Saving the Amazon has come at the cost of Cerrado deforestation: study
The benefits of zero-deforestation agreements in the Amazon are being offset by the spillover of deforestation and native vegetation loss into other biomes.
Environmental headlines
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For the two Congos, lessons in a peatland partnership with Indonesia
JAKARTA — Central African countries are taking a lesson from the experiences of Indonesia, suffering from one of the world’s highest deforestation rates, as they look to protect their own…
A lucky child: Mongabay’s origin story (insider)
One of the few benefits of having a father who had to fly each week from San Francisco to meet clients in Hawaii and Alaska during my formative years was…
California’s Tropical Forest Standard could be the state’s most important climate action (commentary)
This week, the California Air Resources Board will meet to decide if it will adopt a set of comprehensive requirements for large-scale programs to reduce tropical deforestation emissions, known as…
‘Not all hope is lost’ as outlook for mountain gorillas brightens
Decades of “extreme” conservation have lifted the mountain gorilla from the edge of extinction, leading the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to change the animal’s status from the…
Oreo maker linked to destruction of orangutan habitat in Indonesia
JAKARTA — A new report has linked Mondelēz International, the food giant behind such iconic snacks as Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers, to large-scale deforestation in Indonesia. The investigation by…
Republic of Congo names new national park, home to gorillas, elephants
The Republic of Congo has officially created its fifth national park, lending protection to great apes, forest elephants and other threatened wildlife. The new Ogooué-Leketi National Park spans 3,500 square…
‘No one is helping us’: Venezuelan conservation crippled by crisis
“To leave my dream was difficult, but I had to do it for my son,” says Ileana Herrera, a former ecologist from Venezuela, now living in Ecuador. Herrera, like many…
Speed trap: Cameras help defuse human-cheetah conflict in Botswana
Botswana’s policy of zero tolerance for poaching and illegal hunting has given it the reputation of valuing wildlife conservation. But an increase in human-wildlife conflict in recent years appears to…
Agroforestry saves soil and boosts livelihoods in Tajikistan
FAIZOBOD, Tajikistan — Mirzoli Azizov, a 54-year-old farmer, is sorting apples from the second harvest this year from his agroforestry gardens in this district 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of…
Audio: A Half-Earth progress report from E.O. Wilson
On this episode, a progress report on the Half-Earth Project direct from legendary conservation biologist E.O. Wilson. Listen here: The Half-Earth Project recently held an event at the American…
PNG to create 7,500 square kilometers of new marine protected areas in Bismarck Sea
Papua New Guinea has announced its commitment to creating 7,500 square kilometers of marine protected areas in the Bismarck Sea by 2021. The government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) made…
Chile: Mining waste continues to be expelled into the sea
Little by little, the ocean floor of Chapaco Bay is being blanketed in sludge. Héctor Zuleta is no longer able to harvest shellfish from among the caves, ridges and woodlands…
Vietnam-EU legal timber agreement signed, but much work remains
HO CHI MINH CITY — The European Union has signed an agreement to support Vietnam’s forest governance improvement goals, aimed at ensuring that the timber it imports from the Southeast…
China restores ban on rhino and tiger parts, for now
China has backtracked on a recent decision to legalize the “controlled” use of rhino and tiger parts for cultural and medicinal use. In an announcement on Oct. 29, the Chinese…
Honduras aims to save vital wildlife corridor from deforestation
Honduras has committed to protecting part of the tropical rainforests found in the Moskitia region, a move that conservation groups say will protect the region’s rich wildlife, carbon stocks and…
Bolsonaro merger of Brazil agriculture and environment ministries in limbo
The president elect’s plan to fuse the ministries has met with staunch resistance from environmentalists, scientists, and even some in the bancada ruralista agribusiness lobby.
The last trees of the Amazon
Alarmed by the entry of poachers who illegally cut down and stole the oldest trees from their territory, members of the Shawi indigenous community organized an assembly this past August…
Indonesia leans on businesses to do more about plastic waste
NUSA DUA, Indonesia — The Indonesian government is set to make consumer goods manufacturers more responsible for managing the waste from their product packaging, in a bid to tackle one…
Satellite technology unites Kenyans against bush fires
NYERI, Kenya - It took nine hours for Margaret Wanjugu and neighbors to put out a fire that razed Gathorongai forest near her home in central Kenya, in 2016. She…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Peru cracks down after environmental defenders’ murders
- Murder of activist in India highlights growing risk to environmental defenders
- Number of murdered environmental activists rose once again in 2017
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
- China increasingly involved in Brazil’s ambitious Amazon rail network
- Amazon and climate science threatened if Bolsonaro elected Brazil’s president (commentary)
- Grainrail: ‘2nd revolution in Brazilian agribusiness’ and Amazon threat
Asian rhinos
- For Javan rhinos, the last holdout may also be a deadly disease hotspot
- ‘At capacity’? A Nepali park reckons with its rhinos
- What’s killing Nepal’s rhinos?
