The Independent reported
Return of key species after more than 500 years could control damaging surge in deer numbers and boost tourism
The reintroduction of lynx , a species which has been extinct in Britain for at least 500 years, to northern Scotland is one step closer as a major consultation with local people is launched to seek their views on the potential return of the animals to the wild.
Read more Scotland takes next step towards lynx reintroduction
Garden Greeters offer a warm welcome and helpful orientation for our visitors on weekends and holidays. They ensure our visitors have the best possible experience by handing out maps, and offering general information as well as games for children to help them get to know the Garden. These positions are open to all interested volunteers and the training is free.
Our next Garden Greeter training will take place on Saturday, March 28 and Saturday, April 4, both from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM and both dates are required. To learn more and to apply for the training, send an email to greeter_coordinator@nativeplants.org.
Posted in Garden | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden
See Channel Island Restoration webinars at https://cirweb.org/webinars
We Channel Island restoration trips at https://cirweb.org/education-trips
Posted in Environment, Talks, Walks & Hikes | Tags: Channel Island Restoration
The Guardian reported
Pacific Grove is known as ‘Butterfly Town USA’ for its role as an overwintering spot. As the insect’s population plummets, residents are coming to its rescue.
Read on www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/05/monarch-butterfly-california-conservation
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Efforts to save Monarchs
SF Gate reported
A fence was installed on Thornton State Beach in Daly City by a private landowner, preventing people from accessing its trails.
Read on www.sfgate.com/local/article/bay-area-beach-blocked-21314669.php
Posted in Park | Tags: public access, Thornton State Beach
See upcoming events at East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden at events.
Posted in Garden, Park, Talks, Walks & Hikes | Tags: East Bay Regional Parks Upcoming Activities
ScienceDaily reported
After analyzing 40 years of tree records across the Andes and Amazon, researchers found that climate change is reshaping tropical forests in uneven ways. Some regions are steadily losing tree species, especially where conditions are hotter and drier, while others are seeing gains. Rainfall patterns turned out to be just as important as rising temperatures.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260125081133.htm
Posted in Environment | Tags: Amazon, Climate change
The Rural Blog reported
National Park staffing reductions have left Yosemite’s increasing number of visitors to their own devices. Park guests “were far less supervised than they normally were, which had led to the wrong kind of wildness — littering, cliff jumping, drone-flying,” reports Soumya Karlamangla of The New York Times. Since 2025, the National Park Service staff has shrunk by 25%
Read more at With too few employees and rangers, Yosemite National Park hosts visitors with the ‘wrong kind of wildness
Posted in Uncategorized
The Guardian reported
The Golden State’s clean energy use hit new highs in 2025. As the Trump administration abandons US climate initiatives, can California fill the void?
Read more ‘The biggest transformation in a century’: how California remade itself as a clean energy powerhouse
Posted in Environment | Tags: California Green Energy Leader
See the events calendar for the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden at Garden Events
Posted in Class/Workshop, Garden | Tags: UC Berkeley Botanical Garden Events
SF Gate reported
Birds are experiencing “dramatic declines” across the Bay Area and California, according to a first-of-its-kind study led by the Petaluma-based wildlife organization Point Blue Conservation Science.
Read more at Once-common Bay Area birds are vanishing at dramatic rates
Posted in Birds | Tags: Bird Population Decline
A tiny fish long feared lost has resurfaced in Bolivia, offering a rare conservation success story amid widespread habitat destruction. Moema claudiae, a seasonal killifish unseen for more than 20 years, was rediscovered in a small temporary pond hidden within a fragment of forest surrounded by farmland. The find allowed scientists to photograph the species alive for the first time and uncover new details about its behavior and ecology.
Read more at Back from the dead: “Extinct” fish rediscovered in a remote Bolivian pond after 20 years
Posted in Uncategorized
SF Gate reported
Aramark, the concessionaire that operates Yosemite National Park’s restaurants, gift shops and lodging facilities, recently notified employees in the park of a new policy that puts their housing stability in serious jeopardy.
The notice was pinned on the front doors of employee housing units earlier this month, according to an Aramark employee at the park who was granted anonymity in accordance with Hearst’s ethics policy.
Read more at Aramark tells Yosemite workers it’s axing most of their housing rights
Posted in Uncategorized
The New York Times reported
The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly is critically endangered, with the last known larva living in a lab in New Mexico.
Read more or listen to this article at They’re Trying to Find a Mate for This Very Lonely Caterpillar
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly
Photographed in the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park in Berkeley, CA on January 21, 2026.
The Regional Parks Botanic Garden is a California native plant garden. It is located within Tilden Park in the hills above Berkeley, California, It is a 10-acre garden includes many of the state’s rare and endangered plants and a place for visitors to wander among trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses from plant communities throughout the state. There are free weekend and holiday tours. Admission and parking are free. For more information about the garden visit the Friends of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden.
ScienceDaily reported
New research shows tropical forests can recover twice as fast after deforestation when their soils contain enough nitrogen. Scientists followed forest regrowth across Central America for decades and found that nitrogen plays a decisive role in how quickly trees return. Faster regrowth also means more carbon captured from the atmosphere. The study points to smarter reforestation strategies that work with nature rather than relying on fertilizers.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/01/260115220612.htm
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: Forest Regrowth
SF Bay State of the Birds tracks bird trends as a sign of habitat health to inform restoration and land management decisions across the region.Read about how Bay Area Birds are doing at State of San Francisco Birds
Posted in Birds | Tags: State of San Francisco Bay Birds
See upcoming events for the Siskiyou Land Trust at Upcoming events
Posted in Walks & Hikes | Tags: Siskiyou Land Trust Upcoming Events
BBC Magazine reported
During winter nearly 1,000 owls descend onto a tiny Serbian town centre – and at night it’s party time
A huge parliament of long-eared owls has made an unlikely home in a Serbian town square
Read more at Is this the world’s biggest owl gathering?
Posted in Animals | Tags: Long-eared Owls
See Upcoming Los Padres ForestWatch Upcoming Events at Home | Los Padres ForestWatch
Posted in Birds, Talks | Tags: Los Padres ForestWatch Upcoming Events
A pet cow named Veronika can scratch her own back with a broom — the first scientifically documented case of tool use in cows, researchers say.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/science/animals-cows-intelligence-tools.html
Posted in Animals | Tags: Cow uses tool
The Good News Network reported
The Water Guardians blocked several channel switches along a canal, and brought thousands of gallons of spa water streaming down onto the land
Posted in Environment | Tags: Grassland Preservation
SF Gate reported
A preliminary tally of monarch butterflies that spend the winter along California’s coast looks near the record low. That’s a blow for the beloved pollinator species, which faces an incredibly high risk of extinction.
Read more at Extinction risk is high for iconic California butterfly
Posted in Butterflies | Tags: Monarch Butterfly Extinction Risk
ScienceDaily reported
Moss may look insignificant, but it can carry a hidden forensic fingerprint. Because different moss species thrive in very specific micro-environments, tiny fragments can reveal exactly where a person has been. Researchers reviewing 150 years of cases found moss has helped solve crimes across multiple countries, including one case where it led investigators directly to a buried child. The study urges law enforcement to pay closer attention to these silent witnesses.
Read on www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251225080738.htm
Posted in Wildflowers and Other Plants | Tags: How Moss Helps Solve Crimes
The Guardian reported
Scientists say bears in southern Greenland differ genetically to those in the north, suggesting they could adjust
Changes in polar bear DNA that could help the animals adapt to warmer climates have been detected by researchers, in a study thought to be the first time a statistically significant link has been found between rising temperatures and changing DNA in a wild mammal species.
Read more Changes to polar bear DNA could help them adapt to global heating, study finds
Posted in Animals, Environment | Tags: Climate change, Polar Bears
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Posted in Birds, Photography | Tags: 2026 Audubon Photography Awards
Smithsonian Magazine reported
Human breast milk has long reigned as the most complex known mammal milk. But another species might dethrone us: gray seals.
In a study published November 25 in the journal Nature Communications, researchers analyzed gray seal milk and found around 33 percent more types of complex sugar molecules than in human breast milk, many of which were previously unknown. The findings could pave the way for new methods to support human health.
Posted in Animals | Tags: Gray Seals, Seal Milk
Governor Newsom announces free entry to California State Parks on MLK Day — as Trump swaps the “free day” for his birthday and whitewashes civil rights history from National Parks | Governor of California
— Read on www.gov.ca.gov/2026/01/16/governor-newsom-announces-free-entry-to-california-state-parks-on-mlk-day-as-trump-swaps-the-free-day-for-his-birthday-and-whitewashes-civil-rights-history-from-national-pa/
Posted in Drives, Park | Tags: California State Parks Fee Waiver
Forty-four states have completed Breeding Bird Atlases—globally recognized tools that guide conservation efforts and strengthen biodiversity.
Read more at California Bird Atlas
California isn’t one of them. That’s about to change.
Posted in Birds | Tags: Califonria Breeding Bird Atas
Natural History Wanderings 