The recovery of Dutch freshwater nature is faltering. Environmental policy bore fruit for years, but in several areas, the upward trend has stalled or is even heading in the wrong direction again. “Biodiversity recovery in streams and rivers has turned into decline,” warn the World Wildlife Fund… Read more in NL Times…
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The Future of Forests
By Richard Heinberg, originally published by Resilience.org Our species’ origin and destiny are entangled with the roots and branches of trees. We evolved in and around trees, and we’ve learned to breed and plant them for their fruit, nuts, wood, and blossoms, taking their seeds with us as we migrated-hence the English walnut, native to […]
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Don’t just plant trees, plant forests to restore biodiversity for the future
By John Parker, Senior Scientist in Community Ecology, Smithsonian Institution; Justin Nowakowski, Senior Scientist in Spatial Ecology and Conservation, Smithsonian Institution. First published in The Conversation on 20 April 2026 Around the world, people plan to plant more than 1 trillion trees this decade in an ambitious effort to slow climate change and reduce biodiversity […]
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Bioregioning Is Our Future
By Richard Heinberg, Resilience Lately I’ve been reading Andrew Schelling’s Tracks Along the Left Coast, a biography of linguist, anthropologist, and anarchist Jaime de Angulo (1887-1950). De Angulo was a character worth knowing about. His affluent Spanish parents gave him a civilized upbringing in fashionable Paris; nevertheless, he had a wild streak. So, before he […]
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Cape Town’s wildflowers are a world treasure: six insights from a new checklist
By Dian Spear – Senior research scientist, Stellenbosch University; Nicola van Wilgen-Bredenkamp – Research associate, Stellenbosch University; Patricia Holmes – Plant ecologist, Stellenbosch University; Ronell R Klopper – Extraordinary Lecturer, University of Pretoria; Tony Rebelo – Scientist, South African National Biodiversity Institute. First published in The Conversation on 11 February 2026 CAPE TOWN, IN SOUTH […]
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Namibia and Angola’s remote Ovahimba mountains reveal a haven for unique plants – new survey
By Vera De Cauwer, Associate Professor Natural Resource Management, Namibia University of Science and Technology. First published in The Conversation on October 19, 2023 The Kaokoveld region, covering north-western Namibia and south-western Angola, is one of the remotest areas in southern Africa. Although it’s extremely dry, it is a centre of species endemism: many species […]
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Maintaining natural resilience for a sustainable future
By Prof Leon Hugo, former head of the Department of Geography at Pretoria University. First published in Environatics.co.za Nature maintains a delicate balance between growth and decay. For instance, trees in a forest perpetually grow, yet the total biomass of the forest remains constant. This chapter will delve into the control mechanisms, that serve as […]
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Lost fynbos seeds from underground ‘time capsules’ in South Africa can grow again – new study
By Alanna Rebelo – Senior Researcher, Agricultural Research Council; Karen Joan Esler – Distinguished Professor of Conservation Ecology, Stellenbosch University; Patricia Holmes – Plant ecologist, Stellenbosch University; Tony Rebelo – Scientist, South African National Biodiversity Institute. First published in The Conversation on March 17, 2025 Underground seed banks in South Africa that date back over […]
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Biodiversity: A Reader
by GST Staff Biodiversity loss must stop by 2030 to protect Earth’s life-support systems BIODIVERSITY LOSS MUST be halted by 2030 to keep the Earth’s life-support systems stable, according to new research. Across species, ecosystems, and the natural processes that move water and nutrients, the study acknowledges the danger inside the systems people rely on […]
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