Jane Goodall on Leonardo DiCaprio, her 85th birthday, and the need for hope
To honor Jane Goodall, the City of Los Angeles declared her 85th birthday, April 3, 2019, to be “Dr. Jane Goodall Day” and hosted a ceremony where the conservation icon…
Environmental headlines
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New paper proposes a science-based ‘Global Deal for Nature’
A paper published in Science today outlines a new “Global Deal for Nature,” officially launching an effort to establish science-based conservation targets covering all of planet Earth, including terrestrial, freshwater,…
Cities may save some species from extinction, but they don’t save species’ ecological functions
The responses of wildlife species when their natural habitat is converted into urban areas are many and varied. Urbanization is one of the leading causes of biodiversity loss around the…
New ancient, giant carnivore described from bones in museum drawer
For a long time, some of the fossil remains that had been excavated from a site in western Kenya in the late 1970s languished in a drawer at Nairobi National…
In other news: Environmental stories from around the web, April 19, 2019
Tropical forestsThe American Museum of Natural History has withdrawn its hosting of an event by a lobby group honoring Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has moved to marginalize native peoples…
Singapore acquits trader in world’s biggest rosewood bust, worth $50m
Singapore’s highest court has acquitted a businessman who brought Malagasy rosewood valued at $50 million into the city-state. The verdict on April 8 reversed the ruling of a lower court…
Peru’s first autonomous indigenous gov’t strikes back against deforestation
PUERTO GALILEA, Peru — In 2009, special decrees signed by then-president Alan García opened up vast swaths of Peruvian indigenous territory to resource exploitation. Indigenous groups in the northern portion of…
Lift-off for thermal-imaging system to estimate wildlife populations
A prototype system to identify rare species in real time using thermal-imaging cameras mounted on unmanned aircraft, or drones, passed its latest test when it successfully identified orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)…
Sri Lanka calls for increased protection for endemic lizards
Sri Lanka will push for international protection of its endemic lizards threatened by smuggling when it hosts a global biodiversity trade summit next month. When the 18th meeting of the Conference…
U.S. companies implicated in illegal timber trade from West Africa
An illegal timber trade supply chain stretching from Chinese companies operating out of two countries in West Africa to major hardware stores located throughout the U.S. has been uncovered. A…
Illegal charcoal trade threatens Myanmar’s remaining mangroves
RANONG, Thailand — Beyond a metal gate in Ranong, a port town in southern Thailand, a warehouse is filled nearly wall to wall and floor to ceiling with bags of…
Rise in crocodile sightings linked to habitat degradation in Indonesia
AMBON, Indonesia — Last February, a crocodile in eastern Indonesia crawled right into a trap. The animal, a 2-meter-long (6.6-foot) saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), was suspect to have preyed on…
Swelling amount of plastic in the ocean confirmed by new study
Scientists have fretted over the expanding masses of plastic in the ocean for decades. Most have seen the rise with their own eyes, and yet the available datasets typically don’t…
Omura’s whale much more widespread across the globe than previously thought
The global range of the world’s most recently discovered large whale species is starting to come into focus — as are the man-made threats to the species. Salvatore Cerchio of…
Shade or sun? Forest structure affects tree responses to Amazon drought
Small trees in the shade of the canopy are able to thrive during dry spells in the Brazilian Amazon, but those exposed to the sun in forest clearings suffer.
China seizes over 2,700 elephant tusks in massive bust
In one of the biggest busts in recent years, Chinese officials have seized 2,748 elephant tusks weighing more than 7 tonnes, the General Administration of Customs announced earlier this week.…
IUCN calls for moratorium on projects impacting rarest great ape species
JAKARTA — The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has called for a halt to all projects that threaten the world’s rarest great ape species, the Tapanuli orangutan. “IUCN…
A park in Bolivia bears the brunt of a plan to export electricity
The peacefulness of Monte Punku is disrupted every day at lunchtime, when many vehicles and hundreds of workers burst into this town located 188 kilometers (117 miles) from the city…
Audio: Tool-using, ground-nesting chimp culture discovered in DR Congo
On today’s episode, we talk to primatologist Cleve Hicks, who recently led a research team that discovered a new tool-using chimp culture in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Listen here:…
Amazon could be biggest casualty of US-China Trade war, researchers warn
If Brazil alone were to cover the US-China soy deficit, land area dedicated to soy in Brazil could increase by 39 percent, with a loss of up to 13 million hectares of forest.
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Arson attack in Indonesia leaves activist shaken
- For embattled environmental defenders, a reprieve of sorts in 2018
- 7 convicted of killing Honduran indigenous activist Berta Cáceres
Indonesias forest guardians
- In Bali, a village hews to unwritten rules to manage its forest
- With the legal rights to their forest secure, an indigenous community plans for the future
- Architects bring bamboo revival to Indonesian village
Amazon infrastructure
- Leading Amazon dam rights activist, spouse and friend murdered in Brazil
- Madeira River dams may spell doom for Amazon’s marathon catfish: Studies
- Brazil to open indigenous reserves to mining without indigenous consent
Asian rhinos
- To rescue Sumatran rhinos, Indonesia starts by counting them first
- No rhino census this year as Nepal runs short of funds for survey
- Planning without action will see the Javan rhino go extinct (commentary)
