- There are many important conservation and environmental stories Mongabay isn’t able to cover.
- Here’s a digest of some of the significant developments from the week.
- If you think we’ve missed something, feel free to add it in the comments.
Tropical forests
Parts of the Amazon are seeing more rain, and scientists think it’s because the Atlantic Ocean is getting warmer (Physics World).
Brazil’s new president has environmentalists worried about the future of the Amazon (The Guardian, Forbes, Scientific American, The Star, Wired, The New York Times).
CITES tells Madagascar it can’t sell its cache of illegally cut rosewood (OCCRP).
Norway backs Ethiopia’s plan for a green economy with a $21 million grant (Journal du Cameroun).
Former rhino poachers help restore the Assam forest in India’s Manas National Park (Indian Express).
Brazil’s Surui, an indigenous tribe, are watching out for illegal mining, ranching and logging with the help of Google Earth and their smartphones (CNET).
Officials from the Solomon Islands’ forestry ministry say that Global Witness’s assertions about possible illegal logging in the country aren’t accurate (SIBC).
The Rainforest Action Network warns that major candy manufacturers could be using palm oil from cleared forest and peatland in Sumatra (Forbes).
Oceans could be bearing the brunt of climate change (The Washington Post, The New York Times).
Zimbabwe launches a new program to conserve species (The Herald).
A writer explores the motivations of a pangolin poacher in Vietnam (Hakai Magazine).
Other news
Wetlands could be a vital line of defense against climate change-induced storms (BBC News).
Birders were thrilled to see a duck native to Asia turn up in New York’s Central Park (The New York Times).
The amount of greenhouse gases emitted by “miners” of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin has eclipsed that of some countries (The Washington Post).
New rules and relaxed regulations have touched off a fracking boom in the western United States (The New York Times).
Vertebrate numbers are down by an average of 60 percent per species (BBC News, The Atlantic).
Fish farming could be hampering nearby lobster fisheries in Nova Scotia, Canada (Hakai Magazine).
Fiji is home to a new species of swallowtail butterfly (Phys.Org).
Investigations into possible ethics violations beleaguer Ryan Zinke, the U.S. secretary of the interior (The New York Times, The Washington Post).
Air pollution leads to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children each year, according to the World Health Organization (Reuters).
A measure levy fees on carbon emitters is on the ballot in the state of Washington (The New York Times).
Banner image © Francis C. Franklin (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
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