Wildlife & land conservation

Kyrgyzstan landscape with teal lake

Kyrgyzstan creates 3,000 square mile ecological corridor to protect biodiversity

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The Kyrgyz Republic has announced the creation of a vast ecological corridor covering over 3,000 square miles, marking a major step forward in the Central Asian nation’s conservation efforts. This new corridor is said to connect existing protected areas, including Khan-Tengri National Park and Naryn Nature Reserve, expanding the total protected landscape to over 4,600 square miles. Among the species benefiting are the snow leopard – classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN – and its prey, such as the Asiatic ibex and argali sheep.

Leopard

Sri Lanka’s Kumana National Park emerges as a stronghold for vulnerable leopards

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A new study reports a notably high density of Sri Lankan leopards in the country’s Kumana National Park. Using camera traps, the study recorded more than 90 leopard encounters, including 34 identified individual leopards, captured on film across a 16-month survey period. Since 2017, a citizen science program has also recorded 80 individual leopards in Kumana, using a naming system to identify each individual. The Sri Lankan leopard is tagged as a species “vulnerable” to extinction, according to the IUCN Red List criteria.

Amazon rainforest burning

Brazilian judge orders seizure of illegally cleared lands in the Amazon

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Justice FlĂĄvio Dino of the Brazilian Supreme Court has directed the government to seize private lands where forests have been illegally razed. By one estimate, more than half of the forest lost in the Brazilian Amazon has been on private lands. The ruling also calls for halting the process known as regularization, by which land grabbers are granted title to stolen lands, even when they have illegally destroyed forest on those lands. The decision, which may be appealed, further requires the government to seek compensation from landowners who have destroyed forest.

Baby sea turtles in the sand

Endangered sea turtles show signs of recovery in majority of places they’re found worldwide

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Endangered sea turtles are making a comeback in many parts of the world, according to a newly published global survey from researchers at Stanford University and other institutions. The study, featured in Endangered Species Research, found that threats to the marine animals—such as hunting, pollution, and coastal development—are declining in more than half of the areas examined. Although the findings offer hope, researchers caution that not all turtle populations are rebounding equally. Leatherback turtles, in particular, remain under severe threat.

Two parrots flying

One of the rarest parrot species in Brazil doubles in population in last 20 years

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Habitat loss and the illegal pet trade drove the red-tailed amazon, endemic to the southeastern Brazilian coast, to fewer than 5,000 individuals by the end of the 20th Century. Thanks to a project to install artificial nests on an island on the Paraná coast, the number of parrots has almost doubled in the last 20 years, taking the bird from “endangered” to “near threatened” status, the only case of its kind in Brazil. Although trafficking has decreased, it remains an active threat to the species’ survival.

Pangolin

Nigerian officials arrest Chinese pangolin trafficking ‘kingpin’

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Nigerian officials have arrested a Chinese national suspected of masterminding a transnational smuggling operation of pangolin scales, according to Dutch nonprofit Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC). The arrest is linked to the seizure of more than 7 tons of pangolin scales in August 2024. The investigation is part of wider efforts to disrupt wildlife trafficking networks in Nigeria, the main illegal wildlife trade hub in West Africa. WJC says the collaboration has enabled 37 arrests, seizures of more than 21.5 metric tons of pangolin scales, and 12 convictions since July 2021.

Chevron gas station

Chevron ordered to pay $740 million to restore Louisiana coast in landmark trial

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Jurors have found that energy giant Texaco, acquired by Chevron in 2001, had for decades violated Louisiana regulations governing coastal resources by failing to restore wetlands impacted by dredging canals, drilling wells, and billions of gallons of wastewater dumped into the marsh. The case was the first of dozens of pending lawsuits to reach trial in Louisiana against the world’s leading oil companies for their role in accelerating land loss along the state’s rapidly disappearing coast.

Crocodile from above

Siamese crocodile release into the wild marks conservation milestone in Cambodia

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The Siamese crocodile is one of the world’s rarest crocodilians, with less than 1,000 individuals estimated to be surviving in the wild. The species hasn’t been sighted for more than 20 years in Virachey, one of Cambodia’s most remote national parks. Combined with recent record-breaking hatchings both in the wild and in captivity, as well as new records of releases into the Cardamom Mountains from the NGO Fauna & Flora, conservationists hope to build a species stronghold in Cambodia.

Morning fog over the brazilian rainforest in Brazil

Colombia creates landmark territory to protect uncontacted Indigenous groups

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Colombia has created a first-of-its-kind territory meant to protect a group of Indigenous people living between the Caquetå and Putumayo Rivers in the Amazon Rainforest. The 2.7-million-acre territory is the first in the country specifically designed for people living in isolation. The Yuri-Passé people have faced increasing pressure from illegal mining and organized crime groups, forcing neighboring Indigenous communities to reach out to the government on their behalf. The creation of the territory follows years of advocacy by human rights and conservation groups.

Flower floating on the water with lilies

New Delhi transforms degraded lands into biodiversity parks

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New Delhi, India’s capital city, struggles with numerous environmental challenges, including extremely poor air quality and heat waves. In response, since 2004, the city has created seven large “biodiversity parks” on previously degraded land. The Aravalli Biodiversity Park, a 692-acre park located near an upscale neighborhood, is now a thriving forest of native plants. The Neela Hauz Biodiversity Park is home to a lake that was once a dumping ground for untreated sewage. All seven parks were restored by the Delhi Development Authority and the University of Delhi and together span 2,026 acres.