Plastic Vortexes Leaching Chemicals into World’s Oceans
While scientists have acknowledged the existence of billions of pounds of plastic containers, Styrofoam, and similar waste have created massive oceanic trash vortexes (floating islands of garbage), little is known…
Lion population in Kenya could disappear in 10 to 20 years
The Kenyan Wildlife Service recently announced that massive declines in lion population may lead to their disappearance from the region within less than 2 decades. Kenya currently has an estimated…
Hardly indestructible, plastics begin decomposing in ocean within a year, spreading harmful chemicals
No escape from mercury for US fish
Newly discovered deep sea worms throw bioluminescent ‘bombs’
Rehabilitation not enough to solve orangutan crisis in Indonesia
Growing numbers of "palm oil orphans" in rehab centers present a challenge to conservationists. NOTE: A shorter version of this article was published on Yale e360 in June. A baby…
Appalling photos reveal lemur carnage in Madagascar [warning: graphic images]
As governance collapses and aid disappears, commercial poaching emergesUpdate 13:00 PDT New pictures released by Conservation International depict a troubling development in Madagascar: the emergence of a commercial bushmeat market…
Weak forest definition may undermine REDD efforts
The weak definition of what constitutes forest under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) puts the effectiveness of a proposed mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and…
Brazil’s ‘Obama’ weighs presidential bid
Marina Silva, the charismatic rubber tapper who went on to become senator and Environment Minister, is weighing a presidential bid in Brazil's 2010 election, according to multiple reports. Political observers…
Camping in the Okavango Delta in Botswana
Idaho to allow 25 percent of its wolf population to be killed in one season
Record global ocean temperature in July
The world's ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for July, breaking the previous record set in 1998, reports NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. At 62.56°F (16.99°C), ocean temperatures…
50 of the world’s most endangered crocodiles released into the wild in the Philippines
Biofuel company eyes dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico for creating fish-powered fuel
'Dead zones' in the ocean are called such for a reason. Every year agricultural run-off, especially fertilizer, floods the oceans with an abundance of nutrients leading to algae blooms, i.e.…
New center for studying temperate rainforests announced in Alaska
Temperate rainforests will soon have a new center in Juneau, Alaska. It is hoped that the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center (ACRC) will instigate new research and educational opportunities. The center…
World Bank violated environmental rules in lending to palm oil companies, finds internal audit
A coalition of indigenous rights' organizations and green groups is calling on the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) to suspend lending to oil palm plantation developers over revelations by…
World’s rarest tree kangaroo gets help from those who once hunted it
An interview with Jim and Jean Thomas of the Tenkile Conservation Alliance The world's rarest tree kangaroo is in the midst of a comeback in a remote part of Papua…
Guyana uses aggressive deforestation baseline in its plan to seek carbon payments
Guyana's deforestation projections under its proposal for seeking carbon payments for conserving its forests are raising questions, according to commentary published in Stabroek News. Janette Bulkan writes that the President…
Economic crisis threatens conservation programs and endangered species, an interview with Paula Kahumbu of WildlifeDirect
Founded in 2004 by legendary conservationist Richard Leakey, WildlifeDirect is an innovative member of the conservation community. WildlifeDirect is really a meta-organization: it gathers together hundreds of conservation initiatives who…
China moves forward on global warming: top scientists recommend emissions peak in 2030
In a move that many have seen as a step forward for China in terms of its willingness to combat climate change, the nation’s top climatologists have released a report…
Sears catalogue continues to harm boreal forest and caribou
Sears Holding Company, most known for their ubiquitous catalogues, continues to stall on crafting a more environmental paper policy, according to the nonprofit environmental organization ForestEthics. Sears’ long delay to…
Oil companies in the UK are big users of palm oil biodiesel
British motorists are unwittingly big consumers of palm oil produced on rainforest lands in southeast Asia, reports The Times. A dozen oil companies provided 123 million liters of palm oil…
Forest fires set by Borneo dam developer contributes to haze in Malaysia, Singapore
The developer of a massive hydroelectric project in Borneo plans to set fire to thousands hectares of logged over rainforest in the dam area, contributing to polluting haze already blanketing…
Saving the tsingy forests in Madagascar
After the success of their Sahafina Forest project, Biodiversity Conservation Madagascar is now branching out to the tsingy forest of Beanka, a project set to launch in October this year.…
Cadbury dumps palm oil after consumer protests
Cadbury New Zealand, responding to widespread consumer protests, will stop adding palm oil to its milk chocolate products, reports the New Zealand Herald. The candy-maker substituted palm oil and other…
Photos reveal illegal logging near uncontacted natives in Peru
Ariel photos show proof of illegal logging for mahogany occurring in a Peruvian reserve set aside for uncontacted natives. The photos, taken by Chris Fagan from Round River Conservation Studies,…
Examining monkey tools: archaeology expands to include non-human primates
Primate archaeology: old science gets new members Archaeology, the study of ancient cultures and their artifacts, has always been confined to the technology of humans and direct human ancestors. However,…
Da Vinci’s lion comes back to life
In 1515 Leonardo Da Vinci, artist and engineer, invented a mechanical lion that was given as a gift to Francois I, then King of France. The original was lost, but…
Police face murder charges in killing of indigenous protesters in Peru
A federal prosecutor in Peru filed murder charges against two police generals and 15 other officers over the deaths of indigenous protesters at a roadblock in June, reports the Associated…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Bolivia’s El Curichi Las Garzas protected area taken over by land-grabbers
- Authorities struggle to protect Bolivian national park from drug-fueled deforestation
- Poverty and plantations: Nigerian reserve struggles against the odds
- Logging, road construction continue to fuel forest loss in Papua New Guinea
Oceans
- Warming seas push India’s fishers into distant, and more dangerous, waters
- No protection from bottom trawling for seamount chain in northern Pacific
- Annual ocean conference raises $11.3b in pledges for marine conservation
- Caribbean startups are turning excess seaweed into an agroecology solution
Amazon Conservation
- Amid record-high fires across the Amazon, Brazil loses primary forests
- A web of front people conceals environmental offenders in the Amazon
- Brazil boosts protection of Amazon mangroves with new reserves in Pará state
- Cross-border Indigenous efforts in Peru & Brazil aim to protect isolated groups
Land rights and extractives
- Hyundai ends aluminum deal with Adaro Minerals following K-pop protest
- Brazil’s illegal gold trade takes a hammering, but persists underground
- Maluku bone collector unearths troubling consequence of coastal abrasion
- New FPIC guide designed to help protect Indigenous rights as mineral mining booms
Endangered Environmentalists
- Indonesian activists face jail over FB posts flagging damage to marine park
- Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
Conservation Effectiveness
- The conservation sector must communicate better (commentary)
- Thailand tries nature-based water management to adapt to climate change
- Forest restoration to boost biomass doesn’t have to sacrifice tree diversity
- How scientists and a community are bringing a Bornean river corridor back to life
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest