A four-year assessment maps river and stream resilience across the contiguous United States, identifying areas best able to sustain aquatic life as the climate warms and places where targeted repairs could help. Only 6 percent of streams are both healthy and meaningfully protected; another 13 percent are healthy but lack safeguards. Dams are a major source of fragmentation, while pollution and altered flows also constrain rivers. Researchers say the map can guide conservation investment and restoration, but protecting rivers requires addressing impacts upstream, not just safeguarding isolated stretches.

Critically endangered Mekong megafish, especially the giant pangasius and Siamese giant carp, have nearly disappeared from Thailand’s rivers but are increasingly kept in hatcheries, temples, fishing parks and private ponds. Thailand may have more than a million captive pangasius, vastly outnumbering the remaining wild population. Scientists see these stocks as a possible conservation resource, but warn that inbreeding, narrowed genetic diversity and domestication could make captive-bred fish unsuitable for release. Successful recovery would require genetic monitoring, protection of river habitats, action against poaching, mitigation of dams and cooperation with local communities. Recent catches and releases in Cambodia suggest that natural populations may still reproduce, but private collections alone cannot restore the species unless healthy, connected rivers are also protected.

Mining pollution can continue damaging rivers for decades after mines close, as shown by acid drainage from Tasmania’s historic Mount Lyell mine, which has depleted aquatic life in the King River system. Research indicates abandoned mines are a major source of persistent contamination and that floods can remobilize metal-rich sediments long after dumping ends. The article also examines the environmental risks of expanding rare earth processing in Australia, including acidic, metal-rich and potentially radioactive waste. While Australia seeks to reduce dependence on China’s refining capacity, critics question whether containment regulations have been proven at industrial scale. Further reporting will investigate rare earth mining in Southeast Asia, sand dredging in Cambodia, lithium mining in Africa and water pollution from data centers.

More than 20 German vessels deliberately sunk near Prahovo, Serbia, in September 1944 have re-emerged as an exceptionally low Danube exposes their hulls. The wrecks still contain live ammunition, obstruct commercial navigation and make removal dangerous. Serbia’s €30.5 million clearance project, supported by European Union funding and an European Investment Bank loan, has so far removed only two vessels, while the blockage causes millions of dollars in annual economic losses. The extreme drought has also reduced shipping capacity, threatened power generation and forced emergency measures near nuclear plants in Hungary and Romania. Scientists link the unusually severe soil-moisture deficit to human-caused climate change, while ecologists argue that restoring wetlands, floodplains and side channels would make the Danube more resilient than continued engineering and dredging.

Around 20 German World War II shipwrecks have re-emerged near Prahovo, Serbia, as exceptionally low Danube levels expose vessels deliberately sunk in September 1944 during a failed evacuation from the advancing Soviet forces. The wrecks still contain potentially active explosives, obstruct commercial navigation and make removal dangerous; a €30 million Serbian operation funded by the European Investment Bank has recovered only one of 21 targeted wrecks. The article links the severe drought to extreme heat intensified by climate change, as well as to centuries of dams, dredging and river channelization that reduced the Danube’s natural water-storage capacity. Low river levels are disrupting transport, threatening power generation and forcing emergency interventions at nuclear facilities in Hungary and Romania. Environmental experts argue that restoring floodplains, wetlands and side channels would make rivers more resilient than relying on further engineering interventions.

An extreme drought has exposed more than 20 German World War II ships scuttled in 1944 near Prahovo, Serbia, where they still obstruct Danube navigation and may contain live explosives. Serbia has begun a roughly $30 million effort, supported by the European Investment Bank, to remove 21 wrecks, but the operation is slow and hazardous. Record-low river levels have also disrupted barge transport, threatened power generation, and forced emergency measures at nuclear plants in Hungary and Romania. Scientists attribute the worsening drought to human-caused warming, which increases atmospheric water demand, while experts argue that damming, dredging, and the loss of floodplains have made the Danube less resilient. Restoring wetlands and side channels could improve the river’s ability to retain water and withstand future heat and drought.

Older animals can be essential to the survival and resilience of wildlife populations because they preserve ecological knowledge, stabilize social groups, improve reproductive outcomes and accumulate resistance to disease. Examples from elephants, lions, leopards, whales, orcas, sperm whales and large freshwater fish show how trophy hunting, poaching, whaling and fishing can remove socially or biologically important individuals, disrupting behavior, migration, breeding and ecosystem functions. The article argues that conservation should protect age structure and longevity, not merely population numbers, and links the preservation of resilient wildlife to the One Health concept and human public health. Recent IUCN recognition and international policy discussions indicate a shift toward incorporating older animals and their social roles into conservation planning.

Protests known as Albania’s “Flamingo Revolution” are opposing a luxury resort backed by Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners in the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape. Conservationists say construction activity damaged dunes and coastal habitat without proper permits, while the government weakened protected-area rules to enable high-end tourism. The delta supports thousands of waterbirds and more than 2,300 species, but campaigners argue that its exclusion from the Vjosa Wild River National Park has left it vulnerable. SPAK is investigating the project, and the European Commission has warned that Albania’s EU membership prospects could suffer if environmental safeguards and fast-track investment laws are not addressed.

Cambodia’s endangered Mekong giant fish are receiving stronger protection through a 24-hour hotline, the Mekong Fish app and a specialized rapid-response team. From mid-November to early February, the team rescued and released 92 accidentally caught fish, including giant Mekong catfish, giant barbs, Asian barbs and striped catfish. The increase may reflect both genuine population recovery and improved reporting resulting from years of cooperation with fishing communities. Nevertheless, most rescued fish were relatively small, suggesting a population still dominated by younger individuals. Overfishing, dams, sand extraction and disrupted flood cycles continue to threaten the Mekong, but the coordinated conservation program offers cautious evidence that community-based intervention can slow or reverse declines.

A Cambodian national hotline, the Mekong Fish App and a rapid-response team helped return 92 accidentally caught giant fish to the Mekong between mid-November 2025 and early February 2026. The program relies on cooperation with fishing communities, who can report endangered species with photographs, measurements and GPS data. The effort has improved knowledge of fish populations and migration, although most rescued fish were relatively young and the apparent increase may partly reflect better reporting. Overfishing, dams in China and Laos, sand extraction and disrupted flooding have caused severe declines, but the results offer cautious evidence that community-based conservation can slow or reverse losses even in a heavily pressured river system.