At dawn, in the southeastern corner of Malawi, the still waters of Lake Chilwa come alive. Flocks of White-Faced Whistling Ducks and African Skimmers sweep low across the floodplains, joined by hundreds of thousands of other waterbirds that rely on this vast wetland for survival. Home to over 160 species and […]
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The First Commercial Leitz Binoculars (1907): Anyone interested in the early history of sport optics will recognize a real gem in the Leitz Binocle 6×18: the first commercial binoculars ever manufactured by E. Leitz Wetzlar – and also one of the rarest models in Leitz history. The specimen presented here […]
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Australia is vast, and that is especially apparent when traveling along its west coast. My partner’s family live in Perth, so I am lucky to have visited several times, but never for long. Thankfully, I was able to spend several weeks in Australia during my sabbatical and loved how separated […]
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With Leica as Champion for Waterbird Conservation The 9th Meeting of the Parties (MOP9) to the Agreement on the Conservation of African–Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) concluded in Bonn on 14 November 2025, bringing together more than 160 delegates from 64 countries. Under the theme United for Flyways, Parties adopted key […]
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Despite years of political and environmental challenges, efforts to conserve biodiversity in Libya have continued. At the heart of this effort is the long-standing tradition of waterbird monitoring – an essential activity across the country’s wetlands, which include several salt lakes and coastal lagoons. A handful of dedicated Libyan ornithologists […]
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They say that the journey is better than the destination, and that’s certainly true when it comes to travelling within Costa Rica to Tortuguero National Park. Accessible only by plane or boat, I couldn’t wait to take to the network of waterways required to access these sprawling protected Caribbean wetlands. […]
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When imagining how to maximize agricultural productivity in the future, it is easy to picture vast monocrop fields maintained by drones and agrichemicals. Yet there are alternative pathways that might enable both high yields and greater sustainability, by enhancing the ecological processes underpinning crop growth and health. These ‘agroecological’ farming […]
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Earlier this year I was granted a wonderful opportunity to take a sabbatical from my job, working for the Saving Wildcats partnership in Scotland. While I am incredibly lucky to work in the Cairngorms National Park, alongside fantastic colleagues at the forefront of wildlife conservation in the UK, my own […]
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The Arctic. When most people think of this remote area of the planet, they probably think of climate change and polar bears or maybe they think of ice and freezing temperatures. But in this blog I will give an account of my recent experience on board an expedition vessel, voyaging […]
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Stretched along the border between Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rusizi National Park is more than just a scenic retreat. It is an ornithological paradise, providing nesting and stopover grounds for more than 120 breeding and 90 migratory bird species. At first light, the wetlands stir with […]
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