Editor's note: KLK issued a response to Chain Reaction Research's report on March 13, 2015. Deforestation for oil palm in Sabah, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Malaysian palm oil…
Oil palm fruit, which can be used for biofuel. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. A new report from the World Resources Institute finds that dedicating land to the production of…
This article is the second in a two-part series about logging in Malaysia. The first part can be seen here Two international NGOs have called out Malaysia in recent months…
This article is the second in a two-part series about the shortcomings of protected area definition in Peru. Read the first part here. In a study published recently in PLOS…
Elephant in South Africa.. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. China has established a one-year ban on imports of carved African elephant ivory. Conservationists say the move, effective immediately, sends an…
Rainforest in Riau, Indonesia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Last fall Indonesia elected its first president with no ties to the established political order or the military. Joko Widodo's election…
Vanzolini’s squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis), with its distinctive black cap. Photo Credit: Arkive. Walking through the Amazon rainforest for the first time is an overwhelming experience, and not in an…
Camera trap of Amur leopard. The Amur leopard evolved its thick coat to keep warm in the cold, long winters. Photo by: WWF. Most of the world's big predators are…
Swing gates help decrease human-wildlife conflict in South Africa As a hunter searches for prey, heat radiates off the sun stroked horizon distorting the landscape. At the snap of a…
This article is the first in a two-part series about logging in Malaysia. Read the second part here. A recent report by the international affairs think tank Chatham House has…
Ezequiel Antonio Castanha in custody. Image courtesy of IBAMA Authorities in Brazil have arrested a man they claim to be the single biggest deforester in the Amazon, according to a…
On Monday, Cambodia deported well-known environmental activist, Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, back to his native Spain. Co-founder of the Cambodian NGO, Mother Nature, Gonzalez-Davidson has played a vital role in blocking efforts…
Click charts to enlarge Loss of tropical forests accelerated roughly 60 percent during the 2000s, argues a paper published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The findings contradict previous research…
This article is the first in a two-part series about the shortcomings of protected area definition in Peru. Read the second part here. Many of the world's protected areas may…
Cobalt-winged parakeets at a clay lick in Yasuni National Park, which the Ecuadorian government is increasingly opening up to oil drilling. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. The world loves its protected…
Other Special Reporting Initiative reporting by Barbara Fraser How do parks affect the poor? Jury's still out, some experts say Innovating Brazil nuts: a business with roots in the rainforest…
Could a website save the world's lemurs? Indri lemur (Indri indri). Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Last year, scientists released an emergency three-year plan that they argued could, quite literally,…
Nepenthes rafflesiana, a large pitcher plant commonly found in swampy forests of Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Pitcher plants (Nepenthes species) have long captivated our fascination. Typically growing in…
An excavator piles natural forest logs at a log pond. Photo © Ulet Ifansasti / Greenpeace Banking giant Santander says it will not extend further financing to Asia Pacific Resources…
Plastic and other threats in the oceans: Turning data into action The devastating tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 washed away millions of tons of plastic debris into the…
A pale-headed brush-finch (Altapetes pallidiceps)., one of the most endangered birds in the world. An unassuming brown bird, tiny both in body and population size, hovers on the edge of…
Lazarus turtle: Scientists discover unknown population of Critically Endangered reptile A rare photo of a living Arakan forest turtle. Photo courtesy of Shahriar Caesar Rahman. By the early Twentieth Century,…
Picture of the tiger bust. Photo by Dian Risdianto / TNKS A sting operation by Indonesian officials snared a group of tiger hunters operating in Kerinci Seblat National Park in…
Greenomics map showing recent clearing by Austindo Nusantara Jaya Agri in West Papua, Indonesia An Indonesian palm oil firm is destroying rainforests in New Guinea despite high profile zero deforestation…
Peruvian authorities struggle to restore records lost during government transition Gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon. Photos by Rhett A. Butler Non-profit organizations are working with the regional government of…
Small hydropower projects fragment forests in India's Western Ghats Aerial view of the Kadmane small hydroporject in the Western Ghats. Photo by: Niren Jain. Rising energy demand and global efforts…
Capybaras, here in Colombia, are the world's largest rodents today. But even they would have been dwarfed by Josephoartigasia monesi. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. The world's largest rodent today…
The Cape pangolin, pictured here, could become increasingly imperiled if trade moves from Asia to Africa. Photo by: Maria Diekmann/Rare and Endangered Species Trust. It’s that crazy time of year…
Society for Conservation Biology warns that Africa could follow Southeast Asia in losing substantial amounts of its forest Africa’s people, forests and wildlife are in trouble if the mostly unbridled…
This article is the second in a two-part series about carbon stock assessment in Guyana. Read the first part here. Some countries that retain forest wealth have started monetizing their…
