian malaria, Hawai’i’s endangered honeycreepers are threatened by habitat loss and invasive predators — two problems that harm native bird populations everywhere, likely in your own back yard. Whether you’re looking to help Hawai’i’s birds, or if you’re hoping to make a difference to protect birds locally, the solutions […]
New tracking technologies are uncovering the flight paths of endangered shorebirds — and the obstacles they face along the way.
All around the world, seabirds provide a critical link between land and sea. On Hawai’i, ecologists are working to protect two vital shearwater species that helped life first take hold on these islands.
Seabirds like those in Hawai'i have been given a second chance by the volunteers, scientists, and communities that lead the work to reverse their decline. While these birds — and the threats they face — may be unique to islands in the Pacific, the work to protect birds of a feather can be found anywhere around the globe.
Jay Penniman has worked as an independent contractor doing forestry, wildlife, and vegetation surveys, management, and assessment. Since 2006, he has worked for the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit of the University of Hawaii managing the Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project.
Jenni Learned is a broad-spectrum ecologist on the Maui Nui Seabird team with experience working across diverse environments.
A common conservation technique on islands is the creation of predator-free zones to exclude invasive species, from mice to feral pigs, from recovering habitats.
Some species at the center of conservation efforts — like seabirds — are inherently social animals. Scientists can take advantage of this affinity to woo them back to their old haunts — or to newer, safer nesting sites.
The bald eagle has been a national symbol of the United States since 1782 — but not that long ago, this iconic species was on the verge of a complete extinction.
Coral reefs around the world are threatened by rising ocean temperatures, but hope is growing off the coast of Hawaii. There, researchers at the Coral Resilience Lab selectively breed corals to withstand ever-increasing amounts of heat stress.
Coral reef bleaching stands apart as a crisis with innovative, long-term solutions.
Kira Hughes is the Managing Director of the Coral Resilience Lab at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology. This includes conducting research, grant writing and administration, engaging stakeholders, establishing and maintaining partnerships, and communicating science.
Madeleine Sherman is the Project Manager for the Coral Resilience Lab at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, and manager of the Lab's outreach and education programs.
Since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, it has become one of the most powerful tools to fight extinction in the United States.
The California condor is a North American wildlife icon — the continent's largest land birds and one of nature's most industrious scavengers — and also one of our most critically endangered avian species.
Our relationship with gray wolves is a complicated one, spanning centuries of tension and dating back to the beginning in the 1600s with North American colonization.
The recovery of the American Alligator is considered one of the biggest success stories of an endangered species – ever.
Along the Pacific coastlines of North America, the Northern Elephant Seal may be a common sight in today's waters — but that wasn't always the case.
When an invasive algae in Crystal River wiped out the eel grass that manatees need for food, the community rallies to restore the river and save the animals that call it home.
Lisa Moore, a fourth-generation Floridian, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist dedicated to the efforts to preserve, protect, and restore environmental resources.
Jessica Maillez is the Senior Environmental Manager at Sea and Shoreline. She has designed, permitted, and managed multiple large scale restoration projects along Florida’s coastline.
The United Kingdom and Ireland might not seem like the wildest places on Earth, but a growing popular movement here, known as rewilding, seeks to reverse millennia of environmental degradation.
For years, Derek Gow worked his 400-acres in western England as a conventional sheep and cattle farm. Now, he’s using his experience with British rewilding projects to return his land to what it once was: a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem.
Ecologists from Mexico’s National Autonomous university relaunch a fundraising campaign to bolster conservation efforts for axolotls, an iconic, endangered fish-like type of salamander.
Pete Cooper is a wilding ecologist at the Derek Gow Consultancy, where he works on a variety of species reintroduction and rewilding projects. He leads a project trialing the captive breeding and reintroduction of glowworms, as well as working closely on reintroduction projects for other species including the harvest mouse, wildcat and turtle dove.
Derek Gow is a farmer, nature conservationist, and the author of Bringing Back the Beaver. He lives on a 300-acre farm on the Devon/Cornwall border, which he is in the process of rewilding. Derek has played a significant role in the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver, the water vole and the white stork in England.
Often the first and most effective strategy to healing a landscape is to pay attention to how ancestral wildlife, like native plants and animals, once shaped and strengthened these natural spaces.
Just as they have for millions of years, sea turtles by the thousands make their labored crawl from the ocean to U.S. beaches to lay their eggs. This year, record nesting was found in Florida and elsewhere despite growing concern about threats from climate change.
Sea turtles nesting in southeast Florida face a range of manmade threats — and for leatherbacks, researchers still know very little about the species and how to protect them. In the battle to save leatherback sea turtles, knowledge is key.
David Anderson is the Sea Turtle Conservation Coordinator at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. He supervises the collection of sea turtle nesting data along Boca Raton’s five miles of beach.
Dr. Jeanette Wyneken is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), located on the southeastern coast of Florida. She has more than 40 years of experience studying the biology, conservation, and health of sea turtles.
Whether becoming a citizen scientist, or simply a vocal ally for sea turtle protection, there are easy opportunities for anyone to get involved in saving some of our favorite ocean-bound creatures.
In the face of extreme habitat loss, wildlife biologist Dr. Chris Jenkins puts an ambitious plan in motion to save two uniquely American reptiles — the eastern indigo snake and the gopher tortoise — and the longleaf pine forest they call home.
Dr. James Bogan is the Director for the Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, the only facility that breeds the eastern indigo snake for the sole purpose of reintroducing the offspring into regions where the population is believed to be locally extinct.
Christopher Jenkins has worked with Wildlife Conservation Society, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His current projects include land protection in longleaf pine ecosystems, ecology and conservation of timber rattlesnakes and the conservation of giant tortoises.
Captive breeding is a technique used by conservationists to help imperiled wild species reproduce in a safe and stable environment.
Reptiles are in need of support from conservationists and nature-lovers worldwide. Learn how to create more reptile-friendly environments and help build a stronger ecosystem for all types of critters near you.
Honeycreepers are a diverse group of birds found only in the forests of the Hawaii Islands, where they thrived for millions of years. But now, some species may disappear within the decade thanks to a growing threat: avian malaria.
As urban expansion quickly replaces natural habitats, façade engineer Alistair Law has discovered a new way to restore native ecosystems for pollinators and create natural spaces for us all within cities – by turning the walls of buildings into meadows.
Helping nature take root in cities can often require creativity, dedication, and planning — but when done well, these small patches of greenery provide a necessary patchwork of native plantlife for pollinators that are most in need of our support!
After decades of fighting to regain ownership of their ancestral lands, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe marked this year’s Indigenous People’s Day with the purchase of 1,080 acres of land along the McCloud River in northern California.
Amid collapsing biodiversity worldwide, Mary Reynolds of Ireland is building a movement to turn gardeners into guardians of the planet by returning our own patch of land to nature, and by restoring hope that individual action can create lasting change.
Rewilding initiatives are growing in popularity in places with degraded or disturbed landscapes whose ecosystems have lost many of their endemic species.
By focusing on weeding invasive plants, reintroducing native species, and letting nature reclaim a foothold, any patch of wild — big or small — can become a bastion for biodiversity.
Mary Reynolds is a reformed and internationally-acclaimed landscape designer who launched her career by achieving a gold medal for garden design at the Chelsea flower show in 2002, the story of which was made into a 2016 movie called “Dare to be Wild”.
When beavers were hunted to extinction in England some 400 years ago, the wetlands they maintained largely vanished. Now, as part of Britain’s broader rewilding mission, conservationists are returning beavers to the landscape—and boosting biodiversity in the process.
Prince William got a first-hand look at the waters of New York City on Monday on a visit to an oyster reef restoration project, after arriving in the United States for an environmental summit connected to a global competition for solutions to climate change challenges.
A century ago, the longleaf pine forests of the southeastern United States were flooded with birdsong—and the musical hammering of millions of red-cockaded woodpeckers. But by 1995, deforestation had caused woodpecker numbers to plummet to 4000 breeding groups.
Biologists in Mexico are learning how to save endangered salamanders by partnering with unusual allies: a group of nuns.
Axolotls can regenerate entire limbs, eyes and even their brains—and make a great “second date love” for one scientist.
The axolotl has been called a “conservation paradox” — a creature that is ubiquitous in pet stores, science labs and pop culture… yet almost extinct in the wild.
The axolotl is a type of salamander native to the canals and lakes around Mexico City, characterized by its flamboyant, feathery external gills.
Carlos Uriel Sumano Arias is a researcher with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).
Luis Zambrano was born in Tampico, Mexico, and earned a degree in biology from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He obtained his doctorate in ecology at UNAM, studying the effects of carp on benthic communities in experimental ponds. Zambrano’s research specialities are aquatic ecology and restoration. A founding member of the Mexican Society […]
A group of women in Mozambique risked their lives to save thousands of coffee plants they knew would bring a better life for their families—and help restore a watershed that people and wildlife depend on.
A man in Mozambique helps local farmers grow native trees to provide shade to the coffee crops they depend on—and restore a rainforest for people and wildlife alike.
Marcos Bera Chova is the manager of the reforestation and honey programs on Mount Gorongosa. He joined Gorongosa National Park in 2012 as a reforestation specialist and forest technician.
Sional Sérgio Moiane, known as Sunyl, has been working with Gorongosa National Park since July 2014. He is the lead supervisor of the coffee sector in Mount Gorongosa. He is passionate about his work even in situations of conflict on the mountain, and his objective is to see communities develop economically through the production of […]
Gorongosa National Park and its surrounding buffer zone span 10,000 square kilometers in central Mozambique. After a quarter century of civil war and political turmoil following Mozambique’s fight for independence in 1975, more than 95% of the large mammals were wiped out within the park. The entire park ecosystem was on the precipice of collapse. […]
To save Gorongosa National Park's wilderness, these teams are trying something new: encouraging people to plant a cash crop—shade-grown coffee—that actually depends on restoring the forest to thrive.
At Gorongosa National Park, scientists are determined to understand how an ecosystem recovers from the decimation of war.
NASA satellite imagery has recently been able to show that beavers banished to rural Idaho have made significant improvements to waterways in the region.
The communities around Gorongosa National Park have been investing for decades in eco-friendly agriculture (like sustainable, shade-grown coffee), as well as research-driven wildlife management and the building of an economic framework that supports both the Park's natural ecosystem and its surrounding communities.
Removing dams from the Elwha River allows salmon to return upstream—and bring precious nutrients from the sea that eventually spread throughout the forest.
For decades, the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe fought to remove unwelcome dams on their river—and finally won.
A century-long campaign to take down the Elwha River dams climaxed in 2011with the largest dam removal project in history. Now, a decade later, Native American scientists and colleagues are chronicling an inspiring story of ecological rebirth.
Salmon are a keystone species in the river-side forests of the Pacific Northwest, critical for cycling nutrients inland that feed predators like eagles or black bears, and in turn fueling an entire ecosystem of wildlife. There are five species native to the region – chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, and pink salmon – all that reach […]
From the revitalization of riverbeds to the genetic diversity of top predators, Kim Sager-Fradkin is tracking an ecological resurrection in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
Inspired by the success of the Elwha dam removal model, conservation advocates are building diverse coalitions to pursue additional salmon recovery projects across the Pacific Northwest region.
Ecuadorians voted against drilling for oil in a protected area of the Amazon, an important decision that will require the state oil company to end its operations in a region that’s home to two uncontacted tribes and is a hotspot of biodiversity.
The Reserva Land Trust has rallied together young people from across 25 countries to create the world’s first youth-funded nature reserve in Ecuador.
Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet— and the first country in the world to enshrine the “rights of nature” in its constitution.
Young environmental activists scored what experts described as a ground-breaking legal victory when a Montana judge said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by allowing fossil fuel development.
Javier Robayo is the executive director of Fundación EcoMinga, a nonprofit which maintains over 27,000 acres of protected areas in Ecuador’s Chocó and Tropical Andes. As a biologist and educator, he has led more than 200 research and teaching expeditions in Ecuador. His extensive, collaborative field work has led to the discovery of more than […]
Bioblitzes are quick to set up, fun for kids and adults of all ages, and educational for anyone with an interest in understanding local wildlife. But the observations are important for scientists, too!
Wetlands protect coastlines, replenish drinking water, and may even combat climate change.
The red-cockaded woodpecker is only found in America's dwindling longleaf pine forests, where they create tree cavities that provide homes for other birds and small mammals.
People are setting fire to pine forests in North Carolina to help protect an endangered woodpecker, and many other creatures as well.
On an army base in North Carolina, soldiers and scientists have turned their conflict over an endangered species into collaboration—and conservation success.
One of the most inspiring conservation stories in American history is playing out on, of all places, a live-fire training ground at an Army base in North Carolina. There, the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker has been given a new lease on life.
The lodges and wetlands that beavers build aren’t just places for their families to live and sleep (and snore!) — they’re havens where many wild creatures can thrive.
Beavers are back in England for the first time in 400 years, and their dams are already protecting villages from flood and helping farmers in times of drought.
Eurasian beavers were driven extinct in Britain centuries ago. But now these preeminent ecosystem engineers are back—charming many Britons, perturbing others, and all the while stimulating a healthy debate about whether the island nation is ready to embrace a wilder future.
From the Associated Press: The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway, but in some ways, removing the dams is the easy part.
Oysters posses an amazing ability to filter water. They naturally filter and clean the water they live in, which makes an ongoing effort to put a billion of them in New York Harbor a pretty big deal.
Landscape architect Kate Orff is working with nature to protect New York City from future threats like rising seas and superstorms.
A taste for waste turns these creatures into pollution-fighting machines.
Rehabilitating oyster reefs can restore the balance of entire water ecosystems. Learn how to get involved today!
