CONSERVATION NEWS

This week, the United Nations holds its first global freshwater conference in nearly 50 years. In the years since, the global population has doubled — yet the challenges facing the health of, and access to, freshwater resources have been largely overshadowed by the climate and biodiversity crises.

From roaring rivers to seasonal springs, freshwater is essential to life on Earth. Yet these ecosystems — and the species within them — tend to be overlooked, receiving only a fraction of the attention and funding dedicated to nature conservation.

In case you missed it: Around the world, rivers have been treated like repositories of trash and toxic runoff — some so heavily polluted that they caught on fire. Now, cities from Australia to Europe to North America are turning to nature to restore their waterways.

Three countries — Angola, Botswana and Namibia — share the precious freshwater resources of the Cubango-Okavango River Basin, an oasis in the heart of the Kalahari Desert.

In China, “engineered wetlands” are helping villages decontaminate their water by moving it through traditional infrastructure — such as shallow septic tanks — and into natural ecosystems such as marshes, plants and soil that absorb pollutants.