As we enter spring, new life starts to emerge, and that brings tadpole season. There is still a lot we don’t know about these curious creatures, even in the herpetology world. On the quest for the most interesting tadpoles, we’ve done some research, asked our Amphibian partners, and spoke to a tadpole expert to [...]
The first global assessment of freshwater species across multiple taxonomic groups has revealed that one quarter of the 23,496 freshwater species surveyed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ are threatened by extinction, in a paper published by Nature. But the scale of the freshwater biodiversity crisis told in these numbers could overwhelm [...]
The first global assessment of freshwater animals across multiple taxonomic groups has revealed that one quarter of the 23,496 freshwater species surveyed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ are threatened by extinction. The research included decapod crustaceans (shrimp, crabs, and crayfish), odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), and fish, and revealed that these are [...]
Pria Ghosh joined the Synchronicity Earth research team in October 2020. With her expertise in amphibian conservation and particularly in amphibian disease, Pria was well placed to take the lead on our amphibian conservation programme. In this interview, she talks about how she came to work with amphibians, describes her new role at Synchronicity [...]
In the 20th century, a new infectious disease emerged and caused an unprecedented environmental catastrophe. Chytridiomycosis, a fungal skin infection, has compounded an amphibian extinction crisis driven by habitat loss, overharvesting and pollution, resulting in 40 per cent of amphibians being threatened with extinction. Today, over 20 years after the first chytrid fungus was [...]
The Philippine Crocodile is one of the rarest and most endangered crocodiles in the world. Once found throughout the Philippines, in 2001 there were only 12 known individuals left in the wild due to habitat loss, pollution and overfishing. However, local people have pulled together to support a strong comeback for their crocodiles, and [...]
Jon Paul Rodríguez is the current Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC). When the former Chair of the Commission, Simon Stuart, left the post in 2016 after 8 years, he joined Synchronicity Earth as Director of Strategic Conservation. The two men go back a long way, [...]
This summer, thousands of people are streaming through the gates of Kew Gardens for the widely advertised Chihuly exhibition of huge colourful sculptures inspired by natural patterns. But when Synchronicity Earth’s staff visited last week, they were led past the glass Sapphire Star by Kew’s research team, who showed them the science and conservation [...]
Many conservation efforts are concentrated on the iconic threatened species: tigers, pandas and polar bears. Their familiar, fluffy faces draw our eyes, melt our hearts and open our purse strings. However, sometimes a happy accident can lead to a rediscovery of a forgotten species. But, what then? How can we put a neglected frog [...]
We often think about trees as a means: a means to timber or to paper, as providers of oxygen or more recently, as a means to capture carbon. Even within the conservation sector, trees are most often thought about as a means for conserving other species, a habitat for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and [...]