biodiversity – Starfinancer

The Summer Solstice in the botanical gardens: a guide

To celebrate the arrival of summer, the review of events organized by the Network of Botanical Gardens of Lombardy, a non-profit association that has long been engaged in the scientific and cultural promotion of these often little known symbolic places of biodiversity, starts again. Because of this, from 18 to 26 Junea period that includes…

A park to save the last free river in Europe

The low sun on the horizon breaks on the white streams created by the flow of the Vjosa. The rhythmic sound of the croaking of frogs accompanies the rustle of the water on the smooth white pebbles, while on the horizon the enormous river bed stretches for more than 2 kilometers in its width. No…

The warmer the ocean, the hungrier the predators are

It is said that with the heat, hunger passes. It may be true for us humans, but apparently it is not true for marine predators: according to a study just published in the journal Science by a group of researchers from Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (Serc), in fact, the warming of the oceans due to…

The increase in temperature facilitates the spread of ticks in the mountains and around the world

The increase in global temperature has unexpected implications also in the spread of annoying anthropods, ticks, which can damage the health of unsuspecting tourists and the inhabitants of the Alpine areas affected by the phenomenon. An excessive alarm bell? Perhaps, but some calls for caution have been launched by the health authorities of some Italian…

Away from the bush: gunfire and machetes against the Masai. The complaint: “Put on the run for hunting trophies”

In addition to the bullets intended for animals, to be hunted as a trophy, now there are also those fired at the Masai, to be removed from their ancestral lands. Shooting near the Serengeti, the “plain that never ends” as the original peoples called it, those Masai who were born and raised there and who…

The hens come from Asia and have only lived with humans for 3500 years

Today chickens and hens live almost everywhere. But where did they come from? Where and when were they domesticated by man, starting their journey around the world with us? Strange to say, being such common animals, but science still has little certainty about their origin. However, an international research consortium believes that it has solved…

Cuglieri’s millennial olive tree is reborn: sprouts grow one year after the stake

Almost a year has passed since a huge fire for four days destroyed over 20 thousand hectares of forests, fields, pastures as well as industrial activities in Montiferru and Planargia, in central western Sardinia. The symbol of that devastation became the millennial olive tree of Tanca Manna, near one of the most affected towns, Cuglieri.…

In the woods at night to listen to the bats and learn how to protect the forests

Enthusiasm, passion, preparation, curiosity, desire to constantly learn and get involved. These are the characteristics – genuine and reassuring, given that the future of the Planet and the forests is in the hands of young people and the new generations – which the 15 graduates and undergraduates to whom WWF and Sofidel have offered a…

Unexpected animals in Rome, where crabs walk around the Forum

The claws menacingly stretched out towards each other, the crab reacts to the photographer’s lens with the air of someone who wants to chase away an intruder, as if to reaffirm that this is his home. In fact, the crustacean that the zoologist Bruno Cignini immortalized in the archaeological area of the Trajan’s market has…

Fernanda, the giant tortoise of the Galapagos believed to be extinct

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, one could say by paraphrasing the famous book written by JK Rowling. Yes, because exactly this has happened in the Galapagos: the very rare “fantastic giant tortoise” has been identified – after more than a century that it was believed extinct. From the scientific name of Chelonoidis phantasticus…