Island Conservation
The 2016 Living Planet Report, put together by the Zoological Society of London and World Wildlife Foundation, has been released. We are no longer a small world on a big planet. We are now a big world on a small planet, where we have reached a saturation point. Unsustainability at all scales, from localized deforestation […]
A new report released in the journal Nature examines never before seen self-medicating behavior in Galápagos Finches. Galápagos Finches served as inspiration for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in the 19th century. Today, these iconic birds, commonly referred to as “Darwin’s finches”, have drawn the attention of scientists once again–but this time it’s not because of the size and shape […]
A new study calls for improvements in the way scientists predict the impact of climate change on plants and wildlife. A study recently published in the journal Science assessed the current methods for predicting the impacts of climate change on wildlife and plants. The researchers found that current projections are based on broad statistical correlations […]
Hawai’i’s iconic Honeycreepers face a number of threats. To avoid extinction, these beautiful native birds are in need of immediate conservation intervention. Bright red wings streak across a grey sky. Yellow feathers flash amid quivering green leaves. Soft songs punctuated by raspy cheeps rise up from trees swathed in the dawn’s faint light. Long, narrow bills plunge […]
Island Conservation’s Conservation Biologist Dena Spatz shares her observations from the field on Palmyra Atoll, U.S. Pacific Territory. I am 1,000 miles southwest of Hawaii and over 3,000 miles to the closest continent. I fall asleep to the squeaks of Brown Noddy and White Tern chicks and I wake up to the blow of the trade […]
New research finds that some islands arise out of deep earth material containing diamonds. Some islands exist due to the breaking apart of larger land masses. Other islands are created by a process that can take more than two and a half billion years. A new study published in Nature by researchers at Columbia University sheds […]
A new study identifies the primary threats to wildlife. A study published in the journal Nature examined the top threats to wildlife worldwide. The researchers found that overexploitation (logging, hunting, fishing, and gathering) and agriculture constitute the biggest threats to wildlife. Urban development and invasion & disease are the next biggest concerns, followed by pollution, system […]
A paper by Cambridge Conservation Initiative breaks down the relationship between biodiversity and business and presents a Natural Capital Protocol, offering initial guidelines for companies to identify and account for environmental resource use. The Cambridge Conservation Initiative, a collaboration of NGO’s, has published a paper investigating the role of natural resources in business. The report brings attention to the ways […]
What is the value of the natural world? Can it be put in economic terms? What are different peoples’ perspectives on the meaning of “natural,” and what responsibilities do humans have to nature? This article doesn’t answer these questions, but invites you to consider them. We have a duty to fix battered ecosystems. But if we […]