From the bayous of Louisiana to the backwaters of the Irrawaddy in Myanmar, from the lagoons of West Africa to the billabongs of northern Australia, mangroves are making a dramatic and unexpected comeback. What a difference a couple of decades can make. In 2007, ecologists from six countries asked in a letter published in the journal Science whether we would soon be living in “a world without mangroves.” One of the world’s most distinctive, biodiverse, and carbon-rich ecosystems was in rapid retreat in the face of encroaching agriculture, construction of sea walls, ports, and marinas, and rising sea levels. The mangroves seemed doomed. But in recent months two separate studies have painted a very different picture. A high-resolution analysis of satellite imagery published in Science in June found that the stunted, salt-tolerant trees are now undergoing an “unexpected expansion,” healing after decades of destruction. At the same time, a report on the State of the World’s Mangroves, published in September by a group of NGOs under the umbrella of the Global Mangrove Alliance, found that “mangroves are now increasing in extent, year on year,” said coauthor Mark Spalding of The Nature Conservancy. For the first time, mangrove forests are expanding...

Among the most haunting figures in Australian Aboriginal mythology is the Bunyip —a mysterious creature said to dwell in the rivers, billabongs, and swamps of the land. To non-Indigenous ears, the Bu...

G’Day! Get ready to start a new fair Dinkum life and build your new home out in the bush. Explore tropical eucalyptus forests, scorching deserts and cool billabongs on an Island inspired by the wild A...