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Why wild bees matter, and how we can all help save them

To make our ecosystems as resilient as possible, we need species diversity – and that includes bees. Here, conservation biologist Sheila Colla explains their main threats and what we need to do.

Want hedgehogs to nest in your garden? Here are some tips

New research gives insight into how best to set up hedgehog houses in your garden to help protect this endangered UK species.

Rewild and carry on

One group saving trees in a tree museum, the reality TV show on a rewilding mission, and tips on coping with eco-anxiety.

This tree museum looks to the future, not the past

Kenya’s Miti Alliance is growing a living seed bank to help counteract deforestation, preserve indigenous tree species and boost knowledge of local ecosystems.

4 ways to cope with eco-anxiety

Anxious about the state of the planet? Welcome to the club. Here's what you need to know about why it happens and what might help.

Trees That Count has planted one million trees – and they’re just getting started

This reforestation project is helping New Zealanders plant native trees across Aotearoa to support biodiversity and the fight against climate change. Here’s how they’re doing it.

Wolverine populations are declining. To protect them, we need better habitat

The one-two punch of landscape change and climate change are making matters worse for wolverines. Here's how we can make a difference.

The best (and fastest) ways to replace your lawn with native plants

So you're ready to start rewilding your yard. But how do you get rid of the grass? Here are three top options.

Ecological restoration’s surprising history: A Q&A with Laura J. Martin

A new book uncovers the development of the world’s most widespread environmental management practice.

“My former horse paddock now welcomes 49 bird species”

Oliver Clanford has spent the past eight years rewilding a piece of his land. Now, he wants other small landowners to join in.

The reality TV show making Florida yards friendlier to nature

One way to encourage people to grow wildlife-safe, low-water gardens that feature native plants? Give them the HGTV treatment.

“The effort is heroic”

The forgotten hero of climate change and one project that's tripled a caribou herd. Plus, how even small green spaces help cool cities.

Green spaces really do make cities cooler. Here's how

Heat waves hit cities hard – and with climate change, they're only getting worse. Here's how even small gardens, parks and treed areas can make a difference.

Let's hear it for the bogs

The UK's peatlands hold billions of tonnes of carbon – far more than its woodlands. Which is why the 12,000-year-old Border Mires of northern England are finally getting the restoration attention they're due.

Pleistocene Park, the film: A Q&A with director Luke Griswold-Tergis

A new documentary on the famous Siberian rewilding initiative shows the people behind the project – and the challenges facing their ambitions.

Indigenous knowledge and science team up to triple a caribou herd

In one project in British Columbia's Rocky Mountains, expanding caribou populations and habitats starts with protecting mothers and their calves.

5 new(ish) books about forests and trees

Trees and forests are important to humanity in basically every way you can think of. These books explore that relationship and give us goals – both personal and global – to strive for.

Is passive rewilding the best way to plant forests?

Forests will grow back by themselves if we let them. Here's how a passive rewilding strategy could be the most cost-effective – and also effective – reforestation tool we have.

Planting the seeds of rewilding

Is celebrity attention helping the cause? Plus, how one woman is turning her lawn into a forest, and how to co-exist with coyotes.

Invasive species as a metaphor for colonization

In this excerpt from her book Fresh Banana Leaves, Indigenous scientist and author Jessica Hernandez explores how restoration work in the Americas must include building relationships with the lands' original inhabitants.

Why I'm killing my lawn to plant a forest

How one New Zealand woman is reforesting her yard as a personal act against climate change that will support native biodiversity, too.

How the Miyawaki Method can help us restore forests faster

In this excerpt from her book Mini-Forest Revolution, Hannah Lewis explains how the Miyawaki Method works and what you need to know to plant your own mini-forest.

Here are some ways the world’s cities are rewilding

Urban nature matters, and municipalities are taking notice. From ending the battle with weeds to reconstructing wetlands, here’s how five cities and regions are making a difference.

What coyotes really want

Coyotes have a bad reputation that's entirely undeserved. Here's what really motivates them – and how we can co-exist in peace.

“What we need to be doing is stewardship”

The low-down on bees and dandelions, some questions about tree planting and an essay on rewilding for the future.

Rewilding isn’t about recreating the past. It’s about shaping a better future

The ecology of the past is useful inspiration, but it shouldn’t be a blueprint for restoration. Here’s what to focus on instead.

The surprising downside of #NoMowMay

Not cutting your lawn and letting dandelions grow for a month is touted as an easy way to help bees. But one-size-fits-all solutions don't work for conservation.

Does planting trees actually help the climate? Here’s what we know.

Trees are great at capturing warming gases, but mass-planting efforts tell a tricky story.

Rebuilding Canada's forgotten forests

Prince Edward Island used to be home to a rich variety of trees. Then agriculture took over. Here's how one project is working to bring back the woods.

Data from thousands of surveillance cameras confirms that protected areas safeguard species diversity

How do we know that protected areas are really helping wildife thrive? An analysis of data from more than 8,600 camera traps has the answer.

Springtime is rewilding time

Tips and inspiration for rewilding at home, new hope for L.A.'s cougars, and a South African wilderness guide's new memoir.

A new bridge will help cougars survive life in L.A.

To help its iconic mountain lions and other wildlife navigate the city, Los Angeles is breaking new ground.

6 steps to rewilding at home

Rewilding the spaces around us doesn’t need to be complicated. We can start small, make mistakes and learn a lot along the way.

Hope for coral reefs: A Q&A with Juli Berwald

A new book tracks scientific research and restoration efforts around the world that are focused on saving this critical ocean ecosystem.

How one Vancouver resident replaced his lawn and built an ecosystem

Stephane Laroye built a meadow for the bees. Turns out, he and his neighbours might be enjoying it even more.

In Corsica, oysters prove to be a pearl for ocean restoration

From picturesque Mediterranean isles to New York’s bustling harbour, strategically placed oyster colonies are depolluting the sea with ease.

Here's your antidote to hopelessness

How you can help rewilders in Ukraine, the next young conservationist to know, and a tome for regenerative gardeners.

Rewilding Ukraine has restored thousands of hectares of wetlands. Now, they need our help

Team members are used to protecting the land – but that has taken on new meaning. The supplies they need now include telescopes and night-vision visors to watch for troops.

How this Kenyan student stays motivated to fight for a better future

Lamech Opiyo believes co-operation is what will save us from the worst of climate change. Good thing he has the power to move people to action with his words.

In Wyoming, fences are coming down to make way for wildlife

More than 600,000 miles of fences crisscross the American West, blocking animal migration. Outside Yellowstone last summer, volunteers dismantled a few.

“There is an eerie silence sweeping across the land”

The trouble with Ireland's forests, restoring a creek in West Virginia, and a guide to reconnecting with nature.

The troubling truth about Ireland’s forests

Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle, but among all that green is a surprising reality: Native trees are being pushed out, creating ecological dead zones.

For 30 years, this creek was dead. Now, it supports three kinds of trout – and a web of aquatic life.

For decades, toxic runoff from abandoned coal mines has left streams and rivers lifeless in West Virginia. Here's how two men decided to reverse the damage taking place in their own backyards.

Our most popular stories of 2021

Urban beavers, nature books, rewilding heroes and redefining wilderness: our top stories of the year cover the gamut.

“It’s a human-centred initiative”

Life next door to jaguars, ecological restoration in the heart of the city, and our best books of 2021.

All the books we recommended in 2021

Some of them were new this year, some of them are oldies-but-goodies. All 15 are worthy additions to your rewilding-adjacent bookshelf or your gift-giving list.

Jaguars are returning to the U.S. Here's what we need to make coexistence work.

We can live and even raise livestock successfully in a landscape with jaguars – if we do it right. In 25 years of jaguar-related work, this is what I've learned.

How we’re rewilding: Peter Ewins, Project Swallowtail

How do you get city dwellers to care about biodiverse, nature-led ecosystems? According to this former WWF staffer, urban naturalization projects can be an important first step.

What will it take to bring back Oregon's kelp forests?

Kelp forests are critical ecosystems and effective carbon sinks, too – but they're under threat around the world. This team of free divers and scientists is trying to make a difference, one purple urchin at a time.

"They act wild and they survive in the wild"

An inside look at Scottish wildcats, author Emma Marris on humility and climate action, and a must-read book on what we can learn from the forest.

How we're rewilding: Paul Lister, Alladale Wilderness Reserve

This massive reserve in the Scottish Highlands has numerous rewilding projects on the go. But the cutest and most ferocious residents have to be the Scottish wildcats.

Q&A with Emma Marris: "I’m really ready to leave this wilderness worshipping behind"

The author of new book Wild Souls shares her thoughts on what we owe our non-human neighbours on this planet, what rewilding really means and why everyone needs to become a bit of an activist.

Can beavers make our cities better?

For six decades, beavers were unwelcome in Vancouver. Now, they’re taking up residence across the urban core. But can we make this relationship work?

“If you take care of nature, it gives you back manifold”

An Indian rewilding project that's brought a village back to life, plus a book that will bring back hope for nature's resilience.

How an Indian village saved itself from droughts

A doctor facing his own near-death experience heard that his homeland was dying. Once he was well, he set to work healing the land.

How private landowners are rewilding Australia, one property at a time

Australia’s native species are being driven to extinction – and habitat loss is a major factor. Here’s how one group is working with volunteers to help restore the land.

“Food forests are a cushion to hunger”

Our interview with Shamiso Mupara of Environmental Buddies Zimbabwe, plus a guide to starting a nature journal.

How we’re rewilding: Shamiso Mupara, Environmental Buddies Zimbabwe

Deforestation has brought drought and hunger to Zimbabwe’s Marange district. Here’s how one activist is planting food forests to change things for the better.

“Until people are healed, the water won't change”

Our interview with Shannon Te Huia of Pūniu River Care in New Zealand, plus a book on how you can get closer to nature.

How we’re rewilding: Shannon Te Huia, Pūniu River Care

Shannon Te Huia knew that restoring New Zealand’s Pūniu River would mean restoring the relationship between nature and people, too. Here, he shares some key steps along his journey.

"Sowing a seed can make a magnitude of difference"

Our interview with Victoria Hillsdon of the UK's Venn Nurseries, plus a review of book Wilding and some recommended reads.

How we’re rewilding: Victoria Hillsdon, Venn Nurseries

Some people have a signature dish. Victoria Hillsdon, founder of what just might be Britain’s first dedicated rewilding nursery, has a signature plant.

“We didn't really treat the forest as an ecosystem”

Our interview with Limbi Blessing Tata of Cameroonian NGO Ecological Balance, plus a review of book The Future We Choose and some recommended reads.

How we’re rewilding: Limbi Blessing Tata, Ecological Balance

Conservationist Limbi Blessing Tata had an “overambitious goal” — to rewild five water catchments in her region in Cameroon. With two Miyawaki forests already planted and a third in fundraising mode, you could say she’s halfway there.

"There's this giant ray of hope"

Our interview with Jacob Murray of Canada's Topsy Farms, plus a review of book The Nature Fix and some recommended reads.

How we’re rewilding: Jacob Murray, Topsy Farms

How do you launch a rewilding project on a small Canadian farm? It takes community support, inspiration from Attenborough — and local gym rats ready for true functional fitness.

What is rewilding?

At its core, rewilding is a conservation movement. It’s a recognition that the human relationship with nature is out of balance, and that the consequences of this imbalance are threatening life on this planet.