The two most popular news articles on mongabay.com in August dealt with the Amazon rainforest.



The first was an interview with Antonio Donato Nobre, an esteemed Brazilian scientist, about a proposal to change the country’s Forest Code. Nobre said politicians have largely failed to consult scientists about the potential environmental and economic impacts of reducing the area of forest landowners are required to preserve on their properties.



The second most read story was the news that scientists have discovered a massive subterranean “river” some 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) under the Amazon River. Calling the formation a “river” turned out to be a bit of a stretch however and the researchers eventually backtracked on their original characterization.



Other popular articles for a month included an extensive interview about India’s Western Ghats, which support a large area of rainforest that is often overlooked despite being located in the world’s second most populous country; a summary of a paper that reviewed some conservation successes; and a post that warned of Madagascar potentially re-authorizing rosewood exports, a move that could reignite logging in the island nation’s rainforest parks.

Most popular mongabay.com news articles – August 2011

1. Science has been nearly silent in Brazil’s Forest Code debate [7086]
2. Scientists discover massive underground river 13,000 feet beneath the Amazon [6774]
3. Balancing agriculture and rainforest biodiversity in India’s Western Ghats [4534]
4. The glass is half-full: conservation has made a difference [3665]
5. Madagascar may authorize exports of illegally-logged rosewood [2602]
6. Meet the just discovered ‘Komodo dragon’ of wasps [2595]
7. Protected areas not enough to save life on Earth [2504]
8. Python explodes after swallowing 6-foot alligator in Florida Everglades [2467]
9. China opens trade in ‘legal’ tiger skins [2293]
10. World deforestation rates and forest cover statistics, 2000-2005 [2093]
11. Amazon rainforest communities added to Google Street View [2036]
12. Majority of Brazilians reject changes in Amazon Forest Code [2027]
13. Africa’s least known cat caught on video [1984]
14. Dole destroying forest in national park for bananas [1983]
15. Lessons from the world’s longest study of rainforest fragments [1899]
16. Rat uses ‘poison arrow’ toxin from tree to defend against predators [1804]
17. Endangered species trafficking: What did Gibson Guitar know? [1799]
18. Cameratraps take global snapshot of declining tropical mammals [1780]
19. Global warming could doom the walrus [1751]
20. Arctic open for exploitation: Obama administration grants Shell approval to drill [1661]
21. The heroic wolf: are wolves the key to saving the Canada lynx? [1640]
22. The real Avatar story: indigenous people fight to save their forest homes from corporate exploitation [1628]
23. Taking corporate sustainability seriously means changing business culture [1607]
24. Uncontacted tribe missing after armed drug dealers storm their forest [1589]
25. Big damage in Papua New Guinea: new film documents how industrial logging destroys lives [1513]
26. Picture of the day: activists rally at White House against tar sands pipeline [1511]
27. A modest proposal for wealthy countries to reforest their land for the common good [1479]
28. Over 80 percent of rediscovered species still face extinction [1464]
29. Innovative program saves wildlife, protects forests, and fights poverty in Africa [1435]
30. Secrets of the Amazon: giant anacondas and floating forests, an interview with Paul Rosolie [1390]
31. Photos: First ever footage of the elusive long-eared jerboa [1353]
32. New species is eel-equivalent of the coelacanth [1263]
33. Could a hurricane hit California? [1226]
34. Humanity knows less than 15 percent of the world’s species [1194]
35. Ironic conservation: APP touts tiger relocation after allegedly destroying tiger’s home [1191]
36. WWF partnering with companies that destroy rainforests, threaten endangered species [1174]
37. New seabird discovered from Hawaii, but no one knows where it lives [1128]
38. Oil horror in Nigeria: 30 years, one billion dollars to clean-up [1115]
39. Why is oil palm replacing tropical rainforests [1093]
40. Wikileaks: US warned of severe corruption in Malaysia’s Sarawak state [1091]
41. Malaysian government to launch RSPO rival for palm oil certification [1085]
42. World’s only pure blue lizard at risk of extinction [1079]
43. Visiting the rainforest – a practical guide [1060]
44. Dubai’s artificial islands have high environmental cost [1052]
45. Indigenous peoples in Suriname still wait for land rights [1044]
46. Future threats to the Amazon rainforest [1039]
47. APP affiliate ‘regrets’ astroturfing on Indonesia deforestation claims [1001]
48. Congo to ‘reforest’ with plantations across one million hectares [995]
49. Leopards losing out to bushmeat hunters in competition for prey [979]
50. Indigenous protestors embark on 300-mile walk to protest Amazon road in Bolivia [963]

Italicized titles represent news articles posted during the month