We asked conservation researchers around the world to send us their favorite papers of 2025. They address the planet’s most pressing problems — and important solutions.

Before ending the year, we wanted to highlight this eclectic assortment of reading gems we couldn’t fit into our earlier book reviews.

Unintended consequences can become indispensable — in architecture and in efforts to preserve life on Earth.

Forests, soil, plastic waste, war debris, and a darker ocean also appear on the annual ‘horizon scan’ addressing conservation priorities for the years ahead.

Plastic pollution is poisoning the planet. Some experts suggest making plastics from more “natural” materials, but research shows those still have risks.

As we prepare to look for life in other solar systems, we should also look inward at what we’re doing to our home planet.

Social Darwinists use “survival of the fittest” as an excuse to privatize land or remove the social safety net. But that fails to recognize how nature really works.

These 10 books celebrate and educate us about Earth’s most fascinating gift to humans and wildlife.

Cartoonist Tiffany Everett’s new book encourages readers to explore new places, keep journals about what they encounter, and think like scientists.

Even as scientists rush to identify the migratory paths of some endangered shark species to help better protect them, climate change and other threats shift this behavior, adding urgency to the research.