Approximate site of preliminarily approved drilling by Shell. Pink outline is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Image made with Google Earth. Following the Obama administration's approval of Royal Dutch…
Following a logging crisis in 2009 where a number of Madagascar's remaining forests were illegally cut, the African nation has turned to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species…
Baby Francois langur looking at the world at the London zoo. Photo courtesy of ZSL. One of the world's most endangered primates recently gave birth to an orange-haired baby at…
The decades-long fight over Brazilian megadam, the Belo Monte, has taken another U-turn after a judge ordered work to stop immediately since the dam would devastate vital fishing grounds for…
An aerial view of an Amazon tributary in Peru, one of the top countries for projects in the young forest carbon market. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Investors funneled $178…
A chestnut-breasted coronet hummingbird in Peru earlier this year. Photo by: Rhett Butler. The chestnut-breasted coronet (Boissonneaua matthewsii) is native to the Andean forests of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia. The species…
After the Arctic sea ice extent hit its second lowest size on record this summer—or lowest (depending on the source)—comes another climate change shocker: in the past six years Canada's…
Oil pollution doesn't have to kill fish to have a long-term impact, according to a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Researchers found that…
The Wildlife Conservation Network's co-founder, Charles Knowles, looks back at a decade of hands on work in conservation. The Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN) is dedicated to protecting endangered species and…
After two weeks of sustained protesting at the US White House against the Keystone XL pipeline, with 1,252 people arrested, civil disobedience has now spread to Canada, home of the…
After a police crackdown against indigenous activists, Bolivian President Evo Morales has suspended a large highway project through the Amazon rainforest. The police reaction—which included tear gas, rounding up protestors…
Scientist trying to save a La Loma tree frog, a species imperiled by chytridiomycosis at Panama's Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Scientists with Cornell have…
A new documentary, filmed single-handily by filmmaker David Fedele, covers the impact of industrial logging on a community in Papua New Guinea. Entitled Bikpela Bagarap (or 'Big Damage' in English),…
Kenyan native, Paula Kahumbu is the executive director of WildlifeDirect. She is the Winner of the National Geographic/Buffett award for conservation leadership in Africa 2011 and a National Geographic Emerging…
Peatlands destruction in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday vowed to dedicate the last three years of his presidency to…
Tropical dry forests have received little conservation and research attention as compared to their rainforest cousins, leaving these ecosystems to become gravely threatened while still largely unknown to the public…
Keeping fire at bay could be key to reforesting abandoned land in the tropics, according to a new study in mongabay.com's open access journal Tropical Conservation Science. Measuring the recovery…
A typical scenario in the Atlantic Forest at the Northeastern Biodiversity Corridor, where forest remants are surrounded by sugarcane plantations. Most of the remaining forest fragments are, on average, smaller…
A new survey recorded 125 birds in Papua New Guinea's Waria Valley, of which an astounding 43 percent were endemic to the island. The survey, published in mongabay.com's open-access journal…
REDD+ programs could leave some species high and dry even if its preserves the forests they call home, argues a new opinion piece in mongabay.com's open access journal Tropical Conservation…
The Atlantic Forest in Brazil is one of the most fragmented and damaged forests in the world. Currently around 12 percent of the forest survives, with much of it in…
A forestry regulation that would have allowed 7.4 million hectares of oil palm plantations in Indonesian Borneo to be legalized as forestry plantations has been revoked before it ever went…
Coquerel's sifakas kissing. The Madagascar film series helped raise the profile of many of the island's unique species, including lemurs. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Some scientists may scoff at…
The Amazon rainforest can recover from logging, but has a far more difficult time returning after repeated burning, reports a new study in mongabay.com's open-access journal Tropical Conservation Science. In…
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a decree cementing his 2009 commitment to reducing his country's greenhouse gas emissions, according to a statement from the President's office. “This is our…
Although the international program Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) was developed in order to lower greenhouse gas emissions by protecting standing forests, conservationists have long pointed out that…
Coffee may be one of the world's most popular hot (and cold) drinks, however few coffee drinkers may know that there are dozens of different coffee species in the world…
Rainforest in the Panama Canal Zone. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. As demonstrated by growing enthusiasm for conserving forests and the rise of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation…
Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai died Sunday after a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 71. Wangari Maathai. Courtesy of the Green Belt Movement Maathai is best known…
Young people rally in Kiev, Ukraine at apart of the Moving Planet campaign. Photo by: Maxm Gorpenyuk. On six continents, in over 75 percent of the world's countries, people came…
