In the historic Down House, the house where Charles Darwin lived for 40 years in Kent, England, there was a space that was key to developing the theory of evolution that would bring the English naturalist worldwide fame. And it's not the table where he wrote The Origin of Speciesbut rather his garden. There, Darwin spent hours conducting small experiments with plants, such as the so-called Darwin's orchid or Christmas orchid, from Madagascar. It is a very particular species, with an extraordinarily long nectary, over 20 centimeters. The scientist predicted the existence of an insect capable of reaching the hidden nectar. The butterfly would be discovered decades later, confirming an intuition based solely on botanical observation.

Claudio Barría has spent many years of his life debunking Steven Spielberg's film SharkThis Chilean biologist, based in Catalonia, has focused his research on these animals—currently at the University of Oviedo but previously at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM)—and is now one of the leading experts on Mediterranean sharks, probably the leading expert. It was precisely at a film forum for the 50th anniversary of this film, in which he participated, that the idea for the book arose. Sharks, together with Ana Colmenero (ICM), within the collection What do we know about? published by Catarata and the CSIC. Both the book and the conversation exude a wealth of knowledge and, above all, an enormous love for these animals, which are invaluable to marine ecosystems.

The Annamite Range, located in the border region between Laos and Vietnam, forms one of the largest contiguous natural forest areas in mainland Southeast Asia, covering more than 10,000 km². The forests that blanket the valleys and peaks of these mountains have acted as an evolutionary laboratory for centuries, fostering a myriad of unique life forms, including some of the most mysterious and endangered animals on the planet. This valuable fauna has shared its habitat with local communities for generations. An ancient landscape, influenced by thousands of years of humid conditions, it has allowed vast evergreen forests to persist through the last ice age, when much of the rest of Southeast Asia was far drier than it is today. Although the area has been largely unexplored by the scientific community in the past, partly due to decades of political conflict, scientists have discovered several new species in the range in recent years. Some of the world's most recent and important mammal discoveries have been made here, such as the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), the rabbit crossed out from Annam (Nesolagus timminsi) and the giant Montjac (Muntiacus vuquangensisEven more numerous are the new species of reptiles and amphibians that have been discovered. No less valuable are some unique plants that grow in the area of ​​these mountains, such as the last remaining Chinese swamp cypress trees (Glyptostrobus pensilis), with several specimens that are over five hundred years old.

Just two years ago the Earth was already in the ICU, when scientists confirmed that six critical thresholds for life on our planet had been crossed. These are nine indicators that make Earth a habitable place, like the vital signs examined during a medical checkup, from climate to freshwater use to the destruction of the ozone layer. For each of these nine indicators, limits have been established that should not be exceeded so that our planet remains a "safe" place for life. Well, in 2025, we have still exceeded the critical limit for another of the indicators, so that seven of the nine are now in the red, according to a new report from the Planetary Boundaries Science Lab at the Potsdam Institute for Research.

Black feathers with greenish and purple tinges. The head is bare and reddish. The beak, which is very elongated and slightly curved, is also reddish. The hermit ibis is a bird with a very distinctive appearance, but it is not easy to observe. In fact, it completely disappeared from Catalonia and the rest of the Mediterranean territories more than 300 years ago. However, in 1990, numerous recovery plans were launched to reintroduce it to Europe; today, it is estimated that there are 2,000 specimens.

The hours before a fire is declared under control are long and agonizing, but it is when the flames are extinguished that a long-distance race begins to revive life from the ashes. In the case of the Paüls forest fire (Baix Ebre)A third of the burned land is part of the Els Ports Natural Park, an area of high ecological value. The flames scorched more than 2,360 hectares of forest, of which more than a thousand are part of this protected area; a system with great biodiversity, home to hundreds of animal and plant species. What has been done in the wake of this fire?

In Catalonia, there are several beaches along the coast where, year-round, bathing and towel-laying are prohibited. These are very specific areas, with special nature reserve protection, such as the Ebro Delta or the Llobregat Delta. There, no matter how good the weather is, human presence is restricted to promote biodiversity conservation. This summer, for the first time, Can Comas beach, between Sant Pere Pescador and Empuriabrava, right in front of the Wetlands of the Empordà.

You will find a good number of plant manuals published, but probably none like Things that grow (Ara Llibres), a "treatise on plants, trees and everything in between" signed by Godai Garcia (l'alter ego by Galdric Plana), a screenwriter, comic book writer, and, as he defines himself, a passionate nature lover. Plana proposes a peculiar approach to the plant world of our environment, vindicating those plants that we won't find in any florist or garden center, but that are part of our daily lives and make up the natural landscape of our lives.

The light of an April morning caresses the cereal plain that stretches between the Segarra plateau and the Urgell canal, encompassing the Bellmunt mountain range, the Plans de Sió, and the drylands of Belianes-Preixana. A group of natural spaces with poorly defined boundaries that remained outside the influence of the Urgell canal, where we find the last populations of one of the most endangered birds in Catalonia, the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), also known as holly or dryland duck. In a corner of the rockrose, an intense fight breaks out between two vigorous males vying for rights to a "display ground," a designated area for individual use where the male performs his mating display with the aim of attracting a female. In the specific case of the little bustard, this area consists of very flat land, a very common plot of land. Ownership of this land governs their rank in a social hierarchy that will determine their chances of procreation. With all this at stake, neither rival will be willing to compromise, and with their beaks sharpened, they will stab each other sharply until the weaker admits defeat and leaves. The loser must find another corner to display his mate.

In the world there are one million natural species in danger of extinction. The Wildlife has been reduced by 69% in the last 50 years. That's why governments around the world agreedAgreement finally reached in 2022 in Montreal to protect at least 30% of ecosystems by 2030, but it remained to be seen how this enormous task would be financed. This was the objective of the UN COP16 Biodiversity Summit held last November in Colombia, which ended without an agreement. Negotiations resumed this week in Rome, and the pact was finally sealed around midnight on Thursday, just as the deadline expired. The 150 governments meeting in the Italian capital agreed to "mobilize $200 billion annually from 2030" to finance the protection and restoration of ecosystems with public and private money and various financial instruments. These funds include—and this was the big sticking point—direct aid from rich countries to poorer ones: $20 billion annually from 2025 and $30 billion annually from 2030.

Adding the blue crab to rice, fish broths and other culinary recipes has helped combat the plague that threatens the ecosystems in the Ebro Delta. The years-long war against this crustacean fishermen have been waging may have found a new ally. Tests carried out by researchers at the Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroaliamentàries (IRTA) have shown that octopuses are natural predators of the blue crab, which they are capable of eating in large quantities if necessary: "A single octopus can eat up to 33% of its weight in crab meat in a single day", explains project coordinator Patrícia Prado.

Five birds infected with bird flu have been found in Segrià. Specifically, Nature Protection officials have located four swans and a dead stork in the river Segre, in the municipality of Soses, and after carrying out a PCR for the H5 subtype of bird flu, it came back positive. As a result of the finding, officials in Aragon and Catalonia have intensified the passive surveillance of wild birds in a 10-km perimeter around the detected outbreak. In turn, veterinarians from the Generalitat and the Aragonese government are also visiting commercial bird farms within this radius, and poultry farms in the area are being asked to maximise biosecurity measures to avoid possible transmission of the disease to domestic birds. In the next few days, the Generalitat plans to approve a resolution that will involve all poultry reared outdoors to be isolated as a preventive measure.

The noise of parrots is no longer strange or exotic-sounding in the most populated areas of Catalonia, although 40 years ago they were an anecdote in the midst of the usual sparrows or serins. The list of newly arrived birds in the last decades is quite long –there are 17– and exotic birds have had a lot to do with it because they make up to half of the novelties detected by the third Atlas of nesting birds in Catalonia, a project led by the Institut Català d'Ornitologia (ICO), which is the most comprehensive study ever made of the birds that inhabit Catalonia. In view of the overall numbers, things have not gone badly for birds: it is estimated that between 8 and 12 million pairs of birds breed each year and the 233 species that can be found in some corner of the country are a very broad representation (39%) of Europe's bird wildlife.