- 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.
- Mongabay does not vet the news sources below, nor does the inclusion of a story on this list imply an endorsement of its content.
Tropical forests
Kenya’s logging ban, aimed at tackling corruption and illegal deforestation, nears the beginning of its second year (Standard Digital).
REDD+ gains a foothold in Vietnam (Vietnam Plus).
The sparsely forested West African country of Niger only has 40 percent of its state forest reserves left, authorities say (Daily Trust).
Fiji is moving toward better protections of its forests, but it can still improve, a U.N. official says (Fiji Times).
The U.S. military’s plans for new construction on the island of Guam could run afoul of the environment, according to conservation groups (National Geographic).
Biofuels in Norway can no longer contain palm oil (The Green Optimistic).
Other news
Electrocution is an increasing problem for wild animals (The New York Times).
A new committee in the U.S. House of Representatives will tackle the global climate crisis (The Atlantic).
Health agencies are increasingly dealing with the impacts of climate change (Ensia).
Leafcutter ants unleash a greenhouse gas when they break down garbage (Gizmodo).
The plan to tackle the Pacific Garbage Patch just got more complicated, as it breaks up into smaller pieces (The New York Times).
Ukraine’s forestry law to halt illegal logging came into effect with the new year (112 UA, Ukrinform).
Three new species of beetles share their names with characters from the television show Game of Thrones (Esquire, Smithsonian).
Observers have spotted a North Atlantic right whale calf near Florida, the first young of the species seen in more than a year (The Guardian).
Banner image of leafcutter ants by Pjt56 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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