Whatever your outside space – garden, balcony or window box – you can turn it into a haven for nature with a pint-sized pond and a slowworm sunbed

It is easy to feel hopeless about the future of British wildlife. The 2023 State of Nature report found that one in six species are at risk of extinction, with the groups most under threat including plants, birds, amphibians and reptiles, fungi and land mammals. But many of us can do something simple to help: gardening.

“There are 23m gardens in Britain, so we can make a real difference,” says Rob Stoneman from the Wildlife Trusts. Gardens cover a bigger area than all the UK’s nature reserves combined, he says. “If you haven’t got a garden, perhaps you could have a window box, or get involved in a community garden, or apply for an allotment.”

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© Photograph: Callingcurlew23/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Callingcurlew23/Getty Images

Study identifies 16,825 sites around the world where prioritising conservation would prevent extinction of thousands of unique species

Protecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.

Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on land would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of the mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are closest to disappearing.

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© Photograph: Jes Aznar/Getty

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© Photograph: Jes Aznar/Getty

A mass of birds died in Chicago in October after striking one building, adding to the push for more protections in one of the most dangerous cities for avian migration.

© Daryl Coldren/Chicago Field Museum, via Associated Press

A few “reasonable precautions” can help people keep their pets safe from the H5N1 virus, experts say.

© Alex Wroblewski for The New York Times

Kestrel live cam from Cornell Lab's Raptor Resource Project. See also the first Red-tailed Hawk fledgling to take flight this season and the female Kestrel feeding her chicks.

Huge die-offs of elephant seals occurred after the virus gained nearly 20 troublesome new mutations, scientists found.

Meet the “bucket of doom” and other methods to manage mosquitoes and ticks.

From sibling murder to snakes for breakfast, birds’ lives may be darker than you imagine.

© Matt Williams

When a child in a small Cambodian town fell sick recently, his rapid decline set off a global disease surveillance system.

A genetic analysis sheds light on when the outbreak began, how the virus spread and where it may be going.

© Eye of Science/Science Source