The dark web hosts a specialized wildlife trade market where roughly 90% of advertisements involve recreational drugs. Over five years, 153 species appeared in about 600 advertisements per year. Most traded species are plants, but fungi and animals also appear. Psychedelic species dominate, with 45 species identified, including 19 species of Psilocybe fungi. The native ranges of drug plants cluster in Central and South America. A smaller portion of trade involves medicinal products, clothing, decoration, and pets. Current conservation and biosecurity risks from dark web wildlife trade appear low, but trade could increase if enforcement on e-commerce and social media reduces access for traders.
Interventions combining nature-based activities with contemplative practices can help people cope with eco-distress—the psychological pain from climate and ecological change. Interviews with 11 teachers and leaders of such practices, plus two workshops, revealed four pathways to adaptive change: restoration and reduced stress through present-moment awareness; facing and working with difficult emotions; shifting and expanding self-boundaries; and strengthening values and commitments to action. These mechanisms build on and reinforce each other over time. Workshop data also produced design recommendations for implementing these practices. The findings integrate insights from contemplative studies and environmental psychology.