Nearly five acres of Ecuador's Cayambe-Coca National Park have been polluted after an oil pipeline burst. The government has vowed legal consequences for the company involved in the disaster.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature compiled a list of some 138,000 assessed as species threatened with extinction. The latest figures show that nearly 30% are on the verge of disappearing forever.

Japanese art collective teamLab launches a visually spectacular exhibition, propelling a forest in the southwest island of Kyushu to come alive with lights and colourful projections.

The chirp of cicadas ripples through the pine forest, carried along on the same breeze as the scent of lavender and wild thyme -- with nearly no trace of man. The Grand Barry nature reserve in France's southeastern corner is undertaking one of Europe's largest experiments in rewilding. At a time when reforestation projects -- planting new trees -- are growing in popularity, rewilding aims to let nature do the work by simply leaving ecosystems alone to recover, free from human influence.

Winter sports, nature and traditional handicrafts - all these await visitors to the Bavarian Forest.