tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:/xml/deforestation1 deforestation news from mongabay.com 2009-11-06T21:50:45Z tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5098 2009-11-06T21:40:00Z 2009-11-06T21:50:45Z Developer uses cover of national holiday to clear rainforest near Colon, Panama <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/09/1106.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>On Tuesday, November 3rd, while Panamanians celebrated Independence Day Holidays, heavy machinery unexpectedly entered and began cutting down tropical forest and mangroves near Galeta outside of Colon, Panama, report local sources. mongabay.com confirmed that the latest clearing has been carried out "almost in secret during national holidays so there would be no reaction from the public or the media." The clearing, conducted by a transportation cooperative called Serafin Niño, from Colon, is occurring in the buffer zone of the Galeta Protected Landscape and near Galeta Point Marine Laboratory, a facility of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The land will likely be used to store transportation equipment that moves cargo to and from the ports of Colon and the Free Zone. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5097 2009-11-06T14:29:00Z 2009-11-06T23:21:23Z Important safeguards to protect rainforests lacking in REDD negotiating text Important safeguards to protect natural forests are still lacking in negotiating text on REDD, a proposed mechanism for mitigating climate change by paying developing countries to keep trees standing, reports an alliance of activist groups. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5094 2009-11-05T21:53:00Z 2009-11-07T15:58:46Z World's first video of the elusive and endangered bay cat <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/Bay_cat_001-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Rare, elusive, and endangered by habitat loss, the bay cat is one of the world's least studied wild cats. Several specimens of the cat were collected in the 19th and 20th Century, but a living cat wasn't even photographed until 1998. Now, researchers in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, have managed to capture the first film of the bay cat (<i>Catopuma badia</i>). Lasting seven seconds, the video shows the distinctly reddish-brown cat in its habitat. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5091 2009-11-04T19:25:00Z 2009-11-04T19:53:04Z Governments, public failing to save world's species According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) 2008 report, released yesterday, 36 percent of the total species evaluated by the organization are threatened with extinction. If one adds the species classified as Near Threatened, the percentage jumps to 44 percent—nearly half. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5090 2009-11-04T18:51:00Z 2009-11-04T19:00:04Z House resolution condemns plunder of natural resources in Madagascar A House of Representatives resolution introduced by Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) condemns the illegal plundering of natural resources in Madagascar, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5089 2009-11-04T17:40:00Z 2009-11-07T15:55:52Z Photos: Palm oil threatens Borneo's rarest cats <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/LeopardCatCopyrightGlobalCanopyP-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Oil palm expansion is threatening Borneo's rarest wild cats, reports a new study based on three years of fieldwork and more than 17,000 camera trap nights. Studying cats in five locations—each with different environments—in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, researchers found that four of five cat species are threatened by habitat loss due to palm oil plantations. "No other place has a higher percentage of threatened wild cats!" Jim Sanderson, an expert on the world's small cats, told Mongabay.com. Pointing out that 80 percent of Borneo's cats face extinction, Sanderson said that "not one of these wild cats poses a direct threat to humans." Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5088 2009-11-04T16:18:00Z 2009-11-05T03:31:24Z Conservation and Carbon in Borneo’s Heart and Ours <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/09/1104salv.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>My friend Rezal Kusumaatmadja contacted me in July to ask if I could join him and some of his associates for a couple of days in the village Mendawai, located along the Katingan River in south central Kalimantan. The purpose of the gathering was to bring everyone in the group up to date on progress and challenges related to the Katingan Peat Conservation Project, as well as to give the group an opportunity to meet one another. The Katingan Project aims to create a forest-based carbon containment facility defined and guided by REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Destruction in the developing world) principles and methodology. Currently, nearly 25% of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions are caused by felling, burning and converting the world’s remaining primary forests. While areas surrounding the Katingan peat forest vividly express this statistic, Katingan is part of a growing strategy to reverse the trend. The Katingan project endeavors to transform conservation into a product that might offer strong competition against illegal logging and expansion of industrial agricultural plantations - whose practices cause enormous emissions of greenhouse gasses, as well as destroying biodiversity, depleting and polluting watersheds and corroding native cultures. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5086 2009-11-04T13:14:00Z 2009-11-04T14:24:21Z EU is 2nd largest source of peat emissions after Indonesia, finds global peat survey <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/09/1104-peat_emissions-150.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>The EU is the world's second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from peatlands drainage, after Indonesia, reports the first country-by-country assessment of peat stocks. The study, conducted by Wetlands International and Greifswald University, found that drainage of wetlands for agriculture, forestry and peat extraction causes 1.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Emissions from fires and peat mining (for horticulture and fuel) amount to another 700,000 million tons per year. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5085 2009-11-04T12:20:00Z 2009-11-04T12:22:51Z Non-Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil producers pledge not to develop peatlands for plantations Palm oil producers outside of Malaysia and Indonesia pledged to stop developing new plantations on peatlands, circumventing an impasse that developed between palm oil producers and environmental groups meeting this week at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in Kuala Lumpur. The factions deadlocked over plans to account for emissions from plantation development, delaying the criteria for a year. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5084 2009-11-04T02:20:00Z 2009-11-04T12:30:08Z Emissions from deforestation overestimated; 12% rather than 17% Greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation are lower than previously believed, according to a new study published in <i>Nature Geoscience</i>. The findings mean that developing countries may see less money under Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, a proposed climate change mitigation mechanism. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5081 2009-11-04T00:58:00Z 2009-11-06T15:32:56Z Impasse over palm oil emissions at RSPO meeting Environmentalists and palm oil producers meeting at the annual Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) were locked in an impasse over how to account for emissions from converting forests and peatlands to oil palm plantations, report conference attendees. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5077 2009-11-03T17:47:00Z 2009-11-03T19:20:54Z Gucci drops APP in pledge to save rainforests One of the world's largest and most prestigious fashion brands has stated it will stop sourcing paper from Indonesian forests and will drop Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) as a supplier, which has become notorious for tropical deforestation. The move comes after pressure from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) on the fashion industry to stop sourcing paper from threatened rainforests for their shopping bags. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5071 2009-11-01T18:34:00Z 2009-11-02T00:21:47Z Cement mining puts Dominican Republic park at risk A cement mine, granted under questionable circumstances, is putting one the Caribbean's most important forest parks at risk, warns a group working to stop the project. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5067 2009-10-29T16:23:00Z 2009-10-30T01:47:08Z European companies not supporting 'greener' palm oil Most European consumers of palm oil are failing to buy eco-certified palm oil, undermining efforts to encourage producers to reduce their impact on the environment, reports WWF. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5061 2009-10-28T21:07:00Z 2009-10-28T21:20:06Z Illegal logging trade from Myanmar to China slows, but doesn't stop The illegal wood trade from Myanmar to China has slowed, but it still threatens Myanmar's tropical forests and species, according to a new report by Global Witness. From 2005 and 2008 improved border controls into China led to a drop in imports of logs and sawn wood by 70 percent. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5060 2009-10-28T18:23:00Z 2009-10-28T18:26:40Z Rosewood traffickers busted in Madagascar Authorities in Madagascar have sacked a local official, arrested several businessmen, and issued fines following the discovery of illegally harvested rosewood logs aboard a ship, reports <i>L'Express de Madagascar</i>. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5055 2009-10-26T20:41:00Z 2009-10-27T20:53:27Z "Money is not a problem," palm oil CEO tells conservationists during speech defending the industry <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://travel.mongabay.com/malaysia/150/borneo_4666.JPG" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Earlier this month at a colloquium to implement wildlife corridors for orangutans in the Malaysian state of Sabah, Dr. Yusof Basiron, the CEO of Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), told conservationists and primate experts that the palm oil industry was ready to fund reforestation efforts in the corridors. "We can raise the money to replant [the corridors] and keep contributing as a subsidy in the replanting process of this corridor for connecting forests," Basiron said in response to a question on how the palm oil industry will contribute. "Money is not a problem. The commitment is already there, the pressure is already very strong for this to be done, so it's just trying to get the thing into motion." Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5052 2009-10-25T19:10:00Z 2009-10-27T04:05:14Z The faster, fiercer, and always surprising sloth, an interview with Bryson Voirin <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/tree-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Sloths sleep all day; they are always slow; and they are gentle animals. These are just some of the popular misconceptions that sloth-scientist and expert tree-climber, Bryson Voirin, is overturning. After growing up among the wild creatures of Florida, spending his high school years in Germany, and earning a Bachelors degree in biology and environment at the New College of Florida, Voirin found his calling. At the New College of Florida, Voirin "met Meg Lowman, the famous canopy pioneer who invented many of the tree climbing techniques everyone uses today." Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5047 2009-10-21T21:46:00Z 2009-10-21T22:03:57Z Logged forests support biodiversity after 15 years of rehabilitation, but not if turned into plantations With the world facing global warming and a biodiversity crisis, a new study shows that within 15 years logged forests—considered by many to be 'degraded'—can be managed in order to successfully fight both climate change and extinction. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5045 2009-10-21T18:18:00Z 2009-10-21T18:56:40Z Emotional call for palm oil industry to address environmental problems <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/borneo_5427-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>During what was at times an emotional speech, Sabah's Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun, called on the palm oil industry to stop polluting rivers and work with NGOs to save orangutans and other wildlife. He delivered the speech on the first day of an Orangutan Conservation Colloquium held in early October in the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5043 2009-10-20T18:06:00Z 2009-10-24T16:09:16Z Kenya's pain, part two: decades of wildlife decline exacerbated by drought <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/dead-baby-elephant-amboseli-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Not many years ago if you were planning a trip to Africa to see wildlife, Kenya would be near the top of the list, if not number one. Then violent riots in late 2007 and early 2008 leaving a thousand dead tarnished the country's image abroad. When calm and stability returned, Kenya was again open for tourism, and it's true that most travelers were quick to forget: articles earlier this year announced that even with the global economic crisis Kenya was expecting tourism growth. However, a new disaster may not be so quickly overcome. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5031 2009-10-15T17:07:00Z 2009-10-15T18:15:46Z Business and conservation groups team up to conserve and better manage US's southern forests A new project entitled Carbon Canopy brings together multiple stakeholders—from big business to conservation organizations to private landowners—in order to protect and better manage the United State's southern forests. The program intends to employ the emerging US forest carbon market to pay private forest owners for conservation and restoration efforts while making certain that all forest-use practices subscribes to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5029 2009-10-14T02:42:00Z 2009-10-17T05:02:44Z Forests versus oil palm plantations in Sumatra <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/09/1014Leuser150.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>A chainsaw chugs into life and tears into the trunk of a tree as tall as a two-story house. Petrol and man work together as the chain sets its teeth into the wood and edges its way through. The tree creaks, leans, and falls with a great crash to a backdrop of whoops and cheers. The sight and sound of tree felling is common in Indonesia, the country with the highest rate of deforestation in the world. The destruction of forests in this archipelago, draped like an emerald necklace across the equator, can be measured in hectares per minute. Today, though, is a good day for the conservationists. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5027 2009-10-13T23:11:00Z 2009-10-29T18:49:21Z Malayan tiger rescued from poacher's snare proves need for increased enforcement <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/p1050660_15680.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Last week a Malayan tiger (<i>Panthera tigris jacksoni</i>) was found with its front right paw caught in a snare set by poachers. World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Wildlife Protection Unit discovered the snared tiger in the Belum-Temengor forest, a wildlife-rich reserve that has become a hotspot for poaching. After finding the wounded tiger the anti-poaching team called in officials from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) who freed the great cat. The animal was then transported to Malacca Zoo for treatment. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5026 2009-10-08T15:10:00Z 2009-10-08T17:07:43Z Curtailing tropical deforestation vital to U.S. interests Curtailing tropical deforestation is vital to U.S. national interests as a cost-effective means to slow climate change, argues a new report issued by the bipartisan Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests. Deforestation accounts for roughly one-sixth of global carbon dioxide emissions, more than the entire transportation sector. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5021 2009-10-07T18:44:00Z 2009-10-07T19:32:16Z Government decree sanctions trafficking of rainforest timber in Madagascar A new decree by Madagascar's transitional government may fuel continued destruction of the country's tropical forests and biodiversity, warns a statement issued jointly by a dozen leading scientific and conservation groups. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5016 2009-10-03T11:24:00Z 2009-10-05T17:20:12Z Palm oil industry pledges wildlife corridors to save orangutans <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/borneo_5424a-2.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>In an unlikely—and perhaps tenuous—alliance, conservationists and the palm oil industry met this week to draw up plans to save Asia's last great ape, the orangutan. As if to underscore the colloquium's importance, delegates on arriving in the Malaysian State of Sabah found the capital covered in a thick and strange fog caused by the burning of rainforests and peat lands in neighboring Kalimantan. After two days of intensive meetings the colloquium adopted a resolution which included the acquisition of land for creating wildlife buffer zones of at least 100 meters along all major rivers, in addition to corridors for connecting forests. Researchers said such corridors were essential if orangutans were to have a future in Sabah. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5013 2009-09-24T21:57:00Z 2009-09-25T17:07:17Z Could agroforestry solve the biodiversity crisis and address poverty?, an interview with Shonil Bhagwat <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/Photo_Shonil_Bhagwat.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>With the world facing a variety of crises: climate change, food shortages, extreme poverty, and biodiversity loss, researchers are looking at ways to address more than one issue at once by revolutionizing sectors of society. One of the ideas is a transformation of agricultural practices from intensive chemical-dependent crops to mixing agriculture and forest, while relying on organic methods. The latter is known as agroforestry or land sharing—balancing the crop yields with biodiversity. Shonil Bhagwat, Director of MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at the School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford, believes this philosophy could help the world tackle some of its biggest problems. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5010 2009-09-24T15:45:00Z 2009-09-24T17:42:02Z Will tropical trees survive climate change?, an interview with Kenneth J. Feeley <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/2008_0709Julio080006-2.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>One of the most pressing issues in the conservation today is how climate change will affect tropical ecosystems. The short answer is: we don't know. Because of this, more and more scientists are looking at the probable impacts of a warmer world on the Earth's most vibrant and biodiverse ecosystems. Kenneth J. Feeley, tropical ecologist and new professor at Florida International University and the Center for Tropical Plant Conservation at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, is conducting groundbreaking research in the tropical forests of Peru on the migration of tree species due to climate change. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5011 2009-09-24T13:23:00Z 2009-09-24T14:13:34Z Roads are enablers of rainforest destruction <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/sat/americas/br_230-150.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Chainsaws, bulldozers, and fires are tools of rainforest destruction, but roads are enablers. Roads link resources to markets, enabling loggers, farmers, ranchers, miners, and land speculators to convert remote forests into economic opportunities. But the ecological cost is high: 95 percent of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon occurs within 50-kilometers of a road; in Africa, where logging roads are rapidly expanding across the Congo basin, the bulk of bushmeat hunting occurs near roads. In Laos and Sumatra, roads are opening last remnants of intact forests to logging, poaching, and plantation development. But roads also cause subtler impacts, fragmenting habitats, altering microclimates, creating highways for invasive species, blocking movement of wildlife, and claiming animals as roadkill. A new paper, published in <i>Trends in Evolution and Ecology</i>, reviews these and other impacts of roads on rainforests. Its conclusions don't bode well for the future of forests. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4990 2009-09-24T08:47:00Z 2009-09-24T14:46:04Z Palm oil both a leading threat to orangutans and a key source of jobs in Sumatra <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/09/sumatra_0364_150.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Of the world's two species of orangutan, a great ape that shares 96 percent of man's genetic makeup, the Sumatran orangutan is considerably more endangered than its cousin in Borneo. Today there are believed to be fewer than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans in the wild, a consequence of the wildlife trade, hunting, and accelerating destruction of their native forest habitat by loggers, small-scale farmers, and agribusiness. Gunung Leuser National Park in North Sumatra is one of the last strongholds for the species, serving as a refuge among paper pulp concessions and rubber and oil palm plantations. While orangutans are relatively well protected in areas around tourist centers, they are affected by poorly regulated interactions with tourists, which have increased the risk of disease and resulted in high mortality rates among infants near tourist centers like Bukit Lawang. Further, orangutans that range outside the park or live in remote areas or on its margins face conflicts with developers, including loggers, who may or may not know about the existence of the park, and plantation workers, who may kill any orangutans they encounter in the fields. Working to improve the fate of orangutans that find their way into plantations and unprotected community areas is the Orangutan Information Center (OIC), a local NGO that collaborates with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS). Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5006 2009-09-23T15:10:00Z 2009-09-25T17:08:44Z Working to save the 'living dead' in the Atlantic Forest, an interview with Antonio Rossano Mendes Pontes <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/DSC00303-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>The Atlantic Forest may very well be the most imperiled tropical ecosystem in the world: it is estimated that seven percent (or less) of the original forest remains. Lining the coast of Brazil, what is left of the forest is largely patches and fragments that are hemmed in by metropolises and monocultures. Yet, some areas are worse than others, such as the Pernambuco Endemism Centre, a region in the northeast that has largely been ignored by scientists and conservation efforts. Here, 98 percent of the forest is gone, and 70 percent of what remains are patches measuring less than 10 hectares. Due to this fragmentation all large mammals have gone regionally extinct and the small mammals are described by Antonio Rossano Mendes Pontes, a professor and researcher at the Federal University of Pernambuco, as the 'living dead'. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/5002 2009-09-22T18:14:00Z 2009-09-22T18:38:35Z Indonesia: emissions to rise 50% by 2030, 3rd largest GHG emitter A report released by the Indonesian government shows the country is the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter, largely as a result of the destruction of rainforests and carbon-dense peatlands. Indonesia accounts for 8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4994 2009-09-22T14:05:00Z 2009-09-23T05:05:21Z Prince Charles making progress in effort to save rainforests, says leading British environmentalist <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/09/0922juniper150.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Prince Charles of Great Britain has emerged as one of the world’s highest-profile promoters of a scheme that could finally put an end to destruction of tropical rainforests. The Prince’s Rainforest Project, launched in 2007, is promoting awareness of the role deforestation plays in climate change—it accounts for nearly a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions. The project also publicizes the multitude of benefits tropical forests provide, including maintenance of rainfall, biodiversity, and sustainable livelihoods for millions of people. But the initiative goes beyond merely raising awareness. Prince Charles is using his considerable influence to bring political and business leaders together to devise and support a plan to provide emergency funding to save rainforests. Tony Juniper, one of Britain’s best-known environmentalists and Special Adviser to the project, spoke about Prince Charles' efforts in an interview with mongabay.com. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4992 2009-09-21T03:04:00Z 2009-09-21T03:21:16Z Fashion labels drop APP after party highlights the plight of Indonesian forests The fashion world has been rocked: not by the newest designer or the most shocking outfit, but by the continuing destruction of forests in Indonesia. On September 15th, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) helped open New York City's styling Fashion Week with a party to encourage fashion designers to take a closer look at the paper bags they give customers. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4988 2009-09-19T15:37:00Z 2009-09-19T16:04:11Z Dangers for journalists who expose environmental issues <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/09/0919small.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Guinean journalist Lai Baldé has been threatened. Egyptian blogger Tamer Mabrouk has been sued. Russian journalist Grigory Pasko has just spent four years in prison. His Uzbek colleague, Solidzhon Abdurakhmanov, has just been given a 10-year jail sentence. Mikhail Beketov, another Russian journalist, has lost a leg and several fingers as a result of an assault. Bulgarian reporter Maria Nikolaeva was threatened with having acid thrown in her face. Filipino journalist Joey Estriber has been missing since 2006... What do these journalists and many others have in common? They are or were covering environmental issues in countries where it is dangerous to do so. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4984 2009-09-17T19:38:00Z 2009-09-18T11:42:03Z 'Greening' logging concessions could help save great apes Promoting reduced impact logging in forest areas already under concession could help protect populations of endangered great apes, argues a new report published by WWF. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4976 2009-09-15T22:54:00Z 2009-09-15T23:41:50Z Independent review finds logging company has abused rights of indigenous Penan in Borneo <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/borneo_2942-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>An independent review of Interhill Logging found that the Sarawak logging company has regularly violated forest laws and abused the rights of the indigenous Penan peoples. The review, conducted by French tourism giant ACCOR, found that Interhill Logging had not received free, prior, and informed consent from the local Penan people for its logging operations; the logging being done by Interhill "is very definitely not sustainable"; the company is not fully compiling with Sarawak's Natural Resources and Environment Board; and Interhill is providing no long-term benefits to the Penan peoples. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4974 2009-09-15T16:12:00Z 2009-09-15T16:16:22Z Emissions from cerrado destruction in Brazil equal to emissions from Amazon deforestation Damage to Brazil's vast cerrado grassland results in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those produced by destruction of the Amazon rainforest, said Carlos Minc, the country's Environment Minister. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4973 2009-09-15T02:44:00Z 2009-10-29T18:52:35Z Saving the last megafauna of Malaysia, an interview with Reuben Clements <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/Onanti-poachingpatrolPerakPeninsula.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Reuben Clements has achieved one success after another since graduating from the National University of Singapore. Currently working in peninsular Malaysia, he manages conservation programs for the Endangered Malayan tiger and the Critically Endangered Sumatran Rhino with World Wildlife Fund. At the same time he has discovered three new species of microsnails, one of which was named in the top ten new species of 2008 (a BIG achievement for a snail) due to its peculiar shell which has four different coiling axes. ie7uhig Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4970 2009-09-14T19:02:00Z 2009-09-14T19:54:04Z Social causes of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest Understanding the web of social groups involved in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is key to containing forest loss, argues a leading Amazon researcher writing in the journal <i>Ecology and Society</i>. Philip Fearnside of the National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA) reviews nine actors that have had significant roles in deforestation and reports differences in why they deforest, where they are active, and how they interact with each other. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4967 2009-09-11T14:46:00Z 2009-09-11T14:51:05Z Brazil to step up efforts to save the cerrado grassland Brazil will try to reduce deforestation of the cerrado, a wooded grassland ecosystem in Brazil that is being destroyed twice as fast as the Amazon rainforest, according to the country's Environment Minister Carlos Minc. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4962 2009-09-10T03:44:00Z 2009-09-23T15:29:35Z World’s only Sumatran rhino to give birth in captivity dies at Cincinnati Zoo Emi, the world’s only Sumatran rhino to give birth in captivity, died on Saturday at the Cincinnati zoo. She successfully gave birth to three offspring, one of which has been released back into the wild in Indonesia. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4959 2009-09-09T17:04:00Z 2009-09-09T18:30:53Z South Korea's frogs have avoided amphibian crisis so far, an interview with Pierre Fidenci <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/DSC_0199-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Frogs are on the edge. Blasted by habitat loss, pollution, and a terrible disease, the chytrid fungus, species are vanishing worldwide and those that remain are clinging to existence, rather than thriving. However, an interview with Pierre Fidenci, President of Endangered Species International (ESI), proves that there are still areas of the world where amphibians remain in abundance. South Korea is not a country that is talked about frequently in conservation circles. Other nations in the region attract far more attention, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. But it was just this neglect that drove Pierre Fidenci to visit the nation and survey the amphibians there. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4957 2009-09-09T14:06:00Z 2009-09-10T04:37:23Z Britain bans palm oil ad campaign <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://travel.mongabay.com/malaysia/150/borneo_4666.JPG" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), a group that regulates advertisements, has again banned "misleading" ads by the palm oil industry, reports the Guardian. ASA ruled that a campaign run by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) makes dubious claims, including that palm oil is the "only product able to sustainably and efficiently meet a larger portion of the world's increasing demand for oil crop-based consumer goods, foodstuffs and biofuels." The ad said criticism over "rampant deforestation and unsound environmental practices" were part of "protectionist agendas" not based on scientific fact. ASA held the ad breached several of its advertising standards codes, including "substantiation," "truthfulness," and "environmental claims." In rebuking the MPOC, the ASA said that the merits of new eco-certification scheme promoted by the palm oil industry is "still the subject of debate" and that the ad's attacks on detractors implied that all criticisms of the palm oil industry "were without a valid or scientific basis." wzthpdc5kq Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4956 2009-09-09T13:58:00Z 2009-09-09T14:06:39Z World Bank's IFC suspends lending to palm oil companies The World Bank has agreed to suspend International Finance Corporation (IFC) funding of the oil palm sector pending the development of safeguards to ensure that lending doesn't cause social or environmental harm, according to a letter by World Bank President Robert Zoellick to NGOs. A recent internal audit found that IFC funding of the Wilmar Group, a plantation developer, violated the IFC's own procedures, allowing commercial concerns to trump environmental and social standards. The findings were championed by environmental and indigenous rights' groups who have criticized World Bank support for industrial oil palm development which they say has driven large-scale destruction of forests in Indonesia, boosting greenhouse gas emissions, endangering rare and charismatic species of wildlife, including the orangutan, and displacing forest communities. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4951 2009-09-08T20:50:00Z 2009-09-09T14:02:07Z Concerns over deforestation may drive new approach to cattle ranching in the Amazon <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://travel.mongabay.com/brazil/150/brazil_0488.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>While you're browsing the mall for running shoes, the Amazon rainforest is probably the farthest thing from your mind. Perhaps it shouldn't be. The globalization of commodity supply chains has created links between consumer products and distant ecosystems like the Amazon. Shoes sold in downtown Manhattan may have been assembled in Vietnam using leather supplied from a Brazilian processor that subcontracted to a rancher in the Amazon. But while demand for these products is currently driving environmental degradation, this connection may also hold the key to slowing the destruction of Earth's largest rainforest. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4954 2009-09-08T19:08:00Z 2009-09-08T20:47:04Z Crowned sifaka population on the verge of local extinction: dispatch from the field <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/troufs/425px-Propithecus_coronatus-1.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>A small group of crowned sifaka lemurs <i>Propithecus coronatus</i> have been located in the corridor d’Amboloando-Dabolava, Miandrivazo district-Madagascar, but are immediately threatened with local extinction. The small, fragmented, and isolated forest shelters a group of only six adults and one baby. Interviews with local people revealed that once several groups of the species resided in the corridor, and even last year, about 20 individuals were still found there. However, within one year, the population dropped from 20 to 6 individuals. Jeremy Hance tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4950 2009-09-08T01:10:00Z 2009-09-08T04:22:26Z Activists target Brazil's largest driver of deforestation: cattle ranching <table align="left"><tr><td><img src="http://photos.mongabay.com/09/0908smeraldi150.jpg" align="left"/></td></tr></table>Perhaps unexpectedly for a group with roots in confrontational activism, Amigos da Terra - Amazônia Brasileira is calling for a rather pragmatic approach to address to cattle ranching, the largest driver of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The solution, says Roberto Smeraldi, founder and director of Amigos da Terra, involves improving the productivity of cattle ranching, thereby allowing forest to recover without sacrificing jobs or income; establishing a moratorium on new clearing; and recognizing the economic values of maintaining the ecological functions of Earth's largest rainforest. Rhett Butler tag:news.mongabay.com,2005:Article/4945 2009-09-07T05:49:00Z 2009-09-07T05:51:19Z Cartels clear-cutting U.S. national parks for marijuana plantations Marijuana growers are chopping down U.S. national forests to establish plantations for illicit drug production, reports the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>. According to an article written by Stephanie Simon and published September 3rd, the recent border crackdown has pushed marijuana cartels to cultivate crops in the United States rather than risk smuggling from Mexico. National forests are especially targeted, with authorities uncovering marijuana farms in 61 national forests across 16 states so far this year, up from 49 forests in 10 states last year. Rhett Butler