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Troubled waters: how to stop Australia’s freshwater fish species from going extinct

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Thursday, November 14, 2024

The barred galaxias is already extinct across 95% of its former streams due to trout, bushfires and droughts. Steven KuiterThree-quarters of Australia’s freshwater fish species are found nowhere else on the planet. This makes us the sole custodians of remarkable creatures such as the ornate rainbowfish, the ancient Australian lungfish and the magnificently named longnose sooty grunter. So how are these national treasures faring? To find out, we undertook the first comprehensive assessment of Australia’s freshwater fish species. We examined extinction risks and drivers of decline, before reviewing existing conservation measures. Our results paint an alarming picture. More than one-third (37%) of our freshwater fish species are at risk of extinction, including 35 species not even listed as threatened. Dozens of species could become extinct before children born today even finish high school. The study also reveals Australia has been putting its eggs in the wrong basket for conservation by taking actions that don’t address immediate threats, such as pest species and changes in stream flows. Our research points to more effective solutions if governments are willing to step up their efforts. The Angalarri grunter is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. It is declining due to degraded habitat and water quality caused by livestock and feral animals. Michael Hammer Identifying species at risk Recognising when species are in trouble is the first step in preventing their extinction. Before this study, the extinction risk of most freshwater fish species had never been assessed. The group had never been looked at overall. We evaluated the conservation risks of 241 species using globally recognised criteria (the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species). We began our assessments by gathering a team of 52 Australian freshwater fish experts for a five-day workshop in 2019. These experts came from universities, research organisations, museums, state government agencies, natural resource management, consultancies and non-government groups. Together, we used information from scientific publications, museum databases, Atlas of Living Australia records, government datasets, citizen science data, and our own knowledge of freshwater fish as it applied to the task. We identified dozens of freshwater fish species that were in trouble, but had not been recognised as threatened. This brings the proportion of our freshwater fishes at risk of extinction to a third. Some species have declined to the extent that they could disappear after a single disturbance, such as ash washed into streams after a bushfire or the arrival of an invasive non-native fish such as trout. We also found one New South Wales species, the Kangaroo River perch, is now extinct. Native fish enemy #1. A brown trout caught in NSW. Invasive fish such as brown and rainbow trout are the biggest driver of native fish loss. Lee Georgeson/iNaturalist, CC BY Get them on the list At present, 63 freshwater fish species are on Australia’s national list of species declared as threatened under federal environmental law. We identified 35 more species that should be listed, based on the available evidence. They include: ornate rainbowfish and longnosed sooty grunter (vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, the global list of threatened species) salamanderfish (endangered on the IUCN Red List) the slender carp, Drysdale and Barrow cave gudgeons in Western Australia (critically endangered on the IUCN Red List). The southwest ‘Vic’ blackfish is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. Tarmo Raadik Maintaining an accurate threatened species list is important. When species are in trouble but not listed, they miss out on basic protections and are unlikely to receive any conservation attention. We also identified 17 already listed species that should be reassessed by the government as their risk categories need to be changed. For example, the remarkable freshwater sawfish, found in northern Australian rivers, is listed as vulnerable but all evidence indicates it’s now critically endangered. One sliver of good news is the fact that the Murray cod, a favoured sport fish across eastern Australia, is now doing better and could be assessed to be removed from Australia’s threatened species list. Mapping freshwater fish extinction risk reveals fish are in danger right around Australia. M. Lintermans, N. Whiterod and J. Dielenberg, CC BY-SA Address the causes of decline To prevent species extinctions, you need to address the causes of their declines. That might seem breathtakingly obvious, yet our review found a spectacular mismatch between the major threats to species at risk and the most common conservation actions. The top three drivers of decline are invasive fish (which threaten 92% of threatened freshwater fish species), modified stream flows and ecosystems (82%), and climate change and extreme weather (54%). For example, Australia has 40 galaxiid species, scaleless native fish shaped like slender sausages that grow to less than 15cm. But 31 of these are threatened with extinction – and rainbow and brown trout, two introduced predators, have been the biggest driver of their loss. Australia’s southern states are greatly adding to the problem by releasing millions of trout into waterways each year for recreational fishers. The endangered eastern freshwater cod has dwindled in part due to historic fish kills linked to dynamite blasting and pollution from mines and agriculture. It remains threatened by changes to river flows, removal of woody snags, and other damage to its habitat. The endangered blackstriped dwarf galaxias is being stressed by the changing climate in southwest WA. Warmer and drier conditions are resulting in lower water levels and warmer water. A waterfall has so far saved the critically endangered stocky galaxias from extinction by preventing trout from reaching its last refuge. Tarmo Raadik The other major threats facing native fish are agriculture and aquaculture (38%), pollution (38%), hunting and fishing (19%), energy production and mining (17%), and urban development (13%). For example, the endangered Utchee rainbowfish is struggling due to habitat loss and water pollution from farms surrounding the small number of north Queensland streams where it lives. In contrast, the most common conservation action was simply the fact that the species occurred in a protected area (88%) or conservation area (55%). Sadly, invasive species and climate change don’t recognise or stop at protected area boundaries. Prevention and control of invasive species has occurred for only 21% of affected threatened species, mostly in Tasmania. The Utchee rainbowfish is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. It is struggling due to habitat loss and water pollution from agriculture surrounding the small number of streams where it occurs in north Queensland. ANGFA Qld A blueprint to end extinctions Without a major funding commitment to address the actual drivers of native fish losses, species will continue to decline, and extinctions will soon follow. The most important conservation actions for native freshwater fish are: update the national threatened species list to include all at-risk species tackle invasive species such as trout, gambusia and redfin perch identify, establish and protect additional invasive-fish-free refuge sites for species that currently occur only in a small number of locations and could be wiped out by a single event such as a bushfire halt ongoing habitat loss and improve habitats that have been damaged improve freshwater flows to maintain habitats such as wetlands and streams, improve water quality and give fish the natural cues they need to breed. In 2022, the Australian government made a commitment to end extinctions. Our study provides a blueprint for how to do that for our overlooked native freshwater fish. This waterfall in NSW has protected the native galaxias fish above it from trout. To prevent extinctions we need to find or create more invasive-fish-free refuges for native fish. Mark Lintermans Mark Lintermans was a member of the ACT Scientific Committee and the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, a previous convener of the Australian Society for Fish Biology Threatened Fishes Committee, and the Alien Fishes Committee. He now provides research, monitoring and advice for threatened freshwater fish management as director of a small consultancy company. He receives funding from New South Wales and national government departments for threatened fish projects. Jaana Dielenberg was employed by the now-ended Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program, which led an earlier stage of this research. She is a Charles Darwin University Fellow and is employed by the University of Melbourne and the Biodiversity Council.Nick Whiterod works for the Goyder Institute for Water Research, Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Research Centre, which is funded by the national government to delivery research in the region. He is a member of the New South Wales Fisheries Scientific Committee.

New research reveals a third of Australia’s freshwater fishes are at risk of extinction. That means 35 species should be added to the national list of 63 threatened species, bringing the total to 98.

Three-quarters of Australia’s freshwater fish species are found nowhere else on the planet. This makes us the sole custodians of remarkable creatures such as the ornate rainbowfish, the ancient Australian lungfish and the magnificently named longnose sooty grunter.

So how are these national treasures faring? To find out, we undertook the first comprehensive assessment of Australia’s freshwater fish species. We examined extinction risks and drivers of decline, before reviewing existing conservation measures.

Our results paint an alarming picture. More than one-third (37%) of our freshwater fish species are at risk of extinction, including 35 species not even listed as threatened. Dozens of species could become extinct before children born today even finish high school.

The study also reveals Australia has been putting its eggs in the wrong basket for conservation by taking actions that don’t address immediate threats, such as pest species and changes in stream flows. Our research points to more effective solutions if governments are willing to step up their efforts.

A light yellow fish with impressive spines and a big dark eye. — The Angalarri grunter is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. It is declining due to degraded habitat and water quality caused by livestock and feral animals. Michael Hammer

Identifying species at risk

Recognising when species are in trouble is the first step in preventing their extinction.

Before this study, the extinction risk of most freshwater fish species had never been assessed. The group had never been looked at overall.

We evaluated the conservation risks of 241 species using globally recognised criteria (the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species).

We began our assessments by gathering a team of 52 Australian freshwater fish experts for a five-day workshop in 2019. These experts came from universities, research organisations, museums, state government agencies, natural resource management, consultancies and non-government groups.

Together, we used information from scientific publications, museum databases, Atlas of Living Australia records, government datasets, citizen science data, and our own knowledge of freshwater fish as it applied to the task.

We identified dozens of freshwater fish species that were in trouble, but had not been recognised as threatened. This brings the proportion of our freshwater fishes at risk of extinction to a third.

Some species have declined to the extent that they could disappear after a single disturbance, such as ash washed into streams after a bushfire or the arrival of an invasive non-native fish such as trout.

We also found one New South Wales species, the Kangaroo River perch, is now extinct.

A fish held up with a river behind — Native fish enemy #1. A brown trout caught in NSW. Invasive fish such as brown and rainbow trout are the biggest driver of native fish loss. Lee Georgeson/iNaturalist, CC BY

Get them on the list

At present, 63 freshwater fish species are on Australia’s national list of species declared as threatened under federal environmental law.

We identified 35 more species that should be listed, based on the available evidence. They include:

ornate rainbowfish and longnosed sooty grunter (vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, the global list of threatened species)
salamanderfish (endangered on the IUCN Red List)
the slender carp, Drysdale and Barrow cave gudgeons in Western Australia (critically endangered on the IUCN Red List).

A long coppery coloured fish with a dark marbled pattern. — The southwest ‘Vic’ blackfish is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. Tarmo Raadik

Maintaining an accurate threatened species list is important. When species are in trouble but not listed, they miss out on basic protections and are unlikely to receive any conservation attention.

We also identified 17 already listed species that should be reassessed by the government as their risk categories need to be changed.

For example, the remarkable freshwater sawfish, found in northern Australian rivers, is listed as vulnerable but all evidence indicates it’s now critically endangered.

One sliver of good news is the fact that the Murray cod, a favoured sport fish across eastern Australia, is now doing better and could be assessed to be removed from Australia’s threatened species list.

A map of Australia showing extinction risk hotspots surrounded by 7 fish. — Mapping freshwater fish extinction risk reveals fish are in danger right around Australia. M. Lintermans, N. Whiterod and J. Dielenberg, CC BY-SA

Address the causes of decline

To prevent species extinctions, you need to address the causes of their declines. That might seem breathtakingly obvious, yet our review found a spectacular mismatch between the major threats to species at risk and the most common conservation actions.

The top three drivers of decline are invasive fish (which threaten 92% of threatened freshwater fish species), modified stream flows and ecosystems (82%), and climate change and extreme weather (54%).

For example, Australia has 40 galaxiid species, scaleless native fish shaped like slender sausages that grow to less than 15cm. But 31 of these are threatened with extinction – and rainbow and brown trout, two introduced predators, have been the biggest driver of their loss.

Australia’s southern states are greatly adding to the problem by releasing millions of trout into waterways each year for recreational fishers.

The endangered eastern freshwater cod has dwindled in part due to historic fish kills linked to dynamite blasting and pollution from mines and agriculture. It remains threatened by changes to river flows, removal of woody snags, and other damage to its habitat.

The endangered blackstriped dwarf galaxias is being stressed by the changing climate in southwest WA. Warmer and drier conditions are resulting in lower water levels and warmer water.

A long sausage shaped pink and black fish with orange fins. — A waterfall has so far saved the critically endangered stocky galaxias from extinction by preventing trout from reaching its last refuge. Tarmo Raadik

The other major threats facing native fish are agriculture and aquaculture (38%), pollution (38%), hunting and fishing (19%), energy production and mining (17%), and urban development (13%).

For example, the endangered Utchee rainbowfish is struggling due to habitat loss and water pollution from farms surrounding the small number of north Queensland streams where it lives.

In contrast, the most common conservation action was simply the fact that the species occurred in a protected area (88%) or conservation area (55%).

Sadly, invasive species and climate change don’t recognise or stop at protected area boundaries.

Prevention and control of invasive species has occurred for only 21% of affected threatened species, mostly in Tasmania.

Two small diamond shaped silver-blue fish with bold red markings. — The Utchee rainbowfish is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. It is struggling due to habitat loss and water pollution from agriculture surrounding the small number of streams where it occurs in north Queensland. ANGFA Qld

A blueprint to end extinctions

Without a major funding commitment to address the actual drivers of native fish losses, species will continue to decline, and extinctions will soon follow.

The most important conservation actions for native freshwater fish are:

update the national threatened species list to include all at-risk species
tackle invasive species such as trout, gambusia and redfin perch
identify, establish and protect additional invasive-fish-free refuge sites for species that currently occur only in a small number of locations and could be wiped out by a single event such as a bushfire
halt ongoing habitat loss and improve habitats that have been damaged
improve freshwater flows to maintain habitats such as wetlands and streams, improve water quality and give fish the natural cues they need to breed.

In 2022, the Australian government made a commitment to end extinctions. Our study provides a blueprint for how to do that for our overlooked native freshwater fish.

Two fish ecologists marvel at a small waterfall that is protecting native fish upstream — This waterfall in NSW has protected the native galaxias fish above it from trout. To prevent extinctions we need to find or create more invasive-fish-free refuges for native fish. Mark Lintermans

Mark Lintermans was a member of the ACT Scientific Committee and the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, a previous convener of the Australian Society for Fish Biology Threatened Fishes Committee, and the Alien Fishes Committee. He now provides research, monitoring and advice for threatened freshwater fish management as director of a small consultancy company. He receives funding from New South Wales and national government departments for threatened fish projects.

Jaana Dielenberg was employed by the now-ended Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program, which led an earlier stage of this research. She is a Charles Darwin University Fellow and is employed by the University of Melbourne and the Biodiversity Council.

Nick Whiterod works for the Goyder Institute for Water Research, Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Research Centre, which is funded by the national government to delivery research in the region. He is a member of the New South Wales Fisheries Scientific Committee.

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

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The world’s lemurs are going extinct. This is the only way to save them.

On a cloudless morning in September, sunlight poured through the canopy of a banyan tree near the banks of the Onilahy River, which runs from southwest Madagascar to the Indian Ocean. The tree grew on the edge of a small karst cliff. Its roots spilled over the side like melting candle wax. I scrambled up […]

A group of ring-tailed lemurs just waking up in a tree near the village of Ifanato in southwest Madagascar. On a cloudless morning in September, sunlight poured through the canopy of a banyan tree near the banks of the Onilahy River, which runs from southwest Madagascar to the Indian Ocean. The tree grew on the edge of a small karst cliff. Its roots spilled over the side like melting candle wax. I scrambled up the cliff for a better view of the canopy, when I saw something staring back at me: a lemur. It had scruffy white fur, a black face with bug-eyes, and a tail that was at least the length of its body. This wasn’t just any lemur; it was a Verreaux’s sifaka: a critically endangered species that I’ve spent much of my life longing to see. This story is part of a series This fall, Vox is publishing a three-part series on conservation in Madagascar, supported by the BAND Foundation. This story is part 2. Madagascar, an island nation east of continental Africa, is the only place on Earth where lemurs exist. There are more than 100 lemur species, and nearly all of them are at risk of extinction, including the sifaka. Their foe is deforestation; all lemurs depend on trees for food and shelter, and half or more of the country’s forests are now gone. In Madagascar, unlike in many other forested nations, the bulk of deforestation isn’t caused by the industrial-scale farming and cattle ranching that often enriches big corporations. Forests here are primarily felled by individual families who cut trees to grow crops or collect cooking fuel. That’s how many people feed themselves and make money. They often have few other options; Madagascar ranks among the top five poorest countries in the world, and people here have few economic opportunities that don’t rely on exploitation. Against this dim reality, the lemur before me represented something hopeful. The only reason it was here was that this tree was still standing. And this tree was still standing, because nearby villages have worked hard against tough odds to protect the forest they all share. Working alongside the World Wildlife Fund, one of the world’s largest environmental organizations, those villages created new economic opportunities for themselves that don’t destroy the forest. Together, they demonstrate a crucial element of what makes conservation work in the poorest parts of the world: first, meeting the needs of people, and then, stepping out of the way to let them take charge. The lemur I saw lives in the Onilahy River basin of southwest Madagascar, not far from the coast and the largest city in the region, called Toliara. It’s a strange landscape — a collision of desert and forest, where spiny shrubs grow nearby tall trees. The south of Madagascar is arid, yet there’s an abundance of water here that flows from the river and a series of natural springs. On a warm morning towards the end of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, I traveled from Toliara to a small village near the river called Maroamalo. The road was mostly dirt and spotted with crater-sized potholes, which — along with several goat-related traffic jams — turned a 15-mile trip into a three-hour, butt-bruising adventure. Maroamalo is one of several communities helping protect the lemur-filled forests of the Onilahy River basin. Working alongside staff from WWF, they manage a protected area called Amoron’i Onilahy. The park is only around 250,000 acres — making it a little smaller than New York City — yet it envelops a wide variety of ecosystems, from wetlands to spiny thickets and a huge number of rare species, including eight kinds of primates. In some ways, Amoron’i Onilahy is Madagascar in miniature. The island nation is packed full of different habitat types, which is one reason why it has a higher proportion of endemic species than any other place on Earth. Protected areas — which typically restrict certain activities that degrade ecosystems and endanger biodiversity — have a mixed record of success. This is especially true in Madagascar. Studies have found that people clear trees even within parts of the country that are formally protected, including those that are managed by communities. One reason is that most of Madagascar’s parks lack the funds to monitor vast areas for illegal woodcutting. But a bigger challenge is that few protected areas confront the reason why people cut trees at all: their own survival. When the choice is between breaking the law and feeding your family, people choose survival. “Deforestation and illegal exploitation are still impacting nearly all protected areas despite 30 years of intensive conservation efforts,” as the authors of one study put it. What just happened to Madagascar’s government? On September 25, the day I left Madagascar to return to the US, the capital city of Antananarivo erupted in protests, then led by Andry Rajoelina, against the government. Demonstrators — largely led by Gen Z — expressed outrage over water, electricity shortages, and a lack of economic opportunities. The protests continued for days, supercharged by broader grievances including corruption and poor governance. And on October 14, Rajoelina was impeached, and the military seized control of the country. Col. Michael Randrianirina is now in control of a transitional government that’s meant to organize elections within two years. The government upheaval highlights the deep level of human need in Madagascar, which drives people to exploit free natural resources. Events like this also tend to fuel deforestation and make it even harder for conservation to work. Political crises weaken law enforcement, allowing more illegal logging, and hamper scientific research and tourism that support conservation. Amoron’i Onilahy, however, appears to be an exception. There are a few things you notice right away in Maroamalo: Many of its homes are made of mud, rock, and plant fiber; chickens, ducks, and goats seem to be wandering around everywhere; and just behind the village center, where the land slopes into the river valley, there are acres of verdant farmland, which pop against the surrounding brown Earth. It was as if a patchy green quilt had been laid across the valley. Worldwide, agriculture is the number one threat to biodiversity. To meet the rising global demand for food, agrobusinesses often clear natural habitats for crops and livestock. But here in Maroamalo, farming is actually helping keep the forest intact. Only about one in three people in Madagascar have access to electricity, and even fewer people use natural gas. That’s why nearly everyone cooks with either simple firewood or, in more urban areas, charcoal — a carbon-rich fuel source produced from tree branches. Around cities like Toliara, making charcoal is how many people earn money to pay for food, school supplies, and medical bills. One 110-pound (50 kg) bag sells for $2 to $3. In Madagascar, that’s enough to buy a few meals. Charcoal production was once common among villages in the region like Maroamalo, said Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana, who leads WWF’s work in Madagascar. That’s one reason why the river basin has lost so many of its trees. Shifting cultivation, better known as slash-and-burn agriculture, further eroded the forests here. People would burn one plot of forest to clear the way for crops, and then, once the soil was exhausted and weeds took over, do the same thing in another. Across nearly all of Madagascar, and much of Africa, these are among the two largest forces that raze forests. WWF has long been aware of these problems. So, more than a decade ago, staff from the organization began talking with communities here about how they could earn money without cutting trees. This idea had appeal. Speaking with me under the shade of a large neem tree in Maroamalo, members of the village said they, too, had seen the problems that deforestation had caused. Without roots to hold the soil in place, the ground started to erode, making it harder to grow crops, they told me. Losing trees also made the landscape drier and more likely to flood. Top: A fishing boat known as a pirogue transports bags of charcoal in a lagoon in southwest Madagascar. Bottom left: An aerial view of the village of Maroamalo. Top right: Green farmland in the background of Maroamalo. Garth Cripps for Vox. WWF later worked with villages along the river — which are now part of the protected area — to build out economies that don’t exploit the remaining tracts of forest. And in Maroamalo, that economy was vegetable farming, as counterintuitive as this approach may seem. Instead of only growing staples like cassava and corn, the village would cultivate a wide variety of vegetables to sell in Toliara. WWF would provide seeds and training on how to farm the crops more efficiently and without burning and taking up more space in the forest. They’d also help connect farmers to buyers in the city, including hotels. The idea was that if people could earn more money from farming, they wouldn’t need to clear forests for charcoal. And that’s exactly what’s happening. Top left: Many homes in Maroamalo are made of stone, mud, and plant fiber, like those shown here. Top right: A forest patroller in the village of Ifanato scans the trees for signs of lemurs. Bottom left: Maroamalo farmer Mme Lalao in her home. Bottom right: Residents of another village called Ambiky plant saplings like this one to restore the forest in the protected area. Garth Cripps for Vox. Later that morning, Mme Lalao, a resident of Maroamalo who oversees farming in the village, walked me through the vegetable fields. She showed me ten or so different crops — including eggplant, cabbage, and onions — all planted in neat rows, like what you might see in California. Nearly everyone in Maroamalo now works in agriculture, she said, which has grown into the main economy here. One vegetable farmer can earn about $21 per month, according to Mercie Ramilanajoroharivelo, a WWF employee who works with the communities. That’s far more than people typically make from selling charcoal, Ramilanajoroharivelo told me. “We didn’t have the agriculture skills before, so people would go into the forest for charcoal,” Lalao said that morning. “But now they are working here.” Creating new economies only goes so far in protecting the forests and lemurs of Amoron’i Onilahy. While villagers inside the park now seldom bake charcoal or burn the forest, people who migrate here from other areas are still cutting trees. This is a common problem in Madagascar. When deforestation, droughts, and floods make it hard to farm or find wood in one area, people move to another in search of a better life. And climate change is making those sorts of moves more common. “If you’ve lost everything, you migrate to the places where you can get resources for free,” said Charlie Gardner, a researcher and writer who studied conservation in Madagascar. “That’s two places: the coast where you can do beach seining, or the forest where you can produce charcoal. Things like charcoal production are a livelihood of last resort.” That means that to keep the trees in Amoron’i Onilahy standing, the local communities still need to monitor the forest for woodcutting. Later that day, after spending the morning in Maroamalo, I traveled along the dirt road deeper into the protected area to a village called Mahaleotse. Here, the forest was more impressive. It had bigger trees, denser undergrowth, and lots of life. On a walk in the woods that night, I saw chameleons hiding in the trees; fruit bats flying overhead; and, of course, hissing cockroaches (which do, I confirmed, actually hiss). The next morning, around sunrise, I met up with a group of men from Mahaleotse known as polisin’ala, or forest rangers. Villages in Amoron’i Onilahy that work with WWF have a team of paid patrollers. They walk the forest 10 times each month, receiving about $2 per patrol from WWF. If they spot illegal woodcutting, they’ll try to stop it and report the infraction back to their community and environmental authorities. In some cases, the perpetrator will have to pay a fine. It’s a complicated job. Outsiders who come here to cut wood are often desperate for money, but local villagers don’t want to lose the surrounding forest and the benefits it provides. “It was their decision to destroy their own forest, so that doesn’t mean they get to destroy ours,” Renama Zatompo Mahinty, one of the patrollers in Mahaleotse, said of migrants from outside villages. “If I tear my own T-shirt, that doesn’t give me the right to take someone else’s.” While there was still a morning chill in the air, I followed the men on a patrol. A ranger named Ramilison Roland paused in front of a large fig tree a few minutes into the walk and pointed up. Through a tangle of twigs and leaves, I saw four ring-tailed lemurs snuggled together on a branch. They were wrapped in each other’s fluffy black-and-white tails and hardly moving, because, as Roland said, they had just woken up. Ring-tailed lemurs are endangered, yet, in just an hour that morning, we saw two different troops of them — a sign that something here is working. These rangers are paid, but they told me they’d still surveil the forest without financial support. The benefits of trees are too important to lose — building materials for homes and schools and a lower chance of droughts, flooding, and erosion. “It’s not really a matter of money,” Roland said that morning. “We have advantages of protecting the forest, not only for us, but for the future generation.” Madagascar is among the most challenging places on Earth for wildlife conservation. Political unrest hampers the flow of foreign aid, weakens law enforcement, and disrupts tourism, which is a vehicle to fund environmental protection. Poor governance also deepens poverty. And poverty leaves people with little choice but to depend on activities that erode the forest. Those are some of the reasons why a lot of non-governmental organization (NGO) projects fail, as I wrote in October. But I’m convinced this one is succeeding. Villagers in Amoron’i Onilahy told me that, by most measures, the landscape here is improving; there’s more forest, more lemurs, and more water. Data from WWF is limited and more mixed. The group’s satellite analysis shows that deforestation fell dramatically within the park between 2015 and 2020, rose again between 2021 and 2023, and then dropped once more in 2024. Amoron’i Onilahyn hasn’t lost any forest cover this year through June, the most recent months of data, WWF says. (WWF has not measured natural forest recovery.) The density of ring-tailed and sifaka lemurs, meanwhile, has improved since 2003, according to the group. To be clear, a lot of this success would be hard to replicate elsewhere in Madagascar. Amoron’i Onilahy has benefited from decades of investment from WWF. That’s rare, said Gardner. Donors tend to be drawn to projects that sound new and exciting rather than funding the same activities for years and years, he said. Plus, the park sits atop an aquifer; in some places, freshwater literally gushes from the ground. That makes large-scale farming possible here. Elsewhere, it’s just too dry. What’s also worth pointing out is that strategies to restrict charcoal production in Amoron’i Onilahy don’t quell demand for it nationwide. If people stop cutting trees in this forest, they might just do it elsewhere. Yet, Amoron’i Onilahy does offer important lessons on how to help conservation succeed in other challenging parts of the world. Investing in non-exploitative economies is essential, even if building businesses doesn’t sound like “conservation.” Even more important is that local communities lead the work themselves and don’t forever rely on external organizations like WWF for help, said Ranaivo Rasolofoson, a researcher at the University of Toronto and an expert on forest conservation in Madagascar. Large environmental NGOs don’t have a great track record of yielding control to people who live in the environments they’re trying to protect. WWF, for its part, has made some grave mistakes that put conservation at conflict with human rights. But here, the communities are choosing how they want to conserve the forest, and WWF is just there to provide support. “They are responsible for what they do and what they decide,” Ratsifandrihamanana said of the local communities. “We really want them to be in charge, to take charge.” From Mahaleotse, we drove to another village, stopping along the way at a shrine to Saint Theresa. It consisted of a short statue of Theresa inside a rock cutout on the side of a cliff, just above a small spring-fed pool. Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination in Madagascar, and ardent observers, I was told, will sometimes make pilgrimages to this spot. It was here that I saw the sifaka, which was a spiritual experience in its own way. I first encountered these animals in a BBC nature show more than two decades ago. They were mesmerizing, flying from tree to tree with incredible speed, like ping-pong balls bouncing between paddles. I still hear David Attenborough’s voice in my head when I think of them. Back then, I imagined that wildlife in a place like this lived — as nature shows made it seem — within vast stretches of wilderness, far from human life. Yet, that’s not how these animals really exist, and it never has been. I came face-to-face with this critically endangered lemur at a roadside shrine between two villages. Humans and animals share the landscape here, so it’s only logical that, for conservation to work, it must consider the needs of both.

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Republicans Try to Weaken 50-Year-Old Law Protecting Whales, Seals and Polar Bears

One of the U.S.’s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction, is the subject of an effort for cutbacks from Republican lawmakers who now feel they have the political will to do so

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine (AP) — Republican lawmakers are targeting one of the U.S.'s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction.Conservative leaders feel they now have the political will to remove key pieces of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, enacted in 1972 to protect whales, seals, polar bears and other sea animals. The law also places restrictions on commercial fishermen, shippers and other marine industries.A GOP-led bill in the works has support from fishermen in Maine who say the law makes lobster fishing more difficult, lobbyists for big-money species such as tuna in Hawaii and crab in Alaska, and marine manufacturers who see the law as antiquated.Conservation groups adamantly oppose the changes and say weakening the law will erase years of hard-won gains for jeopardized species such as the vanishing North Atlantic right whale, of which there are less than 400, and is vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear.Here's what to know about the protection act and the proposed changes. Why does the 1970s law still matter “The Marine Mammal Protection Act is important because it’s one of our bedrock laws that help us to base conservation measures on the best available science,” said Kathleen Collins, senior marine campaign manager with International Fund for Animal Welfare. “Species on the brink of extinction have been brought back.”It was enacted the year before the Endangered Species Act, at a time when the movement to save whales from extinction was growing. Scientist Roger Payne had discovered that whales could sing in the late 1960s, and their voices soon appeared on record albums and throughout popular culture.The law protects all marine mammals, and prohibits capturing or killing them in U.S. waters or by U.S. citizens on the high seas. It allowed for preventative measures to stop commercial fishing ships and other businesses from accidentally harming animals such as whales and seals. The animals can be harmed by entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships and other hazards at sea.The law also prevents the hunting of marine mammals, including polar bears, with exceptions for Indigenous groups. Some of those animals can be legally hunted in other countries. Changes to oil and gas operations — and whale safety Republican Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska, a state with a large fishing industry, submitted a bill draft this summer that would roll back aspects of the law. The bill says the act has “unduly and unnecessarily constrained government, tribes and the regulated community” since its inception.The proposal states that it would make changes such as lowering population goals for marine mammals from “maximum productivity” to the level needed to “support continued survival.” It would also ease rules on what constitutes harm to marine mammals.For example, the law currently prevents harassment of sea mammals such as whales, and defines harassment as activities that have “the potential to injure a marine mammal.” The proposed changes would limit the definition to only activities that actually injure the animals. That change could have major implications for industries such as oil and gas exploration where rare whales live.That poses an existential threat to the Rice's whale, which numbers only in the dozens and lives in the Gulf of Mexico, conservationists said. And the proposal takes specific aim at the North Atlantic right whale protections with a clause that would delay rules designed to protect that declining whale population until 2035.Begich and his staff did not return calls for comment on the bill, and his staff declined to provide an update about where it stands in Congress. Begich has said he wants "a bill that protects marine mammals and also works for the people who live and work alongside them, especially in Alaska.” Fishing groups want restrictions loosened A coalition of fishing groups from both coasts has come out in support of the proposed changes. Some of the same groups lauded a previous effort by the Trump administration to reduce regulatory burdens on commercial fishing.The groups said in a July letter to House members that they feel Begich's changes reflect “a positive and necessary step" for American fisheries' success.Restrictions imposed on lobster fishermen of Maine are designed to protect the right whale, but they often provide little protection for the animals while limiting one of America's signature fisheries, Virginia Olsen, political director of the Maine Lobstering Union, said. The restrictions stipulate where lobstermen can fish and what kinds of gear they can use. The whales are vulnerable to lethal entanglement in heavy fishing rope.Gathering more accurate data about right whales while revising the original law would help protect the animals, Olsen said.“We do not want to see marine mammals harmed; we need a healthy, vibrant ocean and a plentiful marine habitat to continue Maine’s heritage fishery,” Olsen said.Some members of other maritime industries have also called on Congress to update the law. The National Marine Manufacturers Association said in a statement that the rules have not kept pace with advancements in the marine industry, making innovation in the business difficult. Environmentalists fight back Numerous environmental groups have vowed to fight to save the protection act. They characterized the proposed changes as part of the Trump administration's assault on environmental protections.The act was instrumental in protecting the humpback whale, one of the species most beloved by whale watchers, said Gib Brogan, senior campaign director with Oceana. Along with other sea mammals, humpbacks would be in jeopardy without it, he said.“The Marine Mammal Protection Act is flexible. It works. It's effective. We don't need to overhaul this law at this point,” Brogan said. What does this mean for seafood imports The original law makes it illegal to import marine mammal products without a permit, and allows the U.S. to impose import prohibitions on seafood products from foreign fisheries that don’t meet U.S. standards.The import embargoes are a major sticking point because they punish American businesses, said Gavin Gibbons, chief strategy officer of the National Fisheries Institute, a Virginia-based seafood industry trade group. It’s critical to source seafood globally to be able to meet American demand for seafood, he said.The National Fisheries Institute and a coalition of industry groups sued the federal government Thursday over what they described as unlawful implementation of the protection act. Gibbons said the groups don't oppose the act, but want to see it responsibly implemented.“Our fisheries are well regulated and appropriately fished to their maximum sustainable yield,” Gibbons said. “The men and women who work our waters are iconic and responsible. They can’t be expected to just fish more here to make up a deficit while jeopardizing the sustainability they’ve worked so hard to maintain.”Some environmental groups said the Republican lawmakers’ proposed changes could weaken American seafood competitiveness by allowing imports from poorly regulated foreign fisheries.This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Extinction

Animals

Conservation

Baby giant tortoises thrive in Seychelles after first successful artificial incubation

Exclusive: Trial that has produced 13 hatchlings could help other threatened species avoid extinctionThe slow-motion pitter-patter of tiny giant tortoise feet has been worryingly rare in recent years, but that looks set to change thanks to the first successful hatching of the species with artificial incubation.One week after the intervention, the 13 babies are building up their strength on a diet of banana slices and leaves in Seychelles, which is home to one of the last remaining populations of the tortoise. Continue reading...

The slow-motion pitter-patter of tiny giant tortoise feet has been worryingly rare in recent years, but that looks set to change thanks to the first successful hatching of the species with artificial incubation.One week after the intervention, the 13 babies are building up their strength on a diet of banana slices and leaves in Seychelles, which is home to one of the last remaining populations of the tortoise.As new members of one of the biggest and longest-lived reptile species in the world, the Aldabra giant tortoise, they could eventually reach a weight of about 250kg (39.4st) and live more than 100 years.The hatchlings are the survivors from 18 eggs that were taken from a single nest on Cousin Island by local conservationists after scientists used a groundbreaking microscopic technique to analyse whether the shells contained at-risk embryos.The researchers said the successful trial could help to stave off an extinction crisis for other threatened species.A baby Aldabra giant tortoise. It could eventually reach a weight of about 250kg. Photograph: Chris Tagg/Nature Seychelles“This is a huge leap,” said Alessia Lavigna, a Seychelloise now based at the University of Sheffield, who was the lead author of a recent study related to the project. “It shows what conservation can do.”The study examined the reproduction rates of five turtle and tortoise species, which revealed that 75% of undeveloped eggs had been fertilised but contained embryos that died at an early stage.Those findings cast new light on why the Aldabra giant tortoise, which is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has extremely low hatching success in wild nests. The failure rate is considered more likely to be due to environmental factors rather than a genetic trait of the tortoises.Giant tortoises were wiped out from most other Indian Ocean islands in the 19th century as a result of hunting by sailors, but the population on the Aldabra group of islands in the Seychelles was saved thanks to their isolation. Along with 400 other endemic species and the extraordinary colours of the landscape, they were part of the reason why the atoll was listed as a world heritage site by Unesco in 1982.As a hedge against extinction, some individuals were moved to nearby islands, including Cousin, in the hope that they could establish backup populations in the event of new threats. This has proved prescient because at least one island is being developed as a luxury tourist resort, funded with Qatari money, as the Guardian revealed last year.skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionAn aerial view of Aldabra, the world’s largest raised coral atoll. Photograph: ReutersAccording to Lavigna, the reproduction rates of the tortoises on some islands appears to be low because there have been few sightings of juveniles in recent decades. Decadal studies record only the same individuals, prompting concerns that the relative stability of the population has more to do with the longevity of the species rather than their breeding rates.The incubation of fertilised eggs, which is being trialled in collaboration with the Save Our Seas Foundation, Nature Seychelles and several other local conservation organisations, can help to bolster numbers if there is a crisis. But the priority for research will be how to improve the conditions of wild nests.An Aldabra giant tortoise on Curieuse Island, Seychelles. Photograph: cinoby/Getty Images“Artificially incubating eggs is not a long-term solution. We can’t have animals that need human intervention to take the eggs, hatch them and put back,” said Nicola Hemmings of the University of Sheffield’s school of biosciences. “We have to identify the variables that are impacting survival, and then see if there are ways to improve the natural nest environment.”The team say they would like to share their results with scientists in the Galápagos islands, which are home to the only other species of giant tortoises.

Extinction

Animals

Crisis

Arctic Seals and More Than Half of Bird Species Are in Trouble on Latest List of Threatened Species

Arctic seals are being pushed closer to extinction and more than half of bird species around the world are declining

Arctic seals are being pushed closer to extinction by climate change and more than half of bird species around the world are declining under pressure from deforestation and agricultural expansion, according to an annual assessment from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.One bright spot is green sea turtles, which have recovered substantially thanks to decades of conservation efforts, the IUCN said Friday as it released its latest Red List of Threatened Species.While many animals are increasingly at risk of disappearing forever, the updated list shows how species can come back from the brink with dedicated effort, Rima Jabado, deputy chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, told The Associated Press.“Hope and concern go hand in hand in this work,” Jabado wrote by email. “The same persistence that brought back the green sea turtle can be mirrored in small, everyday actions — supporting sustainable choices, backing conservation initiatives, and urging leaders to follow through on their environmental promises.”The list is updated every year by teams of scientists assessing data on creatures around the world. The scope of the work is enormous and important for science, said Andrew Farnsworth, a visiting scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who studies bird migration and wasn't involved with the IUCN report. “Every time one is done and every time there’s revision, there’s more information, and there’s more ability to answer questions” on species, some of which are still largely a mystery to researchers, Farnsworth said.Because all the marine mammals native to the Arctic — seals, whales and polar bears — rely on the habitat provided by sea ice, they're all at risk as it diminishes because of human-caused climate change, said Kit Kovacs, co-chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Pinniped Specialist Group, which focuses on seals.The three species highlighted in the latest IUCN report — harp, hooded and bearded seals — have been moved up to a designation of greater concern in the latest update, indicating they are increasingly threatened by extinction, Kovacs said.The same melting of glaciers and sea ice destroying seal habitats also “generally will bring escalation in extreme weather events, which are already impacting people around the globe,” wrote Kovacs.“Acting to help seals is acting to help humanity when it comes to climate change,” Kovacs said.The update also highlighted Madagascar, West Africa and Central America, where Schlegel’s asity, the black-casqued hornbill and the tail-bobbing northern nightingale-wren were all moved to near-threatened status. Those are three specific birds in trouble, but numbers are dropping for around three-fifths of birds globally.Deforestation of tropical forests is one of a “depressing litany of threats” to birds, a list that includes agricultural expansion and intensification, competition from invasive species and climate change, said Stuart Butchart, chief scientist at BirdLife International.“The fact that 61% of the world’s birds are declining is an alarm bell that we can’t afford to ignore,” Butchart said.The annual U.N. climate summit will be held in November in Belem, Brazil, with much attention on the Amazon and the value of tropical forests to humans and animals. But Farnsworth, of Cornell, said he was “not so confident” that world’s leaders would take decisive action to protect imperiled bird species. “I would like to think things like birds are nonpartisan, and you can find common ground,” he said. "But it's not easy.”One success story is the rebound of green sea turtles in many parts of the world's oceans. Experts see that as a bright spot because it shows how effective human interventions, like legal protections and conservation programs, can be.Still, "it’s important to note that conservation efforts of sea turtles can take decades before you realize the fruits of that labor,” said Justin Perrault, vice president of research at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, who wasn't involved with the IUCN report.The overall success with green sea turtles should be celebrated and used as an example with other species, some of which, like hawksbills and leatherbacks, aren't doing nearly as well, said Nicolas Pilcher, executive director of the Marine Research Foundation.And even for green sea turtles, areas still remain where climate change and other factors like erosion are damaging habitats, Pilcher said, and some of those are poorer communities that receive less conservation funding. But in the places where they have recovered, it's "a great story of, actually, we can do something about this,” Pilcher said. “We can. We can make a difference.”The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Extinction

Animals

Conservation

We're precipitating an extermination rather than an extinction event'

Broadcaster and campaigner Chris Packham is on a mission to cut overconsumption, take on fossil fuel giants and create a fairer world

Wildlife broadcaster Chris Packham’s kinship with the natural world began before he could even speak. As a young child in his parents’ small back garden in Southampton, UK, he became fascinated with tadpoles, snails and ladybirds. Soon his bedroom filled up with jam jars and tanks, and then the garden was crammed with enclosures. His obsessive interests expanded from moths and newts to include foxes and kestrels. Packham puts this intense curiosity down in part to being autistic. He says this shaped his keen ability to focus and find patterns – and his need to shelter from overwhelming social interactions. On and off screen, Packham isn’t afraid to speak his mind. He is a vocal supporter of environmental issues and animal rights, with campaigns aiming to put an end to game shooting and industrial farming. This has won him no shortage of enemies. In 2019, dead crows and a fox were left hanging on his gatepost, along with a death threat; a couple of years later a Land Rover was blown up outside his house. But these attacks have only made Packham more resolute in trying to persuade other people that we already have the solution to save the natural world. New Scientist spoke to him about his latest campaign to end fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship in the UK, his upcoming TV series about evolution and how we can achieve a sustainable future on Earth. Thomas Lewton: Whenever I watch the BBC’s Springwatch, it is clear you have a deep connection with the natural world. Does being autistic help you to form this connection? Chris Packham: I think I was drawn to studying the natural world because of my ability to see things in great detail very rapidly and remember them. I have always found it easier to identify behaviours, or elucidate patterns of anatomy, physiology or whatever it happened to be. That curiosity about the natural world seemed to have been there almost inherently. My father was a marine engineer and my mother was a legal secretary, so the interest didn’t originate from them, but they certainly helped fuel it. Walking in the woods is one thing people can do that doesn’t require overconsumptionKevin Britland / Alamy Stock Photo I was an avid collector of living animals as a child. There were always things in jam jars and tanks in my bedroom. But when I got to about 12, my father bought me some binoculars. From that point onwards, I became less interested in keeping animals and more interested in watching them out in the wild. I had an obsessive interest in natural history, and it would ricochet from one species or group of species to another. I suppose we call it “focused interest” now, but I’ll stick with obsession. The more you can focus on a singular task or objective, the easier it is to exclude distractions. And then you tend to get to the bottom of what you’re trying to understand. That’s what excites your curiosity. Those are incredible abilities. Being neurodivergent can, of course, also be challenging. How would you encourage others who are autistic or who have other forms of neurodivergence to think about how they experience the world? It’s about focusing on the opportunities and attributes that you might have rather than just the challenges and difficulties and embracing where that takes you. When I was a kid, I thought I was drawn to the woods by all those things that I wanted to see or catch at the time. But in reality, I was finding solace and respite there because I wasn’t being judged by my peers. I felt very comfortable there. I found I could totally immerse myself in the experience. Many people can identify a tree by its shape, or by its leaves, or by the pattern on its bark. But I can identify trees by the sound that rain makes on their leaves if I’m sitting underneath them with my eyes closed. That’s not a tremendous skill. Anyone could learn that. But that’s the sort of degree that I want to engage with nature. You have dedicated much of your life to protecting nature. Why do you think you have faced a backlash to this activism? Like many other people, I’m asking a significant part of the population to change its mind and habits a bit more quickly than feels comfortable. Humans, as we know, are remarkable animals. We’re intelligent, adaptable, creative, imaginative, innovative. We’re brilliant in many ways – but we’re not very good at changing our minds. We are burning through Earth’s natural resourcesJim West / Alamy Stock Photo But at this point it’s very clear that unless we do change our minds and therefore our practices, we’re going to be in even deeper trouble than we are already in. I try to [point out] that there are opportunities to deal with these problems. Let’s take them while there’s still a chance to do good and find positive outcomes. A section of society is reluctant to do that. And a tiny minority will push back in an aggressive and violent way. What keeps you going in the face of this violence? I genuinely don’t care. I’m a very determined person. I can’t be swayed from a course of action if I believe it’s the right course of action. I’ve never picked a fight because I thought I could win it. I’ve always picked my fights because I thought they were the right fights to pick at the time. Winning isn’t about crossing a line or getting a medal; winning is about not giving up. At this point in time, that is the thing that you know people of my ilk – activists, campaigners, protesters – need to hold closest to their hearts. It’s very difficult at the moment. It’s very, very difficult. In what way? We’re being persecuted, you know, through an unjust legal system in terms of public protest in the UK. If we want to protest today we just don’t know where we stand. We don’t know if we will be arrested for wearing a T shirt, holding a placard or banner. We’re up against the terrible things which are happening in the US and other parts of the world when it comes to rolling back environmental protections, legislation and, indeed, environmental sciences. Ultimately, though, I still think we are a wonderful species. We have the tools, technology and abilities at our disposal to make sure that we can adapt to the problems we’ve already generated. It’s just that we don’t have anyone out there with the gumption to roll them out broadly enough and rapidly enough to make a difference. So, I’ve got to help drive that. You recently launched a petition to end fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship in the UK. Is this a major barrier to action on climate change? Well, in the UK, fossil fuel companies actually don’t spend too much money on advertising in the grand scheme of things, but they spend it in a very targeted way: they target decision-makers and politicians and others. People are being manipulated by mistruths. But what we are increasingly seeing is billions of pounds being poured into sports sponsorship [by fossil fuel companies]. It subliminally ekes its way into people’s lives, and they see those companies as doing something advantageous. It’s normalising their business. Protesters fighting Shell’s sponsorship of British CyclingAndrea Domeniconi/Alamy Live News Their business has no right to be normal any more. It’s destroying our planet. There’s no ambiguity about it. We need to stop them being able to greenwash their dirty linen in public through that sort of sponsorship. I mean, the idea that British Cycling is sponsored by Shell is like a bad joke. Cycling, something we do that is healthy, which combats carbon emissions. As is, I have to say, the continued acceptance of fossil sponsorship within some of our public institutions like the Science Museum and the British Museum, it shouldn’t be allowed. What does a sustainable future look like to you? It’s very difficult, obviously, to look into a crystal ball, given advances in technology and now the very rapid advances that we see in climate breakdown. But what I think we need is a change in mindset. Firstly, everyone goes on about economic growth. But growth comes at the cost of consumption, and we live on a finite planet. So, quite clearly, we cannot continue to grow if we’re using all those resources in an unsustainable way. “ I’m asking a significant part of the population to change its mind and habits “ People need to rethink what they want out of life. Does that consumption really make us happy? What are the rewards that we get out of life? Whether you’re into walking in the woods, whether you’re interested in art, singing, dance or whatever it happens to be that excites you in life, it doesn’t have to come at the cost of accumulating loads of stuff. What other shifts in mindset are needed? Do you think people should consider not having kids as part of achieving a sustainable population? We have to be very careful when we’re talking about overpopulation. Obviously, the more people on the planet, the more consumption takes place. The question is, of course, who’s consuming it? And in many parts of the world, where populations are growing most rapidly, that isn’t where consumption is the greatest. If everyone on Earth consumed resources at the same rate as people in the US, then we would need about five Earths to sustain this demand. We can only consume so much because of the resource poverty of other people in the world who are underusing the world’s available resources. I’m a very firm believer that when it comes to addressing climate breakdown, we must move towards a far greater degree of equality. One of the most embarrassing things about the COP climate summit is that leaders fail to agree to significantly subsidise poorer countries in the world who are suffering most from climate breakdown. It’s that sort of pervasive greed which is the handicap. On another note, you are finishing filming a BBC TV series about evolution, which is coming out next year. Evolution takes place over innumerable generations, billions of years. What can humans learn from that deep-time perspective about their place within nature? Well, firstly, how lucky we are to be here. Mutations happen unpredictably. And the fact that they occur in a place where they can actually succeed is quite odd. I mean, the chances of human life evolving are infinitesimally small. And very often evolution comes down to serendipity. Secondly, evolution gives us perspective on the damage humans are inflicting on the natural world now. We look at a number of mass extinction events in the series, and they aren’t always catastrophic. You know, a meteorite takes out all the dinosaurs, which was a disaster for the dinosaurs, but hey, we mammals had a great time in the aftermath. All of those niches that were previously unavailable, mammals evolved to fill them. So, at the moment, we’re precipitating an extermination rather than an extinction event, since it’s us that’s driving it – and we need to get our language right. But whatever we do to the planet, life’s tenacity will mean that it will survive and, you know, it will be beautiful, maybe even more beautiful all over again.

Extinction

Activism

Business

Suggested Viewing

On the Brink

A short movie explaining how sea lice coming from fish farms in British Columbia are harming wild salmon to the brink of extinction.

Animals

Agriculture

Extinction

Talking Trees

Yes, trees can talk. They communicate through their roots. Please listen to what they have to say in this short film.

Forests

Extinction

Climate

Wildlife in Our Backyard

It is often said that we must tolerate wildlife, but what happens if we learn to thrive with them instead? What can this mean for the wildlife? What can it mean for the people of Florida? And what can it mean for the endangered Florida panther? Wildlife in Our Backyard shows us some of the problems facing the wildlife as well as the hope of a brighter future as we learn to share the landscape with them.

Animals

Land Use

Extinction

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 2: Leading the Way with Non-Lead

Through experiencing the work of Ventana Wildlife Society, Ross comes to understand the greatest threat to condors is lead ammunition. Ross meets Mike Stake, Non-Lead Ammunition Program Manager, who takes him to meet with a rancher in a key condor area to better understand these complex issues. Through responsible gun use, California condor recovery is achievable. We thank hunters and ranchers who switched to using non-lead ammunition.

Conservation

Extinction

Pollution

The Windshield Effect

As a child, Julian and his mother, Sylvie, could spend hours out in nature admiring the soundtrack of the plentiful insects. One day, a grown Julian is out on a run in those same woods and when he takes off his ear buds, realizes he cannot hear anything at all. A trip to the audiologist assures him there is nothing wrong with his ears, but he is still left shaken. Back in the forest, he comes to the realization that the insects themselves have gone silent in a mass die off. Also known as the "Windshield Phenomenon" that documents how bugs no longer splatter on windshields as we drive as insect populations are down more than 45% over the last 4 decades.

Forests

Extinction

Nature

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The world’s lemurs are going extinct. This is the only way to save them.

Republicans Try to Weaken 50-Year-Old Law Protecting Whales, Seals and Polar Bears

Baby giant tortoises thrive in Seychelles after first successful artificial incubation

Arctic Seals and More Than Half of Bird Species Are in Trouble on Latest List of Threatened Species

We're precipitating an extermination rather than an extinction event'

Suggested Viewing

On the Brink

Talking Trees

Wildlife in Our Backyard

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 2: Leading the Way with Non-Lead

The Windshield Effect

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Troubled waters: how to stop Australia’s freshwater fish species from going extinct

Identifying species at risk

Get them on the list

Address the causes of decline

A blueprint to end extinctions

Related News

The world’s lemurs are going extinct. This is the only way to save them.

Republicans Try to Weaken 50-Year-Old Law Protecting Whales, Seals and Polar Bears

Baby giant tortoises thrive in Seychelles after first successful artificial incubation

Arctic Seals and More Than Half of Bird Species Are in Trouble on Latest List of Threatened Species

We're precipitating an extermination rather than an extinction event'

Suggested Viewing

On the Brink

Talking Trees

Wildlife in Our Backyard

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 2: Leading the Way with Non-Lead

The Windshield Effect

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sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Join us to forge
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