- 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
The world’s largest butterfly is also one of the rarest (Mother Jones, Undark).
More donors are rescinding their financial support of Brazil’s Amazon Fund as deforestation continues to rise (Earther).
The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo says more needs to be done to provide communities living in the world’s second-largest rainforest with renewable fuels (Space Daily).
The president of Indonesia announced his government’s intention of moving the country’s capital to the island of Borneo (Reuters).
Brazil’s president blames the fires in the Amazon on NGOs, saying they’ve been intentionally set (The Guardian) …
… Here’s how you can help fight the wildfire crisis in the Amazon (Business Insider).
Blanche D’Anastasi is a scientist who studies sea snakes and is trying to protect them from the threats they face (The New York Times).
Tanzania’s government is considering using physical force to stop deforestation (IPP Media).
Other news
The U.K.’s Bristol Museum is covering up certain wildlife specimens to draw attention to the world’s biodiversity crisis (CNN).
Paying fishers to retire could help save threatened fish species (Hakai Magazine).
Scientists are sailing the waters around the U.S. state of Alaska to keep tabs on ocean acidification (Hakai Magazine).
Climate-related lawsuits are on the rise (Ensia).
Spiking wildfire risk in the western U.S. is leaving many homeowners without insurance (The New York Times).
U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders reveals his $16 trillion climate plan (The New York Times).
False or misleading videos on climate scientists abound on YouTube (Ensia).
Florida’s endangered cougars are turning up with a disease that cripples them (The New York Times).
Researchers have found a slimy new species of fish in Antarctica’s waters (Popular Mechanics).
Russia may no longer export timber to China if the country doesn’t address illegal logging in Siberia (RT, The Moscow Times).
Iceland’s president sounds the alarm about his country’s disappearing glaciers (The New York Times).
A new nonfiction book looks at offshore crime, including poaching (The New York Times).
Zoos in the United States plan to phase out the use of “bullhooks” to handle elephants (The Washington Post).
New research has found a link between air pollution and bipolar disorder as well as other forms of depression (EurekAlert/PLOS Biology).
Dolphins that are fed by humans are more likely to lose their calves, new research in Australia has shown (Hakai Magazine).
Industry will benefit the most from the relaxation of the U.S.’s Endangered Species Act (Sierra Magazine).
Banner image of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in the Red Sea by Serguei S. Dukachev via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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