New publication: 'Miniseks. Hofmakerij bij ongewervelden'

The strong decline of biodiversity in freshwater systems worldwide is a quiet crisis - one that few people are aware of. What happens underwater is a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’. Now, in a new Nature article, some 88 scientists and IUCN collaborators from all over the world who are involved in a twenty-year IUCN effort to assess various groups of freshwater animals have reported that a quarter of the planet's freshwater fauna is threatened with extinction.

When people hear the word ‘landslide’, they often think of the sudden collapse of earth or rock from a mountain. But slow-moving landslides – which can move as little as one millimeter per year and up to a few meters per year – are also a growing threat to people who are pushed to live on steeper slopes because of urban growth and flood risk. 

New research from KU Leuven and AfricaMuseum shows that climate change allows disease-carrying freshwater snails to survive in several southern European countries, driving up the risk of catching schistosomiasis, an infectious disease caused by a parasitic flatworm. Scientists want holidaymakers to be aware of the risk before taking a refreshing dip in the river or lake.