Video: Pango-Cam offers amazing and unique view of pangolin behavior
Widely sought for its scales and flesh, which are channeled into the illegal trade to buyers in Asia, pangolins are said to be the world’s most trafficked animal. They face…
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 Guardian and Washington Post, and my work has also appeared in 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).
New detection devices could record microplastic pollution levels in real time
The scope of the microplastic pollution problem is astonishing. While nations need to slow the rate of plastics entering Earth's waters, discovering what the density of it is, and where…
Chilean band Newen Afrobeat sings of a future it hopes to see
The music of the Chilean band Newen Afrobeat is a vibrant mix of musical cultures, an energetic take on the Afrobeat musical style made famous by Nigerian star Fela Kuti…
Into the abyss with deep sea biologist Diva Amon
Deep sea biologist Diva Amon is a Trinidadian who was raised by the shore of the Caribbean Sea, but has become well known not for the sea's edge, but rather for…
Asian otters gain protection from the pet trade
Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted to place the smooth-coated otter and the Asian small-clawed otter on the list of animals with the highest level…
Top Mongabay beach reads for the ‘dog days’ of summer
The 'dog days' are that time each year when Sirius, the Dog Star, rises just before the sun, and ranges from July 3 to August 11. It also coincides with beach time holidays for…
Secretive and colorful dryas monkey isn’t as rare as once thought
On a July day in 2014, biologists Henri Silegowa and Jean Pierre Kapale were buying rice in Bafundo, a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when they noticed…
Agroforestry: An ancient ‘indigenous technology’ with wide modern appeal (commentary)
Agroforestry, or forest gardening, is the practice of growing of trees, shrubs, herbs, and vegetables together in a group mimicking a forest, or within an existing forest, with each plant…
Snowy owl summer: Raptor rehabilitation center releases Arctic visitor
When wild animals are injured, they must heal fast or perish if they can't find food or defend themselves from predators. A lucky subset of such wildlife is found by…
In India’s Sundarbans, communities shrink as their island sinks
MOUSUNI ISLAND, West Bengal - Ashida watched the rising tide fearfully. Lifting her baby son onto her hip, the 24-year-old took a break from her morning duties and stood outside…
Shift to renewable energy could have biodiversity cost, researchers caution
Climate change has widely reported negative consequences, including exacerbating severe weather patterns, harming wildlife and potentially worsening human conflict and migration. In an attempt to minimize these planetary changes, the…
Long-term ecological research threatened by short-term thinking
When pioneering ecologist Alton Lindsey founded the Ross Biological Reserve at Purdue University in 1949, he envisioned a “living laboratory” where time-extensive ecological studies could be carried out and flourish.…
Otter cafés and ‘cute pets craze’ fuel illegal trafficking in Japan and Indonesia
On World Otter Day 2019, a new documentary film has been released that shines a spotlight on the illegal trade in the Asian small-clawed otter, a species listed as vulnerable…
Laurel Chor on photojournalism and Hong Kong’s ‘incredible biodiversity’
Laurel Chor is a Hong Kong-based photojournalist and filmmaker. A National Geographic Explorer, Ambassador for the Jane Goodall Institute-Hong Kong, and founder of Hong Kong Explorers Initiative, she will be…
World Agroforestry Congress gathers huge group of global boosters in France
Day two of the World Agroforestry Congress was in full swing today as the 1,200 plus attendees streamed into workshops and swirled among some 600+ posters hanging in the halls…
Bolivia: Nature rights tribunal condemns TIPNIS project
The International Rights of Nature Tribunal has issued its ruling on the Bolivian government’s road development project in the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS). In a statement, the…
Coops, community, and agroforestry: Q&A with coffee entrepreneur Dean Cycon
Dean Cycon is an environmental and indigenous rights lawyer by training who's been involved in community development since 1976. He founded or co-founded numerous international development groups, including Coffee Kids…
Trekking the boreal forest for biodiversity (insider)
Near the Arctic Circle in late summer 2011, I waited at a petrol station on the outskirts of a large tract of Sweden’s boreal forest. My Volvo had completely cooled…
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, grassroots opposition stalls another hydropower project
KRUŠČICA, Bosnia-Herzegovina – On the banks of a river in central Bosnia, a group of women have been standing guard. The village of Kruščica is named after its river, which descends…
Latam Eco Review: Pumas hate disco and Ecuador’s newly described glass frog
Ecuador’s most recently described glass frogs, a model plan for coastal management in Colombia, and using lights to scare away pumas in Chile were among the top recent stories from our…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- ‘Pray & continue’: Death of Philippine ranger is latest in legacy of violence
- In Cambodia, a rare acquittal in a climate of danger for green activists
- On Peru’s border, the Tikuna tribe takes on illegal coca growers
Indonesias forest guardians
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
- On the island of Java, a social forestry scheme creates jobs at home
- In Indonesia, bigger catches for a fishing village protecting its mangroves
Amazon infrastructure
- Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act
- Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
- Amazon fish kill at Sinop spotlights risk from 80+ Tapajós basin dams
Asian rhinos
- Nepal to conduct, self-fund, rhino census in March 2020
- Calls for natural solution over man-made one in flood-ravaged rhino refuge
- Death on the Brahmaputra: The rhino, the rangers, and the usual suspects
