biodiversity

When it comes to causes of death, sharks are on the very bottom of the list as the leading causes. Your chances of dying in a car, being shot in the street, being struck by lightning while playing golf, slipping in your bathtub or dying of food poisoning in a restaurant are far higher. As […]

The Galapagos Islands are truly unique. They have more endemic species—species that can only be found there—than any other cluster of islands in the world. The Galapagos Islands have more endemic species than any other island cluster in the world. Photo credit: Shutterstock Since 2000, Sea Shepherd, a nonprofit dedicated to marine wildlife conservation, has been […]

2015 has been declared the International Year of Soils by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Dr. Vandana Shiva, who has been at the forefront of the food democracy movement, wants to take the momentum from the victories for food sovereignty in 2014 and make 2015 an even bigger year. Shiva recaps how food activists […]

Marilyn McHugh and Chris Kennedy had a honeymoon unlike most. They set out to travel around the world for a year with plans to stop in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. What was supposed to be a week in Kenya turned into six weeks when they saw how devastated the communities were by industrialized, chemical agriculture and felt […]

Gray wolves and coyotes are under threat again in Idaho. Yesterday wrapped up a four-day “wolf massacre,” as Lisa Kauffman, Idaho director for the Humane Society of America, calls this now annual event. An organization which calls itself Idaho for Wildlife put on a hunting derby, dubbed “Predator Hunting Contest and Fur Rendezvous,” where from Jan. 1 […]

The calendar is about to flip over once again, meaning it’s time for the obligatory roundup of the most important environmental stories of the past year. This list is mostly subjective—my own personal picks, filtered through my own lens. But I did reach out to a several dozen environmental activists and thinkers to tap into […]

In a victory for fisheries, recreational sportsmen, Native tribes, wildlife, local communities and the environment, President Obama Tuesday put Alaska’s Bristol Bay area permanently off limits to oil and gas development under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, something those groups had been seeking for decades. “Alaskans have been fighting to preserve Bristol […]

Back in 2010, animal rights watchdog group Four Paws contacted outdoor/activewear manufacturer Patagonia. It pointed out to the company—known for its commitment to social and environmental justice—that its down-filled garments were using down from birds that were not treated humanely. They contended that some of it came from birds force-fed to make foie gras, while […]