Biodiversity

"In a map update posted last month to U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s website, the agency charted a major expansion of the border wall. It included terrain belonging to one of America’s most iconic wild areas, Big Bend National Park, an 800,000-acre desert landscape that includes the entire Chisos mountain range and more than 100 miles of the Rio Grande."

"Defenders of Wildlife released its 2025 Conservation Report Card for the 119th Congress, measuring members’ commitment to upholding federal laws that protect wildlife conservation during its first session."

"Death Valley, known as the driest place in North America, is teeming with life with a once-in-a-decade blossoming of wildflowers known as a superbloom, transforming a normally brown desert landscape into carpets of gold."

"A coalition of organizations has again sued the Trump administration for its 'giveaway' of federal lands in Alaska for industrial purposes. At issue are the steps the administration has taken to allow a 211-mile-long road across a pristine stretch of the state, passing through Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and crossing the Kobuk Wild River, to access the site of a proposed copper mine."

"Florida conservation groups say they plan to sue after the federal government greenlit another development that threatens the habitat of the panther, the official state animal."

"Off-shore industrial boats illegally harvest thousands of tonnes of small fish vital to the marine food web in Guinea-Bissau, a DeSmog investigation with The Guardian reveals."

"Bristol Water said it wants to improve diverse wildlife at Blagdon Lake, a 440-acre reservoir and trout fishery in the Mendip Hills, Somerset. A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the work includes restoring thinning hedgerows by laying trimmed base stems horizontally."

"When scientists recently analyzed hundreds of studies of ecosystems, they were surprised to see a marked slowing in the rate of species turnover. If new species don’t replace old ones, they say, ecosystems may have less flexibility to respond to habitat loss and climate change."

"Researchers led by the Australian scientist Tim Flannery have made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery: that two charismatic marsupial species that had been thought extinct for 6,000 years are alive in rainforest in remote West Papua."

"Scientists and other experts were preparing a first-of-its-kind assessment of the health of nature in the United States when President Trump returned to the White House. He canceled the report. The researchers went ahead and compiled it on their own. This week, they released a 868-page draft for public comment and scientific review."