Innovative Conservation Science to Meet the Challenges of our Time
How to protect the world’s biodiversity will be the point and priority of the 2024 United Nation’s Biodiversity Conference (COP16) October 21 through November 1 in Cali, Colombia. This year’s meeting will focus on the Global Biodiversity Framework developed at the last Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada.
COP16: Your Guide to the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference
October 21-November 1 in Cali, Colombia
Since 2015, governments have had the legally binding Paris Agreement—like a collective guiding star on climate—but now is the time to update decadal globally agreed targets for nature. So the focus is implementing the new, 10-year Global Biodiversity Framework: humanity’s roadmap towards a more nature-positive future.
The science is clear: As global biodiversity continues to decline at an alarming rate, we must protect 30% of terrestrial, inland water and marine areas by 2030. To ensure long-lasting protection, these conserved areas must be effectively managed and inclusively governed.
Dive deeper on biodiversity issues and learn more about the paths to implementation with TNC’s Guides: Biodiversity Action, Close the Nature Funding Gap, Build Better for Biodiversity, Recognize Local Leaders, + Partnerships for Protecting Nature
Biodiversity + Climate Change
Two crises pose a serious threat to life on Earth: the climate change crisis and the nature crisis. They are intrinsically linked. Natural ecosystems play a fundamental role in climate change mitigation, from strengthening the capacity of low-lying areas to withstand storms, to building resilience to drought, floods and fire.
Animals That Turn White in Winter Face a Climate Challenge
Hares, ptarmigans and Arctic foxes all turn white in winter, but as our planet warms, that adaptation may also need to, well, adapt again.
The Other Tannenbaum: Cutting an Alternative Christmas Tree
Kris Millage shares her experience cutting a wild juniper as a Christmas tree.
Cool Green Holiday Book Review 2024
Six books — ranging from eels to owls to outdoor adventures — that will make great gifts for your loved ones, or yourself.
30X30 Protected Areas
TNC supports a new deal for nature calling for 30 percent of ocean, land and water to be managed as intact and fully functional natural ecosystems. It’s not enough to draw lines on a map—we need to improve the design, management, financing and interconnectivity of these critical areas that sustain us all.
Coconut Palms Dominate Over Half of Pacific Atoll Forests
First study of its kind shows that decades of coconut palm agriculture have led to deforestation on over 80 percent of Pacific atolls, and coconut palms now cover more than half of the atolls’ forested areas.
First Christmas & First Loss
This excerpt from A Cowgirl’s Conservation Journey tells the story of Heidi Redd’s very rough first Christmas on the ranch.
The 5 Golden Rings? They Might be Pheasants
The classic holiday carol is heavy on birds. And some believe even the 5 golden rings have an avian connection.
Biodiversity + Protected Areas
Protections should be placed in areas scientifically identified as having the highest conservation value and that represent the planet’s biodiversity. But protected areas alone are not enough without science-based management. A protected area that has lost most of its large mammals, birds and trees through illegal activities cannot fully contribute to reducing extinction rates.
Photographing Water for the One of the World’s Driest Cities
A photographer captions the merging of modern science and ancient wisdom in the Peruvian Andes
Tracking Down the American Woodcock
A Q&A with scientist Colby Slezak on how following the migrating shorebirds revealed a rare nesting pattern.
Goblin Shark & Ghost-faced Bat: Cool Critters with Creepy Names
People have a penchant for slapping Halloween-style names on creatures that are more cool than creepy.
Biodiversity + Indigenous Knowledge
Scientific evidence shows us that indigenous peoples and local communities are often more effective conservation stewards than government-funded protected area agencies. Indigenous owned and managed lands and waters should receive recognition and support for their role in achieving biodiversity conservation targets.
Are There Mountain Lions in New Jersey?
Sightings of mountain lions abound in the eastern United States. What’s the real story?
Fish Aggregating Devices Could Enhance the Effectiveness of Blue Water Marine Protected Areas
Research from TNC’s Palmyra Atoll suggests fish aggregating devices could increase the time mobile species spend within blue water MPAs.
How to Catch a Wild dFAD
A small boat, four people, 500 pounds (or more) of rope, netting, floats, rafts and sometimes barnacles. Gloves definitely required.
Biodiversity + Siting
Very little of the planet is truly “untouched”—95 percent of the Earth’s surface outside of the polar regions has been modified by humans. Whether it’s clearing land to grow crops and build cities, or fragmenting habitats with highways and railroads, human development has changed the surface of the planet in a variety of ways.
A Day in the Life of a Field Scientist: Cape York Edition
Follow TNC scientists for a day of fieldwork in Australia’s Cape York – searching for palm cockatoos, cuscus and crocodiles, while discovering a diversity of little things.
Cool Green Book Review: October 2024
New titles on birding, backyard nature, cowgirl conservation and more.
Mapping Global Land Conversion to Support Conservation Planning
A new map identifying land conversion pressures helps identify where conservation interventions are most urgent.
Biodiversity + Cities
Science to help plan cities with nature in mind. With nearly 70 percent of the world’s population expected to live in urban areas by 2050, cities are swelling to accommodate newcomers. It is and will be necessary to integrate biodiversity protection into development, but a new deal for nature should establish national incentives for nature-based solutions in urban areas.
Do Enticing Mites Help Florida Scrub Lizards Attract a Mate?
Scientists at TNC’s Tiger Creek Preserve are using lizard robots — yes, robots — to figure out if parasitic mites helped lizards attract a mate.
A Roadmap for Reducing the Climate Impacts of U.S. Beef
Adoption of selected actions, especially around grazing, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. beef industry by up to 30%.
To Save Pacific Turtles, Focus on Small-Scale Fisheries
Small-scale fisheries cause significantly greater mortality to Solomon Islands turtles than longliners.
Biodiversity + The Ocean
Science to protect, restore and manage marine ecosystems by creating high seas and coastal havens where nature can regenerate and fortify itself against climate change and other threats.
Why Are Black Bears Thriving?
Most of the world’s bear species face serious threats, but black bears have adapted to a human-dominated landscape.
Caught on Camera: the Long-Nosed Chilean Shrew Opossum
Camera traps in the Valdivian Coastal Reserve document an increase in sites where one of Chile’s least-known marsupials is known to live.
Meet the Mysterious Long-Nosed Chilean Shrew Opossum
Spoiler alert: it’s not a shrew. It’s a relict marsupial, and has lived in the forests of Chile’s Valdivian Coast for millennia.
Biodiversity + Fresh Water
Protect and restore ecosystem function in watersheds (e.g., water funds) to provide access to safe drinking water and be a safe haven for wildlife and a resilient buffer to climate change.
Blue Mussels & Water Pollution: Protecting Wales’s River Conwy
TNC & National Geographic Society extern Evy Mansat Gros shares her experience studying blue mussels & water pollution in Wales.
Cutthroats and Cottonwoods: Protecting the South Fork of the Snake
On a family boat trip down Idaho’s South Fork River, writer Kris Millgate explores TNC’s role protecting this river ecosystem.
10 Years of SNAPP
How quickly can science make positive change in the world? For more than a decade, the Science for Nature and […]
Biodiversity + Agriculture
Science for Sustainable Food Production. When it comes to the climate and biodiversity crises, the agricultural sector is both challenge and solution. Science shows many of the most productive approaches to farming work with nature and promote mutually beneficial relationships between food production and the ecological processes that sustain it.
Bringing Beavers Back to Britain
Nature Conservancy & National Geographic Society extern Eleanor Salisbury shares her experience studying how reintroducing beavers to the U.K. can benefit both nature and people.
How Trees Can Help Fight Rising Heat in Arid Cities
New science shows increasing greening programs in arid cities could reduce air temperatures near people’s homes by an average of 0.5˚C.
Crested Rats & Hairy Porcupines: Meet 7 of the World’s Coolest Rodents
Rodents don’t always have the best reputation, but they can be beautiful, surprising and just downright bizarre. Here are seven of the world’s coolest rodents.
Biodiversity + Restoration
Science for restoring lost habitats and reducing future impacts. Humanity has left a significant mark on roughly half of the Earth’s lands beyond the polar regions, as well as the majority of the global ocean. To reach biodiversity goals, we need to protect nature in areas outside of wilderness, such as cities and farms.
Brazilian Family Farmers Use Agroforestry to Improve their Lands and Livelihoods (and Help Fight Climate Change)
Natural climate solutions, like agroforestry, can help protect biodiversity and contribute to the reductions needed to mitigate climate change.
TNC Scientist Honored with Naming of New Skink Species
It’s not every day that a young female scientist is honored alongside David Attenborough and E. O. Wilson.
Backyard Bioblitz: How to Be A Citizen Scientist in Your Backyard
A bioblitz is a nature scavenger hunt, for science. Here are our tips to DIY a bioblitz from your very own backyard.
