Indigenous groups plan to sue the government of Peru over the expansion of a oil concession they say intrudes on their native lands. The National Association of Amazon Indians in…

Elephant slaughtered at Galana Ranch. Photo by G. Cullen. This week the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) announced a 14% decline in elephants in the Samburu/Laikipia ecosystem over the last 4…

Canopy of a Banyan tree in Hawaii. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012. All of these…

Uroplatus gecko in Madagascar. 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…

Kinabatangan River in Malaysian 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…

AN INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT WALLACE, AUTHOR OF THE UNCONQUERED The world is more interconnected than ever. Globally, there are six billion cell phone subscribers and a billion Facebook users. Nearly…

Glowing red-orange fungi in Madagascar. 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…

A new report by the NGO, International Rivers, takes an in-depth look at the role China is playing in building mega-dams worldwide. According to the report, Chinese companies are involved…

The western scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) is a common denizen of suburban neighborhoods in the U.S., loitering at bird feeders and amusing bird watchers with their entertaining antics. Known to…

Zebras in the Ngorongoro Crater, a part of the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Illegal hunting in Tanzania's Greater Serengeti Ecosystem (GSE) remains a prevalent activity for…

The intensity of land-use influences the speed of regeneration in tropical rainforests, says new research. Tropical rainforests are a priority for biodiversity conservation; they are hotspots of endemism but also…

African buffalo are a common target for bushmeat in Tanzania. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Bushmeat consumption, or "wildlife hunted for human consumption," poses a significant threat to wildlife conservation…

Rainforest beetle in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+), the UN program to conserve tropical forests by paying developing nations to keep…

Perturbed male elephant in Tanzania. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. One of the biggest challenges for big African wildlife like lions, elephants, and buffalo is movement across native habitat that…

Vieques Island. Photo by: USFWS. Life in the ocean require nutrient, but too much of a good thing can be hugely detrimental. Nutrient pollution from agricultural and industrial runoff causes…

Free-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris) can fill a variety of ecological roles including competitor, predator, prey, and transmitter of disease to both wildlife and people with particular concern for rabies. A…

One of the major concerns about the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degrdatation (REDD+) program is that it could prioritize conservation of high carbon ecosystems like peatlands over high biodiversity…

Coal-powered Castle Gate Power Plant in Ohio. Photo by: David Jolley. Ahead of the 18th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha, Qatar a variety of reports…

Redwood forest in Muir Woods National Monument, Marin County, CA. Photo by Rhett A. Butler For the month of December, I'll be posting some of my favorite pictures from 2012.…

Crowned lemur in Madagascar. 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…

The natural aquarium in Bonito, Brazil. 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…

Construction of a canal for the Belo Monte Dam project, near Altamira taken by Daniel Beltrá for Greenpeace. Once completed, the Belo Monte Dam will be the third largest in…

Oil blocks shown by phase - blue are potential lots, violet, bidding phase; yellow, exploration phase; and red, extraction phase. Click image to enlarge. Concessions for oil and gas exploration…

Transoceánica highway in Peru's Madre de Dios The Amazon Basin has 96,500 kilometers of roads, nearly two-thirds of which are unpaved, reports a comprehensive new atlas of the region, which…

Mining in Peru's Madre de Dios The world's largest rainforest is in the midst of a mining boom fueled by high mineral prices, reveals a new assessment of the Amazon's…

Less lard means more palm oil, with dire implications for rainforests Animal fats and margarine consumption in the United States have been largely replaced by palm oil, a plant-based oil…

Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco formally described 137 previously unknown species during 2012, including 83 arthropods, 41 fish, seven plants, four sea slugs, one reptile,…

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 taken…

Norway will deposit another $180 million into Brazil's Amazon Fund after the Latin American giant reported a third straight annual drop in deforestation, reports Bloomberg. The payment comes despite a…

Rainforest of Madagascar's Masoala Peninsula. 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…