Can we control marine invaders by eating them?
This story was produced with funding support from the Pulitzer Center. MAZZORBO, Italy — In the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant, a dozen blue crabs await their fate in a…
Hunting for future-proof marine plants in the acidic waters bathing a volcano
A stone causeway connects an islet, the famed Aragonese Castle perched atop it, to the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. Below water, along the…
Illegal bottom trawling widespread inside Mediterranean marine protected areas
The Mediterranean Sea isn’t the source of plenty it once was. It now contains some of the most ecologically degraded marine areas in the world, and has been the site…
Love ‘em and loathe ‘em: Mediterranean grapples with tasty, voracious invasive crabs
DJERBA, Tunisia, and SICILY, Italy — On the deck of the Ghanem, which in Arabic means “winner,” sit eight boxes crawling with life. Blue legs and claws teem with each…
Where does the Greater Mekong’s illegal timber go?
After forests are logged, felled trees are typically sent to sawmills, where they’re processed into boards, or lumber. It’s in this processed form that wood typically enters the international commodity…
One of world’s last two northern white rhinos withdrawn from breeding program
Scientists striving to save the northern white rhino from extinction have announced their decision to retire one of the world's last two individuals from their assisted breeding program. The BioRescue…
Italian firms flout EU rules to trade in illegal Myanmar timber, report says
Negligible fines and inadequate enforcement are turning Italy into a hotspot for illegal Myanmar timber in spite of EU sanctions and regulations against the latter's timber trade, according to a…
‘Titanic challenge’ for an Italian hospital rescuing sea turtles from plastic
In late February, a three-legged turtle nicknamed Futura was released back into the sea by caregivers at the Sea Turtle Recovery Center of Brancaleone in Italy. Futura, a loggerhead sea…
Young farmers apply ancient agroforestry practices in the heart of Sardinia
DESULO, Italy — In a late 1990s photo, a little girl with a ponytail and white apron poses at the corner of a cheese-making machine. Two decades later, with the…
Scientists identify frog through DNA without leaving forest
Scientists conduct first ever in-field DNA test...and potentially discover new species Ana Rodriguez Prieto conducting a test run of the new technology in Italy. Photo courtesy of MUSE. Yesterday, a…
Pope Francis: ‘this is our sin: we exploit the earth’
In Southern Italy over the weekend, Pope Francis reiterated his view that environmental destruction constituted a sin. Visiting the largely agricultural region of Molise, the pope responded to an address…
Trawling: destructive fishing method is turning seafloors to ‘deserts’
Bottom trawling is a practice used by commercial fisheries around the world in which a large, heavy net is dragged along the ocean floor to scoop up everything in its…
Europe approves vet drug that killed off almost all of Asia’s vultures
Critically Endangered Indian vultures (Gyps indicus) hanging out in their nest at Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. Photo by: Yann/Creative Commons 3.0. When Europeans first arrived in North America, they exterminated three…
Reversing local extinction: scientists bring the northern bald ibis back to Europe after 300 years
The unmistakable northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita). Photo by: Waldrappteam. The northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), also called the hermit ibis or waldrapp, is a migratory bird. Once, the bald…
Not far from Rome, Italy’s distinct bear faces down extinction
The Marsican brown bear is on the brink of extinction. Despite authorities spending millions of Euros on its conservation, high human-caused mortality is menacing the survival of this distinct subspecies.…
10,000 dead songbirds headed to Italian restaurants confiscated
Bushmeat, referring to wild animals killed (often illegally) for consumption, is usually considered a conservation problem in developing nations in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. However, a recent bust…
Italy and Panama continue illegal fishing, says new report
On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its biennial report identifying six countries whose fisheries have been engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing during the…
In the midst of marine collapse will we save our last ocean?
An interview with David Ainley. Imagine an ocean untouched by oil spills: a sea free of pollution, invasive species, dead zones, and over-exploitation; waters where marine animals exist in natural…