Encoded in the genes: Scientists devise a ‘lifespan clock’ for vertebrates
There’s some uncertainty about his exact age at death, but it’s now been confirmed that “Nandy,” who suffered a crushing blow to his head as a youth, lived to a…
Environmental headlines
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Analysis: The Tanah Merah project is a bellwether for Jokowi’s permit review
This article was co-published with The Gecko Project. When Indonesian government officials received a credible allegation that the permits underpinning a giant oil palm plantation project in Papua province had…
Conservation biologist and wildtech journalist Sue Palminteri, 1965-2019
Whether it was radio-collaring elephants across the savannas of South Africa, competing internationally alongside the Israeli national team in tennis, tracking saki monkeys through the rainforest in the sweltering mid-day…
Vanishing sea ice in the Arctic could shake up seabird migrations
For seabirds, an Arctic Ocean with less sea ice could provide some tantalizing alternatives to the long-haul flights that some undertake each year. In a recent study, ecologist Manon Clairbaux…
Our fires weren’t as bad as in the Amazon, Indonesian officials claim
JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has attempted to downplay the scale of its land and forest fires this year by saying things weren’t as bad as in the Amazon or…
The Sri Lankan legume: Extinct, rediscovered, and now at risk again (commentary)
COLOMBO — The recent rediscovery of the endemic plant known as the Sri Lanka legume by three young research scientists in a locality in Sri Lanka’s western district of Gampaha…
Amazon deforestation paces ahead of recent historical norm
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is continuing to pace ahead of recent historical norms despite global outcry over ongoing destruction of Earth's largest rainforest, reveals data released by Brazil's national…
It’s time for Climate Bonds Initiative to scrap its hydro certification scheme (commentary)
The world urgently needs to embrace effective financial incentives to arrest the climate crisis, but attempts to greenwash hydropower are counterproductive and must be abandoned. As world leaders, industry groups,…
Orca grandmothers help improve survival odds of their grandkids, study finds
Most animals die after they’re done reproducing. But a handful of species, including humans and some whales, go through menopause, continuing to live long past their reproductive period. Female orcas,…
COP25: Laura Vargas inspires with power of faith in defense of forests
Even as delegates to COP25, the Madrid climate summit, sidestep the environmental and human rights goals of the Paris Agreement, a godly 71-year-old woman steps up.
Indonesia to capture 3 wild Sumatran rhinos to add to breeding population
EAST LAMPUNG, Indonesia — Officials in Indonesia say they hope to capture three Sumatran rhinos from the wild for a recently expanded sanctuary where experts are carrying out breeding attempts…
Revealed: Government officials say permits for mega-plantation in Papua were falsified
This article was co-published with The Gecko Project. Indonesian government officials have alleged that permits underpinning a multi-billion dollar plantation project in Papua province were falsified, leading to the criminal…
Killings of environmental defenders on the rise in the Philippines
MANILA — Named the most dangerous country in the world for land and environmental defenders, the Philippines has become an even deadlier place for activists in 2019, with 46 recorded…
Hopes dim as COP25 delegates dicker over Article 6 and world burns: critics
Negotiators drafting Paris Agreement Article 6 rules appear to be assuring loopholes to up carbon emissions, turn forests into plantations, and failing to protect human rights.
A celebratory kind of revolution: Peruvian villagers hold a bird festival (commentary)
They left at five o’clock in the morning and traveled all day, sitting in their dugout canoes called peke-peke under the punishing tropical heat — all to attend a meeting.…
Evidence ‘unfounded’ against NGO volunteers accused of setting Amazon fires
“Don’t give money to NGOs!” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told viewers during a live stream on November 28. His urging came following the arrest of four volunteer firefighters belonging to…
Coca farms close in on protected areas, isolated tribes in Peruvian Amazon
ATALAYA, Peru — Pascual cuts the motor and our dugout canoe glides below a massive tree trunk suspended a few feet above the river. I motion to the bank. “We…
Newly spotted calves boost Javan rhino population to 72
JAKARTA — The global population of the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros has increased to 72 after four new calves were spotted in the past several months. Rhino experts have welcomed…
Time is running out for Southeast Asia
On Nov. 23, the last Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in Malaysia died. Named Iman, she’d lived in captivity in the Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo for just over five…
Do birds try to shout down airplanes? The evidence suggests they do
It’s sometimes easy to forget that birds have ears, craftily concealed as they are. Which is why the thunderous passage of airplanes sends ripples of disquiet in their ranks. Now,…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Iran sentences eight conservationists convicted of spying
- Watchdog denounces arrests of four anti-mining activists in Indonesia
- Activists fighting for their lands swept up in Philippines crackdown
Indonesias forest guardians
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Amazon infrastructure
- Brazil works behind scene to greenlight Manaus-Boa Vista transmission line
- Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act
- Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
Asian rhinos
- Indonesia to capture 3 wild Sumatran rhinos to add to breeding population
- Newly spotted calves boost Javan rhino population to 72
- Malaysia’s last Sumatran rhino dies, leaving Indonesia as the final refuge
