Podcast: Sumatra’s deforestation demystified
Sumatra contains some of the largest tracts of intact rainforest left in the world, and is also at the center of a complicated web of deforestation drivers, many of which…
Articles by Erik Hoffner
As an editor for Mongabay, I work to keep readers informed about the latest developments in conservation news and science. I'm also a freelancer for publications like The Washington Post, and my work has also appeared in The Guardian, National Geographic News Watch, OnEarth, Yale Environment 360, The Sun, Grist, World Ark, and Earth Island Journal (see a list of recent articles at http://www.erikhoffner.com/writing).
Without planting more trees in the tropics, we can’t fix the climate (commentary)
I don’t know whether it’s all thanks Greta Thunberg, or due to unusually strong fire seasons in Australia, North and South America, and Siberia in the past 12 months, but…
One Health: A necessary blend of biodiversity and human health goals (commentary)
As an American living in Germany and working for an international conservation organization, I find that most everyday people I speak with do not realize that in 2008, Chancellor Angela…
Conservation must be primary goal of great ape tourism, despite COVID-driven recessions (commentary)
Although the exact source of the coronavirus outbreak is unknown, it has been widely reported to have originated with wildlife. Since then, animals infected with COVID-19 include a small number…
A new conservation project is created in Costa Rica thanks to COVID-19
Call him inspired. If Biblical Ishmael were banished to the desert, naturalist Hugo Santa Cruz is quarantined to wander in paradise, a paradise in the Costa Rican jungle, that is.…
Podcast: Saving the singing rhino
The Sumatran rhino, like the land that it inhabits, is unlike anything else in this world: small in stature and docile by nature, the animal sports a coat of black…
David Attenborough’s ‘witness statement’ for the planet (commentary)
David Attenborough’s latest nature documentary on Netflix may be his greatest yet. Apparently stung by criticism about the false impressions his documentaries have provided on the state of our natural…
Podcast: Mongabay explores Sumatra, a land like no other
"Sumatra is like a fossil relic of rare species...a giant, rhino horn-shaped island blanketed in the richest rainforest you can imagine...there's just nothing like it," biologist Greg McCann says on…
Gorongosa National Park is being reforested via coffee and agroforestry
Gorongosa National Park has quite a history, from its inception 60 years ago to being battleground the subsequent Mozambique civil war, to its recent revitalization and engagement with the human…
Diary of a top environmental journalist and bad traveler: Q&A with Jeremy Hance
Are you a ‘bad traveler’ or a ‘good’ one? Do you care about conservation and telling stories about the environment enough to risk a wild ride or two? Today marks…
In Sumatra, forest edge communities must be at the center of conservation efforts (commentary)
The socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is heavy and multi-sectoral, marked by an increase in inequality, with the brunt of the pandemic borne mostly by the poorest and most…
Biologists warn ‘extinction denial’ is the latest anti-science conspiracy theory
Biodiversity scientists are being urged to “fight the creeping rise of extinction denial” that has spread from fringe blogs to influential media outlets and even into a U.S. Congressional hearing.…
No, ‘regenerative ranching’ is not good for grassland birds (commentary)
A staggering 3 billion birds, including 700 million grassland birds, have been lost in the last 50 years. Without question, one of the leading causes of those catastrophic losses has…
Protecting African wildlife: A defense of conservation territories (commentary)
African Parks Network (APN) recently announced it would formally take over the management of the Benin side of W National Park, which comprises a major portion of the largest intact…
Rescuing Achilles: Southern pig-tailed macaques listed as endangered but still persecuted (commentary)
The southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) has recently been re-classified as endangered by the IUCN (and even the long-tailed macaque is now considered Vulnerable). This news came as a surprise…
New road cutting into Manu Biosphere Reserve in Peruvian Amazon sparks debate, fears and a film
Last week a new film was released that documents the building of a road into the Manu Biosphere Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon. It's a story of conflict, community development,…
In the fight against biodiversity loss, connectivity is key (commentary)
It is no secret that habitat destruction and fragmentation are the leading causes of biodiversity loss worldwide, and climate change is only making it worse. Species blinking out, shrinking populations…
Though forests burn, trees retake farmland globally as agroforestry advances
It was late afternoon deep in the dry season in Fatikh, a village in the Sahel region of Senegal. Out on his farm, El Hadj Ndiaye, a distinguished gentleman in…
Does coconut oil really threaten more species than palm oil? No, it doesn’t. (commentary)
You may have recently come across an article titled “Coconut oil production threatens five times more species than palm oil—new findings” (or maybe you have come across a similar article…
Podcast: Hellbenders, super-spreaders, and other salamanders face uncertain futures
Hellbenders are North America’s largest salamanders, living in rivers and growing to an incredible length of over two feet. Eastern newts are tiny and terrestrial, but both are susceptible to…
On World Tiger Day, let’s recommit to the goal of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022 (commentary)
The goal set 10 years ago to double the number of wild tigers by 2022 remains one of the most ambitious conservation goals ever for a single species. Currently home…
Indigenous-led technology solutions can boost biodiversity and ensure human rights (commentary)
Over recent years there have been high profile legal challenges, investigative articles in the media, and important reports on the relationship between conservationists and Indigenous peoples. In the latest of…
Mangrove forest restoration boosts Costa Rica communities (commentary)
“Twenty years ago, I collected between 600 to 800 a day – now I’m lucky if I can harvest 150.” Adrian Torres holds a black, shining, wrinkled mollusk (Anadara tuberculosa)…
Mozambique’s trailblazing Gorongosa Park celebrates 60th anniversary, announces 60 new schools (commentary)
On July 23rd, 2020, we Mozambicans celebrated the 60th birthday of our flagship national park: Gorongosa. It is located in the center of our country and is a symbol of…
Podcast: Can policy prevent a North American salamander pandemic?
The U.S. is home to the world’s highest diversity of salamander species, many of which are thought to be susceptible to the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans or 'Bsal' for short.…
Shark fin stories by major media ‘misleading’: Q&A with David Shiffman
If there’s one thing most of the public knows about shark conservation, it’s that they’re under siege by global fleets of vessels that scoop them up, cut off their fins…
Logging concession in Malaysian Borneo lacks consent of Indigenous communities (commentary)
A wild boar hightails it into the forest as we approach the village of Long Tungan, Sarawak, on a field trip for The Borneo Project. In the driver’s seat of…
Investors say agroforestry isn’t just climate friendly — it’s also profitable
In the latter part of 2016, Ethan Steinberg and two of his friends planned a driving tour across the U.S. to interview farmers. Their goal was to solve a riddle…
Podcast: International task force unites North America to protect salamander diversity
North America and the U.S. in particular is the world’s hotspot of salamander diversity, hosting about a third of all species, so researchers are concerned about the potential landfall of…
Audio: Will U.S. scientists find a silent salamander killer in time?
Reporter Benji Jones and wildlife disease ecologist with United States Geological Survey, Daniel Grear, join this special edition of Mongabay's podcast to discuss the hunt for Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) in…
Special series
Forest trackers
- Chinese demand and domestic instability are wiping out Senegal’s last forests
- Solomon Islands environmental defender faces life sentence for arson charge
- Threatened species caught in crossfire of ongoing land conflict in Myanmar
- Under cover of COVID-19, loggers plunder Cambodian wildlife sanctuary
Oceans
- ‘Tamper with nature, and everyone suffers’: Q&A with ecologist Enric Sala
- New paper highlights spread of organized crime from global fisheries
- Study: Chinese ‘dark fleets’ illegally defying sanctions by fishing in North Korean waters
- Game changer? Antarctic ice melt related to tropical weather shifts: Study
Amazon conservation
- Crimefighting NGO tracks Brazil wildlife trade on WhatsApp and Facebook
- The Amazon’s Yanomami utterly abandoned by Brazilian authorities: Report
- Conserve freshwater or land biodiversity? Why not both, new study asks
- As fire season ends, Brazil cited for failed Amazon and Pantanal policies
Land rights and extractives
- Peruvian Indigenous groups thwart oil drilling in their territory — for now
- Years after defeating a giant gold mine, activists in Colombia still fear for their lives
- Court allows referendum on mining in the Ecuadoran Andes to go forward
- Madagascar shuts down ‘illegal’ gold mine but activists remain in legal limbo
Endangered environmentalists
- Indonesian fishers opposed to dredging project hit by ‘criminalization’ bid
- Life as an Amazon activist: ‘I don’t want to be the next Dorothy Stang’
- In Philippines’ Palawan, top cop linked to assault on environmental officer
- Deaths, arrests and protests as Philippines re-emerges from lockdown
Indonesias forest guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Conservation effectiveness
- A Malagasy community wins global recognition for saving its lake
- In mangrove restoration, custom solutions beat one-size-fits-all approach
- World’s protected areas lack connections, recent study finds
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast asian infrastructure
- Activists in Malaysia call on road planners to learn the lessons of history
- Road-paving project threatens a wildlife-rich reserve in Indonesia’s Papua
- Planned road projects threaten Sumatran rhino habitat, experts say
- Deforestation threatens to wipe out a primate melting pot in Indonesia
