National Geographic Magazine

AT NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC we are always actively engaged in examining and better understanding our world. So often we are exhilarated and inspired by its wonder and promise, but—at least for me—there are also times when it can be maddening and downright depressing to look around with eyes wide open, recognize clearly the daunting challenges we face, and witness the desire of so many to look away. In this issue we are launching a new initiative, the National Geographic 33, that we hope is a welcome antidote to that feeling. It shines a spotlight on accomplished individuals who are decidedly not looking away. Dedicating themselves to a range of concerns, from climate change to wilderness preservation to economic opportunity to mental health, these changemakers are using their ideas and influence to…

JUST IN FROM OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS ENVIRONMENT “This image captures for me like no other the CREEPING MOVEMENT of the mines, extending over many years and swallowing up everything that’s in their way.” DANIEL CHATARD, photographer Activists walk along the edge of an open-pit coal mine near Lützerath, Germany. The village was later demolished to make way for the mine’s expansion. ANIMALS “Photographing insects is a gamble because YOU NEVER KNOW if they are going to fly away while you’re setting up the shot. Fortunately, this damselfly was very cooperative.” BENJAMIN SALB, photographer To create a crisp, clear portrait of the tiny bug, Salb used a technique called focus stacking, combining multiple photographs to make one detailed image. CULTURE “When I’m working, occasionally an UNEXPECTED ARTISTIC DIMENSION emerges, like this well-synchronized…

Mélanie Gouby, p.16 For this issue, the writer and filmmaker traveled to the Congo Basin, where she reported on the efforts of homegrown researchers to protect a fragile ecosystem and “reclaim their place as leading scientists.” Gouby has worked in Africa for over a decade. Hannah Nordhaus, p.114 For this month’s story on imperiled sturgeons, Nordhaus traveled to Kazakhstan, Italy, Wisconsin, Alabama, and Tennessee. An earlier story she wrote for the magazine took her to Montana to cover initiatives that restore native prairies. Matthieu Paley, p.44 After 20 years living in Asia and traveling the world for National Geographic, Paley recently moved to Portugal, where he photographed surfer Maya Gabeira. He says the giant wave rider “truly grasps nature’s power.” Robin Hammond, p.44 While photographing Oscar Andrés Méndez and Isabel…

WITHIN the DENSE CANOPY of the CONGO BASIN RAINFOREST, the afternoon light began to fade, glinting off a soaring metal tower that rose steeply out of the jungle. Measuring 180 feet tall, the narrow steel structure resembled a massive cellular-network antenna, although it was outfitted with a collection of far more critical scientific sensors. The wind had picked up, causing the spire to sway and whine with each strong gust. But a biologist named Fabrice Kimbesa appeared undaunted. After strapping into a safety harness, he grabbed hold of a thin metal ladder and clambered briskly upward, leaving me to catch up as he raced toward a small platform at the very top. This particular structure is what’s known as an eddy covariance flux tower. When it came online in October…

LOST FOR MILLENNIA and surrounded in mystery, the Holy Grail is arguably the world’s most elusive Christian relic. But for centuries, clergy at Spain’s Valencia Cathedral have believed a cup in their possession is the “Holy Chalice of the Lord’s Supper.” Many variations exist in Grail lore, but a common theme is that it is the vessel used by Jesus at the Last Supper and also used to catch his blood at the Crucifixion. In these tellings, it’s a sacred object sought by monarchs and knights, like King Arthur and Sir Galahad, to prove their purity and virtue. The Chalice of Valencia first appears in Spanish historical accounts in 1399, when the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña bestowed it on King Martin of Aragon. One of his successors,…

A CENTURY AGO, the Hawaiian Islands were home to more than 750 species of land snails, almost all “found nowhere else in the world,” says David Sischo, a wildlife biologist and National Geographic Explorer coordinating the state’s Snail Extinction Prevention Program. But in recent decades, forest clearing and invasive predators like carnivorous snails have wiped nearly half these little-understood species off the map. Another hundred species, including the Oahu land snail, face imminent extinction. Hawaiian researchers have joined with National Geographic’s Photo Ark Species Impact Initiative to hold off that fate by surrounding small acreages with six-foot-high solid walls tricked out with booby traps—among them slick sides, snares, and electrical arrays—to stop predators. The aim? “To just keep the snails on Earth,” says Sischo, until better technology comes along. “There’s…