Ongoing biodiversity loss has far-reaching implications for human well-being and survival. To address the accelerating rate of biodiversity loss, the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) prioritized “Strengthening Biodiversity Publicity and Education” as a key agenda item throughout its process, both during the initial phase in Kunming, China, in 2021 and the second phase held in Montreal, Canada, in 2022. Nature education, which has emerged as a useful approach toward achieving sustainable development goals, is intrinsic to raising public awareness about the importance of biodiversity conservation. Despite many countries employing this kind of strategy, nature education was introduced relatively late in China, and its role in biodiversity conservation remains underexplored. Few studies have proposed frameworks for integrating nature education into biodiversity conservation efforts. This study aims to fill this gap by establishing a framework for biodiversity conservation in China that incorporates nature education. It also examines how nature education supports biodiversity conservation, clarifies the relationship between the two, and analyzes the current practices and challenges of nature education in China. The findings provide a reference for developing an efficient nature education system that fosters sustainable interactions between human beings and nature.
Mounting evidence reveals a growing disconnect between humans and nature, especially in densely populated urban areas. Despite many studies highlighting nature's vital role in human well-being, the opportunities and time for citizens to access quality natural spaces are diminishing, constrained by work schedules and urban environments. This study introduces the Mini Botanical Garden (MBG), a novel approach that involves the transformation of community green spaces aimed at enhancing urban residents' living environment and access to nature education, especially for children. Initially, a preliminary online survey was conducted to assess public satisfaction with existing community green spaces and gauge their acceptance of the MBG concept. Collaborating with local government departments and nature education institutions, we established four MBGs across communities in Ningbo city. Upon completion, various nature education programs targeting children were introduced in the gardens, including plant, insect, and bird identification, nature observation, handcrafts, and writing activities. To evaluate the effectiveness of the MBGs, 50 questionnaires were randomly distributed to local parent–child families. At present, all four completed MBGs feature both indoor nature education spaces and outdoor planting areas, showcasing over 100 plant species. The assessment results show that the MBGs have positively impacted the community environment and residents' lives, offering an easily accessible space for individuals—especially children—to reconnect with nature. In conclusion, the creation of MBGs offers a practical model for the popularization of urban nature education, addressing the growing issue of “nature-deficit disorder” caused by urbanization and promoting a harmonious relationship between humans and nature.
Engaging the public in naturalist activities has been identified as a promising approach to enhancing conservation awareness and improving mental well-being; however, empirical evidence supporting this relationship remains limited. This study aimed to explore the impact of a naturalist training camp on participants' conservation attitudes and mental well-being. The 9-day camp, organized by the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), focused on increasing participants' knowledge, social connectedness, and naturalist identity through a combination of indoor lectures and outdoor fieldwork on plants, insects, reptiles, and birds. Each session was led by expert researchers and science communicators. A mixed-methods approach was used to assess the camp's effects on 26 participants through questionnaires administered before, immediately after, and 6 months post-camp, as well as phone interviews. Quantitative analysis revealed significant improvements in participants' knowledge of biodiversity, social connectedness, perceived naturalist identity, and mental well-being, although changes in conservation attitudes were not statistically significant. Qualitative data further supported these findings, indicating that enhanced conservation willingness and mental well-being were likely influenced by increased knowledge, social connectedness, and perceived naturalist identity. Interview responses highlighted the importance of the camp's unique environment, supportive atmosphere, and the professionalism of the instructors in contributing to its success. Overall, this study underscores the value of promoting public engagement in naturalist activities as a means of addressing both biodiversity loss and mental health challenges while also advocating for ecological civilization to enhance human and environmental well-being.
To improve environmental education, it is important to evaluate its effectiveness for participants while continually refining practical processes to help address any issues that may arise. Using the Shenzhen Futian District Mangrove Science Education Project for primary and secondary students as a case study, we investigated and analysed the current state and challenges of on-campus and off-campus collaboration in environmental education from the perspectives of frontline teachers, identifying key issues and proposing strategies for improvement. The insights gained may serve as valuable references for practitioners in the field.
This article presents a framework of nature education principles designed to support the professional growth of nature educators. Created by Cornell University's Civic Ecology Lab, the framework is based on an unstructured literature review. This framework has been applied and refined through the Nature Education global online courses, taken by over 2000 educators and other participants in 2021–2023. Course discussions and additional literature informed revisions to the framework, which now covers the foundational concepts, engagement approaches, and desired outcomes for nature education programs. University professors and educator trainers can use this framework to design relevant lectures, case studies, and other learning materials in their nature education courses and workshops intended for aspiring and current nature educators. Practicing nature educators can use this framework to evaluate and enhance their existing programs. This adaptable framework encourages further critique and modifications, and invites future research that will further define and conceptualize the field of nature education.
Ensuring the long-term persistence of snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in changing landscapes requires a deep understanding of their spatial ecology and movement behavior. To maintain viable metapopulations and ensure gene flow between populations, there is an urgent need to develop sound and effective conservation plans. This study presents findings from Nepal's first GPS telemetry study of snow leopards, shedding light on their home range size, habitat selection, and transboundary movements. GPS data were collected from four snow leopard individuals in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, eastern Nepal, over tracking periods ranging from 20 to 659 days, yielding a total of 4707 location points. We used three home range estimators for analysis: local convex hulls (LoCoH), fixed kernels (Kernel), and minimum convex polygons (MCP). Our results show that home range sizes were 6 to 97 times larger than previous estimates for Nepal, with LoCoH estimates of 310 and 102 km2 (MCP = 730 and 211 km2) for two adult females and 312 km2 (MCP = 1032 km2) for one adult male. Three snow leopards crossed international borders five to seven times, spending, on average, 10%–34% of their time in neighboring countries (China and India), with 28%–50% of their home ranges overlapping India. Our study demonstrates that snow leopards in Nepal have home ranges that are significantly larger than previously documented and frequently cross international borders. These extensive transboundary movements highlight the need for stronger coordination between Nepal, China, and India to ensure the long-term conservation of snow leopards in this key region of their distributional range.
Amid ongoing habitat degradation and fragmentation, along with the disruption of traditional moving routes, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework underscores the urgent need to enhance species connectivity to improve their adaptability to climate change. Recent instances of long-distance movements by Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) have raised concerns about the potential for such events to become more frequent under future climate scenarios. A landscape adaptation strategy is urgently needed to improve the connectivity and integrity of Asian elephant habitats to meet their long-distance movement requirements. However, large-scale ecological networks for Asian elephants that incorporate long-distance corridors remain lacking. This study employs species distribution models and minimum resistance models to construct current and future multi-scenario ecological networks, aiming to elucidate key features of climate adaptability and priority corridor strategies for Asian elephants. Our findings indicate that long-distance corridors identified under future climate scenarios play an integral part in maintaining connectivity within the priority network. The study identifies 162 priority long-distance corridors, accounting for 25.5% of the overall network, whose lengths and importance are expected to increase. Additionally, 37.2% of these priority corridors pass through protected areas, providing guidance for optimizing existing reserves and addressing conservation gaps that cover 61.2% of the study area. The study highlights the need for habitat conservation strategies for Asian elephants to fully consider the uncertainties of dynamic spatiotemporal changes. It emphasizes the global significance of macro-scale ecological network design and the critical role of constructing long-distance corridors. Furthermore, the integration of protected areas with long-distance ecological corridors is identified as a key measure to address future uncertainties and achieve lasting biodiversity conservation.
Biodiversity loss significantly impacts the stability and functioning of ecosystems, driven by factors such as climate change, human activities, and other influences. Predicting species distributions and conducting conservation gap analyses are essential for identifying key conservation areas, evaluating conservation effectiveness, and highlighting under-protected areas, thereby providing valuable insights to mitigate biodiversity loss. The Gaoligong Mountains, located within the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas (a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site), serve as an intersection for the biota of the eastern Himalayas, the Indochina Peninsula, and the Hengduan Mountains. The region is a vitally important biological exchange corridor and a long-standing hotspot for plant geography research. Using the distribution data for 361 rare and endangered plants and eight environmental variables, this study employed the InVEST and random forest (RF) models to determine the current and future potential distribution of these species in the southern Gaoligong Mountains, considering various climate change scenarios combined with currently suitable habitats. The study also evaluated existing protected areas and used a transition matrix to quantify changes in potential habitats. The results show that the current potential suitable habitat in the southern Gaoligong Mountains spans 2987.38 km2, with only 23.14% of this area falling within protected zones, leaving a 76.86% protection gap. Additionally, areas with highly suitable habitats are predicted to decline under future climate change scenarios, emphasizing the inadequacy of existing protected areas in comprehensively safeguarding rare and endangered wild plant species. Habitat loss, primarily driven by the expansion of agricultural activities, further exacerbates this issue. To address these conservation gaps, this study recommends prioritizing the integrity of vertical zones when optimizing protected areas, thus ensuring continuous protection for rare and endangered plant species.
Chromolaena odorata and Ageratina adenophora are invasive species in Southern Yunnan, China, where they demonstrate mosaic distribution patterns. Chromolaena odorata, a tropical species, grows primarily at low latitudes and/or low altitudes, whereas Ageratina adenophora is a temperate species and occurs at higher latitudes and/or higher altitudes. We hypothesised that the thermal interactions between these plants and their habitats contribute to their distribution patterns. To explore this, we investigated how temperature affects various seed traits and performance, including seed viability, high-temperature tolerance, seed longevity under heat stress, and temperature requirements for germination. Our seed ecology study used seeds of both species collected from three of four provenances: Menglun (ML: low latitude and low altitude in Xishuangbanna), Kongmingshan (KMS: low latitude and high altitude in Xishuangbanna), Pu'er (PE: middle latitude and high altitude), and Kunming (KM: high latitude and high altitude). Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate changes in seed viability after heating at 40°C for 1–10 days and after heating at temperatures between 30°C and 95°C for 30 min. We also investigated seed germination under constant temperatures ranging from 10°C to 40°C, under daily alternative temperatures with warm periods of up to 21 h at 40°C and under water and NaCl stress up to −1.5 MPa. Our results revealed inter- and intraspecific variations in seed high-temperature tolerance of these two invasive species. Chromolaena odorata seeds exhibited greater tolerance to high temperatures, water, and NaCl stress compared to Ageratina adenophora seeds. Additionally, Chromolaena odorata seeds from low latitudes and/or low altitudes performed better than those from high latitudes and/or high altitudes. Conversely, Ageratina adenophora seeds from high latitudes and/or high altitudes performed better than those from low latitudes and/or altitudes. We conclude that high temperatures might influence the distribution of Chromolaena odorata and Ageratina adenophora by affecting seed development, ageing, and germination in the field, suggesting that the thermal adaptation of these invaders to their habitats plays a key role in their spread.
Climate change is widely recognized as a major threat to biodiversity and a critical factor contributing to the decline in species and populations. However, it remains uncertain whether species from continental and island environments, especially endangered ones, will respond similarly or differently to climate change. The strategies employed by these species to cope with climate change, and the corresponding conservation management approaches, remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed ecological niche models to project future shifts in the distribution patterns of two endangered sister species, Trigonobalanus doichangensis and T. vericillata, which are distributed across continental and island regions of tropical Asia. We analyzed potential changes in their distribution under four different climate change scenarios for the 2050s and 2070s. Our results indicate that temperature is a significant driver for the continental species T. doichangensis, whereas precipitation predominantly influences the island species T. vericillata. Moreover, we found that the potential future distribution range of the continental species T. doichangensis is likely to exceed that of the island species T. vericillata, suggesting that the continental species T. doichangensis may have a stronger capacity for adapting to climate change. We recommend that conservation areas be established to maintain habitat stability in regions most affected by climate change. A comprehensive assessment of the endangered status of both species is also essential. Overall, this study underscores the distinct responses of island and continental species to climate change, thereby enhancing our understanding of their adaptive strategies and informing targeted conservation efforts.
The growing global demand for minerals presents economic opportunities for countries such as the Philippines but also raises concerns about the impacts of mineral extraction on local communities and ecosystem services. This study explores an interdisciplinary community engagement process informing mine rehabilitation in the Philippines, framed through an ecosystem services lens. As part of the PROMT (Philippines Remediation of Mine Tailings) project, we conducted an initial participatory workshop at the Padcal Mine site, engaging Indigenous communities to assess local perspectives on ecosystem services and the impacts of mining activities. Through video presentations, a questionnaire, and focus groups, we found that 88% of participants understood the concept of ecosystem services after viewing an introductory video, while 62% believed mining negatively affected ecosystem services. Interestingly, 65% felt that rehabilitated mines could provide future ecosystem services, such as agriculture or ecotourism. Gender differences were evident, with women perceiving more significant mining impacts but being more optimistic about the rehabilitation potential. This underscores the importance of inclusive engagement approaches. The ecosystem services framework effectively bridges ecological knowledge with community priorities and tangible benefits, promoting social acceptance of mine rehabilitation. This interdisciplinary approach, particularly the integration of Indigenous perspectives, remains underused in mining contexts. Our community-based participatory methodology provides guidance for balancing diverse socioeconomic and environmental considerations.