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Populations of all kinds of wildlife are declining at alarming speed. One radical solution is to make 50% of the planet a nature reserve

The orangutan is one of our planet’s most distinctive and intelligent creatures. It has been observed using primitive tools, such as the branch of a tree, to hunt food, and is capable of complex social behaviour. Orangutans also played a special role in humanity’s own intellectual history when, in the 19th century, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, co-developers of the theory of natural selection, used observations of them to hone their ideas about evolution.

But humanity has not repaid orangutans with kindness. The numbers of these distinctive, red-maned primates are now plummeting thanks to our destruction of their habitats and illegal hunting of the species. Last week, an international study revealed that its population in Borneo, the animal’s last main stronghold, now stands at between 70,000 and 100,000, less than half of what it was in 1995. “I expected to see a fairly steep decline, but I did not anticipate it would be this large,” said one of the study’s co-authors, Serge Wich of Liverpool John Moores University.

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Professor Martin Green queries how we dispel the lingering pessimism in Canberra over solar and expand the use of this remarkable technology?

An innovative scanning system is making it easier to find the hidden stories behind artworks.

You do your best work depending on whether you're more lark or owl, baby teeth extractions are rife and dentists are alarmed, how polyamorists celebrate Valentines, does tinned fish contain Omega 3?, and 80 women scientists take their place at the global table.

Spiders can be beautiful, timid, fluffy and even give up their lives for the sake of their children.

Spiders can be beautiful, timid, fluffy and even give up their lives for the sake of their children.

Experts say growling grass frog and southern brown bandicoot not likely to be found at Endeavour Fern Gully

Experts have cast doubt on government claims the Coalition is funding a conservation project in Victoria’s Endeavour Fern Gully to benefit threatened species – because the listed species are unlikely to occur in the area.

Endeavour Fern Gully is a 27-hectare (65 acre) rainforest property on the Mornington Peninsula. The environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, says the government had funded a broad Green Army project that “improves habitat through weed control and promotes greater conservation awareness of native vegetation in remnant bushland at Endeavour Fern Gully”.

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Feral pigeons are exposed to the same environmental factors as humans, so help explore the affect of contaminants, say researchers

Pigeons might be seen as the scourge of cities, but researchers say they could help us explore both the levels and impacts of a host of toxins in the air, from lead to pesticides.

Scientists say feral pigeons are a valuable way of probing contaminants in environment, since they are exposed to the same air, water, food and other factors as humans, and don’t venture far from home.

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Excessive nitrogen from sewage and livestock waste is damaging the health of marine flowering plants.

We canvas the big foreign policy issues facing the United States and the world in 2018.

We canvas the big foreign policy issues facing the United States and the world in 2018.

More than 100,000 of the animals have been killed since 1999.

Readers respond to an earlier letter suggesting that students should replace migrant farm workers after Brexit

In the agricultural sector there is a shortfall of 4,300 jobs with a tiny proportion of the population working on farms. Yet Aileen Hammond (Letters, 15 February) demands that 2.28 million students in higher education descend on to the farms of this country every summer and winter. I’m afraid a few second homes she wants to be made available isn’t going to be quite enough to house these students.

I spent my vacations from university volunteering, getting work experience, writing dissertations – all of which has allowed me to contribute to the common good. There are also lots of other important and meaningful seasonal jobs that depend on the student vacation workforce. Forced labour of students on to farms would play havoc with these sectors and merely shift the labour problem elsewhere.

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Paul Brannen says Britain needs more trees not least because wood is a raw material that can be used by the emerging bioeconomy; while Peter Price defends Sheffield city council’s tree-planting policy

John Vidal is absolutely correct in identifying the multiple benefits of agro-forestry (A eureka moment – we’re finally planting trees again, 13 February) but these benefits need to also be unleashed in the developed world, not only in Africa, Asia and South America.

Currently 9% of EU agricultural land is given over to agro-forestry, meaning it is not merely a fringe activity. The UK’s largest agro-forestry holding is just to the south of Peterborough, where Steve Briggs farms 125 acres of organic oats with strips of apple trees across; reducing wind erosion of the soil, increasing water retention and improving biodiversity – eg most bird species have increased by 20-50% with barn owls up 400%.

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The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox

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Spyhopping humpback whales and ‘frost flowers’ are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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GPS data from the endangered young eagle, that was tagged by environmentalist Chris Packham, stopped transmitting before randomly restarting out at sea

A young golden eagle may have been illegally killed near Edinburgh and dumped at sea after its satellite tag inexplicably stopped transmitting and then restarted in the North Sea.

The golden eagle was tagged by broadcaster and environmentalist Chris Packham and the campaign group Raptor Persecution UK at a nest in the Scottish Borders last summer, and named Fred, after the landowner’s grandson.

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Chemicals from everyday household products rival vehicles as a key source of urban air pollution.

New research refutes the theory that pressure from saddles can cause erectile dysfunction, and says cycling could actually improve performance in older men

Few doubt that cycling helps you get healthy. One study last year found cyclists are less likely to develop heart disease or cancer, and a 2011 review showed it improves fitness and leads to longer lives. But there’s an area of men’s health that has been the subject of a persistent question: does time spent in the saddle lead to problems in the sack?

In recent years, scientists have linked cycling with several male health problems, including erectile dysfunction, which they speculate is caused by the saddle decreasing blood flow to the penis. In one study, Norwegian researchers gathered data from 160 men after they took part in a long-distance bike tour. They found that one in five suffered with numbness to the penis that lasted up to a week after the tour, and 13% developed erectile dysfunction that lasted more than a week in most cases.

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Dairy farms in the Netherlands are producing so much dung they can’t get rid of it safely. Now the WWF is calling for a 40% cut in herd numbers to protect the environment

There is a dirty stench emanating from the Dutch dairy sector. The industry is, by most measures, hugely successful: despite the small size of the country, it is the fifth largest exporter of dairy and has a much-touted reputation as the tiny country that feeds the world.

But there’s a catch: the nation’s 1.8 million cows are producing so much manure that there isn’t enough space to get rid of it safely.

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