Jaguar in the Pantanal
Jaguar in the Pantanal. This jaguar came a little too close for comfort on a trip to the Pantanal this past April. The big cat emerged from a swampy area…
Extinctions on the rise in the Galapagos: fishing and global warming devastating islands’ species
We may never see again the Galapagos black-spotted damselfish, the beautiful 24-rayed sunstar, or the Galapagos stringweed. These species from Galapagos waters may all very well be extinct. Other species…
Brazil could halt Amazon deforestation within a decade
Payments from U.S. cap-and-trade, a carbon tax, or a proposed climate change mitigation mechanism could help end Amazon deforestation in Brazil, reducing CO2 emissions 2-5%, by 2020. But Brazil's window…
James Hansen says Copenhagen approach “fundamentally wrong” would be better to “reassess”
James Hansen, one of the world's foremost climatologists, told the Guardian today that he believes the Copenhagen talks are flawed to the point where failure of the talks may be…
Cheap REDD isn’t the best conservation strategy for biodiversity
The lowest-cost approach to compensating reductions in emissions from deforestation and degradation under a proposed UN program (REDD) isn't necessarily the best approach for biodiversity conservation, report researchers writing in…
U.S. cap-and-trade payments could help end Amazon deforestation, reduce CO2 emissions 2-5%
Funds generated under a U.S. cap-and-trade or a broader U.N.-supported scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation ("REDD") could play a critical role in bringing deforestation in…
Forgotten Species: the haunting whistle of the Anjouan scops-owl
Everyone knows the tiger, the panda, the blue whale, but what about the other five to thirty million species estimated to inhabit our Earth? Many of these marvelous, stunning, and…
Coming face-to-face with what may be the last of a species, the Bornean rhino
Borneo rhino. Photo and story by Jeremy Hance. Nothing can really prepare a person for coming face-to-face with what may be the last of a species. I had known for…
Paper provider for fashion gurus drops APP due to deforestation across Indonesia
One by one, the fashion industry's biggest companies are leaving Asian Pulp and Paper (APP)—and deforestation in Indonesia—behind. The newest defector is PAK 2000, a packaging company for fashion products.…
Has Canada become the new climate villain (yes, that’s right, Canada)?
Is Canada really worse than the United States, China, India, and Indonesia on climate change? In 2007 American delegates to a climate summit in Bali were booed outright for obstructing…
Indonesia could double oil palm plantation area
Indonesia has 18 million hectares of land suitable for oil palm cultivation, nearly twice the 9.7 million hectares that have already been allocated for plantations, said Agriculture Minister Suswono said…
Tropical Rainforest in Madagascar
Rainforest in Northeastern Madagascar. While Madagascar's forests have been greatly reduced in extent as a result of generations of clearing for subsistence agriculture (primarily rice and pasture for zebu cattle),…
In absence of measures to address consumption, REDD may fail to protect forests
Rising demand for timber and agricultural products could work against a proposed initiative to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), warns a new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency…
Brazil to push for 10% limit on REDD carbon offsets
Brazil will propose limiting the amount of carbon an industrialized country can offset via a proposed forest conservation initiative to ten percent of their emissions, reports Bloomberg. Brazil, which is…
Not just the polar bear: ten American species that are feeling the heat from global warming
A new report, America’s Hottest Species, highlights a variety of American wildlife that are currently threatened by climate change from a small bird to a coral reef to the world’s…
World leaders falling over themselves to show up at Copenhagen
If you’re a world leader and you won’t be in Copenhagen next week you might feel out of the loop. Currently 98 heads of state have agreed to attend the…
Face-to-face with what may be the last of the world’s smallest rhino, the Bornean rhinoceros
Meeting Tam in Borneo: our last chance to save Asia's two horned rhino Nothing can really prepare a person for coming face-to-face with what may be the last of a…
Blogging wildlife rangers drive microconservation
Ranger blogging network wins accolade for efforts to drive support for conservation. WildlifeDirect, a group that promotes conservation through blogging by rangers and scientists, has won mongabay.com's "Innovation in Conservation…
‘Muppet’ bird
Male scale-crested pygmy tyrant in Costa Rica, 2008 The Scale-crested pygmy tyrant (Lophotriccus pileatus) ranges from Costa Rica to Peru and Venezuela. It is found in subtropical montane and tropical…
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
- To renew or not to renew? African nations reconsider EU fishing deals
- Undercover in a shark fin trafficking ring: Interview with wildlife crime fighter Andrea Crosta
- Twilight zone fishing: Can we fish the ocean’s mesopelagic layer?
- As plastic talks wrap up in Canada, fishers in Indonesia count the costs
Amazon Conservation
- Bird populations are mysteriously declining at an Amazon park in Ecuador & beyond
- New ban threatens traditional fishers in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state
- Deforestation haunts top Peruvian reserve and its Indigenous communities
- Amid record-high fires across the Amazon, Brazil loses primary forests
Land rights and extractives
- Impunity and pollution abound in DRC mining along the road to the energy transition
- Women weave a culture of resistance and agroecology in Ecuador’s Intag Valley
- Hyundai ends aluminum deal with Adaro Minerals following K-pop protest
- Brazil’s illegal gold trade takes a hammering, but persists underground
Endangered Environmentalists
- Final cheetah conservationists freed in Iran, but the big cat’s outlook remains grim
- 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
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- 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
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
