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Can a New Generation of Conservationists Make the Field More Accessible?

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Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Rachel Feltman: I want you to do something for me. Close your eyes. I’m going to say a word, and I’d like you to, as quickly as you can, come up with a mental image to go with it.The word is “conservationist.”Okay, so what did you picture? (If you were able to come up with anything, that is.) Did you see images of animals first? When your mind got around to picturing an actual zoologist, who did you see? Was it Charles Darwin? David Attenborough? Maybe Jane Goodall?On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.[CLIP: Theme music]Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, this is Rachel Feltman. You’re listening to the third episode of our Fascination miniseries on “The New Conservationists.” Today we’re going to talk about who actually does this kind of work—and how that’s changing.Our guide for this adventure is Ashleigh Papp, an animal scientist turned storyteller. And to tell this particular story, she’ll take us out to an island off the coast of California—and later onto the African savanna—to meet two conservation researchers who are breaking those dusty old molds and changing the field for the better.Isaac Aguilar: The Argentine ant is one of the most invasive species in the world; it’s found on every continent now, all over the world, except for Antarctica. They’re probably just in my backyard here.Ashleigh Papp: That’s Isaac Aguilar. He’s a graduate student in the geology division at the California Institute of Technology. Before starting this chapter he spent plenty of time outside as a field research assistant on San Clemente Island, off the coast of Southern California, watching ants.[CLIP: Sounds of footsteps and birds]Aguilar: We hike around and find where these infestations are. We bring our GPSes, kind of take data points of where we see them. And then we can come back to these areas and treat them so that we can apply these pesticide beads towards a very specific area and limit the other side effects of the pesticide that could potentially be impacting other species. And that way we hope to eradicate this pest from the island soon so that the biodiversity can kind of come back.Papp: This ant—which honestly looks like your classic, nondescript ant—is native to South America and was accidentally introduced to other parts of the world. They’ll build their nests just about anywhere, and as a result they’re dominating native bugs and threatening biodiversity in certain habitats.[CLIP: “Those Rainy Days,” by Elm Lake]Papp: But before Isaac was tracking ants on an island, before he studied molecular environmental biology and ecosystem management and forestry at the University of California, Berkeley, he fell in love with nature and the great outdoors in Mexico.Aguilar: Every time I would go to Jalisco, I’d stay with my mom’s side of the family in El Grullo; it’s a small town there located a couple hours west of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco.Papp: And the town where they would stay stands at the gates of a UNESCO biosphere reserve where his grandpa owned a small piece of land.Aguilar: And I would always hear stories from my grandpa about, like, jaguars in the mountains and pumas roaming around. And so for me, it was this kind of, like, mysterious place where there were all these animals that maybe I would never see.Papp: The wonder and beauty of his ancestral homeland reached far beyond just stories, though.Aguilar: It became more of our kind of little vacation getaway, where I could just jump in the river with my cousins, swim around, look at the fish in the rivers, look for the birds in the trees, hike around waterfalls, and things like that.Papp: This is where his love for conservation science was born.Aguilar: It was somewhere where I think I really connected to the environment in, and learning about my family, their culture and their history in the region, and being able to kind of learn from their experiences on the land is something that, I think, I always kind of really was inspired by. And that’s kind of what really inspired me to look for potential careers in—at the outdoors, in science, which is something that I think growing up I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about.Papp: In high school he enrolled in an advanced environmental science class.Aguilar: That was something that kind of opened up a lot of potential careers for me as someone who had never really met a biologist before, who had never really seen what that kind of work was. And so that was something that I think really excited me because I was like, “Wow, like, I don’t know anything about this. Like, there’s so much to learn. There’s so much to see, so much to do.”Papp: Isaac went on to study science in college. But as a Latino kid from Southern California, he felt a little out of place.Aguilar: I always had incredible scientific mentors growing up, going to Berkeley and being able to meet with all these really incredible and esteemed scientists, but also, I did recognize, I think, the lack of people from my own community or people who looked like me.Papp: And there is, unfortunately, data to back up Isaac’s personal experience. According to a survey of more than 200,000 full-time faculty at colleges and universities in the U.S. during the 2023 to 2024 school year, almost 80 percent of tenure-track professors were white.It can be hard to envision yourself in a career path when the people in that field don’t look like you. And this poses a big problem for diversity in science. Fortunately, faculty make up only part of the college experience.Aguilar: The grad student population at a lot of universities are a lot more diverse than the faculty. I was able to connect with them a lot better on the types of experiences they had growing up, on the frameworks that they developed when they approach their own scientific kind of projects, how they’re able to draw inspiration from their community, from their experiences to do their own research.Papp: Isaac says that sense of community helped him to realize that even if he looked different from the faculty norm in science, his work is important.Aguilar: I remember, like, my first experiences going to grad students’ office hours and being able to finally kind of share, like, yes, we’re out here doing research in Mexico. We’re out here, like, doing research in these different parts of the world. We’re able to develop a network of regional, local scientists and start to expand the efforts of conservation-restoration projects in these areas.Papp: Isaac went on to work in labs at UC Berkeley and later discovered a program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, that pays students to go into the field and get their hands dirty. It helped his career actually get started.[CLIP: “It Doesn’t End Here (Instrumental),” by Nehemiah Pratt]Papp: That first step is one of the biggest hurdles for those new to conservation. Many of its disciplines—such as ecology, animal science and zoology—feature some of the lowest-paid early career incomes in science, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And it’s pretty common for interns or entry-level students to work for free to get their foot in the door.In a pretty blatant way this means that most people who get involved in conservation must have resources to fall back on, such as a decent savings account. And as a result conservation science has developed quite a catch-22 type of situation. Those working in the field seem to be mostly white people from middle- or upper-middle-class backgrounds. That lack of diversity discourages some individuals from underrepresented backgrounds from entering the field of study—which further exacerbates the problem.So programs like the one Isaac got into can really help change the face of the field.Aguilar: We need to continue putting in the work of expanding outreach towards these underserved communities, towards communities that are historically excluded from research, from academia, from science.Papp: In a world where species are disappearing by the hour and habitats are shrinking by the minute it seems obvious that we’re in dire need of dedicated and paid conservation scientists. And the more diverse their ranks are, the more varied their approaches to solving big conservation challenges will be.Aguilar: When we have an overrepresentation of science and research that comes from one area of the world—like, say, here in the United States, where maybe a lot of research is going on in California or a lot of research is going on in this Western part of the world—we tend to lose the value that can come from studying other systems, that can come from other forms of knowledge, other forms of science and how science is done.Papp: Change can be hard, and unfortunately, it often takes time. But Isaac is seeing a lot of positive change already underway when he looks across the field of conservation—and even his family’s dinner table.[CLIP: “Pushing Forward (XO Edit) (Instrumental),” by Ballinger]Aguilar: Now I have younger family members who are starting to go off to college. Some of them are starting to major in, like, environmental science kind of biology things, too, so I always love being able to see those doors open and people able to find their own kind of niche within this field.Papp: For the next part of our story I decided to seek out exactly that: someone using other forms of knowledge who does science differently because of it. I found her inside one of Africa’s largest game reserves.Malungane Naledi: So when you go in a night patrol, that’s where we do our visual policing, again, by shining our spotlight and looking for everything that is suspicious in the reserve. If it is dark, we look for any lights that we wanna know if they’re suspicious: maybe cigarette lights, maybe dogs barking, gunshots.Papp: That’s Malungane Naledi. She’s a crime prevention sergeant with the Black Mambas, an all-woman anti-poaching unit that patrols South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park.Malungane: Our intention is not to kill but is to prevent crime and wildlife crime. So as the Black Mambas, we do visual policing to deter the poachers away from the reserve. So we are the nature guardians. That’s the Black Mambas.[CLIP: Black Mambas chanting: “I am a Mamba, hear me cheer. Poachers, be warned I have no fear.”]Papp: The group, named after a super poisonous African snake, was formed in 2013. Naledi grew up in a nearby area and remembers taking school field trips to Kruger National Park.[CLIP: Birds chirping at Kruger National Park]Papp: While she saw plenty of animals, there was one iconic species that was never around.Malungane: Every time when I went to Kruger via school trips and everything, there we’ll see all any other animal, but you will come back not seeing any rhino. And I thought to myself, “What can I do that I can make this rhino poaching stop?”[CLIP: “Let There Be Rain,” by Silver Maple]Papp: This part of South Africa is home to an impressive list of endangered and threatened animals: black rhinos, elephants and pangolins, to name a few. But policing the poaching inside the national park and surrounding areas is challenging. In 2021 the rhino poaching rates in the Kruger park were some of the highest in the country. Since then poaching rates in the park have declined, but the reason why remains a bit unclear. South African authorities point to anti-poaching efforts and other initiatives, while some researchers have suggested it may simply be because of dwindling rhino populations.Malungane: I hope that one day the poaching thing can stop, and then we can enjoy our heritage, nature heritage, in peace. Like, that’s what I wish: that they can truly see the importance of wildlife and the importance of these animals.Papp: All Mambas receive paramilitary training, similar to a military boot camp, but they don’t carry or use weapons. More often than not, members of the community are the poachers—or at least are helping out-of-town poachers find what they’re looking for. By carrying weapons the Mambas would run the risk of getting into shoot-outs with their neighbors, potentially turning members of their community into orphans and widows.So they decided to do things differently.Malungane: When we see something that is suspicious, let’s say maybe we heard a gunshot. We have to report the distance where we see the light—like, everything—then we report it.Papp: The Mambas report what they see to armed backup in the reserve. Those folks then have the authority to pursue and investigate the poaching activity.Malungane: Then they will do further investigations. And then they will come back to us if maybe it’s someone that they know or maybe it’s really, really, really suspicious; then we have to stay on high alert.Papp: Instead of using force the Mambas do everything they can to make the land undesirable to poachers. They remove traps and snares, dismantle makeshift outposts and assist in arrests. The women log everything they encounter, whether it be wild animals or evidence of poachers.[CLIP: Three members of the Black Mambas running]Papp: And more than 10 years later their hard work is, well, working.Ashwell Glasson: You can see that they’ve picked up snares and traps. And their visibility’s probably had other positive impacts. It’s hard to quantify, but I think, like, crime prevention overall, being visible, patrolling, all of those kind of things does bring benefits.Papp: That’s Ashwell Glasson. He grew up in South Africa and now works at the Southern African Wildlife College.Glasson: Black Mambas didn’t set out to become this huge, tactical law enforcement body. Whereas a lot of people say, “Okay, we put boots on the ground, firearms on the ground,” that kind of thing—Black Mambas, yes, they put boots on the ground, but those boots work differently, you know, they’re not purely just law enforcement. And I think that’s also been the big value add, because pure, hard law enforcement won’t solve these problems. They’re more long term.Papp: When Ashwell first entered the conservation science scene more than 25 years ago, apartheid had only recently ended and a newfound democracy established in its place.Glasson: So we had a bit of Mandela magic, if that makes sense. People were very excited about South Africa opening up.Once we transitioned to democracy conservation had to then mainstream. It couldn’t have been a minority kind of thing, where it was just about white people still enjoying the benefits of conservation.Papp: Ashwell’s ancestors immigrated to South Africa from Europe and New Zealand during the colonial gold and diamond rush of the 1800s. When he was young his grandfather would take him to rural areas and teach him about birds and nature, which later led Ashwell on a path to conservation work. But he recognizes that he was privileged to grow up with this kind of relationship to wildlife.After working as a park ranger and then a nature guide he felt the pull to get involved in training the next generation of conservation scientists—and making sure they didn’t all look like him.Glasson: There was a lot of transformation, a lot of opportunities to bring people on board into conservation that historically were kept out of it, excluded.Papp: The Black Mambas seek to extend that transformation by serving as role models for local communities. Naledi and her fellow Mambas do a lot of work with locals, especially kids.Glasson: A lot of the Black Mambas, you know, do work with schools, do environmental clubs, bring kids in. And the other power of that, which is also overlooked sometimes, is they’re doing it in cultural context. So they’re speaking Shangaan or Sepedi or Venda, and that’s what those young children speak at home, and a lot of people don’t realize, in South Africa, with all the languages, if you’re not a polyglot or multilingual, you will struggle—and making it accessible for children.Papp: For Naledi and the Mambas, bringing in those who have historically been left out of conservation science means sowing seeds for the next generation.Malungane: If you teach a kid—I will go at home and then explain to my father and my uncle that this is illegal, so they will eventually stop what they are doing, hearing from what I was taught. I think most people in our community, they are uneducated, but if we teach them and then we teach the kids while they are still young, they will grow up knowing that poaching is bad.[CLIP: Black Mambas chanting: “Empower mothers to educate. Our young future guardians are at stake.”]Papp: There’s a long road ahead for those seeking to protect places filled with animals so highly sought after by poachers.[CLIP: Theme music]Papp: But it’s these types of efforts—the ones inviting in people who were previously left out—that are going to help bring about change and maybe, hopefully, tip the scale in a positive direction.Feltman: That’s all for today’s episode. Tune in next time for the conclusion of this four-part Fascination series on “The New Conservationists.” It’s a fun one. There won’t be any tigers, but there will be lions—well, mountain lions—and bears, oh my!Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was reported and co-hosted by Ashleigh Papp. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.For Scientific American, this is Rachel Feltman. See you next time!

Modern conservationists are finding new ways to protect wildlife.

Rachel Feltman: I want you to do something for me. Close your eyes. I’m going to say a word, and I’d like you to, as quickly as you can, come up with a mental image to go with it.

The word is “conservationist.”

Okay, so what did you picture? (If you were able to come up with anything, that is.) Did you see images of animals first? When your mind got around to picturing an actual zoologist, who did you see? Was it Charles Darwin? David Attenborough? Maybe Jane Goodall?


On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.


[CLIP: Theme music]

Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, this is Rachel Feltman. You’re listening to the third episode of our Fascination miniseries on “The New Conservationists.” Today we’re going to talk about who actually does this kind of work—and how that’s changing.

Our guide for this adventure is Ashleigh Papp, an animal scientist turned storyteller. And to tell this particular story, she’ll take us out to an island off the coast of California—and later onto the African savanna—to meet two conservation researchers who are breaking those dusty old molds and changing the field for the better.

Isaac Aguilar: The Argentine ant is one of the most invasive species in the world; it’s found on every continent now, all over the world, except for Antarctica. They’re probably just in my backyard here.

Ashleigh Papp: That’s Isaac Aguilar. He’s a graduate student in the geology division at the California Institute of Technology. Before starting this chapter he spent plenty of time outside as a field research assistant on San Clemente Island, off the coast of Southern California, watching ants.

[CLIP: Sounds of footsteps and birds]

Aguilar: We hike around and find where these infestations are. We bring our GPSes, kind of take data points of where we see them. And then we can come back to these areas and treat them so that we can apply these pesticide beads towards a very specific area and limit the other side effects of the pesticide that could potentially be impacting other species. And that way we hope to eradicate this pest from the island soon so that the biodiversity can kind of come back.

Papp: This ant—which honestly looks like your classic, nondescript ant—is native to South America and was accidentally introduced to other parts of the world. They’ll build their nests just about anywhere, and as a result they’re dominating native bugs and threatening biodiversity in certain habitats.

[CLIP: “Those Rainy Days,” by Elm Lake]

Papp: But before Isaac was tracking ants on an island, before he studied molecular environmental biology and ecosystem management and forestry at the University of California, Berkeley, he fell in love with nature and the great outdoors in Mexico.

Aguilar: Every time I would go to Jalisco, I’d stay with my mom’s side of the family in El Grullo; it’s a small town there located a couple hours west of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco.

Papp: And the town where they would stay stands at the gates of a UNESCO biosphere reserve where his grandpa owned a small piece of land.

Aguilar: And I would always hear stories from my grandpa about, like, jaguars in the mountains and pumas roaming around. And so for me, it was this kind of, like, mysterious place where there were all these animals that maybe I would never see.

Papp: The wonder and beauty of his ancestral homeland reached far beyond just stories, though.

Aguilar: It became more of our kind of little vacation getaway, where I could just jump in the river with my cousins, swim around, look at the fish in the rivers, look for the birds in the trees, hike around waterfalls, and things like that.

Papp: This is where his love for conservation science was born.

Aguilar: It was somewhere where I think I really connected to the environment in, and learning about my family, their culture and their history in the region, and being able to kind of learn from their experiences on the land is something that, I think, I always kind of really was inspired by. And that’s kind of what really inspired me to look for potential careers in—at the outdoors, in science, which is something that I think growing up I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about.

Papp: In high school he enrolled in an advanced environmental science class.

Aguilar: That was something that kind of opened up a lot of potential careers for me as someone who had never really met a biologist before, who had never really seen what that kind of work was. And so that was something that I think really excited me because I was like, “Wow, like, I don’t know anything about this. Like, there’s so much to learn. There’s so much to see, so much to do.”

Papp: Isaac went on to study science in college. But as a Latino kid from Southern California, he felt a little out of place.

Aguilar: I always had incredible scientific mentors growing up, going to Berkeley and being able to meet with all these really incredible and esteemed scientists, but also, I did recognize, I think, the lack of people from my own community or people who looked like me.

Papp: And there is, unfortunately, data to back up Isaac’s personal experience. According to a survey of more than 200,000 full-time faculty at colleges and universities in the U.S. during the 2023 to 2024 school year, almost 80 percent of tenure-track professors were white.

It can be hard to envision yourself in a career path when the people in that field don’t look like you. And this poses a big problem for diversity in science. Fortunately, faculty make up only part of the college experience.

Aguilar: The grad student population at a lot of universities are a lot more diverse than the faculty. I was able to connect with them a lot better on the types of experiences they had growing up, on the frameworks that they developed when they approach their own scientific kind of projects, how they’re able to draw inspiration from their community, from their experiences to do their own research.

Papp: Isaac says that sense of community helped him to realize that even if he looked different from the faculty norm in science, his work is important.

Aguilar: I remember, like, my first experiences going to grad students’ office hours and being able to finally kind of share, like, yes, we’re out here doing research in Mexico. We’re out here, like, doing research in these different parts of the world. We’re able to develop a network of regional, local scientists and start to expand the efforts of conservation-restoration projects in these areas.

Papp: Isaac went on to work in labs at UC Berkeley and later discovered a program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, that pays students to go into the field and get their hands dirty. It helped his career actually get started.

[CLIP: “It Doesn’t End Here (Instrumental),” by Nehemiah Pratt]

Papp: That first step is one of the biggest hurdles for those new to conservation. Many of its disciplines—such as ecology, animal science and zoology—feature some of the lowest-paid early career incomes in science, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And it’s pretty common for interns or entry-level students to work for free to get their foot in the door.

In a pretty blatant way this means that most people who get involved in conservation must have resources to fall back on, such as a decent savings account. And as a result conservation science has developed quite a catch-22 type of situation. Those working in the field seem to be mostly white people from middle- or upper-middle-class backgrounds. That lack of diversity discourages some individuals from underrepresented backgrounds from entering the field of study—which further exacerbates the problem.

So programs like the one Isaac got into can really help change the face of the field.

Aguilar: We need to continue putting in the work of expanding outreach towards these underserved communities, towards communities that are historically excluded from research, from academia, from science.

Papp: In a world where species are disappearing by the hour and habitats are shrinking by the minute it seems obvious that we’re in dire need of dedicated and paid conservation scientists. And the more diverse their ranks are, the more varied their approaches to solving big conservation challenges will be.

Aguilar: When we have an overrepresentation of science and research that comes from one area of the world—like, say, here in the United States, where maybe a lot of research is going on in California or a lot of research is going on in this Western part of the world—we tend to lose the value that can come from studying other systems, that can come from other forms of knowledge, other forms of science and how science is done.

Papp: Change can be hard, and unfortunately, it often takes time. But Isaac is seeing a lot of positive change already underway when he looks across the field of conservation—and even his family’s dinner table.

[CLIP: “Pushing Forward (XO Edit) (Instrumental),” by Ballinger]

Aguilar: Now I have younger family members who are starting to go off to college. Some of them are starting to major in, like, environmental science kind of biology things, too, so I always love being able to see those doors open and people able to find their own kind of niche within this field.

Papp: For the next part of our story I decided to seek out exactly that: someone using other forms of knowledge who does science differently because of it. I found her inside one of Africa’s largest game reserves.

Malungane Naledi: So when you go in a night patrol, that’s where we do our visual policing, again, by shining our spotlight and looking for everything that is suspicious in the reserve. If it is dark, we look for any lights that we wanna know if they’re suspicious: maybe cigarette lights, maybe dogs barking, gunshots.

Papp: That’s Malungane Naledi. She’s a crime prevention sergeant with the Black Mambas, an all-woman anti-poaching unit that patrols South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park.

Malungane: Our intention is not to kill but is to prevent crime and wildlife crime. So as the Black Mambas, we do visual policing to deter the poachers away from the reserve. So we are the nature guardians. That’s the Black Mambas.

[CLIP: Black Mambas chanting: “I am a Mamba, hear me cheer. Poachers, be warned I have no fear.”]

Papp: The group, named after a super poisonous African snake, was formed in 2013. Naledi grew up in a nearby area and remembers taking school field trips to Kruger National Park.

[CLIP: Birds chirping at Kruger National Park]

Papp: While she saw plenty of animals, there was one iconic species that was never around.

Malungane: Every time when I went to Kruger via school trips and everything, there we’ll see all any other animal, but you will come back not seeing any rhino. And I thought to myself, “What can I do that I can make this rhino poaching stop?”

[CLIP: “Let There Be Rain,” by Silver Maple]

Papp: This part of South Africa is home to an impressive list of endangered and threatened animals: black rhinos, elephants and pangolins, to name a few. But policing the poaching inside the national park and surrounding areas is challenging. In 2021 the rhino poaching rates in the Kruger park were some of the highest in the country. Since then poaching rates in the park have declined, but the reason why remains a bit unclear. South African authorities point to anti-poaching efforts and other initiatives, while some researchers have suggested it may simply be because of dwindling rhino populations.

Malungane: I hope that one day the poaching thing can stop, and then we can enjoy our heritage, nature heritage, in peace. Like, that’s what I wish: that they can truly see the importance of wildlife and the importance of these animals.

Papp: All Mambas receive paramilitary training, similar to a military boot camp, but they don’t carry or use weapons. More often than not, members of the community are the poachers—or at least are helping out-of-town poachers find what they’re looking for. By carrying weapons the Mambas would run the risk of getting into shoot-outs with their neighbors, potentially turning members of their community into orphans and widows.

So they decided to do things differently.

Malungane: When we see something that is suspicious, let’s say maybe we heard a gunshot. We have to report the distance where we see the light—like, everything—then we report it.

Papp: The Mambas report what they see to armed backup in the reserve. Those folks then have the authority to pursue and investigate the poaching activity.

Malungane: Then they will do further investigations. And then they will come back to us if maybe it’s someone that they know or maybe it’s really, really, really suspicious; then we have to stay on high alert.

Papp: Instead of using force the Mambas do everything they can to make the land undesirable to poachers. They remove traps and snares, dismantle makeshift outposts and assist in arrests. The women log everything they encounter, whether it be wild animals or evidence of poachers.

[CLIP: Three members of the Black Mambas running]

Papp: And more than 10 years later their hard work is, well, working.

Ashwell Glasson: You can see that they’ve picked up snares and traps. And their visibility’s probably had other positive impacts. It’s hard to quantify, but I think, like, crime prevention overall, being visible, patrolling, all of those kind of things does bring benefits.

Papp: That’s Ashwell Glasson. He grew up in South Africa and now works at the Southern African Wildlife College.

Glasson: Black Mambas didn’t set out to become this huge, tactical law enforcement body. Whereas a lot of people say, “Okay, we put boots on the ground, firearms on the ground,” that kind of thing—Black Mambas, yes, they put boots on the ground, but those boots work differently, you know, they’re not purely just law enforcement. And I think that’s also been the big value add, because pure, hard law enforcement won’t solve these problems. They’re more long term.

Papp: When Ashwell first entered the conservation science scene more than 25 years ago, apartheid had only recently ended and a newfound democracy established in its place.

Glasson: So we had a bit of Mandela magic, if that makes sense. People were very excited about South Africa opening up.

Once we transitioned to democracy conservation had to then mainstream. It couldn’t have been a minority kind of thing, where it was just about white people still enjoying the benefits of conservation.

Papp: Ashwell’s ancestors immigrated to South Africa from Europe and New Zealand during the colonial gold and diamond rush of the 1800s. When he was young his grandfather would take him to rural areas and teach him about birds and nature, which later led Ashwell on a path to conservation work. But he recognizes that he was privileged to grow up with this kind of relationship to wildlife.

After working as a park ranger and then a nature guide he felt the pull to get involved in training the next generation of conservation scientists—and making sure they didn’t all look like him.

Glasson: There was a lot of transformation, a lot of opportunities to bring people on board into conservation that historically were kept out of it, excluded.

Papp: The Black Mambas seek to extend that transformation by serving as role models for local communities. Naledi and her fellow Mambas do a lot of work with locals, especially kids.

Glasson: A lot of the Black Mambas, you know, do work with schools, do environmental clubs, bring kids in. And the other power of that, which is also overlooked sometimes, is they’re doing it in cultural context. So they’re speaking Shangaan or Sepedi or Venda, and that’s what those young children speak at home, and a lot of people don’t realize, in South Africa, with all the languages, if you’re not a polyglot or multilingual, you will struggle—and making it accessible for children.

Papp: For Naledi and the Mambas, bringing in those who have historically been left out of conservation science means sowing seeds for the next generation.

Malungane: If you teach a kid—I will go at home and then explain to my father and my uncle that this is illegal, so they will eventually stop what they are doing, hearing from what I was taught. I think most people in our community, they are uneducated, but if we teach them and then we teach the kids while they are still young, they will grow up knowing that poaching is bad.

[CLIP: Black Mambas chanting: “Empower mothers to educate. Our young future guardians are at stake.”]

Papp: There’s a long road ahead for those seeking to protect places filled with animals so highly sought after by poachers.

[CLIP: Theme music]

Papp: But it’s these types of efforts—the ones inviting in people who were previously left out—that are going to help bring about change and maybe, hopefully, tip the scale in a positive direction.

Feltman: That’s all for today’s episode. Tune in next time for the conclusion of this four-part Fascination series on “The New Conservationists.” It’s a fun one. There won’t be any tigers, but there will be lions—well, mountain lions—and bears, oh my!

Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was reported and co-hosted by Ashleigh Papp. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.

For Scientific American, this is Rachel Feltman. See you next time!

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

‘All the birds returned’: How China led the way in water and soil conservation

The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage from grazing and farmingIt was one of China’s most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu. Continue reading...

It was one of China’s most ambitious environmental endeavours ever.The Loess plateau, an area spanning more than 245,000 sq miles (640,000 sq km) across three provinces and parts of four others, supports about 100 million people. By the end of the 20th century, however, this land, once fertile and productive, was considered the most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu.Generations of farmers had cleared and cultivated the land, slowly breaking down the soil and destroying the cover. Every year, the dust from the plain jammed the Yellow River with silt (this is how the river gets its name), sending plumes of loess, a fine wind-blown sediment, across Chinese cities – including to the capital, Beijing.And so in 1999 the Chinese government took drastic emergency action with the launch of Grain to Green, a pilot project backed by World Bank funding, to regreen the plateau and reverse the damage done by overgrazing and overcultivation of the once forested hillsides that would become what the bank described in 2004 as “the largest and most successful water and soil conservancy project in the world” (pdf).Eroded valleys and terracing in Loess plateau, Gansu, before the conservation project began. Photograph: Universal Images Group/GettyThe primary focus was to restore agricultural production and incomes in the plateau, but the dust storms descending on already polluted cities, “making people cough even more”, also became a driver, says Peter Bridgewater, an honorary professor at the Australian National University’s Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies.World Bank participants spent more than three years designing the project, working with experts as well as communities, officials and farmers on how to overturn the longstanding but unsustainable grazing and herding of livestock. Tree-cutting, planting on hillsides and uncurbed sheep and goat grazing were banned. The sustainable practices demonstrated in some small villages were scaled up.The project was extraordinarily ambitious, and was powered through by China’s authoritarian system. “If you want major change, the Chinese system is well adapted to making major change,” says Bridgewater wryly.There were grain and cash subsidies for people converting farmland to grassland, economic forest or protected ecological forest. There were tax subsidies and benefits to offset farming losses, long-term land use contracts and conversion to more sustainable farming including orchards and nuts, and widespread tree-planting employment programmes.By 2016, China had converted more than 11,500 sq miles of rain-fed cropland to forest or grassland – a 25% increase in vegetative cover in a decade, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change. Other studies showed large reductions in erosion and positive changes in plant productivity.“When the environment improved, all the birds returned. The forest has developed its ecological system naturally,” the forestry worker Yan Rufeng told the state-run news channel CGTN.Terraces on the Loess plateau covered with layers of green wheat seedlings and dotted with golden rape flowers in Yuncheng, Shanxi province. Photograph: CFoto/Future Publishing/GettyIt wasn’t straightforward, however. There was some community resistance, particularly to demands to plant trees on farming land. “What about the next generation? They can’t eat trees,” said one man interviewed for Liu’s documentary.In the early years there also appeared to be a correlation between the project and a sudden drop in grain yield. Over the years, officials would debate whether the programme was harming China’s food security, although studies found there to be several factors at play, and that yields later improved.In hindsight, the early methods employed to regreen the dusty hills were also problematic. “There was a lot of mass tree planting – not necessarily natives – and in plantation format, in other words, monocultural stands,” says Bridgewater.Mass-species planting eventually began to replace the monoculture plantations, helping to increase wildlife, but there were also issues with water management, with the burgeoning tree cover and agriculture taking more and more water out of the Yellow River system.“It’s looking like there is a point at which the revegetation will become too successful in that it actually then swings the water balance of the landscape, reducing the potential for water to go into the rivers and be available for human use,” says Bridgewater.skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion“So this is another element that was not really thought about at the start, because the aim wasn’t ‘let’s stabilise the system’. But it’s a good lesson as to how all these interconnecting factors need to be thought about very carefully before you launch into these things.”Eroded terraces on the Loess plateau, Shaanxi province, in 2007. Photograph: China Span Keren Su/Sunset/Rex/ShutterstockA big factor in the success and demands of the programme was and remains the changing climate. The plateau sits in a transition zone between arid and semi-humid climates. The varied natural factors of the region, combined with unsustainable human activity, had contributed to the fragility of the plateau, a 2021 study found. “At the same time, the climate in this region has shown warming and wetting, particularly in the south in which precipitation increased by 20-50 mm from 2000 to 2014.”The climate around the Loess plateau is changing, which means what existed, or even thrived, several decades ago can’t necessarily be put back, says Bridgewater. “But we can produce something, a system that will produce ecosystem services at a better range and a better quality and more regularly than the systems that we’ve destabilised.”An aerival view of Loess plateau terraces after wheat harvest in Yuncheng, Shanxi province, in June. Photograph: NurPhoto/GettyBridgewater adds: “Given the speed of climate change, and not just climate but hydrology and all the other associated global changes, we need to be thinking about what we want. What we want out of our ecosystems are actually services.“We need to think actually in multi-dimensions … to develop a whole new way of thinking as to how we manage the landscape. And in a way, the whole Loess plateau project is a good example of that, [even if] that wasn’t the way of thinking at the start.”Lu FuChin, a former farmer, told the official state news outlet Xinhua that the programme had boosted local employment. “I used to cut trees for firewood, but now I grow them instead,” said the 52-year-old forestry worker. “It used to be that people had to go far for work, but now they can find employment by the Yellow River. As the environment is improving, I believe the villagers’ lives will become more prosperous too.”Additional research by Jason Tzu Kuan Lu

Democratic Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona Dies of Complications From Cancer Treatment

Democratic U.S. Rep. Raúl M

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona, who championed environmental protection during his 12 terms in Congress, died Thursday of complications from cancer treatments, his office said.Grijalva, who was 77, had risen to chair the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee and was the top Democrat on the committee until earlier this year. He had been absent from Congress as he underwent cancer treatment in recent months. Grijalva’s office said in a statement, “From permanently protecting the Grand Canyon for future generations to strengthening the Affordable Care Act, his proudest moments in Congress have always been guided by community voices.”Grijalva, the son of a Mexican immigrant, was first elected to the House in 2002. Known as a liberal leader, he led the Congressional Progressive Caucus in 2008 and dedicated much of his career to working on environmental causes on the Natural Resources Committee. He stepped down from that position this year, after announcing that he planned to retire rather than run for reelection in 2026.During his time in Congress, Grijalva championed protections for endangered species and wilderness areas, as well as stronger regulations on the oil and natural gas industries. He played a key role in writing the National Landscape Conservation System Act and the Federal Lands Restoration Act, which were passed and signed by President Barack Obama.Grijalva had announced in April last year that he had been diagnosed with cancer, but would be able to continue his work. He also sought reelection and won easily in the blue-leaning district.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

Long Island Wildfires Began With Backyard S’mores, Police Say

The wildfires began accidentally when someone in Suffolk County tried to light a fire to make s’mores, officials said. They were fully contained by Monday.

The wildfires that broke out on Long Island Saturday afternoon and spread over hundreds of acres appeared to be accidental, caused by a failed attempt to make s’mores in a backyard, local officials said on Monday.The preliminary determination came after detectives with the Suffolk County Police Department conducted an investigation into the cause of the fires, interviewing 911 callers and using drones and helicopters to determine whether arson had played a role.What started as a backyard fire in Manorville, near Sunrise Highway on Long Island’s South Shore, became several blazes as strong winds contributed to the embers’ spread, officials said at a news conference on Monday. The fires were under control by Sunday morning and were 100 percent contained on Monday, said Amanda Lefton, the acting commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.Kevin Catalina, the Suffolk County police commissioner, said that around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, a person in Manorville was trying to make s’mores but was initially unable to light a fire because of the wind. The person used cardboard to light the fire, he said, and soon the backyard area went up in flames.That fire was put out within an hour, the commissioner said, but a few hours later, another fire was reported less than a quarter mile southeast of the initial fire. “The wind was blowing very strongly from the northwest, so that path makes perfect sense,” he said, adding that two additional fires were reported later.“It is believed that the embers from each fire traveled and continuously started more fires,” he said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

US lost a fifth of its butterflies within two decades

However the researchers say butterflies may be able to recover if urgent conservation measures are taken.

US lost a fifth of its butterflies within two decades Maddie MolloyBBC Climate & ScienceJack CochranThe Danaus eresimus, commonly known as the soldier butterfly, is among the 20 butterfly species experiencing the steepest declineButterfly populations in the US shrank by more than a fifth within the space of two decades, according to a new study.Numbers fell by 22% between 2000 and 2020, according to research by Binghamton University in New York.A third of species saw serious decline, with some, like Julia's Skipper, losing more than 90% of their populations.However, the researchers say butterflies may be able to recover if urgent conservation measures are taken.The study published in the journal Science measured butterfly "abundance" - the number of individuals of a species within a specific area. It analysed 12.6 million butterfly sightings from 76,000 surveys across 35 monitoring programmes.This included data from citizen science programmes like the North American Butterfly Association's Fourth of July counts.Using statistical models, they estimated population trends for 342 species.The results showed that 33% were in significant decline, with many exhibiting extreme losses - 107 species declined by more than 50%."While the results aligned with global trends, seeing the extent of the decline at such a large spatial scale was sobering," said Prof Eliza Grames, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University.Randy BodkinsThe West Virginia White (Pieris virginiensis) - a woodland butterfly - has declined in abundance by more than 98%Some of the most affected species include the Florida white, Hermes copper, tailed orange, Mitchell's satyr, and West Virginia white, all of which have declined in abundance by more than 98% within the US.The West Coast lady, once a common backyard butterfly, has declined by 80%, raising alarm as even this highly adaptable species struggled."That's alarming because it suggests even common butterflies aren't safe," Prof Grames said.Habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change are key causes of this decline, according to the researchers.Butterflies are crucial pollinators, supporting plants and crops. Experts say their decline could disrupt food production and entire ecosystems.They also serve as indicators of environmental health - when butterfly numbers fall, it signals trouble for other species.Southwest US most affectedSpecies are declining most severely in the US Southwest, one of the hottest and driest regions, researchers say. They believe drought may be a major contributor to these losses."Drought is a double threat - it harms butterflies directly and also affects their food and host plants," Prof Grames explained.The results could help drive important conservation efforts, such as prioritising species for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and Endangered Species Act protection.Despite the decline, there is hope for recovery."Butterflies can recover quickly because they have short generation times. Small actions like planting wildflowers, reducing pesticide use, or even leaving part of a backyard unmowed can significantly improve their chances," Prof Grames said.She also stressed the need for government action."Insects are fundamental to life on earth, and we need conservation actions and policies that support insects."

Prep for spring with Oregon gardening workshops on pruning, beekeeping and more

Learn about conservation and wildlife or order native plants with one of these late winter events

Events are free unless noted. Please email calendar submissions at least three weeks in advance to events@oregonian.com.ONGOINGMetro Parks and Nature Winter 2025: Various times and locations through March 15. Connect with nature this winter and learn more about wildlife, explore a new hobby or volunteer in your community. Individuals, families and groups are welcome to register for a guided class, walk, stewardship activity or hands-on experience at a Metro park or natural area. Free to $6 registration at oregonmetro.gov/calendar or 503-220-2782; oregonmetro.gov/GuidedActivities.Portland Rose Society Pruning Demonstrations: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (demo at noon) various dates and locations through March 23. Representatives from the Portland Rose Society will be demonstrating how and when to cut back different classes of roses, including hybrid teas, floribundas and shrubs. The society will also offer free pruner sharpening and soil pH testing. Visit portlandrosesociety.org, call 503-201-7847 or email bboehne@gmail.com.Spring Native Plant Sale: Order through March 30 from a selection of more than 115 species of native plants to be picked up in April or May at choice locations. sparrowhawknativeplants.com.East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District free webinars: Discover how to care for land in ways that benefit people, water and wildlife. From stormwater solutions to biochar to water conservation, these workshops will help you save time, money and energy. Register at emswcd.org/workshops-and-events/upcoming-workshops.Greater Portland Iris Society meeting: 7 p.m. first Tuesday of the month in March, April, September, October and November. Enjoy discussions of irises with guest speakers. Ainsworth House, 19130 Lot Whitcomb Drive, Oregon City; greaterportlandirissociety.org.Walk With a Friend at Tualatin Hills Nature Park: 9 a.m. first Wednesday and third Sunday of the month. Take a guided walk and learn about the plants, wildlife and history of the park. Tualatin Hills Nature Park, 15655 S.W. Millikan Way, Beaverton; thprd.org.Happy Valley Garden Club monthly meeting: 9 a.m.-noon second Tuesday of the month. Happy Valley Baptist Church, 14095 S.E. King Road, Happy Valley.Canby Garden Club monthly meeting: 1 p.m. second Tuesday of the month. Canby Public Library, 220 N.E. Second St.; canbygardenclub.com.Ikebana for Every Season: 1-3 p.m. second Tuesday of the month. Become knowledgeable about basic concepts, techniques, tools, equipment and care for ikebana. $50 includes instruction, plant material and containers to practice with. The Resource Center, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.Portland Dahlia Society monthly meeting: 7 p.m. second Tuesday of the month February through November. Take part in a discussion of seasonal topics. Oaks Park Dance Pavilion, 7805 S.E. Oaks Park Way; portlanddahlia.com.Oregon Fuchsia Society monthly meeting: 7 p.m. third Tuesday of the month. Western Seminary (Bueermann Hall), 5511 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.; oregonfuchsiasociety.com.Estacada Garden Club monthly meeting: 1-3 p.m. second Thursday of the month. Estacada Public Library, 825 N.W. Wade St.The Art of Bonsai: 1-3 p.m. third Thursday and third Saturday of the month. Instructor Mark Vossbrink will guide you through the creation of a bonsai project. $40 includes instruction, plant, container, soil and all materials. The Resource Center, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5Introduction to Residential Beekeeping: 6:30-8 p.m. Learn about the differences between beekeeping in a rural versus urban setting, types of bees, flow hives and more. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.THURSDAY, MARCH 6Wildlife and Water Friendly Garden Series: (online with an option for in-person screenings) noon-1 p.m. The Clackamas Community College Environmental Learning Center is hosting free weekly workshops with industry professionals that will discuss gardening for wildlife and water quality, with a theme on climate resilience and impacts of climate change on wildlife. bit.ly/ELCgardenseries2025.Introduction to the Aesthetic Pruning Approach: (online via Zoom) 6-8 p.m. Instructor Maryann Lewis will discuss how to apply the aesthetic pruning approach to trees and shrubs, including how to assess plant material, identifying the role they play and developing a pruning plan to achieve your goals. $30; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.FRIDAY, MARCH 7Lane County Home & Garden Show: Noon-9 p.m. March 7, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. March 8 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. March 9. Explore, shop and compare more than 300 exhibits featuring experts and new products and services for homes, gardens and yards. $5 or free with three cans of food; Lane Events Center, 796 W. 13th Ave., Eugene; EugeneHomeShow.com.TUESDAY, MARCH 11Webinar: Journey Down the Clackamas: Thermal Habitat Across Time and Space: 6-7:30 p.m. Join a virtual seminar series about the watershed and its natural resources. Register at clackamasriver.org; email Dakota@ClackamasRiver.org.SATURDAY, MARCH 15Garden Discovery Day: 9 a.m.-noon. Join the Clackamas County Master Gardener Association for in-person workshops, discussions, demonstrations, free soil testing and more. Milwaukie Community Center, 5440 S.E. Kellogg Creek Drive; clackamascountymastergardeners.org.Blueberry Pruning: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Learn best practices for pruning blueberry plants with guided instruction and hands-on practice. Sliding scale starts at $40; registration required at homeorchardeducationcenter.org; Home Orchard Education Center Community Orchard, 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City; email info@homeorchardeducationcenter.org.TUESDAY, MARCH 18Pruning Small Fruits: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. This session will cover best practices for pruning small fruiting shrubs, including how to encourage growth and abundant harvests. Sliding scale starts at $40; registration required at homeorchardeducationcenter.org; Home Orchard Education Center Community Orchard, 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City; email info@homeorchardeducationcenter.org.WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19Weed Wranglin' Workshop: 6-7:30 p.m. Join this workshop and jump into some tips to help get those pesky weeds under control. Metzger Park, 8400 S.W. Hemlock St.; tualatinswcd.org.FRIDAY, MARCH 21Deepwood Plant Sale & Horticultural Tours: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. March 21-22. Shop a variety of Oregon native and companion plants, pottery, botanical art and more. Deepwood Museum & Gardens, 1116 Mission Street S.E., Salem; DeepwoodMuseum.org.Plant Spirit Journey: 6:30 p.m. Take part in a plant sit and learn about practical uses of seasonal species. From $25; Hedgerow Herb Co., 811 E. Burnside St., Suite 116; hedgerowherbco.com.SATURDAY, MARCH 22Tree School Clackamas: Opens at 7:15 a.m. Attend any of 73 classes covering forestry and tree grower topics key to the support of successful management of small woodlands. Participants will learn about forest management, tools and techniques, wildfire preparedness, marketing and business, forest health, wildlife habitat, weed management, forest fungi and more. $70 Clackamas County resident, $85 out of county, $35 ages 14-18 with adult; registration required at beav.es/tree-school-clackamas; Clackamas Community College, 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City.Grow Your Own Kiwifruit: It’s Easier Than You Think Workshop: 10-11:30 a.m. Join the WSU Extension Clark County Master Gardener program for an experiential workshop on getting started on your own growing adventure at a kiwi demonstration site in Vancouver. $10 registration at eventbrite.com; visit extension.wsu.edu, call 564-397-5738 or email Erika.d.johnson@wsu.edu.Gardening With Pacific Northwest Native Plants: 10 a.m.-noon. Join the Washington County Master Gardener Association to learn about native plants that thrive in the region, how to naturescape in support of wildlife and pollinators, and consider the possibilities the Backyard Habitat Certification Program offers through its customized yard assessment. PCC Rock Creek (Building 4, Room 103), 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.TUESDAY, MARCH 25Growing and Caring for Blueberries: 6-7:30 p.m. This seminar will review the main parts of a blueberry plant, soil conditions, how and when to fertilize, varieties, harvest times and more. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.SATURDAY, MARCH 29Yamhill County Master Gardeners and OSU Spring into Gardening: 8:45 a.m.-4 p.m. Sign up for gardening classes on flowers, healthy gardens and climate resilience, talk to garden experts, enter the annual raffle and more. $40, add lunch for $17; Linfield University, Keck Science Center, 356 Linfield Ave., McMinnville; register at YCMGA.org.Perennials: How to Choose, Plant and Maintain for Year-round Flowers: 10 a.m.-noon. This class will provide an overview on types of perennials, how to best care for them in terms of planting, pruning, fertilizing, pest control and maintenance, plus tips to extend blooming time for year-round color. PCC Rock Creek (Building 7, Room 105), 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.SATURDAY, APRIL 5Soil School 2025: 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. This event offers eight sessions led by experts discussing how improving soil health improves plant, garden and habitat health. $35 registration includes breakfast and lunch; Portland Community College, Rock Creek Event Center, 17705 N.W. Springville Road; wmswcd.org.SATURDAY, APRIL 12Top-working Fruit Trees: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Top-working is a term used to describe the process of adding new varieties to an existing tree. This hands-on workshop will teach you about grafting tools, compatibility and methods for top-working. Sliding scale starts at $30; registration required at homeorchardeducationcenter.org; Home Orchard Education Center Community Orchard, 19600 Molalla Ave., Oregon City; email info@homeorchardeducationcenter.org.SATURDAY, APRIL 19Earth Day Trash Cleanup: 10 a.m.-noon. Volunteer and help with trash cleanup on a Clackamas River Basin Council restoration site. Beebe Island (exact location TBD); register at clackamasriver.org; email Dakota@ClackamasRiver.org.SATURDAY, APRIL 26Pub Talk: Mussels & Macroinvertebrates: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Learn about and discuss mussels, macroinvertebrates (bugs) and freshwater ecology. Ruzzo’s Retreat, 15252 OR-224, Damascus; register at clackamasriver.org; email Dakota@ClackamasRiver.org.SATURDAY, MAY 3Gardenfest Plant Sale 2025: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Choose from more than 5,000 plants selected for the Pacific Northwest, including natives, perennials, shrubs, vegetables, houseplants and more. PCC Rock Creek, 17705 N.W. Springville Road; washingtoncountymastergardeners.org.Spring Candling and Maintenance on Pines: 1-3 p.m. Instructor Laura Dufala will candle, needle and prune pines while discussing the whys and hows of the process. $45; Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.SATURDAY, MAY 17Creating Pollinator Habitat for Your Garden and Home: 10-11:30 a.m. Learn how to preserve and protect certain types of native butterflies and the best ways to provide valuable nectar to all pollinators including bees, moths and hummingbirds. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.Gathering in the Garden: Celebrating Gardening and the Appreciation of Community Green Spaces: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Enjoy live music and a silent auction while shopping for organic tomato starts, shrubs, plants, garden art, ceramics, accessories and more. Children can learn how to pot plants, and the Portland Rose Society will sharpen hand pruners for free. Eastmoreland Garden, Southeast 27th Avenue and Bybee Boulevard; eastmorelandpdx.org.Work Party: Garlic Mustard Pull: 1:30-3:30 p.m. Grab your favorite hand tool and head out to a springtime work party to help pull invasive and noxious garlic mustard. Milo McIver State Park, 24401 S. Entrance Road, Estacada; register at clackamasriver.org; email Dakota@ClackamasRiver.org.SUNDAY, MAY 18Pub Talk: An Invader Among Us — The Emerald Ash Borer: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Take part in an evening of learning and discussion on invasive insects including the emerald ash borer. Oregon City Brewing, 1401 Washington St., Oregon City; register at clackamasriver.org; email Dakota@ClackamasRiver.org.SATURDAY, MAY 31Pruning Flowering Shrubs: 1-2:30 p.m. Learn the basic cuts through a hands-on demonstration of pruning rhododendrons and azaleas. Garden Director Jim Card will speak about flowering shrubs and when and how to prune. Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.SATURDAY, JUNE 7Propagating Broadleaf Shrubs: 1-3 p.m. Learn how to successfully propagate deciduous and evergreen plants and other suitable woody plants from cuttings. Instructor Norm Jacobs will explain plant physiology as it pertains to propagation, selection of containers and soil mixes, and the role of rooting compounds. $55 includes all materials; Gresham Japanese Garden, 219 S. Main Ave., Gresham; GreshamJapaneseGarden.org.-- Corey SheldonStay in the loop. Sign up to receive a weekly newsletter and join the conversation at the Homes & Gardens of the Northwest on Facebook

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