Good news is hard to come by in the conservation world—but this week, we have some to share. A new report from WWF‑Mexico shows that the endangered migratory eastern monarch butterfly is showing promising signs of recovery, with monarchs occupying 7.24 acres of forest in their wintering grounds in Mexico—up from 4.42 acres last year. That's a 64% increase.

In this episode of Nature Breaking, we revisit conversations with two monarch experts—Eduardo Rendón‑Salinas of WWF‑Mexico and Court Whelan of Natural Habitat Adventures—to explain why this rebound matters, how monarch populations are measured, and what challenges still lie ahead. From the butterfly's amazing multi‑generational migration that spans thousands of miles to the threats posed by habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change, this episode dives into one of the most extraordinary natural phenomena on Earth.

If you're looking for a rare bit of optimism—and a reminder of why these butterflies inspire wonder across North America—this episode is for you.

Links for More Info:

Report: Monarch butterfly population increases by 64%

Monarch Milkweed Finder

Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:23 Intro & New Report Findings

2:10 The epic migration of monarchs (spring to late summer)

3:41 The epic migration of monarchs (late summer to winter)

6:00 How do we monitor and estimate monarch populations?

7:40 Threats facing monarchs

10:42 Why should we care about monarchs?

12:07 Outro

Right now we're at the height of awards season, when artists across a variety of disciplines get awarded for the best achievements in their respective industries. In the spirit of that season, we decided to hand out some awards of our own this week. This episode features the first-ever Nature Breaking Awards. It's just like your favorite awards show, but for conservation instead of music or movies. Co-hosts Seth Larson and Hayley Lawton will run through fun categories like "Best Ecosystem Soundtrack" and "Wildest Wardrobe," discuss the nominees, and hand out some (largely arbitrary) awards. Because after all, we're all winners when it comes to saving the planet.

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Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:19 Intro

1:33 Explaining the Nature Breaking Awards

3:05 Standout Support Species

5:03 Outstanding Wildlife Effects

6:38 Best Ecosystem Soundtrack

8:52 Wildest Wardrobe

10:08 Outstanding Ecosystem

11:37 Reactions to the winners

12:58 Outro

Finance has a critical role to play in achieving conservation goals. Simply put, saving an ecosystem, or a species, isn't free. Those efforts require lots of scientific research and analysis, tools, infrastructure, and staff. WWF has been at the forefront of a variety of innovative ways to finance those efforts – from Project Finance for Permanence initiatives, to debt for nature swaps, and more.

Today we're going to talk about another approach that's gaining steam: impact investing. Impact investing is all about making investments with the goal of advancing social or environmental outcomes – not about maximizing financial returns. Joining Nature Breaking today to explain how it works is Isabelle Foster, WWF's Senior Impact Investing Specialist. Isabelle is part of WWF Impact, our impact investing venture. And she's also a podcast host, having recently launched a limited-series show called Catalyzing Climate Conversations. Her new show is a partnership with the Aspen Institute's Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE).

Stay tuned to hear from Isabelle about how impact investing works, why WWF is investing in companies like EatCloud—whose software platform is helping grocery stores and other businesses divert food from the landfill and instead support local communities—and how these investments advance conservation outcomes on the ground.

Links for More Info:

Isabelle Foster bio

WWF Impact

PODCAST: Catalyzing Climate Conversations

CHAPTERS:

0:00 Preview

0:30 Intro

1:56 What is impact investing?

5:20 How can impact investing help the planet?

8:02 WWF's approach to impact investing

13:34 Example of success: EatCloud

21:45 Podcast plug for Catalyzing Climate Conversations

27:39 Outro