the exact locations where sea turtles have lived for generations are in danger due to rising sea levels, deteriorating beaches, and more harsh weather. we explore the difficulties these animals encounter in this comic, including how storms and warming temperatures are changing their environment and driving them to extinction.

but amid this crisis, there’s hope, as sea turtles continue their struggle for survival. this story serves as a call to action and a reminder that our destiny is linked to that of sea turtles. come learn how climate change is affecting these beloved animals’ futures and what we can do to help preserve them.

click on the image below to view the whole story!

due to climate change and outside influences, giant clam populations have been declining around the pacific. in response, local communities and governments have been working together and across borders to restore their numbers.

earlier this year, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration put forward a proposal to update the status of giant clams under the endangered species act and increase federal protections. however, many local researchers and community members oppose this, as they believe such projects would make local restoration initiatives and cultural practices more difficult, if not impossible. this story follows indigenous scientist frank roberto’s project in giant clam restoration on guam and his response to the proposal within his community.

the reason you may want to: native plants support a greater abundance and diversity of wildlife by providing habitat that directly supports populations of butterflies, bees, and birds. native plants make landscapes more adaptable to future environmental stressors caused by the climate crisis, including temperature swings, drought, flooding, and pest outbreaks.

in martha’s vineyard, off the coast of massachusetts’ cape cod, the polly hill arboretum has spent decades creating an online record of more than 200 island native plants that you can browse using its plantfinder resource.

timothy boland, executive director of polly hill, says that planting native plants helps to prepare for the unknowns. “native plants are uniquely adapted to soils and stressors, and more so have a really tight connection with the animals in an environment,” boland said. 

polly hill not only informs, it sells native plant plugs to people interested in adding natives to their landscaping. some of the plants they propagate, like red columbine, which flowers in the spring, have had limited populations on the island, and polly hill has helped to restore them. 

“we knew it was here and only here, and now we can propagate it. from a conservation standpoint, with an endemic plant, what we’ve done here is kind of cool,” boland said.

orange butterfly weed is its most popular native plant due to its bright orange flowers and attractiveness to monarch butterflies, but boland encourages people to look beyond the beauty of a plant and consider what it can provide to the environment: “we tend to be enamored with just the beautiful, and don’t understand the functionality of what we would consider a grass. a lot of things have equal value, even though they don’t have the startling beauty.”

a convenient place to “check out” native seeds, the west tisbury library in massachusetts offers a seed library which contains a unique collection of seeds suited to the local environment, and the library hopes to create a locally adapted collection of seeds over time. 

the seed library there has been focused mostly on food seeds until recently. mary sage napolitan, the regenerative landscape manager at island grown initiative, has worked with the organization to create a native plants section.

“there’s a lot of energy behind it, but it’s really hard to get the plants. you can buy seeds from some companies, but they’re not always from the vineyard. the hope is that at least we’ll have some bank of seeds so that people can start,” napolitan said. 

although people are often hesitant to add native plants to their gardens, napolitan says you can still have a gorgeous, well-manicured garden made up of mostly, if not entirely, native plants.

“there are nonnative plants that aren’t bad; some of those plants are totally harmless. it’s just a matter of also making a point to incorporate native plants, because we know that they support so many insects and other wildlife,” napolitan said.

napolitan recommends native garden plants such as penstemon digitalis, a tall white flower, penstemon hirsutus, which produces a similar purple flower, and monarda fistulosa, a lavender flower that attracts a variety of bees and butterflies. napolitan herself is very fond of asters, which can be small blue, white, or purple flowers, and goldenrods, a tall golden flower that is natural bird food.

christine wiley, a horticultural expert and greenhouse grower for more than 30 years, owns vineyard gardens with her husband chuck, a self-proclaimed “plant-aholic.”

“we want to have a positive environmental impact and do anything we can to slow down climate change,” christine wiley said. “native plants have been here for a long time, and we know they do very well here.”

vineyard gardens hosted a garden worksop on june 22, 2024, where attendees were taught how to plant for climate resilience. the workshop was led by guest speaker andrea berry, executive director of the wild seed project in maine. “it’s nice to host a well-known speaker and to support ecology. we are a small island here, and it’s nice to support our environment,” wiley said.

wild seed project is a maine nonprofit that works to build climate-resilient habitats in northeast landscapes. its mission is to inspire people to take action in increasing the presence of native plants grown from wild seed that safeguard wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

“native plants are plants that have evolved in the place they are for millennia in relation to the creatures. therefore they are really critical parts to a healthy and vibrant ecosystem,” berry said. 

native plants have interrelated partnerships with insects. milkweed is a good example, as the plant is a select place for monarch butterflies to lay their eggs. those eggs hatch and the caterpillars feed on the milkweed exclusively, then as adults, the monarch feeds off the plant’s blooms. “they have evolved this beautiful relationship with this plant over time that is really critical,” berry said. 

berry included that native plants can be wonderful garden plants because they are adapted to the environment they are experiencing. “when you actually stop and slow down and take a look at a garden, the beauty of a garden is in all the different pieces moving within it, and all the life that it supports. a healthy, living place where all different creatures live and can thrive is actually what i define as beautiful,” berry said.

native plant adaptation continues. the island’s recent rainstorms and windstorms resulted in a great amount of erosion, and conservation efforts have turned towards native plants. 

“when plants evolve in parallel with stressors coming at them from our ecosystem, they develop adaptations that allow them to respond to or mitigate some of those outside challenges. if we have a biodiverse ecosystem, then we are going to have a population of plants diverse enough to be resilient in the face of whatever nature is throwing at us,” berry said.

this story was originally published in mv times.

to read the full story, click on the presentation below.

though they are small compared to other ground-nesting birds like grouse or wild turkeys, they are a keystone species and play an important role in their ecosystem.  

“quail are what i would call a canary in the coal mine for the grassland or prairie ecosystem. finding management ways to help quail is also going to help a lot of other grassland birds, which are in decline,” said brad dabbert, ph.d ., the burnett foundation professor of quail ecology at texas tech university.  

according to the texas parks and wildlife 2023-24 bobwhite quail forecast, quail populations in the high plains of texas, the region that’s home to texas tech, were up from last year but down almost 50% compared to the 15-year average. 

counting quails

scientists perform the research for the forecast by counting all the quail seen from a vehicle on designated routes throughout the state. researchers saw almost four birds per research route this year compared to less than one last year, while the 15-year mean sits at almost seven.  

dabbert leads texas tech quail, a research program aiming to understand how to increase quail populations. he and his team conduct experiments, publish research and educate landowners and biologists.  

dabbert said quail populations naturally vary year-to-year, and one important factor is droughts, which are becoming more frequent.  

“what texas tech quail is trying to do is come up with ways to deal with the vagaries of drought. that is an old land manager saying, you know, ‘we’re one day closer to the next drought,’ and good land managers think of and try to prepare for those,” said dabbert.  

three main strategies

dabbert’s team uses multiple approaches and techniques at their field research site at the pitchfork ranch aimed at increasing quail survival. these include ensuring there is quality habitat, feed broadcasting and predator reduction.  

according to dabbert, quality habitat is the most important factor for healthy quail populations. this heavily depends on the amount of available cover, tall bushes and shrubs that grow branches from the top to the bottom of the plant. cover protects the birds from predators and extreme temperatures.   

cover can be controlled by land managers by limiting grazing to maintain existing cover and prescribing controlled burns to allow more suitable plants to grow in areas overpopulated with bad cover. 

“there’s no shortcut for managing the land correctly,” said dabbert. 

broadcasting involves driving a tractor that pulls a feeder through quail habitat and widely spreads supplemental grain and seeds for the birds.  

providing extra food increases bird survival in fall and winter, meaning there are more chances for successful breeding in spring. and it helps them find food with less foraging, which can make them vulnerable to attack from predators. dabbert and his team published their research supporting this in the peer-reviewed journal wildlife society bulletin.  

the third management approach, predator reduction, involves hunting and trapping animals that eat quail and their eggs.  

dabbert said this can be controversial because people see it as an unnatural practice. however, habitat fragmentation has caused a loss of apex predators that would normally control the populations of animals that feed on quail.  

“unfortunately, most of our environment is fragmented now. we don’t have the apex predators that we once had,” said dabbert.  

mesopredators, medium-sized predators, include animals such as coyotes, raccoons and skunks. dabbert said habitat fragmentation has allowed the populations of these animals to flourish because there are fewer apex predators to control them, especially in the heavily farmed lands of the high plains. and too many mesopredators means lower quail populations. 

by hunting and trapping mesopredators, there are more quail able to breed, and nests are more successful because eggs don’t get eaten. 

dabbert said the research his team is conducting has been successful at increasing quail numbers at their research site. according to their published results, quail survival increased by 16% in areas where they used broadcasting, compared to areas without. 

north america has the highest diversity of freshwater mussels in the world, with almost 300 different species. also known as the “liver of the river,” freshwater mussels filter and protect aquatic ecosystems. despite being able to filter between eight and 15 gallons of water per day, mussels face a myriad of threats including industrial development which affected these populations as factories popped up along the schuylkill river during the industrial revolution. 

at its worst, philadelphians said the river did not even resemble water. now, scientists at the fairmount water works (fww) freshwater mussel hatchery are working tirelessly to create a space where visitors can learn firsthand about the life of a freshwater mussel and how cleaner river water depends on one of the most imperiled aquatic animals in north america.

in 2017, the philadelphia water department teamed up with the partnership for the delaware estuary to open the hatchery, which is free to the public, and located within the fww interpretive center. the hatchery was designed and imagined by the academy of natural sciences at drexel university, victoria prizzia of habithéque, inc., and artist stacy levy.

introducing philadelphians to the power of the mussel

the hatchery sits along the schuylkill river, which provides 40% of philadelphians with drinking water, with the other 60% being provided by the delaware river. the location of the hatchery, along with preserving pieces of architecture from the original waterworks building are all intentional. according to stacey heffernan, the environmental education planner, “mussels are the gateway animal to get people to care for the waterways.” the hatchery’s proximity to the schuylkill, one of philadelphia’s most iconic green spaces, places it in a culturally significant and emotionally resonant site for many locals.  

in addition to this, the hatchery also runs educational programs for philadelphia youth. four schools from the surrounding area participate in the “mussels in the classroom” program. this provides teachers with their classroom’s own recirculating aquaculture system and some juvenile mussels. with this, students are able to engage first-hand with measuring mussels and monitoring water quality. 

the hatchery also runs a “mussels in the field” program located at the audubon discovery center, which provides youth from six nearby school districts with similar hands-on interactions, as well as introduces students to blue-green infrastructure. once a month, the discovery center also hosts “mussel maniacs” where adults can participate in similar field work and connect with other conservation enthusiasts. 

rebuilding a population of workhorse filterers

since the hatchery opened in 2017, they have consistently propagated around 10,000 mussels each year. the fww mussel hatchery strays away from what these types of aquatic field stations often aim to do, which is to focus on restoring endangered native populations. instead, the hatchery is working to build up common species that once thrived in the schuylkill prior to industrial development, which could lead in local efforts to purify water sources for philadelphians. 

in the wild, mussels have a few main ways of propagating, but scientists in the hatchery lab do these manually. this past year, the hatchery achieved a new personal record of the highest number of successful propagations with 20,000 mussels. so far this year, the hatchery more than doubled their yearly propagation numbers with just two inoculation trials. they also performed their first study to determine the rate at which two species of freshwater mussels could remove pollutants. 

looking ahead, the results will be used to determine how mussels can work as a complement to traditional pollution control technologies. with all these new milestones, heffernan says, “we have made a lot of strides in a short period of time.

the experience led me to reflect on the opportunities i’ve had to create strong bonds with nature and the cultural heritage of mauritius, my home. but in this rapidly changing world, new technological factors like increased screen time threaten the relationship this generation of children have with the world around them.

as i return home to mauritius, this storymap outlines my plan to reconnect young people with my island’s magnificent natural environment and the stories passed down from older generations. but this is just the beginning.

the storymap below offers a glimpse into how the vision for protecting these invaluable parts of our identity first took shape in my mind. but the true journey lies ahead — creating a lasting space for youth to become stewards of their environment and culture. it’s a movement to ensure future generations cherish and safeguard the heritage that defines us.

the mandela washington fellowship is a flagship program of the u.s. government’s young african leaders initiative (yali). it brings young african leaders to the united states for academic coursework, leadership training, and networking to support their development and promote positive change in their communities.

during my first six weeks, i was in baton rouge louisiana, residing and attending courses at the outstanding louisiana state university (lsu). my experience as a lsu tiger was extraordinary! discovering the food, the music and the culture of this southern state was simply heartwarming. from our amazing facilitators to the diverse hosts throughout the program, and the groundbreaking fellows who were also part of lsu’s inaugural cohort, this institute was a real growth journey for me.

we then traveled to d.c. for the mandela washington fellowship summit 2024, where all 700 fellows from other institutes around the us convened. while it was overwhelming at first, it was beautiful to see the power and impact of even more african leaders. following the summit, a select few were chosen for an immersive experience within different organizations around the us. selected for this next step, i landed at the george washington university’s (gw) project, planet forward.

as a socio-ecological activist, and with my experience in both the environmental and storytelling fields, it was an honor to meet this wonderful team and to learn about planet forward’s mission to use media and storytelling to drive dialogue on innovation and sustainability.

through interesting group discussions, mind-blowing training sessions and mesmerizing site visits, my experience at this organization has been nothing short of unique. the team members are so supportive and it is always inspiring to work with people who are so passionate about what they are doing and working towards a cause as beautiful as environmental advancement. as a pde fellow here, i had the opportunity to refine my multimedia skills and create meaningful connections. additionally, i got the chance to work on the project that i would like to establish once back home. the project – which is called “zenfan patrimwann” and means youth of heritage – is a series of workshops for the youth aiming at mitigating the loss of cultural and natural heritage loss through the years.

beyond these professional endeavors, i had the extraordinary opportunity to be a fellow in washington, d.c. this summer. the city’s vibrant energy and rich history made every moment an unforgettable adventure. it was a thrilling experience, and i can absolutely see myself returning to d.c. to relive the magic. each and every person i met here and each place i visited have created a life lasting imprint on my heart and mind. strolling through the story-filled streets in my free time often resulted in me spending hours admiring the murals, or simply enchanted by the monuments and architectural masterpieces.

one of the best moments from my time here was during my day at the smithsonian national zoological park. as someone who once dreamt of becoming a primatologist, i was filled with emotions when i came face to face with the orangutans and the gorillas.

i remember it vividly – goosebumps were all over my body and my heart was hammering in my chest. as the happiness took over, my tears rolled down my cheeks as a smile made its way to my face. i believe those moments in life are really limited so i decide to embrace it fully. 

while i originally felt sad that i could not get a better picture because of the reflection in the glass of the indoor enclosure, the blurry picture of a gorilla actually captured one of the purest and happiest moments of my life.

coming to the us was a dream of mine, but none of the millions of expectations came close to reality of this wonderful experience. so my biggest take away from this trip is: never be afraid to dream big.

as the well known ghanaian author lailah gifty akita once said, “the excitement of dreams coming true is beyond the description of words.”

despite iceland’s outward celebration of the puffin as a national icon, the tradition of hunting these birds persists. this practice is primarily driven by cultural heritage and the financial lure of selling puffin meat to restaurants for tourism, according to save puffins.

“puffin hunting in iceland was once considered sustainable, but now scientists say it is absolutely not, and it still contributes to 10% of the puffin population decline,” said puffinologist jillian taylor in the podcast ologies with alie ward.

“people used to rappel down cliffs to get their eggs, which were considered a delicacy. since puffins only lay one egg per season, that was really harmful for the population,” said angelica bas gomez, a marine and environmental scientist.

“i’m very against selling puffins in restaurants because very few people around were raised with it, and it’s not something you eat every other week. it’s more of a traditional food, eaten once or twice a year,” said saevor erlendsdottir, an iceland undersea specialist.

puffins as part of history

for centuries, puffins were more than just a picturesque part of the landscape — they were a lifeline. particularly in iceland’s past when nutrients were scarce, puffins were a significant food source.

“seabirds, not only puffins, were a necessary food item when you live in a place where there’s very little food” said michael jackson, an expedition leader for lindblad expeditions.

“puffins used to be a diet of icelanders because people needed to survive,” said tua pittman, a cultural navigator with lindblad expeditions.

but as iceland modernized, so too did its relationship with these birds.

“as soon as sheep were imported, people consumed (fewer) puffins. and by learning from the herring people’s history that overhunting isn’t a good thing, they started to protect them,” said pittman.

yet, this respect towards puffins alone hasn’t been enough to counteract the powerful forces threatening their populations.

what do warmer waters mean for puffins?

“the collapse of the puffin population was due to not only hunting but also warming seas and overfishing the fish they feed on,” said erlendsdottir.

“killing their food resource is a big factor,” said taylor.

sandsíli (also known as sand lance) is the primary food resource of puffins. as a result of overfishing since the 17th century, these small, silvery fish that puffins depend on are becoming increasingly scarce, forcing the birds to travel farther and expend more energy to find food — often with fatal consequences.

gomez expressed her concern about the warming water. “we’ll see a trend in species that prefer cooler waters migrating further north as the water gets warmer. but eventually, they’ll run out of places to go, leading to environmental pressures where only the birds that can adapt to the warmer temperatures will survive,” she said.

social forces working together

on the island of heimaey in the south of iceland, a self-organized group of citizens called the “puffling patrol” help lost puffins in the town find their way home. juvenile puffins are known as “pufflings.” 

“with so much light pollution in the city, puffins can mistake those light sources for the reflection of the moon reflecting on the sea and become disoriented to fly into town, and that’s dangerous,” erlendsdottir said.

“children with their parents, and the police, would go looking around the town for these puffins, collecting them in cardboard boxes, as many as 50 a night, and then finally throwing them off the cliffs back to the sea,” she said. “it sounds brutal, but it’s actually doing something nice.”

“throwing pufflings off cliffs is part of helping them. some go the wrong way when they fledge and end up in cities. puffling patrol helps get them back out to sea,” said taylor.

scientific research also plays a pivotal role in these conservation efforts. one critical method researchers use is the banding of puffins with small anklets.

“the anklets are small bands placed on puffins to help researchers identify individual birds and monitor their behavior, social interactions, and movements within the colony,” said jackson. 

“the bands are designed to be as non-intrusive as possible. they are placed on the puffin’s leg away from any joints to ensure they do not hinder the bird’s movement or cause discomfort,” taylor said.

“puffins generally do not pay much attention to each other’s legs,” she said, explaining that the anklets do not affect how the puffins interact.

these efforts are not limited to rescuing pufflings. locals are also taking direct action to protect puffins’ nesting colonies.

“people are trying to keep puffins away from their predators like arctic foxes, rats, and big birds like fulmars by setting up fences and waving hands in their habitat land,” said pittman.

an optimistic future for puffin conservation

despite the challenges, there are glimmers of hope that the tide may be turning for iceland’s puffins. “the puffin stock is coming back strong. it’s not doing as badly as it used to be. the biggest proof of that is the number of pufflings,” said erlendsdottir.

gomez also expressed her views on seeking a balance between puffin conservation and preserving cultural tradition.

“i think humanity has to accept that we have to use natural resources, but it is important to find a way to make it sustainable,” she said.

editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made this series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. we thank lindblad expeditions for their continued support of our project.

these digital volunteers use the “zooniverse” forum to click through aerial photographs and count the number of iguanas in order to inform future conservation practices. such conservation practices matter for marine iguanas, who can lose anywhere from 10 to 90% of their population to starvation during warm-water el niño years. in this story, naturalists explain how “imps of darkness,”  in spite of their extreme boom-and-bust population cycles, offer crucial insights into adaptation, resilience, and evolution.

to continue reading, click on the full story below!

editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made this series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. we thank lindblad expeditions for their support of our project.