With the world's eyes on the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, many are beginning to ponder the rightness of not just America's, but the world's dependence on fossil…

A guide trekking barefoot in the rainforests of Gabon. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler, 2006. To see more photos from Gabon: 2006 Trip to Gabon.

By the end of the year, Malaysia will begin enforcing its new Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 including stiffer penalties for poaching and other wildlife-related crimes, such as first time punishments…

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the past April was the warmest globally since record taking began in the late 19th Century. Combining both land and ocean…

A new NASA image of the Gulf oil spill shows a trail of oil extending hundreds of kilometers south and then southeast from the spill. At points this new oil…

In what is being heralded as the 'world's largest conservation agreement' 20 Canadian forestry companies and nine environmental organizations have announced an agreement covering 72 million hectares of the Canadian…

An Oustalet's chameleon wanders across a sandy landscape near Isalo, Madagascar. This species is one of the world's largest chameleons. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler, 2009. A new study finds…

Norway will provide up to $1 billion to Indonesia to help reduce deforestation and forest degradation, reports The Jakarta Post. Agus Purnomo, head of the secretariat of Indonesia's National Climate…

When asked to rank what was most important to them children across the world chose watching TV and playing video games ahead of saving the environment, according to an Airbus…

Employing satellite data from NASA and Google Earth, Guofan Shao, a professor of geo-eco-informatics at Purdue University, has established that North Korea is logging Mount Paekdu Biosphere Reserve. Since North…

Florida had an unwelcome visitor today as tar balls washed on shore at Fort Zachary State Park in Key West, reports Reuters. Local officials fear the tar balls—small blobs of…

A Hamadryas butterfly in Honduras, 2004. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler These butterflies are also known as Cracker butterflies, because males make a cracking noise to attract females. To see…

Menurut sebuah penelitian baru dari Organisasi Pangan dan Pertanian PBB (FAO), tidak kurang dari 3 persen emisi gas rumah kaca di dunia berasal dari produksi susu. Dengan cakupan hewan-hewan yang…

Although urban Britain is not the native habitat of the Asian elephant, the well-loved pachyderm has invaded London for the summer. Raising awareness and funds for the threatened Asian elephant,…

Since winning the prestigious 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize in Asia, Tuy Sereivathana has visited the US and Britain, even shaking hands with US President Barack Obama, yet in his home…

Nestle to work to rid products of "deforestation footprint". After a two month campaign against Nestle for its use of palm oil linked to rainforest destruction spearheaded by Greenpeace, the…

The Foja Mountains on the Indonesian side of New Guinea have proven a biological treasure trove that just keeps spilling riches. Two-and-a-half years ago the region—dubbed Indonesia's 'lost world'—made news…

French conservationist, Stephanie Vergniault stands between two soldiers in the central African nation of Chad. Before them lies the skull of a poached elephant. Photo courtesy of: Stephanie Vergniault. Amid…

Mired in populist demagoguery and environmentally-unfriendly resource extraction, the South American left is in dire need of ideological renovation. But, where is the likely inspiration to come from? You could…

Lizards have evolved a variety of methods to escape predators: some will drop their tail if caught, many have coloring and patterning that blends in with their environment, a few…

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is taking its toll on the region's wildlife: brown pelicans, sea turtles, several species of fish, and now dolphins have been found…

A black-maned lion in Kenya. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Frustrated Kenyan herders are lacing corpses of cattle with poison to kill lions in revenge for the great cats attacking…

Chad's few remaining elephants are "survivors of a 'holocaust'". [warning: graphic images of killed elephants] Stephanie Vergniault, head of SOS Elephants in Chad, says she has seen more beheaded corpses…

A girl from the indigenous group the Arhuaco in Colombia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon have faced centuries of abuse, exploitation, and land-grabbing.…

Eight lions have been poisoned to death in a month in Kenya, according to conservation organization WildlifeDirect. Locals, frustrated by lions killing their livestock, have taken to poisoning the great…

Poachers have killed a Javan rhino in Vietnam for its horn according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). With only an estimated 60 individuals left the Javan rhino is the…

A group of western lowland gorillas in the Congo Basin. Photo courtesy of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). A new study in PLoS ONE shows that protected areas are essential…

Recently, I got an invitation to attend an interesting panel dealing with indigenous issues on Earth Day. The talk, held at the Paley Center for Media in midtown Manhattan, would…

Japan, the host nation for the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit in October, has suggested adding a few more years to the UN's awareness-raising efforts on the biodiversity crisis. Instead of having…

A joint report released today by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the UN Environment Program (UNEP) finds that our natural support systems are on the verge of collapsing…