New oil refinery ‘a huge disaster’ for Nigerian forest reserve
IWUOCHANG, Nigeria — It was morning in mid-March and the wooden canoe skimmed silently across the Ibeno River in the southern Nigerian state of Akwa Ibom. A young boy and…
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.
The Western Indian Ocean lost 4% of its mangroves in 24 years, report finds
A new analysis of satellite data finds the Western Indian Ocean region lost around 4% its mangrove forests over the past quarter-century. In a report that discusses the state of…
Poverty-fueled deforestation threatens Kenya’s largest water catchment
OLENGURUONE, Kenya — Mau Forest covers some 2,700 square kilometers (1,042 square miles) in western Kenya, making it the largest native montane forest in East Africa. The forest is also…
Niger Delta mangroves in ‘grave danger’ from oil spills, poverty, invasive species
BODO, Nigeria — Christian Kpandei is a man of many memories. Still, the vital incidents of his life, like the death of his childhood hero, environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, grow…
In Brazil’s Pantanal, early flames signal a ‘new normal’
The fires started small, charring a handful of areas scattered across a southern stretch of Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands. Fueled by searing temperatures and months of drought, the flames quickly spread…
Deforestation intensifies in northern Malaysia’s most important water catchment
Spanning more than 1,600 square kilometers (620 square miles), the Ulu Muda rainforest is one of the last large, continuous tracts of forest in the Malay Peninsula, and provides vital…
Rains quell fire risk around Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, but the future looks fiery
PREK TABAEK, Cambodia — The roots of the forests surrounding Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake spend half the year submerged in water. But in the past five years, they’ve been catching…
Farmers feel the pressure after conservation crackdown around Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake
PREK TABAEK, Cambodia — Bat Savoeun claims he has Prime Minister Hun Sen’s signoff to farm his 2 hectares of land in Prek Tabaek village, on the edge of the…
Authorities and Yobin communities clash as deforestation spikes in Indian national park
In the sprawling Himalayas, amidst snow-peaked mountains, is a vast swathe of evergreen forest home to majestic tigers, elusive clouded leopards, charismatic hornbills, mystical giant squirrels, enchanting butterflies and bizarre…
Mennonite colony builds bridge, clears forest in Bolivian protected areas
CUARIRENDA, Bolivia — In October 2020, residents of a Mennonite colony began clearing a road through the forest in the Cordillera province of the Bolivian department of Santa Cruz. By…
Miners, drug traffickers and loggers: Is Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park on the verge of collapse?
News articles and opinion pieces have popped up in the pages of different Costa Rican newspapers over the past several years, warning of the imminent collapse of Corcovado National Park,…
Opaque infrastructure project ‘a death sentence’ for Cambodia’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary
PHNOM PENH — At last year’s COP26, the annual U.N. climate summit, Cambodian Environment Minister Say Samal voiced his support for more carbon credit projects in the country as part…
Large-scale logging in Cambodia’s Prey Lang linked to politically-connected mining operation
PHNOM PENH — The early onset of Cambodia’s wet season had seen the rain fall thick over Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, turning freshly cut paths through the forest into a…
Colombian Indigenous community waits in poverty as courts weigh ownership of ancestral land
VICHADA, Colombia — Nearly 13 years have passed since the Guahibo Indigenous community El Trompillo was allegedly forcibly relocated from their territory. Members report persistent hunger and overcrowding in makeshift…
Deforestation on the rise as poverty soars in Nigeria
Established in 1936 and situated just 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the sprawling megacity of Lagos, Akure-Ofosu Forest Reserve has long been a sanctuary for Nigeria’s diverse and dwindling wildlife.…
Indigenous communities in Ecuador struggle with the aftermath of another oil spill
QUITO, Ecuador — On Jan. 28, 2022, Ecuador’s Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (known by its Spanish acronym OCP), ruptured, contaminating more than 20,000 square meters of the Cayambe Coca National…
Tropical deforestation emitting far more carbon than previously thought: Study
The rate at which carbon escaped from the deforestation of tropical forests more than doubled in the first two decades of the 21st century, according to new research. Earlier assessments…
As rising seas destroy Ghana’s coastal communities, researchers warn against a seawall-only solution
ACCRA, Ghana — White waves collide in a crash where the Volta River meets the Atlantic Ocean near Ada Foah. Warm, tropical air hovers over Ghana's coastline – but as…
Colombian palm oil company under investigation for polluting rivers
In June 2016, Corporación Autónoma de Santander (CAS), one of the environmental authorities in the northeastern Colombian department of Santander, found toxic waste was flowing from a palm oil mill…
Refuge of endangered ‘African unicorn’ threatened by mining, poaching, deforestation
Perched in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) near the borders of Uganda and South Sudan, Okapi Wildlife Reserve quietly encompasses some 14,000 square kilometers (5,405 square miles) of rainforest…
Can ecotourism save Cambodia’s ‘ghost parks’?
This is the third article in a three-part series. Read Part One and Part Two. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — In March 2021, Cambodia signed into law Sub-decree No. 30, which…
Endangered wildlife face perilous future as vital habitat loses protection in Cambodia
This is the second article in a three-part series. Read Part One and Part Three. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — In 2017, an elephant in Cambodia’s Kirium National Park was electrocuted…
How a ‘dirty gambling company’ may have set the standard for habitat destruction in Cambodia
This is the first article in a three-part series. Read Part Two and Part Three. PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — “I was detained for a night, the authorities had come to…
Fires threaten vital peatland in Chile’s Tierra del Fuego
A forest fire that has been spreading for weeks in Chile’s Tierra del Fuego is threatening the ancestral land of an Indigenous group and destroying some of the world’s highest…
Polluting with impunity: Palm oil companies flout regulations in Ecuador
This is the second in a two-part series. Read Part One. Palm oil, a popular cooking oil as well as an ingredient in an ocean of products ranging from cookies to cosmetics,…
Community in Ecuador punished for trying to stop alleged palm oil pollution
This is the first in a two-part series. Read Part Two. San Javier de Cachaví is a small village of some 120 families in Ecuador near the Colombian border. The…
Endangered chimps ‘on the brink’ as Nigerian reserve is razed for agriculture, timber
ORE, Nigeria — More than two decades ago, fate took Tajudeen Babalola to his lifelong ambition. The 52-year-old longed for a more serene life that offered hope for survival away…
Agricultural frontier advances in Nicaraguan biosphere reserve
The Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in Central America. It is also part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, which extends from…
‘Rampant forest destruction’ wracks reserve as cattle ranching advances in Brazilian Amazon
The lush rainforest stretches for miles across the Terra do Meio Ecological Station, in Brazil's northern state of Pará. Near the edge of the vast protected reserve, a makeshift road…
‘Unprecedented’ fires in Madagascar national park threaten livelihoods and lemurs
Historically, the dry forests of western Madagascar did not receive as much interest from conservationists as the country’s eastern rainforests. One study published in 2015 in International Forestry Review found…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- New oil refinery ‘a huge disaster’ for Nigerian forest reserve
- The Western Indian Ocean lost 4% of its mangroves in 24 years, report finds
- Poverty-fueled deforestation threatens Kenya’s largest water catchment
- Niger Delta mangroves in ‘grave danger’ from oil spills, poverty, invasive species
Oceans
- Indonesia’s sustainable fisheries push sails into storm in Java Sea
- Java fishers struggle with seine net ban amid rising costs, falling profits
- Agulhas Current enigma: An oceanic gap in our climate understanding
- U.S. charts course for adopting ropeless fishing to reduce whale deaths
Amazon Conservation
- In the Amazon, Bolsonaro’s far right may retain power even if Lula wins
- How close is the Amazon tipping point? Forest loss in the east changes the equation
- More droughts are coming, and the Amazon can’t keep up: Study
- European bill passes to ban imports of deforestation-linked commodities
Land rights and extractives
- Activists welcome decision to revoke permit for controversial Philippine gold mine
- Can Two New Bills Reshape Indigenous Rights and Illegal Gold Mining in Suriname?
- Venezuelan Amazon deforestation expands due to lawlessness, mining, fires: Reports
- Brazil miner sees Indigenous land as ripe for exploration if protections expire
Endangered Environmentalists
- Worries and whispers in Vietnam’s NGO community after activist’s sentencing
- Scientists call for end to violence against Amazon communities, environmental defenders
- Indigenous advocates sense a legal landmark as a guardian’s killing heads to trial
- In Brazil, an Indigenous land defender’s unsolved killing is the deadly norm
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64
- A utopia of clean air and wet peat amid Sumatra’s forest fire ‘hell’
Conservation Effectiveness
- ‘South Asia needs its own tiger plan’: Q&A with Nepal’s Maheshwar Dhakal
- Nepal was supposed to double its tiger population since 2010. It tripled it
- In prioritizing conservation, animal culture should be a factor, study says
- Young forests can help heal tropical aquatic ecosystems: Study
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Java communities rally as clock ticks on cleanup of ‘world’s dirtiest river’
- ‘Cursed’ dam project in orangutan habitat claims 16th life in less than 2 years
- In Laos, a ‘very dangerous dam’ threatens an ancient world heritage site
- Bali’s new highway project sparks concerns about agriculture and conservation areas
