Aussie desert plant packs a protein punch
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In honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day, we’re exploring how Indigenous communities contribute to science, conservation, health research, and much more.
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 10-Jun-2026 14:16 ET (10-Jun-2026 18:16 GMT/UTC)
The drought-tolerant shrub affectionately known as Old Man Saltbush is mostly used as stock fodder, but can also be added to salads or cooking and has been enoyed by Indigenous Australian for thousands of years. Now, early research suggests it could be a healthy and sustainable alternative many more of us should be eating.
Birds currently inhabiting many territories across Africa, Latin America and Asia are, on average, considerably smaller than those that predominated in 1940. This is the conclusion of an international study led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), which documents—drawing on the collective ecological memory of ten Indigenous Peoples and local communities—a reduction of up to 72% in the mean body mass of the bird species present in their territories between 1940 and 2020.
The paper “Prioritizing Sustainable Development of Ecologically Sensitive Regions” was published recently in Ecosystem Health and Sustainability – A Science Partner Journal. The innovative research calls for merging AI with indigenous knowledge and targeting “tipping point” ecosystems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.