Atamato Madrandele, 1969 - 2012 Atamato Madrandele, Chief Warden of Upemba National Park, was ambushed and killed December 16, 2012 by Mai-Mai militia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,…

Below is a quick review of some of the biggest environmental stories of 2012. The "top stories" are listed in no particular order. Scientists: we're reaching a tipping point (Hance)…

Two Latin American companies have won the WWF Switzerland Tropical Forest Challenge, a competition that aims to highlight and support for-profit entities that have a positive impact on conserving tropical…

The Ruby-eyed pit viper (Trimeresurus rubeus) was discovered in the forest of Vietnam’s Cat Tien national park. Photograph: Peter Paul van Dijk/Darwin Initiative. Some 126 new species were described in…

Yellow land planaria on Peucang Island, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012. All of these…

Deforestation near Rimba Raya in Central Kalimantan. Photo by Rhett Butler. The Indonesian government's announcement at climate talks in Doha that it had approved the country's forest conservation project under…

Google.org, Google Corp's philanthropic arm, earlier this month pledged $5 million toward efforts combat wildlife poaching. The grant is going to the World Wildlife Fund to help the conservation giant…

Amur Falcon. Photo courtesy of Conservation India It is said that the price of "freedom and justice" is constant vigilance. It seems the same can be said of conservation and…

Brazil's Attorney General Office has filed a lawsuit against an Irish company and an indigenous group for unlicensed sales of carbon credits generated from an reducing emissions from deforestation and…

Beach on Peucang Island, Indonesia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012. All of these photos were…

Forest in the West Fork of Oak Creek, Coconino National Forest, Arizona. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures…

Stream frog on Nosy Mangabe. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012. All of these photos were…

Absent of deforestation, Amazon rainforest might survive global warming. Estimated genetic ages of trees in the study. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Some Amazon rainforest tree species are more than…

An Indonesian environmental group has taken the unusual step of asking to be named as a co-defendant in a case brought against the Aceh government by a palm oil company…

Diego Suarez Baobab (Adansonia suarezensis) in Ankarana Special Reserve. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012. All…

Mating frogs in the Borneo rainforest. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012. All of these photos…

Oil palm plantation in peninsular Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Palm oil is widely acknowledged as one of the most important drivers of deforestation and forest diminishment in Southeast…

Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas and other children's books sold by publisher HarperCollins show traces of rainforest fiber and are therefore linked to deforestation in Indonesia, says the Rainforest Action Network…

Researchers have described a new species of slow loris, a type of primate that is imperiled by the pet trade. The Kayan loris (Nycticebus kayan) is described in the December…

The canopy raft in position for arthropod collection at San Lorenzo. Image courtesy of Roger Le Guen, Laboratory Copyright: Panacoco Researchers in Panama have published the results of the most…

Rice field in Indonesia Nearly 90 percent of Indonesians in East Kalimantan and Central Java are aware of climate change, reports a study published in Nature Climate Change. In a…

Climate Central says there is a "99.99999999 percent chance that 2012 will be the hottest year ever recorded in the continental U.S." 2012 will almost certainly be the hottest year…

Indian one-horned rhinos. Photo by Rhett Butler. Royal Malaysian Customs have just announced the seizure of 24 tons of ivory in Port Klang. This is the largest-ever seizure of ivory…

Abismo de Anhumas cavern. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012. All of these photos were taken…

Backlit forest dragon in Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012. All of these photos were…

Photo by Rhett Butler. Malaysian authorities made their largest-ever ivory bust after uncovering 24 tons of "white gold" hidden in crates designed to look like stacks of sawn wood. The…

Rhino with its horn sawn off for protection. The report says profits from wildlife trafficking are used to "purchase weapons, finance civil conflicts and underwrite terrorist-related activities." It adds that…

Moth larvae munching on a host plant. Photo by: Tom Corcoran. Poaching is a major threat to endangered lemurs in some parts of Madagascar, but a group has come up…

A biologist on vacation in Malaysian Borneo caught one of the world's rarest cats on video for only the second time, reports the BBC. Jyrki Hokkanen, a Finnish biologist, in…

Kaleidoscopic image revealing the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest. Each color represents different chemical signatures, revealing information about biodiversity and growth rates. Photo courtesy of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory. Severe…