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August 14, 2026
 

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BIODIVERSITY

In 2008, Nishiawakura announced a 100-year plan to promote forest health through measures including structured thinning of its artificially planted <i>sugi</i> and <i>hinoki</i> trees. Since then, it has earned nationwide recognition for its innovative forest health management initiatives.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jul 27, 2026
The tiny Okayama village providing Japan with a blueprint for forest management
Nishiawakura is prioritizing long-term forest health and biodiversity, while also strengthening the local economy.
A plastic bottle cap about 3.5 centimeters in diameter, where polychaete worms built a nest out of small pebbles. It drifted from the coast of the Philippines and was recovered off Kochi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2026
Researchers find tiny marine ecosystem ¡ª population 307 ¡ª in a bottle cap
The discovery shows that a large amount of plastic waste floating in the sea can become small ships of organisms, according to a Japanese research team.
Cambodia&#039;s Cardamom National Park in Koh Kong province on June 11. The last confirmed tiger sighting in Cambodia was captures on camera trap footage in 2007 but conservationists say they may soon be able to reintroduce the big cats.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jul 9, 2026
Cambodia wants to bring back tigers, but should it?
The plan would see India send several of its more than 3,600 tigers to southwestern Cambodia¡¯s Cardamom Mountains, a protected expanse of lush rainforest.
Financial markets are underestimating the economic risks of biodiversity loss, according to a new study.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 6, 2026
Study warns biodiversity loss could trigger wave of debt crises
The study presented what they described as the world¡¯s first biodiversity-adjusted sovereign credit ratings model.
Park Gyeong-je, 65, a migratory beekeeper, stands among beehives at an acquaintance&#039;s family gravesite where he received permission from the family to keep hives as a second location for migratory beekeeping in Okcheon, South Korea, on May 13.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 4, 2026
A South Korean beekeeper counts the cost of climate change
Rising temperatures are disrupting South Korea¡¯s beekeeping industry, as earlier blooms, harsher weather and disease cut honey production and put pressure on migratory farmers.
The Blue River, a tributary to the Colorado River, earlier this month
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 24, 2026
Climate change threatens global plant species as habitats shrink
Some of the plants ?that make familiar landscapes recognizable may not survive by century¡¯s end.
Crown Prince Akishino (left) and Prince Hisahito (second from left) attend a presentation event of a national competition for biotopes held at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2026
Prince Hisahito attends biotope competition event
The competition showcases schools and others that develop biotopes, or gardens where various organisms live.
A diver checks on sea urchins at revived moba seaweed beds in Shakotan, Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2025
Local governments working with fishers to save seaweed forests
The town of Shakotan in Hokkaido launched efforts to revive the rich ocean greenery after marine forests in its coastal areas were destroyed 15 years ago.
At least 172 out of 1,928 assessed species of wild bees face extinction in Europe, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 13, 2025
Europe¡¯s bees and butterflies at risk, conservation body says
At least 172 out of 1,928 assessed species of wild bees face extinction in Europe compared to 77 in 2014, the IUCN has said.
A tourist enjoys the Ras Hankorab beach in the Red Sea Wadi Al-Gemal protectorate in southern Egypt. The local environment is under threat amid development projects.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 21, 2025
Tourism deal puts one of Egypt¡¯s last wild shores at risk
The shadowy contract, which allows for the construction of a resort on one of the country¡¯s last undisturbed Red Sea beaches, was halted but not permanently canceled.
The highly venomous lionfish with its long spotted fins can measure up to around 26 centimeters.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 15, 2025
With waters at 32 C, Mediterranean tropicalization shifts into high gear
Encouraged by increasingly warm waters, hundreds of species native to the Red Sea have moved into the eastern Mediterranean, disrupting ecosystems.
An Emerald Toucanet. Nearly half of all bird species are found in biodiversity-rich tropical regions.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Aug 12, 2025
Climate heat extremes driving tropical bird decline: study
Intensifying temperatures caused a 25% to 38% reduction in tropical bird populations between 1950 and 2020, compared to a scenario without global warming.
While a trained beekeeper can quickly look at frames in a hive assess their health, AI can do it even faster.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 24, 2025
How robotic hives and AI are lowering the risk of bee colony collapse
Beewise¡¯s units help cut down on losses by providing a near-constant stream of information on colony health in real time and give beekeepers the ability to respond.
Keen to end its reliance on rice imports, Indonesia wants to plant vast tracts of the crop, along with sugar cane for biofuel, in the restive eastern region of Papua. But environmentalists warn it could become the world's largest deforestation project, threatening endangered species and Jakarta's climate commitments.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Apr 22, 2025
Indonesia food plan risks ¡®world¡¯s largest¡¯ deforestation
Deforestation linked to the plan is already underway.
The Environment Ministry has removed more than 200 species from its red list of endangered plants and fungi, with the removal largely reflecting a recovery of populations. For instance, the Cypripedium macranthos var. rebunense, which grows on Rebun Island in Hokkaido, has been moved to the "near threatened" category.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Mar 18, 2025
Japan removes 207 species from red list of endangered plants and fungi
The decrease largely reflects the recovery of populations, though 57 species were recognized as extinct.
Instead of spending billions to resurrect woolly mammoths, we could focus on preserving endangered species, saving ecosystems, and securing biodiversity for the future.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2025
Got $10 billion? Don¡¯t blow it cloning a woolly mammoth.
Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based biotechnology and genetic engineering startup valued at $10 billion, has raised $435 million to ¡°de-extinct¡± the woolly mammoth.
Bleached and dead coral around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef, located 270 kilometers north of the city of Cairns, Australia, on April 5, 2024
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Mar 17, 2025
From oil spills to new species: How tech reveals the ocean
New technologies are helping to reveal hidden oil spills, speed up the discovery of new species and uncover the impact of light pollution.
A Red Knot (left) and a Ruddy Turnstone gather with other shorebirds to feed on Atlantic horseshoe eggs along a beach in Little Creek, Delaware.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Mar 14, 2025
Many U.S. bird species seen as reaching population ¡®tipping point¡¯
A report found that avian populations are decreasing in almost every habitat, including grasslands and arid regions.
A monarch butterfly is seen at an enclosure at Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, in August 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Mar 7, 2025
Butterfly populations plummet by 22% in U.S. since turn of century
Studies in some other countries have documented declines at roughly the same rate as in the U.S. data.
A government-hired hunter holds up a captured iguana in Pingtung County, Taiwan, on Feb. 10. Taiwan's iguana population has exploded since the spikey-backed giant lizards were introduced more than 20 years ago as exotic pets. Many escaped or were dumped by their owners and have bred rapidly in the warm climate of southern Taiwan, invading neighborhoods and ravaging farmers' crops.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 17, 2025
Taiwan bounty hunters kill invading iguanas as numbers soar
Taiwan began culling iguanas nearly 10 years ago and this year¡¯s target has been set at more than 100,000.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
New ¡®Katsu Curry Index¡¯ aims to show how weak the yen really is
A CoCo Ichibanya curry house in Tokyo.
Mexican man arrested over attempt to smuggle some 200 lizards into Japan
Mexican alligator lizards seized by Tokyo Customs from a Mexican man who attempted to smuggle them into Japan on Saturday through Haneda Airport
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company&#039;s warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo&#039;s Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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