A post about the giant crocodile captured in the Philippines was the most popular article on mongabay.com’s news section during the month of September. The 21-foot (6.4-meter) saltwater crocodile was captured in Agusan del Sur wetland on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao after a three-week hunt following the disappearance of a farmer in the town of Bunawan. The giant croc will be kept at a nature park in Bunawan, where it is expected to be the star attraction among other wildlife found in the marsh. The crocodile is believed to be the biggest ever captured, exceeding a 5.48-meter (18-foot) male which lives at a zoo in Australia.
The croc post was followed by a more substantive article about an oil palm plantation under development in Cameroon. Developed over a six-month period, a more concise version of Palm oil, poverty, and conservation collide in Cameroon first appeared on Yale e360. The project is controversial due to its location and the involvement of an NGO linked to the developer. But the plantation could bring economic activity to an otherwise impoverished region.
Gibson Guitars’ ongoing public relations campaign against an investigation conducted under the Lacey Act also continued to be a popular story. Gibson Guitars’ CEO Henry Juszkiewicz has become a darling of the Tea Party by claiming political motivations for a federal investigation into allegations of illegal timber trafficking by his company. According to a criminal complaint, Gibson Guitars was aware that it was sourcing wood from a “grey” market: Madagascar. Other instrument markers avoided Madagascar for that very reason.
A review of more than 100 studies on biodiversity in old-growth tropical forests emphasized the importance of conserving untouched rainforests. The paper, published in Nature, found consistently that biodiversity level were substantially lower in disturbed forests.
Finally an interview about e-waste in Ghana rounded out the top five most popular news stories for the month.
Most popular mongabay.com news articles – September 2011
- Authorities capture the biggest crocodile ever recorded [14713]
- Palm oil, poverty, and conservation collide in Cameroon [8134]
- Background: the Lacey Act and the Fish & Wildlife Service raid on Gibson Guitars [5706]
- Old-growth forests are irreplaceable for sustaining biodiversity [4764]
- Children on the frontlines: the e-waste epidemic in Africa [4520]
- Loving the tapir: pioneering conservation for South America’s biggest animal [4277]
- 62% of deforested Amazon land ends up as cattle pasture [3757]
- New map reveals the most biodiverse place on Earth, but already threatened by oil [2958]
- Could blockbuster animated movies help save life on Earth? [2792]
- World deforestation rates and forest cover statistics, 2000-2005 [2633]
- Future threats to the Amazon rainforest [2202]
- Big damage in Papua New Guinea: new film documents how industrial logging destroys lives [1866]
- One of world’s rarest cats caught on video for the first time [1832]
- How to save the Amazon rainforest [1801]
- Northwest Passage open as sea ice falls to lowest cover ever recorded [1738]
- New plan to restore 150 million hectares of forest [1672]
- Nobel laureate and Green Belt Movement founder Wangari Maathai dead at 71 [1633]
- World’s oldest person discovered in Amazon rainforest [1617]
- Sowing the seeds to save the Patagonian Sea [1574]
- Why is oil palm replacing tropical rainforests [1562]
- Logged rainforests are a cheap conservation option [1488]
- Global warming could doom the walrus [1472]
- Climate test for Obama: 1,252 people arrested over notorious oil pipeline [1444]
- Visiting the rainforest – a practical guide [1429]
- Dubai’s artificial islands have high environmental cost [1418]
- Deutsche Bank faces money-laundering investigation over dealings with Malaysian chief minister [1400]
- Featured video: Sumatran species spring to life on video camera traps [1399]
- Activists worldwide push for leaving the fossil fuel age behind [1387]
- World’s only pure blue lizard at risk of extinction [1325]
- Organic farming can be more profitable in the long-term than conventional agriculture [1303]
- Meet the just discovered ‘Komodo dragon’ of wasps [1267]
- Germany proves the promise of renewable energy: hits 20 percent renewables [1243]
- Endangered species trafficking: What did Gibson Guitar know? [1208]
- Controversial study finds intensive farming partnered with strict protected areas is best for biodiversity [1208]
- Indigenous people blockade river against ‘murderous’ oil company [1191]
- China’s new forests aren’t necessarily green [1182]
- Famine in Africa: Can Reforestation Improve Food Security? [1178]
- Mass walrus haul-outs, polar bear cub mortality linked to climate change [1167]
- Converting rainforest to cropland in Africa reduces rainfall [1139]
- Coral reefs decimated by 2050, Great Barrier Reef’s coral 95% dead [1098]
- Secrets of the Amazon: giant anacondas and floating forests, an interview with Paul Rosolie [1097]
- Scientists confirm ancient Egyptian knowledge: Nile crocodile is two species [1089]
- The heroic wolf: are wolves the key to saving the Canada lynx? [1074]
- Indonesia to launch REDD+ agency to tackle deforestation [1072]
- Peru president signs indigenous rights act into law [1054]
- Tribal leader to the UN: Indigenous peoples of the Amazon are in danger [1039]
- Conserving and Valuing Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity: Economic, Institutional and Social Challenges [977]
- Malaysian court blocks rainforest tribes’ fight against mega-dam in Borneo [971]
- The real Avatar story: indigenous people fight to save their forest homes from corporate exploitation [964]
- Demise of passenger pigeon may be linked to rise of Lyme disease [958]
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