Photo: James Cheung/Unsplash (CC0)
In today’s edition: deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in 13 years; harvesting rainwater from rooftops could help cities stay cooler during heatwaves; and Bogotá increases the proportion of cycling journeys taken by women.
According to new satellite data, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in 13 years, continuing a decline that began after President Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023. The drop has coincided with renewed environmental enforcement under Lula, with Brazil pledging to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030.
Source: Mongabay
New research from Ecuador indicates that rainforests are able to recover much faster after deforestation than previously thought. In fact, after approximately thirty years, local biodiversity appears to largely return to its original level. (Archive)
Source: Earth
Ramón Pucha and his family have spent years recreating their own piece of jungle with rescued species on a 32-hectare farm known as El Picaflor in the Indigenous Quichua community of Alto Ila, 128 km southeast of the capital, Quito. The family even shares the fruits of their labor, selling or gifting a percentage of the plants to neighbours committed to forest regeneration. (Archive)
Source: Euronews
Germany is on track to leave polluting coal behind “much sooner” than originally planned as part of its clean energy transition. New data from the Energy Institute show wind and solar generated 44% of the country’s electricity in 2025, overtaking fossil fuels for the first time.
Source: Euronews
Harvesting rainwater from rooftops could help cities stay cooler during heatwaves while also reducing the need for air conditioning. Researchers at the University of Manchester have tested a system using stored rainwater to spray on rooftops during extreme heat periods, creating a cooling effect through evaporation.
Source: Euronews
A promising new vaccine could help prevent one of the world’s leading causes of diarrhoeal deaths. Called WRSs2, the vaccine was 89% effective at preventing shigellosis in a clinical trial, acting as a new option for tackling a disease that still kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.
Source: NPR
Indianapolis International Airport is installing solar canopies over its car parks to help power the terminal itself. The projects are part of a push to build airport microgrids, alongside an existing 187-acre solar farm that generates enough electricity to power around 3,000 homes.
Source: WTHR13 News
Białystok in northeastern Poland is turning discarded beverage cartons into durable public benches, with four new seats made from composite boards containing 70% shredded cartons and 30% polyethylene film.
Source: TVP World
With less than a third of cycling journeys taken by women, Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, is installing bike lanes, teaching cycling and making sure “stereotypes are left behind”.
Source: The Guardian
In Topeka, Kansas, a women-led initiative is approaching care for people in and beyond the criminal justice system from a new angle. Longtime local Patti Mellard founded the Rotary Club of Community Action Against Human Trafficking to focus on prevention, survivor support and advocacy, with the intention of helping vulnerable women rebuild their lives on release from prison.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
A female Amur tiger called Umit has been released into the wild in Kazakhstan, the first such release since the Turan tiger disappeared from the country more than 70 years ago. The conservation programme hopes to bring back tigers to their historic native range across Central Asia.
Source: Euronews
Fifteen years ago, Jantho Pine Forest Nature Reserve in Sumatra had no orangutans. Today, the Indonesian reserve is home to a growing wild population, thanks to a pioneering conservation programme that has rescued, rehabilitated and returned orangutans to the forest.
Source: Mongabay
