National Geographic Magazine - UK April 2025

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…

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORERS These contributors have received funding from the National Geographic Society, which is committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world. Learn more about the Society’s support of Explorers at natgeo.com/impact. 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…

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…

In 1888 National Geographic was founded by 33 bold thinkers—scientists, explorers, and scholars—who aimed to reimagine the way we encounter and understand our world. They were meeting a critical challenge of their time. Much has changed since then, of course. But at National Geographic, we are still inspired by the idea that people driven by a shared commitment to make the world a better place can have an enormous impact. It’s in this spirit that we present the inaugural National Geographic 33, an initiative that spotlights and honors visionaries, creators, icons, and adventurers from across the globe who believe that our world needs imaginative solutions and urgent action—and are answering the call. YVON CHOUINARD LAUGHS when he tries to remember the oldest piece of gear he owns. “Almost everything I…