China is the most recent nation to destroy its ivory stockpile. It is the world’s largest market for illegal ivory, and the move is welcome news for threatened elephant populations. Ivory represents a tusk hacked, at the point of death, from the elephant, a cognitively and socially complex creature. One of the problems with ivory […] … learn more→

There has been little good news for rhino conservation in recent years. Increasing demand for rhino horn, particularly in Asia, has led to a massive spike in prices and incidents of poaching. This is devastating the last rhinoceros populations in Africa and Asia. But good news is trickling out of Indonesia. Last year saw the […] … learn more→

The recent news out of the RIO+20 summit is dire. No collective pre-agreement, no institutional change, no investment. The difference between RIO+20 and Kyoto was that at least Kyoto created an agreement that no one really abided by (and probably never planned to abide by). In the case of RIO+20 even that charade appears to […] … learn more→

Over the past few years, the genre of ‘nature writing’ has seen a new sense of urgency, fostered by a growing awareness of a natural world under pressure. Dr Robert Macfarlane, from the University of Cambridge, Faculty of English, believes that writers have played, and continue to play, a central role in conservation by engaging […] … learn more→

Even Australia’s most iconic, charismatic species are in danger of extinction. Species such as the cassowary, Tasmanian devil and koala all enjoy significant community support and relatively generous funding and yet find themselves at risk. And if our most popular species are in danger of extinction, what will become of our unpopular species? For species […] … learn more→

So, we have to feed an extra 2.5 billion people by 2050. For those of us interested in the future of biodiversity on this planet, this poses an uncomfortable challenge. It is also the topic of a recent paper in Science by Ben Phalan and colleagues at Cambridge University. Clearly, we need to ramp up […] … learn more→