Gran Chaco: South America’s second-largest forest at risk of collapsing
The straight, strong trunk of a quebracho tree twisted mid-air as it fell to the ground, its crash the last sound in a cacophony of axe blows that increasingly wounded…
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.
Indigenous communities, wildlife under threat as farms invade Nicaraguan reserve
Torrential rain creates a deafening roar as it strikes the metal roof of community leader Ubence Zelaya’s two-bedroom home on the southern border of the Mayagna indigenous territory. Zelaya lives…
Mexican officials battle a tide of fire eating away at a protected reserve
CAMPECHE, Mexico —When a fire broke out in June in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in southern Mexico, more than 200 volunteer firefighters and specialists were deployed to help keep it…
Disaster strikes in Bolivia as fires lay waste to unique forests
This story is a journalistic collaboration between Mongabay’s Latin America (Latam) team and the Bolivian newspaper Página Siete “Fire is a monster and is threatening us. Everything is ashes and…
‘Not a pretty picture’: South China’s forests vanish as tree farms move in
The low rolling hills west of Nanning are almost entirely covered with eucalyptus plantations. The airy trees, like large arrows stuck into the earth, seem to go on forever, snaking…
‘We have cut them all’: Ghana struggles to protect its last old-growth forests
KUMASI, Ghana — The West African country of Ghana is known for having rich natural resources including vast tracts of rainforest. But its primary forest has all but vanished, with…
Indigenous communities, nat’l parks suffer as Malaysia razes its reserves
KUALA KOH, Malaysia — On a daytime flight into Kuala Lumpur airport, it’s hard not to feel a certain sense of despair. The land, at times adorned by jungle-clad mountains,…
Rainforest destruction accelerates in Honduras UNESCO site
Powerful drug-traffickers and landless farmers continue to push cattle ranching and illegal logging operations deeper into the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in eastern Honduras. The…
Gov’t takedown of illegal gold mining in Peru shows promise, but at a cost
PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru — Luis Hidalgo Okimura, the new governor of Peru’s Madre de Dios region, entered his conference room in the regional government building here carrying a half-empty bottle…
Logging, mining companies lock eyes on a biodiverse island like no other
A unique island ecosystem and culture lying 270 kilometers (170 miles) off Papua New Guinea is once more in the crosshairs. Over the past decade, Woodlark Islanders have defended their…
Cocoa and gunshots: The struggle to save a threatened forest in Nigeria
LAGOS, Nigeria — Emmanuel Olabode stands over the fire at the Eri camp in Omo Forest Reserve, in southwest Nigeria’s Ogun state. The tongues of flames flicker to the wave…
Agriculture, mining, hunting push critically endangered gorillas to the brink
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) holds 60 percent of the Congo rainforest, the second-largest rainforest in the world after the Amazon. Because of this, the country serves as…
Colombia registers first drop in deforestation since 2016 FARC peace deal
Colombia has registered its first drop in deforestation since the country’s historic 2016 peace deal with former FARC guerrillas closed a chapter on a half-century of armed conflict but also…
On a Philippine island, indigenous groups take the fight to big palm oil
The sandy path from the village of bamboo houses winds down through the coconut palms, which gives way to mangroves growing along the muddy shoreline. The seven elders inspect their…
Two studies provide dueling looks at where trees should go
Two papers published this week in major journals claim to do the same thing: show where forests should be restored. But they used starkly different approaches that lead to sharply…
Land thieves ramp up deforestation in Brazil’s Jamanxim National Forest
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has started to increase very rapidly, with 73,900 hectares (182,600 acres) of forest felled in the single month of May this year. May is always…
Saving Guatemala’s vanishing macaws: Q&A with veterinarian Luis Fernando Guerra
Laguna del Tigre National Park sits in the northwest corner of Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, encompassing about 3,367 square kilometers (1,300 square miles) of jungle, lagoons and ancient ruins. But…
Fire, cattle, cocaine: Deforestation spikes in Guatemalan national park
A patrol of eleven men is hiking along a rough jungle trail spotted with the blackened foliage of several small brush fires. Nearby trees, smoke-stained at their bottoms but still…
Land grabbing, cattle ranching ravage Colombian Amazon after FARC demobilization
Rafael Orjuela, a community leader in Cartagena de Chairá, Colombia, moved to the Amazonian department of Caquetá in 1979 to escape severe economic hardship in the interior Andes region. At…
Where the forest has no name
Driving up the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco, you approach the world’s largest contiguous temperate rainforest. But don’t look for any markers or directions. There aren’t any. In fact,…
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
