Rapid assessment and monitory of biodiversity recovery at remediated oil spill sites in the Niger Delta

Mundo Marino, a Spanish company operating along the Mediterranean coast (Valencia, Costa Blanca, and Málaga), has integrated sustainable practices into nautical tourism through the design and operation of hybrid and electric catamarans. The flagship vessel Mundo Marino Eco combines sail power with Torqeedo Deep Blue electric propulsion, solar panels, and hydrogeneration systems. This innovation reduces carbon emissions by 40% compared to conventional vessels, achieving an average of 22 g CO₂ per passenger/km.

The project goes beyond tourism, serving as a platform for environmental education, citizen science, and collaborations with research institutions in marine biodiversity monitoring. By offering sustainable maritime mobility and raising awareness among thousands of visitors each year, Mundo Marino contributes to reducing pressures on marine ecosystems, aligning with the objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework and supporting the 30×30 target in Mediterranean coastal waters.

In Panama’s western highlands, small coffee farmers face growing pressures from pests, plant diseases and climate change. Heavy reliance on chemical pesticides has harmed biodiversity, degraded soils and threatened pollinators. This solution shows how endophytic fungi, microorganisms that live naturally inside plants, can serve as effective biological pest control adapted to local conditions. Fungal strains were identified and transformed into low-cost formulations that were tested on coffee farms, where they significantly reduced the need for chemical inputs. The initiative brings together scientists, government institutions and local communities, with a strong focus on training and empowering women farmers. By addressing biodiversity loss, land degradation and gaps in technical capacity, the project strengthens sustainable livelihoods and climate resilience. Farmers benefit through higher yields, lower costs and healthier ecosystems, creating a scalable model for sustainable coffee production in Panama and beyond.

La microcuenca de San Pablo, como bosque protector de nacimientos de agua, constituye una zona estratégica para el Municipio, el cual ha debido arbitrar medios necesarios para su protección a raíz de un nuevo escenario de producción: el cultivo de aguacate y sus consecuencias ambientales como la contaminación hídrica por los pesticidas y fertilizantes utilizados, la disminución de vegetación y bosques y la consecuente pérdida de conectividad ecológica con las demás microcuencas.
Entre las principales acciones de conservación implementadas se encuentran el aislamiento de los sitios de recarga hídrica para el control de daños por ingreso de ganado, la reforestación con especies nativas y la firma de acuerdos entre cultivadores de aguacate e instituciones del Estado en todos sus niveles, a fin de  reducir la presión sobre el recurso hídrico.

The Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (HHRT), covering 16,603 hectares in Southern Yunnan, was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 2013 under criteria (iii) and (v). The cultivation of traditional rice has deeply moulded the landscape and shaped the farming culture of Hani people which have sustained these terraces for centuries. However, deep social changes make the sustainability of the terraces uncertain. Ecological challenges combined with loss of traditional knowledge menace the conservation of this spectacular landscape. In order to address these challenges, before the inscription of the site, Honghe prefecture developed a strategy which focuses on the recovery of the traditional water management system based on the water-wood concept and the restoration of traditional leadership. Through participatory research and a multi-level partnership, this initiative has ensured water supply to villages and sustain terraces while recovering ancient cultural practices.

Earthwatch India addressed knowledge gaps in the management of urban lakes, wetlands and green spaces by researching how these ecosystems can increase the resilience of urban areas to impacts from climate change and urbanisation, whilst delivering benefits to people and wildlife.

In Bengaluru, Earthwatch is working with the Indian Institute of Science to study the impacts of land-use change and influence of human settlements on green buffer areas surrounding and protecting key urban lakes. Results are being used to create a framework for assessments of these lakes and their roles in driving blue-green infrastructure development.

“The environmental quality of an urban lake has an immediate bearing on the quality of the fringe habitations, specifically in terms of air and water quality. By addressing issues that concern urban blue and green spaces we can mitigate air and water quality issues, enable temperature and flooding control and provide a buffer for habitats.” – Prof. Sudhakar M. Rao, Indian Institute of Science

CurieuzeNeuzen is a Flemish wordplay that is difficult to translate but refers to someone who is curious to learn. It is the largest ever citizen science project to monitor air quality throughout the Flanders region of Belgium. Over 53,000 candidates registered, from which 20,000 citizens, but also organisations, schools and companies were selected to participate. They each received a user-friendly toolkit that enabled them to measure their street’s NO2 concentration which is primarily released from the burning of fossil fuels. Participants attached a V-shaped billboard onto their first-floor window on the street side. Two passive NO2 samplers attached within collected data from April 28 until May 26 in 2018. Participants were eager to know their results as more than 99% returned their tubes for processing. Internationally, this was the first time that citizens were actively involved on such a large scale in a scientific project on air quality which yielded incredibly detailed results.