Biodiversity

"Thirty years ago, a single light bulb would illuminate the mezcal distillery owned by Gladys Sánchez Garnica’s family in rural Oaxaca, where the agave-based spirit was made through the night. As drops dripped from a clay oven, Garnica and her siblings listened to stories told by their parents while neighbors arrived by horse to get a taste of a drink known for its smoky flavor."

"As the Trump administration prepares to convene the Endangered Species Committee, also known as... the “God Squad,” conservation groups are expressing anger over what they call an “illegal end-run around” that doesn’t seem to be following clear procedures set forth in the law. The committee is planning to discuss exemptions for Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities from the requirements of the Endangered Species Act."

"As soon as the barrier broke, a flood of poison brought death to the river. Gushing through the fragile wall built to hold back mining waste in Zambia’s copper belt in February 2025, more than 50m cubic litres of acid and heavy metals poured into the Chambishi stream – a tributary of the Kafue River, the country’s longest waterway."

"On a recent afternoon, deep in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and less than an hour’s drive from Shenandoah National Park, a tricolored bat was moving its mouth rapidly, as if it was trying to chew something. In fact, it was echolocating, using its mouth to shape and direct pulses of ultrasonic sound as a way to survey its surroundings."

"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."