Solomon Islanders imprisoned for trying to stop the logging of their forests
This is the second story in a two-part series on logging in the Solomon Islands. The first article, which focuses on the country at large and how its governance is…
Articles by Morgan Erickson-Davis
Morgan has been writing for Mongabay since 2008 and came on full-time in 2014. Trained in biology, Morgan has taken any available opportunity to learn more about the world, from working as a fisheries biologist aboard longliners and freighters in the South Pacific to evaluating river health in western Montana. Morgan spent eight years editing technical papers before jumping into journalism, with more than 50 manuscripts under her belt. Currently, she manages Mongabay's forests and global palm oil reporting programs.
A new election brings little hope for Solomon Islands’ vanishing forests
This is the first story in a two-part series on logging in the Solomon Islands. The second article, which focuses on the island of Nende and how residents of one…
Illegal logging poised to wipe Cambodian wildlife sanctuary off the map
As you approach Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary, five hours north of Phnom Penh, it’s difficult to tell exactly where the park begins. There is no audience of trees to greet…
Huge rubber plantation in Cameroon halts deforestation following rebuke
Halcyon Agri Corp, the world’s largest rubber processor, is taking steps toward a more sustainable and transparent natural rubber supply chain following vocal public outcries from environmental NGOs last year.…
The world lost a Belgium-size area of old growth rainforest in 2018
At first glance, the news seems good: global tropical deforestation declined for the second year in a row, according to new satellite data. But digging in a little deeper reveals…
Peru’s first autonomous indigenous gov’t strikes back against deforestation
PUERTO GALILEA, Peru — In 2009, special decrees signed by then-president Alan García opened up vast swaths of Peruvian indigenous territory to resource exploitation. Indigenous groups in the northern portion of…
How a sheriff in Brazil is using satellites to stop deforestation
Before becoming the chief of police at the Police Specialized in Crimes Against the Environment (DEMA) in the northern Brazilian state of Amapá, Leonardo Brito had never worked in the environmental field…
‘It’s getting worse’: National parks in Honduras hit hard by palm oil
TELA, Honduras — On Feb. 6, 1995, an unidentified white pickup truck rolled up to the home of environmental activist Jeanette Kawas. It was a quiet Monday evening in the…
Video: Scientists surprised to discover tiny toadlets can glow
The forest floor along Brazil’s Atlantic coast is home to a species of teeny-tiny frogs called pumpkin toadlets (Brachycephalus ephippium), so named because of their bright orange color that warns…
Liberia’s new land rights law hailed as victory, but critics say it’s not enough
JACKSONVILLE, Liberia — When rebels tore through the ancient forests of Sinoe county during the civil wars that ravaged Liberia between 1989 and 2003, villagers often fled to the only road…
‘It is open season right now’: Martial law intensifies in the Philippines
“Maybe what happened to my brother will also happen to me,” says Joseph Paborada, Chair of the indigenous organization Pangalasag. It has been over six years since his brother Gilbert, the…
Putting the Blue in the Green New Deal (commentary)
As the “Green New Deal” (GND) takes shape to decarbonize the economy, promote economic growth, and address environmental injustice, it is crucial to incorporate the key sectors of the blue economy…
Tiny subterranean Texas salamanders could be extinct in 100 years
There’s another world beneath the soil of Central Texas, one that is dark, wet, and mysterious. It’s an isolated kingdom ruled by a unique group of underground salamanders. Now, new…
Norway divests from plantation companies linked to deforestation
This week, Norway released the 2018 investment holdings of its massive government pension fund. Notably absent were four plantation companies previously listed in the portfolio: Olam International, Halcyon Agri Corp,…
Brazil to receive first-ever results-based REDD+ payment, but concerns remain
The United Nations’ Green Climate Fund (GCF) has accepted the first proposal for REDD+ results-based payouts from Brazil, effectively paying the country for reducing its deforestation rates in 2014 and…
New study finds young forests have a huge climate impact
Forests store vast quantities of carbon and play a huge role in the world’s carbon cycle – as well as in human hopes of mitigating global warming. Tropical rainforests, the…
What the Congo Basin can learn from Filipino community forestry laws (commentary)
The Philippines was highly forested about a century ago. But today, forests cover less than a third of the country, due to logging, agriculture, fuelwood extraction and mining. To tackle forest depletion,…
Habitat loss, pigs, disease: U.S. salamanders face a ‘tough situation’
North America is the world’s hotspot of salamander diversity. The continent is home to all salamander families but one (Hynobiidae, found only in Asia) and nearly half of all salamander…
As a pandemic looms, researchers rush to test salamander vulnerability
It all started in 2008 when scientists started noticing fire salamanders in the Netherlands were disappearing. By 2011, nearly all salamanders in affected Dutch populations had been killed off, as…
Cocaine blamed for rising deforestation in Peru’s Bahuaja-Sonene National Park
The burned forest and coca crops that have dominated the landscape along the road for the past two hours are gradually being transformed into coffee plantations. These are the last…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Arson attack in Indonesia leaves activist shaken
- For embattled environmental defenders, a reprieve of sorts in 2018
- 7 convicted of killing Honduran indigenous activist Berta Cáceres
Indonesias forest guardians
- On the island of Java, a social forestry scheme creates jobs at home
- In Indonesia, bigger catches for a fishing village protecting its mangroves
- In Bali, a village hews to unwritten rules to manage its forest
Amazon infrastructure
- Amazon fish kill at Sinop spotlights risk from 80+ Tapajós basin dams
- Leading Amazon dam rights activist, spouse and friend murdered in Brazil
- Madeira River dams may spell doom for Amazon’s marathon catfish: Studies
Asian rhinos
- Javan rhino found dead in Indonesia, bringing global population down to 68
- To rescue Sumatran rhinos, Indonesia starts by counting them first
- No rhino census this year as Nepal runs short of funds for survey
