Using space tech to improve palm oil transparency in Colombia
MEDELLIN, Colombia — Keeping an eye on what is going on out in the vast countryside of Colombia’s palm oil plantations is a challenge. But that may be about to…
Environmental headlines
Mongabay is a non-profit provider of conservation and environmental science news.
Video analysis shows baby birds avoid predators while building strength
Every year, millions of baby birds leave the security of their nests, flying off into the uncertainty of the outside world. A single chick’s fledging takes just a moment, and…
Activists blast Myanmar timber deal: ‘There is no transparency at all’
The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is sounding the alarm over what it calls a “shadowy agreement” made by the Myanmar government to allow the logging and export of 5,000…
In other news: Environmental stories from around the web, September 21, 2018
Tropical forests People settled Madagascar thousands of years before previously thought, meaning the island’s first human inhabitants didn’t cause the extinction of the elephant bird (Science Magazine). Nestlé, one of…
New species of blood-red coral found off Panama coast
Marine ecologists have described a bright-red species of coral from Panama that’s new to science. The researchers found the coral growing at a depth of 45 to 50 meters (148…
Scientists uncover what makes deep soil either a carbon sink or source
Researchers say they have discovered the conditions that determine whether deep soil acts as a source of carbon emissions, releasing heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, or as a sink,…
Activists say Indonesia dragging its heels on indigenous rights
JAKARTA — Indigenous rights activists in Indonesia have expressed concern that the government is stalling the passage of a long-awaited bill on indigenous rights by tangling the legislative process in…
Global wildlife trafficking still a ‘lucrative criminal activity,’ expert says
When it comes to the multi-billion dollar global illegal wildlife trafficking market, security experts note a "threat convergence" where trafficking and organized crime meet. Because of that convergence, trafficking in illegal…
1984: the meeting that changed everything for Sumatran rhinos
This is the first article in our four-part series “The Rhino Debacle." It’s hardly the most likely place to meet a Sumatran rhino. But as you enter Zimmer Hall at…
Wildlife detectives link smuggled African elephant ivory to 3 major cartels
Around 40,000 African elephants are illegally killed for their tusks every year. But catching ivory poachers, and successfully convicting them, has remained incredibly hard. In 2016, for instance, Kenyan businessman…
Indonesian president signs 3-year freeze on new oil palm licenses
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has signed a moratorium on new licenses for oil palm plantations. The presidential instruction, signed on Sept. 19, will remain in place for no more than…
Indonesia’s Teater Potlot takes on the plight of the Sumatran tiger
PALEMBANG, Indonesia — For those worried about the plight of the Sumatran tiger, of which only a few hundred remain, concern typically flows from a sense that all life is…
Deep reefs were not spared by 2016 mass bleaching event on Great Barrier Reef
New research finds that the mass bleaching event that led to the death of 30 percent of shallow-water corals on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016 also had a substantial…
As turtles go, so go their ecosystems
Turtles were once a tough group of animals. Sea turtles survived the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. But the modern descendants of this…
Connect the dots: Cerrado soy drives inequality to provide EU with chicken
Traditional communities in Brazil’s savannah, lacking land deeds, have been displaced by large-scale soy growers, and forced to resettle in impoverished cities like Campos Lindos.
Indonesian province calls time-out on mining
MAUMERE, Indonesia — A newly inaugurated governor in Indonesia has called a time-out on mining in his province, citing a lack of benefits for residents from the extractive industry. “We…
Crop losses to insects will accelerate as the globe warms: study
Insects already eat between 5 and 20 percent of the most important grain crops produced around the world — and new research finds that they could be responsible for even…
Audio: How the social sciences can help conservationists save species
On this episode, we take a look at how the social sciences can boost conservation efforts. Listen here: Our guest is Diogo Verissimo, a Postdoctoral Fellow with the University…
Agroforestry ‘a good investment’: Mongabay’s Washington Post op-ed (commentary)
Mongabay editor Erik Hoffner wrote about the mismatch in funding priorities for climate mitigation solutions for the Washington Post’s global edition, the World Post, on September 11. Too often, he wrote,…
Slave labor found at Starbucks-certified Brazil coffee plantation
Raid rescues 18 workers from Minas Gerais farm holding good practice seals. Starbucks denies buying beans there in recent years, though its certifier approved the farm.
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Murder of activist in India highlights growing risk to environmental defenders
- Number of murdered environmental activists rose once again in 2017
- Indonesia to investigate death of journalist being held for defaming palm oil company
Indonesias forest guardians
- Papuan chef Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter
- In eastern Indonesia, a forest tribe pushes back against miners and loggers
- Faith in the forest helps Indonesia’s Dayaks keep plantations, loggers at bay
Amazon infrastructure
- Brazilian elections and the environment: where top candidates stand
- Community-run trading posts help Amazon forest people reverse rural exodus
- Ruralists in Brazilian congress put nation’s protected areas at risk
Asian rhinos
- 1984: the meeting that changed everything for Sumatran rhinos
- In protecting the Javan rhino, locals gain a ‘more meaningful life’
- Rhino poop gives villagers in India a conservation incentive
