In 2000, building on its pioneering efforts in establishing Land and Sea Parks, the Commonwealth of The Bahamas initiated one of the world's first networks of marine reserves. This designation provided an international team of researchers with an unprecedented opportunity to study the physical, biological, and socio-economic impacts of such a network, and to integrate all of these aspects into recommendations for future conservation strategies. The project, which is focusing on the Bahamas as a model system, will hopefully be extended to other marine areas in the Caribbean and across the globe.

In the 1600's, New York City's Bronx River was a drinking water source and a sylvan haven for beaver, oysters, and herring. It became blighted as urbanization progressed, reincarnating as an industrial power source, an open sewer, and a garbage dump. Today, landscape ecologists are reconstructing the waterway's ecological history as a reference point for its restoration effort. Watch conservation teams coax new life into the Bronx River as they restock it with native fish, lay down oyster beds, and remove invasive species along its shores.