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Reporting on our catastrophic species loss, and ways to tackle the biodiversity crisis

The age of extinction is supported by

The age of extinction is supported by

The age of extinction

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  • Susana Muhamad Rozo 001 in Bogota, Colombia, June 2022

    Cop16
    How the ‘Frida Kahlo of environmental geopolitics’ is lighting a fire under big oil

    Colombian environment minister Susana Muhamad once worked for Shell. Now, as the country gears up to host the biodiversity Cop16, she is calling for a just transition away from fossil fuels
  • A spiky agave-type plant on a mountain-side of grass and rocks

    Botany
    Botanists identify 33 global ‘dark spots’ with thousands of unknown plants

    Kew study reveals areas with at least 100,000 undiscovered plant species – most likely to be under threat of extinction
  • A crowd of men looking through binoculars behind a gate

    Wildlife
    ‘You could single-handedly push it to extinction’: how social media is putting our rarest wildlife at risk

    From breeding spots overrun by visitors to photographers disturbing endangered species, experts say the rarer the find is, the bigger the problem
  • Alistair Boxall, professor in environmental science at the University of York, taking a water sample at Brook Head Beck

    Drug resistance
    ‘Rivers you think are pristine are not’: how drug pollution flooded the UK’s waterways – and put human health at risk

    High levels of antibiotics and other drugs have been found in water in the country’s most treasured and protected landscapes, raising concerns over antimicrobial resistance
    • Portrait of Tony Juniper next to a tree

      Tony Juniper
      ‘It’s a warning’: UK nature chief sounds alarm over ecosystem collapse as butterfly numbers halve

    • A herd of cows walking over a meadow

      Biodiversity
      Global spending on subsidies that harm environment rises to $2.6tn, report says

    • Left: hundreds of birds sit on nests in crevices and on rocky outcrops; plants grow on some of the exposed rock. Right: the same rock face but with no birds at all, and less greenery.

      Wildlife
      Stark before and after photographs reveal sharp decline of Norway’s seabirds

    • Farmer Goyteom Tekele outside the warehouse of frankincense wholesaler Tesfaye Merasa in Abi Adi with his sacks of frankincense resin and bark

      Deforestation
      How the west’s wellness industry is driving Ethiopia’s frankincense trees towards extinction

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Cop16

  • Susana Muhamad Rozo 001 in Bogota, Colombia, June 2022

    How the ‘Frida Kahlo of environmental geopolitics’ is lighting a fire under big oil

  • A spiky agave-type plant on a mountain-side of grass and rocks

    Botanists identify 33 global ‘dark spots’ with thousands of unknown plants

  • Two women collect samples from a shallow pool in a rocky landscape

    Who wins from nature’s genetic bounty? The billions at stake in a global ‘biopiracy’ battle

  • A woman speaks in front of an array of microphones, with a banner that has a multicoloured logo reading 'Cop16' behind her

    We must restore nature to avoid global catastrophe, warns biodiversity summit president

    Explore

    • A stealthy jaguar seems to crouch behind a flower on the bank of a waterway.

      Wetlands
      ‘Losing Noah’s Ark’: Brazil’s plan to turn the Pantanal into waterway threatens world’s biggest wetland

      • A man in a hat with binoculars round his neck looking intently at trees.

        As the world gets hotter, could helping trees migrate northwards protect them?

      • A white Arctic fox lying in the sun, Norway.

        Eagle attacks, red invaders and a genetic bottleneck: inside the fight to save arctic foxes

      • A shark can be seen underwater, with a boat and divers above

        ‘They’re not like puppy dogs. They should be respected’: how to swim with sharks in British waters

      • A flock of pigeons scrambling over each other

        How do you put pigeons on the pill? Scientists test contraceptives to curb pest numbers

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    Explainers

    • The biggest threats to our natural world

      The five biggest threats to our natural world … and how we can stop them

    • The biodiversity crisis in numbers - a visual guide

    • An abstract collage of news images from the 2023 global climate crisis

      10 ways the climate crisis and nature loss are linked

    • A bee lands on a purple flower

      Food, soil, water: how the extinction of insects would transform our planet

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    Wild world

    • A kākā at Zealandia ecosanctuary, Wellington, New Zealand.

      Penguins in the pond, kiwi in the back yard: how a city brought back its birds

      As nature falls silent in most cities around the world, New Zealand’s capital has been transformed by the sound of native birds returning to the dawn chorus
    • A line of people walk along the edge of a filed thickly planted with sunflowers. People can be seen among the flowers taking pictures.

      Nature’s ghosts: how reviving medieval farming offers wildlife an unexpected haven

    • A black bird with a teddy boy-style quiff and a long wattle that hangs below its feet, sitting on a branch

      ‘More profitable than farming’: how Ecuador’s birding boom is benefiting wildlife

    • Tony Juniper

      Birdsong once signalled the onset of spring on my street – but not this year

      Tony Juniper
    • A group of young spotted hyenas on the road outside Harar

      The hyenas of Harar: how a city fell in love with its bone-crunching carnivores

    • View of rolling green fields on Iford estate from South Downs Way

      UK
      Flowers everywhere? England’s ambitious scheme to restore wildlife hangs in the balance

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    Nature heroes

    • Robert Ballard speaking at a conference in California.

      I discovered the wreck of the Titanic – but seeing these vents in the sea floor was far more exciting

    • Heather Middleton looking for fossils on a rocky beach

      I discovered ...
      Thousands of fossils after retiring. Now I’m nearly 80 and still going strong

    • Prof Andrew Cunningham inside a lab at London Zoo wearing a lab coat and glasses

      I discovered ...
      Why seemingly healthy amphibians were being wiped out

    • Paul Hebert standing in front of a white sheet and holding a UV light in his back yard in Ontario, Canada, 21 February 2024

      I discovered …
      A way to identify the millions of species on Earth after a lightbulb moment in the supermarket

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    Pictures

    • A group of three blue-footed boobies (Sula nebouxii) pictured on the Galápagos Islands

      Female photographers celebrate Jane Goodall’s 90th birthday

    • The operation not only underscores Kenya’s conservation triumph but also signifies a critical step in achieving stable habitats for the survival of the species.

      Cardiac arrests, horns and 1.4 tonnes of muscle: here’s how to move a rhino – in pictures

      The Kenya Wildlife Service has successfully translocated 21 eastern black rhinos to a region where they have not roamed for 50 years. Here’s how they caught, transported and released these critically endangered creatures to their new home
    • A Garrano horse with a GPS tracker in the Cabreira Mountain

      ‘Without a function they’re doomed’: in search of a new job for Portugal’s ancient pony breed

      Known since Palaeolithic times, valued by the Romans and key to Portugal’s empire-building, there are now less than 3,000 Garranos left
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