Bird Life

This is an extreme weather event. And it’s a political one too. For decades, governments made choices that have fuelled the climate crisis, and left our societies more fragile, more unequal, and less able to withstand what was coming. Public investment in a just transition has been cut. Environmental protections have been weakened. Rivers have been polluted, forests degraded, and cities built without enough green space to keep people alive in extreme heat.

Today, the European Parliament sided with nature and supported the restriction proposal on lead in fishing tackle. The measure is now expected to enter into force in the coming weeks. An objection to the proposal was tabled by the Patriots for Europe (PfE Group), which falsely claimed that there was not enough evidence of the availability of alternatives and of the necessity to restrict lead fishing weights.

Header Image: Buff-breasted Sandpiper © Brendan Fogarty. Birds use flyways – superhighways in the sky – as important migration routes as they travel between breeding grounds, feeding areas and seasonal refuges. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a remarkable long-distance migrant that travels along the Americas Flyway through North American grasslands to winter in the warmth of the South American pampas.

Natura 2000 is the European Union’s flagship network for nature protection – the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world, spanning close to a fifth of the EU’s land area and significant marine areas besides. Rather than a collection of isolated reserves, it functions as a connected system, designed to safeguard Europe’s most threatened habitats and species while allowing the areas within it to remain living, working landscapes.

Located in the heart of Polynesia, Samoa is home to exceptional biodiversity including nine endemic bird species, globally significant seabird populations, and ecosystems that support both wildlife and local communities. Yet, like many Pacific island nations, Samoa faces growing environmental challenges, including habitat degradation, invasive alien species, climate change and biodiversity loss.

In the face of a global extinction crisis, nature protection must be strategic, focusing conservation efforts on the places that matter most. For decades, BirdLife has worked to pinpoint such sites through the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs): the most vital homes for the world’s birds. Today, those IBAs have become the foundation for a global standard in conservation: Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs).

Descarga el artículo en español It’s been a few weeks since Adrián Stagi’s passing, and yet his absence continues to make itself felt in ways that are hard to explain. In conversations where his name comes up again and again. On country roads that no longer feel the same. At gatherings where someone inevitably recalls a phrase of his, a sharp observation, or a comment laced with that brilliant, sarcastic humor that always seemed to emerge at just the right moment.

By Christina Van Winkle, Forest Impact Accelerator Manager High on the southern slope of Tunari National Park in Bolivia, more than 80% of the country’s remaining ancient Kewiña forest clings to steep Andean ridges. These high-altitude native forests are fragile but vital. They stabilise slopes, regulate water flows and support unique endemic wildlife found nowhere else on Earth, including Near Threatened Cochabamba Mountain-finch.

Today, in the Environment Committee, MEPs sided with nature and voted against the objection to the restriction proposal on lead in fishing tackle. The objection was tabled by MEP Pietro Fiocchi (ECR), who falsely claimed that the proposal lacked sufficient scientific and economic justification supporting a restriction. This was a dangerous attempt to block a measure essential for protecting wildlife, human health and the environment.

Jan was exceptional in his ability to bridge science, practical conservation and policy. Whether conducting field research in the remote forests and mountains of Šumava National Park, writing for scientific and popular audiences, or advocating for nature at national and international levels, he brought the same rigour, conviction and knowledge to everything he did.