Out of a setback comes opportunity
In January 2025, environmental scientist Dr. Phillip Levin learned that two years of work leading the National Nature Assessment—an agency established to measure nature’s role in the USA’s health, economy and well-being—had come to an end. Despite the shock and disappointment, Levin knew the work was still vital. When he reached out to potential partners, funders and publishers to see if they agreed, what he discovered wasn’t just financial support. “It was energy. It was courage. People understood the urgency and the opportunity.” So Levin and his collaborators created United by Nature, an initiative to provide evidence-based, nonpartisan insights into the changing state of nature across the country. In mid-2026, they will release their first independent assessment of how well the United States supports nature and the benefits it brings to health, security, culture, and the economy.
This is, in many ways, a good news story. Out of a setback comes resolve. As Levin explains: “When knowledge is threatened, don’t just mourn it. Build around it. Not with rage but with … resolve.” Levin, who holds a PhD in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire and previously led the US National Nature Assessment, is now guiding United by Nature “in a collective and wide-ranging effort to understand how nature shapes our lives and how we can shape nature’s future.” Their objective is ambitious: to build the first-of-its-kind national assessment of US lands, waters and wildlife. As David Attenborough reminds us: “The natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have, and we need to defend it.”
At Koala Eco, we share this belief. For the past eight years we have supported ecological causes through 1% for the Planet, People and Parks Foundation, and The Oceanic Society. Our message is also simple, joyful, and meant to encourage: “More Nature / Feel Better!”
You can follow and support United by Nature at weareunitedbynature.org.
Emily Dickinson, poem # 314
Information for this post comes from The New York Times, 22 April 2025
