Gobi, a term first noted on a French map in 1706, is defined in many different ways: as a gravel landscape without water, as a ‘treeless terrain without marmots and little surface water’, as a desert area waiting to be watered.
The landscape commonly known as ‘Gobi’ stretches 3,000 miles along Mongolia’s southern border and extends to parts of the far northwest, running between the Altai and the Khangai mountain ranges, as well as south into northern China. Principally the Gobi spans six Mongolian provinces (aimags): Ömnögobi, Dornogobi, Dundgobi, Bayankhongor, Gobi-Sümber and Gobi-Altai. It is a wide- open place of huge extremes: mostly it is one huge gravel plain quite unlike any other desert on earth.
Last modified on Wed 20 Jan 2021 23.37 EST
A consortium of conservationists that hopes to release wild lynx into the Scottish Highlands has launched a year-long study to see whether the public supports their reintroduction.
The study, part-funded by two billionaire Danish estate owners in the Highlands, Anders Povlsen and Lisbet Rausing, will test whether farmers, landowners and rural communities will agree to a pilot project in a remote area of Scotland.
The lynx, Europe’s largest native cat, became extinct in northern Britain more than 500 years ago through habitat loss, hunting and persecution, but proposals by other rewilding advocates to reintroduce the species into the UK have foundered.
These Are The Penguins That Don t Live In The Cold Shutterstock
By Debra Kelly/Jan. 19, 2021 9:37 am EDT
Some animals are awe-inspiring, some make us want to cuddle them endlessly, and some are just inherently funny. Penguins are definitely the latter they re flightless little birds who look like they re permanently dressed up for a night on the town, even though they re most famous for living in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet.
Antarctica isn t just cold, it s the kind of cold that makes your insides freeze as fast as your outsides. Aurora Expeditions says the average temperature across the continent which is also one of the driest and windiest places on the planet is a terrifying -70 degrees Fahrenheit. In the winter months, it gets down to -130 degrees Fahrenheit, and the summer maxes out at a not-so-balmy 46 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cardinal joins battle to save Sri Lanka s diverse wetlands
Development projects aided by corrupt officials threaten Muthurajawela marshland despite its protected status
The Muthurajawela wetlands are home to 102 species of birds. (Photo: Facebook)
Environmentalist Nuwan Saparamadhu has been advocating protection of the Muthurajawela wetlands, an area of natural beauty that supports Sri Lanka s fishing industry.
Activists and villagers are trying to protect the wetlands from a multi-use development project planned in the area.
Saparamadhu said the fishing industry is the main source of livelihood for people in the area and the two main canals along Muthurajawela are an integral part of that natural beauty.
Conservation
Forest Defenders: A Panamanian Tribe Regains Control of Its Lands
With a landmark court ruling, the Naso people of Panama have won the rights to ancestral territory that includes two national reserves the tribe will now help manage. The victory comes as mounting evidence shows that Indigenous groups are often the best protectors of their lands.
Tribal groups in Panama are celebrating a victory for their rights to control some of Central America’s largest forests a victory that could benefit conservation throughout the region.
The landmark ruling, by the country’s Supreme Court, upholds a claim by the Naso people of northwest Panama who live in remote villages, grow subsistence crops, maintain their own forests and native language, and elect their own monarch to create a semi-autonomous territory, known in Panama as a