- 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
Researchers have found a species of dragonfly in Costa Rica that was previously unknown to science (Sci-News).
Less funding goes into protecting the Congo rainforest compared to its counterparts in South America and Southeast Asia (CIFOR Forests News).
Researchers use a 325-meter (1,070-foot) tower to study the canopy of the Amazon (New Scientist).
Locusts are threatening crops already struggling as a result of drought (Sustainability Times).
Top palm oil producers are investing heavily in a radar system aimed at stopping deforestation (Reuters).
Rubber is driving deforestation in Cameroon (France24).
A Malaysian state chief is calling on farmers and plantation workers to help in the fight against poaching, after three elephants were killed in five weeks (Malay Mail).
After the signing of a peace accord in Colombia, researchers now have the access necessary to protect the endangered wax palm, the country’s national tree (The New York Times).
Rafts of research show the value that indigenous communities bring in protecting the forest (Los Angeles Times).
A “mast fruiting” event in Malaysia has spurred an effort by conservationists to save threatened tree species (Science Magazine).
Other news
President Trump has begun the year-long process of pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accords, a move critics have called “reprehensible” and “sad” (Mother Jones, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times).
Emissions of gas that damages the ozone layer are sliding after a recent rise (The New York Times).
Lionfish have moved into the Atlantic Ocean, threatening native communities (Biographic).
Conservation and indigenous groups in Canada consider wiping out all fish in a lake to get rid of invasive species (Hakai Magazine).
Coal-fired power plants in the U.S. will soon be able to allow more toxic chemicals to seep into water sources with new rule changes from the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (The New York Times, The Washington Post).
China is set to release plans for a new national park system, raising questions in the conservation community (Biographic).
North American mussel populations are battling a new form of cancer that comes from invasive species from Europe and South America (The New York Times).
Wildfires are worse in areas where invasive grasses have moved in (The New York Times).
Thousands of scientists lay out a six-step plan to address the climate “emergency” (The Washington Post).
Making the world a more equitable place could help address issues like climate change, a researcher says (The New York Times).
The researcher who argued first that fish could feel pain has died at age 52 (The New York Times).
Australia moves to outlaw climate-related protests in an apparent bid to protect the country’s coal sector (The New York Times).
Banner image of a lionfish by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
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