Stuart Pimm is the first-ever chair of conservation at Duke University. He was at the meeting in Michigan in 1985 when Michael Soulé asked if they should found a Society of Conservation Biology. Alarmist claims of global, catastrophic wildlife collapse and imminent ecological tipping points distract from practical, evidence-based conservation action.
The stories that attracted the most readers in the first five months of 2026 reflect the richness of Mongabay’s Africa coverage on World Environment Day, June 5, 2026. They showcase the talents of a diverse reporting team and a growing network of resident contributors.
Eight endangered Asiatic lions died at a national park in India due to extreme heat. A new early warning system aims to forecast when and where vertebrate species will be exposed to high temperatures up to nine months in advance. The system predicted that between May 2024 and February 2025, more than 3,500 species of vertebrate would be subjected to temperatures higher than previously experienced across their ranges.
Katharine Wilkinson has a Ph.D. in geography and the environment. She is a co-author of the book Drawdown and co-founder of The All We Can Save Project. She has written a book called Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home. The book addresses the reader and takes them through a process of self-examination.
USDA proposes to close the Beltsville Bee Research Lab in Maryland. Food insecurity in the U.S. has reached its highest rate in six years. The rules that govern the Colorado River, the primary water source for much of the American West, will expire at the end of 2026. Dryland farmers are learning how to adapt to climate change.
The report "The Risks of Climate-Nature Silos" was produced by the Zoological Society of London and the University of York. It argues that current climate and nature policies are working at cross-purposes, wasting public funds and causing unintended damage to ecosystems. The report arrives at a critical time for international environmental diplomacy, with 2026 seeing all three U.N. Rio Conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification coming into effect.
Study claims to be the first assessment of how live foundation species are influenced by their dead counterparts. The study examined data from 10 ecosystems, ranging from the tropics to the sub-polar, from montane to marine. It found that the dead remains significantly altered the growth, survival or makeup of living organisms of the same or similar species.
In nature, most plants and animals are recycled back into new life. Ecologists refer to this as ecological memory. After extreme events, the dead affect the living more commonly than expected. Understanding this influence on ecosystems will be valuable for helping ecosystems recover in a changing climate.
The platypus is in decline in Australia. There are an estimated 50,000 of them, but the true number is uncertain. The IUCN Red List classifies the species as near threatened. Conservationists need to know where the animal lives and where risks are growing. The response to its decline can be straightforward.