Scientists and bee experts discuss the crucial role that honeybees, a "keystone species," play in our economy and ecosystems, as well as bees' fascinating social organization and what we can do to reverse the decline of nature's pollinators.

Following the path of the condor, whose ten-foot wingspan enables it to soar effortlessly over the peaks of the Andes mountains, this film starts at the storm beaten rocks of Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and journeys north to the highest peak in the Americas - Aconcagua. Along the way, we see exotic animals and birds such as the penguin, hummingbird, sea otter, guanaco, ostrich-like rhea, and puma.

While the cold waters of the Pacific Coast of South America are among the richest in the world, the shore is the driest desert in the world. Yet it is not at all devoid of life. Lizards snatch morsels from the waves, and seagulls fly 40 miles into the desert to nest. The condor searches for carrion and vampire bats feed on the blood of sleeping sea lions. This is a beautiful portrait of a giant land.

The third part of the series is a spectacular visual trip down the fabled river. From the snow-clad summit of the volcano Cotopaxi and others comes the greatest river in the world as melting ice creates a torrent that drops three miles in its first short distance. The river is fed by magnificent waterfalls and is channeled through gorges out into the tropical rain forest where there are more species of birds than anywhere.

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Vi har ikke en synopsis oversat på Engelsk. Hjælp os med at udvide vores database ved at tilføje én.

Examines the fragile ecology of the Caribbean area in a unique and vivid look at the forces affecting this area's ecological balance, such as hurricanes, volcanoes, the continuing evolution of different wildlife and man's influence. International agreements and commissions created to protect the Caribbean area are also covered.

Surveying Costa Rica's Monte Verde preserve, which contains some 200 varieties of trees, including 300-ft. oaks. Animal life includes deadly scorpions; army ants; and plumed quetzals, sacred bird of the Maya civilization.

The first of the series takes us back to the 13th Century to explore medieval superstitions of ancient "naturalists." Frederick II of Hohenstaufen had a passion for falconry that resulted in his immense illustrated book De Arte Venandi Cum Artibus (On the Art of Hunting With Birds.) Series host is Dr. Donald Johanson, noted paleoanthropologist and director of the Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley, California.

Theologians and clerics in the 17th and 18th centuries were among the first to study animal behavior. John Ray began in the 1600's to catalog "the work of the Creation," starting with plants and later including birds. Sir Francis Willoughby continued this work. Rev. Gilbert White studied bird songs, Charlie LeRoy experimented with wolves and deer, and Charles Waterton wrote about jungle animals.

In 1848, Charles Darwin began the quest to understand the mysteries of the animal mind. Following Darwin's achievement - suggesting a plausible process for evolution: natural selection - Lewis Henry Morgan discovered evidence of cogitation in beavers. George Romanes experimented with fish, cats, and dogs, Douglas Spalding with newborn chicks, all finding apparent mental activity. Meanwhile Jacques Loeb attempted to prove animals "mindless."

First there is a re-creation of Ivan Pavlov's experiments which led to the discovery of the "conditioned reflex." Then we see the investigation by Otto Pfungst of "Kluge Hans" (Clever Hans) a horse whose apparent knowledge of arithmetic was actually response to subtle signals from his trainer. We also see dramatizations of Thomdike's experiments with chicks, Watson's with terns, and B. F. Skinner's famed work at Harvard in the thirties.

Continuing with the exploration of animal communication we see recreations of Karl von Frisch unraveling the language of honey bees. Julian Huxley, who discovered a possible language in the ritual movements of great-crested grebes, Konrad Lorenz who recorded the visual language of geese, and Niko Tinbergen, who studied the habits of hunting wasps and together with Esther Cullen recorded the relationship of temperament in birds to their habitat.

Scientists have long attempted to discover why animals rarely live alone. Animal society seems to be based on despotic rule by the strongest, tempered by the powerful attractive forces of sex. Portrayals of Thorlief Schjelderup-Ebbe, Solly Zuckerman, Clarence Ray Carpenter, Frank Fraser Darling, William Hamilton, and Amotz Zahavi, show the contributions of each of these men towards understanding the puzzle.

The vast areas of kelp growing on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean provide a vital food source for countless creatures.

As an agent of decay, fungi performs a function essential to life on earth.

A great variety of wildlife species live in and around the thorny acacia trees on the African plains.

Wildlife photographer Hugh Miles finds an opportunity to film a female otter on one of the remote Shetland islands.

Insects such as the beetle, firefly and moth make use of their natural chemicals as weapons against their enemies.

The time-honored and ritualistic relationship of the highland peoples of Papua, New Guinea, to the birds of paradise is examined.

A look at this large bird’s life cycle, from hatching in the Scottish highlands through migration to Africa and its annual return to Scotland.

Examined is the giant industry of bee cultivation in the U.S. and its relation to the billions of dollars annually at stake in the alfalfa crop.

An examination of the effects of alien plants and animals on Florida’s resident wildlife, agriculture, commerce and health.

An examination of the nest-building habits of birds in various parts of the world.

The life cycle of the bumblebee is compared to that of humans in order to explain the “energy crisis” confronting the insects.

The will of wildlife to survive is documented by photographers Stanley Breedon and Belinda Wright at the Keola Deo National Park in India during one of the droughts that occurs every 20 to 30 years when the monsoons do not come.

An exploration of the sunken Japanese war machinery destroyed by the Allies during World War II in the South Pacific, which provides an environment for underwater plant and animal life.

An examination of the Indonesian volcanic island Krakatoa, focusing on the global effects of the disastrous 1883 eruption that was heard 3,000 miles away and killed 36,000 people.

How the war between Iran and Iraq is threatening the fragile ecology of the Persian Gulf.

How various species of plant life lure insects and animals to effect the pollination process.

Explores the varieties of plant and animal life found in the Seychelles, a 90-island archipelago in the Indian Ocean, described in 1609 as “an earthly paradise”.

Examines the variety of plants and animals living in the Sargasso Sea, a gigantic floating bed of seaweed near Bermuda.

Natural history photographer Wolfgang Bayer documents a winter spent in Yellowstone National Park.

Describes how wildlife copes with the challenge of cold weather by storing food building layers of fat, hibernating or merely fleeing for a warmer climate

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An examination of the Danube delta on the Black Sea where industrialization threatens the areas wildlife.

Examines the breeding and nesting cycles of Africa’s Bateleur eagles.

A look at the unusual plant and animal life on Kinabalu, Borneo's highest mountain.

A survey of the birds that cannot fly, some of which have evolved highly efficient means of travel on land and water.

An exploration of life forms, flourishing in the tropical islands of Palau, including schools of jellyfish.

African elephants are observed on a risky trek to a cave that provides salts and minerals necessary to their diets.

A study of the history and plight of the rhinoceros, one of the most seriously endangered species on earth.

The use of new camera lenses and special video techniques makes it possible for viewers to see the world as animals and insects observe it.

This profile of the world's most popular household pet, the dog, examines a special, centuries old relationship.

An exploration of a windy semi-desert in southwest Africa notable for its beautiful flowers.

Torrential rains flood Kenya’s Tsavo Plain triggering a cycle of animal and plant regeneration that flowers in the short period before the next drought.

How plants and their leaves adapt to different climates, predatory animals and man.

A five-year chronicle of India’s endangered gharial crocodile.

The year-long sojourn of artist and naturalist Keith Brockie on Scotland's Isle of May is captured on film.

An exploration of the ecosystem of Central America's rain forest.

An exploration of the scientific research into the nutritional, medicinal and economic value of plants.

An examination of the diverse plants and animals that have adapted to the harsh environment of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa.

A visit to Brazil's national park Emas, home to a unique collection of rare and unusual wildlife.

The huge mating flocks of the East African quelea, feared by farmers almost as much as they fear locusts.

A look at sea creatures of the Arctic including planktonic animals, small crustaceans, seals, belugas, tucked narwhals and polar bears.

After the nine-month Arctic winter, lemmings, hares, foxes and caribous become active to raise their young.

A study of man’s relationship with the Arctic and its wildlife.

Wolfgang Bayer focuses on the native giant saguaro cactus of the southwestern United States.

The sophisticated trapping mechanism of the main group of carnivorous plants.

A look at the trembling aspen, a widely distributed poplar found in more regions of North America than any other tree.

The fragile ecosystem of the great African rainforest of Korup in Cameroon.

Chronicling a weeklong series of bird-watching activities at sites that include the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades, Tampa Bay Island and Port Orange.

Wildlife cinematographer Wolfgang Bayer focuses on the Laysan Albatross of the Hawaiian Islands.

A five year study of the golden eagle, Britain's largest bird of prey, in the Scottish highlands.

An examination of the vultures of Africa's Serengeti plain and the rainforests of South America.

Examines how the plants and animals of Alaska’s Alyeska wilderness have adapted to the regions harsh climate.

An examination of the plants and animals that make their home in a shallow lagoon found on the Western coast of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.

This exploration of the Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean West of Ecuador, examines theories explaining the arrival of wildlife to the archipelago.

Marine iguanas, cormorants, green turtles, sea lions, and sperm whales are among the animals that thrive in the cold waters surrounding the equatorially located Galapagos Islands.

A look at the Galapagos Islands’ many birds, include the waved albatross, blue-footed booby, frigate bird and the ground finch; also, man’s relationship with the islands’ changing environment.

A look at how the Pantanal's wildlife species cope with the annual cycle of flood and drought which transforms the marshy prairie from a dry savannah into the world's largest freshwater wetland – a 36,000 square-mile area that encompasses Southwestern Brazil and parts of Bolivia and Paraguay.

An examination of the behavior of man’s feline friends.

The activities of an elusive female leopard are traced over a two-day period on the hot plains of Africa.

A look at the survival of the African elephants, as ivory and foraging land became more valuable.

A freshwater lake in Tunisia that turns salty every summer.

The Japanese take efforts to save an indigenous monkey.

A look at the crane, Japanese symbol of longevity, true love and happiness.

Hunters and egg poachers threaten the existence of the giant loggerhead turtle.

Following the wild mustangs of America’s West.

An exploration of the Rift Valley that sweeps North from Kenya to Turkey, where prophets said their god first planted a garden.

The unusual life in the salty Dead Sea, where the desert plunges 1,200 feet below sea level.

What happens when a finely maintained garden is abandoned.

A year on a Japanese island following a family of red foxes.

The tunnelers, thatchers, weavers, dam builders, sculptors, potters and spinners of the animal kingdom.

Echoing hoots and trills, bandit masks, feathered tufts and orange noses distinguish African forest monkeys called quenons.

Wildlife flourishes in Nevada's desert landscape because of one narrow river covering less than 1% of the land.

Attempts to protect the unique animals and plants of Brazil threatened by development of the Amazon jungle.

The lemur, an agile nocturnal primate of Madagascar, so-named because of its secretive habits and haunting cries.

The process of wildlife filmmaking as chronicled by a crew during their three-year study of the Galapagos Islands.

The tremendous difference in animal lifestyle and in landscape during East Africa's dry season and its wet season.

The hammerhead stork, believed by East African tribesmen to have the power to call lightning from the sky.

Scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft seek to uncover the mystery of volcanoes by studying them on location as they erupt.

International endeavors to protect the endangered Indian tiger are highlighted by scenes of a mother raising her cubs in the wild.

Unusual wildlife inhabitants, beautiful terrain and natural wonders grace the Pacific islands comprising New Zealand.

U.S. scientist Dan Janzen uses innovative conservation plans to create a national park amid a tropical forest.

Close-up film captures birds in-flight; tiny hummingbirds draw nectar while hovering above flowers.

A Hawaiian island evolves from underwater volcano to snow-capped mountain and finally to coral atoll.

The first of a three-part survey of "Okavango: Jewel of the Kalahari" describes how earthquakes diverted the Okavango River into Botswana's Kalahari Desert. Observed: elephants, zebras, buffaloes, vultures, ostriches, bush babies and bat-eared foxes.

Creatures of the air, trees and water brave the five-month floods through the Okavango delta. Part 2 of "Okavango: Jewel of the Kalahari," observes African skimmers, lily trotters, baboons, dwarf mouth-breeders, tiger fish and catfishlike squeakers.

People of Botswana must balance wildlife protection with preservation of their precious water source.

A five-year retrospective includes clips from The Flight of the Condor, Leopard: A Darkness in the Grass, Kingdom of the Ice Bear, Cats, The Gooneys of Midway, and Yellowstone in Winter, with animals hunting, courting, rearing young and adapting to their environment.

The Asian elephant is shown to be a creature of both great strength and intelligence.

After two years in the Pacific, the sockeye salmon battles rapids returning to its birthplace to spawn.

Ranchers and scientists practice conservationism in Venezuelan and Colombian grasslands to protect native animals.

Naturalist Tom Williams studies England's Avon River and the fish and fowl it supports.

A growing African population threatens elephant survival by farming its foraging land and hunting the beast for ivory.

An exploration of the coral reefs of the Malay Triangle made up of the Philippines, Malaysia and New Guinea.

An exploration of the Spanish Pyrenees mountains and the bearded "bonebreaker" vulture that lives in this harsh environment.

Explores Spain's Extremadura, an oak forest and wilderness plain, home to griffin vultures, imperial eagles, genets and other animals native to Africa.

Former Vietnam medic Doug Peacock lives as a firewatcher and conservationist in Montana's Glacier National Park.

Examines marsupials and others animals which have evolved because of Australia's isolation from the rest of the world.

Two distinct marine worlds meet in the waters that encircle Australia. In its long voyage into isolation following its breakaway from Gondwana, 45 million years ago, the island continent came to span both tropical and temperate seas. Today its shores are ringed by the most diverse assemblies of marine life on earth. This program recounts the making of this unique Australia down under, from the storm tossed kelp forests of the cool south, to the magic splendours of the Great Barrier Reef. The program begins its story where Australia was born, in the southern latitudes of the Antarctic seas. Antarctica is the last remnant of Gondwana - it froze over after the other continents broke away, but its cool rich waters still generate a wealth of nutrients which, carried by the deep currents, sustain Australia's marine life.

A koala up a gumtree is the classic image of the Australian bush. How that odd partnership evolved is one of the strands woven into this episode of Nature Of Australia. The program tells the story of how the island continent's wooded margins came to be dominated by one unique type of tree growing in a great variety of forms - the eucalypt. The nursery for nearly all life in Australia is the rainforest, of which only a few patches remain today - th last remnants of vast, dense forests that covered Australia when it first broke away from the ancestral super-continent of Gondwana, and voyaged north into isolation. From among its proliferation of plants emerged the eucalypts, the characteristic gum trees - and from among the forest animals arose a great and varied company of marsupials, adapting to every kind of environment that evolved in response to Australia's changing, drying climate.

Australia's arid interior is often called the dead heart. In fact, it teems with life, supported by a hidden network of buried rivers recharged by rare but heavy rains. This episode tells the story of this surprising desert - formed when the climatic change overtook and dried out central Australia. What was once a land of vast lakes and broad rivers turned into a parched region of glittering stone and burning sand, interwoven with swathes of hardy woodland and plains of desert grass. A great variety of plants and animals has adapted to life in the arid centre, with its swings between the brief good condition that follow the unpredictable rains, and then long periods of drought. It's the land of the lizards - from giant goannas that sniff out snakes hiding under the sand, to the tiny, delicate Lake Eyre dragons who've made the desolate saltpans their domain.

Australia's northward drift slowed down when it collided with Asia about 15 million years ago - in the upheavals, chains of islands were thrust up and eventually they became the stepping stones for an invasion that would change the face of Australia. With the arrival of the first humans - at least 50,000 and possibly as long as 120,000 year ago - a new force entered the continent to shape the fortunes of its plants and animals. The first landfall was on the far north coast of Australia, a rich and tropical region ruled by the annual monsoonal rains. This program tells the story of Australia's top end, where the first Aboriginal people arrived, settled, and perfected the use of fire as a means to manage the landscape.

Modern Australians want to recapture the Aborigines ability to live harmoniously with indigenous plants and animals.

The different types of owls and the characteristics which make them ideal birds of prey.

Wildlife artist Bruce Pearson sketches the various bird species found in the arid lands of Western Africa's Mali, through which the River Niger flows.

Explores the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Vancouver, B.C.

Explores the variety of local environments found around waterfalls in Africa, South and North America.

Profiles of the Kalahari Desert's gray meerkat or mongoose, and a Kenyan colony of bee-eater birds.

The Adelie penguin is observed at the Cape Bird nesting site on Antarctica's Ross Island.

Chronicling the life of "Mozu the Snow Monkey," a macaque with deformed limbs that's survived harsh winters in Japan's highlands to raise seven offspring. The complex social structure among the primates is documented.

Examines the role computers play in managing the Everglades and whether this vital freshwater marsh will survive the effects of diking, draining and development.

Unique animals and plants flourish atop mist-shrouded Venezuelan plateaus thousands of feet above the surrounding jungle.

Scientists study birds of prey, creatures historically admired and hated, as indicators of environmental damage.

Wildlife flourishes around the manmade lake conservationists denounced 30 years ago at its creation.

The area's evolutionary roots opens this look at the African valley.

The wildlife that lives on the Great Rift's ash plains.

Examines the Red Sea, the island of Madagascar and East Africa.

Soft coral, sponges, tubeworms, anemones and giant cod adapt to life in Antarctica's subzero waters.

Profiles the wildlife living within the British crown colony of Hong Kong

An exploration of the Caledonian forest in Scotland, Britain's largest remaining area of ancient woodland.

A portrait of the endangered mountain gorilla in equatorial Africa.

A look at the maneating tigers of the Sundarbans delta in India.

Resource management in Italy's alpine Gran Paradiso National Park has consequences beyond the parks boundaries.

Scientists study sandhill cranes on Nebraskan plains, Alaskan and Siberian coasts and in the Northwest Territories.

The forests and waters of Ethiopia's Bale Mountains, may one day renew the country's depleted landscape.

A look at how Europe's birds of prey have adapted.

The relationship between working sheepdogs and flocks of sheep. Selective breeding yields a sheepdog with outstanding abilities to tend the creature other canines prey upon.

Tracing the course of the Colorado River.

Thousands of years of human settlement provide the backdrop by which to discover the wildlife of Ireland.

The fur trade continues to threaten the South American otter with extinction, despite its status as an endangered species.

Profiles the Haida Indians who live on British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Island.

An exploration of the environmental impact of man's attempts to halt the erosion of Presque Isle beaches.

The effect of the 1988 fire on the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park.

A natural history of the snake includes its significance to man as a symbol of fertility, immortality and death.

Sharks, rays, squids and blue whales live in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.

Three species of monkeys, the muriqui, the golden lion tamarin and the buffy-headed marmoset struggle for survival in Brazil's coastal Atlantic Forest.

A look at how Norway and Sweden are affected by eight months of winter.

A look at the Swedish archipelago and Norway's fjords.

Africa's spotted hyena is a matriarch dominated, efficient predator.

Sight and sound are experienced through animal eyes and ears.

Enhanced olfactory sensitivity; unique animal senses.

Internal clocks guide life rhythms of eating, sleeping, mating, hibernation, birth and death.

This program travels to the island of Cayo Santiago off Puerto Rico to study the behavioral patterns of a colony of feral Rhesus Macaques.

Rangers at Denali National Park in Alaska train hikers for planned encounters with grizzlies; Alaskan grizzly bears are seen salmon fishing at Brooks Falls.

Penguins, maras, guanacos, sea lions and killer whales highlight this portrait of Patagonia.

In light of the Persian Gulf War and the recent oil spills, PBS airs an update of the 1984 episode of Nature, Treasures of the Gulf, that focused on the effects of the Iran-Iraq war on the fragile ecology of the Persian Gulf.

The beauty of the African plains and the effects of tourism on the area.

Filmmaker Simon Trevor, a former game warden, records the decimation of African elephants.

The natural and human history of the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Life within a close-knit golden jackal family on the plains of Lemuta in Africa.

Biologist Lynn Rogers follows the black bear out of hibernation and into the Minnesota woods.

The relationship within a wild dog pack on Africa's Serengeti Plains.

A profile of the albatross examines its traits and habitats, as well as the mysteries and myths surrounding it.

A polecat winters at a working farm in Wales, along with scavenging foxes, rats and birds.

Grizzlies, wolves and cougars roam Montana's rugged, pristine Glacier National Park.

This program features the Kogi tribe who live in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Columbia. They are pre-Columbian peoples, and consider themselves as the elder brothers of humankind. They insist that it is the modern world, the younger brothers, who are destroying the harmony of life on earth.

Vietnam's wildlife is reappearing after the great losses suffered during the war.

Simon King films a lioness and her pride during winter on Africa's Serengeti plain.

A look at the environmental crisis on Madagascar and new conservation efforts being made.

This first episode in the miniseries explores the European discovery and settlement of the New World. Two views are presented, that of the colonists struggles to survive in their new and unfamiliar setting, as well as the Native Americans success within the same environment.

A look at the colonization of Canada and the fur trade.

A focus on the prospect of gold in the new world, and the Spanish exploration of Florida in search of that alluring metal.

An exploration of the Great Plains of North American from the Lewis and Clark expedition through to the present day.

A focus on the Rocky Mountains and Yellowstone National Park.

A look at life in the Sonoran Desert.

Exploring the people and wildlife of Alaska.

This last episode in the miniseries looks at the landscape and wildlife of California.

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This program follows a herd of zebras along their yearly migration route through the African plains.

Follows the yearly migration of the caribou of Alaska and the Yukon Territory in an effort to find suitable birthing grounds, all will trying to avoid wolves and other predators.

India's remote Ladakh region in the Himalaya Mountains, home to the snow leopard and other rare wildlife.

Chimpanzees and other primates survive on Tiwai, an Upper Guinea island where witchcraft and taboos still exist.

Roger Tory Peterson's fight to save America's birds and their habitats.

The life cycle of a female northern elephant seal is documented.

Explores the lives of dolphins all around the world, and the scientists who are trying to communicate with them.

Loggers and conservationists have conflicting plans for ancient forests of redwoods, Douglas firs, hemlocks and Sitka spruce trees along the Northern Pacific rim.

This pledge period special airs throughout December, 2014 and contains segments from 16 of Nature's films about birds.

Join Lisa Dabek and her team with Woodland Park Zoo’s Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program as they journey into the remote cloud forests of Papua New Guinea. Meet one of the most elusive creatures you will ever see in the wild – the Matschie’s tree kangaroo. See how the local people are helping to protect this rare marsupial and its forest home.

Biologist Jack Hogg has been studying a herd of wild bighorn sheep on Montana’s National Bison Range for more than 35 years. When Jack’s herd gets infected with a deadly form of pneumonia, he goes in search of answers.

In the frigid Indian Himalayas, people manage to eke out a living alongside one of Asia’s most elusive cats: the snow leopard. Today there may be as few as 4,000 of these great cats remaining in the wild, and with the snow leopards‘ prey in decline, encounters between herders and the cat are on the rise. Explore this fragile relationship through the eyes of Tashi, a local goat herder, and learn how his village has partnered with the Snow Leopard Trust to find ways to both live with and save one of the rarest cats on Earth.

Sit back, relax, and experience the animals, landscapes, and awe of Yellowstone National Park in winter.

New York Harbor was a haven of incredible underwater biodiversity—until centuries of pollution turned it into a cesspool. Today, an alliance of architects, restaurateurs, scientists, and high school students is working to restore the harbor and protect the city from climate change. At the heart of the effort is a tiny creature with an outsized talent for cleanup: the extraordinary oyster.

The surprise return of beavers to the British countryside brings benefits and controversy for humans and wildlife alike. The work of these famously busy rodents increases local biodiversity, reduces storm-induced flooding, and restores wilderness to a highly manicured landscape. It also injects some chaos into the lives of the beavers’ human neighbors. Can the British beavers regain their former glory as powerful ecosystem engineers, or is their new home too domesticated to return to the wild?

One of the most inspiring conservation stories in American history is playing out on, of all places, a live-fire training ground at Ft. Bragg Army base in North Carolina. There, an improbable alliance is giving a special bird—the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW)—a new lease on life. After a clash between U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army revealed that low grade forest fires sparked by artillery and tracers inadvertently created excellent woodpecker habitat, the two sides joined forces to monitor and protect the birds on the base. Landowners on nearby properties are joining the effort—putting aside mutual suspicions and using fire to save the RCW and ignite a passion for wildlife.

Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, yet its wild spaces are also among the most threatened. In 2008, the country became the first nation in the world to enshrine the “rights of nature” in its constitution—granting wild species their own legal rights to exist. Today, conservationists are putting that powerful tool to the test as they battle to save the country’s biodiversity.

Ten years after the largest dam removal in history—on the Elwha River, in Washington State—scientists are chronicling an inspiring story of ecological rebirth. Recovering salmon populations are transferring critical nutrients from the ocean into the forests along the Elwha’s banks, enriching the entire ecosystem. The Elwha’s revival is encouraging advocates to push for the removal of many larger dams in the region, and in the rest of the world.

Decades of war and unsustainable agriculture have stripped almost half the trees from the rainforest atop Mozambique’s Mount Gorongosa. The devastation threatens the watershed that sustains life in nearby communities and in Gorongosa National Park. Now, park experts and local farmers are uniting to plant a new shade-loving cash crop—coffee—that will help restore the forest and ensure a more prosperous future for humans and wildlife alike.

The axolotl—an amphibian with incredible regenerative abilities—is ubiquitous in pet stores, science labs and pop culture, yet almost extinct in the wild. Now, scientists and farmers in Mexico City are using ancient Aztec farming techniques to secure the creature’s future. Meanwhile, another team is partnering with salamander-breeding, cough syrup-making Dominican nuns to save a closely-related species—the achoque.

Dogs are often thought of as humans’ best friends. But in Australia, they’re also being enlisted to save other species. Canine conservationists—and their sensitive noses—are helping researchers locate dwindling populations of elusive koalas as their habitats get fragmented by urbanization and devastated by wildfires. Dogs are also helping scientists track down—and take out—invasive foxes that have been devastating native sea turtle populations.