Freshwater

African elephants

The Ghosts of Conservation Past

A look back at the United States’ outsize influence on global conservation reveals why the latest funding cuts should come as no surprise.

Latest in Freshwater
Coast of Unalaska Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
In the Wake of the Storm

A scientist tracks how cuts to federal funding are reshaping coastal communities, research, and species management in Alaska.

Stand Up for Science rally in Washington DC
The Fight for the Heart of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

One year after the Trump administration threw the EPA into chaos, former employees continue to push back—and to dream of an agency reborn.

chinook salmon spawning in a river
A Mysterious Salmon-Killing Affliction is a Mystery No More

In California, scientists tracked the source of a severe vitamin deficiency that’s killing endangered fish.

Lake at Nyandungu Urban Wetland Eco-tourism Park in Kigali, Rwanda
The Rwandan City Where Wetlands Are Winning

To save its citizens from floods, Kigali is betting big on wetland restoration.

whooping crane
Is it Too Soon to Whoop for Whooping Cranes?

Conservationists managed to save North America’s whooping cranes from extinction once, but the birds now face mounting threats in their winter habitat along the coast of Texas.

common loon
Why Are Loons Still Dying from Lead Poisoning?

In the United States, efforts to save a beloved species face pushback from a surprising foe: gun rights advocates.

School of Gila topminnow (Poeciliopsis occidentalis)
Love the Habitat You’re With

Locals in Tucson, Arizona are applying “reconciliation ecology” techniques to rehabilitate the region’s degraded landscapes and waterways.

Shadow Fish

The modern race to save an ancient and vanishing species.

Java mouse-deer (Tragulus javanicus)
Triaging the Global Wildlife Trade

Can we take a more systematic approach to protecting endangered species from international trade?