Category Archives: Conservation

Drought turns Amazonian capital into climate dystopia

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Forest fires leave Manaus with second worst air quality in the world, while low river levels cut off communities

A withering drought has turned the Amazonian capital of Manaus into a climate dystopia with the second worst air quality in the world and rivers at the lowest levels in 121 years.

The city of 1 million people, which is surrounded by a forest of trees, normally basks under blue skies. Tourists take pleasure boats to the nearby meeting of the Negro and Amazon (known locally as the Solimões) rivers, where dolphins can often be seen enjoying what are usually the most abundant freshwater resources in the world.

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Dominica’s mountain chicken frog disappears in ‘fastest extinction ever recorded’

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Ecological calamity on the Caribbean island demonstrates how quickly wildlife can be destroyed, scientists say

They were once so numerous they were cooked as the national dish of Dominica. Every year, thousands of mountain chicken frogs, roasted with garlic and pepper, were eaten by islanders and tourists.

Two decades later, the animal – one of the world’s largest species of frog – has in effect disappeared from the Caribbean island. A series of ecological disasters has reduced its former healthy, stable population of hundreds of thousands of animals to a total of 21 frogs, according to scientists’ most recent survey.

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Scientists build traps to manage UK’s rising number of Chinese mitten crabs

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Voracious, furry-clawed crustaceans are being controlled ‘to protect the environment’

It is classified by conservationists as one of the 100 worst invasive alien species in the world. Now, a group of scientists are hoping they have found a way to deplete the UK’s rapidly growing Chinese mitten crab population and prevent the crustaceans, which can grow bigger than a 10-inch dinner plate and have distinctive furry claws, from “eating us out of house and home”.

The group has constructed and installed the UK’s first Chinese mitten crab trap at Pode Hole in Lincolnshire, to catch the voracious predators as they migrate downstream to mate.

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‘It’s a poor product ’: leading UK chefs join campaign to cast farmed salmon off menu

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Ethical concerns over sustainability and welfare have seen venues offering new choices to ubiquitous ‘chicken of the sea’

Salmon has undergone a rapid transformation in recent decades. Once a special treat, it is now ubiquitous. From drinks reception canapés to wedding functions, Christmas smoked salmon or simply wrapped in foil and baked on a week night, salmon is everywhere.

Scotland is world renowned for salmon production, and the fish makes up 40% of its total food exports; it is also Britain’s most valuable food export. Healthy, low in saturated fats and high in omega-3, salmon is a success story.

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Canada rejects request to protect northern spotted owl habitat

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One wild-born owl remains in British Columbia, where logging concerns have destroyed the species’s old-growth forest home

Canadian cabinet ministers have rejected a plea by the country’s environment minister to save an endangered owl, casting doubt on the species’ survival in the coming years.

The Wilderness Committee environmental advocacy group announced on Wednesday that federal ministers had rejected a request for an emergency order to protect the northern spotted owl – a request submitted by environment minister Steven Guilbeault.

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Politicians, not public, drive U-turns on green agenda, says UN biodiversity chief

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People are ahead of governments, says David Cooper, who blames backtracking on parties seeking ‘wedge issues’ for electoral gain

Government backtracking on environmental promises is being driven by politicians and vested interests, not the public, the acting UN biodiversity chief has said, as he called for greater support for those experiencing short-term costs from green policies.

David Cooper, acting executive secretary for the UN convention on biological diversity (CBD), told the Guardian he believed the public mood was not moving against greater environmental protections, and that vested interests opposed to action on the climate crisis and nature loss were trying to frustrate progress.

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Orangutan killings in Borneo likely still occurring in large numbers

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Despite it being taboo and illegal to kill critically endangered primate, 30% of villages have evidence of killing in ‘last five to 10 years’

Orangutans on the island of Borneo continue to be illegally killed, likely in large numbers, even when there are nearby projects to save the critically endangered primate, according to new research.

Despite the taboo and illegal nature of killing orangutans, researchers heard evidence of a direct killing from at least one person in 30% of 79 villages surveyed in Indonesia’s Kalimantan region.

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Top grain traders ‘helped scupper’ ban on soya from deforested land

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Cargill and ADM led push to weaken new protections for threatened ecosystems in South America, report says

Cargill and ADM, two of the world’s leading livestock feed companies, helped to scupper an attempt to end the trade in soya beans grown on deforested and threatened ecosystem lands in South America, a new report alleges.

Soya is one of the cheapest available types of edible protein, and is in huge demand for feed for animals around the world; as our consumption of meat and dairy has risen globally, the need for soya has soared too.

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The 2023 Australian bird of the year is …

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… to be announced at 12.30pm AEDT. Follow our live blog from 11.30am for the red carpet, emotional speeches and all the reaction

The campaigns are over. The votes are in. The scrutineers are in the tally room.

The winner of the 2023 Guardian/BirdLife Australian bird of the year will be announced at 12.30pm AEDT on this website, after voters culled a field of 50 down to 10 for the final day of voting on Thursday.

Find all our bird of the year content

Guardian Australia has produced a glorious A3 poster of Australian birds that can be downloaded here as a high-resolution jpeg or pdf to be printed out. (The pdf is a large file so may take a while to load.)

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Campaigners urge Prince William to rewild Dartmoor farmland

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William became largest private landholder in the national park when he inherited Duchy of Cornwall

Campaigners are urging Prince William to invest in significant rewilding across swathes of Dartmoor’s predominantly farmed land.

The land became William’s after he inherited the Duchy of Cornwall, an extensive landholding including the largest privately owned area of Dartmoor national park, from his father, King Charles, when he succeeded to the throne.

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Baby beaver born in London for first time in 400 years

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Arrival result of Enfield reintroduction scheme, started last year as part of natural flood defence project

A baby beaver has been photographed in London for the first time in 400 years, 18 months after an initiative began to reintroduce the species to the capital.

Enfield council began London’s beaver reintroduction programme last year as part of a wider rewilding and natural flood-management project.

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Investigation launched into killings and evictions on World Bank tourism project

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Tanzania government blamed for violence against villagers in national park, while thousands more people face losing their homes

The World Bank is investigating allegations of killings, rape and forced evictions made by villagers living near the site of a proposed tourism project it is funding in Tanzania.

The bank has been accused of “enabling” alleged violence by the Tanzanian government to make way for a $150m (£123m) project ministers say will protect the environment and attract more tourists to Ruaha national park.

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Brown bear cubs in Japan die of starvation amid salmon shortage

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Experts blame rising sea temperatures caused by climate crisis for cub deaths at Unesco heritage site

As many as eight in 10 brown bear cubs born this year in a remote part of northern Japan have died amid a shortage of salmon, with experts blaming rising sea temperatures caused by the climate crisis.

Along with acorns, pink salmon are an important source of food for the estimated 500 brown bears living along Hokkaido’s Shiretoko peninsula, a Unesco world heritage site known for its dramatic coastline and wild animals.

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Psychologists investigate meerkats’ response to human emotions

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Researchers explore whether the animals adapt their behaviour in response to people’s happiness, sadness or anger

They are known for living in packs and being sociable animals. Now meerkats are being investigated to see if they can also pick up on human emotions.

Researchers and psychologists from Nottingham Trent University are studying meerkats in zoos to see if they can detect emotions such as happiness, sadness or anger from people, and whether they then adapt their behaviour accordingly.

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Rhino numbers rebound as global figures reveal a win for conservation

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Tally rises to 27,000 but is still a far cry from former half a million, and Javan and Sumatran rhino remain critically endangered

Global rhinoceros numbers have increased to 27,000 despite populations being ravaged by poaching and habitat loss, new figures show, with some species rebounding for the first time in a decade.

Rhinos numbered about 500,000 across Africa and Asia in the 20th century but their populations have been devastated. Last year, they began showing signs of recovery in some areas, although two species – the Javan and Sumatran – remain close to disappearing.

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National Trust reports record £179m annual spend on conservation

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Membership steady and income from legacies tops £70m in financial year

The National Trust spent a record £179.6m on the conservation of its historic buildings and collections in the last year in the face of significant challenges regarding rising costs.

Its coffers were boosted by an increase in the number of visitors to pay-for-entry venues and record amounts bequeathed in legacies, its annual report says.

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Selfie-takers caused pony to fall to death at Welsh beauty spot, says charity

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Visitors to Gower urged to maintain distance after spate of incidents, including newborn foal falling off cliff

Visitors to a Welsh beauty spot have been warned not to go close to ponies to take selfies after a newborn foal fell to its death from a cliff.

In another incident a woman was injured when she was kicked by a gypsy cob pony on the Gower peninsula in south-west Wales, while ponies have also been injured or killed by cars and disturbed by drones.

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Tanya Plibersek announced swift parrot plan without showing recovery team who helped develop it

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Conservation groups say plan contains no meaningful action to address bird’s key threat of native forest logging

The swift parrot recovery plan announced by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to mark threatened species day was not actually finalised and had not been shared with the experts who helped to develop it.

Once they had seen it, conservation groups and scientists said the recovery plan released on Thursday contained no meaningful action to address the key threat to the survival of the species: the logging of native forests.

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Conservationists call for help to save London’s glowworms

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London Wildlife Trust asks volunteers to seek out endangered beetles’ strongholds

They were celebrated as “ye country comets” by the poet Andrew Marvell but glowworms are defying light pollution to still shine their lights in the city of London.

Now volunteers and enthusiasts are being sought to count and save the much-celebrated but declining beetles, whose females emit a remarkable bright green bioluminescent beam to attract males.

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Environmentalists condemn Australia’s ‘woeful record’ after 48 plants and animals added to threatened species list

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Tanya Plibersek announces crayfish, frogs, insects and plants among wildlife now under threat amid renewed calls for reform

More than 40 plants and animals have been added to Australia’s list of threatened wildlife, including crayfish, frogs, insects and several plants, in what environment groups say is another reminder of the urgent need for reform.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced the bulloak jewel butterfly, Kate’s leaf-tail gecko, and 16 types of native spiny crayfish were among 48 species that had “been given greater protection under Australia’s national environmental law” by joining the threatened list.

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